Melody brought me to the Anatomy Museum in Melbourne Uni today. The admission is free and tables and chairs are provided for students to study there. Pieces of human body are preserved in glasses. As we enter the room, we were greeted with jars of preserved hands, followed by legs, bodies, head, brains and foetus. To me, the exhibition wasn’t gruelling at all but it was sure disturbing. There’s this body of an old women with sagging breast and traces of pubic hair on her genital. It was the most disturbing (or I might say disgusting) sight of all. There were also some interesting ones ie well preserved foetuses and severed brains with eyeballs intact. Most of the organ donors are old individuals, judging from the persevered heads. Unfortunately, photographs are not allowed otherwise I’ll start snapping pictures. I wanted to take couple of sneak shots and started thinking whether should I. Suddenly, a sudden glimpse of a black shadow appeared on my corner of my eye. I turned and there wasn’t anybody there. I guess it’s a sign for me not to be disrespectful to any of the souls in the room.
– 10:53PM
Category: Aussie Backpacking 2002
Melbourne : Grampians National Park
The trip to Grampians National park was absolutely tiring. I’ve never hiked so much in my life.
We almost missed our bus to Grampians. We were late and I lost the boarding pass but thank god the bus driver allowed us in.
Our bus driver is a kind and intelligent middle aged white man. He gave us information in great details every place we passed (even small little farms!). He has great knowledge of the forest and the history of Australia.
We passed a long stretch of road called Avenue of honour in Ballarat. The road is to commemorate the 3000 soldiers perished in the World War (either 1 or 2, I don’t remember). Each and every soldier who perished is represented with a plat of the soldier’s name and a tree. 3000 might sound like a small amount but once we drove through the 3000 trees in the Avenue of Honour, 3000 is no longer what we consider small. The stretch was endless and it took us a while to go through the avenue. War is really devastating. It is the old man who wage the war but it is the young man who fights the war.
Our first stop was Hall’s Gap. It’s a small serene little town located on the foothill of the Grampians.
We stopped for a quick lunch. The bus brought us to this small little shop which serves simple but really expensive food. Melody and I had a quick bite and took a stroll around the park. We bumped into a group of wild kangaroos in a small field. The field was filled with kangaroo dung.
I set up my tripod quickly and took a picture of the kangaroos and us with the Grampians as the background.
After half an hour of driving upwards to Grampians, we arrived in the balconies. From the balconies, a picturesque view of Victoria valley, with flat green luscious trees on the bottom stretching endlessly only ended by the mountains.
Melody and I ventured on our own, within the rocky cliffs of the balconies. It was fun and exciting but a small little mistake could send us down towards the bottom of the mountain. But the beauty of the place made me forget my fear of heights.
Our own little venture is much fun than those provided. We braved through trees and high rocks rather than walking on the man made path.
Our next stop was Mackenzie falls. Our kind bus driver offered everyone billy tea, biscuits, lamingtons and vegemite. Billy tea is some sort of tea but it’s specialty lies on its process of making it. Nothing special actually, it’s just boiling the tea on a tin can (but it tasted good). We sat down in a small field with kookaburras, crows and a kangaroos around us.
Most of the people were amused with the kangaroo and kept on feeding it but the poor crows scavenged on the leftovers. Our bus driver told us that we could choose a few locations to go in Mackenzie fall, either to the base of Mackenzie fall or the outlook of Mackenzie fall. However, according to our bus driver, anyone with a heart problem or unfit are not advised to go to the 1.75km walk to the base of the waterfall. Melody and I, with great confidence, decided to go for the base. The trip down was easy and quick but the trip wasn’t rewarding. The water seems bubbly and dirty. We took couple of photos and headed straight back to the bus.
The trip back was hell. We were late for the bus’s departure time and we had to rush up. We almost die of exhaustion.
The bus drive gave us a brief summary of Vegemite. When it was first released (not under the name of Vegemite), nobody liked it. The company decided to change its name and it had a public competition for a new name. A 12 year old girl suggested the name vegemite because of its vegetable extracts and the similarity to marmite. Furthermore, according to our bus driver, during World War I, Vegemite saved hundreds of life. The Australian government provided Vegemite to the Red Cross to deliver to Aussie prisoners of war. Due to the fact that vegemite has the highest vitamin B than any other food, many of the prisoners were saved from malnourishment.
Our last stop was Zumsteins Park, a kangaroo park. According to our bus driver, when the park first opened, there wasn’t much kangaroos. The owner then tried feeding the kangaroos and soon, the park was populated with them. However, years later, the government declared the Grampians as a national park whereby it prohibited the feeding of kangaroos. Soon, many of the kangaroos left but few stayed behind. And a few kangaroos are what we saw in Zumsteins Park.
Our bus driver decided to drive along a ranch to cover up the disappointment most people have on the kangaroo sighting (I don’t know why people wanted to see them so much, kangaroos are regarded as pest in Aussie). And this time, we saw loads of kangaroos and sheep and even emus! Kangaroo and Emus are featured in the Australian coat of arms. But why roos and emus? According to our bus drive again, it’s because both of this creatures are not so physically capable of taking a step backward. This symbolises the attitude of the Australians, always a step forward, not backwards.
Kangaroos have a very short period of pregnancy. The baby kangaroo is born within 36 days of conception (to be precise, the baby kangaroo climbs out from the mother’s womb to the mother’s pouch). The new born baby is only a size of a jelly bean; blind; furless and it’s journey to the pouch is guided by instinct.
We had dinner at a hotel called Commercial Hotel in Ararat before heading home. Their carbonara sucks big time.
3 hours later, we’re back in the city. We thanked our bus driver for the great time and the information. He replied “excellent!”
– 9:36PM
I watched “A Wedding in Ramallah”. The movie is based on real life action. It’s about a Palestinian man’s arrange marriage in Israel and how the marriage went. It also shows the brutality of the Jewish soldiers against the Palestinians. There was once a tank shot an apartment along with all it’s inhabitants inside. They even showed Jewish soldiers shooting kids on the streets!
Fights in Russell St. arcade are common and I almost got myself involved today. An Asian guy challenged me in a game of King Of Fighters 98. I beat the guy 6 times in a row and he started to get pissed. Soon, he started banging the buttons and on the last match, he stopped and stared at me. I stared back and went like “uh oh?” I was beginning to fear for my life, who knows what if the guy pulls out a gun. My years of martial art training would be down the drain! However, he stood up and left. *phew* thank god. One of my arcade friends came few minutes after that. I asked him whether is it common for people to fight when they lost numerous matches. My friend replied with “oh no, he wasn’t pissed because he lost, it’s because you played cheat. In this arcade, you’re not supposed to catch the opponent (one of the common moves in King Of Fighters), it’s considered cheating”. geee.. Back in Kuala Lumpur, everyone used that method and no one complained about it. No wonder sometimes I get my opponents banging their buttons hardly.
– 9:12PM
Melbourne 14
I went to Wei Chen’s place today. His friend and him shared a huge house together and linked all their computers together. They even had a small little network neighbourhood. They have unlimited supply of anime, songs, movies and obviously porn! (There are about 3 guys in the house) I brought my laptop over to copy some anime and movies. Damn, I cant wait till I move to my new place in Sheffield where 8 of my friends and I are staying together. We’re gonna have a huge network!
– 11:18PMBen hai is an ass
– 4:52PM
Melbourne 13
The trip to Grampians was absolutely tiring. I’ve never hiked so much in my life before! Details tomorrow, i dont feel like writing anything now.
– 11:45PM
Melbourne 12
I’ve been busy this couple of days. That explains the lack of materials in my updates.
I’m going for a one day trip to Grampians National Park tomorrow. It’s a lofty mountain zone that rises steeply from the flat expanse of Victoria’s west. Surrounding the park is a land rich in attractions. Throughout the Grampians region there are heritage towns and villages, award-winning wineries, rivers just right for fishing and boating, ancient volcanoes, contemporary cafes and restaurants, splendid art galleries, superb state and national parks, enthralling wildlife, graceful botanic gardens and timeworn goldmining towns (yada yada, I copied this shit from somewhere). The trip would start at 8:45AM till 9:15PM. Initially, Melody and I were planning to stay overnight but it seems that the tour agency doesn’t provide any transport back on Sunday. They could only fetch us back on Monday. However, according to them, the Monday bus service isn’t guaranteed. If they couldn’t get anyone to go Grampians on Monday then the bus wouldn’t be coming to Grampians and we will be stranded in Grampians till the next Friday!
– 11:33PMMelbourne is not a safe place even though the presence of the police is in every corner. Every time I hang out in Russell St’s arcade, I get worried. The street is famous for it’s drugs, gangsters, mugging and even shooting. Vietnamese are well known for their notoriety. Never ever try to ogle with Vietnamese girls otherwise the next time you’ll know is that a group of Viet guys trying to beat you up. Sharon’s cousin had the same experience but the group spared him. He gave his wallet and his phone to them. Poor guy, all because of a Vietnamese girl who liked him.
Not so far away, few blocks away from Russell St, there’s this place called Lygon Street. It’s famous for fabulous Italian food. The whole street is literally filled with Italian restaurant. However, every shops in this street is linked to the Italian mafia. Italians made up one of the largest migrants in Melbourne and obviously, the presence of mafias are always there. According to the taxi driver who I spoke to last week, the mafias in Melbourne aren’t so violent anymore. They prefer to make money, drive big cars and enjoy life.
– 1:00AM
Melbourne 10
My relationship with Melody’s housemate is getting worst. We had dinner together just now and she refused to talk or greet me. She even criticized my all time favourite show, The Simpsons by saying it is stupid, ignorant etc. Obviously, I do respect her view on The Simpsons but she doesn’t need to say it when I’m watching it! Furthermore, she changed the channel as Simpsons was about to start!
Before my arrival to Australia, she told Melody that I have to move out on my 2nd week during my 3 weeks stay (which apparently didn’t happen after some discussion). She complained that I don’t take the initiative to get know her during my previous stay here (obviously I wont, I didn’t like her from the start). And then she started finding faults in me and sometimes just things that Melody and I don’t even notice. godamnit, I still have to face her wrath for few more weeks.
– 11:32PM
Melbourne 9
Another uneventful day. As usual, lunch with Melody, went to the arcade, brought back dinner (Melody isn’t cooking today, her housemate is) and watched television.
I bumped into Jen Kin in Melbourne Uni today. She’s one of my ex-A-levels mates but I don’t really know her well. She asked me to go paint balling with her and my other ex-A-levels mates. She started naming me people who are going. As soon as I heard the name Nic, I was disgusted. I said I would think about it but with the clear intention of not going.
– 10:50PM
Melbourne 8
Nothing particular happened today. I had lunch with Melody, went to the arcade for 3 hours then met up with Melody in Bluezone (the café we always hang out in the uni) for coffee. We loitered in Bluezone till we were hungry.
I forgot to mention about the little conversation I had with the taxi driver who took me to the rave. He’s a young man of his late 20s from India and also a self admitted troublemaker in his younger days. He used to have a drinking problem which consequently caused him loads of troubles. There was once he was beaten up by a bunch of pimps because he didn’t want to pay for the prostitute’s service.
I asked him about his work. He used to drive the taxi part time but now he’s driving it full time, everyday, 24/7. He wanted to quit his job and have the weekends off but he rebutted himself by saying if he gets the weekend off, he’ll bump into troubles again. He then started talking about drugs. He prefers marijuana than alcohol and his friends was once tricked into buying sleeping pills for ecstasy.
He ended the drugs conversation “drugs are bad!”.
– 10:27PM
Melbourne 7 A good movie and good food solves problems.
I cooked carbonara for dinner and it turned out well! It’s my second attempt on cooking Carbonara. The first time didn’t turn out well because it was too cheesy. Melody and I had a romantic candle light dinner. We turned off the lights and lighted couple of candles. We ended with strawberries as desserts.
Ben, Wei Chen and I went to a rave yesterday. It wasn’t really good. The club was small and packed and I was still tired from yesterday’s clubbing session. The music was good though.
I made a mistake about the facts of the fight in Hard Kandy. It wasn’t 6 guys charging towards 1 guy but it was a guy charging towards 6 guys! And furthermore, according to the news today, 2 guys were shot outside Hard Kandy
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,4920662%255E2862,00.html
– 11:44PM
Melbourne 6
I watched the Signs in Crown before clubbing yesterday. Great cinematography and suspense!
I hate racist. I hate it when whites are rude to Asians. I had this huge bald white guy whom I was blocking his way said to me “Congratulation, you just won the 1st prize in the fuck off competition”. I laughed and replied, “fuck you”.
Hard Kandy was brilliant. The club is located in a basement of a shop with just a small door as an entrance. No one would ever suspect if it were a club on a normal day. Patrons will have to descend a small stair and will be greeted by hard thumping music. Hard Kandy is also well known to be the haven for Melbourne Shufflers. The whites shuffled smoothly to the music while Asians shuffled with great amount of energy following the beat of the music. The huge dance floor is slippery due to the talcum power that Shufflers put. Everyone around me could shuffle. However, the atmosphere wasn’t that great. Every time I club in a western country, everyone was friendly and apologetic. But in Hard Kandy, I hardy see any of those values. Everyone seems to be hostile.
sAsA was there too. Every time I met up with her she’ll usually high on ecstasy. However, this time she was high on acid. She was so fucked that she couldn’t even dance or have a proper conversation with us.
Ben and I shuffled till 5am. As we were about to leave, a fight broke out suddenly. A Vietnamese guy grabbed a bottle and with his friends rushed toward an Asian guy. The guy tried to run away and almost knocked me down. I stood on a corner thinking that the fight will soon be stopped. However, the Vietkongs grabbed the guy and he was struggling madly and worst of all, the struggle was directed towards me! I tried avoiding again. Every thing was in disarray until 2 huge whites started grabbing everyone to stop them. In Melbourne, fights in clubs are not common but it was mostly between Asians. Sometimes the owner of the club got so fed up that they sometimes ban Asians from entering the club.
Ben and I left as soon as the fight stopped. We had Hungry Jacks before heading home.
– 3:16PM