Romancing the Australian Outback
Advertorial
What was your first contact with Australia?
I remember mine very clearly. My uncle had just come back from his studies in the University of Western Australia and bought me one of those stuffed Koala Bears with a windup musical box in the belly. Being an aspiring surgeon, I wanted to know how the musical box worked, so that was when I performed my first surgical procedure. It was interesting to learn that the tune was produced by a comb of different lengths being was "plucked" by a revolving drum. Of course I got scolded by my mom who said that I was a little destroyer. However, that tune was etched in my memory forever. It was when I went to Australia for my studies that I found out that the haunting tune was none other than that all time favourite Aussie bush ballad, Waltzing Matilda.
When I was growing up, the mystique of Australia revolved around Koala Bears (not really a bear btw), Kangaroos and Sheepskin rugs. Nowadays, you can get Koala Bears at Toys R Us, Kangaroos at the Singapore Zoo and Sheepskin rugs at Ikea. Australia has become more of a tourist destination where people can explore the vastness of the Australian outback or simply find a quiet place for a romantic getaway where its just the two of you, some wine and cheese and a beautiful sunset over a horizon without oil tankers.
The Blue Mountains
One of the most awesome landscapes that I have come across during my seven years stay in Sydney has to be when I was dining at the Hydro Majestic Hotel in the Blue Mountains. The Hydro Majestic was built at the turn of the 20th century and has a huge dining area which overlooks the breathtaking Megalong Valley (Incidentally, Megalong is an Aboriginal word. It is not called Megalong because the Valley is Mega-Long. But then again, they did coin the Blue Mountains because they look blue....). I think most Singaporeans might miss the Hydro Majestic when they visit the Blue Mountains because they usually just get to Katoomba, take a photo in front of the three sisters and go back to the city. If you need to present an offer that your girlfriend cannot refuse, then this is one of those great places to make that proposal.
Hunter Valley
Another beautiful place which I have been to was when I did my rotation as a senior Medical Student at Cowra Hospital which is located smack in the middle of the Hunter Valley wine growing region. I was married then, so we managed to spend a few romantic evenings at the Hospital's Resident Quarters. But I jest. The Hunter Valley is a wonderful place where you can visit a Vineyard, taste the wine and then settle down in a cafe for a meal with the sound of the vines rustling in the wind. Again, another great place to make that offer she cannot refuse.
Anyway, there are lots of other romantic spots across the vast country and now is a great time to visit since our Singapore Dollar is currently on par with the Australian Dollar. In addition, Qantas is having a great promotion where you can get to fly to two different cities for as low as $869. There are also some great new packages that feature new destinations for the adventurous and romantic at heart.
Climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge
Check out the great Come Walkabout in Australia offers at www.australia.com or call 1800-GO-TO-AUS (1800-46-86-287) to speak to an Aussie Specialist travel agent now.
For more information about the special promotion, please visit www.qantas.com.sg
All photos are copyright Tourism Australia
32 comments:
i hv been a silent reader to your blog but need to comment today.
Last nite, I was reading your penang food trail cos I will be in Penang in April.. and had to stop reading when i felt too hungry at 11plus.
This morning, you posted on Austrlia, which I am gg in May.. hahaha so coincidental!
can't wait to eat char kway teow!!
Ah which part of Australia you going to? Some of the best food can be found in Australia, even Thai food if you believe it!
the dollar parity is not so good for those living in aus :( but this aussie reader is happy to spend some $ to stimulate the local dining economy in brisbane (queensland) if anyone is passing by and on the lookout for a local makankaki or 2 :) find me via my blogger profile.
Even at one to one, it is still cheaper to eat a bowl of noodles here in Singapore than Australia although the portions there are huge!
Any die die must try dishes in Brisbane? I always remember Brisbane as a place with wonderful weather. Almost perfect all year round.
will be gg sydney and melb with my 4 yrs old gal :).. yes.. the best Viet food I hv ever eaten is from Melb. :D
Dont miss out the sydney fish market in sydney if u enjoys seafood. They cook the fresh seafoods at the stores there. so much more cheaper than gg to the top chinese seafood resturant there.
i miss all the yummy yummy food there....
koalas are marsupial so just refer to them as
"koalas" and not "koala bear"
I love Sydney. When I was there a few years ago, I had a very good seafood lunch at Doyles Restaurant at Watson Bay.
ieat: it's a truism that the grass is always greener on the other side, so for me the die die must try food is found in places like sg and malaysia :p besides which the food / eating out culture is bit different eg no hawkers here. having said that, and depending on what one likes, there are plenty of places i could recommend as being worth trying without necessarily sitting in the ddmt category :)
i love your koala bear photo which looks like 3-Dimensioned, is it caused by the light effect?
fm
With the extreme freshness of produce in Aus and the influx of Asian immigrants over the years, its not surprising to find some very very good asian food there.
Perth itself is starting to be a mini-Singapore/Malaysia. LOL, I won't be surprise that in future, we can find really authentic Sg hawker food there and with really fresh ingredients. (While the hawker food here slowly gets PRC'nise)
Sigh.. i should plan to retire there. The PRC & INDX can take over this island.
tw
What apt timing, this advertorial.
Hey tw, the wait is no longer. I'm glad to announce that Jason of Ya Kwang has settled down there with family and is opening for business next week! Singaporeans there are going to get really lucky...
And a visit down under is due come mid-April. Here I come, Perth!
Oh yeah I do know of a few Singaporeans who chose Perth as their retirement abode and they are loving it every moment. Imagine owning your own vineyard, gosh!
If you happen to go to Melbourne there's a great Nasi Padang restaurant on Swanston St called "Nelayan". Awesome rendang and prices reasonable. Lived Downunder for two decades and certainly miss the seasons....
Hawker centre on James Street in Perth has a good selection of local S'pore-HK fare. There's also a rather good selection of eateries around the city.
Oh great! I am writing a piece on all the best places to eat in Australia next, so please keep those suggestions coming in!
Oh BTW, anyone can recommend some good Aussie Food Bloggers? I would like to list down the most die die must try places in each of the major cities.
Best ever tom yam I tried was in Brisbane!....and I met liverpooldarling while studying in Townsville! :)
ok, time to make a stand for my hometown :p
in brisbane, some places to try:
* oishii sushi in sunnybank hills for sushi and other japanese dishes that is definitely very oishi
* the morrison hotel in south brisbane has good steak (tho it's been quite some years since i've been myself)
* if you're into seafood, there's brett's wharf restaurant in hamilton, oxley's on the river in milton, or a bit further afield george's paragon at sanctuary cove (hope island) or southport (gold coast)
* still a bit out of town, for pies (variations on the aussie meat pie), there's yatala pies at yatala, or even better is a place (can't remember name) along the main stretch of shops (gallery walk) at mt tamborine
* back into the southern suburbs of brisbane, there are plenty of choices when it comes to asian eateries in the sunnybank/market square and nearby areas. some of my favourites are sunnybank oriental in sunnybank plaza shopping centre, malaya corner and little singapore in market square, green tea cafe in runcorn, and 7-8 coffee shop in robertson.
* a few restaurants serve decent "hawker favourites" type lunch specials: singapura in milton, and rasa malaysia in underwood
* yahoo in sunnybank hills has good malaysian style food - the original branch is in waterford
* yum yum in darra has good peking duck, and there are a number of decent vietnamese eateries in darra, inala, and west end.
* another good place for peking duck is the pine and bamboo in cannon hill. they also do a mean beggar's chicken (advance order).
* lastly, the blue smoke bbq in new farm has good american style bbq food.
as for food bloggers, the only one i know hasn't made it very far past the dreaming stage :p
Hey quop, I remember when I went to the Gold Coast 10 years ago, they used to sell the "all you can eat" chinese buffets where they let you take all you can on a small plate for $4. Are they still around?
What is the one die die must try eat in Brisbane? I can only feature one in my next post. In Sydney, it has to be Tetsuya.
Nice write up there. With the exchange rate, its a good time to go. I had great Chinese and Viet food in Melbourne 2 years back.
Koalas are often called as "koala bears" but this is not correct. Koala is not a bear but a marsupial.
ieat: i'd say oishii sushi is the pick for me. have been there a few times now and i've never been disappointed. my sis and bro-in-law (who's a fair bit more particular abt his food) make a point of eating their food whenever they have visitors from out of town. the price is not cheap, but worth it for a once in a while treat.
as for the "all you can eat" chinese buffets, yes they are still around, but i think you'd struggle to find any for $4. starting price for a small plate is probably ~$6+. most (larger) shopping centre food courts will probably have one of these shops. i tend to stay away from such places though as you'd generally be wasting your calories, eg don't bother filling your plate with anything where you can't see the actual meat (those fried meats covered in batter are 90% batter and 10% meat)!
Ha ha! $6+ is still quite cheap to fill you tummy in Oz!
90% batter is right! At least in Singapore it is only 50%
I lived in Aust for 15 years (10 yrs in Sydney and 5 years in Melb) so know quite a number of nice places to eat. (More so in Sydney). Let me know....
ieat - i know a blog who has written something about Sydney (in fact, all the one with the 'hats'....). But it's in Chinese....okay?
quop:
give Jun's Asian Japanese Cuisine a Shot in Mt Gravett WishArt Plaza
the Mee Goreng and Horfun are as Authentic as u can get in Brisbane
but they're only open thurs to sundays
for good Japanese Food and Value for Money Sashimi
Amimoto at Surfers Paradise is the place to go to
scboy, you know my Chinese CMI, how to understand?
I visit Sydney at least a few times a year. Most of the time is to recharge. The following places are the die die must try place whenever i go back. You should be able to google the details such as the phone / address. If not, let me know.
- Rengaya - Japanese Yakiniku - by far the best Yakiniku i have tried anywhere (outside of Japan of course). There was once I was back in Sydney for 4 nights and I had dinner at this restaurant 3 nights in a row. I didn't go the 4th night .......because it was closed.....need i say more?
- Bills - The food is good (not great), but couple with ambience, it makes the whole meal worthwhile. I like the the outlet at Darlinghusrt (Bills #1), but the Q is quite long so these days I go to Bills #2 (at Surry HIll).
- Koi (Modern Japanese) - this is my latest find but having said that I have known the head chief for over 15 years. Kenji san. I first tried his food at Unkai (ex ANA, now Shangri-la). When Shangri-la took over ANA a few years I lost contact with Kenji san. Through another friend, we managed to hunt Kenji san down and he is now the head chief at Koi (st Woolwich).
- Marque at Surry Hill (Modern French) - this has 3 SMH hats (same as Tetsuya). I used to go to this place before it became well known. It used to have 1 hat only and now 3 hats. Not cheap but worth it. I would try the degustation menu and if budget permit, let them pair the wine for you.
- Thai - Longrain or Sailors Thai (I think this must be the Thai food 'ieat' had in mind? haha).
I have a lot more others, if any of you interested, let me know.
Oh, my die die must try Thai is actually Tom Yam Thai in Epping. Small little restaurant but even after living in Thailand for 2 years, I still find their food strangely enticing. Really got "Gong Tau" one!
Australia is always close to my heart having been certified by ATP to promote Australia back then. Also had the opportunity to travel to Sydney thanks to Qantas and there on to Low Howe Island where I had my best fish and chips being a non fish person then; it changed me; all these by coutersy of Australian Tourist Promotion board. We were also shown the other facets of Australia from cities to Australia bottom, Tasmania which has changing landscape and you have to capture it all. Foodwise, it's aplenty fresh and lots of variety from the cosmopolitan community there. From here, we had the opportunity to promote this country to many and many tourists came back with tales of enjoyable their stay and how good the food is.
Correction to my earlier post -
it shd read as "Lord Howe Island "(not sure how to modify a post done).
Brisbane...hmm...student budget, good cantonese roasts at brunswick street at the valley, beside yuens supermarket...
and this one small eatery just beside fruitgroove train station, called green tea house "li cha wu", serves up decent taiwanese food at good price.
and last, 3 monkeys at west end seems a good place for coffee and cakes...
I love Sydney. I was there a few years ago, I had a very good seafood lunch. I like the fresh seafoods and what a great looking Sydney Harbour Bridge, it's so beautiful.
Thanks
Max mickle
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