Gold Coast/Brisbane Itinerary: Day 2

Second day of Aussie holiday continue in Brisbane. I began my day at Queen street for breakfast. At 10am, it is quite crowded with people, mainly teenagers & tourists. There are street performers almost every 10 steps away. 

As a hardcore gamer, you definitely have to get a game whenever you go! I managed to get shadow of the damned at AUD15! Ok, I can get almost the same price in Singapore. But hey, I’m already holding it, price reasonable, and out it will goes with me. After that, I shop a little here and there. Walked into Lush and I spend an hour browsing all the products. No joke, an hour! The assistants are so hype, friendly and knowledgeable in their products! As compared to Lush Singapore, their services is excellent! They introduce their products, give recommendations, let you try their products and not pushy for the sales. Unlike Singapore Lush, the assistants will be standing like a scarecrow in the shop. When you question them, they seems to be unsure about their products. Super turn off. Anyway I bought some shampoo and mask and continue my shopping trip. Country Road is having some promotion and was distributing popcorns & balloons. The guys are super-duper gorgeous! Really can’t take my eyes off them *blush* Girls are just average, so is kinda disappointing though.

After grabbing some souvenirs, I head towards the tourists places.

First stop - Old Treasury Building (my original plan) but don't know why I cannot locate it. But I found Treasury Building. I kinda love the exterior of the building, touch of Victoria’s style. I didn't really explore to interior because it is partly hotel and casino and I’m not really interested. 

Next head to St John’s Cathedral. While walking from Treasury Building to St John’s Cathedral, there is several smaller churches. And they are all so pretty and Victoria’s style. How I wish I can get married in one of these cathedral!

After visiting all the churches, I’m starving because it is almost 3pm. I spotted Food Court and dashed into it. End up it is just a consolidation of fast food! As you may know, in Singapore food court, we have lotsa different types of food. Western food, Chinese food, Korean food, Japanese food, Thai food, etc. I simply don't expect a range of fast food! *FAINT* As I’m starving, I just grab something to eat.

After recharging my “battery”, next in line is Queensland Museum. 

Perhaps there is a lot of animals, birds, insects and marine life, I am quite fascinated in there. In a blink of an eye, it is their closing time. While walking back to Southbank for dinner, I saw a building “NG House”. I burst out laughing and wonders when my dad bought a building in Brisbane. It’s really coincidence that the owner of the building has the same surname as my family.

Suddenly it’s started to rain! How depressing! I bought a magazine, drinking hot chocolate while waiting for the rain to stop. I plan to walk a little before having dinner. Then again, weather is against me. After finished reading my magazine and drinking my hot chocolate, I think my friend is kinda bored. So end up, I went to nearby store bought a raincoat for her and we headed back to hotel. I guess too much walking makes me hungry, so I grab some pie for my dinner. It’s kinda sad for my dinner though. My baby milo jacket was drenched in the rain, so I bought it to the dryer. Ate my dinner, watch some TV, picked up my jacket, masked my face and ZZzzzzz…

Next day, back to Gold Coast.

Gold Coast/Brisbane Itinerary: Day 1

My first day in Gold Coast will be heading to Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary as it is just 15mins away from Gold Coast Airport. Catch bus 761 at Gold Coast Airport bus stop and it costs me AUD5.20. I wanted to get the GO card at the airport but sadly it is out of stock. If you have a GO card, the bus ride would only be AUD3.58! 

Once you alighted the bus, just walk straight and turn left. And you will reach Currumbin Wildlife! First thing I did is go to the bathroom and wash up! Then head to the counter to deposit my luggage before heading in. I bought the ticket at Groupon, so it costs me AUD25. I guess if you buy online will be AUD30? It comes with a pairs of $5 retail vouchers and $5 meal vouchers if I remember correctly. But there is minimum purchase so I didnt use the vouchers. The Sanctuary is quite well plan. I took the train and stops at every stop to view the animals. My favourite section is the Kangaroo section. You can feed and pat them! They are so cute and funny. They are hungry most of the times because they will just hop to you if they see you have food on your palm. Loves the joey!!!! I want to hug them all and carry them all home *hearts*

Around 2 or 3pm, the cafes start closing. Lucky I'm able to grab something before it close because i have not taken my lunch yet! Seafood set caused me AUD17! That is very expensive! While having my late lunch, the australian iris keep on hawking on my food. taking a step closer at a time. saliva dripping on my table! i need to keep on shoo-ing them to stop them for advancing! After my late lunch, i head off to the exit, grab some soveniors for my sales as one of them mention he absolutely love kangaroos. So i gotten him a joey magnet thingy. 

 Next stop: Brisbane!

As I still haven't got my Go card, I need to check with bus driver how much does it cost. Australian bus is very different from Singapore. You can top up your card, you can check with them how much does it cost to get to your destination, if you don't have the exact fare, the bus driver would give you the change! I mean every customer REALLY can spend 15mins talking to him, if needed. Maybe that's why if you don't have Go card, the trip would be more expensive. You pay for the additional customer service. So I told my destination to the bus driver, and he kindly explain to me that it will cost me AUD20 to get there. The fare includes the bus ride to the train station and all the way to Roma train station. I need not buy additional train tickets at the train station. Super convenient! Something SMRT should take inconsideration.

After 2hrs, I finally reached Roma street! Drag my luggage, walk 15mins and reached my hotel - Hotel Ibis Brisbane. As I booked it via Wotif, the room price is AUD95 per night which is considered reasonable. You must find the mystery deal to get this special price. Relax for awhile, I head to Southbank. Coincidentally Friday they have night market (something like our pasar malam). Things ain't cheap though. Mostly are local arts & crafts. Others are stuffs that I could buy in Bangkok at a MUCH cheaper price. I find the only stuff worth buying is their handmade soap. No preservative and mild for my sensitive skin. And it is VERY CHEAP! AUD2 per each! If you want goat milk for additional moisture, it will cost AUD3. At one go, I bought 4. As it's quite a small night market, I explore the rest of the Southbank. There is street performer playing fire, juggling with high bicycle and stuffs. He tried to keep things exciting & interesting. Perhaps I seen too many such acts, I kinda feel his performance is just average.

When we walk to the foundation / swimming pool, there are people sitting there with their legs in the water. Children are playing in the pool. And the weather is quite chilly for me! Beside that, kids are playing soccer with their parents. I guess in generally every family will consist at least 4 kids. In singapore, it would be a pretty difficult sight. The entire feeling i get from there is all relax, family enjoying their moments with children, no maids! Whole aura is blessing with happiness.

I getting tired so it is heading to hotel time. Southbank is about 15mins walk back to hotel. While walking back, I bypass the Brisbane Wheel. Entry fee is AUD15 and you get 6 rounds. Before you in, the staffs you take photo of you. You can buy the photo after the ride. If you just want to rest your feet, enjoy the view, i think is pretty good idea. But I hope the wheel can go abit more slower . Because when the audio is playing and describing the different places, the wheel already went down, end up i need to wait for it go higher to see the place. After 3rd round i gave up listening to the audio, so my friend decide to take photo to passtime.

After the ride, HEAD BACK TO HOTEL TO ZZZZzzzzzz.........