Journey in Queensland VI : Final

Salam. Hi~
Alhamdulillah I've settled down in Malaysia, settled down in my uni and classes have started.
Let's continue my last episode of going to Queensland. It's not good having things hanging, right? So I better finish it.

For my last weekend there, kak Aliya offered me to choose, whether to go to Sea World or Movie World. I chose Movie World, and I have no regret deciding that.

31/8/2013: Warner Bros Movie World, Gold Coast

Since it was during Merdeka day, I called it my Merdeka trip. Hue hue hue. I went to Gold Coast by train (Kak Aliya dropped me off at Park Road Station). After arriving at Helensvale station (it was about an hour of ride), I took the bus to Movie World. Again, I was very satisfied with the public transportation.

Wuwu~ I was there!

The Main Street

Since it was my first time there, I was a bit lost but luckily I have the map. So, when I stepped my feet into that place, I first explore the places for the rides by referring to the map. I planned to catch the Hollywood Stunt Driver show, but I had plenty of time before the show starts, thus I strolled around Movie World. I was there quite early, which explains the emptiness of the Main Street above. It got crowded quickly as noon approached.

Superman Escape

My first ride while waiting for the Hollywood Stunt Driver show was Superman Escape. The ride was super fast and I liked it. It wasn't that scary because it didn't go upside down, it just went very fast. I enjoyed it.

After that, I went to watch Hollywood Stunt Driver. The show was amazing. It was my first time watching stunt show live, so I was quite excited. Totally worth it.

The Green Lantern

 My next ride was Green Lantern. This one is more thrilling than Superman Escape, but I enjoyed it too.

Then, I went to ride Justice League 3D ride with other three Australian children. haha. Throughout the ride, we have to shoot something (don't know what's it called) with a laser gun and our scores will be shown on our seat. I guess I didn't really enjoyed it because my gun wasn't working properly T_T. Plus, I guess I'll enjoy the ride more if I ride it with my family or friends.

After that, I went to watch the Batman Show.

I also had Ben & Jerry's ice cream because I had never tasted them. It was so good!

I forgot to took a picture before I eat it, so I just took a picture after it had been touched.

Oh, when I was in there, I met several Malaysians. A group of Malaysian students from Melbourne and a group of Malaysian family. The Malaysian family is Ziela Jalil's family. She brought along her mother and children. She is quite friendly and called herself aunty to me. Her daughter, Julia, too is a nice person. It was good meeting them.

Scooby Doo's Spooky Coaster

At first, I was hesitating to ride this spooky coaster because I really dislike horror thing. However, after being asked by the Malaysians to ride it together, I agreed. I thought it will be more fun to ride is with fellow Malaysians, and I was right. The ride was fun. Fortunately it wasn't as scary as I thought and I enjoyed it too.

After the ride, I watched the Scooby Doo show. but I didn't really concentrate on that show because, hm I wasn't that interested. huhuh.

Arkham Asylum

The last ride I rode for that day was the Arkham Asylum ride. I reaaaally didn't expect the roller coaster to be hanging like that, but since I had already queued up up to the point where I was very close to the gate of the ride, I decided to just try riding it. I felt that this ride was the longest because it was very thrilling and turned upside down a lot. Fortunately I didn't feel dizzy after riding it.

I went to take some more photos, bid goodbye to fellow Malaysians, went shopping for a bit and performed solat at the musolla. Afterwards, I took the train to go back to Brisbane.

Inside the train

It was a fun day alhamdulillah. and I still like the public transportation *very satisfied*.


1/9/2013-5/9/2013: Last Days

My last weekdays there was just like the other weekdays, I still babysit them, etc, but during this last week, I took more pictures videos of Layth and Thauban. I knew I would miss them. These photos were when we were playing at the backyard.

Thauban with the broom (He likes to sweep the floor, like the grown ups do)
Layth with his favourite scooter.

Layth posed for the camera with his paper plane.

Thauban watching his brother, Layth.

Alhamdulillah I took videos of them, so I can watch them whenever I feel like watching. hohoho~


6/9/2013: Back to Malaysia
The day had arrived. The night before my departure, I weighed my luggage and as expected, it exceed the weight that had been pre-booked. kah kah. So, did web check-in and change the luggage weight with the help of kak Aliya. hehe.

That morning, kak Aliya sent me at the Gold Coast Airport. Since she was aware that I'm prone to motion sickness, she gave me pills for nausea. weee, alhamdulillah. Thanks kak Aliya.

I didn't feel air sick at all in the plane. I had my meal happily, watch movie happily and read book happily! I could even finish the reading of Surah Al-Kahfi in the plane (since it was Friday), alhamdulillah :D
I enjoyed the flight.

Mama, Abah, Mak Seha, Piah and Hanaa picked me up at LCCT.

Malaysia, I am home :)

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Alhamdulillah.
Thanks Allah for giving me this experience.
Thanks Abah & Mama for letting me go to Queensland for 2 months.
Thanks Kak Aliya & family for accepting me as babysitter, and for everything.
Kak Aliya treated me a lot, and very well too. I liked to ask her a lot of questions and she answered each of them nicely. rasa macam budak-budak pulak. haha. aku memang budak pun kan? :P
Thanks Layth and Thauban. Sorry if I had ever been garang to both of you.
Thanks kak Iman Kasim for going out with me.
Being with Muslims who understands the concept of 'sisterhood' is great.
Thanks for family and friends who kept in touch with me and keep praying for me. hehe.
Alhamdulillah 'ala kulli hal.

Wassalam.

Journey in Queensland V

Salam.

This is the story from the last 2 weekend.

Since I didn't really have a plan for my weekend, I asked Kak Iman K out. Kak Iman K is studying in Uni of Queensland (UQ). I knew her through her blog and my friend, Athirah Kahar. I actually didn't know that she is studying here. When I uploaded my pictures on facebook, Kak Iman suddenly commented "you're in Brisbane? Let's meet up sometimes" <-- kind of like that. So we got in touch with each other, and I decided to meet her.

17/8/2013: Taringa and Southbank

Kak Iman and I met up at city. Throughout our journey, we rode the bus. The bus here is very efficient! It's like the LRT/Train/Monorail in KL but, it's a bus! It even has a busway.
We went to Taringa to attend an open house of Ustazah Asma'. She is someone kak Iman know. We filled our stomach there before we went to Southbank.

Queensland Museum
It's located in Southbank, very near to the Queensland State Library.

The entrance.

I think this dinasour is a must-take-photo-with

The museum is quite interesting. There are models of animals, historical things and collections. It is from that museum that I learn that Australia actually has a lot of its own resources. Well, it's the only continent down here.
I didn't take much photo there because some areas don't allow cameras and at other areas, I didn't really know what to capture. huhuh.

 Southbank
 There are a lot of thing in here. There are the ferris-wheel, restaurants, food stalls, BBQ, etc and during weekends, there is a market. Southbank is the place where the carnivals will be held. It is kind of like Danga Bay in JB but Southbank is bigger.

Southbank and the market.
The churros is very good!

I bought some souvenirs at the market. Most things there are handmade. Cool. After that, we went to enjoy ice-cream at the ice-cream shop called Cold Rock. Yummy!

and then we headed to kak Iman's house. I had a sleepover there. We went to the neighbourhood by ferry! On the ferry, we sat at the outer side, so I didn't get sea-sick. Alhamdulillah.

Southbank and the city of Brisbane, viewed from the ferry.

18/8/2013: University of Queensland
My wish to go visit a university overseas came true! hoho. oh, actually I went there because there was a Raya event organized by Malaysian UQ students and kak Iman was one of the committees. She's the one who invited me over. I had a great tour there with my tourguide, Kak Iman and Kak Liyana. Kak Liyana is Kak Iman's friend and apparently, she's also the cousin of my school seniors, Kak Farhana and kak Husna Zain.

I'm a happy tourist. *satisfied*

 UQ has museums, libraries, lakes, hostels, faculties and many shops. I wished I could visit the shops but since I went during weekend, most shops were closed. UQ is big, but I don't know if it is bigger or smaller than UTM. I think UTM is bigger.

Then, I went to the raya event called Riang Ria Raya Queensland. Raya food! Bismillah~ Omnomnomnom.. A lot of people came regardless of their nationality, religion and races.

People, people everywhere.

I hang out with kakak-kakak who handled Buku Jalanan Brisbane.

I had a great time chatting and hanging out with Malaysian students there. It didn't feel like I was overseas, but they probably did feel so because they are away from their home and family for a long time, while I'll be back home soon. Somehow, when I was there, I kept telling myself, "uuu, I'm surrounded by sponsored students here.. semua pandai-pandai ni.." Rasalah inferior sikit. haha. But yeah, I had a great time with them.

Then, kak Iman sent me to the UQ Lakes bus station and I headed back to kak Aliya's house. It was a good weekend. Alhamdulillah.

Last weekend, I didn't do anything much. Just went shopping for souvenirs. hoho.
My weekdays are just as usual, babysitting Thauban and Layth when he's not attending school, doing house chores, online, etc.

This weekend is my final weekend here. I am going back next week! Kinda sad that I'm gonna leave Brisbane but am excited to meet my family and friends too! and,, just a little excited to start the new semester in uni. uhuk.

That's it for now.
May Allah bless us.

wassalam :)

Journey in Queensland IV

Salam.

July passed and August came.
Ramadhan passed and Syawal came.

8/8/2013: 'Eidul Fitr
As what I've written in my Eid post, I only knew eid was on the day few minutes after I woke up that morning. so, Yeay, I got to wear baju kurung overseas! (p/s: it's not a new baju raya, just a casual baju kurung)

Here we are, at the masjid

in ladies' praying area.

As we walked out from the masjid, a few men lining up through the way and giving this to everyone.
This only one of the sweets they gave. There are a lot more kinds of sweets.
It's very delicious!!

My eid picture is also in my eid post. eheh.

Meanwhile in Malaysia...

Huntongla derang main bunga apiii~~
1st picture: My parents + grandmother + siblings present + brother in law + nephews + 2 cousins. Nenek is so cute making peace sign. heee. Love that picture because everyone is smiling happily.
Bottom-left: Iman Syuhada, my niece (Suhaib's daughter) watching her aunts playing with the sparkles
Bottom-right: Kauthar, my niece (Maimunah's daughter) under the coffee table.

I don't really feel homesick because I know I'll be back at Malaysia after a month. koh koh. But it does feel a little empty to celebrate raya without my family.

But I'm truly grateful that I'm here with a Malaysian family so I can still enjoy nasi impit and rendang :)
but no burasak this year. of course lah kan, it's only available at nenek's kampung.


10/8/2013: Raya weekend
I followed Kak Aliya to her friend's house, Kak Ain. Kak Ain held an open house. I enjoyed eating many raya food and sweets.

Then, we went to Gold Coast. It's only about 45minutes drive from Brisbane.

Dreamworld
Kak Aliya planned to bring her kids here so I tag along. kih kih. This is the opportunity that I just couldn't let it go.

The logo at the entrance

This is the first ride I rode. The buzzsaw.

Right after coming in, after settling down myself (study map, etc), I rode the first ride I saw, The Buzzsaw. I just thought about giving it a try, without thinking more that this is one of the thrilling rides. After queuing up for about 20 minutes, I rode this and man, I really regretted it while I was on the ride. I didn't prepare my mental enough. haha. There are times when my head was bowed and it was hard to raise it back up. Luckily I have a strong neck bone. It didn't hurt.

Then, went to the surau to perform zuhr and after that, had lunch. The lunch was a buffet. It is around $23++ per head and we can take anything we like. The food is halal and delicious! Of course, I tried to take as many food as I like, but I know I couldn't eat much because I was going to ride more rides. (so, that was the trick, huh?)

My second ride, motocoaster

I bought my photo from this ride. When the shopkeeper said, "just you, alone?" while cropping my picture, I felt a little lonely. haha. but anyhow, I like my photo there because I was smiling throughout the whole ride!
Then I went to walk more.

Kung Fu Panda town

At Madagascar's

Pandamonium. The last ride I rode.

 Oh yeah, I only got to ride three rides only because the queuing up took so long. I queued up to ride a roller-coaster called the Cyclone but the queue line is too long. Hence, I decided to go shopping. hoho. Didn't buy much thing though. After that, I went back to Kung Fu Panda place and ride the pandamonium. I was unaware that the ride is a thrilling ride, but I had fun. I think I was building up my confidence and self-esteem in there.
However, it made me very dizzy afterwards. I think it's because during the ride, I took off my glasses, and the ride is all about spinning, and someone smells on the ride. uhuks. Luckily I didn't throw up.

All in all, I had a great trip there. But I've always had the thought of 'what if's on my head. huhuh.

That's it for now.
Last weekend, I celebrated raya with Malaysian again. I shall share it in the next entry.

wassalam :)

P/S: Today is the remembrance of Al-Quds day.