Gold Coast - Infinity & Pacific Fair

After a refreshing shower and a good scrub of our sand-covered toes, we set off on foot to Infinity.

This is a rather interesting attraction. It houses several chambers filled with special visual and sensorial effects, and is located in a quiet and rather inconspicuous corner of a Bugis-Junction-like shopping mall several streets away from our hotel.

Its admission tickets were quite expensive. Each adult ticket cost A$23 while a child ticket cost A$19.00. It was good that they also had a family ticket, which we took eventually, and that set us back by A$68 or so.

Just before we paid for the family ticket, the staff cautioned us that there would be loud sounds and some special effects which some young children may find uncomfortable with or be afraid of and if we should decide to abort our walk through the chambers mid-way, there would be no refund of the admission fee paid.

R and I paused momentarily, turned to each other and then looked at WF..... But as WY was raring to go (and I was also quite keen to try out this supposedly-exciting gallery after all that hype we saw on the net), we decided to proceed anyway. Naturally, R was 'assigned' the job to jaga WF and where necessary, to carry him, lor.

After payment, we were handed a apir of gloves and shoe-socks each. These looked ordinary but we later realised that they actually glowed in the dark. We put these on (WF's were over-sized!) and then moved into the chambers with much caution....

Initially, WY and I took the lead but we were soon replaced by R with WF in arms. R said WY and I were too slow, mah....

The 1st chambers we went to was fully lined with mirrors and had many many multi-colour light bulbs. It actually looked very pretty, not scary at all, maybe because we could see our own reflections on all the walls, ceiling and floor. We had to feel our way around, nevertheless, to locate the exit which was to lead us to the next chamber. This reminded me of that Japanese entertainment show (I think it was called 'something 战士') involving many Sasuke-warriors-wannables scrambling over some obstacle courses, which was shown on TV some years ago....

I cannot recall all the chambers we went through nor the sequence they had been. But I remember that there was one chamber with several of those big, bouncy exercise rubber balls which we could hold up and toss around amongst ourselves. There was another chamber with so many tiny light bulbs that we felt as if we had gone into the centre of an electron or something. This was quite a visual treat. We had a souvenir photograph taken at this part of the maze.



Then there was yet another chamber with a sort of suspended bridge (we could not figure out if the bridge was really suspended at a great height or if it was just inches above the ground) which we had to cross. I actually felt a little 'sea-sick' staggering across the wobbly bridge.... my legs went a little jelly-soft, too..... because the place made us feel as if we were walking across an open space with strings of neon lights going from way above us to way below us - infinity.....

And then there was this particular room which was crammed with tubes and blocks of obstacles - these obstacles gave us very indescribable sensation of being trapped amongst many many punch-bags boxers use for training! Some of these were so tightly-packed that we had to use much strength to pry open in order to move along!! At this chamber, we met a group of angmo's who had gotten 'lost' because they hadn't been able to locate the exit to go on to the next chamber - imagine the fright I got when one of the elderly women grabbed my arm in the pitch-dark room, announcing to her friends, "I got someone! Finally a human!" Ahhh!!!

At many of the junctions between chambers, we were 'bombarded' with jets of air and sudden bursts of deafeningly-loud 'music'. I guess these were aimed at giving us that promised excitement and very sensorial experience.... Luckily, WY and I (we clung on to each other for dear life for most parts of our journey through the maze!) were able to dodge sufficiently quickly from these jets......

All the time, I was hardly able to see R and WF. So I didn't know how they were doing. When we finally emerged at the exit of the last chamber (where we had to dodge yet another jet of air!), WF told me simply with a straight face, "Mama, I don't like Infinity. It is scary."

Hahahaha...

Apart from a pic or 2 taken of the entrance/ticketing counter of Infinity, we didn't take any photo within the maze - of course, lah! Already busy dodging air jets and struggling throughout to move from one pitch-dark chamber to another, how to even take out the camera to hold in the hands, right?! So, hopefully, the pics borrowed from the web will do some justice to the quite fun and unforgettable experience we had at Infinity.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After we were done at Infinity, we felt we needed a 'more normal' therapy. After a brief conference amongst ourselves, we decided that we would check out Pacific Fair, a shopping mall said to be popular with visitors like us.

As Pacific Fair is located a distance away, we proceeded to take a walk to the nearest taxi stand to grab a cab there. On the way to the taxi stand, we popped into a Baskin Robbins and had an ice-cream therapy: R and I each had a different milkshake concoction whilst WY opted for a Vertical Sundae and WF chose a Kid's cone. Mmmm...

Before we went off, WY went to the counter at R's suggestion and actually counted if they had 31 flavours of ice-cream. Findings: YES! There were really 31 flavours available!

The taxi we eventually got into was driven by this chatty cabby. He was friendly and pointed out to us where the casino was and told us that there were several nice eateries and some good entertainment for the family there, too. The taxi ran on natural gas which is said to be more environmentally-friendly. When we reached our destination at about 4:30pm, the fare came to almost A$12.00.

Pacific Fair was a big disappointment. Although there were many shops, almost all of them were already closed or were about to close. The only place where we managed to go in to browse around and eventually buy something, was a megamart of some sort called 'Target'. R selected a cd and WF picked up a Thomas DVD. WY and I bought nothing. (Ya lah, it was perhaps our own 'fault' that we didn't get to see these shops whilst they were open - but then, closing at 3-4pm on a Sunday was, by our SG standard, way too early, mah!)



Soon after we left Target, its shutters came down for the day. So we walked around a little more, only to find ourselves in a 'dead town'. Only the supermarket called Coles remained open but we didn't go in as R suddenly had to deal with a rather upset stomach - he blamed it on the Basking-Robbins, lor.

As the skies were also beginning to get darker (sun setting and rain-clouds gathering), we decided to take another cab back to our hotel. We contemplated trying out the public bus but later decided against it because we weren't sure which service would take us there. The return trip was relatively short and cost a similar A$12.00 or so.

Upon arrival, we realised that we hadn't had any 'proper food' for the day ever since breakfast! So we took a stroll to the central beachfront at Surfers' Paradise. WF, who was by then rather tired and pestering R to carry him all the time, was most supportive of the Big M.... WY and I initially wanted to try another place which I thought was Wendy's but dropped the idea when R pointed out that it offered only hotdogs.



So we settled for McDonald's for dinner. The burgers they served here were bigger but flatter. Taste was ok but pricier than in SG.

When we were done, we dropped by some of those 'China-made products' kind of souvenir shops, but ended up buying nothing except a car decal. WY got himself a boomerang. Doesn't the shop look like one of those 'lelong lelong!' type of $1 shop in Geylang or Bugis area?!

After that, it was yet another leisurely stroll back to the hotel in the cool evening breeze.............

Gold Coast - Sun, Sand & Sea

The beach was only a 5-minute stroll from Mantra Legends Hotel. As we walked on the pavement along the small lane leading to the Esplanade which is the main road fronting the beach, R and I had to keep calling out to WY and WF to look out for vehicles which may come out from or go into the various driveways of the apartments. I think it must cost a lot to own an apartment in Gold Coast, and in particular, this stretch of the Main Beach.

Along the way, WY also picked up a long, slender 'cone'-like fruit of a tree. We have no idea what this is called, but anyway, he kept that little souvenir in his pocket after we had examined it to make sure there was no worm or bug on it. (Has anyone noticed? WY is always asking to collect this kind of 'souvenir' - he did the same thing and picked several odd-looking cones from some trees along our way to Ballenburg last time, too. The cones are still sitting in a ziploc of stones and pebbles which he had picked up elsewhere.)

After we crossed the Esplanade, we ventured onto the sandy part of the beach. It was a challenge trying to walk on this part of the beach - we kept 'sinking' into the loose and very fine grains. It was difficult to keep our balance, too.

Once we crossed to the wetter part of the shore, we looked up and saw for the first time, the wide-spanning, clean and clear coastline....... it was so beautiful!



The sand was so amazingly clear - no pebbles, no twigs, no seaweeds, no garbage...... And as the waves came in lapping against the shore, the sand was wondrously erased of all footprints and marks...... That blueness of the waters and the whiteness of the waves against the cool beige-brown sand - no wonder they call it the Gold Coast.... Really picturesque, like a printed postcard, except that this is for real! :)

After a few minutes of standing around marvelling at the beauty and 'unspoiltness' of the beach, and R's clicking away with the camera, I suddenly told the boys, "WY, WF, both of you can take off your sandals, lah! I will hold your sandals for you."



The boys paused for a brief moment (as if they couldn't believe that I would actually 'allow' them to go barefoot on the beach!)... and then quickly set about taking off their sandals. WF handed me his instantly as he gingerly stepped on the wet and cold sand, obviously delighted at this new sensation....

WY offered to hold his sandals at first but soon transferred them to me as he joined WF on the beach..... He also had had to tuck his notepad and pen in his pocket - yah, he actually brought his notepad along!



R kept his shoes on - yah, he actually put on his socks and shoes to go to the beach! Hahahhaa... other people must have thought that he was a little weird, hor?! He was dressed more like he was going on a trek in the forest than for a walk on the beach! Hohohohooo......

I was a little better, I think - I was in slip-ons, mah! Sand and water soon got in-between my toes..... erm, but I didn't look like I was going trekking on the mountains, right?! :)

To be frank, I was quite overwhelmed by the vastness and cleanliness of the beach. It really made our ECP look so puny and feel like a backyard/junkyard coast. Sigh, it's really such a shame that our most popular beach (not that we have many although like Australia, we are an island country) had all kinds of rubbish, both natural and man-caused, on it all the time.

It's really so bad that when we occasionally bring the boys to ECP, we always had to get them to put on their boots - don't laugh, it's really not safe at all to go barefoot on ECP, what with metal cans and glass shards, sometimes even broken chicken-wing bones, sticking out of the sand. So you can imagine the boys' "disbelief" when I 1st announced that they could take off their sandals to walk on the beach barefoot.

Needless to say, WY and WF had a great time 'playing' on the beach, 'chasing' and yet running away from the waves which sometimes came in big splashes and sometimes in gentle laps. While watching them, I made some interesting observations of the boys' responses to the waves.

WY seemed a little more cautious. Maybe he's a little older, so he's a little wiser? To ensure that he was not 'washed away' or 'knocked off balance' by the currents, WY's strategy would be to move further out to sea in-between the waves and quickly digging-in his feet in the sand to steady himself before the next waves came in. When the water came splashing in, he would stand still till the waters ebbed away again!

WF, on the other hand, would not be so concerned about 'stablizing' himself in the sand. Instead, he would happily hop-skip to follow the ebbing waters out towards the sea until he sees the next waves coming in again. Then he would immediately turn and make a quick 'escape' by 'running away' from the waters yet again, shrieking all the way in unmistakeable delight!

Both WY and WF would chuckle non-stop..... It was fun just to stand and watch them play.....



All the while, R and I had to keep a close watch on both of them. There were times when I suddenly panicked (because I saw WF running after the ebbing waters which had gone out quite far) and called out loudly to WF not to walk too far off from us towards the ocean! R and I were telling each other, "Aiyoh, if Mother sees this, she is sure to keep screaming at WY and WF and scold us non-stop left, right, centre, top and bottom for letting them frolic in the waters!"

We stayed on the beach for close to an hour and moved along the shore towards the Surfers' Paradise central beachfront. We passed many surfers and surfers wannabes (who were supposed to remain within the areas each marked by a pair of red-yellow flags because these areas were constantly patrolled by lifeguards), sunbathers, sandcastlers and frisbeers.... Everyone was just having such a great time in the Sun, Sand & Sea.....

As we made our way towards the dry sand, I suddenly realised, to my shock, that we had forgotten all about the all-important Sunblock!!! Oh, man! Chum liao!



By the time we got back onto the Esplanade, the boys' hands and feet were so covered with sand that they had to be washed thoroughly. After we were done, we moved off to the malls and visited briefly some souvenir shops along the way.

Shopping was minimal by our SG standard. Most ang-moh's did not seem interested at all in the shops - almost all were headed for the beach, some especially the rather rowdy 'schoolies'* crowds even went about everywhere without any footwear! Only non-beach-going tourists could be seen at the shops, checking out the t-shirts and other touristy gifts.

As we moved along, we tried some Aussie donuts (the dough tasted ok but I hated the icing) and picked up more drinking water. Then we made our way back to the hotel for a quick shower and change of clothes before moving on to our afternoon programme - Infinity and further 'shopping'.....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

* The 'schoolies', as we were told, are the college students who had just finished their college examinations. They are given a week's college vacation and during this week, it is common for them to throng to Surfers' Paradise for their fun on the beach.

In the evenings when we were there, we saw countless groups of these 'schoolies'. Many were so loud and rowdy, it felt quite 'scary' to be near them especially since we were also told that fights would commonly break out amongst the wilder mobs. It was interesting, though, when some of these 'schoolies' actually high-fived us as they marched past us in their groups, singing and cheering at the top of their voices!

Gold Coast - 1st Evening

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.

Gold Coast - Mantra Legends Hotel

By the time we arrived at our 4-star hotel, it was almost 5pm. Everyone was exhausted and smelly......

While waiting for the keys to our room, WY and WF explored the lobby a little. To their delight, there was a water dispenser by the staircase and so they happily helped themselves to the cold, refreshing water. Then, at my suggestion, they eagerly got 1 cup each for R and I, too. So sweet of them. :)

Our tour leader did a good job checking us in. After handing us our keys, she even visited us at our room to make sure that everything was in order - she also promptly ordered the additional bed which we were supposed to have in our room for WY, when she saw none had been brought up by the housekeeping staff yet.

We eventually have the additional bed returned the following day without even trying to sleep on it because it was simply too 'soft'. R sat on it and said that it felt like he was on a hammock! So for the 5 nights we stayed at the hotel, we made do with the 2 comfortably-spacious Queen-sized beds in the room. We only had to move the only 2 relatively-heavy chairs in the room to the side of the bed WF and I mostly shared, so that WF would be less likely to roll off the bed.

The view from our room was ok. We could see a part of the beach from the balcony. We could see part of the main streets (where the shops and restaurants are), too. Early every morning at abt 4:30am, we could also see the hot-air balloon in the distance.



As R and I began to get our keys to unlock our luggage to get to our fresh clothes and toiletries etc, WY was sent to take his shower 1st. At first, he protested and 'offered' that WF, being the youngest, should proceed with shower first. But since we needed to unlock our bags etc first and so could not shower WF yet, WY's protest was 'overruled'.

And so, WY proceeded to undress and within minutes, he was in the showers..... Suddenly, we heared WY's frantic shouts, "Ahh! Papa, can you please show me how to turn on the water and make it warm?!! Ahh! Help!!"

Hahahhaa.... It turned out that WY wasn't sure how to adjust the tap to let the water come out from the shower-head instead of the bath tap, and somehow, the water was cold and he couldn't get the warm water he wanted! Hence the frantic call for help....

R was so mean to tell the poor boy nonchantly, "If you don't learn how to turn the tap suitably, then sorry, you'll have to bear with the cold water from the bath-tub tap and not warm water from the shower-head!" (Ok, ok, in the end, R did go in to help/show WY, lah.)

When WY was done, he came out somewhat 'indignantly' and then announced, "Ok, everything is ok now."

After that, R gave WF a quick shower. Then R took his shower and I was the last to shower. By then, the boys were already happily seated on the bed, watching Nickelodeon on the TV. (As it turned out later, this programme on the google-box became good company for them for the few days to come, during those wait-for-R-and-I-to-be-ready times.)

Breakfast was served everyday at the restaurant in the hotel from 6:00am to 10:30am. We all loved this part of the morning - mainly because it was quite leisurely.



The buffet spread was quite good. Every morning, WF had cornflakes with fresh milk, bread/toast with peanut butter spread and butter, cheese and ham slices. He loved them all and would finish his food happily before washing them all down with a glass of water.

WY took much carbo at breakfast everyday. I remember that on the morning we were scheduled to go to SeaWorld, he actually took a huge serving of steamed white rice with is Sunnyside-Up followed by some toasts and pastries!! R and I had to suggest to him not to gorge himself silly lest his stomach couldn't take the load. WY helped himself to the generous servings of fresh fruits, too.

The boys' favourite corner at breakfast was the toaster machine. Both would love to personally select their bread slices and have them glide down the grilles of the toaster machine. Then they would stand patiently to wait for the toast to emerge from the bottom end of the machine before picking them up on their plates. I guess it was quite refreshing to participate in and view the whole toasting process once in a while.

R and I tried the various dishes, including the museli-oat stuff (I cannot recall what they called this) and the various hot savouries and cold cuts of ham and cheese. The chilled slices of crunchy zucchini and very succulent tomatoes tasted very good with the warm croissants, especially with some hot baked beans. We both agreed, however, that our daily favourite was the scrambled eggs - these really tasted so deliciously moist and fragrant.... McDonald's hard 'pasty' version instantly paled in comparison.



Breakfast usually took us between 30-45 minutes. So apart from the 1st morning (when we had a late breakfast at 9:30am or so), what we did each morning was to rise early, wash up and change out from our sleeping-clothes and then proceed for breakfast in our t-shirts and bermudas at about 6:30am or 7:00am. Then after we had had our fill, we would return to our room for our shower and change into fresh outing clothes before joining our tour group for the day's outing.

We figured that this way, we would not need to rush the boys into early morning showers and risk them catching a chill. Also, it would allow us to go for our morning bowel routine at a more leisurely pace. Later, R also heard from other tour members that the peak 8:ooam breakfast crowd would always be so big that they would have to queue for some time before they could get a table. Luckily, this was never a problem for us.

Actually, before we went on the tour, we had checked out Mantra Legends Hotel's website. R and I were quite disappointed to see some recent reviews - some people complained that the place had become less clean compared to previously and others had grumbled about getting dirty and smelly beddings etc. So, we were actually quite apprehensive about this hotel which our tour agency had booked for our group.

Fortunately, we experienced nothing close to what we had read in the online reviews. In fact, we felt quite happy with the hotel. The only 2 grouses we had were these:

1) The housekeeping team mistakenly took away one of R's bath towels but because R said it would be too troublesome to go ask them to sieve through their mountain-load of dirty towels to retrieve his, we just let the matter pass without making a fuss. R ended up having to make do with his only other towel for the rest of the trip. Hmmmm.... *pinch nose*

2) The room card keys didn't always work - the card reader was somehow not very sensitive and so, R, WY, WF and I almost always had to try out 2-3 or sometimes even all 4 of our card keys when we wanted to open the door. It was almost like a daily "Sometimes We Get It At 1st Try, Sometimes We Don't" kind of tikam tikam ritual. Rather frustrating at times (especially when we needed to get into the room quickly because Nature has called!) but otherwise, quite funny seeing how WY and WF try to be the 1st to successfully open the door....

Perhaps because the Aussies take things very leisurely (as they are known to), houskeeping would usually be done only by the late afternoon. But the beds would be well made, the baskets cleared, the bathroom properly cleaned and the towels changed everyday. The daily A$5 tip which we left on the bed for the housekeeping team probably helped, too. :)

Overall, I would say that we enjoyed our 5-night stay at the Mantra Legends Hotel Gold Coast and won't mind staying at this hotel again.


* Pics were taken on different days.