WA Trip (II)

16 Jul 05
Fremantle

The view that greeted us in the morning was simply breathtaking. Who would have thought daylight would make such a huge difference to this place.



Clad only in PJs and with no shoes on, we were all running around the place like little kids on Xmas morning. We must have taken like a couple hundred of shots that morning of the view outside the apartment. The shallow waters of the bay right outside our balcony had undulating seaweed and schools of tiny fish. What a nice start to the holiday. I have a feeling that this holiday is going to be yet another great for all of us.

Hunger finally drove us out of the apartment. We decided to head to the famous Cicerello's for fish & chips.



Since this is our first day and I know for sure that I will be stuffing my face throughout the week, I've decided to go for the grilled fish & chips with coffee instead of their signature fried fish.



Looks good huh! Their signature dish as quoted by another in our company is "much better than Fish & Co and the chips are simply to die for". If you are there, do remember to take some time from the hectic ordering of food to take a really good look at the aquarium that is used to separate the dining crowd from the ordering mass. I didnt and I'm now regretting it. They've got lobsters, crabs and about 30 different types of fishes in the gigantic salt water glass tank. I wonder how the fishes looking out of the glass at the kitchen serving up plates of their species will feel. Will they think "Lucky its not me out there!" or will they get so depressed that they rather drown in seawater? Hmmm..

Since it was a brillant day, we decided to sit outside. The dining company were rather amusing even though all they probably can think of is "when the #$%&( are these people leaving so that we can feast in peace?"


"Leave soon or we will definitely S.O.Y"

Satisfying our tummies, we head off for the markets, located not too far from the restaurant.



The fremantle market is housed in a beautiful Victorian building with about 150 stalls selling all kinds of wares from fresh produce to trinkets to house furnishings. The boys got bored after 15 minutes and head off to explore the town a little further while the girls found themselves in heaven. Here is a list of stalls that I feel are a must see.

1. Stall 22 (Soap Shop) - This stall sells everything from handmade soaps to moisturisers to shampoos to fragrance. Your one stop bargain beauty place. We saw body creams that were selling in Singapore at TWICE their tagged prices and a whole heaps of other aussie brands that I haven't seen elsewhere. I got a bottle of moisturising sunblock (SPF 30++) for about $10, everyday wash shampoo for only $7, travel pack conditioner for $2 and a pair of wash mittens for also $2. The owner even gave us a discount coz we were buying so much. Shiok!
2. Stall 92 (The herb & Spice shop) - This place stocks all the herbs and spices that you ever think of. I bought a pack of organic chamomile for less than $10 and 2 packs of 1/2kg flax seed for only $2 each :P
3. Stall 101.2 (Fremantle Markets Bonsai) - Yeah this place sells bonsai. They also sell alot of very interesting home accessories and (definitely must see) beautiful sun-catchers. If it wasnt that I can't find a spot in our rooms to place the sun-catchers, I would have bought one without hesitation.
4. Stall 322 (Onya Bags) - The greenies will love this stall. Looking like tiny coin pouches, the onya bags unfurl out into re-usable shopping bags. Made from parachute material so that it will last quite a while. Not cheap though.
5. Stall 89 (Coffee Connection) - D place for coffee lovers. We saw at least 20 varieties of coffee beans on sale here, including flavours that I can't even start to imagine. They also have choc covered coffee beans. If you havent tried this before, do go and get one. I also got a espresso stove top cooker for my mom for $20.
6. Stall 21 ($2 Stall) - Yep everything in here is only $2. Quite a bit of junk but then there are gems to be found too. We got very warm fleece scarfs for only $2 here.
7. The ying yang sea salt stall - Hehehe I call it this because I cant find the stall number or stall name on the fremantle market website. We saw him near the pub (stall 33) which is located in the markets. The owner sells 4 varieties of blended natural sea salt and spice grinders that he concocts himself. I bought 3 varieties myself and would have got all 4 if not because the last variety is too spicy. They taste sooo goood. Good news: They will soon be available at a local Cold Storage supermarket near you...except that it will be retailed here for twice what he is selling in au. Hur Hur Hur.
8. Stall 85 (Mosaic Art) - This stall has pretty amazing mosaic handicrafts. The mirror in the picture above is from them. Don't think the items are cheap but its good even for some plain old admiring.

As one can see, its never a good idea to let girls shop by themselves in a market.

After a thorough exploration of the markets, it was time to head back because seriously, we couldn't carry any more shopping bags. Along the way, we discovered this little quaint boutique accomodation called Port Mill bed & breakfast that looked so inviting that I just had to stop and take a shot.

Back at the apartment, the boys were playing cards (again). While everyone else was resting, I was going camera mad. It is just soooo good to have your camera to play around with.



Dinner was eaten back in the town centre again. The boys wanted to bring us to a charming (they say. I think they got hoodwinked by the clover image that is imprinted on the beer foam of all the beer on tap that they serve) Irish pub that they discovered in the afternoon for pub grub but along the way, we saw this stretch of street that seemed to be reallly happening. There was an italian place that had long queues and so the venue was changed there and then. After the food arrived, we found out why this place is sooo popular.


"Just check out the portions this place gives!"

The annual notorious fun-filled school graduation ball must be on that night. We counted about 3 limos filled with drunk highly excited high school kids pacing the short stretch of road where we were sitted. There were also a couple of highly modified cars doing the "beauty parade" as well. The owners (mostly young punks) would roar pass us, disappear out of view for about 5 minutes and then appear again on the other side of the road. This routine would be repeated for about 10 times (yeah we counted) before the car in question will be gone for good. We figured these people must either be (A) really bored, (B) lost or else (C) had no other happening place to go. C turned out to be right because we did a night drive around Fremantle after dinner and the rest of the town was totally dead. Oh ya..and the reason why they were doing the appearing and disappearing act is because they head down one way for 5 minutes, hit a roundabout, go around it, head in the opposite direction, drive for 5 minutes, hit another roundabout and go around it to head back where they came from.