Day 3: Broadbeach

Today we did not plan to venture far. We had all agreed to have a sleep-in this morning but I woke up as usual at dawn and started writing the travelogue. That was the only time that I had some peace without any interruption.

The internet access from the apartment was erratic and charged by the minute, and so I wrote on Word, with the intention of transferring the writing to Blogger. I have included more details than usual so that as I told hubby, if we ever had Alzheimer’s, we could read the blog and remember what we did. Ya, morbid.

Recording on what we did reminded me of those times more than a decade ago when my hubby and I used to travel – before the children came along – and how we used to develop and arrange photos - printed on paper - in real 3-D photo albums and painstakingly wrote the narration in the old-fashioned way, using paper and pen. Hah, that would probably go down in the history book. What, this was how humans viewed photographs in the 20th century? Lol!

When we were ready to go out, it was time for lunch. We drove to the Broadbeach town center (see below), a couple of blocks away. There was a Sunday market at the beach there every 1st and 3rd Sunday, and as it was the 3rd Sunday of the month, we were lucky to catch it. It was cool (I don’t mean it in the weather sense). Son No 1 bought a long sleeve blue shirt which purportedly was specially manufactured to block off sunrays up to a power of Sph 50 - Son No 1 was terrified of getting sunburnt. According to the vendor, the shirt was light in weight, could dry quickly under the sun and could double up as swimwear - wow. Hubby thought it was all hype but we succumbed to it anyway. Although the stalls were interesting, we did not linger long as some stalls were packing up to go.

But the children had a lot of expendable energy and were in a good mood after a good night rest. They were full of antics.

We had lunch at an Italian restaurant, with a half-price menu for lunch. Mama Mia, it was good. We had steaks and I particularly enjoyed the fresh greens that went with the steak. There was even a live performance at the mall that provided the entertainment.

After lunch, the children couldn’t wait for the main highlight of the day which was the beach. The beach was one block away but somehow, we ended up driving there. Parking was not a problem. However, by the time we reached the beach, it was after 4 pm and the weather had turned cool. Nevertheless, the children were exhilarated. The wind was getting strong - they could not even play with the beach ball, which was getting blown away. The two younger boys frolicked on the sand for a while while Son No 1, wearing his brand new sunblock shirt, just enjoyed getting his feet wet, splashing along the shore. I stood huddled, with my arms across my chest, and my back against the direction of the wind. Cold, cold.

We did not stay for long. We had missed the best part of the sun, which was in the morning and early afternoon, and we vowed to return to the beach another day…this time, in the morning.

Back at the apartment, we had a movie marathon starting from 6:30pm. Mid-way, hubby went to buy pizza for us from Pizza Hut which was just a short walk away. We watched Home Alone on DVD, followed by Surviving Christmas, a 2004 comedy starring Ben Affleck, which was shown on Australian TV. The Australian TV networks have lined up many Christmas-sy programmes everyday.

The first night we were here, we watched Santa Clause 2, starring Tim Allen, and last night, there was a live telecast of an outdoor Christmas performance by Aussie singers.

Needless to say, the Christmas spirit was well in the air.

Day 2: Dreamworld

Dreamworld was the first theme park that we visited. The residents included Dora, Spongebob & Squarepants and other Nickelodeon characters. But truly, the children were beyond the age of enchantment with cartoon characters. I had to persuade Son No 3 to take a picture with Dora, "so that we could show Faidu what you were doing in Australia."

The two younger boys were more interested in the Australian Wildlife Experience.

The key attractions for all the children were the rides. Son No 2 was initially nervous but he managed to overcome his fear and in the end, asked to sit on the Spongebob Flypants ride (below) one more time .

Son No 3's favourite was the Swinger Zinger (below). It did not go quite as high as the one in Genting Highlands, which made it suitable for all ages.

Son No 3 on the Dora the Explorer Sea Plane Ride (see below).Son No 1 sat on this Reef Diver alone (below). He was fairly dizzy and disoriented after the ride. It was a spinning disc that moved gradually from a horizontal to a vertical position. Ugh :)

I wanted to sit on this ride, the Motocoaster (below) and Son No 1 accompanied me. This was the high speed ride, designed after the motorcycle F1, and we had to couch our body in a motorcycle-riding position. I enjoyed it very much because it was extremely fast but did not have any huge vertical drops. Just my type of roller coaster.

Unanimously, the best ride for the whole family was the Thunder River Rapids Ride. Son No 2 got fairly wet but wanted to do it again. We did it twice - it was fun!

Going home at 5pm (notice the long shadows)...

By the way, did I mention that lunch was a total catastrophe? We ordered chicken nuggets, fish and fried chicken and what we had was a whole lot of fries and very little of what we did order. The Aussies were evidently very big on fries.

For dinner that night, we went to a Chinese eatery which was just a 2-minute walk from our apartment. Though the shop was simply fitted, we had a scrumptious dinner with good value for money. We learnt that "long soup" meant "noodles with soup" while "short soup" meant "dumplings with soup". Interesting :)

The beef with black beans, sweet and sour pork and teriyaki chicken (above) were all gobbled up hungrily. Son No 2 said even the rice was better than what we had in Malaysia. Not sure if it was really the case, but it showed what a few days of deprivation could do!

This was definitely a place we would return to on another day.

Day 1: Pacific Fair/Surfers Paradise

On this Day 1 of our one-week vacation, we had planned to take it easy. After freshening up, we drove to Pacific Fair down the road. It was within walking distance but probably not advisable under the blazing sun. We headed for the Food Court to grab a quick bite as the children were starving.

The Food Court easily had 20 stalls but the choice was limited as far as the children were concerned. Son No 2 wanted to eat yong-tau-foo, lol! Besides a Vietnamese and a Japanese stall, all the stalls sold Western food offering all types of burgers, spuds, doughnuts, chicken (grilled, fried, roast, natural) steaks etc. To me, it was like a giant fast-food restaurant. After walking one round, Son No 3 chose a simple hot dog. After walking two rounds, the two older boys settled for KFC, though they had to swallow their disappointment as there was no “hot and spicy” flavour. Hubby chose a steak burger. As for me, I already had my eye on the spud right from the start.

Some of us might remember the recent debate in the Singapore forum pages on whether patrons should clear their own dishes after eating at the food court. As I was having my lunch, I observed my fellow diners with interest. My verdict was that about 95% of the patrons would dump their used crockery into bins and left a fairly clean table behind for the next patron. They were gracious, even the group of young tattooed bare-bodied Aussie males. But there was an important difference to our situation in Singapore. Here, all the crockery used was of the disposable kind, from the plates to the forks and spoons. And things like hot dogs, burgers and chicken were packed for “to go”, whether or not one was dining in or taking away. There was no soupy stuff, very little steaming hot food and none that required deboning or shelling that left food remnants behind. It was thus easy to dispose the paper-based waste and the diners mostly cooperated. There was a cleaning lady - a Chinese foreign worker, in baggy overalls, not in cheongsam - whose job was mainly to wipe the tables. She was largely invisible and unintrusive.

After lunch, we headed for Coles, the local supermarket chain. Along the way, there was a Santa Claus booth. The Santa here looked more authentic than others – I surmised it was because, besides the mandatory red costume and white beard, he bothered to put on a pair of gold-rimmed spectacles which was perched low on his nose bridge. Son No 3 went up to shake his hands and took a photograph.
Whenever I visited another country, one of my favourite activities was to browse in the local supermarket and get a glimpse of what the locals lived on. This was not possible with the three boys and hubby in tow. At Coles, we managed to load up our trolley with fruits (cherries were in season, hurrah), snacks and breakfast items, including a disproportionate amount of Arnotts biscuits *grin*

That night, we explored Surfers Paradise, the heart of Gold Coast. The last time we were at Gold Coast, we stayed in Surfers Paradise, instead of Broadbeach. Surfers Paradise was a more established and colourful tourist area while Broadbeach was cleaner and the buildings were newer. Those who liked an action-packed holiday would not go wrong with Surfers Paradise.

The night air was cool. There was a night bazaar along the beachfront, with buskers and artists providing street entertainment and vendors hawking their wares ranging from t-shirts, homemade soaps and souvenir items. Pubs and cafes lined both sides of Cavill Avenue with patrons spilling out onto the pavement. There was a lot of hustle and bustle that was missing in Broadbeach, if one liked that sort of thing. For those who preferred a quiet holiday, Broadbeach or beyond might be a better choice. The Gold Coast had a long stretch of beach that stretched miles and miles. There were many other beaches in less commercialized – and hence, cheaper - areas, if one dared to venture beyond.

We shared a pizza and pasta meal at a sidewalk cafe. Son No 2 gave the thumbs-up for the pizza for its generous topping of pineapple and ham. Another thumbs-up for the marinara from hubby. But Son No 1 gave the thumbs-down for the carbonara fettucine for its non-creamy sauce. I suppose Son No 3 and I were less discerning on our food – we found most of the food ok.

That night, we walked along the side of the beach (without touching the sand), just to give the children a prelude to what was to come – they couldn’t wait to go to the beach. We saw white dots of seagulls gliding in the night sky and in the night sky, the stars gleamed. I spotted the Southern Cross.

Day 1: Arrival

The flight arrived punctually at 8:40am. We were greeted with the trademark sunny weather of the Gold Coast at a day temperature of 28˚C. The sun was scorching but in the shade, it was pleasant due to the wind factor.

Through the internet, we had arranged for the rental of a medium-sized car, the Holden Commodore but when we approached the Avis counter at the airport, we had another stroke of luck. We were upgraded to the large car category as all the cars in our category were taken. So we got the larger and more comfortable Holden Statesman instead. The downside was that it was a gas-guzzler, but petrol price being at a per liter price of A$0.99, I guess that was alright.

As we drove along the Gold Coast Highway towards Broadbeach where the Mantra Sierra Grand was located, I found myself hoping that we would be three times lucky. So far, the flight and the car had been positive. As we all knew, accommodation played a key factor in making or breaking a vacation. The apartment, where we would be staying for a week, had been well-recommended by fellow travelers. If all the information and photos presented on the internet were accurate, we should not have a problem.

We had no trouble locating the apartment. I had earlier viewed the place on Google Earth and knew what to expect. [The internet is really amazing.] We were given a 20th floor apartment with a good view of the ocean. I had a good feel about the place. When we entered our apartment, my fears were laid to rest. The apartment was above our expectations as can be seen from the photos below.

The flight, the car and the apartment – none disappointed. It was a marvelous start to our vacation.

Day 0: A Stroke Of Luck

[I am now blogging from our apartment at the Gold Coast. I am seated at the outdoor dining table at the balcony of our 20th floor apartment, overlooking the endless blue ocean with white breaking surf, and the tangy seabreeze gently caressing my face. It is very early in the morning but the sun is already up at 5 am. Besides Son No 2 who is also an early riser, the rest are still fast asleep. Son No 2 is doing his "colouring" in front of the 40" plasma TV in the living room. But as I intend to write this travelogue in a chronological order, I will now switch back to Day 0... until I manage to catch up to today, which is Day 2!]

The journey from our home to LCCT, Sepang took less than an hour. We were booked on AirAsiaX for our flight to the Gold Coast but when we reached the airport, we had a surprise. We were told that there had been a delay in the delivery of our carrier, the new A330, to AirAsiaX. Thus, AirAsiaX has chartered a Cathay Pacific plane and crew to take us to the Gold Coast. Due to this turn in events, we now had a full serviced flight to the Gold Coast!

When we booked our tickets, there was a good offer on the AirAsiaX Business Class seats. Even after we added in all the extras that we needed to pay to make our flight more comfortable, such as meals, blanket, pre-booked seats and checked-in luggage, the final amount that we needed to pay for the budget airline was still considerably less than a normal full-serviced flight. Now, on the converted Cathay Pacific Business Class, the deal was even more worth it. The cabin crew spoke Cantonese, HK-style, and provided excellent service. The children were lucky, if only they realized it - they could enjoy a “real” Business Class experience. We had in-flight entertainment, wide berth seats (with all those hidden gadgets that impressed the children - and me - no end), a Goodnight kit, a full supper with free-flow of wine/juice and a simple breakfast the next day.



Son No 3 slept soundly throughout the night, with his mouth opened as usual, and had to be woken up the next morning. The rest of us managed to sleep as best as we could. Economy or business - it was still a challenge for most of us trying to sleep in a semi-reclining position. But overall, it was a good flight.