Jalan-jalan (untuk Gebus) Australias Playground

Where : Gold Coast

When : 22-26 May 2011

Ini adalah acara tertangguh. Tiket dibeli ketika ghairah (dgn harga iklan, jgn fikir yang bukan-bukan) dua tahun lepas. Rupanya tarikh jatuh pada hari peperiksaan Chenta. Bila ditukar, jatuh pula dalam minggu terakhir semester. Jatuh dua kali. Tak apa. Berbakul-bakul arahan, penerangan, ugutan dan pesanan penaja kepada Gebus. Berbakul juga peringatan kepada Chenta dan diri sendiri agar memahat matlamat lawatan untuk Gebus, semuanya harus mengutamakan Gebus. Gebus sahaja.

arrival-harus indulge local news

Alhamdulillah, Gebus was A VERY GOOD BOY throughout the whole trip. Well, he cried for being denied the premium seat but soon promised to study hard, get good a job with good payment and buy premium seats for us all. *syahdu*. Also, sempat khatam Iqra4 lcct-coolangatta. After that, he khatam Astro Boy and Rio berkali-kali!.

In GC, he behaved well, didn’t seems agitated by the cold weather (alah.. sama suhu aircond bilik tidur). Didn’t complain for he had to eat boring plain/tuna sandwiches or kebabs (sometimes) for bf lunch and dinner. In fact, we didn’t bring his formula milk at all, so he gulped cold fresh strawberry flavored milk bila gian. He woke up smiling no matter how tired he is and ready for the new day. Ada sekali tu, we woke him up at 4.00am! Made him walk to the beach and sat on the cold steps watching the subtle line of lights on the horizon. He said it was beautiful. I wrapped him with my shawl and hugged him tight. It was my favorite and most beautiful moment in GC.

*takes a breath*

Well, downtown GC itself is rather small, and very commercial, a total opposite of what I have in mind. HRC (which located in the centre on Surfer Paradise) is only few blocks away from the hotel we stayed (Mantra Lagends). So every night we will walk and enjoy the pleasantly cold weather and discover the area. After all, it’s the only area that opens till 9:30pm or later. Don't shop for souvenirs here if you can help it, because the prices were so much more competitive elsewhere, even at up-market Pacific Fair. Tapi kalau dah sale tu layan jek! Can you ignore gisele ipanema sandal for just AUD15? No way!

Harbout Town is good, I personally like it for it has RL and cotton on and reef and halal nandos and labupatch and *takes a breath again* and kooga and many more. Be local and wave Translink Bus Routes 703 or 709, it steers through Ausi Fair shopping complex, Griffith Uni, beautiful housing area and stops at the parking lot. So convenient kan!

The beach, ahh the beach. Sure it was long and went as far as my eye could see, but it was so bare. I don’t know, perhaps it was near winter so there weren’t many people around, hence, it looks naked. The sand: incredibly clean and soft and beautiful I felt like stepping on something virgin = Naked virgin beach!. Sounds dirty huh? Yeah, I found the beach is sexy actually. Sekian terima kasih.

*takes double breath*

The Park.

Movie World is the first stop on our 2 park pass. Didn’t have to queue at all at ticket counter, and upon entering, there were only few families in front of us. Be early, and friends, take your food, no one checks or cares. Fenat akak wrap egg sandwiches santek-santek. Makcik jaga gate scan our tickets and just waved us in. Sooo unlike Disneyland!. Again, MW is rather a small area BUT Gebus love it (inilah masalah nak compare dgn Disneyland aje). He had a blast watching 4D (ok ok its not 3D its 4D: mummy slalu salah cakap) and riding roller coaster. Layan kan saja. Semangat nak ber batman segala, bila batman depan mata takut nak posing sekali. *tak faham*. Q naik rides x panjang, some tak perlu q pun, yieeha.

Ronda-ronda sampai habis, we end up queuing for Wild West Falls’s ride!. Oh, jangan bayangkan wajah kami yang dicapture oleh camera diorang. It will be our family secret photo!. And Gebus cried when landed and being splashed by gallons of water. He said “tinggi sangat!!”. I hugged him all the way back and can hear his heart thumping like crazy!. Poor boy!. Ye la..ye la.. We are bad parents!. Sebab rasa bersalah, terus bagi pakai t-shirt batman baru.

Bid goodbye early, as by 3pm we pretty much managed to cover everything except batman thrill and superman escape, err tak sampai hati nak pressure jantung. We didn’t even wait for the parade because from my observation, I think, tak semeriah mana. To our surprise, ramai yang balik saing kitorang. We then hoya-hoya @ facific fair:)

Sea World was a different story, worth every cent to see our 5yr boy get excited, curious and exhausted:). Gebus love seeing marine animals and still rave about it. Dolphin show, sesame street beach show, sea lions show and pirate show were major entertaining to Gebus. My favorite would be a huge white polar bear and mr happy feet . Kesian depa, must be lonely.

Tapi tu lah… kecik la tempat nih! Abis show kami tgk, abis xtvt kami join, abis rides kami naik (minus volcano roller coaster and cable car yg closed for maintenance) tgk jam baru pukul 4!!. Kedai pun ada yg dah tutup!.

piccas

meter girls - Chenta mesti tak nampak daku masa ambil gambar ni


lunch @habour town

his fav shp

The beach:

Gebus pose dgn hebatnya

i think this shot is cool, me in between shower panels

subuh, menanti mentari sambil feeding the birds

dapat rasa tak beach ni sexy:)

merpati dua sejoli : gebus yang joli tgk la tu dah lari jauh

fokus pada sandal baru saja, abaikan bunion

gaya superman lagi

MV

sebelum hilang perasaan

wild west fall.. imagine!

batman says No to superman ride at the back.

hands up kiddos

sheriff batman, oh kompiuss

my fav shot : excited tgk batman thrill ride

SW

dah x banyak ekor.. tak cukup nak tag kawan-kawan sorang sekor:(

aud1 fish food, tapi birdy yg kenyang

cas cute.

superman nak balik dah!

Overall :

1. Happy sebab Iman happy. Ayat standard ‘saya suka duduk sini, boleh duduk lama-lama tak?’ Ayat buat saya geram ‘sejuk la… *low tone* but no snow’.
   
2. Barang mahal (compare dgn melb pulak *tolong jgn menyampah*) fruits pon mahal! *frust*. Halal food/rest is easy to find.
   
3. Nak winter tak sejuk mana, sure summer panas gilos.
   
4. Should rent a car and travel outside SF. GC is not about SF only, explore out.
   
5. Jgn travel before major exam, hati tara senang. *ampun Yang* .
   

@habour town aud5/pc, baik beli di cold storage hehe, ok la..coles sikit cheaper

lepak pantai mmg best...

kebab Ali depan hotel

Possibilities to revisit : nipis, unless pergi ramai-ramai bersama ahli keluarga yang lain.