my 24th Birthday in Gold Coast and Brisbane
Been always envious that my sister gets to celebrate her birthday overseas (since our family goes on holidays in Dec), and for once, after so many years of my life. I got to celebrate mine (finally!) abroad! Read Matt's blog abt how he planned the entire thing. I have no idea man...
Anyway, it was really awesome that night! Here is a close up shot of my birthday cake with complimentry ice cream and strawberries from the restaurant along some Marina water front. Needless to say, it was a surprise, so I was really shocked and erm.. surprised? A bit pai seh that they sang the birthday song lar. Heh. :)
Wanted to foot the bill (since Matt and his relatives have been contributing so much already) but apparently, the staff decided that Matt's Visa looks more classy than mine and he took his card and swiped it into the machine.
Okay, now I feel a little cheapskate, considering that Matt and his relatives paid so much for my every meal. ARGH. :(
Nonetheless, that day was really a happy day for me.
Read more abt Matt's plot here.
Oh yesh, that morning, we went to many look outs! And there was this place called the "best-of-all" lookouts. We could see Surfers Paradise from there! :) Then went to some waterfall. (okay, my mind stored memories from the dinner that night that I forgot all the names of places visited.)
Basically, I went this
and this
and this.
This was our supposed dinner for that night, but she ran away as soon as we tried to put her on the baking tray.
And, yesh, on my last night before leaving Matt's place for Brisbane the next day, I left my legacy on his fridge whiteboard. Vandalised it with my Ninja drawings.(argh, forgot pictures again.)
------------------------------
Matt drove us down to Brisbane the next day and we went to Mt Koot-tha (however u spell that). Shopped for the Krispy Kreme which Matt and his relatives were going to bring over to Perth. Matt told me that Sydney has outlets of them in Sydney, which I bought a dozen when I arrived back there for Dom. Tried 1, okay lar, quite good taste. Just that if you think of eating a doughnut that costs like $2.30 AUD == S$3.22 per piece then your heart can start to bleed like the song "Bleeding Love".
Bade my farewell to Matt and relatives thereafter for a night in Brisbane for I'm slated to catch a JetStar domestic flight from the International Terminal the next morning. This means that I have to check in at 6.55am and I can't bring liquids or stuff on board since I'm subjected to the same security checks as International Flights.
Stayed at some stupid "Palace Backpackers" for that night in a single room since I didn't want to disturb the rest who wld be sleeping when I check out the next day. Also, I hate sleeping on the second deck on bunk bed style so I paid AUD 45 + 10(refundable key deposit) for that night. The local bank rates converted it to S$79 bucks while my earlier expenditure on petrol for the same amount was converted to S$72 by UOB bank. If I had known, I would have used UOB's prevailing rate already! SHEESH! They charged 1.44 for the exchange rate! So you can imagine my shock when I just received my bank statement last week.
Anyway, 45AUD would have been worth the money if, you get hand towels in toilets, soap dispensers and perhaps, cleaner rooms and sanitised bathrooms. Apparently, my expectations were too high.
1. The lifts are like those ancient lifts where I have to manually open 2 doors (the lift and the lobby doors) to enter. When I first tried the lifts, I thought that the doors were jammed, only to realise that I needed ALOT OF STRENGTH to open the 2 doors. And it ain't helping when you have a backpack and a daypack on your body. My room was on the 4th floor.
2. The room is so tiny. It feels like some toilet cubicle with really lousy views from that really minute windows that are not bigger than those on the commercial planes that we fly today.
3. About 1/2 of the toilet taps dispenses no water and the other dispenses brown water. The floors of the toilets look as though it was there since WWI (note that it's WWI and not WWII) lined with partial grey cement and partial i-donno-what-sick-stuff.
4. The bathroom floors consisted of the many tiny square tiles that contains lots of dirt in between, not mentioning the bugs and insects that died on the floor. And for once, I felt dirtier after my showers for I stepped on some bugs (accidentally) and some dirt.
5. Didn't have a good night sleep on the bed. Suspected of some beg bugs. Woke up every hour and counting down. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore and checked out at 5.50am feeling as awake as I was before sleeping. Could even do 5BX when I wake up, cos my muscles didn't even rest at all. Trudgged 4 floors down to check out only to realise that I had to wait cos' the computer was processing some applications so slowly.
And fyi, I took the AirTrain to Brisbane International Airport and brushed my teeth and washed my face there. So, you can imagine how bad the hostel was. Didn't take any photos for fear that the atmospheric dust/dirt/germs there will corrupt my camera. For once, that was the flight that I needn't rush - I was the first to check in for this Jetstar Flight. Should have spent that money and grabbed a cab to the airport instead. Even sleeping on the couches there would certainly be more comfortable.
The Jetstar flight JQ18 was apparently delayed due to delay in the incoming flight from Osaka. Walked around the entire transit lounge and just as I walked past the Singapore Airlines boarding gate with a red Singapore passport in my hand, the ground staff(GS) politely greeted me.
GS: Good morning sir, are you catching a flight to Singapore?
ZG: Oh no, I'm heading to the toilet first.
(walks back to look at the SQ plane near the gate)
GS: (walks over) Good morning Sir, are you catching a Singapore Airlines flight this morning?
ZG: oh erm. Not today, thanks for asking anyways.
And they are already processing their final call when it's like 20 minutes from departure time?! It's good though, that means that they are really punctual. So proud to be holding a Singapore Passport then. :) *beams with pride*
Nonetheless, Jetstar was really fast in their turn around time as well, considering that their delay was about an hour. As soon as I stepped into the plane, I couldn't help but feel that the leather seats were super new and comfortable. And indeed it was. It was bigger than the Jetstar domestic which I took from SYD to GC and alot more grand with huge screen entertainment and being in a 2-4-2 configuration.
Okay, after this experience, JetStar International has won me over in terms of budget flights.
p.s.--- there are pretty stewardess on board too. just when u thought that the Singapore Girl is the only female in the skies today.
Anyway, it was really awesome that night! Here is a close up shot of my birthday cake with complimentry ice cream and strawberries from the restaurant along some Marina water front. Needless to say, it was a surprise, so I was really shocked and erm.. surprised? A bit pai seh that they sang the birthday song lar. Heh. :)
Wanted to foot the bill (since Matt and his relatives have been contributing so much already) but apparently, the staff decided that Matt's Visa looks more classy than mine and he took his card and swiped it into the machine.
Okay, now I feel a little cheapskate, considering that Matt and his relatives paid so much for my every meal. ARGH. :(
Nonetheless, that day was really a happy day for me.
Read more abt Matt's plot here.
Oh yesh, that morning, we went to many look outs! And there was this place called the "best-of-all" lookouts. We could see Surfers Paradise from there! :) Then went to some waterfall. (okay, my mind stored memories from the dinner that night that I forgot all the names of places visited.)
Basically, I went this
and this
and this.
This was our supposed dinner for that night, but she ran away as soon as we tried to put her on the baking tray.
And, yesh, on my last night before leaving Matt's place for Brisbane the next day, I left my legacy on his fridge whiteboard. Vandalised it with my Ninja drawings.(argh, forgot pictures again.)
------------------------------
Matt drove us down to Brisbane the next day and we went to Mt Koot-tha (however u spell that). Shopped for the Krispy Kreme which Matt and his relatives were going to bring over to Perth. Matt told me that Sydney has outlets of them in Sydney, which I bought a dozen when I arrived back there for Dom. Tried 1, okay lar, quite good taste. Just that if you think of eating a doughnut that costs like $2.30 AUD == S$3.22 per piece then your heart can start to bleed like the song "Bleeding Love".
Bade my farewell to Matt and relatives thereafter for a night in Brisbane for I'm slated to catch a JetStar domestic flight from the International Terminal the next morning. This means that I have to check in at 6.55am and I can't bring liquids or stuff on board since I'm subjected to the same security checks as International Flights.
Stayed at some stupid "Palace Backpackers" for that night in a single room since I didn't want to disturb the rest who wld be sleeping when I check out the next day. Also, I hate sleeping on the second deck on bunk bed style so I paid AUD 45 + 10(refundable key deposit) for that night. The local bank rates converted it to S$79 bucks while my earlier expenditure on petrol for the same amount was converted to S$72 by UOB bank. If I had known, I would have used UOB's prevailing rate already! SHEESH! They charged 1.44 for the exchange rate! So you can imagine my shock when I just received my bank statement last week.
Anyway, 45AUD would have been worth the money if, you get hand towels in toilets, soap dispensers and perhaps, cleaner rooms and sanitised bathrooms. Apparently, my expectations were too high.
1. The lifts are like those ancient lifts where I have to manually open 2 doors (the lift and the lobby doors) to enter. When I first tried the lifts, I thought that the doors were jammed, only to realise that I needed ALOT OF STRENGTH to open the 2 doors. And it ain't helping when you have a backpack and a daypack on your body. My room was on the 4th floor.
2. The room is so tiny. It feels like some toilet cubicle with really lousy views from that really minute windows that are not bigger than those on the commercial planes that we fly today.
3. About 1/2 of the toilet taps dispenses no water and the other dispenses brown water. The floors of the toilets look as though it was there since WWI (note that it's WWI and not WWII) lined with partial grey cement and partial i-donno-what-sick-stuff.
4. The bathroom floors consisted of the many tiny square tiles that contains lots of dirt in between, not mentioning the bugs and insects that died on the floor. And for once, I felt dirtier after my showers for I stepped on some bugs (accidentally) and some dirt.
5. Didn't have a good night sleep on the bed. Suspected of some beg bugs. Woke up every hour and counting down. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore and checked out at 5.50am feeling as awake as I was before sleeping. Could even do 5BX when I wake up, cos my muscles didn't even rest at all. Trudgged 4 floors down to check out only to realise that I had to wait cos' the computer was processing some applications so slowly.
And fyi, I took the AirTrain to Brisbane International Airport and brushed my teeth and washed my face there. So, you can imagine how bad the hostel was. Didn't take any photos for fear that the atmospheric dust/dirt/germs there will corrupt my camera. For once, that was the flight that I needn't rush - I was the first to check in for this Jetstar Flight. Should have spent that money and grabbed a cab to the airport instead. Even sleeping on the couches there would certainly be more comfortable.
The Jetstar flight JQ18 was apparently delayed due to delay in the incoming flight from Osaka. Walked around the entire transit lounge and just as I walked past the Singapore Airlines boarding gate with a red Singapore passport in my hand, the ground staff(GS) politely greeted me.
GS: Good morning sir, are you catching a flight to Singapore?
ZG: Oh no, I'm heading to the toilet first.
(walks back to look at the SQ plane near the gate)
GS: (walks over) Good morning Sir, are you catching a Singapore Airlines flight this morning?
ZG: oh erm. Not today, thanks for asking anyways.
And they are already processing their final call when it's like 20 minutes from departure time?! It's good though, that means that they are really punctual. So proud to be holding a Singapore Passport then. :) *beams with pride*
Nonetheless, Jetstar was really fast in their turn around time as well, considering that their delay was about an hour. As soon as I stepped into the plane, I couldn't help but feel that the leather seats were super new and comfortable. And indeed it was. It was bigger than the Jetstar domestic which I took from SYD to GC and alot more grand with huge screen entertainment and being in a 2-4-2 configuration.
Okay, after this experience, JetStar International has won me over in terms of budget flights.
p.s.--- there are pretty stewardess on board too. just when u thought that the Singapore Girl is the only female in the skies today.
posted by ZG at
3:14 pm
