Ever since I discovered the glorious app that is Scoot, I have been on the hunt for affordable getaways. I check three apps daily - Scoot, Tiger and Groupon. And I make sure I only get the best deals. My favorite phrase right after, "Yes madam the food is free," would be flash sale.
But more on finding the perfect vacation in another post.
Gabriel and I have been planning this trip for a while. Okay not really, he has been planning this trip for a while. I just float along and confirm all the payments. But he had two main objectives for us:
1. Skydive
2. Visit amusement parks
So we planned our trip around these two.
Prior to travelling, this was our expenditure list:
Scoot 2-Way Air Tickets: $542.83
Scoot 2-Way In-flight Meals: $43.98
I-Visa Application: $20.90
Byron Bay Skydive: $433.33
Amusement Park Ticketmasters: $94.03
Agoda Surf n Sun Stay 2nd - 4th: $71.1
Airbnb Mark's Apartment Stay 4th - 5th: $88.0
Grand Total: $1294.17
We absolutely overspent on the tickets. There was a period where the tickets to Gold Coast were cheaper but we missed it. But no matter.
It is important here to note this: both me and my boyfriend didn't know about the mandatory visa, until his friend reminded us. You can apply for an Electronic Travel Authority (ETA) here:
http://www.immi.gov.au/Services/Pages/electronic-travel-authority-online-applications.aspx
So let's go!
Favourite hobby of all time: sniffing my boyfriend
I love our squished up faces hehe.
Our flight was at 10pm and 9 hours long, which meant it'd be day by the time we reached. I didn't manage to sleep much because I am god-terrified of turbulence and the slightest shake worries me.
Baby slept very well and was all charged up by the time we reached australia. I was red-eyed from 9 hours of american history x, goodfellas and prestige with the sleepyhead who woke up for 2 hours to be graced by hugh jackman and christian bale.
I googled crazily for this before we took off in Singapore and I couldn't find much detail of it online. So for those searching, "Where to get sim card ah I will die without internet help pls," I AM HERE.
If you're going to Gold Coast (OOL airport), fret not about getting a sim card. When you exit out of the departure hall, just turn right and keep walking till you see a convenience stall. It's like a 7-11, you won't miss it.
My sim card cost me about $25, with pretty much unlimited 4G and limited calls/ smses. The counter folks will try to explain to you that hotspot doesn't work, but mine pulled through like a knight. Gabriel managed to tap on my 4G whenever he wanted.
While I got the 4G covered, baby went to settle our transportation. He managed to find this cheap-ass card, a go card that pretty much lets you travel 24/7 on everything for AUD$10/ day. We got 5 days' worth, and one for each person.
Moving on, I am immensely glad for my transport god of a boyfriend because he sourced for all the correct bus routes and train stations prior to our trip without telling me. Best surprise eva!
A while later, we alighted at a bus stop that was connected to their tram stop. Their tram is called the G:link. It runs not on fuel and not on electricity oh no no. It runs on integrity.
I'm not kidding. It's unlike Singapore's ezlink card system, where you tap when you get onboard. No, the G:link trusts you to tap in at the tram stop before you board. Then you tap out at wherever you alight.
This means hobos and wild cats can just wander on the train and get away with riding free if they're lucky enough. In fact, the fine for being discovered without a card is $200.
So technically, technically, not saying I'd do it buttt if you could go 20 days without being discovered, then you can pretty much get fined and it'd still be worth it. But not advisable 1/10 do not recommend.
Anyway, we alighted at Surfer's Paradise and I was fucking blown away by the view.
Gabriel looked like he walked straight out of a movie scene and into my world. Then he went to do something stupid and uploaded a photo with that post instead. Oh my instagram-inept boyfriend.
Surf and sun beachside backpackers was to be our home for the first three days and two nights. To be perfectly honest, I selected this randomly and grumpily because Gabriel wanted an Airbnb apartment but I wanted a cheaper option so he agreed only because the former was booked for our first three days.
And throughout our air plane and bus ride here he mused aloud about how hostels are dirty and we're gonna end up cramming with other travellers without a shower and I was so horrified and sorry I wanted to cry.
But as it turned out, we must have paid a premier fee by accident, or we must have quite some fucking incredible luck because they ended up giving us an entire bungalow to ourselves. I am not kidding.
The first floor boasts of a fully equipped kitchen, a spacious living room, a mini dining space and a nice outdoor patio. We ended up doing lots of cooking here.
The second floor has a shabby shower with a cracked bathtub, an immaculately clean toilet and a clean bedroom with bunk beds. The bedroom came with an old-school tv and vcd player, where we watched movies rented free from their counter.
It felt like a home. It felt like the home I wanted to have with him one day.
Thank you surf n sun beachside backpackers for being so fucking amazing and giving us the whole bungalow for the whole three days in perfect peace I am staying here the next time I come NEVER LEAVING YOU.
I was quite tired because I didn't sleep on the plane and the beds were so goddamn comfy. Baby was quite awake and eager to explore but he patted me and left the room quietly, saying, "Sleep well my little angel," and I felt like the most loved little thing in the world.
Eventually I woke up and we walked minutes over to Surfer's Paradise!
And my god it was paradise indeed.
I forgot what we ate and I forgot where we went, but I remember holding his hand a lot as he led me from place to place. If you've ever traveled with me, you'd know I abhor being led and that I live to lead. But with him, it felt so comfortable being his little kitty.
Anyway, we made our way over to Movie World intending to enter but we were late because we severely underestimated traveling time. Also because I slept too long in the hostel. I am sorry again baby :(
Since we were already there we decided to make our park pass.
The photos are not doing the place justice.
Everything looked perfect and the weather was amazing. You could feel the sun but the chilly breeze made sure the weather would be a doll. We walked for quite a bit because much unlike Singapore, the lands here are fucking huge and everywhere takes longer to reach.
I got into a bad mood because we missed the theme park and it felt like a day was wasted. So instead of going to somewhere quiet to quarrel, he decided to stop me in the middle of Surfer's Paradise and talk about it.
And so that was my first public overseas quarrel.
But thankfully, it was pretty short lived. We argued and he raised his points and I couldn't stand looking at him so angry when all I really wanted is to be back home in his arms so we made up!
Just in time for sunset.
I applied a light filter but the sunset is truly as beautiful as it looks, if not more.
It was like nothing I've ever seen. It felt like the painters of the evening skies got caught in a little bustle over what color they wanted to bring alive tonight. And instead of letting convention dictate a single color, they decided to spill their pastel palette all over.
Look at it. The fluffy light blue meets the warm glowing yellow, which in turn, meets the soothing orange, which in turn, fades beatifically into a dancing pink that settles nicely over the blue horizon.
What a view. A perfect view with a perfect you indeed.
But of course we cannot live off views so I whined about being hungry in a bit and the baby had to convince me to take a few more steps into the boulevard where WE CAN FINALLY MEET FOOD!
Even our journey there is picture perfect.
We briefly considered eating in the little cafes but he said that we could save a lot if we cooked our dinners. I can't cook but at that point, I would have agreed to anything. If he had suggested eating a slipper I would have done it anyway, seasoned with salt and pepper.
We went to the basement of Paradise Center, where their supermarket Woolworths is. And apparently, we nailed the perfect timing to go too, because they were putting last minute sale prices on their perishables.
I was hungry for pasta and so we begun picking out the cheaper pasta choices. We got a huge chunk of meat from the sale section for so so cheap I could weep. Finished off with stew!
Me and baby have this particular habit with our pasta.
Yes I am lazy yes it is very salty yes it is very unhealthy yes I am going to die young but holy fuck did it taste good.
I bought it to him one day after work, and made my way over to his place. It was cold and dried by the time I reached but he still genuinely enjoyed it and bugged me for weeks to recreate that dish. Lazy is indeed the path to success.
So over here, I wanted to choose the usual Campbell but he decided to choose a brand exclusive to Gold Coast, telling me to mix things up and try new things. And I remembered making a mental note to always try local-exclusive brands from then on!
In the end our bill came up to AUD$35.
Grocery list:
- A week's worth of linguine
- 10 bacon strips
- A chunky mysterious steak thing
- Masala chicken stew
- Beef stew
- A roll of sauages
- A tray of eggs
- Two boxes of ready-to-drink soup
- Boxed lasagna
- Milk and beer
Sounds like quite a steep cost, considering we're trying to live budget. But the food ended up enough to feed us for three whole nights. We divided the food we bought accordingly and before we flew back to Singapore, we actually still had leftovers.
This is the most budgety dinner I've ever had!
And I loved it.
Look at my happy chef! I was in charge of preparing the pasta and stew, which were idiot-proof so I finished early and watched him heh heh. My sailor being so hard at work! Also we ran into quite a few problems hahah.
We totally forgot about oil and butter and pepper and salt so my genius man decided to just pan fry the mysterious steak first and use its produced oils to fry the bacon. Nope I can't hear your cries of, "Ew gross!" over my delicious bacon!
The end product!
And it was fucking delicious.
God knows I can't do food reviews but my god, the steak was tender to a fault, the pasta was deliciously creamy, the bacon was delightfully salty and the stew could do Ramsay proud. What a feast!
We ended up with a little leftovers and hence planned our meal for the next night better heh heh.
I forgot what movies we rented but one of it was Zoolander. I loaded it up and we watched it while having dinner on our bed. It was the sweetest experience ever! And to do it all with the most wonderful man.
I cleaned up the dishes and we headed to bed in a bit. He was initially excited by all the hubbub for new travelers downstairs but I was too tired to join him and in the end, he came to bed and I hugged my favourite bolster in the world to sleep.
What a wonderful first day.
So technically, technically, not saying I'd do it buttt if you could go 20 days without being discovered, then you can pretty much get fined and it'd still be worth it. But not advisable 1/10 do not recommend.
Anyway, we alighted at Surfer's Paradise and I was fucking blown away by the view.
Gabriel looked like he walked straight out of a movie scene and into my world. Then he went to do something stupid and uploaded a photo with that post instead. Oh my instagram-inept boyfriend.
Surf and sun beachside backpackers was to be our home for the first three days and two nights. To be perfectly honest, I selected this randomly and grumpily because Gabriel wanted an Airbnb apartment but I wanted a cheaper option so he agreed only because the former was booked for our first three days.
And throughout our air plane and bus ride here he mused aloud about how hostels are dirty and we're gonna end up cramming with other travellers without a shower and I was so horrified and sorry I wanted to cry.
But as it turned out, we must have paid a premier fee by accident, or we must have quite some fucking incredible luck because they ended up giving us an entire bungalow to ourselves. I am not kidding.
The first floor boasts of a fully equipped kitchen, a spacious living room, a mini dining space and a nice outdoor patio. We ended up doing lots of cooking here.
The second floor has a shabby shower with a cracked bathtub, an immaculately clean toilet and a clean bedroom with bunk beds. The bedroom came with an old-school tv and vcd player, where we watched movies rented free from their counter.
It felt like a home. It felt like the home I wanted to have with him one day.
Thank you surf n sun beachside backpackers for being so fucking amazing and giving us the whole bungalow for the whole three days in perfect peace I am staying here the next time I come NEVER LEAVING YOU.
I was quite tired because I didn't sleep on the plane and the beds were so goddamn comfy. Baby was quite awake and eager to explore but he patted me and left the room quietly, saying, "Sleep well my little angel," and I felt like the most loved little thing in the world.
Eventually I woke up and we walked minutes over to Surfer's Paradise!
And my god it was paradise indeed.
I forgot what we ate and I forgot where we went, but I remember holding his hand a lot as he led me from place to place. If you've ever traveled with me, you'd know I abhor being led and that I live to lead. But with him, it felt so comfortable being his little kitty.
Anyway, we made our way over to Movie World intending to enter but we were late because we severely underestimated traveling time. Also because I slept too long in the hostel. I am sorry again baby :(
Since we were already there we decided to make our park pass.
The photos are not doing the place justice.
Everything looked perfect and the weather was amazing. You could feel the sun but the chilly breeze made sure the weather would be a doll. We walked for quite a bit because much unlike Singapore, the lands here are fucking huge and everywhere takes longer to reach.
I got into a bad mood because we missed the theme park and it felt like a day was wasted. So instead of going to somewhere quiet to quarrel, he decided to stop me in the middle of Surfer's Paradise and talk about it.
And so that was my first public overseas quarrel.
But thankfully, it was pretty short lived. We argued and he raised his points and I couldn't stand looking at him so angry when all I really wanted is to be back home in his arms so we made up!
Just in time for sunset.
I applied a light filter but the sunset is truly as beautiful as it looks, if not more.
It was like nothing I've ever seen. It felt like the painters of the evening skies got caught in a little bustle over what color they wanted to bring alive tonight. And instead of letting convention dictate a single color, they decided to spill their pastel palette all over.
Look at it. The fluffy light blue meets the warm glowing yellow, which in turn, meets the soothing orange, which in turn, fades beatifically into a dancing pink that settles nicely over the blue horizon.
What a view. A perfect view with a perfect you indeed.
But of course we cannot live off views so I whined about being hungry in a bit and the baby had to convince me to take a few more steps into the boulevard where WE CAN FINALLY MEET FOOD!
Even our journey there is picture perfect.
We briefly considered eating in the little cafes but he said that we could save a lot if we cooked our dinners. I can't cook but at that point, I would have agreed to anything. If he had suggested eating a slipper I would have done it anyway, seasoned with salt and pepper.
We went to the basement of Paradise Center, where their supermarket Woolworths is. And apparently, we nailed the perfect timing to go too, because they were putting last minute sale prices on their perishables.
I was hungry for pasta and so we begun picking out the cheaper pasta choices. We got a huge chunk of meat from the sale section for so so cheap I could weep. Finished off with stew!
Me and baby have this particular habit with our pasta.
A long time ago, I cooked pasta with cream sauce. But one day at home, I ran out of sauce and decided, "Fuck it Campbell chicken soup it is," and made pasta base out of the mixture, adding just five spoons of water to a full satchet packet of Campbell.
Yes I am lazy yes it is very salty yes it is very unhealthy yes I am going to die young but holy fuck did it taste good.
I bought it to him one day after work, and made my way over to his place. It was cold and dried by the time I reached but he still genuinely enjoyed it and bugged me for weeks to recreate that dish. Lazy is indeed the path to success.
So over here, I wanted to choose the usual Campbell but he decided to choose a brand exclusive to Gold Coast, telling me to mix things up and try new things. And I remembered making a mental note to always try local-exclusive brands from then on!
In the end our bill came up to AUD$35.
Grocery list:
- A week's worth of linguine
- 10 bacon strips
- A chunky mysterious steak thing
- Masala chicken stew
- Beef stew
- A roll of sauages
- A tray of eggs
- Two boxes of ready-to-drink soup
- Boxed lasagna
- Milk and beer
Sounds like quite a steep cost, considering we're trying to live budget. But the food ended up enough to feed us for three whole nights. We divided the food we bought accordingly and before we flew back to Singapore, we actually still had leftovers.
This is the most budgety dinner I've ever had!
And I loved it.
Look at my happy chef! I was in charge of preparing the pasta and stew, which were idiot-proof so I finished early and watched him heh heh. My sailor being so hard at work! Also we ran into quite a few problems hahah.
We totally forgot about oil and butter and pepper and salt so my genius man decided to just pan fry the mysterious steak first and use its produced oils to fry the bacon. Nope I can't hear your cries of, "Ew gross!" over my delicious bacon!
The end product!
And it was fucking delicious.
God knows I can't do food reviews but my god, the steak was tender to a fault, the pasta was deliciously creamy, the bacon was delightfully salty and the stew could do Ramsay proud. What a feast!
We ended up with a little leftovers and hence planned our meal for the next night better heh heh.
I forgot what movies we rented but one of it was Zoolander. I loaded it up and we watched it while having dinner on our bed. It was the sweetest experience ever! And to do it all with the most wonderful man.
I cleaned up the dishes and we headed to bed in a bit. He was initially excited by all the hubbub for new travelers downstairs but I was too tired to join him and in the end, he came to bed and I hugged my favourite bolster in the world to sleep.
What a wonderful first day.
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