Sunny Dispositions

Posted on March 24, 2013 by shiralique

Funny what a 5 day holiday in foreign soil can do to you. You come back rejuvenated and refresh and you wish you’ll go for a holiday again next week. But reality sinks in and your routine at home starts all over again until you await the next long break.

The last time we went to Bali was 2 years ago and I must say quite a number of things have change. New hotels have sprung up and new polish malls were beckoning. Even the airport were undergoing renovations. (we had to walk pretty far to our transfers with luggage and all)

We went with a huge group this time round. My family, my best friend Zahrin, my mum, sis and husband, his parents, my cousin Erwin and family and our good friends Ain and Din. Phew! As per our previous trips so far, Hard Rock Hotel has been our topmost preferred choice. As much as I want to stay at a private villa, Hard Rock was the first choice as my kids preferred the hotel rather than a villa citing boredom as the number 1 factor if we stayed in a villa which was true as for me villas are mostly for those who require privacy unlike mine who absolutely adore the kecohness.

It was our first time taking Qatar airways to Bali. We could not resist the cheap fare atop the best airline 2011/2012. I particularly wanted to know what the hype was all about. The plane was indeed top notch. Every mechanical gadget that it came with was a wow factor. Couldn’t say much about the service though. I guess nothing was comparable to our very own personal airline.

Our trip this time was more of a chillax kind of holiday. It was either the pool or the beach. No sight seeing at all except to Nusa Dua where we snorkeled and made a quick trip to turtle island.

After Nusa Dua we went to a wonderful place called DreamLand which I will write more in my next post. So wait for it. I leave you now with our memories

HarbourTown Gold Coast & Hosting Supper

Posted on January 21, 2013 by shiralique

With our much needed rest the day before, we were all set to head over to HarbourTown to do some retail therapy. After 3 trips to Gold Coast, this was the very first time that I set foot here. It was an eye opener for me having not seen this kind of massive shopping place before. I know they have plenty of these outlet shopping in the US. Oh well don’t know when I’ll get the chance to go to the US. Might as well just satisfy my cravings here.

Us on the way to HarbourTown

HarbourTown is a one stop outlet shopping where you can get stuffs at bargain prices. But not all are that cheap. There are hundreds of brands. Mostly Aussie ones of course. The place wasn’t enough to cover in one day I tell you. For me that is. I still did not cover some parts of it. But I did manage to shop PLENTY. Heh..

Ladies apparel, men’s apparel, kids apparel..you name it they have it. Surf shops were plenty. Australia being popular with the brand Quiksilver, Roxy, Billabong, Reef, all were sold at cheap prices. My boys went crazy. As for me, I went berserk at Sheridan. They’re famous for their bedsheets, towels and such. In Singapore this brand is deemed expensive. But over here, it was so cheap! I regretted not buying more. Well maybe because one bed sheet was already heavy and we still had Sydney. There is always a next time. I mostly shopped for the kids and the house. I realised that I did not even get anything for myself! Kids clothes and household wares were all too pretty I guess that I didn’t mind not using that moolah on myself hahaha.

Lucky for us there were plenty of halal eateries here like Nandos and KofteBurger. Since we tried Nandos before, this time we tried the latter. KofteBurger was mainly Arab fast-food. Kofte is defined as middle-eastern meatball or meatloaf. They had kofte lamb, beef and chicken. They sold western too. Fish and chips plus nuggets as well. Wraps and salads were in the menu too. Set lunches were well worth it. It comes with your choice of kofte, choice of chips or rice and a drink. A well satisfying and fulfilling meal.

And we met Sharinna and Shahid who were holidaying in GoldCoast as well.

After a second round of shopping after lunch, we headed over to Nandos for an early dinner. And that was within a span of 3 hours? And we were hungry again. I think it was because of the cool weather. Yea yea blame it on the weather.

Being the planners for the whole trip, we decided to host a mini get-together supper that night. Our menu was simple. Aglio Olio, Garlic Bread, Baked Cheesy Vegetables and Fried Rice. We had raved reviews although the kitchen was in chaos before when we nearly set off the smoke detector!

The master chefs and our runner Zahrin. Tired but definately satisfying faces.

Our guests enjoyed the food so much so that amidst the chaos, we received a warning from the security to tone down. It was indeed a night to remember.