What is Kitty Party?

KITTYPARTY

A kitty party is a get together of, usually, housewives ,where the party is held in one lady's house or in hotel,(if house is not convenient) every month. One lady collects money from all members who intend to attend the party or One person throw the party in turns. Food is arranged by the hostess,a few games,gossiping, tambola.....it is actually a way of time pass and saving and sense of belonging to a group.

Australia Traveller Sydney

Australia Sydney

Sydney skyline at dusk

Sydney, is the biggest city of Australia & most populated, & why not. You will also fall in love with this city once you visit it. Pleasant weather, beautiful city, cosmopolitan culture and lots & lots of things to do.

I visited there in month of December when the weather was pretty nice and enjoyable. I put up at sebel surry hills hotel, very near to paddington market and well connected to most of the tourist places and market areas. This hotel is not so big but location is perfect for tourists, food is also not bad. Its on Elizabeth Street, 

Sebel Surrey Hotel Sydney

you can walk down to Goulburn, Hay Market, George Street, Pitt Street and Campbell street. This area is full of eating outlets (all cuisines-Indian as well), Pubs, shops and stores. One can have enough opportunities to spend time. Metro rail stations and Monorail Stations are also at walking distance and well connected bus stops are at every 0.5 km. There is also free bus service which takes you to some prefixed route. Please contact your hotel reception for more information and route maps.

There are a lot many beautiful beaches in Sydney but I was able to see only Manly Beach & the Bondi Beach. Both were beautiful and well crowded.

Bondi Beach

Another major tourist attraction Blue Mountains. These are very beautiful mountains and got its name because of their looks. It is a must see, There is another site called Three Sisters, and early settlers have a story behind the name of this hill. There is a Eco point on the way to blue mountains.

Blue Mountains

Three Sisters Hills

There is a fantastic way to end the day with cruise dinner. My tour operator had arranged a nice cruise dinner. Apart from food, there was nice entertainment on the dock. Singers, Dancers and entertainers were all were admirable. Cruise takes you through in front of Opera House, Harbor Bridge.

Cruise Dinner

More later....

Travel Tips - Singapore

Singapore

 

If you are planning a holiday trip to Singapore, then this may be of your interest. If you have booked a package through an agent which generally covers your flight tickets, visa fee, accommodation and sight seeing or sometimes tickets to famous tourist destinations. People generally are doubtful about how much cash they should carry around for local food, travel expenses.

Though lot of information is available on Singapore's official tourism website:

http://www.yoursingapore.com/content/traveller/en/plan-your-trip

But to minimize your effort, I have summarized typical expenses for a tourist:

Food


If you are tour operator is not providing lunch and dinner in the package, don't worry. You have a variety of food available of different price ranges. if you are taking lunch at a normal restaurant it may range from 15-25 S$ per person at one time.
If you are going for dinner at a restaurant bar, it may range in 35-45 S$ per person at one time. Values may vary with location and popularity of restaurants.

Shopping

Little India

Singapore is favorite destination for tourist for shopping. If you are considering to buy gifts for your relatives or friends, then you can choose between China town or little India. You will definitely get what you are looking for.
If yo are looking for more trendier outlets and shops try Orchard road shopping area.

Tip- You can get a refund of seven percent on Good & service tax on your purchases. Look for retailers displaying Tax-Refund Logo and spend SGD 100 or more to qualify.

Look for this Logo for tax refund outlets

Tax is refunded to you are selected retailers or at Changi International Airport. Also, it has been made easy by eTRS. Refer link below for more details-
http://www.yoursingapore.com/content/traveller/en/plan-your-trip/travel-essentials/tax-refund.html

Accomodation


Most of the hotels in Singapore are in the range of 3000-4000 INR per night. But if you want to reduce your accommodation expenditure location will be the considering factor or if you search in advance you can get price as low as 2000 INR per night.
If yo consider bed and breakfast or hostel options then you can reduce your expenditure to 1000 INR per night as well.

If you are first time going to foreign country, please take care of following-

1. Always take care of your passport. Keep it with you all the time.
2. Try to take your mobile with you with international roaming on or a contact phone number of your hotel
     must be given to your family members to contact you for emergencies.
3. If you are taking an overseas insurance policy, read its terms and conditions, so that you can take and
    collect every necessary documentation for claiming the reimbursement from doctor or airport authority.
4. Try to learn about the rules about the place you are visiting, and take necessary precautions so as not to
    become a target of crime.
5. Keeping a map (showing modes of transportation) of the area you are staying or going to visit always
    helps.

Bon voyage !!!

Australia Traveller

Australia - Gold Coast

Gold Coast

Surfer's Paradise, that comes in my mind at first whenever I think about Gold Coast. It is famous for its beaches and large coast line. It is a favorite destination for tourists in Australia and a romantic place for Honeymoon. Here I have enlisted a few places Must See there.

The Gold Coast Beaches

The Broadwater

It is connected to world famous Sea World (Place where you can see aquatic life and live performance of sea lion and dolphin shows). It is famous for fishing, boating and other watersports, The Broadwater features a wonderful waterfront and has a number of parks.

Main Beach

It is situated in north of famous Surfer’s Paradise beach. It has very nice walkways and features a historic bathing pavilion, one can do lot of activities here. Lots of pub, cafes and restaurants  are available.

 Budds Beach

Bumbles café which reminds locals about this quiet beach at the northern end of Surfers Paradise, it’s a family beach situated  about 10 minutes from Cavill Avenue.

Surfers Paradise

The most famous Surfers Paradise beach is a great spot for families, young couples, and school kids. About three km’s in stretch.  Very nice walkway and perfect spot for surfers.  It features a pristine swimming beach.  One can see lots of activities here, with dozens of cafes and Cavill Avenue Mall just a short stroll away.

Surfer's Paradise Beach

Broadbeach

Broadbeach offers something for everyone, and is well known for its beautiful beach, adjoining parklands with several playground areas and duck pond, Kurrawa Surf Club and cosmopolitan café and dining precinct. Enjoy the coast’s monthly art and craft markets at Kurrawa Park or shop in the designer boutiques just a short stroll from the beach.

After sun n sand it was time for some shopping and "Sea World", its an aquatic park with lots of sea animals, penguins, and Pirates and Dolphin dance show. 

Sea World at Gold Coast

Dolphin Show at Sea World

If you like rides and passionate about hollywood, the there you can also visit "Universal Studios". Food, Rides, shows, lots of things to do.

Gold coast do have a few shops for collecting things with aboriginal art. These aboriginal people have painted pictures of  things around them like kangaroo, tortoise, fishes etc.

Overall it was a nice place to visit and spend the special time.

Holiday Planning for Summer and Travel Information

How you are planning Holidays this Summer

With the heat of summer and cooling down of indian currency in international market,  Sonia Gandhi choosing Pranab Mukherjee as President of India and your office politics, there are so many things which are giving daily stress to you. But don’t worry this year a lot better than last one, as many upcoming weekends are there which can club with holidays to give you long weekend to get stress free through short holidays.

Have a look-

28 Jul to 5 Aug 12 take leave for 4 and get 9 days. 2^nd Aug is raksha bandhan

Similarly, 04 Aug to 12 Aug 12 (10 Aug Janamashtmi), 11 Aug to 19 Aug 12 (15 Aug independence day) & 18 Aug to 26 Aug 12 (20 Aug Id-ul-fitr)

I have enlisted a few holiday packages for you for a glance-

India

Kashmir- starting from 9000 INR at travel chacha, 10000 coxandkings

Himachal & Amritsar- ranges 8-10,000 INR on various agencies.

Kerala- coxandkings are giving starting from 15-20,000 and slightly lower travelchacha

International

Thailand- starting from 27000 INR by dpaul, biggest competitor is yatra.com they are quoting 20,000 on their site. Please check all inclusions and exclusions before going ahead.

Singapore- depending on number of days, you can bargain on price. Generally for 2-3 nights it ranges 30-35,000 INR & one extra night it extends upto 40-42,000 INR. Travelchahca, dpaul, makemytrip and yatra all are quoting competitive prices.

Hurry, to get best deal take your pick according to your pocket and days availability!!!