Icey Ice Snow Ice

Looks like my Perth post hasn't come to an end as I have missed out on an entry on this really awesome ice shaving. I also missed out on the popular Lotto (a form of gambling but in a subtle way). And the Roc Candy. And the very cute Ne-Yo (Fang's dog).

Heheh, maybe I'll put these in a filler post next time. But Icey Ice Snow Ice really do deserve a post on its own!! :D


Harbourtown Mall

Juen and Fang told me it's really good. We were at Harbourtown, a very awesome mall for shopaholics looking for a good deal as most of the shops there are always on sales (either factory outlet/ past season's fashion). I got a high waisted pants for only $9.95 and some other trinklets for as low as $2 and shawls for only $1 each (which I subsequently bought all 4 colors, heh)!



Anyway, Icey Ice specializes in flavoured shaved ice. If you are thinking of Ais Kacang or those Ice Balls with syrup, then you're wrong cos it's much awesomer than that! Oklah actually Ais Kacang is very awesome also. But this is like the Taiwanese Ais Kacang in Australia and recommended by Malaysians (they told me it's from Taiwan/ globalization yo). Juen recommended the Green Tea flavour with red bean topping.

I had expected it to be like a block of plain ice with toppings like the Ais Kacang but it turned out to be rather different! It is a block of green tea ice shaved to snow! Hence, the name :)



After that, the red bean topping was added on the ice shavings and it was good to go (into our mouths that is *wink).


Look at the snow shavings!

We had the large cup ($5.90), the regular cup is at $4.90. One spoon to the mouth and it was pure bliss, yum yumm! It's fluffy and light, and really does feel like eating snow! The red bean was sweet as well, and proves to be the perfect pair for the green tea ice. Whoever came up with the idea of pairing green tea with red bean must be a genius!

It's surprising that the ice shavings managed to stay in its original form for quite awhile. And when it did melt, it became like a sundae texture rather than like a watery Ais Kacang. Soft and creamy.......

****

On a non related note, I've just passed my 1 month mark at the new job. Tomorrow is pay day, yay! I'm now working on some tax project and work has become rather taxing (pun not intended). I had to text my friend this afternoon asking if he still has the Tax-book from college so that I can borrow to do abit of catching up in the subject. Speaking of which, have you guys done your tax submission? It's my first time doing it and I'm feeling quite blah about it, firstly because it's very ma fan to have to make a visit to the LHDN office and get the form/e-filing password. And then have to know what are things to submit to get relief/rebate. Perhaps this is the part of growing up that I really hate :(

The silver lining though would be officially having the rights to scold the government if they misuse the taxpayers' funds (which I'm sure they have been misusing for the past 51 years....). Hehe :p

Cocktails and Farewells

Here's a compilation of photos of cocktails I had/tried in the Perth bars. I visited Minq's @ Burswood Casino and Broken Hill Hotel's Bar. The Chocolate Cocktails are really yummy, the one at Minq's uses Godiva chocolate while the one at Broken Hill Hotel uses Toblerone. The cocktails in Perth is not too expensive, some drinks starting from $17 (±RM42). Well of course that is if you don't convert lah... I think I spent about ±$80 (±RM196) on drinks :S


Mojito @ Minq's


Chocolate Martini @ Minq's


Cosmopolitan @ Minq's
(inspired by watching too much Sex & The City, Fang thinks it tastes horrible heh)


Diamond Martini @ Broken Hill Hotel
because diamonds are a girl's best friend...


Strawberry Truffle @ Broken Hill Hotel


Chocolate Cocktail (w Toblerone) @ Broken Hill Hotel

The thing that fascinates me about cocktails are how different combination of liquors and non alcoholic liquids can produce different flavours. Also if you really do observe how bartenders work their magic, it makes the drinks more interesting. The outcome of every concoction (ie. taste, presentation, color) is an art itself. Ooooh, cocktails are also known to have funky names too.

Cheers!



Goodbye Perth........!!!

A Tour Through Perth Parks

Breathtaking view of Perth City from Kings Park

The Mat Sallehs and Ang Mohs are known to have a liking for parks, trees, sunshine, and lying on the grass contemplating about life. So when in Rome, do as the Romans do, but it was a case of doing what the Australians do when I was in Perth.


Bush Tree

Strolling the parks... Lying around... Watching sunset... Enjoying life...



Fang and family took me up Kings Park, the most popular park in Perth. I don't see why it is not popular- it's up on a hill where one can overlook the city, the river and the brewery.


Two roads diverged in a yellow wood...

Doesn't this picture reminds you of Robert Frost's poem- The Road Less Travelled? I would copy and paste the whole poem here but this is not the focus of today's story :)



Kings Park is a really really nice place to just chill and relax. While us Asians would run and hide at every point the sun shines on us, you have to give it to the Whites for being able to sun bake and still chill under the heat. These kids were having such a wonderful time rolling down the hill! I was tempted to do the same too....



Due to its strategic location of being up the hill, Kings Park is a popular venue for wedding receptions and sorts. When we were there, a wedding party was taking place at the gazebo. There were also people taking graduation photos, having picnics, reading a book, or making out but in a considerable manner :p



Smack in the middle of the park is the ANZAC Memorial Tower to honour those who perished during the war. There is a significant plague bearing the phrase, "LEST WE FORGET".



And if you do, there's always the names of those who perished to remind you that the freedom and democracy the Australians have today is not the sacrifice of one man, but many many men.
/cue for sad song playing



Perhaps this is what makes Kings Park immensely popular among locals and tourists alike- the spectacular breathtaking view of Perth City. I think it will be even more beautiful at night with the lights on.





On another evening, I was brought to Mill Point to watch sunset. We went to a nearby Dome and grabbed ourselves some coffee and juices, sat by the river and watched sunset.



It was such a wonderful thing to do. Spending quality time doing quality activities (ie. doing nothing = free & carefree mind), sounds like The Ideal Job to me. Pictured in the foreground is Denise, Fang & Hua's friend who tells us the funniest stories by translating them to BM!





We watched sunset :)



Final post on Perth tomorrow!

East Perth and Little Moorish Restaurant

I have a feeling I can complete this whole Perth chapter end of this week. Heheh, so here's today's story...



On my final day, my host family brought me to Eastbrook Terrace @ East Perth. The weather was rather chilly that evening which was quite nice... having a scarf around you (something I can only do when I'm in the office- super cold! What's Earth Hour, again? :p) and a spectacular view of the East Perth riverside. Again, needless for me to say, the sky was really beautiful :)


To see the world in the end of a tunnel

There are quite a number of cafes along the riverside and since my host family has been so hospitable to me (ie. free accomodation, transportation, meals, entertainment etc) I made them allow me to buy them dinner on my final day. We walked around the area looking for a suitable cafe for the 'farewell' meal.



We picked Little Moorish Restaurant for the occassion. Little Moorish specializes in Moroccan-North African cuisines. The Moors is the name given by the Europeans to the people from Morocco of mixed Arab and Berber descent who invaded Spain, Portugal, Sicily and Provence.



What's not to love about water bottles like this....


Vegetarian Tapas Plate- $27
Cinnamon pumpkin dip, tarragon haloumi tahini and dhukah yoghurt, Zaalouk dip, potato cakes on couscous tabouleh and turkish bread


Bisteeya- $29
Moroccan delight with cinnamon flavoured chicken and almond in crisp egg brushed pastry garnished with fresh pastry garnished with fresh orange and lettuce served with honey orange and mint sauce


Essaaouira Salmon- $32
Seared pink salmon fillet served on nicoise salad of green beans, tomato, kalamata olives, egg and potato with olive oil and lemon chermoula sauce

The food is pretty good to be honest, especially the Bisteeya which everyone gave their thumbs up. The orange sauce complemented the pastry enveloping the cinnamon flavoured chicken and stuffings. The salmon was very fresh and has a little sourish flavour to it due to the lemon sauce. Overall, dinner was very enjoyable and I'm glad I had a wonderful 'final' meal in Perth. Price wise, it's expensive! But I keep telling myself, "Don't convert, don't convert...." Well it's delicious anyway, so it's money well spent!





As we were having our meal, the sun began to set and by the time we were done, it was already dark. The riverside is really beautiful with all the lights on creating reflections on the water. It'll be really nice to have an after meal stroll, appreciating the lights and sights that East Perth has to offer at night.


Supposed to be artistic photo

Fang asked me to pose for a picture with the lamp post. Hmmm... I look like I'm searching for the light in life or a jakun Malaysian who've never seen a lamp post -_-


Little Moorish Restaurant
Suite 4/10
Eastbrook Terrace (Lake side)
East Perth, WA 6004
www.littlemoorish.com.au

Shopping Streets

When I did my pre-trip research on places of interest in Perth, Hay Street was listed as one of the shopping places. Though I wasn't exactly on a shopping trip, as compared to Bangkok, it doesn't really hurt to see what 'shopping' is like for the Australians right?

There are individual shopping malls in every suburbs (ie. Garden City Mall, Westfield Carousel, Broadway Fair, Belmont Forum) but Hay St and Murray St are two very long streets, connected to each other and dedicated for shopping at Perth City. Firstly, I like the concept of their shopping street here. Both streets are closed to traffic and the streets are very wide for pedestrians/ people to walk about and there are also benches for people to rest. It also provides a platform for buskers to strut their stuff.



There are several arcades that run off either Murray Street Mall or the Hay Street Mall, such as the Carillon Arcade. There are two main departmental stores- David Jones and Myers. The former is a very atasan place so the stuff there are quite expensive needless to say. We had our lunch at Carillon Foodcourt and we went for Japanese.





Fang had a bento set while I had the beef rice. Nothing fantastic, the beef portion was generous but a tad too stiff :(



We went hopping from store to store but stuff here are not that affordable compared to Harbourtown. Then again, Harbourtown is like the factory outlet mall so I guess it definitely has to be cheaper than the city. While we were strolling along the wide street, this building caught my attention. It's not surprising though since it is sandwiched between other modern shopping malls.



Just like how they have a Chinatown at Northbridge, here's a British town at Perth City. To be precise, it's known as London Court. The setting and architecture is of the English influence but ironically, things sold here are Australian stuff, so it's not exactly very attractive after all.



I like this picture though :D



Well, there was a particular shop that sold British confectionary... I felt like a little kid in a candy store awed by the amount and variety of chocolates, candies, cookies and biscuits. I spotted Jaffa Cakes and immediately bought it as Eiling loves them (see I so sayang you) even though it costed me $6.95 (about RM17) only to find out that in London, you can get it for £1 (about RM5.30). Sighs, kena conned triple-fold!



The emblem reminds me of the England football jersey.



I also saw a Scientology Church! Maybe we can find Tom Cruise here. Heehee. However, shopping here is not too great IMHO as everything is so pricey :(



Statues and sculptures are a common sight but this one is particularly interesting. Perhaps it is done on purpose for ladies to have a chance to pose a picture looking at you-know-where in broad daylight :p Well since it is done intentionally, I've got to reciprocate the intention by staring at you-know-where for the picture right!



Australian cops doing their patrolling on bikes and in shorts. So cute! Now can you imagine our polis doing the same?? Huge belly, wearing shorts, trying to balance the bicycle......... and probably firing water cannons to disperse the crowd at Petaling Street? Heh, interesting.