Gold Coast - Day 2 (18 April)

Macik baru je bersemangat nak buat e-filling, alih2 baru tingat password tertinggal kat opis. Aiseh postpone lagik! So kita sambung our GC story la yer. Insya allah in my final post i'll share some of the highlights/tips/key notes that you may find them important and useful especially for travellers with babies.

Subuh di GC sgt awal, around 5am tak silap kami...sebab before 630am hari dah cerah. For brekkie, kami mkn tuna sandwich & maggi goreng yg dibawa dr Malaysia (roti beli dekat convenience store next to our hotel). The good thing about our hotel, it's strategically located at the heart of surfers...allowing you for easy access to shopping mall (Centro Point SP), few convenience stores (including 7 eleven), souvenir shops, etc. Right in front of our hotel is restoran Maharani (the only malaysian restaurant yg provide halal food in that area if we were not mistaken), few steps from the hotel is hard rock cafe, along the street ada byk kedai2 and exclusive boutique (Coach, Prada, etc), and a short 5 min walks will take you right to the beach (tapi kami tak mandi pun la). Ada byk lagi hotel lain termasuk budget hotel di sekeliling hotel kami, termasukla Islander Hotel (antara hotel yg glamer and digemari oleh malaysian tourist sbb dia murah and affordable). Lepas mkn, kami packed few sandwich dlm zipper bag sebagai bekal, and bwk jugak biskut, susu firas, mineral water, payung, spare baju kids and pampers. Then terus bergerak ke bus stop utk naik bus ke Movie World (MW). Return fare dlm $20 tak silap...mahal dari sea world sbb dia lagi jauh, about 25min from surfers. The good thing about their busses, ada tempat khas utk those yg bwk stroller onboard, ade few special seats yg boleh dilipat and you can just push in your stroller nicely without blocking the paveway...mmg sgt bagus. Sampai je di MW, kami sempat amik gambar dgr Scooby Doo...then tetiba ternampak Shrek keluar tapi tak sempat nak kejar sbb org dah ramai kerumun mamat shrek tuh hehe. Again, jgn lupa tgk brochures and make a quick planning on your itinerary. First show kami pukul 11am, Hollywood Stunt Drivers, a real-life action movie set yg tunjuk hollywood film making. Ada drifting, kereta terbakar, etc....api yg terbakar tu mmg panas giler sampai ke muka audience. Idlan mintak beli pop corn, tapi rasa dia kureng sedap...masin!! rege dlm $5 kots.

Next show, Looney Tunes pukul 1130am. Mujurla map dia agak interactive, so senang nak faham utk ke mana2. Kali ni indoor show, idlan siap pegi duduk depan stage...firas tgk sekejap, lepas tu dah melentuk kat bahu mama kepenatan. Lepas show kami stop and rehat sekejap for a quick lunch while firas was already in lalaland :p. Lunch tak byk choice, so again kami pilih seafood platter...tu je yg halal kot. One set+juice around $20. Dlm website MW dia tulis outside foods n drinks are strictly prohibited, tapi time Q masuk dia takde plak check, so next time jgn lupa bwk sedikit bekalan sbb food kat dlm sgt mahal dan yg penting, tak byk choice. Lepas mkn, idlan sempat main bumper car and few other games, then we headed straight for the Batman show at 1pm. Next masuk 2-3 souvenir shops and beli few things, then Q utk tgk Shrek 4D show jam 2pm. Shrek show ada every 1/2hr, tapi seats limited, so kena Q awal2. Myself and firas duduk dekat seat belakang sekali (reserved for the elderly, expectant mothers, etc), pruzz dgn idlan duduk dekat motion seats...so depa syiok la dpt experience all the strobes and sudden movements thru out the show. Show mmg best and enjoyable...tp yg klakar si firas taknak pakai speck khas utk tgk 4D tu :p Sementara tunggu next show, kami jln2 lagi ke few more souvenir shops and beli ape yg patut. Jam 240pm, ade show Scooby Doo, tapi agak bosan. Sambil tgk show kami mkn aiskrim. Aiskrim sgt mahal woo, sebatang (Walls) dlm $4...berapa kali ganda tu from aiskrim kat mesia hihi. Jam 330pm, ada All Star Parade dekat main street, time ni keluarlah warner bros punyer favourite character like scooby doo, looney tunes and gangs, batman, catwoman, shrek, etc. Lepas snap pics depa, kami terus ke Kids section, kasi can kekanak tu naik few rides. Firas punyerla suke naik kuda pusing2 tu, time Q pun dia sibuk nak melompat ke dlm gate tu isk. Sebelum balik, kami snap pics dekat keta batman and few other 'wajib' spots. Around 5pm kami bergerak keluar...anyway park tutup pukul 530pm. All those thrill and extreme rides satu pun kami tak try...myself of course tak boleh, pruzz pun malas nak try...yg penting kekanak berdua tu happy and enjoy themselves.

Otw balik, hari hujan...firas dgn idlan terlena dlm bas. Sampai je di surfers, kami terus gerak ke restoran Maharani utk dinner. Masuk2 je teka kami jumpa sape??? Faizal ismail hot fm & family hehe. Nampak je kami dia senyum...kitorang pun balas balik. Bukan senang nk jumpe org mesia kat sini. Kat MW adela jumpe sorang pompuan pakai tudung, i bet she's from mesia jugak tp punyerla sombong takmo senyum langsung. Pelik betul setengah org ni kan hum hum. Kami order beriyani chicken set, mee goreng, apple juice & nescafe tarik...total $23 kots. Tapi sorry to say la, food dia agak kureng rasa pada tekak kami....tapi sumer licin jugak sbb dah lama tak jumpe nasi...asyik telan fries jek :p After dinner kami terus ke souvenir shop berdekatan hotel, dekat sejam lebey kot spent dlm kedai. Bukan senang nak membeli dgn si kecik yg suka mencapai itu ini...isk risau takut brg pecah jer. Then singgah di convenience store beli susu kotak ($4 utk 500ml), soft drinks ($4-5), maggi goreng (sebungkus $1.50 you jgn terkejut hehe) and roti. Balik hotel terus flat....bayangkan kami keluar as early as 9am, jam 11ish pm baru balik hotel.

to be continued....

Gold Coast - Day 1 (17 April)

Ni ala2 simple travelogue kami....abaikan tatabahasa yg tunggang langgang tu ok (dan gambar yg diletak terbalik dari Z-A), hopefully cerita ni sedikit sebyk dpt membantu kengkawan yg berhasrat nak pergi ke GC :) Conversion rate 1AUD=RM3.02 masa kami tukar duit tu....so do your own calculations ok.

Kami naik flight AA-X jam 2125 @ 16 April. Lepas check-in luggage, kami dinner di Toast of Asia...pekena mihun and nasi lemak set. Perjalanan memakan masa selama hampir 8 jam. 2 jam yg pertama agak memenatkan, sebab both kekanak still belum tido dan masih segar bugar bermain dgn tv screen yg ada di depan seat. Bila lampu dlm flight dimalapkan, barulah firas terasa nak tido. Susah jugak nak tidokan si kecik ni, sekejap peluk abah, sekejap peluk mama. Akhirnya berjaya jugak tido...tapi throughout the night mmg kedua2nya asyik berubah position. Kejap kepala abang atas riba mama, himpit kepala si adik, kejap adik hug mama macam koala, kejap abang kat hulu, adik kat hilir...mmg tak stay put langsung. Kami berdua pula takdelah lena sgt, sbb seat tak boleh nak adjust, so agak kurang selesa. Tapi dah bayar pun murah, what can u expect kan :p Kami paksa juga utk tido sekejap coz tomorrow's gonna be a long and tiring day for us. Jam 710am local time, kami selamat tiba di GC. Cuaca 19 degree celcius, tapi still panas...yg sejuk cuma angin dia. Hampir sejam kot kami Q di custom utk check-in and inspection. Custom dia very strict, sebelum check passport kami kena beratur panjang, letakkan beg, dan 2 ekor anjing besar akan inspect kami dan barang2 yg ada. Agak cuak time tu sebab takut tersentuh anjing tuh. Lepas check passport, tiba masa utk items declaration. Melalui research yg dibuat, kami dah prepare awal2. Semua foods and liquids (termasuk ubat kekanak) kami pack dlm zipper storage bag yg berasingan. Food yg kami bawa semuanya lepas - milo 3in1, nescafe, tuna 2 tin, maggi goreng, jem strawberry, & biskut2. Siap dpt pujian dari custom officer tuh...'very good!'. Ada org tu bwk frame gambar berkayu, officer tu belek2 kayu tu lama bukan main...ntah apala yg pelik dekat frame tuh. Kesimpulannya mmg letih la queue nak lepas customs depa nih.

Lepas tu, kami terus naik cab ke hotel Courtyard Marriott by Surfers Paradise, about 25min from airport. Taxi fare $50.30. GC sgt serene dan tenang, tak sibuk dan bz macam Jakarta or KL. Disebabkan masih awal, kami still tak boleh check-in...so lepas bayar deposit $200 dan letak beg, kami terus berjln keluar utk mencari breakfast. Tak byk choice makanan halal yg ada, so kami beli kebab & ape ntah satu lagi tu di Ali Baba's kebab..kebab $9, yg satu lagi cam pasta/pizza tu $5. Beli ice lemon tea di 7 eleven $4. Rege makanan mmg agak mahal lepas convert, tapi tutup mata jela..sekali sekala hihi. Lepas mkn kami terus ke bus stop utk ke Sea World. Lupa nk cakap, hotel kami dah bayar online, RM1032 for 3N...book via booking.com during its super deal promo :) Perjlnan ke Sea World around 10min jer, bus fare $14.80 return tix. Public transport depa very efficient, bus very frequent and punctual, driver bus sgtla courteous dan helpful, indirectly they act as a tourist guide, giving us informative facts and guidance yg membuatkan kami rasa agak secure and tak takut nak berjln sendiri walau di negara orang. Sampai di Sea World, we made a quick glance at their brochures and show times, tu penting utk buat planning what comes first and later. Semua tiket theme park kami dah beli siap2 thru online, so save the time for queing! Kami beli Escape Pass (2 parks over 3 days) for $288.20. Manusia punyelah ramai yg amats, ramai dgn mat salleh, i guess from other parts of OZ kot, muka org luar tak ramai sgt. 1st show was Sesame Street Beach Stage show, time sampai tu org dah ramai giler duduk dekat allocated seats surrounding the stage. Dptla tgk elmo and the gang menyanyi and dancing, lagu2 dia best gak and catchy...sesuai la utk kids. Firas very cooperative, bila org tepuk dia pun tepuk hihi. Then kami kasi kids naik few rides sebelum masuk ke 'shark attack'. Boleh tgk shark and the gang dari cermin dasar pool. Lepas tu, terus ke Pirate shows sambil mama queue beli food for lunch. Tak byk choice makanan halal yg ada, so kami just pilih seafood platter+soft drinks+juice...around $25. Next stop, kami pergi show Imagine - it's a dolphin show and the bestest show of all at that place i'd say. Dolphin2 sumer tu genius2 kots, sgt comel, cute, and bijak! Mujur firas bgn time tgh show, so sempatla dia join tepuk tgn dgn audience2 yg lain :p Then kami pegi ke Penguin point, ray reef, gamat, polar bear, etc....dan last skali tgk sea lion show. Mama dgn abah hampir2 tertido time show ni, sbb cuaca panas (even tho angin dia sgtla sejuk)+penat yg amat+jet lag+penat kejar firas yg berlari ke hulu hilir...mmg budak galok sungguh dia ni! Park tu dahla luas, dia plak pantang nampak tpt luas...makin sakanla dia berlari..yg penatnya kitorang la nk mengejar! Seharian kami di sea world, firas cuma minum susu sekali jer, mkn fries n biskut sket, tido sekejap kurang sejam....bila bgn dia terus all freshen up and active yg amats. Tak bley imagine kalau kena control 3 kids...mesti pening! Before 5pm kami dah surrender, terus berjln ke bus stop utk blk ke hotel. I need the bed!!! Lepas check-in abah terus lena...kekanak berdua tu masih lg aktif tgk tv and all. Konon mlm tu nak jln2 around area surfers cari souvenir tapi si abah lelap punyerla lama...last2 mama pun terlelap sekali ngan kekanak tuh. Kat sana pukul 530pm dah maghrib and gelap. Tgh mlm mama terjaga mkn kebab yg dibeli pagi tadi (kebab dia besarrrr, bley share 2 org).

okla mama dah lapar nk pi wat maggi goreng sat..before that kita layan gambar sat...full version dlm FB yer, tgh upload sket2.... Nnt kita sambung story later ok....ada kain 3 trip macam menunggu2 untuk dilipat, baju ofis belum beriron, rumah belum kemas n vacuum walhal habuk dah tebal beberapa inci, email ofis belum dibuka (sebenarnya takut nak bukak akakakaa especially bila on h/p tgk berpuluh miss call yg masuk) ....ishh time2 camni la den teringin nak ade maid and escape!!!

Alamak.....

Belum tukar duit lagi
Belum packing
Belum beli brg kering yg nak dibawa
Belum ade jaket yg cantik utk posing2
Belum print visa, hasil research, etc


........................................................


Bekerja dgn gigih utk mengurangkan backlogs selepas bercuti sebaik mungkin :)

Ahh gossip gossip...bila la agaknya depa nak announce performance for each LOBs yer? Sumber terdekat menyatakan yg performance LOB akan dipecahkan lagi kepada sub2 division di bwhnya...waduh waduh sungguh complicated gitu!

C.B.E.G

Dlm course yg saya attend baru2 ni, master trainer ada mengajar kami 4 benda yg merugikan pihak syarikat:
- No complain
- No blame
- No excuse
- No gossip

Tried my utmost best not to fall into these 4 negative traps nevertheless i eventually burst out yesterday due to this one hatred incident which caused unnecessary stress thru out the day.
Imagine i enter this one meeting as one of the approval committee. The tender exercise was handled by my colleague, as such he couldn’t become one of the approver. This one chairman lady entered the room (dahla lambat!), suddenly bombarded me with so many false accusations, blaming my colleague, blaming the whole team in our division, telling me it was us that caused the delay in delivery of the items, bla bla bla. I was like .....helloooooo, i’m an independent party ok, i’ve got no idea on the whole thing (obviously because i’m not the one that handled the tender), why am i being bombarded with all those negative charges by the way? She’s lucky enough i don’t know the history and chronology of the tender as such ku terima jela...telan sehabis-habisnya and being a ‘professional’ and for the sake of courtesy, i apologized on behalf of my colleague and said i’ll do my best to find a solution tho it seems impossible sebenarnya :p

After the meeting i finally managed to reach my colleague, and he told me the story from A-Z and know what, sebenar-benarnya staff minah tu yg punye salah, yg menyebabkan delay and whatnots, and it got nothing to do with our team. Tak ke malu gitu? Dahla marah dan kutuk org tak kena tempat, serbu tak bersebab, anda rasa patut ke saya maintain ‘no complain, no blame and no gossip’ to this kind of people?? Shameful of her, even her staff admits yg ‘oh bos aku mmg camtuh, ko terima jela...”...see i wasn’t the one that gave that unfavourable judgement towards her...org lain pun camtu.

Sungguh pelik yet true. Again i just couldn’t imagine how i could’ve work with this kind of people.
cepatla jumaat!!! Makin lemas rasanya huhuhu

ragam manusia...itu dan ini

Kadang2 saya pelik, kenapalah dlm hidup ini saya perlu berurusan dgn orang yg berperangai sebegini rupa. Stress saya dibuatnya bila terpaksa deal dgn seseorang yg anggap dirinya terlalu bijak dan pandai, tetapi kedekut ilmu. Cuba bayangkan jika anda menelefon seseorang utk meminta pendapat dan nasihat kerana org itu boleh dikatakan 'subject matter expert' dlm perkara tersebut, tetapi tiba2 org tersebut boleh marah2, melenting kpd anda tak tentu pasal..malahan dgn angkuhnya menyuruh saya berfikir sendiri macam mana nak selesaikan isu tersebut. En XYZ, jika saya arif tentang perkara itu, in the very first place i wouldn't be calling you for advise ok. in fact you should be grateful and honoured kerana i call you dan minta pandangan you, bukannya i pakai redah dan buat decision sendiri. Dan jika i lebih arif tentang perkara itu, baik i je yg duduk dekat post u....am i right or not? Of course saya masih control nada suara saya, masih bertindak rasional and sounds professional walaupun dalam hati ni, tuhan je tahu betapa panas dan sakitnya hati. Darah memang menyirap tak igt, sampai terus migrain dibuatnya.

Dalam kereta balik ptg tu, perbualan telefon dgn En XYZ masih terngiang2..in fact sampai ke malam marah dan sakit hati saya masih belum hilang. Singgah di McD drive thru utk beli makanan buka puasa, marah punye pasal saya order large big mac meal+oreo mc flurry, tapi bila buka puasa...saya cuma larat makan fries dan mc flurry je. Semua gara2 migrain dek penangan En XYZ di siang hari tadi. I wish i wouldn't have to deal with him again in future, unfortunately that is not the case sebab memang akan ada circumstances di mana kami masih perlu merujuk kpd dia....dah nama pun subject matter expert, mestilah org akan sokmo refer kat kau kan!

Apa2 pun En XYZ, with your so-called attitude and whatnots, you're not going anywhere ok..believe me, once people hates you, it means there must be something wrong with yourself. How i wish you read this, and how i wish one day something will happen that awakes you and trigger your brain that finally makes you realize that ''''ohhh i need to change!"

Perhaps you need to go for "Teaming for Passion" course...baru you sedar tinggi rendahnya langit tu :p

spelling test with mama...:p

"Idlan cuba spell mother, father, brother, leg....etc"

ini jawapannya:
made
fade
brade
lek
.....
.....

so lepas buat short recap spelling test time malam, berjaya lah dia eja dgn betul. Kalau berkesempatan sehari cuba spell 5-6 words, so lama2 byklah yg dia boleh eja. Yang penting, kena slalu sabar bila time explain kat dia ape beza bunyi english dan bahasa melayu. Dia pulak susah nak terima explanation and our reasoning, jadi kadang2 mama pun macam nak naik hantu la tahan marah :p

Kelmarin tanye dia, mama garang tak?
Dia jawab....garang!

ku tanye lagi, siapa lagi garang...mama ke abah?
Dia jawab.....abah!

#*^*^* :)))

misc.

1. I bet ramai yg tgk ABPBH malam tadi betul tak? saya tgk sampai pukul 11pm je, sbb nak kena tidokan firas. Firas sakan menari, berhenjut, berpusing, tangan digaya ala2 rap...isk ganas anak ku. Dia lagi sakan time one nation emcees and Dato' M Daud Kilau buat persembahan...aduss jgn anakku nak jadi artis nanti sudahla!

2. Sambil berFBing kelmarin, saya sempat surf serba sedikit pasal GC. Mean temperature dlm 21 darjah celcius (Autumn). Buat mereka yg arif, boleh tak kasi pendapat sama ada kami perlu memakai glove, stoking dan baju sejuk yg tebal? fyi kami memang species yg tak tahan sejuk, hatta air cond bilik pun dipasang pada suhu 25-26 celcius :p Ini pertama kali kami bakal ke negara 4 musim, maka pandangan bernas anda semua amatlah dialu-alukan :)

johnny's...lasagna...nyum nyum!

Kelmarin after ofis ku membuat a quick call kpd cik abang and ajak dia dinner bersama (which means without the kids :p) It was still early when we reached jusco, around 540pm and we just headed straight to the Johnny's. Dah lama mengidam sebenarnya nak pekena tomyam dia yg lazat tuh...tapi bila mengenangkan si firas yg confirm tak boleh duduk diam, hasrat terpaksa dipendam hinggala termaterialize yesterday hihi. Perut mmg dah lapar, considering lunch tadi kami cuma makan maggi sup di kedai mamak (kami i.e. sikulat, zarid, dan lela). So siapa yg suke steamboat, silalah ke Johnny's...memang berbaloi2!

cik abe ku in action!

kami amik set for 2, so ini adalah antara yg termasuk dlm package tu.

cooked and ready! gulp gulppp

Hari ini a.k.a sabtu, kami tidak ke mana-mana. Idlan baru sihat dari demam, firas masih sesema...jadi plan nya hanya lepak di rumah jelah. Pagiku bermula dgn sangat cemerlang, before 8 breakfast sudah tersedia. Again craving for cucur masih belum habis, gara2 baru tahu tips macam mana nak buat cucur yg bulat dan crispy di luar, lembut di dalam hehehe...sgt puas!

Lunch, ku buat homemade lasagna. Ni pun gara2 teringat post kak ct zuraimah yg buat lasagna utk breakfast! Utk meat sauce, ku bubuh Ramly minced meat, button mushroom, capsicum, bawang, black pepper dan tomato puree. Carrot tak bubuh sbb tak suke :p Untuk white/cheese sauce, sebenarnya dah terlupa macam mana nak buat, nak bukak lappy refer resepi sgtla malas....tapi mujurlah di belakang kotak San Remo tu ada disediakan simple recipe for lasagna. So bahan2nya...butter, tepung, fresh milk dan cheddar/mozarella cheese...dan sedikit garam and pepper sebagai perasa. Untuk detail step by step, ha bolehla beli lasagna sheet san remo, confirm lasagna anda menjadi!! Hubby ku bijak, sbb dia beli lasagna sheet yg ditulis 'no pre-cooking required', maknanya ku tak perlu merebus lasagna tu terlebih dahulu. Terus arrange layer by layer dlm baking dish berselang-seli dgn meat sauce and cheese sauce....dan bake for 35-45 minutes. Hasilnya....marvelessss!

first layer...meat sauce-lasagna-meat sauce

followed by cheese sauce. Repeat by arranging lasagna-meat sauce-cheese sauce....i got 4 layers in total kots

ends the final layer with cheese sauce, and last but not least sprinkle with shredded parmesan cheese (myself use cheddar jer hihi). Lepas tu terus bakar for 35-45min at 180 degrees.

Petang ni, umi nak dtg membawa mee bandung muar. Malam kami ada kenduri kawin di kajang.

Plan esok? masih belum difikirkan..........

have a nice n meaningful weekend peeps!