January 17th - 18th Phuket, Thailand

"A Day in Phuket"

We jetted on an early morning flight to Phuket after Victor's departure on to Hong Kong 30 minutes before us. After landing in Phuket we headed straight for Patong Beach where we checked into the Baumanburi Hotel right across from the Hard Rock Cafe. Patong beach was packed as usual and cluttered with big commercial brands like Starbucks, McD, Burger King. It is certainly a place to be if u are looking for just a slight bit of change from a western country. Patong is well known for its nightlife and the bars are packed with entertainers, dancers, and cheap drinks!

We spent most of our day shopping and wandering around the streets just checking out the sights. The tours we had already done while we're in Krabi. One interesting thing that did happen to us was being recognized by a vendor. He must have been from Krabi, because he recognized me from wearing a shirt that said "no money, no honey". It was an interesting experience nonetheless. haha

December 31st '08 - January 4th '09 Sydney, Australia

"Happy 2009!"

31st of December 2008, we caught an early morning flight from Gold Coast to Sydney. It was nice of Jerry to pick us up at the airport which gave us a bit more relaxing time at our Ibis Olympic Park hotel before heading out into the city centre later in the evening. Our Olympic Park experience was very good. Novotel ran the Ibis check-in counter, the lobby was very impressive as for any Novotel hotels. The construction that turned the former dump site into an Olympic Park for the 2000 summer Olympic games in Sydney is beautiful. although a bit of a commute via train from the city, the park is filled with beautiful hotels and venues. We didn't have much choice as all the hotels in the city was booked up.

We caught a train into the city later in the evening, grabbed a quick bite at a Korean restaurant, before headed down George Street towards the Rocks, there we squeezed ourselves into the crowd and hung around for the fireworks. The 9pm show was good and the midnight show was grand. Sydney is world known for its fireworks display. It was amazing and I think it could have been a lot more enjoyable at a further distance because our best view was the bridge, rather than all three barges.

On the 1st New Years day, we visited the famous fish market. We think is because of New Years that it wasn't as packed as usual. The three of us enjoyed a seafood lunch by the harbour and took a drive a by the famous Bondi beach.

Our first two nights were at the Ibis Olympic Park, while our last two was at another Ibis in the city on Pitt & Liverpool, right across from the World Square and a stroll away from Queen Victoria Building, Paddy's Market, and Darling Harbour. On the first night in the city we did a lot of walking around the World Square before the four of us headed for a moonlight cinema. On our last night, we simply walked around downtown and too pictures, especially around Darling Harbour and Sydney Harbour. We later on waited till it got dark before heading out again for night shots after a Korean dinner.

December 28th - 31st Gold Coast, Australia

"Crikey"

Gold Coast, Australia is magnificent. Beautiful beaches, weather, and people gives this city a wonderful personality. The blazing sun during the day was something we both had to get use to after being in a humid country for a while. But the difference is clear once we stepped foot into Aussie.

We stayed in between Broadbeach and Surfers Paradise at the Crowne Plaza Surfers Paradise hotel. The hotel itself was great, very spacious room and friendly staff, however, it was a 20min walk to Surfers Paradise. Good thing is that the bus stops are right at our doorstep. We did a bit of walking on our first day and on the second day we went off on a tour to Noosa and the Sunshine coast. We stopped by the Australian Zoo home to the late Steve Erwin. Noosa was beautifully designed, is very much like Denman and Davie on a sandy beach.

We hopped on the bus which took us straight to the Currumbin wildlife sanctuary. There we played with Kangaroos and got a picture with Koala. Queensland is the only state where we get to hold a koala for a photo! Look how worried Blinky is when Susy is holding him.

December 20th Kuala Lumpur

"Around Town"

After spending a few months here, we finally got a chance to head around the city and just do tourists stuff. Although I've been around KL many times, there were still a few main sites I've yet to see. First off was the palace or Istana that we constantly drive by every day. We got a chance to take pictures with the horses. Later on in the day, we ventured off to the KL towers. This was a very difficult place to find, we were able to see the Tower from a distance, it was so close yet so far. In the end we manage to figure out from all the one ways, closed medians, and tough directions. Sinage, streets, and city design isn't quite driver friendly in KL.

After having a late lunch in the KL tower. We took a short drive to the Pavilion shopping mall where we spent the rest of our evening and took some night shots of the streets. The following day we also visited a temple by Bukit Saputeh.

November 22nd - 29th Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia

"Wedding Bells"

This was Alvin's special night, as many family went home to take part in his wedding. Family members helped pitch in in getting last minute preparations done down to the T. Overall it was very nice to see a lot of family members whom I've either never met or haven't seen for a long time. It was a very busy and hectic week yet it turned out amazing! My mom flew in just the nick of time to join in the evening dinner making the event much more memorable.

November 8th & 9th Singapore

"Happy Birthdays"

On our birthdays, we took a trip by bus down to Singapore. Although it seems to be "just down the road" to some, it is still a 5 1/2 hr. bus ride. We wanted to do something simple that we both enjoy but can hardly do it in KL. After checking in at our hotel the Clarke Quay Novotel, we strolled along the Singapore river in the evening, walking, talking, and laughing. This one trip celebrated both of our birthdays mine on the 8th and hers on the 9th. This was a short one night weekend trip to a place down the road which we are both quite familiar with.