Category: Going Places

My travelogue.

Melbourne (13/2/13-16/2/13) – Part 2

Posted on By sweet surrender 2 Comments on Melbourne (13/2/13-16/2/13) – Part 2

Day 2, it’s hop on and hop off day. We went to catch The Melbourne Visitor Shuttle somewhere opposite IMAX Melbourne Museum and Melbourne Museum to start our journey.

However, we decided to visit the museum first and decided to take the next bus.


We didn’t go to watch the 3D movies, we just walked around the museum.


There’s a section where you can experience the nature.

After the museum, we took the next free bus to tour the city. The bus was very crowded and it’s only running in one direction unlike Adelaide’s where they have clockwise and anti-clockwise free city loop bus. So, if you’re planning to take the free ride, be prepared to stand or squeeze the whole journey which took 90 minutes or so.

We did not alight the bus at all, until we reach the Chinatown stop. Basically we circled the whole route.


The day was pretty hot so it’s a good thing to just stay on the bus especially when you have 3 elderly with you.




Some of the views I took while on the bus. Quite hard to take photos even though I was sitting next to the window because the air conditioning water kept flowing down the window -.-“.

More post of day 2 coming.

Going Places, Hop On & Off - Melbourne

Melbourne (13/2/13-16/2/13) – Part 1

Posted on By sweet surrender 4 Comments on Melbourne (13/2/13-16/2/13) – Part 1

Goodness! This happened almost 2 months back hehehe… My family was in Adelaide and Melbourne for about 10 days in February during the CNY period. Now, only I update this post. Not updating anything for the Adelaide trip as basically I brought them places I’ve been to before. So, will just talk about Melbourne.


Went to Melbourne on morning of 13th March. We took Tiger Airways. It landed at Terminal 4, pathetic terminal -.-” LCCT is much better than this. At least it’s near to the main terminal so you don’t have to worry that you are too far away from civilization.


We hired a maxi cab (from airport to the CBD AUD70+ due to jam along the way) to our rented apartment at Little Londsdale Street called Ozstays Katz Apartment. It’s very central. Not bad. The reception counter is not located at the lobby of the building but instead it’s next door. We ended up calling them to ask. Not bad for the location and price.


It’s a Bedroom Apartments – Superior. There’s free broadband Internet. It’s a plus but no use for us as none of us had a laptop but smartphones.


Self-contained. Not many people know about it, rather new I guess and quite seclude. The whole stay cost us AUD800+ if not mistaken.


However, one down side, no fan in both bedrooms. So we had to rely on the air-conditioner outside, so it means you can’t sleep with the door closed. There’s no air circulation at all in both rooms as the window or glass door were locked. Other than that, we’re happy with the stay there.


After taking a rest, we went out to discover the city. I don’t like big city. Stressed me out. Traffic was horrible and people were not as kind. It’s scary to drive on the road just like any big city. Adelaide is still the best for me. We went to look for Space Hotel first as it’s our pick up point for our coming Great Ocean Road trip. It’s not far away. Less than 5 minutes walk but it took us half hour to locate it as well… Hopeless with map ;p


Then after that, we went over to the The Old Melbourne Gaol. Wasn’t in our plan, we didn’t where to go so just simply dropped it as we came across it along the way. We were just outside.


Left: RMIT is just next to it. That’s part of RMIT building. The gates around lead to the university.

Right: Very old tram. Seriously very old, really not my cup of tea. It’s one of Melbourne’s attractions. Going up and down of it wasn’t very easy too. -.-”

Before heading back, we went to QV to get our groceries for dinner. That’s the end of our first day in Melbourne.

Going Places, Hop On & Off - Melbourne, Personal Events

Adelaide Pho

Posted on By sweet surrender 2 Comments on Adelaide Pho

Adelaide Pho, it’s known to be the best pho in Adelaide CBD. Well… Well… Maybe… I don’t know as I don’t eat pho in the CBD, most of the time we would go to the Vietnamese area for it.


Adelaide Pho is located at 199 Waymouth Street. We went there because we had got no idea where to eat after coming back from Robe.


As usual, whenever I’m in a Vietnamese eatery, I’ll order its pho, nothing else but pho (pronounce it as something like “fur” with very light sound of “r” *LOL*). What’s pho? It’s a Vietnamese dish consisting of broth, noodles made from rice, a few herbs, and meat. The best? Sorry… Not the best for me. Even my friends wasn’t satisfied with it. It didn’t manage to satisfy our craving for pho. I ordered Pho Tai Nam that consisted of fresh slice and cooked beef (small, AUD9) that’s why the meat is pink.


Left: Combination rice (large, AUD11.50). Too bad, They don’t have broken rice. This is just your normal steamed rice. Usually you’ll find broken rice in Vietnamese restaurant but strangely not this one.

Right: Crispy chicken egg noodle (not sure it’s large-AUD10.50 or small-AUD9.50.)

Overall, the portion was quite standard, price was pretty much the same as other places. Some how the pho wasn’t up to my expectations.

By the way, you’ll get charged with 50 cents/person for a bottle of water! What the heck?!? Normally you won’t get charged for just tap water unless you asked for bottled water(spring/mineral water). What’s more at this type of eatery. Sorry… It didn’t go well with us as far as we know, we didn’t get charged like this at other places, it should be complimentary. 50 cents to wash a glass, guess that’s why.

Will I come back again? No… One reason is that it’s not up to my expectations and another reason is the charges of requesting for a bottle of tap water. I won’t be back in Adelaide in any near future anyway so it doesn’t make a difference. I guess this is the worst feeback I have after posting so many posts about eateries in Adelaide.

Finding Myself - Adelaide, Food Porn

Wah Hing Chinese Restaurant

Posted on By sweet surrender No Comments on Wah Hing Chinese Restaurant

My first farewell dinner, happened exactly one month before I left. It was a treat from a friend. Was the most expensive farewell dinner.


Left: We had problem in deciding where to have the dinner. Ended up he suggested Wah Hing at 85 Gouger Street, Adelaide. This place is known to be quite expensive. I dined here once before. However, when the first time I was there, I wasn’t in very good mood. Everything I ate tasted nothing, I ate for the sake of eating.

Right: This wasn’t in the menu. No idea how much was it. My friend requested for something spicy and we were recommended with this. Chicken strips with dried chili. It’s so spicy but it tasted great!


Left: String Beans with Garlic and chilli (AUD9), at least they got the vegetable right. It wasn’t overcooked as most places got this bean overcooked and became very dry.

Middle: Fresh Scallop Steamed with Ginger and Shallots (AUD19.80), it’s recommended by my friend. Absolutely divine! In fact, it’s my first time having fresh steamed scallop.

Right: Ordered a bottle of white wine, Pizzini Pinot Grigio 2012 by King Valley. It’s great with seafood. Not sure of the price too, the market price range between AUD18+ to AUD20+. I only drank very little, wasn’t in the mood to drink while my friend finished the rest of the bottle.

The final bill came up to more than AUD100! -.-” Overall, indeed it’s a place that serves decent food but with a high price tag while the portion was medium in size.

Finding Myself - Adelaide, Food Porn

Osteria

Posted on By sweet surrender 2 Comments on Osteria

It’s a good thing that almost all the eateries I went to in Adelaide have a website with their menu published. If not, I will have problem recalling what I had ordered.


My friend brought me Osteria located at 205, Glen Osmond Rd, Frewville, as she was craving for its Spaghetti al Cartoccio.


Left: Complimentary when you dine there. Love the olive oil! YUM! The cheedar chesse was for our pasta.
Right: I ordered Bucatini amatriciana (AUD21.90). It consisted of cured pork, chilli, basil in a light tomato sugo. Regretted it. Should order something else. I didn’t expect so much lard in there. Rather gross I must say. I had no idea what it was, I just simply ordered. That’s the main problem *LOL* The pasta was good though.


Spaghetti al Cartoccio (AUD26.90), spaghetti with crab, tomato and a hint of chilli, steamed in a paper bag. Chili can be requested too. It was served in the paper bag. To eat, you have to pour the content out on the plate hence you don’t see the bag here.

We couldn’t finish our food so we had them packed for takeaway. It took me another 2 meals to finished mine -.-

Finding Myself - Adelaide, Food Porn