Brother & Sis-in-Law in Australia..

woohoo~!!!! FINALLY! everything is over! YES! completion of Thesis means my studies life as a student is finally over... of cos, i muz wait till after the results to see how i fare. anyway, tis entry is to talk abt my happenings after submission of thesis. my feelings abt my thesis writing shall be highlighted in the next entry.

the moment after thesis completion was full of excitement and tiredness. reason being: my brother and sis-in-law came over to Australia for a short holidays! hahaha... so i had to bring them around and i went to Sydney with them for a few days. it was a good getaway for me as i need to breathe some fresh air out of the house. i had been anticipating their trip for a long while. it is always a very good experience to have someone from home visiting me here and i love the feeling of having someone close to be by my side. moreover tis time round, the timing is so rite. juz when i need a breather, there i have, my bro and sis-in-law's company. heehee... :D

06/06 - DAY 1: Arrival of Brother and Sis-in-law

on Fri morning, i set off to take the 1st citycat to city so tat i can take the 630am air train to airport to pick my bro and sis in law up. then at abt 730am, i saw them coming out of the gate. heehee... excitement rush up to my mind. really great feeling to see someone familiar among the crowd. there we r, off to pick up the rented car and headed back to my place. i guess it was too early and my mind was not functioning yet or i was juz too hungry without breakfast cos i brought my bro to 'holland'. haha.. meaning we went the WRONG way by exiting at the wrong exit! well, after much hassle, my mind finally opened up! so we r FINALLy on the rite track back to my place. then on the way back, we dropped off at Mouth Coot-tha for a quick snap shot and quick overall view of Brisbane's landscape.

early in the morning @ Mount Coot-tha, highest point of Brisbane...

then while i was printing my thesis for submission, Brother had a nap. i guess he was really tired out with the over night flight. he kept saying tat age is catching up so he can't tahan no sleep for a night ah. whahaha... around noon time, both of them followed me to uni for my thesis submission and at the same time, gave them a tour around uni. then we headed to Chinatown for lunch. whahaha... my all time fav - roast duck, chicken and BBQ pork.. i told brother tat previously when my family was here last yr, i intro them to this place for lunch and my Dad really love the roast duck. being as 'china' as my Dad, i bet Bro will enjoy the roast duck too! hahaha... so indeed he had a very yummy meal, good enough to wake him up before we continue our citycat tour along the river. brought them to take the citycat and a short walk around city before we had our dinner @ KFC! hahaha... my sis-in-law said she would like to try diff KFC @ diff places. we headed home around 9pm as it would b a long day ahead for us for the next 2 days and since they did not have enough sleep, resting early is really a wise choice.

Me & my sis-in-law @ Story Bridge...

07/06 - DAY 2: Sunshine Coast

woke up early in the morning to prepare to set off for a day trip to Sunshine Coast. Sis-in-law prepared American style breakfast, scrambled egg, baked beans and small sausages for breakfast. yummy~!!! then we set off @ abt 8am to Eumundi Market which is abt 2hrs 15mins drive away from Brisbane. it was a wet day with morning rain and strong wind blowing. along the way, it was gloomy weather. when we reached Eumundi market, the rain stopped but the weather remain cooling. walked around the market and the rain started again. not a very good day for outdoor markets. so around noon time, we left the market for the various factories on our way back to Brisbane. 1st stop was Ginger Factory. had a walk around the factory to look for gifts and soveniors. and of cos some photos' opportunity. hahaha...

after some temptation, Bro actually volunteered to take photo with this Big Teddy Bear @ the Teddy Bear shop in the Ginger Factory. hahaha... hmmm... there shld be 2 Teddy Bears in this photo, rite? one brown bear and one black-white bear with specs! hahaha...

flying kiss for teddy! i remembered tat previously when Huiying, Tess and I visited Ginger Factory abt 2 yrs ago, there is no notice tat we can take photo with tis teddy bear. so we took some illegal photos with the bear but now there is a notice saying taking photo with this teddy bear is perfectly alright! heehee...

Mr and Mrs Lim with Ginger Breadman...

2nd stop was @ Nutworks which is opposite the Ginger Factory. we bought some macademia nuts from the factory and had our snack @ the factory before heading off to our 3rd stop, the Big Pineapple...

Brother acting cute @ Big Pineapple ah... whahaha...

i must have some hand sign too in order not to lose out to tat acting cute Mr Lim...

Sis-in-law is trying to climb the Big Pineapple.. hahaha.. great attempt!

piggyback @ Big Pineapple...

Oh ya.. we noticed tat the pineapple is mouldy liao ah... time to refurbish the pineapple ah... hahaha... at abt evening time, we decided to head back for early dinner and rest for day so tat we can prepare for an overnite drive to Byron Bay for sunrise. i brought them to Salt and Battery for fish & chips dinner. heehee... feedback was good. :D

08/06 - DAY 3: Byron Bay & Gold Coast

at abt 2am in the morning, we set off to Byron Bay after some supper. it will be abt a 2hrs and 30mins drive to Byron Bay from Brisbane. furthermore i was not very familiar with the route and it will be dark at night so i told my brother to give allowance for time in case we get lost. previously whenever i go to Byron Bay, pple driving knew the route so i did not need to check on the direction but tis time round, i had to be familiar with the route while brother drives. Brisbane's street directory did not cover the part of the road between Gold Coast and Byron Bay. so with some map i downloaded from the internet and the road side along the road, we made it to Byron Bay without getting lost! hahaha... though it was a straight road drive, i was still worried. cos it is Brother's 1st time driving in Australia and i know tat he is still very tired so i did not want to get lost and waste time to find the rite way there. along the way, we r cautious abt our route. as we r approaching Byron Bay, we had our eyes opened up wide and big to look out for signs to lead us to the rite way. thank goodness, with our corporation and coordination, we made it to Cape Byron Lighthouse, the most easternly point of Australia mainland. woohoo~!!! 3 cheers for the Lim's! hahaha...

however, the weather was not very favourable. it was raining pretty heavily when we reached so we did not had the chance to leave the car for some star gazing before dawn. we had to stay in the car and waited for the sunrise. so we took a quick nap before making our way up to the lighthouse for the sunrise. the weather did not get any better. strong and cold wind was blowing hard on us and rain was drizzling away. facing the ocean, i can feel the cold air splashing on my face, forcing me to stay awake. i had a tot in my mind tat is 'will i b able to see the egg yolk sunny leh?' haiz... juz as i expected, tis trip to view the sunrise is kinda a disappointment.. take a look @ the photos below and u will understand wat i mean...

@ abt 6.05am, the sky is dark with some patches of brightness from the faraway horizon..

@ 6.16am... brightness slowly set in and rite in front of me lies this very cloudy sky...

@ 6.44am.. is the time when the sun is suppose to smile brightly on us.. yet we were greeted by this extremely cloudy horizon... disappointment set in..

@ 6.53am, finally i saw some sunray forcing out of the clouds.. @ tis point, i am pretty sure Mr Sunshine has already woken up, is juz tat it was blocked off by the thick cloud

@ 6.55am... sky is getting brighter yet the clouds r not really clearing but the rain has stopped

@ 7.10am, the sunray is getting more visible...

@ 7.13am, i decided to go for the last shot for this sunrising moment. cos i concluded tat taking the sunray will be the best tat i can get. haiz...

i saw the sunrise in Autumn and Spring and for both ocassions, i was never disappointed as i was greeted with the egg yolk liked sun. totally satisfied with the photos taken for the previous 2 times. sunrise in Winter is damn cold with strong and cold wind and kinda disappointment with only sunray. guess the only consolation for tis trip is the company of my bro and sis-in-law and tat i finally knew the way to drive to Byron Bay, no longer follow blindly anymore. hahaha... anyway, more pics @ Cape Byron before we head to Gold Coast.

Cape Byron Lighthouse...

Byron Bay Coastline...

Cliff @ Cape Byron.. look @ the wave splashing against the rock.. is damn windy la... brrrr...

then abt 1 hr drive, we reached Surfers Paradise. my reaction was getting slow so Brother reckoned tat i need to recharge. true enough ah, i need BREAKFAST! hahaha...

@ Toscani's cafe along Surfers Paradise, we ordered our BIG breakfast & pancakes! wooohoo~!!!

while waiting for the food to be served, Brother & I decided to have some fun with the camera and my sunnies...

Man in Black!
after acting cute @ Sunshine Coast, Brother decided to act cool @ Gold Coast... hahaha...

i mus not lose out to him... i muz try to be cool too! heehee... tis is called cheeky cool! whahaha...

woohoo~!!! so many items for this BIG Breakfast!!! yummy~!!!

a plate of pancakes to be shared... yummy~!!!

a walk along Surfers before we headed back to the car

abt 20mins drive to Harbour Town for some shopping and by then all 3 of us were really shack, esp Brother. so we decided to head back home at abt evening time. bought a whole chicken and peri peri chips from Nandos. Sis in law cooked some ABC soup and i fry some vege and with some rice, tat was our dinner. by then, i was really tired out. i juz wanna bath and sleep ah. if not, i cant tahan the 3 days Sydney trip sia.

09/06 - DAY 4: Depart for Sydney

1015am flight to Sydney. by the time we arrived, it was abt 12noon. we checked in to Holiday Inn @ Darling Harbour and set off for lunch @ Chinatown. after lunch, it was time for some photo taking session and walkaround the city. however, Sydney's weather was not really great. it was drizzling and gloomy which make it nicer to sleep in than to go out ah. hahaha... anyway, we managed to drag ourselves out to walk around and headed to the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge for photos.

taken on the plane before landing...

Brother trying to 'touch' the Opera house..

see! i can reach it too! :D

muackzzz~~~!!! flying kiss for the Opera House..

Brother and Sis-in-law @ the Sydney Opera House...

Brother & I @ Sydney Harbour Bridge...

Sydney Harbour @ Dusk... nice view!!!

10/06 - DAY 5: Bondi Beach & Darling Harbour

is Brother's 28th Birthday today! woohoo~!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY Brother! early in the morning, we had our breaky @ Chinatown. it was a Taiwanese style restaurant with very authentic Asian style breakfast. it had been a long long time since i had such yummy asian style breakfast. soy bean milk, congee, rice roll and you tiao! woohoo~!!! it will be perfect if there is a plate of Economical Fried Bee Hoon ah! hahaha... anyway, i muz not be greedy. i am very contented with the breakfast @ Zhu Ma Ma Taiwanese cafe @ Sydney's chinatown. hahaha... moreover, juz direct opp the cafe, there is a traditional bakery shop selling super yummy egg tart! yippee!! freshly baked egg tart out from the oven... gosh~!!! simply heaven! after such yummilicious breakfast, we headed to Bondi Beach. finally i saw the sun when we reached the beach! woohoo~!!! time to embrace the sunny weather ah!!!

wave coming in @ the beach with surfers heading out for their morning surf...

tis is NO computer graphics or photoshop effect ah... is taken with my camera photo... i simply could not resist the clear blue sky and lovely beach.. so with my camera phone, i took so many pics of Bondi Beach until my handphone run on low batt for the rest of the trip. hahaha... i simply love tis photo!!! the sky and sea is so blue and clear... gosh~!!! Aussie sky and sunny weather is the BEST!!!

Day 5 ended with a steak dinner @ Darling Harbour. as a form of celebration for my brother's birthday. then we sat around and to chit chat before heading back to our hotel. soon is end of the trip for both of them and can see tat both of them r extremely tired out after days of early waking up and walking around. for me, it was tiring too. but i had alot of fun. hahaha... cos it had been a while since i last go on a trip with my brother. our last trip overseas shld be to Shanghai abt 4 yrs back. with him beside me, i will nv get bored. cos he will be there to irritate me constantly and i will be there to entertain to his nonsense constantly. whahaha... i certainly miss all his nonsense and crappiness ah... muz endure abt 2 more mths before i can be entertained by such irritating nonsense and crap by my brother ah... haiz...
anyway, i bought something good back from Sydney which can help to kill my time for this holidays! woohoo~!!!!

DVDs from Sydney Chinatown... shared by Brother and I cos both of us r fan of kungfu shows. & tis is really good bargain. abt 30bucks for 5 DVDs, each disc with abt 7 shows... wooohooo~!!!! all the DVDs r with me now, i can slowly rot my time with them ah! whahaha...

my main purpose for the trip... Haigh's chocolate!!! woohoo~!!! 66bucks worth of Chocolates... of cos not all r mine... some r for frens while abt 4 packets r for myself la. whahaha... last chance to enjoy tis yummy chocolates ah! satisfied with my purchases! yeahz!!!