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Day 14 & 15 - X'mas with friends!

I want to take this opportunity to thank Antonia again for all her help on our trip!!!  Thank you for lending us your brand new GPS so we didn't get lost in Western Australia.  Thank you for picking us up at the airport on a weekday when we return from Hyden.  Thank you for taking us shopping and introducing us to all the fabulous deals!  Thank you for welcoming us into your home and letting us join you in your Xmas celebrations with your family and friends.  Thank you for taking us to the beach again so I finally get to try short-boarding.  Thank you for the Xmas presents!!  Thank you for taking us back to the airport on boxing day!!  Thank you and thank you again :)

Perth Trip Recap (13)

I was hoping to finish writing the entire trip before Chinese New Year... Oh well... better late than never!  :)

Day 13 - Cottlesloe Beach

We decided to go back to the souvenir shop for more shopping and then head to Cottlesloe Beach.  We stopped at a vietnamese restaurant in between but was slightly disappointed at the pho...  It was quite expensive and not very authentic... (but then again, we were comparing to the pho we had in the US... haha!)

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Yay - my MacBook Pro (MBP) is finally here... it's been forever before I could make the decision between buying in HK or the US... and then also between the MacBook Air (MBA) and MBP.  As usual, the practical me won the argument...  I am still getting use to the Mac interface but the transition wasn't bad at all... Anyways, back to subject...

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Day 11 - Caversham Wildlife Park / Pinnacles / Lancelin 

We joined a day tour with Adventure Tours, which is really operated by Pinnacle Tours, just AUD40 cheaper. (Don't ask me why) It's a fantastic tour and I would highly recommend them.  See detailed itinerary here.  If you have the YHA (Youth Hostel Association) card, you also get an AUD10 discount!

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Day 10 - King's Park / Garden City Mall

Yet another R&R day!  I felt my ankle singing "hallelujah"".  Today, we decided to take it easy so we went to Kings' Park for a picnic.  We stopped at the Woolworth between the train station and the bus stop and picked up some more snacks.  This really turned out to be just more mangoes for me - I can't say no to 2 for $3.50... haha~

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Day 9 - Rottnest Island

Based on our research, Tuesday is the best day to visit Rotto!  See here.  However, be prepared for a 2-hour boat right (one-way) from Perth CBD.  This is one of my favorite places... if given a chance to return, I would probably stay a day or two here  (an afternoon is really not enough).  Also, I would also take the bike rental option offered by Rottnest Express (the ferry) - it's about the same price and seriously, time is money on the island!

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Day 8 - Perth

Today is another planned R&R (rest & relaxation) or in my friend's word "explore" day.  The only goal for the day is to understand where are the bus and train stations and where is Barrack Street Jetty (and how long it takes to get there).

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Computer is fixed!  Yeah!!  Back to my regular update schedule (I hope) :)

Day 7 - Hyden / Perth

We left Albany early morning and started driving to Hyden, the home of the Wave Rock.  (Originally we wanted to go to Ayers Rock but due to a series of impulsive decisions, we didn't go.  It's alright, we will go there some day!)  Since we felt rock-less this trip, we decided to come out to Wave Rock before heading back to Perth.

Abalone Chicken Soup

I have to take a break from my Perth trip recap series as my main computer died on me the other day.  It's is currently at the shop now.  Let's hope it is fixable and won't cost an arm and a leg... 

However, I still feel like sharing this awesome soup that I made the other night.  It was extremely easy and satisfying in a cold winter night.  This is a clay pot soup, which is quite different to the normal boiled soup since this one is double boiled.  Most Chinese would say that this is a better way to make soup since the flavor and nutritions are more condensed, I just think that it taste better and I didn't have to keep checking the kitchen - I just set the timer and let the machine does the rest!

you should not have to add any seasoning

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Day 6 - Albany

Albany Farmers Market - The market officially opens from 8am to 12pm but we read that most items will be sold out by 9am.  Thus, we were really anxious to get there by 8am sharp (nothing comes between me and my food... we pretty much rolled out in our PJs...)  Luckily, the market is really close to the YHA we were staying at.

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Day 5 - Pemberton / Nornalup / Walpole / Denmark / Albany

Per our plan, today is a very intense day.  Not only we have to drive for 4+ hours from Margaret River to Albany, we also got a few planned stops with *moderately strenuous activities* waiting for us... (I actually bought Salonpas at HKIA just in case, which came in very handy later on this trip...) *we are proud couch potatoes*