Perth & Margaret River Holiday - Food & Shopping

I may have mentioned it before but Australia was never on my list of places to visit. For one, it's too close to home and for another, too many Singaporeans visit there. Despite my initial doubts and some people telling me that Perth is too quiet, nothing much to do or see, I had a blast. With my mom, no less!

While in Perth, we stayed at Hotel Ibis Perth. We couldn't have asked for a better hotel. Centrally located on Murray Street, the Ibis is just a 3 minute walk to the shopping malls of Carillon City, Murray St Mall, Hay St Mall, and the wonderful food hall of David Jones. Mom and I did loads shopping here.

The best part of Hotel Ibis? It was just in front of the Belgian Beer Cafe Westende. There G and I indulged in 1kg of mussels, cooked with garlic, shallots, white wine and cream, along with pomme frites and Belgian mayonnaise accompanied by a pint each of Hoegaarden White. Heaven! The cafe comes to life in the early afternoon with the al fresco seats being hot property. I stopped by on our second to last day in Perth for a quick pint after an afternoon of frantic shopping (stores there close at 5pm on all days, except Friday when they close at 9pm. After Singapore, that takes some getting used to.)

Another great little restaurant is 44 King Street Cafe which serves an eclectic menu filled with European and Asian flavours. Great list of cakes too. Oh, something about cakes in Australia. No matter what you order, cake or pie, creamy or dry, they all come with a huge dollop of fresh cream. Yup, my diet went out the window this trip. Another great cake and the most unusual I've ever tasted was the Bird's Milk Cake, served at the Witchie Cafe, in Witchcliffe (slightly south of Margaret River town). Run by an Aussie bloke and his Russian-born wife, this little cafe was your typical roadside hangout. And that cake truly stumped us. We tried our hardest to figure it out. Imagine a huge bundt slice with a very thin cake base, holding up a thick, milky white custard-like top, coated in a thin chocolate crust. Mom complimented the cook on her outstanding cake and was rewarded with a secret: the base was a mixture of egg white and almonds while that milky custard had semolina. Now to hunt it down.

Another great find was Augusta Fresh Fish & Chips on 73 Blackwood Avenue in Augusta. We stopped there on our way back from Cape Leeuwin lighthouse (the most south-westerly tip of Australia where the Southern Ocean meets the Indian Ocean). After the blustery winds at the Cape, and an afternoon of caving (Mammonth Cave and the Lake Cave where I climbed 600! steps and nearly collapsed!) I rewarded myself with an authentic Devonshire Tea (by a lovely English lady who had migrated to Oz) and later, those fish and chips for dinner.

G introduced Mom and I to Dukkah - a delicious mixture of nuts (can be almonds, hazelnuts etc), sesame seeds, spices and salt that's eaten with bread and olive oil. So simple and so delicious. We came back with 6 bottles and will be hoarding this very carefully. However I found a host of sites online that offer very similar recipes.

Oh, and the vineyards! We visited 4 extraordinary vineyards: Clairault, Leeuwin Estate, Voyager and Watershed. Not only were the wines here delicious and well-priced, these 4 are breathtakingly pictureresque. I love how Voyager and Watershed plant red and white rose bushes at the end of each row, each color corresponding to the color of the grape. I bought a total of 8 bottles, smuggled back in our suitcases. We lunched at Watershed in a restaurant with a fantastic view of the estate. Bliss!

One of the highlights of the trip for me was hitching a ride on G's son's Honda motorbike for the 20 min ride to Fremantle (or Freo to the locals). It was a gorgeous day for a ride, along the Swan River, through some rich neighbourhoods. The last time I was on a bike was in college. And I was a bit nervous although M said I did pretty well. Whew! The first smell that hits as you enter the town is that of the breweries. Later, is the smell of fish and chips. M took me to his favourite hangout, Little Creatures for a couple of pints of beer and a great woodfired pizza of blue cheese, pear and rucola. We went on a walking tour of the town which had some buildings that reminded me of those in New Orleans' French Quarter. On the drive back, we went by the ocean road, past Cottisloe Beach, on the highway. What a sight, the Indian Ocean at early sunset!