Play: Exploring Western Australia in Winter (Day 4)

Today daddy is working , so its the time for 3 of us to explore Perth on our own. Decided to go to the zoo so that the kids can have fun watching the animals. Perth zoo is really close to Perth CBD, about 10-15 mins drive by taxi, cost about $15. 

For those with kids, Australia is quite strict about car seat so for any child who are less than 12 months old, you will need to book a cab with car seat. They do not allow the kids to be carried on the lap during the journey. For those above 12 months old, there is no need for car seat but the kids also not allowed to sit on the lap, they will need a seat on their own with seat belt fastened. 

We reached the zoo at about 11.30am, bought an adult ticket for myself ($27 for adult, kids below 4 years old free) and our adventure begans :)

Posing before our animal adventure time

jie jie helping to push stroller

First stop is penguin.... look at Justin so fascinated.... and the weather is getting warm at noon, so we even took off our jacket.. imagine not wearing a jacket in winter... the weather is really good!

Justin fascinated with penguin

Penguin at the back.. can't really see clearly

And we saw some flamingos along the way.. qin quickly show me her favourite flamingo pose.. so cute... didn't take photo though...

Flamingo

Next stop is the Australia Outback section for kangaroo sighting... kangaroo are allowed to walk freely in here but they are all more comfortable behind the fence.. didn't come out and greet us :p , so kiddos can just watch from across the fence... but they do observe the kangaroo for quite sometime :)

Australia outback section.. yay.. kangaroo awaits!

Watching kangaroo

Kangaroo lying comfortably ... enjoying the sun!

Cockatoo....

Animal overloads.. now its time to stretch their muscles :))) and its their favourite playground time :)

It's almost 1pm and our stomach starts to grumble... so we went to the kiosk to buy some food but.... its closed!!!

oh no... not open?

Luckily i bought some food (cereal bar, raisins, biscuit etc) so we found a bench at the picnic area and had some snacks.. after the zoo, then will bring the kids for a proper meal on our way back.

Chasing the seagull..

Picnic area

Enjoying their raisins....

Cheeky one... keep throwing raisins on the grass for the birds... after  i told him he can't feed the bird, he throws even more.. *sweat*

After snacking, qin wanted to go and see the giraffe... so we went to the African Animals sections.. saw giraffe and zebra.. and a huge turtle.. bigger than the fake turtle on display...Since the real turtle is not available for riding, we ride the fake one instead....

Riding plus "picnic"?

Miss poser.. with her new pose

Selfie with mummy

Selfie again :)

Nearby the turtle, there is this truck on display and one kid sat on it... so qin and xin queue up and wait patiently for their turn.. the kid before us played for quite sometime, and i am surprise the two of them can still wait very patiently for the car.. didn't even make a fuss.. really is mummy's and daddy's good girl and good boy, well trained :)

Finally, it is their turn to play :) yay!! First up, it is qin qin's turn to play... she was so excited and keep turning the steering... Justin also wanted to play, but didn't fight with jie jie.. waiting patiently for his turn, i am so proud of him!

When jie jie finish, di di quickly go over to the driver seat and can see his excited and happy face.... eagerly playing with the steering wheel, saying "vroom, vroom"... when they are happy, i am happy too!

Afterwards, someone else was queueing, and we played for a while and then let the next kid play... both of them was very co-operative, didn't make a fuss and understand that they need to let other people play as well, proud of them!

Meerkat

We walked a while more and the kids got attracted to meerkat, observing them for quite sometime...and then it was already 3pm plus and we were really hungry so make our way back to the entrance. A nice staff at the ticket counter helped us called a taxi to bring us back to our hotel.

We had a quick bite at Coffee Club which is just across the hotel... luckily we reached there just slightly before it is closed so still manage to order.. we were famished and the food tasted sooo good!

Egg Benedict with mushroom and spinach on toasted bread

Back to the hotel, we showered and rest for a while before going down for dinner. Wanted to eat dinner early so that the kids can rest early at night... they didn't really nap today... so definitely super tired already especially Justin.

Dinner at lobby restaurant

Fish dish, great presentation but taste normal.. nothing to shout about

After dinner, the kids watch tv for a while, then it is sleeping time...and some "me" time for mummy!

Watching tv

Tired already...

Drinking water happily

Doze off to dreamland..

Next up: Free and Easy Day 5 and 6 in Perth

http://eatplaycook22.blogspot.sg/2014/08/play-exploring-western-australia-in.html

Eat: Hiap Joo Bakery (Since 1919)

Hiap Joo Bakery is by far the best bakery I have ever eaten... Founded in 1919, they are famous for their bread and banana cake, baked using wood fire. 

Nestled among the heritage road in JB town centre (near to JB Central Post Office and HSBC bank), this little shop always have queue when their bread just ready, around 11 plus in the morning, to avoid disappointment, go before 1pm, as their famous bread will usually be gone by then.

Hiap Joo

Front door, usually have queue , but we were late so no more queue, only left red bean bread and banana cake.

Price list

While q-ing, customer can see their traditional oven where they bake their bread and cake. Look how ancient these are....

Traditional oven

Baker checking on the banana cake using a long wooden stick...pretty similar to those we see in some pizza restaurant...

Checking on the banana cake

My favourite so far will be their coconut bun, it is super tasty as the shredded coconut is cooked with gula melaka and the bun texture is super chewy. Sometimes, my mum will buy roti kosong(meaning bread without ingredients) cause the bread itself it so good that it can be eaten on its own.

Another famous item on the list is their banana cake, spongy and soft, one of the best banana cake i have ever eaten. Occasionally, they also sell a crispy version of the banana cake which they baked long enough until it is super crispy... i like that too!

Unfortunately the bread and banana cake was almost all gone before i mange to snap a nice photo, so this is the only pic i could get.

Banana cake and red bean bun

As their bread and cake does not contain preservatives, they get spoil really easy so do consume within the day itself for freshness or at most  keep for 1-2 days.

Edited:

FIL went again and manage to grab some coconut bun.... :)))

Legendary shredded coconut bun! Look at the fillings!!!

Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/hiapjoobakery

ADDRESS:

13, Jalan Tan Hiok Nee,

Johor Bahru,

Johor,

Malaysia.

Tel: 607-223 1703

OPENING HOURS:

Mon-Sat: 7am-6pm

Sunday: 9am-1pm

(Do come before 1pm to avoid disappointment)

Eat: TGIF, Johor Bahru, Malaysia

TGIF in JB has not disappoint us so far... Just across the causeway via First Link, price is cheaper compared to Singapore and their food are so far so good. 

For those with kids, with every adult meal ordered, kids gets complimentary meal from the "Stars Menu", you can choose any one from the menu below.

Complimentary kids meal with any adult main course ordered

For my kiddos, both of them are fans of fries so they ordered fish and fries and chicken fingers with fries. It comes with a honey mustard sauce and the kids love them. Keep dipping the fries into the sauce, at the end of it, en xin even lick the sauce off the saucer.

Kid's Fish and Fries (complimentary)

Chicken Fingers with fries

Some of the main courses we ordered.

1. Wild Mushroom Farfalle is a mix of fresh crimini, shiitake and button mushroom with farfalle pasta in garlic sauce sprinkled with fresh Parmesan. Hubby ordered this, commented that it is ok only... nothing to shout about.

Wild Mushroom Farfalle , RM 19.90

2. Cowboy Triple Meat Burger, tender pieces of slow cooked BBQ beef, with melted Colby Cheese top with bacon and crispy frizzled onion. Brother in law ordered this, cause it is new on the menu... but he still prefers their conventional burger which he tried on previous occasions.

Cowboy Triple Meat Burger, RM 35.90

3. Championship BBQ Chicken, roasted half chicken top with Championship BBQ Sauce, served with cripsy onion rings and cheddar cheese mashed potatoes. This is one of MIL favourite, she never fails to order this whenever we come...she likes how the chicken is well marinated, and also commented that the mashed potatoes is very flavourful.

Championship BBQ Chicken, RM 33.90

4. Championship BBQ Beef Ribs, slow cooked beef rib until fall-off-the-bone tender, in championship BBQ sauce, serve with fries, onion rings and apple coleslaw. FIL loves this course, keep saying it is very nice. I tried a small piece as well, and indeed it is very flavourful. The meat goes very well with the BBQ sauce and is indeed very tender. 

Championship BBQ Beef Ribs, RM 59.90

5. Sizzling Vegetable Fajitas, served hot with flour tortillas, pico de gallo, guacamole, sour cream and Colby cheese. This is one of my favourite, the tortillas are really soft. Guacamole and the accompanion are very fresh. I usually ordered Chicken Fajita but decided to order vegetable fajita for a change,a little disappointed with some of the vegetables as they are not very cooked, so it is a bit hard (the broccoli and long bean), other than that, i have no other complain, love the tortilla that goes very well with the sauce.

Sizzling Vegetable Fajita, RM 33.90

6. For dessert, initially we wanted to order our usual favourite, it is their brownies but out of stock so ended up ordering chocolate lava cake and fried cheese cake.

Chocolate lava cake tasted like usual lava cake, nothing to shout about. 

Fried cheesecake is a disappointment, a small piece of cheese cake wrap in popiah skin and fried.... well, they are just not a match for each other... trying too hard to fusion chinese popiah skin with western cheesecake... and it is a failure.. will never order this dessert again...the cheesecake pieces inside the popiah skin is also too small, can't really taste the cheesecake at all!

Lava cake

Fried cheesecake

ADDRESS:

Wisma Jotic 2,

Jalan Ayer Molek, 

80 000, Johor Bahru

Malaysia.

Tel: 607-2213380

OPENING HOURS:

Cant find the hours online, but it opens from 12pm onwards.