The Long Weekend

Date: 25-28 Dec 2004

Saturday, Christmas Day!
Weather was great - sunny @ 28 Degrees Celsius. Excellent day to be out in the sun - exactly what I did! Left the apartment at 730am (the car got to be out from the parking lot before 7.45am, remember?) to head for St. Kilda Beach which is south of the Melbourne City.

Beautiful beach overlooking a lighthouse on the left & a pier on the far right where I saw the first biggest cruise ship the "Sapphire xxx" (oops! couldn't recall the full name) ever to come to dock in Melbourne! This cruise ship is so big that it cannot go through the Panama Canal because of the width of the cruise... so big it has a 9-hole golf putting facility!

The beach was a bit deserted - not the usual Summer Beach scene with people swimming & surfing & sun-tanning - guess 'cos it is Christmas Day & they have better things to do! Still, I'm not the only one standing enjoying the sea breeze & bright sun. There are couples strolling, man jogging with his dog, a family setting up their picnic table, some woman jogging... And there is this old man standing on this skateboard-like thing (with bigger 4 wheels), each hand holding on to a string attached to a parachute up in the sky - basically the parachute caught the wind & by pulling the strings caused him to skate forward. I've heard of para-sailing, para-gliding - perhaps this is call para-skating?! Wish I had taken a picture of it - actually, I left my camera in the apartment... What a shame!

Rest of the day was spent in the apartment - watching television & yes... alone... indeed it was a Silent Night!


Sunday, Boxing Day!
Any idea how did Boxing Day come about? I've no clue either... perhaps it's worth an effort to check that out in the web... Can some one do that & share the information in my TagBoard or my NotePad?

It seems that Boxing Day is a shopping day for all Aussie - all the major stores like the David Jones & Meyer have huge sales! They are opened as early as 7am today! I was there around 10am & for once there is no queue at the window display outside Meyer where it has an automated puppet show which is based on the story The Polar Express. So, taking advantage of that I watched the non-animated version of the Polar Express - nice!

Had my lunch at Macdonald's - Crispy Chicken Burger (think we have the same in Singapore?) - sat out in the sun, along the Victoria Market Road. Only this time, I'm very sure there are no flies! Was happily eating my French fries & reading the newspaper when I noticed there were 8 pairs of eyes watching me... then the boldest one began to approach & bug me! Apparently, they were eyeing on the fries (not me)! Arghh... sparrows! Sure the Lord had great humor to use insects & birds to keep this lonely soul company... ha!

Very much the same as Christmas Day, my afternoon & evening was spent at the apartment watching television & planning my road trip to the Great Ocean Road - checking the maps, etc... Then watched from the News & learnt about the Earthquake & Tsunami which struck several Countries in the South East Asia - killing so many people who obviously never would have expected this to happen... certainly not from the Indian Ocean! But it did...


Monday, Public Holiday in Melbourne
Despite an advise from a friend to keep clear of the Coast & the weather forecast of rain, I took my car on a road trip - along the coastal line of Victoria State of Australia. The entire journey took 12 hours of my time, covering a total of 500kms - with breaks in between, of 'cos. I enjoyed the long drive & believe those who can drive (especially those who just got their driving license!) would also enjoy this. Took some photos at some scenic views stopover - check them out at "My Photos". Naturally, the entire Great Ocean Road is a spectacular sight but I didn't take any... What? You can't expect me to take pictures while driving?! It's totally not safe!

Surprisingly the car was performing okay-ly all the way through the Great Ocean Road - which can be summed up as a winding road along the coast and lots of up & down hills in the forest route. When I came to the up & down hills part, my ears were blocked & I realized the radio volume was loud at one time & soft the next... So I had to kind of "pop" my ears to release the air pressure but the radio volume didn't seem to improve... That's when I realized there's nothing wrong with my hearing - it's the wiring of the speakers sometimes the right side speaker works sometime it doesn't! So you can imagine that I've a surround sound effect of the radio (in the front not the back, mind you) - only it can be very distracting & annoying!

Having completed the Great Ocean Road, I took another route back to the City - which is supposedly shorter in distance & traveling time. But in reality, it did not happen that way... Why? Because that was when my car started to "complaint"... For some reason, when I floor the accelerator pedal all the way & it can hardly move & it's not a straight terrain - there are plenty of up hills!! The worst part is it's an auto car - even using "L" & "2" gear didn't help much. Traveling at a slow speed of 40km/hr, I was there helpless as I watch other cars zoomed past mine... Plus the "surround sound" radio & a bit of burnt smell (from the engine, I think), I drove patiently until I arrived back in the apartment. Thank God, I'm back safely!


Tuesday, Public Holiday in Melbourne (ya... again!)
Weather forecast for today: Rain in most areas with 17 Degrees Celsius.
Decided to stay in today & had to pay A$15 for my car to be parked in the Serviced Apartment's covered car park so I don't have to drive the car every 15min... A$15 is by far cheaper than the fuel price I had paid for yesterday's road trip - which amounts to almost A$100!!

As I was driving my car from the parking lot along the road to the covered car park, it stalled on me!! Ya... an automatic car stalled on me!! Fortunately, it's a public holiday & there aren't any traffic on the road... Anyway, managed to drive & park it in the building's car park... Gave a call to the car rental company & was told to drive the car to their office for them to run a check on it - which I did. Some how, it didn't stall this time & seems to work slightly better than yesterday - the radio too! It's like when I'm sick (and I know I'm sick!) but while waiting for my turn to see the doctor, suddenly I feel just fine... you know what I mean? Really hate that kinda feeling. Anyway, hope the rental car guy can find out what's with the car...

The moment I was there, the mechanic checked the engine & realized something is not right with it & he offered to get me a replacement car! This time, I asked for a manual car - at least I can better control it with the gear option (never mind my knee)... So! An hour later, I came back with another Toyota Corolla - white, non hatchback, manual gear with power-steering! Of course, it another old car - but behind the wheel, I've a good feeling for it! The down side of this car? Hmmm... it has a rocking driver seat & it takes me quite a while to lock/unlock the car door with the key... Really stupid but hey! nothing is perfect...