Paris, France (pop. 2.2million)

Paris; the city of love, the city of food and the city of light… That's a whole lot of city in one! Paris is the epitome of French culture, chic tree lined streets, delicious restaurants with more Michelin hats than most countries alone, lovers publicly displaying their affections for all to see and museums holding more artworks and treasures than visitors have time for. One of the most visited places in the world, Paris is a destination that any worldly traveller must have on their list and more often than not, it’s at the top.

When in Paris and you’re confronted by some less than helpful locals, go with the flow and adopt the French saying – Cest la Vie. If you do need directions or help, err on the side of caution and assume that the person you are talking to speaks fluent English – those that do won’t rebuff you because they are insulted by the fact you think they may not be educated in English or those that don't will probably help you anyways. Always remember however, that hello (Bonjour), thank you (Merci) and goodbye (Au Revoir) should be said in French and not English – they are easy to remember and assist in disarming the French of their contempt.

Besides the traditional blasé attitudes of the French, Paris has a lot to offer the tourist. The city is large, so be prepared to do a large amount of walking and don’t be afraid to catch the city’s famed metro system. Walking from one attraction to another is not only good for your fitness, but enables you to see things off the tourist track. When necessary however, the city’s large and broad metro system is efficient and reaches almost all areas of the city. It’s rather cheap and convenient, albeit sometimes rather smelly. Visitors to the city are spoilt with the tourist Orange Carte – it represents really good value for those who are doing a lot of travelling around the city (and believe me, you will). It also provides some discounts and savings around the city so keep the booklet handy with you.

To begin with, visitors should begin their tour of Paris near the metro station of Saint Michel near the Notre Dame. Head into the world famous cathedral first thing in the morning before it gets busy before coming back out towards the fountain located in the heart of Saint Michel. From there, head west along the River Seine until you reach Pont Nerf, and from there it's a short stroll to the Louvre. Finally, continue west towards the Champs Elysees, home of the Arc de Triomphe. One you have walked this leg of Paris, a majority of the city’s highlights have already been seen. What remains is Montmartre, the Eiffel tower, Montparnasse Tower (and the surround St Germain des-Pres area), La Defence and some retail therapy at Galleries Lafayette. If you are not confident in walking such a long distance on your own, there is a free walking tour that leaves from St Michel every morning that is free, purely based on a tip to the tour guide (I would suggest roughly 5-10euros). Perform an Internet search of “new Europe walking tours” to find information about additional tours, meeting times and information.

Useful Hint:

The best view of Paris is either from the Sacre Coeur (free) or the Arc de Triomphe (nominal). The view of Paris from the Eiffel tower isn’t complete without the view of itself. That being said, views of the city at night from the Eiffel tower are spectacular and sunset/evening is the best time to visit.

Getting Here:

• Trains from all over Europe arrive into Paris Gare du Nord frequently. It is the most convenient to catch the train from London to Paris, rather than flying out of the many London airports.
• The national rail operator, TGV, connects Paris to other French cities easily and very quickly.
• Most planes land at Charles De Gaulle airport or Orly airport. Both are well connected to Paris by the regional train operator RER.
• Cruise ships dock a few hours away in the port of Le Havre.

Stockholm, Sweden (Pop. 674,000)

Ahhh Sweden, how many Swedish icons there are in popular culture and around the world? For a country of less than 9million inhabitants, the Swedes have been embraced by the world through cars, alcohol, pop music, clothing and flat pack furniture. The household Swedish names we’ve all come to know and love include ABBA, Absolut, Volvo, Saab, IKEA and H&M.

Stockholm is the epicentre of Swedish business and as such, one is instantaneously transported to Swedish heaven upon arrival at Stockholm Arlanda Airport. The short bus ride into the city passes the green rolling hills of the Swedish countryside and during the summer, you can see why the Swedes sport around such beautiful tans. In the city area, Stockholm is built along the east coast of Sweden and also takes up a number of islands including the one that holds the royal palace. Connected by a series of bridges, Stockholm’s old town area is the picture perfect cobbled stone lined street one imagines in fairytales.

The palace itself covers about a quarter of the old town island and is a rather non-descript stone building. Inside however, its arts and relics from kings and queens gone by combine to form a rather dazzling collection of jewels and treasures from one of the world’s oldest monarchies. Similar to many other Scandinavian and European cities, Stockholm is a bike friendly city that is easy to navigate and provides safe bike lanes for cyclists to roam about. If biking is not particularly high on the agenda, then the city’s public transport system is clean, efficient and frequent albeit a little on the expensive side.

Some notable sites in Stockholm for tourists include Skansen, which is one of the world’s largest open air museums, providing an intriguing look at early Swedish life and also contains an animal park that somewhat resembles a zoo. Children and adults will be both amused and interested, and traditional Swedish food is served in the cafes and patisseries. The Skansen is also located across from the Tivoli amusement park and a short stroll from the yacht permanently tied to the harbour that acts as a youth hostel. The Vaasa museum is also located along the water from and has an original wooden ship that sunk during its maiden voyage as it was leaving Stockholm harbour over 400 years ago. Art lovers will also enjoy the Moderna Museet.

Useful Hint:

Staying further away from the city is a significantly cheaper option than living in the heart of the city. Being away from all the tourist attractions and living closer to the locals also means that eating out and general necessities are also cheaper and easier to find. If budget is a concern, accommodation, which allows for self-catering is a brilliant idea to combat the high prices of the Swedish economy, as DIY dinners are reasonable value even in a country such as Sweden.

Getting Here:

• Arlanda is the main airport serving Stockholm and is the home of SAS airlines (Scandinavian air service) and its partner Star Alliance members. One World alliance members are less prominent but none the less still fly here. Flights leave here to all parts of Europe and the world.
• Skavsta airport is a regional airport labelled by RyanAir and other low cost airlines as an airport for Stockholm. Coach most conveniently reaches it and currently there are 2 bus companies at war on the route and offering deals and specials on tickets to and from the airport.
• Trains from around the country and neighbouring Finland and Denmark all terminate at Stockholm central station.
• Cruise ships and ferries dock close to the city centre at the terminal on Stockholm harbour.

Copenhagen, Denmark (Pop. 480,000)

When one thinks of Denmark, often ice cream, cookies and Danish pastries coming into mind, as do Hans Christian Anderson fairytales and perhaps Carlsberg beer. More recently, Princess Mary’s marriage to Prince Federeik can induce women all over Australia into dream-like states where she wishes she were the one who had met him at Slipp Inn during the Sydney Olympic games and became a real life princess.

The Danish are famed for their architects and the city’s main buildings are a showcase to the understandings of form and aesthetics. Without the Danes, the Sydney opera house would perhaps not be as famous as it is today. The city’s buildings are a mix of new and old (more old than new) but they work well against one another and make Copenhagen a beautiful city. It's the little things that make Copenhagen so special. Situated on the Eastern part of Zealand, the waterfront of Copenhagen contains the most famous statue in the city. Far and wide, people come to Copenhagen to see this small statue that lies on the rocks of the harbour.

Elsewhere around the city, palaces and royal residences of the world’s oldest surviving monarchy. Jewels and other valuable items are well preserved and organised in museums located all over the city, but perhaps the most highly recommended of those is the Amelienborg Palace located in the King’s Garden.

It is quite easy to find one’s bearings in Copenhagen and being quite flat, walking around is fairly easy. If however, you would prefer to bike, hire places concentrate around the central train station and there are some bike stations around the city that have public bikes that require a 20kr coin as a deposit, returned to you when you re-lock a bike at any one of the stations dotted around the city.

At night, the city’s Tivoli Gardens light up and the part amusement park, part open museum is a great way to spend an evening. Tickets sold can either be bough as an entry only ticket or an unlimited ride ticket. Entry for individual rides however, can also be purchased once inside if you did decide you wanted to go on a ride or two once you are inside. Once inside, restaurants and entertainment is in abundance.

Finally, the best view of Copenhagen can be seen from atop the city hall’s clock tower.

Useful Hint:

Get to the city bike racks early if you are planning to get one of the free bikes available in the city, as they do go fast and are limited in numbers.

Getting here:

• Copenhagen is well connected to Europe by air, served mainly by Scandinavian Airlines (SAS). Some budget airlines do fly to limited cities such as London and other parts of Scandinavia (easyJet and Norwegian come to mind). Copenhagen airport is well connected by a train running into the central railway station.
• DSB is the national train operator and connects Copenhagen to other parts of Denmark, Germany and Sweden.

Belfast, Northern Ireland (Pop. 290,000)

Unlike it’s Irish cousin Dublin, Belfast was plagued with damage and decline during the 1970s due to sectarian violence by the IRA and Loyalist paramilitary groups. However, in the past couple of years, the city has found its feet and grown substantially. Whilst it may not a pretty as other parts of Ireland, Belfast certainly has its own beautiful character and charm.

Any visitor to Belfast needs to visit Shankill Road, where today murals and paintings along building walls commemorate those that died during the violence that took place here. It would be ideal to catch a bus up Shankill road and walk back towards Belfast city centre, admiring and paying respects to the many men (and women) that died.

Another significant site that visitors to Belfast should visit is Stormont Estate. It is here, that the Northern Irish Assembly sits and visitors are often able to head into one of the chambers to have a sneak peak (the foyer is open to visitors, however, ask one of the guards nicely and they usually guide you into one of the two chambers).

Back in the city centre, Belfast’s city hall has gardens open to the general public and is often quite crowded in the early afternoon during a warm summers day where people are out and about to catch some sun. It is also here that a London eye-esque observation wheel sits for those who would like to see Belfast from the top.

Again, like most European cities, the main shopping district is a haven for fashionistas. Major European and British stores can all be found along the high streets and the main enclosed shopping centre offers a free viewing platform that gives shoppers a 360° view of the city.

Useful hint:

The city’s bus system is well developed and efficient, with buses going to all major areas of the city. A day pass costs less than £4 for the day and gives you unlimited rides on all of the city’s buses, including the bus that stops right outside the terminal building of Belfast City airport.

Getting here:

• Belfast city airport is located close to the city and is well served by budget airlines flying to and from the UK as well as some cities in Europe. RyanAir, Aer Lingus and BMI Baby are just a couple of the airlines servicing Belfast City airport.
• Ferries run from parts of the west cost of the UK and enable those with cars to come over to the city with their cars.
• Buses and trains run to other parts of Ireland.

Dublin, Republic of Ireland [Baile Átha Cliath] (Pop. 500,000)

There’s a lot to be said about how well a country can make fun of themselves, and right up there would have to be the Irish. Rather than be offended by the clichés that have come to be associated with the Irish, they embrace it and are proud to own it. Stepping off the plane you are greeted by a wash of shamrock green whether it be in advertisements, signage, souvenirs, company logos etc. It is also, of course, Ranga land with possibly what could be one of the worlds highest percentage of redheads in the population. The luck of the Irish, Guinness beer and leprechauns are brandished proudly to visitors and tourists.

Dublin itself is the capital of southern Ireland – the part of the island that is a republic and is independent from the United Kingdom. It is a fairly rainy place, however when the sun does come out, the Irish spirit shines more brightly. During the summer months, the city is full of tourists as a result of cheap flights from what now seems to be the Irish flag carrier – RyanAir. Notorious for their cheap flights and the hundred or so add-on fees from anything to counter check in to drinking water and peanuts, no one can argue that the airline offers unbeatable value. So much so in fact that the actual Irish flag carrier, Aer Lingus, converted from a full service airline to a low cost carrier in order to compete with RyanAir. Dublin airport itself has grown significantly over the past couple of years and the influx of carriers both from the US and other parts of Europe continues to grow.

Once arriving into Dublin, its compact size (like most other European cities) allows the visitor to easily walk to the major sites. When necessary however, the city’s bus system is efficient, clean and somewhat inexpensive. Lost? Then ask a friendly Irish man and they’ll more than likely throw in a joke free.

A great starting point is at the bridges that span over the Liffey River. From there, head north towards Trinity College and the Bank of Ireland to admire the architecture of some of the city’s oldest buildings. Other recommended sites include the Guinness factory where one learns about the process and history of making Guinness with the tour ending at the panoramic bar perched high above the factory, offering the best view of Dublin while enjoying a pint or two of Guinness beer. For castle lovers (and lets face it, who wouldn't expect to see a castle in a major European city?), Dublin castle satisfies your quench for fortified walls and royal living. Sport lovers must make the trek over to Croke Park – home of Gaelic Football.

Dublin is also a city of churches and cathedrals, as the staunch catholic background continues to be instilled in the Irish community. One of the biggest in the city is St Patrick’s Cathedral, and during a sunny summer’s day, its adjoining park is a great spot for a picnic or a place to rest. Finally, the last stop for many visitors to this beautiful city is the home of Oscar Wilde, the famed literary genius who’s quotes are thought provoking and more often than not, wildly outrageous. The building is now occupied as part of the Irish American university and is located across the city’s main park, not dissimilar to New York’s central park. Coincidentally, walking out of one of the park’s exits, one could be forgiven in thinking that they’d suddenly been transported to New York.

Last but not least, the city’s shopping areas (located 5mins of one another) offers the shopaholic absolute paradise. Its stores line pedestrian-only streets filled with the usual British high street stores and a mix of those from further afield. When its time to drop, a short distance away is the Temple Bar, arguably the most famous place of worship in the city. The strip sums up the general feel of Dublin itself – traditionally British mixed with the Irish sense of humour and out look on life, teamed with influences from the Americas and continental Europe. Dublin is a sophisticated, fun-loving and cosmopolitan city.


Useful hint:
Bring comfortable walking shoes so as to not miss the sights and sounds of the city. Walking is by far the best way to get around the city and even if you do get lost a single confused look at the map magically summons up a friendly local willing to offer you directions.

Getting here:
• RyanAir is undoubtedly the king of budget airlines and with Dublin being it’s home base, cheap airfares from just about anywhere in Europe will get you there, often for well under £10 each way. Fares have been known cost just 1pence including all taxes and fees. As a result, other airlines also offer cheap airfares in an out of the city to parts of northeast USA and Europe.
• The airport bus runs frequently and drops you off right in the heart of the city costing just a couple of Euros.
• Ferries run from parts of the west cost of the UK and enable those with cars to come over to the city with their cars.
• Dublin is connected to other parts of Ireland and Northern Ireland by buses and trains.

Nottingham, United Kingdom (Pop. 261,000)

Located in the centre of England, this city is the home of the Sherwood Forrest and all things Robin Hood. Although there are references to the hero of the poor in the form of a statue outside Nottingham Castle and a forest exhibit dedicated to all his endeavours, this English city in the midlands offers much more than just a the story of Robin Hood and his men. About an hour away from the much larger city of Birmingham, Nottingham offers its visitors a blend of English countryside and metropolitan life.

In the city centre you’ll find the typical English high street with its chains of Carphone Warehouse, Debenhams, Top Shop/Top Man, Marks & Spencer, Boots and WH Smith. The city’s town square is brightened up in summer with the space used for fair rides and a fake beach that utilises the centre fountain – thoroughly enjoyed by kids young and old alike. For the shopaholics out there, its selection of shops is quite broad, international and, being less populated than larger cities found elsewhere in the country, less crowded and usually well stocked with items that may have been sold out earlier elsewhere in the country. A compact town centre means your feet will thank you at the end of the day, and the hike back to the hotel would also be much less painful. In saying that however, the notorious English supermarket (Morrisons, ASDA, Tesco and Sainsbury) is located in the ever-popular big box sites dotting around the outskirts of the town centre.

Venture further afield however, and you’ll find fruits to pick in the University of Nottingham grounds (think apples and blackberries), canals full of river boats during the summer and activities generally confined to small English towns usually found much further from larger town centres. During my stay here, I walked along canals with fields brimming full of waist tall grass lined with blackberry bushes, watched river boats chug along at a leisurely English summer pace and visited the site of a kayak and canoe white water centre.

It's a fantastic place to relax and wander along the shores as you watch riverboats coming in and out of the canal locks. That is, when the English weather co-operates. Temperature-wise, Nottingham is usually a couple of degrees cooler than London, but is usually wetter than southern England. Although not as wet as dreary old Manchester, you’ll spend a good 50% of your time under the brolly trying to avoid the rain.

Sport fans can enjoy the dog races (something not often found in modern day England); catch a home game of one of the two soccer teams – Nott’s County and Nottingham Forest or spend a day or two at the cricket.

Useful hint:

For those of you who are addicted to you Internet (much like myself), you’d be comforted to find that many cafes and eateries around town and smaller high streets offer free wi-fi, so order that coffee and whip out those iPhones or netbooks to log on for!

Getting here:

• National Express and Megabus services depart from most major English cities to Nottingham often and if booked early enough, fares as low as £1 can be found.
• Train services link Nottingham to the rest of the UK. Book early for the cheapest fares (cheapest tickets go on sale about 2-3 months before travel)
• Nottingham is linked to the major highways with England’s notorious A-Roads. It’s about a 3-hour drive from London, 1 hour from Birmingham and about 2 hours to Manchester.
• RyanAir, easyJet and BMI/BMI Baby currently fly to the east midlands airport (serving Derby, Lincolnshire and Nottingham), however, easyJet is about to cease their flights, so flight will become a little more limited. The next closest airport is Birmingham.

New Blogs...

So I'm going for a bit of a new style when I'm blogging during my holidays.

Rather than recap my trips, I'm going to write up each city kind of like a guide. Hope you enjoy it!

Alex

Bangkok to Macau to Bali to HOME!, 30/03/09

This morning was an early morning (again, I really need to choose later flights when they are available…) and after having our early breakfast, we finished off packing our bags and checked out of the lovely Holiday Inn to catch a meter taxi back to Suvarnabhumi Airport. The trip there was quite bemusing as our taxi driver must have been on the wrong side of 80 and insisted on making phone calls throughout the trip, laughing hysterically about what was being said by the other person and then relating the hilarity in his not so great English to us.

All checked in for our return flight with Air Asia, we browsed the duty free shops and came to the conclusion, like at Siam Paragon, that Thailand really isn’t the place for cheap brand name items, that is, unless they have been knocked off and serious copyright infringements have been made.

The flight back to Macau wasn't too bad – my heart did skip a beat when, during take off, our pilot decided to drop a couple of feet down about 10secs into the wheels having left the tarmac before realising his/her mistake and then gaining altitude again. Lets just say, emergency exits were sought out and my grip on the hand rest did tighten a fair bit…

Arriving in Macau, we dropped our bags off at left luggage and caught the free shuttle bus to the Venetian Casino where we spent the next 4 hours or so doing what seems to be the number 1 activity of this trip – SHOPPING. If we were disappointed by the sales and variety of clothes on offer in Honkie Tonks, The Shoppes at the Venetian more than made up for it. 70% signs dotted storefronts throughout the centre and the higher Macau Pataca also made things a bit better.

Dinner tonight was some nice Portuguese food, namely a duck baked rice bowl and some chicken curry. We also loaded up on local sweets of Almond Cakes and Peanut Candy. About 6hours into our 12hour layover (why, oh why?!), we gave up on walking around anymore – perhaps more so being vetoed by our feet than anything else and parked our tired asses on a couch in Starbucks and reading, listening to music and writing 4 blog entries to make the time pass by. We still have about 11 hours worth of travelling to get home, as the fantastic people at Viva Macau (*sarcasm*) generously decided to re-route us through Bali, Denpasar again to refuel (*more sarcasm*). Fingers crossed we get home in one piece!

This will be my final blog entry (unless there is something to write about and we have an eventful flight) until August when my European adventure begins – well actually, it's a bit more of a United Kingdom adventure due to the falling Aussie dollar to euro conversion. Until then, there may be a few domestic trips in between, so stay tuned! ☺

Bangkok, 29/03/09

Our last full day in Bangkok and we had set it aside to join a tour that would take us to an island located about 20kms north of Bangkok, called Koh Kred. This island is renowned for its ceramics and pottery, and for the bargain basement price of 300baht, we were provided with comfortable seats on a tourist boat, an English speaking tour guide and the knowledge that we would be taken to all the places of interest without having to haggle and find our own way.

On the tour, we spoke with a German backpacker who had been travelling on her own for over 2 months (she was doing an internship here in Bangkok) and an English couple who lived permanently in Spain.

Cruising up the Chao Phraya River, we stopped of first at a temple and then next a well-known restaurant that served traditional Thai curries and sweets. An interesting fact about Koh Kred is that whilst it is currently an island, it did not begin this way. In fact, it was part of the mainland but as the need for a canal to widen the Chao Phraya River was needed, this island was separated from the mainland and as the canal got wider and wider, Koh Kred became its own little island. The island is sometimes translated as Koh Kret and is equally populated by Thai locals and Mong people, a group of people who had migrated from Myanmar/Laos, sharing it with a small number of Indian and Chinese immigrants.

We had about 2 hours to wander around the markets on the islands, with some variety of pottery and ceramics, but generally all fairly similar and of designs difficult to distinguish from one another. There were also other stalls selling other merchandise, not dissimilar to what we had found at Chatuchak Markets yesterday.

The cruise back to Bangkok was leisurely and having had a very pleasant day in the much less bustling island of Koh Kred, we had a quiet evening, again having a Thai dinner at the Irish pub, but tonight I taste tested a Singha beer – not unlike a Toohey’s New.

Bangkok, 28/03/09

Today’s adventure was completely dedicated to the markets known with affection by the locals as JJ markets. It’s official title and known by tourists as the Chatuchak Markets, the largest markets in Thailand and possibly South East Asia. You can purchase literally anything in these markets, from jewellery, clothing, shoes, home wares, food, art, candles and even pets. The alleys on which the markets are built on measure roughly a metre or so wide and is cramped with locals and tourists alike. Items on sale range from those where you can haggle to incredibly low prices and then there are also the stalls where prices are fixed and you can argue till you’re blue in the face, not even a single Baht will be taken off the final price.

After about 5 hours of roaming laneway after laneway of the markets, both of us heaved our weary and sweaty bodies towards the closest exit leading to the BTS and revelled in the air-conditioned comfort of the sky train. Have no more energy to continue touring around Bangkok; we called it quits and relaxed in the hotel pool and in the very comfortable beds. To make things confusing for everyone involved, we chose to eat at the hotel’s Irish pub, but instead of ordering standard western fare, we chose from the Thai options and were pleasantly surprised by the quality of the dishes served. Satisfied after a long and eventful day, we headed in for the night, resting for tomorrow.

Bangkok, 27/03/09

Our first full day in Bangkok began in a leisurely fashion by having the free buffet breakfast that came with the room and having sussed out the local area, we were able to get to find our way to the Central Pier located underneath the Sathon Bridge to catch the ferry up the Chao Phraya River to Wat Pho where the massive Reclining Buddha is located. Having wandered around sufficiently, we walked through the humid heat to the Royal Palace that is located right next door. Apparently my shorts were considered inappropriate and I had to done some trendy pants that have probably been worn by countless number of tourists before me (I don't even want to know if they have been washed…).

The grand palace has a temple of it’s own and it is here that the Emerald Buddha is located. Whilst much smaller in stature to that of the Reclining Buddha, it is made of precious stones (hence the name, duh!) and precious metals such as gold. Other interesting areas of the Royal palace include the weapons museum and royal artefact/Thai coin museum. It was fairly heavy work walking through the palatial grounds as the stifling heat and muggy humidity ensure that we were sweating profusely throughout the touring. Having drunk a number of bottles of water, neither of us needed to go to the bathroom – thought I’d put a bit of inappropriateness into this blog hahaha.

A short lunch stop in much welcomed air conditioning and then it was down past the markets to the river-crossing pier to catch the ferry across the Chao Phraya River (it costs a measly 3baht). Unfortunately we had crossed a few hundred miles up river from where we really wanted to go and so had to hit the back roads using educated guesses as to the direction of Wat Arun (known by foreigners as the Temple of Dawn). The searing heat was relentless and arriving at the temple finally, we had to sit and rest for quite a while before able to continue on.

The main feature of Wat Arun is the main tower located in the middle of the grounds and climbing up about halfway to the top where spectacular views of Bangkok and it’s river surround you as you circumnavigate the top of the tower. The cool breeze was also very comforting even if the steps and lack of safety railings was fairly concerning for someone who is quite afraid of heights!

Having seen enough of temples and palaces for one day, we called it a day and caught the ferry and BTS back to the hotel. Tonight’s choice of cuisine was the nearby Maccas and a taste test of the Samurai Pork Burger. A bit too sweet and covered in too much sauce, I’d rate it a 6 out of 10.

Hong Kong to Macau to Bangkok, 26/03/09

Today we were flying to Bangkok from Hong Kong, and thus it involved an early morning (getting up at 5am). I really need to stop choosing early morning and red-eye flights – this could all be solved if I paid a bit extra and chose to fly full service legacy airlines but alas until someone hands me over a Platinum or even better a Centurion American Express, I will continue to dream. Alas I digress.

So after catching a bus down to the Macau Ferry Terminal in central, Hong Kong. We waded through the hoards of Chinese tourists to go to the ticket windows and purchase our one-way tickets to Macau. We were able to score free upgrades to Cotai First class, so that was a bonus this morning. Want we didn't count on this morning however, was the sheer number of Chinese tour groups that would be crossing immigration to get out of Hong Kong the same time that we were passing through. You would expect that this sort of thing happens quite regularly and that immigration would provide lines for independent travellers to ensure that they are able to make it to their ferry on time. Natalie and I pushed our way through to the front (when in Rome, eat pizza; when in China, lose all sense of social etiquette). We managed to get the attention of some tourists and were told off by one such woman who suggested that we join the queue like everyone else. Considering she was on a tour and it didn't matter which ferry she boarded –the ferries leave every 15mins for them and they board which ever one is about to leave next, I thought this was a bit rich. Luckily, immigration was understanding of our situation (our ferry was about to leave in 15mins) and we were let through and processed straightaway… take that mole! Lol.

On board comfortable in the first class cabin, we settled in for the hour cruise and were served breakfast shortly after departure. The Macau people sure do like the word Cotai. It’s possibly to travel by Cotai strip’s Cotai jet in Cotai class to go see a performance in the Cotai arena. Not a Cotai a lie! Arriving into Macau, we took a short taxi ride to the airport and checked in for our Air Asia flight to Bangkok Suvarnabhumi International Airport. For those not acquainted with Air Asia, it is basically the Jetstar of Asia and half owned by the guys of RyanAir fame (shudder at the memories…). The flight was a fairly uneventful 2½ hours made only a little annoying by the large number of buckles being popped to release seatbelts as soon as the wheels touched down.

Upon arriving in Bangkok, it was a half hour cab ride to the Holiday Inn Silom, which was to be home for the next 4 days. A free upgrade for the room (yay to priority club gold!) and we were settled in and temped to lie on the bed and just sleep. We weren’t however about to waste and afternoon in bustling Bangkok and so began wandering one of the main streets until we hit a BTS skyrail station. The afternoon was spent wandering inside Siam Central/Siam Paragon (nice shopping centres, but the usual brand names that are no where near the reach of us mere mortals). More appropriate price-wise was the MBK centre, but it was more market like and being dazed by so many choices was not the most ideal way to shop after being up since 5am. We topped the night off by having some Japanese Ramen noodles and then heading back to the hotel for a well-deserved rest.

Hong Kong, 25/03/09

Today was our final full day here in Hong Kong and so as I have previously visited all tourist sites and due to the lack of success with my purchasing prowess, there was nothing else to do but… You guessed it! Shop. Lol.

We had breakfast downstairs again and got some food for the flight tomorrow to Bangkok before catching the MTR to Kowloon Tong where we were going to go to Festival Walk, my favourite shopping centre here in HK cos it literally has everything (ok, well besides Zara). A couple of hours shopping later, I could shop no longer and we called it quits for the day (and hence, the trip).

Otherwise a boring day, we are going to have an early night, as we will be getting up early tomorrow to fly from Macau (catching an early morning ferry over) to Bangkok.

Hong Kong, 24/03/09

This morning was a lazy morning spent catching up on the news back home and around the world (checking 6 newspapers online ends up taking quite a while! Lol). It was soon time for us to take grandma to the train station, where we met with Aunt and Uncle 1 who were going to be accompanying her back to Guang Zhou and we got to spend some time with Aunt 5 and baby Kyle who had brought aunt and uncle 1 to the train station.

When the train passengers were off, we made our way towards Tsim Sha Tsui and stopped along shopping centres around the area doing…you guessed it! Shopping. Lol. Some photographic opportunities popped up down along the Avenue of Stars which is HK’s version of the walk of fame, but its located along the glory of the HK harbour.

As we made our way along HK’s infamous Nathan Road, popping into shops that came to our attention, we stopped off at a restaurant that advertised its Macau cuisine. Thinking that it would be a nice change, we chose the place to eat. Whilst it was definitely a little different from the usual Cantonese cuisine, it was not all that special/exciting to write home about. The Portuguese egg tarts, which were made out to be fantastic, weren’t that impressive either.

It was back along the yellow brick road (ok, so not that funny…) and headed toward our cousin’s wife, Ivy’s store where she worked. Nat and my aunt had a look around while I was so tired that I ended up falling asleep on the chair – classy! We also went to visit family friends who are absolutely loaded – they own hotels and that in Vietnam and have a huge sewing machine business here in HK.

Tonight we were going out for dinner and went to sushi, with massive slices of salmon sashimi and other glorious seafood. Much too full and very content, we continued the sporting ways of the Hong Kongers and I finally broke – buying some clothes and cook nick knacks from a Japanese department store.

Hong Kong, 23/03/09

Today was grandma’s last full day in Hong Kong before she was to go back to Guang Zhou and so when we got up in the morning, we spent some time just chatting with her once we had gone downstairs to an eatery to have some breakfast. Some family friends were coming over for yum cha so when they arrived (with baby Kyle who had come with his grandma), we went over to the restaurant.

After eating, Natalie and I made our way back to New World Plaza in Sha Tin as there were some shops that I didn't actually end up going into and that Natalie wanted to see too, so we again perused the racks of the shops within the centre. Some stores were revisited, but again I ended up coming away with nothing, just like yesterday (yay to saving money!).

Not exactly the most interesting day but a long one and tiring one – who knew shopping is so exhaustive!

Hong Kong, 22/03/09

After the previous night being a fairly late one, I had hoped to sleep in a little this morning as check out of the hotel wasn't until noon, but as my uncle was leaving to go back to Guang Zhou early in the morning, I was woke up and wasn't able to sleep again, hence the previous two long blog entries.

Other members of my family were then leaving at around 10am so I had to pack my bags and get down to the lobby to meet them. We were going to drop off our luggage at one of my aunt’s houses here in HK so that we could be free to go out and hit the shops (the national sport in HK is actually shopping… like seriously). We hit Sha Tin New Town Plaza, which is roughly the size of Parramatta Westfield only with many smaller shops, and no really major department stores bar one. We spent all afternoon shopping and walking around going into each and every store there basically was, but I survived the afternoon without purchasing anything (I was being fiscally responsible) and I will be thanking myself later when paying for the cards…lol.

All shopped out and nowhere else to go, we headed back to the apartment to rest a little (I was still exhausted from the flight, the wedding and today’s shopping) until dinner and after eating, had some family time to catch up and chat.

Hong Kong, 21/03/09

Today was the day the main purpose of this trip was for – the Wedding of Yan and Kwan. It began much too early for my liking with members of the family who were staying at the hotel (the Harbour Plaza Metropolis) meeting for the mini-bus at 8am down in the lobby so that we could be at my aunt’s house by 9am. It was here that we all got prepared for the traditional tea drinking ceremony that was to take place. Make up, last minute preparations and grabbing a little bit of breakfast so that we could all be ready for the groom and bride’s arrival shortly after 10am. Now with Chinese weddings, the groom and his groomsmen must first travel to the home of the bride where they must participate in a number of challenges (today they are more games than anything else) to show their love, dedication and worthiness for the bride. It is one after they pass these challenges that they must then read out a contract of obligations they promise to uphold during the marriage (i.e.: things like to always love, honour, make the bed, cook dinner, clean etc) to the satisfaction of the bridesmaids and parents. This also requires the groom to settle on a monetary sum, much like a dowry in Indian culture, as a parting gift to the bride’s parents before he is allowed to whisk the bride away.

With the bride in his ‘possession’ (for want of a better word), the couple and all the groomsmen/bridesmaids then make their way over to the groom’s parents house where the couple is presented to the parents and are offered red envelopes and well wishes from relatives in response to the offering of tea by the couple. The tea ceremony passed quickly with members of our extended family playing musical chairs from closest relatives to those further down the line making the trip 2 at a time to receive the tea and offer our well wishes. Photos taken and all done, we cleaned up and had to make our way down to the church for the more traditional western ceremony. The ceremony was held in the Methodist International Church and was presided over by an English pastor and translated into Cantonese for those who didn't speak any English. Prayers, the wedding vows and some singing later, we were all soon filing out of the church, taking some photos with an uncle’s Rolls Royce and then it was time to head back to my aunt’s house for some lunch.

Seeing as we had a couple of hours to kill before the reception, those of us staying at the hotel made our way back to the hotel and enjoyed the benefits of a nanna nap for about 2 hours. Passing all too quickly we changed outfits and it was a short walk from the hotel to the restaurant where the reception was to be held, so we shopped around (well actually, the women shopped while us men hung around the front of the shops – fun!) until it was time for the reception to begin. More photos were taken before dinner (we are after all, Asian) and catching up with long lost relatives and family friends – the usual family politics prevailed.

Throughout the 8-course dinner, we watched photos, videos and other funny/cute/embarrassing media of the happy couple and toasted to their marriage. By the time all the festivities, photo taking and other wedding related extravaganza, we made it out of the reception at about midnight and caught a taxi back to the hotel. Today has been an incredibly long day (and my mouth hurts from smiling so much taking photos) especially after the loooooong flight from Sydney the day before!

Hong Kong, 20/03/09

Day one of our trip to Hong Kong and the lesson of the day was brought to our attention loudly and clearly. Today we were flying to Hong Kong the budget way, and instead of getting there by flying directly to HK Chep Lap Kok airport, we decided (more through the price difference than anything else) that we would fly Viva Macau to Macau and then take the 1hr ferry into Hong Kong. Everything seemed like it was set, except that Viva Macau decided to change our flights about a month before we were to leave and our departure time had now been delayed for 2 hours and we were stopping at Denpasar Airport, in Bali. A little inconvenienced, but not too worried.

When we actually boarded our aircraft, we weren’t exactly impressed by the cabin ambiance of the ageing 767 (it was purchased second hand from Mexicana, for those of you who are playing at home) and the social etiquette of fellow passengers. When budget airlines come to mind, we are spoilt by Jetstar and Virgin Blue, who like many others around the world operate on the principle of newer airlines equate to better fuel economy and lower servicing needs. Apparently Viva Macau got the aircraft for peanuts and saves money that way… Settled into our flight, we managed the first 6 hours to Bali with no issues, save the for social ineptness of fellow passengers placing their bare feet on the seat rest in front of them, and were looking forward to getting off the aircraft to get a bit of dinner and poke our heads around the airport in Bali, Denpasar.

Imagine our disappointment (putting it lightly…) when we found out that we were in fact not allowed to leave the aircraft and had to stay put while the aircraft was being refuelled – a surprising fact not lost on me, as 767s are operated on routes all over the world where flight times are about 9hours (i.e.: Sydney to Honolulu as flown by Qantas). This forced us to purchase food from the food for purchase cart, a measly $10 later for instant noodles and a can of coke. The next 4 hours were a bit more difficult to get comfortable because it was in effect the 7-11th hour that we were holed up on the plane. I should interject at this point that water, which is required to be available for free by NSW law, was also something you needed to purchase from the flight attendants. About an hour or two before landing, the smell of cigarette smoke would waft through the cabin in short bursts and came to our attention a number of times. The flight attendants also soon noticed and were soon roaming down our section of the plane (yay!) to look for the perpetrator. Turns out it was an elderly gentleman, of the Asian persuasion, who possibly like us had looked forward to Bali like us…lol. A stern talking to from the flight attendants, and continued denials by the man brought us to an impasse so all the flight attendants could do was glen 20 the cabin (again…yay!) and repeat the non-smoking announcement.

By the time we touched down in Macau, it was after 11pm Macau time (2am Australian Eastern Daylight Savings Time) and was over 11hours since our departure from Sydney. Luckily Macau airport is tiny and we breezed through immigration, baggage and customs hitting the taxi queue and racing to the ferry terminal, making it with 10mins to spare to purchase tickets for the midnight ferry to Hong Kong and passing through immigration again to board the Turbo Jet bound for Tsim Sha Tsui, HK. Exactly one hour later, we were docked at Hong Kong and greeted after immigration/customs by Ivy and Justin who dropped me off at the hotel where I was staying for 2 nights during the wedding. By the time I had showered and ready for sleep, the local time was 2am and I finally was able to get some proper rest prior to the early morning tomorrow!

Honolulu, 11/03/09-12/03/09

Today was our final day in the US and Honolulu delivered a fantastic day to finish off the holiday. We woke up late and spent the morning in bed with the windows open, watching trashy American chat shows. As soon as I was able to peel myself out of bed and got to a point where I looked decent to go out, we walked over to Ala Moana shopping centre to spend the last day doing what is America's true national sport – shopping! Some last minute purchases and the discovery of a great Japanese supermarket (sushi, teriyaki, tempura and Calpico soft drinks) to have lunch in, we spent the remainder of our budget.

It was back to the hotel to begin packing our bags and taking stock of all the items we purchased and collected over the last 9 days before watching a little bit of MTV and going down to the local IHOP (International House of Pancakes) for dinner. That is one thing that I will not miss about the US, is the disgusting food that is served throughout the country. Nothing that is served at restaurants of fast food outlet tastes remotely healthy, with everything being cooked in fat, over salted or sugared, preserved and artificially flavoured. That along with the need to tip waiters/waitresses which in essence just adds 15-20% to the total bill. Why can’t they just pay them more, charge more for food and do away with gratuities. Our final meal in the US of A over, we came back to the hotel after some shopping in the local ABC store to get some last minute things and an early night was ahead as we had to be up early the next morning to head to the airport.

We were checked out and at the pick up spot for the airport shuttle by 5.30am in the morning and at the airport by 6am (brought back memories of flying with Dan to Rome from London Luton on RyanAir *shudder*) and checked in ready to come home. As a final dramatic twist, our flight was delayed by an hour and a half due to the late arrival of the flight coming in from Sydney, so that meant we didn't end up leaving Honolulu until about 10am (we were scheduled to leave at 8.15am). The flight ended up being quite enjoyable, save the fat Bogan sitting behind us, and we did find out that Natalie Cook was again on our flight, so she must have been in the US for the same amount of time we were.

Its good to be home for the week – no need to worry about where to go for dinner and all that, but I’m excited to head off to my second favourite city in the world on Friday! ☺

Las Vegas-Los Angeles-Honolulu 10/03/09

This morning was an early one as we had to check out of the hotel before 9am and have all our things and the car started up by 9am because we had a long drive ahead of us to get back to LA so that we could catch our flight back to Honolulu. Heading out of Vegas however, we stopped down at the Welcome to Las Vegas to take some photos (more Jetstar jumps yay!). It was then time to fill up the car as we were about running on empty, and the US has nothing to complain about the price of petrol - $2.24 a GALLON! That's about 60c a litre. Like seriously, no wonder they still consider Falcon/Commodore cars as medium sized cars…

Car filled up, the stereo set to the road trip playlist and with Las Vegas behind us, we continued down I-15 with the cruise control set to just above the speed limit (lesson learned from the trip to Vegas! I drove non-stop until we got back to Barstow where the In & Out Burger just in time for a bit of lunch. Bellies again full, it was only a couple of hours back into the limits of the Los Angeles area and it was directly to the closest Wal-Mart to check out the height of American consumerism and retail prowess. To give you a perspective about the size of a typical Wal-Mart, think about how big a typical Bunnings warehouse is, bolt on a Coles, Kmart and Target and you pretty much have the size of the store. I.e.: MASSIVE.

A quick stop in Barnes and Nobles later and it was time to begin making our way to the airport via a gas station to fill up the car, and the total petrol cost of driving to and from Los Angeles to Las Vegas (well over 1,000kms) was about AU$80 – freaking cheap!

Car returned and saying goodbye to Sally (that was what I had named her), we made our way to the American airlines terminal to check in for our flight and wait for our departure. The 5-hour flight was fairly non-eventful; the only thing of note was the mention of a USMC marine in the seat behind us and the whole plane gave applause – only in America. Arriving into Honolulu, we eventually made it to the hotel (Holiday Inn Waikiki) and settled down for the night, although Shauntelle did head out and make an appointment for tomorrow morning to get a second tattoo for this trip.

Overall a big day - three states/three cities/one day!

Las Vegas 9/03/09

Today was our one and only full day in Las Vegas, and after a very lazy morning watching Sin City type daytime shows (Maurie, Jerry Springer and other white trash TV shows), we finally got our lazy asses out of bed and down to the Starbucks for some breakfast (no bagels!!!). We felt like we were both hung over, although strangely enough – due to lack of funds – we hadn’t actually drunken any alcohol. Shameful I know, but when you’re spending purely on credit cards, alcohol is not exactly a top priority. Our first stop today was the Venetian hotel and the Grand Canal shops inside, which has Venetian vibe (duh!).

A short pit stop at Sephora, we continued on to have some Maccas and then it was time for back-to-back casino tours, being Paris and Planet Hollywood. Paris has a fairly Parisian feel to it (the name does inspire it) and it is truly inspired to have everything within the casino to begin with Le or Les as well as adding the appropriate symbols to make everything sound French. Case in point, take the hotel lobby: it was renamed Le’Lobby. Ingenious!

Planet Hollywood isn’t really the planet Hollywood that you are used to, in fact there is nothing remotely planet Hollywood about it (an interesting fact, the Las Vegas Planet Hollywood restaurant is in fact inside the Caesar Palace Forum Shopping centre). Instead, the most interesting thing about Planet Hollywood is the Miracle Mile Shopping centre with everything ranging from FCUK, Urban Outfitters, the Hawaiian ABC stores and even a tattoo parlour. To take a break from all the casinos, we stopped along the two themed stores of Coca Cola and M&Ms. The first was the Coke store which sold everything from Coke branded apparel, badges, bottles and money banks. They also sold a Taste of the World tray that allowed you to taste 16 different types of Coke and Coke products from around the world.

Satisfied with the 2 floors of Coke, we then stopped over at the M&M world store, which doubled the number of floors, found at the Coke store and included a full M&M wall of all the possible colours of M&Ms in both milk chocolate and peanut. There were numerous numbers of M&M product timeline references, spoofs on movie posters, featuring Red, Yellow, Green and Blue as well as a level that is dedicated to a mannequin exhibition of the making process where by a 5mins 3D movie was presented at the conclusion of the walk. The final floor of M&M world was all dedicated to the M&M Nascar team.

All merchandised out, the final stop of the day was the MGM Grand, it is after all Maximum Las Vegas and the city of entertainment (according to their slogans anyways). We saw the MGM lions, which had just come back from the ranch that is about 12miles from the casino (its set on 12 acres of land). We also signed up to a TV rating survey that let us watch a new episode of CSI (it was alright), but what was exciting about that was that we got to use the worm! Lol. Before coming back to the hotel, we passed Walgreens (a supermarket) to get some dinner of sandwiches, drinks and chips ahoy for dinner. We ate while watching the CBS comedy night but came down to Sirens Cove to watch the Treasure Island show, but due to the high winds that is affecting Las Vegas right now, they had cancelled the show.

Tomorrow we will be heading back to Los Angeles to fly back to Honolulu, so hopefully I don't get pulled over by the Highway Patrol again! LOL.

Las Vegas 8/03/09

Today we were heading to Las Vegas and so getting up early in the morning (we also had lost an hour due to daylight savings, so that compounded our tiredness. Catching the free shuttle to the metro station, we caught that to Union Station and connected that with the FlyAway bus which took us to LAX and we had chosen US Airways, which ended up being the first terminal – lucky guess. There it was a short shuttle ride to Thrifty and we headed straight for the VIP line as I had joined up as a Blue Chip member. Paperwork all done, we were told we could choose any car from Lot 3 and so walking down the line, we saw a Mustang and it was the obvious choice!

After a little issue with the hood, we finally got the boot open and all the luggage piled in and ready to head off. It was fairly straightforward to get to the interstate. The usual speed limits for the freeways/highways are about 70mph but it seemed that most cars were going at least 80mph so as we had a fair distance to cover, and the power of the Mustang was not to be ignored, we averaged the speed that most cars were doing. About an hour and a half into the drive, just as we were about to pull over to get some lunch at In & Out Burger, I was pulled over by the Highway Patrol. Being over 10mph is pretty big, its equivalent to about 15kph, so I was expecting a fine, but the officer took my insurance and licence details then just gave it back to me and joked that the tip is to “drive slower than the faster guys”. That kind of confused us, as I wasn't quite sure I had gotten a fine or not… Hopefully it was just a warning and I got let go.

In & Out Burger was pretty good, as there was a good portion and fresh lettuce/tomatoes in the burger and properly potato cut fries. All full, we continued on for another 70miles or so before making another stop for the bathroom and then it was full speed ahead (and just slightly above the speed limit so as to not attract the attention of the highway patrol again – it's a bit attention seeking in a Mustang lol. The view of Las Vegas as you come over the hills is pretty spectacular as it seemingly just rides from the middle of the desert. All parked at Treasure Island, we joined the queue for the 3pm check in (it was looong!) and then headed up to our room to settle in. We were ready to head out to the strip and ended up walking the Bellagio/Caesar’s Palace side of the strip, seeing the shops at Caesar’s (including the Apple store to use their Internet), the art works inside Bellagio, walked around New York, New York as well as riding the Manhattan express roller coaster that wraps around the casino and then continued through the Excalibur and onto Luxor to have a look at the pyramid.

Tonight we settled on Hooters for dinner, but they have changed their policy of letting you take a photo with the Hooters girls on your own and now you have to pay for them! Feeling full (and a little sick, even though I had a salad for dinner!), we made our way back to the hotel, passing by the fountain show at the Bellagio as well as the volcano show down at The Mirage. Tomorrow will be another big day (and again filled with more walking), as we will be going into all the casinos on The Venetian/MGM Grand side of the stip.

Los Angeles 7/03/09

Our final full day in Los Angeles, we woke up at a very leisurely 10am and made our way down to the shuttle bus to get to the metro, which we caught down to Hollywood/Highland, the station closest to the Kodak theatre/Chinese theatre. Upon arrival, I did some shopping at MAC for my cousin, Jenny and then it was off down the road to go visit Kat Von D’s tattoo store, High Voltage Tattoos. From the outside, it's a fairly non-descript yellow building but inside, the store has been tastefully decorated and sports pictures and signage from the TV shows and previous customers throughout the studio. While we were in the store, a middle aged Aussie couple was in there getting a quote for a tattoo, but had no idea what they wanted and sounded like absolute tools.

Satisfied with our LA Ink fix, we caught the bus to Rodeo Drive (surprisingly for a city obsessed with cars and valet parking, the metro system is really well run). Arriving at Rodeo Drive is hardly the most stylish way to get there, but considering how we were dressed, we weren’t going to fool anyone. Inside Ralph Lauren, I did a little shopping, on Jenna’s behalf, to satisfy my need to spend money in the premier shopping area of LA.

Satiated, we caught the metro bus into downtown LA to walk up to the Walt Disney Concert Hall, which is basically the Sydney Opera House of the US. It was a bit difficult to find at first, due to the fact that the clerk at 7-11 we asked didn't actually know what it was (I think that she didn't really speak much English either, so that didn't really help) and then finally we found a Starbucks and thank god for free wi-fi, iPhone and Google maps, we were able to get directions from my phone and found we were only about 5mins away. Taking in the architectural delights of the concert hall, we made our way back to the metro station and caught the metro rail back to Universal City to go to Ralph’s (unfortunately no celebs were doing grocery shopping tonight) to get some dinner and it was back to the hotel to eat and pack our bags as we are road tripping it to Las Vegas tomorrow!

Los Angeles 6/03/09

Day two of Los Angeles, we had allocated today as Universal Studios/Universal City day. After a lazy morning, spent mainly in bed and slowly waking up, we made our way to the courtesy bus that took us up to Universal Studios. Getting our ticket (using some other people’s coupon that had been left on the counter lol). Once inside, we made a beeline to the studio back-lot tour, hosted by my good friend Whoopi Goldberg. We got to see a lot of the older sets that had been used over the past 80 or so years of Universal Studios. The one place that I took the biggest interest in was the Desperate Housewives set however, that was a closed set because all the housewives were in a shooting a new episode.

Finished with the tour early, we made our way around the top lot going on the new Simpson’s ride, watching the Waterworld show, get some lunch and take some photos with our friends Spongebob, Dora and Curious George. Once we had finished exploring the top lot (including going into the House of Horrors), we travelled down the Starway to the lower lot and it was there we went onto the Mummy Rollercoaster and watched some special effects shows such as Backdraft and the Special Effects Stages (the presenters there are HILLARIOUS!).

We had one more go on the Simpson’s ride before it was time for us to head out into Universal City to wander around the shops and get some kid things like candy, popcorn, souvenirs and also a jumper for Shauntelle as it was so cold out. I also got another book that is part of the self-hurt series, this time it is How To Have an Ill Behaved Dog (I already have How To Get Into Debt).

We decided on having dinner at Bucca di Beppo’s as we felt like good hearty Italian food and no one does it better chain-style in the US than Bucca. We got the Spaghetti Bolognese with meatballs, garlic bread and a salad that was mean to be shared between two, but the size of the meals were so huge that we weren’t able to finish it all and I’m sure we would have been able to have another dinner out of what was left over! That was pretty much it for the night (we finished off by getting some chocolate covered strawberries as well as strawberries and cream popcorn…YUM YUM!).

Los Angeles 5/03/09

Upon our arrival at LAX, we dragged our weary and still sleepy bodies down to baggage claim to wait for our suitcases, made all the more uncomfortable (as if we weren’t feeling terrible already) by the incessant chatter emanating from what could only be described as an American version of a bogan. Too much make up (especially for an overnight flight), fake, glittered track suit and too much gold only someone without any sense of style what so ever could muster the courage to wear spent approximately 19.5mins of the 20mins it took to get our bags on the phone talking about getting her new TV screwed onto her bedroom wall (the other 30secs was spent dialling the number of someone else and repeating the conversation).

Baggage collected and relieved of the annoying chatter, we found the LAX FlyAway bus stop to catch the coach into Union Station where we connected to the Red Line Metro up to Universal City and hauling our suitcases down the streets of suburban Los Angeles to Beverly Garland’s Holiday Inn (it is in fact owned and built by Mrs Garland and her husband. After spending some time checking in at the desk, we were soon heading towards our room (thank god for the ability to check in at 8.30am!). We literally showered and crashed into bed to get some well-earned rest – so much for choosing to fly the red-eye!
NB: for those (i.e.: Ben: -p) who do not know, Red-Eye is a term used by airlines and travellers alike to describe a flight that takes off in the evening and flying time is mostly spent over the night. Hence you usually disembark the aircraft with red-eyes due to the inability or lack of sleep.

Waking up with time to catch the last morning shuttle into Universal City, the two of us made use of our Metro day pass and caught the metro back into Hollywood-Highland to visit the Chinese Theatre, Kodak Theatre and Walk of Fame. Whilst sightseeing there, we were offered the opportunity to watch a rehearsal of the Bill Maher Show, Real Time, a comedic show similar to Newstopia and Good News Week (minus the guests). We had some time to kill upon arriving at the studios and so walked around The Grove (and upmarket shopping district frequented by Lauren Conrad and Audrina in The Hills) after lunch at another old-fashioned diner and a lap around the local Kmart. The show as commendable, but really not worth the travelling distance and time it took. Too bad the Ellen show and the late night shows were all sold out already.

We came back to Hollywood and walked around Hollywood Boulevard (Walk of Fame) before heading back towards the hotel and to the Ralph’s nearby. It was here that we saw Vanessa Hudgens wheel her trolley out of the supermarket to load her car up. For those of you playing at home, Vanessa was sporting a long shaggy brunette haircut wearing a plaid shirt and jean shorts. Buzzed with our first Hollywood sighting, we continued to do our dinner shopping and while perusing the drinks, we stumbled upon none other than Australia’s own Sophie Monk. Sporting her usual blonde curls, Sophie today was dressed with high waisted skinny jeans and a t-shirt. She was sunglass-less and did make eye contact with yours truly. Unfortunately, the contact was fleeting and Sophie was heading in the opposite direction. By the time I had turned around, she was headed for the checkouts (self service mind you) and was soon out the door.

Our first eventful day in Hollywood over, we came back to the hotel to eat and chill out in front of the TV (American Idol wild-cards special) and rest after the drama’s of the morning and afternoon.

Honolulu, 4/03/09

During our last day in Honolulu before flying out to LA, we spent the day travelling up the east coast of the island of Oahu. The menu for breakfast this morning was again Starbucks, however, this time I got the blueberry bagel, and this was a slight disappointment from the original bagel.

Our first destination for the day was Hanauma Bay, which was about an hours ride from Waikiki on Bus number 23. The bus was pretty much packed with tourists who all had the same idea that we had of heading up to the north of the island and up to the beaches there, away from the hustle and bustle of Waikiki and Honolulu city. Upon arriving at Hanauma Bay, we walked over to the cliff face to look down onto the bay and the reefs that were clearly visible from the shore. The crystal blue waters and the coral found beneath the surface of the waters looked fantastic and seemed like a beautiful place to spend the day. Unfortunately, we didn't have our swimwear (as we were to fly out on the red-eye tonight to LA, it wasn't really a good idea to go swimming seeing as we didn't have anywhere to shower before the flight). The weather also looked like it was going to rain soon, so after spending enough time and taking some photos, we headed back to the bus stop to wait for the bus to head up further along the coast.

It began to pour rain down while on the bus and so that meant we had to be content to watch the coast go by from the bus windows instead of getting off along the stops. We continued to ride the bus until the end of the line and stayed on for the return journey back into Waikiki. When we finally got back into the city it was around lunch time and so we made our way to a little shopping area called King’s Village where a lot of retro/souvenir stores located, especially one particular one called Rock Island café, which was decked out in Elvis, Betty Boop and other artefacts from centuries gone by. It was classic American Retro Diner; Shauntelle got the pizza while I got a pizza hot dog and both of us had the soda float (basically a coke spider). Full from lunch, we made one last trip over to Ala Moana to do a little more shopping, getting a t-shirt for both myself and Daniel (thanks Dan for letting me shop!).

Back at the hotel, we rested a little and had some dinner (combination of Cheesecake Factory take out and sandwiches from one of the thousands of ABC stores found on Oahu island (they are literally like Starbucks on every corner, sometimes there are two within 100ms of one another!). All set and our shuttle arriving to take us to Honolulu airport, we checked in with American Airlines ready for our flight bound for Los Angeles, California. What we didn't bank on was the need to pay to check in baggage, as there had been no notification from the online agent that I had booked the tickets through. That solved, we were through TSA (Transport Security Authority?) and at the gate with an hour or two to spare. Our flight was also slightly delayed due to headwinds coming in from California but once we had boarded and settled on the plane, we were told that we would be able to make up most of the time because this headwind would become tailwind on the return journey.

Now onboard, I made a comment to Shauntelle as other passengers were still filing in that it would be funny should one of the homeless looking guys that had just stepped on board the plane sat in the seat next to us. Lets just say it wasn't so funny when he came down the aisle and plopped himself right next to Shauntelle. Shaggy beard, dirty clothes and a little bit of a smell to him, he was rude, annoying and most of all, non-compliant when it came to moving to an empty row, even when suggested by the flight attendants. I didn't really have a problem with the situation, as I was asleep for most of the 4½ hours, however Shauntelle barely got any sleep and so the flight did in fact turn into a red-eye. We had left Honolulu just before midnight and arrived the short 4½ hours later into LAX, at around 6.30am Los Angeles time.

Honolulu, 3/03/09

After a fairly restless night, considering how tired I was from the flight and the long day, we woke up early-ish (about 9) and made our way down to Starbucks for some breakfast. The hot chocolate and toasted bagel w/cream cheese I had for breakfast was not only cheaper, but also infinitely more satisfying than the crap that we had eaten yesterday for breakfast at Maccas. Filled up, ready for the day, we caught bus number 20 towards Pearl Harbour, finding out that most of the other people on the bus were also headed for the USS Arizona Memorial (and most of them ended up somehow depending on me to get off at the right stop – how?!).

Once we arrived at the memorial, we headed right for the counter to grab a ticket and were allocated ticket number 29. We had about half an hour before we were to begin our tour so hung around the museum and the surrounding areas. The tour began with a short film with some history and background on how World War 2 began and the Japanese strategy for bombing the US Pacific Naval base as well as and explanation about why the US had all their battleships at Pearl Harbour (apparently they were basing all their ships there to begin their campaign against the Japanese in SE Asia and also the Pacific Ocean). The US had thought that they were ready for any campaign that the Japanese may plan again them, however when the Japanese fighters appeared on radar, they thought that it was a group of US Air Force planes that were expected to be arriving from California and so by the time they realised that it was the Japanese Empire, it was too late. As such, all the US’s Navy Battleships were damaged and a number destroyed (including the USS Arizona which sustained the most damage, being hit where the ammunitions storage facility on board was located).

Sombre from the video, we filed out to the Navy boat, which was to take us out to the harbour and onto the USS Arizona Memorial. Once on board, we saw remnants of the battleship as well as the wall that commemorates all the soldiers, navy personnel and marines lost on that day. A silence fell upon us and spread throughout the memorial (it is after all, atop a cemetery with many of the bodies in the ship still contained within). Once our time was up, we filed back onto the boat and back to the shore where our tour concluded.

Our next stop was then back to the Ala Moana shopping centre for a spot of lunch and the transfer point to interchange with the bus heading towards Diamond Head Monument. Slowly but surely, we made our way up the side of the hill and the stairs to the top of the mountain where the structure of the old Honolulu fire control station remains and is the site for magnificent views out towards the North Shore and Honolulu City/Waikiki beach area. It was a fairly strenuous walk up there, made more difficult for Shauntelle by her choice of footwear (Havaianas, due to the tattoo on her foot).

By the time we got back to the hotel here in Waikiki, it was time for us to have dinner. For dessert we were spoilt by the scrumptious delights of The Cheesecake Factory. I chose the fresh strawberries while Shauntelle went for the caramel. Stuffed to the brim, we settled down with some trashy American reality TV.

Honolulu, 2/03/09 (Ground Hog Day)

Aloha from the islands of Hawai’i!

So this blog is a combination of the inability to sleep and boredom of having nothing to do at 2am in a dark hotel room trying not to wake Shauntelle...

Shauntelle and I arrived on the beautiful central pacific island of Hawai'i very early this morning – at 6.45am to be exact. During the flight here though, it was not exactly a conductive flight for sleeping. Upon boarding, we were greeted with the sight of about half a dozen or so children under the age of 5 sitting directly in front of us (there were only 2 rows between us and the exit…). Lets just say children are group screamers and criers – one sets off the other in a chain of events and then eventually, you get a whole choir of them in full voice. One of the mothers jokingly asked us “who put us in the no sleep section of the plane?” We laughed at the time, but about 6 hours later, not so funny… Eventually once we were at flight level, the kids began to rest the vocal chords and that was when it hit – turbulence. The little bit of silence everyone was treasuring was broken by the instant piercing of all the children crying out at the same time. The flight ended up experiencing turbulence a number of times during the 9-hour intermittently spaced throughout the flight for maximum discomfort.

Once we arrived in Honolulu (with just 2 hours of sleep under my belt), we caught the coach transfer to our hotel, the Aqua Waikiki Wave but as it was still 8.30am in the morning, we had to wait until 3pm to be able to check in. With HOURS to kill, we wandered down along Waikiki beach and downtown Honolulu including one of the worst’s breakfasts at a Maccas ever. I think we’re pretty lucky to have decent Maccas at home (proper bacon rashers, proper egg and all cooked in canola oil). The only redemption was pineapple as a side with the breakfast, but that was immensely disappointing – tasted nothing like actual pineapple.

After a wrong bus ride, thinking we were on the correct bus to Ala Moana shopping centre (it did help waste some time), we finally made it to a shopaholic’s heaven. We ran errands for Jenna (thanks Jenna for letting me feel like I was actually shopping for myself!) and then just began looking around stores for ourselves. Personal favourites as usual were Hollister, Abercrombie and Fitch, Ruehl No925 and American eagle. Credit card spent ($180 on t-shirts later…), we caught a Waikiki trolley to come back towards the hotel, but passed a tattoo parlour where Shauntelle was distracted and ended up getting a tattoo (as you do, but it did look very good).

Upon check in at the hotel, we found out we had been upgraded to the top floor (Yay! I heart free upgrades!) With views of the ocean and also of Diamond Head, the room is really nice for the low price we paid! Once again, Trip Advisor has pointed me to another great hotel. Grabbing some food for a late lunch/early dinner, we came back to the room and showered off the flight and our first day in Honolulu before crashing for the night.

Melbourne, February 2009

Upon arriving at Melbourne Tullamarine Airport, Daniel and I made our way to the SkyBus (how come Melbourne can get airport transfers right and Sydney still can’t?). Saying our farewells – Dan was continuing on home to Sydney while I was meeting Justin at the end of the SkyBus, I boarded the transfer and arrived in Southern Cross station (aka Spencer St station) just like the ads had said: 20mins!

Justin in town, we decided to walk to 20mins to the hostel (yup…Alex sometimes roughs it in budget accommodation and isn’t always staying in a Holiday Inn!). Checked in to our private room, we walked towards North Melbourne and explored the restaurants/cafes looking for somewhere budget and appealing to have dinner, eventually finding the comedy lounge where tonight Jimoin was performing, but unfortunately for us, it was bookings only! So we settled for Malaysian, which turned out to be more a mixture of Thai and Chinese. Our first night done in Melbourne, we capped it off with a viewing of Slumdog Millionaire – an awesome but eye-opening movie.

Our main full day in Melbourne, we woke up fairly late and wandered down to the city through the Victoria markets, down through Lonsdale, Collins and Bourke Streets before arriving at Federation Square and down along the Yarra to walk to Rod Laver Arena (home of the Australian Open for those of you playing at home). We were mucking around the arena when the gorgeous Alicia Molik walked pass us on her Blackberry…HOT. From there it was a hop skip and jump away from the MCG where we bought our tour ticket and was guided through the members area and areas that are usually off limits by a Melbourne Cricket Club member. The MCG is simply amazing – it's a beautiful sports arena that definitely deserves being treasured by the Victorians (only they could fill it to the brim like they do every couple of months for the AFL!).

To round off the day, we caught the free City Circle tram over to Docklands out of curiosity to see what all the fuss was about the Southern Star, which is now effectively a giant non-moving wheel, all for a measly $100million. Seeing all the Collingwood and Richmond supporters around the Docklands precinct notified us that there would be a game on in the city tonight, so we strolled to the newly named Etihad Stadium (it was previously named the Telstra Dome) and purchased 2 $10 tickets – cheap good quality and Melbourne specific entertainment! The game was fairly exciting and the pies eventually downed the tigers (i.e.: Collingwood beat Richmond) 1.13.10.97 to 2.3.15.51 (that's: Super-goal [9]. Goal [6]. Behind [1]. Total). Satisfied with a sporty and truly Melbourne day out, we made our way back to the hostel and rested for a scorcher or a day, and our last day in Melbourne!

Checking out on Friday at 10am, we dropped our bags off in the lockers provided by YHA and again walked down to the city towards Bourke St, down along La Trobe St, passing by RMIT University and other Melbourne icons. We wandered past Flinders St station and down along the Yarra on to crown casino. Trying our luck on the pokies, we won a couple of dollars, but kept playing away in hope for that big jackpot but alas, ended up losing it all again! After lunch, there was a prize giveaway version of The Price Is Right which sounded in theory interesting, but oh how disappointed we were if you can imagine an overly enthusiastic host who screamed down the microphone to a slightly more than disinterested crowd, add to the mixture not one but 2 dumb assistance and you have half an hour drivel (yet we stupidly stayed…).

Having completed most of what we wanted to do in Melbourne, we did what everyone else does when they come to Melbourne and we shopped! Myer was slightly disappointing, but DJs ended up being a bad decision – 2 Marcs shirts and $200 on the credit card later, I had reached my limit. A relaxing drink back at the hostel before the collection of our luggage and we headed off to Tullamarine to check in for our flight home. As we had arrived about an hour early or so, we tried our luck and was fortunate enough to get bumped onto an earlier flight, getting home earlier and thus reducing the amount of time we needed to wait at the airport.

An uneventful hour later (save for the 2 dumb blondes behind us talking non-stop for the full hour and spraying deodorant when we landed before we got off the plane, and the head flight attendant telling everyone off for chatting during the safety demonstration – she waited for the plane to fall silent…), the all female Virgin Blue crew had us touching down in Sydney just past 9pm. I’m home for the weekend – just enough time to do the washing, work a couple of hours to top up cash and to pack again for the US on Monday!

Hobart, February 2009

Daniel and I flew down on the morning of Tuesday the 24th of February 2009, arriving late morning into Hobart International Airport on a cool and cloudy summer’s day in the Apple Isle. Walking through the International arrivals gate cause us to chuckle slightly, because we did feel like we had landed somewhere foreign lol.

Car rented, we began the short drive from the airport into the city (about 30mins) and we found the hotel quite easily, being such a small city and armed with a map – the lady at the rental counter actually advised us against getting a GPS! Checked in bags stowed, we jumped back into the car and made our way to the downtown area looking for something to eat. A short wander along their version of Pitt St, Elizabeth St, we headed towards the bay area/wharfs and found some very nice cafes. True to the Tasmanian cuisine, I tried the smoke salmon crepe and was happy – salmon = yum-yum! Bellies full, we meandered back along Elizabeth and the shops and back to the car, where the 3 hour parking in the CBD cost us a grand total of $1!

Our next stop was a small town called Richmond, about 30mins north west of Hobart. It's described as a quaint little English town and when we drove in, we were pleasantly surprised that it did indeed feel like we had been transported to the 19th century in rural England. There were a few historical sights important to Australian history – including the country’s oldest bridge and oldest Catholic Church. The countryside from Richmond was spectacular, but also a little sombre because of the dried grassy hills, clearly showing that even places like Tasmania are suffering from the drought that is ravaging the entire country.

Heading back into Hobart, the day was still young so we made the decision to go up to Mount Wellington this evening so we would have a longer day tomorrow to go to Port Arthur. The drive up the mountain took about 45mins or so and as we got higher and higher up the mountain, the clouds began to swirl around and the fog got heavier. By the time we arrived up at the pinnacle of the mountain, we couldn't only see about 10-20m in front of the car. What we didn't expect however, was how cold and windy it was up there. Getting out of the car, we were hit with a blast of cold air more akin to Europe in the winter than what is usually found in the Australian summer. The car began developing frost in the short amount of time we were up in the clouds. Running around the observation areas because it was so cold, our breath was sapped from us and we were blown in all manner of directions at the will of the winds.

As we made our way down the mountain though, the clouds began to disperse and Hobart slowly began to appear in the valley below, truly one of the most spectacular views of a city I have seen. The rest of the night, we enjoyed a nice dinner along the waterfront at WestPoint Casino.

Waking up leisurely the next morning, we checked out of St Ives and pulled into Maccas to get some ‘healthy’ breakfast to start the day. We were heading out of Hobart for good this morning so filled up on petrol and made our way along the Tasman/Arthur highway down to Port Arthur. Along the roads, we encountered numerous numbers of road kill, which was saddening. I also need to include here that there was no mobile phone reception once we had passed the airport at the north of the city, not even Telstra reaches this far down south! [You head north of Hobart and the airport before swinging east and continuing down to the south towards Port Arthur].

Port Arthur was a sombre sight as it has so much sad history, as well as the massacre not too long ago. We stopped in at Seven Mile Beach on the way to the airport and arrived in time to check in for our Qantas flight up to Melbourne with all the businessmen going back for the day.

Days 13 and 14 - Final Days at Sea

The final 2 days at sea was a final chance for us to do the activities on board we hadn’t yet got a chance to do and to spend the last couple of days relaxing before we had to come back to reality. Some interesting highlights included:

• The cooking demonstration (even the French Canadian cook made fun of New Zealand – “we have to buy something from them [cream] because you know, the economy is bad there, run by too much baaaaaaaad politicians”. LOL)
• The kitchen galley tour, where we saw how and where is prepared (and got to ride 2 sets of escalators – escalators on a cruise ship!!!). It was an awesome sight, and heaven for Tori and I who are white good fanatics hahaha.
• We attended the Captains Club cocktail party where free (yes FREE) cocktails; wine and champagne were handed out. Lets just say we stocked up during the 2 hours lol.
• There was a champagne fountain and baked Alaska (cos everyone loves a baked US state…) in the mid-ship, and that night, Zoltina-J (our ‘delightful’ cruise director decided to wear a dress of the Australian flag – GAG).
• We won twice more at trivia – key rings and caps today!
• On the last day of the cruise, I had 2 main breakfast dishes, 2 mains and dessert for lunch and the full 4 courses for dinner… I felt like a fat heffer!

So that is all for the Pacific Dawn, Fijian Treasures cruise with your passengers (Zoltina-J like sweeping hand movements), Tori, Andrew, Rob and I. Hope you found the blog entries at least mildly amusing! :-p