Perth: Day 6, moving to the City

After a fun-filled day with our hosts the day before, today was a very quiet one. The regular routine kicked in the household with the adults going off to work, and the children to school. We had the house all to ourselves as we packed up and left the home as clean and uncluttered as it was, before we arrived. The husband decided that we ought to have some time on our own and stay at a hotel to complete the holiday, so today was the day we headed to the city.

We left our (temporary) home all packed, and as we drove on the highway, I felt relaxed while gazing out the window and tried hard to recall the routes I used to drive when going to uni. It still felt foreign to me... and I must admit that 15 years is a pretty long time ago! Plus, I never drove that much myself as I didn't have a car, so the roads are always familiar from a passenger's perspective.

Anyhow, our first stop was Northbridge for lunch. I needed wanted to have Viet food, so had arranged a lunch with my girlfriends. Killing two birds with a stone by eating what I wanted while catching up with them. It took us a while to find parking and find a restaurant but we figured it out.

Strolling along the streets in Northbridge

Lunch with my girlfriends and her boy

While the lunch affair was not too great a catch-up (it's not very conducive and I don't think we talked too much, I felt kinda out of it), it still felt nice to see the girls for that while. The food, however, was enjoyable. I really love authentic Viet food, a must-have everything I go to Australia (or any country where the natives run the restaurants, because it's so real it's as good as it gets!).

After a very brisk lunch hour, we bade farewell to each other and we were on our own again. We relished in the nice weather and strolled back to our car... and along the way stopped for a dessert stop. Corica's sweet treats! There was no proper seating area, so we bought our individual tarts and sat right outside the store to devour our treats.

Gobble gobble

We were so stuffed then, and headed to check in at our hotel.

Kiddy corner at the hotel lobby

The room was decent, and the location was very central. We had a nice view of Swan River and after rolling around in the room for a bit, we decided to spend the evening in the city. It was about 3+/4pm then and there was still sunlight and we made our way down... then for no reason at all, we snapped some pics at this church.

Two little munchkins strolling along the streets of Perth City

The husband and I split ways to shop with a kid in tow each. I didn't do much shopping as I was on the prowl for super cheap buys, and it was also interrupted as I had to search for a public loo for the little girl to poop. Still, no biggie not to shop because I was also mindful of what I needed. I don't think the sales were as cheap as I remember them to be (from my last trip with the sister) though I think the company does make a difference.

The boy team spent time... looking at the water feature?!

We met up as agreed and decided to have dinner before heading back to the hotel. The husband picked the restaurant and we headed, for our first time as a family, to Jamie Oliver's Kitchen. I had been before with the sister (once ever) and it was nice to share the experience with the husband and kids.

Family shot

Dessert

After dinner, we strolled back to our hotel leisurely and wrapped up our night. Not before I headed out to get some supplies for ourselves - water and alcohol. The shop across our hotel sold water (at an exorbitant price - it cost more than the same brand of shop several meters further from the hotel!), but no alcohol. The cashier probably saw my desperate despondent face & offered the information that a bottle shop was around the corner, on the next street. I listened to his instructions and took a short stroll to the nearby bottle shop to get the alcohol. I bought 2 bottles of beer and 1 bottle of red wine - woo hoo. When I got back to the room, the kids were showered and bundled up in bed. The husband was close to knock out and that night, the kids experienced watching TV in their beds.

It's not something we do often - usually only at hotels because our TV at home is only located in the living room. I bid them goodnight and headed to the showers... and as expected, they were fast asleep with the TV blasting to no one in the room. I turned the TV off, and ended off the evening by myself in the room with my 3 lovelies. I put on a face mask, pulled out a book, logged onto wifi with my phone and poured myself a glass of wine.

Good night.