Postcard from Melbourne

Well well, I'm so over the moon at this particular time. Thanks to the lovely letter that brought world to both Ilham and I, also happened to be the letter that we have been waiting for almost a year. The thought of we'll be coming home for good is undeniably a smell of thousand roses. Anyway, I am home (Sandakan) and everything is back to routine. Not that I'm too excited with the routine I must say but the feeling of being home is priceless. Ilham, baby Achan and I just have got ourselves back from a long hibernation. One week of Ikhlas's wedding preparation and another one week of the wedding itself we had a family vacation a week after, yes, the three of us.

I still remember Ilham once said to me during our first delayed honeymoon to the UK last year that I would totally addicted to travel. Knowing that it was the first my extra-country sojourn I was a bit apprehensive and had loads of uncertainties went through my mind. Never occurred to me at that point that I would go browsing around for another cheapest flight tickets in any time soon. But hey, suddenly I realized that we have just bought a non-refundable return ticket to Melbourne!
Melbourne it was!

This time around we decided to fly with Singapore Airlines thinking that we could make a transit in the world famous Changi Airport. Perhaps, some shopping for Chanchan would save the trouble of waiting for the next flight even though his mother was more enthusiastic about it. Changi Airport as expected was nothing short of remarkable and enormously huge. The distance between Terminal 2 to Terminal 3 simply could make an average Joe like me gasping for steps while stumbling upon the retail terraces which were all over the place. The in-flight meals were totally a major turn off for Singapore Airlines. The Muslim meals were so horrendous I'd rather eat the throw pillow! But despite the hiccup, the Singapore Airlines remained an airline of hospitality. The cabin crews were full with smile and kind of cute too! (caught red-handed by my wife while staring at one of the stewardess handed out the bizarre cabin foods). Not that I was all mesmerized by the pan-Asian look of the stewardess but the way she handed me the meals was so quick I couldn't even make a sound to stop her to skip the course. Sigh!

One thing I noticed that even though the batik ensembles of the cabin crew were much or less the same with Malaysia Airlines (MAS), personally I think MAS has it better in term of design and pattern. The round necks of Singapore Airlines ensembles were just as awful as the meals.

We stayed in Hotel Sophia right in the heart of Melbourne downtown. Not so luxurious hotel I would say but the room itself was surprisingly comfortable. The hallway was relatively narrow as Chanchan's pram failed to get through it without hitting the snag. Bounded posteriorly by the majestic Etihad Stadium also laid the vital junction station of Skybus, the Southern Cross Station. Skybus is the most convenient transport to get to the downtown from Tullamarine International Airport. Thanks to Melbourne's straight forward public transport system made discovering its delight easy in just a couple of days. The only thing that I regret the most was the fact that I had forgotten to bring along my sport shoes which seriously came in handy when we had to walk for miles from one point to another. The weather was too good to be wasted on the train. Even Chanchan had a chance to get some nap while we were wandering around the city.

We had our breakfast on the first day at the end of the block cafe called Hudson Cafe. This is the place where I never thought I would fall in love again with the almond croissant. For your information, my first crush with the almond croissant was when we (Ilham and I) were in Paris. The almond croissant was so good we decided the Hudson Cafe would be our official breakfast cafe in Melbourne. Believe me, it was godsend! The texture was so incredibly soft and on top of that the almond essence filler seriously would make any taste buds singing the world.

We've been to the Melbourne's Aquarium to see Chanchan all fascinated with hundreds of friendly two-legged penguins. Since Phillip Island was way too far to reach, all three of us could only watching the penguins behind the thick aquarium glass. But Chanchan seemed content and that all that matters. We went to get some academic books in the University of Melbourne book store. I was looking for Oral & Maxillofacial Radiology books but it was a bit pricy I had to give way to Ilham to buy her Special Need Dentistry pocket book. Perhaps, some other time will do me some good.

There was a vast different in public transportation service between Melbourne and KL. I also noticed the same view when I was in the UK. The buses or the train in both Australia and UK were very particular and concern about their special needs passengers especially those with wheel-chair and prams. Not only they concerned but the implementation worked as well. The concrete curbs between the waiting area and the buses doorway were specifically designed to meet the need of the special needs where the level of the two of them were at the same level. The interior seats also were so flexible to cater the needs of the special ones by flipping or pushing the seats upward to make room for wheel-chair or pram without compromising the way or the crowd. It is something that hard to see in our country.

Oh, due to the need that I have to publish this post at this particular time, my pen meets its last chores. Please bear in mind that this post is a draft I've been waiting to post for months after I came home from Melbourne. A bit delay in progress.