Perth Day 1

milestone unlocked

i've managed to unlock a new milestone recently: travelling to the Australian continent. in all my thirty-**** years of existence, i've never been to 'Ostolia' before, haha! this is my first trip of the year following the husband after a long hiatus. how i miss!

you need a visa to travel to Australia, but you can apply for one online, so you don't have to worry about having to apply 3-4 days in advance, like for some other countries I know =D.

i was actually running on fumes by the time i arrived at the airport (because you know me, running late for everything is 'class' lol), but for some reason just as i was about to reach the check-in counter, i heard the staff at the counter calling my name on the intercom *sweat icon*. don't ask my why, it's never happened before, but i'm grateful i managed to get on the flight. a 5hour+ flight baby! hahaha i must be crazy to want a flight to last as long as it could. i don't think i will ever get over my fascination of airplanes. sighhhhhh.

got my boarding pass!

economy didn't seem too cramped with an empty seat in between me and the other passenger. though at some point the guy got rather tipsy after his first couple of beers, the flight attendant got somewhat miffed. i spent the first part of the flight watching Little Giants. the actress Shawna Waldron used to my be classmate in Glendale. who would've guessed she'd left school to pursue a career in acting. hee. back when i was a kid i used to be a huge fan of Devon Sawa. who's in the same era as me?? =P~

my school friend Shawna

next time you fly, ask for tomato juice. they say it tastes a whole lot nicer in the sky.

tomato juice! =D

the Captain also brought his family along, wife and kid. it isn't that often the 738 gets two days off in Perth so it really is worth tagging along for the trip. the advantage of being the last person to be checked-into a flight is that your bags will definitely come out first =P.

when you're in last, you get your bags first

Danial was also going to Perth this month (it's practically his second home after India haha) but unfortunately his trip didn't overlap with ours. but know who's trip did? Arif. hahahahhahaha. i didn't even know until he called to say he was going to be in Perth one day ahead of us. so ok la, we had a one-man show welcoming committee awaiting us at the hotel at 2 in the morning.

and the two pilots had a sort of mini reunion at the hotel. jauh benor. haha.

Four Points by Sheraton Perth was kinda small, but cozy, situated just across the Perth Arena.

the hotel room

first day:

currency exchange rate: 3.1

we woke up that morning to a cloudy sky; it started drizzling not too long after. i was like whattt the weather forecast predicted sunny skies, it never even mentioned rain! T__T. i did bring one umbrella along for the trip just in case. but it was a blessing because the day continued to stay cool even after the drizzling let up; Arif told us the previous day was quite hot.

morning view from our room window

first things first: was to get on the train to Freemantle. i have no idea whether the other crew were going anywhere that day, so it was just me, the husband and Arif (sorry if we ever bored you that day, but thank you dear we really enjoyed the company =D). googlemaps was our best bet, so off we trooped to get to Perth Station. i'm telling you, these pilots ah, they never fail to get lost on the ground, probably because they don't have their instruments i guess ahahhahahah. we were going round in circles before we finally came across the train station.

seriously, i could've walked in a straight line and get to the station much faster than these two. i only had offline maps to rely on, though.

getting lost on foot

finally found the station

we had to ask around abit for ticket instructions; we purchased a standard ticket for Zone 2 departing from Platform 7 which cost us $4.70 one way per person. these tickets last you for about two hours before they expire, which is kind of cool because you can actually reuse the ticket within the time period. transportation in Prague uses this system as well. i loike.

ticket for One

playing lost tourists

Freemantle is 16 stops away from Perth Station. as soon as we got off, we went to find food. Freemantle reminds me of small towns you see in tv series, like Mystic Falls in the Vampire Diaries, no kidding =P

Freemantle Railway Station

making our way to find food

people recommended to drop by Cicerello's if ever you're in Freemantle. as soon as we arrived at the place, the famished boys ordered the Premium Fish & Chips; i decided to be adventurous and order Breaded Garfish & Chips instead. I've never heard of Garfish in my entire life, and i don't think Garfield is related to the fish either, lol.

Cicerello's
44 Mews Rd, Fremantle WA 6160, Australia
opens daily 9am-8.30pm, Friday & Saturday 9am-9pm

found what we came looking for

Cicerello's!

what's on the menu

they give a generous helping of fat chips, muak nak habiskan. we had to purchase our own sauce - mayo, tartar and sweet chilli (this is a MUST thing to do for all tekak Melayu wahahahah) of which we paid $8 for five sauces. do not convert the price, and everything will be fine =P. if you managed to get your hands on one of those tourist brochures, you can get a discount on your order. better than nothing i must say *still not thinking about the exchange rate*.

Breaded Garfish & Chips

sauce. bahahahhahaha

old fashioned lemonade

with fish and my Old + Fat Teddy Bear

food for two. thanks for being our photographer of the day!

bright & sunny day in Freemantle

breathtaking view

the seagulls there were many, and they would swoop down and eat off any leftovers on unattended tables, coleslaw pun layan, haha. we bumped into the Captain and his family who were also having lunch here; they were heading off to Cottesloe Beach later in the evening. after lunch (i think Arif was already sick of having fish two days in a row hahahah) we took some photos on the pier, and then off we went to find dessert.

trying to get a photo of them seagulls

they even had their own ferris wheel in Freemantle

map of Freemantle

purchased some fridge magnets as souvenirs along the way. even posted a couple of postcards for Ah Wai and Nora, all the way from Freemantle ok. gigih mau cari posto ok just for the postmark, you owe me Gongcha 1, Ah Wai! =P~~~

we stopped walking only after stumbling upon Ben & Jerry's, Arif belanja (yassssssssss tengkiu Arif!!!).

they made a beeline for the store

sedap!

headed back to the city since Arif was departing to KL later that night and he needed shut eye before flight, so we decided to continue exploring the town on our own. drop the husband in a shopping district and he will float; drop him in a museum, he would probably doze off to sleep under a statue or something.

i purchased The Ordinary's Buffet from Priceline, it was much cheaper than purchasing from local PS.

walked past Lush without purchasing anything, hebat, no? i wanted to replenish my shampoo bar but they told me the one i wanted to get was only sold online. haiz. i also walked by Pandora without purchasing anything, haha. i wasn't sure if the Shine collection was available in Malaysia; i was so outdated on charms and beads already. if you think about it, i seriously should've pau-ed an Australian charm from the husband while he was in a generous mood. lol

dropped by Chemist Warehouse to see what was so awesome about the place; i guess if you're looking for reasonably priced supplements and perfume, this is the place. the husband purchased his perfume here. my friend says this is where they sell more of celebrity perfumes, wangi2 pulak tu, hence why my perfume isn't sold here, but Mashi's perfume is! =P

for Mashi. murah tak?

did you know toys is cheap in Perth compared to Malaysia? well, im not sure about most of the other toy brands, but the ones my children collects are freaking cheap - Shopees and Hatchimals. we 'accidentally' came across them in Myers, whoops. they cost way less, so the Daddy borong SEVEN of them to bring back home. pingsan. sebbaik muat luggage T__T.

and that was Day 1 for you. i love love love love the weather! *love*

Perth Arena