Greetings from Canberra, Australia

Yoohooo...

I've always talked about living alone on my mountain top but I never know how independent I am or can be. And back home with my loved ones, it's hard not to be dependent on everyone else. As I entered the gate in Terminal 1 to Aussieland, the journey of exploration of self and the big world out there had just begun, as well as the test of independence...

My family.

& my aunt nagged at me not to get an angmoh boyfriend back. Well, I dun have much interest in getting a boyfriend, let alone an angmoh one.

My squadys who were in Popeye, the exact place where we sent Prils and shans to Aussieland. Haha Caught ya!!

Thanks for coming to send me off, not forgetting ah ting too (sorry forgot to take photo together, but I have one whole album of ur pics with my lovely noong deer & our thailand-ing days) & all who sent me messages/ called me before I left.
Absence makes the heart fonder na! 5 months will be over very soon.

What can be a better thing to do on the flight to Australian than to watch Australia on the plane which gives a quick intro to the history of Australia. I love the little boy.
Breakfast at 5am. I feel overfed on the plane, but cool I luv'it!

Was expecting to see the usual luscious green tropical rainforest and was shocked to see the endless stretch of brown dotted with sparse vegetation. Then I realised I'm out of the Tropical rainforest biome, and in a desert/ shrubland biome ( I think so)

I managed to get my 27.4kg luggage through without paying. Phew. But I was worried about checking in the luggages again in Melbourne airport. Due to the delay, my plane landed at 715am instead of 630am and I had a domestic flight to catch at 830am. And the thunderstorm caused a delay in transferring of luggages from the plane to the conveyor belt. It was around 750 when I collected mine and had to rush to the domestic airport. My nightmare came true: I wasnt allowed to board the plane with my huge backpack and was told to check-in my luggage. I thought there goes my 300 AUD even before I even reach my destination, so I asked how much will that cost me.
"No worries, you are NOT on jetstar, it's free!"
PHEW!! 松了一口气！

My First meal in Canberra - phat thay, which costs AUD$6 and it's not aroy at all. but I was indeed surprise to see many thai food restuarants here. I converse in Thai with the stall holder and was mistaken as a Thai until I decided to speak more and my lousy Thai gave me away.

I thought Singapore was hot enough. Within 1-2 hours walking around the city, I was burnt and my eyes were roasted. It was 40 degrees at least, but the heat did not seem to affect the Multicultural festive mood. Everyone seemed comfortable watching the performances while basking in the hot UV rays.

I was really impressed with the number and diversity of the social groups available in Canberra, ranging from Environmental clubs to associations for the poor, women, blah blah.. Cool! Luckily I arrived just in time to catch Multicultural festival in action!

Things never go too smoothly for me as usual. I tripped on my way back to the youth hostel YHA Canberra City and wounded my knee. The wound was inflammed for one full week and is still in the process of recovering.
My luggage couldnt be opened and I had to ask my German room mate (who looks so much like Phii Daaw and their laughter sounds alike too!!) to give me a hand. The stubborn lock wouldnt give way and I had to borrow the tool from the reception to cut it open. Hooray.... 0_o"

YHA Canberra City

My room - 4female shared dorm costing AUD35.5 per night.

Dinner on my second night. Pasta (WITHOUT mushrooms) with canned tuna and leftover drink from breakfast on the plane.

Within 1 day in Caberra, 3 people said I spoke good English / Mandarin/ Thai, but i didnt really find it very flattering though.
I guess they assumed that Asians cant speak good English and Singaporeans cant speak good Mandarin, and my attempt to pass off as a Thai failed.