4 Months
Saturday, August 9th, 2008The following events took place between 13th April to 3rd August 2008.
Elective Posting in Australia
I wouldn’t consider it as a posting…it was more like a holiday, 7 weeks of it. But it wasn’t all fun, there was ups and down. Great experience nevertheless. It could have been better with people such as Anip, Ponik, Nadia, Nurah….etc. around, not that Asma’,Sibah,Sya, Ramzi and Akmar weren’t great, but there was room for improvement. It was life changing. All the planning and hard work by the 5 members made this possible. And I think I haven’t thanked them enough. Here goes; thanks to Akmar for contacting the people in Amity and inviting me into the team, thanks to Asma’ for contacting the Malaysian students over in Melbourne and planning out the places to go, to Sibah for handling the visas and police clearance, to Sya for handling the letters and sponsorship, to Ramzi for the letters, sponsorship and pics. And to all of you for bearing with me and my stupid jokes and maybe some occasional PMS…and special thanks and love to my sweetheart for taking care of me and being there for me when I need you. (this is MY blog, no problem with PDA here :P)
So what have I gained during my stay?
1.Weight and PJK
2.Wallabies are smaller than kangaroos
3.Great friends in Aussie…Arif (adik ipar?), Rosman, Faris, Fira, Farhan, Rahmat, Tiqi, Abang, Arif, Ijard, Afzal, Nashrul, Ali, Mr Tony, Faye, Beverly…and so many others especially those at Amity South Morang and the ikhwah in Melbourne and Adelaide
4.Test driven 3 cars (Nissan Latio/Tiida, Hyundai Elantra and Toyota Estima/Tarago) and drove across great roads, especially the Great Ocean Road.
5.How to handle geriatric patients
6.Prayed on the road side, in the park…something not done in Malaysia
7.Stayed with crazy aussies in a rented house in Epping
8.Cooked spaghetti, nasi goreng
9.Walked 10 km a day and crossed the Sydney Harbour bridge and back again
10.Fed kangaroos, wallabies, wombats
11.Stayed in freezing temperatures (sub 10 degrees) wearing only a T shirt and jeans
12.Qiyamulail in freezing temperatures
13.Ran out of fuel only a few kilometers away from the airport in the middle of a highway and making it to the check in counter (than x Mr. Aussie Man with a Holden)
Australia is an amazing country. The people there are nice and sincere (I trust the people there more than the people in Malaysia). The weather was great (if u have proper clothes) but the cost of living is rather high (not as high as London). And to those who always
complain about how life is difficult as a student in Malaysia…you have no idea about DIFFICULT. Yes, they get considerably more funding but they have to cook themselves, get their own house and have to save to get home. Imagine AUD 3 for the tarik…that’s RM 9 for a cuppa! Back home we tend to forget how easy things are. Lapar malam2?….naik motor, pi TAJ Corner makan roti kosong the tarik, then balik. And we have food everywhere…of course they can cook, but mana sama ngan maple (mamak) and mum’s cooking. So basically, we should count ourselves lucky. There’s so much to say about Australia, so many experiences to talk about…but you’ll just have to see me to hear the whole story. Here are the points of interest that you should visit.
Melbourne:
1.Victoria Market: You’ll find lots of souvenirs here. You need at least 2 hours to shop here (depends on the person). Try to go on Saturdays before 3 pm to get good bargains on fresh produce.
2.Flinder’s Street Station: You won’t miss this
3.Federation square: Great architecture with some exhibits
4.Yarra River walk: It has beautiful scenery especially at night. You can also stop by at the National Arts Gallery and Crown Entertainment Complex to look at API NERAKA!!!
5.Albert’s Park: A significant place to visit for F1 enthusiast (get a car and drive around the track when it’s open to public). Non enthusiast should go to as it’s still a beautiful place to visit.
6.Melbourne Museum: Nothing like the ones here
7.Philip Island: 2 words KENE PEGI!
8.Great Ocean Road: KENE PEGI JUGAK kalau ada duit and kete.
9.The ice cream shop at Lygon street: Expensive but worth it.
10.The kebab shop at Preston: Murah (don’t convert) and banyak.
11.Epping: The far edge of Melbourne.
Sydney:
1.Malaysia Hall: AUD 4 per night. Must go if you’re patriotic!
2.Paddington Market: SHOPPING
3.Darling Harbour: There’s a Maritime Museum, a zoo and aquarium, a light house and a bridge.
4.Sydney Opera House: THE ICON
5.Sydney’s Royal Botanical Gardens: Nice place to chill and just lie on the grass
6.Sydney Harbour Bridge: Try walk across is and back…good exercise with a great view
7.Blue Mountains: This requires a day trip. Get on a 2 hours train ride out of Sydney. Then get on a hop-on hop-off bus which will take you to all the places of interest. It should cost slightly above AUD 30.
The trip back to Malaysia was very eventful. Starting with; the car running out of fuel barely a few meters away from the highway exit and 30 min from departure, someone’s bag full of souvenirs bursting open in Darwin, missing the train to KL and getting duped by a Johor bus operator. That’s a lot in 7 weeks.
