Transfomers Turn 30

Well, it was pretty lucky that Transformers actually had their 30th anniversary exhibition in Singapore. Although I am not a fan of Transformers, but I still insisted to CT that I wanted to go for the exhibition. After all, Transformers grew up with us (i.e. who doesn't know Transformers).

So we went to Singapore Science Centre on a Sunday afternoon. It was pretty crowded, took us almost an hour to get our tickets. We didn't purchase the tickets online becasue NETS Flash Pay had 10% off the price (Retail Price: SGD30.00). I thought I had to pay with NETS Flash Pay so I went to top up my card, but they just need to see that you have a NETS Flash Pay and you enjoy the discount too, However, if you do not have a NETS Flash Pay, fret not. There is a booth there to change any EZ link card for a new Transformers NETS Flash Pay.

2 of the 3 free designs

We managed to change 2 of the 3 designs that were available at the booth, There was another limited edition card which you need to purchase it at SGD12.00 too.

Anyway , as we enter the exhibition, we were given a game card for us to play.

Game card

So basically, we just have to solve the puzzles on the other side of the card and we  can get an embossed stamp on the game card.

Embossed Decepticon Stamp

Embossed Autobot Stamp

So yes, we managed to complete all the puzzles and got the stamps at the end of the day.

A lot of people asked me what is in the exhibit? Is it worth the money to visit the place? That is the reason why I am writing this right? But, I will only tell you the answers at the end of the post  Right now, I am going to share what is in it first.

One thing that amazed me inside was the Transformers figures.

Bumblebee

Mudflap

Starscream

Optimus Prime

Megatron

And the highlight of the exhibition, it was the 7m Bumblebee and Optimus Prime!

7m tall Bumblebee and Optimus Prime

Of course, there were also the development of toy figurines of Transformers over the years.

Oh yes, and on top of that, there was a laser beam game where you need to get through without touching the laser beam. Each ticket is entitled to 2 entry to the game.

They were also broadcasting Transformers movie twice a day, so you can actually catch the movie if you haven't watch the first episode of the movie.

Alright, so now to answer to the questions. The exhibition was worth the visit for me because Transformers had some meaning to me. If you are not a fan of Transformers, then don't bother wasting your money on it. You can go get a good meal with that price. However, Singapore isn't very big. A lot of you have gotten bored of the usual  it will be a good place to hang out if you have no where else to visit in Singapore, it will be something different.

The exhibition will be here until 01 March 2015, so catch the exhibition before they end.

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1 Day JB Adventure

Alright, once again, I took a quick getaway to our neighbouring country, Malaysia. Johor Bahru to be more specific.

This trip is going to be a short one because I just went in for fun and most of the places that I went was covered in my 2 days JB trip (Day 1 and Day 2) already, so I am not going to repeat.

The newer places that I went was the Restoran Kin Hua, which was right opposite Hiap Joo Bakery & Biscuit Factory.

Restoran Kin Hua

I have covered on Hiap Joo in the previous JB post, so I am going to skip it, but I need to mention again that their banana cake is really awesome.

Hiap Joo Bakery & Biscuit Factory

Anyway back to Restoran Kin Hua, I have heard many good stuff about this coffee shop, so I decided to went in early that day to try their breakfast.

Nasi Lemak (Egg) 

Nasi Lemak (Fish) 

Malaysia's nasi lemak is different from Singapore's. Unlike the many ingredients available in Singapore's nasi lemak, the main highlight in Malaysia's nasi lemak is their chilli. There were only 2 options at the shop, fish one or egg one. Look at the pictures, it was so simple but it taste good.

Kaya Toast

Kaya Toast Bun 

 The other things that I tried there was the kaya toast. This shop offered 2 types of bread for the toast. One was the standard toast, the other one was the bun. I preferred the bun ones because the outer skin was slightly crispy and the interior was soft and warm. It's easily one of the better toasts I had.

Anyway, because it has been a while now before I post this, I had already forgotten the price, It wasn't very expensive, so I would recommend that you go down and try it yourself. It is near the custom too, so it is rather convenient.

So shopping starts after breakfast.....

Fast forward, lunch was at Ah Soon Bak Kut Teh. I had tried a number of bak kut teh around the area, but not this so I decided to give it a try.

Ah Soon Bak Kut Teh

I have heard a lot about this shop because it was quite popular in among Singaporeans and you will definitely find this if you are searching online for a good bak kut teh shop in JB. The reason why I always tried other shops but not this is because of the crowd.

Inside Ah Soon Bak Kut Teh

 This place is crowded at any time of the day, so I always decided to go for other shop for meals instead of waiting for seats.

Bak Kut Teh for 2 pax

I expected this bak kut teh to be good because it is always very crowded, but it disappointed me. The soup wasn't as tasty and the meat was tough. Compared to the other 2 bak kut teh stalls (read my Soon Soon Heng vs Soon Huat Bak Kut Teh) that I have tried, this one was the worst. No wonder the locals didn't recommend me to this shop even though it was popular online. Sometimes online reviews cannot be trusted. 

Anyway, I tried the D'Laksa Original Penang Laksa too. It was really good! That explained the long queue, This place is located at the basement of KSL near one of the escalator. I can smell the aroma when I was on the escalator.

Penang Laksa - RM5.00

So I tried the Penang laksa and the soup was awesome. Just to clear some doubt, Penang laksa and assam laksa are the same thing. I realised a lot of people thought it was 2 different kind of laksa. So if you like assam, you will love this laksa. Come and try it.

That's all the things I wanted to post for the trip. It is just a summary of all the food I ate during this trip to JB. For the things to do at JB, refer back to my 2 day JB trip (Day 1 and Day 2) .

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My Perth Trip Day 5 & 6

Continued from:
My Perth Trip Day 1
My Perth Trip Day 2
My Perth Trip Day 3 & 4

I left Perth on Day 6 so basically I was only in Perth for half a day. It will be a short Day 6 so I am combining it together with Day 5

Day 5
Day 5 was an interesting one. It was the day that I looked forward to the most, because we are heading to Swan Valley!

The initial plan was to travel down to Margaret River but it will take 5hr to reach there and another 5hr to go back to Perth city. That's 10hr on the road! We don't have that much time to waste on the road so we settled for Swan Valley, just 30min from the city.

Swan Valley Visitor Centre

The first stop was the visitor centre. It is located at the entrance of Swan Valley so you wouldn't miss it.

Inside Swan Valley Visitor Centre

I do recommend to stop by here because the staffs in there were really nice. Based on the time and preference we had, they advised us where to visit and where we could actually give it a miss. They also explained what we would expect to see at each places so we could decide whether to hit it or miss it.

Sandalford Winery

The first place we went was Sandalford Winery because it was the nearest well established winery from the visitor centre.

Awards given to Sandalford

This is how well established they are.

Wines and Glasses

They don't only sell wine, they sell accessories for wine as well.

Restaurant

They have a restaurant in there as well. It looked very elegant so I guessed it might be expensive to dine there. I didn't see the menu so it was just my guess.

Vineward

Check out their vineyeard with all the grape plants. There wasn't any grapes when I went because it wasn't the right season yet.

Grapes from 1890

They have this section of grape plants which was planted in 1890. That is more than 100 years old already!

Then the next stop was Coward & Black Vineyards.

Coward & Black Vineyards

The reason why we stopped here was because of their sister businesses.

Magaret River Chocolate Company

One of them was the Margaret River Chocolate Comapny. They had lots of chocolate in there and all of them that I tried tasted really good. It's either they were really good or just the mentality of everything overseas taste better than local, but I really liked their chocolate a lot.

Another business was one of my favourite, Providore.

Providore

Some of you might not have known, Providore has outlets in Singapore as well. You can check out their website for their information.

Inside Providore

Sauce tasting

Providore here sell a wide range of sauces and liqueur. There were also a row of sauces for us to taste. I love their sauces. There were so many to choose from, I am pretty sure everyone can find at least one sauce that they will like. 

Ugly Duckling Wines was next because the staff from the visitor centre recommended it for lunch.

Ugly Duckling Wines

Unlike the previous 2 wineries, this one is way smaller. It seems more like a home with a vineyard rather than a commercial vineyard.

Wine Selection

Because of it's size, the wine selection is limited as well. So if you are just looking for wine, this might not be a good option for you.

Trays for sale

These trays for sale were handmade locally from the wine barrels. This is really a good idea. Instead of throwing away the wine barrels, it can be recycled into something useful.

Steak, Mushroom and Shriaz Gourmet Pie (AUD16.00)

Meat Platter for 2 (AUD46.00)

We ordered a Steak, Mushroom & Shiraz Gourmet Pie and a Meat Platter for 2 to share. I loved the meat platter, it's awesome. I love the variety of meat and the cheese. The pie wasn't bad either, my parents liked the pie. I just prefer the meat platter. 

We headed to Caversham Wildlife Park after lunch. 

Caversham Wildlife Park (AUD25.00 for an adult)

Basically this place is just like a zoo, so why did we choose to come here? Wasn't it a waste of time? No, it wasn't. Australia is very protective of the wildlife and they have their own wildlife that isn't available in other parts of the world, so I think going to the wildlife park was a very good experience to get closer to those wildlife.

When we think of Australia, the koala bears and kangaroos are the most common animals that we relate to Australia. Here they are...

With the Koala Bears

With the Kangaroos

I used to see wild kangaroos and I never been able to get close to it. The moment I walked closer, it will hop away. So I really enjoyed myself with the kangaroos when they get so close to me. 

Albino Kangaroo

A baby in the pouch

There is another animal that is only seen in Australia is the Tasmanian Devil.  I don't think this name is unfamiliar to most of you because of the Warner Bros Looney Toons.

Remember him? (Taken from online)

I always thought the real thing looks like it too but....

Tasmanian Devil

It looks like this. It doesn't look as ferocious but do keep in mind that it is a carnivore.

On top of just the Australian animals I mentioned, there are other animals as well. Please see my Facebook Page for the pictures of them. They are not as commonly related to Australia, but some of them are only available in Australia as well.

Other things that we did there was catching the farm show.

Farm Show

You think it is just for the kids? It is equally enjoying for adults as well. I enjoyed it as well.

Sheep Shearing

Feeding the lambs

Milking cow

The wildlife park was a fun filling experience and we were also hungry about the time we finished the show. We wanted to have our dinner at Fremantle but it was a distance away from swan valley, so we decided to stop by Alfred's Kitchen first for some quick bite first.

Alfred's Kitchen

It is located just beside the visitor centre that we visited in the morning. I had heard about this place even before I came to here because of it's good food and interesting concept.

There isn't any proper dining area to eat. Instead, there are just benches surrounding the campfire (the one in the picture wasn't lighted up at the time we were there).

As for the food, it was superb.

Cram Burger (AUD13.80)

The picture is self-explanatory. It is no wonder they were so popular. It was so good that I understand now why people are willing to drive an hour here just to eat the burger. I might do the same thing too.

Then we arrived at Little Creatures for the night.

Little Creatures Bright Ale Big (AUD10.30)

When you are at Little Creatures, it is mandatory that you need to order a drink because they brew their own beer and it is sold world wide. Singapore has them too, just not common. I have seen them in some of the places I went in Singapore.

Steak & Mushroom Feta Pizza (AUD23.00)

Chilli Tomato Mussels (AUD24.00)

As for the food, we had chilli tomato mussels and steak & mushroom fetra pizza. The pizza was alright but the mussels was fantastic. The main thing was the chilli tomato sauce. It went well with the mussels and even better with the bread. I love the sauce.

Well, that ended my day 5

 Day 6
 Day 6 was a short one because I am leaving Perth in the afternoon.

Because we only have half a day, we checked out of the apartment early in the morning and headed to Subiaco Station Street Markets for breakfast.

Subiaco Station Street Markets

Beef Curry Rice

 CT ordered the beef curry rice from a Indian stall.

As for my parents, they had this spicy beef goz from Mr Goz

Mr Goz

Spicy Beef Goz (AUD9.50)

Honestly speaking, the gozleme taste like murtabak to me in Turkish version. Nonetheless, it was good.

As for myself, I ordered a sausage plate from Greek Souvlaki Corner

Greek Souvlaki Corner

Sausage Plate (AUD11.00)

Since I am a sausage lover, you don't have to ask, this was really good. All sausage will always taste good to me. 

Flower Shop

Fruit Stall

We explored the market after our breakfast and I find the place is pretty nice. It is saddening to hear that the market is going to close before Christmas according to one of the shop owners that I talked to. So if have the chance, do visit before they are closed for good.

After Subiaco Market, we headed for Fremantle Market. Because it was the last day, so we chose to go to all the markets to do last minute shopping.

Cottesloe Beach was along the way to Fremantle so we stopped over for a while to check out the beach. Pretty wasn't it? The beach was one of the place to go initially, but because of the time constrain we could only stopover for a quick view of the beach before we continued down to Fremantle.

Cottesloe Beach

So as we arrived at Fremantle Market, it was a lot more crowded than Subiaco Market. Things were rather similar in both markets, so we quickly get the things that we wanted and left the market.

Fremantle Market

We had some spare time left, so we explored the remaining parts of Fremantle before having our last meal in Perth. Since it was the last meal, we opted for the famous Cicerello's.

Cicerello's

Seafood Tray (AUD21.15) and Salt & Pepper Squid (AUD17.95)

They are famous for their fish n chips, so we had one of that and a salt & pepper squid. It wasn't particularly nice actually. It just tasted average to me, but at least I tried the number 1 fish n chips in Western Australia.

Then it was time to end my journey in Perth. I will be back.

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