Memories of the Land Down Under…
16th August, 2009 - Pauline, Joshua, Jay Mi (my sis) and I took off to Melbourne. I was honestly glad to leave the hustle and bustle of life since, I was extremely tired of the life back in Malaysia – physically, mentally, spiritually and emotionally. Those who knew my state of conditional did hope that I would gain something more than just a good holiday. I didn’t think this trip would do much help, but surprisingly it did.
This was the first time I sat in a plane too! And you bet, I was pretty excited! The midnight flight that we took didn’t help much with sleep. I dosed off a little, here and there, hoping that it would be enough for the long day ahead but it didn’t help much. The plane touched down the following morning and with sleepy eyes, we headed off to our apartment.
17th August, 2009- We dropped our baggage in “The Mantra on Russell”. The apartment was amazingly convenient, since it was in the heart of the city. And I loved that place! The girls didn’t think of bunking in there at first, since we had made a few arrangements with a few of the other girls, but thanks to Jonathan’s kind hospitality, we were able to stay in the same “depot” - for convenience’s sake and it saved us a lot of time too.
Shortly after that, Joshua brought us on a short tour in the city – which includes a delicious breakfast (sandwiches with cheese and bacon) by the graffiti streets of Melbourne city (Degraves Lane) and the everlasting, unforgettable taste of a hot chocolate.
The hot chocolate- This hot choc, kept us craving for more. We craved for one every single day! 
Every day-time meal that we had, was always with a hot choc!
18th September, 2009 – We headed to Victoria market for some shopping. I was personally amazed by how clean the market was! The cleanliness was nothing like Malaysia! “I love this place”, I thought to myself. “This is THE place to live!”. We had two lunches this day. One was by ourselves (near the market) and the other was with Josh’s and Pauline’s friend, Sophenie and family, along St Chapel Street. The Japanese food we had with Sophenie was delicious! Josh even had a second helping with rice and sauce 
. I was extreamly tummy belly full!
Later, we took loads of pictures at the Shrine of Remembrance and the Botanical Garden. (pictures would be posted up by Josh. Do remember to take a look at Joshua’s Facebook photo album.. hehe)
The most memorable time I would ever remember was attending “Urban Life”, aka cell group, in Malaysian terms – led by Pei Jet (the UL leader). Her fire and spirit reminded me of who I’d used to be. She reminded of my first love with God and during those few hours with her and her members, God reminded me of the time “we” use to have and the moments and promises He had given – those fulfilled and yet to come.
God had definitely birth something wonderful in me that night. I came to remember Him. I came to understand His plans for me and the reasons I had to go through all that I had gone through. I came to understand that His plans are always good - plans of life and not one that harm.
19t September, 2009 – I sat in the coolest convertible ever! (We rented it for a days’ trip) and recorded a video of the convertible (hopefully Josh remembers to post it up) – for the jealous eyes of those who have not sat in one!! (haha) and took some amazing pictures up at Mount Dandenong, Tessellaar Tulip Farm, Miss Marples and the Observatory. It was cold though. Really cold! – especially when the sun’s’ beautiful warm rays were hidden. I think I had worn 3 layers of clothing on this day. Gosh!
20th September, 2009- Camberwell flea market was pretty amazing. I had never seen so much willing buyers grabbing for a second hand item! At first I was kind of put off by the thought of buying something that had been worn/used by some strange person I did not know. But after awhile, the fancy stuffs sold there started to really amuse me. There were pretty cool stuff on display and I bought a nice leather glove for AUD20. I think that’s a lil pricy but what the heck!
Planetshakers church was our night affair. God spoke right through me again. I remembered His awesomeness. I remembered that He is love. I remembered His care. I remembered that He is a God that is all knowing and all loving! I can honestly confess that there we times that I felt so lost in all that had and is surrounding me, but at that Sunday evening service, I knew He was still there leading me though everything.
The following days, we made a trip to Ballarat (to see my cousin), watched the Royal Melbourne Show, had a nice picnic with Pastor John and his lovely family in Brighton Beach, saw nice colourful huts (or I think that’s what they are called), visited my Aunt in Vermont South, got our tyre punctured (we rented a car) whilst getting a fine for not paying our parking spot! We didn’t had to pay the fine though. (Long story, let me tell you when I see ya’ll).
Throughout the 10 days as well, I was blessed to have eaten Korean, Malaysian, Vietnamese, English, Aussie (kangaroo meat), Hong Kee’s ”chows chows”, had fantastic durian ice-cream in Laigoon St and drank loads of hot choc! I think I ate too much!
I bought loads of chocolates too!
All in all, it was a splendid excursion! One of which I’ll remember forever. I love the loads of nice and wonderful people I’ve met:
- G-Ee and G-Teo – for their hospitality
- Wei-Fong and Dom – for always keeping us warm in Balarrat
- Joshua - for being a fantastic and patient tour guide
- UL members – for a wonderful time in cell, the Kebab stall and our last dinner on Friday
- Jono Ong – for being so cute! (haha) and for opening up his apartment for us to bunk in.
- Tjokro – for being so cute! (haha2) and for the car rides and seeing us off to the airport.
- Pau Pau – for missing us when we were away at our Aunt’s.. hehe.. and being such a wonderful CFO..
- Ah Boon – for the nice meal me and sis had with Christine and Ben.
Agape
Shi Na
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