Last Day Workshadowing in AUS DESC HR

The bunch of craziest yet friendliest colleagues I ever had!

I remember we had tons of miscommunication, and a lot of time I dont get their humours. They have different spelling pronounciation, like the "a" and "e" and the "j" and "g", which explains why today sounds like to-die. I picked up a few slangs as well..you slackass, blodger, prick, nong and all the F word in between words!! haha..Not very bright stuffs, arent they? :) Love you guys loads!



AUS Colleagues HR DESC

Canberra the most organized city!

Last minute decision to visit my friend, whom I hosted 2 years ago in Malaysia. I traveled on road, a lonesome one on coach, but I must say with great scenery and all; meadows and rolling hills of abundant green and loads of sheeps, cattles and wombats.

Canberra basically is not really a city at all, but rather an extremely large park with a city hidden in it. It's all lawns and trees and hedges and a big ornamental lake. I love it though. Did an hour of cycling with Jean who almost got so freaked out of falling. She hasnt ridden one since 5 years old. Speaking about the lake, it wasnt until 1960s the lake was filled up and beautified.

Jean also drove me around, and from time to time we would come to a leafy roundabout with roads radiating off in various directions. They were all so identical, not wonder Jean would sometimes spin around twice. What was incredibly sweet was that her grandma cooked, and we had a good roundtable family dinner. It reminded me of mum's traditional home rules. Call before you eat, take food for elderly ones, finish your food before you leave and all that. I thank my mum loads and each time she nags me now, I know it's for my own good. At least that's what she claims it's TRUE. I slowly realised it's TRUE. :)



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Rugby League - one of the 3 Aussie footballs

A taste of Australian Rugby, with colleague Jim and his wife. Very Aussie and I truly enjoy blending into their local cultures, having a meat pie, french fries, and a couple of beers to cheer for my favourite team, Rabbitohs.!!! Go Bronco's!!



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Bondi Beach - DHL is everywhere!

Mei Ching came to visit her bf, Chong Ming and they both made a stop in Sydney. Darn happy to see them, and was of course more than willingly to host them in my spacious, hotel-like apartment! We checked out the famous Bondi Beach, known

We removed shoes to stroll along the beach, and feel the water. We simply couldnt understand how people surf when temperature is down to 15 degrees. Then I touched the water, it wasnt as cold, and later I realised the surf suits were in fact quite thick and weather proofed.

Being in Australia's beaches, I thought I would be lucky enough to see Bondi lifeguards, if not a rescue , at least a demonstration lifesaving run! Unfortunately they were only meant to be on duty during summer, or spring. So what's up with DHL? Yes DHL is the main sponsor for life surf savers and their programs. DHL is big in this program in AUS and NZ.

So, no surfer dudes to impress, so we left when the sun set. The ocean view was a beautiful one though. The sky was coloured pink, purple, blue, to reddish. We slowly head back to city, for another round of Pork Ribs for me, the super irresistable signature meal in Pancake on The Rock. So good that we were on the queue for more than 30mins. Yes, in Australia, I must say people queue up for really good food unlike the land of Singaland.:)



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Team Dinner w Loz, I call her Boss! :)

First team get-together dinner at The Rock, which the restaurant has the most spectacular view of Sydney Opera House. The Rock being one of the oldest cities, has a colourful history dating back to convict days. There is also Sydney's oldest pubs, Fortune of War and still the happening ones. Loz said it could get really crazy inside, but she said no details until you experienced yourself. gee...so secretive.

So we had dinner. I was obsessed with Pork Rib, so I got one, lucky only a half as the rib was huge!! Also had my first taste of Kangaroo meat, since 4 days ago, I first touched and fed them.:) Anyway, why guilty, when population of Kangaroos are millions in Australia, not suprising if more than Aussies themselves.

Loz is my unofficial BOSS! I couldnt be more thankful to have her, she's like my Big Sister, I can be very frank with her, and also be very mean and abrupt, and not being offended. The trick is smile while saying that!! And we both do it well! :)



Team Dinner MY PEC

Whale Watching - not my taste

Another incredibly touristic stuff I did this weekend was Whale Watching. Paid A$80 and boarded quite a nice vessel, 3 storey deck. I didnt think it was really worthwhile to go, in fact more like a let down for me especially after a 3-hour cruise. I managed to see 2 huge whales though, but they were little jumps and turns,and plus it was darn far; like 200m away. Some people said it depends on your luck, but I think it depends on what emotions you get and senses you apply with the experience. I use only sight, and when you barely see them, trust me, you feel more cheated than disappointed!!



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In the afternoon, we headed down to Manly Beach for a good fish and chip, and we were lucky enough to witness a Passing-the-Cross ceremony by some youths around the world. It was a pre-event for WY08, and held the symbol of Jesus blessings and bringing peace and harmony to all humankind.



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My FIRST life sight and feel of Koalas!

Blacktown, where I stay is not very vibrant, and generally not safe too. Lucky for us is that there is still a tourist place located just 10mins away from our home which is the Featherdale Wildlife Park. Yes, so we went to see AUS native animals; Koalas, Kangaroos, Emus, Wallabies, Wallombs. Cant believe my eyes when I first saw the Koalas. They were incredibly cute, cuddleable and fatty. I also cant imagine how pampered were they. Heaters were provided for them, and they will not eat leaves from you hand. How sensitive is that! And the caretaker also said they only the bite the ends of leaves where they are most moisturizing. They are darn lazy but can be adorable at the same time. I remember one was sitting on the little branch, blinking his eyes, then slowly stretching his legs back and front, and all of a sudden falling back to sleep. I took pictures, and cant stop taking more. Kangaroos however were not the best looking ones. Even not active, as I imagined them to be hopping and being healthy brown looking. I have just an Aussie friend who told I must erase that stereotype of Kangaroos, as Kangaroos can be quite lazy, and skin colour not being dark brown denotes only their species not health level.

The zoo was very small, by 1pm, we were done. I was craving for cycling, so we took a taxi to Nurragingy Reserve Park not knowing if we could rent a bike. There was no cycling rental but I managed to rob one from a bypasser! haha.. just 10 mins though. Couldnt help it bcos the landscaping and scenery was absolutely gorgeous. It was a perfect place especially for family picnics, and wedding photo-taking sessions. Today itself, being the 07/07/07 there were 3 wedding couples. It is amazing how this park is restored and maintained as it was burned down by forest fires years ago. Many people dont know but in Australia, one common thing is all trees destroyed by fire, regrow naturally by their branches genres, and not spread by its leaves buds.

We then went dinner at Paramatta, which is actually a very old town in Australia, first building seen in 1790s. It was back then place of mostly convicts (some being Italians), farmers, guards and perpetrators. The best thing about Paramatta is that it has the BEST chocolate dessert in Australia. I swear the chocolate Bakka was covered with full creamy melting chocolate, so good we almost licked the plate!!
I am serious, it was that good!



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