Tag Archives: alianatravels

A + A Eurotrip 2015 ~ Paris

Posted in Travel by

What a start to the morning! We missed our Eurostar Train! We didn’t even think that there was going to be Traffic! So we got Uber who was on time but Traffic was so bad! We had to get off half way and take the subway to Kingscross! By the time, we reached there, the counter is closed! Gahhhhh ended had to pay £60 to get on the next train! Little did we know Hana & Kev surprised us with a pair of first class tickets! We were shocked when they served us food on the train! But it was such a good experience! Thanks again guys! =))

IMG_1042

It was about a couple of hours ride before we reach Gare Du Nord. Enough said, after reading countless reviews, we were extra careful with our bags and luggage. We walked all the way to Mercure Gare D’Lest and took us like 15mins! It wasn’t that bad of a walk but with luggage in tow and the uneven pavement, it can be tiresome!

So finally we reached the hotel in the laneway. The hotel is in such a great location. 10mins walk to Gare Du Nord and 3mins walk to Gare De Lest station. There’s also restaurants and supermarket nearby. The rooms are worn out but very clean. I wonder though the walls might be really thin as we can hear every noise from the corridors like the slamming of doors even when our neighbours closed their toilet doors too!

After we settled in, we took the subway to Galleries La Fayette to see what’s the chaos all about. The moment we stepped in, all we saw are queues and crowds of Chinese tourists! As I don’t really have much to purchase, we were more like surveying the designs they have and how much the cost before we head into the boutiques. So here we are queuing to go into Longchamp and this female Chinese tourist jumped our queue as we were about to go in. I just held my hand up to her and ask her to stand back in line. Ridiculously annoying! Head up to get some Pierre Hermes Macaroons before eventually leaving for the Louvre since we are so over it!

Louvre

Louvre

It was nearly sunset when we got to the Louvre. The crowd was just nice however as we were ushered in, there was a couple massive crowd of tourists, it was like a cat and mouse game for us! We had to go over to the famous exhibits before the crowds gets in! And when they do the floor was flooded with little room to move. But indeed it was such a great experience! So surreal to be there, but do be careful there’s quite a number of people trying to sell you souvenirs and they can be really persistent too like following you around.

DCIM101GOPRO

Since it was already dinner time, we thought we would have dinner before heading back to the hotel and rest. It was getting colder too. As we scroll through the list of Restaurants around the area, we head on to Djakarta Bali which is about 5 minutes from the Louvre. Yes it is pricey. Yes it is fancy. My only regret is that i was seeking asian food in Paris and not look up the website of the restaurant first. The quality and taste wise was just okay. We get better Indonesian food in Melbourne even. I do think my Indomie goreng was so much better than the small serve of Mee Goreng that we were served. We did felt a pinch. Don’t think we will be returning.

IMG_1108-0

On our second day in Paris, we head down to Cathedral Notre Dame de Paris first thing in the morning. Tourists always confused between the two lines into the Cathedral. One is in the middle which is to going into the Cathedral and there’s another at the side of the Cathedral that is going into the Tower.  Both the queue is really long. We were more interested in the tower than the Cathedral and boy was the staircase narrow enough to only fit a person going up the tower! 387 steps to the South Tower, it can be quite claustrophobic for some. It does cost €8.50 per person. But the view is awesome!
Jardin des Tuileries

Jardin des Tuileries

Rightafter, we catch the subway to Musée d’Orsay and stroll through Jardin des Tuileries before we got to Angelina to have brunch! I only came here for the Mont Blanc and Hot chocolate! It was a delicious kind of experience but a tad too sweet for my liking! We then have a walk down Rue Saint Honoré and Rue Cambon to see the famous Chanel boutique! Unfortunately, the Longchamp bag that I was looking for wasn’t available at the Rue Saint Honoré boutique. So we began walking down Champs Elysees. It was beautiful how the roads are all connected to Arc De Triomphe! Managed to stop by Ladurée Le Bar to try some macaroons. I personally thought Pierre Hermes was better.

When we reached Arc De Triomphe, Ali looked at me and said “We are not climbing up that tower too. Are we?”. I slowly nodded and quickly said, “We’ve bought the tickets Already!” So we did painstakingly after walking around the whole day! It was such a good view of Paris. We did stop by for Crepes before heading to the Eiffel Tower. We were famished by then, ended up eating at this Kebab shop in more like a University neighbourhood. We nearly didn’t manage to get the Seine River tour but we did! Alhamdulillah!

Arc De Triomphe

Arc De Triomphe

It was quite boring and crowded but definitely great to experience in it if people actually sit down and not block your views! Just my 2 cents worth! The highlight of it was when we got off the boat, the Eiffel tower lights up! It was breathtakingly beautiful! We proceeded up to the Eiffel Tower as we were booked in at 10pm. I know it was late. Please remember to book your Eiffel tower viewing (Level 2 or Top of the Tower) ASAP! We booked this like 2 months before and it was all gone except for the late night ones and for Level 2 only! The Top of the tower got sold out really quick too! You might want to quickly get your hands on it and book it online. Don’t fall for tour traps which you’ll have to pay three times more!
That’s our days spent in Paris City! The City lights they call it. Headed off as we have an early ride to Paris Disneyland!

A + A Eurotrip 2015 ~ United Kingdom (London)

Posted in Travel by

After a week being in Spain, we were quite relieved to be back in an English speaking country! Took the 9am bus from Manchester to London. Yes we took a bus! Megabus to be exact! After failing to purchase £15 Virgin train tickets to London because it was all sold out due to the match weekend. it was frustrating when you are already at the checkout when there’s a screen that says it has been sold out already within two hours of the early bird release! And because paying for  £80.60 train ride still doesn’t justify, we ended up booking Megabus which cost us  £18 for 2 people! Yes and it only takes about an hour longer!

  
Me being me, I look through TripAdvisor and websites for Megabus to see how reliable they are, with poor reviews dated 3-5 years ago. I took a breather and was pleasantly surprised that the bus was clean and there was toilet underneath the bus too. Most importantly, it reaches London on time! That was excellent and highly recommend it to anyone, if you don’t want to pay for exorbitant train prices!

We booked our accommodation with Tunes Hotel prior to arriving. The hotels and Airbnbs in London are quite pricey. For us location was a factor. So there it was we entered Tunes Hotel Westminster which is about 8 minutes walk to the London Eye and Big Ben too! So it was pretty convenient. Lucky for us, we did have a $50 Expedia voucher to off set the accommodation cost so that was handy!

Of course, the room is indeed small. I had to even pray near to the entrance door and there’s not even area to put your luggage except for the windows’ ledge. But the bed was comfortable and location was great. We couldn’t complaint much! We did had a nightmare finding a laundromat. I think for a hotel that doesn’ts offer a laundry service or a laundry room. At least have an information ready for your guests for them to know where is the nearest one. I was send down to the dry cleaners at lower marsh only to find out that they are not open on public holidays. The reception could have told me that when i was asking her for directions to the dry cleaners that morning. So disappointed with the wrong info communicated.

Nonetheless London was pretty awesome! Although I keep doubling the currency in my mind to match AUD! After we settled in the hotel, we walked to Big Ben all the way through to Chinatown to find food! It was good and even bought cup noodles for our trip! Which only lasts for 2 days! Haha 

  

We finally got to meet lil Joseph! Omg Hana and i were childhood neighbours! It was so funny as she was pretty much younger than me and her sister! It has been god knows how many years! And finally we are welcome to her wonderful home and with a pleasant surprise that her family was in town too! It was such a wonderful evening! Catching up and updating each other about our lives!
  With the help of Tripomatic, we went to most London attractions which Includes Kensington Palace, Tower Bridge, Picadilly Circus, Change of guards ceremony, Abbey Road and a couple of others! Thought we didnt go to the whole Harry Potter tour since we are not big fans, we decided to go to Kings Cross station to take a photo at the 3/4 platforms which is great! Imagine working as the person that hold the scarf for you when youre taking a photo! Lol

   

 

A + A Eurotrip 2015 ~ United Kingdom (Manchester)

Posted in Travel by

Of course when you have a husband like mine who is a soccer fanatic and a Manchester United fan, definitely Manchester would be on your travel list!


We stepped out of the plane with me sneezing away! It was toooo darn cold! It was 7degrees in Manchester! It’s Spring they say! We rushed through the customs and finally got a cab! We had exactly an hour to check into our hotel and out for our Manchester United stadium tour!

So we finally made it! Just a tip, if you’re booking for the stadium tour, made sure if you chose any tour time slots after 3pm, please set aside 1.5hrs for the Museum prior to your tour time.

Dominic was the coolest guide ever! He’s very knowledgeable and hilarious! Don’t forget to get your Tour Certificates from the store, its free! Always has a long queue! Definitely do that and if you want to customise your jerseys, do that first! These two lines can be pretty long!

We booked the most affordable lodging nearest to the Stadium! Victoria Warehouse Hotel. If you searched them on TripAdvisor, you’ll get mixed reviews. Most of the rooms are without windows, unless you booked a double deluxe room.

Usually between the both of us, the husband is usually harder to please. But he was pretty impressed with the concept of the hotel. The space was adequate and the bathroom was nice,modern and clean! We are pleased with the room for the price we paid! 🙂

If you’re staying around Old Trafford, you are sure not to miss eating at Harry Ramsden! His fish and chips are beautiful! Definitely a must have! The waitresses are very friendly and accomodating. I did felt slightly embarrassed when she said 7 degrees was considered warm for them! Haha

We were in Manchester for a few days. And since the weather is freezing cold, we decided to spend the day just in the area and visit the Trafford Centre. It reminds us a lot like Chadstone Shopping Centre!

Although we didn’t win the match, the experience at Old Trafford was very memorable! And to be standing at the Stretford End was just amazing! We won’t be here if not for Hana and Kev! Thank you guys!

A+A EuroTrip 2015 ~ Spain (Madrid & Barcelona)

Posted in Travel by

Finally back from our Europe trip! It has been a wonderful journey yes even with the bitter memories but we gained such an amazing experience! An experience we can never forget and definitely encourage everyone to do it just once in their lifetime! To explore the unknown, to get lost, to venture in a new city and be mesmerised!

After 2 short transits in KL and Dubai, we finally reached Madrid at 8:30PM. It was a very tiring flight, I’ve never had to have a full 5 meals on board an aircraft before. I had to turn down a couple meal services as I was too tired. As mentioned in my previous post, we used Mozio to book for our transportation to our Airbnb Apartment. We had to wait for 30mins as we are sharing the shuttle with a couple of others. Which wasn’t that bad for the price that we pay. For taxis in Madrid, they have a flat fee of €30! We paid about AUD$28 for the shuttle.

https://instagram.com/p/17ss2cM5QA/

Our AirBnb apartment was cosy,clean and for the location it was worth the price! We did set a budget of getting an accommodation for AUD$100 a day! We did have a total of 18 nights so definitely budget is quite important in our trip! We had our first tapas for breakfast at Tapas 44 and it was awesome! I think it was the best one.

Tapas 44

Tapas 44

Madrid is a very cultural city with the Palace, the Plazas, the Facades. When you’re in Madrid, have some Churros! Among the places we visit were Puerta De Sol, the Palace, Plaza Mayor. But the weather was cold, rainy and rather gloomy while we were there! So it has been about running seeking shelter and warmth!

And i wonder why we shopped heaps in Zara! Well, definitely hit Zara and Mango when you’re in Spain. Cheap Cheap Cheap! We used Tripomatic app a lot during our holiday trips. It’s great as it features all the must see attractions and restaurants that you need to visit in each city and you can plan your daily itinerary as well! Very useful!

We spend about 4 days in Madrid and another 4 days in Barcelona. We were giving each city ample time just afraid we did get jet lag like we were in New York last September. We spend each day walking throughout our day. Due to the proximity of our apartment to the City, we walked almost every where except to the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium.

We cab it to the stadium as it was starting to rain. The stadium tour was awesome and no doubt it was huge! The hubs had a great time and was in awe! Thank god we head there on a Weekday morning, it was less crowded and look who decided to show up, Mr Sun of course! 

On the fourth day we head to Atocha station to catch the Renfe Train to Barcelona. We got the tickets in February and it was an early bird ticket! So pretty happy to grab bargains of course! The trains were spacious, each carriage had a luggage area for you to store your luggages. If you like to know more, Seat 61 is the best train travel guide!

It was such a great weather in Barcelona! Alhamdulillah, we got upgraded from a 2* Hotel Santa Marta to a 3* Hotel Suizo as the hotel was still under refurbishment. As per TripAdvisor, initially there were heaps of mixed reviews regarding Hotel Santa Marta! So we were a little scared but you know to just accept whatever! Then we were told a week before that we were upgraded to Hotel Suizo! We were so ecstatic because it was located right in Gothic Quarters! Such a great location, close proximity to La Ramblas, 2 train stations within walking Distance and great cafes and Tapas bars within reach! Below is the view from our balcony.

Something about the Hotel bathrooms in Spain and Italy, they have this urinal thing at the side. Which we thought was weird. We stayed here for 3 nights and the hubs couldn’t sleep soundly due to the noises and theres really strong smell in the bathroom which i reckon coming from the separate urinal which we never ever used. But i think for the price and location, we are still grateful. We still think its a great place to be based at.

  The highlights of soccer fans being in Barcelona is to catch their game! Definitely had the best time, front row seats and having Barcelona conquered and dominated the match! It was amazing and of course getting to see your favourite players in real life! It was indeed such a dream come true!

Among the attractions that you definitely need to catch is of course the Sagrada Familia, Park Guell, Plaza Espana, Montjuic Fountains and Barcelona Beach! These places are amazing! We didn’t go into Sagrada Familia, the line is long and you know w just enjoy the facade really. Park Guell, definitely get tickets online! We had to wait 3 hours for the next available time to enter the park! So definitely lessons learnt there! Montjuic Fountains starts at 9pm so definitely worth checking the times before you go as the time changes as the seasons change!

Sagrada Familia

Sagrada Familia

Park Guell

Park Guell

Barcelona has been such an amazing city and is definitely our favourite city of the Trip! Halal restaurants are so easy to find in the city too!

Insurance ✓ SIM Card ✓ Tickets ✓

Posted in Travel by

So we packed our bags yesterday. Was quite surprise that I did not overpack this time like how I usually do! Was quite surprise myself! And finally my Ripcurl softcase luggage got to retire! The Ripcurl luggage did lasts me for 8 years! It was just the time to replace. Alhamdulillah, American Tourister was on sale so got the Large Suitcase (75cm) for $160! Really wanted the white one! But I chose practicality over fashion and got the black one instead!

American Tourister Bon Air Spinner

And how great that the Global Gig Sim Card arrives in the mail on time! It’s awesome, so far our research goes, we hardly use text or call credits when we are overseas as we mostly use Skype to call, Whatsapp to text and Social Media. So after comparing a couple of the global sims (which are ridiculously expensive!) We decided to go with GlobalGig! 3Gb for $50/Mth or 5Gb for $70/Mth for anywhere in Europe and USA. I remembered I paid for 3Gb for $40 with AT&T when I went to the US. I purchases the AT&T new sim card from Ebay and just top it up online before I leave! That was great and very convenient! Cuz we needed a US number as soon as we touch down to call our AirBnB Host! Overall the best thing about Global Gig and AT&T you can even use it as a hotspot and share the data with your partner! So you don’t have to get 2 sim cards! Well at least that’s what I did!

I usually use and recommend comparethemarket.com.au for my insurance needs. Be it health or travel insurance. Indeed they are great and suits every traveller’s budget! So we got the Travel Insuranz Premiere for $136 for us, couple!  I can’t default it. It did save us a lot of money.  

It was a nightmare exchanging money in Melbourne. Wanted to head down to KVB as they are trusted to have good rates, however, they ran out of Euros! Booo so I headed to my next trusted and best rates United Currency Exchange! And they ran out of Euros too! Nonetheless, I manage to haggle and negotiate with one of the Stores and got my Euros! So lesson learnt, exchange your money to Euros at least a week before you depart! Guess it was just my luck but Alhamdulillah!

It is definitely going to be a long day at work today. And we are finally leaving tonight! Too excited 🙂