Showing posts with label International. Show all posts

Sunday, July 01, 2018

#GalsNZ17: New Zealand Getaway Day #2 (Part 3)

Guys, I found my piece of heavens in this part of NZ. Could God's creation be any more beautiful than this? Surely there is, but at that point of time, I was just deeply, madly in love with Canterbury region:

'OK, next I need to find Legolas somewhere in Middle Earth...'

After driving for almost one whole day, we finally arrived at Lake Tekapo. Straightaway we went searching for our rented studio apartment. The name itself is catchy enough to us - Simply Stunning:

I am going back here someday. I promise you this.

If there is something I love other than the beautiful scenery in NZ, that is their rented accommodation. Most of the ones that we stayed have been renovated and decorated with modern furniture and tasteful design. Our accommodation at Lake Tekapo was amongst the most charming that we stayed in during our road trip:

The small studio apartment is thoughtfully designed to appear spacious without sacrificing the functionality of the space

Apart from a queen-sized bed overlooking a gorgeous view outside, there is also a bunk-bed, each equipped with its own flat TV at the foot of the bed

Although everything is tiny, the house is quite comfortable for four pax

The hosts are kind enough to stock complimentary beverages including this delicious hot chocolate to drink during the cold weather at night

Don't be fooled by this small kitchen - it comes complete with electric stove, microwave, dishwasher, cutleries, plates, fridge etc.

The view we get to enjoy whilst on the bed overlooking the snow-covered mountains that is the heavenly backdrop of Lake Tekapo

Although we were pretty tired after the long drive from Christchurch, we didn't want to waste time resting. Instead, we had a quick prayer, then prepared a quick lunch before we set out to explore the lake's surrounding.

The sisterhood of Lake Tekapo

Although our apartment is slightly far from Lake Tekapo, it is still within walking distance. On our way down, we encountered wild hares that scampered away into the bushes / their holes as soon as we approached them.

Tips: Wear appropriate footwear if you are going down to the lake as the shore is full of rocks.

Rocks everywhere

Posing in front of the majestic view of clear turquoise lake against snow-capped mountain backdrop

Lake Tekapo is also famous for one activity - stargazing. Being part of UNESCO Dark Sky Reserve, it is the perfect spot to gaze at the stars and trying to figure out the Milky Way from Earth. Unfortunately, we were not able to book a tour to the observatory where it is said where the Earth Meets Sky.

We did however make the time (and effort!) to walk along the lake to visit Church of the Good Shepherd, the most photographed building in NZ:

After a long drive, stretching my legs along NZ's road in the chilly weather seemed like a good idea

Us against the Church of the Good Shepherd in the background

A good spot for photographers

We then took a long way back to go back to our studio. Although we were exhausted, we couldn't help admiring the beautiful architecture and interior of the houses in the neighbourhood that we passed (some houses had floor to ceiling glass windows to perhaps showcase their beautiful home).

Once we reached our place, we were chilled to the bones and had hot chocolate before retiring to bed.

Trying our hand to catch a glimpse of the stars using the telescope

The next day, we were up early to go to our next destination. We did stop to take photos at Lake Pukaki, which is another stunning lake within those area:

Lake Pukaki

Whoever did this is probably a talented artist.

Will cover more on Lake Pukaki in my next entry =) Stay tuned!

Sunday, January 28, 2018

#GalsNZ17: New Zealand Getaway Day #2 (part 2)

After we have stocked up our food ration, we set off on the 7-hour journey to Lake Tekapo, our first pit stop. We decided to embark on a scenic adventure and took the longer route through Darfield on State Highway No. 77.

Road trip journey begins...

Although it was a long journey, we hardly felt the time passed by as we simply couldn't stop gushing and admiring the breathtaking scenery along the way! We stopped several times to capture our memories here and enjoyed the crisp fresh air by the roadside:

Yup, we just started the trip but we've already captured by the view of the snow-capped mountain in the far distance

The snow-capped mountain is perfectly captured in my background here

Sisters in shades

The view is extremely beautiful along the way

This is how I imagined Heidi lived

Gorgeous!

Tips: Speed limit in NZ is 50km/h (cities) and 100km/h (open road). Occasionally drivers will come across bridges, and depending on the signage, one party will have to give way to the other as the bridges normally allow for only one way crossing.

Along the way we also stopped by Rakaia Gorge to admire the gorgeous turquoise blue river which is a photographer's dream comes true.

Subhanallah! The view is magnificent!

One more with the snow-capped mountain

From here onwards, we passed by wide open grasslands with unrestricted views of the magnificent Southern Alps.

It was extremely windy but we loved it anyway

Will continue in my next posting on our accommodation at Lake Tekapo and the Lake Tekapo itself :)

Thursday, December 28, 2017

#GalsNZ17: New Zealand Getaway Day #2

We had to wake up really early the next day since we had to catch an early morning flight to Christchurch. Our choice of airline was Air New Zealand, that introduced us to the most delicious cookies that they served on board.

Can't help taking loads of selfies once we hit the road because NZ is such a beautiful country!

It is not easy to locate a prayer room at the domestic terminal in Auckland Airport as it is really remote that even some staff had no clue of its whereabout. Eventually we managed to find the place to perform our Subuh prayer before we boarded our flight to Christchurch, phew!

The prayer area is just a small enclosure with no separate section for men and women so it's advisable to go there in a group

Alhamdulillah for the nikmat to perform prayers in a comfortable and private place

Tips: The prayer area is located just across the baggage drop off on the first floor. Walk past the public shower and then turn left until you reach the end of the corridor

My sisters taking advantage of the free but limited airport WiFi to check on our travel arrangement once we reach Christchurch

While waiting for our flight to take off, we managed to cam-whore LOL!

Mom also want a photo of her boarding Air New Zealand flight

Vomit is vomit, no matter how you say it.

Landed at Christchurch Airport to be greeted by this really nice lighting that mimics starlights (coz stargazing is one of the things you must do in NZ)

Welcome to Christchurch!

In my brand new leather jacket, bought specifically for this adventure!

Another family photo outside Christchurch Airport

Selfie again while waiting for our shuttle van to Apex Car Rental. Loved the weather even though it's a bit chilly

When we reached Christchurch, we called the car rental company to pick us up at the airport. For our road trip in NZ, we decided to rent a sedan car (Toyota Corolla) from Apex Car Rentals. It was easy dealing with the car rental staff as they were all friendly and very helpful (they even changed our GPS navigation because it was lagging).

Useful info: For 8 days hire period in South Island only, the total cost is NZ$527.20 inclusive of GPS Navigation ($55.68), which includes Zero Excess, Unlimited KMs, Roadside Cover and 3 extra drivers for free. Minimum age of drivers is 21 years old. Drivers are not required to have international driving license but driving license issued by country must have English translation.

Before we hit the road, we stopped by PAK'nSAVE supermarket at Hornby to buy some food rations as we intended to prepare our own food (partly to save cost, and partly because we didn't know if we will come across halal eateries along the way).

Can't help getting ga-ga over fresh fruit and veggies in NZ (and they are cheap too!)

More fresh vegetables...

We went crazy and bought, like 3 packs of these strawberries and the chocolate dipping sauce. It was the best snack during our long car trip

Tips: There are a few brands selling halal chicken meat like Tegel, Brinks and Best Bird. Do browse their website to find out more. We tried Tegel chicken during our stay in NZ.

Will blog more about our road trip on our 2nd day in a second entry. Stay tuned!

Friday, December 01, 2017

#GalsNZ17: New Zealand Getaway Day #1

It started with a message from my sister, 'We are going to NZ in October next year. Would you like to tag along?' Without thinking, I replied, 'Yes!'

10 months later, here I was on this mother/sisters trip. I badly needed a break-away from routine after a rough start to 2017 (taking care of my husband after his open-heart surgery, managing major change at work, etc.) and I was happy that I made that decision (although I felt really sorry leaving my husband and two girls behind, but made up my mind to return to NZ with them next time).

Tips: Planning singles-trip can be a headache especially when each of us live in different towns (and in my sister's case, country). Thankfully we had TripIt apps to help us coordinate our planning and consolidated all our bookings in an easy-to-refer-to itinerary. This way, we can see which day we have not booked / planned anything yet.

All of us consolidated our itinerary in a single trip by emailing our bookings to TripIt

Preparation to NZ was quite minimal since I've already bought warm clothes from our Osaka trip last year. Although it was spring season, weather at night was chilly so I packed a pair of thermal inner clothing, windbreaker, fleece jacket and a sweater for outer-layer. I also brought NZD700 cash for food, souvenir and emergency cash.

We agreed that each of us was responsible to bring different items for the trip. I was tasked to bring pharmacy medicines, wet tissues and the likes, while my sisters bought instant rice (my sister bought the rice in Japan which required no water and just needed to be heated up in a microwave) and Brahim's instant food. We also did some grocery shopping when we reached NZ as it was easy to find halal food at the supermarket there.

We took AirAsia flight with a short layover at Gold Coast. Unfortunately, despite joining a 5km run the day before, sleeping late to pack my bag and waking up early to travel to Miri to catch our flight to KL, I couldn't sleep for the most part of the 8+ hours journey. Eventually I did doze off towards dawn only to wake up 1 hour later.

Upon reaching Australia, it was a rush to queue up for a quick immigration check, then a dash to the restroom for a quick relief before queuing up at the airline's counter to board the flight again. This time, I was upgraded to the quiet zone since my sister checked us in separately, and the airline wanted to accommodate a family request to sit together.

At Gold Coast Airport, Australia for a quick layover

The journey from Gold Coast Australia to Auckland took another 5 hours. When we reached Auckland, we had to take a shuttle bus to the terminal and then started the long queue at the customs. NZ's biggest export is their farm produce (milk, fruits, vegetable you name it), so the government is very strict about fresh food items that goes through their border. They even require us to declare if our shoes have been used in sports activities outdoors!

Tips: To speed up the process, prepare a list of food that you are bringing in (with translation if the food packaging is in local language) and only bring in food that are permitted (cooked / processed food like Brahim's instant chicken rendang that are sold in supermarkets are allowed if it is in its original packaging) and have the list ready for the customs officer to inspect. You may be lucky enough that they won't check the luggage if you have the list prepared ahead.

After 6 hours we finally reached Auckland

So the first thing we did when we reached Auckland Airport was to look for a prayer room to perform our Zohor & Asar prayers. I was impressed that Auckland International Airport is Muslim-friendly and there is a musalla on the first floor of the Arrival Hall (entrance next to McDonald's). Then we went to buy a local SIM card (we decided to get Vodafone SIM card) so we could contact Auckland Airport Lodge where we were staying for the night before our early morning flight to Christchurch. Besides being in close proximity to the airport, the lodge also provided free shuttle service to and fro the airport and the lodge so it was really convenient to us.

Tips: Auckland International Airpot does have accommodation adjacent to the airport, the Novotel Auckland Airport. There is also a budget hotel within walking distance to the hotel i.e. Ibis Budget Auckland Airport.

Our first night - Auckland Airport Lodge. Clean & comfortable

While waiting for our shuttle van to arrive, we bought sandwiches (and chocolates, my favourite Whittaker's chocolate is really cheap in NZ!) for dinner at the airport. The journey to the lodge took about 10 minutes and upon arrival, we immediately checked in and was given our key. While it is no fancy stay, we really liked the lodge. Our studio unit is just a few metres away from the office and located on ground floor so no climbing required. The room is really spacious and easily accommodated the four of us. It is also super clean and after a long journey, the bed easily felt like the most comfortable bed we've ever laid on!

Next entry, our NZ adventure began!

Sunday, February 21, 2016

Osaka, here we come! - Universal Studios Japan where we FORGOT we are parents!

Day #7: Universal Studios Japan

Ok guys, this is the final post about our trip to Osaka so bear with me, LOL. There's a saying 'leave the best for last' and I couldn't agree more. The highlight of our trip is none other than to visit Universal Studios Japan (USJ)! *lompat2 kegembiraan*

I've been to USS (Universal Studios Singapore) before but I still look forward to USJ simply because they have this:

Harry Potter!

So now you guys know, the main reason I was super excited about going to USJ. I'm a big fan of Hogwarts and being able to experience Hogwarts in life is something that I've always wanted to do.

On that day, we woke up early despite reaching home late last night as we anticipated there will be long queue. Luckily, my sister had bought USJ tickets online so we could skip the ticketing counter line. We stopped at Universal Studios Japan station and immediately saw a huge billboard of Harry Potter in front of Hogwarts Castle. Yup, we've reached USJ :)

To our delight, the queue wasn't so bad. A friend warned us that they had queue up as early as 6am due to the long queue but during our visit, there was just normal queue. Yeay!

In front of Universal Studios landmark - the revolving planet

Just us :)

Universal Studios Japan

Guys, I gotta warn you - USJ is really HUUUGEEE! So if you only have one day (like us) to enjoy the park, then you gotta plan where you want to go and how long you should be there. USJ attractions are arranged in nine areas / theme of the park. Basically we covered only these areas:

Area #1: Hollywood

Entering USJ, the first area you will be in is Hollywood. There's something about the excitement and glamour of Hollywood which is so infectious. The moment we saw people queuing up for Hollywood Ride, we forgot being parents and joined in the fun, LOL! We just dumped our kids with my sister to take advantage of the short queue (by the way, we queued up for 30 mins, but that's short by USJ standard!)The last time I was on a rollercoaster was a month after getting married, so that's how long ago it was!

Each train has four seats and each seat is equipped with headrest stereo sound system to heighten our experience. Riders could choose one song to play during the rollercoaster ride. Not that we could pay attention to the song as we were busy screaming at the top of our lungs! We could pick either going facing forward or facing backward, so I picked facing forward. It was less nerving to anticipate when we would plummet down, than suddenly being jerked back into a free fall! *shudder*

Luckily the ride lasted only 2 minutes or so, but boy, was I woozy after that! That was then I decided that I am too old for rollercoaster, LOL!

Area #2: Universal Wonderland

Khayla enjoyed herself being in Wonderland - it was all she talked about for days after we returned to Malaysia, LOL! Unfortunately for Khadeeja, she was too small to enjoy many of the rides in this area (which explained why 3 years old are not charged entrance fees).

Welcome to a world of Hello Kitty and Sesame Street!

Before we came in, we stopped by to buy popcorn because the girls wanted the Minion case that came with the popcorn. Khadeeja was more interested in her popcorn than on any of the rides in the park, LOL!

I love popcorn! Omnomnomnom!

Hello Kitty's Fashion Avenue

While we were busy pretending to be young again, my sister brought our girls to Hello Kitty's Fashion Avenue where they had fun taking photos :)

So happy about their Hello Kitty stickers on their face

Khayla impersonating a lady in pink

Khadeeja :)

Same or not? LOL!

Sesame Street Fun Zone

First ride was on the Hello Kitty's Cupcake Dream...

The girls had a turn on Hello Kitty's Cupcake Dream

Followed by a ride on Elmo's Merry-Go-Round:

Khadeeja didn't go on the merry-go-round because she was busy enjoying her popcorn LOL!

Then the girls got a turn driving electric toy car on Sesame's Big Drive. Although Khadeeja qualified for the ride, she was too short and couldn't push on the pedal so the staff had to push her car instead, LOL!

Getting ready to 'drive'

Khayla wanted to take a photo with the Cookie Monster but she was really shy. Eventually she managed to overcome her shyness and took a photo with the costume character:

Smiling shyly as she was being hugged by Cookie Monster

Area #3: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Expect a lot of exclamation marks!!!! We are in Hogsmeade Village finally! Woohoo!

The archway going to the magical world of Harry Potter :)

We got to see EVERYTHING! Even the Flying Car in the Magical Forest! (Sorry no photo, we forgot to take it LOL!)

Of course, before we reached Hogswart we were bound to pass by the charming village of Hogsmeade! Cute buildings with cobbled street and snow-covered thatched roof! I wanna live here!

Hogsmeade Village looks like it comes straight out of Christmas card

My sister :)

There was even the Hogwarts Train! And look!

Butterbeer!

Butterbeer! We had to taste the famous butterbeer in order to get the feel of being part of Hogwarts!

Cheers to being in Hogsmeade!

Butterbeer tastes of butterscotch and honey, so yummy!

We had fun browsing the shops which were based on the Harry Potter series:

This shop sells wizarding equipment which are basically souvenirs :)

Gilderoy Lockhart's books with moving pictures!

This is really cute - a poster with moving picture

The signage shows Hogswart is just ahead

And finally we were on Hogwarts ground! So. freaking. EXCITED!

Hogwarts School of Withcraft and Wizardry behind us!

Since we couldn't bring strollers inside due to the large crowd here, hubby volunteered to look after the girls while my sister (who is equally ardent fan of Harry Potter) and I went inside the castle:

Griffin statue awaits us at the end of the hall

We thought they were normal oil paintings, until the subject started to move about :o

In the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom

We decided not to go on the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey because the queue was too long and we wanted to cover other areas in USJ. Plus, I still didn't get over my headache from the rollercoaster ride in Hollywood!

Due to time constraint, we skipped Hagrid's Hut and so with heavy heart, we left the charming Harry Potter's world behind to explore other areas in USJ.

Area #4: Amity Village

If you are from my generation who was raised to fear the man-eating shark, you would remember the highly acclaimed movie 'Jaws'. Yup, Amity Village is featured in USJ and there was even a boat ride where we got attacked by robot sharks! Khayla was really terrified because she thought they were real sharks. Kids can be so funny! Sorry no photos because we were not allowed to snap any photo for our phone's safety, LOL!

The robot shark on display

Area #5: New York

By the time we reached this area, it was already night time and the park was almost closing. Still, we managed to squeeze in one more entertainment in our 'been there, done that' list - The Amazing Adventures of Spiderman!

Basically, it's a motion-based 3D dark ride based on the adventure of Spiderman. We asked Khayla if she wanted to go and she agreed, so hubby accompanied her. I decided to follow suit on single rider, because I was concerned that Khayla might get freaked out by the ride. I was freaked out! Although it was just a 3D ride, it felt too real as we 'fell' straight down from a tall building to the ground!

Too my surprise, Khayla enjoyed herself though! So don't underestimate a 5 years old huh? LOL!

We are in New York, peeps!

So, there it was our adventure in USJ. It was super fun but super tiring as well. I felt sorry that we didn't manage to cover the other 4 areas, but maybe that's an excuse to make our way to Osaka again in the future? *wink wink*

Since we were going back the next day, we stopped by a souvenir shop just outside of USJ to buy mochi, Kitkats and other souvenirs to bring back to Malaysia. Thank goodness for the stroller's roomy underneath compartment that can carry lots of stuffs!

So there you go. Our trip to Osaka in 11 parts :) It was fun, beyond my expectations. I wouldn't mind going to Japan again, that's for sure!