Having a chance to visit Perth (again) this winter time has really delighted me. Been here, studied here and lived here for sometimes makes me feel emotionally bound to this city. Of course one way or another many have said that Perth is relatively quiet as compared to eastern coast cities such as Melbourne and Sydney, but I personally think that what makes Perth differs and unique from others, laidback, not rushing, beautiful weather this time.
I stayed in my host-parents’ house where I used to live when I was here years ago. A beautiful cozy house with italian flare I would say (since my hostparents are Italian) plus that it is convenient to either catch a bus or a train.
/DAY1
my sister and I were craving to have lunch at this Japanese canteen called ‘tanpopo tea-house’ that is located near our former school called St. Mark’s somewhere in Mt. Lawley; so we decided to take bus from the city to go there. Surprisingly St. Mark’s is not there anymore, either they have closed down or relocated somewhere else. Our school building has been transformed to a city-loft style of apartments block. In addition ‘tanpopo’ too has relocated itself from the corner of the small supermarket to now its own shop across the street. Still the best menu we rave is the Teriyaki Chicken Katsu.
The rest of the day we strolled the city and not forgotten to visit Jaws sushi shop in front of GPO where we used to have our post-school-mid-day hunger fixed plus Miss Maud too (you will not find miss maud anywhere else except in this city!). Everything on display is soooo good!!
/DAY2
The next day we decided to go for Cicerellos even before we plan to go to Perth this time, so Fremantle is the answer. Same old school style of fish and chips but we love it. Luckily that we did not order one for each, instead we ordered one and we shared and even that successfully made everybody full. Huge portion that is. After that big brunch we strolled upon cappucino strip – that is a street where all the coffee shops are located and yes, they all offer cappucino! If you are not into coffee then the famous gelare shop is just around the corner (Yes, we do have ones in Indo but trust me it tastes somehow different!). We spent the rest of the day in the city, try to navigate our way since the city itself has been progressively renovated and relocated, in a good way of course; bought some snacks australian made in woolworths and plus not forgetting our favourite Baker’s Delight!! If you ask me what is good there, I always love it’s banana cake.
/DAY3
When we were students here, we did not really spend our time to go to the countryside or visit other suburbs that are famous for local produced items, so this time we decided to embark on half-day tour for farm and winery visit. The tour starts at 9 in the morning and lasts for 4 hours.
Our first stop was Margaret River Chocolate factory, massive chocolate display and extensive chocolate variants to choose from. I do not really like the chocolate but the home-made ice cream was something to-die-for! Next stop was Caversham wildlife park where you could see and experience the Australian outback. I have been to similar place before when I was in excursion for my English course but I could not remember where it was. So that was Caversham park, full of koalas, kangaroos, snakes, lizards, dingos and so on.
After that we went to one of the well-known wineries in the region located in Swan Valley called Lancaster. I am not into alcoholic drinks either, but its own produced dessert wines have blown me away! Good review on this one that I finally bought one for my host mum.
Last stop is the nougat factory which I think it runs by an Italian family too. You can ask for free sample before you decide which to buy, ranging from hard nougat, soft nougat, plus more than 10 flavours to choose from. This stop would make up the whole half-day tour and we were happy!
One thing that has never changed, dinner is always a fiesta or a celebration. My host mum would normally cook more than 2 dishes plus salad and dessert, so the dinner menu would be something like:
/Appetiser
Traditional style cannelloni with ricotta and spinach filling
/Main Course
Beer battered baked fish with mixed garden salad and olive, balsamic dressings
/Sweet Ending
Home-made banana custard, raspberry crumble sponge cake and ice cream
/After dinner
Selection of cookies and lemon cake
Last but not least, enjoy some shoots here. Perth anyone?
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