Go Big Or Go Home! – Day 03

We arrived in Orlando bright and early. Couldn’t explain but we had this strange feeling that we were ‘home’. This is our fourth consecutive year spending a month long holiday in USA. We used to joke that we were working/schooling in Singapore and we were ‘home’ for our year end holidays. Once again, our first stop is to National Emerald Aisle to pick up a car. This time round, we chose the Kia Sorento. We were happy with our choice. It’s a seven seater SUV with lots of room for all our luggage.

Since we did not have any food or drinks on our Frontier flight, we were famished. Our first stop was IHOP (7693 S Orange Blossom Trail, Orlando) for breakfast. Once we stepped in, a warm, buttery and sweet smell flows though the air. ZA had not really liked IHOP but it changed with this trip. We were all happy with our choices. The pancakes were mouthwatering and fluffy. Ashley enjoyed her made to order omelette too. We made a point to note the address of this IHOP so we could revisit should we visit Orlando again.

As it was still too early to check in, we made a stop at Target. We don’t know why but we remained fascinated with the supermarkets in USA. What we can find in the supermarkets have not ceased to amaze us.

Next, we made our way to Home2Suites by Hilton Orlando International Drive South. This is a new hotel with a superb location, right next to the Orlando Premium Outlet Mall. We had always stayed at Drury but decided to give Home2Suites a try. We could even choose our own suite when we were invited to check in online.

We immediately liked our suite when we opened the door. It is very spacious with lots of storage space, a living area and a fully equipped kitchen! The beds were extremely comfortable too. Much to Ashley’s surprise, our first parcel from Amazon was awaiting us at the lobby. These were the books she had wanted.

After we showered and napped, we decided to have an early dinner. We voted for Italian and headed to Olive Garden for dinner. Somehow, we ended up at the same Olive Garden we visited last year. The complimentary bread sticks were delicious. We had the calamari as appetiser. What we like about Olive Garden was the complimentary soup or salad that came with the main course. It was truly value for money. I particularly loved the Mushroom Ravioli.

On a sad note, we discovered during dinner that our favourite camera, Sony RX100 mk4 was not functioning. We couldn’t take any picture and the lens would not retract. Fortunately, we have our Sony RX100 mk1 with us. We did not want this to dampen our spirits so we enjoyed our dinner and called it a night.