Happy September holidays to Sunshine Coast (9 September to 14 September 2026)

8 September 2026 

Work has been really crazy and I was trying to get some urgent stuff rushed out today. I managed to do some packing while working from work in the morning. We had yummy fried rice by my MIL for dinner. It’s always nice to eat some home cooked food before we fly. As usual, I was working all the way till 7pm before we made our way back to Senja for final packing. It’s a short trip so packing was much simpler. 

We left the house around 9pm. Jianhui’s cab came before ours as ours cancelled ours for some reason. I fell asleep for a while on the cab. I am feeling so tired as I didn’t sleep well last night. 

The queue was okay at the counter. After checking in and saying bye bye to Xiao P, we went to the departure hall. And know what? I actually met Stanley. He’s going Netherlands for business trip. 

Then we went to eat supper! Double Swiss mushroom meal at Burger King. Super sinful. Haha. 

While walking to our gate, Lexuan and I were happily trying the perfume from Dior.

Haha.

By the time we reached A12, we could only sit down and relax for a while before we had to get our bags checked at the gate. I always feel extremely sleepy for such red eye flight. On the other hand, Lexuan was full of energy. Haha. 

It seems like it is not a full flight so boarding is very fast. Once we are seated, I am feeling sleepy. We slept while taking off. I skipped supper and went to sleep.

On and off, I woke up a few times and I slept until 5.30am. It’s time for breakfast. Lexuan chose Asian food for her kids’ meal and it’s carrot cake. Not too bad, just a bit oily and too much garlic. 

I chose Prata and I didn’t like it. At least I ate the fruits and little bit of the yoghurt. This time I didn’t watch any movie. I played Jay Chou’s songs which is very relaxing and enjoyable. 

There isn’t any queue at customs and the best part we can use auto gates even for Lexuan! And Lexuan managed to bring her ketchup safely from the plane. Haha. 

Jianhui went to get the car while we called Ah Ma. Ah Ma finally knows how to answer our video calls. Haha.

Jianhui got a 7 seater car this time round and it is a blue car! So there is a lot of space for Xiao P and our luggage. We went to toilet again before starting our ride! 

First stop got to be woolsworth! Yeah! Time for shopping. I bought Difflam plus at SGD10 which is so much cheaper! We spent around SGD70 over here before we drove another 30 mins to McDonald’s! 

Not sure how we ordered, we ordered SGD34 worth of macdonald’s food. We ordered Big Mac meal, happy meal, 3 cheese stickers, frozen coke and some green apple sprite drink (which tastes damn weird). I also ordered KFC 3 piece chicken meal. It cost about SGD14. 

Then it’s about 40mins drive to our resort. It seems to take forever though. I was trying very hard not to fall asleep. And then we finally reached Nautilus Resort Mooloolaba! 

It’s an apartment with a walk up stairs to rooftop! We have 2 rooms - 1 with queen size bed and 1 with 2 single beds. Lexuan choose the room with 2 single beds. The toilet is those old school kind. And it’s those kind of shower that you have to open both hot and cold water tap and then adjust to the temperature you want. 

We relaxed in the room for a while. Jianhui fell asleep a few times. After Lexuan ate her Maggie mee then we drove out to find something to eat. 

It’s only 6pm here but the sky is turning dark, almost like Singapore 7pm to 8pm. After driving one round, we decided to eat fish and chips. We ordered one set of Fish & Chips and calamari. 

While waiting, Lexuan went to the playground to play. Then we drove back. The fish & chips is heavy. When we open the box, we are shocked! There is a mountain full of fries! 

Overall, the battered fish is not bad, all real fish and the calamari is nice too! The only thing is why Australia doesn’t serve ketchup or chilli?

We are so tired that I guess we will be sleeping early. We slept by 9pm. 

10 September 2026 

I had a good sleep though I woke up a few times. We woke up at 7am+ but decided to continue to sleep. We ended up sleeping till 9am+. Good to catch up on sleep. We could relax as it was raining so we won’t be going Noosa. 

We decided to go Sea Life which is just beside our accommodation. It cost AUD50 for adult ticket and AUD35 for kid. Just nice got seal show at 12.30pm so we walked to the seal’s island. It’s a short and nice show.

It’s relatively a small place so we could finish it quite quickly. Lexuan and I also tried the VR to watch the shark, manta ray and polar bar shows. It’s not bad. Lexuan also made 3 coins souvenirs,✅ something I like to do when I travel too. We took photos at the Photo Booth too! I guess she got her genes from me. We also saw the sharks and jelly fishes. I love nemo and penguins too! 

Then we went to The Dock for lunch. We ordered fish & chips + kids pizza, garlic bread + beer. They gave us extra one pint beer for free as they thought they haven’t serve us ours. It’s a kids pizza but it’s quite big. I didn’t like the fish & chips. 

We went to the swim start. Lexuan also played at the playground. It’s windy and cold. Then we went back to our accommodation to relax. 

At around 5.30pm, we decided to go woolsworth to buy roast chicken for dinner. By 6pm, the sky is already so dark. 

We had a Korean noodles with our chicken! I also enjoyed 2 glasses of moscato. Haha. 

11 September 2026 

It’s Friday! TGIF! We woke up slightly earlier today as we planned to drive to Noosa. 

We had light breakfast in our room. Then we set off at 10am. We are stopping by at woolsworth Coolum which is about 20 minutes drive. 

Then while driving to Noosa, it started to rain. So sad. While it stopped raining for a while at Noosa, the weather is generally wet. Parking is full. So we decided to drive back to the town. We managed to find a slot! So lucky. 

We walked to the beach and took some photos. Then we decided to have our early lunch at Betty’s burger! The chocolate milk shake is good! It cost AUD8.8 for a small one though. And for some reason there is a 15% surcharge. Total damage is AUD50. We also ordered Strawberry milk shake to try! Not bad too! 

And then we drove back to Mooloolaba, about 42km away. We relaxed in the room and I fell asleep. It was a good nap. I guess I am catching up on my sleep whenever I travel.

Then around 3pm+, we walked to the Ironman Village to collect race pack. We collected Lexuan’s Ironkid’s bib then we went shopping. The Ironman shirt is expensive. It cost AUD70! We bought 2 - 1 for Jianhui and 1 for Lexuan and me (we both can share). And I bought one cycling jersey which cost AUD120. It’s so expensive! I also bought one lanyard and magnet. Total damage AUD300! Gosh! 

We walked back to our apartment. Lexuan bought her watermelon slurpee. 

Then we drove to buy our favorite fish & chips! Damage - AUD58. Lexuan got to play at the playground. It was only 6pm but it’s already very dark. 

We had a good dinner together! 

12 September 2026 

It’s race day for Lexuan today! Her first solo Ironkid’s 1km run! She woke up early for her race! 

It was raining in the morning but this does not dampen her mood. She was excited to run in the rain. I worn shorts and surprisingly the cold was manageable. Maybe because of my powerful New Zealand jacket. 

The kids were all excited to start the race. There weren’t many kids for the run. And they were really fast! Soon, we saw Lexuan running back too! Well done my baby! 

She can’t wait to go back to our room after the run. Haha. Bought her the slush that she wanted. 

I decided to go for a short run around the area. And it was a good run. Feeling good and I think I could easily do 5km run but I was wearing my pretty fit shoes so I did 2.45km. Good to sweat it out. 

We ate some hard boiled eggs and avocado for breakfast. Jianhui then got ready to check in his bike. This race doesn’t have transition bags so he has to pack everything in a bag. Weather is good when he cycled to the transition area. 

Then we walked to Happy Sushi for lunch! We ordered chicken katsu+prawn set and tempura udon! It’s not bad! Lexuan bought the Japanese carbonated drink (we saw at Japan). Overall, it’s a good lunch! 

Then we walked back to our apartment and it started to drizzle. The weather here is so erratic. It comes and goes. 

I was feeling sleepy so I slept a while before Lexuan woke me up to go swimming. I didn’t want to get wet inside the cold pool so she swarm inside the pool while I was watching over her. I love to see how happy she is whenever she is swimming. 

We relaxed a while before we went out to B Happy Sushi to buy dinner. They are closing at 4pm so we got to go early. We bought teriyaki bento set and 6 sushi rolls. Lexuan was really excited to eat the sushi rolls.

Then we had our dinner at the rooftop. Dinner was good! I also cooked Maggie mee to complement our Japanese food. And I finished the last bit of moscato. 

We slept really early before 9am. I had lots of weird dreams and woke up a few times. 

13 September 2026 

It’s race day! I woke up around 4.15am and Jianhui is already up. I drank a bit of coffee and ate Nutella bread. Then we woke Lexuan up. She was so sleepy that she didn’t want to wake up. 

It’s quite a walk to the swim start. Many people were walking with us so it’s hard to get lost. Haha. It’s so cold for me. It’s a bad idea to wear slippers as my feet feel cold. I thought it would rain in the morning but it didn’t. It’s a good thing it didn’t rain anywhere if not it is very messy and cold. 

While waiting for Jianhui, Lexuan and I went to the toilet first. Lucky we went toilet first coz the queue was super long later. Lexuan played with the swing. 

After wearing his wetsuit, he went to test swim for a while then he made his way to the swim start. 

He started at around 6.25am. Then we walked to the swim end part to look out for him. There were many people trying to climb over the fence from the beach to the road or vice versa. 

Then we saw Jianhui out from the swim! We quickly walked to the bike out exit and glad that we made it to see him!

Then it’s time for us to walk back. Honestly, it seems shorter than it seems. Glad that Lexuan managed to walk back without complaining that much. Haha. At least, it’s relaxing time for 2 of us while we continued to track Jianhui using Ironman app! And the best part is the bike course is just outside our hotel so we could see the cyclists from our balcony. 

Then I brought Lexuan to go swimming. When it’s about time, I went downstairs to look out for Jianhui. It started to rain and then it stopped again. Lexuan was waiting at the balcony. I was really happy to see Jianhui cycling past me but obviously he only got eyes for Lexuan. Haha. 

Then Lexuan and I walked out to buy lunch. I realized we could see Jianhui running out, so we decided to wait a while. And then it started to rain! What a weather! And I didn’t bring umbrella. We hid in the shelter while waiting for Jianhui to run past us. Luckily, we didn’t have to wait long. 

We went to buy sushi from B Happy Sushi. As per Lexuan’s request, she bought 2 sushi rolls from M sushi to try.  And now it has stopped raining. 

Our verdict - B Happy Sushi is nicer! The sushi is more fresh I feel. We can relax a while in the room before we welcome Jianhui back at the finishing line. 

At around 1.30pm, we walked over to the finishing line. It was nice cheering for the finishers. Then came Jianhui! Yeah! So happy for him! 

We took some photos then we walked back to our apartment. Jianhui had to go back to the transition area to collect back his stuff by 3.30pm. 

When he is back, Lexuan wanted to go swimming again so I went with her. She really enjoyed swimming. I would have loved to join her if not for the cold weather. 

Jianhui spent some time washing the stuff before he could finally shower and rest on the bed. He rested till 5pm then we drove The Wharf. We wanted to eat at The Deck but it was crowded and packed with people. We walked around and don’t seem to have any other options. So we decided to drive to our favourite fish & chips place nearby to eat at The Dock. But the restaurant closing at 6pm so it’s out. 

We then decided to choose a place near our accommodation. As there is road closure, Jianhui dropped us nearby while he went to park the car. In the end, Lexuan chose The Beach Bar & Grill. This is the place I wanted to try on the first day. Haha.

The crowd is okay and Lexuan is happy to have her garlic bread. She suddenly likes garlic bread this trip. We ordered nuggets + chips + steak + beer. Food is not too bad. It was a good celebration since we before we walked back to our accommodation. 

Then it’s packing time! We got to pack as we have to take the early flight tomorrow. If only we know Tuesday is going to be a school holiday then we would have taken a later flight. Oh well. Lexuan wanted to bring her water bottle friend back to Singapore so I got to inside my luggage. 

We slept around 9pm+. 

14 September 2026 

I woke up at 4.30am. Need to continue packing and take early flight. I took a quick shower and drank a bit of coffee. We also cleared the rubbish ourselves. 

After exit the carpark, we deposited the card at the front desk. We left around 5.30am and it was already quite bright. 

We wanted to stop at McDonald’s but we missed the exit. We managed to find another one. We bought some food as we thought we had to buy something to use the toilet. Ended up the toilets are not locked anyway. Haha. When checking the journey to the airport, we noticed that it’s quite jam. It’s another 35 mins to the airport. Generally there are many cars and we are driving at 60km/hr. It’s just another 35km away. 

We finally reached the airport at around 7.19 after pumping petrol at shell (somewhere near the airport). Jianhui quickly returned the car and then we went to counter 2 to check in our luggage. Good thing is there is no crowd or queue. Nowadays, most airports are having self service check in. After going toilet then we went to the departure hall and clear customs. 

I managed to buy some chocolates to bring back. Then we are all good to board the plane to go home. There are no seats for us to sit so Jianhui is right to say that we have been standing since we returned the car.

The good thing is, we could board the plane shortly after going toilet. We are taking SQ256 home. 

The flight took off on time. Lexuan ordered cup noodles. It’s funny they served us peanuts and then forgot to serve some of us drinks. They served her kid’s meal at Aussie time 10.30am (SGT 8.30qm). It’s chicken pie which she didn’t like. We had chicken and pork which is not nice. The only comfort is the vanilla ice cream. 

I watched the movie Project Hail Mary and it’s good! As usual, I teared quite a bit a few times throughout the movie. 

I took a short nap. I got hungry so I ate Pringles. They served us refreshment. Lexuan’s kid one tastes the best to me… chicken and potato compared to the dunno what pepper bao and cauliflower+corn+peas pastry. 

I watched a bit of Channel 8 time travel drama and then we have touched down! 

Happy to be home but it is so hazy and hot! Oh my god! I can smell the haze and feel the heat the moment I landed. 

Overall, it is a relaxing trip. I guess I have not been able to sleep as much and just do nothing for quite a while. And most importantly, it is about spending time with Lexuan without worrying about my work or get distracted by work. It’s definitely a good break and now I am looking forward to our next trip! Thank you Jianhui for being our safe driver (despite having a race himself) and thanks Lexuan for being a good girl too! Congratulations to Jianhui and Lexuan for completing their races!