Driving...
Sheep Shearing...
Bye-Bye Perth!
Monday, July 19, 2010
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Perth trip - 2nd June 2010 (Day 5) LAST DAY!
Today is the last day in Perth!!! I actually feel a little bit sad going back and all, but on the bright side, I still had a great time. We all got dressed and somehow, my room was the last to come out! We got our bags and luggage inside the bus and we were off to the Naragebup Environment Center.
At the Environment Center, we learnt about organic stuff and how their office was made out of scrap materials! Like the walls were made with hay and straws. It was kinda like a straw house. The most shocking part was that their toilets, didn't have a flush! They said it was called saving water... =.=" Anyway, we saw different types of small animals there like something like a goana, lizards, turtle and some monarch butterflies. They had a coop of chickens which produced the eggs. They even had a worm farm! In the worm farm, we learnt about what the worms fed on which was compost. Compost is just like apple cores and banana peels. I learnt that worms are actually quite useful. Once they eat the compost, the compost will turn into fertilizer! Isn't that just amazing? I even got to hold one. It kept wriggling and wiggling. The worm was also very slimy.
Then it was time for us to go. Lunch! Lunch was seafood pizza. The restaurant was called Bambinos Family Restaurant. The pizza was delicious!
After lunch, it was time to say our goodbyes to Perth as we were going back to Singapore. The coach drove us to the Perth International Airport and we went through the immigrations, with the checking-in of bags and boarding the plane.
When we boarded the plane, it was roughly around 3:15 in the afternoon. For this flight, I didn't sleep, I just rested. At around 6 pm, everyone just started playing a game called Scramble dash. It was super fun playing with friends. Almost half of the whole group was playing Scramble dash. We just played for like 2 hours and we arrived in Singapore. I enjoyed playing the game, it was really cool.
At the Environment Center, we learnt about organic stuff and how their office was made out of scrap materials! Like the walls were made with hay and straws. It was kinda like a straw house. The most shocking part was that their toilets, didn't have a flush! They said it was called saving water... =.=" Anyway, we saw different types of small animals there like something like a goana, lizards, turtle and some monarch butterflies. They had a coop of chickens which produced the eggs. They even had a worm farm! In the worm farm, we learnt about what the worms fed on which was compost. Compost is just like apple cores and banana peels. I learnt that worms are actually quite useful. Once they eat the compost, the compost will turn into fertilizer! Isn't that just amazing? I even got to hold one. It kept wriggling and wiggling. The worm was also very slimy.
Then it was time for us to go. Lunch! Lunch was seafood pizza. The restaurant was called Bambinos Family Restaurant. The pizza was delicious!
After lunch, it was time to say our goodbyes to Perth as we were going back to Singapore. The coach drove us to the Perth International Airport and we went through the immigrations, with the checking-in of bags and boarding the plane.
When we boarded the plane, it was roughly around 3:15 in the afternoon. For this flight, I didn't sleep, I just rested. At around 6 pm, everyone just started playing a game called Scramble dash. It was super fun playing with friends. Almost half of the whole group was playing Scramble dash. We just played for like 2 hours and we arrived in Singapore. I enjoyed playing the game, it was really cool.
Perth trip - 1st June 2010 (Day 4)
Merrilynn's alarm clock was so loud! At 6:15 in the morning it rang just beside my ear. The three of us, Merrilynn, Mun Shuen and myself, woke up. We all got dressed and started packing our day pack. In my bag, I had my water bottle, pencil case, work sheet and lip balm.
We went to John Septimus Roe Anglican Community School( JSR ). At the school, we had a dance workshop and a sports workshop. Both these activities were held in their indoor basketball court.
During the dance workshop, we learnt some dance steps. While attending the sports workshop, we played a game with the other children in JSR. I can't really remember what the game was called but I can remember that someone had to shout out knights and horses and cashmeres.
Next we visited Kings Park. In Kings Park, we learnt about its history, which was about the World War 1 & 2. Near the Kings Park, there was an Aboriginal Art Gallery. Our task (in the worksheet) was to sketch two of our favorite paintings in the Art Gallery and state why you favorite it so much.
Now, this was the best part of the day. FREE TIME AT THE MALL!!! We went shopping at Woolworths, a shop that sells cute stuff and the candy man's store!
I think today was the best day among the four days we have been in Perth. But still, the best was SHOPPING!!!
We went to John Septimus Roe Anglican Community School( JSR ). At the school, we had a dance workshop and a sports workshop. Both these activities were held in their indoor basketball court.
During the dance workshop, we learnt some dance steps. While attending the sports workshop, we played a game with the other children in JSR. I can't really remember what the game was called but I can remember that someone had to shout out knights and horses and cashmeres.
Next we visited Kings Park. In Kings Park, we learnt about its history, which was about the World War 1 & 2. Near the Kings Park, there was an Aboriginal Art Gallery. Our task (in the worksheet) was to sketch two of our favorite paintings in the Art Gallery and state why you favorite it so much.
Now, this was the best part of the day. FREE TIME AT THE MALL!!! We went shopping at Woolworths, a shop that sells cute stuff and the candy man's store!
I think today was the best day among the four days we have been in Perth. But still, the best was SHOPPING!!!
Perth trip - 31st May 2010 (Day 3)
Today, our visit to the school was the one that took up most of the time. We all boarded the coach for Anzac Terrace Primary School. The ride took around 45 minutes. When we reached the school and alighted the coach, boy, was it freezing cold! The whole group walked stiffly into the school ground, with their hands rubbing warmth against their arms.
Everyone was gathered in the school's assembly area. It was very different to our school's assembly area. Theirs' was just like a small shed, big enough to fit 5 to 600 kids. We all just sat there on the cold, freezing concrete, waiting for the rest of the students to assemble. Thank goodness all the pupils assembled quickly! My bottom was about to freeze! The Chinese and Malay dancers did a little dance, in all 3 languages - Chinese, Malay, and Tamil.
The school's teachers brought us to different classrooms. We were all paired up with buddies. A friend of mine, Reanne, went together. Both of us had 3 buddies - Gaby, Annie and Krishtian. My buddy was actually just Gaby, but Kristian sat beside her so he just helped along. Annie was Reanne's buddy. The 3 of them were all Grade 6s'. Their class had Grade 6s' and 7s'. Everyone started with helping them in their MATHEMATICS! Their mathematics was fairly simple. In their book, they had addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. After getting to know each other, our buddies gave us a tour of their school. We found out that their school only had one floor, unlike our school, and had a much bigger field than us,which they used for many activities like - footy (similar to rugby), soccer and other outdoor sports. They called it an oval, I should guess why they called it that due to its shape, like an oval...
After the little tour, we had a game of rocket ball on the oval. To play rocket ball, you'd need a rocket ball, of course. You have to throw and catch then score at the footy goal post, the ones that were taller.
Then it was time to leave. We said our thanks and farewells and to addition to our appreciation, we gave them a key chain as a token of appreciation. Then we boarded the bus for the Caversham Wildlife Park! There, we petted the koala and the kangaroo. For the kangaroo, we petted it and fed it with some type of pellets. Everybody had a chance to take a photo with the wombat. The wombat was extraordinary adorable!
Next, the bus, with us in it, made its way to the Morrish Peanut Factory. There, we tasted different types of nuts - peanuts, macadamian, cashews, caramel roasted nuts, frosted nuts and salted cashews.
It was getting late, so we checked into the New Esplanade Hotel. The hotel wasn't very far from the peanut factory as they both were in the city.
Today was quite pleasant, having going to the school and all. I think the best part was playing rocket ball and making new friends at Anzac Terrace Primary School.
Everyone was gathered in the school's assembly area. It was very different to our school's assembly area. Theirs' was just like a small shed, big enough to fit 5 to 600 kids. We all just sat there on the cold, freezing concrete, waiting for the rest of the students to assemble. Thank goodness all the pupils assembled quickly! My bottom was about to freeze! The Chinese and Malay dancers did a little dance, in all 3 languages - Chinese, Malay, and Tamil.
The school's teachers brought us to different classrooms. We were all paired up with buddies. A friend of mine, Reanne, went together. Both of us had 3 buddies - Gaby, Annie and Krishtian. My buddy was actually just Gaby, but Kristian sat beside her so he just helped along. Annie was Reanne's buddy. The 3 of them were all Grade 6s'. Their class had Grade 6s' and 7s'. Everyone started with helping them in their MATHEMATICS! Their mathematics was fairly simple. In their book, they had addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. After getting to know each other, our buddies gave us a tour of their school. We found out that their school only had one floor, unlike our school, and had a much bigger field than us,which they used for many activities like - footy (similar to rugby), soccer and other outdoor sports. They called it an oval, I should guess why they called it that due to its shape, like an oval...
After the little tour, we had a game of rocket ball on the oval. To play rocket ball, you'd need a rocket ball, of course. You have to throw and catch then score at the footy goal post, the ones that were taller.
Then it was time to leave. We said our thanks and farewells and to addition to our appreciation, we gave them a key chain as a token of appreciation. Then we boarded the bus for the Caversham Wildlife Park! There, we petted the koala and the kangaroo. For the kangaroo, we petted it and fed it with some type of pellets. Everybody had a chance to take a photo with the wombat. The wombat was extraordinary adorable!
Next, the bus, with us in it, made its way to the Morrish Peanut Factory. There, we tasted different types of nuts - peanuts, macadamian, cashews, caramel roasted nuts, frosted nuts and salted cashews.
It was getting late, so we checked into the New Esplanade Hotel. The hotel wasn't very far from the peanut factory as they both were in the city.
Today was quite pleasant, having going to the school and all. I think the best part was playing rocket ball and making new friends at Anzac Terrace Primary School.
Friday, June 4, 2010
Perth trip - 30 May 2010 (Day 2)
Today was our second day in Perth, on our school trip. The weather on the farm was fairly fine, a little breezy. We didn't go out of the farm today as all of the activities were held on the farm.
Our orders the previous night were to wake up roughly around 6:15 am which was just an hour before breakfast time. In that hour, the time was made up for us to wash up, get a bath and have a change of clothes. For breakfast, we had hash-browns, scrambled eggs, roasted tomatoes and fish fingers. They were all quite delicious I must say.
After a filling breakfast, the manager's wife conducted a treasure hunt activity for us. The activities conducted were basically needed much logic, commonsense, and some stamina for running around. Firstly, the whole lot(the 30 of us)was split into two groups. Each group had a leader and the leader decided on the name of the group. My group was called 'the girls and boys' group while the other group's name was shabalabadingdong(pronounced as sha-ba-la-ba-ding-dong)! Hilarious isn't it?
Well the first activity was to stack up as many balloons as you want to the height of the dining chair. Besides meeting the height of the chair, the stack of balloons also had to stand up or balance on its own! Our group used tons of balloons. I should say we used around 20 balloons. The other group used four balloons for their base, then they stacked four or five balloons on top of the base, matching the height of the chair. Either way, both teams met the expectations of the activity.
Now, the second and the fifth activity were the ones that needed a lot of running about. The next activity that had to be accomplished before moving onto the third activity was that each team had to find 10 different leaves and 5 different types of fruit, all around the farm. My team had a head start since we finished the first activity first. We all scurried off to look for the objects listed. When we had found all the 10 different leaves and 5 fruits, everyone rushed back to the dining area to report to the manager who was conducting that activity. On the way, there was this beautiful lake for the geese to swim in. The manager said it used to be a waterfall.
The manager's wife said that our team still had a head start, so we'd better hurry to be the first. Anyway, the third activity held was a tricky one. Each group had to hold a roll of toilet paper around their group like in a circle shape and slowly move around the chairs that were randomly placed around the room. On some of the chairs, there was an item on it, like a sauce bottle or a water bottle, and someone in the group had to collect and hold them in their hands. If in a situation that any part of the 'toilet roll chain' were to tear or break, the entire group was to start from the beginning point.
Our next task was to make something like nest with all the objects outside so that when an egg falls onto it, the egg will not crack. It was fairly easy. We just took twigs for the nest's base and a few bunches of grass for the bedding. When the egg was dropped from a height, the egg didn't crack. Mission accomplished!
Now this was the final activity, the fifth actually. For this activity, each group was given a paper. On the paper, there were 18 pictures of different locations on the farm. Our task was to use one of your group member's camera to take pictures of the same photo as shown on the paper. This was the hardest activity among all of them. Although we started first, our team came in second which is considered last.
After the treasure hunt, it was lunch.
Then it was time for the sheep shearing demo. The sheep shearer also had a dog. He used the dog to round up the sheep. The dog also had puppies. They so adorable! They didn't bite when I pet them, and their fur was so soft. I do adore puppies. The sheep shearer showed us how to shear a sheep and told us more information about the sheep and shearing them. Sheep are sheared once a year and it only takes around 2-3 minutes to get one sheep done. The sheep shearer said that the most he had ever done in 8 hours was 48 sheep.
Right after the sheep shearing demo, we made our way to the winery. The manager showed us the grape vineyard. The vineyard had a very large area. There were different types of grapes. Since it wasn't the grape season, there weren't much grapes growing. After that, the manager brought us into the winery shed. He showed us the different machines used to process the wine, like the juicing and peeling. We learnt about how wine was plucked, made and packaged!
That was a tiring activity. I got really hungry. Thank goodness it was time for dinner! Dinner was so tasty. There was spaghetti, vegetarian noodles and salad. I enjoyed the salad, especially with the salad dressing.
The next activity was the most exciting. We had a campfire! It was fun. We sang campfire songs around the campfire. The warmth from the burning firewood touched our skins. It was a lovely feeling, but after awhile, I kinda got a little warm. The best part of the campfire was roasting the marshmallows. They were crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. It had a great texture, soft and crunchy.
Although we didn't go out of the farm today, we sure did a lot of things. We did the treasure hunt activity, saw the sheep shearing demo, went to the winery and had a campfire. I'm looking forward to tomorrow.
Our orders the previous night were to wake up roughly around 6:15 am which was just an hour before breakfast time. In that hour, the time was made up for us to wash up, get a bath and have a change of clothes. For breakfast, we had hash-browns, scrambled eggs, roasted tomatoes and fish fingers. They were all quite delicious I must say.
After a filling breakfast, the manager's wife conducted a treasure hunt activity for us. The activities conducted were basically needed much logic, commonsense, and some stamina for running around. Firstly, the whole lot(the 30 of us)was split into two groups. Each group had a leader and the leader decided on the name of the group. My group was called 'the girls and boys' group while the other group's name was shabalabadingdong(pronounced as sha-ba-la-ba-ding-dong)! Hilarious isn't it?
Well the first activity was to stack up as many balloons as you want to the height of the dining chair. Besides meeting the height of the chair, the stack of balloons also had to stand up or balance on its own! Our group used tons of balloons. I should say we used around 20 balloons. The other group used four balloons for their base, then they stacked four or five balloons on top of the base, matching the height of the chair. Either way, both teams met the expectations of the activity.
Now, the second and the fifth activity were the ones that needed a lot of running about. The next activity that had to be accomplished before moving onto the third activity was that each team had to find 10 different leaves and 5 different types of fruit, all around the farm. My team had a head start since we finished the first activity first. We all scurried off to look for the objects listed. When we had found all the 10 different leaves and 5 fruits, everyone rushed back to the dining area to report to the manager who was conducting that activity. On the way, there was this beautiful lake for the geese to swim in. The manager said it used to be a waterfall.
The manager's wife said that our team still had a head start, so we'd better hurry to be the first. Anyway, the third activity held was a tricky one. Each group had to hold a roll of toilet paper around their group like in a circle shape and slowly move around the chairs that were randomly placed around the room. On some of the chairs, there was an item on it, like a sauce bottle or a water bottle, and someone in the group had to collect and hold them in their hands. If in a situation that any part of the 'toilet roll chain' were to tear or break, the entire group was to start from the beginning point.
Our next task was to make something like nest with all the objects outside so that when an egg falls onto it, the egg will not crack. It was fairly easy. We just took twigs for the nest's base and a few bunches of grass for the bedding. When the egg was dropped from a height, the egg didn't crack. Mission accomplished!
Now this was the final activity, the fifth actually. For this activity, each group was given a paper. On the paper, there were 18 pictures of different locations on the farm. Our task was to use one of your group member's camera to take pictures of the same photo as shown on the paper. This was the hardest activity among all of them. Although we started first, our team came in second which is considered last.
After the treasure hunt, it was lunch.
Then it was time for the sheep shearing demo. The sheep shearer also had a dog. He used the dog to round up the sheep. The dog also had puppies. They so adorable! They didn't bite when I pet them, and their fur was so soft. I do adore puppies. The sheep shearer showed us how to shear a sheep and told us more information about the sheep and shearing them. Sheep are sheared once a year and it only takes around 2-3 minutes to get one sheep done. The sheep shearer said that the most he had ever done in 8 hours was 48 sheep.
Right after the sheep shearing demo, we made our way to the winery. The manager showed us the grape vineyard. The vineyard had a very large area. There were different types of grapes. Since it wasn't the grape season, there weren't much grapes growing. After that, the manager brought us into the winery shed. He showed us the different machines used to process the wine, like the juicing and peeling. We learnt about how wine was plucked, made and packaged!
That was a tiring activity. I got really hungry. Thank goodness it was time for dinner! Dinner was so tasty. There was spaghetti, vegetarian noodles and salad. I enjoyed the salad, especially with the salad dressing.
The next activity was the most exciting. We had a campfire! It was fun. We sang campfire songs around the campfire. The warmth from the burning firewood touched our skins. It was a lovely feeling, but after awhile, I kinda got a little warm. The best part of the campfire was roasting the marshmallows. They were crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. It had a great texture, soft and crunchy.
Although we didn't go out of the farm today, we sure did a lot of things. We did the treasure hunt activity, saw the sheep shearing demo, went to the winery and had a campfire. I'm looking forward to tomorrow.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Perth Trip- 29 May 2010 ( Day 1)
Today was our first day in Perth. Perth is quite cold compared to Singapore. Today the weather in Perth was 10 degrees Celsius. All thirty of us were shivering and shaking in the chilly weather.
Today, my classmates and I shopped and looked around in the local Fremantle weekend Market. At the Fremantle Market, there were various shops selling different things. There were shops that sold souvenirs and many other things like dolls and clothing. My friends and I strolled through different shops. We went to the shop with all kinds of things. The shop owner and his wife were from Singapore. They were very courteous towards us and kept saying to us 'Cheap prices, good deal. Come and buy!' in their Singaporean but little Aussie slang.
After an hour of shopping at the Fremantle Market, we made our way to the Fremantle Chocolate factory. It took around fifteen minutes to reach there. The Chocolate factory wasn't very big it was just like one of those supermarkets but a little smaller. Anyway, we tasted the main types of chocolate, from milk chocolate to dark chocolate and from dark chocolate to white chocolate. All three of them were equally nice, but I liked the milk chocolate the best. When everyone had tasted the different types of chocolate, we all crowded around the processing room. One of the workers explained to us how the chocolate was made like the shapes, textures and sizes.
Then everyone got hungry. Our coach driver, Trevor told us it was taka ( I'm not sure about the spelling)time. That was what the Aussies say when it is lunch time or meal when they were going to have a meal. Trevor drove us to a dining place called 'Sweet Lips'. There everybody tried the local fish 'n' chips. It was quite tasty. The fish was soft, the flour that coated the fish was crunchy. The chips( french fries) were crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Overall, the chips were the best. You could actually feel them melting in your mouth. Oh, it was a great feeling. Besides the meal, we also had canned drinks. There was SOlO lemonade, Passion fruit mix and Fanta Orange. I drank SOlO lemonade.
After our taka time, Trevor drove us to the Apricot Acres Fruit Orchard. It was actually at the same place we were staying at, which was Orchard Glory Farm, but at a different area of the entire farm. At the orchard, there were not only apricots, but also grapes, oranges and peaches. The farmer took us on his ferry, attached to his tractor, around the different patches of fruits. To exception to the apricots, the rest of fruits' plot of land is around the same. We learnt about the different fruits- the grapes, peaches and oranges.
We also learnt how they made the different grapes become cranberries, sultanas and blackberries. For instance, the cranberries are made from dried red grapes while sultanas are made from dried green grapes and you must know what the color of the grape that dries up to become blackberries.
We all got tired and checked-in at Orchard Glory Farm. Then it was time to have dinner. Dinner was fine.
Among all the activities we did today, I think that the Fremantle Chocolate factory was the most exciting.
Today, my classmates and I shopped and looked around in the local Fremantle weekend Market. At the Fremantle Market, there were various shops selling different things. There were shops that sold souvenirs and many other things like dolls and clothing. My friends and I strolled through different shops. We went to the shop with all kinds of things. The shop owner and his wife were from Singapore. They were very courteous towards us and kept saying to us 'Cheap prices, good deal. Come and buy!' in their Singaporean but little Aussie slang.
After an hour of shopping at the Fremantle Market, we made our way to the Fremantle Chocolate factory. It took around fifteen minutes to reach there. The Chocolate factory wasn't very big it was just like one of those supermarkets but a little smaller. Anyway, we tasted the main types of chocolate, from milk chocolate to dark chocolate and from dark chocolate to white chocolate. All three of them were equally nice, but I liked the milk chocolate the best. When everyone had tasted the different types of chocolate, we all crowded around the processing room. One of the workers explained to us how the chocolate was made like the shapes, textures and sizes.
Then everyone got hungry. Our coach driver, Trevor told us it was taka ( I'm not sure about the spelling)time. That was what the Aussies say when it is lunch time or meal when they were going to have a meal. Trevor drove us to a dining place called 'Sweet Lips'. There everybody tried the local fish 'n' chips. It was quite tasty. The fish was soft, the flour that coated the fish was crunchy. The chips( french fries) were crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Overall, the chips were the best. You could actually feel them melting in your mouth. Oh, it was a great feeling. Besides the meal, we also had canned drinks. There was SOlO lemonade, Passion fruit mix and Fanta Orange. I drank SOlO lemonade.
After our taka time, Trevor drove us to the Apricot Acres Fruit Orchard. It was actually at the same place we were staying at, which was Orchard Glory Farm, but at a different area of the entire farm. At the orchard, there were not only apricots, but also grapes, oranges and peaches. The farmer took us on his ferry, attached to his tractor, around the different patches of fruits. To exception to the apricots, the rest of fruits' plot of land is around the same. We learnt about the different fruits- the grapes, peaches and oranges.
We also learnt how they made the different grapes become cranberries, sultanas and blackberries. For instance, the cranberries are made from dried red grapes while sultanas are made from dried green grapes and you must know what the color of the grape that dries up to become blackberries. 
We all got tired and checked-in at Orchard Glory Farm. Then it was time to have dinner. Dinner was fine.
Among all the activities we did today, I think that the Fremantle Chocolate factory was the most exciting.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
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