Day 2 – Oz Trip 2014 – The Arrival, Melbourne (part1/ 2)

The Arrival ( It was a long day..cause we reached Oz awal pagi. So Day 2 entry will have two entry)

After tossing around on the same spot, we’ve finally reached our destination at 6.15am Australian time. The cold winter wind greeted us upon our arrival at the airport with -5’o Celsius degrees. Brr..both kids were asleep as we arrived. No strollers so I used the baby carrier to carry Aqib on my chest..and we managed to persuade Wawa to walk slowly outside.

She was way to drowsy when the cold wind hit our face, terus segar sikit as we stepped out of the plane. Ahhhh what a wonderful feeling! I ni ratu kepada segala Pu3 lilin, and I guess my daughter follow me in that sense..pfft!

From my previous experience when travelling to Oz, I noticed that we can push kids stroller up to the door plane before departing KLIA..but when we arrived in Oz somehow we were asked to collect the strollers from the luggage claim area. So this time, I told my hubby to standby that we might again asked to do the same. In fact when we asked the MAS stewardess she said to collect from the luggage area too!

Satu jelah, mat salleh ni dia concern bab-bab ni, when they saw I was carrying Aqib and at the same time holding a bag she immediately ask me to wait.. “You have your stroller aight? Just hold on here the ground staff will send it here”. Dahla mak ni confuse sekejab…we waited…and waited until I think we were among the last to stand there. Suddenly I  decided to walk ahead and saw our stroller on the floor like nobody business. No staff standing next to it. Just one stroller tau!! I saw other passengers looking confuse too..mana stroller depa. But alhamdulillah we got our stroller. Put Aqib on it and guess what….another 1 hour of standing…to get through of custom and immigration. Alhamdulillah at least Aqib can sleep soundly in his Mac Laren. Pity those parent with other kids,,they had to carry them…panjang dan lama hokey..

Yupe…no special lane or fast lane unless you are being pushed on a wheelchair. Poor my mom, her legs are not strong for a long stand. She had to sit on the bags..Wawa too…sabar jelah. Managed to capture some gambar curi2 dengan jam…kawasan tidak boleh ambil gambar (kena type melayu takut org tu baca kang kena saman plak:p)

You see the queue!

Anyway, we were lucky because Melbourne International Airport, Tullmarine was in the midst of renovation, so all the strict food checkout area was affected. We were asked questions and directed to one of the lane. Here, it is important for you to stick together. We were separated with my dad and brother. So when the officers asked about what food do you have in the bag, my dad cannot answer, yelah we all the ladies yang uruskan bag kan. I had to walk to my dad and clarify why my father has no idea what was in the bag. I just informed them that it was packed by me and my mom..and all food inside the bag are officially labelled. Sebenarnya ada serunding daging FAMA packed nicely…juga!! So dah lepas tu apa lagi laju-lajulah tolak all 4 trolleys out of the quaratine food area. Fuhh tak habis2 bersyukur padaNya. Gentar gak!!

The we noticed that Subuh is almost over, I was told there is a multi faith prayer room, we just need to turn left as we exit the arrival door, just walk right straight to the end and you’ll see the signange..opposite the toilets. Terus rush kesana, and yes they only have 1 room where man and woman can pray in there. I was happy to have a decent place to perform our prayers. Complete with wudhu area tau! So bergilir-gilirlah kami solat.

The kids was jakuning with the cold winter air!

Surau yeay!

Dah lega solat subuh, me and my youngest brother Aiq decided to purchase our phone sim card and data plan from the local mobile brand. I was suggested by my ex colleague who migrated to Melb to buy Vodaphone simcards but we decided to settle it before we depart the airport area (karang menonong nak cari kedaikan) to pick our rental van. So OPTUS was our mobile line and they have this shortstay package worth of Oz 50 dollars! Can last for 10 days with free unlimited dataplan and free phone calls octupus to octupus. So we bought 4 simcards and walla we have unlimted access to the internet and FB’s and segala gajah internet,:p

Right, while we were busy buying the simcards….my dad went to checkout the East Coast Rental pickup van which was supposed to collect us at a bus station just in front of the arrival area. They will send us to the car rent centre which is located 10 mins away.

Remember when I told you it was among the cheapest car rental company? We were worried too, but alhamdulillah lah, the car and the service was ok.  Below is a picture of Aqib and Wawa enjoying the morning air infront of the ECR office. Noticed the bags!! LOL! We managed to fit all bags in the van. Oh yes there is a catch, on top of the RM1,800 rental fees you will be asked to topup for the  daily car insurance, co-pilot insurance and others. So kalau ada apa2 kemek ke..calar ke, they won’t minus from our credit card. Lumayan jugalah…RM900 top up uwaa…but still cheap ya compared to others. So Hyundai I mex is our choice! Perfect! Eventhough if you rent a salon car you’ll save a lot in term of gas and rental fees!! We opted for this because I know mr hubby will be sleepy to drive long distance, so my dad and my brother drive the van!

Banyak kan bag!!

Amazingly, the carboot was very spacious. I was one happy customer indeed. Can fit all bags in the carboot sikit pun tak masuk bhg depan except for the food and diapers.

Right, after settling the rental issue with ECR, we decided to follow my tentative itinerary that I had drafted earlier. 1st day to shop at Victoria Station and Melb Town and to shop for groceries at Rosebud. (I’ll tell you in our next entry) :p

Victoria Market was awesome, still the same compared to my last visit in 2005 and 2006. Here is like pasar but a very clean dry pasar. They diveded the items according to categories like for example sayur with sayur only. It was refreshing to see all the fresh veges and the seafood supplies. Ahhhh bestnyaaa…

Driving to Victoria on our first day was a bit challenging especially in the town, their road law is different. Such as…

1. You need to stop at a Zebra crossing until it is clear eventhough the traffic light is Green!. Masalahnya depa ni tak paham bahasa kott. Pedestrian is the king!!

2. You need to stop at a traffic light until the other side pass by. (kalau nak kornar kanan, kena memang traffic light dia takde arrow hijau kanan, you tengok clear jalan je!) Seriau laa jugak!

3. Others that I don’t know how to describe,

This scene greeted as we were nearing the town area.

As we follow our GPS, hello Melb town!

Jangan park macam kami, leceh dok masuk coins. They have a cheaper carpark kat belakang2 sikit. we didn’t dare to take the risk takut terlajak so paylah the price! 😦

Us at the entrance of Vic market

As we reached the Vic Market entrance we were greeted by this yummylious looking doughnut van. Ingat nak beli otw back, sold out tuh!! Arghh…

Main target was to find the Halal restaurant for our brunch. I’ve googled earlier for the kebab place, even my second brother pun dah advice kat mana…we just couldn’t find it! Dah lapar sangat so we stop at the Vic Market Food Court. Alhamdulillah there is one halal shop..tapi Indian food..walaweh..there is also a fish and chip shop, checked with them either it is a beer battered fish and chip, they said no alcohol…happyla lah dapat merasa fish and chips yang sedap tuh!!

 

After lunch and buying some fresh seafood and vege, we decided to straight head to Rosebud. Our little country home which is about 1 hour drive from Melbourne. Since we didn’t managed to sleep properly throughout that night….habis all zonked out throughout the journey to Rosebud!! Ngantuknya MasyaAllah!!

on our 1 hour journey to Rosebud

Jetlag oooo…mcm mabuk ngentuk

The drive was easy,..but once we approached Mornington Peninsula, there are a lot of mini round about on our way. The road changes from 3 lanes to 2 lanes and finally to 1 lane. Dah masuk kampung…hehe..it reminded us of Whistable town where we used to stay for 2 years dulu..in 1996-1998.

Finally we reached Nepean Resort around 4pm. Checked in amik kunci, straight to Rosebud town to checkout the supermarket. We know if we all semua turun check in, confirm taknak kuar dah!!

Our view as we enter the Nepean

The Nepean Spa & Resort Map

So happy to finally reach Rosebud town, such a nice small town. They have Coles and Woolworth supermarket. Here is where our 1st round of food shopping begin! Yahooo!!

 

To be continued..

Xoxo

FairyYaya