Monday, January 22, 2007

A trip to the sun, sea and sand I

Hi all!
ShannyKhoo
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Remember a song by Will Smith about Miami? Well, we just got back from there on Saturday. Was there for a 6 days, which I think was more than enough for the pocket!

We took the flight from Zurich at about noon or so and got there in the evening of Miami time. Couldn't sleep or rest much in the plane as it turns out we have 2 "monsters" sitting in front of us and a pretty angel behind us. The 2 in front was going on and on and on; Mommy look! He took my car, mommy! I'm hungry, Mommy! etc. Plus they decide to throw empty cups and plastic forks/knifes around, which happens to fall either behind (us) and the front passengers. Yes the kids are active and why are they that active? Coz mommy decides to give them Coke instead of water, that's why! It was really astonishing to know that some mommy didn't know about sugar rush effects of soda in kids and how kids get all kinds of bad teeth, gas and what nots from consuming sodas/sugary drinks. Here I promised myself, I WILL NOT GIVE SODAS/CAFFEINATED DRINKS TO MY KIDS BELOW THE AGE OF 8 FOR ANY REASON WHATSOEVER! I also will not let others, be it friends/family to let them have it, even if they'll say "a little its ok" or "just a taste, its alright no?".

Any ways, the arrival was ok. Had to go through a long line of immigration check, a long wait for our 1 bag at the luggage collecting belt and finally a really quick taxi ride to the hotel by a really nice taxi driver. We stayed in The Shore Club hotel along Miami Beach area. The hotel was nice but really (REALLY) expensive for what it was. Thank goodness hubs company got special rates and we're only paying 1 of the 5 nights. Normal rates goes about USD500.- (or more) including taxes. We got lost looking for the room! It turns out that, we had to go thru a garden bar, then a bar/restaurant thing before getting to the lifts to get to the rooms... So weird... The corridor was really too cold due to air-conditioning (reminds me of Malaysia) and the room looks like a chic, up-scale hospital! It was white everything, except the flat screen TV, the cement like floors and some wooden towel hanging structure.

Once we got settled in, we decided to some dinner around the corner at Jerry's Famous Deli. As it turns out this place is open 24 hours a day, sort of like our mamak stall cum kopi-tiam lar! The deli was in this 30's or 40's style, where you find diner style seats but with also really cold air-conditioning. The food was good but just simply too huge a portion for us to finish. Drinks came in the size of half a littler! So after that, my wish to have a small slice of dessert came to a halt as I couldn't even finish my salad. But then again what's small to the Americans?

The next day we decide to walk about the beach area for a bit as it was cloudy and windy at the same time. The chances of swimming are pretty slim. The funny thing is that, after hearing so much about the obesity problem they have in the States, we didn't really find them fat here. But then again, Miami is a state where you'll find most common bikini clad women with long legs, and six pack chested men. Not to mention where plastics make people beautiful and it comes cheap too! After the beach, we took a cab near the outskirts of down town area and walked all over. Mind you its a lot of walking here. Everything is situated/placed far apart! Even crossing the roads, we had to walk really fast with them having at least 3 lanes on each side and the lights changes fast as well!

Well there's really nothing to shout about the day time scene here in Miami and plus its a public holiday (we found out later; Martin Luther King's day). We went to the touristy Bayside Market area which also a port where many fishing boats/yachts are docked. Then we walked all the way to Little Havana, which took us about 40 mins. According to the concierge, this area is mainly populated by Spanish/Caribbean community with speciality shops etc. But since its a public holiday, we didn't really get much out of it. But then again, Miami seems more people speaking Spanish than English! When we landed at the airport, it (Miami International Airport) seems like we're in Mexico or Barcelona. Its not that I've been to these places before, but what I imagined it to be.


More to come...

2 comments:

Barbara J said...

Looks like your hubby and you had fun, sun and more fun!!

~ mrs lam ~ said...

shanny... glad that u & ur hubby had so much fun at Miami... hopefully more great holidays for you both