Road Trip! BNE & Surfer's Paradise
So since we had a long weekend this past weekend, the guys and I decided to rent a car to finally go down to BNE! We planned to reach the city in time for dim sum lunch and then do some shopping at the Asian supermarket. So bright and early on Sunday, off we went!
Wow, it's a long way down. As mentioned the last time, we're about 100 km north of the city so it'd take more than an hour by car
Finally we arrived at Chinatown! The four of us were ravenous from the long drive and ready for siew mai, har gau, char siew bao!
For some reason the Aussies keep referring to it as 'dim sim'. I see it everywhere! It's not just one place-all over Australia everyone calls it 'dim sim'! I'm amazed that nobody has bothered to correct it at all. Even the Chinese restaurants have given up and are calling it 'dim sim' as well. It's like a whole country just happy to wallow in a common mistake!
Golden Palace Chinese Restaurant! The dim sum was quite good! And I really miss those dim sum dollies pushing the dim sum carts around in restaurants
Many years ago, my grandfather used to bring us for Sunday dim sum lunches at the now defunct Mayflower Restaurant in DBS Building and Changi Terminal 1 and they had those pushcarts there. All memories from the past now....
OMG help I'm getting fat!!
Finally a real city! Not like PER, which is like only a city for 2 streets! I liked the photo of a gleaming reflection of another tower; it really exemplifies the city we're in
Pancake Manor, a 24 hour joint housed in a former church hall which serves delicious pancakes. We came back here for some later in the night
The old State Library Building
One thing I love about these Aussie capital cities is the wealth of colonial architecture
Believe it or not, this gilded interior belongs to a cinema!
Queen Street Mall: a pedestrian mall and heart of the shopping district
Later at night after dinner, Star Trek and pancakes, we came to check out this psychedelically lit building-which is the Casino (not surprising, huh). It's much smaller and cosier than Perth's Burswood
After Queen Street Mall, it was time to head further south to the Gold Coast!
Here we are: the world-famous Surfer's Paradise!
And we can see why: check out those gorgeous waves!
The customary 'to prove I really was there' shot
The famous Gold Coast Meter Maids
Can you believe that it costs $5 just to take a photo with them? No wonder everyone I saw doing it was hugging them damn tightly, hahaha! And this is only their winter outfit; in summer they look like this:
Cavill Avenue, which reminded me of Barcelona's Las Ramblas (vaguely, at least)
Camwhoring at one of the cafés
The Surfer's Paradise 'throne' along Cavill Avenue
Hard Rock Café, Surfer's Paradise
Beautiful modernist apartments for luxury living at the Gold Coast...
...and the interesting-looking Clock Hotel too
The small amusement park near the beach with flashy neon-lit rides
We must come back soon...! :)
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