Fun in the Sun - Gold Coast Part 1

Fulfilled one of my 2010 New Year's resolutions over the weekend by reconnecting with a high school friend. Hopped on a plane to Gold Coast and spent 4 days and 3 nights there with April and her sister, Niko. It was really great. I had loads of fun... much better than the last time I visited. But like I told Monica, it's probably because there wasn't a toddler there who screamed the house down for 2 long continuous hours and threw food all over the place at a restaurant. Heheh... aww shuddup, I'm not a mean auntie.

Gold Coast, here I come with my gazillion bus timetables:

I did my usual pre-flight routine the night before. I decided on the outfit/shoes/accessories I was going to wear, lock up my suitcase and have it by the front door ready to rock and roll (after packing and repacking 4 times minimum), have my handbag, passport and travel documents by the bedroom door and last but not least, set the alarm.

So anyway I worked out what time I had to wake up at usual. I was taking the 7.15 am flight which meant I had to be there by 5.15. I was leaving my car at the nearby carpark so I wanted to be there 15 minutes earlier to get that sorted and have enough time to jump in the complimentary shuttle bound for the terminal. My house is 15 minutes away from the airport so that meant I had to leave by 4.45 am. Now I also wanted 45 minutes to get ready and do a last minute check of everything I am taking with me. So what time did I set my alarm after retracing my steps three times?? 4 am you say?? Nope, 4.45 am!

The alarm went off and I woke up immediately. But I thought I could indulge in my favourite thing and have a snooze so I looked at the clock. That was when my brains finally switched on and went HANG ON, IT'S 4.45 AM????? BUT BUT BUT THE PLANE LEAVES AT 7.15!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

Suffice to say I went straight into damage mode. I don't think I've gotten dressed that quickly in my life EVER! I got dressed and was out the door in under 10 minutes I think. All I had time to do was wet my hair (my hair stands on its end every morning so it's not exactly a look I want to share with the world), pull my clothes on (my second layer of singlet was inside out.. didn't realise till I got to where April was staying... shame!), skip makeup, skip rechecking, skip everything. But in the end, I was only 15 minutes behind my schedule. My little control-freak heart was not happy though!! The customs dude said to me "Are you in a rush or something?". You have no idea, dude.

Tradition still had to be observed even though I was trying to cut down so instead of my usual pre-flight breakfast combo, I *ONLY* had a sausage and egg (hold the cheese, please!!) muffin. I lugged Dan Brown's latest book on the flight and back. It was really good so go get it out from your library!
Flew there with el cheapo Jetstar. It got the job done.

Got there and jumped on the bus bound for Surfer's Paradise. April and Niko had been staying with April's homestay so I'm meeting them there. The bus driver told me when to get off and the apartment was so central that I had no trouble finding it.

Views from their apartment:

We could see the serviced apartments we were staying at from their place - the bluey second building on the right hand side. Yupp, the weather was beaaaaoooooutiful. Sigh... stupid wet Auckland weather.

We wheeled our suitcases and walked to The Towers of Chevron Renaissance. It was right in the centre of all the actions with a mall right underneath it and the heart of Surfers right outside. All the buses go past outside it so the location was A++++. It only costed us AUD$50 a night per person so that was even better!!

The lobby area with the AUD$2 for 15 minutes internet:

The girls checking in... that's Niko pondering something and April hidden in a hat next to her.

Our apartment had an Asian theme and is fully equipped with all the usual whitewares - microwave, oven, fridge, washing machine and dryer! The couch pulls out into an extra bed.

Chinese corner next to the front door:

More wall decors:

Mooore wall decors:

The furnishings really were thoughtful... there was even a dvd player with kiddie dvds supplied!!

Niko's room:

April and I shared this room...

View from our room..... that building in the off middle/right is the building next to April's homestay's apartment. Their building was blocked from view by the building on the far right.

View from the living room balcony.... ahhh glorious sunshine!

People hard at work frying their skin in the neighbouring hotel's pool...

We then headed off to Marina Mirage to do a spot of shopping and check out the nearby Palazzo Versace. We also walked past Sheraton where me, Mel, Monica, Haz and the then 2 year old Logan went for a yummy seafood buffet. Sounds good in theory but Logan was in his obnoxious food throwing phase so he was being a super brat. Mel wanted to slap him silly.

Entrance to Palazzo Versace where the term OTT equates classiness and elegance. Can you spot Medusa?

Grand entrance:

Fresh orchids hung overhead in glasses..

I took a paparazzo-style photo of someone having tea in the foyer. Check out the Versace teacups they were using.

After we finished gawking and acting like Country Mices, we headed down the road to find some lunch. Walked past these flowers which brought back childhood memories for me.

Growing up, we (ok, it was really just me) used to pull the middle stem out of the flowers and suck the liquid/sap(?). It tasted kinda sweet. Mum thought me to. She's naughty.

Funny looking flowers...

We went to a nearby fish and chips shop for lunch. It was sooo popular but luckily it didn't take long to deepfry food so we were stuffing our faces in no time.

This was my lunch - fish and chips AUD7.50 I think. It was good but nothing I couldn't get in NZ.

The 2 girls shared this... fish and chips with calamari rings and a salad. Sigh, THIS was what they do the whole trip. Share a meal while I eat a meal by myself. THIS was also why I feel like a fat giant next to them. Bleh! Oh yeah, that gigantic tub of sauce was my tartare sauce. Yum yum.

We then went to Australia Fair, another mall, for a lookie. It was pretty pathetic but it did have an awesome candy stall so I went to town!! Yippee.... you'll be able to see what i bought in the next post. It was blazing hot so we went back to the hotel for a rest.

Once the heat became more manageable, we hit the streets again and wandered around in the streets close to our apartment.

Hey look, LV!!!!

Walked past this souvenir shop with gigantic Hello Kittys in the windows:

Walking on the streets...

Heading towards the beach and walking past the beachside mall area:

Saw these promo girls selling something... we tried to take a photo of them and April was a lot more blatant than me!!! Darn tourists!

Back view! Not a job for the faint-hearted, methinks.

There was a market going on by the beach so we headed there to have a nosy. We then stumbled across this artist hard at work....

Pretty cool huh?

A gift from me to you, loyal readers.... Feast your eyes on it.

Rows of market stalls....

Dude and his rent-a-cuddle gigantic snake:

This brought back memories of Melbourne!!! We used to go visit Mel and Monica in Melbourne when they were studying there. It was the epitome of adventure for us. (Still is, sadly enough) One time, Monica took the younger sisters to Victoria Market and they came back with these glass figurines filled with coloured sand!!! I can't remember why I didn't go so I missed out. But Monica bought me one so phew! Did she miss a major hissy fit or what?? Anyway I still have these in my room. I will take a pic at some stage and show you guys.

The pavement had these funny looking plants lined up next to it. So I took pictures because Mum would be interested in them.

Weird huh?

Every market worth its salt has a cupcake stall these days and this one was no different. I wouldn't be true to me if I don't buy one. Obviously!

So cute........ $18 for 6 or $3.50 each.

I wanted the middle cupcake - white chocolate and raspberry but it was sold out. Boo!

So instead, I had the ferrero rocher one. Still yum.

After that, we had Korean BBQ for dinner. It was really busy.

April had some hot noodle soup dish which looked like 2 minute noodles. Hehehe... Niko had some vegetarian dish that I forgot to take a pic of.

I had my usual - beef bulgogi - because I'm a carnivor at heart. It was pretty good but I think I can get better ones in Auckland.

We walked around some more after dinner. We walked around heaps everyday in GC which was really good. I didn't put on weight while I was there...... BUT I've put on weight now. It might have something to do with the big bag of chocolates I scoffed down last night while watching Valentines Day at the movies. I think I was eating to numb my pain. B.A.D M.O.V.I.E! Do NOT watch it. I'm talking to you, Mei.

Walked past a Ripley Believe It or Not Museum....

Then it was time for dessert! April and Niko found this yoghurt place which I promptly fell in love with. I was taking a photo of the store front and this Aussie dude decided to pose for me.

There's a choice of original, green tea or pomegranate. I had pomegranate with almonds, lychee and mango. Sooooooooo soooo sooooo sooo good. It had the texture of Mackers soft serve ice cream and tasted super sour, like a more solid Yakult. SO GOOD!

The teeny tiny original yoghurt with passionfruit sauce was what April and Niko shared. Pitiful, I know. (Actually they were both the small size... so I wasn't THAT piggy. Ok, I am THAT piggy.)

Anyway that was the end of Day 1. I was dog-tired with jetlag so I slept well that night.

Baptism of the JJs

The JJs were getting baptised last Sunday in Hamilton so we rounded up the troops to go down and give our loving support. I arrived at Mel's place before anyone else so I got to enjoy the sunshine and view on her deck.

We headed south in Gavin's car and had to make the obligatory toilet stop at Huntly.

Logan and Lauren had a play at the playground next to the toilet the last time they were here.

We got to the church just in time!

Nice clean water..

The JJs pre-dip, still filthy with sin... geddit? heheh...

Quite a big crowd hung around after the service to witness the baptism..

Jayden's testimony...


Jenn's...

We then had yum cha together before heading back to Auckland.

I'm off to Gold Coast tomorrow so Happy Chinese New Year and/or Happy Valentine's Day to you suckers. Laters!

Girly Day at Chuan Spa with Mel

I arranged for me and Mel to have a girly spa session at the newest spa in town, Chuan Spa at Langham Hotel back in December - as a thank you for feeding the sisters throughout the year. We got there about an hour early to make full use of the spa facilities. We took the lift up and then proceed to walk through a maze of corridors, past maids cleaning up hotel rooms, rows of hotel room doors. So the location of the spa is a bit bizarre and not very user-friendly really.


We finally made it to the entrance after 3 days trek or what felt like a 3 days trek. Look at how ecstatic Mel was.

Chuan Spa is your usual fancy smancy 5 star hotel spa franchise. We were escorted to the waiting room area where we were served some sort of detoxing/cleansing/eternal youth elixir/tea.

It was my first time so I had to fill in a questionnaire to determine which of the 5 chinese elements I was. This is to better understand what my needs are and then alter the spa therapy to suit my needs... or it is just a marketing ploy to justify them charging me an arm and a leg.

The Chinese words read Water, Earth, Gold, Wood and Fire.

Check out my answers.... Turns out me and Mel both are angry people so the oils they used on us were designed to calm us down. Good luck! No surprises there really.

We then went off to use the complimentary spa facilities - steam sauna, dry sauna and the snail shower...... the steam sauna was good as was the snail shower.... wo 6 shower jets all pumping strong warm water out ... yes please! Then we went and relaxed in the next waiting room as we still had time to spare.

Forgot to take a pic of the room where we had the massage. It was a couples package which is cheaper than paying for separate rooms so Mel and I masqueraded as a couple that day.... we both have the same surname so the therapist may have thought that we were Mrs and Mrs Hii. They probably also thought that Mel was lucky to score a partner as hot as me.

After the massage, we were ushered to another section where we lounged around, reading magazines and drinking chamomile tea (because we are angry people) and a beansprout watermelon juice.

Good times.