1. First impression of Sydney compared to Singapore: Colder weather, warmer people.

2. Many elevators in Sydney have an unusual labelling system. Instead of showing numbers or floor levels, it shows the letter on whats on that floor. Example: B for Buses, C for Concourse and M for Mezzanine. So the buttons on the elevator would be B C and M.

I wonder if there is a building where the Trains are on the top floor, an Atrium on the next, then only Entrance or Exits at the ground floor. That would make for an interesting elevator.

3. While randomly walking around Sydney we came across a bazaar. There was a stall selling the interactive velcro books for kids. Mika was drawn to the book with the clock, and it had the numbers 1 to 12 that you could stick on it.

It kept her entertained for a good 15 minutes while we were just resting so we decided to buy it.

When we reached the AirBnb Mika continued playing with the numbers, reciting the numbers 1 thru 10 (except for seven which she cant say yet).

As we were cleaning up, we couldn’t find the #2 velcro sticker. But we didn’t mind it anyway since for sure it would just show up later on.

The following morning was our day in the Royal Botanic Gardens, the same spot which I mentioned in my past post on Mika’s poop diary.

One additional detail not mentioned there though was that as we were setting up to change Mika’s poopy diaper.. we found the missing #2 inside the clean diaper!

We gave the #2 sticker to Mika during the diaper change but she just threw it away again.

After the diaper change, Mae said: “J3 wag mo kalimutan yung number 2”

I looked at the #2 velcro sticker then to the poopy diaper, and responded, “Aling number 2?”

4. I didnt know that Singaporeans named many of the streets in Melbourne! If you look at the street labels you would see: Union La, Flinders La, Warburton La, and many other streets that ended with La!

5. I propose that regulations must be out in place for the naming of attractions to avoid tourist confusion and hype.

For example, the Blue Mountains is an aptly named destination. You go there and see the vast mountain range that is blue because the oils secreted by the trees in the valley being hit by sunlight.

Blue? Check.
Mountains? Check.
Approved!

Another aptly named attraction is the Great Ocean Road. Which is basically a long road that was built near the ocean. Its length spans for 243km, which makes the adjective ‘Great’ appropriate.

Great? Yes!
Ocean? Yup!
Road? Yes!
Approved.

But there is one attraction at the Great Ocean Road called the 12 Apostles. It is a viewpoint that features to ocean that has eaten away at the cliff leaving behind limestone stacks. There are huge boulder formations that remain standing, while a few have been slowly eroded by the ocean waves. The view from it is breathtaking.

My problem is, there is no explanation why it was named 12 apostles. Even the tour guide didn’t have the answer and he has also tried finding out why.

If you count the limestone rocks from the view deck, there would only be 7. If you counted the smaller rocks, the count would still NOT reach 12!

12? Fail.
Apostles? No connection.
That attraction should be renamed.

6. Speaking of renaming… One Austrialian food that I made sure to try during our trip was the Vegemite.

I like the taste of it and I think they should rename it to Vegemust!