Fantasy

I may have told you this before but, the East Coast Australian trip I just did two weeks ago, had actually always been on my list since forever.

Well, not forever.

At least since 2014.

It was the year after I started solo backpacking. Ever since I got in touch with that method, I just couldn't get enough, and kept planning more and more trip. One of destinations that had always been on the low-fare lines was Gold Coast. And then began all the wishful plan to do this Australia journey.

I started doing research of other cities in the continent worth visiting. Sydney, in which of course I've long known, apparently were also on the same coastal line just below the theme park city. Canberra too, but I didn't really put a lot of interest in it. Unlike Melbourne, which sat gracefully at the tip of southeast Australia. And that's how I wrapped up the plan.

Plan that I had always taken for granted.
Plan that I thought I'd never accomplish so quick.

Because it's no longer just Southeast Asia, where I can just hop on and off the plane to enter each country freely. Nor it is the rest of Asia, which despite some differences, I could still spot some familiar faces and relatable culture.

It's somewhere else. Somewhere new to me.
It's not just another country. It's another continent.

I know I've been to the US, but this time I was on my own. So imagining that I'd be the only Asian among the Australians, being a perfect stranger doing uncommon stuff that could drive me crazy, it has always been only in my dream.

But then I did it.
And it seemed surreal.

I almost couldn't believe it when I stepped out of the plane and breathed Gold Coast's air. I almost couldn't believe it when I finally met a friend from Sydney I had only been contacting through chats, and when I met an ex-coworker I thought I would never see again after she moved to Melbourne. I almost couldn't believe it when I saw the Opera House with my very own eyes, and when I entered the Albert Park where my favorite driver was racing two months earlier—it all, seemed surreal.

But then, I did it.

I broke out of my bubble,
And swam away to the ocean.
Just like what this fellow of mine did.

And yea, I almost couldn't believe it when I found P.Sherman 42 Wallaby Way Sydney,
bring this buddy to the harbor and set him free to his homewater.

Well.

As I always said every time I finished a journey: crazy trip. Crazy, crazy trip. Not only because it was my first solo trip outside of Asia, nor because it was my first big trip after Japan. Not only because I managed to do all the preparation smoothly in the midst of my crazy intolerable work life. Not even only because I could eventually put my feet upon the land down under, and met everybody all these times I could only promise to meet to.

But more because I could make it come true.

Now I believe that,
If you really work it out,
Anything can no longer be just

A fantasy

Appointment with P. Sherman

This,

Is a glimpse of my favorite corner in my bedroom.

Along with many other stuff I didn't snap in this frame, I put these three -plus that cute photograph of my baby days- in random orders. No reasons, no considerations. All arranged just because the angle pleased my eyes.

The kangaroo doll came in first. My mom impulsively bought that from her trip in Melbourne last year, and being confused of what to do with the typical tourist trinket, she just gave it to me. The fish tank arrived after I watched "Finding Dory" just this year. June, or July this year, I guess. It's a build-your-own tank which took me hours to make -including the fishes because yes, those two beauties started from stupid little pieces- so yea, it's such a waste if I don't show it off and of course it's an honor to expose my mini dentist tank on my table tops. And the Red Bull cap, was bought in Singapore, during my F1 trip several months ago -you know the story. It belonged to Daniel Ricciardo, my favorite driver from Perth.

Quiet a few weeks after this scene was arranged,

I realized that there was something on with these three.

But I took it for granted until two months ago, when I finally once again jumped into an AirAsia Big Sale, and successfully booked another big trip. Guess where it will be.

Yep,

A U S T R A L I A

Pic's from here.

The land down under has always been something I'm dying to visit. So by the second I spotted these super cheap flights covering the east coast's top cities, well, I don't care much about anything else. So there I was, laughing in front of my laptop on the low table, teeth colliding as I laughed too much in excitement, head tilted up in pride and satisfaction and a bit of pain, and I caught these three staring at me.

Mom's kangaroo minion,
EAC's famous inhabitants,
And my Aussie guy's hat.

So it was a sign.

Well I don't believe that much in superstitions.

But this one's just too real, and too coincidental.

Maybe, MAYBE, because I had my teeth hurting,
It turned out to be the dentist's way to invite me,

The 42 Wallaby Way