More interesting places to explore around Sydney-Wollongong

Assalamualaikum semua,

I'm back! Tapi kali ni dah tak emo-emo dah. hahaha. Adatlah tu manusia kan? Kadang-kadang okay, kadang-kadang tidak. Mana ada orang yang happy go lucky setiap masa kan? Memandangkan mood hari ni agak baik, I nak kongsi cerita sikit pasai tempat yang berpeluang explore baru-baru ni.

I ni nama je dah duduk 3 tahun lebih kat sini, berulang alik ke Sydney tak terkira dah berapa banyak kali. Tapi tak penah pun terfikir nak singgah kat New South Wales Royal National Park tiap-tiap kali balik dari Sydney ke Wollongong. I just knew that this National Park is the second oldest national park in the world! The oldest is somewhere in Mongolia if I am not mistaken.

Sebenarnya ada beberapa jalan yang menghubungkan Wollongong dan Sydney. Salah satunya Grand Pacific Drive yang ada Royal National Park ni la. Tapi dah nama pun jalan hutan, jarak perjalanan jauh sikit la daripada highway biasa tu, lepas tu boleh tahan bengkang bengkok pulak. Kalau siapa yang suka drift tu boleh la test power. Kalau terlebih power ada chance la terjun masuk hutan cium kangaroo or wombat. hahaha.

Sepanjang perjalanan yang dipenuhi dengan spectacular scenery of the tropical rainforests, ada baaaanyak signboards yang tunjuk ke arah lookouts yang boleh nampak dramatic coastal cliffs and unspoilt beaches.  And the views are fascinatingly breathtaking!! Ya Allah ruginya rasa tak explore dari dulu lagi semua tempat-tempat ni. Dah dekat-dekat nak balik ni baru la sampai. huhu. :(

So, memandangkan tak banyak masa hari tu and it was actually an unplanned visit, so I sempat singgah dua tempat je. Hacking River and Garie Beach. I believe there are more to explore, apparently I've got no chance to do so. It's okay, sekurang-kurangnya dapat la jugak peluang nak singgah. Mana tau info ni berguna untuk sesiapa yang ada peluang travel ke Sydney kan? So sila la lalu Grand Pacific Drive (Royal National Park Exit), you'll discover something interesting throughout the journey.

Hacking River

I'm sorry because the photos didn't do any justice to the real ones. Seriously it is wayyy better in real.
Tempat ni sangat best and tenang kalau pergi lepak time hujung minggu. Picnic and camping pun sesuai jugak.
Jangan terkejut kalau jumpa biawak commodore. Dah nama pun hutan kan. I found one. And it is realllyyyy hugeee!! ;O

Hope this video is helpful to give clear view of the actual place.

You can even hear the birds chirping. Ohhh I love this place so much!! 

Garie Beach

You should also know that Australia is rich with beautiful beaches like this. If you ask me to make a list, I will definitely lost my count.
Tiap-tiap tempat mesti ada lookout yang cantik, and I personally think Garie Beach is among the best! 

Clear blue sky, chlorophyll colour wide ocean, and golden sandy beach.
What more could you ask for from one beautiful place like this?

 Please listen to the sound of the waves.

Somehow it gives the calming effect that words cannot explain.

The famous Grand Pacific Drive.
Don't miss out the chance to explore this route if you are travelling from Sydney to Wollongong or vice versa.
It involved a great deal of engineering works to get this road built. Something that you will appreciate!!

So I think that's all I could share about interesting places to visit near Sydney or Wollongong. Semuanya free of charge tak payah bayar sesen pun. Cukup dengan ucapan MasyaAllah/Subhanallah untuk keajaiban dan keindahan ciptaan-Nya dan Alhamdulillah sebab diberi peluang menghayati keindahan tersebut. :)

Berita gembira untuk penggemar coklat.

Assalamualaikum semua,

Here's me again writing for two days in a row. Ajaib kan? Perkara yang jarang-jarang berlaku ni. hehe. Sebenarnya tadi tengah dok run simulation guna Fortran through SSH Secure Shell, tetiba dia keluaq warning 

"THE PROGRAM HAS PERFORMED A FATAL OPERATION AND WILL BE CLOSED". 

Erkk? Apo bondo tu? Serious tak paham. Yang pastinya my simulation process stopped immediately right there. Huwaaa. Jadi I terus laju-laju email support system to log a report. Hopefully they are going to solve this. Fast. Sementara dah tengah stuck ni baik aku update serba sikit kat sini ye dak?

Ha macam ni cerita dia, dua hari lepas I ada upload gambar ni dekat Instagram with the caption "Chocolate Galore. Guylian Belgian Chocolate Cafe".

Amacam? Tempting tak? hehe. :p

And then, somebody sent me a personal message asking me if the chocolates served in the cafe have held the Halal certification or not. Thank you so much for the concern dear. Kalau orang tak tanya, mungkin I sendiri tak teringat nak cari. Since orang dah tanya, I pun buat la research sikit and I found THIS.

"All products manufactured by Guylian have been produced under the supervision of the EuroHalal Office of Control and Halal Certification. They are subsequently free from Haram or questionable ingredients. Hence, they are HALAL of FIT FOR CONSUMPTION BY MUSLIM". 

Yippie yayy!! Lepas ni kalau nampak Guylian chocolate yang sangat famous dengan bentuk Seashells tu bole la beli ye. Jangan risau, takde kandungan yang meragukan dalam tu. Gelatin yang digunakan adalah vegetable origin. So, boleh pakat makan ramai-ramai coklat berbentuk cengkerang ni. :)

I am always a chocolate lover. Tak kira la dalam bentuk apa sekali pun. Asal nama dia coklat semua aku sukaaa. Dekat Australia ni ada boleh tahan banyak la jugak chocolate cafe macam MaxBrenner, Koko Black, Lindt, Theobroma, San Churro and Guylian that I recently found.

Located at Circular Quay
10, Macquarie Street, Sydney NSW 2000

Me in front of the cafe. Haruslah ada gambar I kan. hikhik. :p

Ohh, Max Brenner is originally from Israel. Since I am trying to ban as much Israelis products as I can, Max Brenner dah terkeluar dari list untuk dikunjungi walaupon Tutti Fruiti Waffle dia sedap gila!! Takpa demi Palestine, aku sanggup berkorban. Eceh. Ye la, nak pegang senapang tu memang idok le teman. Harap dengan cara memboikot boleh lah membantu sikit-sikit. :)

Then hari tu masa pegi Sydney, I sempat singgah Guylian Belgian Chocolate Cafe dekat Opera House. Selama ni tengok packaging Guylian The Seashells Chocolate je dekat Woolworths. Tak sangka pulak dia ada cafe yang besttt!! Too bad, cafe dia ada dekat are Sydney je. Circular Quay (dekat dengan Opera House) and The Rocks. Jom kita tengok apa yang ada dalam cafe ni selain coklat yang kat atas tu:

Desserts.

More dessertsssss.

Moreeeee and moreee dessertssssss. Pengsan!

As you can see from the above pictures, they also have a wide range of desserts other than chocolates. I tak berani jamin kesedapan desserts semua ni sebab I sendiri pun tak try. Tapi, for the chocolate base desserts, I think memang boleh bagi A++ sebab memang rasa chocolate dia sedap! hehe. Kalau rasa taknak makan, boleh jugak order drinks. :)

Beverage corner. Hot and cold.
Eh waiter pun comel-comel sejuk mata memandang. hikhik. :p

And I got myself a Guylian Hot Chocolate Special.
Huge serve, lovely, and rich.
A great deal for a calorie hit. ahaks! :p

Okay, cukup lah tu review tak berbayar pasai Guylian Chocolate Cafe ni. Asalnya nak bagi explanation pasal status Halal je, tapi tetiba jadi review pulak. haha. Okay la tu, just like killing two birds with one stone right? Harap membantu untuk sesiapa yang cari information pasal cafe ni. Tata! :)

Half day Sydney sightseeing. Lawatan terakhir tahun 2012.

Assalamualaikum semua!

What have you guys been up to last weekend? Bawak family pegi jalan-jalan? Attend kenduri kawen yang tak putus-putus? Shopping sampai habis duit gaji? Dok rumah diam-diam makan tidoq makan tidoq? Umm, ain't the latter sounds so boring huh? Anyway, no matter what it was, I hope everything went well for you. :)

Mine? I guess my weekend has not been too bad. Hari Sabtu pegi tanning dekat beach (amboi OZ sungguh bunyi padahal tak sedar diri dah terkeluar dari kategori kuning langsat). Takpolah, anggap je tanned is the new sexy. kehkeh. Lama gila tak mandi laut sekali bila dah dapat syok pulak rasa. Ombak pantai laut lepas ni memang lain sikit kan?  That might be the reason why Australia is renowned as one of the world's premier surfing destinations.

And then, hari Ahad pulak pegi Sydney jalan-jalan separuh hari. haha. Memandangkan hari Ahad ada Family Funday where we only need to pay $2.50 to access their public transportations like train, bus and ferry, I pun join Kak Fish and family untuk jalan-jalan. Kalau tak kene bayar train lagi, ferry lagi. Dengan Family Funday memang jimat banyak! :)

So kitorang keluar pagi-pagi, terus pergi bergambar dekat Sydney Opera House. Mungkin ini yang terakhir untuk tahun ni. Tapi mana tau kalau ada rezeki datang balik dengan kesayangans in future? Tak pun bawak anak-anak datang melawat universiti tempat belajar ke kan? Perghh jauh sangat dah berangan tu. haha. :p

Memandangkan gambar dalam my camera tak banyak sangat. Kita layan apa yang ada je eh. Let's check them out! :)

Me and Adam. Hoi susah gila nak bergambar dengan budak ni.
Sibuk nak berlari ke sana sini. Nampak tak cubaan nak lepaskan diri tu?

Okaylah, Adam takmau, Aunty Miya ambik gambaq sorang-sorang. haha.

He was soo excited to be on the ferry. Or he called it boat (in his thick Aussie accent).

I rasa macam dah lama I tak kongsi video dalam blog ni kan? Ha jom ikut I dengan Adam naik ferry dari Circular Quay ke Darling Harbour. Throughout this journey, kita akan nampak pemandangan sekitar Opera House, Harbour Bridge, Luna Park and sebahagian dari Sydney Metropolitan. Yang selebihnya tak sempat nak record sebab ferry goyang-goyang. I was so gayat. hahaha. :p

Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House.

 

Luna Park and Adam.

Dia ikut I cakap, "And this is Adam" dalam ni. haha.

Okay, I think that's all I could share about my half day trip to Sydney. If you are a first time visitor to Sydney, these are among the places that you probably need to discover when you first arrive! These icons are world's famous landmarks that will offer you a great sightseeing experience. Enjoy! :)