kembara queensland [day 1]

my preparation initially started after my elective stuff was done, which wa on 22nd April 09 when I went to make the passport. this started between me and my Ayah.
Aina: Ayah, nak pegi Aust, lawat Cik Tie.
Ayah: Okay. Pegi buat passport esok. Nanti, check harga tiket flight.

What? Just as simple as that! Ayah yang sporting.. No lies~
So, went to make one. RM300 for passport.. then, paid 20 AUD (at that time, it equaled to Rm51) for Australian Electronic Travel Authorities. checked for the price ticket. the basic fare for Air Asia was RM 199 for depart and Rm 299 for return. so, after including the tax, pre-booked meals and seats for both ways, costed me RM 980 which was too far cheaper from MAS. a day before departure for Aust, went to exchange some RM cash into AUD cash.. So I changed RM 1096 for only 400 AUD (by that time, 1 AUD = RM 2.74).. became a poor perantau.. haihz~ but never mind, brought about RM 1800 in case of emergency.. I'm spending my left-over JPA for this purpose since I hardly went out during my 3rd year.. hehe~

only 400 AUD!!!

so.. this is my 1st time of being here, in Queensland, Australia. hyperexcited!!! so, i took flight on 20th May 09. departed at 2125 from LCCT. checked in for luggage at 2025, which was an hour before the departure. i had a pre-booked seat. so, no worries and no point of rushing to the counter. haha~ after salam-salam and sesi nasihat with my Ayah, Mama and Aida, i went into the International Departure. went straight to Gate T16. after the Msia customs checked my passport, i was allowed to go into the Gate.

traveling with Air Asia X

Touch Screen in Airbus A330.

it will keep on updating you with the current location of your flight! during that time, "my" flight was passing through Java Sea!!!

reading the travel 3sixty magazine + still packed pre-booked meals

so, all da way coming from Msia to Aussie by Airbus A330.. it was almost an 8 hours journey (approximately 7 hours and 55 minutes).. in the flight, i was served with the RM15 pre-booked meal which was not so nice.. luckily, i was also given a bar of Kit-Kat and also a 350ml bottle of water [actually, i was not given coz i paid for those.. haha~]..

sunrise in Australia from Airbus A330

claimed to be sunshine state, but it turned out to be chill.
gloomy~!!!

so, arrived at Gold Coast Coolangata International Airport at 7.20 AM [local time].. we were only allowed to unboard the plane after a team of medical officers finished checking the passengers.. passed through Customs, alone.. very scarry!!! hard to understand the slang of their English here.. hehe~ so, after arrival, waited for Cik Tie for almost about 2 hours.. then, we took a FREE Coolangata shuttle to the other bus stop.. so, waited for the another bus which i already forgot its name to the Robina Railway Station.. then took Citytrain to the Central Railway Station, Brisbane..

Robina Railway Station

while waiting. memang gaya tourist yang jakun.. haha~

in Citytrain

had lunch at Azra's Kebab & Pizza Specialies in Edward St, Brisbane.. it is one of Halal Restaurants here.. so, decided to eat a slice of pepperoni pizza instead of kebab.. costed me 3.50 AUD (when you buy stuff, please do not count in RM or you'll be suffering).. haha~ after that, headed to the bus station which was located at Adelaide St..while waiting for the bus, had the famous Taro Milk Tea from EasyWay Tea.. rasanya macam keladi laa.. warna pun macam keladi.. Cik Tie bought a large sized ones, so that we can share..

2 slices for 7 AUD!!!

me and Cik Tie in Azra's

Adelaide St with the pearl drink

took the bus no. 411 headed to Hawken Village [in Msia, i don't even know how to take the buses in the city].. the best thing about the people here is, they said thanks or thank you to the bus driver. this is not practically practiced in my beloved said to be a multi-cultural country, Malaysia.. haihz~

so, walked up the hilly road of Hawken Drive for 3 minutes [coz of the luggage I carried], heading to Cik Tie's place.. a medium sized house with 3 bedrooms, 1 toilet, 1 bathrooom, 1 laundry room, 1 living room, 1 small area for dining, and 1 kitchen.. rumah Cik Tie ni kiranya dah lengkap laa serba-serbi.. haha~

now, the time is almost winter. so, I'm having longer night than my day.. and that means, I have shorten time to go for jalan-jalan here since the shops will be closed at 5.00pm.. less time for shopping. that also means more time for money saving!!! haha~

and the salat time here in Brisbane is:

Fajr/Subuh: 0504
Sunrise: 0625
Dhuhr: 1145
Asr: 1445
Maghrib: 1704
Isha: 1821

[the time difference between here and Msia is approximately 2 hours only]

planned for a trip to University of Queensland on the evening, but due to overslept and tiring I had, the plan is postponed to tomorrow, Insya Allah..

sekian sahaja kembara Queensland untuk hari pertama.


Wassalam.