Snowboarding part 2

Literally i jumped, screamed and squealed when they said they've found Kooper, the snowboard i lost in Snowboarding part 1. I dont have to pay for a missing board =) Money can stay in the bank! Heheh

I went up and down the mountain again, this time since no one was waiting for me, i chilled out on a beautiful spot and took in the breathtaking view of the mountains! Awesome random skiier caught in my picture. One day i must be as cool as Mr Green Pants!!

Fell on purpose again at the side of the slope to snap this view =)

The 2 hour lesson i took was really good! Its fascinating how true it is that to turn to the left, all u gotta do is LOOK TO THE LEFT! To help, just point to the left as if u are pressing the "Left" button! Hahah, makes no sense but it works! Seriously!

Snowboarding is really weird, once i found myself going too fast straight down (slightly to the left). To slow down i need to turn to the exact opposite direction and that means i have to look away from the front! As scary as it is, i had to force myself to look to the BACK, and magically i turned the other way and slowed down, just as stated in theory!

Went back to the cafe and guess who shouted out my name?

PL comes boarding by! 

Candid shot of her expertly halting to a stop. With a big smile. So cool the way she does it!

To stop i need to fall, on my butt!

YN joins us soon after =)

Three girls reunite and that means: camwhore session!!! =)

So glad to bump into them! Company! And PHOTOGRAPHS for the bloggie!

Riding the chaiflift with friends makes the ride feel a lot shorter! They tried a different route and PL was so ethusiastic about it, she thinks i can do it too and of course your blogger agreed! =)

Really steep and it was marked black (expert trail)! I went slow and it hurts the knees to go slow so i was constantly resting by sitting on the snow. People on the passing chairlift overhead encouraged me to get up so as to not miss the last chairlift ride. I noticed there were less and less people around me... the sunset was BEAUTIFUL but i knew it was for my own good to keep on moving!

There was one Mt Buller staff that came around and started scolding me, saying that the chairlifts closed 20minutes ago and was really rude about asking me to hurry! Then he disappeared leaving me alone and a little bit in panic mode!

Thankfully there were two little boys and their teacher. They were so cute, one of the was sliding down the snow on his butt, the other one was walking and carrying his board. Their teacher always waiting for them, i was so glad for company. And i followed them till we got to the cafe, where the girls were waiting for me! So sweet of them! =)

There was this other other staff who offered to carry my board and so i can walk! Haha, for parts of the journey i walked while he carried my board, then i decided to board! It was stressful with the staff constantly by my side, it felt a bit like a personal lesson!

He wasnt teaching me but with someone watching me, i had to draw on my memory of the morning's class and do it well! The pressure is on! I focused on doing the zig zag thingie.

At one instance i found myself losing control, i was going too fast down and towards the left again! I pointed to the right, hoping to turn to the right... i was looking down because i was scared. That didnt work. I ordered myself to LOOK to the right, and yes, magically i turned to the right, as desired and was back in control!

I rode the chairlift with the staff and we chatted, he said that he could tell its my first day snowboarding and said that i'm doing really well! Yay!!! Also said i did the Falling Leaf (zig zag thingie) which was good =)

This staff was really nice, unlike the earlier one i encountered! At the top of the chairlift, he arranged for another personnel to give me a ride on the Snow Mobil! 

Soooo cool and fast! Its like a jet ski but on the snow!! YN also hitched a ride after me. PL was fast enough to snowboard down on her own

We managed to catch the 5.30pm bus back to Mansfield where we went to a pub and had a feast! Pork Ribs in Jack Daniel sauce rivals TGI Friday's, and the portion is 'man size' a.k.a HUGE!! Also ordered kangaroo meat, medium rare which was lovely! My first time trying it. As usual no food pix on this blog =P

Snowboarding!

Received a What'sApp message inviting me to the snow for a day trip!

My friend PL's an avid snowboarder and so is her friend YN, so i decided to try snowboarding. Skiing was HORRIBLE. Snowboarding is much more easier!

Thats Burke Street Carpet, where all beginners take their classes. My class started off bad, i couldnt do one thing everyone had no problem doing. I was like, oh no, dont tell me i cant ski AND i cant snowboard too?

In the end the instructor discovered its because the stupid equipment shop gave me a men's L to XL sized board! I need S to M

I got it exchanged. This is Kooper and i. The equipment shop named the board, not me

The class ended at the middle section of the slope, the same slope i chickened out from in 2007 even though its a beginner's slope. I was simply atrocious at skiing!

With snowboarding, 5 minutes after my class ended i went down that slope alone! =) =) So proud and couldnt stop smiling!

Met up with PL and she lead me to where her friends are. I was so awfully slow that she was always sitting and waiting for me. At first i thought walking would be faster so thats what i did!

Wrong! It was so hard to walk down the snow, i gave up walking and just sat down and put on my board!

Rode down that slope successfully, with PL and her friends cheering me on at the bottom!!! =) =) So happy!

Then i got stuck, lost momentum at flat ground. PL said just take the board off and walk, so i did just that

Guess wtf happened....

The crime scene is so beautiful
My snowboard just slipped out of my hands, slowly at first, i tried to grab it but was an inch too far, i tried again but it got faster and before i realised what was happening, it was gaining speed! I shrieked for attention so that someone would help me! The stupid skiier just looked at my snowboard go pass him

...and i watched in horror as three hundred dollars flew off the cliff! Everyone at the cafe was looking too! I was lying flat on my belly on the snow in disbelief, hell i didnt want the first snowboard i buy to be a sacrifice to the mountains!

The wrong way to place ur idle snowboard. The bottom its slippery and that why mine went down the cliff! =(

I asked SL if he saw my board slip away. He said "yes, it was highly entertaining!" =( Couldnt help but laugh though! He said it happens to everyone... just that for them it slides a few meters, and mine went off a cliff!

The benefits of being with experienced skiiers and snowboarders is that they could go down the proper trail and look to see if my board was at the bottom

From left to right, me, PL and YN =)

Will write the rest of my snowboarding story in another blog post, need to sleep! 

Mt Buller Ski Trip!

Bus leaves at 6.30am from the city. So i stayed over at cousin's place. She lent me ski gloves, spec case and even got up and made me coffee at 5.45am! So sweet!

But i walked to the station alone. Melbourne city at 6.15am:

Nice trip up there. E and i talked most of the way while the others slept like pigs.

It was wonderful seeing the terrain change. From the usual bare forest floor to catching a glimpse of white specks of snow and then watching the amount of snow increase...

Inset is the view from the bus. And those are snow chains! Cool eh? I assume to allow the vehicle to get a better grip of the road. They only put it on on the day we head home. Wonder how they do it...


All we did the first day was eat and explored the mountain. Just parts of it actually.

And rented tobogans: these little plastic thing for u to sit and slide on!

Fun fun fun! Too bad didn't get a pic of E and i sharing one toboggan. And notice that this photo is edited? Didn't do a very good job =P

Had dinner and called it a day. Went to the lounge by 6pm. Felt like 9pm Malaysian time. Love our hotel lodge. Its homely. And everyone staying at the Duck Inn was hanging out in the lounge. Cosy. Nice.

But we couldn't make much noise as Big Brother, this Aussie reality show was on tv and people were really into it judging by the way they keep increasing the volume...

Day 2
In the shuttle bus to buy our lift pass after 2 hours of boot fitting and ski measurements! Oh and i totally stuffed myself with bacon and tomatoes at the buffet breakfast.

Classes came free with lift passes- but u gotta tell them u want classes before buying the tickets.

With all our gear! Waiting to get to ski school!

Pix of E and i. Anticipating our lessons... might as well camwhore while we waited.

Besides, once classes begun, there was little time left for pictures. Even if there was an opportunity for a picture, i couldn't smile

The class killed me. It was awfully tiring, extremely tough and i was sweating! Sitting on my ass on the snow felt like 5 star hotel luxury. I was THAT exhausted. Was so thirsty i was about to eat snow!

Also, i seriously sucked at skiing. I fell and fell and i was so tired i just wanted to lie there and cry. But i didn't cuz there were people going downhill and i am in their way

I felt so hopeless and handicapped with 5 foot long feet while most of my friends were just natural at it...

But skiing is something i wanna do again. It's another love-hate relationship in my life.

Just like E and i. Love-hate. I let out my anger at him and he just had to tolerate me... Kesihan him. Thanks =)

Anyway. Complimentary drinks at the bar at night!

I watched in amazement as GT expertly drank her shot from the DUCK FART shot glass. With my allergy, i'll never get to experience the whole weird lick-salt-and-suck-on-lemon shit.

By the way, thats me with the champagne glass. Just a sip for a pic (actually many tiny sips cuz i couldn't get a pic i like) and then i gave the glass to someone else. Haha

Wondered why our hotel is called DUCK INN?

Owner must be a DUCK enthusiast. Quaky hour instead of happy hour! Wahaha. Do click on the pic to enlarge it, u'll see the ducks and maybe an obscene sign...

Forced everyone to take a group pic. Made them hurry by just setting the timer and shouting "You've got TEN seconds!"

Really does the trick! Everyone's in position within ten seconds!
Inset: MY and i, close friends since form 5! =)


Day 3

Snowed heavily and the wind had no mercy on the third day. So we stayed in our room indoors behind flowered grills...

And we returned our skis

As well as get a picture with the boss, Brenton.

Just kidding. We did NOT sit indoors. The weather may be unsuitable for skiing but there were lots of other activities! Like...

Girls vs guys... i took a pic of guys aka The Enemy. Look at my armed boyfriend, scary white weapon in his hand. A is hides behind a tobogan fort. His pal, P reloads, u know by making a snowball?

When peace befalls the group (i know i'm talking nonsense), we...


and then we...



Shortly after, it was time to say goodbye to Jack and all the ducks


This trip is exactly one year after my snorkeling trip at Redang

The Ski Trip - Boring Details First

As we checked out from our cute cozy hotel- Duck Inn, the owner (i assume) promoted his lodge for off-peak September.

Before the bus left the mountain, i was planning my second trip up! Hehe! =) If u are in Australia (and if i have your contact number/msn), be prepared to be invited!

Hope i have the cash for the next trip!!!

I'm gonna publish the cost of my recent trip...
$100 -- 60 for return bus tickets, 30 for snow transfers, 10 for gate entry
$200 -- 100 for each night at Duck Inn
$45 -- rental for snow pants for 3 days
$50 -- skiis, boots and poles
$ 3 -- insurance for the bottom of the skis
$46 -- for lift pass and free beginner's lesson
$3.50 -- tobogans... E and i shared one
$10 -- one lunch... skipped lunch after a heavy breakfast the next day
$22.30- 2 dinners
$2 -- one can of coke, the rest of the time i drank plain water
$2.50 -- Train ticket to city (Sunday saver)
$4.52 -- Train ticket home
Total cost of the trip = $488.80

Gotta slowly select n edit the pictures. Still haven't gathered pictures from one more camera...