Supposedly I was going to create a list and pen down on my thoughts about my "upcoming" trip but my job right now no chills man. Every time there's always peak period and I don't really have much time to write at home after work. Sigh Pie
Anyways, I will let you know the experience of having to travel with big groups + makcik2. What I can say is that it is tough. Your inner self saying you want to explore the town and go all out but we have to think of them, their energy and HUNGRINESS (ok, not only them. Us also lah)
Physically, in front of you, they will say they are okay but they get tired easily. And sick. Leg cramp, pain knees, giddy, fatigue and all.
They overthink and scared. This is normal. They will overthink about alot of decisions that we make and whether it is safe bla3.
They will start to be pushy, naggy and authoritative (which eventually I gave up and walked away)
But all in all, we managed to get things done and cover 90% of our planned itinerary.
Day 1: Hitched at my cousin's place. It was SUPER cold when we stepped out of the airport and was drizzling. Crazy hell lah we all. We had our breakfast + lunch at Epping North Shopping Centre, some kebab shop selling halal food called Diwan Grill. Actually, that area are mostly halal restaurant and selling halal poultry. We headed to her home to shower and rest, then we went to the pond are to take beautiful shots before heading back for dinner.
Woolies!
The other side where you can see the halal foodies. My cousin going to move to this place in 2-3 years time. We will wait for her to move and we can visit her again
My cousin's children and her backyard
Outside her place. No fence needed!
Their houses divided by trees. Komain makcik2 ni
At night, we went to 24-Kmart. It was an amazement that it is 24 hours as Aussies don't have shops open after 5pm. Most of the shops and supermarkets closes at 5-6pm.
Day 2: We woke up early and had a scrumptious breakfast and chitchat, looking at my cousin's wedding photos and laughing at it. We headed for DFO st Essendon to buy somethings to discover most of the things there are the expensive brands that have up to 40 - 50%. I didn't buy much compared to my brothers. I saw the Corelle shop but did not buy anything yet. We spend nearly 2.5hrs there and we went to Hume Islamic Centre. The biggest Islamic place where all the shops there are selling Islamic stuff like Quran, clothings and halal meat. There too is a very spacious masjid inside the centre and the cafe was so awesome!
Gmabar kenangan kite makan. And see we all wear our coats. Ka dlm pun masih sejuk
Hume Islamic Centre from outside
The cafe has girls/women lounge. There will be no fitnah of sitting beside men. There's also family lounge with doors for wives on burqa so they have more privacy.
The Superstore
The musolla
Saw this advert near the ladies musolla. Cool or what
Such a different vibe altogether as I felt we were minority of the minority (Muslim in Australia and Singaporean Malay between muslims) because of how they design the cafe differently with separate spaces. Something different but the ukhuwah and community is very strong. The area was filled with other muslim businesses like clothes, car wash/repair, electronic stores, halal poultry and more. Because we are so used to Singapore where majority are Chinese business owners even in Geylang Serai area (market fishmongers, vegetables and fruits, jual kain and curtains, electrical and barang2 dapur. Malay only jual tudung, baju muslimah, buku agama, carpet and makanan)
So we bid goodbye to my cousin as we will be heading to our own adventure in Melbourne as she will be busy with her kids as it is school week. We headed to our beautiful Airbnb. Our first love. hahah. The house is so nice even though it is owned by Chinese, it is a nice place altogether. The house decor is nice, the house arrangement and the kitchen is perfect. Only thing is that the house is quite cold even we switched on the heaters all over. Tak caye, go and head over to Airbnb.
Very spacious and IKEA concept. Love!
I love their concept and art work!
The place is super clean and very nice arrangement. There's 4 bedrooms and 2 toilets to go. Equipped with fridge, stove, hood, microwave oven, dishwasher and cooking utensils like pan, ladles, spoons, forks, knives and scissors. For us muslims, we had to cleanse it specially as we don't know if there are non-halal food stains (impure) on these utensils. Its called sertu in Malay which simplifies the English explanation of Islamic ritual cleansing. It is to wash 7 times, 6 with water and 1 with mud/soil + water. But fret not, we brought out Tahara soap and cleanse the area. Simple!
Day 3: We didn't engage our driver as we wanted to walk on our own. Going to pier and the beach, take pictures and all. Then headed to the city. Their level of trust on people paying their tickets is awesome. Their train station do not have gantries and you just tap on to the stand to pay. Most commuters around Melbourne are free for everyone and not only tourist. Their WIFI system is excellent. Went to Coles again to buy food and unnecessary stuffs like Timtam. hahahha
Cute seagulls at the beach
Beautiful old buildings
The famous Flinder Street Train Station now in preservation stage. Dang!
I was wishing that the GPO was like in Ho Chi Minh, those old school and you can post it to yourself. Well, its not. It's H&M store lah guys. sigh
Day 4: We started our tour Puffing Billy, Cuckatoo, and Philip Island
Then we had our food at Miah Sambalicious: Local food! Sedap giler okay. Nasi lemak rendang, nasi lemah ayam masak merah. And he is true blue Singaporean. Happy sangat dapat jumpe Singaporean in Australia. Haha.
Then we went to another DFO at South Wharf. Got Pyrex plates there too and bought it. hahah. I think this one is smaller compared to the first one my cousin brought me too.
Day 5: We started our trip very early in the morning to go to Ocean Road because it was very far and long route. It was cold, windy, cloudy and rainy day. Pictures are very gloomy and cloudy, not so much of blue skies as we kept running into shades because its keep raining.
Beautiful scenary
We took this same route but the other way round, we go by blue and came back using the white route. Better view definitely with the waves and all. Too beautiful. Because we had our tour guide, he only brought us to 3 points: 1- 12 Apostle, 2- Loch Ard Gorge 3- London Bridge. We didn't get to go to the lighthouse, the Grotto nor the Logan's Beach. I'm not sure it is not from the package or something. We went Apollo Bay to have our really early lunch. There's only 1 halal food stall called George Food Court, selling great food. The portion is quite big for all of us who are small eaters. And supposedly we ordered with salad but in the end we only have to pay for the salad and sauces (the main food and drink were paid for in the package).
Before the crowd comes in
The halal cert. Most halal cert in Australia consist of having halal meat in their stall because some of them they would still want to sell wine and beer. But some unfortunately do cross contamination with pork, so be mindful about that. For ours, they don't sell pork nor wine in this
Before we start our long journey, we had our delicious food of Afghani taste.
We had Afghan food at Afghan Masala
Add caption
Koala!
Before the freezing rain
Waiting for the penguins to arrive and we sat patiently in cold winds and drizzling. My little brother was terribly shivering as he doesnt have any fats.
Day 7: Last day: Brighton Beach and Victoria Market
Acah #followmeto tapi pkai adik nye tangan. lol
Personally, I REALLY enjoy Australia, the whole of Victoria and not only Melbourne. Melbourne is such a wonderful city with beautiful buildings and very friendly people around. I really enjoy the free WIFI internet in the whole Melbourne. I love the countryside too as it is very peaceful and the landscape, masyaAllah so awesome. Even my eye sight improved! I missed Victoria and already planned to migrate there. I don't want to stay in stressful Singapore anymore. I love the beautiful weather there. I love the houses, the farms, the people.
I CANT MOVE ON!
I really left my heart there where everything seems simpler, easier, no hassle, no abundance of social network. Its really real people and real life. It also makes me feel so humble and small. We travelled like every single day around Victoria and once I stood at this forested area, I told myself: "If I were to raised here and live here, no one actually knows who I am outside this area, no one actually cares and bothers what you wear and all, everything else don't matter, we don't matter" It is indeed a very vast land and no one actually cares what you eat or where you hang out, only city dwellers like us cares so much of our social network and like to keep up to date of something that is superlative. The whole Melbourne was having free WIFI and I dont bother to upload everything and anything with it. The city itself gives the vibes and tremendously different. I am a different person when I came back and I was in a post depression syndrome of having too much fun during the trip. I hate Singapore of their working culture, I hated how unfriendly we are and we are very individualistic people. I hate that we do't spend so much time together as a family because we are too engross with social network and work. We cared so much of how much we get for our Os and As and which school we attended and we look down on people.
I even worked up to migrate to Australia and those plans are legit! Is just that I can't leave A here alone and I cant expect him to come with me and find a job in Aussie and just settle here. It wouldn't be fair for him but that's how thing works, for now.
and cleanse the area. Simple!
We took this same route but the other way round, we go by blue and came back using the white route. Better view definitely with the waves and all. Too beautiful. Because we had our tour guide, he only brought us to 3 points: 1- 12 Apostle, 2- Loch Ard Gorge 3- London Bridge. We didn't get to go to the lighthouse, the Grotto nor the Logan's Beach. I'm not sure it is not from the package or something. We went Apollo Bay to have our really early lunch. There's only 1 halal food stall called George Food Court, selling great food. The portion is quite big for all of us who are small eaters. And supposedly we ordered with salad but in the end we only have to pay for the salad and sauces (the main food and drink were paid for in the package).
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