Travelog - Canberra Day 1 (9/5/2015)
Indeed, I decided to take a 4 days 3 nights short getaway right after my assignment was due. This time, it is to Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. Yes...you didn't hear me wrong...I just said Canberra. You might be wondering, of all the places, why Canberra? Canberra is the capital city of Australia, and though it sounds like it should had been a big city and all those stuff, it is actually the opposite. There's basically close to no tourists attractions there at all. To be simple, it is just a small little place of administration and education. So back to why I chose to go there, firstly it was to visit a dear friend, and secondly, there just happened to have a promotion for Greyhound bus return tickets during that period of time.
It takes around 8 hours bus ride to get from Melbourne to Canberra, and I chose to depart at 8am in the morning instead of the previous night because I was kinda concerned that I would be too tired when I arrive in Canberra early morning. Since my dear friend, Tin, is kind enough to offer me a place in his apartment, I did not have to worry about wasting a day on the bus, I just decided to stay for an extra day to make up for it. The bus journey was much better than I expected, free Wifi, USB charging and generous leg room makes the 8 hour journey nice and pleasant. There’s also a stop during mid day for you to buy some food and stretch your legs. Finally I arrived around 5 15pm and it was already getting dark in this mid Autumn season.
The first glimpse of Canberra, there really isn’t any tall buildings that you will expect to see in other major Australian cities. The streets are rather quiet and empty. As a Malaysian from Kuching, and Tin a Taiwanese who grew up in Singapore, we all have one thing in common. Being Chinese, WE ALL LOVE TO EAT :p. By the way, Tin here is the lead blogger of a food blog called “Hang On Arvo”, so he is definitely taking me for some great food!
First stop, dinner! Thai food has been very popular among Australians. There were like 2 or 3 Thai restaurants in the city centre of Canberra and we decided to dine at this one called “Lemon Grass”.
Atmosphere was really nice and cozy with yellowish lighting. The waitress sat us down at a merely small 2 seater table and we placed our order with her. After that we were thinking if our small table will be able to fit all the dishes we ordered hahahaha.
Pad Thai chicken was a great starter. The thing that I really liked about it was that the taste was just perfectly balanced. I find a lot of Pad Thai’s too sweet and that makes me feel sick after a few mouthful. This Pad Thai in particular was just nice.
This dish was the bomb. Deep Fried Pork Belly with Vegetables. Pork was perfectly marinated and the ratio of fatty to lean meat was just nice. That means you would not feel that it is too oily or it might be too dry. The sauce to compliment it was very fragrant. For me personally if it was a little bit more spicy, then everything would had been perfect.
This dish is recommended by the lead blogger, Tin. Thai Red Duck Curry. Love the tenderness of the duck meat and the fragrance of the curry. Have this dish with their coconut rice, it just blends together perfectly.
After dinner, we went around the “city” for a little walk and of course, looking for some desserts. As you can see in the photo above, that is basically half of the city centre of Canberra. There’s another street behind where the “Canberra Centre” mall is. I think I took the above photo around 7 30pm, and it is already so empty. Can’t imagine how will I survive if I would had stayed there, good luck Tin!
Hang On Arvo lead blogger Mr Wang Tin Hsiao in action taking photographs of the Swiss Roll. It looks tasty, however it turned out to be the WORST swiss roll we ever tasted. Seriously I mean, it was supposed to be caramel swiss roll, but the caramel sauce tasted nothing more than sugar syrup, and you will expect the texture of the cake to be spongy and soft, however, it felt like bread and had no taste at all.
This on the other hand was good. Lemon Meringue Tart. Tart was buttery and the lemon paste was not too sweet nor too sour. It just felt refreshing having it.
I guess that was it for Day 1. This was where I stayed for the 3 nights. Stay tuned for Day 2!