I'm back again, to a place where birds won't even lay eggs... oh well, that's not true... but you get the picture. Anyway, my luggage got checked thoroughly (i mean, undies by undies, if you still don't understand) by the quarantine officer when I'm going through the custom. Some of the items got confiscated after inspection. So I would share with you what I have brought and which one of it is ok and which isn't.

Things that's OK:

• 义香豆沙饼(Ghee Hiang). I didn't buy 馨香豆沙饼 (Him Heang) because of its loose packaging... but shouldn't be a problem when passing through custom since there is no egg in the ingredients.
• Chinese New Year biscuits (Malaysia style) like 凤梨酥, that white colour cookie (I've asked a few friends, nobody knows the name -_-") Kuih Bangkit (thanks ynee). Also, Kuei Kah Phek should be fine too (I remember bringing that 2 years ago).
• Bracelet that's made of wood pieces. Can't guarantee you can bring all kinds of bracelet made by wood, but most of them are ok. Don't ask me why, but this kind of things are consider as plant material and the quarantine officer loved to check them.
• Curry powder and other kinds of powder. Cannot contain meat pieces/chunck.
• DVD *cough*cough* is ok, don't bring too much like you're reselling them.

Things that's _NOT_ OK:

• Milo (I believe most people already aware of this).
• 3 in 1 instant coffee. Quarantine officer says it contains dairy product in the ingredients and therefore it's not allowed.
• Biscuits and cookies that contain fruits are not allowed. However, 凤梨酥 is allowed. Again, don't ask me why.
• Dried porridge. Most of them contains meat pieces/chunk that is not allowed.

For more information, visit www.aqis.gov.au/airports or call 1800 020 504 (free call within Australia).

Ok. I'm finally back on yesterday night (10.03.07). Holiday ends here. Somebody teased me and said her holiday just started only... grrr... kek si wa liao...

Anyway, I've updated the list in What Penang lang eat ?. During my trip in Penang, I've eaten 56 out of 72 kinds of foods (some drinks too). That's 77.77% of completion of the goal. This result is not acceptable since I expect to complete (eat) at least 90% of what's on the list.

It's really great to be back at home. Hmm... Penang is still like that, lots of cars, traffic jam (surprisingly, it happens even after midnight in some places, even it's not in city area), illegal parking everywhere, illegally asking for parking fee (if those idiots are inside GTA, I'll make sure they die ugly...).

Then, lots of shopping malls (well, actually not many, just that Penang is a small island), one or two malls became foreign workers heaven (or ghost mall), some became ah beng's hang out place, a few still struggling to survive and the new Queensbay Mall will make you feel guilty if you're wearing short pants and a pair of thongs.

Those uncle who are selling DVD *cough*cough* are very helpful/讲义气, there is no such thing as 'Goods sold are not replacable'. However, you never get a receipt from them (in case you want to claim your tax in future) and you might get locked up in the shop (if they own any) for a short time if you're in a bad timing. Sometimes, you must be there on the right time because their business hours are extremely 'flexible'.

Also, I found that more a lot Penang people are speaking English to their children instead of Mandarin or Hokkien. However, I still can hear 'Si gina ! You @%^&*....' when their children are naughty.

Uhh... makes me feel home sick just by writing this. I'll better stop here. By the way, I'll upload some pictures later on. Until then you can check out my previous blog entry What you can bring in to Australia to see what you can bring through Australia's custom.

ps: Out of topic... Brisbane gets level 5 water restriction when I came back, that's not good... I wonder how many levels of water restriction they got. Will level 10 means watering the plants are not allowed, instead you gotna pee on them to save water ?