|C|andid |K|aleidoscope

6:45am - Woke up to help Yvanna close the door. She is working half day today, so we’ll be taking a bus on our own and meeting her in the city at 11:30am.

8:30am - Woke up with a start!  Del all of a sudden shouted my name as she realised we had overslept.  The alarm was set for 7:30am but I hit it off when it rang and went back to sleep.

9:30am - Left home and walked to the bus stop.  We found out we had just missed the bus as there was specific time intervals between each trip.  Had to wait for about 45mins for the next bus to arrive, so we entertained ourselves by taking photos and laughing at silly things.

10:15am - Boarded the bus and paid the student price as the driver thought we were students!!  Paid only AUD$0.60 instead of AUD$1.30…

10:30am - Arrived at Wellington Bus Station.  Wandered around, taking photos and came upon Cotton On which was also having a great sale with everything going for below AUD$20!!

Made a round in Target and Sports Girl.  Accessories there were going at a really cheap rate so we bought more!!  Went to Jays Jays to try on some clothes and Yvanna called to say she is around the corner.

12pm - Went for lunch at a small cosy Korean restaurant.  The food was great!  We were lucky we arrived at the restaurant earlier as about a half hour later, the place was packed.

Went back to Wellington Bus Station to take a bus home via the train station and lingered awhile to take photos.  We were happily strolling along when Yvanna exclaimed that the bus has arrived!  We quickly made a dash for the bus.  The driver again thought Del and I were students…

1:30pm - Finished up our last minute packing and proceeded to take silly photos again… I guess we all tried to linger around awhile longer to prolong our moment in Perth…  It started to pour quite badly as we were leaving the apartment… Even the Perth sky was weeping together with us… The wind was blowing and we had trouble lifting our now bloated luggages out of the apartment and into the car.

2:15pm - Arrived at the Perth International Airport.  Del and I went to check-in while Yvanna went to park her car.  We were told by the guy that we were to go to Gate 01 immediately for boarding…

Waited for Yvanna to come and we went to the departure gate together.  All of us were so unwilling to part, but we knew we will meet again soon… We hugged our good-byes and Del and I entered the departure gate…

At Gate 01, we waited for awhile, bought a magazine and nougats to be brought back for family/friends and boarded the plane…  Onboard, I watched "Before Sunset" and although it was full of dialogue, I thought it was really good and reflected very well the meeting of two people who were very distant yet bonded by a chanced rendezvous they had a couple of years back.

8:45pm - Arrived at Changi Airport.  Bought some alcohol and beer for my dad from DFS. 

As we were stepping through the boundaries of the customs, we were at the same time stepping back into our daily routine life, which is always craving for and looking forward to another wonderful holiday…

Our luggages are now filled the things we have collected from all the shopping we did… and our minds are now filled with the bagful of memories we have collected from the great times we have spent together… [SOS, Nick Lachey, Robbie, Shakira, Paris Hilton, Yap Chao Chao, Yap Ah Meng, Mariah Carey poses, garlic smell...]

Collection for the day: one jacket, one top, one necklace, one bottle of Chivas, 2 packets of nougats, three cans of Tiger

8am - It’s our last full-day in Perth!!  As with every holiday, I didn’t want it to end so quickly!  But all good things will come to an end… will just have to make the best out of every waking moment!!

We got ready for our tour of Swan Valley and finished watching SATC.  It almost brought me to tears seeing how sweet Smith was to Samantha and how everything worked out for Miranda and Steve in the end…

9:45am - Arrived at Burswood.  We hung around waiting for the bus to appear.  When it was about 10:15am, we panicked and started having paranoid thoughts like: Did we miss the bus?  Did they forget about us and leave?  Did we actually book it for today?  What if we made a mistake and booked ourselves for yesterday?  Or worse still, for next Sunday?!?!  Yvanna then decided to call her friends for help to get the contact number and she left a voice message for tour company.  After awhile, they returned her call and informed us that the pickup time was actually 10:45am and NOT 9:45am!!  How silly could we get?!?!

So we got some breakfast at Dome before heading back to the pickup point.

10:45am - Boarded the mini-bus and our first stop was Lilac Winery. We could taste any wine we liked on the list given and Yvanna bought the Chenin Blanc which tasted quite good.

The second stop was Garbin’s Wine Estate.  The Verdelho produced by Garbin’s was supposed to be so good that it gets snapped up by retailers in Sydney even before the locals at Perth can get their hands on it.  As a result, Del and I each bought a bottle of it.

After Garbin’s, was a short walk to Jane Brook for our lunch.  It was fantastic!  The salad, spread and cheese was lip-smacking and the portion was so big that even when two of us were sharing, we couldn’t finish it!  I bought honey and fig jam to bring home to my mums.

By the time we reached our third stop, we were all bloated with wine in our stomachs but we couldn’t resist the delicious cheese provided for sampling.  There, we met an elderly man who said he was borned and bred in Singapore, Katong but has now moved to Australia.  He really was hiarious and even understood our lingo!!

Our last winery stop was at Lancaster Wines.  There, we tasted a really sweet Chenin, perfect for desserts, bottled really nicely.  We couldn’t resist not buying it.

Next was an ice-cream outlet called Oggies.  We bought two scoops to share and headed on to The Margaret River Chocolate Factory.

We were surrounded by chocolates and although I am not a big fan, I still couldn’t resist wanting to buy and try the different varieties on sale.

5pm - Arrived back at Burswood where we picked up Yvanna’s car and drove off for some dinner at Nando’s.  The chicken was spicy and delicious and after sharing one whole chicken, we decided we wanted more and ordered another half chicken to share!

After dinner, we went to the Leederville supermarket in search of the spread we ate at Jane Brook.  We couldn’t find it and ended up buying some chips and Nudie juice which I have been wanting to get for Pee, after seeing Del drink it at Subiaco the first night we were in Perth.

9pm - We were all knocked out after the long-day tour and all the wine we drank.  We washed up and had a glass of the sweet wine we bought from Lancaster.  After trying to make sense of "The Ninth Gate" - which Yvanna borrowed from VideoEzy - but couldn’t, I fell asleep hoping this trip would not end…

Collection for the day: one bottle of Verdelho 2006, one bottle of late-picked Chenin 2005, one bottle of honey, one bottle of fig jam, two bars of chocolate, two bottles of Nudie Juice

8am - Woke up to a sunny day!!  Exactly what we wanted for a day of sight-seeing!

10am - Arrived at Freemantle.  We were all hungry, so we started the day with some fresh seafood at Kailis’ Cafe!  The seafood platter Yvanna and I ordered was delicious!  One thing bad was that there wasn’t enough mayo, we all only had one packet each…

A short walk brought us to a bustling market selling all kinds of knick knacks.  Del bought some tea for her boss, while I browsed around, absorbing the sights and sounds around us.  After more shopping, we stopped for coffee and just relaxed under the sun.  But it got too hot for us to bear, so we decided to head back to the car.  On the way, we took silly photos again and laughed our heads off…

2pm - Arrived at Cottesloe.  It was a beautiful place with houses facing the sea and people scattered around taking a stroll or bringing their dogs for walks.  The sound of the sea and faint breeze made me wish I am living in one of those houses lining the beach…

3pm - Dropped by Claremont again for more grocery shopping as Yvanna forgot to get some of her toiletries.  I took the opportunity to show Del SJP’s haggard looking hands…

4pm - Arrived at King’s Park.  It showed a magnificant view of the Perth skyline.  if only we were here in the evening, when the lights will be twinkling against the velvet black sky… The view would be breathtaking.

We spent our time at King’s Park taking photos and attempting to lie on the grass but deciding it will be wet and dirty our clothes…

5pm - Arrived at a market in Subiaco.  Chose some beautiful flowers for Yvanna’s place and headed back for some home-cooked food.

7pm - Yvanna’s cooking is great!  We had rice, chicken and vegetables.  I wish I could cook but somehow I’m just not that interested in learning how… She couldn’t find enough bowls so we had to eat vegetables out of a big plastic tub, while watching telly.

Did some packing, relaxed abit and decided we would go for a drink.

11pm - Arrived at Brisbane Hotel.  The music was blaring and it looked quite packed outside.  But when we walked indoors, there wasn’t as many people around and we could find a table easily.  Yvanna had a gin and tonic, while Del and I tried their local beer from Little Creatures.

12am - Back home to bed!  Another early day tomorrow as it’s our tour of Swan Valley!  We couldn’t remember if we were supposed to be at Burswood by 9:45am or 10:45am but decided it should be the former…

Collection for the day: a pair of earrings and necklace for sis