Day - 4 Submarine in Freo

Just outside the Western Australian Maritime Museum on Victoria Quay, Fremantle one is able to see this black and huge submarine.

The torpedoes were obviously the interest of this young man

The armament

Exhibits that tell the stories of human endeavour, bringing the maritime past to life.



Names of those who perished at sea

Day 4 - Drive to Freemantle

After two days of venturing the city on foot, we finally decided not to put ourselves to further "endurance" test. Neither ABE nor I was that enthusiastic to continue tracking the city and beyond on our two feet. And we could see the kids were pretty exhausted themselves.

"Time to get us a car," I told ABE that morning. After breakfast, got the girls to do the laundry and we both headed to the car rental outlet. A friend had told us that it's easy to rent a car in Australia, provided one has a valid driver's license from the country he or she hails from. We checked out Bayswater (they say their rates were the best in town), but there were no cars available till late afternoon. Must be the weekend, we thought. In the end, we got ourselves a Hyundai Elantra from another car rental operator located just opposite Bayswater on Adelaide Terrace.

After signing the papers and putting down some deposit, ahhh...we got our wheels!!! Since I am hopeless at reading maps, ABE told me to take the wheels and he would do the navigation. Okies...no problemo!!!

We drove back to the apartment and collected the kids and after Zohor prayers, we drove down to Freemantle or Freo, as affectionally known to the locals. Fremantle is located in the south west corner of Australia. It has its two sids bounded by the Indian Ocean and the Swan River and is Western Australia’s major commercial port. Approximately 25 kilometres south of Perth, Fremantle has long been known as Western Australia’s second city.

Fresh fruits packed to go

A HALAL food stall at the Freo Market....pekena Char Kway Tiaw & Fried Rice here!!!

The slow drive to Freo was fun, passing through small towns before finally getting there. Driving the car was easy, but keeping to the 60km/hour speed limit was a challenge. I could have sworn that I saw ABE giving glares at the speedometer, ensuring that I kept to the speed limits.

The University of Notre Dame campus at Fremantle

We spent almost the entire afternoon in Freo, walking on the beach and checking out the markets (a must go when in Freo). One can easily get carried away in Freo, mesmerized by its unique local identity, arts, culture and sporting activities.

The Irish Pub in the background





Another significant landmark, beautiful architecture

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 - Seniors, Tots and Keeping Clean

Such facilities are made available for the senior and young visitors to the Zoo.

Motorized tricycle to move around the Zoo area

For the little ones, who may not want to walk all the way

Know what to throw where...

Day 3 - They Just Wanna Have Fun!!

Before we left the zoo, caught these two in action!!! Errr...didn't mean to spoil their fun, but it was so hillarious....

I gotta move it...move it

Ehem...ehem.... (there was also sound accompanying the act :0)

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…”

Ciao 2008, Hello 2009

The new year is almost here. Text messages have been coming in slowly but surely. The first one was from one of my VPs early this evening. With all the new and latest ways of sending messages and keeping in touch with friends, family and loved ones, it will be no surprise that the telcos are going to be the ones smiling when they tally their collections of the final day of 2008.

Anyway, as 2009 draws closer to the doorstep, looking back in retrospect, my 2008 was full with ups and downs. Work couldn’t have been more challenging and the home front was at times rocked with seasons of raging waves. I tell myself it’s just a phase and the storm will stall.

In a few minutes, we should be able to see the fireworks from the upstairs windows. Only Faris has gone over to his friend’s house to listen to music. As for the rest of us, we are safe and sound behind our doors, and glued to the telle hoping for a good movie to play on. (In my case, Nissa has completely controlled the ASTRO remote..it’s been Disney Channel for the last few hours…)

I have a few new resolutions for the year ahead, some are really personal while some are pretty trivial. Many of my resolutions (yah..things like shedding a couple of kgs, saving money, not buying on impulse etc etc) are repeat from the following years.

But most of all, I wish for the new tomorrow to bring along a whole year filled with joy, good health, rezeki and blessings from God Almighty.

Let's progress into 2009 with enthusiasm and purpose. To all friends and family far and near, I wish you a very happy New Year.