Oz Day 6: Puffing Billy - The Lakeside Trail...

~ 11th November 2015~

Most people have no idea what to do at Lakeside. There's basically nothing to do there unless you venture out a bit. The first time Pinky and I were there, we just hung around like two lost bats, waiting for the train to depart back to Belgrave. We just went for the Puffing Billy ride and that was it.

This time round, I decided to bring mi madre for a long walk. We have nothing to kill except time. I was looking for a trail map but after looking at the map, which was just around the lake, one huge round with different trails, just forget about the map. Just walk on. As you walk you will discover and then you can decide whether to take the path on your left or on your right. If you chicken out halfway through, afraid that the woods would swallow you whole, then turn back.

The lake itself was quite a beauty. If you want to say that it's ugly, then I can't stop you from thinking or saying so. It was a really quiet place. I like it that way. We don't like crowded area. We walked through the fern gully to get to the wishing well. I did not take a photo of what was inside because I wanted to paint a good picture of Australia being a clean country. The wishing well was actually littered with plastic bottles. 

We wanted to walk further so we took the Pine Track to look at pine trees. Pine nuts are very expensive. We were wondering whether we could harvest some. Found the acorns but we did not have strong teeth like the squirrels so we failed to harvest any pine nuts. We were two nut cases there. We came across school children building their own shelter in the woods under the supervision of a teacher. No parents were allowed to even take a peek. The children were of primary level. The Malaysian parents would be worried sick thinking whether the trees would come tumbling down on their children or the mosquitoes in the woods would suck their children dry. 

We finished the walk and still had some time to linger around. The train would only leave at 2:30p.m. and we could take the train directly to Flinders Station, walk around and wait for Pinky to finish working.

Day 6: The Ol' Puffing Billy...

~11th November 2015~

A bus ride and then a train ride to Belgrave, the last stop to catch the old Puffing Billy. It was still chugging strong with coal and petrol. The old Puffing Billy was still one really good attraction for the locals, domestic tourists and international tourists. There were more Chinese signboards everywhere.

It was a wonderful slow ride overseeing the grassland from afar. We were above the sea level by many metres. We were as tall as the trees, even above the tree tops. With your feet hanging comfortably outside the train's body, it was surely a joy ride but don't slip to the other side, it would be a sight nobody wanted to see. 

There were a few stops. If you were in a hurry to another destination, then you can opt to get off at Menzies Creek or Emerald, whichever permissible. Mi madre and I had all the time in the world, so we went all the way to Lakeside. This was one of the most relaxing holidays according to me but yet the travel buddy's hubby still thought that my holiday was kinda too rush. I tend to cover more areas so that I would not miss out on anything. I wouldn't want to leave feeling that I have missed a fraction of a place.

I like the wooden railway tracks built across the road to connect to the hill. It was just amazing architecture.I could safely say that I enjoy train rides a lot no matter how slow they were. When we were heading back, I did not take as many photos. Just wanted to enjoy the ride with cool wind blowing in.

Oz Day 5: Queen Victoria Market...

~10th November 2015~

Pinky left for work. We decided to go slow for the day. A morning walk to the train was a good 24 minutes according to Google map. As the sun was not that hot so it was a good morning walk, admiring the lemon tree around the corner and then an orange tree. 

It was a train ride of 9 stations away from Flinders Street Railway station and a half circle tram ride plus some walking to do. There were different sections of the market but we headed straight to the one selling meat. The first stall that we came to was a big one selling pork. Mi madre bought a kilo of minced pork to make Pinky our Malaysian style 'bak kwa'. 

Then, I was eyeing at the angus beef burger which was marinated already. It was a wrong choice, very wrong. I have never like ready-marinated meat so I wonder why I changed my mind about that. We bought half of  a butter squash as it was Pinky's favourite and it was really cheap even after I did a quick Australian dollar to Malaysian Ringgit conversion. If you want to convert the currency when buying, you have to do it fast. It's a competition between the hand and the brain. The brain might be slow and then the hand has made payment. Transaction done. No point of return. If your hand is slow and your brain is quick, then you will end up buying nothing.

We bought the Alaska king crab and also a lobster tail. The travel buddy always complained that no one cooked for her seafood. So, there I was standing at her kitchen with limited kitchen utensils and searching for the non-existent cover to her wok. I mopped the floor while cooking as well. I don't even mop the floor of my house yet I flew all the way to Melbourne to mop her floor. She means a lot to me. I will clean the toilet for her if I have to. Action speaks louder than words. 

I don't have the photos of the cooked food. My heart aches thinking of my missing photos. Either the camera murdered the SD card or the SD card committed suicide. By the time we reached home from marketing, it was already around 4p.m. The walk home was a torture because the sun was out and we were carrying so many things. Next time I will drag a trolley to the market.

I found all my photos already, backed up by the hubby in an external drive. I cooked 3 simple dishes for Pinky, all her favourite. Half of the Alaskan king crab that she would definitely drool over, a lobster tail snuggled on a bed of spinach, spinach is my favourite and Pinky loves vegetables - win-win situation and then there's her all time delight pumpkin and pork belly which I turned into a dish. 

Oz Day 4: Little Penguins at St Kilda

~9th November 2015~

To Phillip Island or St Kilda if you want to look at the little penguins? They are of the same species, I suppose. I have been to both during my first trip. For this second trip, I was still trying to decide where to go to watch the little penguins. In the end, I opted for St Kilda mainly because  I am a prudent traveler. It's free at St Kilda but if you go to Phillip Island, you will have to pay a fee as the place was nicely built for you to sit and wait for the penguins to swim home. The cold wind will knock you out before the penguins make their journey home.

When we were first at St Kilda, there were less than 10 people only. But when we were there in 2015, there were so many people. Everyone knows the place already. Volunteers were hard at work to make sure that no flash photography was used. The torch lights that they were using were of infrared ray. It would not do harm to the penguins eyesight and would not scare them away. The penguins were in their natural habitat. They would waddled and hopped to their respective holes. Some have family members waiting.

The baby penguins have thick fur but as they were growing up, those furs were long gone. Nobody was allowed to touch those penguins. They were small and cute but you wouldn't want to be pecked by the sharp beaks. I got a few snapshots of them penguins. They smell like salted fish walking around.

Enjoy the long boardwalk and the night view.

Oz Day 4: Zi Wei Yuan Chinese Restaurant in Malvern East...

~9th November 2015~

We're Chinese and we're always looking for Chinese food. Mr. Ma found one in Malvern East. The chef was from Shunde and we have always love food from Shunde. Pinky loves steamboat and for this trip, she wanted to share with me everything she loves. Both of us love food very much and we're really compatible when it comes to food. We're just not compatible when it comes to fashion. 

The food was really good but I just Google up that place and read a few unpleasant remarks written by a few patrons. A few said that the staffs were rude. In my opinion, the staff is only rude if you as a patron, shows that you are rude towards them. Restaurant workers are also human. Just because you are paying for your food, does not give you an upper hand to be rude. And sometimes they might not understand English that well because they are from China. If you think that they are stupid because they don't understand your English slang, then you are the stupidest person of all. Sometimes the ingredients to prepare the soup base cannot be found in Australia, so who to blame? Of course, they will tell you that the particular dish you ordered is out of stock. 

In conclusion, if you want good Chinese food yet not so expensive that it will bore holes in your pocket just after one meal, this place is a good pick. 

Mr. Ma decided to order extra in the pretext that I might not have enough to eat. Aha~! That's a real nice phrase to use. While waiting for the second helping, the couple just got into their anti-social mode and got busy with their phones. Both have too many friends virtually while I did not turn on the data. I have to conserve the data for future use especially to look at maps.