Sembang at Kay's: Perth

Friday, January 2, 2009

Day 3 - Spicy Lunch and Ferry Ride

Well, what do you know!!! There's a Taj Curry house joint in Perth too, and that was where we had our lunch after the Zoo visit. Food was delicious, but rather hot and a bit spicy. Even my Neghori tongue had a tough time, but lapar punyer pasal kan....licin!!!

The hungry look...

After lunch we headed to Mends Street Jetty to catch the ferry to Perth city. Since we had traveled on the bus the day before, it was time to try out the water way next.

In the ferry...journey across the Swan River was about 15 minutes

View of Perth skyline from the ferry

Goin' fishing folks...

Luxury apartments by the river

Day 3 - Let's Go to the Zoo

Folks...this is the continuation of the Perth travel trails, kinda slow with my updates...

No visit to Down Under would be complete if the Zoo wasn’t in the itinerary. During my first visit to Australia way back in 2001, I was apprehensive about visiting the Zoo, it was the zoo in Melbourne that time. Somehow, I had this thought where I’d be haunted by the pungent smell of the animal pee and droppings, just like the horrid stench the moment you walk into the National Zoo here in Ulu Kelang. However, I was so, so wrong. The Aussie zoos are so unlike ours. They spread out into hectares of the wilderness, housing animals of various shapes and sizes.

The Perth Zoo is located in South Perth itself, pretty close to the place we were staying. It’s not as big as the one in Melbourne but it was a fun zoo to go visit.

We took bus number 30 and it stopped us right in front of the Zoo entrance. No long queues, there were just some school children in front of us. ABE got the tickets and off we went in. One good thing about the tickets is that they have special family rates. (I do think such a package is also available at our national zoo.)

We spent almost the whole morning learning about the different animals in the zoo, from the Roos to the koalas, to the platypus, to the dingos, just as the song, “Let’s go to the zoo…there are lots of things to do…”

Sunday, December 28, 2008

Day 2 - Sunset by the Pier

About 10 minutes walk from the apartment, was a fishing pier overlooking the city and houses along the Swan River.

Spotted this sporty one parked by the road

Rows of attractive town houses

Another hot wheels..and Faris just had to pose by it :)

As the sun started to set...

Beautiful sight..as the sun set further

Faris admiring the sunset spectacle

Day 2 - Videos of the City

Faris, our trainee videographer took these video shots of the city during our first day in Perth.

Still an early day for folks in the city.

The town hall all decorated for Xmas, while Nissa tried to catch the birdie.

A busy highway in Perth

Day 2 - Afternoon at the Museum

Western Australian Museum in Perth, a must visit when in Perth. It has abundance of collections of dinasours and other prehistoric animals. Didn't manage to snap many pics, camera battery sudah low...and trainee videographer was already exhaused :(

Day 2 - Chilly and Wet Start

Oooo…it was cold when I woke up for my Subuh that morning. This was summer?? But how come it felt like early autumn?? Needless to say, I went back to slumber land after my two rakaat. Asalamualaikum, asalamualaikum, took off my telekung and crawled under the covers again. I looked at the time, and it was only 5.00am. I figured another hour of hiding under the covers and perhaps another dream of sailing on a big yatch into the seas, would be really good. ABE was already awake and watching the news on telly. He’s such an early raiser, the real opposite of me, this sleepy head.

I must have dozed off again in no time. Next thing I knew, it was already bright outside but there was no sun though. I got up and peeked out the windows and very much to my dismay, it was raining!!! Alah….how to go jalan-jalan in the rain. I ran away from the cats and dogs pouring in KL and just my luck that it was also wet in Perth. Tak pe lah, I said to myself. We’ll just see how things develop as it was still very early.

View out my window...wet..wet..wet day.

It was scrambled eggs and mushrooms that morning. Kids ate like no tomorrow and I think they must have finished that first loaf of bread they got from the grocery store yesterday. Sejuk kan, so berselera nak makan. Farah packed some sandwiches to go. Everyone was ready to explore Perth, rain or no rain. By the time we left the apartment, it was almost 10am and the earlier pour had stopped. Our destination that day was Perth City Centre. We walked to the bus stop which was just around the corner of the apartment. Tak sempat nak enjoy the mild cold weather dah sampai the bus stop. Back in KL, I have never gone on a bus ride to the city. Someone told me before that one could get molested while riding in the packed Rapid KL buses. Eeewww…horrid!!!

Houses across Preston Street

Bus wait on Canning Highway

Cold ya..Nissa??

The schedule said that next bus was to arrive in another 5 minutes. Okay that wouldn't be so bad, I thought. Kids were saying, “Sejuk lah Mama.” I told them InshaAllah it would get better. Saw the forecast on tv that it would be high of 24˚C that day. Not too bad actually. I like it when it was temperate like that, nice weather for walking.

Back home in Malaysia, I never gave two hoots about the weather forecast. Maybe the forecast shown on tv didn’t mean much to me as most of the time it’d be either “hujan setempat-setempat” or “panas hingga petang”. Talk about creativity, the lacking of it so to speak. It wasn’t until I went to study in the States that I knew how important it was to know what the weather would be like for the day, the high and the low temperatures, the wind chill factors and the humidity levels or if it was going to snow, or flurries or rain for that day. I remember one of our parents angkat giving us the advice about listening to the weather forecasts. Now a retired Datuk KSU, Uncle D*m*n*u*i, said this to my friends and I (yang semuanya baru sampai ke America’s Dairyland), “Kat sini kena listen to the forecast, so that boleh dress properly. Silap-silap weather sejuk and you don’t have enough layers on body. Surely hangpa semua tak mau kejung sejuk sebab weather kat sini bukan macam Malaysia.”

Okay enough said about the weather. The bus was punctual as expected and off we went on it. ABE took care of the fares and asked about the stop we should be getting off in the city later. And again as expected, the bus driver obligingly provided his assistance. Back home ada?? Entah tak tau…tak pernah naik bas, wouldn't know if such a courtesy ever existed. Since it was way after the morning hour rush, most of the passengers that rode the bus were senior citizens. Another thing that I must really applaud was the fact that the society is so considerate towards the seniors. They get the front seats in these public transports and the drivers were ever ready to assist them if necessary. Kita kat sini?? I wouldn't allow my Mom to take the bus to town, no way!! My personal view has it that it can be somewhat dangerous to make them ride on the buses.

We got down at St Georges Terrace, right smack in the middle of down town Perth. Our first destination for the day was the Tourist Info Cente in Wellington Street, not far from where we stopped, about three blocks away but we had to walk uphill to get there. And this was the official start of our Perth City walking tour.

The Perth City Centre, located alongside the blue waters of the Swan River, is much smaller than its sisters Melbourne and Sydney. It has rows of low rise shops and well preserved old buildings that have been converted into hotels or offices. What is beautiful about Perth is that it overlooks the Swan River, a real breath taking sight. The shopping areas, Murray and Hay Streets are the main shopping hypes in the city, lined with popular outlets like Myers, Woolworth, David Jones, Borders, Fossil, Benetton and many others. There are also parks providing that lush green looks to the city.

Threesome on the CAT bus

What is good about Perth is that, it provides free in city buses. Called the CAT (Central Area Transport) buses, they ply routes in the surrounding city area. There are three free CATS available, the Red, Blue and Yellow. Our first CAT ride was on the yellow CAT, where it took us to the East side of the city. And that was what we did, we went on one CAT and hopped on to the next. Indeed it was a good way to understand the city, from east to west.

Downtown Perth..quiet as it was still early

MYER...nampak je place to shop!!!

War heroes given a special place in the heart of Perth

Places we visited that day were the Museum of Western Australia, the Art Gallery, the Parliament House and the Supreme Court Gardens. Kids enjoyed themselves at the Museum, seeing a range of varied exhibits from dinosaurs to Aborigines. It was a whole day of canvassing Perth city and its surroundings.