As you fabulous peeps would've already known, I've been in Sydney for the Easter break

Took a million photos throughout the week -as usual,  I hope I won't take forever again to blog the whole thing!

Walked by the Queen Victoria Building early in the morning

Was supposed to wait for my cousins to meet me but couldn't seem to find them anywhere!

So I walked and walked the streets of Sydney… taking in all that this city has to offer.

It was huge and busy for such an early hour! I had to drag meself outta bed to even make my way to the city this morning.

T'was a slightly wet morning, with the pitter-patter of the drizzle from above

I've noticed how certain city centers like Melbourne, Singapore and Sydney has immense volume of pedestrians crossing every other street. Especially when the lights at the zebra crossing turns green, a human stampede will follow thereafter.

Unlike Kuala Lumpur back at home, where everyone pretty much cross the roads anytime they want LOL 😛

The city dwellers scurrying for shelter!

I soon got tired of roaming around aimlessly after taking pictures of random things and talking to random people.

So I retreated back to where I was supposed to meet my couzzies –

At the famous Town Hall steps! (it kinda looks like an ancient temple from this angle LOL)

Apparently, that's the common meeting place for everyone

So I waited for a bit and finally found them!

Couldn't recognize them at first. Bear in mind that I've not seen them in AGES. Like, really… in 16 years!

And they're already in their 30s while I'm still in my 20s. But we clicked instantly

Bernice & Kenneth are my eldest cousins btw (and I'm the youngest!)

They took me to where Uncle Shen and Auntie Julie were waiting for us.

As we walked, I couldn't help but to take more pictures of the sights I saw!

Ohhh lookie! It's the statue of Queen Victoria!

She was the longest serving monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland during the 17th century

Right behind her, I saw a tiny statue of a dog by a fountain.

And that's when I met Ivan. Yes, say hello to Ivan the talking dog.

Make a wish & throw a coin in the well after talking to him

When the couzzies told me that he was a talking dog, I scoffed and took it with a pinch of salt.

So I went right up to him and said, "HELLLLOOO" for no reason

but had a shock of my life when that solitary statue responded to my greeting

Hence, the expression.

So Ivan told me his name, introduced himself to me and

went on about something which I don't quite recall anymore.

What can I say? I was still flabbergasted with what hit me, as I didn't expect it at all.

So yeah, the poor dog went on talking to someone who wasn't exactly listening LOL

Guilty as charged But if you wanna listen to Ivan talk, he can be found along George Street

I soon found out that my uncle and aunt were waiting for us inside Queen Victoria Building.

Grrrr. I walked past that place agazillion times earlier just then; could've just gone inside!

Here I am again!

it was very, very pretty inside… and humongous too!

Lotsa boutiques, novelty shops, deli's and the like 😀 😀

I smell…. shopping!

Haha. No time for that now, for we're about to go sight-seeing immediately after meeting up. It's off to the Sydney Opera House, Harbour Bridge, The Rocks, Darling Habour, Chinatown and more!

More of that in the next blog-episode of this Sydney trip.

Oh but before I go, imma leave you with a fairly interesting (but offensive to some)

street art behind a STOP sign in the city.

And no, Christ, your penis won't be able to fit in the nail-hole of your palm unless you're well… diminutive in size.

Not that I would know, but hey, I'm just saying 😛

This is insane! Out from 9am – 11pm and at least 10 hours of non-stop walking has really taken its toll on me.

I'm maxed out tired to the bone now – resting while transferring photos and blogging this post.

Yeahyeah, I know I should probably hit the sack by now but being me, it is imperative that I blog an immediate snippet before the entire blogpost… because who knows, this might take another million years to be up LOL

I love my new prezzie! An adorable, furry, soft tigga hat to keep my head warm

So anyway! I was at the Melbourne Zoo in Royal Park for almost 5 hours; was impossible to cover every nook and cranny

I reckon it would be safe to say that almost the entire animal kingdom reside within the walls of that zoo

From the smallest of insects…..

…to the biggest of animals!

My whole afternoon was spent exploring the entire zoo hunting down the animals to take photos of.

I swear felt like Dora the Explorer LOL! But the fact that I'm lacking the binoculars and knapsack doesn't come in the way for I think I made up for it with a big-ass DSLR camera and a slingbag 😛 😛

And… the King of the Jungle! (yes, if you're wondering… I was THAT close to Simba here)

It was incredible, better than any zoo I've ever been! Melbourne Zoo is massive and the entire place was an extremely close-to-real-life makeshift rainforest dessert ocean underground grassland antartic tropics aviary all in one.

Unlike many *cough* places *cough* that my fellow Malaysians know….

There are certain zoos in particular who mistreat their animals, cooping them up in tiny cages with restricted space to exercise, not cleaning their already miserable cages and drugging them to ensure their benevolence during photo-opportunities.

Oh and yes, I know I owe everyone a photo of a kangaroo ever since I set foot in Australia

So… ta-daa! 😀 Here it is, shot in the zoo earlier today

Plenty more photos of the glorious (and even the unglorious, ugly, often overlooked) members of the animal kingdom to come! I did, as usual, took truckloads of photos.

And the most tedious part is filtering & batch processing them all. Bleh.

Headed to the Tutankhamun exhibition after that for another 3 hours!

On the right: a bag of Egyptian souvenirs I bought. On the left: a replica of Tutankhamun's skull

Verdict? It was magnificent and we were clearly in awe with everything they had to offer. Everyone was clearly enthused with the displays, footages, ancient relics, hieroglyphs, statues, fragile mummified skeletons,  and the like. More to come, I promise!

If you're an avid lover of Egyptian civilization like I am, you'll be star struck.

And now do you still wonder why I had the Eye of Horus tattooed on my left wrist? 😉

Just before I headed to Sydney for the Easter holidays, I decided to meet up with a friend of mine for some Greek delights.

If you guys have read my tweets on Twitter, yall would've known where I went for this nomfest already!

One of my new fave delicacies – Greek food!

Also, I can't believe I've never had it ever before I came to Aussie

So the Sunday just before I left for Sydney, Grace and I headed to this restaurant to have our Hellenic cuisine 🙂

Right along Bridge Road in Richmond, lay a very cosy 'The Olive Grove' Greek eatery. Bingo!

In for lunchies we go!

I loved the interior to bits.

It was in pristine condition; elaborately decorated, yet still boasted a minimalistic concept

The table set-up had a tinge of fine dining to it

Chandeliers, large wooden-framed mirrors and wenge-like furniture

We were ushered to a nice lil table for two and given the menu.

The first thing we ordered was some unctuous wine to kick-start our palate 🙂

'

Some red and white wine for us ladies, please? 🙂

Carbonello for me and Chardonay for her 😀

Although I do prefer white wine to reds, I reckon a slight venture into an acquired  taste would be nice

So we did some catching up and clinking our wine glasses over funny conversations and itsybitsies of our lives 🙂

I vividly remember how we met for the first time though; on the plane. Yup, you read right.

Grace and I met on our flight to Melbourne, some 2 months ago.

And now, we're sitting here together, having a splendid lunch on an Easter Sunday 😀 What are the odds, ey?

Our food came and it sure looked yummy. Here's what we ate, beginning from the Mezedes:

Skordalia and Melitzana served with Pita Bread

(Greek translation: puree of potatoes, garlic & lemon and roasted smoked eggplant sprea)

They were best served warm. Perfect with the dips

I always love the lemon twang in my food, just like how I enjoy most of my meals extra (black) peppery.

Our mains arrived and oh lookie here, a candid picture of me squeezing the lemon!

Lo and behold, get ready for some food porn! 😛

Our mains are as follows :

Soutzoukakia,Marithes and Chicken Souvlaki

(Greek translation: tomato salsa meatballs, white bait and marinated chicken skewers)

It was so nommy! I loved the meatballs – it was so juicy and rich in flavour. Massive too!

The white bait was more like Malaysian 'ikan bilis' to us LOL talk about familiarity 😛

And the chicken skewers was simply fabulous

Reminds me of grilled chicken satay, back in Malaysia – only yummier!

Kalamari, Keftedes & Loukanika

(Greek translation: Calamari, ground beef mince patties & spicy lamb sausages)

The fried calamari was absolute yum and so were the beef patties!

But I didn't really like the sausage, Grace liked it though. She said it tasted like Taiwanese sausages.

Ok since I'm always smiling and readily posed in most of the photos posted up in my blog, below is a rather unglam photo for you to see. Bleh.

It's me nomming – I don't know what it is – looks like the meatball to me.

Also, we had potato crisps served with our meals too. Just the way I like it –

salty crinkle-cut types! 😀 😀 😀 which is probably why I love Cottage Fries so much.

Hand chopped patates crisps

All's well, end's well.

We had a great catch up lunch and shopping in Melbourne Central followed thereafter 🙂

thanks Olive Grove, for a deliciously good time! 😀

Now I know where to get good Greek food. Here, in Richmond!

There's more Hellenic cuisines in Melbourne city too… and in Oakleigh. Heaps of them 😀

Once again, cheers to friendship unexpectedly brewed from an 8 hour plane ride

We click so well that it's not even funny 😀 Now that's why I love flying…

…for you'll never know who you'll meet during a flight!

Good Friday and Easter Sunday has always just been a memorable occasion for me.

Well, we get public hollies and commemorate the resurrection of Christ. What's not to love?

But the whole idea of Easter Bunnies & chocolate eggs never really got to me

Until I landed in Australia, for my first ever REAL Easter.

Back on University rez, we even had an Easter Egg Hunt game! Anyway, for the week-long Easter Break, I decided to fly to Sydney to sight-see and pay a my extended family a visit 🙂

And I'm thankful I came; for they gave me the best Easter ever!

Chilling with couzzies Sam and Nick before dinner

Thanks for picking me up at the city, Krizzy! 🙂

I was taken away when I first entered their house.

It's beautiful! Have I ever mentioned that I love the architecture and layout of houses in Australia? I've been into some 7 houses now, and it's really different from the ones back in Malaysia.

Anyway, spotted a pretty candle holder hanging on the wall!

People here actually celebrate Easter.

Most of my friends here were busy with their own family Easter dinners today as well.

I simply adore Lindt's Easter Bunny chocolates! 😀

On to the foodsies! Prepare for noms ahead.

Not for the hungry 😛 I was amazed how we managed to stuff ALL the dishes into our tummies

But first, some appetizers & tid-bits before dinner!

Nachos, chick peas, feta cheese, pistachios, cookies and more

"Did I hear food? Can I come in too, pretty please?"

Dinnertime begins!

We were all helping out with the preparation and plating the food on the dining table

Caesar Salad!

Spinach & Ricotta Cannelloni!

More cheese! Popped it into the oven again LOLOL

Potato Au Gratin bake!

Roast Lamb!

Roast Pork!

My uncles took to carving of the roast meat

Yay! And then its time to drizzle the gravy all over

Easy now, slicing & cutting up the pieces of the pork chunk by chunk

Devour the scrumptious delights before they are all gone too soon!

Coincidentally, the 3 of us were wearing black tonight

On the dinner table with couzzies Adie & Krizzy

Here's my platter

Looks rather messy but who gives a !@#$%? Let's eat!

Eating medinner! Want some?

It was a fabulous home-cooked meal… without a doubt!

After dinner, we gathered at another table to chill and catch up 🙂

T'was so nice to rekindle with all my aunts and uncles again after quite some time.

We downed a few shots and neat drinks over our chitchats too

That's the way our family roll, no pansiefansie mixers – nadah!

Oh, how I love gathering together and reminiscing lotsa old-times!

Yes. I'm talking to you

After a few hours, it was time for  yummy cake!

Aunt Yi Ling baked us an Apple Tea Crumble for dessert

It was so good, this time with extra nut & cinnamon toppings!

Fancy a slice?

with ice-cream to jazz things up? Yes, please 🙂

Pastry dessert & vanilla ice-cream… delish!

It finished rather quickly as you can probably tell!

Now, how's this for pretty dessert?

Uncle Danny played around with the food and voila! haha

Needless to say, I had a fantastic time with the family.

Here's a piccie of my cousins and I… for the road!

Happy Easter 2011 folks!

Much love

Sometimes, I need my escapade.

And sometimes, I yearn to just lie under the sun to let life pass me by.

Sometimes, I am aimless; not knowing where certain routes lead to.

And sometimes, I could walk down a path which still remains unwritten.

Sometimes, I could not be bothered where the trail leads.

And sometimes, I reckon it's the journey that matters the most.

Sometimes, I am fearless; but many a time plagued by inhibitions

And sometimes I am sheltered by a facade I wish to believe in.

Sometimes I wish I could only see

And sometimes not dive headfirst in a vault of quandaries

Sometimes people stumble and fall; after all, to err is human

And sometimes the untold illuminates the answer that can never be found

Sometimes, the wrong methods are proven the best way to constantly learn

And sometimes, it helps you discover yourself in the process

Bold, adventurous and playful like a canine

Sometimes I wish I didn't have a single qualm in my mind

Thriving on long walks, playing fetch and frolicking on the grass

Sometimes a huge, mesmerizing smile will allow storms to come to pass

Sometimes I wish I never had to suppress myself; thus ambiguous, cryptic and a tad misunderstood 

And sometimes I enjoy free-falling and being susceptible to life's treasures

Sometimes I need my liberation, just to run an exhilarating mile

And sometimes, if I'm lucky it may lead me back to familiarity

Sometimes all I need is to close my eyes and feel it brimming within

So come here; lay with me on the grass and show me something so beautiful like never before.

And that's why they say dogs are man's best friend

***

P/S: I have no idea how I managed to turn a sunny day out into a surge of abstract thoughts

Believe me, it was supposed to be my usual carefree thing but it didn't quite turn out that way.

Goodnight all.

Sunrise after sunrise, another one beckons; it will herald a new day, I'm certain.