The Land Down Under : Day 4 and Day 5

Day 4 - 10th October 2007
The ATW workshop ends on the noon of the 4^th day. At that moment of time, Farinda and her boss were already on their way to the airport. They left early. As for the rest of us, we still have 1.5 days before waving goodbye to Perth.
Today we embarked on another journey to discover the Perth city. At first, the boys had agreed to go to Fremantle but diverted the destination to Perth City as they were more fascinated to shop at cheap prices in the Duty Free shops. That means no Fremantle. No Fremantle Markets – markets with over 150 stalls selling seafood, gourmet items, clothes, jewellery, fruit, vegetables, antiques and souvenirs :(
Since we were travelling in a bigger group today, we opted for the train to go to Perth City. All shops in the heart of the city were within walking distance and it was fun walking around the busy yet friendly city. On our way to the Duty Free shops, we dropped by to London Court, a unique retail walkway displaying 38 specialty outlets, set in an architectural style similar to that Tudor England. A place where you can shop for souvenirs, jewellery, quality cigars, clothing and even collectible doll and bear shop! For not getting my Fremantle, that was really curing!
London Court souvenirs were bit pricey, that was a right decision to bargain everything in Oleh Oleh on the day before. Faizal, on the other hand, was still halfway on completing his shopping mission and was at that time stucked at Mission # 4 : Shopping gifts for the wife.
He had no idea what gifts to buy for the wife, yours truly could not help either for not knowing what the wife likes. Thank God there were these beautiful set of pearls (of necklaces and earings) and that’s what the wife got.
Shopping gifts more me is easier. I don't burden love ones with confusion on what size of shirt/pants/shoes to choose. Items that come with free sizes such as handbags/bags/jewelery would do. Preferably, the items are the country's own specialty. Now you know what to shop for me when you are in oversea :)
Mission # 5 (Faizal's) was Cricket Bat. Tsk tsk tsk. He spent on few hundreds for the cricket bat at the Downtown Duty Free. He seems to do it everywhere he goes, before Perth was Pakistan. Keith bought stock pile of liquor for the coming Christmas celebration and En Hamid splurged on chocolates for everyone at home.
When every of them were carrying a bulky cricket bat, a big bag of liquor and boxes of chocolates, I was only carrying a thin envelope of 2008 Australian's Marsupials Calendar bought for mum. Sigh. I guess being camera less had turned off my mood for shopping. And I wasn't in the mood to survey for camera either. Faizal was recommending all sorts of camera but none was captivating. Man, Faizal do shops like a girl :p
It was nearing to break fast when the mission finally completes. For berbuka puasa, we stopped in Insan's Cafe, a Malay cuisine restaurant located at Murray Street. I had my nasi lemak and root beer. The food - not that bad! Definitely a must-visit cafe for sudden cravings of Malaysian food while in Perth.
At the cafe, we bumped into another group from the Company; they were in the process of negotiating on the Company’s new assets in Africa. Previous to the employment in technical line, I used to serve the management line and be in the negotiation team. Great opportunity and valuable experience, get to travel around the globe too. I learnt a lot, especially on networking and the art of mingling. I kind of missed CBD sometimes, no doubt bout that. But first thing first; now I have to master the technical experience before deciding to pursue on technical or management line.
After the catching up and chit chat session, we took a train and headed back home. It was raining mildly when we arrived and I was shivering. At 9PM, we were already at the hotel.

In between of St Georges Terrace and the Hay Street - London Court

Day 5 - 11th October 2007

We requested for late check out so while waiting for 12PM to come, I leisurely sat in the room and wrote some notes on the workshop. I could had utilize waiting time and embark on another journey to Fremantle but could not bear the boringness and tiresome of travelling alone. At 12PM, we checked-out and took a cab to Perth International Airport.
At the MAS check-in counter, there were few other Malaysian, going back home for Hari Raya, of course. After checked-in, we paid another visit to the Duty Free for another bottles of liquor for Keith. And finally, I ended up buying a cheap disposable camera (with 27 exposure only duh!) for AUD9 and managed to snap a few photos outside the airport. I should have bought the camera while I was at the Perth City yesterday. And for everyone at home, I bought 3 boxes of Australian's famous macadamia chocolate.
(Photos will be uploaded later . Current status : 12 exposure snapped out of 27 exposure)
The cabin was not even full. I were again in Boeing 777, however this was the first time for Keith and Faizal to enjoy the in-flight movie. I kept myself occupied with my movies while Keith, on the other hand, intoxicated himself with cans of beer. I stopped counting as he reaches his 12th cans.
We were crossing the Indonesian oceans when the cabin crew announced the time for break fas. It was 7.09PM, similar to Malaysian time. The chicken mushroom served looks nice but didn’t taste how it supposed to be. Cabin food, what do you expect right? After the meal, my stomach was happy and ready for another movie i.e Mr Bean - The Holiday. I didn’t sleep at all. I wasn’t eager to go back, wasn’t even eager to leave Australia either. The camera less disease was still affecting me and had made me so monotonous. Pity me.
We landed safely at 10PM. After wishing Selamat Hari Raya and waving good bye, we dispersed.

Interesting fact to capture : This seems to be out of topic but every guys (or Faizal) may what to know that ... Diamonds are women's best friends.