Winter in Perth 2014 (Day 1 and 2)

First travel blog post on our 2 weeks trip to Perth, Australia in June/July 2014.

This is our first solo family trip abroad (2 adults to 2 kids). Previously we had travel abroad with the kids but with additional help from our extended families members! So, along with the excitement, there are also some uncertainties as I will need to spend a few days with the two kids alone while hubby is working.

Before I share our travel journey, I have compile a few humble tips for those who wanted to travel to Perth in Winter. You can read about them here.

Our Perth Travel Journey...

Day 1

Hubby and me has been contemplating if we wanted to go Perth for holiday during their winter. Initially was tempted to book the flight during a Scoot Father's Day promotion but hold off because we saw the weather forecast will be raining during the days that we wanted to come, plus weather is cold and we are worried that the kids will not be able to adapt....but at very last minute, we booked our air ticket to Perth .. i think this is our most impromptu trip.. Booked air ticket less than one week before the trip, book hotel 1-2 days before arriving and we haven't even book some of the hotels for the later part of our trip...Only packed few days before coming.... so last minute...

And so the day has come, and that morning our flight is at 7.45am... (took such an early flight cause the later flight doesn't have promotion... ), so the kids and us woke up at 5am in the morning to get ready.... Look at them... wake up so early and still have time to watch tv... well, they need something t occupy their time while daddy and mummy busy packing and making sure everything is switch off and cleared before leaving for our 2 weeks trip!


Finally, manage to leave house at 5.45am, took a cab and reached airport at 6.15am.. we already check in online so its was quite fast to check in. The check in lady is helpful and smiley, luggage is about 14 and 19kg respectively and we will have some extra space to bring back food and souvenirs :) We were advised to check in stroller just before boarding the plane rather than at the baggage check in area so that the stroller will be able to be collected faster at perth airport...



While we busy checking in, the kids found their fun activities too.... Sometimes I must admit that they are really creative....

Playing with jie jie
So fun ya....
We were quite hungry and couldn't wait till the food on airplane, so decided to go for a quick breakfast ...had a english breakfast set meal... well, food is mediocre... croissant not nice, sausages are ok. Plus the waiting time wasnt that fast.. need 10-15 mins to prepare the meal...The kids are more excited about the sweet that they will get after the meal.. so quickly eat their meal so that they can get the sweets.

The toilet at Terminal 3 is very new... and with lots of amenities....including:

Dressing room


Places for ladies to make up and freshen up


Interior of toilet also very clean and pretty



The mediocre breakfast...
After breakfast, almost time to board... or should i say the passengers has started boarding... we quickly go to the A17 gate where we are supposed to board... then realise that still have to take sky train!!   My God... luckily the train arrived in less than a minute...

Skytrain 
Safely goes through immigration check and no more people q-ing to board.. I guess we are the last few passengers....all the air steward and stewardess are very friendly and nice...direct us to our seats, hot towel to freshen up...

Kids busy servicing mummy, one help button my jacket and another one help me to buckle up
We didn't manage to get window seat so was pointing to Jaclyn to see how the airplane takes off but she can't really see so wasn't that excited... but she is very happy with her seats, one pillow one each side, safely buckle up, ready to take off! 

Once we are up in the air, the air stewardess gave the kids some toys.. i guess she has mistaken Jaclyn for boy and gave her a book featuring avenger, some boy cartoon... so i requested for them to give her the mickey soft toy that Justin has gotten.. now, Justin has been freed from the safety belt.. started his little explorer mode. Initially breastfeed him and he fall asleep but once i put him into the bassinet, he woke up, crying.. so end up letting him play. But luckily he didn't sleep at that time cause only few minutes after that, the airplane was going through a turbulence and baby has to be removed from the bassinet.



Jaclyn playing with little boy's bassinet...
They started taking order for children first, so ordered omelette meal for Jaclyn..it comes with sausages and rosti but not really nice. Instead Jaclyn loves the yogurt, fruits, orange juice and the bread. She peels off a small portion of bread, spread the strawberry jam on the bread and munch munch munch. Can see that she enjoyed her meal very very much. Watch movie/tv and eat and drinks...
I also had lots of drinks during the flight, orange juice, apple juice, singapore sling, bloody mary(OMG, bad choice, tomatoes juice.. yuck), orange cooler.... 

Singapore Sling
Bloody Mary
Orange Cooler
Hubby and me choose carrot cake for in flight meal and its surprisingly yummy, its a little spicy but yummy and comes with lots of prawn...

Carrot Cake with Prawn
Justin's meal is heinz baby food! Didn't manage to eat in the end cause he had some of our hot food!
SQ is really very attentive, even prepare some essentials for baby on board. We got pampers, baby wipes, bibs with SQ plane pic, playing cards and postcard...


After messing around, ate some in flight meal with me, Justin finally decided to doze off to his own dreamy land. Finally, its time for mummy and daddy to have some quiet time :) I even managed to watch half of Rio movie, qin busy watching movie, and the air stewardess keep bringing us drinks...Jaclyn also likes to drink, keep drinking orange juice, apple juice and hubby sleeping. Jaclyn and me also had some fun in toilet, brush teeth and combing hair.

Finally fall asleep, cutest moment!

All of us enjoyed the flight especially girl girl and me...kudos to Singapore Airlines, their service is excellence. From the moment we checked in to the moment we arrived Perth, it was a wonderful flight experience. Air stewardess is attentive, observant and helpful. One thing worth mentioning was that after i finish my meal and they come for a second serving of drinks, the air stewardess kindly help me remove my food tray although its not time for them to collect the tray, because little boy is sitting on my lap and it would be more easy and comfortable for me if she had removed the tray for me.. since i also finish my meal already... so was really grateful for that...

Great flight and we reached Perth at about 1pm local time (no time difference with spore, yay!)

One thing to note about Australia is that they are pretty strict with food that you bring in, grains (rice etc) and even baby food might not be allowed, we were warned by the air stewardess that even the Heinz baby food that is provided on the plane is not allowed to bring into Australia...So either finish it in the plane or leave it behind. Do check out the landing pass from Australia Immigration to see what are not allowed. There is also stringent check at the airport to ensure that no more bring un-allowed food into Australia. I saw a couple of people's luggage being scrutinised, everything gotta take out and check one by one...

Link to landing pass: http://www.immi.gov.au/managing-australias-borders/border-security/travel/passenger-cards/_pdf/english-ipc-sample.pdf

Its lunch time but nothing much to eat at the airport, so grab a quick sandwich and muffin... then went and collect our car...

Handsome daddy collecting car
We were skeptical before we arrived with regards to the weather but once we stepped outside of the airport, it was very sunny! Hubby first comment is " Lets come here again next winter!".

Its really sunny!!!
Love the clear blue sky, not gloomy at all!
All set and ready!
All set and ready!
Everyone is all set and ready to go! In Australia, child seats are a strict requirements so we hired one booster seat each for the kids. Apparently the child seat rental are even more expensive than the car rental itself.. oh well, this is something that we should not save.. Safety is most important!

Our first stop with be a small town outside of Perth's CBD, called Fremantle. Its a small town located at the mouth of Swan river. It's about 15 minutes drive  from the airport.

Reached our accommodation for the next 2 nights- Esplanade Hotel Fremantle by Rydges! Its a beautiful white colonial building overlooking the Fremantle Esplanade, a playground for the kids. Check in was fast and uneventful and we were allocated a room at ground floor with street view. Room 119 :)

The room consists of a king sized bed and a single bed which is suitable for our family. Room decoration is simple yet elegant. 


Toilet comes with removable shower head and a bathtub, so its convenient for us to shower the kids.


However, I am a little disappointed with its amenities, only basic necessities such as soap, shampoo, sanitary bag and shower cap are provided. Toothbrush, toothpaste and comb etc are not supplied. We ended up buying our own toothbrush.

Basic amenities
Their snacks are prettily decorated and very personalised to their hotel, even have own hotel's pack nuts, sweets etc. However, its very pricey so didn't eat any of their things from minibar. 

The room is also quite cold, and the max temperature can be only set to 23 degree celcius... we feedback to the hotel staff but they advised us to purchase a portable heater on our own at one of their local supermarket, Woolsworth.

The minibar is nicely situated behind the mirror on the right side
Pretty mini bar
Personalised items
Time to unpack and Justin is playing with my portable pot. Wanted to cook his mickey mouse and refuse to let me cook my water.

Mickey in captivity
Next stop will be playing at Fremantle Esplanade, its a haven for kids, it is a big playground and consist of things such as swing, slide, see saw, ferris wheel, and skateboarding slide.

Little Justin quickly found his favourite slide, in the end play until doesn't wan to leave

Jaclyn also loves the slide
Quite scared of the swing but still smile when I asked her to pose
Ferris wheel
Skateboard slide
Across the esplanade, there are plenty of restaurant and bar overseeing the harbour....and we were spoilt for choices.

Rows of restaurant across the esplanade
So, we stroll and stroll....taking pics along the way...
Jaclyn: The sun is really bright mum, I can't open my eyes!
Jaclyn and me... facing the sun....super bright!
Fremantle iconic boat_available for tours
And we saw Cicerellos..... one of the famous Fish and Chips restaurant... and we so decided to have dinner here. Upon entering, there are few tanks of fishes that caught our attention amidst some wooden tables and chairs. Its self service here so we went and look at the menu and decided to order a traditional fish and chips, fish with rice and a chilli crab and mussels. Drinks are available in rows of fridge near the entry to order food so just grab whatever drinks you wan and proceed to ordering.

Jaclyn watching fish while waiting for food
3 of us posing with fishes...
Some colouring paper and crayons also available for kids to pass time
Pretty selections of cakes but didn't manage to try
Justin already quite tired so was making some fuss
Food finally arrived, i think we waited about 15-20 minutes or so...Fish and chips priced at $14.90 comes with two huge fish and fries. The fish are thick, juicy, succulent and nicely wrap in a crispy batter. Chilli crab and mussels are unique on its own...different from Asian type of chilli crab... both are nice. The crab comes in 3 whole crab and lots of mussel for the price of $44.30, its really worth it. Hubby enjoyed the crab mussels very much, he usually doesn't eat crab but he ate 2 pieces (equivalent to 1 crab!!!)

Traditional fish n chips
Fish with rice and curry sauce
Chilli crab and mussels
After meal, it was already 5.30pm, and the restaurants start to fill up with lots of diner as compared to 4.30pm when we arrived and its relatively empty. outside, its very dark outside already....and wind started to blow strongly...freezing ...we went to our car and drive around until we reach IGA, one of their local supermarket. However, stuff here not as cheap as Woolsworth or Aldi.. so only bought very few items.

Fruits...
Went back to hotel and settle the kids to sleep, then its some "us" time at the hotel lobby. The hotel lobby is just mere 10 steps away from our room, so we were quite at ease having a quick drinks at the bar :) I had a dessert wine which was fantastic...love the sweet fruity taste of it. Its called Flametree Botrytis Rielsling-Margaret River WA. Hopefully can find this during our visit to Margaret River :)

Open bar at lobby
Some wine time
Time to catch some sleep, i am officially awake for 19 hours and previous night only manage to sleep for 3 hours...tomorrow will be exploring around Fremantle :)

Day 2

After a good night sleep, we had some cereal and biscuit for breakfast. Then its time to shower and get ready to explore this little town called Fremantle. 

Early morning, little Justin already start his mischievous engine. He wanted to hide there at the corner with his mickey mouse.. doesn't want to come out



Finally, both showered and getting ready to go out. Say cheese to the camera :) Jaclyn wanted to wear her hello kitty skirt, so added more layers for her, scared weather too cold for her.

My princess and prince.
We strolled to the Fremantle Market which only opens from Friday to Sunday. Its Sunday today so we were lucky...

Entrance to the Fremantle Market
Opening hours: Friday 9am-8pm, Sat & Sun 9am-6pm

The market features 2 main areas- One area sells fruits, vegetables, some hot cooked food. And the second area sells more of clothing, jewellery etc. 

I find that the fruits vegetable side is more appealing, fruits are fresh and at reasonable prices, we bought persimmon and cherry. We were a little  hungry and we saw this lady eating a bowl of paella, it looks so yummy so we bought 2 shares. Its nice and warm, good to eat in this weather but taste wise, its normal.. nothing fantastic. And it cost $7 per bowl which is quite pricey cause its quite a small portion.

Mushroom Paella
Eating her favourite mushroom

Today is also the Sunflower's Dash by The Leukaemia Foundation, so we joined in the fun. Plenty of people running around, with a sunflower pin on them... that is quite a sight!

Saw a museum on our way to the Roundhouse, can't remember the name of the museum. We didn't visit the museum but we did make good use of the plot of grass in front of the museum for the kids to unwind the muscle....

The museum
Roaming freely
Running to mummy
Roundhouse is one of the historical building in Fremantle, its worth a visit but don't expect much. Its basically a roundhouse and one area with a canon and some flags, thats all.

Actually, although its called a roundhouse, its actually not round, its more of an optical illusion as the building is made up of 12 walls.... 

There is no admission fees to the roundhouse although donations are encouraged.

Time to rest our legs and have some hot food. Choose Vietnamese food cause has been eating western yesterday, so wanted to kids to have some rice. We checked on TripAdvisor and iPho has quite a good review so decided to give it a try.



We had Com Tan, which is vietnamese rice (its a smaller grain compared to usual rice), it comes with a grilled pork, salad, soup, vermicelli omelet etc. This was a great dish... especially love the grilled pork, very yummy!

Com Tan

Qin wanted noodle, so ordered a chicken glass noodle. The soup base is flavourful and noodle is also nice. Thumbs up!

Chicken Soup Noodle

After lunch, we drove around the town and went to The Reject Shop and Woolsworth for some shopping. Bought some food stuff, muffin tray, kid's toothbrush, shampoo, body wash etc.. Jaclyn also bought a Barbie doll, its her FIRST barbie doll. Now having promotion at Woolsworth at $9 and its a steal, so bought one for her :) She is very excited and happy with her new barbie.. keep hugging it.

Jaclyn and her Barbie
Time for nap for the kids.... After napping, its dinner time. Its all dark outside again.... Decided to go for chinese for dinner, saw Joy Kitchen while we explore the surroundings this morning so went there to try...

Joy Kitchen
Its a nice cosy place, elegantly decorated with white table cloth. The service is also good and attentive. This is the first restaurant who placed paper beneath kids' high chair... i think this initiative is good, although it doesn't look nice but very very practical...So, doesn't need to worry that kids made a mess during meal cause they got it all covered. Haha!


While waiting for dinner...
Messing around again.
Dinner is here....

Chef's special- clay pot fish and mushroom with ginger.. nothing spectacular


Stir fry brocollini and snow peas with chopped almond. Nice and refreshing vegetable with a crunch. thumbs up!


Roast duck, covered in crispy batter, dip in duck sauce.... Very nice!


After a satisfying meal, went back hotel to have some cherry that we bought in the morning. Jaclyn loves them, Justin just playing and didn't eat much!


Next up: Day 3 and 4 in Perth, we explored the Perth Zoo as well while daddy is at work!
http://blessedlittletravelers.blogspot.sg/2015/04/winter-in-perth-2014-day-3-and-4.html

Travel tips to Perth in Winter:
http://blessedlittletravelers.blogspot.sg/2015/04/travel-tips-to-perth-in-winter.html






Comments

  1. Thank you for sharing on Travel Tuesday. You know.. every time I go Australia, I end up eating Asian meals by the 3rd day latest. There's only so much fish and chips I can stomach!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know what you meant :) This is so true though I could probably tolerate non-Asian meal for a little longer if not for my hubby and the kids, hehe! :)

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