sPERTHacular Australia trip: 12-15 December 2013 Day 2

Day 2 of our sPERTHacular Australia trip: 13 December 2013

 

Woke up with sun shining at our butts only to realise it's only 5 am...

We continue to explore Fremantle today with a day trip over to Rottnest Island. Sun, sea, beach, life is good!
Headed over to Fremantle Market for our breakfast before heading to B-shed ferry terminal to take the Rottnest Express.

 

Fremantle Markets

Corner South Terrace & Henderson Street Fremantle, Western Australia, 6959

Opening Hours:

8am - 6pm

8am - 8pm (Fridays)

 

Pretty flowers!

 Fremantle market is a lovely place of interest. Get to experience the whole local market - ing experience. The place is neat, dry and clean unlike our usual Asian markets. Very much similar to what you see at our local Pasar Bella. You can a wide variety of cheese, flowers, local produce, freshly baked goods, handicrafts and souvenirs.

 As we were early and not all the shops were opened, we got some cheap bagels at AUD3.10 for 2 before heading over to the pier.

 

Rottnest island

The ferry bringing us to Rottnest. This Rottness Express ferry trip and island admission cost us about AUD39+ each, expensive but a good experience to have, especially if you are keen on having some beach fun.

We didn't bring our beach attire so we decided to go around the island together with the free voluntary guided tours.

Alighted at the Rottnest Island pier.

Island go-ers waiting for their bicycles/ luggage to be off loaded from the vehicle. There are additional charges to bring over your own bikes but if you don't, you can rent them on the island. Charges are at about AUD15+? Not your average ECP prices... :(

 Hi silver gulls. Tons of them on the island!

The bubble floating structures look damn fun to play with! #mustbeexpensive

First glimpse of the quokkas! More of them later!

Picture perfect beach!

And I thought the Jeju beaches were beautiful. Sorry to say but this beats them hands down. Should have taken our wedding pics here! Hahaha!
Only qualm is that there are too many house flies around. #irritating From what we understand, there are lots of flies during the summer period. We should be thankful that we didn't encounter the period with the most (seems to be in October).

 Huge ass pelican spotted!
It also wanna #relaconecorner

 

 We headed our way towards the island's 2nd lighthouse while enjoying the magnificent view

 First glimpse of the tower. Beautiful against the clear blue sky!

The 2nd lighthouse is built to help navigate boats and ships after a shipwreck occurred off its coast due to insufficient navigation aid with just 1 central lighthouse initially.

Don't you wish to stay at this beach to chill? #beach #whitefinesand

360 deg view of the lighthouse and its surroundings.

These grey and pink parrots (I assume) can be found on the island too. #sopretty

And the stores on the island had these stickers on their gates. Haha! #humor

 

After the first tour which got us hungry. Stopped over at subway to grab a seafood sensation footlong sub. Cost us AUD9.50 for a foot. Not the most tasty but was filling enough.

 

After our lunch, joined the quokkas tour to check out the quokkas natural habitats. So happy to find them! Apparently there should be thousands of them on the island (estimated from the no of droppings around the island).

Quokka Chipmunk spotted! #cute 

Rottnest Island is known to be the only place in the world where you can find quokkas until recently where there's a report that they found them on another island in Australia as well.

Unfortunately, there aren't many of the animals around as compared to years ago. :(

 

Hi do i know you? #animaltalk

 Quokkas feed on leaves and plants #herbivore they hop around and carry their babies in pouches just like kangaroos.
They look more like a hybrid of kangaroos and chipmunks than rats.

 During the quokkas tour, we ventured to this area where it's serene and picturesque. You could stroll along the banks of the river, kicking the clear waters hand in hand with your loved ones. Like the scene off some romantic dramas. #toopretty

 

This palm tree on the left has a strong willpower. The guide was telling us how this tree survived the strong wind which toppled it over and it continued to grow upwards into this huge standing tree it now is. #determination

Random photo on the island

 

What I get NB to do. #imitate #eatgrass 

 

Got back to finding quokkas after we ended the 3rd tour around the island to understand more about the island history. NB feeding the quokkas. #upcloseandpersonal #yum 

Saying bye to quokka #animaltalk #languagebarrier

Before we headed over to the pier to wait for our ferry, we stopped by the beach, this time nearer to where the yachts are parked!

Just had to take a shot with my yacht #fathope and have a dip in the crystal clear waters! #barefeet The water was cold (great when the sun is shining) and sand was soft to step on! I was telling NB the sand is so fine you can barely feel it! It's like stepping on erm... pepper! Haha!

Thanks for having us #RottnestIsland!

Us against the sun #shadows

Beautiful waters!!

#inlove #perfect #iwannaswim

One more shot before we leave Rottnest! #selfie

My amateur video of the sights and sounds of Rottnest island.

Upset that the last frame of quokkas got cut off. =(

It was late (in Aust time) when we reached Fremantle. Afraid that the restaurants and shops will be closed at 5pm, we quickly headed to E-shed for some quick shopping.
True enough, when we were selecting some of the affordable priced souvenirs there, the shops started pulling down the shutters.
Managed to get a couple of tees for the little ones at home nevertheless! #phew

Next stop was dinner and we made our way to the fishing harbour for what other than fish and chips!
First stop - #Kailis
Kailis'
Fishing Boat Harbour, 46 Mews Road,
PO Box 800, Fremantle 6959
Western Australia
Opening Hours:7 days from 8am

Seafood prices.

 

There were a couple of seafood restaurants along the harbour and read up reviews on them. Of course, we read that #Cicerellos (the no.1 fish and chips) standard has dropped and that others like Kailis is much better. So, we decided to give both a shot.
Kailis: fish fillet was thinly coated with batter before frying making it less sinful but it has got a slight fishy smell to it. Not sure if it's the kind of fish used or?
Cicerello's: thought this tasted better but batter was thick and oily.

Cicerellos
44 Mews road Fremantle WA 6160
Opening hours: 7 days from 10am.

 

 

 Thankfully we didn't order chips at Cicerello's cause not only was the oil getting on us, we were getting "heaty" from sun and exhausting day! Plus, there was no chilli to go with them (definitely not paying AUD.40 for a small pack)! #howcan NB was fighting his urge to buy coke (easily cost us AUD3,4+!) he so desired.

 

 Fortunately, we stumbled upon hungry jacks' penny pincher deal which served frozen coke and raspberry drink for just AUD1 each! #steal
Perfect to end the day with this treat!

Back at the hotel, helped myself to the complimentary nespresso coffee while NB got his English breakfast tea.

sPERTHacular Australia trip: 12-15 December 2013 Day 1

Day 1 of our sPERTHacular Australia trip: 12 December 2013

Booked our tickets earlier on with Scoot's Perth inaugural flight promo + NB's free flights of course! Flight time was about noon which means we will reach Perth at about 6+pm. Not the best timings as shops are usually closed by then! But who are we to complain if it's a (nearly) free flight?

Marking the last trip of ours in 2013, we hope we wouldn't suffocate from the heat there, where everywhere else were in the winter season.

 

Our breakfast drink before take off. Making use of the 1-for-1 Starbucks 12 days of Christmas promotion. Love the hot cranberry white chocolate mocha!

Our flight and Scoot's inaugural flight to Perth

Getting comfy on the flight with my pink travel pillow

Cause it was an inaugural flight, there were games on board with the CEO and MediaCorp personalities like DJs Jean Danker, Cai Wei bin and artiste Elvin Ng. And of course, being thick skin has its benefits huh! We won a $100 Scoot voucher! Just nice to subsidise my share of air tickets for the next trips! ;) Well done NB!

 

 Other interesting things on-board - challenge between the CEO and Elvin to garner more duty-free merchandise sales. Trying to get back some ROI huh? :p #thingsCEOdo #thingsartistedo and in case you are wondering, Mr Campbell won... ouch... where's the star power?

 

Got a chocolate to get some loose change for the bus.

We couldn't find a place to get the Smart Rider Card (their Ezlink) at the airport so we got to use cash.

 

Surprisingly, that was unnecessary as the bus driver will issue change on board.

Our first thought was wouldn't it be very time consuming for the driver to do so?

Indeed, it took some time whenever there are passengers who needed change.

 

 After nearly 3 hrs of travelling time to Fremantle from Perth airport (took terminal transfer shuttle to T3&4, Transperth bus 37 to Victoria Park transfer station and 106 to Fremantle train station), we finally arrived at Hougoumont Hotel, tired and hungry.

 

Hougoumont Hotel

15 Bannister Street

Cost: SGD363.6 for 2 nights.

 

The hotel was very new, clean and modern. Got our stay at a discounted rate of just $180+ due to their opening special. Good price for the quality.

 

Though small, it was cosy. And there you have NB immersed in his game once he got his Internet access -_-.

Quickly left our hotel after settling down to search for food!!

Cappuccino strip is a great street with lots of good to chill out cafes, pubs and restaurants. Would be good to gather there with a group of good pals to chill the night away. The night there was pretty cooling with gentle breeze along the street. Good place to stay if you are a night owl cause anywhere else would be a "dead town" after 8pm. So we end our first night with a slow stroll back to the hotel.

 

After walking down the cappuccino strip at Fremantle, we couldn't find an affordable meal until we saw Hungry Jacks' (or Burger King as we all would know it as). Ordered my usual chicken tender grill (with their special Peri sauce) and the meal cost us both about AUD13+. One of our cheaper finds already. The burger was ok (chicken patty slightly bigger) but I thought the waffle fries were tasty!

Hong Kong Feasting Day 3

 Day 3 - Hong Kong Regal Airport Hotel

许留山's curried fishballs, cuttlefish and radish! Love this, curry wasn't that spicy though but super tasty!

Wanted something hot for supper so I got Taro Paste with Chestnut. Not the healthiest but definitely very flavourful! Love how it was filled with chestnut (like those peeled packet chestnuts you get outside) and soft yam cubes. Sinfully good!

Damage (cant remember price for Yu Dan): HKD35

Rating: 8.5/10

The next morning, we had to catch the 7.10am Scoot flight back to Singapore so we checked in before going for our airport McDonald's breakfast!

They didn't have Red Bean Pie during Breakfast hours (sobs) so I couldn't get to try. Sigh!

Nevertheless, had their Ham and Egg Macaroni. Tasted similar to what I remembered.

Egg looks like it's microwaved though cause the yolk was over cooked. =/

This time  round, had a free swap to Soya Milk. Like it!

Had a good soy taste and not too sweet.

 Rating: 8/10 

This ends my Hong Kong short getaway trip!

Will there be more? Hmm...

Looking forward to other trips instead!;)

Hong Kong Feasting Day 2

Day 2

Breakfast was at Lan Ying Cafe 蘭亭咖啡閣

114 Fa Yuen Street, Mong Kok.

Ordered the raved about pineapple polo bun 菠萝包, chicken pie, French toast, egg tart, Mei cai macaroni and milk tea. The rest was so so while the 菠萝包 had a fragrant crispy top and the chicken pie had a generous savoury chicken and  ham filling tt packs a punch. Yum!

Damage : HKD40

Rating : 8.5/10 for the 菠萝包 and chicken pie. 7/10 for the rest.

Snack was ice-cream in this cold weather! Hojicha drumstick and  milo cone. Good stuff!

After lunch and some shopping at Harbour city and Silvercord, grabbed some leg rest and some dessert.

糖朝 sweet dynasty

28 Hankow Rd, Kowloon City

The last time I was here was way back on my first HK trip. Wasn't fantastic though. Had sesame past with beancurd while NB had that with walnut paste instead.

Damage: HKD30 per bowl

Rating: 7.5/10 perhaps their other dishes like dim sum or meals are better!

As we were flying off the next morning, we checked into Regal Airport Hotel so it's easier for us to just walk over tml at 5am+! As of all our trips, we had to have #McDonald's so here we are! So we got the teriyaki chicken rice set which was average.

The sauce could be better but love having brocoli in it! The set comes with nuggets and we topped up with spicy drumlets (ma la flavour?) Prefer Sg's honey lemon drumlets anytime!

Lastly, had our double sundae! Superb!

Damage: HKD94.50

Rating: 8/10.

Grabbed this puff after our check out from #Mongkok.

Choux Creme puffs have got a lot of flavours but we tried the original flavoured! Take a bite and the cold creme filling of goodness bursts in your mouth! Nevertheless, you can have bread papa with the same effect ;)

P.S. this shop can be found in other stations as well.

Damage: HKD16

Rating: 8.5/10

Walking around and shopping to see where we can spend off our Octopus Card funds and HKD!

Happy trip!  

Hong Kong Feasting Day 1

Day 1 Hong Kong

Got to start blogging about my past #travelogues! Rode on Scoot's offer while Dar utilised his free tickets for a trip to HK! Flight was 1.55am which means arrival in HK at 5 ish am! oh well! We will have more time in #Hongkong then! 4th time there. Miss the cha chan tengs (yummy french toast!) and my Yu dan!!

While on the bus ride to mongkok after reaching the Hong Kong international  at 5.35am. We headed to the airport transfer station to grab our Octopus Card (our Ezlink counterpart) at HKD150 (HKD9  will be deducted if card is refunded within 3 months). After that, we took the cityflyer E21 which is the cheapest (though travelled the furthest) at just HKD14!

The ride took us less than an hour, perhaps due to early morning hours. ;)  

Reached mongkok in the early morning, our hotel was not ready (in fact, no rooms as we didn't book it in advance). So brave :p

As we kept the trip rather chill, no rushing of itinerary and just simple feasting on local delights and resting at the hotel ;) And we managed to get our Railei hotel  stay at just HKD460 for a double room (small).

RaiLei Hotel

4th Floor (whole floor),

REX Building, 648-652 Nathan Road,

Mongkok, Kowloon

Our 3rd time staying there, don't expect over the top service, spacious rooms etc. It's just a small motel look-alike where you can rest your feet and wash up after a day of shopping. Room is small unless you pay more for the bigger rooms. Free Wifi.
Note: expect some amount of smoke (the guests and owners do smoke) and to stop ourselves from breathing in the smoke whole night, we had to off the toilet filter. Thankfully, it helped to keep the smoke away :)

Apparently calling them up to book is cheaper than through website (an external agent hosts and manages their website bookings and they charge commission) so you know what to do.

Decided to go for our breakfast at some popular recommendations online.

1st stop with our barang, a #大排档

Sing Heung Yuen 胜香园

2, Mei Lun Street,  Central

Walking distance from Sheung Wan MTR station, exit A2

P.S. End of the year was very cooling! Loved the weather ;)

Thankfully no queue when we were there but full house! Ordered iced salted lemon sprite & hot salted lemon. Preferred the latter.

The sprite drink was pretty weird but the taste grows on you. Can try! There was the popular tomato noodles with egg & sausage ordered as well.

The savoury soup which reminds you of the Campbell renditions with added fresh tomatoes!

Sweet!

Also ordered honey lemon toast (tinge of tangy lemon on hot crispy bread) and condense milk toast. Love! Good #Hongkong #breakfast

Next stop, San Hing 新興食家at Western District

8 Smithfield Road, Sai Wan

Famous for their #流沙包 I had to try it! Being in hk for the past 3 times, didn't get any superbly impressive #dimsum especially liu sha bao! Was quite a challenge to reach there so we decided to cab there from our da pai dang. Cost us about HKD38.

Other specialities include quail eggs siew mai and deep fried milk (didn't manage to see this though). Wasn't over the top but liu sha bao was one of the better ones I had.

Rating: 8/10

Headed out for dinner at Sham Tseng Chan Kee 深井陳記燒鵝

427 Reclamation road, Mongkok

They say we haven't been to HK if we didn't eat any roasted goose. Well, finally tried in on my 4th visit. =P Had the soup hor fun with goose and boy was the bird fat! Under the shiny honeyed crispy skin laid a thick layer of fats. Not for the faint hearted, literally! Too much cholesterol but I must say the skin is definitely tasty!  Meat was juicy but a lil tough. Soup was a tad plain thou.

Damage: HKD40

Rating: 7/10

Of course, dinner didnt end with just goose. Had a walk along Ladies St to look for board games but didn't find what we wanted. Bought our favourite street snacks - Yu Dan HKD20, siewmai HKD10 and 鸡蛋仔 HKD10! Yums! :)

Ended the night with some 许留山 desserts!

Pomelo sago mango with ice cream tasted good but didn't like it with too much coconut. Was not overwhelmed with sweetness which is a good thing.  Love the mango mochi that came in a set. Cold, soft with mango puree bursting out. NB says it's a mango Ondeh Ondeh! 

Damage: HKD56

Rating: 8.5/10