Shoot First Eat Later

Singapore Day 11 – Dinner at Crystal Jade Kitchen

In Perth we went sight seeing, wine tasting, cave exploring. In Singapore it’s all about the food and shopping. We had our first dinner in Singapore at Crystal Jade Kitchen. It was the 1st weekend for the Great Singapore Sale and the malls were packed. We ate at 9:00 pm and still had to wait for a table.

Warren ordered this set menu for 4 and some additional dishes since we had 2 additional adults with us. Warren’s brother Nono and his friend Ralph arrived from Manila and met up with us in Singapore.

salted fish & chicken fried rice

peking duck

braised shark’s fin w/ sea cucumber,
fish maw, bamboo pith & pig’s tendon

stewed duck meat w/ bittergourd

fried fish

stewed ox trotter w/ radish & shallots

Everything was good except this curry noodles. It was so bad no one touched it. The sauce tasted weird and nothing like curry.

curry noodles

Crystal Jade Kitchen
Ngee Ann City #B2-36
Tel: 6238 1411

Singapore Day 11 – SQ Food Perth to Singapore, Traders Hotel, The Line at Shangri-La Hotel

We took flight SQ216 and that meant leaving Perth at 1:05 am and arriving in Singapore at 6:25 am. This was the meal served on the flight.

I’m glad I woke up to eat. It was one of the best chicken curry I’ve ever eaten! The other meals we had in Singapore airlines were blah but this was so good.

Curry Ayam
Malay style chicken in spicy coconut gravy

We arrived at 6:25 am and we were all so sleepy. We even fell asleep in the taxi on the way to Traders Hotel.

What I liked about Traders hotel is it’s connected to Tanglin Mall where there are shops, cafes, restaurants, a supermarket and pharmacy. There’s also complimentary scheduled shuttle buses to Orchard Road, the Shangri-La Hotel, Singapore, Suntec City, Shenton Way and selected business districts, and the Orchard Road MRT station is a short walk away. There’s also free internet connection in the rooms and free wi-fi in the lobby.

The room was nice, clean and just the right size. The bathroom was small though. It was a 1 person at a time size bathroom.

Orchard road is about a 10 minute walk from our hotel.

view from our room

Despite being so sleepy when we found out that’s Chris’ HS friend from Manila who now lives in Singapore was going to treat us for lunch we were suddenly wide awake. Her friend Tecky treated all of us to lunch at The Line restaurant in Shangri-La hotel. The restaurant served International cuisine spread over 16 culinary stations. I didn’t even get to see all those stations.

Chris and her HS classmates in a mini reunion
Marian, Chris, Pam and Tecky

satay station

naan station

dimsum & chinese station

roast meat station

noodle station

Indian station

The food was amazing! Everything I tried was good but after I had half of my favorite Laksa I was full.

laksa

I was surprised to see Yorkshire pudding with the roast beef. Reminded me of Lawry’s The Prime Rib where they serve the yummiest Yorkshire puddings. The Yorkshire pudding here was overcook and dried out.

roast beef and Yorkshire pudding

Techy had the inside scoop in this restaurant. She told us we can order cheese and fruit naan even though it wasn’t listed on the menu at the naan station. The problem was she told us about it when we were already so full. Neverthelesss we tried it. The cheese naan tasted like pizza. The naan with dried fruit was different but still good. We wanted to take home the leftovers badly.

cheese naan

dried fruit naan

desserts overload

my dessert plate

Should I even tell you what we did after lunch? Zzzzzzzz. Thanks again Tecky for the fabulous lunch!

Traders Hotel
1A Cuscaden Road
249716 Singapore
telephone: (65) 6738 2222

The Line
Shangri-La Hotel
22 Orange Grove Road
258350 Singapore
telephone: (65) 6737 3644

Perth Day 10 – Bell Tower, Jade Restaurant, Valentino Restaurant

It’s our last day in Perth. We went to the last attraction in our list of place to go in Perth, the Bell Tower. The Bell Tower is like one huge musical instrument. The bells in the tower have a long history from 14th century England up to its final home in Perth.

We caught the demo done by this lady ringing the bells. I don’t know how old she was but she must have strong arms. We tried pulling the ropes and they were heavy. She’s been doing this for more than 10 years.

These heavy ropes are connected to the bells which can be seen on the 5th floor. We also caught the 45 minute bell ringing demo done by 18 people who pull the ropes at different intervals thus creating a medley of bells. This is definitely a great work-out for arms.

18 bells

Watch Bellringers in action!
General ringing demos: Monday, Tuesdays and Thursdays 12:00pm-1:00pm Saturday and Sunday 12:00pm-1:00pm

I took these shots from the roof deck of the Bell Tower.

wheel of Perth

Warren and P rode the the Wheel of Perth which is just next door. The wheel is a 50 metre high modern day Ferris Wheel with 36 Gondolas or Cabins all of which are fully air-conditioned. Entrance is A$15 dollars for adults and $10 for kids.

Warren took these pictures from the ferris wheel.

Perth CBD

We had lunch at Jade Dynasty Chinese Seafood Restaurant in Northbridge. The dimsum wasn’t bad but it was a far cry from my favorite dimsum restaurant in Hong Kong.

fried taro puff

fried octopus

har gaw or shrimp dumplings

siu mai

chicken feet

beef hofan

This was the best dimsum we ate. The dough was light, crisp and flaky. The char siu filling was a perfect foil to the crisp crust.

baked barbecued pork bun

After lunch we took a walk around Murray and Hay street malls. I liked this whole block because it had several arcades, specialty stores and big department stores that are side by side in an area closed to traffic. It would be easy to spend a whole day here. Too bad we didn’t have enough time to shop.

Our flight was at 1:00 am so we had an early dinner at Valentino Restaurant at Northbridge again. We had all our meals at Northbridge. It would be easy to eat there for a week without repeating a restaurant.

The food was fantabulous! The pizza was almost perfect.

prosciutto pizza A$19.50
prosciutto, rocket & romano shavings

The risotto was too sinful. It was too good and creamy. The only problem was it didn’t have enough rice. It’s a good thing 4 adults shared one order. It’s too rich for one person to eat on its own.

risotto de pollo A$22.00
sautéed chicken, mushroom, avocado &
camembert bound in a creamy risotto

Goodbye Perth and Margaret River. We really had fun seeing all the natural wonders that God created in this part of the world. The wine and the food are also excellent. Even before we left we were already planning on our next trip back.

The Bell Tower
Barrack Square
Riverside Drive,
Perth, Western Australia

Jade Dynasty Chinese Seafood Restaurant
40 Francis St
Northbridge 6003 WA
telephone: +61 8 92289619

Valentino Restaurant
Cnr James & Lake Streets
Northbridge 6003 WA
telephone: +61 8 93282177

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.