Sarikei and Brisbane

If Sarikei is located next to the sea.. it'll look like Brisbane! (minus the population of course). Some part of the rivers that I see is murky, there's plenty of mangrove growing near the rivers. The weather is tropical and hot, with plenty of vegetation around. You get what I mean for Brisbanites or Sarikeian readers.

Other similarities? Sarikei has couple of interesting bridges as well the lastest two being one over Nyelong river that's just completed and opened for public use and on the other end is the 'Red Bridge'. This Red Bridge is nearer to Bintangor but its like smaller version of Storey Bridge here. Everytime I drive under these bridges I can't help but feel amazed and start looking up instead of keeping focus on the road.

Brisbane is also home to the crocodile hunter... whereas Sarikei is home to the crocodile which is caged in Murudu temple next to the Sarikei River.

Actually what I'm trying to imply here is that I miss Sarikei for once during this time of the year when everyone is going back for Chinese New Year. This will be the 2nd year I'm missing CNY. In fact, this year will be a near miss. I'm scheduled to finish flying here on 26th January itself which is the 1st day of CNY. There's another similarity here. That very same day... its Australia Day which means its public holiday here! Due to that.. even myself can't conclude what's gonna be the plan later...

What does CNY mean for most of us? It used to be visiting open houses and enjoying the foods there. Foods range from chicken curry, rendang to red dried cuttlefish, bakua, kuachi (dried sunflower seed) and pistachios. But more recent years, as all the friends start to work out of town, it becomes a social reunion with family and friends. Its an excellent idea and time cause everyone will be back at that time unless situation does not permit that (like me!!)

Oh well, I guess CNY and life still goes on.. Happy Chinese New Year to everyone especially the 5Sc1 guys Class '96 (you guys know who you are!). Hope to see you guys soon, will try to edge my way back soon..

December Smile

Few days right after I arrive at Maroochydore.. I saw a shooting star. I made a wish which I can't reveal right now. Even before I arrive, I tried to read up on what's interesting here. Surprisingly, one of the tours that this particular Brisbane website recommended is the UFO sightings. I guess this is few of the more unconventional tourist attraction to the home state of the Great Barrier Reef.

Two weeks later, I gazed into the sky again.. and guess what I see this time? See for yourself!

The sky is smiling down on me! How wonderful.. why worry about tomorrow? Live in the moment.

Some extract from Fox News:

Australians are getting a big hello from the heavens as Venus, Jupiter and a waxing crescent moon combine to create a celestial smiley face.

Local astronomers said that Venus and Jupiter had appeared side by side in the evening sky over the past week or so, but Monday night would be the best night to see the "face" appear.

Viewers in Western Australia have the best view, with the moon appearing closer to the "eyes" formed by the planets.
While the planets and moon appear to be close together, in reality they're not. The moon is 250,000 miles away, while Venus is 93 million miles away and Jupiter 540 million miles away.

"Home is where your heart is... God doesn't promise to protect us from problems on His earth. Instead He promises to give us the courage to face our problems with His strength. Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass.... It's about learning to dance in the rain"

Happy Advent to everyone. It'll be Christmas soon!!

Sunshine Coast-Brisbane-Gold Coast

Some background about Brisbane. Its the state capital of Queensland which covers the north east of Australia. Described as the fastest growing city in Australia, evident by the number of construction and road works in and around the city. Its the gateway to great barrier reef to the north of the city. The city is flanked by two tourist destinations namely Gold Coast to the south and Sunshine Coast to the north. We're staying in Maroochydore which is an hours drive from the city in Sunshine Coast. Weatherwise, its similar to tropical countries minus the humidity, plus all the beaches you can get and some kangaroos along the way. Brisbane in general is quite low lying and you can see marshlands not unlike those in Sarikei where I grow up. Queensland is also home for the Australia Zoo which hosted "Crikey!" Steve Irwin.

For 1st time since we reach Queensland, its time to chill out. My initial impression is that everybody here will be friendly and good natured as in Perth. I'm half correct. The other half is monster when it comes to driving in the city. Everybody was driving into the city on Friday night to see the Christmas Tree light up and that caused massive jam. I guess that's how it is in big cities around the world.

Sandeep missed our Swan Valley road trip when he was with us in Perth so he made sure that there was a road trip organized when he's around this time! So down south we drove to Brisbane in our huge 8 seater Terago.

The plan is to have no plan! We'll its all well until we found out that we're having difficulty finding accommodation there at the very last minute. All the happening places are near the backpackers and there's plenty of chicks all over the world walking around. After having dinner and sending cadet off to the airport, we went to check out the city by foot and then settled down for a beer or two. The view of the Brisbane Bridge is quite nice and the city is still bustling with people looking for night life.

Next day we drove down to Gold Coast only to manage Surfer's Paradise. Along the way we passed by all the theme parks such as Dream World, Movie World and Water World. That's for another trip due to time constrain (and not to mention gloomy sky). Gold Coast's skyscrappers are as impressive as Brisbane itself if not better. We walked around for a bit before driving back to the City's Direct Factory Outlet and then straight back to Maroochydore. I guess we'll be organizing more trips after Deep is back in Singapore again.. muahaha....

The drive into Gold Coast

Surfers Paradise