When we were initially looking into our trip to Australia, the travel agent we were consulting who had spent some time in Australia, highly recommended The Great Ocean Road and we’re glad we did. While it’s not something to do if you’re low on time, it is definitely worth it to make some time for it. The round trip journey from Melbourne along the Great Ocean Road up to Port Campbell and back again took us about 2 1/2 days. We probably could have made it in less time but it was a good pace where we felt like we got a chance to see everything and didn’t feel rushed. There our tour buses that will take the inland roads to see the major sights but to me it just doesn’t give it justice.

The first day we went from Melbourne up to Apollo Bay. We left pretty early in the morning because we were told that the most picturesque spots were from Lorne to Apollo Bay. It looks like they’ve done some construction recently because the GPS we borrowed from the rental car place was going crazy because it thought we were going off-road. (Thank goodness we got an International plan for Ian’s phone to look up some directions!)

The views were really impressive. We took our time driving and stopped frequently to take a break from the windy roads and to take in the views. The thing that made the views so impressive were the vibrant contrast of the colors of the cliffs, the ocean, and the sky.

Apollo Bay was a nice place to stay however lot of the inns were still closed because it was not yet peak season. We also found that it was kind of difficult to find accommodations online and that selection was much more limited than what was actually available. It is possible to get recommendations at the Visitor’s Center in Geelong but we didn’t want to take a chance by waiting until last minute to book.

Apollo Bay was a small, seaside town, but there were a lot of choices of places to eat and there were some really cute souvenir shops.

The next day we went from Apollo Bay to Port Campbell. Most of the roads on this leg of the journey were inland, but they were still beautiful in their own right. Being from the city, we don’t get to see that much lush, green farmland and forests so it was a pleasant scene. This part of the drive was the shortest leg of the trip.

The highlight of course are the 12 Apostles which are right before Port Campbell. Again the vibrant colors of the rock formations, the greenery and the ocean are really what make this sight amazing. It’s hard to describe what it is about it, but it is quite breathtaking.

Port Campbell is also a really small town but we didn’t find it as charming as Apollo Bay. There wasn’t a whole lot to do so, but the Best Western we stayed at was very quaint though it was the most expensive accommodation on our trip!

For the trip back to Melbourne we took the inland roads. We were quite entertained by all the public service notices along the side of the road. From telling us to drive on the left side of the road to warning us about motorcycle safety it was quite shocking at times but very effective.

Flickr: Honeymooning in Australia

Those who have known me from childhood know my affinity for penguins. My parents told me that one year I asked for a penguin for my birthday and when they gave me a stuffed penguin I was extremely disappointed because I wanted a real penguin. I don’t know what it is about them but it also led to one of my favorite baseball players, Ron Cey who was known as The Penguin for the way he ran the bases.

When I heard about the Little Penguins on Phillips Island, it became one of the must sees on our honeymoon. There are thousands of Little Penguins standing at about 6 inches tall that return to their burrow each night after a day of fishing. During the parade you get to sit on the beach or stand on elevated platforms and watch as they make their way back home. It was one of the big highlights of our trips, for Ian just as much or even more as for me.

There are lots of tour groups that make the trip out to Phillips Island, but for us it worked out better to head over there ourselves. Fortunately we left really early because traffic heading out of Melbourne was terrible. There was a lot construction on top of Friday traffic. It took us about 3 hours to get out to Phillips Island versus the 1 and 1/2 that it was supposed to. We were nervous that we were going to be late to check-in. When you go to the Penguin Parade, you need to call the day before to confirm your arrival time because the “Parade” start time varies based on the sunset. In retrospect it might have been a good idea to spend the night out there since the parade ends at about 9:30-10 and it was a long journey back to the City on a dark, unfamiliar road.

I decided to book the Private Penguin Experience which is limited to a group of 10 people and has you sitting on the stand in front of the grandstand where the general public sits. You also are assigned a ranger to give you some added insight into the experience.

As luck would have it, Ian and I ended up being the only ones in our group. Our tour guide, Sven was very knowledgeable and gave us a fantastic tour. He told us that we went at a great time because breeding season was early this year and that we would be able to see some chicks waiting for their parents to return. It was nice because we had reserved seating so we were able to walk around until the last minute before the penguins arrived. We were also able to go to several viewing platforms which was really neat because at different spots the birds perform different rituals. for example, once the birds get out of the “danger zone” they stop for awhile to preen themselves before continuing on their journey. We also saw a female penguins heading in the opposite direction picking up penguins. Sven told us that is a sign that there is going to be a second breeding season as they were picking up shells to get calcium. Little tidbits like that really helped make the tour special.

Even if we had not done the private tour, watching the Little Penguins waddle their way home was adorable. We did in fact see chicks waiting for their parents to feed them. The most amazing thing was how loud the penguins were. I never imagined their cries to be that loud and piercing. The cutest thing was watching the penguins hop off some of the ledges on the side of the road. Another place we spent quite a bit of time at was at these man-made burrows they have built inside the museum. They say that they don’t force any penguins to live there but several families have chosen to live there. We were able to see one family in particular feed and preen each other in their burrows which was really cool because had they not lived in the special burrows we wouldn’t have seen it.

One of the great things about Phillips Island is that they try not to disturb the penguins’ natural habitat. Sadly because people in the past didn’t know how to turn off the flashes on their cameras, we were unable to take any pictures but I think both Ian and I both have strong images of this visit in our minds.

Flickr: Honeymooning in Australia

My bro-in-law celebrated his birthday over the weekend. My sis threw an informal par-tay at their new place in their clubhouse. Gave me a good reason to dust off my trusty DSLR & ringflash & take some party photos with their friends.

Happy birthday, Kris!

His good friends & family threw him a superb surprise birthday party last Saturday. I designed the official uniform for the day…the similarity is uncanny.

Happy birthday, Nano! We love you.

Flickr: Nano's surprise 40th birthday party

Bittersweet…I was excited to move into a bigger place, but so sad to leave my trusty ol’ studio apartment. With the exception of my dorm room in Japan, this was my first apartment on my own. I’ve only been there for a year, but I’ve had good times in that small box.

We’re still in the process of unpacking our boxes (oops, I mean I’m still unpacking my boxes), so I’ll try to get photos up as soon as we’re settled.

My dad got tired of waiting for me photographing the apartment, so he picked up the vacuum & went over the place once. My bro is supervising.

Came across this gem of a photo recently. I invited some friends & family to come with us to an A’s game because I had a deal on really good lower level seats & Jordin Sparks happened to be holding a small concert after the game. A few rows in front of us, a bunch of friends had a bit too much to drink. Fortunately for us, they’re emotional drunks. One of the few fights that occurred within their group was between this teary-eyed guy & his buddy. Everyone that sat at least four rows behind them were watching intently, a soap opera drama unfolding

It was so entertaining, Clay video recorded a portion of the scuffle, dubbed with their custom audio track.

Flickr: A's games 2009

An Australian photo album wouldn’t be complete without a photo of a kangaroo! It was our last few days in the country, & right next to our beach resort was a wildlife sanctuary. They have this breakfast thing where you can have breakfast with the birds, so we thought it would be a good place to start our day before heading back to the airport.

They had all kinds of native animals for viewing. You can walk right up to a kangaroo. They’re a bit scary—they have really huge claws on their feet. Don’t wanna mess with them.

It was pouring when we visited, so there were puddles all around. My shoes & socks were soaked, but I tried my best to try to keep the rest dry by rolling up my pants & covering up with a cheap poncho.

The birds rely on human leftovers, so they can be a bit gutsy:

Was the place worth our time? Absolutely.

Honeymooning in Australia

Sydney was our first stop in Australia so the first few days, especially for me were spent battling jet-lag. As with any westbound journey it wasn’t too bad, we just ended up waking up before daylight and going to bed after an early dinner.

I don’t know if it was because it was the first leg of our trip, but we didn’t enjoy Sydney as much as the other cities. We found it to be a little harder to navigate. Even once we figured out the train system, we continued to have trouble even getting to places we’d been before. It was great exercise but a little tiring on the legs and draining in the heat. We also found it harder to find places to eat. I would definitely recommend staying in the Circular Quay or Darling Harbor area since that’s where most of the tourist destinations are. We stayed near the Darlinghurst area across the street from the Anzac Memorial so while it was easy to get to a train station, we usually didn’t want to go back out to where we were after we came back to freshen up before dinner.

Our favorite spots:

• Pink Peppercorn. Laotian restaurant in Darlinghurst. It was a short walk from our hotel and was recommended by one of the guidebooks. We really enjoyed the lamb kabobs which were cooked and seasoned perfectly and we had a delicious coconut curry with chicken. Ian loved the fragrant rice which went perfectly with both of the dishes.
• The Cantina. Tapas place in the Darlinghurst area. They had an early bird special
• Sculptures by the Sea. Sculpture exhibit from Bondi to Bronte beach. We were fortunate to catch it because it goes for only about 2 weeks from the end of October to mid-November. Many of the installations were built into the rock areas along the walkway but there was also a park right before Tamarama beach that had quite a few additional sculptures.
• Open market at the Rocks. On the weekends only. Fortunately my brother gave us a heads up about this because we were only in Sydney for 1 weekend day. The shops close up before 5pm so we were only able to shop for a little bit but we were able to get some nice souvenirs.

Places we recommend avoiding:

• Sydney Tower/Oz Trek. I’ve been to towers and lookouts in other cities I’ve visited and felt like it was a worthwhile experience, but the same cannot be said about the Sydney Tower. For one, it’s not the highest point in Sydney and also they didn’t have placards like most places do to let you know what you’re looking at. We did our best to try to figure it out with our guidebooks, but especially since a view of the Opera House was obscured it really wasn’t worth it in my opinion. As Ian mentioned in his post, Oz Trek was not a good experience for me. I’ve been on other simulators before and been okay but something about this ride made me really ill and I was out for the night.
• Museum of Contemporary Art. Admission was free and for us we were thankful that it was. Neither of us are big contemporary art fans but it is located in such a prime location we had hope. The best thing about it was to see all of the school kids on field trip doing hands on projects with the docents. It seems like they had a really good program for field trips but with the exception of a couple exhibits, it was not our cup of tea.

The only thing we didn’t do that we wish we had done was to go see a performance at the Sydney Opera House. We went on a tour there which was impressive in itself especially since we were able to see some of the ballet people do their warm-up exercises but we could only imagine how much better it would be to see an entire show.

Honeymooning in Australia

Places we enjoyed:

• San Churro. Cafe where they make fresh churros with different dipping sauces. Came highly recommended by my brother. They also have them in Sydney but good thing we didn’t try them until Melbourne because we went there twice in three days.
• Longrain. Thai fusion restaurant that came as a recommendation from our friend’s colleague. There is also a location in Sydney. She called it the best Thai in the world. It was conveniently located across the street from our hotel and the perfect place to celebrate our last dinner in Melbourne. It was definitely more upscale than the Thai restaurants we go to at home but it was delicious and worth every penny.
• Brighton Beach. More of a locals beach with cute little bathing houses.
• St. Kilda. Really cute beach area with lots of trendy shops and restaurants.
• Cafes in the laneways near Flinders Station. Free wi-fi and reportedly the best coffee in Melbourne.
• Phillips Island. We loved it so much it deserves a separate entry.

Skip it:

• Camy’s Dumpling House. In the guidebooks touted as the best Shanghai food outside of Shanghai. Two words: not true. It was cheap but not worth it.

Honeymooning in Australia

Happy new year! Sure, this greeting is a few weeks old, but I still mean it!

It was a relatively quiet New Year’s Eve party. Many family members were out of town or couldn’t make it. Disappointed? A little. It’s a bit hard to maintain a huge family, but you gotta hold on to what we have left—namely, tradition. Hopefully for years to come, I can always count on the big family New Year’s reunion as I’ve done all my life.

On a positive note, my Auntie Remy threw a really good party, complete with good food, a money booth (inspired by a Filipino game show) & a house full of laughter. As a gift, I’ve uploaded a photo of her & her sisters. I doubt she reads my blog, & if on the off chance she does, I hope you enjoy it, auntie!