Adelaide Day 1

For the next few posts, I'll write about my trip to South and East of Australia. I hope you all won't mind the long winded posts. I just want to jot down everything as memories. ;)

27th June 2007
Few days after my exam, I went to Adelaide and Melbourne for a short holidays. Together with me for the trip was Danny.

As early as 6:30a.m., I woke up and boiled two eggs for my breakfast. It was a torture having to wake up so early during holidays. Danny's sis picked me up to airport at around 7:15a.m. We departed Perth for Adelaide at 9a.m. sharp.

Virgin Blue.

After a 2 hour flight, we finally landed in Adelaide. The weather was cold outside as compared to Perth. However, my sister greeted Danny and I with a warm smile.

We took a bus to the city later on. Danny had to get off the bus before us as he had to take another bus to Melissa's (our high school friend) place. I had to follow my sis to UniSA (University of South Australia) as she had an appointment with her lecturer. I waited her for about an hour. Luckily she logged on to one of the computers for me to use.

After that, both of us carried my luggages and walked back to her house which is about 20 minutes walk from her uni. After I laid my luggages in her room, I went out of the house, leaving my sis with her studies. Her exam is on the next day!

My destination, the famous Rundle Mall, to meet Danny. I had not had my lunch! It's already 3p.m.! After meeting Danny, I told him I have to get something to eat. I didn't want to have full meal cause dinner going to be sumptuous. ;)

Todai Sushi King.

Near Rundle Mall, I found this. It seems to me that people in Adelaide like sushi a lot. Where ever I went, I would see shop selling sushi rolls.

Various sushi rolls.

All the sushi rolls range from Aud$2 - Aud$2.80. There too much to choose from. I was too hungry then, so I just simply chose two of them.

California Roll.

One was "Sushi King" and the other one was "California Roll". Comment? They're just normal sushi rolls. I think Aunty Alice can make better sushi. :P

While munching on my sushi rolls, we wandered around Rundle Mall.

Rundle Mall.

I don't know what's so special about Rundle Mall. Or perhaps, in every state in Australia, there must be one or two famous streets. For your information, in Perth, we have Murray and Hay Street.

Adelaide Arcade.

According to my sis, this is one of the oldest arcade in Adelaide. Is it true? I didn't go into this arcade. I guess it's pretty much the same as the City Arcade in Perth.

Two huge stainless steel balls.

In the middle of Rundle Mall, I saw this two huge stainless steel balls. Again according to my sis, no one, including the locals, understands what's the point putting this two huge balls. Nevertheless, I simply guess it's just an art. Look at the reflection of surface. It's quite nice, isn't it?

Golden pigs.

The four little golden pigs sculpture are located in Rundle Mall. But why they are there? Again, this tickled my curiousity. Is it because Rundle Mall was once famous for a place with lots of pigs? Or is it because the founder of Rundle Mall had four little pigs as pet?

Haigh's Chocolate.

At the far end of Rundle Mall, there's Haigh's Chocolate. Ok, this is one thing Perth doesn't have. I decided to give it a try.

All sorts of chocolates.

I saw different kinds of chocolates there. I was quite amazed at their packaging though. They have very simple packaging; just normal plastic bag. And yet, they have customers coming in non-stop. One of the staff was kind enough to explain a bit of Haigh's Chocolate's history to me. She even offered me some chocolates to sample. I like the dark chocolate. Not too sweet, not too bitter. If you're interested in chocolate making, you can join a free tour organised by Haigh's Chocolate. All you need to do is to call them for booking.

Hindley St.

King William St. separates Rundle Mall and Hindley St. I was told that Hindley St. is sort of Adelaide's red district area. ;)

After walking and exploring the city of Adelaide, both Danny and I were quite happy as it was dinner time! Melissa decided to bring us to an Italian restaurant for dinner.

Full house?

Scoozi Cafe Bar is located at the East End of Rundle St. We were quite lucky to find seats which can accommodate all of us.

Left to right: Din, Sharon, Danny (behind), me and Oliver. (Melissa was holding the camera)

Those who joined the dinner were Din, Sharon, Oliver, Melissa, Danny and I. Din studied in the same college as I was in Miri whereas the others were my secondary school mates. It was sort of a gathering for us. It was nice to meet some old friends. We had so much to talk about.

Complimentary bread.

Our dinner started off with a basket of complimentary bread. The bread was fresh and I like it.

Seafood spaghetti.

I ordered a serve of seafood spaghetti @ Marinara Spaghetti. "Spaghetti tossed with fresh seafood, garlic, tomato, shallots and olive oil in a light tomato salsa" is the description from the menu. I still prefer the Marinara Spaghetti I had at Ciao Italia. Maybe because it only had light tomato salsa. I like the sauce to be thick.

Wood oven pizza.

Danny and Melissa decided to try the wood oven pizza. It was half smoked salmon and half "forgot-what-flavour" pizza. The crust was thin and it's not overly baked. Personally, I think more cheese should be added. I couldn't really taste any cheese.

Pappardelle.

Din and Sharon shared a serve of Pappardelle. It was tossed with chicken, spanish onion, baby spinach and porcini mushroom in a light white wine and cream sauce, finished with mascarpone cheese (again from the menu). I didn't manage to try this. Thus, no comment on this. Maybe Sharon can give a review on this. ;)

Oliver ordered another kind of Pappardelle which was cooked in a different way. I didn't manage to take a photo of that as he was quite hungry to start gobbling his food. The only complaint from him was that the serve was quite small.

After dinner, Melissa or Oliver suggested us to try the Belgian beer at the nearby bar.

Inside the bar.

The bar is not big and there're not a lot of customers at that time. Maybe the night was still young.

"What would you like, Sir?"

I'm not a fan of beer but since it's highly recommended by Oliver, I decided to give it a try.

Hoegaarden beer.

Both Danny and Oliver got themselves a large glass each while I got myself a small glass. I'm not a good drinker anyway.

Sharon, you can drink such a large glass of beer meh?

The beer is light and not that bitter. Although it tasted alright to me, I still couldn't finish that small glass of beer. It's just too much for me! Luckily I had another drinker beside me who helped me finish off the remaining beer. :P

The night didn't end after that. I think we have too much to catch up. Therefore, we went to another nearby cafe for coffee.

Cakes, ice cream, coffee, hot chocolate etc.

Alfresco offers all sorts of drinks and snacks. I was too full by then. I think everyone felt the same.

A cup of coffee will do.

It was raining a bit outside. I decided to get myself a cup of coffee to keep myself warm. There, we chit-chatted for a while before we finally gave up and called it a day.

It was a long day that day. I was looking forward for the remaining days in Adelaide. Somemore, my sis would be able to accompany me after her exam the next day.

Adelaide Day 2 coming soon...