Let The Memories Continue! – Day 23
This would be the final day of our vacation. We did not bother with a late checkout this time, and decided to just pack up our bags and leave for the day ahead. With nowhere to go for breakfast, we decided to have an early lunch instead. We headed to Longhorn Steakhouse for our early lunch. We had patronized Longhorn before, and we knew that it was a good place to head to dine.
The diner itself was well decorated, with mini figurines lining the walls and ceilings. We ordered Sirloins and Ribeyes as well as a Filet, and Ashley had Mac N Cheese again. They were all very tender and juicy, and the flavor was very powerful. This lunch was as enjoyable as the meal we had at Longhorn the year ago, and we felt that the standards of the chain has not dropped since our last visit.
Since we had time to kill before getting to Miami International Airport, we decided to do some shopping. However, since we were already well acquainted with Sawgrass Mills, we wanted to take a look at the other malls in the area. We decided to head to Dolphin Mall, which was a smaller mall, albeit with the same style. It was split into 6 Avenues, and this made it extremely easy to navigate.
Dolphin Mall was also split into three different “styles”, comprising of Ramblas, Modo and Playa, all of them having different music and decorations. Also, Dolphin Mall hosted the Disney Frozen experience, which was a small exhibit with various toys and figurines to be sold there, although nothing was interesting. We did get many photos of Ashley playing in the paper shaven “snow” however, and she did had a good time playing in the snow.
(SF: We had planned to visit Miami Seaquarium but decided against it as we were running behind time. Ashley found a Secret Door Barbie Doll with lights and music at the Toys R Us Express store in Dolphin Mall which was priced at USD10.99. The same doll costs SGD49.90 in Singapore before we left for USA. She wanted the doll and her patience paid off.)
After walking about the store, we decided to leave, as Ashley wanted to take a look at a Toys R Us store to locate one more toy that she wanted, an Ariel Doll that she had found online. We headed to the nearest Toys R Us and hunted down the doll. Unfortunately, it was not in stock at that moment, and she eyed the aisles high and low for another “replacement” doll. She finally decided on a doll, and it was time to pay. This was when things got really messy. There were crowds of people at the queues, each of them discussing to the cashiers various discounts and coupons, and we got stuck in the line for almost 45 minutes. We came close to giving up, but fortunately one of the cashiers allowed us to clear quickly. We quickly repacked our luggage and headed to the airport.
We headed to the airport for our last dinner of our trip. Since time was running out, we went to the food court to get some Asian food. Orange Chicken was the main speciality, and that was what we ordered. Funnily enough, Fire alarms kept following us wherever we went. They went off at Dolphin Mall, and also went off at Miami International Airport. Luckily, it seemed like a false alarm, and nothing happened. We soon boarded the 777 back to Doha International Airport, and although we arrived 40 minutes prior to takeoff, we were one of the last to board, and we struggled to find space for our carry-on luggage. Nevertheless, we finally found spots, and we settled in for the 14 hour flight.
(ZA : 3 check-in baggage when we arrived. 5 check-in baggage when we leave)
Once we arrived at Doha, we had a prior reservation at the Airport Hotel, aptly named: Airport Hotel. We had booked a four hour stay at the hotel , and we decided it would be a good place to unwind and relax before our last leg of the trip, back to Singapore. We had a simple dinner at Doha’s foodcourt, comprised of Fried Rice and other simple foodstuffs, and checked into the hotel. For the second time in a row, the best hotel was yet again the Airport hotel. Doha had been renovated, and the hotel was newly built. It was a Five-Star accommodation, and it had a humongous bed and good shower facilities.
After our quick pit-stop, we packed our luggage again, checked into the terminal again and settled into the last leg of the journey back home. This time on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner. One of my favorite parts of this journey would be simply the different planes and aircraft we would take,especially the 787, which was a very new aircraft which very few people have the opportunity to take.
Soon enough, we arrived back on land, at Singapore. We checked out of the security, bought some Duty-Free products, and even returned a passport to the information counter. We then booked a Maxi Cab and took it all the way back home, avoiding the hassle of taking multiple taxis back home.
Home Sweet Home, we finally reached back home after our 26 day trip to the United States of America, and I can still gladly say, there is no other place like home.
