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21 December, 2016
Graphic Design: Rachel Dental Surgery, Logo Design
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Enjoy!
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Please do not take images or content from this site without permission.
17 December, 2016
Australia: The Nobbies, Philip Island, Victoria
Packed my bags one morning and decided to go on a one-day trip to Philip Island with my housemate. When I said I packed my bags, I meant I stuffed it full with junk food. We managed to gather a small group of people to join us and lets just say it was a fun filled ride.
We visited a couple of different spots on the island, but the one that really stood out to me was The Nobbies. This area offers spectacular coastal viewing from the boardwalks and lookout points set amongst natural sea bird gardens. One and a half kilometres offshore from The Nobbies are Seal Rocks, home to Australia’s largest Australian Fur Seal colony.
It was a great day when we visited, it was blustery and the views were amazing, watching the waves smash up on the rocks was spectacular. The boardwalk was a great way to see the coastline, we didn't see any seals sadly, but overall it was still a wonderful experience.
x
We visited a couple of different spots on the island, but the one that really stood out to me was The Nobbies. This area offers spectacular coastal viewing from the boardwalks and lookout points set amongst natural sea bird gardens. One and a half kilometres offshore from The Nobbies are Seal Rocks, home to Australia’s largest Australian Fur Seal colony.
It was a great day when we visited, it was blustery and the views were amazing, watching the waves smash up on the rocks was spectacular. The boardwalk was a great way to see the coastline, we didn't see any seals sadly, but overall it was still a wonderful experience.
x
14 December, 2016
Storytime: A piece from Cambodia
What is your most memorable experience from travelling?
I would say, it was this very small fraction of my time in Cambodia. To be honest I do not know where to start, my memory is all over the place.
It was a couple of weeks before Ray's birthday and it all started from me randomly looking at flights one night and the question 'Hey, wanna go Cambodia?', 'Yeah why not?' and it was that simple to put ourselves on a 10 hours flight to Asia. I was ecstatic, could not wait to get away from the cold in Melbourne that time and was pretty excited to help him have a wonderful birthday celebration.
Fast forward the next thing I knew we were getting picked up from our hotel one morning and was dropped off at a quad biking company. We each got ourselves a bike and I remember Ray being absolutely terrified on me ended up killing myself.
The weather was gloomy and there was not a single ray of sunshine. You can tell a storm was brewing but that obviously did not stop us. Our guide was a local Cambodian guy, who is about our age. I could not exactly recall his name so lets call him Min. Min works for an Italian middle aged man who runs the place. He was spoken to rudely and I could tell that the boss definitely do not fit the criteria of a good employer.
Min was a little unnatural at the start. He conversed with us in his limited English and seemed to me was just repeating the exact same things he usually does to any other customers. He explained the rules, how the bike work, some safety precautions and etc. Even so he remained polite, soft spoken and calm the whole time. Not to forget he always have a smile on his face.
We rode off to the main road together after a mini test drive in the neighbourhood. Min has his own motorcycle and leaded the way. After 30 minutes, the bustling Siem Reap disappeared in sight. No longer you will see tourists in their elephant pants with a cup of fresh juice in their hand, or repetitive shops that targets tourist only. The roads turned rocky and we were being surrounded by paddy fields that are so wide, you could never see the end of it. Water buffaloes, wooden houses where the locals reside, kids chasing after you waving and laughing like it is supposed to be a game. It is very weird to think 30 minutes from where we were, things could be this different.
We made a short stop for drinks in one of the local stalls. The owner and his friends spoke to Min and they looked at me and Ray in awe. Min turned around and said 'They ask where are you guys from?'. I just smiled and said Malaysia. We offered Min some cigarettes, he took one and thank us. He also noted that during our whole journey if we do need breaks, just wave and let him know. We nodded and pointed at him 'You too!', which made him laugh. He said no one has ever told him that before. I was not surprised to be honest.
After that short break Min let his guards down, I could see himself relaxed a little more around us. At one point he drove us down some random paddy field, and went 'drive anywhere'. Me and Ray looked at each other surprised. Is this man for real? Min said he was not supposed to bring us here and should have just stayed on the road, but this has always been his secret place. He stated that he only brings customers that he likes here and assure us that it is safe as he grew up in this area and knows the place like the back of his hands.
We ended up going crazy on the field. Going up and down the bumps and riding straight into poodle of water just to soak each other with mud. At one point it started pouring heavily but we did not even care. Once a while we will see lightning strikes and writing this now, I realize we could have got hit and be dead HAHAHA.
Anyway.
I genuinely thought we were going to wreck the bike because we went full savage mode on it. Ray blurted out halfway that it is the best birthday he ever had. It went on for about 2 hours, I stopped and looked at Min, signalling him that we should probably head back as our promised time was only 3-4 hours. The distance itself would take us about an hour so we should all probably get going.
Min looked at his watch and said 'Don't care! Today rain! No business anyway!' Which made us laughed so hard. Even so the rain got too heavy and I was starting to shiver really badly. We ended up leaving the fields and took another break in some random stall. There we had a very long conversation with each other. We told Min where we are both from, how we ended up meeting in Australia, and being here. He was so amazed by our story and gave the two of us a thumbs up. He also said 'Good couple!', that there bit made me chuckled.
After all the shameless talk about ourselves, Ray asked about his story. Turned out that he just entered this company. Only gets paid $150 a month and regarding that day, due to the rain, all the older employees refused to bring us out on a tour and instead, pushed Min into doing the job as he was the youngest. Min said his family does farming, and literally self thought himself English by being in the city and forcing himself to converse with tourists. If you do not speak basic English, the only job you can have without an education, is literally to farm.
I ask Min how is he surviving with $150 a month. He said sometimes he gets a little more from tipping, but these days lots of tourist do not really give tips anymore. Trust me I was sceptical too at the start. Is this man telling me his sappy life story so that we would tip him in the end of the day, but I can tell when someone is being genuine or fake, Min is definitely a respectable hardworking young man. The way he told his story was not like he was trying to fish for sympathy. He was telling it for the way it is and in the end, he let us know that he does not feel sorry for himself as his situation is a lot better than a lot of Cambodians.
Min asked us where are we going after Cambodia. We said we are returning to Australia. What he said next hit really close to my heart. He looked up to the ceiling and with a very fainted smile, said:
We returned to Melbourne shortly after, tanned, happy and fruitful in the heart. Walked into my fancy apartment room with a spectacular view. I dropped my backpack on the floor, sat down and just had to take a moment to feel thankful for everything that I was given in this life. I always preach about being thankful but to really remember it is hard innit? We are all so spoiled rotten that we constantly complain about the slightest petty things. My room is too warm, I have got not enough money, why is my job so tough, why can I not travel more, balancing uni and work is hard, why is my laptop so shitty, etc. When out there, someone is surviving with $150 a month for him and his family.
You see, the trip was memorable partially because quad bikes are awesome and I would definitely do it again; but also because Min has been a great guide, a great person, and a great friend. I felt like at that point of my life, I was taking lots of things in my life for granted and the universe arranged me and Min to meet because it wanted my ass to sit the fuck down and be grounded. I know it sounds trippy, but I do believe you meet people in life for a reason. Some you would never ever meet again, like Min. All I have of Min now, is a picture of his old motorcycle, not even his real name.
Thank you Min, sending lots of love your way, hope all is well with you.
I am also sorry for being the crazy couple that placed your life in danger under a thunderstorm.
x
I would say, it was this very small fraction of my time in Cambodia. To be honest I do not know where to start, my memory is all over the place.
It was a couple of weeks before Ray's birthday and it all started from me randomly looking at flights one night and the question 'Hey, wanna go Cambodia?', 'Yeah why not?' and it was that simple to put ourselves on a 10 hours flight to Asia. I was ecstatic, could not wait to get away from the cold in Melbourne that time and was pretty excited to help him have a wonderful birthday celebration.
Fast forward the next thing I knew we were getting picked up from our hotel one morning and was dropped off at a quad biking company. We each got ourselves a bike and I remember Ray being absolutely terrified on me ended up killing myself.
The weather was gloomy and there was not a single ray of sunshine. You can tell a storm was brewing but that obviously did not stop us. Our guide was a local Cambodian guy, who is about our age. I could not exactly recall his name so lets call him Min. Min works for an Italian middle aged man who runs the place. He was spoken to rudely and I could tell that the boss definitely do not fit the criteria of a good employer.
Min was a little unnatural at the start. He conversed with us in his limited English and seemed to me was just repeating the exact same things he usually does to any other customers. He explained the rules, how the bike work, some safety precautions and etc. Even so he remained polite, soft spoken and calm the whole time. Not to forget he always have a smile on his face.
We rode off to the main road together after a mini test drive in the neighbourhood. Min has his own motorcycle and leaded the way. After 30 minutes, the bustling Siem Reap disappeared in sight. No longer you will see tourists in their elephant pants with a cup of fresh juice in their hand, or repetitive shops that targets tourist only. The roads turned rocky and we were being surrounded by paddy fields that are so wide, you could never see the end of it. Water buffaloes, wooden houses where the locals reside, kids chasing after you waving and laughing like it is supposed to be a game. It is very weird to think 30 minutes from where we were, things could be this different.
We made a short stop for drinks in one of the local stalls. The owner and his friends spoke to Min and they looked at me and Ray in awe. Min turned around and said 'They ask where are you guys from?'. I just smiled and said Malaysia. We offered Min some cigarettes, he took one and thank us. He also noted that during our whole journey if we do need breaks, just wave and let him know. We nodded and pointed at him 'You too!', which made him laugh. He said no one has ever told him that before. I was not surprised to be honest.
After that short break Min let his guards down, I could see himself relaxed a little more around us. At one point he drove us down some random paddy field, and went 'drive anywhere'. Me and Ray looked at each other surprised. Is this man for real? Min said he was not supposed to bring us here and should have just stayed on the road, but this has always been his secret place. He stated that he only brings customers that he likes here and assure us that it is safe as he grew up in this area and knows the place like the back of his hands.
We ended up going crazy on the field. Going up and down the bumps and riding straight into poodle of water just to soak each other with mud. At one point it started pouring heavily but we did not even care. Once a while we will see lightning strikes and writing this now, I realize we could have got hit and be dead HAHAHA.
Anyway.
I genuinely thought we were going to wreck the bike because we went full savage mode on it. Ray blurted out halfway that it is the best birthday he ever had. It went on for about 2 hours, I stopped and looked at Min, signalling him that we should probably head back as our promised time was only 3-4 hours. The distance itself would take us about an hour so we should all probably get going.
Min looked at his watch and said 'Don't care! Today rain! No business anyway!' Which made us laughed so hard. Even so the rain got too heavy and I was starting to shiver really badly. We ended up leaving the fields and took another break in some random stall. There we had a very long conversation with each other. We told Min where we are both from, how we ended up meeting in Australia, and being here. He was so amazed by our story and gave the two of us a thumbs up. He also said 'Good couple!', that there bit made me chuckled.
After all the shameless talk about ourselves, Ray asked about his story. Turned out that he just entered this company. Only gets paid $150 a month and regarding that day, due to the rain, all the older employees refused to bring us out on a tour and instead, pushed Min into doing the job as he was the youngest. Min said his family does farming, and literally self thought himself English by being in the city and forcing himself to converse with tourists. If you do not speak basic English, the only job you can have without an education, is literally to farm.
I ask Min how is he surviving with $150 a month. He said sometimes he gets a little more from tipping, but these days lots of tourist do not really give tips anymore. Trust me I was sceptical too at the start. Is this man telling me his sappy life story so that we would tip him in the end of the day, but I can tell when someone is being genuine or fake, Min is definitely a respectable hardworking young man. The way he told his story was not like he was trying to fish for sympathy. He was telling it for the way it is and in the end, he let us know that he does not feel sorry for himself as his situation is a lot better than a lot of Cambodians.
Min asked us where are we going after Cambodia. We said we are returning to Australia. What he said next hit really close to my heart. He looked up to the ceiling and with a very fainted smile, said:
'You guys have to know how lucky you are, some people like me, can only dream about going to Australia.'
We returned to Melbourne shortly after, tanned, happy and fruitful in the heart. Walked into my fancy apartment room with a spectacular view. I dropped my backpack on the floor, sat down and just had to take a moment to feel thankful for everything that I was given in this life. I always preach about being thankful but to really remember it is hard innit? We are all so spoiled rotten that we constantly complain about the slightest petty things. My room is too warm, I have got not enough money, why is my job so tough, why can I not travel more, balancing uni and work is hard, why is my laptop so shitty, etc. When out there, someone is surviving with $150 a month for him and his family.
You see, the trip was memorable partially because quad bikes are awesome and I would definitely do it again; but also because Min has been a great guide, a great person, and a great friend. I felt like at that point of my life, I was taking lots of things in my life for granted and the universe arranged me and Min to meet because it wanted my ass to sit the fuck down and be grounded. I know it sounds trippy, but I do believe you meet people in life for a reason. Some you would never ever meet again, like Min. All I have of Min now, is a picture of his old motorcycle, not even his real name.
Thank you Min, sending lots of love your way, hope all is well with you.
I am also sorry for being the crazy couple that placed your life in danger under a thunderstorm.
x
13 December, 2016
Digital Art: My little cousin Adrian
https://www.behance.net/yvonnetxw
Enjoy!
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Please do not take images or content from this site without permission.
12 December, 2016
Malaysia: Mahua Waterfall, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah
I remember how chilly it felt in the midst of the shady forest. How the streams and the mist blazing off the majestic waterfall just cools everything down. There was a couple of local kids swimming whenever we got there. We somehow managed to make friends. From trying to catch tiny fishes to competing who can stay the longest underneath the fall, it was all great fun.
The best part would be your first dip into the water. Water is freezing and I actually think if your body is not strong enough, you will get hypothermia. It was funny to watch each other shiver like mad, giggling while covering our body with our barehands as if it was going to help with anything. Beware of leeches and falling rocks. Remember to bring your own snacks and drinks but please do not litter unless you are an oxygen wasting cunt.
06 December, 2016
Australia: Brighton Beach, Melbourne
To be honest, I just think it is a really cool place to take photos. The only thing I could learn to appreciate is the art that are painted individually on these bathing boxes. Everything is so vibrant and colourful, making it the perfect location to take travel photos. Exactly why it is infested with tourists.
Other than that I think the beach was okay, would not say it is spectacular. Brighton Beach is easily accessible by train. Assuming you are coming from Melbourne CBD, hop on a Sandringham train and get off at Brighton Beach Station. Keep walking along the beach and you would see the row of beautiful boxes. Make sure you bring enough water to keep yourself hydrated and apply sunscreen if it is during the summer. I remember there was not a lot of stores nearby, which means inconvenience if you are looking for a quick drink or snack.
I guess I made the mistake of having too much expectation before heading there. Certain areas of the sand has really sharp rocks so might want to consider keeping them thongs on before you find the perfect spot. None of the bathing boxes were open to view when I went, which is understandable as I found out later on that they are all private properties. I am not so sure about the exact numbers of boxes but it was not that much. I pictured it to cover the whole stretch.
Even so, I respect the fact that it is historical and cultural resource. It is the only remaining structure of its kind close to Melbourne CBD. If you would love to add some beautiful colours into your photo album, I would still recommend you to visit this lovely place.
x
05 December, 2016
Cambodia: Kbal Spean, Siem Reap
Blogged about my experience in Angkor Wat here.
Angkor Wat was amazing, but I have to admit the temples get repetitive after a while. We were yearning for a little more nature and the boyfriend fancied a swim in some ice cold waterfall. After doing a bit of research we found this spectacular spot and decided to take an hour ride there.
A short hike up the mountain was needed so make sure you wear the right shoes for it! For someone 'athletic' like me, we took about 45 minutes to get to the top. It was not that hard of a hike but definitely keep an eye out for certain danger spots as it gets a bit muddy and slippery during monsoon season.
It is definitely worth the climb. You will arrive at a spectacular river bed, which is also known as 'River of thousand Lingas', with Lingas carved into the riverbed. With lesser tourist (maybe because people do not fancy exercising during their holidays) you get to really enjoy the peacefulness and serenity of the forest. Also very lovely to take a cold water dip in the waterfall after a long sweaty hike. I was astonished by the beauty of this place and would definitely recommend anyone visiting Siem Reap to give it a go.
x
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