Shoot First Eat Later

Perth Day 9 – Kings Park, Perth Mint & David Jones Food Hall

We went to Kings Park which is Perth’s most popular tourist attraction. There are many things to do and places to see in a park 400.6 hectares in size. We missed out on the free walking tour so we just walked around.

map of Kings Park

Chris took these beautiful pictures of trees and plants in Kings Park.

We then drove to Synergy Parkland, a kids playground within Kings Park.

While P was playing in the park we ate dessert and had coffee at the Zamia Cafe.

As usual the dessert was fabulous. The lemon lime brulee was perfectly tart, sweet and creamy.

lemon lime brulee

Our next stop was the Perth Mint where they make commemorative coins and medals like the ones used at the Sydney olympics. The highlight of the tour was watching a solid gold bar melted in a hot furnace then poured into a mold. There was also the world’s largest gold bar exhibition and Australia’s largest nugget collection.

Here the tour guide showed us how miners lived while searching for gold and the size of the gold nuggets found.

replica of one of the largest
gold nuggets ever found

After that we went to David Jones food hall. These are just a small sample of the things sold there. It was overwhelming. I wanted to try everything. Of course I ended up with nothing.

all kinds of pies

yet more pies

quiche galore

cakes

more cakes

For dinner we ate the rack of lamb I marinated the night before.

For the 1st rack of lamb I found this honey & soy marinade in the pantry and poured a generous amount on the lamb.

For the 2nd rack of lamb, I coated the top with Dijon mustard, sprinkled it with salt and pepper and a generous amount of roast lamb seasoning we bought at Coles.

Then I baked it in the oven at 180 C or 350 F until done. No need to sear first. They were both sooo good! Even better than the restaurant. The honey & soy had a sweet touch while the one marinated with the lamb seasoning was very flavorful. I was surprised that the seasoning permeated the meat. It’s the quality and freshness of the lamb that made it so good. We can’t find lamb this good in Manila.

Kings Park and Botanic Garden
Fraser Avenue
West Perth WA 6005

Perth Mint
310 Hay Street
East Perth WA 6004

David Jones
622 Hay Street
Perth, WA 6000
telephone: +61 8 9210 4000

Perth Day 8 – Part 2 Cuddly Farm, McDonalds, Dinner from Coles

P is one lucky kid. He loves animals and there are so many animal farms in Western Australia. We weren’t even looking for one more but stumbled into the last farm this trip, the Cuddly Animal Farm. I pretended to complain but somehow I always end up enjoying these animals.

Below are just some kinds of fowl on the farm. This was the first time I saw a turkey up close.

love Chris’ shots

free tractor ride

charlie and his angels?

free pony ride

look at the goats

“let me up there”

“I’m up!”

“I’m the king of the world”

“my turn”

cute chickens

emu

ducks

Chris catching the duck
(click to enlarge)

Chris and P wanted to try Mcdonald’s in Australia. They had several cakes on display. Too bad none looked good.

Chris tried a chicken tandoori wrap. She said it was yucky.

P had a double quarter pounder. Out of curiousity we tried it. Wow it was good! It was nothing like the ones in Manila, Hong Kong or the USA. It was so juicy and tasty. We ended up buying one more.

We went to Coles supermarket to buy food for dinner at the apartment. These are the things we bought. Most were semi-prepared food that we just had to pop in the oven. We bought roast beef, 2 racks of lamb, a pack of burgers, salad greens, pasta and sauce, soup, mushrooms, sausages, onions and bread. Everything cost around A$100 and provided us with 3 meals. It was really more economical than eating out.

roast beef in wine & pepper A$13.23

pasta sauce

fresh tortellini w/ cheese & spinach

spring lamb soup

lamb sausages

I crumbled some lamb sausages and added it to the pasta sauce. We baked the beef in the oven. I forgot to take a picture of the finished product. Everything turned out good. We had the leftovers for breakfast the next day.

Swan Valley Cuddly Animal Farm
Jonlin Park, 128 John Street,
Henley Brook, WA 6055
telephone: +61 424209730

Perth Day 8 – Part 1 Swan Valley

The Swan Valley is Western Australia’s oldest wine region. It’s just 25 minutes from the city. SwanValley is a one stop area for wine, food, art, scenery and nature. A major attraction is the Swan Valley Food and Wine Trail – a 32 kilometre loop taking in more than 150 attractions including wineries, lively breweries, fine restaurants, bustling cafes, distilleries, shops, accommodation and roadside stalls selling fresh local produce.

What we didn’t know was during the low season in May most of these 150 attractions were opened only on weekends. Only a few were opened certain days of the week. We were armed with a tourist map from the visitor’s center that had the opening hours of all these attractions. It limited the places where we can eat. That’s why we ended up at Waldecks for breakfast.

Waldecks is a big gardening shop that happened to have a small coffee shop inside.

lumberjack cake A$6.50
apple, date and coconut cake

The bagel that’s not really a bagel. It was just ordinary bread shaped to look like a bagel. In a way I was glad it was fake since it was light and thin and not as filling had it been a real bagel.

bagel sandwich w/ bacon, egg & cheese

Mondo Nougat is one of the more popular places to visit in Swan Valley. They sell several kinds of nougat in different kids of packaging. From bite size pieces to small bars to humongous bars.

They also have a dessert chiller with some interesting sweets. We bought one each of the desserts below to eat back at the apartment.

fig & walnut tart A$4.50

tartina pistachio A$5.50

rum baba A$4.50

Since Warren hasn’t been to any winery we went to Jarrah Ridge Wines for some tasting. We didn’t buy any wine but ended up buying marinated olives, parmesan & garlic cheese and Cocoa Farm chocolates.

We went to The Margaret River Chocolate Company again. I like the Swan valley branch better than the one at MR because this branch had a small cafe and more chocolate tastings.

how to taste chocolate

samples of rocky road chocolates

menu (click to enlarge)

Lancaster wines was our next stop. They had wine and cheese samples.

tasting shed

We really liked the 2009 late picked Chenin Blanc dessert wine. It was lightly sweet and fruity. Warren bought 6 bottles.

The Valley’s Secret Garden Café (Waldecks)
506 Great Northern Highway
Middle Swan WA 6230
telephone: +61 8 9274 2339

Mondo Nougat
640 Great Northern Highway
Perth WA 6056
telephone: +61 8 9296 0111

The Margaret River Chocolate Company
5123 West Swan Road
West Swan WA 6055
telephone: +61 8 9250 1588

Jarrah Ridge Wines
651 Great Northern Hwy, Swan Valley,
Herne Hill, WA 6056
telephone: +61 8 9296 6337

Lancaster Wines
5228 West Swan Road
West Swan WA 6055
telephone: +61 8 9250 6461

Perth Day 7 – Part 2 Caversham Wildlife Park, James St. Kitchen

In the afternoon we went to Caversham Wildlife Park in Swan Valley because P hasn’t had enough of looking at animals. We had more than enough so only Warren went in with him. Admission is A$22 for adults and A$8 for kids (3 to 14).

But after seeing these pictures I wonder if we made the right decision. There were more animals here than Country Life Farm or Wonky Windmill Farm.

docile kangaroos

camel ride A$6

shearing sheep

the reason why I didn’t go

ultra cute & fat wombat

koala

Since we skipped lunch we were hungry for Chinese food. We went to James St. Kitchen in Northbridge as recommended by Ralph.

Warren got carried away and ordered way too much. But it was all soooo good.

wintermelon soup

This is one of the best roast duck I’ve ever eaten. The skin is so crisp and the meat so tender and juicy. Usually the skin is soft. I don’t know how they managed to make it so crisp even with the sauce on the duck.

roast duck

This pork dish definitely needed lots of rice. The sauce was so flavorful from the preserved vegetables.

Pork Belly with Preserved Vegetables

crispy seafood noodles

tow miaw veggies

This is the first time we’ve tried wasabi beef. It was different and delicious. The wasabi was mild but added a kick to the dish. I was so busy eating I didn’t notice that my pictures were blurred.

wasabi beef

The waiter was dumbfounded to see a total wipe out. And to think we were worried Warren ordered too much. The bill was A$150. Not bad for all these food. This included bottomless rice too.

After seeing how we devoured everything, the waiter presented us with another challenge. Free dessert! I passed on the sweet soup since I was too full and I’m not fond of red beans. Rochelle loved it and ate 3 bowls. I don’t know where she put it.

glutinous rice and red bean soup

James St Kitchen
109 James St., Northbridge
Perth, WA, 6003
telephone: +61 8 9227 1437

Perth Day 7 – Part 1 Restaurants in Fremantle

On our second day in Perth we drove our rental car to Fremantle. It’s supposed to be a 20 minute drive but we got confused with some exits in the freeway so it took us a bit longer than that.

Fremantle town hall

There were so many restaurants and shops in Fremantle. We could spend days here. Unfortunately Fremantle Markets with its 150 stalls was closed. We found out that they only open on Friday to Sunday.

We had breakfast in Culley’s Tea Rooms. They had a big variety of pies, baked goods, sandwiches and some hot meals.

pies galore

roast lamb sandwich A$5.10

I had the sausage roll because the steak and mushroom pie was out of stock. I didn’t like it because the sausage filling was too soft and mushy. It’s a good thing P liked it.

sausage roll A$2.20

Their quiche was delicious. We tried 2 kinds.

spinach & broccoli quice A$4.10

quiche lorraine A$4.10

After breakfast we walked around Fremantle. These are just some of the restaurants that caught my interest.

I like the kind of food Pure and Natural sells. If only we had something similar in Manila.

pure and natural

chicken lasagne

spinach & cheese filo, beef bacon & cheese roll
spinach & cheese roll

chicken wraps

outdoor seating

Australia really loves pies. Jesters is a chain selling all sorts of interesting pies. I wish I had space in my tummy to try the lambinator pie.

interesting lambinator pie A$4.50

Boost juice bar

Voglio gelato, pizza

fruity pops

gelato

pizza

The architecture in Fremantle looks similar to New Orleans doesn’t it?

I wanted to try everything in Croissant Express!

croissants w/ different fillings

pastries galore

bagel sandwiches

Alibaba & 40 Dishes Cafe

mmm shawarma!

baklava & other Turkish pastries

We finally gave in and had dessert at Fremantle Bakehouse.

I just love, love, love this plum & ricotta crumble. I love the contrast of tart, sweet, creamy and crunchy all in one dessert. All of us shared this single slice.

plum & ricotta crumble

Scots Presbyterian Church

Fremantle Markets (closed)

our rental Camry behind a cute electric car

If and when we go back to Perth we’re definitely going to Fremantle on a weekend and have breakfast, lunch and dinner there. Now I understand why many forumers online suggest that tourists stay in Fremantle instead of Perth CBD. The restaurants I featured here were just on one street! There were several streets and much more restaurants in Fremantle we have to explore.

Perth Day 6 – Part 2 Acacia Apartment & Sorrento restaurant

When we decided to go to Perth we searched the internet for an apartment to stay in. Our requirements were a two bedroom/two bathroom apartment since there were 4 adults and 1 child in our group. We found what we were looking for at City West accomodations. We chose this apartment because of it’s location and bus accessibility.

Mounts Bay rd. where our apartment was located on a nice street lined with a hospital and several apartment buildings and hotels. The Philippine consulate was a few buildings away.

entrance to the garage

stairs to the apartment

We were quite pleased with this apartment although we liked rooftop apartment in Margaret River more because it was way roomier.

master bedroom

master bathroom

2nd bedroom

2nd bathroom

extra bed for P

P’s fave spot

our fave room

Warren, hubby of Rochelle met us in Perth. Aww touching reunion.

I found the parking system in Perth fascinating. Whether we parked in an open lot, street parking or a parking building we never saw a human being manning the ticket booth like in Manila. Instead we faced all kinds of machines to pay our ticket. We stared at this machine for a while before we got the hang of it.

When my friends found out I was going to Perth they kept telling me there’s nothing to do there and nowhere to eat. I guess they haven’t been to Perth in a long time because there were many places to see and even more restaurants to try. For our 1st dinner we went to Northbridge which was only a few minutes away from our apartment. I was surprised to see 3 streets lined on both sides with restaurants representing every conceivable cuisine.

We chose to eat in Sorrento an Italian restaurant because it had a lot of people eating there. So we figured it must be good. We were right.

We sat outside to enjoy the cool air. Thank goodness there was a gas heater beside our table.

Garlic Bread A$6.00

Oysters Kilpatrick A$16.00
topped with crispy bacon &
Sorrento special sauce

I just loved the lamb chops. The servings were generous too. If you ordered lamb chops in Manila you’d get 3 skinny chops. Here we got 3 triple chops!

Corona di Agnello A$37.00
Lamb rack served with mashed potato,
spinach, mushroom & red wine jus

Everything we ordered was good specially this risotto which was perfectly cooked and chunks of mushroom.

Risotto ai Funghi A$17.00
Arborio rice with porcini, button & field mushroom
tossed with fresh basil & shaved parmesan

Capricciosa A$14.00
Tomato, cheese, ham, mushroom,
olives & anchovies

Sorrento menu

Acacia Apartment
112 Mounts Bay Rd
Perth WA 6000

Sorrento Restaurant
158 James St
Northbridge WA 6003
telephone: +61 8 9328 7461

Margaret River to Perth Day 6 – Part 1 Mammoth Cave & Gnarabup Beach

Our last day in Margaret River was spent in Mammoth cave. Yey. Since we paid for a pass for all 3 caves we had to see Mammoth cave before we leave Margaret River.

Mammoth cave is the only cave that uses MP3 audio headsets for a self-guided tour.

Italicized text is from here.

Mammoth is an impressive, gothic-like cave that could easily be described as the perfect home for a caveman. Your journey into the cave begins via an elevated boardwalk through towering Karri Forest. As you approach, the mouth of the cave opens wide inviting you in to discover its vast chambers.

Mother Nature thought long and hard about creating Mammoth Cave. In this cave you can see all of nature’s fantastic forces at work. It is truly remarkable. At 500 metres long and 30 metres deep, you will observe many spectacular formations including the Mammoth shawl and the “Karri Forest” flowstone which resembles the unique karri trees of the region.

At the end of your journey through the cave you will climb the stairs up a magnificent doline and exit on the other side of Caves Road (which you have traversed underground).

This time, surrounded by Marri forest, you will have the opportunity to return to your starting point either via a direct trail or a more scenic route that allows you extra time to appreciate the natural surroundings.

scenic route back to the car

After mammoth cave we went to Gnarabup Beach. It was the only day during our entire trip that it didn’t rain. A lot of people also took advantage of the beautiful weather to go to the scenic viewpoint overlooking the beach.

Rochelle and I were freezing while this guy was going surfing. There were already a lot of surfers in the water.

We had lunch at the Udderly Divine Cafe which was just across Candy Cow.

salami on Turkish bread panini

steak burger A$13.50

bacon & egg burger A$11.50

udderly organic veggie burger A$10.50

carrot cake

Udderly Divine Cafe
22 Bussell Hwy, Cowaramup, WA, 6284
telephone: +61 8 97555519

Margaret River Day 5 – Part 3 Woody Nook Wines, Yahava Koffee Works, Melting Pot Glass Studio

The nice lady at Wonky Windmill Farm suggest we have lunch at Woody Nook Wines.

We were amazed at all the business cards stuck on their walls. There were cards from all over the world.

There was even money from different countries on the wall. I had my wallet out looking for Philippine peso to stick on the wall but we saw someone already beat us to it.

Woody Nook’s Nookery Cafe Menu

The soup wasn’t very good. It had a fishy smell and taste.

seafood chowder A$12

kids’s meal – chicken fingers & fries

The steak sandwich was saved by the cheddar cheese and the chutney. The steak itself was very bland.

open msa sirloin steak sandwich A$24
on toasted garlic bread w/ woody nook chutney
cheddar cheese & potato wedges

The taste plate below had several delicious things on it. We loved the venison chorizo and the cheese stuffed red pepper. There was also smoked salmon rolls and pate.

woody nook taste plate for two A$37

more outdoor seating

Chris took this nice pic

Next we headed to Yahava KoffeeWorks for some coffee tasting. Australia doesn’t grow coffee beans. All the beans were imported from around the world and roasted at Yahava.

We can try 3 types of coffee each. Just enough coffee after lunch.

They sold all kinds of coffee cups and accessories.

We went back to Margaret River early. It was the first time we had a chance to walk around town while the stores were still open. We went to the Melting Pot glass studio to watch a demo of glass blowing.

As luck would have it we just missed the demonstration. Gerry took pity on us and gave us a mini demo.

This gas furnace is left open 24 hours a day.

Some of Gerry Reilly’s glass works.

I loved this glass door chime.

This was our last night in Margaret River so we had to finish everything in the refrigerator. We had this A$1 bag of mixed greens to which we added sliced kiwi, vintage cheddar cheese and balsamic vinegar dressing for our dinner salad.

Hokkien noodles from Chow A$11.50

cheese & dried figs, salad, noodles and taramosalata

that’s a perfect soft boiled egg!

This is our favorite discovery from Coles. It’s a Greek fish roe spread called taramosalata. It’s salty and creamy with the consistensy of sour cream. It’s colored pink. It’s great with bread or crackers.

We’re fooling around in bed trying to take a self portrait. We’re quite sad to leave Margaret River.

Woody Nook Wines
506 Metricup Road
Wilyabrup WA 6280
telephone: +61 8 97557547

Yahava KoffeeWorks
213 Carter Rd, Willyabrup
PO Box 109, Vasse, WA 6280
telephone: +61 8 9755 7665

Melting Pot Glass Studio
91 Bussell Hwy, PO Box 265
Margaret River 6285 WA
telephone: +61 8 97572252

Margaret River Day 5 – Part 2 Shearing Shed & Wonky Windmill Farm

After Country Life Farm we went to Shearing Shed to catch the live show. We arrived late and missed seeing the shearing of the sheep, sheepdogs in action mustering and working the sheep and bottle feeding the baby lambs. Show times are only at 11:00 am and we arrived ten minutes after.

Even if we missed the show the owners of the store gave P a bag of food to feed the sheep.

More animals please. Our next stop was Wonky Windmill Farm. We didn’t know what to expect since we just saw this on a brochure and decided to go there at the last minute since it was near the Shearing Shed.

Only Rochelle and her son P went on this animal petting expedition. After paying the fee they were given a small bag of food for the animals. It was a tiny paper bag filled with some veggies. It wasn’t enough unlike the pails of carrots we were given at Country Life Farm.

Chris and I stayed in the store and tried out the jams, olive oils, vinegars and dukkah.

giant bush of rosemary

Rochelle said there were more kinds of animals here and the place was more organized. But the animals were more shy of humans. Maybe because this place was new.

Yallingup Shearing Shed

Lot 115 Wildwood Road, Yallingup
telephone: +61 9755 2309

Wonky Windmill Farm
218 Yelverton Nth Rd, Yelverton
Margaret River Wine Region
telephone: +61 9755 7201

Margaret River Day 5 – Part 1 Country Life Farm

Today is all for P, Rochelle’s son who had to suffer so many days of adult places. He loves animals so we went to Country Life Farm to pet some animals. I thought I would be bored but I really had fun.

We were provided with small pails of freshly cut carrots for feeding the animals. You can always ask for more if you run out.

There were several play areas around the farm like bouncy castles, row boat, bump cars, etc. but most were closed because it was a low season.

Chris feeding a joey or a baby kangaroo

P just loved the rabbits. He stayed here the whole time we were at the farm.

I on the other hand couldn’t wait to get out of there. The guinea pigs gave me the heebie jeebies when they flocked at my feet. They reminded me of rats. Somehow the guinea pigs, rabbits, chickens, birds all co-existed peacefully in the same enclosure.

The farm didn’t have many animals but they had one or two of each specie. I kept waiting for this peacock to open it’s tail but to no avail.

“honey look at those two, wink.. wink..”

bird 1, “stop moving”
bird 2, “get off me you louse!”

“hiya mate! my name is Joe”

I just like this pic

This is where Chris and I spent all our time. It was a hoot feeding the llamas and goat. I loved the goat. It had attitude. If we fed a llama beside him he’d headbutt the llama.