I’m currently in Perth, Australia. I decided to come to Perth because I wanted to see a bit more of Australia. I’ve seen a lot of the world – I’ve travelled through South East Asia, a bit of central america, US, Europe, and a bunch of other random places. But I haven’t seen much of Australia beyond Melbourne, Gold Coast, Canberra and Brisbane (1 night). I hear a lot of people from overseas tell me about these kind of places like Tasmania, Darwin, Cairns, etc… and how good they are.
I was told by a few people from Sydney that Perth was boring, there’s no nightlife, there’s nothing to do. Well if I listened to them, I probably would have never gone! Despite this, I’m glad I came to check it out.
Today, I wanted to go to Rottnest Island. I hear its a cool place to check out. However, I got there at 1pm and the tickets were sold out on the ferries that were going there. So I bought it for the next day and spent most of today checking out Fremantle. I most of the day there. I found a few good fish and chip places (there’s a famous place called Cicerello which I plan to check out tomorrow). However, I stumbled across Little Creatures pub / restaurant. Little Creatures is a beer brand, which my friend Jamie Andrei introduced me to (as well as Rottnest island!). I haven’t drank much of it, but I thought this was a pub worth visiting.
I had the marinated kangaroo skewers with tomato chutney dip. Very tasty. Kangaroo meat is kinda like beef (more solid & chewy than say chicken). Also had some chorizo’s which were kinda burnt. How did I found out about these dishes? Well I checked the tips on foursquare!
Also knocked back a pint of little creatures pale ale and also a white rabbit dark ale. Pretty nice, with a view of the marina. I spent a while there, not wanting to move (and also knowing that everyone else was working on monday afternoon while I was drinking little creatures at the pub!).
I also spent some time checking out Elizabeth’s secondhand book shop. There’s two in Fremantle, and like half dozen in WA. I thought to myself, I wish there was one in Sydney! Then I realised there is – its actually behind my work on Pitt St. However, the selection isn’t as good. I ended up buying a bunch of books, I just have to figure out how to bring them back!!
I then had a coffee at Gino’s – its meant to one of the best coffees in town! It was a nice local place in Fremantle, fairly big actually. I had a pretty good cappucino while reading XMEN 2099: The Freakshow, which I purchased for a $1 from Elizabeth’s bookshop.
It was getting late, so I decided to grab some dinner. I really wanted to check out Alfred’s Kitchen in Guildford. It actually is quite a fair way from Perth City centre. Its about 10 stops (half hour on the train). I got there about 9pm. I actually missed the stop because the train doors don’t open automatically. You are supposed to press a button to open the doors, if it doesn’t open. So I ended up going to the last stop and coming back again. There were train guards on the train who were quite helpful, and it was safe to travel on the train.
However, when I got off, I couldn’t see any shops near the station. It was supposed to be right next to the station. The streets looked completely dead. I chose the street which seemed to be more commercial and had a few shops which were shut. I walked down the road, everything was pretty dark. I then came across the guildford Hotel, but they had just turned off the lights. Mind you, this is 9pm! I decided that I was not going to get the train back – as the trains were fairly empty and there’s no staff at the train station beyond certain stops.
I later spotted what looked to be a diner with some people gathered around a fire. It was a small tuck shop, a permanent setting. It reminded me of Harry’s Cafe De Wheels in Sydney.
Why did I travel so far to get a burger? Well I read about it in the in-flight magazine on Tiger Airways. Apparently, Matt Preston of Masterchef fame reckons its one of the best burgers he’s ever eaten. I know he’s very critical and picky with his food – one does not get to his size and fame without eating a lot of food. It’s about $9 for the Alfred Special. Pretty good burger. It had sandwich bread (toasted) not buns. I prefer buns in a burger. However, the bread was really soft and it had 3 layers of bread. There was beef pattie, egg, bacon, tomato. I ate it on the seats in front of the fire, and spoke to some of the locals and told them I’d come all the way from Sydney to eat this burger!
It was about 9.30pm, and I decided to head off and grab the train. Seriously, the streets were dead! The station actually reminded me of like Glenfield in Sydney. Pretty far from the city and not the safest place in the world. As I approached the train station, there were a couple of people across the road. I could see that they were homeless as they had all their bags with them. I thought stuff it, I’m getting on the train.
After getting to the top of the platform, I decided it wasn’t the best idea. The train station only had one exit (I noticed it when I got off). As I turned around and walked along the street, the guys from across the road started pointing and yelling at me. I could hear them say “look at this chink (or something to that effect)”. They asked if I had cigarettes, I said no. They asked why, I said I don’t smoke. Then they asked if I had $2. Judging from this, their tone of voice the fact that the streets were completely empty, and a few other factors, I could just see this situation potentially turning bad. You get a sense about these things. I decided not to answer anymore of their questions, and just to head back to the diner and call a cab. Having been robbed walking home from the train station once in Sydney, its definently made me more aware of my 6th senses.
All this for a burger!
If you go to Alfred’s Kitchen, make sure you go a bit earlier as it is out of the way on public transport.
I’m out like the Alfred Special,
Matt
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