it's been a while since i've blogged.
i'm gonna let pictures do the talking, since i don't feel like blogging...
arrived at the airport to find that there was free starbucks that day from i think 6-8!!!
(apologies for not being able to remember the name of the drink, still a coffee newbie here)
had swensens for dinner, ordered black pepper seafood pasta.
mmmhmm i swear it was so so so good. :)
guess i'm pretty accustomed to it already.
sitting on a plane feels like being on a mild roller coaster ride.
the ascending and descending feeling yeah.
but due to bad weather in gold coast, we arrived pretty late, and ended up having serious butt sores after the almost-9-hour flight. :(
didn't sleep well during the flight either because i kept getting disrupted from my sleep...
the aisle was too narrow and whoever walked past me knocked into my elbow....
what a disturbance.
blame budget.
anyway i wasn't deprived of the opportunity to try them - i did so at dreamworld a few days later :)
after settling the car rentals, we self-drove to look for a place to have lunch.
we were all hungry (except for me idk why, probably the tiring plane ride), so we decided to stop by mcdonalds for a quick bite.
I HATE MCDONALDS.
THE FRIES ARE DISGUSTING.
so i decided to order a grilled chicken salad instead.
my mom and i had much difficulty placing our orders 'cos the locals have got a really strong accent and we could barely understand them.
i've got other communication breakdown stories to tell you later, they're actually quite funny :P
after lunch we drove off to our apartment to check-in and deposit our luggage.
the interior was pretty good too, though the floor was a little sticky, i had bedroom slippers to wear around ^^
the kitchen was really cool as there were numerous pots and pans everywhere for you to cook...
after settling all the administration matters, we set off again for the nearest shopping mall, pacific fair.
bought the typo 2013 planner from cotton on here for only AUD$5 (which is SGD$6.50).
however their clothes are more expensive than sg due to the high exchange rate so i didn't get anything.
my dad and mom wanted to buy coffee and bread for the next day's breakfast, so they asked the cotton on salesgirl for directions.
so after walking out of the store and exploring the mall, we realised that their supermarket's called coles, but we mistook the salesgirl as it being closed. -.-
genius.
after the shops closed at 5.30, we went to the oasis for dinner.
there was a small mall known as the licensed food court and we had our dinner there.
settled for something asian - ebi don.
after dinner we walked around another supermarket called woolworths...
it was pretty interesting 'cos you get to see what a typical aussie mart would have in store (oh so punny)
red-tipped bananas hahahahah.
it just looks really sick and wrong... :P
and there were really nice pastries like doughnuts and cakes to look at too heh~
Day 2: Carrara Market, Harbour Town Shopping Centre
good morning!
and this was my hearty breakfast that morning :)
bread and biscuits from coles along with fresh milk :)
i personally find that the bread from singapore is a lot nicer 'cos there's this really awesome fragrance of the loaves.
australian bread's pretty stale to me :P
hahah i don't know.
after breakfast i got out of the apartment and headed to the beach.
yes and the beach was so so pretty :)
the sand was so soft and fine, and the waves were so strong~
the clouds were seriously fluffy and the sky was actually a nice shade of blue.
you'd never find such a scenery in singapore...
honestly the view was breathtaking.
the breeze was pretty strong too :P
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and yes this is the resort's swimming pool :)
pretty nice huh?
after breakfast we set off for our first destination - carrara market :)
it's sort of like our 'pasar malam', only that it operates solely on weekends.
so on the way to the market i took a couple of photos along the road.
and this is my favourite one hahaha because the clouds are SERIOUSLY pretty :)
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upon reaching the market, i was surprised to find that it bears similarity to our markets in singapore.
the pretty market entrance hehehe looks rather tumblr-ish, don't it? ;)
there wasn't pretty much to shop around but then i got myself the coolest thing ever - a piggybank with my name on it!!!
how cool is that?!?!
and i bought it for only AUD$2, which is SGD$2.60.
CHEAP RIGHT!
you'll never find anything like that in singapore :P
anyway @ carrara market, we stopped by this eatery that was run by a singaporean and sold local food.
he was a really nice chap and talked to us a lot about his life here in aussie~
he even gave us a free ice-blend haha!
my only regret was actually not being able to purchase a basketball jersey...
they were like about SGD$40+++ :(
sadness.
that celtics jersey i will come for you soon!!!!!!!!!!!
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in the afternoon we went to a place called harbour town shopping mall.
it was the mall that i visited thrice because i just couldn't get enough of the shopping... :P
and now i'm actually sick of that place hahaha.
had lunch at this place called nonna's seafood and i ordered spaghetti bolognese (sp?)...
i like pasta heh.
though it was a little pricey, the best part of the lunch was that there was a tv telecasting a basketball match!!
couldn't really see the scores so i used the camera's zoom to peek hahah~
okc was leading for nuts hell yeahhhhhh :)
there were rows and rows and rows of many shops and i just didn't have enough time to visit all of 'em.
since the shops closed at 5.30...
didn't grab much this first round.
anyway, decided to have dinner at this place called peter's fish market.
apparently it's been listed as the top 50 things to do in gold coast!
and true enough, the seafood was AMAZING.
IT WAS BETTER THAN HEAVEN.
they were all fresh and succulent, especially my favourite prawns.
i like how the eatery works actually, i think it's a great business idea.
you choose the seafood you want, various fish, prawns, crabs, oysters, scallops etc., and choose either to have it fried or grilled.
there're other items on the menu such as fish and chips.
it's clever how they just avail us with 2 choices of fry or grill, making their workload a lot lesser.
they sell nice sauces too that make a good dip for your seafood.
so being the (healthy) seafood lover, i asked for the fish to be grilled (i would have died if it were fried).
the prawns were already cooked so they were meant to be eaten cold.
AND I SWEAR IT WAS THE BEST THING EVER.
(i realise that i am blogging very enthusiastically about this seafood place because the keyboard was clattering non-stop hahahah i am such a seafood fanatic)
HOW CAN YOU RESIST THIS ENTIRE TRAY OF PRAWNS.
PRAWNS ARE SERIOUSLY MY WEAKNESS.
yes i was a very happy prawn picker ^^
so yup, ended the day with a great takeaway seafood dinner + instant noodles heh :)
everyone had maggie mee while i had the microwave-able penne though~
it was pretty good ^^
the australian milo is super good!!!
it's more chocolatey but also not too artificial :)
it was a perfect blend ^^
and those cranberry & pistachio shortbreads were delicioussss ;)
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after breakfast we headed straight to our first world, dreamworld!
so the first (and only scary) ride that i sat was this shockwave thing.
it was this ridiculous shit that spun round and round while moving sideways from left to right.
omg i was screaming the whole time hahahah i nearly died of fright.
there were times my butt felt like it was off the seat, and everytime i opened my eyes all i could see were the clouds.
just the clouds!!!
i felt like i was going to die hahahahaha
so i went for a milder ride after that.... LOL
yeah so i sat this with my sister and it was.... boring hahahaha!
but yeah kiddy rides are just like that.
they should totally have this section of rides called the for-teens-who-are-above-kiddy-level-but-not-prepared-for-high-adrenaline-rush-rides!!!
those high-stunted ones are way too scary for me and these kiddy ones are too.... no kick.
HAHAHA.
sat this kiddy swing thing too hahaha!
it was quite fun but i got really groggy after 3 turns.
it was so boring......
LOLOLOL
#loserforlife
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went for lunch at the nearby cafeteria, and got the time to try krispy kreme doughnuts! :)
i think it was not bad hehehe im so glad it's coming to singapore!
KRISPY KREME FTW~
and yes this was my lunch :)
i tell you, that frozen cola was the nicest drink ever~
okay it tastes the same as coke but.... it's like ice-blended haha!
i love ice-blended drinks i have no idea why.
probably because i like that freezing feeling in my mouth and also chewing the ice ^^
and did i mention that their sausage looks like an inflated balloon 'cos of the unpeeled skin!!! :P
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visited the other side of dreamworld after lunch, which was the countryside/zoo-ish part where they had animals :)
went to see the kangaroos~
wazzup kangy.
they're really picky about the people who feed them hahaha.
i think they actually prefer their local people to feed them food instead of us tourists haha.
it refused the food my dad gave :P
after that we roamed around to see the nocturnal animals in this dark dark room.
and the crocs.
did i mention that this bloody bird flew DIRECTLY above my head omg!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
disgusted x10000000
i don't hate birds, i only hate them when they FLY.
all that dust and dirt when they flap those wings, YUCKS.
and it flew just above me.
DISGUSTING TO THE MAX.
went to watch a sheep shearing show after all the drama.
BEFORE
AFTER
hahah i'm serious.
they shave off their wool like hair.
it SEEMS like hair, so i hope it doesn't hurt those poor little fluffs.
proceeded with a tiger stunt show and the tiger performed pretty cool tricks :)
it jumped over a platform, climbed a tree, and more!!!
really smart :)
got tired after all the shows so we dropped by the dreamworld's ice cream parlour for a quick (chill).
it was pretty crowded, so i guess the ice cream was good ^^
and true enough it was~~~
this rainbow paddle pop has been my favourite since childhood :)
though it's slightly different from the one i eat in sg, the taste is still there and in fact, it's more caramel-y! :)
HIP HIP HOORAY!
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had takeaway dinner that night again - bought roast chicken from coles and had cabbage and noodles again HAHA
honestly their chicken's really well-marinated and tasty! :)
yup so that was about it for day 3.
Day 4: Movieworld + Harbour Town Shopping Centre (again)
went to the warner bros. movie world today~
i was most excited for this world because my mom said that they'd actually tell you how movies were produced and all.
thought it would be a pretty cool, eye-opening (why does this expression sound weird) experience!
stepped in and the first place we visited was the souvenir shop :)))
shopping again yeah!
and look!!!!
there are both me and my sister's name mugs!!!
got so excited because my sis's name was not easy to find and therefore we bought both cups teehee yay :-)
almost bought their movie world t-shirts but ended up not buying lol.
moved further in and there was a tweety bird and gang christmas performance hahah~
straight after there was a hollywood stunt driver show...
this was probably the only place that showed how the movies were made...
it was really cool but didn't interest me much as i don't really like action-packed movies :P
nonetheless, the stunts they did were really cool!
roamed aimlessly after the show, 'cos we didn't really know what to do HAHA.
those scary rides were excluded :P
went to sit kiddy rides with my sister haha.
took the kiddy coaster, merry-go-rounds and roundabout rides lollll.
i feel so noob but yes hahaha I'M SCARED.
lunch was really hurried because we didn't have a table to sit...
they were mostly takeaways.
so we left movie world pretty disappointed because there was just no movie-making process places...
:(
oh well.
everything's been modified to rides and rides and more rides.
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went back to harbour town shopping centre today...
bought much hehehehe yay.
i'll post a picture of all my shopping later ;)
that night's dinner we had decided on fisherman's wharf tavern.
but their foods were really overpriced...
even their starters cost like.... AUD$20+??? :O
so we settled for a "cheaper" alternative, PETER'S FISH MARKET.
WOOHOOOOOO!
prawns prawns prawns.
tried their scallop and crab today.
as good as best :-)
headed home and walked around the apartment to explore their facilities!
they had claw machines and arcade games!!!
how cool is that :-)
they even have a table tennis corner for you to play!
sadly we didn't play~
there was also a sauna and a billiard table.
the beach at night was really dark and cold...
the breeze was seriously like aircon at 10 degrees celsius or smth!!!
OMG.
i had to wear my sweater out like a loser when all their locals just wore tank tops and shorts.
HAHAHA.
joke forever.
Day 5: Paradise Country + Wet 'n' Wild
headed to paradise country early in the morning.
this was a place that had more of a countryside feel to it...
with animals reared like horses, cows, sheep etc.
there was free sampling of a traditional cup of billy tea and damper made by a local stockman (obviously i had to go check this up because if not i would have just called 'em bread and tea)
the tea was nice :-)
the damper was pretty dry but still, it's something different!
proceeded with a horse-riding show and that's when i got the chance to touch the horse!!!!
it's so smooth and feels so so so clean :)
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upon entering the next stockmen & sheep show, i was just randomly taking picturess and this nice man posed for the camera haha!
all the sheep, cows and dogs during the show~
AND YUP THIS IS ME MILKING THE COW HAHAHAHA
after this we went for my second sheep shearing show in aussie.
i thought today's was more interesting because they called out many guests and created much comedic effect out of the wool~
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AND NOW IT WAS LUNCH.
it was probably one of the best meals in aussie because it was a buffet hahaha.
and the tickets came with lunch, and that i preordered veg lasagne.
the rest of the food were up to you to pick from :)
the potatoes were really good as they were creamy!!!
and i usually don't like potatoes...
made my own milk tea too :)
mmmm it was good (Y)
after lunch we went free & easy around the farm and looked at more animals: the koalas, wolfdogs (???), emus and even fed the sheep and pigs!!!! :)
really enjoyed my time at paradise country 'cos i was able to do things i'd never get a chance to :)
the only thing that pissed me off real bad were the china tourists.
sorry if i'm being what you call, "racist", here, but i'm being honest.
they're so uncivilized.
like, they'd do anything to get their way.
they would go to the extent of squeezing their way through and pushing a child aside just to get a good view of the show.
seriously...
so annoying.
after the rain cleared we went to a water park called wet 'n' wild...
i was hesitant about playing 'cos my wound was still not fully healed.
but i was like "WHO CARES SINCE I'M HERE I GOTTA PLAY TO MY FULLEST"
for a warm-up i decided to bask in the waters here at this wave pool.
every 10 mins or so waves will come on and everyone just goes waaaah and ooooh.
it got pretty boring as i didn't get to try the fun rides.
floated along the calypso river with the float and it was pretty relaxing~
but then i went along with my dad's friend's family to play the other rides.
there was this really high green slide and you could choose your path down: either closed or enclosed, with a large/small splash :P
so i chose closed + large splash ^^
when i slid down and reached the bottom, the splash was sure huge...
my face and nose hurt for quite a bit LOL.
next i tried this aqua racer thing....
yup it's that open air blue slide.
i was quite scared because you were supposed to lie flat on this rubber/styrofoam mat they gave..
and what if you actually flew off!!!
and as you can see there are many humps where the slope is steep, and those were the scariest parts haha!
i was screaming so badly the whole time LOL~~~
i came in almost last as the water splashed into my nose really hard the 2nd time i rode it.
despite the pain, it was really thrilling :-)
due to time constraints, i couldn't try anymore rides.... :(
but yeah at least i played two "scary" ones LOLOL.
detoured back to movie world that afternoon 'cos my dad's friend's wife had to get smth..
drove to the australian fair shopping centre to buy groceries for the following day.
the shops were all closed except for the supermart and i was so tempted by all the shops....
there was this $2 clothes store, jayjays and many others...
so i was asking if we could come again.
and true enough, we did :-)
there was also this asian supermarket there that just made me LOL.
we then had dinner at jupiter's.
it was a restaurant at a hotel near our apartment.
we decided to eat here because they had a seafood platter for only AUD$9.99!
seafood again ^^
their seafood was really fresh, and could compete with peter's fish market :P
though i had a hard time peeling the crabs ah well...
it was still deliciouuuuuus :)
went back to the apartment and feasted on the box of strawberries i bought for only 99cents~
CHEAP RIGHT.
Day 6: Seaworld +
set off for seaworld in the morning.
went to the penguin encounter first.
hahah they look really innocent :P
some were swimming like that in the above picture, while others just stood up straight around on land looking like statues :)
see those gross furry humps on the penguin's face and back?
yep to my surprise i found out that they actually moult!!!
they shed their old skin and grow new one.
i thought only cockroaches moult HA HA HA.
#mindblown
DAMN YOU BLOGGER YOU DIDN'T SAVE MY CONTINUED ENTRY ARGH I WILL CONTINUE THIS ANOTHER TIME K GOOD-STUPID-NIGHT
watched a sea otter show thereafter.
they're so fat and cute and full of blubber hehehe.
^ a case of molest hahahah
went to the polar bear exhibit after the show, but sadly there was only one shy polar bear in the whole enclosure.
it was shy 'cos it hid far away from the glass barriers...
and made no sound.
someone claimed they were having "lunch" lol.
there were other mini exhibits of sea animals around, such as the starfish and sea cucumber.
next was this underwater fish gallery, similar to sentosa's underwater world ^^
the fish were really pretty!!
sadly they didn't have clownfish so it wasn't all that funny.
get it?
HAHAHAHAHA lame...
proceeded with a really cool dolphin show...
though they talked more than performed stunts, i know it's not easy to tame and animal and teach it tricks.
so yeah...
ate this really expensive $5.99 ice cream after the show.... :O
but it was good :)
gathered at the central arena to watch the spongebob parade.
don't watch spongebob but yeah, the props and vehicles were really colourful and attractive :)
and i swear in that moment
we were infinite the sky was a beautiful blue!
^ he looks like he's descending from heaven HAHAHA
lunch that day at seaworld was as usual...
more fried & fast food.
disgusting >:(
so sick of french fries i tell ya.
left seaworld after lunch 'cos there was honestly nothing much to do...
went to the skypoint observatory, which is the highest building in gold coast overlooking the entire city.
on our way there, we passed by the surfers' paradise beach, and look how pretty it is!!!!
blue skies and blue waves.... sandy beaches 8D
so yeah at the skypoint tower i took pictures like as though i never used a camera before HAHAHA.
because the view was simply too breathtaking :)
after we got down the 80+++ floor building, i bought a cup of chocolate mocha from the coffee shop below.
stupid waitress was so condescending i tell you.
shopped around surfers' paradise (a whole street of shops), and bought a couple of souvenirs here!
i expected much out of the night market that were to be held on wednesday & thursday nights, 'cos i heard there were really cool stuff & souvenirs on sale.
to my disappointment, the variety wasn't that wide and so i didn't buy anything...
what made it worse was that the sand from the beach kept stinging my eyes due to the strong wind.
argh, but at least the double rainbow i saw made up for most of what happened :)
decided on more asian food for dinner again because i couldn't stand the sight of another fry again.
Day 7: Australian Fair Shopping Centre + Robina Town Centre
so i spent my last morning in australia at the beach...
never gonna touch this same sand and view the same skies and enjoy the same breeze again...
all the nostalgia when you've gotta leave everything behind... HAHAHA
first stop was the australian fair shopping centre.
to be honest the shopping here's pretty good!
there's jayjays, a all-at-$2-each store and many other boutiques with nice and cheap clothes :)
kudos to the year-end sales hehehe.
asian lunch again HAHAHAHA
but yeah i told myself before i left aussie i gotta try smth from the mccafe once.
and i did! :)
i think sg's is better though, 'cos their cup's bigger and it's cheaper back there!
went to this sports fair after this mall, but we spent like <10mins p="p" there...="there...">'cos there was nothing to buy and everything was so expensive...
headed to robina town centre thereafter and bought quite a lot too! :)
shall post my shopping later.
sorry for the lack of photos beacuse #1 my neck was starting to take the toll of carrying a heavy camera everywhere for the past 6 days and #2 it was shopping day so all we did is shop and there's nothing interesting to talk about.
Day 8: Goodbye Australia, Hello Singapore
woke up real early to travel to the airport to catch our flight back home.
i really miss aussie :'(
the flight got delayed and we were supposed to reach at 3.15pm (SG time) but we ended up landing at 4+???
actually i have no idea too hahah the mere 2-hour time difference is confusing...
and yes this was my rewarding shopping from gold coast :)
heh my personalised stuff from gold coast!!!
a mug from movie world and also a piggybank from carrara market!
so cool right :)
and guess what, the piggybank was only $2!!! :)
sis and i've got matching cups! :)
it was really hard to find her name haha!
but we finally did~
these 2 neck pillows at $7.99 each i bought was really a good help during car and plane rides :)
thanks for alleviating my neck aches, pains and sores!
my 2013 planner that i bought from typo over there!
it was only $5 hahahaha singapore sells this for about $18 man!
where else can you find such a good deal ;)
can't wait for the new year to begin and start using this cute book ;-)
eh eh eh my tourist shirts HAHAHA.
this is my favourite top i bought from aussie!!!!!
the material's good, and the length is just nice for me to wear with my favorite denim shorts :)
and tribal prints are really cool too ;)
yay for this~
bought a total of 15 tops/shorts in aussie :-))))))
i am a happy kid.
this!!!!!!!!!
my roxy wallet that i bought for only $18!!!!!!!!!
it's so pretty and matches one of my flats hehehe.
it's got many compartments too, and is of really good quality :)
such a great steal ;)
a mouse pen i bought from carrara because i can.
k no im kidding.
but yeah it's only a dollar, and is so cute, why not?
looks semi-koala though HAHAHA!
last but not least....
MY $1 FLATS!
YEAH BABY.
it was seriously a $1, at jayjays!
though it IS a little worn out, but c'mon it was only a dollar...
CHEAP CHEAP CHEAPPPPPPP
where in singapore can you find such deals!
$1 SHOES!
impossible.
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so yup, that's all i've got to blog.
and i've FINALLY finished blogging!!!!
three cheers for me please!
will blog about my eventful week of the holiday soon ;-)
see you guys again soon.
