Day 76 & 77 – Dubai to Singapore

The night before I left Dubai, the hotel said they’d extend my check out until 2pm so I could have a sleep in.
They probably knew how much I loved to sleep as whenever house keeping would come I’d always ask them to come back later haha 😴

So I took advantage of this and slept until about 11am. Then it was up to have a shower, wash my hair and pack all my crap into my bag. Luckily enough I’d only really bought clothes in Dubai so I just rolled them up really tight and shoved them into my suitcase/backpack thing.

When it came to 1pm I checked out and left all my bags downstairs in the storage area.
My flight wasn’t until that night so I passed time by going to the mall and spending what little money I had left.
It’s annoying having a night flight when you’re staying at a hotel or hostel. They always get you to check out in the morning which is fine, and you can usually leave your bags with them. I just always feel I can’t do much during the day because I have to be somewhere at a certain time and it all becomes too stressful to do anything.

I ended up going to the airport really early. I think I arrived before 6pm for my 9.30pm flight. 😑 keen!

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I caught a taxi as I just had too much stuff to carry. The train is much quicker and cheaper though. Even though taxis in Dubai are actually really cheap, think my rode cost me like $25 NZD to the airport from my hotel so it wasn’t bad.

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When I got to the airport, I got a trolley and loaded up all my stuff. I’d checked in online already so just had to drop my bags off and grab my boarding pass.

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I was hoping there’d be lots of stuff in duty free as it was Dubai airport after all but there wasnt!
This always seems to happen to me, I always try and save my money for duty free and end up getting there and not liking any of the stores.
They had all your usual stuff like the perfume counters, they had a mac counter, all the alcohol and the same chocolates you see everywhere.
I don’t know what I was hoping for really. Maybe another Victoria secrets store or something that sold all the clothes.
I did grab myself a frozen yoghurt to pass the time and sat down to write a blog.

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It wasn’t until just before my flight I realised that I hadn’t packed any face moisturiser of a face mask for my flight!
Especially as it was a 7 hour over-night flight I knew my skin was going to be drier than the Dubai desert. The ex-beauty therapist in me freaked out and quickly went in search of a hydrating face mask.
I ended up going to Khiels and getting this baby for $44 USD
I was lucky I had USD dollars in my wallet too!

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Quite a bargain considering how big the tub is.

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I boarded the flight just after 9pm and was gutted it was an older Emirates airplane. Just because I hadn’t charged my tablet the night before and my phone was running out of battery. Usually the planes have a USB port but this one didn’t 😦 they just had a plug and mine wouldn’t fit! It was like a European point which was weird for a middle eastern airline.
Anyways, the flight attendant got me an adapter to put my chargers in but it kept falling out the whole flight. The guy next to me kept laughing at me when I tried holding it in haha.

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For 7 hours the flight went really quick. We had dinner and then I went to wash all my make up off and put my new face mask on.
People think it’s weird to do that on a plane but it’s honestly the best thing for your skin. Think how dry and dehydrated your skin gets at 35,000 feet! I feel like my face turns into a prune.
The mask probably wasn’t the best thing for sleeping (Even though it’s an overnight mask) It’s actually quite sticky.

I semi-snoozed through the flight and before I knew it they were waking us up for breakfast. I just had fallen asleep a bit coz I remember feeling grumpy having to wake up haha.

The breakfast was average. Nothing worse than bread that is cold and butter that is even colder coz it’s been fridge. Very hard to spread solid butter onto a cold croissant 😳
First world problems I know!!

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I got to Singapore in the morning and the airport was pretty quiet so customs etc. was quick.
I got an airport shuttle for $9 to my hostel which was like half an hour away.
the NZ Dollar and Singapore Dollar are pretty much the same so it’s much easier figuring out how much money I’m spending over here.

As I arrived at my hostel before 10am, check in wasn’t until 3pm so I dropped my bags off and asked if I could have a shower.
I was feeling all yuck from my flight so it was good to freshen up.

I then went off for a walk.
It was so humid outside I didn’t actually last terribly long.
I tried to find something to eat but nothing interested me too much.
If you know me, you’ll know I don’t like Asian food apart from Thai and Indianfood hahaha! I know, crazy! Why am I in Singapore then you ask? Where there is an abundance of Asian food? I don’t actually know. Because it was a stop off on my way home really 😄

When I got back to my hostel it was about 2pm but my room was ready so they showed me up to it and I settled in.
I was so extremely tired I had a lie down on my bunk and ended up falling asleep like 3 times.
Eventually I dragged myself out of bed as I didn’t want to sleep in case I didn’t sleep that night.
I think I ended up going down to Bugis Junction (the closest mall to where I am) and had a look around there.
I came across this Korean skin Care brand called Innisfree  and smelt all their products.
I walked away with some samples to try before I bought anything so I was excited to use them that night.

When i got back to the hostel i used one of the volcanic face masks on my skin to try and clear it up a bit.
My skin has broken out majorly ever since I went to Dubai and come to Singapore. I think it’s from all the flying I’ve been doing and sleeping in all the air conditioned rooms. 😣
I hate it!!! Thank god girls can wear make up.

It was safe to say I had a very good sleep that night after barely sleeping for the past 24 hours!

Day 59 – London to Croatia

London

After a very rushed morning and missing out on breakfast at the hostel, I had my bags packed and ready to head to the airport.
Maybe I packed them wrong because I was defiantly struggling with the amount of luggage I had.

I called an Uber and paid him to take me to the Airport train station. It cost about £19 for a one way ticket to Gatwick Airport which wasn’t too bad.
Once I’d met up with Kara (as she was leaving on the same day as me) we hopped on the train with all our stuff and headed off to the Airport.
It was about a half hour train ride but I’d defiantly recommend using the train if you can because it’s heaps cheaper than paying for a taxi.
It takes you straight to the airport as well so when you hop off, you just need to go and find your check in desk by either walking or taking another short train shuttle to a different terminal.

Kara had to take the train shuttle as she was flying back home to Australia. We said our goodbyes and I promised I’d come visit her in the gold coast. Which I defiantly will as it’s so close to home anyways.

I had a few hours to spare so I went and got this Cornish pastry thing and sat down to eat it while I waited for my check in desk to open.
I also went and bought some UK treats to take back home with me which I’m still trying not to eat haha.

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When the Croatia Airlines desk was open, I went and checked in and got told that my luggage was a bit too much over weight. 😯
I always try to be super nice to airport staff so maybe that’s why she let me off the hook this time.
I did however have to go and take my bag to the oversized luggage drop off.

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Once that was all done, I waited around to board my plane (which didn’t take long at all) then set off for my flight to Split, Croatia.

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Croatia

I can’t remember how long the flight took, maybe about 2 hours and 20 minutes. I landed when it was dark and took a bus to the airport terminal (which is really small by the way)
And collected my luggage.

As I had lots of stuff and was tired, I took a taxi to my hostel. (It’s good to book some transport before you arrive I think) I didn’t organize anything or even research how to get to my hostel before I arrived so when I left the Airport i kind of just looked aimlessly around hoping someone would take me into town.
It probably wasn’t the best first night in Croatia.
When I got to the hostel, the street was all dark and I had no idea I was even at the right place. The building looked all closed up but the taxi driver insisted I was at the right place.
I pressed the buzzer on the Intercom and the guy at reception buzzed me in.
I walked up the stairs with my stuff and checked in at the very small reception area at Cro-paradise Hostel.

As I had booked my own room, the receptionist took me across the road to a different building and carried my bag up 5 flights of stairs.
The poor guy was like sweating and puffing carrying my stuff. I felt bad. But not bad enough to take over…
The room I was staying in was actually pretty cute. It had its own little kitchen/bedroom with a TV and they provide a laptop if you need it.
The bathroom was small but nice with good water pressure.
Not bad for like $80 NZD for the night.

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Once I’d put all my stuff down and charged my phone for a bit, I realised the Wi fi wasn’t working so went in search of food hoping it’d work by the time I got back.

No such luck on the food or wi-fi problems an hour later.
There was like no food places around, just a couple of bakeries and that’s it. I wasn’t feeling like a pastry at all, so I walked back to my room and sat on my bed watching CSI (the only program in English) eating chocolate and feeling very lonely as the Wi fi still wouldn’t work and I had no one to talk to 😥
Even when I went to get food, not many people spoke English so it was hard asking where to eat. Everything seemed to pretty much be shut and no where accepted money cards so I couldn’t really buy anything either 😦

Eventually I went to sleep to prepare myself for my Sail Croatia trip the next morning ☺

Xx

Leaving Wellington – NZ

I guess I haven’t left New Zealand yet but it’s officially my first day of my travels.

I’ve just flown up to Auckland and I’m going to stay with my best friend Michelle before I go to America tomorrow! 🙂

I spent the day with close friends and family having breakfast at Portlander in Wellington. They do the yummiest breakfast buffet! I didn’t think I was going to be able to eat (with nerves etc.) But I had a bagel and scrambled eggs and bacon with a chocolate milk. So good 😥

My Mum, Nathan and I went shopping to pass the time until my flight.
I didn’t think I’d be sad saying goodbye but I had tears well up in my eyes when I boarded my flight 😥

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We all just acted like I was going to Auckland for the weekend which made me feel a little better.
Going to have dinner with friends tonight and stay with Michelle. Then she’s going to drop me off at the airport tomorrow so I can head to San Francisco.
Let the adventures begin!
Xx