Saturday, July 07, 2007

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...

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nice, never been to Adelaide before, but judging from the photos of their buildings, I think I'll like the city. :) Looking forward to post 2.

Anonymous said...

Like cc, I too have never been to Adelaide nor Perth. I think every city in Australia have their oldest Arcade.
I like my spaghetti marinara sauce not too thick. :))
How do you find the water in Adelaide? Nasty tasting and not too clean?
Ok, not crying yet. Good post.

Anonymous said...

Why .. is Adelaide famous for dirty water?

Rasa Malaysia said...

Great that you get to go travel and eat good food for a little bit. Have fun!

Kok said...

cc: It's a small city with some nice buildings. You have take a break and have a holidays there. :P

Aunty Judy: Australia has lots of Arcade in every city. To me, it's the same. haha!

Hmm...then you'll love the Marinara Spaghetti at Scoozi.

Water in Adelaide ah? I was told that the water was dirty and all that but then, nothing leh. It tasted the same to me.

Hehe. I don't wanna make you cry lah, Aunty Judy. :P

mum in miri: I was understood that the water in Adelaide is the dirties among all the states in Australia. In other states, we can drink the water directly from the tap except for Adelaide.

rasa malaysia: Yea, this is the first time I get to travel to other states in Australia after 4 years in Perth. hehe. And we, men, don't shop. So, the only thing we do is eat eat eat! haha!

Anonymous said...

wow! looks nice, sounds fun, and the food looks delicious as usual! good that u enjoyed urself! =)

My Rantings said...

Ohh... you, I mean your trip, brings back so much memories of Adelaide. Rundle Mall still looks the same, although I don't remember having KFC there then 20 years ago (OMG, is it that long ago? I know, me also old liao! :P)

The 2 balls have always been there but the pigs are new to me.

Hindley St is not a sort of red district, it IS a red light area. I used to work in a Malaysian restaurant right smack in the middle of the st. Everytime I walked to work, I had to pass by alot of sleazy shops & ppl. Never dared to venture into one of the shops though! :P

I don't remember the water being dirty then.

Kok said...

jane: Find one day, go and visit Lee. She'll be very happy. haha!

dancing queen: Wah, 20 years ago? That's long long time leh! :P Like what I told Jane, find one day and visit my sis, she'll be more than happy to welcome you.

The balls were there for almost 20 years? Aiyoyo, means, they're older than me??? haha!

Is it? But when I was at the junction there (before I go right into the middle of the street), it seems to me that it's just a normal street leh. Maybe I should explore more there. haha! There's a Malaysian restaurant there? Famous or not ah? You still dare to work there ah? Not bad, not bad. If my sis worked there and my mum found out, hah, my sis sure gets lot of scoldings. haha!

Hmm...maybe only in recent years, the water is contaminated. Not quite sure bout that...

My Rantings said...

Come to think of it, yeah hor, when I was studying there, you were running around in your diapers with a pacifier in your mouth probably! Hehe! :D

Shionge said...

Whoa!! Thanks for 'bringing' me to Adelaide and can't wait for part 2 :D

Nice food, I love california sushi roll and lots of wasabi kekekek...

All of you looked great :D

piglet~ said...

how i wish i was thr too... *sobs* more pics here,k? haha

"Joe" who is constantly craving said...

ahah the water is meant to be very "hard" meaning has a strong soil smell..thats its reputable for..

rundle st is full of cafes..theres another 1 called amalfi that serves very good pizza next to cibos b4 on the saw row as the mambo outlet..

u shud hav tried the mussels in the belgian bar..its is damn good!.. nvr tried scuzzis though..

i prefer the sushi rolls or if u cut them up it bcomes makis in david jones food court..dis place is probably new remember walking past it when i dropped by again in january..

Anonymous said...

they say budget flights in aus is really very cheap rite?

Kok said...

dancing queen: Yaloh, I was still drinking milk back then. haha!

shionge: Free virtual tour! haha! Hope you enjoy. :P

That california roll was not really nice lah. But then, with the price, that's the standard. hehe.

All looked great? Now I'm not. Getting fatter after all the good food. :P

piglet: Go Adelaide visit Sharon lah. End of this year. But then, be prepare for the heat if you want to do so at the end of this year. hehe.

Don't worry. More photos are going to be put up soon. ;)

joe: I don't smell anything from the water leh actually. Don't know how they define "dirty".

Ya, Rundle St. is full of cafe and restaurants. I don't remember I saw Amalfi before. Hmm...Maybe I should ask my sis to try it out.

The mussels ah? We're too full to try at that time I guess. haha! We're like eating and drinking non-stop. :P

Aiyo Joe, you should tell me all this earlier. I thought Adelaide no nice food lah. haha!

Jane: Yea, try search for Tiger Airways in Singapore. A lot cheaper!

wonda said...

Wait, Kok, I'll save 10 yen per day, so how many years will it take me to go there? Which do you like best, Adelaide, Melbourne or Perth?

Anonymous said...

nvr know that there are places to visit in adelaide...haha...actually havent been there. So far made my way to all states except south australia n' northen territory.Any plans to visit Uluru?

wmw said...

The piglets look cute...eh, dunno about the two stainless balls though! LOL

Kok said...

Aunty Alice: AUD$1 = 100 yen. To come from M'sia to Perth, you'll rougly need RM2000 = Aud$650 = 650 00 yen. 10 yen per day, you'll need 6500 days. This means, you'll need 17 years + to come here. haha!

Personally, I still like Perth more. Adelaide is too small for me while Melbourne is too big for me. Perth is just nice. Maybe I'm more used to Perth already. 4 years already in Perth leh... hehe.

xiu long bao: Actually there aren't much places to visit in Adelaide. Adelaide is quite a small city. Nothing much. hehe.

Wow, so, you did come to Perth before eh? Any comment?:P

Uluru? Maciam very ulu like that leh. Anything to do there? haha!

wmw: The piglets look real cute. It attracts lots of tourists and also kids. The two balls? Akhem. haha!

Anonymous said...

hmmhmm...perth ah? Small town but peaceful. Luv the scenary + swans (really!) in the park somewhere near....can't remember LOL!

Uluru is in the middle of Oz, @ Alice Spring, neh...the big red rock ah...change colors one, does that ring a bell?

Kok said...

xiu long bao,
Yaya, I prefer Perth more than Adelaide and Melbourne. hehe. The swans? Black or white?

Ohhh! I got it! That one ah? My friend did suggest to me. Hmm... Will try to plan for that. $ is a problem now! Look at the exchange rate! :P

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