Farewell Jacqueline

Your sudden departure caught me by surprise.
I never thought that this day will come so soon.

God bless you.
God be with you.

Conference in Sydney

My 1st ever conference.. Don't know what to expect.

We had our agendas, we had our fun, we had alot of dinners, we even had a lot of walk to many places.. It was crazy but it was a good get together. :)

01 Oct 2007. Met Stephane and Louis at Changi. After much arrangement, we managed to get our seats together. 7 and a half later, we arrived Sydney International Airport at 7pm. It doesn't look like an airport to me, it was quiet... In fact, too quiet. Only a handful of people in the Departure Hall. Nothing much to see, we left airport for our hotel, Bayview Boulevard at William Street. We hopped into a maxi cab and within seconds, our attentions were all diverted to the meter. Their meter was jumping like every 5 seconds! For every KM travelled, it will cost AUD1.79 and for every waiting time, it's AUD46.20 every hour! By the time we reached Bayview Boulevard, it was about AUD65!

When we reached Bayview's lobby, we were a bit disappointed. It doesn't look like 4 star at all. Well, during this period, hotels in Sydney were quite packed. But luckily, room was refurbished recently.

My room.. Looks good, had a plasma on the wall, ironing board, in room safe and it's quite spacious.

02Oct 2007. We had to be at Sabre's office at 9.30am. Me woke up at 7.30am (gosh.. SIN was 5.30am!!) to prepare and it was pleasant, everyone was there for breakfast. At 9.30pm, we were all greeted with a spectacular view...

My room view, no harbour view..

Across the street are 2 very expensive showrooms.. Ferrari and Maserati. Joel will love staying here.

On our way to North Sydney to Sabre's office. We had to cross the Harbour Bridge. I can see people climbing the Bridge.

It's a nice bridge to climb.. Too bad, i don't have spare time for its bridge climb.

Tadah!! View from Sabre office at Blue Street. I would love working there. Everyday with nice view and not view of HDBs!

And this is the smoking view.. Good huh? Such a good view to relax and collect your thoughts.

After a full day of training, New Zealand Tourim Board treated us happy hour at 25th floor Bar. Free flow of drinks and finger food!

Me and Vivian. She's my Market Manager. She's in charge of Greater China and i'm her Market Coordinator. She's Taiwanese with a US passport based in Shanghai.. Whereas i'm based in SIN. Great working distance. :)

Left to right: Keiran - our senior Market Coordinator based in Sydney, Yograj - Market Coordinator in India, Kritti - India Market Manager, Me and Helen - Korea Market Manager.

Vivian, Kritti, Helen and Me.

03 Oct 2007. Today we start our conference. It was crazy.. From 8.30am to 5pm, agenda after agenda, i was dozing off one after another. Lucky the conference was held in Bayview's Meeting Room. After a long day of agendas, Accor hosted dinner for our contingent at Australia Square's Summit Restaurant.

Front to Back: Me, Louis - Maket Manager for Singapore and Indonesia and Stephane - Market Manager for Malaysia, Brunei and Philippines. We were the 1st to reach.. The rest were late.

View of Sydney Harbour Bridge from Summit Restaurant.. It's a revolving fine dining restaurant.. Good view. Must try.. Dinner from AUD100 per person.

Left to Right: Me, Stephane, Andy - Market Coordinator for North Asia and Geraldine - Merchandising. We were having fun bullying him..

Left to Right: Me, Stephane, Andy, Vivian and Geraldine. It was a pure having fun moment, Andy likes being the centre of attention.

Left to Right: Me, Stephane, Helen - Market Manager for Korea, Isabel - Market Coordinator for SE Asia, Geraldine, Vivian and Kuoniko - Market Manager for Central Japan.

Left to Right: Stephane, Isabel, Louis and Me. All 4 of us are based in Singapore. Jennifer was absent from the dinner.. If not, it will be the 5 of us.

After dinner, some of us gathered for a memory. Too many to name.. Ok, we have Andy, Stephane, Atsushi - Market Manager for Southern Japan, Abdul - Regional Manager of India, Isabel, Helen, Vivian, Kuoniko, Christina - Hotel Operations, Kritti, Me, Louis, Yograj, Erin - Market Manager for Western Australia and New Zealand, Alex - Regional Manager for Australia and New Zealand, Keiran and Elitea - Market Manager for Hongkong, Macau, Taiwan and South China.

04 Oct 2007. Another long day of conference. Another night of dinner hosted by IHG aty Intercontinental Sydney's Harbour Room. View was fantastic. We could see both Harbour Bridge and Opera House. How i wished we stayed here instead..

View from the Harbour Room.. IHG actually booked the whole room for us. Another night of dunno-what-i'm-eating.. I have been stuffing all kinds of food in my mouth since arrival in Australia. Stuff that tasted good, funky and raw.

Me and Vivian taking a moment off gossiping.. There were alot of gossiping in the house!

Helen, Keiran and Vivian.. These 2 ladies had been talking about Keiran, talking about how charming he is, how he looked like David.. Haiz.. He was quite reluctant to take this picture after all the teasing from the both of them.

Back to Front: Louis, Helen, Elitea, Isabel, Vivian, Kuoniko, Geraldine and Me. After dinner, taking a moment off gossiping.. Again. What else is new? Everyday i hear gossip.. I have 4 big gossipmongers in the house!

Geraldine and Andy.. Geraldine was getting worried when Andy started getting loud.. Andy was high on alcohol and he started his nonsense, scaring Geraldine. She's constantly seeking refuge from Me or Louis.

Andy and Stephane. Brother moment.. NO! I meant Sista moment! Because Andy is a sista!

After dinner, we walked back to our hotel. It was cold but a nice walk.

Lousy photography.. Both picture not in place...

05Oct 2007. Last day of conference. Hooray! We started this morning with a Backstage Tour at Opera House. Woke up at 5.45am (SIN 3.45am!!) for the tour.. Tour start at 7.15am. We were divided into 2 groups and tour ends at Opera House staff cafeteria with a sumptumous breakfast. After breakfast, we had to be back at Bayview for half a day of conference.. Damn! Luckily, we Market Coordinators, don't have to sit till the end of the conference. We were given the green light to leave early for some last minute shopping at West Field Bondi Junction before our dinner at Paddington Bowling Club.

When i was taking picture of the Harbour Bridge, Vivian and Louis were running behind me.. Can you see her running?

This is our Opera House Backstage Tour Guide.

Left to Right: Jennifer - Market Manager for Thailand and Vietnam, Geraldine and Me in the Concert Hall.

Me, Helen and Vivian, somewhere in Opera House.

Top to Bottom: Jennifer, Isabel, Stephane, Me, Louis and Geraldine at Opera House steps.

There was Hui Ping, Geraldine, Hemanth, Kuoniko, Alice, Vivian, Jennifer, Me, Paul, Isabel, Louis, Helen and Stephane. Paul is our Hotel Team boss..

The whole Travelocity contingent! About 40 of us, from all over the world, mostly from APAC.

Greetings from Sydney Opera House!

On our way back to Bayview for conference, we walked through Sydney Botanic Gardens. Keiran and Chris was telling us that every evening before the sky gets totally dark, we will see alot of flying objects up in the City sky.. Those were not birds but of these! BATS in the city!

We were let off the last agenda. Thus the 5 of us went Bondi Junction for a break. Shopping, food, puppies... Keiran was sitting in front, that explain why he wasn't in this picture. We were the only 5 that left early.. The rest? They were sulking when we left... hahahaha

This is our very last event in our schedule. Bowling and BBQ dinner at Paddington Bowling Club.. Yup, it's Old Men Bowling. Apparently, youngsters in Australia are falling in love with this sport. Not me.

Celebrating the end of a hectic conference!

We were divided into 8 teams with about 5-6 members in each team. We had to name our teams.. So my team was called Aloof-fool. We had teams naming themselves, Chicken Rice, Kimchi, Team Vegas, etc.. Too many weird names for me to recall.

Louis, Geraldine, Chris and Me. I had to give all my Australian counterpart a hug here because this is where i will leave and not see them till the next conference.

And the very day, i left Sydney for Perth.

Perth WA

I haven't got all my Sydney photos, so Perth 1st. :)

Me and Joel would like to give Sam and family a round of thundering applause! Thank you very much for your hospitality.. Thanks for showing us around. It was lovely and we had fun. We will definitely come visit you guys again. The next time we come, we will stay longer! ;)

06 Oct 2007. Flew from Sydney to Perth, it's a long 5hrs 20mins journey! Dreadful but excited. Joel and Sam came to pick me. As a token of appreciation for hosting us in Perth, me brought 2 dozens of Krispy Kreme's glazed donuts especially for them. Funny, but you won't be able to find a single Krispy Kreme outlet in Perth.

Many single storey houses at Canning Vale. It was very American style. Something different which i may get used to it VERY WELL. ..

This is a glimpse of their living and dining area. They have an open concept kitchen, 4 bedrooms, 1 game room which is Sam's Little Gym, 1 theatre room which Me and Joel sleeps in, a garage for their 2 cars and a backyard filled with vegetables, fruits and flowers all planted by them.
I was warmly welcomed into their home. Everyone was home, Diana, Qin, Auntie Pauline and Uncle Michael. Many glazing donuts at Canning Vale, we left for Fremantle shortly. Fremantle.. We ate Cicerello's Fish and Chips (No 1 in Western Australia), took a walk in the park and went Fremantle Market for some marketing.

Cicerello's.. Best in Western Australia.. I had some nice ones in Sydney too..

Random shot Joel took while strolling in the park.

Fremantle Market. Lots of fruits and vegetables for sale. Broccolis going for A$1.50 for the size of melon! Cheap cheap cheap.. Rock Melon was in season during our stay in Perth. I think i will love staying in Australia for good, for all their variety of fruits on sale when it's in season.
We made our way to some place near Fremantle to check out the fishing spot nearby.. It was rocky, windy and FREAKING COLD!! Sam and Joel plan to do some overnight fishing there.. @_@

It was North Pole? North Poll? Don't know what Pole or Poll or Toll.. All i know is it's freezing there! Ahhhh... It's North MOLEEEEE.
We end the day with a good feast of Bak Kut Teh. Nice.. My favourite when the weather is cool.. I meant.. COLD!

07 Oct 2007. We woke up early for our 7.30am ferry to Rottnest Island.
Me: "You guys not bringing your rods?"
Sam and Joel: "No need la.."
Guess what? Rottnest Island has lots of fishing spot around the island. You should have seen Sam and Joel's face when they read the map upon arrival. Stubborn. :p When we arrived, it was quiet in the Settlement (the hub of Rottnest). Our 1st thought,"Damn..Looks like a ghost town."Being our 1st time on the island, we were all new to their activities and surroundings. After a check on their tours and buses with the Visitor Centre, we decided to hike our way to Kingston Barracks. It was wrong (to walk when we can cycle.. Anyway, bikes there aren't cheap) and crazy (we weren't dressed properly for hiking) but we had fun. There were alot of munching and we wandered to places that were not in our route. Frankly speaking, we all looked silly walking on the roads when everyone was cycling on the island. So if you're visiting this island, please rent or bring a bike.

Rottnest Island. 30mins ferry from Fremantle or Perth. It's like Sentosa with many beaches and bays with snorkeling, diving and fishing spots all around.

We weren't sure what to do so we hiked to see Rottnest.

Random shot Me took of Joel who went after Sam on finding out where the hell is Kingston!
We ended the day with a Reef and Wreck Tour in a boat that has glass panels underneath. It wasn't sunny anymore when we were on the tour. Thus, we couldn't get a clear view of the wreck.



It was a sunny day but not so sunny when we were on this tour. :(

08 Oct 2007. We woke up really early this morning for our offshore fishing. We had to be at Hilary Harbour at 6am. When we reached there, we were all prepared and excited. This was after all the MAIN EVENT. The boat was filled up to their max.. There were fishing fanatics who flew all the way from Sydney for this trip.. Apparently, this charter is the best in Australia with very good catch report. Unfortunately, it's not a good day. 5mins into the ocean, the sea was getting choppy. 10mins later, the swells were getting bigger and bigger. At some point, the swells were as high as 3-4metre tall! @_@ 45mins later, the skipper suggested a turn back due the weather was not favourable for any fishing. We all agreed to turn back for safety except this guy. Well too bad for him, majority votes were to turn back for our safety. It was very disappointing for Sam and Joel, after all its their 1st offshore fishing trip. They super 'lost form' aka sian.. With the whole afternoon to spare, we went shopping at Harbourtown for Sheridan bedlinen shopping. Sale! Sale! We bought 4 sets of Quilt Cover sets, 2 for my mom and 2 for us. After emptying our pockets (that was our main shopping source), we pop by Canning Bridge for some leisure fishing and dinner was at Hog's Breath with the whole family.

Fishing at Canning Bridge. We thought we fished some mussels but they turned out dead and rotten after some examination. YUCKS!

Hog's Breath Perth. 1 of Perth's best steaks but slow service.
As you can see, this day was not a very eventful day. If we've stayed for a few more days, we will definitely rebooked the offshore fishing and not opt for full refund. Well, i guess we'll have to save the best for our next trip there.

09 Oct 2007. Road Trip! It was a last minute plan. We drove down to Bunbury and Busselton Jetty for some sightseeing and fishing. The distance was like driving from SIN to Malacca. At Bunbury, we wanted to see some dolphins at the Dolphin Discovery Centre. But we were told that there's no guarantee on the sightings. Not wasting any time, we left for Busselton Jetty. A 1.841km long jetty, the longest jetty in Southern Hemisphere. It was indeed a long one. :p

Bunbury Beach.. Sightings of wild dolphins swimming up the beach can be spotted here.. If you're lucky.. Apparently, i don't have the luck. Joel have spotted 2 sightings and i missed each sightings by mere seconds. Damn!

Busselton Jetty. All of us were not dressed properly for the weather that day. We thought it's going to be a good day for swimming and fishing.. But it turned out COLD! It was freezing. The wind was chilling and strong. The Sun was playing hide and seek with us. By the end of the day, all of us were numbed by coldness.. :)

See.. It's a loooong jetty, took me 1 hour to walk in and out. Just this day alone, Me and Diana walked 10km each! The jetty is not an easy walk, it's made of wood and concrete. Admission to the jetty will cost you A$2.50 each and there is an underwater observatory at the end of the jetty. Booking is essential.

Joel and Sam immediately swung into action the moment they stepped on this jetty. Not having the opportunity to fish offshore, they're there for a revenge. Auntie Pauline also eagerly threw hers in while Uncle Michael was chilling her bait man. Me and Diana became the runners. We went to fetch the lunch boxes in the car and later we went to buy more baits for them.

Squid! Joel has been eyeing on catching a squid ever since he lost his skippy (He tried to swing the skippy up but Sam was in his way, so he lost his fish while reeling in) . We made so much noise that everyone came and took a look at his squid. Suddenly.. He was the centre of attraction! Passerbys who gathered around, were all snapping at him with his squid.. Hahaha.
We left at 5pm as the journey home will take us 3hours. We left unwillingly, vowing to come back for 1 night stay and more fishing the next we come back Perth for another visit. There wasn't much catch but we had fun..

10 Oct 2007. Today, we leave Perth for home. Me and Joel were reluctant to come back. Both of us loved the cool weather there, the no-work-retirement-feel-alike pace and the fantastic fishing scene there. The moment we arrived, we were hit by SIN's horrible humidity!

Till now, i'm still trying to adapt to the humidity.. Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh!