上海浦东小馆 Pudong Kitchen (25 Dec)

Chinese meal for lunch on Christmas day after church service. This little restaurant is hardly "attractive" and not noticeable by many except for frequent customers (address: 271 Bukit Timah Road, #B1-02 Balmoral Plaza, diagonally opposite the ACS Barker Road. Open Mon-Sun, 11am-2.30pm and 5.30-9.30pm. Tel: 6732 8966).

We didn't know what to eat for lunch (as usual haha!) and didn't want to go Orchard on Christmas day. So we headed over to Balmoral Plaza as my hubby read that there was a Chinese restaurant which served authentic Shanghai food.

Indeed good, the meal was! Will recommend all to go and try ;) I asked my hubby to go check with in-laws to see if they'd like to eat at this restaurant on eve of CNY hehehe hahah!! The staff said reservations need to be made for CNY when they would be open every day, even on eve, day 1 and day 2 of CNY.

Cold dish - can't remember the name.. some "Ham Hock" thinggi hahah! We both like this! I seldom eat or like cold pork but this was good! Not too salty and you won't feel like you're eating a piece of "oil" hahah!

小笼包 - yummy soup! Skin abit thick but I like haha!

锅贴 - the ingredient within was good! The meat within has been marinated with some dark sauce I think, so it looked dark, not the usual white meat (if you know what I mean hehe). Plenty of soup within the skin too!

Sweet & sour soup - a bit too salty for me but my hubby like (as usual)

Pork chop noodle or 大排面 - I was expecting pork rib but came a pork cutlet which was all the better cos it was easy to eat mah hehe.. the pork cutlet was not too bad but the noodle was too soft and soup a bit bland lah..

干煸四季豆 - nicely stir-fried, retaining the moist within the vege (not as dry as what I have tasted at other restaurants before). A bit spicy due to the chilli, and too salty for me too.. hehe..

Total cost: S$48.80 for the above including chinese tea (S$1/pax). Will go back again!

Australia Day 17-19 (Sun-Tue 14-16 Dec: Port Campbell to Melbourne to Sydney)

Weather was cloudy and windy. Drizzling too ;(

Planning to leave early Port Campbell at 8am for Melbourne so we had a quick cereal breakfast and packed the bread to eat along the way. We had planned to drive from Port Campbell all the way through the Great Ocean Road to Melbourne (passing by Apollo Bay and Lorne) but the staff at the Information Centre said that there were rock falls due to rain in between Apollo Bay and Lorne (which apparently is the best scenic drive route!). Given that we both are not steady drivers (ahahha!!), we decided to just head to Melbourne loh..

Along the way heading towards Geelong, the sun came out! So we make a detour back to go Great Ocean Road via the Anglesea route. Given the time limit, we could only do part of the Great Ocean Road and so the furthest point we drove to was Lorne. Aiyah.. better than nothing loh.. this way, we have an "excuse" to go back some day mah hahaha!

Great Ocean Road "entrance"
Part of GOR

Anyway, I lang-gah the car when making a sharp U-turn hahah!! Blind spot lah! Paiseh!! But fortunately, we need not pay damages as we had bought the max. insurance coverage ;p *sigh*... another adventure eh??!!

OOooopss!

We reached Melbourne city at about 2+pm to return the car. Though the city is well planned in a grid like manner, driving certainly wasn't easy! We were going round and round looking for the hotel we have booked, and what made it worse was finding parking near the hotel. We finally got a spot but it only allowed a 5min parking round the corner where the hotel was! So we had to "cheong" to check-in, put down the luggages then rush out to get the car. It was really a huge sign of relief when we finally got to Hertz!

Accommodation - Pensione Hotel AUD100/night through the wotif "secret deal". Room #333 (3rd floor on a 3-storey hotel). Rather new modern boutique hotel along Spencer St within the Melbourne CBD. Room size was small but fine for sleep, BUT the bathroom was soooooo tiny!!! All time winner of the "smallest toilet we've ever seen" hahaha! The basin was amazingly tiny and with the shelve above the basin, it was not possible to even brush the teeth properly haha!! The standing shower did not have curtains too so the bathroom mat would get all wet. Rating: 6.5/10.

Pensione Hotel external
Room with toilet on the left behind the sliding glass door.

Super small bathroom

Then, we had to "cheong" to Queen Victoria Market hahha!! It was a Sunday when we arrived in Melbourne and because QVM does not open on Mondays and we were going to leave on Tuesday, that was our only chance at QVM. By the time we reached, we only had 1.5hr ;( Also, personally, I think it was quite a disappointment leh.. undoubtedly, QVM is huge but I felt it was like a "pasar malam". We didn't buy anything at all... :(

We went to Chinatown for dinner. We were told we have to try the vietnamese noodles and so we did at this one which had lots of pictures the owner took of big stars like Jackie Chan, Sumo Hung and don't remember who else hahah!! Quite authentic I must say, but we think a lot of MSG went into it cos we both got really thirsty after that ;p

Shop front
Our noodles - yum actually!
Pork chop

The next day was the only and last day we had in Melbourne so we could only do sightseeing around the CBD area loh.. the furthest we went to was Docklands where we had buffet lunch at The New Quay - for AUD25 nett, the buffet was well-worth it ;) Certainly better than Jupiters Casino (Gold Coast)

Horse carriage
St Paul's Church
Federation Square
Buffet @ New Quay
Desserts!

On the day of return, we booked airport shuttle Skybus http://www.skybus.com.au/ which cost AUD15/pax (door-to-door). We flew Virgin Blue from Melbourne to Sydney (AUD79/pax) before connecting to international flight back to Singapore. Return flight to Singapore was on A380! We sat on the Upper Deck hehe!

Bigger screen with more features including word or excel program, photo viewing etc

Compartment by the side of the window seat

Australia Day 16 (Sat 13 Dec: Healesville to Port Campbell)

Again, weather was rainy, rainy and rainy ;(

Breakfast was Beechworth Bakery (at Healesville), which apparently is the best bakery in Australia. I don't know how to rate as we only tried the savory scorn and coffee. But one thing we were sure was the items were not cheap haha! Like the scorn we had, it cost AUD2.45 each.

Call me "mountain tortoise" but I was impressed that such gadget was used to inform customers that their orders were ready for collection. Any of such in Singapore?

Cherry factory we passed by at don't know where hahaha!!

Then we started our journey again to Port Campbell, a long drive passing through the suburb of Melbourne. Using the GPS, it directed us through the toll way!! We only realised it when we were on the freeway! Jialart! Kena fine liao! Haha!

The moment we reached Port Campbell, we headed to its Information Centre and asked about the paying for the toll. The staff wasn't sure but said we could pay at any post office and so off we went to the nearby post office. Fortunately, we were told that we would be fine so as long as pay within 3 days of using the toll. *Phew*! (We bought the pass on the internet at AUD11.90. Other means include phone or at any post office)

Accommodation - Port Bayou B&B AUD110 including breakfast. Hmm.. nice spacious cosy room which was part of the owner's house except that the entrance to this B&B was independent of the main house. The owners were not around when we got there but saw a notice to call and we did. They had left the key on the door and hence we could access. In terms of location, it is very near to the town centre - just few minutes walk. Rating: 7/10.

Bed & storage space
Toilet
Pre-prepared breakfast. The bread was soft & good!

Though it was raining, we had no choice but to still head out to Port Campbell and visit the places of interest (in case weather condition did not improve the next day). Everything was done in a rush because it was COLD! Raining and windy! So, it was just snap & go! We'd like to return some day and do a proper visit, with walks ;)

12 Apostles
Lord Ard
Blowhole
Fallen London Bridge

Australia Day 15 (Fri 12 Dec: Holbrook to Healesville)

Weather was rainy, rainy and rainy ;(

Woke up at 5.30am. Hubby told me we forgot to retrieve from the lousy car the Mandarin albums I borrowed from my cousin - jia lart! There was no way we could get it before we leave Holbrook so we thought we could come back after getting a replacement car.

6.30am - Keith and his wife picked up us from the motel and drove us to Albury. They even checked up where Hertz was and wanted to drive us to where the company was but they were going to be late for the doctor's appointment and hence dropped us along Young Street where Hertz might be (the street was a long long street). We sent Keith a thank you email when we got back to Singapore.

We reached Albury about 7.10am and then went to look for breakfast before we went Hertz (since it would not open so early anyway). Found Hertz and then got our replacement car within half an hour! I suppose this could be considered a good service?

Toyota (Aurion) - the trusted brand!

Anyway, I decided to not head back for the CDs cos the return journey would take us >1.5hrs.. on top of the drive from Albury to Healesville which would take another 3.5hrs. I hope my cousin would not kill me ;p SORRY, KC!!

Accommodation - Maroondah View Motel AUD96/night for a Queen Room. Simple, moderate size room with very small standing shower area (probably about 1x1m ;p). Ok lah, except that the location was slightly off the main Healesville town centre (gota drive about 2.5km). View would have been better if not for the rain and fog. Oh, the (old styled) aircon was really loud & noisy! Rating - 6.5/10.

Front of motel

Queen room

Toilet

Healesville is known for its zoo named Healesville Sanctuary. As it was raining, we didn't visit the zoo but just drove there to have a look. Think the admission was AUD23 per pax.

Healesville Sanctuary entrance

Dinner was pizza & chicken wings from Sanctuary Park Pizza. You should see the generous spread of ingredients they put onto the pizza which cost only AUD10 for any large pizza!

Australia Day 14 (Thu 11 Dec: Berkeley to Wollongong to Holbrook)

Weather was rainy in Berkeley and Wollongong. Sunny beginning mid day along the way and in Holbrook.

After breakfast at Mac, Zee went to return the 8-seater, while hubby and I went to pick up another car (also from Hertz) to continue our journey to Victoria. Zee used his dad's car and drove my uncle and family back to Sydney airport to return to Singapore.

We were assigned a Hyundai Elantra and happily drove off cos it had a cruise control mode (good for long journey). Then, KNS, the car broke down in between Holbrook and Albury (about 5hrs drive from Wollongong)!!!! Actually our destination for the night was to be Beechworth, another 1.5hr drive from where our car broke down! And the spot where the car stalled was the "best" - just about 2-3m from a dead wombat (road kill) - smelly lah!!

Can you see the dead wombat in front of the car?

We didn't even know where we were except we were on Hume Highway (a VERY VERY long highway) so we couldn't tell the Hertz roadside assistant we rang. No choice, I had to flag down cars travelling along the highway (nope, I didn't roll up my pants hahaha!!). A group of Highway workers in a vehicle stopped and told us exactly where we were. In fact, there were a few more good guys who stopped by and asked if there was anything they could help, and even asked if we had food and water etc. Aaawwww.. So nice of them!

Anyway, we waited for almost an hour before the mechanic came (it was 6.25pm). He said it was an engine problem and there was nothing he could do on the spot and hence called the nearest tow truck service from Holbrook (about 15min drive, vs Albury which would be about 30min drive).

Mechanic checking on our car - want to buy 4D or not? Car # 312 hahaha!!

As the Hertz car rental companies have closed by then, there was no way we could get a replacement car. So, no choice, we had to follow the tow guy back to Holbrook. The tow guy was another nice chap. He dropped the stoooopid car off at his repair garage and drove us to the nearest accommodation (diagonally across the repair garage) which he said was not bad.

We were both really pissed off at what happened! KNS! No more Hyundai cars!!! Arrrghhh!! I don't know why, but I was really really upset at the whole incident! It just disrupted my plan, and spoilt my holiday! Thank God for his angels again - I called up the accommodation I had booked at Beechworth (The Rose Cottage), told the owner what happened and that there was no way I could stay there for the night. I took the chance to ask if he would still charge me for no-show, and he assured he wouldn't (was to be AUD110 B&B). Phew!!

Accommodation - Jolly Swagman Motor Inn (Holbrook) AUD98/night. As it was a motel, we didn't have high expectation and were happy to be able to stay anywhere so long as it was decent and not too expensive. We were surprised to see the nicely managed motel, from the warmth hospitality to a classy reception and spacious bedroom! Rating - 8/10, more for the friendly service! Read on..

Motel sign
Motel front
Reception
Bedroom
Bedroom
Toilet
Restaurant

We told the couple who owned the motel, Keith and his wife about our situation, and that we needed to head to Albury where the nearest Hertz was. Coincidentally, Keith told us he needed to send his wife to the hospital in Albury the next day and could offer us a ride! Thank God! Though it was very early, like 6.30am, we were really grateful! Wouldn't know how to manage without transport (it would take 40min driving at 110km/h from Holbrook to Albury)!

We also paiseh, so we settled for in-room dinner from the motel. Homemade soup, swaggie pies and calamari cost us AUD34 - not cheap but we just wanted to give ourselves a treat after the stressful situation!