从心出发

结束了26天的旅程，心情很满足地踏上了归途。离开将近一个月，搭了5趟不同航线的飞机，住了14家不同的酒店和青年旅社。最后最挂念的竟然是小小的安乐窝。我柔软的床，齐全的厨房，大大的冰厨，可以随意转台的电视机，廉宜的无线上网设施。。。想得很！当然还有住家附近嘛嘛档的Chapatti。烤得香脆的麦粉团，配上马铃薯咖哩，梦里也想狠狠地咬一口。


临出发前爆发得不可收拾的鼻窦炎，在纽西兰纯净干爽的空气中竟然奇迹的好了。赶了几千里的路，没有看到一丝被人乱弃的垃圾。这片人间最后一片净土，连在乡野的公共厕所都干净得发亮。人民的自律与自重，非常值得我们借镜。


异地气温维持在5-10度之间。穿了二十多天的长裤冬装包鞋，一回家马上换上了背心短裤露趾凉鞋，无比地自在。不过，脸部T区又开始泛油；好久没有冒汗的身体也恢复了自然的散热系统，香汗淋漓。


当地车少人稀，大家开车互相礼让。行人更是最受重视的一群。即使你闭着眼睛过马路，车子会远远地就慢慢停下。车祸只有醉酒驾驶才会发生。回到了自己的国度，反而有点不习惯。你不抢道，不大力踩油门？休想越过十字路口。你不抢, 就输定，就属弱者。


这次到纽西兰，路过澳洲。再一次感受了当地的严密关卡检查。脱裤带，进行炸弹测试，排队被狗闻。脸皮稍微薄一点的，就会感受到委屈。可是这是人家保护国家安全的措施，管你是皇族或下人，无一幸免。还是马来西亚好，越过关卡时，没有狗，没有机器，唯一的包头官员小姐，双手围抱着一根柱子，眼神恍惚，要走要停？完全没有明确的眼神沟通。当然，以正常人的本性，还是三十六计走为上着。我想当她醒来的时候，可能几十斤的违禁品已经顺利过境。


当然还有机场那没水没厕纸的‘有料’厕所。我知道我用的是廉价航线，我活该受罪。这些文化差异，我得无言地接受，因为我的家在这里，因为我要回家。


时差和长途飞行，我这两天吃了就睡，醒了就吃。是夜晚，是凌晨？还没办法分得清楚。身体的劳累终于在玩乐之后完全爆发出来。写到这里我又睏得不行了。睡饱后，我会把旅途的所见所闻以日记的方式在这里摘录。后会有期！

（此文刊登于2010年10月22日中国报副刊，题目为“我家在这里”）

欲参阅我之前的文章，请浏览 http://mirabel-garden.blog.friendster.com/

28 - 29 May MELBOURNE - KL

At 4:30 PM, we went to ACMI (Australia Centre of Moving Image) with the aim to kill another 3 hours before meeting up with Hui Shan and Gordon for dinner. Also, since the centre is in Federation Square itself, we do not need to strain our pitiful feet too much.

The exhibition on Australian television and movie revolution was very boring to us initially. What kind of TV producer am I ? I guess being 'homeless' was the main culprit. The situation started to improve as we explored further. A few hands-on activities such as the flip book, time piece, shadow monster that allowed us to produce our own creative video clips slowly made us forget of our homeless status. The time piece technology (36 cameras capturing your action simultaneously), that was applied in the movie 'Matrix', really ignited Bernard's interest and he tried it so many times. There was also an exhibition for the upcoming animation flick 'Mary and Max'. It showed the making-of and the props used in this movie. I liked it very much but time seemed to fly and it was soon 6pm when the exhibition closed and we were politely asked to leave. Bear in mind, if you were in Melbourne and you happen to have nowhere to go, ACMI is an ideal place to keep you away from rain and shine. The most important thing was it provided information, fun and shelter for free.

Gaming session

We went back to Federation Square, and soon it started to drizzle. But we noticed that Aussies did not seem bothered by the rain. Many people, most of them alone were still sitting on the staircase, some staring into space, some quietly eating their dinner in their little bento boxes. The square was nicely lit up at night. There was a big screen, featuring Australian independent short films. Even reclining chairs were put up for public to relax while enjoying the movies. We grabbed 2 seats to watch the movie. It was a silent short film called 'Mirror, Mirror', depicting individuals with low self-esteem, how they hated and look down of themselves. The same film repeated for a few times while these two tired souls gradually fell asleep on the comfortable chairs. I was holding an umbrealla. It dropped and hit my face. Melbourne is a great city where you can do anything that you like as long as what you do does not harass anyone. No one would throw you any peculiar look. You can just be yourself, but do not forget to respect others.

   Reclining chairs and the big screen.

Federation square did not have a specific main entrance. So, we obviously did not know where to meet Hui Shan when she said "wait for me at the entrance". While we were walking among the crowd heading to the 'entrance' that we had assumed, Hui Shan coolly walked straight into my face and caught us. This supposedly high-powered short-sighted lady was not even wearing any spectacles or contact lense, she said she just caught our shadows. Well, what are the chances of you catching someone in a crowded square? I recalled how Estee had caught me in a tiny sushi shop in this crowded city when I first landed in Melbourne 4 weeks ago and now, how Hui Shan caught my shadow in a crowded square on my last day in Melbourne . There was no need for any explanation. Just enjoyed the process.

Hui Shan and Gordon took us to Topolino's, an Italian restaurant in St. Kilda. It was a wonderful evening to catch up with friends. Hui Shan passed me her wedding invitation card. An elegant wedding in Albert Park on the coming perfect 10 (10.10 2010). We truly appreciate her invitation and was happy for her to finally found a compatible man to spend the rest of their lives together. How soon will we be back to Melbourne again? We will figure it out when we are back to reality again in 10 hours time.

After another familiar great experience with Skybus airport shuttle, we were once again at Tullemarine Airport.  There were all together 8 check-in counters for Air Asia but the queue was still very long.  The stringent luggage weight limitation at only 15 kg caused almost everyone to repack their luggage after the 1st check-in attempt.  We were very disappointed with this system as it took us 1 hour to queue up even though we arrived at 10 pm, 3 hours earlier than the departure time.  In fact, all these problems could be solved by providing scales before the check-in counter. So, the passengers can check the weight of their luggage and repack them before queuing for check-in.  Just like what Wellington airport does.  But, I guess if these facility was provided, they would lose much revenue from overweight charges.  Money wins over convenience.  If you choose budget airlines, you have to endure. Is it another fancy new tag line?

Australian custom, again was strict and you will feel humiliated if you have low self-esteem.  So, get prepared, do not bring anything (like liquid) against the rules.  Also, always be cheerful and confident, they tend to investigate you more if you show your 'frightened face'.

Air Asia's small seat and narrow walkway was indeed only suitable for petite Asian.  I was lucky to fall into this category.  I had an empty seat on my left all the while until in the middle of the night, I saw an aunty suddenly sitting next to me when I opened my eyes.  Had she endured too much of her husband's snoring or they had quarrelled?  Walking along the narrow walkway while everyone else was asleep with their heads and limbs sticking out from their seats was a real challenge.  

The pre-booked nasi lemak was awful. Lesson learned here was do not order food that is not local to the country of departure. Anyway, a 20 something guy sitting on the left front row seemed to enjoy the nasi lemak very much.  Slowly, his nasi lemak container was swept clean.  When Bernard and I saw him using the plastic fork to pick his teeth openly and slowly, I knew I am not too far away from home.

Landing shortly. We had a wonderful vacation and it is good to be home again!  

    2 pairs of tired feet, a complete trip.

On Board Air Asia X

Malaysia Time 6:35 AM
29 May 2010

28 May MELBOURNE

Today is the day that we are going home. Since our flight to KL is after midnight, we would be 'homeless' for about 15 hours after we checked out from Central Sky Lounge in the morning. We left our luggage with the hotel front desk. Sky Bus's shuttle has been pre-arranged by the hotel to pick us up at 9:30 pm.

At 9 am, we crossed the street in front of our hotel to Queen Victoria Market. This place was irresistible with all kinds of colourful ingredients that I could not recall their names. There were hundreds of variants for a single product. For instance, the cheese stall had hundreds of different kind of cheese, nicely stacked up and hanging from the ceiling of the stalls. The smoked meat stalls had many different types of bacon, sausages, salami and many others. The seafood and poultry section was incredibly clean and tidy. You hardly find any blood trace on the butchers white uniform. I can imagine how much passion these people had in their job to keep themselves in such an extraordinary order. Tremendous. This was already my 3rd visit to this market and it always impresses me like my first time.

We then hopped on the free tourist shuttle to go to our next destination, the Botanic Garden. We stopped by at the Shrine of Remembrance to take some pictures. Mix feelings started to creep in. I was eager and excited to go home. We had left our cozy nest empty for a month by now. Was there any burglary? Did the leaking pipe in my bathroom behave as I had hoped? I hope things were all in perfect order as we did not receive any emergency phone calls from our neighbours. Also, when would we be back in this city again? The longing for a long vacation had forced us to challenge Asia's working culture and our smaller currency this time. When can we have the courage again? When is the next moment in life that we will dare to throw away a down payment for a house just for a trip? You hold nothing concrete in the end, just beautiful memories. Well, different people value things differently in life.

After exploring the world class Botanic Garden, we walked to Swanston Street to meet Estee for lunch. Since today is Wesak Day, I ordered Tofu Don while watching both of them enjoying their irresistible Salmon Don. Well, never mind. I have made it a point to eat vegetarian food on Wesak day ever since I ate pork knuckle over a lunch appointment with a client in Nurnberg, Germany on Wesak Day, a few years ago. I know that Buddha doesn't mind, but I insist.

After lunch, Estee went back to work and we, the 'homeless' couple continued to loiter in the city. We walked, and walked. After many cups of tea, a few cones of ice-cream, a few pieces of cookies, there was really nothing that could attract your attention anymore. Face the truth, we needed to settle down badly.

At last, here we are, settling down at the Federation Square. It had been very hard indeed for us to be homeless.

Melbourne Federation Square

28 May 2010

4:00 PM

26 May AUCKLAND - MELBOURNE

Today, we left Auckland for Melbourne, indicating a step nearer to our home in Malaysia.

Before leaving this busy city, we drove to One Tree Hill, a 182 meter volcanic peak in Auckland.  It was surrounded by a huge luxury park, The Cornwall Park.  Finally, there was something worth visiting in Auckland other than Kelly Tarlton's. On the summit of the hill was the grave of Sir John Logan Campbell, surmounted by an Obelisk. The obelisk was constructed in accordance with Sir John Logan Campbell's wish  to commemorate his admiration to the Maori people.  

Someone proposed to Graham with stone landscaping

Next, it was a short journey driving out from the city towards the Airport. 

Bye Bye Auckland

Our luggage was 5kg more than the permitted weight.  After a few rounds of packing and weighing,  I left my green feather jacket and many books and travel brochures with the Maori cleaning lady.  We again swore we would travel light next time.

The 4 hour flight was somehow very tiring for me. Since we were sitting at the last few rows, we were basically surrounded by passengers queueing up for the toilet throughout the flight.   

After watching several episodes of comedy that I could not really recall the title and content, we touched down at Melbourne at 5:20 pm.  

We declared the few bottles of Manuka honey at the custom and then it was another seamless journey to the city centre.  The Skybus shuttle sent us to our hotel, Central Sky Lounge, which was very near to Victoria Market.  This was indeed a very new, modern and spacious apartment hotel.  I was glad to smell the fragrance of the fresh bed linen while Bernard immediately turned on the flat screen TV.  

The humble entrance of Central Sky Lounge

The oven in the room that I have no chance to use

By 7pm, we walked out to search for food.  There were plenty of eateries around the hotel.  But fate and my strong desire for Vietnamese beef noodle led us to Mekong at Swanston Street.  I could not forget the good taste of Vietnamese beef noodle of many Australian cities that I have visited.  Mekong happened to be one of the best.  Bernard who was first a bit suspicious about the 'not so presentable' outlook of the restaurant, had said to me at least 3 times ' Darling, this is really damn good stuff!'.

After a satisfying dinner, we walked back to our hotel under the drizzling sky. 

A good meal, a nice city, I wish for sweet dreams tonight.