Gold Coast: Attractions

One of the best part about travelling to Gold Coast were the attractions.  We didn't manage to go to every single one of them but we did make our way to a few.

AquaDuck

Website: http://www.aquaduck.com.au/

Photo source: buildingconservationtour.blogspot.com

The first day we were there, we went on the AquaDuck tour to get acquainted with the area.  Since this was pretty much a last minute decision, we bought out tickets at Centro and the hop on location was a short walk away.  If you've been on a Duck Tour in Singapore, I imagine it's pretty much the same concept.  The vehicle, like a duck, takes you around Surfers Paradise on land and in the water on the Nerang River.

Check out the multimillion dollar house (one of many)
with the heli at the Nerang River

Sea World

Website: http://www.seaworld.com.au/

For Seaworld, we purchased the VIP pass online from their website which allows unlimited entries to 3 of their theme parks (Sea World, Movie World and Wet N Wild).  The offers for the VIP tend to vary throughout the year so check out their website to see what kind of promotions they have at the time you plan on going.  Bring the printed email received for the tickets purchased at the entrance and make your way to their guest services to get your photo taken for your VIP pass.

To get there, we took the bus to Seaworld from the stop opposite our hotel.  The return bus' path was right next to our hotel too which was great!

We went to see the shows and performances and had a lot of fun going round the park being all tourist-y and snapping photos of the animals there.

Visit their website for more information on park attractions and things to do.

Movie World
Website: http://movieworld.myfun.com.au/

Movie World for me was the best of all the theme parks we'd gone to.  We took the TX2 bus from the stop at Appel Park which was across the road and through Circle on Cavill.  Buses with TX prefixes are the Theme Park Express buses that cater to visitors of Wet N Wild, Movie World, Australian Outback Spectacular and Dreamworld.  However, the last buses to the theme parks are scheduled before noon so if you miss them, you will need to take a different bus there.

We didn't go on most of the rides though because we were too busy snapping photos, going to the shows and performances, playing games and shopping for souvenirs.  Haha.  If you're planning on checking out the shows and performances, be sure to plan out your time and work around it.

The Stunt Driver show was definitely the best one that we've gone to and made a point to not miss it.  Amazing how those drivers maneuvered at high speed through tight spaces.  Be forewarned, it might get a bit hot. Hehe.  We practically rushed from the restaurant to the show and got there in the nick of time!  Rick's Cafe Americain (the restaurant across) was delish!!  It's an all you can eat buffet and you can come back to eat as many times during your visit for the day until 3pm (when they close).  And yes, it's certified Halal and has a nice Moroccan style decor too.

More information on park attractions is available on their website.

Dreamworld
Website: http://www.dreamworld.com.au/

Dreamworld (and WhiteWater World) tickets can be purchased online as well and that's exactly what we did.  I was honestly disappointed with the place in general though and maybe going during their "slow season" as they describe it had something to do with how drab I felt the place was.  Some of the rides were undergoing scheduled maintenance and for the most part the park didn't seem as well kept.

I did enjoy the AVPX laser tag game though despite barely hitting 200 points.  It was my first time playing laser tag and it was interesting.  We went on the V8 Driving Experience too and I don't know how my 2 brothers managed to play 3 rounds of it cos seriously, I was getting motion sickness just sitting in the car.  Haha.  Terrible suspension but the brothers had a lot of fun racing.  The park was a lot more mellow than the other 2 we had visited.  It had a sort of mini zoo (Tiger Island, The Lair, Australian Wildlife Experience) where we saw 1 tiger, a whole bunch of kangaroos, a wombat, a few koalas, a few crocs and some species of birds.

Of course there were rides that were open which I left my brothers to explore.  There was a ride called the Giant Drop which reminded me of the Solero Shot ride at Genting only a less scary version.  And then there's the Tower of Terror 2 30 second ride which looked similar to the Superman ride at 6 Flags in LA only not as high but the concept was the same.

I'm not sure if it was only for the sleepy season but eateries were all closed by 2pm.  I was hungry and unhappy let me tell you that.  And we ended up postponing lunch to dinner time.

Ripley's Believe It Or Not!
Website: http://www.ripleys.com/surfersparadise/

Ripley's was just in the building next to Centro so went to check it out one night.  I remembered when we were there those many years back I'd wanted to go but was a tad timid so we skipped on it.  That being said, it was the usual oddities and if you've been to the ones in say Genting or London, I say skip this one.  It's not as big and they have some of the same things anyways.

SkyPoint
Website: http://www.skypoint.com.au/

We weren't exactly aware of SkyPoint but when we bought our tickets online for Dreamworld, there was an offer to purchase tickets for SkyPoint as well at a discounted price.  After checking out the website, I thought it would be nice to visit.  It's sort of like the Sands Sky Park in Singapore but indoors and in only 1 building (the Singapore Sky Park spans over 3 buildings).  It gives you a nice 360 degrees view of Gold Coast with lookouts and some reading material for more background information.  There's also a restaurant where you can dine while overlooking the Coast.  Being somewhat acrophobic, my knees were trembling and legs felt weak.  Haha.  My 2 brothers were fine though.  I could only calm down when I was literally hugging one of the many trusses there.  Hahaha.  We went at night though but I felt the day time would've offered an amazing view.

Surfers Paradise Night Market


Here's something we found out from the AquaDuck tour, there's a night market by the beach on Wednesdays and Fridays (if I'm not mistaken).  We almost forgot though and would've missed it too had we not seen the tents as we left the restaurant after dinner.  If you're looking for handmade items and unique knick knacks, do drop by and walk around.

Gold Coast: Planes, Hotels & Buses

So June for me was an amazing month of travelling.  The month kick started with a trip to Gold Coast, Australia with my siblings during the school break.  Everyone was excited especially the two younger boys as it was their first time going.  Myself and my oldest younger brother had gone back when we were little (I think it was 1993 or 1994) which was an insanely long time ago.

Photo source: vroomvroomvroom.com.au

Preparations and Basic Stuff

Travelling to Australia isn't much of a hassle as far as documents were concerned.  All you need is a valid passport (at least 6 months to expiry from return date) and visa.  If you're visiting Australia for pleasure/leisure and don't intend to stay any longer than 3 months, Malaysia is one of the countries listed for an ETA visa which can be applied for online for AU$20 per person.  However, it's probably much easier to visit your friendly neighbourhood travel agent (like we did) to apply and it was cheaper too (RM20).  It doesn't take long to apply and you get almost immediate approval.  The information is automatically saved in the system.  Although it isn't necessary, I had all our ETA slips stapled in our passports just in case.

Since Australia is in the Southern Hemisphere, June was somewhere end of Autumn/early Winter at the time.  The temperature was in the 14 to 20 degrees Celsius in the day time and from 7 or 9 degrees Celsius at night if I'm not mistaken.  Weather was great and we did get a couple of sunny days while the rest of the days we were there was nice and cool.

All our travel arrangements -- flights, airport transfer, hotel and park tickets -- were purchased online before the trip.

The Flight and At The Airport

We travelled via AirAsia and AirAsiaX which ultimately landed at the Coolangatta Airport (OOL).  It took approximately 8 hours from KL and the Smokey BBQ Chicken on board was pretty decent although we would've preferred a little more to eat.  Fortunately though the flight was at night so we slept through most of the flight and woke up bright and early to land.  For our return flight, we had pre-purchased the entertainment unit and that was nice.  I think it was RM30/unit and had a selection of movies, TV shows and music.  And we had Australian chicken pie on the return flight too.  Quite nice too.  As with all international flights, you will have to fill in an immigration and customs form too and it's best to do so while in the plane, before landing.

Photo source: airport-technology.com

We were all super excited to arrive and that morning was actually quite cold to the point you could see your breath as you speak and breathe.  Haha.  That was fun.  When we arrived, our path immediately brought us to the duty free store (probably the only one in the arrival area) which was strategically located right before the immigration counters.  It's unavoidable though as you have to go through the store to get to the counters.  The airport wasn't that big and right behind immigration were the baggage carousels and customs.  The officers in charge were very nice and friendly despite being thorough with their job.  The lengthiest part of the whole process was actually waiting in line.  Haha.

Flying back, I'd suggest don't wait til the last minute to proceed to the departure halls.  Customs will be scanning your bags for any excessive LAGs and they might also do a random bomb check before you enter.  After all that, we thought we were all set to go since we thought we were already at the gates (must've been for domestic flights) but apparently there was another counter to go through inside the departure area right before our actual gate too.  I think this was the immigration counters? Or was it another customs scan?  Gonna have to check with my brothers to see if they remember.

Transfers and Transport

Photo source: queenslandholidays.com.au

I'd made bookings for our airport transfers prior to our departure on the Gold Coast Tourist Shuttle website.  I had contemplated on a few different companies before finally deciding on GC Tourist Shuttle.  Although I've read a few bad reviews for the service, we actually had a pleasant experience.  We only booked for airport transfers for our trip but you can check out their website for other transport packages they offer including theme park transfers and an all in Gold Coast transport package.  I can't remember now how long it took but I believe it was about 30-45 minutes from the airport to our hotel.  

At the airport, we had to go to their counter with our booking confirmation email before boarding the bus/coach.  When we got to the drop off point, the bus driver was kind enough to brief us on pick up for our return airport transfer and gave us a little direction to where we were and where our hotel was (a 5 minute walk from the drop off point).  For the return trip, we just had to call in to confirm our pick up time 24 hours prior.

One of the main reasons why I didn't opt for the Freedom Pass offered by GC Tourist Shuttle was I felt it didn't give us the kind of flexibility that we would've liked.  All the theme parks we were going to were easily accessible by bus so we bought GoCards instead which you can buy at most 7Eleven stores and we had 2 near our hotel.  Hehe.  GoCards are much cheaper -- 30% -- to use than paying for a regular paper ticket.  Make sure you tap in and out properly and don't double tap your card to avoid any penalty charges deducted from your travel credit.  The cards are reloadable also at 7Eleven stores and you have the time to, you can get a AU$5 refund by returning the card.  I'm not too sure how that works because we kept all our cards as souvenirs.  Hehe.  But more info on refunds can be found here.

Before you leave for Gold Coast and if you plan on taking public transportation while there, I strongly suggest checking out the Translink Journey Planner and take note of the buses available for the routes you will be going on.  Plus, it helps give you a rough time estimate for your journey and suggest alternatives based on your travel times too.

Our Hotel

For accommodation, I made reservations through Agoda, a site recommended by my uncle for making hotel bookings.  So we stayed at the Hotel Grand Chancellor in Surfers Paradise which was located right smack in the middle of the town and was literally connected to Centro (shopping mall) and Hard Rock.  There were a lot of halal food choices within walking distance from our hotel (Malaysian, Indian, seafood, Middle Eastern and more), Woolworths was right downstairs (inside Centro), Ripley's Believe It Or Not was also nearby and the beach was just a few minutes walk.  Since there was four of us, I booked the family room which was very spacious and could comfortably fit 5 people.  Our check in didn't take long and the receptionist was super friendly and helpful.  We enjoyed our stay there.

The hotel was very conveniently located.  It was a short walk to the bus stops, shopping spots, some attractions, souvenir shops, eateries and more.  After midnight, we needed to use our room key card to enter the hotel lobby which is a nice security measure in my opinion.

Our hotel marked by the red dot on the map
- Click image to enlarge -

Of course we bought some food supplies for breakfast and snacking and some plastic wears too (bowls and cutlery) at Woolworths which were inexpensive.  There are a number of clubs in the are especially down Orchid Avenue so the area around the hotel (no, the hotel wasn't all noisy or anything like that) was still quite alive even at night time which was great!  I'd prefer that to having to stay somewhere too quiet and isolated.  Haha.  Plus, Timezone (gaming arcade centre) was open til midnight downstairs and we had a lot of fun there too.

Singapore Haul: Bags & Shoes

For those who know me would most probably have known that I was away in Singapore for my birthday last month. Naturally a little shopping was inevitable. This time around I didn't buy any clothes or accessories but rather just beauty products and bags and handbags.

Here goes:

Hard Rock Cafe Sentosa Pink Ribbon T-Shirt

from Hard Rock Cafe Sentosa

Guess Shoulder Bag with long strap

from Takashimaya

Last Day of London Snippet...

On a lighter note, I know I said I'd blog the photos I took during my London trip with my baby brother in June but there's just so many photos.  I had to create 3 albums for it on FaceBook!  So here's a little raw snippet of our last day there (at Westminster near the London Eye):

London was definitely a lot of fun and it would've been nice if I'd been able to indulge in the shopping experience there as well, especially Primark!  I can't imagine how cold it must be in winter (or autumn for that matter) because the spring-summer weather was a whole lot cooler than I'd like.  I heard that after we'd gotten back it started to get warmer (scorching even) though.  Maybe next time round if we go there again, it'd be nice to try out AirAsia X's flat bed seats with a daily direct flight from KL to London (Stansted Airport).

AirAsia X Premium Seats

Word of Caution...

Recently I watched an awesome review (and then some) on the ghd stylers and thought of getting one myself.  It heated up quickly, has a safety feature (it turns off if left idle for 30mins) and not only straightens hair perfectly, it also curls (or creates soft waves).  I checked online and it sold for RM600 and above but I remembered that a store sold it locally.

So there I was excited to get my hands on one and dropped by the store to check it out.  The salesgirl was relatively nice and convinced me that I needed to be aware that there are China made fake ones out there and I should be careful not to be fooled.  She reiterated what I'd already known, that the product was top of the line and was highly popular.  After some negotiating, I managed to get the price down to RM320 from the original RM360 (~11% off) and a 1 month warranty (?).

What I purchased: The ghd Styler IV Pure

I went online to register my new purchase (pictured above) on the ghd website for the 2 year warranty that comes with all ghd products and an error kept popping up at the end of the registration process informing me that there was a problem with the codes I entered.  So I took the next step of ringing up their customer service to talk to on of their representatives and she confirmed the codes won't register because the product I'd bought was a fake and she suggested I returned it to the store and demand a full refund.

Furious, I went back to the store a few days later with the item and when I told them that I've tried registering it on the website and called CS and was told that the item was fake, the owner of the store told me that it was made by the brand but at their Korean factory.  She said that it's true it's not China made but like all other stores selling ghd here in Malaysia, they're the Korean made ones which is not exactly fake and is of better quality than their China versions.  This was information withheld from me (the consumer) and subsequently she tried to keep twisting the facts and convincing me that it's not fake (nor was it genuine).  She'd even sarcastically implied that it would cost me RM1000 and above to purchase online and get it shipped here and probably wasn't even worth the warranty period guaranteed by the company.  I was blatantly refused a refund supposedly because firstly I'd paid by credit card (which was complete BS because these days you can get refunded even when paid with credit cards) and secondly because it was their store policy to not give a refund to their customers regardless.  She kept saying that many customers had bought the same item and never had a problem using it.

After much talk, she seemed clearly annoyed and simply said that if I really didn't want the ghd Styler, I could exchange it with a different product and she showed me some BaByliss Pro Nano Titanium products (the whole range).  She pushed for me to buy the hairdryer (dries hair faster and costs RM400+ I think) and the straightening iron (which costs RM500+).  Being left with not much choice, I opted to get the curling tong which she was selling for RM310 (RM10 less than what I paid for the fake product) and she threw in a cheapo who knows from where soft touch curling mousse (RM17.90) for free.  She wanted me to pay for the friggin mousse which I didn't even need but after looking at my hesitation and again her obvious annoyance with the whole situation she gave it FOC.  I would've expected her to suggest a good heat protectant since I was purchasing hot styling tools but she kept insisting that I needed the mousse to create beautiful natural curls.

The infernal store:

Au Yong Trading Co., City Mall (behind Guardian)

So the above is the store where I'd been fooled by misleading information and all the above mentioned.  One of my aunt's had also purchased a facial steamer from the store and the steamer was defective and had water dripping from it when in use.  I would imagine it being a steamer that the water would be on the hot side too.  She complaint and sent the device back to the store for repairs since it was under warranty.  Of course, when it came back the problem persisted and by then my aunt wasn't too happy with the purchase and the after service.  Needless to say she too will never buy anything from that store again.

Just thought I'd share that piece of information and put it out there so any of you thinking of making a purchase there would be more cautious.  Also, I was looking at a make up train case at a nearby beauty store at City Mall (e.Noveal) and saw the exact same BaByliss Pro styling tool that I bought that was retailing for RM280 (before discount) with a 6 months warranty (Au Yong gave 3 months).  That was pretty disappointing.

On a lighter note, I'd just gotten back from my office's Family Day event which was held in Beringgis Resort last night.  The preparation works were exhausting but worth it seeing that everyone was pretty happy receiving their doorgifts and hampers (as well as goodies for the kids).  The lucky draws were a success as well and went pretty smoothly despite all the rush behind it what with not having a ready MC until right before the sessions.  All the staff who'd attended that night had a 75% chance of winning and everyone was excited and happy including the kids who had their own little lucky draw session as well.  Now that that's done, it's back to fully concentrating on work and deadlines and the million urgent things to tend to with everyone chasing from every which way as usual.

Tonight the whole family went to watch Salt at Suria Sabah and it was awesome!  The action and amazing genius that is Salt (the character -- and yes, Angie was wonderful as Salt) was just a pleasure to watch.  Of course there were sensitive issues touched in the movie such as the US-Russian relationship and the attempt to deploy nuclear missiles to Tehran (Iran) and Mecca (Mekah) both of which are Muslim areas.  Personally, I'll take a more liberal note on it.  I'd much rather not politicize a movie and take it for what it is -- a movie.

Rushing Through Singapore...

I love travelling and last weekend (not the recent one) I went on a planned trip with my brother to Singapore.  At the time we had purchased our tickets, it was intended to be a day trip with us spending a few hours in the Lion City.  A nicely timed 11am flight via Jetstar to Singapore and an 8pm flight back via AirAsia.

Luck had it both airlines rescheduled and infomed us of the retimings.  Jetstar left almost an hour before the original time and that was fine by us.  Supposedly more time to roam around.  Now AirAsia on the other hand made more drastic changes.  An 8+pm flight had been retimed to 5.35pm which is an incredibly huge jump.  Seriously, 3 hours short?  Which left us with possibly at most a 1 1/2 hour timeframe to enjoy Singapore.  Needless to say, I was deeply disappointed.  To add to that, it was my brothers first time there and I really felt bad he wasn't able to explore the country more.  What was even more agitating was the fact that AirAsia was not contactable via their new "Premium" call centre ("The number you have dialled is incomplete") and their non-existent Live Chat service which basically said that all their operators were unavailable for chat.  I've never had that problem before with companies like ComGateway or HP.  I had to instead fill up a form with my enquiries and guess what, I received a reply more than 24 hours later.  What a damper.  Imagine if it had been a business trip and the meeting ended later than 5.35pm and I'd bought the ticket for 8.30pm?  If the variance was an hour it would've been easier to reschedule or itinerary for the day.  But I guess it's just better business to get people to miss flights and get them to buy new overpriced last minute tickets instead eh?

Anyways, there was no apologies or compassion on the insane rescheduling.  I probably should've just cancelled the whole trip.  Would have if it wasn't because I'd promise my brother the trip for many months.  Not only did we miss our flight (as expected), we had to purchase a brand new ticket and since there was no early flight even for Jetstar (earliest was at 10+am while AirAsia only flew 1 flight direct to KK at 5.35pm) the next day, we had to fly to KL then get another sector to KK the next morning on the 6.50am flight.

Although tired, we managed to enjoy the trip and took a more positive look at the whole experience.  After buying the new tickets, we checked in early (dropped off our bag closer to departure time) and had lunch at 6pm.  Before missing our flight, we went to Orchard Road (I love that place) and got to check out Ion Orchard which I personally find to have by far the most confusing building layout ever.  After our "lunch" we decided to head on down to Bugis Street and was happy my brother loved it and managed to do some shopping for himself.  We weren't rushing as much then.  Earlier on we practically breezed through Orchard and it was less that satisfying for the shopaholic in me (fortunately I reminded myself the trip was for my brother).  Maybe next trip.  *smiles*

I'll post my purchases (i.e. haul) on my beauty blog which is currently on 2 blogging platforms (OnSugar and Blogger).  I'm testing out a different platform to see if it suits the nature of the blog better.  I'll be renaming the Blogger version of the site to the new one on OnSugar soon.  Still trying to figure out how my header should look like.  I want to have more content (hauls, reviews, first impressions, etc) on there.

Back to the story of the trip, we were basically crazy exhausted.  To make things worst, both of us didn't get enough sleep the night before the trip and would've been fine if everything had gone to plan.  We thought about checking in to a nearby hotel while waiting for our connecting flight to KK from KL but decided against it due to the short time in between (4-5 hours).  We felt it wasn't worth the extra cost.  After 2 hours, sleepiness was already creeping in.  By 4am, we ended up sleeping at one of the corner eateries til the hustle and bustle began at about 5am.  Haha.  Fun times.  It was probably the longest time I've spent with my brother in a long time.

Soon as I got back, got home and went to get ready to see my bestie who I was supposed (and promised) to do her make up for her shoot that day.  Felt bad I wasn't there in the morning as promised but I did managed to salvage her afternoon shoot some what (I hope).  I love make up and having the opportunity to try it out on someone other than myself was just a thrill.  Maybe I'll get that opportunity yet again some day.  *beams*

Our London Hotel Dilemma...

A few weeks back my baby (he's not really a baby) brother and I took a long awaited vacation.  Well it was for me personally anyways.  I've been sooo stressed up with all that's been going on at work and everything else this was a very much welcomed delight (and surprise).

We had our travel arrangements (i.e. flights) set and booked our hotel online and even got the London Pass ready for the trip.  I'm not sure if I'll be doing another post on the trip or not (maybe I will with photos of places we managed to go to) but this post is basically gonna be about our disappointment with the hotel we'd booked online and should've gone for our first choice right from the start (which is where we ended up going to).

So basically, we went to the Hotels-London website to check out hotels (below GBP100) in the Bayswater area and after reading the reviews, viewing photos of the hotel and some discussion, we decided on Princes Square hotel which is about 400m walk from Bayswater tube station.

This is what the hotel room looked like on the Hotels-London website:

Gorgeous right? The price range for a night's stay in a Double Room was between GBP70+ to GBP90+ at the time.  We didn't mind if the room was small.  Apparently, hotel rooms there are comparatively smaller than what we Asians are used to.  Anyways, imagine our surprise when we went up to our room and found it to look a little like this:

This photo is from the hotel's website and the photo above is of a Triple Room I think.  We wanted a Double Room (i.e. with a Double Bed) and when we checked in we were told that they didn't have a Double room available for us.  Instead, we were checked into a Twin Room (below - photo from Agoda).

Even the beds there aren't the same size as those we Asians are used to.  Their twin beds were really single beds (not super single) and we barely had room to move around in there.  I wasn't feeling well during my stay there so we didn't really take any photos of the room.  Good thing we managed to get a refund for 7 out of the 9 nights we'd booked there (had to pay 2 nights stay due to their 48 hours cancellation policy).  The room was hot and suffocating.  We'd requested for a fan and that made it a teeny bit better.  Fortunately they had a pretty decent tower fan but it took up more space in the room.  The closet was about a foot deep and the only thing that was pretty nicely furnished was probably the bathroom.  Haha.  The reservation came with breakfast and well, the breakfast serve was OK.  They had cereal, fruits, oats, breads and buns as well as yoghurt with coffee and tea as well.

We felt misled and deceived.  Fortunately we got to move.  So before checking out the next day, we went to a nearby internet cafe (GBP1.50 for 75mins) and made bookings for the other hotel that we'd originally wanted to stay at.  We managed to get internet rates for the last 7 nights and regular published rates for that day which wasn't that bad.

Being Malaysians abroad, really makes you miss home.  So we ended up switching to Berjaya Eden Park Hotel which was less than 20m from Bayswater tube station. *smile*.  So this is what the room looks like on the Hotels-London website:

We only managed to get the Superior Double Rooms which are the newly renovated rooms (yay!).  For TV buffs like us, the 32" (I think) LCD TV was great compared to the 14" CRT wallmounted TV in our previous hotel.  There weren't even decent channels to watch in the previous hotel.  Now you might say that we should be outside exploring London instead of staying in the room watching TV.  But honestly, it would be incredibly boring without TV there (considering lack of freely available WiFi connections in the city).  Stores close early and attractions are mostly closed at 5.30pm.  What else was there to do after dark (we roam around til it's almost dark and head back after dinner)? We loved that the new room was more spacious and we could unpack and pack more comfortably (we came with 2 luggage bags and went home with 3 ballooned up luggages plus carry ons and plastic bags).  By the way, the room looked exactly like the photos above. :) They didn't have a lot of fans stocked up and the last one they had and brought up (a tower fan) to our room was faulty.  It was practically toppling over!! I was amazed that they still thought it was OK to use it honestly.  Haha.  Just because it blew wind didn't mean it was safe to use especially with the top part detached from the base and was practically only held together by the internal cables. We requested they took it back and spent the nights sleeping with the windows open (cool breeze).

Although we got a Double Room at Eden Park, the bed was still a foot shorter than my Queen Size bed at home.  Weird.  I thought Queen Size beds came standard. The bathroom was nice and sufficient despite it's size.  And the wardrobe was a lot more spacious for our jackets/coats and bags and shopping treasures.  Best part is they actually had a safe inside the room which was really handy.  I would've liked the room to have a double lock like the ones we have in our hotels here instead of just the knob lock (which can be opened by the housekeeping staff despite having turned the lock).  Since we were in the newer wing (I think), we had to take a flight of stairs up to the 1st floor then either another flight of stairs on another part of the building or the lift to the second floor.

OMG the lifts in both hotels were tiny!!  I'd say equivalent to a 1 or 2 star hotel in KL?  If you've been to Agora Hotel at Bukit Bintang, it's kinda like that.  The hallways are super narrow and the same goes for the stairs.  Nonetheless, the staff at Eden Park were really nice and helpful.  I wouldn't mind staying there again if given the chance.  Bayswater is a nice place to stay.  There are lots of souvenir shops along the Queensway Rd and there's lots of eateries in the area.  There is a mall at the end of the road near Westbourne Grove called Whiteley's that has stores like H&M, Zara, Tie Rack and a few more.  I believe they even have a cinema in there somewhere.  And of course a supermarket (Marks & Spencers). Across the street you can drop by SuperDrug and Boots (local drugstores) which usually open til 11pm or mighnight (except on Sundays where everywhere is closed early).

Anyways, Tune Hotels are opening their London hotel soon and it's located smack in the middle of the city at Westminster Bridge Road.  Looks decent and it's practically across the street from Lambeth North (Bakerloo Line) tube station and nearby the Waterloo station (Jubilee, Northern and Waterloo & City lines) as well.  Since it's by the roadside, buses shouldn't be too hard to come by either.

finally a trip to somewhere...

ah yes, while my iphone syncs with my brand spanking freshly installed itunes 9 after an upgrade to os 3.1, i figured i should drop a note in my dear dear (almost) neglected blog. haha!

this year i've been pretty much grounded to dear ole kk city and cancelled my overseas travel *well, pretty much all travels* due to unforeseen circumstances. no matter. there'll always be other times to travel. but it really had a psychological and emotional impact on me. travelling to me was my way of unwinding *despite the hectic schedule that comes with travelling* and recharging myself.

although the destination wasn't anywhere quit that far nor does the travel require one to carry a passport, but it was nice to take a break *finally!* the circumstances of when i left was not what i'd consider desirable but one can only plan and does not control how to universe goes round.

our flight friday afternoon went on smoothly as scheduled and we arrived a wee bit earlier than expected. then off we went to break fast at seoul garden in ioi mall, puchong's new wing. i can't even remember the last time i was in ioi! haha.

yes.. you cook your own meal on the hot plate/soup bowl

my entree/appetizer

bits and pieces of food i picked up at the buffet spread

self-made abc.. you even scoop your own shaved ice!

haha.. an old childhood preference.. swirled mushed ice cream. yum!

well, basically the restaurant has a nice little buffet spread of mostly raw food *obviously since you're supposed to cook it at your table* and dessert. the food was nice but i wasn't too fond of the oil splattering that was going on with the hot plate. note to self: if ever there comes a time when i'd dine there in the future, remember to keep to fire as low as possible. haha!

after breaking fast, we wasted no time and went up to check out what was there. from the restaurant's entrance, looking up you are greeted with the oh-so-familiar signage for F.O.S. and although we were kinda on our way to check it out, I personally got sidetracked and almost ran into brands outlet instead which was right in front of the escalator. haha! was incredibly happy to say the least to find that they sold clothes that fit yours truly! *smiles* yay me! haha. first thing i grabbed was this simple long necklace with big red beads that costs a mere RM5 before proceeding to check out and try clothes. managed to find a pair of jeans, pants and a couple of work shirts that fit me just nice. ecstatic!

the following day we set out to midvalley. somehow everytime i'm in kl, i try to make my way there. i just love the place. it practically has everything! well, everything i need anyways. haha. *wishing we had jusco here.. sniff* kick started the shopping spree with looking for clothes for my lil bro and after about 10 pairs of jeans, we finally found the 3 that fit him best. *thank goodness* i was on the verge of giving up on the search at that point. got him a pair of nice black dress shoes and a good pair of slippers too. i made myself to the lower level to shop for more personal items and scout around looking for anything else that might catch my eye *and that i need*. was kinda rushing though. managed to get all the stuff in my list that i'd not listed as optional (including of course some optional items). i added more brushes to my makeup brush collection and bought snap hairclips *i'm hopeless. i only know where to find them in kl*.

we were supposed to head back in time for the bazaar ramadhan but the clothes hunt took too much time that we had to change our plans and break fast in midvalley. really wanted to get some nando's *yum* but was disappointed. never believe what you see. the place was pretty empty but apparently people could call in and make reservations. go figure. full house i tell ya! then we made our way to the chicken rice shop which looked equally deserted. again, the place was fully booked. no fair. needless to say all other eateries including the food court was packed and we ended up at pasta zanmai next to madam kwan's. interesting place. a japanese pasta restaurant. fusion much?!?

i had the unagi set.. unagi!!!

chicken teriyaki pizza.. how odd is the egg smacked in the middle of the dish?!?

the salad that came with the set was sick! totally in love with it.. the peanut infused dressing was awesome.. do try

after dinner we dropped by the lil japanese supermarket next door to munch on some japanese wafer ice creams

ah yes. then came sunday. our flight was to be at 6.20pm which was later retimed to 7.10pm. which meant we had an extra hour to roam the city that day. the only thing i could think of was actually to head back to midvalley and finish my clothes shopping. fortunately i refrained myself and we went to get an lcd monitor for my bro's refurbished pc after a short stop at amcorp mall. it's been ages since i've been to low yat and it has changed a bit. looks nicer with gorgeous outlets and a much more cheerie outlook. nice. my bro went for the lg w1953t monitor which boasts a 2ms response time and 50,000:1 contrast ratio despite it's 18.5" size. woohoo.


fortunately, we'd done all our packing and all we really needed to do after the lil shopping expedition was get our stuff in the car and off we go. hehe. stupid airport posted the check in counter for our flight to be at r51 and that turned out to be a different flight altogether. would you believe they sqeezed checking in 3 different flights into 2 counters concurrently?!?! insane much?!?! anyways, we managed to get through the whole check in process albeit the grumbling ground staff lady who when looking at you plastered an incredibly fake empty smile. some people are just beyond me. ignore.


*sniff* didn't even have time to get some snacks to buffer our tummies from breaking fast to the time they actually served food en flight. oh well. i was annoyed to say the least when they announced that the flight was delayed for another half hour (read: 30mins delay + 30mins boarding + 15mins take off + 15mins getting food to those who purchased online + 10-15mins for the cart to get to our seats = a very long time). we bought a couple bottles of drinking water from the store in the departure lounge and had a donut each from dunkin' donuts. i would've snapped at anyone who rubbed me the wrong way. lol!!!


all that said, i'm impressed with airasia's efforts in introducing new food in their menus. the chicken lasagna was pretty decent for airplane food. they no longer serve 1901 hotdogs but have replaced those with their own brand of hotdogs. haha. i managed to sleep through pretty much the entire flight back home while the 2 brothers were busy endulging in the psp game they were playing together with 1 psp. haha! needless to say by the time i got back home, i was drained. completely exhausted. plus it's still fasting month so had to wake up again at 3.30am to eat. hehe.

bazaar, reception, birthdays and training...

march seems filled with events and things to do. just realized it's been a while since my last post. *eyeing virtual cobwebs* so here are some updates so far...

i can't believe it's been NINE years since graduating high school!! thanks to momok for letting me knowing about the school bazaar and letting me tag along with her, nur and hez. it's been ages since we last met. met a few teachers and friends while i was there too. it was superbly HOT (as in panas) that day. good thing i managed to squeeze a parking spot at harrington's just opposite the school. so i didn't have that far to walk. hehe. the school seemed oddly smaller and well, really nothing much has changed. the canteen was still tiny and the classes look exactly how i remembered them to be. despite the many donations the entire student population have been contributing (and not to mention fund-raisers and bazaars), the only significant changes that i noticed were:

1. the main hall is now tiled up all the way to the canteen corridors
2. there's a trophy display cabinet mounted underneath the class corridor
facing the main hall
3. there's a changing room next to the stage
4. projectors in class

not quite sure but i heard they did some work with the toilets there as well, but i can't really confirm on that cos i didn't manage to take a peek at it. hehe. food as usual was bazaar priced (i.e. over-priced) which made it hard for me to get myself to buy anything. still for the sake of supporting my alma mater, i did spend rm10 there. haha.

tis the season to get married. haha. this is my 3rd wedding this year and as always, the bride and groom looked stunning. i loved how dimple's gown wasn't the conventional white gown but rather a more contemporary green and shocking pink evening gown which was absolutely gorgeous!!

* the grand entrance *

* me with the lovely couple *

my lil bro's birthday was the same day as the reception so we postponed and stretched his celebration to the next day til now. couldn't quite celebrate it on the day itself cos he was still down with fever and a cold. *aaawww* will be getting him a cake this week. hehe.

* isn't he just the cutest?!?!?! *

last thursday i was off to kl to attend a training session the following day. after much queries from travel desk, i managed to stay on til saturday night but only had the hotel booked for thursday night. good thing bestie nyn was so welcoming and had me at her place friday night. *hugs nyn and blows kisses*

my dad offered to pick me up from sentral and send me to the hotel. then we had dinner at belanga at the gardens. decided to try out their nasi kerabu (my first time eating) with grilled fish (i.e. ikan bakar) and ais teller (or es teler in indonesia). the verdict?!? sooo not my kinda food. the only upside to the nasi kerabu to me was the tangy taste of the bunga kantan in the ulam pile. the ais teller wasn't quite the thing for my taste buds. too rich and sweet for me. i gave the jackfruit pieces to my dad who ordered the same thing and strangely enjoyed his. to each his/her own i guess. lol!

my wonderful friends in kl had already booked tickets for dragon ball on friday night. so as soon as my training ended friday, i rushed back to midvalley cos they were coming to pick me up there and i didn't want to leave my luggage with the hotel concierge for too long. haha. paranoid, i know. don't even get me started with the public transportation system in kl. i've exponentially learnt to despise it. haha. had to forego the first komuter that arrived cos it was already sardine packed and positioned myself properly for the next train. i liked the idea of the blue, green and red lines incorporated in the station though so you know where the doors are gonna be when the train arrives. need to remind myself to take a cab next time. i was dragged back into the train 3 times *thanks to my laptop backpack and handbag* while getting off at the midvalley station. thanks to this nice girl who helped pull me out as she was getting into the train. that was nice of her. else i'd prolly be on the way to seputeh or something. haha.

anyways, after dragon ball, we headed off to old town white coffee in cyberjaya for intan's birthday celebration. i think it was supposed to be a surprise but all things considered it went well. it was nice to catch up with shima hunny while driving on the way to cyberjaya from sunway. *smiles*

* birthday girl intan and housemates (they're practically family) *

got back at 3-ish in the morning, changed and were instantly transported to dreamland. *zzzzz* was planning on getting up early to start the shopping escapades but when i opened my eyes, my watched was telling me it was already 12.30pm. haha. there goes the morning. got up, washed up and got ready to go. my babe nyn was already up around 9am but said i was sleeping so soundly (i.e. tidur mati) she let me sleep on. haha!!

soon as we got to midvalley, i was famished!! decided to grab a bite at nando's. was a bit disappointed though. i ordered the grilled chicken breast burger with chips in lemon and herbs and the chicken was the size of a kfc colonel burger chicken patty. ggrrrr... it used to be bigger. so i just restructured my burger to match the meat and ate away. haha.

somehow my family loves dunkin' donuts and as always it was my duty to get some to satisfy their cravings. thank goodness midvalley has practically everything!! went to get something for my mum and myself in jusco, then got a couple of books for my lil bro from mph, renewed my isetan card at the gardens, window shopped around, found my fossil watch *hurray!!!!* and finally dropped by dunkin' donuts to get a dozen donuts for the people back home. then it was time to head for sentral.

fortunately my trip back wasn't delayed. the trip to kl had a 1 hr delay which totally offset my plans for that night. *ggrrr* i love international flights. this one was heading for incheon transitting in kk. international flights = pillow & blanket. haha. although, i was starving so having the meal served more than an hour after take off was getting on my nerves. i get cranky when i'm hungry. haha. like my flight to kl, by the time the food cart got to my seat row, they only had one choice left. fortunately still, the chicken satay with fried rice and peanut sauce taste far better than the tasteless seafood pasta *blergh!* i had to gobble down on my flight to kl. haha. the pudding was weird so i didn't really eat that.

can you believe they served baskin robbin's very berry strawberry AND ferrero rocher chocs too?!?! yum yum.. if it wasn't for my gastric coming around, that would have totally made up for them serving the food late. *grins*