The Great Adventure in Melbourne

It’s a yearly occasion where the family takes time off for a holiday together. Last year we were in Bangkok and that was a week of city madness! This year in conjunction with Josh’s (my bro’s) graduation, we headed down south to Melbourne. In 7 days we captured 3000 over photos (of which a few hundreds are our pre-wedding shots) and a string of stories to tell. So you can imagine how difficult it was for me to sieve thru Josh’s and Dad’s collection to bring you a snippet of our holiday.

Allow the pictures to tell the stories as you read short descriptions of places we left footprints on.

The Botanical Gardens together with the Shrine of Remembrance was the first few places we headed after touch down. I miss Aussie gardens and parks and the smell of freshly bloomed flowers. Thankfully flies weren’t a nuisance on that day and the weather was a perfect 18c.


It was our first time meeting baby Jaeda after her birth a few months ago. Sophenie and Andrew met us in Melbourne Central for Vietnamese meal and hopped over to the famous Koko Black for a shot of choc. Needless to say, we were dotting over Jaeda the entire night and everyone got a chance to carry her. She’s adorable and cute like her mommy (oops!).




Josh’s grad was the main reason we chose Melbourne as our holiday destination. It was a year and a half ago that we sent him off to Melbourne. Read about it here. That evening was incredibly significant for him and for me equally. As I experience my own grad 3 years ago, I now watch my older bro crossing into a new chapter in life. With his talents and character I truly believe much more will be added to him for what he gave me. I’m extremely proud of you koko!



Oh, just so you know he celebrated his achievement with a jump on stage when all the other graduates simply shook hands and posed for the camera. A pity we didn’t catch the jump on camera.


We had lunch at a Pizza Parlour along Bridge Road where they served top class pizzas for only $3.80! The restaurant also had rustic deco and whilst waiting for food we grabbed a few shots. I love this one of Dad and Mom kissing. Kind of reminds me of those old Italian couples that appear on Discovery Travel and Living! It also brings to mind a quote that goes...
“The greatest gift you can give your child is the love you have for each other”


Over the years I’ve grown to love Ray. The bond wasn’t instantaneous as I remember we had our share of bickering and squabbles during childhood days. Now we can safely say that we have braved through the valleys and are now journeying on hand-in-hand. Enjoyed the holiday with you Ray!


Josh had a list of places he had wanted to bring us for the photo shoot. But we soon found out that time was limited and spontaneity worked better. This shot was taken upon a colorful wall of graffiti in a tiny lane. Unfortunately we’re unable to reveal any other pictures now as they are confidential until the time :)


One of the many mouth-watering desserts we had. The one you see below are called Churros. They are Spanish donuts sold in a mobile truck in Vic Market. They are sinfully deep fried and coated with choc fudge and caramel upon serving.


First day on our road trip, this picture was taken on Arthur’s Seat the highest point on the shire of Mornington Peninsula. Gorgeous view isn’t it? At this spot you have a 360 degree sweeping view of the Port Philip Bay.


What a view of a solitary tree amidst the rolling hills. Landscapes throughout the Great Ocean Road varies from blue to green and hues of amber when the sun sets in.


Got milk?
If you’re familiar with the Got Milk? ad campaign, we created a few of our own on this trip too! Mostly with hot choc or cappuccino foam! Yum!


Miss Marples is an old fashioned Victorian restaurant along the Dandenong ranges. People rave about their scones but personally I think their savories and desserts sit on top of the list. What you see in the picture is a mountainous serving of ice cream with… you guessed it – hot chocolate fudge!


At Apollo Bay whilst having fish and chips by the sea, we realized gawking seagulls surrounded us within minutes. As part of entertainment for dinner, we decided to try a lil experiment.
Experiment: A stick of chips as bait on the head of a brave contender with a camera crew of 3 capturing the flight and snatch.
Variables: How much did it hurt? And did the bird SOY (Shit on you)?
Conclusion: None to both.

Contender 1: Terence Ooi


Contender 1: Rachel Chan


Acrobats at Apollo Bay. Ray decided to piggy back me and then came running Josh our photographer who captured this fantastic candid shot!


Onward to Port Cambell is the renown 12 Apostles. I was there many years back and remember freezing my butt out. But this visit took a turn as alighted onto a helicopter and flew 15 minutes along the coastal range. The views were breathtaking and really nothing like what you see from ground. Paying a worthwhile $90, the pilot took us for a ride of a lifetime.

The tall coastal walls looked like slices of cake from the top.

Ground view of the 12 Apostles (only 8 are still standing)

The Werribee Safari Zoo is an open range zoo with animals around the globe roaming the fields. It was interesting but nothing like the African Safari. Nonetheless animals were aplenty. Secretly as the we sat in the bus going through the safari, I wished an animal would act up and start charging into our bus. That would have been a real safari experience! Nothing like that happened. Gentle and docile as they should be animals mind their own business chewing on grass, snoozing and strolling around.

Meerkats huddling for comfort

Lions striking their best pose

We got quite close to this one!


Zebra's grazing

Wonder where 2008's holiday spot will be?! Stay tuned!