I was back home in Manila just over a year ago around Christmas time. Now, I’m back here for more punishment. My memory of my previous stay was not the most pleasant. I was actually surprised at how much better it is to visit Manila outside of the Christmas season. Reasons? Less traffic, less crowding and less heat.

I couldn’t believe that it is less hotter here in September than it was the last time I was here in December two years past. I suppose it’s due to the rainy weather. It’s still rainy season, after all. Thankfully, it hasn’t actually rained much since we’ve arrived. I never had the need to bring out my umbrella from my bag.

Although it may be heaps cooler right now than previously, I still found myself sweating. A lot. Heaps! I couldn’t stop sweating the moment I step out into the open, beyond the range of cool air-conditioned air. Trying to keep myself dry with a help of a hand towel was like trying to bail out water from a sinking boat. I’m not sure where all that water is coming from, actually. It’s really a bit much.

When I’m finally back in the comfort of an air-conditioned area, it takes a while for me to stop perspiring. In the end, I still end up with a wet shirt, wet hair and sticky skin. Disgusting, I know. But that’s how it is since my arrival in Manila a few days ago.

Whenever I’m in shops, the security guards (for you non-Filipinos reading this, there are security personnel for mostly every shop) would look at me suspiciously. I don’t blame them. I look like I was guilty of something the way I was perspiring profusely.

Raquel found it funny that we came across some people who were wearing jumpers and jackets in this warm weather. It wasn’t even remotely cold outside! Even at night. I must have been away from Manila for far too long. I remember my previous American employers complaining about the same thing. And now we’re the ones doing the complaining.

I was hoping that these sweating episodes would last a maximum of four days. But it’s day six now and I’ve only started to adjust to the humidity and heat. That’s a bit of good news, I guess. I don’t feel the need to change my shirt yet.

In the meantime, I’ll probably continue to take refuge at air-conditioned malls and hotel lobbies until I finally stop melting in this humid place I call home. The only things that make this trip worthwhile was that I get to be with family, relatives and long-time friends again. And probably the chance to do some inexpensive book shopping. If not for these, I’d rather be back in good old Melbourne.

When Raquel and I went to Japan last year, I discovered this wonderful softdrink called Mitsuya Cider. It tasted like a cross between 7-Up and Juicy Fruit. That’s right, the chewing gum. I was an instant fan.

On the day we were to fly back to Melbourne, I came to a sad realisation: I wouldn’t be able to drink anymore Mitsuya Cider. That is, unless I can find a shop in Melbourne that sells the drink. Unfortunately, I’ve looked all over the place and couldn’t find an Asian shop that sold it.

Today, we went to the big Asian shop in the city to get some siopao and siomai. Since I was already there, I decided to look for the drink again I’m their drinks section. Well, it wasn’t there, as expected.

However, there was a drink being sold there that caught my eye. It was drink that I saw numerous times in Japanese animation. It was a variation of Ramune, the drink that’s sold in a glass bottle with a glass marble in it. Except the one in the shop was sold in a can and was called Ramu Bottle instead.

I’ve been very keen to try the drink since seeing it in anime and now’s my chance to sample it. I know I should’ve tried it when I was on Japan but I just totally forgot about Ramune and it wasn’t a drink I noticed being sold there. I would’ve instantly recognized the odd bottle.

Anyway, I bought it had a sip of it. To my delightful surprise, it had the same Juicy Fruit taste I loved about Mitsuya Cider! At last! Although I couldn’t find Mitsuya Cider anywhere in the city, I at least have a nice substitute for my favourite bubblegum soda in Ramune.

I’m so happy! I can’t wait to get back to the shop and get some more.

We’ve been planning a trip to the Gippslands since last month. I’ve pored over brochures, surfed for information about the area for countless hours and we’ve both filed for a one-day annual leave to make a long weekend out of the trip. Wilson’s Promontory looks like a dream in photos and hubby and I could benefit from a little bushwalking so I was really looking forward to the trip.

The only thing that prevented me from booking accomodations is the niggling feeling that the weather may not cooperate and we might end up staying indoors at a hotel in the middle of nowhere. We decided on waiting one week before the scheduled trip before booking anything to see what the weather forecasts would say. Unfortunately, the forecast wasn’t encouraging at all - rain, windy and cold. I don’t mind the cold so much as it’s the middle of winter here and it’s to be expected. But to bushwalk in the rain while being whipped by strong winds? No, thanks.

I didn’t have a plan B at all and had hubby come up with something else. The forecast for the whole Victorian state wasn’t particularly good and so we either have to cancel everything and just stay home or go interstate. Gabriel had a brainwave and came up with Brisbane. We’ve never been there but we’ve heard good things from people who’ve been and it’s nice and warm there. Of course I thought he was kidding at first but quickly found out that he was serious! A frantic search and booking of flights and hotels followed and we’re all set, with no idea of what to do there or where to go.

We left a cold, dreary day in Melbourne and arrived to a perfect, sunny day in Brisbane City. We took the train from the domestic airport to the city (something you’d expect a major city like Melbourne would have but nope, we have to make do with a shuttle here).

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Anyway, we stayed at a fantastic serviced apartment at M on Mary where we got lucky and got a room with a view. We walked around the city, watched The Dark Knight at Myer Centre, ate heaps at Hanaichi (won’t they open a branch in Melbourne soon?) and did the touristy thing by riding the ferry and going on the City Sights bus. We also visited the weekend Southbank Markets where hubby discovered the Wicked Banana, which is a banana injected with chocolate in the middle. Our feet were always sore at the end of the day but we had lots of fun and enjoyed the sunshine. Good thing too, since it was pouring down and we got soaked when we got back here in dear old Melbourne.

They say that traveling opens up a person to new things and experiences and consequently helps in giving that person a different world view. This in turn makes the person grow, in more ways than one. Following are some thoughts on things that I’ve experienced and learned from on our trip to Tasmania. If nothing else, this entry is something like a note to myself to remember our trip by.

• It is cheaper to fly to Tasmania then hire a car there in the short term than to ride the ferry from Melbourne and bring our car. A co-worker who has been to Tasmania several times has said that it only makes sense to bring the car on the ferry if we’re going to stay in Tasmania for a fortnight or more.
• There is no easy way of going around in Tasmania other than by driving. Also, be prepared to drive on winding roads. Even major highways are curvy so the driver has to pay attention most of the time.
• There is a lot of road kill, I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say that there’s something that used to be a living thing splat in the middle of the road every few hundred metres.
• Most of the wildlife around Tasmania are nocturnal. Consequently, we avoided driving around after dusk to avoid contributing to more road kills and possibly car-related accidents.
• Tasmania is quite scenic and tranquil, perfect for relaxing. However, since we were after the magnificent natural views, we had to bush walk. The shortest walk we did was the 20 minute Enchanted Walk at Cradle Mountain and three walks of two hours each elsewhere. Now, that may be nothing for some people who regularly hike but for two couch potatoes who spend their whole day seating, it was quite tiring for us.
• We only spent four whole days in Tasmania, visiting several towns and driving a minimum of two hours each way to our destination. It’s a wonder we actually got to visit most of the items in our itinerary.
• We had our first encounter with an alpaca in the town of Sheffield - a town we only reached because we missed a turn at the highway. No complaints though as we love this little town of murals.
• It was also in the town of Sheffield that we first saw the word spider on the menu of the local restaurant. We had no idea what it was and were intrigued. Unfortunately, the service was slow and we decided to eat elsewhere so we didn’t have the opportunity to order the mysterious menu item. We later found out through a free Coles brochure that a spider is actually what we’d call an ice cream float, that is, a scoop of ice cream on top of a glass of fizzy drinks, typically soft drinks.
• The highlight of our trip for me is our visit to Cradle Mountain while hubby loved the Cataract Gorge at first sight. Also, we both enjoyed browsing and shopping at Salamanca Market in Hobart.
• It was our first time to stay at a bed and breakfast (when we were in Swansea) and I have to admit that I was quite apprehensive when I booked the room. Hubby loves his creature comforts even while traveling and we learned the hard way that a nice, clean bed is worth a lot after a long tiring day. I’m glad to report that our first B&B stay was great - gracious host, clean bed, tidy room and a hot, filling breakfast almost made us feel right at home. The only thing that we were concerned about was our noise level while watching tv before bedtime. We ended up turning in early for fear that we might be disturbing the peace for the other guests. It was just as well since we needed our beauty sleep just then. Dunno how we’d fare though if we had to stay for more than one night.
• Since we only stayed for a few days, we didn’t get to see the other amazing places in Tasmania. Some future destinations on the island that would be on our list are Strahan, Port Arthur, Russell Falls, Tasmanian Devil Conservation Park and perhaps even do the Tasman Island cruise featured in GetAway.

Overall, we had a fantastic time and would probably visit again given the opportunity.

We just returned from a six-day vacation in Tasmania earlier this week. I honestly thought that it was going to be a bit ho-hum over there but, as it turned out, I actually liked the time we spent there. I usually hate driving long distances but driving all around Tasmania’s highways didn’t bother me one bit. I love the scenery there and the quaintness of it all. If I wasn’t working in IT, I can imagine myself living there and loving it.

Anyway, enough words. Here are the photos grouped by locations, sorted in chronological order.

Launceston

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Sheffield

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Cradle Mountain

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Bicheno

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Freycinet

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Swansea

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Richmond

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Hobart

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We’ve been taking an earlier train since hubby started on his new job and I must say that the train system is in terrible need of reforms. To illustrate, we arrived at the station bright and early Tuesday morning. We had to find parking in the quickly filling parking lot then rush to the platform from our out-of-the-way parking space to hear that the 7:46 limited express service has been cancelled.

Groaning, I nervously hoped that the 7:51 express service don’t get cancelled as well as it’s now only a few minutes before the train was supposed to leave but there’s not a train in sight in any of the platforms. Waiting in the cold with the other commuters, I also realised that this would be one crowded trip as most of the passengers of the cancelled service are also taking this service. With just a couple of minutes left, we finally heard a train approaching but relief turned to disgust as we saw “the clanker” (Mitsubishi train) pulling into the station.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I prefer an old, dirty train to no train at all but it just doesn’t give me the confidence that it would get me from point A to B comfortably. This train has no heating, rattles and vibrates at every turn and has less seats than the newer train models.

With the cancelled service and having to wait twenty minutes for the next one, you could bet your boots that everyone on the platform got on to the clanker despite their misgivings. Who knows if the next train would even show up? I’d take a miserable service that’s already there anytime rather than hope for a better one that don’t have any guarantees of running.

Half the seats were taken by the time the train pulled out of Werribee and the remaining half were filled by the time the train left the first stop, Hoppers Crossing. By the time we got to the second (unscheduled) stop, Aircraft, there was no chance of getting a seat and everyone was standing on the aisle. Shivering and all squished in, the thought of cattle being transported on a truck to the slaughterhouse came to my mind. Interestingly, we pay for this privilege and subject ourselves to the same predicament everyday. You’d think any sane, self-respecting human being would have learned that it does not get any better and clamour for change or get the hell out to find a more humane way of getting to work.

With worries about the environment, rising cost of living and another interest rise looming, people are trying alternative ways of travel without their cars. Add to that the rising population of the state and you can see why the current system is now at breaking point.

The only consolation for us right now is that at least the services in our line start at our station and we get first dibs on seats on trains that do show up.

For the Queen’s birthday long weekend back in early June, Raquel and I returned to Ballarat to see Sovereign Hill again. We’ve been there once before when we had our honeymoon here in Melbourne (and only because we still lived in Canberra back then). Anyway, Sovereign Hill is a sort of cultural theme park. It’s a recreation of a Victorian mining town of the 1800’s.

Sovereign Hill has recreated buildings from 1800’s Ballarat and even had actors going around the town posing as town folk. It makes you feel like travelling back in time to the gold rush era. It has a very similar feel to an American wild west town and I suppose it should be expected as it was basically the same time period. So, these Australian mining towns would probably have similar clothes, tools and techonology to American wild west towns from the same era.

Last time we visited Sovereign Hill, we just took a tour bus and so we only got to stay and explore the town for maybe half a day. This time, we spent the whole day there and we also watched the town’s boasted night light show.

Instead of retelling the events of the day, just go to our photo album of our trip and read the captions there:

Ballarat 2007

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