After almost 8 hours of flight, I finally reached Sydney airport at 6a.m. local time.  I was held back at the custom for some times as they needed to sterilize my safety shoes. I had forgotten to clean it after I came back from New Zealand and it was full of mud...

To get to Launceston, I needed to take the domestic flight. The flight was supposed to leave at 9a.m. I tried to check in at the Virgin Blue counter in the terminal. However, I was told that SQ and Virgin Blue are not partner airline, hence I have to pay A$15 if I want to check in there. Alternatively, I could take the T-bus at A$5.50 to the domestic terminal for check-in. So I took the bus and went to domestic terminal.

I reached the domestic terminal at 8a.m. The check-in counters were packed with people. I was shocked! It took me a while to locate the end of the queue. I was anxious that I would miss my flight. After about 10 minutes in the queue, I heard the announcement that there were special queue at counter 1 to 4 for flight departing at 9a.m. or earlier. I joined in the queue immediately. It was faster. However, I was told that my flight would be delayed for 1 hour, so another hour of waiting...

I was extremely tired and slept through the 1 and half hours' flight to Launceston. It was noon when I reached the airport. I was told that the taxi would be quite costly, so I should take the shuttle bus to the city. I waited for about 20 minutes at the bus stop. It was blowing cold wind and it seemed that the bus would not come within short time, so I gave up and took the taxi instead.

The factory was about 5 minutes' walk from the hotel. Hence, I headed to the hotel for check-in first. My room number was 44. Even though I was not superstitious, I hesitated for a while. I accepted the room and stayed through the days that I was there. Well... Nothing happened.  

Launceston is a quiet city. I was told by the taxi driver that it has approximately 100,000 people. There are some sightseeing places where I can visit, mostly nature. However, I was too busy with work and it was night when I left the factory. Hence, I did not have the opportunity to appreciate the beauty of the city. 

There is one main shopping street in the city. It was near to my hotel, so I went there on the first day at about 6p.m. to try to settle my dinner and buy some food for breakfast. However, most of the shops were closed and the place become extremely quiet. Wow... The place is so boring.  It was difficult to find places for dinner.   

The quiet streets in the morning.

A tourist's attraction in Launceston - Boags Brewery that was founded in 1883. Too bad, I had no chance to taste the Boags' beer. 

2 Aug 09

It was a day for relax after whole week of work. After a short 'consultation' with the friendly couple of the motel, Eddie and I headed to Viaduct Harbour at Auckland city. We were going to Waiheke Island. I drove while Eddie was in charged of the navigation. It was the first time that I drove on the motorway. It was not so difficult as I thought, however the driving within the city was a little bit challenging. There were too many streets and we got confused easily.

We parked the car at the car park near to the harbour. We had spent some times trying to figure out the parking fee. The board indicated parking fee for Mon - Sat and public holiday, but no Sunday. We checked with other people who were behind us and confirmed that there was no charge. However, we saw parking coupons on some cars.

The journey to the island took approximately 45 minutes. Besides a few tall buildings at the downtown, the rest of the coastline were mainly houses or natural scenery. We were sitting at the upper deck. It was outdoor and we tried to enjoy the cold winter's bleeze.  

Waiheke island is like a small village with many nice beaches. It reminded me of the village where I grew up. It is really nice to stroll on the beaches and enjoying the sea.  

Our last stop was the vineyard. However, we only saw the branches.

18 July 09

It was a big celebration for my mum's 60th birthday. My mum was not so keen of having the celebration and she only wanted to have a dinner within our family. But my father insisted that we should invite all the relatives for the event. So he chose the restaurant and instructed my siblings and me to call the relatives, bought the cake, paid the bill. My father is a rather stubbon guy and there is no way to change his decision. So we had a celebration for my mum at Yun Nan Yuan, a Chinese restaurant. Half of my extended family came and there were 20 of us. Besides food, the room was equipped with karaoke. My aunts were having good time entertaining themselves. They were domineering the karaoke initially. Luckily, the younger generation got the chance to sing too.

My mum has 6 siblings. Here is the photo of my mum and her sisters. My uncle's family was unable to attend as his family is living in Malaysia.     

My family photo. We seldom takes photo together, so this is one that we took after many many years. My sister commented that we should develop and frame it.

Finally, the group photo with the extended family.