Thursday 13 September 2012

TIKI VILLAGE INTERNATIONAL, GOLD COAST

Before getting the confirmation at Tiki Villge International, i had aimed a few other apartments at Gold Coast. Sememangnya, my plan was to rent an apartment with full cooking facilities as to save budgets on food. Al-maklumlah, expenses in Gold Coast was very expensive and my purse was getting slimmer day by day. My previous choice was an apartment in Carrara which required me to rent a car as it was a bit outskirt. However, a few months after i made my booking, the person in charged of my booking called and she said that they had changed my reservation to Tiki Village International which is in Cavill Avenue. Melompatla kegembiraan.. pasal this choice was definitely a better one.

I had no regrets, complains whatsoever staying at Tiki Village International. It might not fulfill some people's expections but it definately fulfilled our expectations. I also read from trip advisor beforehand and most of the reviews were positive. We arrived at the apartment around 9.30am and the receptionist already had our apartment ready even though check in time was at 3pm. Our lot was at the corner of the 3rd floor. Security was tight as u need to use yr key card and a special code number in order to get the elevator working. The front door (yg dekat receptionist tu) will also need a key card and code number after 7pm at night. I was once trapped outside when i forgot the code number. Luckily, an old couple let me in with them. Kalau x, sejuk bedi la kat luar...

Reception tutup waktu malam but the receptionists are actually inside. SO, if anything, u can just ring the bell.

LOCATION: Very central. Next to Moorings and adjacent to Chevron renaisance. Bus stop is just about 150m from the apartment. Surfers is just opposite the road. Behind the apartment is a river (lupa plak namanya).Jadik, bila surfers is just opposite the road, maksudnya all the shops are within walking distance. HRC, Woolsworths, food, etc, all within walking distance.

Turun apartment, belah kiri jumpa duck tour...Jalan depat sikit, terus bus stop nak ke theme park. Kalau nak ke surfers,
cross the road and just walk straight.
Chevron Renaissance just opposite Tiki Village International
When we opened our door in the morning, this was what we see: View of the front
View from the living n dining area.
Night view from the apartment
APARTMENT: Our apartment was a one bedroom apartment with full cooking facilities. Everything is complete except that they do not have a washing machine and a dryer. However, they do have a few coin operated laundry machines at almost each floor. Dryer pon ada (harga berasingan).  Jom tengok dalam rumah...

Ini dapur...Semua ada... Pinggan ada yg jenama pyrex..Kelas gitu... Dishwasher pon ada. Ini scenario
masa baru sampai, Keadaan waktu nak balik, dah x cengini..chaos! 
Ini ruang tamu/living hall. At the other side is the dining table with 4 chairs. Can u see the TV mounted on the wall?
There's another set of tv inside the bedroom.
This is the jacuzi...Favourite Faris n Farah. Every evening, after coming home from our visits,
they will play in the jacuzzi for an hour or so. Sempatla si mama nak masak. By the time, they finished playing,
dinner was served. 

Captured from the living room...
I cooked most of the time when we were in GC. I seldom cook back home, but here in GC was the time for me to show my cooking skill...ha..ha..! We shopped for groceries at Woolsworth...Mcm2 ada.... Alhamdulillah, all the food items that i brought from Malaysia went through without any difficulties. satu bag jugak bawak makanan..We brought rice, soy sauce, brahim (makanan wajib), perencah nasik goreng, perencah tomyam, ribena, pepper, salt dan mcm2 lagiklah....

Jom masak...

Saya memang paling suka seafood marinara nih...

Antara food yg dibeli di sana...
Antara masakan chef kat sana..ha..ha...
Woolsworth: tempat kami shopping groceries
There are other facilities here like laundry room, swimming pool, poolside cafe, boadr games, library, game room, free tours, tour counter and many more.
the pool
There was this one experience that i will never forget as long as i live: One evening, when i was frying salmon, suddenly the alarm went buzzing... Panick gila i... what came to my mind was.."habislah aku kena bayar denda aud300...bla..bla..bla.." It seemed that i forgot to switch on the cooker hood and the smoke triggered the alarm... habis satu rumah berbunyik.... panik2..., we opened all the windows and door. x boleh jugak.. i called the reception... baru ja i ckp "hello.." mereka gelak..."is it because of the alarm, mam...?" "he..he...yes..yes.."  The reception instructed us to switch on the hood and open all the windows which i already did... lama2 bunyi tu pon stop... " do i have to pay the fine?"  die gelak lagik...tak perlu, katanya.. Selamat aku... Jenoh jugak nak nunggunya stop.... After that incident, i jadik fobia nak menggoreng2... sampai bunyi fridge tak tutup pon, i ingatkan alarm kebakaran... at the apartment, fridge mereka, kalau x tutup rapat, akan ada satu bunyi halus mcm alarm tu, tp perlahan aja... puasla dkt sejam mencarik, manalah datangnya bunyik ni... rupa2nya pintu fridge x tutup rapat....adoila!

The kids' activities at night.

TOTAL EXPENSES OF MY SHORTENED OZ (GC) TRIP

1. FLIGHT: RM630 x 4 = rm2520 ...for food and baggage, i used my AA voucher courtesy of Citibank (redeem point bonus ahhh...)

2. ACCOMMODATION: Tiki Village International = RM155 per night x 7 nights = rm 1085

3. THEME PARKS: rm 1450 for the 4 of us. I bought this at MATTA Fair last March (inc. of Movie world, Paradise country farm, dreamworld, observation deck, and seaworld).

4. TRANSPORT: Kami naik bas aja: AUD350 (4 pax) = rm1095

Ape lagik ek...? Itu ajalah kot... Souvenir ngan makan x kira ahh kan...? So, total altogether dalam... RM 6150 for 4 pax which is RM 1537.50 per person for a week holiday in GOLD COAST, OZ.

17 comments:

  1. tertarik dengan rege viki village nih, boleh tahan jugak sebabnya tengok suasana dalam besar semacam jer. best!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Apartment ni saya guna exchange vacation club, that's why murah..kalau x, dalam 3-4 ratus jugak

      Delete
  2. ya Allah best nye. siap ade letak info bajet kat n3 nih, bole la pusing2 fkir nk kesana. oh duit come to mummeh!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Eh..dah tukar nama plak ker...? Ha..ha..don't worry, where there's a will, there's a way!

      Delete
  3. waaa... Tiki International quite cheap la. hehe. but the total costs a bit expensive for my budget range. sigh.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. perhaps because of the theme parks...currency exchange is not helping either...;)

      Delete
  4. Wowww murah betul kos bercuti ke GC !!! Pandai uols bajet...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hampir setahu plan tu, kak ita.. belik tiket masa thn 2011..ha..ha..

      Delete
  5. Saya pun suka bawa bahan masakan dari Msia...senang nak masak makanan halal. Smoke detector tu pulak saya tutup dgn plastik spy tak bunyi he he

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Salam NA... ohh iya ka? kena tutup dngn plastik...May be i can implement that whenever i want to cook during travelling...:)

      Delete
    2. Salam kembali.
      Cubalah. Tapi kena memanjat sikit. Bawa masking tape utk tampal plastik tu pd siling.

      Delete
  6. Memang murah kalau travel sendiri ni..nekcik pun spend lebih kurang gitu masa pergi GC..cuma semua jadi RM2500 each pasal untuk 2 malam di Sydney..naik virgin air GC- SYD...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. itulah...IMO,saya rasa OZ x perlu pakai TA....duit yg lebih nak byr TA, leh wat pegi adventure lain plak..he..he...

      Delete
  7. murahnya apartment tuh! btw, kos kami ke Perth last June 5D5N all cost 10K..6 of us+ 2 days car rental..everyday mmg masak sendiri..apartment pon dah mahal aud145/nite..btw, depe kata apartment di perth mmg lg mahal dr GC

    so kalau total sume ada dlm bape ribu?

    arghh..x sabar nak gi GC next Mar!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi smiley...ada saya tulis kat atas..dalam rm6150 for 4 pax... yg mahal mungkin theme park.. kalu x masok there park, lagik murah... kami tukar duit aud700(- aud200 for transport) maksudnya kami belanja dama aud500..dan bawak balik dalam aud100 mcm tuh... basically, makan2 dan belik souvenir sikit2... saya belik pyrex dalam aud30 mcm tuh... pas tu, belik sweater + other souvenirs dalam aud100. tu je la...

      Delete
  8. tiki village int tuh murah nye.. ringgit ke aussie kak???

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. In RM. I'm not so sure how to book it individually but this one i booked under my vacation club punya membership.That's why murah. Harga biasa dalam 3 to 4 hundred jugak rasanya...

      Delete

OVERNIGHT AT THE BERBER DESERT CAMP

Selepas lunch, kami teruskan lagi perjalanan yang panjang sampai lah petang.  Look at the view.. Magnificent!  We crossed the High Atlas Mou...

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