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.

Cold Rock Ice Creamery

As much as I'm eager to start writing about my Bangkok trip (I gave a prelude in the previous entry :D) I need to finish up my posts on the Perth ones first! And there's just so much to write! Well having a really pain in the ass internet connection doesn't help to speed things up, I've been frantically trying to upload as much pictures into my flickr because God knows, come weekdays the connection gets busted again and/or I'm too tired to write.



On the very same day I was at Fremantle, the weather was really hot. But the heat doesn't make you sweat, so it's kinda bearable unlike the heat in Bangkok which totally exhaust you out. I literally had to wipe my sweat off with a tissue and believe me, I could squeeze every drop of my sweat out of the tissue! To counter the heat, Fang and Hua brought me to Cold Rock for their favourite ice cream.



Unlike the usual ice cream parlours which only makes/serves conventional ice creams, Cold Rock offers a unique twist to the traditional ice cream.

There are 4 simple steps to enjoying a Cold Rock ice cream:

1. Choose it.
2. Mix it.
3. Smash it.
4. Try it.



For the first step, there are ice creams and sorbets to choose from. Then there's a mix-it counter (picture above) with different selection of chocolates and lollies, biscuits, fruits, nuts and fudge. Choose what you like to go with your ice cream and the staff will proceed to...



... SMASH IT. I had the chocolate mint (my fav ice cream flavour!!) with tim tam. It was quite an entertaining watch, since I've never seen anything like this back in Malaysia. The ice creams are scooped off from the chiller and put on a cold teppanyaki. If you've read and seen how they make teppanyaki ice creams, you'll understand the process. The metal surface is cold instead of hot so that the ice cream doesn't melt or helps get it frozen while being mixed. The tim tams are then crushed, mixed and blended in with the ice cream and the outcome is a cup of chocolate mint with tim tam!



I love this! Choc mint with tim tam!



Fang and Hua had the Rum Raisin with Oreo and it was done in the same process in a jifty too! We had the kiddies cup at $4.80. Prices can escalate to $6.40 for regular, $7.90 for large, $9.90 for take home pack and $14.90 for large take home pack. Although it is not cheap, it is definitely worth the money especially on a hot sunny day.



I love this too. It's obvious to say I love Cold Rock ice creams since then but it's a pity they're not outside Australia yet. Maybe Berjaya should start franchising it :)

Besides ice creams, Cold Rock also sells ready-to-go and personalised ice cream cakes, a variety of smoothies, shakes and chillers, and desserts such as sundaes and banana splits.


Cold Rock Ice Creamery
Available all over Australia
www.coldrock.com.au/

The Most Awesomest 100% Orange Juice

The answer to the question in the previous post is.... as above :)

The first encounter with this drink was when we were at Chaktuchak Market, after walking around for hours under the scorching heat. This precious gem of a stall was found just when we were about to exit the market and was craving for some Bangkok street food. It's quite surprising that I've never seen this mentioned in any blogs while satay babi, fried bugs, and other skewered grill items are mentioned everywhere.

Now this really deserves a mention and the limelight.



The orange is squeezed fresh and just like what it claims to be- 100% Orange Juice with no preservative or sugar water or ice added. What makes orange juice here extra special is the type of orange used, instead of the western Sunkist oranges or the usual ones you see in the supermarkets, Thai orange juice is squeezed from tangerines, which is another variety in the citrus family. It taste somewhat similar to the mandarin oranges we have on CNY and the little mini mandarins that comes in a big bag.

The taste is absolutely good, I really love the Thai version of Orange Juice. I had 4 bottles after all! It was at 50 Baht (about RM5) for the big bottle and 30 Baht (about RM3) for the small bottle.



While I was too engrossed with my orange juice, Eiling was at the next stall picking out some absolutely tempting sausages. There were quite a few selections of different sausages, and I think it's in a variety of pork and chicken.



This stall was making quite a brisk business as everyone loves sausages! They're like comfort food to me, besides potatoes and eggs. Are you tempted too?



Eiling had a pick of few types of sausages and it only cost 50 Baht (aboutRM5) for the handsome selection. I think the sign says the sausages are Grade A.



Smothered with some tomato sauce, these little cocktail bite sized sausages provided such comfort to our stomach after a long and tiring round of shopping. And as you can see, it's unlike the streetside sausages we get back home (ie. pasar malam). These are good grade sausages that are fat, meaty, juicy and succulent.



Now a gulp of this, and a bite of that........

Shiok!!!

Updates!

Pls forgive me for the lack of updates. The internet connection at home is being a bitch that I can't even upload a SINGLE photo to my flickr, hence no photos how to write anything??!

I wanted to show you guys the most awesomest drink in Bangkok........ it's nothing alcoholic (surprisingly hehe!) but it's so damn good I had something like 4 bottles there and brought 2 bottles back home. To keep you peeps in suspense, go on and guess what it is!!

Winner gets 5 Baht! :D

Oh on a relatively related note, I was saying about the very awesome Smirnoff Double Black Ice with premixers I had in Perth in this post. Guess what! I found it in Bangkok at The Big C supermarket (The Big C = Carrefour in Malaysia). I grabbed a pack of 4 bottles at only 199 Baht (about RM19.90) and thought this is the best damn thing that I discovered (besides the most awesomest drink as mentioned above), but you know what!!

Damn potong stim ok... I was about to put in the trolley when the staff told me we couldn't buy it!!!!!! I was like "WHAT!! WHY!!" Then she said that no alcohol can be purchased before 5pm!! Read the signs. WTFFFFFF! I couldn't believe what I heard. You should have asked Eiling how my expression was. Totally in disbelief that such a rule can apply in Bangkok where I found my favourite drink on earth (besides Perth and US maybe).

Then I read the notice carefully. It said that alcohol can only be purchased from 11-2pm and from 5pm to maybe 8pm or something. The clock shows 2.30pm. We were late by half an hour and early by 2 and half hours.

Needless to say, I could have gone back to Malaysia a super happy tourist but now I'm just a tourist without the super and happy part.

Little Caesars Pizzeria

Hi guys, by the time you read this entry, I should be already in a shopping frenzy at Chaktuchak Market, Bangkok! But you know, I am trying to finish up my posts on Perth (although there's still quite a few entries to go... I haven't wrote about the awesome parks) so that I can start writing about Bangkok after I get back from there.



Little Caesars Pizzeria is considerably well known in Perth for the awesome one-of-a-kind toppings they put on their pizza dough. Their pizza selection is pretty comprehensive, from vegetarian to seafood to meat to gourmet dessert. They also have a selection of pasta and side orders such as the usual garlic bread and salads.



They even have awards for pizzas from the International Pizza Expo! Wow, I would like to attend such expos one day... pizza overload!



It was so awesome, we had to travel over an hour to reach the town of Mundaring (pronounced as Mu-na-ring). It was so awesome that I asked whether they have any other outlets nearer to Riverton or at least around Perth City and the answer came back as, "No. Only one outlet at Mundaring." Take it or leave it. But I can very well say, the journey was well worth it.



We did our ordering through phone and came to pick them up. Yi Fang got a new surname, from Law to Lew. Whatever Lew means heheh. We got 4 small pizzas and one large. Small pizzas (10") are priced at $14 while large ones (13") are at $17.50 but prices differ on the flavours. Dessert pizzas come only in small sizes at $14.


Janes Addiction- $13.50 (small)
Marinated prawns, prosciutto (Italian bacon), garlic cream sauce, wild rocket pesto, mozarella cheese

The prawns are tangy and anything with bacon on it spells Y-U-M!


Gourmet BBQ- $14 (small)
Roasted chicken, smoked ham, pepper steak, marinated lamb, onions, smokey bbq sauce, mozarella cheese

This is very yummy too! All the meat you can think of together on a pizza. Just look at the chunk of BBQ meat!! Awesomeness! And did I tell you I love BBQ everything and anything flavour???


Chicken Fettucine- $17 (large)
Sundried tomatoes, fettucine pasta, cream sauce, parmesan cheese, mozarella cheese, chicken, bacon

Pasta on a pizza??? Yes you read that right! That's fettucine pasta on a pizza. It doesn't quite have any taste on it's own, just some crispy sensation to go with the chicken and bacon. This combination is pretty interesting and I read that they have entered this pizza for competition too. Will we be seeing spaghetti meatballs on a pizza soon?


Eskimo Joe- $14 (small)
Malt choc chic cookie base, icing sugar, vanilla ice cream, raspberry fruit sauce

This comes highly recommended by both my hosts. They claimed it as a MUST HAVE for chocolate lovers. The dessert pizza tasted rather extraordinary, chocolate and raspberry... because we had it take away, there isn't any vanilla ice cream on top.


Tea Party- $14 (small)
French cinammon tea cake, icing sugar, caramelized apples and pears, maple syrup

This is another winner IMHO on the gourmet dessert pizza menu. I also like how the dessert pizzas have sprinkled icing sugar on top to make them look 'icy'... The Tea Party pizza taste a little a bit like having apple crumble and fruit pastry. The combinations of the gourmet dessert menu are just great and they make really good substitutes and complements for savoury based pizzas.



And there we have a pizza partaaaay at home!


Little Caesars Pizzeria
Shop 7, 7125 Great Eastern Highway
Mundaring WA 6073,
Perth, Australia.
Tel: 9295 6611
Open 6 days a week, 4pm till late
http://littlecaesarspizzeria.com.au

Shopping Trip!

Guess who's going to.......



Tonight!!! I'll be doing my bit to stimulate the Thai economy through its retail industry ;) Be back on Tuesday, have a great weekend folks! Cheers :)