Sights and Dining at Philip Island, Melbourne

We signed up for a Penguin Tour at Philip Island. First, the coach took us to Warook Country Cafe. It was actually a cafe, with a wildlife sanctuary next to it. First we went to the cafe to have a devonshire cream tea. It had 2 fresh piping hot scones, with what looked like home made cream ( none of that whipped cream ), and strawberry jam! Delicious! After that, we went out to see the animals. They had Kangaroos, ducks and sheep all over the place, I even saw a Joey (all up close and personal)!

After that, the coach brought us to the Koala Sanctuary, where we could venture in, and they provided us boardwalks and notices which pointed out the koalas which were perched on the trees to us.

Then we went on the main attraction, the Penguin Parade at Philip Island. When we arrived, we awaited the arrivals of the penguins at the beach. We were extremely excited, and kept pointing out flotsam as the penguins! Finally at around 5.40PM, just as it was getting dark, we saw the 1st batch of penguins bunching together to form a group before heading up the beach to find their burrows! They were only about 30cm tall, and slightly plump. They scrambled up the beach fumbling and tumbling over as they were full of fish in their bellies!

Later, around 7pm, we headed to Cowes for dinner. Decided that we should try out some seafood, so we went to Jetty, a restaurant specialising in seafood! It was packed with people, even on a Monday night! After settling down, we decided to order a soup, Cauliflower and Cheddar cheese soup! It was really rich, with tasty cheddar and bits of cauliflower! Then we had the Breaded Sweetlip Fillet(Fish) which was extremely fresh and succulent. The skin was crispy with the breaded crumbs yet the inside was soft yet succulent and tasted really fresh. And we also ordered the Caesar Chicken Salad. Which had the freshest vegetables I've ever tasted with Chicken bits that were just so tender, and bits of barbequed pork! It also came with a poached egg which was just boiled to perfection, it was really a delicious dinner! I would love to go back there again!

Read more!

Acland's and China Town, Melbourne

It was Sunday morning, and we decided to go down to the St Kilda's Sunday Market facing the sea. However it was a little early when we arrived, as they normally were open at around 10 AM. So we decided to go down to Acland's Str to look for breakfast. There, we found a deli which gave out such delicious aromas we had to try it. So we went in and ordered a Ham and Egg Croissant, ham cheese and egg croissant, a latte and a hot chocolate. Though we had to wait a while for breakfast to arrive, it was definitely worth it! The Ham and Egg Croissant was spilling with scrambled eggs and ham! the eggs were fluffy and light and really tasty! the ham cheese and tomato croissant was delicious, the cheddar cheese was really tasty, and it went really well with the tomato and ham! To finish it up , we had the hot chocolate and latte! What a way to start off your Sunday!

Then we decided to explore Acland's Street before heading to the Sunday Arts and Craft Market. We saw many quaint and traditional looking bakeries. THe one that struck us most was Monarch! They had such a variety of chocolate and pastries, we could not resist going in to buy something. In the end I came out with a bar of chocolate hazelnut nougat! it was a bar of chocolate fudge with hazelnuts and bits and chunks of nougat! really sinful but delicious!

After shopping for the entire day around St Kilda's, and Melbourne's CBD, we visited many shopping malls, Melbourne Central, GPO and QV(Queen Victoria). We decided that it was time for dinner. Again, we decided to have Hong Kong Cuisine, as they are well knowned for their Hong Kong feasts in Chinatown. Thus, we went to a hong kong eatery along Little Bourke Street, which looked truly authentic, as though it had been plucked right out of Hong Kong. We settled down and decided to order their famous Roast Duck and Char Siew(Pork), seafood crispy noodles and fried vegetables with garlic. THe portions were really gigantic! The roast duck and char siew were really good, no colourings added to the pork, simply delicious. and the seafood crispy noodles were really delicious, with generous portions of seafood, such as scallobs, fish, squid and vegetables. My favourite had to be the Vegetables fried with garlic! The vegetables were so fresh and succulent and sweet, it went terrifically well with the garlic!

Read more!

For the pizza lovers ...

After shopping for two hours at Chapel Street in South Yarra, we were famished. We walked along the stretch of Toorak Road, which was lined with many different restaurants. We finally settled for a Japanese meal at Yoyogi Restaurant. Though hungry, we were too tired and didn't feel like eating much. So we shared a California Roll Maki, which came in 10 pieces! That whetted our appetite for something hot to warm us up on a cold and blustery day, so we ordered Agedashi Tofu! It was one of the restaurant's recommended dishes! It was tofu covered with a thin cripsy layer of batter soaked with soy sauce and topped with fish flakes! On a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (very good), I would rate the food quality 3.5 and the ambience 3.

After that, we headed back to the Melbourne CBD area and continued to shop for awhile. Later that evening, we met up with my mum's ex-colleague who brought us to Pizzeria IlBimbo at Brunswick, Fitzroy. Standing atop the roof was a large statue of a diapered baby (similar to the diapered dancing baby in the show, Ally McBeal). It was a restaurant cum pub and seems pretty happening. We ordered 3 personal pizzas (about 11 inch each) and shared a salad.
We ordered 3 types of pizzas - meat, seafood (Di Mare) filled with octopus, squid and other seafood and mushroom (Funghi). The pizzas were wood fried which explains the deliciously flavourful taste and with a slightly woodsy smell. For the Di Mare, the seafood was very fresh and for the Funghi pizza, I have never seen a pizza so filled with mushrooms! Really delicious! We had fresh salad of lettuce with french dressing. Each pizza cost about A$5.90-A$7.90. And on Mondays-Thursdays all pizzas go for $4 each!!

To complete the meal, we crossed the street to Trampoline, an ice-cream parlour for gelato! There were many tempting flavors, it was almost impossible to choose. Decision making time - but I took my time at to savour the delightful and colourful array of ice-cream. I finally chose Lychee and Lime sorbet. It had a sweet and tangy taste, highly recommended after a heavy dinner as it was refreshing. Mum had Spotty Doc which was vanilla with chocolate chips. Verdict : Absolutely Oomphy!with every munch. Yummy!

Read more!