Hazel Tea Shop Surfers Paradise - Bubble Tea Heaven

Posted by Unknown at 6:30 PM Tuesday, September 25, 2012 Labels: , , 0 comments
Gold Coast . 2012 . Aug 07-13

Tucked in a corner of the RSL centre amid other little food shops, this little Taiwanese bubble tea shop was eye-catching with its traditional looking sign board and Chinese-style interior.  It serves not only a wide variety of the signature bubble tea that Taiwan is so famous for, but also whips up other small Chinese dishes and delicacies. After our exhaustions at Sea World, Brisbane Miramar Koala Cruise and Sky Point, it certainly is a nice place to rest our tired legs on the last day of our trip before our Scoot flight back to Singapore.



The interior is decorated to resemble a cosy Chinese living room where you can linger and chat with family and friends.  There is also a bookshelf with a small selection of Chinese and English novels and magazines for free browsing.   We placed our order of bubble tea (small tapioca balls or pearls suspended in tea of a flavour of your choosing) at the counter.


Here are the menus on their website (http://www.hazelteashop.com.au/ ). Do visit their website to find out more! :)


 Menu with small Chinese dishes and delicacies.

Strawberry black tea and Passion fruit black tea, with complimentary rice crackers.  Tea was cool and refreshing with the freshly made chewy black tapioca balls.



Hazel Tea Shop

At Surfers Paradise:
1)    RSL Centre
9 Beach Rd
Surfers Paradise QLD 4217
Open Mon – Sun, 11:00am – 9:00pm

2)    Chevron Renaissance Centre
Shop 8, Chevron Renaissance,
3240 Surfers Paradise Boulevard,
Surfers Paradise, QLD, 4217
Open Mon – Sun, 10:00am – 10:00pm

At Southport:

1)    Australia Fair Shopping Centre
Shop K009, Australia Fair Shopping Centre,
42 Marine Parade, Southport, QLD, 4215

At Broadbeach:

1)    Pacific Fair Shopping Centre
Shop 48A, Pacific Fair Shopping Centre,
Hooker Boulevard, Broadbeach, QLD4218

For more details, check out their website at:  http://www.hazelteashop.com.au/
Check out our in depth review of Scoot Airlines below!

Read these articles about our Gold Coast / Brisbane Trip too!

Check out the Hotel we stayed

Check out the good eats!



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Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary Brisbane

Posted by Unknown at 6:30 PM Saturday, September 22, 2012 Labels: , 0 comments
Brisbane . 2012 . Aug 10

Our river cruise with Mirimir Brisbane River Cruise brings us to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary after more than an hour of cruising.



 A small footpath leads from the dock to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary.


Koala Kingdom


Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary does live up to its name as there are lots and lots of koalas in the sanctuary. These koalas are also divided into different zones based on their age groups.

Koalas can sleep for up to 20 hrs a day, and their waking hours are mainly spent grooming or feeding on the leaves of the eucalyptus tree that it rests on.  Just like the kangaroos, koalas belong to a unique group of mammals called the marsupials.  These mammals give birth to very under-developed young who then complete their development in their mother’s pouch.



With the great number of koalas in the sanctuary, we could see them in different actions – some snoozing at the fork of the tree branches, some were climbing up the trees, and some were feeding.

Cuddle a Koala


Queensland is one of those few places in Australia where visitors get to cuddle a Koala for a photo opportunity (holding a Koala is actually banned in many other states in Australia). Proceeds go to conservation efforts for the Koalas.  As much as we humans like to touch and cuddle these cute animals, this kind of handling places considerable stress on the Koalas, and as a result of this, there are regulations to ensure that each koala only gets ‘hugged’ for 30 mins at a time.  They also get every 3rd day off.

At Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, visitors have to pay a fee of AUD$20 for a photo opportunity with the Koala.  Photo tickets can be bought at the General Store and visitors are welcome to use their own cameras as well to capture the moment.  Judging from the long queues, this must be a popular activity.

Koala Retirement Home


The elderly koalas at Lone Pine gets their own retirement home within the sanctuary where they can rest and live out the rest of their lives!



Kangaroos


Besides Koalas, there are also other animals in the Sanctury, including the popular Kangaroos. The Kangaroos roam freely in this open enclosure

Kangaroo feeding is allowed here, so purchase the kangaroo feed from the General Store before making your way to the kangaroo enclosure.  The kangaroos are generally tame and let visitors and children feed and pet them, but we’ve also seen the kangaroos smack each other, so you might want to be careful there.



Some of these kangaroos have a joey in their pouch! Keep your hands off the joey, you won’t want a protective mum smacking your face!

Wombat


The closest relative to the Koala, the wombat is also a marsupial native to Australia.




At Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, each wombat is kept in a separate enclosure. We caught an adorable one catching up on sleep while sun-tanning.
  
 And another one basking and stretching under the sunlight.

 and stretching....
 
 and finally waking up....
 


This one is lonely and needs a teddy bear to cuddle.
 
We hope you enjoyed Part 1 of our review of the Lone Pine Koala Sanctury. Stay tuned for Part 2 of our review as there are more animals in the sanctury including Emus, Birds, Platypus, Pythons and a animal barn!

Check out our in depth review of Scoot Airlines below!

Read these articles about our Gold Coast / Brisbane Trip too!

Check out the Hotel we stayed

Check out the good eats!



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Yum Cha Noodle Haus Surfers Paradise - Food Review

Posted by Unknown at 6:30 PM Tuesday, September 18, 2012 Labels: , , 0 comments
Gold Coast . 2012 . Aug 07-13

We chanced upon this small Chinese Café which is located a few shops next to Sushi Avenue. Its squeaky clean image coupled with a brightly-lit interior was its main attraction for us.  That, plus the fact that we were keen to sample some Chinese delicacy in Australia.

For the benefit of our non-Chinese readers, Yum Cha is a word of Cantonese origin and means ‘tea tasting’.  It actually refers to a Chinese morning or afternoon tea, usually served with a few dishes of ‘dim sum’.



Menu


The menu was quite comprehensive with typical chinese main dishes as well as dim sum.


Main Course


We had our fair share of horrifying Chinese food during our travels, and so, to play it safe, we ordered one portion of the most common Won Ton Hot Noodle Soup to test it out.

The portion is generous for an Asian stomach, the soup base was good, and most importantly, the prawns used in the wonton were fresh and large.  It was a most satisfying choice.

Dim Sum


In a traditional Chinese restaurant, Dim Sum (small bite sized portions of food) is usually served in small steamer baskets or porcelain plates.    The steamer baskets are usually lined with a piece of lettuce or cabbage and steamed together with the Dim Sum.  The small piece of vegetable acts as a lining and prevents the delicate skin of the food to stick to the surface of its steaming or serving apparatus.  
Traditional Dim Sum restaurants also have their waitresses pushing a Dim Sum Cart around the restaurant for seated customers to choose and add on their orders while seated at the table.
   
Of course, we did not expect a dim sum trolley to be carted around this small café.  Orders are placed at the cashier counter by the customer.  There is also a condiment table, with essentials such as chilli and soya sauce for the taking.


We ordered the most common and basic of dim sum cuisine from the menu for a test-ride and must admit that we were rather disappointed when the dim sum was served to us in a mini paper plate instead of in a steamer basket.  For one thing, it does not keep the food warm.  Secondly, upon condensation, the delicate skin of the dumplings was stuck to the paper plate, causing it to be torn and deformed when you try to pick it up.
 
We overlooked the lack of steamer baskets and torn skins and focused on the quality of the dish itself:

Har Gow (Steamed Shrimp dumpling):  This dish is commendable.  As with the main course, the prawns used are fresh and large.   The skin tends to be a bit too starchy though.

Siew Mai (Steamed Shrimp and Pork Dumplings):  Of average quality.  The pork used tend to be a little less flavourful.

Shanghai Xiao Long Bao (Shanghai Style Steamed Pork Dumplings):   A miniature steamed bun originating from Shanghai, the most important determining factor for a good Xiao Long Bau is the quality of the soup wrapped within its skin with a small chuck of meat (usually pork).  We were surprised with the version of Xiao Long Bau served here, as there is absolutely no soup base in this dish.  It was just a piece of tough skin wrapped tightly around a huge chunk of pork.  Perhaps it was the style here, but it was not what we expected of a Xiao Long Bao.

Fried Wan Ton:   This is truly a delight.  It was deep fried with fresh oil and crispy to the bite. It is also the only dish that did not stick to the paper plate due to its texture and is probably the best out of the four.  You can’t really go wrong with a fried dish.


The Bill
Won Ton Noodle Soup - AUD$9.80
Har Gow (Steamed Shrimp Dumplings) - AUD$2.50
Siew Mai (Steamed Shrimp and Pork Dumplings) – AUD$2.50
Shanghai Xiao Long Bau (Shanghai Style Steamed Pork Dumplings) - AUD$2.50
Deep Fried Won Ton - AUD$2.50

Total: AUD$19.80

Final Thoughts

The meal at this casual café did not set us back much, but also bear in mind that we ordered only one main course.  Though not outstanding, this café serves decent Chinese food at quite an affordable price. 

Check out our in depth review of Scoot Airlines below!

Read these articles about our Gold Coast / Brisbane Trip too!

Check out the Hotel we stayed

Check out the good eats!



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Skypoint Observation Deck Gold Coast Surfers Paradise

Posted by Unknown at 6:00 PM Friday, September 14, 2012 Labels: , 0 comments
Gold Coast . 2012 . Aug 07-13

The Skypoint Observation Deck is situated on level 77 of the Q1 resort, a luxurious residential tower at Surfers Paradise Gold Coast.   This is at a height of about 230m above ground and offers a 360 degrees panoramic view of the coast line of Gold Coast and the Pacific Ocean.  From afar, Q1 is easily identifiable as it is the tallest building in the vicinity and is branded by its spire at its top.


Ticketing counter at the ground floor of Q1.  Tickets can be either bought here or online, but we had voucher from the tourist guide books collected from the airport which gave us 10% off.



 While waiting for the elevator, we snapped some shots of the waiting area.

The high speed elevator brings us to the 77th storey within 45 seconds.  Majestic views greets us at the observation deck.



We recommend going up to the observation deck an hour before sunset, so that you can catch the scenery in daylight, watch the sun set in the horizon and have a night view of Gold Coast.  Alternatively, you could have dinner at the observation deck during sun set.



 Night view of Neerang River from Skypoint. See the ferris wheel at the bottom right of the photo?

Having been up there, we would like to recommend visitng Skypoint and have a top of the world view of Gold Coast. Guess if you are not willing to part with your money for a helicopter ride for a aerial view of Gold Coast, this is the next best thing to do! :)

Skypoint Observation Deck

$21 per adult (do look out for discount coupons in the brochures from the airport or your hotel)

Open from  
9am – 9pm on Mon – Thur and Sundays
9am – midnight on Fridays and Saturdays


View Larger Map

Check out our in depth review of Scoot Airlines below!

Read these articles about our Gold Coast / Brisbane Trip too!

Check out the Hotel we stayed

Check out the good eats!



We hope you enjoyed reading this article. To receive notifications on updates, subscribe to our blog via RSS feed and email.

Like us on Facebook @ Discover. Book . Travel and follow us on Twitter @Discoverbooktra!

Do check out our Flickr photos & Youtube videos too!
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