Travel to New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is known in the native Maori language as Aotearoa, often translated as The land of the long white cloud.

New Zealand is a country of stunning and diverse natural beauty: Soaring mountain peaks, fiords, lakes, rivers, and active volcanic features. The islands are inhabited many species of unique fauna, including the elusive kiwi, which has become the national symbol.

The Maori culture continues to play an important part in everyday New Zealand life, and there are abundant opportunities for the visitor to understand and experience the history and the present day form of Maori life.

The country is sparsely populated, but easily accessible. New Zealand has modern visitor facilities, and developed transportation networks. New Zealand often adds an adventure twist to nature, and is the home of jetboating through shallow gorges, and bungy jumping off anything high enough to give a thrill.

Paddy's Markey, Sydney

When you are in Sydney, do not left out Paddy's market. I bought a lot of souvenirs and gifts there with cheap price. LOL

Paddy's Markets is a commercial enterprise that has two large markets in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Paddy's markets are located in Haymarket and Flemington and specialise in the sale of fruit, vegetables, fish, clothes and giftware.

Flemington Paddy's is the larger site and specialises in fruit and vegetable sales. The market is the primary delivery service of these products for Sydney. The market has a wholesale sales section that caters to larger business and general sales to the public. The market is the central marketplace for Sydneys farmers to sell their products. Paddy's Flemington also has Sydney Central Fresh-Cut Flower Market, that is the central provider of flowers to Sydney's florists. On weekends, the markets also feature clothes, gifts and souvenirs. There is also a second hand market, where vendors set-up a sales stand selling a range of second-hand goods.

The Haymarket Paddy's is located in the 'Market City' site, beside Chinatown and is more like a traditional flea market, specialising in cheap imported clothes, giftware and also has a small section for fruit, vegetables and seafood. Paddy's Haymarket also sells souvenirs which makes it popular with tourists. Market City features these markets along with The Peak apartment building and a modern shopping centre containing a food court, restaurants, boutiques, specialty shops and a cinema complex.

There were street performance outside Paddy's market on the day we visit. I've snap some photos. It was amazing!

Sydney Opera House

Australia landmark - The Sydney Opera House, a must-visit during Sydney trip.

The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre on Bennelong Point in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was conceived and largely built by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, who, in 2003, received the Pritzker Prize, architecture's highest honour.

AirAsia Fly More! Now 3x daily to Hong Kong

Cheap flight tickets to Hong Kong! I've just bought 4 tickets to Hong Kong for April 2010. My FIL, MIL, hubby and me will go together! A holiday for our family!

I've got cheap air tickets, only RM361 return per person including airport tax, 15kg luggage & seat allocation. It will be a 5 days 4 nights tour.

After discussed with hubby, we decide not to go Disneyland since it's quite similar to Gold Coast Movie World. But a visit to Hong Kong without visiting to Disneyland okay or not? Anyway, it's still early for planning, we have 4 month's time to decide!

AirAsia Free Seat

The most awaited offer of the year is back! FREE Seats to over 70 Destinations!

Destinations Offered: China, Taiwan, Macau, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, Cambodia, India, Sri Lanka, Laos and more.

Booking Period: 11 – 15 November 2009

Travel Period: 1 May – 30 October 2010

Hard Rock Hotel, Penang

"Hard Rock Hotel Penang is a luxury resort situated along the famous beaches of Batu Ferringhi. Located in the Pearl of Orient, Hard Rock Hotel Penang is iconic, bringing the multicultural Penang to new heights with its authentic Hard Rock experience. This hip and trendy resort in Penang is suitable for families, couples and singles for their relaxing accommodation in Penang." Quoted from Hard Rock Penang official website

Hubby and I went Butterworth last Sunday, so we cross the Penang bridge to visit Penang too. After some shopping at Queensbay Mall, we went to visit the newly opened Hard Rock Hotel. It is very glamorously built!

At the entrance to the lobby, do not forget to look up, there is some lights of the word "Hard Rock Hotel" hanging down from the ceiling, they will change into different colors every few seconds! Many people are wondering inside the hotel, some of them only "window visit", some swimming in the pool and some sitting on the sofa enjoying themselves!

We didn't book any room there for our CNY holiday. Penang is just 2 hours away from Ipoh, I rather go Melaka during the CNY holiday!

Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney

The Art Gallery of New South Wales is the leading museum of art in New South Wales and Sydney, and one of Australia's foremost cultural institutions. It holds significant collections of Australian, European and Asian art, and presents nearly forty exhibitions annually. Free admission!

Open every day: 10am - 5pm
Late closing every Wednesday: 9pm

Sydney - St Mary's Cathedral

St Mary's Cathedral is the first place hubby and I went. It is located very near the hotel we stayed. So we just walk and walk until wow, what a grand church! Without knowing about any restriction of public visit, we went in to explore!

St Mary’s Cathedral stands in the centre of Sydney as a Christian statement of grace and beauty. Generations of artists have bequeathed to it their magnificent gifts in stone and glass, designing a unique space of solace and prayer within this vibrant city. This Cathedral represents the spiritual origins of the Catholic Church in Australia. It is one of Sydney's most treasured historic buildings and one of the finest examples of English-style gothic churches in the world. William Wilkinson Wardell, the 19th century architect, dreamed of a gothic structure shaped from the local yellow-block sandstone on which this city is built. The building was finally completed 100 years after the architect's death. The Cathedral is dedicated to Mary Help of Christians.

Penang food

Talk about Penang, we think about food. Penang holds a lot of delicious local delicacy. Hubby and I ate the famous Penang Laksa near Kek Lok Si Temple and proceed to Gurney Drive for others.

Famous Penang Laksa

Char kuey teow (Fried kuey teow)

Orr Chien (Oyster omelette )

Mua Chi (Glutinous rice with peanut and sugar)

Backed from Australia

Hubby and I just came back from Australia.

The flights are extremely on time for Air Asia and Jet Star. We arrived at the destination earlier than the estimate arrival time.

We are on free and easy for this trip and everything was running smoothly.

We check in to the hotels in Sydney and Gold Coast without any problem. The hotel in Sydney is very nice with a cert published rating 4-star. It is real nice and we enjoy staying there and was always taking away our dinner backed to enjoy. Our only dissatisfaction was on the hotel in Gold Coast. The hotel is said to own a 3-star rating, but to us it merely have a star!!! All the wooden furniture are ROTTING!!! And most horrible that it is HAUNTED!!! Someone disturb me while I bath! I prayed hard to leave this god damn hotel as soon as possible.

For the destinations and attractions, Sydney is better compared to Gold Coast. Sydney's buildings are more toward England style, classically and beautifully built. Most of the attraction are free of charge! While Gold Coast as a place where theme parks are welly-known had mostly a charged entrance fee for every attraction. I prefer Sydney and hubby promised to bring me backed to Sydney next time.

I will describe in detail the attractions we visited in the coming post. Please come back in few days time to follow up!

Few days to go

Hubby and I are departing to Australia on April 8th, few days away from now!!!

Wow, I'm really excited and looking forward to it!

So what I'm doing right now?

I'm waiting,
waiting,
waiting....

Happy April Fools' Day

Australia trip

Hubby and I are going to have a 8D7N free and easy trip to Sydney and Gold Coast, Australia on the coming April which is only a week from now! Wow, I'm really excited and looking forward for it! I have been doing a lot, really a lot of researches about the attractions, transport, and accommodation in both Sydney and Gold Coast.

Map of Australia

Our air tickets from Malaysia to Gold Coast have been bought for a year, when Air Asia giving out free seats. The tickets cost only RM787 round trip per person, including 15kgs luggage allowance and seat allocation.

For air tickets from Gold Coast to Sydney, I just bought last month with Jet Star. It costs Aussie $264 round trip per person, including 20kgs luggage allowance and seat allocation.

Four nights of 4-star-hotel-stay in Sydney costs RM1,413 and three nights of 3-star-hotel-stay in Gold Coast costs RM876.

Application for Australia visa costs RM20 per person.

One thing special I've found out during my research, all the travel agents are very very selfish! Even the one where I paid for my hotel booking and visa application would not give me any advice on the transportation in Australia! But anyway, I depends no one but myself, searching through the Internet finding our own solution! And most delighted, I found what I want!

For our transportation in Sydney, we'll depends on the "Sydney Pass" which includes "Sydney Explorer", "Bondi Explorer" and most of the train, ferries and local buses. All we need to do is to buy a 3-day-ticket which cost Aussie $115 per person. It includes train service from the airport to city too.

On the other hand, we will buy "Freedom Pass" which includes airport transfer, unlimited theme parks transfers and unlimited travel on the local bus network. A 3-day-ticket costs only Aussie $58 per person.

Arriving in Sydney, it is a must to pay a visit to Sydney Harbour, Sydney Opera House, Sydney Aquarium, Sydney Fish Market, Taronga Zoo, Rock Markets, Bondi Beach, Manly Beach and shopping at Paddington.

While in Gold Coast, visiting to the Warner Bros Movie World, Sea World and Dreamworld are probably a must also. There are also other interesting places such as Currumbin Sanctuary, Paradise Country, Wet n' Wild Water Park, Mount Tambourine, Sirromet Winery, Mt Nathan Winery and Catch-A-Crab at Tweed Heads.

I'm not sure whether there are Golf in Australia. But by the way, I knew that there are company which offer golf holidays (Golfreisen), offer a golf license that is necessary to play golf in Germany (Platzreife) ad also offer online shopping possibilities. If you wanted to go somewhere for golf, check it out!

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia, with a metropolitan area population of approximately 4.34 million (2008 estimate). It is the state capital of New South Wales, and was the site of the first British colony in Australia. It was established in 1788 at Sydney Cove by Arthur Phillip, admiral of the First Fleet from Britain. A resident of the city is referred to as a Sydneysider.

Sydney is situated on Australia's south-east coast. The city is built around Port Jackson, which includes Sydney Harbour, leading to the city's nickname, "the Harbour City". It is noted for the Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge, and its beaches. The metropolitan area is surrounded by national parks, and contains many bays, rivers and inlets. It is listed as a beta world city by the Loughborough University group's 1999 inventory and ranked 16th among global cities by Foreign Policy's 2008 Global Cities Index. The city has hosted international sporting events, including the 1938 British Empire Games, 2000 Summer Olympics and the final of the 2003 Rugby World Cup. The main airport serving Sydney is Sydney Airport.

Sydney is one of the most multicultural cities in the world, which reflects its role as a major destination for immigrants to Australia. According to the Mercer cost of living survey, Sydney is Australia’s most expensive city, and the 15th most expensive in the world. Sydney also ranks among the top 10 most liveable cities in the world according to Mercer Human Resource Consulting and The Economist.

Gold Coast

The Gold Coast is a city and local government area in the southeast corner of Queensland, Australia. It is the second most populous city in the state and the sixth most populous city in the country. It is also the most populous non-capital city in the country. Gold Coast City is renowned for its sunny subtropical climate, popular surfing beaches, expansive waterway and canal systems, a skyline dominated by high-rise apartment buildings, a peaceful rain forest hinterland in the west of the city, active nightlife and its wide variety of tourist attractions.

The Kellie's Castle

Kellie's Castle is one of the famous place for visitors to Perak. It is located near Batu Gajah, about 20 minutes' drive from Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia. The unfinished, ruined mansion, was built by a Scottish planter called William Kellie Smith.

Kellie's Castle was to surpass his estate bungalow. Construction of this unique castle began in 1915. Seventy tough workers, mostly from Madras, were employed and bricks and marble were imported from India.

But during the construction, tragedy struck. A mysterious illness broke out, killing many of Smith's workers. The superstitious Smith was told that a temple must be built to appease the gods. He immediately transferred his workers to build a Hindu temple nearby.

Work resumed after the temple was completed but the castle was never to be realized. Tragedy struck again. On a a short trip to Portugal, at the age of 56, Smith died of pneumonia. It came to an abrupt halt with Kellie's sudden death in 1926.

His heartbroken wife decided to pack up and return home to Scotland selling the estate and Kellie's Castle to a British company called Harrisons and Crosfield and with the passing of time, and the end of colonial rule, the castle soon faded into memory.

Besides being haunted, the castle is believed to have hidden rooms and secret underground tunnels.

Niagara falls

I had a friend whom just comes back from Canada. She took a lot of photos in the Niagara Falls. Wow, there are extremely beautiful! I love it!

I'm collecting some information regarding the Niagara Falls. I'm now sharing this information with all of you.

As one of the Seven Wonders of the World, Niagara Falls is indisputably one of this continent's most important tourist destinations. Niagara Falls hosts as many as 15 million visitors annually. They come from all over the world to see the Thundering Waterfalls of Niagara.

Niagara Falls is the largest waterfall in the United States. It is divided into the Horseshoe Falls and the American Falls. The volume of water approaching the falls during peak flow season may sometimes be as much as 202,000 cubic feet per second.

The most complete views of Niagara Falls are available from the Canadian side of the river.

The best time to visit Niagara Falls would be April-May.

It's really attractive when looking into the pictures and description of the Niagara Falls, but I wonder if hubby and I have enough money to travel to Canada.