The Pinnacles, Perth 2013

Perth Journal, Day 04

En-route to The Pinnacles, we stopped at the town of Lancelin for a bit of lunch. We bought a box of Rosie's Chicken and both my brother and I agree that the fried chicken was one of the best we have ever had - fried to a salty crisp. Yum! Lancelin seems really small and mainly for tourists heading to the beaches or stopping by to Cervantes. Sometimes I dream of living in a small little town like Lancelin where you know everyone and run a little business that you love.

Altogether, it was about a 3 hours drive from Fremantle to The Pinnacles. We used the new Indian Ocean Drive, a straightforward route that took us through Yanchep National Park and brought us quite near to the Western Australia coastline while on Grey Road. The Pinnacles is located within Nambung National Park and was very well sign-posted. It costs $11 per car for entry to the Pinnacles. You can choose to cover the area on foot or drive through Pinnacles Drive. If you use the car route, don't worry about having to stay in the car throughout, there's ample space along the route to park, hop out and wander around The Pinnacles.

The Pinnacles were other-worldly! I felt like I was on a Star Wars set. It's amazing how these limestone formations were formed organically over time. The day we visited was the one overcast day that we had while in Perth, rendering the landscape colours rather flat. The best time you are supposed to visit is either early morning or sunset but that may not work if you are apprehensive about driving the long journey in the dark (like us). Probably best to stay overnight in a nearby town. So if you are ever in Perth, make sure to carve out at least half a day to visit The Pinnacles, they are not to be missed!

Link-Ups, 10 April 2013

Along Lavender Street.

                                                                                                                                                          

x Anna recently started up her Much Love Monday posts again. I am going to try and link-up to it whenever possible. I hope you participate too, the more the merrier!

x I really enjoyed these two posts from the sweet light this week. - Warm Lemon Water & My Polaroid Wall. The tones of the photographs just make me feel all warm & fuzzy. I never knew Kodak Ektar 100 could look like this. Might be time to bust out my last remaining roll.

x Like Teri of the beautiful food blog Spoon Fork Bacon, I never liked mushrooms very much until I got older. Looking at this Mezzi Rigatoni with Wild Mushroom Sauce is making my tummy cry out for some mushrooms pronto!

Kings Park, Perth 2013

Perth Journal, Day 03 (cont...)

After the Chinese New Year festivities at Northbridge, we made our way to Kings Park for the rest of the afternoon. Kings Park offers some of the most amazing views of Perth city and the Swan River. It's not difficult to see why this park is so popular among the locals. All that expansive green grass just begs for you to find a secret spot, lie down, open a book or a magazine and while away a quiet, restful afternoon. 

Chinese New Year, Perth 2013

Perth Journal, Day 03

Although we were far away from home, traditions die hard. Chinese New Year must be celebrated! We drove from Fremantle to Northbridge where Perth's Chinatown is located for the Chinese New Year Festival. The Chung Hwa Association had organised a street festival full of food, games and traditional Chinese performances for everyone to share in on the festivities. Before hitting up the festival, we stopped for a dim sum lunch at Northbridge Chinese Restaurant. The minute we stepped into the doors, I felt like I was in Hong Kong instead of Perth. And yes, the dim sum is authentic!

My mum used to make lanterns like these too! In fact, we even learned how to make them as part of our primary school art classes. They are basically made up of ang paos (red packets), folded and stapled or glued together. 

We found a traditional calligrapher who would write any character you wanted him too. Mostly he was writing out the traditional character for luck (福) for everyone. I requested for him to write out my chinese name. That's him writing it out in the above photograph.

We also met an enterprising young couple who were asking for donations for their upcoming wedding. In the spirit of the new year, my brother gave them a couple of bucks. We wish you the best in your marriage, Silver Couple!

Link-Ups, 03 April 2013

A few snaps from Drips Bakery Cafe (Tiong Bahru).

                                                                                                                                                          

x I stumbled upon Industry of One recently, a periodical on the wears of work. Contrasting feelings of hate (the good kind), jealousy (the good kind) and admiration (the best kind) will course through you as you read about the featured individuals.

x There is also Creative People Projects, a portrait project by Rebecca Toh (Casual Poet Culture), documenting the lives, projects and spaces of Singaporean and Taiwanese creatives.

x I have been following Jason Hudson's instagram for a while now. I vaguely noticed last year that he had started travelling in Australia and New Zealand but I only realised yesterday he and his partner Jeff are on a year-long Eat Gay Love adventure. How adorable is that name! I am really enjoying his instagrams of Bali (his current location), enhanced by my quick trip there over the weekend.

x It may be perpetually summer in Singapore but I noticed that nature doesn't really bother with technicalities like that. Flame of the Forest trees have been madly blooming all over the island, showering us in reds & yellows. The Sounds of Spring playlist from the always-inspiring Kinfolk team makes the hot days seem a little more spring-like.