Perth..... Pleasantville

Of all the main Australian cities, the ones I've never been to are Darwin, and Perth. Perth is one of those places you assume is like in your own backyard, due to its close proximity to our shores...who the heck said it's a 4 hour flight??? It's not. A myth debunked. It's 5 hours. Yeah, in your own backyard, so you think, ah, no hurry to visit. Until of course, all the stars were aligned, and conditions became ripe to finally check out Perth.

1. Bro In Law moved there to work, and ....drum roll, has a 3 bedroom apartment right in the city.
2. Air Asia began flying there!
3. Aussie dollar now a bit lower than before.

Thank you thank you Tony Fernandes, my all time hero.

Gosh, poor little unhappening me hasn't stepped foot in OZ since 2004. How can that be! I have dollar notes that some of the younger Ozzies have never seen!!!!

Typical Malaysians that we are, arrive in a city, first place to go, Factory Outlets.... well, actually also coz we didnt want to sight see yet coz waiting for parents in law to arrive so can do together gether.

There's no running away from Thamby is there. I see her initals everywhere!



A WHIFF OF LEMONGRASS (AWOL)??? I think they sell lingerie...didn't step in la.


The Air Asia Pak Nasser Nasi Lemak had long since worn out, ....and actually, so did a grease overdose of Bacon & Eggs breakfast (bro in law brought us for breakkie upon arrival, at 7am), so while waiting for wifey and sis in law to walkie walkie around the outlets, I treated myself to a regular waffle. Nothing like a nice long black, and waffle on holiday while you watch the world go round....

You can bring the chink out of Asia, but you can't take Asia out of the chink. By dinner time, we already had a craving for something that didn't involve olive oil, salads, or pasta, and Australia does have the best Pho, if you ask me. They all say it's coz of the beef. But even the greens. Look at that super humongous Thai Basil leaf. Makes ours look positively withered.

A steaming bowl of piping hot pho, with tripe, beef and beef balls.... in cool 15C weather...(well, outside it was), sheer bliss.

One thing I LOVE doing while in these developed countries, is to walk in the supermarkets. The variety is just staggering. Hence I was quite shocked to see that there were only 3 or 4 brands of butter. You see, they're quite a healthy nation, apparently. Opting for Olive Oil spreads, margarine, (a chill runs down my spine whenever I see the word), .... UNsalted butter... So yeah, our variety of butter here trumps their's anyday, though price wise, its soooo cheap for them.


A walk along the Swan River is pleasant. Lots of joggers and cyclist, so had to be careful not to get mowed over. The skyline lights up as the sun goes down.



I guess it is rather scenic especially at night. A strange sense of calm and tranquility prevails. The mad traffic, the heat, and the hustle and bustle of KL seems a distant dream...just like how Perth now seems a distant dream as I write this. Can someone explain why the moon is bigger in western countries? Sheesh, their yolks are yellower, the moon is bigger, the veggies are greener.... no wonder people migrate.

I decided I'd make my own breakfast the next day, so bought some crumpets, (I've never seen them here. Anyone knows where to get?) bacon, an avocado, mushrooms, eggs....

For some reason, the egg yolks in western countries seem more yellow and golden. It's the feed, they say. What are our chickens fed? Why aren't their yolks golden? Anyway, it was the perfect breakfast for day 2 in Perth. Perfectly half boiled eggs, (done by ahem, yours truly).... only thing missing was brewed Long Black.




Fremantle, a quaint little port town. Famed for their fish and chips, though for some reason, we ended up having "Italian", which was average. The pizza crusts were too thick, the risotto nothing to shout about, and the garlic prawns ...well, the prawns were fresh. That's the thing, they are so abundantly blessed with fresh produce, really living up to the moniker of the Lucky Country.





The first proper sightseeing, that didn't involve the inside of a shopping mall, was the Swan Valley river cruise. Pretty good, free flow wine upstream (or was it downstream), as we sailed to winery. I had received an FB message earlier from Qwazymonkey wishing me well, and hoping I'd fall into the Swan River. I wouldn't have minded frolicking with the dolphins .....which were spotted right in front of the Burswood. Again, life is so unfair right. To us, dolphin sightings are such a rarity, there, they have blardy dolphins in the CITY!!!!! Why did the founders of this country's capital choose the Klang River (more like a drain) to start a city? Why didn't they choose the mighty Sungai Pahang, or Rejang.... at least we could have a city with a glorious waterfront. Remember children, if you're thinking of starting a new city, make it by a BIG river or sea.

The winery tour was pleasant enough. There was a Riesling that tasted like kerosene, literally. (the winery lady said so in her briefing). It was meant to taste so.




Dinner with Family Friend's of the inlaws. Guess what cuisine? MALAYSIAN!!! And, guess what starter? SATAY!!! (bear in mind that my inlaws hail from Kajang). The restaurant Ria, is in the hip and trendy suburb of Leederville. Run by an Italian Fler with a Malaysian wife. Food was rather good actually. An array of different rice, briyani, pilau, etc....lots of curries, ah, I felt I was in Bijan with the aircond full blast, and a heater on.....




The Witch's Cauldron, (I'm sure yall figured out it wasn't the Itch's Cauldron), a restaurant in the happening suburb of Subiaco. This was another night, when cousin from Singapore, who happened to be in Perth, brought me out for dinner.


The cray fish mornay was good. I still prefer lobsters done chinese style, in superior stock or with ginger and spring onions, as I find the sauces drown out the lobster taste. You might as well be eating artificial crabsticks, drowned in all that cheese.


Gargantuan portion of lamb shank. Must have been from a ram, or very large sheep. I watched as my cousin struggled to even make a dent in that chunk of meat.


Hmmm, was this butterfish, or fish with butter? I really cant recall. The bane of old age. Anyway, nephew's gf had this. Looked rather good. Again, fresh & readily available produce = no excuse for bad food.



Actually wife and I shared the crayfish mornay, so had a salad to go along with it. Very good greens they have.

Hungry Jacks.....THEY GOT PORK BACON!!!! YUMMMMMMY!!!!!


The Margaret River trip seems to be a MUST DO on the itinerary for all first timers in Perth, so we dutifully did the same. It's a long drive, over 3 hours. If you thought Perth was quiet, well, Margaret River town itself has deafening silence after 5pm. Nothing except the Coles supermarket is open, and that closes at 7pm. But along the way, there are quaint little shops, selling candy, olive oils, etc etc. Of course, there were the wineries as well.


The wooden hut is the chalet we stayed in, which was in the Island Brook winery. Because everything was shut for dinner, including DOME, except this Asian eatery. It was packed, obviously, as there weren't many other places one could go to. I was treated to the sight of a rather large Aussie woman sitting on the potty as I opened the toilet door, that wasn't locked properly.




On day two, as we headed back to Perth (actually I reckon one night in Margaret River is not sufficient, coz you really need more daylight hours to do the fun things, before the whole place goes comatose), we stopped by at an Olive Oil Soap Factory, quite nice, lovely scents wafting even in the carpark, .....and the most delicious olives!!!!

Then came the chocolate factory, ..... its like Disneyland for chocolate lovers. But actually, if you convert the cost, its comparable with Valrhona. (the dark couverture choc droplets that you see in the collage).

Of course there was the Margaret River dairy company, with their cheeses. Some labels are actually available at local supermarkets here in KL, but are EXORBITANTLY priced. The double cream brie, for example, is AUD8.99. I think its close to RM30 here.

Also there is a place, south of Margaret River, off the town of Augusta, at Cape Leeuwin, where the Indian and Southern oceans meet. Alas, we didn't have time to drive there, so as I looked out into the sea at the seaside town of Busselton, (famous for its 2km jetty), I just took a random pic of the sea, and randomly imagined it to be the meeting place of the two oceans.



I have been to the point where the Indian Ocean meets the Atlantic, in Capetown, South Africa. I wonder how does one ocean distinguish itself from another. Do they have postcodes, for fishmail?

Anyway, like all holidays, it was over in the blink of an eye. Skype and video chats made it easier to communicate with the kiddos, and lessening the guilt of having left them for a week.

Actually, I reckon Perth is a great short getaway, especially if with a group of gila wine drinking friends. And one non drinker, of course, we need someone to drive. Car rentals are cheap, good fresh produce, great weather, (at least when we were there).... come, let's GO!

Special thanks to Bro In Law and GF for hosting and putting up with us.

Rama V Revisited

Rama V, (that's FIVE, not VEE), also known to us, who studied Sejarah, as King Chulalongkorn, like its namesake, I thought, was history. 15 years ago, or thereabouts, this was THE fine dining thai palace to be in.... I remember vividly, my super fussy eater friend, (godma to my kids), raving about this place and hosting dinner there once. The conclusion at the time, excellent, but pricey, and reserved for special occasions.

With the passage of time, and the advent of myriad new restaurants, the name faded into the annals of culinary history, so much so, my reaction to Julian Si's post about this place was, "WAH, IT'S STILL AROUND AH?".

It was with great delight we got an invite from Ciki of Cumi and Ciki, to dine there one night, courtesy of the proprietors. (more about them later). The other lucky diners were AWOL (a whiff of lemongrass, aka Queen of the DSLR, aka Thamby), Bald Eagle, Cumi, obviously, and me & other half.

We are the first to arrive, and Ciki sends an sms telling us to look for Andre Shum.


We see him in silent repose in the lotus pond. (No, no, not Andre)...


The place is tastefully decked out with fragrant jasmine flowers. I was tempted to string it into a garland for AWOL.


Rama V...
a bit of trivia here, the actual historical figure, is the famous and much revered King who modernised Siam. He was also the son of King Mongkut, Rama IV, after whom the famous musical The King and I, and the movie Anna and the King, were loosely based upon. Rama V must have been one of Anna's students.

With the marvel of search engines, if you were to google Rama V, you actually get more hits of the restaurant that of the historical King. (as in search Malaysian pages).

Eventually, everyone arrives, bearing alcohol. Cumi brings a lovely bottle of Shoju, which went oh so well with the food.

We start off with the requisite Mieng Kam. A lovel platter of assorted condiments to be wrapped in a Kadok Leaf.... which reopened the old wounds of how the maid completely shaved my Kadok bush. Nevertheless, the Mieng Kam was lovely and refreshing.




Check out the lovely chilli padi that gives it that extra oomph. I simply LURVE chilli padi.

Then came the Kao Tan Na Tang, mince chicken with crispy rice crackers. Most interesting fare, not your usual run of the mill starters you get at Thai restaurants. The moist mince chicken complemented the dry crispy crackers.



The absolutely beautiful blue lotus dumplings. I always am fascinated that people have the patience to lovingly fashion these dumplings, by hand, obviously, one by one. Tedious work such as this, makes me think of peeled melon seeds. Kuachi. I often wonder how it's done. Do they have an assembly line of retired old ladies, biting and cracking the melon seed and spitting out the skinned melon seed? I digress.


The mince chicken within was lovely and flavourful.


Pomelo salad. As pomelo is one of my FAVOURITE fruits, it didn't take much to win me over. Crunchy juicy pomelo, with fragrant fried shallots, chicken bits, really, a whole kaleidescope of flavours in one spoonful.



Next came the Banana Flower (Jantung Pisang...what a novel way of using it as a gorgeous decorative receptacle), with minced chicken. Hmm, come to think of it, there was a lot of chicken that night.

Alright, time to intro everyone.



The guest were us, ie, Bald Eagle, Mrs Bald Eagle, Cumi, Ciki, Me & the photoshy wifey, so pic not here, the suave & charming owners, Danny Jee, (top left with Ciki), who looks every bit the restauranteur, and PR fella, and the dashing Andre Shum, who looks like those young successful entrepreneurs who was also, as it turns out, Ciki's tuition mate. These two gentlemen have taken over the helm of Rama V and look set to launch it to greater heights. Hospitality was par excellence. Thanks you guys, I think I daresay all of us had a fabulous time.



Back to the food. The ubiquitous Tom Yam. Okay, Tom Yam is very subjective. Some like it hot, some like it sour, some like neither. Me, I like it hot, intense and sour. This Tom Yam is more moderate, and suitable for those with less intense expectations.


The deep fried Garoupa was well fried, and lovely and crispy, the way a deep fried dish should be. The sauce was a 3 taste chilli sauce. Very exotic sounding. The fish was fresh, and succulent, and wasn't like deep fried to masquerade the lack of freshness unlike at some joints.


The River Prawn!!!! WOW! What luxury. I think its priced at RM38 each. But they're huge, and oh so delicious. Actually, if you think about it, even the Soo Kee's Sang Har Fried Noodles in Lucky Gardens already costs RM28 per prawn. Succulent, sweet, and crunchy.... oh soo sooo good. Really!


Basil and Beef....well, after the river prawns, it was a bit of an anticlimax, but the flavour nevertheless is excellent....a wholesome dish that goes very well with rice.


Stir Fried greens with lovely bits of fragrant garlic. No complaints here. Greens are greens, and they're GOOD for you.


Goodness, even as I'm writing this, I am AMAZED by the humongous spread. Hey guys, that was a very generous dinner indeed!!!! The otak otak...such lovely presentation.


Oh, the otak otak was AMAZING. A burst of flavours as you bite into it. Literally, you can feel an explosion within your mouth, tangy, savoury, herby, all in one bite. I'm not usually a die hard otak otak fan, but this was superb.


Thai Fishcakes. Hmm, I cant remember when this was served. Was it a starter? They would be perfect as starters.

Our gracious hosts were busy flitting around that night, as business was good. Even at 10pm there were people walking in to begin dinner. But they always flitted back to us..... Awww.

Everyone's favourite time....despite the gargantuan amount we ate before....



While waiting for dessert, we stroll around the outside area. The place has 3 or 4 individual chalets as private dining areas. Perfect for a party of up to 30.


One small flame in the light of a thousand......
Ah, lets face it, I am not an artistic writer......


It's amazing. AWOL has a built in mechanism that whenever a camera is pointed at her, she whips out her glasses and goes into the posey pose.


My steamed pumpkin and custard was amazing!!!! The best of the desserts, I'd dare say.


Bald Eagle's Durian & Glutinous rice, reminded him of his mother's cooking.


The compulsory Tap Tim Krub...very nice, perfect, not too sweet.



Even the goddess holds up the dessert in high esteem.



Actually, what ARE they all doing, I can't remember! Isn't she absolutely HAWT!



Ah, Andre Shum....doesn't this look like it belongs on the cover of Fortune 500 or something?

Anyway, THANK YOU again, Danny and Andre, for having us, and it was a wonderful experience, and how heartwarming to know that this fine establishment has been given a new lease of life under you guys!!!! Will be back soon!

Check out Ciki's post here.