Of Balloons, Star Wars and Pinoy Barbeque...

What a great visit to Canberra last week. We drove from Melbourne at 6 in the morning of Friday and arrived around 2 pm. Richard and I love scenic long drives and it is great to visit the ACT around this time of the year. We had one stop over at Wodonga/Albury, border of Victoria and NSW. :-)

The Balloon Spectacular was the main reason for this trip. Last year we went as well.  This time we wanted to visit mainly because as Star Wars Fans, we did not want to miss on the Yoda Hot Air Balloon. :-)





Just half of our luggage, you would think we went on a 2 year trip! ;-)




Yo Yoda!



Even the back of Master Yoda is majestic but I was only taking Rich's photo here :-)

Dodo was there too!



Smile hunny!

I like to be in the background



Papa...paparazzi ☀☺♥♫



Selfie without the stick is tricky, Ricky!



Shooting Angry Bird and Dodo having a Face off :-)

Making sure all his toys are ready. We love this Darth Vader case :-)



Checking out his gear :-)




I have gone to the dark side! Oy ve!

Scary...  and yes that person too :-)



Up up and away! A bit pricey and my fear of heights are 2 main reasons
I cannot be in that basket :-)




Night Noodle Market! The crowd in Canberra is always subdued. Almost like they are in trance. To have a good time is their agenda, nothing else. :-)



These paper looking boats were not really paper :-)



The 501st Legion Southern Cross Garrison came in full force, gear and all!
They made it even more exciting! I saw the whites just before the sun riseth that day and I was so thrilled! Rich too, but he is cool and collected. I'm the messy one! :-)

 

 Bit of trivia - do you know that a decent Storm or Clone Trooper costume is worth $2,000? I mean really. Some cheapie ones are available but not as good, these ones are great! Love posing with them!




They too were excited when Yoda took off in the skies




Yoda turned its back on the Storm Troopers!



Loved our visit because of the Troopers!

 

We took a lot of photos and was hoping Darth Vader will make an appearance like in 2013 - but he didn't. Instead he is scheduled to be in the Philippines end of this month! Philippines my Philippines! :-) Oh well.

We enjoyed Enlighten and the Night Noodle Markets as well as the balloons. There were many activities in quiet Canberra the week we went there.



The Night Noodle Market was great. These lanterns gave me an idea, I am gonna copy it. Where to, am not too sure yet hahaha...

Old Parliament House bathe in projection lights




This year is the 50th birthday of the Australian Mint :-)



We got ourselves some commemorative coins from the Mint
 

One of the perks of travelling is the food! We always book a hotel with great restaurants. I am known to sleep off holidays and just going downstairs from our hotel room to dine is a plus! (Room service just won't cut it.) 

 

Waterfront Cebu  in the Philippines is a favourite! This time in Canberra we went to a 4 star one which was fine as well. They have a restaurant that opens til late and boy was I excited! :-)

By the way: Agoda is a good site to check on great deals.



Berkshire Belly Pork with scallops. It was very tasty. Subtle, mild pork taste. It just melts in the mouth. This entrée size is so filling already! The mains were also very delicious.





Angus beef with beetroot puree and garlic mash. I like the roasted cloves of garlic softened by the jus.





Crispy rosemary twice fried hot chips with homemade aioli.

 

 



Porterhouse cooked to Rich's liking- medium rare...yum! The baby carrots, broccoli and asparagus were just blanched so the texture was perfect.
 

We have Night Markets in Melbourne during warm months but it gets really crowded. This time we thought of giving Canberra's 1st ever night noodle market a go.

 

Imagine my excitement upon seeing the Filipino Barbeque stall HOY PINOY! It has the longest queue amongst the stalls, it was the smokiest too. What with all the charcoal sizzling the pork and chicken fat away! Kalamiiiii!

It was the case of follow the smoke! Holy smokes!

So so delicious! Seriously, Pinoys make the best bbq.

 

One drawback though, I felt homesick talking to the crew in Tagalog. :`(  I miss you Pilipinas!

The sizzling aroma brings back memories of happy childhood and growing up years where the worries are few and the food a-plenty!



Hoy Pinoy supports ACT Night Noodle Market by coming all the way from Melbourne!

 

Best bbq ever. Tried the local Mork's boat noodles too but it was too dry and tasteless even with the chicharon (crackling) I wonder if they were paying attention while cooking it because really it was bland as! 

 

Sat on the grass while waiting for the sun to set and the light
projections to come on

 

The Balloon Spectacular starts very early. Crack of dawn to be exact. Our tradition is to queue up to a hot big breakfast provided by the Lions Club of Belconnen. They have crispy bacon, sausages, eggs, pancakes, orange juice and baked beans on toast or two.

We love to support this fundraising on the 1st day.

 

The next day though, after the balloons have flown away - we had breakfast at the hotel. No bacon for me because they did not make it crisp this time. :-)

My heart said, "Gee thanks, Neng! :-)



Most important meal of the day. My achy brekky heart :-)!





How can you not have baked beans on an early morn?
The Pinoy version of this is much tastier
we call it Pork and Beans hehehe :-)




I love breakfast buffet with drinks like this. In Uno, Waterfront-Cebu they have organic real chocolatey hot choco drink! I miss that! But this will do for now :-)




Breakfast of the champions! :-)

Old habits die hard - love reading morning papers at breakfast. A habit I inherited from my father. Somehow this makes me feel closer to him.

Also on trips, I like monitoring my steps and 10k a day is always an achievable goal even when my knees threatens mutiny. :-) I have a handy pedometer that my work provided a while back. I clock in easy 15k a day and that gives me the freedom to eat well. Ha!

My Sunday arvo after church was spent in bed nursing a migraine. Boo! But was able to get up at night and we had a stroll along Lake Burley Griffin. Rich also got me N2 so, yey! I finished nearly 2 spoonfuls of it!  :-)

Long lines but this Ferrero rice puff-nutella tasting yum of a gelato is very good! As Rich handed me this, he immediately squeezed the flavour injection thingy like a little child! :-)

No, we didn't go shopping - these are our original luggage! We get carried away on road trips because there is no weighing anything. :-)
 




♥ Love ♥

We had a great time.

On long road trips, it helps when you like each other's company and we do, we do. :-) 

Until the next adventure!

Meanwhile we are happy to head back home to our beloved Melbourne!  ☀                         

Thank you Lord for blessings.


Check this out as well :-)


Here Comes The Rain Again...

We started today early, dropping our car to its yearly service then took the bus to the city for an adventure...

...in the rain.

It was a wet and freezing morning but we were determined to make this whole day together, fun. We had a full-packed bus (my normal bus route for work in the city from home is always full of well dressed women and men in suits. This time it was a mixture of classes. ) We were greeted by a cacophony of sound as we entered the bus. Laughter, self-talking, and mumbling. I never really notice them in my bus but this time on a different bus I was aware that I am with my husband who takes public transport probably only 3 times in 10 years. I thought I have to be alert for him, kind of like a mum with a child! Ha!



Like my head warm

But he just took his phone and played Sudoku all through the trip.

First stop was to renew both our Driver's License. Mine is not due 'til a few months but when I enquired if I can renew now A very helpful staff said Yep. So woohooo saves us another trip to VicRoads.

Though it was a huge facility and with a lot of people, our visit was quick without any hassle. I did drop my beanie but Rich saw it on the counter, came up to me (while filling up some forms) and asked if I lost my beanie. The look on my face made him ran to the counter and retrieve it. Ha! He knows I love my beanies.

Then we took another bus to the city. Wow it was a long wait even for me who's used to the bus timetables. Twitter told us that there are a few road works and also a few incidents so the traffic was horrendous. It was still raining but we were having a rare week-day together so it was fine. Not really, but it was okay. We'll make it okay. I told myself not to have tanty. To keep myself together. Even when we do not have an umbrella. :-)

The bus was of course a sardine can again. We were lucky to have seats but a few bus stops later it was filling-up to the brim. Never experienced it before, but my Sudoku playing companion was okay. Then we heard someone next to us telling the driver about the suspension and how he was overloading the bus. He reminded me of Sheldon
so when I whispered that name, Rich laughed.

Finally we were in the city. Melburnians call CBD - city. I love it here. It is my favourite place in Australia. We went first to Burke Street to check out our new Shopping Mall The Emporium. It is impressive. I like how they developed that bleak building area that was Myer/David Jones. But some of our fave stores have yet to open.


I am from a country where we take our Malls seriously -
this is quiet impressive!

 Rich then suggested for lunch we head to PappaRich! I love PappaRich! It was a bit of a walk since we were already on the other side but it was so worth it.



Exciting!



I have tried most of the drinks...now, what to choose...



No visit is complete without this deep fried beauty



Hot choco for Rich




Steamed jasmine rice with a medley of sambal prawns,
fried eggplant, fried chicken, cucumber and papadams
 



Steamed mantau and kaya (steamed bun just like siopao and
coconut jam)



Steamed chicken that tastes so good...



This is dry egg noodles drowning in curry sauce

 

We enjoyed our lunch in a warm dry place. Autumn is wonderful when you are warm and dry hahaha! (We are working our way through the menu! Thanks PappaRich!)

After our big lunch we walked it off and went to Uniqlo. It reminds me of Giordano in so many ways. There was a huge crowd but at least there was not a long queue anymore like when they opened up a few days ago.

I like a few things but they can wait. I think I am a little bit disciplined now in my retail shopping. Rich was more interested with the glass elevator in the middle of the shop. He looked at it and I can tell he wants to build a similar one in our post-tatts-win home ☀☺

 

Then we went next door to H & M.

 

This Scandinavian retail clothing company opened their branch in Melbourne a few days ago and up til now - in pouring rain, the queue outside was sooo long!

 

I hate waiting, I hate long queues. I have developed steel strong bladder by not going on long lines. No can do. It irritates me and I rather go home. The one we saw in Vienna a couple of years ago did not have a queue and I did not even bother to go in.

 

So we gave H&M the flick. I am sure I already have all the things they offer there. I saved myself a whole heap of money.

 

But really I wished there was no queue ~!

 

It never fail to amaze me when people spend a long time in queues for things they all like. Or what the ads suggested THEY like.  When Krispy Kreme first opened in Melbourne in 2006, people queued up from 6 in the morning 'til it opened, I don't know - maybe 10 am. Why? I have no idea. When it is Boxing Day, as early as 5 am, shoppers line up outside Myer and David Jones. As a Shopaholic, I still cannot understand this specially since there is online shopping now.

 

Whenever Apple came up with new phones or gadgets, people with working iPhones queue up the Apple Shop even if it snaked around and around the area down the escalator and over the toilets. Last year the loud sound of jubilation whenever someone got in made me smile a little... because really

I do love my iPhone. ☺

 

Anyhow, Rich and I decided to just go where the crowd did not - JB HiFi and an Asian shop for my condiments and drinks.

Yay! I found a familiar looking jar! Although I like my latik fresh, this will do.
 

Just when we decided our City adventure is over - the sun came out and wanted to play. Oh well, four seasons in a day indeed. We took our bus back to where we had our car serviced. It was an uneventful trip with Rich busy again with Sudoku. The man in front of me had a regal British accent. It could have been more impressive if he was not talking to himself.

I like travelling in Public Transport for the reason that I can connect with people, even when I do not communicate with them. It is not for everyone though. I admit there are days when I hate the waiting and get scared over a few things but all in all it is okay. I am helping the environment.

Rich looked up to me and asked: "sorry?" I gave him a quizzical look then he realized he heard the British man talk and not me. I whispered to him - welcome to my world. He smiled and went back to his Sudoku.

When we picked Cruzey up and drove home - I said a quick prayer of thanks. I am grateful that though it was bleak, wet and cold - we had a great time.