Trip to Sydney : Pre-Conference

Seven hours. Thats how long it took for me to travel from Malaysia to Sydney. The time difference is two hours. By the time we had reached Sydney, we had lost another two hours. It was around 9 something at night. The air was cool, just like Cameron. It was as cool as I expected. I had expected a freezing sensation with me having layers of clothers, a skull cap and gloves to keep me warm. Instead, I was out in normal T shirt and jeans. However, it was hard to predict how cold it will get since I had just touched down. Vincent, the man whom we were supposed to stay with came to pick us up. I havent seen him before although I was told that he was from my church before he migrated to Australia. However, it wasn't the same for his wife in which my mom recall as the lady with the small bag.

We reached the place and settled down in Vincent's 3 bedroom single story house in Glenwood. It was a small house situated in front of a public secondary school, about 10 minutes walk from the nearest Woolsworth, one of the chain of supermarket. We would call it a day after the tiring journey in the air. Fortunately, I managed to make full used of my time watching movies namely Hitch and the uncensored Sepet.

My visit to Australia this time around wasn't more of a holiday but to attend the Hillsongs Conference and at the same time explored some of the places here. I initially had no intention to attend Hillsongs. Maybe it was due to my perception towards those who went and the fear of whether I would go all the way for a quick reboost only to find myself back in the same place later on. There were many oppurtunities given to me in the past which I had turned down. However, I decided to take a chance and trust God that He will see through my fears as I go on this trip. And here I am

The conference was due to start on Monday. We arrived on Friday night and had two free days before the hectic week of conference, so I heard. Here are some pictorials of my visit. We visited Paddy's Market, had a great meal at Fish Market and made our way to Darling Harbour where we would be entertain by a live orchestra on a floating stage. Our initial plan was to cover Sydney Harbour as well. However, we weren't able to make it there and decided on the next day to go considering the time factor and also the shorter day. The sun begins to set around 5pm and would be completely dark half an hour later.


Paddy's Market


Fish Market


Darling Harbour

It was a Sunday. We had a priviledge to visit Hillsongs Church at Homebush which was about 10 minutes drive from Glenwood. I was in awe at such a big facility they have here. The inside of the church look like our Putra Stadium, but in a much smaller scale. I was impressed especially by the media. The projection of the people on the stage was so clear that it felt like I was watching a recording on DVD. I was fortunate to catch Joyce Meyer who came to speak on Sunday. It was such joy to see her deliver the message with so much enthusiasm and her message did give me a lot of encouragement and at the same time wanting to hear from her more during the conference. As we were leaving the place, we were fortunatel to meet a couple from Malaysia who had been residing in Sydney for quite a number of years. After some chats, they decided to fetch us back to Vincent's place. As Vincent drive a sedan, he would have to make two trips to fetch us and his family. Thank God for providing his angels in times like this when He would make things easier for us. I couldn't imagine how Vincent was able to reached the grounds on the second round considering the jam which was beginning to form in Hillsongs grounds. Jam in church? That shows how many people actually attend Hillsongs.



We reached home and made our way thereafter to Parsley Market which was situated closeby. Then off we headed to the trainstation at Blacktown to make a trip to downtown to visit Sydney Harbour. We met up with one of Mike's friend there as well and went to visit the Rocks which was about to close soon. I was in awe to see what I would normally see in Discovery Channel or magazine the view of Sydney Opera house and the harbour. It was interesting to see them all in person. I was especially delighted to see street performers there. Its hard to find such performers back in Malaysia except around Central Market. However, I totally enjoyed their performance though I managed to catch a glimpse and snap a few pictures of them. I was surprised at the professionalism in performing in front of passing people. Hard to keep one's concentration especially with the people moving around and most importantly, enjoyed the way they engage the crowd.











After having spend two days enjoying the scenes of Sydney, its time for conference. Can't wait