The Great Ocean Road and Ballarat...

Got these out in record time (for me anyway...) Have not put them in order, nor put proper captions, but they'll do for now.

The Australian landscape...

Canola blooms along Princes Highway...

Ancient bowling pins...

Manual water pump...

View from the entrance to Sovereign Hill...

Trying our luck panning for gold...

Replica of a store in the Chinese camp...

Port Campbell on the Great Ocean Road...

Port Campbell on the Great Ocean Road...

Early moon on Port Campbell...

Twelve Apostles from eastwards lookout...

Reaching for land... My stab at being arty at Loch Ard Gorge...

Can't remember where exactly this is...

London Arch...

Scene of Sovereign Hill...

Eh, what's this we have ere...

Soldiers patrolling the rough and ready environs of Sovereign Hill...

Posing in front of the horses, carriage, and yuck... dung...

Candlemaking the 19th century way...

Bowling the 19th century way...

Spiral stairs inside the Split Point Lighthouse...

Split Point Lighthouse in all its glory...

Panorama from the top of the lighthouse... Good thing it wasn't a blustery day...

Flags for sending messages... must be scary stuff trying to get these out in high winds...

Lighthouse keeper's kit...

The door to enlightenment... Literally...

Archway commemorating the ex-servicemen builders of the Great Ocean Road... and their fallen comrades...

Seared kangaroo fillets at the Lorne Hotel... Our forks got to it a bit faster than my camera, hence the mess...

Chasing the waves at Apollo Bay...

Evening on Warrnambool...

Cape Patton lookout point...

Flipper... at Apollo Bay...

Southern Right Whale having a, err... whale of a time...

Sunset at the Twelve Apostles...

Loch Ard Gorge...

Roo on the course...

Trip To The Sea...

We've been meaning to introduce the girls to the seaside, and finally managed to do so in April when we made a trip to Avillion Port Dickson. Not the best seaside resort around, but it was close to home, and the hotel was pretty good.

So this is the beach...

Writing our names in the sand...

Look, Mommy!...

See, such fine sand...

What a great view!...

Happy Birthday Papa! A bit early huh...

Feeding the rabbit at the petting zoo...

Feeding the chicken at the petting zoo...

Fun in the pool...

This is a great pool!...

Everyone in the pool now!...

Bye bye Port Dickson!...

Second Holiday...

After our last vacation in the Cameron Highlands, we have not been anywhere out of town, and it was high time that we took a short break. Considering the hazy and hot weather of late, anywhere near the seaside just didn't appeal, much as we wanted to bring the babies to experience the sea.

So somewhere close and cool then... For us Klang Valley people, where else but Genting... (don't get me started on how commercialised its all become though...)

Got 3 rooms at the Awana, and off we went on the 31st. My father-in-law also joined us on this trip as he was in town.

Here I am...

It was not a particularly noteworthy trip (it's Genting after all...) but we did have a pleasant time, which is what a break is about anyway. Rooms were good (got an upgrade to a duplex penthouse) and dinner at Gohtong Jaya was decent. Also got to celebrate Dad's birthday there, so I take it back, it was pretty memorable after all.

As for the girls they were of course happy, visiting a new place, and they were quite taken in by the indoor theme park especially the carousel. Resolve to take them on it the next time...

Also went on the (indoor) gondola ride, with Jun Yen proclaiming "keng keng" (scared scared) at the beginning, but soon settled down to enjoy it.

If you have to ask why there is only one picture here, let me just say that we took probably fewer than 15 shots before the battery on the SLR gave out, which was weird as the indicator still showed 2 bars when we set off.

Babies Holiday... Day 1...

To my amazement, I actually finished editing the photos by Saturday! So here's the post on our recent holiday... complete with pics!

Brought the babies on their first holiday last week (13 Dec) to Cameron Highlands with their Grandpa, Grandma and Uncle too. Although I'm tickled pink describing it as babies' holiday, because indeed, what could they be needing a break from? Hehe...

Stayed at the Hotel Equatorial's 3-bedroom apartment. Our experience of the place warranted a story on its own here.

We left home about 11am and stopped at Sungkai for lunch at about 1pm. Lunch was superb, with braised pig's trotters, river fish, and local veges. Absolutely amazing stuff being dished out from an unassuming coffee shop setup on the main road.

Arrived and checked in at close to 4pm. The babies slept almost all the way from Simpang Pulai to Kea Farm, which is a good thing. After checking in, settled down and had tea, and Mom prepared the night's dinner. Basically we were just sitting back and relaxing until dinner time. Balcony has a decent view of vegetable farms and we had a pleasant time sitting there.

This place is nice and cool...

Later just before dinner, fed the babies with cereal. As the usual baby chairs were not available, we made do by sitting them on the couch. Worked fine on the most part, though they kept getting up and walking all over...

Cereal in the highlands...

Dinner was great, we had steamboat next to the balcony, and Mom brought a lot of yummy things including her home-made fishpaste, and some scarily big prawns! We put the babies next to us in the cot. Speaking of the (hotel-supplied) cot, it was in surprisingly good condition, complete with little blanket and sheets. Though for the sake of familiarity we brought the babies' own sheets and pillow...

Mommy, we want a big big prawn...

After dinner put the babies to bed around 9pm (past their usual bedtime) but they were so excited that they protested very vocally. But they were so tired from the long day they didn't keep it up and fell asleep rather quickly...