A Trip Down (Under) Memory Lane
Once you have traveled, the voyage never ends, but is played out over and over again in the quietest chambers. The mind can never break off from the journey. ~ Pat Conroy
Anyways, I don’t have much to complain this semester. I’ve always liked the December semester, anyway. When I was a Master’s student, I looked forward to this semester because I'd have so many holidays - Christmas, New Year’s, Awal Muharram, Thaipusam etc - and these holidays would be the time that I’d get to sit down and complete my assignments in peace! Now that I’m no longer a student, I find myself planning out with friends what to do during these holidays!
What I don’t like about the December semester though, is the fact that the break that precedes it is too short – around 4 to 5 weeks – which translates to: NO HOLIDAY. There are always things waiting to be completed or handed in even though the students are away and before I knew it, the December semester has started!
I was really frustrated for not being able to travel to Europe during the previous April-July break because that is what I have been doing for the past 4 years, so when a friend asked whether I’d like to go for a holiday far from the country last December break, I was over the moon! I told my friend that we'd better go somewhere that is close to Europe, weather wise. Egypt was shorlisted but due to financial constraints (on my part), we decided to go Down Under. Perth, to be exact.
My friend and I decided to take a tour package since we had no idea what we could actually do in Australia. Had it been Europe, we wouldn’t even have to think about taking a package! I was a bit skeptical, however, regarding the package that we took. First is because the agent that we bought the package from, though very established, is very Chinese-oriented. So, naturally, I imagined that we’d be shoved into a bus loaded with Chinese-speaking Chinese and we’d be the only Malays in the bus and the tour guide would be using a hailer, speaking Chinese all the time! Luckily, it didn’t turn out the way(s) that I had imagined! I found myself in a bus with actually very educated Chinese who speak English! And the tour guide was a very nice, cool chap who speaks (in English) only when he has to. And who went out of his way to arrange halal meals for us!
Perth was nice. I liked the breezy weather. Even though it was summer when we went, it wasn’t sun blazing; which was very unusual for Perth, according to the nice Aussie guide that took us on his bus (I totally forgot his name). We were brought to so many interesting places in Perth but the places that I liked most were Lancelin and Fremantle. The former for the desert-bound activities such as sand boarding; the latter for its historical heritage. I had fun also at the Caversham Wildlife Park and Crystal Cave. The emus, kangaroos, wombats, koalas and dingos are all cute to look at. I guess that is the purpose of keeping these animals at the park - so they can be seen. The cave was not anything like Batu Caves, mind you. It is an underground cave and the stalactites and stalagmites are totally impressive! I was upset a bit when shopping was always given the last priority in the daily itinerary but when we were dropped off at the malls, I ended up not buying anything. Except souvenirs. Besides the pricey stuff, there really wasn’t much to buy in Perth. Books are cheaper in Singapore. Or Malaysia, for that matter. I can't complain about food, though. All kinds of food are available in Perth. Asian food was not a problem at all. But seafood, though a bit pricey, is awesome! I had a blast with the seafood at Lancelin and Fremantle!
Comments
Plus, you've got the chance traveling to the neighbouring countries. Ain't it nice?