As arranged by our tour leader, our group met up at about 6:45pm for our dinner at a 'Chinese' restaurant located at the fringe of our hotel on our 1st evening at Gold Coast. The skies didn't look good that evening.
As we settled down at our table, we tried to make ourselves comfortable in the rather-sparten restaurant. I forgot to take pics of all the restaurants we went to for our 'Chinese' dinners, so got to make do with descriptions only for these parts.
The ambience of this place was 35/100, service was 30/100 and food was 20/100. The young Vietnamese waiters soon brought a tub of white rice to our table. Our group members at our table were quite friendly and considerate. They started to scoop the rice for the children at the table 1st. Apart from WY and WF, there were another 2 pre-teen boys at our table that evening.
Then the dishes were served. I remember we had some fried fish fillet soaked in some corn-flour gravy, sliced beancurd in starchy oyster sauce gravy, plain blanched leaves of lettuce tossed in a generous serving of oyster sauce and some don't-know-what-concoction soup (kind of lotus-roots-lookalike brown soup). I think we were served some omelette as well as some other dishes, too, but I cannot recall what these were.
R, WY and I tried most of the dishes. I didn't enjoy any of them although it felt good to be able to finally taste some white rice (after that less-than-palatable Aussie Outback lunch!). WF took only plain white rice (2.5 bowls of it!! - yes, everybody at the table was shocked at his incredible appetite for white rice, hahahhaa...) together with the soup and minimal pinches of the omelette and beancurd.
After the less-than-satisfactory pseudo-Chinese food, our tour leader offered to show us around a little so that the next day, which was our 'free' day, we could check out some of the shops and attractions on our own. On our 'free' day, she had to go to the airport to fetch the other group of 20+ persons who would be joining us from Day 3 onwards.
So, together with her, some 10-20 of us ventured out in the drizzle. WY and WF put on their jackets and we took out our umbrellas. Some others, including a mother-and-son pair, just braved the rain 'bare'. The ocassional gusts of wind were a little chilly, but that was ok until the rain became heavier and heavier. By the time we reached the light-and-sound themed gallery called 'Infinity' several streets away, it was such a heavy downpour that almost everyone got wet anyway.
It was quite fun, nevertheless, to try to brisk-walk around amongst the buildings (we are more familiar with concrete than aything else, I guess) and try to make mental notes of the more iconic ones. I quite enjoyed the walk in the rain although as it grew darker and the rain became rather erratic (it would be sudden heavy downpour, then stop, then minutes later, another sudden downpout, then stop again etc), I became concerned that it might become too chilly for WY and WF.
So, after we separated from the rest of the group at 'Infinity', we headed back towards our hotel to rest for the night. Along the way, we dropped in at a nearby supermarket called AIG and picked up some drinking water and some cookies.
As we were all quite exhausted first by the impossible-to-sleep SN-BN flight and then the afternoon outing to Paradise Country Farm immediately upon arrival, WY and WF slept very soundly after their wash-up and changing into their pyjamas. R and WY took one bed whilst WF and I slept on the other.
Then ......... at about 2:00am, I woke up to find my back aching terribly. It was that kind of 'internal pain' kind of backache..... Ahhhh! I even had to struggle to sit up from the bed...... *sob* *sob*..... so pain......
At first, I thought perhaps it was the bed's fault - maybe it was too soft for my back? But then, I tried to lie down again, shifting my position and posture.... but it didn't help at all! So I tried to stand up to do some stretching but all I could manage was stand still.... then I went "Ouch! Ouch!" so loudly as I tried to bend forward and backward that I woke R up.....
Despite his tiredness, R was very sympathetic and helped to rub and massage my back the best he could. Picture the 杨过与小龙女 'palms-on-back therapy' position... R = the high-vitality 小龙女 while I = the injured 杨过, lah!
The massaging eased the pain a little, so poor R kept on at it for a good half hour or so. Then, I told R to go back to his sleep so that he wouldn't be too exhausted the next day. Meanwhile, I decided to sit up on the bed instead. And so I spent the rest of the night this way till the day broke. It was such a terrible torturous night. Sigh.....
When we all finally got out of bed, it was almost 8:30am. It looked completely bright and dry outside, with no trace whatsoever of the rain the night before. So after a quick shower, R, WY, WF and I proceeded to breakfast at about 9:30am. In the lift, we met another couple who had 4 very young girls with them - I guess they had likewise been so exhausted....
After the nourishing meal, we ventured out of the hotel, feeling all refreshed and energised. Oddly enough, my backache seemed to have disappeared completely somehow.
In fact, there was an air of excitement. R and I didn't have any fixed programme for the day except that WY had planned to visit the 'Infinity' (which had looked quite a promising attraction when we checked it out on the internet earlier on) in the afternoon.
So we decided to start by turning left and taking a leisurely stroll towards the beach - whose vastness, beauty and magnificence we had not been prepared for.
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2 comments:
Did the backpain originate from somewhere deep within, which cannot be eased with massaging or tui-nah?
Does the pain go all the way down one side of your leg? All the way to the toes? Numb?
This is what I got, usually. This is because of the prolapsed disc. Most adults (heavy ones) will get this degenerative condition.
Go and check it out. You may need to go for therapy and lose some weight, correct your posture and so on.
The next time you have this pain, try to sit down like Buddha, push down your front pelvic and try to redo the experience like you are "pang sai". Push down on your lower back bones, to lower them down vertically behind your buttocks. You may need the therapist to show you how. YOu can also try to squeeze your buttocks together pushing down your bottom as flat onto the floor as much (you sit) as possible.
This will realign the discs and lumbars. And then you will feel instant relief of the pain.
Hope this helps.
PS: I am surprised you did not ask for a brand new hotel towel from the hotel when they lost yours...
No, the back pain is nothing like what you have just described.
It was more like an internal strained muscle, not so much lke numbness going all the way down to one side of leg or toes. I got this previously, too, when I slept on the rock-hard mattress on the floor for over a week or so. Stiff back, cannot twist left or right properly.
But pain usually goes away after conscientious stretching exercises. Simple 'warm-up exercises' already do the trick.
I am quite sure this particular acute attack was due to the BAD and TERRIBLE posture and lack of leg space onboard the SN-BN flight. Serious.
Erm, are Business Class seats more comfortable??
Hotel's towel?? How to ensure they give you BRAND NEW one? We don't want a used towel - we would rather do with one towel less.
Anyway, theirs were all totally plain white ones, not those with embroidery showing their hotel name or something (those would have been nice as souvenirs).
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