Australia pt.3

Posted on January 3, 2025 Posted in TravelTagged australia, beach, summer, TravelLeave a comment

It’s been quite some time since the last time I wrote or relaxed.

Hayman Islands Day 7:

After a two hour flight and a pretty long drive, we made it to the hotel we were temporarily staying at. Only for one night. We were on the coast, everyone was excited, the next day we would be heading out to the island of Hayman, where our luxury villa was waiting for us. When we first reached the hotel I was taken aback by how gorgeous the water was. After getting settled into our rooms we decided to go seek for dinner, however, everywhere was full. Every restaurant on the coast. So we decided to go to the restaurant provided in the hotel. Located next to the pool, the restaurant gave off a very relaxing vibe. Our waiter was a really entertaining and cool guy who taught me some of his language, French, when we were deciding what to order and in return my friends and I tried teaching him how to say dawg. His manager, being Australian, spoke Hindi fluently catching me off guard. He said that he spoke a numerous range of languages and showed each one to prove it. For appetizers we ordered some squid, now normally I dislike squid and octopus due to the texture but this day really opened my eyes on it. I ordered some pasta because I didn’t want anything light but nothing too heavy like what some of my friends were ordering, and of course we had to order dessert as well. I got myself a brownie ice cream fudge sundae. We also ordered some yuzu like cheesecake which I didn’t try but apparently was super flavorful. Afterwards I went on a walk with some of my friends while the others stayed at the table. It was raining slightly, the grass was wet and the sound of the waves crashing the rock was heard throughout. I sat on a swing and just talked. There are few moments in my life where I am able to truly relax. This day, was one of the most relaxing days I’d ever had. I never would have thought that it would get better.

The next morning I awoke super early, it was around 7:oo am (yes that’s my definition of early) and got ready for the day. We were going to be picked up for this tour of the Hayman Islands. We would first start off on a plane ride to see what it looks like from above and then next we would take a boat ride and do excursions all across the beach to show what the islands are like on foot. The plane was a little private one, it was very bumpy and some of us began to panic as fear for turbulence is common. But the view was so worth it, when I tell you the ocean was so blue I’m not joking. Pictures can’t even do the waters beauty any good. It was so cool to see the clash between the water and the coral reef which created this water barrier between. Also, this area is known for this little piece of coral reef that is shaped as a heart. It’s pretty small, but it’s really cute. After we landed the plane the excursion started up again, it was a boat ride, but one of those boat rides that are super adrenaline pumping. I sat up in the front because that’s where it was the most bumpy meaning that’s the area of the boat that would jump up from the water and momentarily hover above the sea. A lot of my friends do get motion sickness so they sat in the back of the boat while I sat in the front. It was fun to topple out of my seat and fall onto the person beside me. Our first stop was a mountaintop/beach where we would stay to take pictures, here there were snorkeling opportunities for anyone interested. During this time I did get really close to a stingray when I was walking through the water to get back to the boat. We stopped a couple more times with more activities planned out for people and we had food made for the guests of the boat. The captain of the boat gave me some fish food, I was perplexed at first why was he giving this to me. I brushed it aside when he threw some in the water, 5 seconds later 10 huge fish swam towards us nibbling at the thrown food. I felt it brush my leg on multiple occasions, very weird feeling.

We got done with the excursion at around 3 or 4pm. Afterwards, after a nice shower as well, we boarded the boat that would take us to Hayman Islands. We got a snack box, which was super yummy. It had carrot cake, sushi, English sandwiches, and grapes. After reaching and getting to the villa I was shocked. Each of us got chose the room we wanted and who we wanted to share it with. We got a whole tour of the inside, the kitchen had macarons, brownies and a charcuterie board filled with goodies for all of us to share. Our villa even had a cute heated pool, even though Australia is warm during the winters, it was so nice inside the pool. The thing about the villa I liked the most was every room had speakers on the ceiling which can connect to your phone. So you bet I was blaring music at midnight on the speakers embedded in the ceiling dancing with my friend. We didn’t feel like making anything in the kitchen so we went to one of the Islands many restaurants, the thing about the island is the whole island is a hotel. We went somewhere for dinner and got many things, I got a salmon with dill. It was nice and had a tangy sour taste, but overall really good.

Hayman Islands Day 8:

Today was a day posed to relaxation, we went to get breakfast but then after that we spent most of the day in the villa relaxing. Whether that be in the pool, bed, or the spa. Starting with breakfast, since it was a buffet, I did not hold back. I got pancakes with blueberries, hash brown, veggie dumplings, ton of pastries, an egg, and some honeydew melon. Afterwards though I decided to go explore outside while the rest went back, because we stayed in the villa, which is on the top of the hill compared to the hotel rooms and small couple apartments on ground floor, we needed a gold cart for mode of transportation. Not only did we have a golf cart, we had one really really small, really really cute, electrical car. So while my friends took those modes of transportation I decided to walk up the hill and explore my surroundings a bit more. After quite some time of chilling we decided to go try out the spa they offer here. While doing the spa I lost my gold necklace that belonged to my late uncle, I was devastated but found it later on. Anyway the spa experience as a whole was so amazing, I’ve never felt so relaxed like that before. What was really relaxing though was when warm melted chocolate was placed onto my body, it was definitely an experience. Afterwards I got this really interesting hibiscus tea, I did not like it. But it made me look fancy so worth it. Later for dinner though we did go out and found an asian restaurant that served food from all parts of south and east Asia. I got myself some pad Thai because I always have been a fan of Thai food. While eating a cute little bird that looked like a roadrunner came into the restaurant and decided to check us out at our table, a second one appeared later on as well. It was so cute especially because the legs are like skinny little sticks and the body looks heavier than what the body can carry. Afterwards we got ourselves some dessert, a pineapple and coconut ice cream INSIDE of a coconut and a yuzu tart.

Hayman Islands Day 9:

Our last day in Hayman Islands before heading back to Sydney to fly back home. Today we wanted to make it special, so, we arranged a tour where we would be taken to a little sandbar and then there we could have a picnic and chill for most of the day. The sandbar was really fun, the water wasn’t too cold and there was a lot to do other than just playing in the sand. I wanted to go for a walk and walked the whole sandbar, which was pretty long, over to a piece of trees where I noticed a pathway. As I was heading to the pathway I found these really cool shells which I later found out by the boat driver are super rare to find. So that’s cool! As I was walking up the stairs on the pathway I realized maybe I should have brought shoes, my feet were killing me and who knows what was crawling on me, I did push through it (quickly of course) to the very top and it was so worth it. The view was amazing, I could stay up there forever but knew it was time to go when a spider flew out of nowhere. After the very tiring day we went to get some lunch from yet another restaurant on the hotel grounds. I got a chicken sandwich and some fries, pretty good. The only downside was that the restaurant was outside. So all of the seagulls were just watching you, waiting. Since lunch we just relaxed in the room waiting until we got hungry for dinner, and when that happened we went to the Italian restaurant on the island to celebrate our stay in Australia which was now officially coming to an end. It was going to be sad to say goodbye but even the best things come to an end and we shouldn’t cry over them, we should be glad they happened (wise words from Dr. Suess). I had some pizza and tiramisu and called it a day.

Sydney Day 10:

The journey back from Hayman Islands to Sydney took all day and by the time we reached it was nighttime. It was around dinner time and something caught my eye the first time we were in Sydney and that was Nene Chicken, they have really famous Korean corndogs and I’ve always wanted to try a Korean corndog before. I got the spicy one and it was good, not too spicy but definitely not bland. As I ate my corndog and walked through the streets we found Yogurberry, not first we didn’t want to go in but the cute interior and people walking out with their frozen yogurt looked a little too good to resist. So I finished my corndog quickly before heading inside to get my frozen yogurt. I got two flavors, the taro and the plain and I topped it off with an Oreo, sour gummy worms, marshmallows, chocolate melts, and Coca Cola gummies (which I had never tried before). While my stomach was fulfilled, some of the people in my travel group were not so therefore we just walked around Sydney before stumbling upon Sydney Vogue Cafe. We ordered Brussel sprouts and chicken and honestly it was super flavorful. The Brussel sprouts were like at the perfect amount of burnt. If you get what I’m saying. It was a nice way to end the trip. Filled with laughter and love.

Australia pt.2

Posted on October 31, 2024January 3, 2025 Posted in TravelTagged australia, cairns, port-douglas, queensland, TravelLeave a comment

Hey, I’ve been absent. You know the struggle of junior year! It’s been pretty hectic but I have found some time to write.

Our days in Sydney were over as we took a flight towards Cairns. From Cairns we would drive to our destination Port Douglas.

Port Douglas Day 4:

After we landed in Cairns we needed to take a rental car for our hour drive towards Port Douglas where our AirBnB for a few days resided. Hunger was growing in the car however, the 3 hour plane ride did exhaust people, so we stopped by a restaurant called Noodle House on the way. The noodles I got were super savory and sweet and impossible not to finish.

Before we got to the airbnb we made a few stops. The first one was to see the cliffs of the beach with amazing sights. The only downside was it’s not a usual tourist destination so therefore there aren’t any ways to get there safely instead of crossing the busy road. The road is not only busy but since it’s in the mountains a lot of cars can’t see people walking until last minute because of all the curvy roads on these mountains. After getting a taste of the ocean we got back into the car after narrowly being run over. We headed towards an aboriginal art making class where we would make our own boomerangs. Now our boomerangs look different compared to the traditional ones because our appointment was last minute or something happened but the people of the art workshop didn’t die our boomerangs black, which they were supposed too. Our instructor who was aboriginal told us that the dots signify rain. To draw the designs he only gave us a toothpick and that’s how we drew our dots.

It was super fun to create such artwork, afterwards it was finally time to actually go to where we would be staying. According to my friend, we booked a super fancy Balinese styled villa. The thing about this house was that it was split into two, you enter the villa and there are three bedrooms and a laundry room. Then at the end of the small hallway there’s a door that leads to an outside patio with another part of the house on the other side.

After that I took a really nice nap while some of my friends went to a grocery store to get supplies or explore the premises. We did all decide though that for lunch we would head to Lagoon House, which is a restaurant in this really nice hotel in Port Douglas. Yes today was more of a chill day but we just landed in Port Douglas and we wanted time to relax for our very busy day tomorrow. The hotel premises were super nice, there was one pathway that my friend and I found that led straight to the beach. It was such a cute secluded little pathway that looked so pretty I was taken aback by the sheer beauty Earth could offer. I would have stayed there forever, but my friend scared me by saying there might be crocodiles that come out at night.

Dinner was really good. The menu was Asian themed so they had Indian, Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Thai, etc. I ended up ordering Korean Fried Chicken and some broccoli. It was a really nice dinner to end a day with.

Port Douglas Day 5:

We woke up early to head towards a wildlife center, today, I would be swimming with crocodiles. Of course there was a glass separating us, but when I was underwater with my snorkeling mask on the glass looked downright invisible. The snorkeling mask I used seemed to work as well but other than that it was a fun experience. When we were in the water, the zookeepers were feeding the crocodiles so they were snapping their mouths and everything. One of them gave me a death stare underwater. After being “eaten” to death, we had a private tour to see the rooms and animals the zoo had to offer. The tour guide told us that the animals in the zoo are only native to Australia. So there weren’t giraffes or anything.

Afterwards we were picked up by a tour guide named Juan for a different private tour. This tour he would show us all of the aboriginal ways of eating, hunting, etc. We first started our journey at the beach where we threw spears, I thought I would be pretty good at it, however I wasn’t expecting how light the spears were. This resulted in the wind taking it away easily. Our tour guide tried challenging us to hit a coconut that he put onto the beach, and when I tell you that was really hard I’m not joking. He led us onto the beach, it was such a surreal experience being part of the nature, we looked for crabs here before Juan led us to the Mangroves. This part was such a fun adventure, we clambered our ways past the roots of the trees into the squishy mud to search for a crab. A lot of my friends wore water shoes, but I wanted to be part of the nature and decided to go barefoot. It did come with its pros and cons, pro my feet felt like velvet after I took a shower that night, con I did get plenty of mosquito bites on my feet and legs. We scavenged the area looking for a crab, which we did find! We ate this for dinner and it was so good. After taking us to the beach, Juan, our tour guide, led us back to the shore and back into the van where we drove into the forest. This area was known for its rainforests and we were going to explore it. There were a lot of parts of the tour of the rainforest would we would have to take off our shoes and then wade through the river, the water was chill and the clouds above us looked as if it would start to cry. The end destination of where we were going was this rushing river. We sat for some time at the river side and Juan found some green ants on the forest floor and ate them. To our surprise they’re edible and taste like a citrusy fruit. I did not try them because eating something alive felt totally new to me, but looking back on this day I should have taken that opportunity. Later after that Juan picked up this sort of furry spiky thing that looked like a fruit, he took a rock to break it open revealing a nut inside. I did try this one and it tasted just like an almond. It was so cool to experience and understand the lives of those previous before us. Knowing this stuff can really open your eyes about people as a whole.

Port Douglas Day 6:

I started off my day with some breakfast, it was these two eggs absolutely smothered in tomato sauce, with sides of bread. It was a great meal to wake up with, I had protein, carbs and fruits in my system and I was bouncing off the walls to see what we would be doing today. We were going to go to some zoo in the Daintree rainforest. Unlike the other zoo we went too, this zoo was more in the wild compared to that of the last one we went too. This was an interesting experience, especially because I got to see the most poisonous frog in the world. They also had a prehistoric section of the rainforest, and that warmed my heart.

Afterwards we went to this sandwich shop that was known for serving all types of meat, like those of Kangaroo, emu, and crocodiles. I got myself a Crocodile sandwich, and you know what, those Crocodiles taste like chicken but more denser. It was an ok meat but a little disturbing to realize I was eating an animal that is well known for being scary and attacking people. My friend joked to me while I was eating it “Oh how the tables have turned.” Insinuating I hope that crocodiles are known to “eat” people. After eating our lunch we had a reservation for an exotic fruit tasting tour, which is something I wasn’t expecting. There were some fruits I knew about but never tasted like: Star fruit and Custard Apple and then there were some that seemed not human like the Pomelo or the Yellow sapote. So let me tell you which fruit is which. The red fruit that looks like a tangerine is actually called a pomelo. This was a very citrusy fruit and way too sour when I first tried it. The fruit above the red one is the cacao as in the fruit used to make chocolate cacao. This was a very intriguing taste as it was pretty sour compared to what its pulp is made for. The one above that is the Rasaboy (or I hope that’s how you spell it) and then star fruit which was pretty good. It had the same texture as a pear but it was more sour. The one at the bottom next to the Pomelo is the yellow mangosteen, now out of all the fruits this was the most sour. When we all first tried this fruit all of my friends and couldn’t keep a straight face. Above that is the custard apple which is this sweet fruit that honestly was my favorite. Then above that is the black sapote which was super sweet, it tasted like chocolate and it had a texture just like yam. Above that is a Longin which is just like lychee and then lastly the yellow sapote which was so much more sour compare to its familiar. While we were leaving the area, I saw the hugest spider ever and freaked out.

Super fun day, while we were leaving I managed to take a picture of our surroundings before leaving the house that held the exotic fruit tasting. While we were trying to get out we realized our car was stuck and not moving. This did cause some chaos with all of us as we tried to figure out what to do because we parked our car into a somewhat ditch. We did manage to get it out after a couple of minutes of slamming on the pedal and on our way to a quaint ice cream store in the rainforest. There were so many flavors to choose from: Dragon fruit, Passion fruit, Daintree forest, the classics, Coffee and more. I chose the dragon fruit one and I was expecting it to be tart but it was super sweet and creamy. Not like a sorbet at all.

Port Douglas Day 7:

Today was our last day here in Port Douglas before we hopped over to Hayman Islands. We wanted to make this day more memorable, so memorable in fact I was willing to go on this sort of drop swing in the middle of the rainforest to see that extra thrill.

We woke up fresh and early, it was currently pouring and we were heading over to the area in the middle of the rainforest that offers bungee jumping. Now I didn’t exactly bungee jump, I did this huge swing that dropped me and flung me through the trees. Also the thing is, I wasn’t going to do it at first and then changed my mind. Kind of bad for me for I didn’t bring a change of clothes and it was pouring so I was completely soaked afterwards. It was hilarious to see the reaction video they took of me as I had a go pro attached to my wrist. My friends said I was smiling the whole time while compared to them they were spewing prayers and making all kinds of awful faces. The rain started to simmer down a little and we headed back into the car to do this gondola thing. It came with some really pretty views. The gondola takes you all the way to a little town at the top of the mountain where tourists raid the areas shopping at the cute markets and dining.

At the very top we explored the markets and a lot of my friends found this really aesthetic store, apparently it was really “preppy” to them. They found some flower clips and some cute things they wanted to bring back home to display in their rooms. We did find a little cafe where I got an asian salad because I felt very healthy in that moment. Note to everyone: I defiantly did not eat healthy on this trip, sorry mom. The rest of the day definitely went by super fast, we mostly explored the little town before deciding it was too late and needing to head back. We found a super cute authentic Australian restaurant, named Ochre. I say this because we had kangaroo skewers and it was certainly divine. Kangaroo tastes just like pork and honestly couldn’t tell a difference if you never told me the animal I was eating. Next I ordered myself some sashimi because I LOVE sashimi, especially with sushi. I like tuna, but I prefer salmon and other things more. We also ordered a tray of meat that had a platter of emu, kangaroo, crocodile and salmon. So for appetizers we were good, then when selecting our entrees it was hard what to choose so I shared with one of my friends, I got a salmon entree and she got shrimp. We also ordered fries because everyone that came on this trip is MADLY in love with fries. Lastly for dessert we treated ourselves with sugar, a lot of sugar, not that we needed it. Getting a creme burle and a chocolate mousse.

That was our time in Port Douglas, our last destination in Australia before packing up and going back home was Hayman Islands. We were really sad to be going because it marked the ending of our trip. We were really excited though because Hayman Islands is KNOWN for their beaches. City check, rainforest check, and now onto the beach.

Australia pt.1

Posted on July 2, 2024 Posted in TravelTagged australia, food, sydney, sydney-opera-house, TravelLeave a comment

Sydney Day 1:

After landing in Sydney I realized the jet lag was going to be the only problem during my stay. After a 16 hour flight from LA to Sydney the sun was just beginning to rise for the citizens. It was only 8:00 am when I checked into the Zara Tower Hotel. Since it was so early in the morning and airplane food is not the best I decided to explore to find a breakfast place. I dropped off my luggage in my room, which had an extended chair and got me hyped up. The people at the front desk of the hotel told me that Basket Brothers, the cafe right next door, had a discount for everyone who is staying at their hotel. So that was the answer to my breakfast problem.

Basket Brothers is a cute and small cafe tucked in the city. I ordered pancakes or “hot cakes” as well as an iced chai (which tasted like pumpkin spice and had a literal ice cream on top) and my friend got an Acai bowl because she’s in her “preppy” phase, as well as a chili egg meal.

Afterwards we were getting pretty bored in the cafe and started to wonder what we could do to get acquainted with the city. In that we found Darling Harbour and the many interactive and fun things to do there. We got some gelato from a store called Gelatoissimo (I got the matcha). Whilst eating the gelato I saw a group of girls dancing to Supernova by Aespa and was constantly being pressured by my friend to join. But that’s not how that works. I can’t force myself to be with people. We also stumbled upon a cute park with a nice playground. It really enhanced my childhood playing on the big net.

Afterwards there was a sign advertising the Chinese Garden of Friendship, and I believe that was one of the best decisions we did that day. It was filled with serene sights of native Chinese plants and etc.

Since the jet lag was real, I napped most of the day (which apparently you aren’t supposed to do so womp womp). I skipped lunch AND dinner, which was a pretty bad thing because the next morning I was super hangry. Which results in the next day of Sydney.

Sydney Day 2:

My friend was watching things to do in Sydney on TikTok and came across a cute cafe called Koto Kawaii. It’s a cafe where you don’t only eat food, but make keychains or phone charms as well. I made a phone charm that was super coquette. It was made up of pink and white beads and a little hamster attached at the end. For food I got an iced Strawberry and Kiwi tea that came with an iced bear. As well as a karagge burger, which is essentially just a chicken burger.

After breakfast we wanted to go on a walk to burn off calories. What better place to do that than a very touristy destination. The Sydney Opera House.

I went on a Ferry ride that went around that little lake area and saw many things such as Luna Park, which has a very creepy face as the entrance. I was shocked to see how tiny Luna Park looked. Afterwards, I did something I wasn’t expecting. I did the Sydney Harbor Bridge climb, where I climbed up to the summit of the bridge and got to witness the breathtaking views. The only problem is we couldn’t bring our phones as a “safety” hazard so I wasn’t able to get any pictures of the moment. It was more of a soaking up moment.

After the climb I did get really hungry therefore we found a restaurant called “Foreign Exchange”. It was an Indian restaurant with an interesting menu. It had food from all over India, not just one designated state. I ate some Bombay Shrimp with Ghewar and Pistachio Kulfi for dessert.

Sydney Day 3:

I got up especially early as for today we were going to a restaurant called High tea where we would be dining and eating “royal” food. Such as British Tea and finger sandwiches. It was such a fun experience to have such fancy food and be like the Royal Family.

The thing is even after eating so much we still went to a little Korean restaurant called Nene’s Kitchen where we ordered some Korean Fried Chicken. I really wanted to try a K-dog because I heard those were super popular and such. However, I never got the chance too. After that my friend had a reservation for this thing called Quiz Room which is literally a place where you can compete against your friends or family as if you were on Jeopardy. I won because I literally have nothing else better to do than learn useless knowledge and watch a lot of pop culture references. Which is why I won.

After being praised for my epic win my friends and I wrapped it up over there and started ordering an Uber to take us to Bondi Beach. Of course it was too cold to actually swim, though we did see some surfers and casual swimmers, we walked around the beach and basked in its beauty. The ocean was this dark blue and it really contrasted to the light blue sky. To get away from the cold we found a gelato and cafe store Anita. I got myself a Vanilla Madagascar gelato, which didn’t help with the cold. No figure. As well as sharing a hot chocolate with my friend.

When finished with everything it was still pretty early in the afternoon. Therefore we decided to go to Strike, which is a bowling alley/bar/escape room/karaoke room. It was pretty fun, I did lose because it’s been years since I’ve last bowled. I got 39 points while my friend dominated with 142. I ate way too much and since today’s the last day in Sydney before heading to Port Douglas. I just decided maybe I should go on one final walk around the city. It was one of the best decisions of that night with all the city lights.