4 hrs notice camping trip - Kinglake National Park

4 days after our camping trip at Corinella, Sulhan and family called up for another ovenight camping at a forest reserve. We jumped at it cos there wasn't a bonfire at the last trip...  :)

This time, we went just the four of us cos there is no water facility at the camping ground... so it'd be inconvenient for my parents.

4hrs! Confirmed to go. Repacked. Cooked campfood. Marinated chicken. All set!  :)

The thing i love about this trip was it was close to home. only 20 mins from our place. So that' is to show close we are to the forest reserve... yayyyy!!!!

 Andersons Garden Camp Ground  was where we went. No data coverage (i was a lil disappointed ahahhahaha cos i really wanted to show my favourite girls how beautiful nature was), only SOS calls, lots of bird souns especially the Kookaburra which sounded like a monkey. Gorgeous stars and a great bonfire. hahahahah those are the good stuff...

Bad stuff cannot be parked in the same paragraph ahahhahahahah! Toilets. hmmmmm.... errr... it's long drop type. No water. No flush. So... whatever business there was to be made, it went all the way down the hole...  :)

 

 

Enjoy more photos at the click below...

Our maiden camping trip at Corinella and MARU animal farm

ahahahhahahaha i totally forgot to upload out camping trips! We went on 2 trips at the beginning of the year.
One was in the east and another in the north. Went on both trips with camping gurus - Suhan and Ana. Super duper experienced.

The first trip was a 3D/2N stay and brought my parents along too. I loved the trip with all the food but hated the flies! It was almost the peak of summer then and the swarm of flies were like bees to honey. The moment we stepped out of the car, the flies would just rest on our bodies like as if we were corpses! And annoyingly, they wouldn't budge even if u hand was close to flicking them off! So unlike SG flies! These flies were BOLD!!! BOLD in capital and red! But that didn't deter our camping spirit...  :)

Before the trip we bought our gears from camping table to tents to foldable deck chairs... Not cheap... terkopak duit bonus Papa... ehhehehehehe

The road trip itself was about 1.5hrs from our place. It was a cheap site, we opted for powered site... at least we could recharge our phones heheheheeheh The site was sea facing, which meant it was a good fishing spot. But alas, we didn't catch edible fish. The first fish had to be released back into the waters cos it was still young and not up the minimum length. And the rest were puffer fish, one of which was caught by Riyan! Member was sooooo happy!!!!

Sea facing camping grounds... lovely! plus cold....

ON the way back from camp we visited MARU Koala Sanctuary and animal park

; and Caldermeade

More photos click below .......

Riyan's Thornbury soccer clinic

I want Riyan to be active in sports rather than tuck his face into the iphone or ipad playing games. He loves football or what-they-call here, soccer. The thing i like about Australia is that they focus on family and kids. School holidays would mean that kids friendly places such as zoos and the likes are FREE for kids! Even normal day weekends are FREE for kids. Listen up Singapore, do something nice for your kids, huh? It should not be all about the profit.

The norm is for Aussie families to travel out of the state or camping or any family bonding activities say around Christmas. Closer to the starting of new school term, they have sports clinics and camps in Jan. Did i mention he loves soccer? Yes. He does. So this mama looked into anything sporty for him to take part in and mingle with the other Aussie kids. It'd build up his self confidence and maybe communication skills, if he even talks! heheehehehh I signed him up for a half day soccer clinic on one Saturday in Thornbury, under Thornbury United Football Club. Price was affordable at $45 from 9am-12noon. And Alhamdulillah, the timing worked well as I was scheduled for my volunteer training that very same day. Riyan was elated and definitely looked forward to the session though he might not have expressed it. 

As usual, he was the outstanding one. Even back in SG, he would either be the only Malay, or the only Muslim in whatever enrichment activities he signed up for... *sigh* For the clinic, he was the only Asian and only Muslim. It's alright. Good to be different, boy!

The clinic was awesome under the perfect weather and great coaches. Of course, the whole clan witnessed his virgin soccer clinic heheheheheheh He learnt proper skills and techniques, got snacks, medal and some freebies for the clinic. He enjoyed it. Thank you coaches for making history for him. :) Lovely!

The team that made through the day. The juniors were so adorable!

Getting geared up

That A after his name was supposed to be Amalina... and not Al... they mixed it up...  > < hehe

Warming up with Pa

Supporting department

with his coaches...

Penang random shots

Same smile.

Preparing for the haze that hit back in Singapore.

Right next to Trader's Hotel.

My pumps bought in Penang cos the one i put on had its soles came off.

This company sells Halal Penang 'tau sar pheah' or Tambun biscuit.

Our ride home that circled Changi Airport for about 10 mins cos of the haze.

The environment that welcomed us home...   :(

Penang Day 02

OK, here are our other Penang photos fo Day 02. Enjoy! All taken using my trusted iphone. heheheh!

We booked a connecting room at Traders Hotel in George Town. Hotel facilities were satisfactory except for the pool... they could do better, i believe. But their staff service was excellent. Especially the reception staff who served us. He was so helpful with the places to go and the info about the shuttle to the 'sister' hotel - Shangrila's Golden Sand Resort. I would stay there again if we were to make a trip there.

The hotel lobby. Nothing fancy.

One of the adjoining rooms.

It was a little past lunch when we arrived and checked in. Trader's is situated right next to a modern mall. It was like a typical Singapore heartland mall. But i think it was recently opened so many shops at the basement were not in operation yet. With shops like Coach, Parkson, Gloria Jean, Starbucks and Subway. And yes, I had my first taste of subway there. HEAVENLY! Now i know why people are raving about it. We got to the top floor where the foodcourt was. Ate something local there. 

The original Penang laksa. Mak ordered it. She had never tried had this dish before and this was super sour!

Can't remember what my dish was called but it was a nicely fried chicken with something like 'serunding' on it. Yes, it was called Ayam Rempah. Served with pickled veg and sambal belachan. Not bad.

The kids had their usual chicken rice. I was feeling monstrous so i ordered another bowl of tom yum soup.

hmmmm... feeling cold with Nyai. Waiting for the other 2 at Gloria Jean.

Cute, rite...?  :) Like Japanese...

Our itinerary for the following day was tiring... a little tiring. Bird Park, Penang Hill, Street Art, Shangrila Resort to catch the night flea market (which was a little disappointing cos it was just like our normal pasar malam...) We booked a car plus driver with Ocean Jupiters for our tour within Penang. Friendly driver but i had hoped that he had brought us to a better place for lunch. We went to this Indian foodplace in a two storey shophouse. We ordered briyani but hmmm... i had tasted better briyani, that's all i could say.

Brekkie! I always love hotel breakfast spread.

Displays only...  :(     Don't they look yummy?

Pa's miso soup.

The local booth corner.

Mine.... the congee is a must.

On the way up to Bukit Bendera or Penang Hill. It was about a ten-minutes ride up to the peak. Many people but not crowd-pushing. There was till space to breadthe. Noticed that there were many Arabs... mostly couples. Think it was their honeymoon...

It was beautiful up at the peak. You can see the entire Penang island and part of the Mainland. We could even see our hotel from there! ehhee...There were quite a few places to see at the peak but cos we were rushing to the Bird Park later, we only got to go to The Owl Museum.

Going up Bukit Bendera or Penang Hill.

We got in the front carriage. good view from there.

It was a perpetually slanted monorail. The last i took this was waaaaaay back when i was five or six? It was natural ventilated back then. They had improvised it with aircon and it was more comfortable though it was full.

View along the journey.

At the peak. It was clear air up there while Singapore was going through 400+psi reading.

It was very clear scenery... my photo did not do justice to the view.

We visited The Owl Museum. All owls!

Him doing what he does not know best! ahahahha

Got the kids identical pair of the Brother and Sister street art painting.

The mamak food place where we had our lunch in Little India. We sat at the upper floor.

Very retro....

I was not sure but i think the customers dished out their own choice of gravy.

I had requested for the driver to take us through the Unesco Street Art areas. We only went to a few streets. These wall murals were done by a Spanish artist and it was a mix of wall painting and a 3D physical item. It was interesting. And along some sreets they had this comic which were extruded using thick metal something that looked like plated steel. Some reflected Penang or Malaysia politics in a fun way...

hmm... trying hard to decipher what it meant.

...where i almost got knocked down by a scooter. It was a one way street and he was going in the opposite direction!

Took a vehicle ferry to the Mainland.

Nothing much to say about their Bird Park. It looked like a family run park... But these birds or heron or whachamaycallit are huge! They welcomed all visitors and would come very close to us.

Like watching an open-air movie back in the good ol' days, we watched the mini bird show sitting on stools. The herons were free to roam among us as we watched. Riyan was scared of the birds that flew low during the show he practically put his head on Mak's lap to dodge the birds. One of the birds slapped Pa with its wings... ahahhahahah it was THAT low.

The driver took us back to the island via the Penang bridge. No, this was the first bridge and not the second one that collapsed.

A must-go place. This shot reminded me of a Mc D in Australia. This Mc D was at a petrol station and the meal was super cheap!

Their favourite...fish spa!! but this one was not satisfying, painful rather. Cos the fish were huge!

Our last stop over to get souvenirs at the airport. Cos our flight was at 10am, we didnt have the time to shop at George Town.