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I did not expect much when I started on the 200km bus ride along the Great Ocean Road but it turned out to be a very interesting and enjoyable journey.
All I wanted to do was to tell folks back home: "Yes, I have seen the famous 12 Apostles."
After a hectic week of activities in Sydney to celebrate the wedding of my son Paul, I was just looking forward to a relaxing 3-day holiday in Melbourne.
I am sure many of you are aware that going on a holiday can be pretty tiring.
My brother James accompanied me on this 12-hour trip along the winding coast road from Melbourne city.
There are interesting stories all along the route, starting with the tale of the 3,000 First World War veterans who overcame numerous challenges and dangers over 13 long years to build this road.
The achievement was more dramatic as these men literally did it with their bare hands, without the help of mechanical equipment.
Unfortunately we did not have the time to take a closer look at the Memorial Arch erected by these ex servicemen to honour their fallen comrades.
There are also a series of bronze plaques along this road which relate the stories of these men who built this road.
The contributions of these men take on a special significance this year as it is the 100th anniversary of the start of the First World War.
The Southern Sea looks beautiful throughout the entire coastline but looks can be deceiving as many ships have come to grief along some dangerous stretches.
One tale relates the coming together of the 3 Godfreys in 1891, resulting in tragic consequences for two of them.
It started with a bushfire west of the town of Lorne. The poor visibility from the smoke resulted in the sinking of a passing ship, the Godfrey.
There is a grave near the crash site but it was not for any of the ship's crew members as all of them had survived.
The unlucky victim was Godfrey, a diver hired to retrieve goods from the sunken ship. He was trapped in the wreck, and drowned.
The crew members were saved by ... (wait for it!) the Godfrey family who owned the land near the crash site.
However, not every shipwrecked crew were so lucky.
Take the Loch Ard, for example, which crashed near Cape Otway on June 1, 1878. There were only two survivors out of the 36 crew members and 18 passengers on board the Melbourne-bound ship.
Tom Pearce, an apprentice, and Eva Carmichael, a passenger, were washed ashore at a place which is now called the Loch Ard Gorge, near the site of the 12 Apostles.
Ms Carmichael later returned to Ireland. Mr Pearce went on to become a ship captain. He survived 4 more shipwrecks. Talk about luck!
This beach attracts a lot of visitors. I guess many of them are hoping to catch a glimpse of the sunken wreck in one of the caves during low tide.
I had heard so much about the 12 Apostles but I know that sometimes it can be just marketing hype.
So I tried not to put my hopes up too high.
I did not want to be left disappointed as had happened to me when I visited
the Blue Mountains a week earlier with some relatives from Penang. Our reaction when we arrived at the famous tourist attraction and saw the 3 Sisters was: "Is that it?"
Contrast that with the 12 Apostles where I was totally impressed.
It was truly a work of art by Mother Nature. And she has been very busy. I counted only 8 Apostles -- 6 on one side and 2 on the other.
The waves must have eaten away 4 of the limestone structures.
Why am I impressed with the12 Apostles, and not the 3 Sisters?
I think it is because you can view the 12 Apostles closer, and from various locations. Plus the sound of the waves crashing on the limestone columns somehow adds oomph to the sight. It is like watching a movie in sensurround.
Of course, if you have the energy, you can get closer by walking 86 steps down a staircase to the beach at a place called Gibson Steps. Definitely not for those faint of heart.
And if you are rich enough, you can pay A$96 (RM280) for a helicopter ride and have a magnificent view from the air.
Not for me. I am a very down-to-earth person.
There are a lot of activities you can do along the Great Ocean Road like surfing, golfing, nature walks or cycling along mountain trails
Or you can just enjoy a quiet holiday doing nothing. And I found such an ideal retreat for that -- Port Campbell.
I fell in love with this place the moment I saw it.
This coastal town, which is home to about 400 residents, is a few minutes drive from the 12 Apostles. I bet the majority of residents are retired people.
I love the tall fir trees and the sound of waves pounding the beach and the limestone cliffs.
This is one of two good reasons why I would want to return to Melbourne.
The other is the State Library of Victoria. I managed to squeeze an hour to visit this oldest library in Australia just before I flew off to Sydney
I like what I saw. I can picture myself spending a whole day here just as I did every Saturday at the Hong Kong Central Library during my 15-month working stint there. And the Hong Kong library pales in comparison with this library.
The La Trobe Reading Room is impressive. Books line the walls all the way up to the dome ceiling.
Finally a bit of travel advice. You may not want to be disturbed during your holidays but it pays to be connected to the internet on your mobile phone.
I was nearly stranded at the airport. Lucky for me, Google came to my rescue.
Our Jetstar flight back to Sydney was cancelled and the alert came from Google, not the airline.
Apparently Google reads through your gmail and knows you are booked on a flight which has just been cancelled.
Scary, isn't it?
The Google alert sounded at 6am and I managed to get an online chat going with Jetstar. How hi tech is that? I wouldn't be surprised if I was chatting with a call centre staff in India.
Finally, I managed to get seats for the three of us on an earlier flight.
I had a relaxing holiday after all.
The Huangs and Aerias after the wedding of Katie and Paul
The Katoomba Scenic Railway in Blue Mountain