Movie 11 - Angels and Demons

16 May 2006 - Angels and Demons


The first one, The Da Vinci Code, was rather confusing. Already forgotten the storyline. The second one, which actually took place earlier than the first one, was rather straight forward. I would probably remember the storyline years down the road.

I must say it was pretty exciting. The whole movie was just about the last four hours before midnight. The movie shots of Rome and The Vatican are awesome, though the shots of inner Vatican may not be real.

Why I like this more, as compared to Da Vinci's Code? Less complicated story, faster pace, excellent Rome scenes, Tom Hank's acting, Ewan McGregor, the Papal election and less complicated 'anagram' to solve.

I had planned to go to Italy for many years ago, but never seems to realise it. Probably I should take it more serious in planning the trip to Italy.

2011 Italy, here I come.

My rating: 5/5

Australia 2009 - Sydney

G'day mate.

My second visit to Sydney. And it remains my favourite city. Somehow, Sydney presents to me as a vibrant, exciting, casual, friendly and lovely city. It is not as rush as KL, but a pace faster than Melbourne. The first time I was here was in 1995 - a good 14 years ago. 4 days here, and probably not sufficient. I would love to have a longer time, not as a tourist, but to experience life here as a local.

When I was first here, the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House were 2 major landscapes that fascinates me most. Especially the bridge, from the engineering point of view. It was unfortunate that the bridge climb was not available then. Subsequently when it was opened, I vowed that one day I will return to Sydney for that climb. Therefore the first thing I did when arrived in Sydney was to go for the Bridge Climb. The Climb is the single most expensive itinerary of the entire trip. Worried that I may not get a place in the climb, I reserved on line before leaving Sydney. The Bridge Climb cost AUD189, which works out to be about RM497 (based on 2.63 exchange rate). This would more than enough to get a VIP seat for the Wang Lee Hom concert in KL. But I think it was worth the money, as the experience is marvellous and unforgetable. Going to the very top of the bridge span, which is 2 times the height of the tallest fin of the Opera House is a moment to be remembered. The climb was meant to last about 3.5 hours, but due to our smaller group (only 6 of us in the group), we were up there for about 4 hours.

The first day in Sydney was basically spend at Circular Quay doing the bridge climb. After the climb, the sky is already dark. The Rocks was also closed. The only thing left to do was to take pictures of the Opera House at night, something that I had not managed to do during my first visit. Sydney skyline at night is marvellous.

The second day, with an extremely fine weather - blue sky and bright sun, we went for the coastal walk from Coogee Beach to Bondi Beach. Accoring to one of the website (lost that link), this was supposed to be one of the best coastal walk in the world. And quite rightly so, if the ocean and beaches are your thing. Though the sun is bright, the walk is not as tough due to the breezy and cooling wind. We took slightly more than 2 hours to reach Bondi Beach. We ended the Sydney beach itinenary with a bus ride from Bondi Beach to Watsons Bay for the Doyle's Fisherman Wharf Fish & Chips. The Gap, next to Watson's Bay is spectacular. Thrilled me first time, it still does the second time.

The third day was to Blue Mountain. It rained in Sydney that day, but not in Blue Mountain. So that was a very good planning. We took a train from Sydney Central Station to Blue Mountain - a 2-hour journey. Then in Blue Mountain, we took the Trolley Bus to travel around. Blue Mountain to me, is like Cameron Highlands. A few towns that eventually make Blue Mountain. But we were only in Katoomba, the main town and Leura which is within the route of the Trolley Bus. I read a lot of guides and travel forums where all recommended a visit here. I would have also recommended this, but I suppose it is not a must. The reviews in the travel guides and forums are probably slightly exaggerating, especially on the The Three Sisters. I think the comments are just a little big over-rated. If you have a day to spare, yes, why not dropping by Blue Mountain. Otherwise, doing it on a second visit is still fine.

One of the highlights of Blue Mountain is the Scenic Ride. Yes, that was something, especially the Scenic Railway. But the ride ended too fast to feel the thrill. Doing the ride again, will cost another AUD10 dollars. Doing both the Railway and Cable rides cost AUD19 dollars, if you purchase the ticket at Scenic World. But if you get it from the Trolley Bus Agent, you will save a dollar.

After getting back from Blue Mountain, we headed to Chinatown and Darling Harbour. Darling Harbour was the place that I could least recognised. A lot of development had taken place. The Sydney skyline viewed from the Harbour is impressing.

The last day in Sydney was disappointing. It rained early in the morning. Then stopped. We managed to get into the CBD area. Then it started to rain again. We were trapped at the New South Wales Art Gallery for few hours. The last stop was in Chinatown for dinner. The last time I was in Paddy's Market, I could only see the flea market section, not realising that there was also the fruit and nuts market as in Melbourne's Queen Victoria Market. Comparing the price of both markets, Paddy's Market seems to be lower than QVM.

Then it back to Central Station to catch the bus back to Melbourne for the conclusion on this trip. Though I'd mentioned that I will never be back to Sydney, I would love to stay in Sydney. My favourite city.

Australia 2009 - Melbourne

This is my first visit to Melbourne. The most common thing I heard about Melbourne is the '4 seasons in a day'. During the 3 days that I was here, I did not get the summer, but it was cold throughout the 3 days. And it rained in the evening of the first day.

Throughout the 3 days, temperatures were ranging from 11 Celcius to 20 Celcius. That for Malaysia would be considered as cold.

Doing the tourist stuff in Melbourne for 3 days is quite easy.

Day 1 - Melbourne CBD and Docklands
Day 2 - Yarra River and Southgate
Day 3 - St. Kilda's

The best thing about Melbourne for tourist in terms of transport is their free City Circle Tram and Tourist Shuttle. The tram made a loop in both directions around the City Center, stopping at every tourist destination along the way. And it is very easily recognizable. The Tourist Shuttle - a bright red colour bus - runs a little big farther than the City Center and it goes across the bridge to the Southgate Precinct.

The best thing about Melbourne trams are they stop at every road intersection, either before or just after the traffic light at each road intersection. Thus you don't need to walk far to a tram stop. However, it also because of this, traveling in a tram is very time consuming.

Melbourne Docklands is a newly developed suburb in the west of Melbourne city. And it is one very interesting area. Very artistic with colourful buildings and interesting sculptures.

The Melbourne Jazz Festival coincides with our visit. For this year the festival started on 26 April 2009 - the second day of our arrival. They have an opening show at the square at Federation Square. It was a very cold evening and it drizzled half-way through the performance, but none of those watching made a dash from the square. The weather rewarded them by stopping the drizzle and the show continued. We left half way through the second performance due to the very cold weather.

Southgate precinct - just south of the Yarra River - is also a Art Center. It houses, among others, the National Gallery of Victoria and the Arts Center. We took the opportunity to visit the National Gallery and the featured Bugatti exhibition. Southgate also has a very nice food court area. Asian, European and Mid-east foods are all available.

St Kilda Beach, further south of Melbourne City, is easily reachable by tram. I noticed a very sizeable Indian population in this part of the city. The beach was practically deserted due to the cold weather. Luna Park, an amusement park, was also closed. But I can imagined the place to be crowded with people during summer and it would be a very busy place.

Queen Victoria's Market, another interesting place in Melbourne. A very big market that sells food and non-food related stuff. But I was more interested in the food area. Though there are many stalls, but the varieties are very similar. There are the fruits and vegetables on the open air section. The meat and poultry sections are indoor. I bought two type of salami (cured sausages) back. I think Australian sausages are pretty tasty.

My impression of Melbourne - A slower pace city compared to Sydney or probably even KL. Less vibrant. Lots of Asians. The city center is surprisingly small for a well-known city. Newer developments around the city such as Docklands and Southgate make it more vibrant. A mixed of modern and older buildings in the city itself. I will not choose to live in Melbourne. The following photos generally depicts Melbourne and its night scene at the Yarra River.

Australia 2009

Last year (2008) in November, MAS did a promotion on their online ticketing flying from KL to Melbourne. That's when I booked the ticket for this trip - a good half a year ahead. Ticket costs at RM1623 return. I would say that was a bargain, although subsequently there are other cheaper rates quoted online.

The itinerary for this trip as follows:
Out from KL to Melbourne:
Depart: Fri, 24 Apr 2009, 21:30
Arrive: Sat, 25 Apr,2009, 07:00
Flying time: About 7 hours;

and back:
Depart: Sat, 02 May 2009, 15:00
Arrive: Sat, 02 May 2009, 21:10
Flying time: About 7 hours.

I found out an easier way to get to KLIA. I took a cab from home to the Bandar Tasik Selatan LRT Station to catch the KLIA Transit. This train costs RM29.50 and took 29 minutes. A much lesser hassle and cheaper than going all the way to KL Sentral for the KLIA Express.

The full itinerary planned for this trip is:
25 April 2009 - Melbourne
26 April 2009 - Melbourne - Night: Leave for Sydney by bus
27 April 2009 - Sydney
28 April 2009 - Sydney
29 April 2009 - Sydney (Blue Mountains)
30 April 2009 - Sydney - Night: Return to Melbourne by bus
01 May 2009 - Melbourne
02 May 2009 - Return back to KL.

And I am glad that the plan was perfectly executed.

Click here for the full pictures album for this trip.

Oversea Holidays

My very first oversea holiday was in 1995. That was when I packed my bags from Singapore and moved back to Malaysia. Then without a job, it was the best chance to go for a carefree holiday with no work worries. And go as many days as I can afford. Unfortunately, probably due to that was the first time I actually left for a place so far away, I felt a little bit of home-sick after 1 week and thought of coming back home ASAP.

That very first oversea trip was to Sydney, Australia. February 1995 (can't remember the date) - I flew from Kuala Lumpur to Sydney. After 4 days in Sydney, I took a bus from there to Gold Coast and spent 2 nights there. Then I flew home from Brisbane.

Summarizing, all my trips aboard:

1995 - Australia - Sydney & Gold Coast
1996 - Thailand - Bangkok & Pattaya
1997 - Netherlands, Belgium, England - Amsterdam, Brussels & London
2000 - New Zealand - Christchurch, Rotorua & Auckland
2001 - Denmark, Sweden, Norway - Copenhagen, Gothenburg, Stockholm, Oslo & Bergen
2002 - Hungary, Austria - Budapest & Vienna
2002 - Hong Kong
2004 - Thailand - Chiangmai
2005 - South Korea
2006 - Thailand - Chiangmai
2007 - Thailand - Phuket
2008 - Indonesia - Bali

This year, 2009, I made a return trip to Sydney. Among the places I have been to, Sydney remains my favourite city. Following this, I will posting some photos that I have taken during this trip