REGENT Resident

I had been looking forward to week of 12th to 16th September as it was my next 'vacation'. I attended a Management training sponsored by Shell which is to be attended in-house in Regent KL. It was a dream come true on its own to be staying (living!) in a 5 star hotel in KL for a good 5 days. What was I looking forward to? I love hotels in general. Mainly, the comfort of having the supplies and amenities clean and new everytime I come back to the room. Regent hotel lobby is a stunningly cosy stage-like setting, whereby as you enter, a rush of calmness and elegance seep into you, a slow and quiet fountain, dimmed chandelier, soft piano melody, a combo of dark red and brown tone come into view. Hotel elevators can also get me excited, especially the glass window view car, which whoosh you down from outside of the building (4th flr onwards) into the hotel interior, with smooth gesture. How do you know the hotel is at least 5 star? You only have to wait max 10 seconds for an elevator to arrive *grin*

Regent gives impeccable customer service. Everyone, from the manager to the cleaner greets you kindheartedly, which is hard to come by in a hotel in Malaysia. Regent food is pretty average, although I still enjoyed it. Regent rooms offer a very comfortable and relaxing atmosphere. Everybody gets a view from a 'cornered' glass top to bottom window. So any view actually becomes close and personal as if you are flying on air and watching it from above.
But the first item that made me felt extremely comfy when I walked in my Regent room was the thick plush bed of course. It is of pure white covers and comforters, with equally soft plush pillows. This is the kind of bed which allow you to sink in into deep sleep 'literally' once you lie on it..
Next will be the bathroom of course. And it didn't fail me. With its complete amenities, standing shower AND bathtub, I am content with myself here. What surprises me was, every morning, as I sneaked in the toothbrush and shower cap supplies into my luggage, I find it has been replaced after th room has been cleaned..yey. I also didn't waste the opportunity for a few bubble bath sessions, but let's not get into details on that..

Let's go netball!

The very day I touched down KLIA from Aussie, I had a netball tourney. Altho I was still groggy, I was very excited and nervous. It was my office inter-departmental games for netball which I was participating. Shell IT's inter-d games are the most intense sporting event in my adult life. It's a taste of the life of an olympian..Haha..I'm exageratting. But really, for an amateur like me, the tension does feel like it. And so does my fellow team mates. Ah, my netball gals are the best. Only because despite of anything, they give their best, had fun and show great sportswomanship all the way. So this day (4th Sept 05) was the day we had waited (or dragged!) for, for a while..
We were excited as this year the venue is an indoor netball court, and so, no sun block was needed! Hurrah!
We were also lucky as during the draw, we were fated to play against FoxPro team who was, erm..not so challenging but still, fun to play with. We won, yeay. And it was sweet2 victory. We are great friends with the Foxes, and so their loss were not felt but was celerated as a good effort from all. Next, it was the fight against the winner of the other two draws (Shredder & Perl, where Shreds won). This was a tough game, which was expected. Because, they are a bunch of experienced and damn good playas. It was a good experience playing against them, although we loss miserably. We took it with great pride, because we still turned out as NUMBER TWO in the whole game..So hey, not bad! All in all we found great friendship and bonded in a whole different way with our colleagues. Teamwork on court was achieved as well today. I drove home feeling good, as this is the start of a long break from any vigiourous sports games, at least for awhile..

Shades Of Blue

Day: Friday 1st Sept 05. Place: Still in Gold Coast Aussie, yey!. This day was a much anticipated day for us. We had a fantastic intro to the theme park the day before with a fabulous time in Movie World and today it was time to explore the underwater world and its surroundings, at Sea World.
The local bus ride to Sea World was breathtakingly beautiful by itself, as we rode towards the coast of Sea World drive at Main Beach. The cool sea breeze and squirks of sea gulls greeted us at the entrance into the spectacular view of the main show area. We knew were in for a great day as we scanned through the park map for attractions to check out. Today was a day to take it easy and enjoy the surroundings of electric blue shades of the sea water and skies. We stroll through viewing the gorgeous sea animals, the polar bears, penguins and seals. Not to mention the up and close shark bay which was stunning yet peaceful to be at. The shows held in the park were also educational and comedic. My favorite was the Dolphin show. I have always thought dolphins are gorgeous and intelligent. And I was proven right at the show. Envied the little girl who got picked to touch and 'make friends' with one of the dolphins.

The Quest For the Golden Seal and Ski Challenge show was not very impressive though. But we had a nice tranquil time hangin out at Sea World.
We caugh the bus back a lil earlier today. It was only 5pm when we reached Mercure Resort again. Dropping off our bags, we left the room again to head for the beach. Nope, not to swim or surf mind you, but to snap photos what else? :P

5pm in Gold Coast at this time of the year was like 7pm in KL. It gets dark faster. So we power walked to the beach, for the first real view of the whole stretch of Surfer's Paradise (SP). It is absolutely stunning. Usually beaches are guarded by jungles and palm trees, but this beach is like a modern suburban one where it is guarded by skycrapers and modern city infrastructures. My kinda beach!

We strolled on along the beach but still on the pavement because the wind from the sea was strong and cold, despite the sunshine. As the skies darken, small stalls were seen to be set up along the pavements. Oh, night market! Yeay! I read about this somewhere, but didn't think the info was valid.

The stuff at the market was mostly arts and craft made byt he locals. Got a cool kangaroo fur key chain and surf board pic frames. Besides that, the shops on SP sidewalk mall is pretty cool. Lotsa bargain souvenir shops, and surf brand boutiques such as Quicksilver.

We shopped a lil, saw a cool Latino tap dance on the streets, hung out at Starbux. For dinner, we were missing rice too much, so we had chinese food, which was delicious but pricey. Then we walked home slowly. Our walking route to-and-fro hotel and SP street mall, was a mere 10mins walk, passing bungee ride, and various car rental places. So good to be back in the room, as my feet was aching for a rest. Aussie tv in the room was dissapointing though. It's either Aussie tv are pathetic like that, or the hotel was too cheapskate to get more channels.

The next day, we struggled between to decide whether to visit Dream World or not. We end up not going, because the stuff in there doesn't look too interesting, plus 2 water theme parks/rides? We didn't even bring our swimsuits. Our minds were tuning more into exploring SP further and hanging out there for the day. So that we did. Woke up late, packed our stuff, checked out, kept our bags at the reception (our flight weren't till 8pm that night), then head off.

Weather was beautiful. We walked a diff route but end up at the same destination. Today we explored SP's amusements, such Wax Museum, Ripley's Believe It Or Not, Infinity and SpaceWalker (sci-fi amusement). Shopped, walked, coffee, lunch and just absorbing the surroundings. It was pure laidback and no worries mate! We sat around mostly today, as we dragged the day passing by till we had to start walking back to our hotel, where our chauffer will pick us up to the airport.

But before long it was time to board the flight home. I didnt wanna go home of course. You can tell from my long face, even my husband thought I was mad at something..The plane was fully packed, which made it more annoying. Food was not bad, I was extra tired, wanted to watch 'Lords Of Dogtown' but dozed off halfway. We reach KLIA 20mins early. Our walking paces still remained slow. No problems at the customs of course, our officers were not even in view. My post-vacation blues has started to creep up within me..

For more pics you can click here http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/urbanbtch/album?.dir=446d&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/urbanbtch/my_photos

No Worries Mate & Hollywood of Australia!

As I rise to the morning of Merdeka, I was overwhelmed with much excitement because it is also the day I will fly away to the land of no worries down under. Groggy and heavy eye bags didn't stop me from grinning away up till we had our boarding passes in our hands. Then of coz and as usual we are much too early to board, so we hung out at KLIA, taking in the morning of our 2 years relationship anniversary and imagining how our destination will be.
And then it was time to board, in which I was so excited to find that the Boeing 777 seatings had a personal video system. As we indulge in our own choices of movies (mine was a re-watch of Mr & Mrs Smith and Lots Like Love), we savoured the airline food. Yes, did I tell u, regardless of how many ppl hate airline food, I always loved it :P I had the mushroom omelette, which came with blueberry cheesecake as the dessert! Yummy. Then I settled in, couldn't shut eye very well, and the flight took a long 7.5 hours..I can see my hubby tossing and cramping away in the economy class seat :\ and I was getting edgy myself.
When finally, touchdown Brisbane! It was 8pm locally, and it was miserably dark, as we ran out from the airport for fresh cool Brisbane air. Ahh..
Then our pick up service person came to view. This cute chap who I thought looked similar to Craig David politely told us we were the last ppl on his list to arrive..oops..and he was also polite enough to wait up as I ran to the restroom before boarding the van to our hotel which will take about 1 hr..
On arrival to Mercure Paradise Resort, the hotel lobby was practically empty! Then a staff came from a room behind the reception who showed two messy and tired looking creatures (that's us!) to our room. Ooh..our room looked delightfully comfy with complete necessary ammenities. Yey, got hairdryer and tv remote control..phewh. After glancing at our haggard faces and splashing it with water, we stepped downstairs to the nearest gas station shop to get some snacks. Yeah, we were hungry for food, but too tired to search for a restaurant. Went back to the room, and snored away.
The next day! Early morning rise to hotel breakfast. Food kinda sucked, u know the usual English breakfast, which half I can't eat coz it's pork. But gobble up some omelette and hash browns anyway to fill the stomach before our exciting day to Movie World!
The 1st day is always the most confusing and doubtful one. Went up to the hotel tour desk to inquire everything. Ark, the hired coach to the theme parks is a whopping AU$16/pax..not worth it. So I asked about local bus to the venue. The gal behind the counter appeared not very friendly almost reluctant/afraid to serve me. Which I thought was a bit weird and insulting. Anyways, I got the info I need, and explained to B. And we hop on the bus which was very systematic and frequent, and on our way to the Hollywood of Australia!
Movie World by Warner Brothers of the Gold Coast is the main reason I wanted to visit Australia this time. Heard so many good stuff about it. And now I'm finally here! Ok, enough being a dork. As we entered the fabolous theme park, I dragged B straight to Batman The Ride 2. The line wasn't that long (yet), so it was a short wait till we were ushered in. The simulation ride was nice, but not as great as I expected. Nevertheless, upon passing through the exit of the ride, we snapped away with Batman's power boat which he used in the movie Batman Begins.
Then we proceeded to the heart of the park, which was the shops walkway. Glanced through only, coz shopping is to be done later if any at all :D
Next ride was Lethal Weapon the ride. This was the most painful one, as it is the hanging/inverted roller coaster kind. I was quite nervous, but I had experienced this kinda coaster before and remembered it being not very scary. Yeah right, as the hanging coaster woosh down after the big climb, it was a near death experience all the way. It was extremely fast (happened to be 4G against gravity), and quite unpleasant. Still very satisfying as we reached the docking station. I thought it was too fast that I wasn't able to enjoy 'hanging around' on it. Anyways, neck pain was produced from this ride. B started to experience nauseous-ness and headache :D So we sat down for a bite as it was lunch time anyways. Ah, and you'd think we had enough of the adrenalin 'pain', we boarded on Scooby Doo's Spooky Roller Coaster ride. I thought this must be kid's stuff. But no, I screamed like a mad woman, embarassinngly enough as this bunch of kids in the same car was quiet as a mouse. This ride was more exciting and enjoyable, as it had pauses and slow speed cruises which allowed us to register what creatures/ghosts we were seeing in the ride. One down-side, I lost my sunglasses in the ride :\
Along the rides and breaks, we caught up with old friends. We snapped some photos with the characters we idolised from movies and cartoons such as Batman, Catwoman, Bug Bunny and Scooby Doo casts.
We went on to view the Matrix exhibit. Which was quite boring. Yeah to me anything with the word exhibit must not be very exciting..Then we sat and had some churros! Yeah my fav long cinnamon donut, which can only be found at theme parks (weird!) was heavenly in the mouth. It's like finding a long lost friend.
Then, it was showtime. We proceeded to the main walkway of the park, in which Matrix Action was to be featured. It was good, as martial arts fighting was used. The Keanu-to-be actor wasn't so good looking though. After some other small rides we boarded which I can't remember, we sat for various hollywood-type of shows, such as Police Academy and Bugs Bunny & Friends dance showcase. And before leaving the park, we watched the Parade of movie characters and proceeded to shop for souvenirs.
That evening after reaching our hotel, we realised it was only 8pm! So we decided to do a lil walking to the nearby shops which were shown in the brochures we took. And how wonderful it was as we discovered Surfers Paradise outdoor mall with cafes, shops, and several attractions to be checked out in the next few days we were there! We grabbed some fast food for dinner and hunged out Star Bucks. Took some awesome nite shots and walked slowly back to the hotel, feeling refreshed and happy.

Aussie Bound

The much awaited trip of the year had finally came through. Our second 'real' honeymoon to Gold Coast, Brisbane, Australia. I'm uploading photos at the mo, so stay tuned for the next post on the whole trip!