Perth 2013 - Day 9 - Perth City Bus, Home sweet home

Today started another relaxing day again. The last breakfast is at Bocelli where I ordered the banana bread with salad. I love how the rich taste of banana is blended into the bread or does that taste more like a cake! I got confused now! But nonetheless, the great espresso to end off the meal.

Breakfast at Bocelli 

Next up, back to the city bus to explore the other places we had yet to done so yesterday. Today, we visited the casino and well, tried our luck there. Win or Lose? 

More of the Perth City Bus

We could not do much today as we had a plane to catch. Thus, off to Jamie's for a relaxing lunch. I had heard pretty much of Jamie's, they have a branch in Singapore as well. But I heard that the waiting list was long. Trying our luck to get a table and well, an hour of wait was their reply to us. Good that we still have sufficient time for that. 

While waiting, we went to shop around. You need not be physically there for the wait. So get a queue number and off you go!

I ordered the seafood pasta and well truffle fries. Though we had our fair share of fires in Perth for the last few days, truffle fries was really 'seducing' us. 

The pasta was (we read off the board) made fresh everyday with love by the chef. Love the taste of the sauce and of course, the seafood was indeed fresh. Enjoyed my meal there!

Last Late Lunch at Jamie's 

Took a cab to the airport as the airport shuttle bus was not in service. They have some standard operating hours. So do take note if you are thinking of taking it. The cab fare was around AUD50 and the ride was quite smoothing with not much of a jam to start off with. 

So, good thing about an evening flight was that the beautiful sunset will accompany you to sleep. And till we meet again in Australia, Good day!

The lovely sunset to end the beautiful trip. Good Day!

Jing Hua Fried Fish Soup @ Maxwell Road Food Centre

Maxwell Food centre is really a food heaven with many choices. I love to head to Maxwell whenever I am around the area. 

This time round, I headed to Jing Hua Fish Soup stall. There is always a queue at this stall and today, I decided to queue as well. It was a wait of 20 minutes before I reached the front of the stall - ordered the Fried Fish Soup with rice. 

This is simply the most delicious fish soup - the milky fish soup topped with the fried fish slices, the tofu, the vegetables, the seaweed and the fried shallots is marvelous. The broth was very tasty and great and the sesame oil further enhanced it.

Do drop by to eat it if you are nearby! Besides fish soup, they also serve Fish porridge, bee hoon fish soup....

Fish Soup

Stall 77 

Maxwell Road Food Centre
1 Kadayanallur Street #01-97

Perth 2013 - Day 8 - Perth City Bus

Second last day at Perth - we decided to start slow for the day. Brunch at The Coffee Club. Sitting out of the cafe and people-watching was really relaxing. 

I ordered the Salmon and Avocado stack - it was quite nice. Fresh salmon topped with the avocado and with a poach egg and bread. A yummy breakfast to start off the relaxing day. 

Brunch at The Coffee Club

After breakfast, we decided to know more about the city by taking the Perth City & Kings Park. The ticket cost AUD35 for a 48 hours ticket - so that we can cover the city area for 2 days. Just nice for our last 2 days in Perth. Remember to look out for discount coupon in those travel pamphlets or guide books. I think you would be able to save a 10% discount. 

There are ten stops where you can hop on and off throughout the day but do note that the bus comes every  hour. If you missed it, you would have to wait for another hour. It starts at about 9am and the last bus leaves the first stop at around 3pm. It definitely fits the Australian culture where everything ends early. 

Currently, there are only 2 buses that run around the city. During summer, best is to stay under the cover. If not, well, have a great tan then!

Here's some of the city buildings and view:

Start of the City Bus @ Perth - along the road starting from Bell Tower

We stopped at the King's park and decided to go for a park walk. This King's Park is really big and it houses a botanic garden. Great for the plants-lover. There are some complimentary guided walking tour and check out the visitor's centre for more information. 

Start of King's Park - definitely a well spent walk

Can't get enough of King's Park - we should just have stayed here on Christmas day!

More of King's Park

King's Park

For the 48 hours tickets, we get to have a complimentary city guided tour. The guide has a standard route to follow but if you have somewhere within walking distance which you would like her to explain, do let them know. They will be more than happy to bring you around. I learnt more about the city and well, of course the buildings which we had passed by so many times in the earlier days but we did not know about their stories. 

For more information on the city bus, check out the website here. 

Back at the City

Good for us on this day that we attended the Twilight Hawkers Market Every Friday in Perth City - It gathered food from around the globe to the heart of Perth. Live bands were up and food smell lingered around the air. It was definitely a nice way to end the last dinner in Perth - no more chips, no more bread, no more fried food!

We ordered a couple of food to try it out - and well, there was a stall featuring Singapore food as well - we did not order from there. Who will, when we will be back soon!

Twilight Hawkers market

Perth 2013 - Day 7 - Swan Valley, Cottesloe beach

Good morning on a Boxing day and when you opened the door, this is what you get. I never got tired of the view I had in Keller's and I am starting to miss the simple life there. Don't be deceived that it was late morning. I think it was merely 8am. As per the previous day, we woke up thinking that we overslept. We should really get use to it man! After washing up, I decided to capture more photos of the place. 

Keller's B&B 

Breakfast was served on time and like the previous morning, we got to choose the eggs and beverages to go with the rest of the items. Marija is very proud of her home made products that she took time to go through the food on the table - from the jams to the yoghurt. I really loved the breakfast there. They should also consider doing maybe a all day breakfast menu or offer to cook lunch or dinner as a service. 

Breakfast, Love it!

After breakfast, we packed up to leave for Perth City again as we knew that shops weren't opened on boxing day as well in Swan Valley. I guessed we really made a wrong choice to visit this place during the Christmas period but it was really a totally different experience. Before we left, we saw Philip milking the cow again and finally, we tried it too. Good. It was also during this time that we got to know more about the family and with him sharing his vision and dreams with us. 

We also asked Marija that we needed their car service back to the train station as we knew that we could no longer walk back the long journey. As they operated a farm, a ride of 15 minutes to the train station and back, it would have eaten into their livelihood. So they do charged for such transport service which I thought was fair. Marija took us with her and well, she wanted to bring us to certain shops in swan valley but they were all closed. What a pity and I was a bit surprised that they do not really tour round their area. 

Back in Perth City and after checked in to Ibis hotel once again, we proceeded to Chinatown. A very small and forgotten area in Perth, I guessed. It was quite different from the Chinatown I visited in Sydney and Melbourne. It is not that big an area as compared to the other two. Well, Lunch was up and who can resist dim sums and after days of breads and chips, chinese food proved to be a delicacy to us! 

Chinatown

Alright, I have to say that Boxing day was really a big thing in Perth - almost all shops were having sales and people would queue overnight just to be the first to rush into the departmental store. Sales sales, who can resist it. We combed a bit of the sales places and decided that Cottesloe Beach was next. We had added this in on our departure day so recommended by friend and I was glad we made it there for the sunset. 

The train ride was not that far and the walk to the beach was easy. As it was not time for the sun to set, we decided to grab some dinner first. We first walked into an Italian restaurant but we did not stay on. Luckily we did not, if not, I think we would have missed the sunset. Then we saw Amberjacks at the end of the street and well, there was a queue. As usual, long queue would mean that the food could not been too bad. We queued and ordered the food, but the wait was pretty long. We decided a takeaway to enjoy dinner at the beach area. Smart Move. Here's the fish and chips with the sunset view - Priceless!

Cottesloe Beach

2 more days in Perth! Sad!

Perth 2013 - Day 6 - Swan Valley

Merry Christmas to all from Perth, Swan Valley. 

We woke up without any alarm - not sure if it was due to us sleeping relatively early the previous night or just that our bio clock was simply still working on our holidays. But well, the sun rose quite early in Swan Valley that we actually got a shock that we overslept. It was only 7 plus. So, we washed up and were all ready for our first hand experience at the farm!

It was really great to be out at the farm, though we did not really help much. All I did was questions after questions to learn more about the farm. But the close encounters with the farm animals were great. I never seen a hen with its eggs next to it, never seen the cows fighting food with the sheep. Even the hungry pigs made me laugh at its sight. Milking the cow seems really easy but we did not pluck up enough courage to try it on this very morning. Well, we did the next day and I was so glad I did!  

Farm Life @ Keller's

After the tour, we went back to our room and Marija served the breakfast in a trolley. So cool! And they have used ingredients right from their farm and garden - Imagine the fresh eggs, fresh milks and even the bread and jams were made from scratch! Lovely touch to a homestay, I have to admit!

Our breakfast with a view

After breakfast, we borrowed bicycles from Keller's for our tour around the area. Remember that I mentioned that it was Christmas, so most of the shops or rather all the shops were closed except for petrol station. How bad this was, right? And the temperature was really high that Philip had offered that if we felt tired and were not  able to continue our tour by the bikes, we could give him a call to pick us up. And he was to have his Christmas lunch with their family living nearby. How thoughtful they were, don't you agree? And that they have humbly mentioned that their bikes were old. But Philip changed new tyres for us. Oh great!

And so, we packed our water and our food and off we went. the traffic lights weren't that great in Swan Valley and it was not very direct. To cross to the next street, we would have to take a long detour and remembered, it was along the expressway. Not a very good experience especially under the hot sun. Own time Own target, we managed to roam through the town and get back to Keller's safely. Here's some of the pictures I took. There are many routes that you can walk and the maps can be found here. 

A tour around the Guildford Town

Back at Keller's was like heaven. We desperately need the aircon and rest. And whille, Philip and family were not back yet. We have earlier asked them if we could do some BBQ and they do have a BBQ equipment. But we decided to go easy with the cooking and here you go, our Christmas dinner we prepared - a simple and yet filling dinner for both of us. 

Our very own homecooked christmas dinner

Perth 2013 -Day 5 - Swan Valley

The fifth day spent in Perth was Christmas Eve. Woooah... not a white christmas for us but a super sunny one! Breakfast was back at Streeton's cafe. We had the banana pancake and the french toast omelette. Not a bad way to welcome the christmas eve. 

Breakfast at Streeton's Cafe

As usual, we bought the family pass to take the train (Midland Line) to To Guildford Station. The ride was approximately 20 minutes. Guildford Station was just a very open station found in the middle of a 'town'. Okay, trust me, do not visit Swan Valley during the Christmas period unless you drive. We walked to the Visitor's centre to gather more information on the direction to Keller's B&B and also on the surroundings. 

The service crew at the visitor's centre was really kind and gave us some direction to take a bus to a relatively nearby shopping mall for dinner. And she was shocked that we intended to walk to Keller's. We had really overestimated ourselves and believed that a causal walk will bring us to the place. How wrong were we when we started walking under the hot sun. 

Oh well, ever seen the movie when people just hitched a ride from strangers while walking along the road. We did. We were looking at the street map where a car just stopped next to us. The couple asked us where we were heading and as it was along the way to their destination, they asked us to get on the car. Without hesitation, we got up. Thinking back, we were really not wary of the strangers. The sun must had gotten us not thinking straight. The car ride was around 15 minutes and it arrived at the main street of Keller's. We told the couple that they could drop us off the main street and we would walk to Keller's -  we did not want to delay their journey but they were really kind enough to drive us to the gate. Really appreciate the kind help we received. If this were to happen again, I am not sure if I would just hop on without thinking twice. 

When we reached Keller's, the owner, Marija, was not around. So, she left a note giving instructions to us to look for his son. And finally, we got to see the room we booked. Alright, sidetrack a bit. We found this B&B on the internet and thus, booking was through email. They had initially told us to pay the room via credit card where we had to give them our credit card information. We were quite skeptical about revealing the information and asked if we could pay cash. Kind enough of them to say yes, but on the other side, they were also afraid that we booked the room and did not turn up on the day which meant that they could have let others book the room instead. I understood where they were coming back and I guess this really was based on trust for both sides.

Okay, let's take a look at the room. There are 2 rooms available - King bedroom and Queen bedroom. We booked the Queen bedroom at AUD$140 per night for 2 nights which included breakfast and really great hospitality by the family.

Keller's B&B

After putting our bags down, we decided to head to the 'touristy' places. Good location at Keller's B&B as it was within walking distance to those places. Within walking distance and I meant it. At the main road, turn left and walked along the road, and you will see the places we went.

First up was to Yahava Koffee. No prize for guessing what kind of shop this is. Yes, they sell many many types of coffee and teas and many other products and you are spoilt for choice. No worries for not knowing which coffee suits you - there are free tasting (up to 3 choices). We were really not coffee-lovers and by looking at the menu, we just randomly ordered 3 different types, well maybe to the dismay of the service crew. But we got him to thank after all as he recommended the ice koffee elixir to us. We loved it and so we bought it.  

Yahava Koffee

Next up, we walked to Lancaster for free wine tasting. Choose 2 and have some cheese to go with it. The rose wine was not that bad but well, we did not get any back home.

Lancaster Swan valley

Next up was our favourite place of all - The Margaret River Chocolate Company. Chocolates, who can resist it! But first, let's have lunch. We had really walked a long way so far. We had the Turkey and cranberry sandwich, the Rhubarb, apple and berry pie and a cup of Cappuccino. Well, not very chocolate despite us at the chocolate kingdom but the food was not too bad. 

We did not get any chocolate back from here as well, that's because there is an outlet just at the opposite of where Ibis Hotel in Perth city. We asked if they sell exactly the same products and yes was the answer. So why lug back to the city where we could have gotten it back there. Happy! So peeps, just get the chocolate if you are not going back to the city or if you just want to try the chocolate at the valley. If not, head to the city store, but well, do take note of the operating hours in Australia. 

The Margaret River Chocolate Company

Well, no more photos after this, as we took about an hour to walk to the bus stop that the vistior centre advised us. It was a real long walk along the expressway. What guts we got on that day, I had to admit, we were like risking our lives. With the walking and bus rides, I thought we were not in the mood for shopping. We had our dinner there and headed back to Keller's. Another nightmare awaited us as we seemed lost when finding the way back - we decided to cut through some safer road instead of walking back the expressway - that's far too dangerous especially when it was turning dark. 

Finally, we found Keller's and for the first time, we met Philips and Marija. They were really a nice couple who made us feel like home. After some chit chatting, we decided to head back for a bath and rest. Before that, Marija asked us how we would like our breakfast to be like - the egg, and beverage. They also asked what time we would like breakfast to be served. Remember, it was Christmas the next day. We had really wanted to sleep in, but well, Philips actually wakes up early to start his day at the Farm. We wanted to join in too, so 8am was the time for some farm activities, before breakfast at 9am.

Keller's Bed & Breakfast
104 Victoria Rd,
Dayton, Western Australia
http://www.kellers.bedandbreakfast.com.au/

Perth 2013 - Day 4 - Dolphin, Penguin & Sea Lion Adventure Cruise,

Today was another splendid day spent with or rather around the animals. But first of all, let's talk about the breakfast we had. Finally, we managed to visit Miss Maud Pastry House. It was not a far walk from Ibis Hotel. Just cross 2 junctions along Murray Street where you will pass by the shopping area. It is located next to the Miss Maud's restaurant and hotel. Thus, look out for it. 

There are many choices to look for in this place, ranging from sandwiches to cakes and pastry. I tried the sweet potato and pumpkin roll which I have yet to see this combination before in a roll! Woooah... it tasted great. It was unlike those meat filling roll where it was mixed with some cream kind, this sweet potato and pumpkin roll was more to the dry side but you could really taste the ingredients. NICE!

Miss Maud Pastry House; Sweet Potato & Pumpkin Roll

Next up for the eventful day today. We were going for the Dolphin, Penguin & Sea Lion Adventure Cruise. You can check out their website for more programs they offer. We booked this cruise through Red Balloon instead of directly from the website as there was a offer back then. Do look out for hot deals to save more!

From Perth City, we took the train on the Mandurah Line and get off at Rockingham station. It was a pretty long journey, taking around 45-60 minutes. From the station, we took  Bus 551 to reach Penguin Road. Walk west along Penguin Rd towards the Rockingham Wild Encounters Shop on the beach. Well, there was not much direction in that area despite Penguin Island being a tourist attractions. We just followed the crowd and headed towards the "SEA" area and managed to find the place. Remember to get the family ticket if you are taking the public transport!

Our cruise is at 10:15 and thus, we have to reached half an hour earlier for the registration. It was quite chaotic and well, though they mentioned the cruise will start at 10:15, it did not. We were told to wait under the sun at the dock for the cruise boat to arrive. No one was there to guide us or tell us what to do. We just waited and waited. But the good thing is, the sea, the sky and the sand was a beautiful combination. Here's the dock and the nearby!

While waiting for the cruise boat!

Here comes the highlight after we boarded the boat. The commentator was mentioning that we will definitely get to see the dolphins and true enough, within 10 minutes into the cruise, we started to seeing them jumping in and out of the water. Okay, not quite the way I saw on the television, they did not jump as high nor as fast but it was really cool. Everyone was busy snapping away, hoping to get one or two shots of them flying out of the water! Here's my shot of the dolphins as well as the sea lions. Totally enjoyed myself for the 90 minutes!

Dolphins & Sea Lions

Next up, the cruise boat sent us straight to Penguin Island. Do note that there is no shop at Penguin island and thus, you can bring your own food for a picnic over at the island or grab some food at the Pengos cafe before boarding the cruise. If not, it will be like us, had our lunch after the cruise and the visit to the Penguin Island. 

I have been to watch the penguins swimming and walking back to land in Melbourne at the Philips Island. This time round at Penguin Island, I managed to catch them at a closer range. Seeing them being fed by the trainer and seeing how they swam at the man-made pool. They are a bunch of cute animals!

Penguins 

More relaxing scenery found at the Penguin Island -

Penguin Island views

Finally was lunch at the Pengos Cafe. We ordered the salmon panini - you have it toasted or just eat it fresh. I had it toasted, not bad after all. We also had the chicken tikka wrap and the beer battered fries. My take, the beer battered fries wasn't that great after all. But overall, it was not a bad lunch by the sea. 

Pengos Cafe - Salmon Panini, Chicken Tikka Wrap, Beer battered fries

It was almost in the late afternoon that we reached back Perth City. Then we headed to Harbourtown for outlet shopping. But well, we did not managed to buy anything, purely I guessed we were too tired to shop and some of the shops were closed. We went back to Murray Street and found dinner at Streeton's cafe. We weren't really hungry and thus, we ordered the Risotto to share - not bad and guess we found our breakfast venue for the next day before we headed to Swan Valley for a 'staycation' over the Christmas holidays! 

Risotto / Perth train! 

Address:
Miss Maud Pastry House

97 Murray Street, Perth (CBD)
Streeton's Cafe
237 Murray St, Perth WA 6000, Australia

Perth 2013 - Day 3 - Fremantle

A trip down to Fremantle for the weekend market as well as for the Sunday live music at Fremantle Arts Centre (do check out this website for more information on the music Sunday).

If you think it is hard to travel in Perth without a car, you are wrong! We took the Railway Train from Perth to Fremantle and it only took us half and hour or so to reach. Personally I think that in Perth, if you planned your itinerary carefully, it would be awesome to simply take their public transport instead of doing a self-drive - you can relax and really enjoy the monent. For public transport, you can get the single ticket or like us (as recommended by the information staff at the train station), get a Family Rider ticket at AUD11.70 (for 2 adults and 5 children) and you can take any bus and train for the day. As easy as that and you would not need to worry too much about the transport  fare. A multi-trip ticket for a single adult cost AUD11.70 as well. SO, worth it, right?

Breakfast at Fremantle was super random. We did not plan or research much on the good food. We simply walked along Cappuccino Strip and found a crowded cafe for breakfast - we guessed we will not go wrong if there were people in the shop. So we ended up at Gino's Cafe. I ordered the Eggs Benedict: poached eggs ham hollandaise sauce on muffins and added extra servings of mushrooms - it was really a big portion but well, nice food, nice ambiance! Top up with a flat white made a great breakfast!

After breakfast, we headed to the Fremantle Market - it was not what we thought it would be. In my own world, I thought it would be like a big big market like that Victoria Market in Melbourne. Or maybe we did not really explore much in the market to find the beauty of it!

Sights of Fremantle

Next up, we went for a Fremantle Prison tour and it was quite interesting to see this heritage building built by the convicts back then. There are many tours organized and we just gotten the "Doing Time" tour as it was the next available timing.  A very informative tour where the guide brought us to the different parts of the prison, and explaining to us the history, stories and the evolution behind it Not sure why, but been to 3 cities in Australia (Sydney, Melbourne, Perth), I visited the prisons in all three!

Fremantle Prison

Like Perth City, Fremantle has its own Fremantle Cats (Central Area Transit service) bus. It is a free bus service that takes you round Fremantle and you can hop on and off to see the different parts of the city. However, there is a timing to it. So stick to the timing and you will be fine. From the prison, we took the bus to the Fremantle Arts Centre. There are a few rooms of art pieces that we can see for free. But the main highlight for the Arts Centre that Sunday was the free music. Australians really know how to enjoy life. While listening to free music, they can mingle and have a picnic - be it sitting on bench and tables or on the picnic mat. I love this type of freedom. Like them, we took the chairs provided and enjoyed a few songs! Thanks for the free music!

Next up from the Arts Centre, we went to Woolstores Shopping Centre to take a look. A very small one and maybe it was a Sunday, not many shops were opened. But the supermarket was! We love supermarkets and there, we bought food and souvenirs. We had wanted to visited the supermarket for the past 2 days but they were all closed before we could make it! Happy! But remember to bring a recycling bag or get a carrier when doing your marketing - they will charge for plastic bags! 

After much shopping, we went to San Churros for tea break - Australia's favourite chocolate cafe, serving the best Spanish chocolate in town. Th churros were nice but they got mixed up for my drink. Good service on their part though that they offered to let me take away my correct drink or offer to return us the money. This is what I love about the Australians - service before everything!

Arty side of Fremantle

As Fremantle is a fishing port and thus, we went to the Harbour Port for Fish and Chips - Kailis Fish Market Café. As we wanted to try other seafood, we ordered a combo set.The food was really fresh and nice! The fish was tender an you could 'taste the sea'! Trust me - furthermore, you get great view while dining. Love it! 

The sun, the sea, the fresh seafood!

Do remember that the train back and fro Fremantle has timings or rather the public transport be it bus or train in Perth has timing and they are super on the time. So please do not miss it, otherwise you would have to wait for the next train. So just be at the train station 5 minutes before - I think that is pretty safe timing! Well, we missed it and had to wait for half an hour before the next train arrived. But we were too tired to make further move that we just sat at the train station while waiting. A nice calm way to end off the pretty busy day!

Address:
Gino's cafe -
1-5 South Terrace, Fremantle WA 6160

Fremantle Prison -
1 The Terrace, Fremantle WA 6160,

Fremantle Arts Centre -
1 Finnerty St., Fremantle WA 6160


San Churros -
91 Market St, Fremantle WA 6160

Kailis Fish Market Café -
46 Mews Rd, Fremantle, WA 6160

Fosters English Rose Cafe @ Holland Village

Time to meet up with the princesses... been long since we last met, well, I guess that was last year. So as Princess C's office has shifted to the west area, we decided to meet up at Holland Village for dinner and to chill out. 

Fosters English Rose Cafe was suggested by her and there we went. We reached at around 7pm and the place was already quite packed. Lucky for us, we were brought to a table within minutes. While we waited for Princess Q, we ordered soup and calamari to ease the hunger feel. 

The soup was Lobster Bisque and well, please try it if you are at Fosters! It was simply delicious and nice and I did not have to add pepper to it (well, normally I added pepper to add more flavour to creamy soup). It was already flavourful! Yummy!

After the soup, we had the happy hour where any 2 drinks at the price of $15+. I had the Frozen Lime Margarita. It was the first time I tried the drink and phew, I did not regret it. The first taste with the salt did give me a shock but it combined with the flavor of the margarita. Good!

The main course that I ordered was Roast Herb Half Chicken. It was not that fantastic though the waiting time for it stretched up to 25 minutes. The quantity of potato given was quite pathetic and so was the gravy. But the chicken was tender and not tough. But overall, the experience at Fosters quite good. 

Will I revisit the place again? Yes, I will... and the next round, I would like to pop by for the tea after seeing the tea menu!

Margarita, Lobster Bisque, & Roast Herb Half Chicken

Address:
277 Holland Ave
Holland Village
Singapore 278994

Perth 2013 - Day 2 - Caversham Wildlife Park, Lobster Shack, Pinnacles dessert, Sand dunes of Lancelin

Day 2 marks the actual start of our trip in Perth. We booked a tour day via this website for a Full Day Pinnacles, Koalas and Sand Boarding 4WD Adventure before we departed. This tour costs AUD215 and top up another AUD15 and you will get a lobster lunch (plus a can of coke). Trust me, unless you are allergy to lobster or seafood, you should just upgrade to the lobster lunch. Most of our travel mates ended up paying AUD30 for the lobster lunch and that was on top of the normal lunch (I think is chicken or beef with salad). 

Okay, back to the morning. We woke up pretty early as the pick up timing for the trip was at 7.20am. Having researched for cafe that opens in the early morning, we had intended to visit Miss Maud Apple Straduel which is located two junctions away from our hotel. But at the first junction, I was happy to see a familiar shop - PIE FACE. I tried this in Melbourne some years back and I remembered them serving delicious pies at affordable price. Without further ado, we went to the shop to see if it is open. I'm glad we did!

I ordered the chicken & mushroom pie -  served piping hot and they are generous in their fillings. The crust was fluffy. Overall, PIE FACE has yet to let me down so far!

Pie Face

After the pick up at 7.20am, we were brought to the retail shop of the company. There, we were directed to another bus for our tour. It was quite a wait that we left for the tour at about 8.30am. What a waste of time - if only, we could have find our way there instead of being picked up at 7.20am. 

The first stop was to the Caversham Wildlife Park in the Swan Valley to view koalas and hand feed kangaroos. Some years back in Melbourne was my first encounter with Kangaroos. I thought they were really cute and were not afraid of humans. This time round at Caversham Wildlife Park, they are allowed to roam freely in their enclosed area. With us around, I guess they know they are up for treats. Following us and eating from our hands, they are simply lovely bunch of animals. They do not hop like what we see on TV, but they are still adorable. 

Koalas, on the other hand, totally ignored us. Sleeping is a super huge part of their life and well I guessed we were in luck when we saw the eyes of Koalas. We could not go near them but we were allowed to feel them with our back hand. Cool! Nice way to interact with animals! 

Caversham Wildlife Park in the Swan Valley

Well, I did not really like this segment of the trip - the Lobster Shack - but I enjoyed the food though. One of the best food I had in Perth. We had a tour of the live lobster processing plant which we put on the audio guide. Nothing fanciful, nothing that I remembered clearly except the big lobsters reared in the plant. But the lobster was great - remember to top up AUD15 when you purchase the item. 

Come the lobster meal consists of half a lobster. 3 lobster cakes, hot chips, salad and a drink. They were prepared right in front of you and of course, served piping hot. The lobster meat was clearly fresh and tender. The lobster cakes, though fried, you can still feel the freshness. The salad was a good way to reduce the sinful hot chips! I enjoyed the meal totally! Did I mentioned, a can of coke cost AUD3 and thus, we got the coke to go with the meal.

Lobster Shack

Covering 17,491 hectares, the Nambung National Park is home to Western Australia's renowned Pinnacles Desert. It is really a natural phenomenon with thousands of huge limestone pillars rise out of a stark landscape of yellow sand. Totally amused by the scenery, totally impressed that the dessert is still well-maintained though I think the limstone will slowly evolved further in future -  what we saw back then will totally be different if we were to see it all over again!

Pinnacles Desert at Nambung National Park

Another highlight of the trip would definitely be the Sand dunes of Lancelin - massive white sand dunes, the biggest in Western Australia. It was the first time I tried sandboarding. It was really cool but remember to bring your shades along! You could barely open your eyes without shades. But you need to walk up the sand slope first - Minutes to walk up, seconds to come down. Totally love the experience. Before the sandboarding, we were 'treated' to a 'roller-coaster' ride in the 4WD coach. Super! But the downside was - you were be filled with sands for the journey back!

Sand dunes of Lancelin

After the bus trip back to Perth City, it was already around 7pm. Time to dinner hunt. After walking down Murray Street, we decided to walk into Breve Cafe & Bar - it is the few shops that are open and serve FOOD. Looking at the long list of items they serve, we decided to order the Avocado Quesadilla with waffle as desserts. We did not really want to over order for dinner as we deemed servings in Australia to be quite big a portion for us. Furthermore, we love to snack!

Alright - I have to say, it is the first time I tried Quesadilla. It was quite nice with the meat filling and the avocado spread completed the taste experience. The waffle with ice-cream was a pleasant way to end the tiring day. 

Breve Cafe & Bar

Address:
Pie Face -
110 William St, Perth WA 6000
Breve Cafe & Bar -
158 Murray St, Perth WA 6000

Perth 2013 - Day 1 - Touch down!

Good mate! It was the last trip of 2013 and my third trip within the 3 months -  really great to be visiting the down under during summer - I really love summers to winters as I love the sun, the sea and of course, I love to pack light. 

It was a super last minute trip which started planning only after my Taiwan trip - The Christmas season was a headache for us since it was almost like a shut-down country in Australia. For this trip, we flew by Scoots and well, it was not that bad for the 5 hours plus journey. Flying a noon-flight would mean that we reached the airport in the evening. After check out, we took a shuttle bus from the International Airport (T1) to the Domestic Airport (T3) to catch the bus connecting to the city. It costed AUD15 per person while the cab will cost around AUD50. Check this website for more information as there are timings to look out for. Even though you have planned the stop to alight, do ask the driver for instructions. He recommended us an easier and faster way which deferred from our itinerary. 

With the dropoff at WA Museum, Beaufort Street, we walked past the Perth underground station. Our hotel - Hotel Ibis - is located along Murray Street. As it was a Friday that we reached, the place was quite crowded with some night life going on (As most know, most shops in Perth are closed at 5 or 6pm depending). After checking, we went to Fast Eddy's cafe for dinner. It is located along Murray Street as well, 4 mins walk, direction away from William street.

For Fast Eddy's is open 24 hours which is great. Please note that there is a take away 'shop' besides the cafe. As we did not know about that, we stepped into the 'take-away' and ordered our food. Burgers, chips and shakes on the menu. After ordering and waiting for our food, we realised the cafe was just next door. It was too late and we were not allowed to get into the cafe for the dinner - I guess is due to the price difference. But overall experience was fine - it was like those English movies where the drivers would stop over at a kiosk for a bite. Overall, the burgers were yummy and we could not finish the fries as the portion was huge and I guess we were tired for more food.

Back to hotel for a shower and a night rest - Tomorrow will be a long day - an exciting day to look forward to. 

The plane view, Perth Underground Station, Fast Eddy's

Address:
Hotel Ibis -
334 Murray St, Perth WA 6000, Australia
Fast Eddy's -
454 Murray St, Perth WA 6000, Australia

Osaka Ohsho Raffles City, AGAIN!

I can't get sick of visiting Osaka Ohsho. The Gyozas seemed to be calling me at times to revisit the place. Today, I had the Ramen set this time round as well as ordering a soft shell crab to try. The Ramen was well, not up to my expectation. The noodle was not very springy - it was a bit tough. The half boil egg should be the highlight of the ramen but it was way below average. The soup base was alright. Luckily, the gyozas saved the meal. The thin skin filled with juicy ingredients was really great! The soft shell crab was also good though the portion was a little small!

I guessed I will revisit this place but Ramen, no way!

Ramen and Gyoza set

#B1-75 Raffles City Shopping Centre,
252 North Bridge Road Singapore 179103