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December 08, 2018

December 2018 - Trip to Great Barrier Reef

Trip log - Coogee beach

 24th November 2018

The plane landed okay. We dropped off our suitcase and changed into summer shorts. We took a stroll up the hill Dolphin Point and back down to beach. Sis only brought with her maxi dresses and they were took long to waddle into Giles baths. To add to the matter she was too embarrassed to sit by the Ross Jones rock pool. We took a bus ride to Mahon pool and dipped our legs into the water. It was a nice feeling. cut short, as we had to meet cousin for dinner and they like eating at 6pm. More or less during peak hour times/traffic jam times. They have young children who needs to sleep at 7:30pm. So, it is understandable.

The trip took place in late November, I figured it would be nice to have a little getaway, before the hectic holiday season begins, and to catch up with cousins in Sydney along the way. The trip was planned 6 months ago, only a week before I board the plane, did one of my cousin state they cannot meet me for dinner on Sunday due to another event.

My original intention was to have one dinner night and that's it. My sister cannot stand them and insinuations aunty throws at her. We end up having a dinner with aunty and everyone on Saturday, another dinner on Sunday, and one more dinner on Monday.

I did get a few chances to play PoGo in Coogee beach. Ah, the waters are so nice, and I dip my legs in cool water many times over. I also managed to do one T5 raid by the beach. Oh yeah baby! That's the life. Sis and I resided by the beach, as we wanted to wake up to the sounds of waves and not car honks. However, each time cousin asked us to meet up, it always had to be 1 and 30 mins hour away from Coogee beach via public transportation.


25th November 2018

After having survived a weird dinner. Sis and I decided to grab a nice Mexican lunch and head down to Malabar ocean pool. The bus 399 skipped us and drove away. Odd. We waited for another 399 by then we wasted a whole hour. We should have taken the L94 bus and walked down to the pool instead. Plus there was a really good fired chicken shop with 8 different salads to choose from. Yum.

Upon arriving Sis needed to go the loo. Lucky the golf club had toilets the public can use. Outside of the pool is rocks contains sea creatures. Standing on the rocks the water would swell and rise up beyond your knees. The sensation of warm water swaying was a nice feeling. I saw some colourful creatures, but I was not entirely sure what they were. The pool itself was partly damaged and you can get hit by golf balls. I did. No change room, no toilet. There is a beach nearby, but no shade.

Again, we could not stay long, as my cousin wanted to have dinner somewhere, where, no one knows. Just that it had to be 5-6pm. We walked up several hills. Took a break and had chips at the fried chicken shop. We caught a bus back to Sydney, while cousin sorted themselves out. Sis went to a book store to kill time and I stared at David Jones window displays. Since it has been an hour and we have not heard from them. I decided we will have dinner at Italian Bowl as it was highly recommended by Four Square. Cousin met up with us there. Then we had ice cream at C9, which was so so, but I got bitten by misquotes 7 times around the knee. Ew. What a dirty store. Sis choose that store. Newtown doesn't have Italian gelato like Carlton ones. Only franchise stuff.


26th November 2018

Playing it safe we had burgers, hanged locally, and walked to Shark Point. Along the way we saw many birds, sea creatures, pools, and cliff face. The amazing part is how the waves can reach so high and splash you at the top of the cliff. Hee hee. We found a small water pool in Tom Caddy Point and placed our feet in it. We watched water shell slugs travel from one pool to the next. Felt like we were miles away.

Again, we could not stay long, as my cousin wanted to have dinner in Cronulla at 6pm. The suburb doesn't appeal to me for some reason. After having visited the various pools near Coogee beach, I have learnt my sister prefers foot spa like pools, not rockpools or inland pools. Everything was closed by the time we arrived in Cronulla, as it took us 30 mins by bus to get to Sydney, and 1 hour and 17 mins by train from Sydney to Cronulla. Like any beach suburb it has 1 main street, tiny parks, poor shade, no trails, and a beach. Nothing significant about it. Coogee is cool by name, plus it is connected to not one, but 7 or more pools by the ocean, in other words, a wider selection to choose from. Like cheese, everyone has their own taste.

I offered one hint to my cousin, advising her sons that swimming in static water doesn't prepare you or your stamina for the ocean waters. The rockpools and swimming pools have static water. Whereas the ocean has rips, currents, swells, and winds. Most people find the ocean waters challenging and shocking to swim in. I am a poor swimmer and I enjoy swimming in challenging ocean waters. Now where's that noodle pool at?


27th November 2018

We flew to Cairns. The heat hits you instantly. Luckily, we were already in shorts. Ha ha. Took a taxi into town. The marina is lovely. Love walking past the lagoon was a treat every time. My sister detoured to a huge shopping mall by the train station to stock up on supplies. Then did we wander back to the night market. Sis didn't like the fish foot spa, trinkets, and food there. After having a self serve dinner, we had ice cream by the lagoon. Sis didn't feel comfortable in putting the legs in the pool. The life guard said the pool was closed for the night. Swimming yes, resting leg in it - no.

28th November 2018

Wakey wakey. Off to the reef terminal we go. Check in and paid reef tax. Then gift shopping. I found myself a side bag and dad a t-shirt. Sis wanted to buy a hoodie jump because of its print. Down to the port we find our Silverswift labelled ship. We sat on the cement nearby and wait for boarding to open. Once onboard, you had to fill our form about the state of your health. Tea and cakes were ready. We were debrief about using our gears, using the ship facilities, and how to call for help. Sadly, Sis and I forgot to bring extra sun screen and towels. BYO people! They do offer free power ports and tubs to wash salt water off your GoPro camera. Drinkable water and warm shower water to rinse off salt water. De-fog soap spray for your snorkel goggles.

What an adventure! I learned to snorkel for the first time in OUTER GREAT BARRIER REEF!!! I have not swam for like 20 years or so now. I hate chorine, as it triggers psoriasis on my eyelid. We went to Flynn reef, Milin reef, and Moore reef. There I saw giant clams, sea slugs, parrot fish, sweet lips, blue horn coral, plate coral, boulder coral, and soft coral.

At the first patch coral, the ocean current dragged me 13 metres from the ship and I had to call for help. Mick had attentive and brought me back. Holis and Ken was just as good. Phew!

By the second and third coral patch, sis and I got the hang of snorkeling. Just need to refine embarking and disembarking though. I was capable of swimming for 30 minutes and making my back to the ship with ease.

The photographer managed to grab a cool shots of us. Which was lovely. I have yet to look at my footage from the GoPro.

Dinner at Riki Japanese restaurant.


29th November 2018 

Reef terminal round two. This time we went with Reef Magic Cruise. If you do but any add-on, you were basically ignored. When the ship arrived at the pontoon, the whole crew disembarked the ship, leaving passengers to sort themselves. Everyone was confused, what is happening, and where do we go. There no change room on this ship compared tp Silverswift. So, the ladies rush to the loo to change into swim wear, same did the men. Then people disembark to the pontoon and grabbed their gears like a mad shopping sale. Whoa.

While everyone has gone crazy. I just wanted to do activities that I have already paid for online: glass bottom boat and snorkeling. Boy, did it feel like we were on WaterWorld's movie set. There only one patch coral for us to snorkel in. We had 5 hours to kill.

The glass bottom boat felt like rickety rack type, you could possibly fall out of it. The semi-submersible boat ride was better. However, both ran only for the first half of the day. So you had to get in quick, as it was guaranteed you will get a seat, even if you have paid for it. Many of the suba and snuba divers have forfeited their ride,  so that they can spend more time under the water.

If you add-on they will take you to Moore reef to snorkel, but we have already done that coral patch yesterday with Silverswift. Price TBA.The other add-on were swimming with marine biologist extra $35 (30 minutes), snuba with a air raft extra $125 (40 minutes), seawalker helmet $100 approximately (30 minutes), and other things.

We watched two noodle pools float away from the snorkel circle and two men chuff on salt water, while the life guards put up their feet and chatted away. We upstairs were doing Melbourne Cup horse race commentary on how the green noodle pool was catching up to the yellow noodle pool, which has already gone 500 metres head, and we see two struggling human being, with one latching onto another snorkeler's noodle pool, and so we may have 3 strugglers by the end. After the laughter and loud commentary did the life guard use a machine to swim out to the noodle pool. But no one helped the three poor men, who in the end made it back to the pontoon safely.

The salt water kept going into my snorkel hose and for sis the salt water kept getting in her mask. The gears have holes in them. Ew.

What a waste of $186 per person.

Back on land, we had a happy hour dinner at Boat Shed.

As we walked back to the lagoon, I received a telephone call form Skyrail that our tour was cancelled for tomorrow. Since we could not reschedule, they will refund the money via my agent RACV. RACV office was closed by the time I received the phone call.


30th November 2018

Reef casino. Tiny. Cosy. Welcoming. Tamarind did not serve lunch, so we went to Fitzroy Grill at the back of the casino for lunch. It was delicious. Then we went to to the roof to check out Cairns Zoom and Wildlife Dome. They have a four day ticket. Wow. At an extra cost you can pose with a koala, snake, and baby crocodile. Of course, we choose all 3.

The animals were exotic. The birds were free to roam anywhere. For extra cost you can zipline over the big crocodile enclosure. Nah. No thanks. They also have rope climbing activities. As an add-on you can walk outside and around the glass dome. It was too sunny for our liking. We did stay for the koala talk and reptile show.

Then we went retail therapy. I purchased some opal art rock and pendant. We checked out some new shorts by Ripcurl Hurley, Billabong, Quicksilver, and so on.

Dinner at Goong Korean and Japanese restaurant.

Then it was time to pack and fly back home.











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December 2018

Family wise. I just caught on that my sister has been peddling away my food purchases to feed her academic boyfriend. Ugh. I had no choice, but to remind her that I was not born to supplement her lifestyle. While my brother owns a MacPro and refuses to uses any of the bundled software except Safari web browser. I was astounded to hear this. What?! Why? Geez. Then why buy it then? He asks, "why you do use MacAir?" I gave my usual Apple eco spiel. I do not know why people want me to explain things repetitively, when the problem is them and their inability to self-educate themselves. Ugh. Then there is mom, who cautions me, bro's and dad's cars are delicate and cannot handle heavy, asks that I lug back bottles of wine in my backpack from the city in 39 degrees heat. Ugh.

Work wise. I am getting another chance to do public speaking. Which is both interesting and challenging at the same time. At the work place, management enjoys setting unrealistic deadlines - 2 weeks. I can see how quick people develop white hair overnight and why systems were poorly designed. Is this how people run their businesses? Why are adults so afraid of using sandboxes and refuse to walk away from so called "ideal condition test runs". Another puzzle that I just do not have the brain space for.

Adults are bewildering. They lack awareness of their community, environment, and people needs. And the cycle goes on per generation. I feel sorry for mother nature, humans are so caught up with themselves, they forgot to care about planet Earth.

I did manage to take a short break. Yes, I did all the research, booking, planning, navigating, listening to announcements, photography, video recording, and tried to spend some time playing Pokemon Go game. A great deal of juggling alright. I hope one day I get to setup an AI to assist me. Then maybe I will get free time to fix up my CV and play more PoGo.

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November 03, 2018

November 2018

Humans simply refuse to think in context. They refuse to "walk in people's shoes". These particular human feel they are above all.

Take for example, at my work place there are people who create procedures, but they fail to thoroughly test it for whatever reason, and they implore ask staff to carry out the procedure with little or no training. What I was expecting really? In a new procedure, I pointed out the system was not setup properly, unless you had supervisor level login, you could charge incoming item to staff. I asked that they fix it, otherwise no one will use it as stipulated, and a work around will be implemented annoyingly.

Meanwhile, one of the Pokemon Go Melbourne Facebook page administrator misused their power. Told off a work colleague to shut up after reporting a sighting of a hundo in a chat room. The administrator was just an acquaintance, my colleague felt this warning was rude, and asked if he was wrong to share the information. I said no. I advised the administrator to be more contextual when issuing people warning. My colleague posted "THANK YOU" twice and the administrator called it "CONVERSATION TRIGGER". Really?! How unprofessional. Definitely, power has gone to this person's head. It is easy to delete posts, dude.

Meanwhile, my brother rings me to say which mobile phone should I buy for mom? Not once or twice, but whenever he has free time. He even asks this same question when I am sick. Please could you just buy some rubbish mobile phone and get it over and done with already. It has been 6 months now. There is no mobile phone that rules them all. Also, stop nagging me. I am not made out of money. I will not fund your life style. Geez.

Time to withdrawal from poisonous individuals and get back to planning my vacation.

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October 13, 2018

October 2018

The cycle of work and cycle life. Are we living in a cycle? Or is it simply we are surround by people who are lost in location, lost in testing gadget features, lost in taste and don't know where to eat? Um.














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September 28, 2018

September 2018 - trip to Western Australia


There is something magical about Western Australia. The natural beauty of the landscape lures you back. The food is not strong as Hobart offering, but still pretty delicious. We went to rural areas this time and it was pretty spectacular.


1 Saturday 2018

On the plane we had frittata with chicken sausage and a blueberry lemon muffin with orange juice for lunch. 

I watched Tully (movie). It talks of night nanny, but when one doesn’t have the money to hire, does one goes to fabricate one, while the struggling to run a household with young children and a new baby? #sleepdeprivation funny and not funny at the same time. After having watched the movie I dozed off. 

The airport does not have a top up station for the transit smartcard. I will submit a feedback soon.

It is hot down in Perth. Our over coats were totally out of place. We decided to go and hunt for summer clothes shopping around Murray St and Hay Street. There is a sale going on. Lucky for us. Sadly, my sister kept aiming for jumpers and skin lace print plastic jackets. Both which are not breathable fabrics for summer.  

There is no South beach market. The website must have been dated or I was mistaken. Luckily, Sis noticed an Italian restaurant when we were on a bus, Ruocco’s Pizzeria, and we went there for dinner. It was delicious. We had grilled scallop for entree, a four cheese pizza, and crab linguini.  


2nd September 2018

Success. Sis and I had found the Sardine Jetty. Phew. The tiny sign was located deep within a car park. When we board the ship, the path to Augusta was rough, so rough it made several passengers sea sick. On the other hand, my sister could not tuckering into the teddy bear biscuits on offer. Each time I was filming she would come on and say, “you want a teddy bikkie?”. I said no. I don’t want to miss a moment and make crumbs. Although, we did managed to see two young humpback whales and two minke whales. The sun was shining brightly on us. Bonus was the captain allowed us to watch the whales for an extra 15 minutes. Thank god, we did too, as we got the chance to see the male humpback perform a surface communication - “dive backwards”, twice! So breath taking to see it in person. But it is not a move to be use too often, as it attracts sharks. There are sharks between Augusta and Rottnest Island. Boy, you do not want to go overboard in these waters. 

We went to Fremantle market to grab a bite to eat at Taka kitchen in a food court called Old Shanghai, we have never been there before. Apparently, there is one in Northbridge too. Nice, yet the tables were way too large for the tiny space. 

Sis and I went home for a nap before heading out to Leederville and have ourselves some tapas at Pincos de tapas. Then we strolled to The Good Grocer to check out their supplies of juices and fudges. Sis purchased a rainbow fudge. They have pre-made meals here. Cheaper than the restaurants. 


3rd September 2018

The location of iFly was along the Great Eastern free way. Plenty of buses go down it. Dry as. Bring a cap, sunnies, a bottle of water with you. 

While waiting for the bus to arrive. A driver from Bird (Uber like company) stopped his car at the bus stop and proceeded to ask us questions. Do you need a lift? Do you need to get somewhere urgently? Are you lost? No to all questions. I replied that I was playing Pokémon Go and asked if he could stop interrupting me. I was trying to complete quests here. To make 3 excellent throws in a row is not an easy feat. 

Time for iFly. Harry was our indoor sky diving trainer and Mogo was our high fly trainer. What an exhilarating experience. It maybe my second time, but I still feel nervous. Completely, different from my Los Angeles experience. We didn’t put our hands into any claw position or spin on the base. We did fly upwards in the tunnel with the help of Mogo. 

We stopped by Red Rooster for lunch. Sis had the Mac and cheese roll. While I had Tropicana chicken pack. 

Once we were on the road again, we took a bus train and bus to Murdoch Pines golf course, only to find out it was closed for business. For two years. The whole place was under construction. Some sort of city wide project in Cockburn. We stood in front of a farm gate waiting for a bus. There the Pokémon Go gym was being remotely attacked by a spoofer. There was no one there but my sister and I. Wow. How sad that people do not come out to play in these suburbs. The weather was fickle. Rain heavy while we were at the train station then burning hot when we waited for a bus back to the train station. 

Oh? I gotta get me some rounds at Holey Moley (mini golf in a pub). Speechless. Each course was spectacular and unique. Scary one. Challenging one. Hilarious one. Plenty of reference to pop culture too. Quite interactive, as some greens require you do some winding, press a buzzer, or drop a ball into a pinball machine. My sister found it challenging. Just need to use the flaps correctly to get the ball moving again. They have non-alcoholic cocktails offer. Pretty spacious layout. 

K-town has taken up parts of Chinatown. Lots of BBQ joints. They have some unique eatery. We decided to give Hanabing a try. They serve  bingsu. A mix of fine shaved ice, flavoured powder, red bean, and custard ice cream. Yum. Sis didn’t find her hot taro latte tasty or her soft serve matcha ice cream. I went for the signature dessert Black sesame bingsu. 

We had German potato dumplings with mushroom ragu and beef ravioli for dinner. Both were delicious. The styling was of the food was interesting. Inside the potato ball was mince meat. The mushroom was just a tad salty. The restaurant is located in Globe Lane and it was pretty pricy, but they have a wide selection of German beer. 


4th September 2018

Day tour time. The longest one we have ever been on. 15 hours in total. David was our driver. Adam coaches would pick you up and drop you at Crown casino. In the car park, you were sorted into your groups. 

David told us in Crown Casino, the penthouse comes with a butler and skyline view of the city. All for $22,000 per night. The Optus oval near Crown has a dedicated train station. Due to lack of car park. Lots of coach car park space were set aside for major events. Bottom of the Kings Park is the old Swan brewery. Natural spring water flows from the mountain. Make you wonder how big is this botanic garden.

First pit stop Donnybrook. Toilet break really. This area grows Granny Smith apples and Pink lady apples. We had ourselves chicken roll and an apple slice. Also, the farms and vineyards around these parts grow their own marron in ponds. Tip: Cook them in their own shell with salt water still in the shell. Balingup town organises medieval theme festivals to keep the town relevant and to attractive to visitors. Old timber and tin mining towns are trying to reinvigorate people’s interest in the town with galleries, exhibition experiences, sculptures of the mining days. Elle McPearson has an estate in one of the towns here. It was given to her as part of her commission when she did the Western Australia tourism campaign. Along the roads are “caring wattles” scrubs growing wildly. 

Diamond Tree is a huge watch tower. Metal rods were inserted into the tree for climbing, but it can be slippery. Around it was many equally tall trees. One so hollow that it naturally has a platform for you to climb into it and stand in it. Ha ha. 

The Valley of Giants was incredible. The tingle trees were huge. What makes them distinct is their base flares out and they can grow pretty wide. The tree top walk was breath taking and scary at the same time. So, high above ground. I avoided using my iPhone and selfie stick just in case they fell. Instead I just stuck to my GoPro and my new hand/leg mount. At the half way point, I placed the GoPro on my sister’s hand and continued the footage. We saw some parrots, but no quokka today. In the ancient forrest, we walked through several hollow tree bases, saw a tree called ‘grandma’ and it posses a face, and then the rain came down. 

We drove pass Denmark. I wasn’t able to take a photograph within the town. It was heavily populated compared to the other towns. This one has Woolies, but the locals prefer IGA supermarket. It was said the tourist would stay here for accommodation and drive to the Valley of the Giants. Often the tourist would visit Woolies for supplies. 

We stopped by a local swimming hole made by mother nature. Called Greens pool in Williams Bay. Too cold for a swim and too slippery for a walk. We did see several rainbows in our drive up. A nice resting spot though. 

We had dinner at Kodja Place Visitor Centre and Iit was delicious. Sadly, the cake was not to my sister’s liking - carrot cake. Too big. Too dry. 

Jack gave us a tour of the museum. Half of the display had pictures of him in it. He is a living historian. He told us what each tool was used for. Surveyors once used the 80 chain to measure a mile. Wow. The Aboriginals would make cloaks out of animal fur and exchange it for necessities, his grandpa made a wallaby rug and exchanged it for a car battery. What talented skills. 


5th September 2018

Day tour round two!

After we had been picked up from the hotel, we were taken to Crown Casino to swap coaches. As I settled into my seat, I received a telephone call from Geraldine, asking if I have received her message about changes to the itinerary. Apparently, we have been upgraded to 4WD something. I’m like, is someone coming to drive us in a 4WD? Very confusing. Even more confusing is the coach drove us to Caversham wildlife park straight away, diverting from the original itinerary. Tom gave us a lightening tour and gave us all brief windows to pose with 3 animals: kangaroos, a big wombat (20 years old called Big bubs), and a baby koala - who was very curious about us. 

To add more to the confusion we ended up in Lobster shack for lunch and we had fish and chips. Oddly, the staff were lifeless and lacked motivation to deal with tourists. We were left to our own devices and to stare at boxes in the factory
with an audio guide. I go to myself - ugh, why? Rumour is, that this they way to score a discount on the lobster meal. Instead of $45, it is $25.  

By late afternoon we arrived at Pinnacle desert. The rock formation was quirky and unique. You can see shapes of animals and deity within them. Light rain passed by. It detected my sister was proceeding to head to the deck. It deterred her from going further. We managed to squeeze in a little bit of time in the gift shop and a brief tour of the discovery centre. 

Lancelin sand dunes looked amazing, but the sand was clay like due to the rain. We went on a delightful 4WD ride. The seat belt knocked off one of my earrings. Solider on. I attempted to #sandboard on wet-clay-like sand. Not successful mind you. 

Oddly enough, all wildlife are kept in conservation or behind fences. None of them are free roam this vast land. We didn’t see any animals in the national park, beach, and parks. Not even birds. Weird. 


6th September 2018

Slow day. 

Started the day with high tea at the Lavender Bistro. They are hidden in the back of Margaret River Chocolate store. They infuse lavender pieces into the scones and jams. I polished my lavender milkshake within minutes. While waiting for the bus a horse came on over from the paddock to smell me. Laughs. How funny. 

When we finished a round of mini golf at the Oasis Supa golf and adventure putt. The next bus back down the street was 45 minutes away. My sister was annoyed by slow buses. Since they only show up one every hour. It tested her patience. There was no bench for her to sit and wait for a bus. In the end, we walked past 11 bus stops back to Margaret River Chocolate store. My legs nearly gave way from the 1 hour walk. No footpath. Lots of uneven ground in Swan Valley. Upon reaching back I had to stop, sit, and buy a lavender ice cream. Yum. My sister was upset that I wouldn’t buy her a t-shirt. I said it was plain for $20 one. 

There is no footpath past the Margaret River Chocolate store, just bike paths. Cars and trucks would speedily drive pass at alarming speed. I doubt anyone feels comfortable walking on the bike path. We were too exhausted. But we had to keep on plugging and get a bus to the nearest train station. Took bus 335 then bus 353 to Bassenden train station. Though 955 is a faster option to reach Bassenden. Who had real footpath. 


7th September 2018

Swan Valley round two. 

This time we decided to go on sweet trail on a different street. Hopefully with the buses goes in both direction. When we arrived at Midland train station midday. The bus isn’t due for arrival for 45 minutes and the sky was getting darker grey by the minute. We took a taxi to The Cheese Barrel. As we were approaching the Main Street it started to bucket down.

We had ourselves the ultra premium cheese platter: Truffle delice, red lestcher, and St Augs (blue cheese). Oh my god. My belly was full by the end. Each of the cheese has its own sweet and bitterness. The Swan Valley honey had this soft crunchy texture and it was perfectly matched each cheese. We could not stop dipping into it. After having consumed our ultra premium cheese platter. The sun came out. But the bus was slow. Every 30 minutes. So much ants per bus stop too. 

We walked to The House of Honey. Sampled ample amounts of honey, honey lollies, and sparkly honey. Oh. The honey ice cream was creamy nice. I loved the wildflower honey. So fragrant and tasty. I got myself a jar and my sister some Jarrah honey lollies and a bookmark. There we chased chickens around the verandah. It pooped as it ran.  

Sis found a bee being overwhelmed by ants at a bus stop by the curb. She picked it up and it crawled all over her hands. Then she placed it on several flowers/weed. When it was placed on a white flower weed it started to gather nectar. When we were about to board a bus, it flew to Sis to say thanks and went on it’s way. 

Mondo nougat had some tough and chewy ones. The honey and macadamia nut one was buttery combo. Sis still insists it was too hard on her teeth. We didn’t try the nut store next door. Only managed to squeeze in some pics then double down to chocolate shop. 

Whistler & Co chocolates were delicious. The chocolate covered pretzel was my favourite. Sis like the spearmint milkshake more. She chose the watermelon fudge, but it was more sugar than watermelon. Sucker. 

I did some golf driving range at Altone Park golf course. Aww. Am I bad or what. 50 balls and only managed to hit 5 straight 100 metres. Dang! You can play into the night. The ball machine accepts Apple Pay and Pay wave. Free to borrow iron and driver. Yay! I used both. Sis only hit a few balls and gave up. One ball went side ways to another player’s foot. Uh. NQR. But everyone laughed it off. 

I got a bit of food poisoning from Tommy Sugo's food. Badly re-heated pasta. They serve microwave food at their restaurant, as their main target was university students, who prefer to cook at home. Not budget friendly though. 


8th September 2018

Moltres day! Pokémon Go crazy time. Wafu raid. I have 6 passes all up. 

Bright and early. Sis and I took the Red Cat bus into Perth CBD. There I went over to the cactus statue to meet up Perth CBD renown raid groups. There we had two Valor teams. The fast can walk first and slower ones will have do the “walk and catch” manoeuvre. I was in the latter. I had two smartphones. 

Damn. The server glitch kicked in within seconds. We have defeated the raid boss, but it won’t go down, the timer kept counting down. We all took a gamble and restarted our game app quickly several times, hoping we might have a chance at catching Moltres. After 13 minutes I was able catch mine and it was shiny one. Whoa. 

Team Valor took down south of the CBD to a train station and then back to Chinatown. What a route. I would have never figured it out. They sure know the best way to maximise your chances of getting a hundo. 

After the sixth pass was used. I departed the gang. Who was deeply focused on raiding all the gyms in the 3 hours. Sis and I went to have lunch at Yagman Square, Carribean braised lamb ribs, mac and cheese, potato salad.

We took a train to Cottesloe beach for a nice beach stroll. Also, we finally found the giant sun dial, it was hidden behind bushes, and a trail away from the beach. Why hide such beautiful things? We sat down and ate our carmel honey cake slice. Yum.

Then we went to Sakura sake for dinner. There we ordered the premium grilled set, instead we got more than we bargained for a bowl of edamame beans, fried soft shell crab pieces, fried chicken pieces, two bowls of ramen, a plate of sushi rice, a plate of mix meat, and something something else. I have forgotten now. Food coma. Walked home and tried to de-gas.


9th September 2018

The Kings Park botanic garden is HUGE. I recommend you take a bike or a solar powered scooter with you. Sadly, no bike path. Lots of coaches, cars, buses (to a certain point) goes through the park. 

This seems to be the area where a few Pokémon Go players come to play. Not many. The gyms are spread a part, not tightly clustered. Same goes for the city. I was able to find a good healthy amount of pokestops grouped around the main entrance, but the numbers are nothing like the Shrine of Remembrance. 

What was amazing was the amount of people coming to the park to smell, touch, and learn about the wildflowers of Western Australia. Several coaches and taxi dropped off load of people. I see the appeal. There are so many flowers I have never seen myself. Sis and I walked to the DNA tower. I reached the top and many all I can see was tree tops, maybe a river, and a building or two. It is a free observation deck built to celebrate science discovery of DNA double helix. 

Lunch we had a beef burger and a hotdog with slushy Fanta original. Packed to the rafters, everyone wanted to dine outdoors. It was a prefect day for it. A sunny day indeed. As we walked back to the entrance, along the street where bus 935 runs, there we stopped by several look out points. At the balcony above the aboriginal art gallery, we saw an eagle fly by twice, sadly it was being chased by crows. All other look out point have skyline views of the city and Swan River. 

Then we went to back to our hotel to pack one more time and checked out. Headed to the airport via bus 103 and 380. At the airport, we had some snack on loaded fries at Long Neck.

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September 17, 2018

September 2018

75% of the year is nearly over. Whoa. What a year it has been. I have made new friends and found myself a new fitness leisure - Pokemon Go app. This month players have to open gifts and walk the egg from the gift in order to get a special pokemon.

Meanwhile, at the beginning of the month, I have been on vacation with my sister in Western Australia. Over there we got the chance to see natural wonders from whales to giant gum trees. More details to come.

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August 02, 2018

August 2018

It is a wonderful feeling to make new friends in person through a game. You can talk about the game passionately and be besiege with frowning faces, as you would normally receive at work, at home, and among friends who do play games at all.

At present, I adore Pokemon Go (game). I am amazed how hard core fans are still playing the game, despite the masses has loss interest in it by 2017, and with the release of new Pokemon games by Nintendo. many of the players have shifted to offline style of play. But I guess, I am a hard core player. I reached level 40 in February (20), which is the highest player level for now. 

The game still has bugs and quirks. But I enjoy the challenges it bring and I don not mind having to deal with its shortcoming. I do that all the time at work. I am amazed how much of my feedback has been seriously added into the game, from gym features to campaigns. It makes me smile when my feedback bears fruit.

Each time the company Niantic runs a campaign, organise a festival somewhere in the world, and release a new feature it makes millions of dollars. Just WOW! awe, surprise.

There is one aspect that many people have overlooked - communities. There are actually global communities for this game, where players exchange thoughts, screens recordings, and milestones. They even plan non-sponsored events, first there were lure parties in 2016, second there were "wafu" raids in 2017, and 2018 trading pokemon meetups and dinners. The game has built-in social element even though it does not have messaging facilities. Players use other communication platform such as Facebook, Twitter, Discord, and so on. The community globally is sitting in the millions and holding strong. Players now travel to catch exclusive regional pokemon which are spread across the different continents.

How can you frown on this game when it:

  • gets seniors in Hong Kong walking more (pokemon eggs);
  • give players a chance to find their new spouse (raid parties);
  • encourage people to celebrate their 60th birthday with young players (lure parties);
  • stop people from spending money at the pokies machine and hang out with real people (raid parties);
  • help shy people in their 30s find new friends (raid parties and lure parties).


I am having blast.

Oddly, the social growth around this game has been amazing for me. I have made a dozen new friends to date. We had dinners, trivia night, and walk-fetch-quests after work. Winter does not seem all that dreary when you have great company.

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