Thursday 29 September 2016

Holidays :)

I'm baaaccckkk

Sadly I am back home, the holidays all over :(

We had a great time despite being in NYC when the bombs went off! and the UN was meeting oh and Obama was there!  We also enjoyed Orlando as always with plenty of fun in the parks and shopping.

I thought I would just post a really brief over view(for lots of photos and shiz you can always check out my insta and fb pages where I posted random stuff using the free wifi :) )

Hotels: for more detailed reviews and pic feel free to check out my tripadvisor reports on them

1. Travelodge Central Gatwick - we paid like £58 for double room B&B. Room was fine - included aircon which was quite and effective - bed was comfy, usual shower/hair/body wash in dispenser on the wall in the bathroom. Brekkie was OMG amazing :D  all you can eat cooked breakfast plus pastries, toast, cereals, yoghurts, fruit etc and tea coffee and juice - we stuffed ourselves and then stuffed ourselves some more! It was included in our room booking but for those who dont have the B&B option it cost like £7.99 and is deffo work that!

2. Days Inn & Suites Jamaica JFK Queens New York - I paid £280 for a double room with a king!(it so wasnt!) bed for 3 nights. Room included tea/coffee, fridge, private bathroom with toiletries, free working wifi, flat screen tv etc. and working AC. Hotel located in an industrial area but lots of places around it are closed down and the rumour was that the area is being gentrified with new schools and parks being put in - from the buildings and stuff around I would say thats probably right. Hotel was 5 min walk from major subway station and shops, food outlets, cinema complex etc. Hotel was clean, staff friendly, breakfast good selection. Free transport to and from airport was a bonus but we couldnt get through to arrange the airport pick up so had to gt a cab ($20 including tip for a 20 min ride) but were able to arrange to go back to the airport via the shuttle. Would happily stay here again.

3. Floridian Express on International Drive, Orlando - I paid $450 for a double room with 2 queen beds for 9 nights. Room was huge with 2 queen beds, a desk, chest of drawers, storage space, private bathroom with shower, bath, toilet, sink, fridge and microwave but no kettle or coffee machine) working but incredibly loud ac, working wifi. Also included a free breakfast (limited choices of waffles, toast, 2 x cereals, tea/coffee and juice), free shuttle to the parks, free printing of boarding passes. Location great right opposite wet n wild, next to a dairy queen and some gift shops, lynx bus stop literally right out front and trolly stop less than 100m walk away. Within 5/10 min walk to walgreens, lots of shops, restaurants etc. Daily housekeeping. Again would happily stay here again.

Flights:

To NYC (JFK) from Gatwick - we flew Norwegian air - we did not pre-book out seats together or book any food on the plane. We checked in 4 hours before our flight - were assigned seats together. Flight was comfy and not fully booked so we had a row of 3 seats between 2 of us. Ended up buying drinks on flight at $3 each for a can off pop but as flights were only around £200 still a bargain

JFK - MCO (Orlando) - we flew jetblue - flights cost £100 and included 1 piece of checked baggage. Got upgraded for free to the extra space seats - free onboard wi-fi and free snacks and drinks - flight was delayed due to thunderstorms in the orlando area and we spent like an hour sat on the tarmac before being allowed to get off on arrival.

MCO - Gatwick - we flew Norwegian air - again didnt pay to prebook our seats together or for food - got stuff in the airport to take on plane. Again lucked out and got sat together in a row of 3 with a spare seat so could spread out. Sadly despite our flight being at 1am couldnt sleep due to a young baby who screamed for the entire 7 hour flight! Paid £30 online prior to flight to take extra case home - much cheaper than being over at the airport.

Overall -flights with norwegian on the dreamliner were good - the entertainment was limited with no music channels and limited tv shows, games and older movies available. The toilets were larger than average and clean. Seats were comfy and there was plenty of room - there was also plenty of room in the overhead lockers. Food choices - we didnt buy food we took stuff on the flight (pringles, cereal bars and chocolate) and we purchased sandwiches after security in the airport. We were lucky that we got sat together - by not prebooking our seats or booking food we saved over £200.

Flights with jetblue were great and will deffo look at booking them again (sadly they only do internal flights)

Locations:

NYC - crazy busy but lots of fun - we used the subway easily and managed to get around without difficulty, plenty to see and do,  we visited china town, 9/11 memorial and statue of liberty/ellis island. We found plenty of cheap places to eat that were not only cheap but healthy too (I had a kale, chicken and wild rice soup in one which was delicious). Will deffo be visiting again in the future!

Orlando - this year we only did SeaWorld, Aquatica and Busch Gardens but still enjoyed ourselves, the queues at all the parks were non-existent we pretty much walked onto every ride we wanted. The weather was great we had 2 days of rain - the day before we left and the day we left - we just went shopping :) Food as always was great we ate a variety of places and mostly healthy stuff  too. We used the lynx bus system to get around, along with the occasional UBER and trolley ride. The highlight for me was riding Falcon's Fury in BG which I hadnt ridden before and of course my fave rollercoaster - Sheikra :)

In total for the whole holiday including spending money, parks/admissions, ubers, transport, flights, hotels, travel insurance etc I spent around £1400 which is under the £1500  budget I had for this years hol :)


Insiders Campaign - UniBond Renew Silicon Resealant

So last month The Insider's had a new campaign running to try out UniBond  Renew Silicon Resealant - I was keen to be chosen for the campaign because my bathroom is disgusting! The council fitted a new bathroom a few year ago but failed to put in any ventilation - due to this the sealant around all the tiles over the bath have literally turned black with mold!!! We have tried everything from scrubbing them, to using antimold sprays and nothing has shifted it - the mold seems to just spread continually and it kinds freaks me out - as well as look disgusting and foul!

Normally when I take part in these campaigns I get an e-mail telling me I have been lucky enough to be chosen (YAY) but this time they didnt send out an e-mail and I just got the product turn up.

However, I knew it was from the campaign as it came with all the usually information packs, some Insiders cards to pass out some great discount coupons and of course the product itself. Just on a side note - when you sign up fr the Insiders and get chosen to take part in a campaign they literally provide you with everything you need to try the product, spread the word and give family and friends samples or great discount coupons to try the product at a discount too.


So in my parcel I got a full size product to try out, an info booklet, 5 x £2.50 off coupons and some sheets to record conversations and chats with family and friends and insiders business cards to hand out to anyone who might be interested in trying out the product. You also get access to a blog on the insiders website where you can chat and share tips with other participants, a dashboard where you can share inks to reports you have written and report on conversations you have had and a media corner where you can share photos and  things - alll in all very comprehensive.

Now I received my pack on 25th of August but due to being away camping for a long weekend I didnt try it out until the following week (and then I went on holiday to the USA for a couple of weeks!) so I am a little late in writing this post!

Here are some pics of my bathroom tiles - which as you can see they are blackened and moldy and just generally gross despite cleaning!

 Before using the UniBond I cleaned the tiles and the sealant (yeah I know it doesnt look like it but seriously this has been scrubbed and then cleaned with anti-mold stuff!)

I let them dry off naturally and then dabbed over with a cloth to ensure they were completely dry.

The UniBond is supposed to have a special shaped nozzle and applicator which makes applying the sealant easy - unfortunately I did not find this to be the case - it didnt fit tidily between the bath edge and the tiles or along the corner of the wall - however it would work fine against a flat wall but that isnt really the problem area I have.



In the end I used the applicator to squirt the product out and then my fingers to smooth it over (I wore latex style gloves which kept my skin safe from any nasties.

The product was okay - it didnt exactly give me fresh new looking tiles but it did take away some of the blackness and nastiness.




It dried fairly quickly and withstood being scrubbed when the bathroom was cleaned.

Due to going on holidays I left it like the pictures but now I am home again I plan to go over it again as I think it needs to be given a second coating to get it completely clean looking.

Overall I am quite pleased with how it looks - I think it looks a lot better even if more work needs to be done - hopefully this weekend I can finish it and it will be even better.

NB for more information on the insiders please click here and see my review page :D - you can also find details about their previous, current and upcoming campaigns as well as sign up to take part by clicking here :) they offer opportunities across different countries in the EU including the UK so click on the section relevant to you for more details.

Friday 9 September 2016

Holidays - New York City & Orlando

This time in a week I will be somewhere over the ocean way up high :) on a jet on the way to JFK!

I've not really done NYC before only just passed through it on the way to somewhere else so I am looking forward to visiting.

We only have a few days in NYC before hopping another flight to Orlando. Orlando is pretty much my fave place in the world to visit - this year is going to be a little strange as it's the first time in around 9 years where I am not visiting Disney!

My travel itinerary so far is:

Thursday 15/9 Travel by coach from Cardiff to Gatwick - we have a later coach so I can do important stuff in the morning like drop the dog off to my Aunt who is looking after him, cleaning the kitty litter trays (full empty and scrub as my dad just empties and scoops them), flea treatment for the cats, changing the bedding and so on and so on - also have to leave my dad instructions on which bins go out when, how to use the washing machine and how to use my netflix account lmao

We are staying at the Gatwick Central Travelodge - we have stayed there a few times before - it's your standard comfortable relatively quiet travelodge - around 10 mins by bus from Gatwick and super easy to find.  We actually got a really good deal - B&B for 2 people for like £60 which is great.

Friday 16/9 - We are gonna have brekkie at the Travelodge and stay there until midday which is the latest checkout time and then head over to the airport. Our flight isn't actually until 5pm so we will head to the No. 1 Lounge around 3pm to get some food before our flight.

I actually cheaped out on the flights so we have no hot food booked and we dont have our seats together so hopefully an early check in will sort the seats -  gonna pick up some sarnies and crips at the airport to take on the plane - nice and better value than the £50 they wanted!!!

We arrive in JFK around 8pm local time and are staying at a hotel in the airport (another travel lodge!)

Saturday 17/9 - we plan to head into NY proper and go to china town and 9/11 site

Sunday 18/9 - we plan to go to Statue of Liberty :)

Monday 19/9 - we have a flight at 2pm from JFK to MCO (Orlando)

We are staying at the Floridian on International Drive so will check in and then prob get an Uber to walmart to get some supplies (Oj, milk, snacks, drinks and that) and have dinner at cici's or iHop both of which we love :D

Tuesday 20/9 - Tuesday 27/9 - we have tix to go to SeaWorld, Aquatica and Buschgardens and we will of course hit the malls and outlets and thats it :D

Wednesday 28/9 -we are coming home

That's kinda my plans so far - we go to Orlando so often I dont really have any concrete plans - we will just chill and enjoy ourselves