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Thursday, August 1, 2024

an ex-queenslander visiting queensland

just returned from a trip to gold coast. qld is so different from how i remember it. or... i don't remember much at all!

i used to go to gold coast frequently when i was living in brisbane. visiting again, it looks so different to me. like a completely different city. but a friend who lives locally says it didn't change much.

for those who don't know or remember, i grew up in qld.

last time i went to brisbane was almost 10 years ago. the prior visit was another almost 10 years before that.

i stayed in gold coast this time because my bff from overseas is staying there. the closest i got to brisbane was logan city, visiting another friend.

there are friends i didn't get to see because we're not staying in brisbane.

my biggest complaint this trip is, it's hard to find a place for coffee in late afternoon. most coffee shops close at 3pm! i thought it was just gold coast but i was told it's the same in brisbane.

since i don't remember much about the place, it's like i'm visiting a new place.

in fact, apart from same language and currency, it was like a different country.

maybe because gold coast is a tourist area?

one major difference road-wise, it's quite common to make u-turn at most intersections. thought the navigation is playing up when instruction says to make a u-turn at the next light... :D


the road trip

we decided to drive because our car needs exercise. it was lucky we made this decision and was unaffected by crowdstrike. (for future me, this was the biggest IT glitch that crippled almost all systems world-wide.)

we are so impressed with the new highway. it's "new" considering we haven't done interstate driving for almost 20+ years. 

back in the days, there were lots of 1-lane roads (the frustration of following slow cars.) lots of bypasses into local towns (so many slow downs). what's worse it was quite common to get windscreen damaged. happened 2x, iirc.

driving experience is so much better this time.  tax money well spent.


Thursday, April 11, 2024

thoughts - and just like that...

i watched 'and just like that...' season 1 and 2 on flight to and from japan. i miss some plots here and there because i fell asleep here and there. 

i was satc fan. i was excited when i knew the new series coming. but it was on a platform i wasn't subscribed to and didn't want another subscription. so i was excited when i found the series on the plane.

spoiler alert.

here are my thoughts. keep in mind i watched it 5 months ago, i missed some plots and my memory may be corrupted.

  • i miss samantha! it's not the same without her! i already knew she won't be there, but it still sucks not seeing her.
  • she lived through text - but it was hard to see text messages from the small plane screen. 
  • ok, she did a cameo but that's not enough. that cameo scene was just for the sake of seeing a few seconds of her.
  • big - why why why?
  • it was happy ending in satc finale. it was happy ending in movie 1 & 2. sucks to see how it ended right in the beginning.
  • isn't it too soon that carrie was already to date again?! 
  • miranda - she's so unlikable! 
  • steve - did they purposely dumb-ify him to make sense miranda's storyline?
  • i probably get hated for saying this - why does every drama nowadays must have diversity and lgbtqia+ storylines? 
  • i don't like the new characters - they seem to be there just for the above point.
  • rose became rock... referring to the same point.
  • miranda and che... yes, same point again. one of the worst storyline - can't see the chemistry.
  • and so che becomes another unlikable character. but she's the only new character i remember the name. i don't remember the others!
  • charlotte and harry - the most 'normal' characters / couples
  • carrie and aiden?
  • i like aiden, probably the best boyfriend in carrie's dating history. but with the way they broke up, it doesn't make sense they're back together.
in conlusion, i don't like it. the story should have stopped where it was. ok the 2nd movie was not great. it should have ended in the 1st movie.

Sunday, January 21, 2024

impression of my second trip to japan

my first trip to japan was during x'mas and new year period back in 2018-19. we planned to go the following year but damn ccp virus aka covid. though the world has opened up for a while we still waited a bit before travelling overseas again. just in case.

i reposted about the previous trip in previous post. after reading it again, i find that my experience is slightly different this time. mainly because we spent most of last trip in tokyo. we spent more time in osaka this time. accomodation in osaka is cheaper.

  • streets are cleaner in tokyo. but people are less friendly in tokyo.
  • but in tokyo people are more likely not afraid of communicating with you, with google translate
  • some shops don't like you to take photos - tried to explain i wasn't taking photos of their products but was using magnifying app to read (because i'm old!) or google translate (because there's no english literature) but they still think i was taking photos. so frustrating. i didn't have this problem last time.
  • some shops have signs that explicitly say something like you're welcome to take photos and share!
  • due to weak japanese yen and crazy inflation in australia, things in japan are so cheap!
  • food is so good, so cheap and so yummy!
  • except fish markets, in both tokyo and osaka - that's a place where they suck money from tourists. food is still good.
  • we visited more theme parks this time. 
  • food in disney is very expensive! there are cheaper non-restaurant food too, but they're just ok and not very filling.
  • imo universal studio has the best food in all the theme parks we visited. it's more expensive than eating locally but quite reasonable.
  • and oh, food at fuji-q has improved this time - there are more food stalls and restaurants.
  • if you're like me and don't like to get on 'advanturous rides', visit tokyo dome if you're in tokyo. there's a small shopping center next to it.
  • if you're in yokohoma, there's a huge shopping mall next to cosmos world. i only had time for 1.25 levels.
  • i love looking at beauty products, but i hate i have to use my phone to read labels and instructions via google translate - sometimes it gives funny translation
  • they are so cheap. i would have brought home everything if i understand what they're for.
  • i did have some good find. check my instagram.
  • public transports are good at major cities - no need to check timetable. 
  • we stayed a few nights at fujiyama. it's considered small town and you need to check bus and train timetables there. sometimes you can't get on a bus because it's full :(
  • i really enjoy how quiet public transports are. there are rules not to talk on the phone. we need this rule in australia!
  • there are less annoying tourists from certain big nation this trip. this has made the trip more pleasant.
  • which side do you stand on escalator are different in different cities. i find it extremely confusing during the few days of intercity day trips. luckily we are tourists and people are more forgiving.
  • i miss toilets in japan! esp when there are stubborn shit, sorry tmi...
it's more than a month since returning from the trip. i already want to go back again!

my first impressions of japan

note: this is a repost of what i wrote about the 2018-19 trip. 

i spent x’mas and new year in japan. it was my first time visiting the country. and i’m so impressed!

  • the streets are so clean. even in super crowded streets.
  • the air is so fresh. no smokers walking on the street. smokers do it at designated area. why can’t australia do this?
  • public toilets are so clean. even the inferior ones (which has unpleasing smell) is still very clean.
  • some toilet seats are heated! it was really cold when we were there and heated seat is a bonus!
  • the only complaint is the toilet paper. it’s only one layer and you need to pull hell lots!
  • staffs at theme parks, stations etc are very polite and cheerful. what a contrast to station staff we have over here – when opal card was first launched and some commuters were slow at the gate, staff shouted at them to move faster! 
  • people are very polite and helpful – was at coin laundry trying to work out how to use it because there was no english instruction. someone assisted us with his limited english and google translate.
  • the food in general are very yummy - i posted a lot of yummy food photos at my instagram at @_prettymom.
  • food at theme parks are very yummy too!
  • food was also cheaper than expected too - if you’re not going into those really expensive high class restaurants.
  • the only time we got bad food was when we didn’t have much choice.
  • railway system is complex yet convenient. it takes us anywhere! google map was our best friend giving directions which lines to take and which platform to go to.
  • there are markers at platforms where the doors are, which is very convenient so you’re always close to the doors. why can’t we do it here?
  • the station / train could get very crowded but not chaotic.
  • i thought the language could be barrier but their english is better than expected. and in most places you can use mandarin (probably due to huge number of tourists from mainland china).
  • i love the IC cards. it’s not only for trains but you can pay with it at most stores. and you can use in many cities. unlike here you need different cards for different states.
  • shopping malls are almost everywhere i visited.
  • i love the variety of beauty brands and products. although most them are in japanese and have no idea what they mean - can only try to figure out from the kanji.
  • taxi drivers are crazy - ok, we only got on one taxi which took us from airport to hotel, because it was late and hungry and we didn’t want to spend time working out how to use public transports. it was like riding in racing car, speed constantly at 150km/hr!

i’ve only been to tokyo and osaka, and day trips to kyoto and hiroshima. this may or may not apply to the whole country.

Thursday, December 7, 2023

hello world and 2023 will be over soon!

so, here is my next update. which is almost 2 years after the last post.

there's no motivation to update.

i don't read blogs anymore. it's more like blogs i used to read aren't updated anymore. besides there's nothing interesting in my life to blog / share.

majority of my social life is still on instagram, though i've spent less time on the platform too.

i always expressed how much i don't like the platform. 

removing recent posts from tags page is the main reason that drove me away. also, seeing quite a number of accounts that were banned or shadow banned or removed for unexplained reasons drove me away. the less i use it there's less chance of me getting into their version of 'wrong-doings'.

the only reason i'm still there is participating in #wowlipswednesday. playing with lipsticks is still my hobby.

the most interesting happened is recent trip to japan with my family. my last overseas trip was 5 years ago and the destination was also japan. (this was about the last trip. <-- i had too many blogs lol)

this trip was as good as the last one! i already want to go back!

i love japan. the food. the shopping. the everything. include toilets! who would have thought i can be so fascinated about toilets!

the only thing i hate is coming home with covid. i felt sick the day before we left. didn't think it could be covid until i was back, saw a doctor and he suggested to do a test.

i was shocked to see the 2nd line. i've been managed to avoid the bloody virus until now!

still recovering. tested negative but the cough continues... :/


Wednesday, January 5, 2022

hello world 2022!

it's been ages. 

blogging seems like something happened back in age of dinosaurs. i know blogs still exist, but do people still read them? i haven't read one for ages.

why am i here?

because i saw the blogger logo and decided to click. and there, all the blogs i once created. i was that crazy!

so i decided to clean up one and start afresh.

will i keep going?

i don't know.

majority of my life is on instagram. a picture is worth a thousand words and that's how i ceased blogging.

there are many things i don't like about that platform. being owned by facebook and now known as meta is one big reason. but i'm still there. i have quitted most social media but i can't quit instagram, maybe not yet.

so i'm starting a post. on 2022. let's see when will be my next update.

ps if you reached here for beauty product reviews.... the old site is now offline.