I have to admit that my second trip to Fiji was a little different. Or actually, waaay different. I guess a lot of unexpected things happened, both the good and the bad. I'll try to describe it as best as I can here so that I can read it in the future and have a good laugh. So let's begin!
This trip was with Mom and it was her first time. We stayed at the Radisson Blu Fiji Resort which was a good resort with a lot of favorable reviews on TripAdvisor. Just to let you know, on this trip, we did some sight seeing but we didn't go island hopping. I had the feeling Mom was not into that, and it was extremely hot and humid, so we preferred to stay in our room most of the time we're there and sleep. I think out of all my trips overseas, this was the most I've spent indoors.
We arrived at Nadi on a very early flight and had to wait for our check-in time when we arrived at the resort. The check-in time was 3pm and we were at the hotel around 8:30am. So we went to the Blu to have some breakfast on the 20% discount and tried to settle in. At around 10am, the reception called and said that someone has checked out early and our room was available. We were of course, delighted. Our room was the very first one next to what looked like a storage room and my mom noticed that the furniture was somewhat old. The receptionist mentioned that the hotel was over 8 years old and they didn't have time to renovate because it was always peak season in the island. The receptionist also realised that they had to reset the card key to our door, because for some reason, the room was locked from the inside.
After that, we had to call house keeping to ask for toothbrush and the remote controller to the tv (note that the first time, the remote controller did not work and they had to bring in another remote controller). Our room was knocked on twice - once to check the mini bar and another to give us extra clothes hangers.
We walked towards the Wyndham and got sidetracked with talking to a tour desk receptionist. She mentioned that she can offer us a full day/half day cruise or a sunset cruise, if only we can attend a 1.5 hour session about Wyndham. Mom and I thought it was a good deal, considering that she said as long as we attend the session, the tour will be free of charge. We agreed to attend the day after because we had plans for a half day tour and to go back to Nadi town (also called downtown or mainland) for lunch.
So much for our first day. It was also a cloudy out, so there were no way for us to watch the sun set. Still, we made the most out of it and booked a half day Nadi city tour.
The Nadi city tour was nice. The highlight for me was definitely the Garden of the Sleeping Giant with all the orchids. They also took us to a Hindu temple, a local market, the Viseisei village and a lookout for the full city view of Nadi. It was a nice and relaxing experience but note that the tour started around half hour late. And we were always told that we are "on Fiji time" or "island time".
I'll jump to the day when we had to attend the Wyndham seminar, which turned out to the a invite to their vacation packages. We did stay for the 1.5 hours (even more) and had a tour of their newer apartments. Mom and I already knew that this sort of vacation plan wasn't for us. There were a few packages in store but in all, it's similar to downpaying for your own home in Melbourne, so we just simply declined and we were given our tickets. We chose the sunset cruise. When we went back to the tour desk to book our cruise, we were told that the tour did not run on Tuesdays. Again, we were disappointed.
In the afternoon, Mom and I took the local bus (only 1 Fijian dollar FJD) to Nadi. Mainly because we wanted to have lunch at a Chinese restaurant called Bohai. This was advertised on Rosie's Holidays brochure and offered a discount if you ordered crab. The interiors of the restaurant was not shabby but it had a really bad smell like the floor or the table clothes were not washed properly and you can smell the wet market. Still, Mom and I ordered the prawns (which turned out to be shrimps that they served cold and we asked them to heat up for us), vegetable stir fry which was decent, and no crab came out after we waited for over 45 minutes. We asked twice what happened to our order and was told later that because it was a public holiday, only customers who have reserved crab in advance will be served crab that they. We left disappointed and frustrated.
We walked over to the other Chinese restaurant Sentai and had their tofu and seafood soup and black bean mussels. The place was eons away from Bohai in terms of interiors and the way they cook their food. They also mentioned that they didn't have any crab because of the holiday.
After a better meal, we went souvenir shopping at Jack's. There was a second floor that sold all things touristy. I got a few soaps and fridge magnets, all the while noticing that there was a sales lady that followed us from the ground to the second floor. Not sure if it's a store policy but it was a little creepy.
On our way back, we decided to stop by Port Denarau, which was the basically their shopping centre. With a bank, a travel agent, restaurants and souvenir shops. We noticed that they same Wyndham desk was there inviting people to join the same seminar and we wanted to steer clear of them. Mom mentioned what happened to us and the guy (whose name was Moses, how's that for a coincidence?) told us to head back to the Wyndham to get our dinner vouchers that was worth $100. So on our last night in Fiji, we went to a nice Lovo buffet (Fijian food) and we just paid $5 per person for the meal.
All in all, there were a few things that I learned about our experience in Fiji - the people were the best part of the trip, everyone was very nice, friendly and helpful, I will stay in another hotel (not the Radisson), I will definitely go to the white sandy islands for another island hopping and snorkeling experience and Fijian food was delicious!
Note that there were also highlights on our trip aside from what happened and the food. I really like the Fijian native/aboriginal culture (especially the fire dance) and the garden was another nice part of the trip.
This trip was with Mom and it was her first time. We stayed at the Radisson Blu Fiji Resort which was a good resort with a lot of favorable reviews on TripAdvisor. Just to let you know, on this trip, we did some sight seeing but we didn't go island hopping. I had the feeling Mom was not into that, and it was extremely hot and humid, so we preferred to stay in our room most of the time we're there and sleep. I think out of all my trips overseas, this was the most I've spent indoors.
We arrived at Nadi on a very early flight and had to wait for our check-in time when we arrived at the resort. The check-in time was 3pm and we were at the hotel around 8:30am. So we went to the Blu to have some breakfast on the 20% discount and tried to settle in. At around 10am, the reception called and said that someone has checked out early and our room was available. We were of course, delighted. Our room was the very first one next to what looked like a storage room and my mom noticed that the furniture was somewhat old. The receptionist mentioned that the hotel was over 8 years old and they didn't have time to renovate because it was always peak season in the island. The receptionist also realised that they had to reset the card key to our door, because for some reason, the room was locked from the inside.After that, we had to call house keeping to ask for toothbrush and the remote controller to the tv (note that the first time, the remote controller did not work and they had to bring in another remote controller). Our room was knocked on twice - once to check the mini bar and another to give us extra clothes hangers.
We walked towards the Wyndham and got sidetracked with talking to a tour desk receptionist. She mentioned that she can offer us a full day/half day cruise or a sunset cruise, if only we can attend a 1.5 hour session about Wyndham. Mom and I thought it was a good deal, considering that she said as long as we attend the session, the tour will be free of charge. We agreed to attend the day after because we had plans for a half day tour and to go back to Nadi town (also called downtown or mainland) for lunch.
So much for our first day. It was also a cloudy out, so there were no way for us to watch the sun set. Still, we made the most out of it and booked a half day Nadi city tour.
The Nadi city tour was nice. The highlight for me was definitely the Garden of the Sleeping Giant with all the orchids. They also took us to a Hindu temple, a local market, the Viseisei village and a lookout for the full city view of Nadi. It was a nice and relaxing experience but note that the tour started around half hour late. And we were always told that we are "on Fiji time" or "island time".
I'll jump to the day when we had to attend the Wyndham seminar, which turned out to the a invite to their vacation packages. We did stay for the 1.5 hours (even more) and had a tour of their newer apartments. Mom and I already knew that this sort of vacation plan wasn't for us. There were a few packages in store but in all, it's similar to downpaying for your own home in Melbourne, so we just simply declined and we were given our tickets. We chose the sunset cruise. When we went back to the tour desk to book our cruise, we were told that the tour did not run on Tuesdays. Again, we were disappointed.
In the afternoon, Mom and I took the local bus (only 1 Fijian dollar FJD) to Nadi. Mainly because we wanted to have lunch at a Chinese restaurant called Bohai. This was advertised on Rosie's Holidays brochure and offered a discount if you ordered crab. The interiors of the restaurant was not shabby but it had a really bad smell like the floor or the table clothes were not washed properly and you can smell the wet market. Still, Mom and I ordered the prawns (which turned out to be shrimps that they served cold and we asked them to heat up for us), vegetable stir fry which was decent, and no crab came out after we waited for over 45 minutes. We asked twice what happened to our order and was told later that because it was a public holiday, only customers who have reserved crab in advance will be served crab that they. We left disappointed and frustrated.We walked over to the other Chinese restaurant Sentai and had their tofu and seafood soup and black bean mussels. The place was eons away from Bohai in terms of interiors and the way they cook their food. They also mentioned that they didn't have any crab because of the holiday.
After a better meal, we went souvenir shopping at Jack's. There was a second floor that sold all things touristy. I got a few soaps and fridge magnets, all the while noticing that there was a sales lady that followed us from the ground to the second floor. Not sure if it's a store policy but it was a little creepy.
On our way back, we decided to stop by Port Denarau, which was the basically their shopping centre. With a bank, a travel agent, restaurants and souvenir shops. We noticed that they same Wyndham desk was there inviting people to join the same seminar and we wanted to steer clear of them. Mom mentioned what happened to us and the guy (whose name was Moses, how's that for a coincidence?) told us to head back to the Wyndham to get our dinner vouchers that was worth $100. So on our last night in Fiji, we went to a nice Lovo buffet (Fijian food) and we just paid $5 per person for the meal.
All in all, there were a few things that I learned about our experience in Fiji - the people were the best part of the trip, everyone was very nice, friendly and helpful, I will stay in another hotel (not the Radisson), I will definitely go to the white sandy islands for another island hopping and snorkeling experience and Fijian food was delicious!
Note that there were also highlights on our trip aside from what happened and the food. I really like the Fijian native/aboriginal culture (especially the fire dance) and the garden was another nice part of the trip.
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