Walking Down the Memory Lane: Perth (Part 2) - Rottnest Island

Click here to read PART I, PART III and PART IV. TQ

On the 3rd day of our Perth trip, we went to Rottnest Island... Ha...this island is very special... memang special...  It is an A class reserved island where it's free from any pollution. U can't drive on the island..the only vehicle is the bicycle. However, there are  small buses to take the tourists around the island.. Itu aja kenderaan berasap yg ada.. x banyak pon, ada 2 ke 3 bas kecik aja... when i was there last time, there were not so many accommodation options, but now, i think there are more places to stay overnight. Pulau ni memang cantik..Walaupon x banyak sangat benda2...tp the environment was superb! Waktu kami p, angin memang bertiup sejuk sampai ke tulang. During summer, tourists can swim at the sea but since it was winter, i didn't see anyone swimming on the island. You can also do other water activities there such as scuba diving and snorkeling.

From Perth, we took a bus to Fremantle. And, from there, there's a ferry service to Rottnest. U can even take train from Perth to Fremantle. Our bus journey was about 1 hour. Upon arrival at Fremantle, jalan2 sat... Had our breakfast and took the 11am ferry to Rottnest. We bought the tix at Hillary Boat Harbour. Traveling time to Rottnest from Fremantle took us another half an hour. There's also a ferry service from Barrack St Jetty straight to the island.

Fremantle is situated 19km from Perth. The port of Fremantle lies where the Swan River meets the Indian Ocean. What's famous in Fremantle? Besides its fish  n chips, Fremantle is famous for its market selling crafts, clothes, fruits and vegetable.

Fremantle Visitor Center.

Fremantle tram tours: only operated during the weekends
and public hols.

Faris n daddy at the car park near the jetty @ Fremantle

Fremantle city center, kecik aja town ni...  Terkilan rasa, x dapat
cuba the famous fish n chips  here.. x sempat, pasal feri dah
nak jalan time tu

In the ferry. Luckily this boy didn't puke. 

Sampai2 di Rottnest, terpegun sekejap..memang sangat cantik pulau ni... it's a simple island basically with its own personal attraction. Kami pon apa lagi.. snap gambar sana-sini before going to the tourist info center. Without hesitation, we chose the bus tour instead of bike tour. I didn't think i had the guts to cycle... We even took brochures and maps on the island. There were people who prefer to just walk and enjoyed the scenery of the island. The weather was nice with the cold wind blowing... rasanya antara banyak2 hari, hari ni lah yg paling sejok... Faris on the other hand, was so happy playing with the wind. Jom jalan2 tengok gambar kat Rottnest Island nih...

Welcome to Rottnest Island

Scenery @ Rottnest

Antara binatang2 yg terdapat di sini...Gambar atas kanan tu merupakan sejenis binatang bernama kuoka.
Kuoka ni memang banyak terdapat kat sini... Kaki kecik mcm tikus tp badan lagi besar dari tikus/sebesar arnab.

The tour bus has a few stops. We were given 20m - 1/2 an hour for each stop. Below was one of the stops near the sea. The sea water was so crystal clear. To tell u the truth, i had never seen sea as beautiful as the one i saw in Rottnest. Warna die mcm hijau campur bluish sket...

Look at the sea...Fabulous! Can u spot Faris in the pix?

More poses... If u had an umbrella with u, u could be Marie Poppins

At the other stop of the island... Left: the lighthouse, top right: Faris sulking and bottom right: me!

Crystal clear water..but it was freaking cold....

The deep blue sea

After the tour ended, we stopped by at the supermarket for some drinks. There was also a souvenir shop near the supermarket. Biasalahkan, minum2 dan makan epal aja.. nak makan lain, x halal... Then, went to the souvenir shop for some postcards and souvenir yg mcm snowball tu... Later, we snapped photos kat tepi2 jeti while waiting for our ferry back to Fremantle. We followed the same route back to Perth CBD. One thing i liked about riding the bus was the scenery. We could see the housing area nearby. Very neat and cute! Rumah sepesen aja with small garden!

Papa control sejukkk...

Dah x larat dah budak kecik ni... Mana x nya, he was running
 here n there without any specific purpose...
God knew what he was chasing after...

We were back in Perth in the evening. As usual, singgah makan kat kedai abang sebelah Criterion Hotel tu and lepak2 for the day...


Frankly speaking, i love this place. It makes u feel peaceful and relaxed. Walau mcm mana kusut pon, bila dtg sini, kompom boleh relaxxxx.... 

P/s:: Why green border? To show the environmentalist side of me..ha.ha..! Will be continued in part 3 - Caversham Wildlife Park

Walking Down the Memory Lane: Perth (Part 1)

Refer here for PART II, PART III and PART 4. TQ

In 46 days, I'll be in Gold Coast, Australia. Thinking of Australia, it makes me walked down the memory lane where my family and I had our 1st oversea trip back in 2007. It had been so long since my last oversea trip as I lost my passport and didn't bother to renew it.  Apparently, the process was very very very tedious. Perhaps, i'll WRITE about it when i have the time. Anyway, our destination was Perth. At that time, Air Asia didn't have any route to Perth yet. So, we went by MAS. Farah didn't go as she was so small back then and i'd been thinking it was pointless taking her along. [Well, even until today, she always blameS me for not taking her along]. No worry, i'll make it up 2 u, lalinx... with this upcoming OZ trip, yah!

Before departure

It was a short trip and the timing was bad...Maklumlah, tiket MAS promo... we arrived somewhere at midnight. The tix for the 3 of us +-RM3400. Touchdown was smooth and perfect. We didn't bring any food, so we didn't have to queue at the red lane. Took a cab to the city. Cab was about AUD 20 (at that time la, now may be more expensive). But, in 2007 the currency was much lower. It was about RM2.90 per AUD1. Sampai2, suhu memang sejuk as it was winter (June). Tp sejuk2 pon, x leh lawan la winter kat Europe or NZ but still sejukla to Malaysians. Hubby was a bit paranoid with the weather, maklumlah, his 1st encounter with this sort of weather while Faris pretty much enjoying himself with the change.

Perth is a laid back and peaceful city. It's such a charming city with vibrant people. The city is very organized and well maintained. If you are a city dweller, then i don't think Perth is the place for you. It's definitely not as happening as London, Paris or Sydney but I like it here, quiet and tranquil. City center pon kecik aja. In a few days, u dah boleh hafal dah jalan2 kat city tu. People like my husband can remember the route at the back of his head in no time and people like me, as usual, duduk sebulan pon x tentu ingat jalan lagik...

We stayed at Criterion Hotel. Nice and cozy hotel in the middle of the city centre. Criterion ni memang best in terms of location. CAT buses senang, makan halal ada dekat sebelah, souvenir shops, supermarket, fast food, Woolsworth, cinema, semua within walking distance. Pendek kata, x rugilah duduk sini. Harga pon berpatutan. I had emailed the hotel explaining that we would arrived late. So, we got our key and rest for the day.

Ni pagi waktu baru sampai masa kat depan hotel. ThE pix was unclear,
 hand was shaky as the wind was so strong sampAi ke tulanggg...

The next morning...

Happy 5th Birthday, Faris! It was Faris's fifth birthday:
4/6/2007

We didn't realized that 4/6/2007 was a public holiday in Australia. So, locals were not working and most of the shops opened late. We woke up early and merayau2 searching for places to buy food. It seemed that there were plenty of muslim eating outlets nearby.

On the 1st day, we just pusing2 around the city on foot. T/hari sikit, we went to King's Park. Faris was so fascinated with the red bus he took at King's Park until he told me he wanted to become a King's Park bus driver when he grew up...[sigh...] Hmmm... at least better than Fizi in Upin Ipin who wanted to become a garbage collector..:) A lil info about Kin's Park: it is the largest central city park in the world and it offers stunning views of the city and Swan River, walk trails, picnic areas and many more.

Sekitar hotel kami...

Near Barrack St. Jetty.  From the hotel to our jetty was a bout 10m
walk aja... U can catch a ferry to the zoo from here. Kite org
hampir setiap hari lepak kat sini. Seronok tengok2 laut dalam
suasana yg sejuk dan nyaman..ahh...rasa mcm nak repeat Perth ni...:)

The Swan Bell Tower. One of the
largest musical instruments in the
world. Very near to the jetty. 

Just like other western countries, Perth has a lot of parks to offer. The parks are all very beautiful and well maintained. Memang x nampak sebutir sampah pon atas tanah...

'Us' under the oak tree...:)

Langley Park rasanya nih...

The flowers were blooming even though it was winter. Cantik!

Kat lorong ni lah kami jalan kaki untuk ke tepi laut/jeti.

Later in the afternoon...

War Memorial Park

King's Park

Another side of King's Park. King's Park ni sangat luas. Memang x larat nak habis jalan.

My Fav of ALL! Taken from King's Park during twilight overlooking Perth CBD. At that time of the year,
twilight was early. This was captured at 5pm.

Another snapshot from the park

~TO BE CONT....:)~

Fontana Cafe

This post is dedicated especially to my colleague, Mis Misah yang senantiasa menunggu post2 baru :) Actually, ada banyak jugak tempat2 nak cerita but time is always not on my side...Very the bz....with marking..marking..marking... tp x pa, we take a break from marking for a while 

A few weeks ago, during the last school hol if i'm not mistaken, i watched Jalan2 cari makan from Tiara Beach Resort. The theme at that time was burger. So, one of the cafes shown was Fontana Cafe and it seemed that the cafe is actually very near to my house. The add is: No. 7, Jalan Putra Permai 1A, Equine Park. The theme of the cafe is mainly OZ, i presume since they have plenty of wall decorations from OZ. The food was fine and i had no major complains. However, the drinks department needs to work out ways to serve faster. The food was fast, though. To me, price is reasonable...

There are many types of food to choose from until i didn't know which 1 to choose... They have burgers, snacks, mexican food and even Malaysian food like tom yam, fried rice, etc. Kiddy meals come with a main meal, a scoop of ice cream and an orange drink (air kotak tu).

The menu

After choosing and contemplating bla bla bla....

Penangan The Sims: Nacho with chili con carne - RM12.90

Fontana Burger, smaller n cheaper than OZ burger... Yang ini pon
x larat habis, inikan pulak oz burger. But, i'll try OZ burger one day - RM8.90

Yang ni..sirloin rasanya..lupa dah namanya...harga pon lupa

Fish n chips (kiddy meal)...not recommended.. soggy!

Juicy and succulent! 

Oz items for sale...Tp mcm x menarik la...

Overall, the place was ok..if u wanna hang out at a decent place with yr family, this could be the place... I will definitely come back to try other food as they have variety...variety...variety of food to choose from... Drawbacks: the place is small. I think the management needs to reconsider extending the place. Deco is not so outstanding and looks old...

MEE UDANG KUALA SEPETANG

Yeahh..ladies and gentlemen, after several fail attempts, at last i went to taste the famous Kuala Sepetang prawn mee... Location: Kuala Sepetang, Taiping. From the south (KL), u just exit the highway after the Taiping toll. We were from Kuala Kangsar at that time. So, it took us less than an hour to reach the place. There are a few restaurants selling mee udang (prawn noodle), but we went to Mak Jah Mi Udang. My FIL suggested this restaurant. It was the last restaurant along the small road. The restaurant was small and very ordinary. Jom tengok gambar jom...Cakap banyak2 pon, buat lapar aja kan...

Newspaper excerpts are hung everywhere 

Menu

Waiting for the order

Wash yr hands pls...

Faris was so hungry (it was shown on his face..ha..ha). The order came fast
actually but because we arrived there quite late and Faris was already
too hungry.

Some people might categorize it as gloomy ambiance
others might say it's romantic 

Nampak sign Umno ni, dah dekat la tu...

This way to the parking... 

Tu dia....

Nyum...nyum...

Ample parking space adjacent to the restaurant

Tp this restaurant closing hour die terlalu cepatla... Everyday, it will close at 10pm. So, when we were there, we reached the place around 9pm. So, we had to eat in a rush as the place would be closed in a short while... Die org pon jenis x pedulik punya, cukup time, ada customer ke, tak ada ka, die tetap pung pang pung pang kemas kedai....

Inilah air yg x sodap tuh... Look
at the color...hmmm

Overall, out of 10, i will give 6. 6 is not only for the food but for other things too. Rasa mi biasa2 saja. It's just that the prawns are big and juicy. Mi nya pula sangat sedikit la (IMO),x kenyang makan, tutup2 dengan udang, nampak la portion tu mcm banyak. Another complain (i memang jarang complain nih sebenarnya)... watermelon juice die..adoila, x tau nak kata ape... x rasa mcm water melon langsong... i think they just put a pinch of water melon and the rest was syrup and water. the color was so pale... However, i was glad i came here and tried the dish. It was something different and i might be back in the near future.. Perhaps, i'll try and dine at other mee udang's restaurants.