The past week has been so tiring for me…now I understand why my seniors hate secondary school. I’ve been very cranky lately and I lose patience with my friends very easily, so I snapped at them. It must be because it’s exam month and everyone’s stressing. But then again it’s honestly no excuse…
I have trouble understanding science and certain math topics, and my chinese and history are just passes
On top of that, I’ve got ballet and contemporary classes, both twice a week. I’m also taking part in a contemporary dance competition in June. I enjoy them a lot, but sometimes I feel like I’m stressing myself out too much with so many activities.
Last year, my parents and I spent New Year’s Eve in Gold Coast, and it was wonderful โค
We left on Monday night, 26th December and touched down on Brisbane the next day. On our first day there, we were struggling with the tram ticketing machine, and a group of guys with tattoos and muscle tees kindly helped us out. (Side note: I noticed that most of the Australians have tattoos and body piercings. I also saw a body piercing store named “Punktured”. Now I feel inspired to get more ear piercings.) From there, we took the team to Surfers Paradise, where SkyPoint was situated. SkyPoint is an observation deck (tower) where you can see the whole of Gold Coast.
this is a gif i took…the view’s lovely, isn’t it?
The breathtaking view aside, I didn’t particularly like the food served there, just the hashbrowns.
After that we went to Chevron Renaissance Shopping Centre to window-shop before going back to our hotel. We were extremely jet-lagged and were still half-asleep.
our breakfast at crowne plaza hotel!
The next two days were spent visiting SeaWorld and MovieWorld. I loved the dolphin and jet ski show at SeaWorld, and had wanted to go for a helicopter ride, but turned out all time slots were taken ๐ฆ We went back to the hotel after that, since there wasn’t much to do.
In contrast, I thoroughly enjoyed MovieWorld! I still can’t decide which is my favourite ride between the Arkham Asylum ride and the Green Lantern ride! And the parade had most of my favourite movie characters: Super Man, Joker…particularly Joker hahaha (who doesn’t love THE Joker?) ><
On the third day we went to the farm, Paradise Country. We sat for the dog-hearding show and sheep show. The sheep were smelly but very adorable ๐ป.
Our second-last day there, Saturday, was quite eventful. My parents and I were at a shop that sold abalone from Alaska, and the old man who ran the shop was very friendly. He was from Hong Kong, and we learned that he was a refugee of the Hong Kong war. He had no family and had been living in Gold Coast for the past twenty-plus years.
After we bought a few small packets of abalone, we headed to Hard Rock Cafe and had a meal there for the very first time! I simply love the ambience of the placeโdark, relaxed, with that hint of rock-n-roll. It was like I could just blend in and unwind into my surroundings, and listen to the music playing in the background. There were numerous letters and rock outfits framed on the wallโI think I even spotted one of Elvis Presley’s outfits up there! The waitresses, like everyone else in Australia, were friendly and smiled a lot…basically everyone in Australia gives off calm vibes which are sort of contagious :p
We ordered drinks and burgers (I had a cheeseburger, I think) and chicken wings. The chicken wings tasted spicy and so delicious!!
We hung around there for a while before deciding to check out some of the stores nearby. We went into a thrift store (Coastal Expressions) which sold custom-made tops. I saw some shirts with celebrity’s faces printed on them. Two muscle tees which had “RIPPED FOR HER PLEASURE” and “If you like my guns, you’ll like my rocket” printed on them caught my eye. I want my future boyfriend to get one of those haha.
I bought a black sweatshirt with a Surfers Paradise logo of my choice on it โ. I’m so in love with it and wear it as often as I can. I also bought four other dark-coloured shirts as they were on sale and I also wear them a whole lot.
On our last day, also New Years’ Eve, we went to the beach for a celebration. There were people of all ages, some dogs too. We waited for about an hour before the event started. I felt lonely watching everyone laughing among their groups, while I was sitting quietly with my parents. But at the same time, I enjoyed the peacefulness of it all.
A while later, the lights dimmed and the first firework exploded…I think it was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. The rest of the event was filled with more fireworks and pop-songs running in the back. It was the first New Years’ Eve event I’ve ever been to and I treasure that experience so much…the best ever.
The event ended and we went to the shopping square right opposite the beach. I bought a few shirts from Ripcurl and even talked with one of the guys working there. He looked no more than 18, with tanned skin and curly brown hair and the adorable Aussie accent. I learned that he was from Brazil. I didn’t get his name and may have forgotten his face, but I never forgot him because he was the first person I’ve ever met from Brazil.
We were on the tram on the way back to the hotel when a group of four guys boarded. They were all wearing muscle tees and looked about 18 to 24. One of them had a skateboard under his arm, something I frequently saw in Gold Coast. When they spoke English they had an Aussie accent but then they started speaking this other language I didn’t recognise, but it sounded nice when the spoke it. My mum said that it may be a Middle-Eastern language since they all look somewhat Middle-Eastern.
Since then, I’ve decided to pick up a new lamguageโJapaneseโbecause I realised how cool (and useful) it is, especially when you’re speaking the language with a friend and no one else understands it; you’ll sound like a pro ๐ฏ. And also, it sounds really nice!
We’re back in Singapore now, and have been since about two months ago. I miss Gold Coast so much: the atmosphere, the people, the place…basically everything. I really hope to be able to go back soon (and visit other countries in the meantime) ๐
I hope you enjoyed reading about my vacation to Australia, and I hope you get the chance to visit there sometime! It really is such a lovely place!
HANNAH ๐ 