Our SilkAir flight was at 1.10am and I took a day off to chill and pack. Silkair is the only one which provides a direct flight to Cairns. We booked all our three flights via Singapore Airlines, with the domestic flight with Virgin, and our home flight with Singapore Airlines. We booked it in Oct 17 at about $972 per pax and the price increased at least $200 when I checked it at the beginning of the year.
This time, we did not use Changi recommends Wifi but instead buy a data roam plan with Singtel. For Australia, the wifi would cost $12 per day, and the Singel plan of $10 per 1gb seems more cost savvy. Don't forget that we need the electronic travel authority as a visitor to Australia. Thankfully, it is really convenient to apply online. And also, I bought packing cubes for this trip! If you see the packing videos on youtube, one of their tricks is to use packing organisers. I really think that these cubes are great for the storage of clothes. It looks real neat and it is easy to take out as well. You can also separate the clean and used clothes. I bought the Le Fleur series (about $18), a six piece set, from Style Degree. For this series, the quality is really good! I was so happy to receive it.
This time, we did not use Changi recommends Wifi but instead buy a data roam plan with Singtel. For Australia, the wifi would cost $12 per day, and the Singel plan of $10 per 1gb seems more cost savvy. Don't forget that we need the electronic travel authority as a visitor to Australia. Thankfully, it is really convenient to apply online. And also, I bought packing cubes for this trip! If you see the packing videos on youtube, one of their tricks is to use packing organisers. I really think that these cubes are great for the storage of clothes. It looks real neat and it is easy to take out as well. You can also separate the clean and used clothes. I bought the Le Fleur series (about $18), a six piece set, from Style Degree. For this series, the quality is really good! I was so happy to receive it.
We reached Changi airport at 10pm. We managed to buy a Longchamp for me, have supper at Pho Street, take a look at the sunflower garden and just sit in the massage chair to chill before we board the plane! Silkair’s in-flight system is a little different - they call it the SilkAir Studio. You need to download their app on your own device and connect to Silkair’s wifi during the flight to enjoy the entertainment. I considered about bringing my iPad over but decided it was too bulky and troublesome. It was just a sleepy flight with very stuffy & blocked nose. The food was average and I preferred the green curry chicken. About 6 hours plus later, we arrived in CAIRNS!
Travelling makes me go eggcited!
Indeed, we had a lot of yummy eggs. :D
Sun Palm Transfer -
We reached at 10am Cairns time, which is 2 hours ahead of Singapore. Prior research has informed me that Sun Palm can provide us with transfer to our hotel. There is a counter right outside, and the staff was quite helpful with our 2-way tickets (A$20 per pax). Do take those brochures and vouchers at the counter because they do provide some good discounts for attractions you may be going! The frequency interval of the shuttle bus is an hour and we were good on the time to catch the 11am bus.
"Good Day Mate!", our friendly lady driver greeted us as she arrived 5 minutes prior to 11am. Unfortunately, her minibus's aircon was down and we enjoyed the wind with drizzle of rain through the ride. There were a few groups of people, all going to different accomodations, and it was just a matter of location on who gets to reach first. No worries, getting around the CBD is relatively quick.
Park Regis City Quays -
We tried Airbnb for the first time and the daily rate was quite affordable. For 7 nights, we paid about $640. I thought it was a cozy area, with a balcony for drying our clothes. It also has the option of a ceiling fan if you don't want to use the aircon. Basic amenities are provided but there would not be any room service every day of course. It was definitely okay with the same sheets for 7 nights but we had to survive with two towels each only (thankfully, they provided 2 each). In such an enclosed room, towels tend to stay wet and cold, so it was great we had the balcony to air it. If you prefer to have someone make up the room everyday, go for the regular hotel accomodation instead. We arrived at the place early but our host was nice to let us leave our luggage in the hotel room while he clean up. It was like we checked in earlier than 1pm.
By the way, we checked out the swimming pool of this hotel as well. There were so many dead flies on the surface of the water and it does not seem properly maintained. I guess nobody really uses the pool.
By the way, we checked out the swimming pool of this hotel as well. There were so many dead flies on the surface of the water and it does not seem properly maintained. I guess nobody really uses the pool.
Cruze Coffee, Meldrum Pie & Cairns Museum -
Our first thing to do was to look for the coffee place recommended - Cruze. We were a bit lost at first but we got used to the directions soon. As we arrived at Cruze, we were overwhelmed with the number of beans we can choose from! It ranges from strong blend to lighter versions and flavoured ones. I went for a mix of the stronger beans (White Knight), while my bf went for the strongest (The Godfather). White Knight is more bitter while Godfather has a soury distinct taste. Both were ice coffees and there is ice cream in it (A$7 each)! We were thinking how nice and bitter it was at first, until we realized that we did not stir the ice cream in. Ice cream in coffee is not my kind of coffee still, but it seems quite common there. The staff were really friendly and gave us an introduction to what we could have. We asked for recommendations for food around there, which brought us to Meldrum.
We were not super hungry so we shared a pie. Even just choosing one pie took us some time to decide. We checked with the staff on what is the best seller and her favourite. The decision was to have the steak cheese pie. The crust is really buttery, crispy and yummy! Unfortunately, the filling is a little too salty. Might just be the seasoning plus the cheese. The steak is more like braised beef type but we still liked it. After some time spent outside familiarizing with the place, seeing some art pieces at the Cairns Museum (Free!), our room was ready and we headed back to sleep!
Dinner at Corea Corea -
On our itinenary, it was to have Korean food! By the way, I did a lot of research on what to eat in Cairns so our food places are mostly planned. It is within Orchid Plaza shopping mall, and it is not air conditioned. Not sure why, but korean pancake always tempts me. I regretted ordering the seafood pancake (A$19.95). It is huge, and I only ate like half before it felt very 腻 and oily. I told my bf to remind me not to order pancake again. But eating this tasty pancake is still very shiok, just that you cannot have too much of it. The other dish is the stonebowl bibimbap (A$14.95) which we were very satisfied with. Have I said before that one should always order bibimbap in stonebowl because hot is nicer? I believe I did, in my Korea post. Heed my advice on this, it is true :p.
Woolworths -
One of my goals for the trip is to visit the supermarket! We ended up visiting it multiple times anyway. Sometimes, we just go in for the air con (SO COLD) or just to walk through it because the other entrance is nearer to our hotel (One day, we entered in from one side and was told we only had 1 minute before closing. It was quite funny, and we quickly made it to the other entrance). The supermarkets there have special 1/2 price or discounted sections/items and they can really be a good deal. We bought 4 bottles of ginger ale in a pack at A$2.60 only! Unfortunately, the Schweppes gingle ale seems to be a different one from the dry ginger ale we had in Singapore, with a much stronger ginger taste. We left the 3 bottles in the fridge and hopefully the next guest can enjoy the drinks or maybe it was thrown away.
I would also like to introduce my favourite snack found in Australia (recently saw it at Watsons Singapore! Yay!) - Ancient grain twist snacks that taste slightly like murukku! I guess it is just the spices (chilli, paprika, turmeric, cumin). It seems like quite a healthy snack - made of rice, tapioca, yellow pea, chia seeds, poppy seeds, quinoa seeds and etc. I bought this pack at A$1 ++ at the half price section. From then on, I have been actively looking at what are on discount. Machiam like auntie.
That was all for my very first day & very first time in Aussie!
See the poster below. Rest of Asia is represented by Singapore's Gardens by the Bay.
>.<
We were not super hungry so we shared a pie. Even just choosing one pie took us some time to decide. We checked with the staff on what is the best seller and her favourite. The decision was to have the steak cheese pie. The crust is really buttery, crispy and yummy! Unfortunately, the filling is a little too salty. Might just be the seasoning plus the cheese. The steak is more like braised beef type but we still liked it. After some time spent outside familiarizing with the place, seeing some art pieces at the Cairns Museum (Free!), our room was ready and we headed back to sleep!
Dinner at Corea Corea -
On our itinenary, it was to have Korean food! By the way, I did a lot of research on what to eat in Cairns so our food places are mostly planned. It is within Orchid Plaza shopping mall, and it is not air conditioned. Not sure why, but korean pancake always tempts me. I regretted ordering the seafood pancake (A$19.95). It is huge, and I only ate like half before it felt very 腻 and oily. I told my bf to remind me not to order pancake again. But eating this tasty pancake is still very shiok, just that you cannot have too much of it. The other dish is the stonebowl bibimbap (A$14.95) which we were very satisfied with. Have I said before that one should always order bibimbap in stonebowl because hot is nicer? I believe I did, in my Korea post. Heed my advice on this, it is true :p.
Woolworths -
One of my goals for the trip is to visit the supermarket! We ended up visiting it multiple times anyway. Sometimes, we just go in for the air con (SO COLD) or just to walk through it because the other entrance is nearer to our hotel (One day, we entered in from one side and was told we only had 1 minute before closing. It was quite funny, and we quickly made it to the other entrance). The supermarkets there have special 1/2 price or discounted sections/items and they can really be a good deal. We bought 4 bottles of ginger ale in a pack at A$2.60 only! Unfortunately, the Schweppes gingle ale seems to be a different one from the dry ginger ale we had in Singapore, with a much stronger ginger taste. We left the 3 bottles in the fridge and hopefully the next guest can enjoy the drinks or maybe it was thrown away.
I would also like to introduce my favourite snack found in Australia (recently saw it at Watsons Singapore! Yay!) - Ancient grain twist snacks that taste slightly like murukku! I guess it is just the spices (chilli, paprika, turmeric, cumin). It seems like quite a healthy snack - made of rice, tapioca, yellow pea, chia seeds, poppy seeds, quinoa seeds and etc. I bought this pack at A$1 ++ at the half price section. From then on, I have been actively looking at what are on discount. Machiam like auntie.
That was all for my very first day & very first time in Aussie!
See the poster below. Rest of Asia is represented by Singapore's Gardens by the Bay.
>.<
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