Wooloomooloo

An aboriginal term and name of a harbourside suburb in Sydney – you can read more here.

We didn't stop at Sydney but headed further down south to Melbourne and had fantastic time despite the cold freezing wet weather and no car. The public transport is much better now with more routes for the buses running and at more frequent times.

What’s the secret? Plan your itinerary closely to the weather forecast, rug up and have great understanding friends who drive!! Hahaha

Did all the things I planed except didn’t manage to browse at the art & craft markets as the weather was wet & cold. Dissapointed I was but got over it quickly. In fact there were weather warnings of flash floods following heavy rains. Oh well, another time perhaps. At least with all the rain and wet weather, water restrictions are being eased from 'Stage 3a' to 'Stage 2' in September, apparently lowest level in four years!! *well at least something positive came out of it!*

So what’s with wooloomooloo? Well don’t you think it’s a cool word, let’s say it together woo-loo-moo-loo!!

Say it a few more times and you'll find it gets stuck easily in your head….hahaha (cos I'm sure you are thinking woo-loo what??? Is that a proper word at all??). There’s no big interesting story - it so happened my friend P mentioned this word as I was getting ‘lost’ with the short cuts taken and after brunch when we passed Gum Tree Café at Middle Park, we saw ‘Wooloomooloo’ breakfast on the menu board, talk about coincidence!

Cute, fat and cuddly - too bad the Koalas were snug up tight and sleeping.

Things I want to E-A-T ATE
Pizzas - because they got real pork and use real cheese (not cheese sauce)
Vietnamese food - pho and banh mi
Wine, pâté & cheese
Coffee & cafes

Simon's peaking duck @ Old Kingdom

Gelati

Things I wanted to DO but didn't (weather NOT permitting)
Local farmers and/or craft market – either Red hill (190 J3) or Healesville (269 H2). With the former can also visit surrounding areas like Arthur’s seat, browse along other vineyards or fruit farms along the way. Go further and you will reach beach areas like Portsea and Sorrento. For Healesville, there's a wildlife santuary nearby and not forgetting the local vineries.
Another link for market dates & times.

St Andrews Community Market - another farmers' market, was informed able to get specialized foodstuff, read more here.

Collingwood Children's Farm Farmers' Market & Abbortsford Convent - read more here. We went but traffic was bad and since we were on a tight schedule we gave this a miss. We'll be back for the coffee next time.

Some Kid-friendly things to do (my picks)

Parks (BEST as its FOC, everywhere and great for a quick BBQ)

Mt Dandenong – feed Rosella birds, eat scones @ Miss Marples, drop by the lookout point & browse around local craft shops.

Melbourne Aquarium (daily 9.30am - 6pm)

Melbourne Museum (daily 10am - 5pm)

Scienceworks (daily 10am - 4.30pm)

Melbourne Zoo (daily 9.30am-5pm) BYO food as the food sold is just absolutely pathetic. You'd think they can somehow feed the animals but not so palatable for humans!!

Huge wombat.

Diamond Valley Railway Eltham (Sunday 11-5pm)

Box Hill Miniature Steam Trains (11-4pm on certain days, check for times)

Puffing Billy @ Dandenong Ranges

Flying AirAsia X

What the hell was I thinking at that time????

Well the exchange rate was higher then and so I thought why not 'suck it' for 8 hours, save and splurge on other things instead!

Maybe it wasn't the wisest of decisions made as 8 hours is a long time.

Due to all the negative comments from friends and also 'horror' stories read, mentally prepared for the ‘ultimate’ low carrier budget flying experience.

‘World Best Low Cost Airline’ – translation to mean – no frills with almost cardbox like seats (disguised with PU leather) and worst than jail food? And service – what service, just don't expect any!

How low was my expectation?? Well, how low can it go?
I’d imagine the worst, a tight shuttling seat space and as such:
- expected my check in to be messed up
- long queues
- no friendly smile
- rude service
- bad tasting & cold food
- cramp uncomfortable upright 90C degrees seats
…basically the works (Let me know if I missed something??)

It was a good thing I had my low or no expectation, because I think it helped a lot!!

In fact, I was pleasantly surprised with friendly service, seats that do recline (but not that much) and passable airline food. There was a long walk to and up the airplane and long queues at the check-in counter, but it was not that bad.

In fact, flying AAX is OK!!

Paid extra RM30 for the entertainment unit. Not the best - limited movie, tv shows and games.

Only pet peeved I had with this was the battery kept dying on me. Definitely intruded on my enjoyment of the movie especially right at the most crucial & exciting ending part (you know what I mean right - will he survive, will he get the girl....etc)!! And what annoyed me most when the stewardess told me that she had changed it for me 3x already (yeah but all the replaced batteries sucked big time anyway!!) and if I wanted a new console I had to pay another RM30 as each console only had battery that last 6 hours!!! WHAT??? OUTRAGEOUS!!! Yes I was definitely not happy as I would have reasonably expected the entertainment unit to last for the entire journey and not be expected to fork out additional money & be ripped off further - don't you agree???

UPSET I was but all I said to the stewardess was that I was definitely disappointed that I couldn't finish the movie since I was at the most exciting part. Blah!

So next time check your entertainment console and be sure that you have 100% battery otherwise, would suggest you reject or exchange it! But then again, unless you are getting a new battery, one can never be certain that you'd be getting 100% battery usage since its a USED and somewhat old console.

Bottomline - that was just POOR REASONING & LAME EXCUSE!!! *really bugs me when stupid excuses are used!!*

Anyway....after 10 min or so, the same stewardess redeemed herself, coming back to me to say that she had an extra battery and hope it had a longer battery life. Thankfully it did - and yes I watched the exciting ending of Iron man 2 and others :) *all forgiven but still think that if you are renting out entertainment consoles it should not be limited/restricted to HOPELESS battery life!! AAX Management, hope you are reading this!* Otherwise, flight-goers bring a good thick book, iphone, ipad or PSP to entertain your kids to avoid BIG DISAPPOINTMENT.

My 'no frills' Pak Nasser Nasi Lemak - an all time Malaysian Favourite!

Descriped as ~ "Fluffy fragrant coconut rice served with chicken rendang and our own sambal tumis. Accompanied with crispy and crunchy condiments of fried anchovies, groundnuts and half-boiled eggs".

Not the best nasi lemak I've eaten but hey, I'm travelling 10000 miles up in the sky, who can complain - at least it was warm, decent and filling (though somewhat starchy)!!

Master Prince had the Kids Meal of mini chicken burger. From memory its way more expansive than my 'no frill' nasi lemak. He finished most of it.

What did Master Prince think of AAX???

No surprise, he enjoyed it since all he really cared about was flying and of course the entertainment console though he was not impressed with the limited games section.....hm, can't have everything but at least it kept him occupied and out of my ears!!

He got to walk on the tarmac and got up close to the aeroplane so that was exciting too. *hey, its how you "sell" it to your child right?* haha

Final shot of the airbus 330. At least the stewardess made effort to keep it clean. Travelling on Gulf Air last month, was absolutely SHOCKED when I got up to use the toilet, the aisle was in total disarray and untidy mess....for a minute, thought I was in a wet market - scattered with trash, shoes, pillows, rugs and what have you!! *definite safety hazard* So, good on you and keep this up AAX.