So we'll hop straight to 10 October 2013 coz everything prior that have been covered in the pre-trip post. :)

Was volunteered to attend a talk in the morning and I arranged a couple of meetings in the afternoon which were supposed to be on the week I am not around. Hence a bit of a mad rush to do as much as I can since I supposedly won't be on my desk for long on Thursday. But meetings got canceled in the end so ended up my afternoon wasn't as busy as I expected. Took my own sweet time to reply emails and stuff and left on time. Flight was around 10pm at night so there isn't really any rush! Went back, cleaned up, grabbed bag and cabbed to airport, more than enough time to hang around in airport too. Super glad about it.

Flight wasn't really full, seat next to me is empty so had a little bit more space heh. Nonetheless only had around 2-3 hours of crappy quality sleep, though I kind of purposely tire myself the day before by sleeping late. Guess that doesn't work. Tapao-ed food for breakfast earlier, got hungry thus woke up for food and never managing to fall asleep again though people left right centre are sleeping like logs (or at least they appeared to be). Bought myself a cup of coffee which was super gao (probably that's why I couldn't sleep later in the day too - more on tat later).

Wasn't sitting at window seat so no customary airplane-wings-in-the-cloud shot or aerial view of Gold Coast. But just know that I arrived safe and sound lah.

Two overnight flights arrived at the same time and it didn't help that the arrival immigration hall wasn't very big, and the stringent quarantine laws. So spent a good hour or so queuing. Declared my meds but made it past the customs without any questioning. But it's a good practice to just declare lah. Rather than got caught and even if it's a harmless item, it can cost you a bomb. 

Out into the arrival hall, first order of business was to get a GO card and a SIM card! Walked into a convenience store, where the cashier was pleasantly surprised to find tat I can speak understandable English (he had a hard time communicating with the Korean customer before me). Got this package from Optus where you pay $2 for the SIM card, and $2 each day for 500 MB of data per day (comes with certain minutes of free calls and certain numbers of free SMS too but honestly these days who really cares about those?). Just that the registration procedure is kinda tedious..gotta call the call centre where they ask you a million questions. Spent a good 30-40 minutes just setting up the number, though thankfully without any hiccups. But I would think that it is absolutely essential for travelers these days, virtually everything you need to know as a tourist at your fingertips, including directions, public transport routes and so on. Plus you stay connected to your family and friends back at home so why not.

Next up is to grab a GO card - Queensland's version of our EZLink. Because I intend to take public transport all the way. There are also other options available such as Gold Coast Tourist Shuttle - I think you pay up to $70 for a 3-day unlimited local public bus rides and airport pickups and theme park transfers. Since I was planning to visit Brisbane on a day trip too, GO card would be more useful. Not to mention cheaper. So bought one, loaded $30 into it and hopped on a bus to Surfer's. Think there is only one public bus serving the airport and that's 702 - journey to Surfer's was to be about 30-40 minutes. 

Was past 11 in the morning when I finally alighted at my stop along Ocean Ave...accommodation was easy to spot once I alighted. Though it's a bit of a walk. But weather was so wonderfully sunny AND cool so didn't mind at all. Check in was trouble free, receptionist cum owner have all the necessary tourist info ready (which bus to take to theme parks and other attractions, bus operation hours etc) and seemed well rehearsed (for the lack of a better description). Hardly surprising I guess since GC is a popular holiday destination after all.

Guess what? I booked myself a one bedroom apartment hahahaha. Like I said in my pre-trip post...not comfortable with the idea of sharing rooms in backpackers so this sites cheapest option I can find...in GC these apartments are more abundant I feel so I thought...why not. Though I must say, after a few days it felt too big for a single person hahah. Anyway, it had everything. Kitchen had microwave, fridge, oven (!!), stove and is full of utensils and cookware enough to host a party. Coin operated washing machine and dryer (didn't go looking for it, but apparently there is one every few storeys). Toiletries and extra pillows etc. There's even broom, mop, vacuum cleaner if you fancy some cleaning (which I did coz felt paiseh for leaving too much DNA behind). Slight downside is everything looked a bit old, but hey, it's still very much liveable.

Thought I would do a quick lunch so I can catch a nap so went down to the convenience store for inspiration haha. As you can imagine, not too many options and my first meal in OZ turned out to be.......INDOMIE ahahahahah. Bought back to the apartment to cook. After eating...panicked coz I though that DISHWASHING LIQUID IS NOT PROVIDED. Searched high and low and finally found one small packet of it where the instructions say I was to pour it into a sink full of water and "wash normally". Um, no, gotta save some for future meals so I cheated and wash things MY normal way hahaha.

Ended up watching TV and unsuccessfully tried to nap in the living room (one hour doesn't really count considering I didn't get much sleep on the plane). So decided to just bath and head out.

Agenda was to stroll along the beachfront to Q1 Skydeck, where I would go up to take in both the day and night views, finished off with the beachfront markets and dinner somewhere. And I did just that. No detours or anything haha. 

Beachfront markets open every Wednesday and Friday night. It's quite different from our regular pasar malam, one big difference being there's no food (or very minimal lah). Then again, don't think Australia is known for street food so yep, not surprising. The beachfront markets here is more artsy I feel, featuring various art and craft products, some clothes, souvenirs and so on. Not really the kind of things I would go after, so was done with it after a while.




Boring me then decided that I would just buy dinner back and eat in lol. Mind is feeling tired though body isn't, but mind won. Ended up watching TV and stumbled on Glee's tribute episode T.T Kinda strange for first night activity in OZ but yep. Rest of the night just spent on planning my day tmr.