Category Archives: Living in… Australia

QUESTACON SCIENCE MUSEUM IN CANBERRA

13 January 2013 2 comments

Apart from seeing the trains in Canberra, our trip to Questacon was by far the most exciting for Hunter. It was really heart-warming for Chris and I to witness that, but Questacon holds fond memories for us. We both went there during our childhood, and both of us went together when we were dating as teenagers (eons ago!!), when I was visiting his family in Canberra for Christmas. I even remember what I was wearing that day, LOL.

Considering both Chris and I are geeky and love hands-on science stuff, Questacon really appeals to us because it’s a very hands-on science museum, and also excellent for kids. Hunter LOVED it. There were tons of exhibits that left him gawking, and he loved playing around with all the moving parts.

It was well worth the money and so nice to see our eldest child fascinated with the same stuff that fascinated us when we were kids.

I also found out that Questacon are partners with the Singapore Science Museum! Which reminds me, I really want to take Hunter to that one in a couple of months……

This was at the entrance, and it was hard to pull Hunter away. Balls going up and down and all around!

I LOVE this photo. We’re all in stripes, haha! And I love both kids’ faces :)

Spinning levers

Chris having a go on the “free fall” exhibit

Poor Carter could only look, but he still seemed pretty fascinated

Hunter loved putting the balls on the track and watching them zoom down

There’s a section of Questacon called mini-Q. Man, that alone is worth the entire cost of the Questacon ticket! It’s a limited capacity (which is good), so you get a ticket when you purchase your Questacon entry tickets, and you get an allocated time slot.

I’m SO glad we got the tickets, because Hunter had an absolute blast. They told me Carter would have fun too, but frankly, he had no clue what was going on. I’d say it’s best for kids that are at least crawling around.

Anyway, mini-Q is divided into multiple sections, each with different “themes”. Hunter (obviously) was completely stuck on the car theme, and kept going back even after I dragged him away.

He adored this green ride-em car. He could even fill it up with ‘petrol’ from the tank!

There was also the construction theme which he was also pretty into. There was a conveyor belt that you could turn via a wheel and move objects up to the next level, and that kept him occupied for a fair while.

My lil construction worker

And the water play theme area was also a big hit. I guess you can’t go wrong with water! Hunter was particularly fascinated with the water maze, where you can throw balls in and watch the water push them through, and then a contraption push the balls up into the air.

Scooping up water

They provide plastic seats for kids to sit at the water table to play

There’s a section that I reckon is more for older kids or adults.. the deep sea monsters section. Basically all the creatures of the deep, and I actually found it rather scary!!

Definitely not a sight I’d like to see whilst swimming in the ocean. Thankfully, they’re deep deep deep down..

ARGHHHHH

CANBERRA: CHOO CHOO TRAIN!!

10 January 2013 1 comment

Hunter is MAD about trains. No secret there.

If you’re into trains too.. you’ll probably like this blog entry.

If you’re not (like me), you’ll find it dead boring, like I did when I was experiencing it all ;)

So the good thing about Canberra is that it’s actually pretty child-friendly. And, we discovered they had stuff to do with TRAINS!!! We just knew it would make Hunter’s entire day, so we decided to spend one day checking out nothing but….. trains.

First up was the Weston Park mini railway. It basically looks like a real-life Thomas train… so needless to say, it made Hunter’s eyes nearly pop out of their sockets! He was so excited to sit on the train, and thoroughly enjoyed the ride around the park. It’s $7 a ticket and well worth the 10 minute ride!

Hullo, Thomas!

Waiting to set off on the train

Choo-choo-ing through the park

Fat Conductor lookalike, perhaps? ;)

We also visited the Canberra Heritage Rail museum. Now these are where REAL trains are, and all outdoors on tracks. They are vintage trains… and are actually really interesting to poke around in. Everything is so old school, and they allow you to board and look and touch – which Hunter had so much fun with. He was completely enthralled by all the huuuuuuge trains, and pottered in and out and up and down them for ages!!

The vintage trails, all sprawled out among the grounds

Sitting inside a vintage train carriage

I love how old school this looks!

“All aboard!”, says the train driver

Busy touching every lever, wheel and button in sight

Poor Carter could only stare at everything, I bet he wanted to just run around with Hunter!

Trains at the station

Hunter, too absorbed by all the trains, to bother looking at the camera!

CANBERRA: CREAM CAFE & BAR

9 January 2013 13 comments

We randomly stumbled upon CREAM Cafe & Bar whilst in Canberra Centre shopping mall. We were after a place where all of us could have a nice relaxed brunch.. preferably outdoors. But because it was the weekend, the place was packed so we could only get an indoor spot. No issue though, as with their high ceilings and huge glass-paned windows, it was so airy and bright it was almost like sitting outdoors anyway.

Their menu made me salivate at the mere sight of it. Oh how I love brunch-y type places! This was exactly my type of cafe. It’s not cheap, but nice brunch cafes are roughly around that price, and I’ve heard stuff tends to be pretty expensive in Canberra anyway.

Inside CREAM. Love how bright the cafe is!

None of us are looking at the camera, but I still like this pic :)

I thought the food was really good. Lovely presentation, and good quality ingredients. The portion sizes were decent – something that is good about Australia in general. I just had my main, and didn’t need to have dessert afterwards!

I ordered Hunter the Organic sourdough toast and it turned out to be a real waste of money because he spotted and ate ONE fry at the start, and proceeded to have a total meltdown at the table for most of the brunch. Sigh. So obviously once that happens, him eating an iota of food is totally out of the question. And being Hunter’s personal rubbish bin, I ate it instead. I personally thought this dish was insanely expensive. $8 for 2 slices of toast and a bit of jam? GEEZ! At least it was good….

Organic sourdough toast with house jams ($8)

My STEAK SANDWICH tender sirloin, lettuce, tomato, free range egg, aioli, caramalised onions w/ shoestring fries was a winner in my book. The steak really was tender as promised and it really hit the spot. Would get this again any time!

STEAK SANDWICH tender sirloin, lettuce, tomato, free range egg, aioli, caramalised onions w/ shoestring fries ($18)

Doesn’t the BIG BREAKFAST free-range eggs poached, scrambled or fried on toast w/ bacon, baby kransky, mushroom, tomato & chat potato look so enticingly good???! It arrived on a big plate piled with food and I thought this was pretty good value for money.

BIG BREAKFAST free-range eggs poached, scrambled or fried on toast w/ bacon, baby kransky, mushroom, tomato & chat potato ($19)

The CORN FRITTERS crisp fritters w/ fresh spinach, roast peppers, diced avocado & poached egg were very nicely done too. Really similar to the ones we’ve had at bills in Sydney. I liked the addition of a poached egg too, which gave the dish a lovely creamy texture.

CORN FRITTERS crisp fritters w/ fresh spinach, roast peppers, diced avocado & poached egg ($17)

The Strawberry milkshake was actually pretty sour. I guess that’s a good thing, since they use fresh strawberries ;) I adored their Latte though. The only thing I found odd was that I ordered a large/mug version, and it came in a small cup. Makes me wonder what the small/regular version is like….. must come in a thimble or something!

Strawberry milkshale ($6), Latte ($4.50)

I really enjoyed the cafe and reckon it makes a great brunch place with family or friends on a weekend. Would go back if we are ever in Canberra again!

“Wiggles red car!”

TARONGA ZOO

29 May 2012 10 comments

I hadn’t been to Sydney’s famous Taronga Zoo in…. decades, I think? So far back that I can’t really remember the trip at all. All I remember was that it was situated on the side of a hill and offered pretty breathtaking views of the water and Sydney.

Since we had Hunter with us, we had the perfect excuse to go :) It was his first time at at actual, proper, zoo, so we were excited to show him all the animals that he had previously only seen in his picture books.

We took the ferry across the harbour to get there, since it’s the fastest and most scenic way. We were blessed with yet another GORGEOUS day in Sydney – with bright clear skies and warm weather. Hunter was wide-eyed during the whole ferry ride and we were treated to a fab view of the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge. Funny how I used to go over the bridge every single day on the way to/from work.. and how I used to walk past the Opera House all the time, and I never really bothered about these landmarks. But now that we’ve left Sydney, they suddenly become so interesting to me!

On the ferry to Taronga Zoo

Inside Taronga Zoo. Lovely views!

At the entrance, having a quick snack

Hunter was really interested in the reptiles, which I thought was cool because I love snakes and lizards.. so he must take after me! I just love the the feel of their skin and scales – so smooth and cool and fluid. Hunter was pretty fascinated too, he kept reaching out to stroke the ADORABLE lizard as well as the snake!

I was really hoping to be able to cuddle the lizard or take a pic with the snake draped around my neck, but they don’t allow that :( But they were my fave animals of the whole zoo by far!

Super cute reptiles. They were a hit with Hunter!

We had a lovely time showing Hunter all the animals he’s already familiar with from his books.. and it was so fun seeing his wide-eyed amazement at these animals coming to life.

And man, these animals have a pretty sweet life! Wonderful weather, huge spacious enclosures, and quite a few of them have stunning views.

Soaking in the sun

Lucky giraffes

Wandering elephants

I'M BIGGER THAN A BEAR!! MUAHAHAAAAA SUCCESS

Beautiful flowers

Watching the seal show

We caught both the bird show, and the seal show

Family pic :)

HOW I’VE MISSED FOOD IN AUSTRALIA!

26 May 2012 6 comments

Australia, and especially Sydney, was quite specifically a foodie trip for us. Not a massive lot of shopping (I know, SHOCK HORROR!!!!!) since we had baby in tow, but more of visiting all our oldies-but-goodies food places. Places where we dined at when we were dating 12 years ago (!!), places that bring back memories for us, and places that we wanted to share with Hunter.

I didn’t get round to photographing ALL the places that we ate at, particularly when I forgot or when we were busy looking after Hunter, but here’s a quick snapshot for me to remember :)

This below is Pyrmont Fish Markets. Any Sydneysider or even tourist will know of this place. It’s actually pretty touristy now but still good :) You get lovely fresh seafood, and sit casual-style by the water and simply enjoy the sunshine. We went early and on a weekday, so it wasn’t crowded and we could relax.

An (extended)-family trip to Pyrmont Fish Markets, our must-go place in Sydney. LOL @ how I look like a swallowed a basketball ;)

The weather was GLORIOUS! Hunter had fun chasing all the seagulls :)

And of course, no trip to Sydney is complete without a visit to Kingsford Chinese on Anzac Parade. It’s where we went to a couple of times a week when we were both University students, and BY FAR the best Chinese food in Sydney. And this time, we brought Hunter along!

It was pretty funny because thus far, Hunter hadn’t really been eating a whole lot (he’s not used to ‘outside’ food for every meal). But we ordered him a fish congee and he ate SO MUCH of it Chris was actually worried if he would pop ;) I guess he missed my Mum’s cooking at home! And he must’ve been sick of all the Western food we had been eating during the whole trip, because he went nuts over this Chinese food. The congee was beautifully silky and unsalted (by request), with many big chunks of fish in it. I was so pleased he had a great meal that was healthy too :)

Fried rice and sweet & sour fish - our staple at Kingsford Chinese

Not surprisingly, we went to Bills. Not once, not twice, but THREE times! I like the casual ambience, the delicious food, and the whole concept of Bills. The food is seriously overpriced IMHO, but at least it doesn’t disappoint.

Hot chocolate

They lil man chilling out during brunch at Bills

Corn fritters

Hunter's brunch - avocado on sourdough

Dinner at Bills - awesome lamb chops

Simple but delish pesto pasta

Zucchini fries (with Hunter trying to steal one!!!)

And we tried out Kazbah on Darling Harbour for the first time, with our French friends and their 2 adorable lil boys. The day was simply GLORIOUS, with bright sunshine and lovely weather. Actually, every day in Sydney was like that, we were really fortunate!

We thoroughly enjoyed Kazbah and will be back. Excellent food and gorgeous decor/cutlery!