Tasmania: Launceston & Devonport

Launceston was my first stop in Tasmania and I had intended it to be a short visit solely for the purpose of getting groceries for my week long trip. I briefly went to Cataract Gorge however as the weather was sweltering, I only managed to do the short walk to the bridge and back to the main area.

Tasmania, Australia

Tasmania was the last remaining state in Australia that I had not visited. I had been wanting to visit for many years now and back in March, I decided to finally visit during the first week of my office closure from 24th December to 31st December. Sadly, my trip did not go as planned and the map below is where I wanted to go and where I ended up going.

Red is where I did go and the blue is where I was planning on going but sadly didn't make it

So what happened: I got into a little car accident and wasn't able to get another car so I went back home early. I am a little bit bummed considering I hadn't seen the best part of Tasmania (arguably) which is the east coast. That being said, I will write about the places that I managed to visit.

Ulaanbaatar

Ulaanbaatar is the capital city of Mongolia and is home to 1.3 million inhabitants (almost half of the country's total population). I spent a total of 2 days in the city; 0.5 days when I first arrived and 1.5 days after my 12 day tour ended. From my research, it wasn't recommended to spend more than a few days in the city and in my short period, I believe I had more than enough time to see all that I wanted to see.


Chinggis Khan

2016 Reflection

2016 has quickly come and gone. The year always seemed to go so slowly back in my schooling days however each year, it seems to go by faster and faster. I am not one to really set goals at the beginning of the new year and thus I cannot accurately say whether or not I have achieved what I had set out.

Looking back on 2016

Upon reflection of 2016, it has been a busy year. I travelled a fair bit; I went on one big trip to Mongolia and went on a few smaller ones throughout the year during my long weekends. I successfully completed #take12trips quite easily.

01. Ingleburn
02. Warragamba Dam 
03. Wollongong
04. Riverina Roadtrip
05. Port Stephens
06. Wollongong & Helensburgh
07. Blue Mountains
08. Capertee Valley & Hill End 
09. Mongolia
10. Ettalong 
11. Victoria Roadtrip
12. Wattamolla

I finally properly visited and photographed canola fields which is something that has been on my mind for numerous years now.

I turned 25 this year in December which was a little bit scary; I am now in the mid 20s bracket. Eck! I also realised this year that I have been in a new relationship every year for the past 4 years (....) however I think this time round, I may have found myself a keeper ;P

Professionally, I have learnt so much more about myself however in that area of my life, it has been quite draining and I am a little burnt out. I am glad that I have a two week office closure, although the forced use of 2 weeks of leave when I only have 4 weeks annually is a little painful to swallow.

I also purchased a new camera which was very exciting as I have only ever owned point and shoot cameras. Yes really!

I have successfully completed my reading challenge of reading 60 books this year, follow my Goodreads!

Onto something likely more negative, 2016 has overall been quite a tough year. It definitely has not been the best year financially for me. I had to pay a $433 fine for accidentally running through a red light; I can only blame myself, it was one of those trippy two sets of lights close to together and the first was green and second was red and I wasn't paying enough attention. On my trip to Melbourne, I ended up forking around $250 due to flight cancellation and accommodation. And only two days ago, I had to cut my Tasmania trip short because I accidentally crashed my car, no replacement cars were available and I incurred around $1500 overall for the damage, having to buy a new flight, accommodation, etc. What a way to end the year especially since I had been looking forward to this trip since March.

Looking forward to 2017

I want to take it slower in 2017. My opinion may change when the time arises, but I want to take less trips. I won't be completing #take12trips, however I am sure that I will end up taking that many as a minimum considering my nature. I did not strain myself this year to meet the goal, however I thought it became a little redundant around halfway through the year. I think I need to become more in tune with myself and to slow down when I am becoming burnt out; remembering to take some time to relax and do nothing. Doing nothing is a foreign concept to me however it is valuable. However, I am planning on going overseas on a trip to Vietnam and Thailand in August; that will be my big trip for 2017.

As a consequence of travelling less, I will invariably end up saving more. I have never been one to save to travel, but more save to save and using some of my savings to travel. That is why, despite having a budget for my trips, I can easily blow out my budget without too much of a worry. I suppose I am getting to the age where having savings is becoming increasingly more important. Luckily, I have always been a saver so the mindset is already there. It is a fickle thing; like a lot of people, I do want to get into the property market. However 2017 will not be the year. I will not lament about all those issues and hurdles that are constantly brought up in the news. Simply put, the time is not right for me.

What is one thing you are wanting to achieve in 2017?

Wattamolla Attempt #1

The trip to Wattamolla was our second attempt to reach the area; the first try was on foot. In hindsight, it was a little ambitious as it would have been a 20km hike in total. Moral of the story, drive to Wattamolla rather than completing the hike from Bundeena. And always wear insect repellent.

Meeting Ice Pandora!

This is a very long overdue post. Back in August after my two weeks in Mongolia, I headed to Hong Kong for a few days. On one of the days, I organised to meet up with Mei from Ice Pandora! I have followed Mei for many years now and if you don't know her blog, definitely check it out! This was my first time meeting someone through my blog which was a little nerve wrecking. I have previously met up with two people online back in my LiveJournal days so it's not entirely foreign to me.

It was a bit difficult to meet up as I wasn't too clear with my directions which reminded me how difficult it is to find someone when both parties don't have working phones! Nonetheless, we finally managed to find each other and had a coffee in a very weird cafe. It also was a reminder of the shortcoming of being illiterate; I can get by with my basic knowledge Cantonese but cannot read or write at all.

It was a wonderful meeting and I actually hope to meet more people who I know from my blog in the coming year. If you are coming to Sydney or from Sydney and are interested, let me know!

The Local Mbassy, Ultimo

After checking out of the hotel after a staycation in Sydney CBD, we headed 600m down the road to the reasonably rated cafe, The Local Mbassy, in Ultimo. From a quick look on Instragram and Zomato, it was easy to see that the appeal of the place boiled down to their red velvet pancakes. See screenshot below.

Although I don't mind red velvet, I am actually not a big fan of pancakes and much prefer a savoury dish for breakfast. I ordered a flat white and the open melt.

Open Melt // thinly sliced pork belly, spinach, mozzarella cheese, fried egg, house onion pickles, melted onto freshly baked artisan bread.

One of the weirdest parts of this melt was the fact that the bread was not toasted at all which meant it ended up being quite soggy due to the pickles and the egg. The second weird thing about it was the fact that mozzarella cheese consisted of 80% of the dish. I love cheese and especially love it when it is melted, however it was the only thing I could taste. It overpowered everything and I honestly couldn't even find the pork belly hidden underneath the thick layer of cheese.

The coffee was decent although a little on the burnt side.

Overall, not a place I would really head back unless I was in the area of Ultimo. As I was leaving, I saw a girl standing on top of her chair to take a photo of her food (including of course the red velvet pancakes).



A question to my readers, what kind of coffee do you normally order at a cafe? I used to order lattes however I slowly got tired of burning my fingers on the glass cup and have now transitioned to flat whites.

Christmas Tree Hunting

There is something magical about seeing those giant Christmas trees in Europe or North America. Alas, there are Christmas trees here in Sydney but they are all fake and honestly, they don't feel as special. But here is a post dedicated to the Christmas trees in Sydney CBD.

QVB Swarovksi Christmas Tree
Every year, a giant Christmas tree adorned with Swarovksi crystals is set up in the centre of the QVB. It fits snuggly in the gap between the floors and it is not possible to take a photo of the entirety of the tree.




George Street Christmas Tree
This identical tree popped up last year on George Street. Almost the entire street has been blocked off for over a year now for the light rail project that ... well hasn't started . Yet, the council has placed a Christmas tree up instead.



Martin Place Christmas Tree
For the past 4 years, the same Christmas tree has been put up in Martin Place. You can text a message to a number and the message will appear on the electronic banner around the Christmas tree.





Custom House Christmas Tree