Probably Gold Coast

In the past few years, I've traveled a fair bit out of the country. I've been to Bali, Bintan, Chiang Mai, Hanoi, Jakarta, Krabi, Phuket and Singapore.

But these are all in South East Asia and I didn't realize how much fares out of the region costs these days.

Since we've confirmed Gold Coast as our honeymoon destination, I've informed the travel agent and am now waiting for the final cost. While waiting, I checked our Air Asia flights from KL to Brisbane and they're RM5,000 for 2 people. I thought that was rather high for Air Asia. The price has not factored in the baggage costs and don't even talk about the XL seats which cost twice as much.

So just for a basis of comparison, I checked out fares on Malaysia Airlines from KL to Brisbane. The cost is RM3,941. Per person! Ouch.

So Air Asia is cheap after all, comparatively.

I checked out a few other destinations on MH. We originally wanted to go to Maldives, right? Flight there is very reasonable indeed. RM2,000 per person. But Paul has been there before and as much as we like the beach, i think 10 days of the beach would be a bit too much.

So just for fun, I checked out some Europe destinations we were considering.

To London, RM5,500. I remember flying off to uni in London for RM2,800. Sigh.

To Rome, RM4,500.

And Air Mauritius flies from KL to Mauritius for USD2,800. That's RM9,200!

So Gold Coast seems like the most viable option, in terms of cost and variety of entertainment.

Oh, we've taken Melbourne out of the plan (sorry Mirabella!I would love to have been able to meet u) cos Air Asia has not started their KL - Melbourne route yet and it's too much hassle and money to fly in to Gold Coast via Air Asia, then fly via Virgin Blue in-bound to and fro Gold Coast & Melbourne, then out from Gold Coast again.

Paul and I have till Monday to change our minds about Gold Coast.

Can't seem to think of many other places which doesn't cost too much, is not in Asia and yet will keep us entertained throughout the honeymoon.

Honeymoon Destinations

As the wedding dates draws closer, so many friends have been asking where I’m going for my honeymoon.

But I can’t answer because that’s not been finalized yet and that’s a bit worrying because I’m trying to get everything done up as early as possible so that in the one week before the wedding, I can spend my days in the spas and the nights having sufficient sleep.

I’ve been told the last week before the wedding is the most harried. Sin Cyn was wondering how brides are supposed to look at their most beautiful and radiant on their wedding when they’re running around like headless chickens in the few weeks before.

But I’ve been so busy with all the other aspects of the wedding. It’s just now that I’ve got time to think about the honeymoon.

So I approached Live Life, Travel! Ashley and told him that I was thinking of Europe because I’ve always loved Europe, both Paul and I studied there and there are so many charming countries to go to which would be perfect for a honeymoon. We could go to a French vineyard to enjoy the outdoors and get drunk on wine and on love. We could ride the gondolas on Venice before the city sinks. We could kiss under the Eiffel tower and walk around in the most romantic city in the world.

But really, the Ringgit is not friends with the Euro. As soon as go there, we’ll have to cut our spending power by 80% and that’s not wise use of money. And don’t even talk about going to the UK.

So the next best option is to go some where closer to home where we can live like a king and queen without blinking an eye. We thought of Bali because that’s where Paul and I went for our 1st anniversary and that’s where he proposed too. Or maybe one of the many beautiful and happening islands in Thailand. But those places really aren’t that special for a honeymoon because we can go any time and a honeymoon should be special if one can afford it.

So option three was to go to an island a little further away since we both love the beach. So of course Maldives, Mauritius and Seychelles came to mind. Classic honeymoon destinations, right? But those places aren’t too cheap either! The honeymoon package in Club Med Kani in Maldives costs RM10,620 per person for the suite. And that’s for 5 nights only! Once we include the air fare and extend for a couple of nights ……

So we thought maybe Australia? Not the typical honeymoon destination and it is fairly close to home too. But Ashley made some enquiries anyway as he felt that we would enjoy the Gold Coast more than the other places we’ve discussed.

And it helps that Air Asia flies there. We’d save heaps!

So I did my research online to see if it’s a feasible honeymoon destination for us.

Among the activities, I was really exciting about are sky diving, bungee jumping, sitting in a plane doing acrobatics in the sky, flying a plane and a helicopter, going hand gliding, riding a hot air balloon, screaming on a roller coaster, wine tasting in vineyards, hugging a koala and feeding dolphins! And Paul wants to drive a V8 and go mountain biking.

Not very romantic or honeymoon-y activities.

We won’t be chilling on a beautiful beach together, but how memorable would our honeymoon be after throwing ourselves off a plane together as husband and wife. It may not be the most romantic but I’ve always preferred adrenaline pumping and excitement over warm hearts and soft kisses. It will be something we’ll remember for the rest of our lives and talked about for years to come.

The more I think about it, the more I think an adventure holiday is the best honeymoon we could ever have.

I’m going to reply Live Life, Travel! Ashley now!