Floriade of Canberra- Imagination...

Floriade is back!!!

I think Canberra is really a special and unique city. Why? Because basically it is not really special or as beautiful as Sydney or Melbourne, but it is the capital city of Australia!!! There are many ways to go to Canberra, either drive or by flight. By car, it is not too far, only 3-4 hours drive with the maximum speed of 110km/hour. Speeding?? Better dont do it in Australia because traffic police are very hardworking and more than happy to fine you. They are everywhere and anytime ( This is the slogan of the anti-speeding campaign). Not only police, but also cameras that are watching you 24/7. ok. back to Canberra. The road trip was quite interesting. mountains, forest.... serenity & peaceful.


The biggest event in Canberra- Floriade with the exciting theme of Imagination : Where will yours take you? Wow. In year 2010, it is in its 23rd year and the event has grown to become Australia's premier spring festival.


The Floriade garden bed designs have been inspired by the imagination. Above is the garden bed with the title of Dancing ballerinas. But, anyway, we cant really appreciate unless we stand on a higher ground, such as on the ferris wheel.


It was really an enjoyable time. Great view and flowers for my eyes. The flowers really smell good and relaxing. Not to forget about birds chirping and the musics played by a street organ.

This is not a display board, but it is a organ which plays really great music!!!

Tulips

All kinds of tulips

Tulips & tulips again .... really made me fallen in love with tulips

Floriade is only about Flowers, but also with green- the bonsai.

No matter you are flower lovers or not, you should really must come and see this festival yourself, because it is really gorgeous and 'wow'. The weather was very nice that day with around 17 C, so it was so comfortable walking around the park, unlike in Malaysia that we would be exhausted or sweat as if showering.


Venue : Commonwealth Park, Canberra
Period : 11 September - 10 October 2010
Time : 9am -5pm ( weekdays)
9am-5.30pm (weekends & public holidays)

Cabramatta Part 2- Buddhist temple in Australia??

Besides Vietnamese food, Cabramatta also well-known for its fruit juice especially DURIAN shake!!! We dont dare to taste that, so we chose mixed fruit shake. Very refreshing!!!


A great variety of fruits for your to choose : Guava, watermelon, winter melon, banana, pear....

and the famous The king of all fruit - DURIAN

A glance of the price

Tummy was full. It was time to go 'Jalan-jalan' and do some sightseeing.

What a surprise to see such a typical buddhist temple here. ps: right in the middle of the township, next to houses.

Another buddhist temple just cross the road of the previous temple. Amitabha, Kuan Yin.

This is my first time to see everything written in Vietnames language. The names, notices....

What to eat in Cabramatta?? Definately... it is Vietnamese Food

Discover Cabramatta - A taste of Asia!!!

This is the slogan of tourist board of Cabramatta. But, is it really Asia?? Lots of Asian faces, Asian Food, Asian stalls..... but to be more accurate, i think should be mainly Vietnam.

Look.. Vietnam signboard

Vietnamese ladies in traditional dress - Ao Dai

Anyway, there are plenty of Chinese words too. Cabramatta' most famous dish is the Vietnamese soup Pho. We had eaten Beef noodle many many times already, hence, this time, we decided to go for Duck soup with noodle ( AUD 12).

Egg noodle with bakchoy
Plus .....

...... Mouth-watering Duck soup

... and not forgeting the evergreen of Vietnamese food - bean sprout. The food portion was very big and definately two of us can share it and still felt full. Other than Duck soup noodle, other dishes in this restaurant are great too. ps: free tea

After got our mouth and stomach full, it was time to experience Asian shopping. Walking on street, realy felt like i was in Malaysia or China ( except Malaysia is much hotter)


Now, it is end of winter. so, price reduction !!! Now, the Ao Dai costs AUD 55, 2 light brown jacket AUD 45, Grey jacket AUD 20. I was so shocked when i saw the socks that i bought from a shopping complex for 3 pair for AUD 10, only selling for AUD 1 for a pair!!!

Perhaps we can see this in Asian market.

The World is for us to share and to respect. well. The cake is so big, and there would be enough to feed everyone ... if none of the people is too greedy

Cabramatta is really coloured with Asia touch.

Haha.... these pigs are so cute. They are standing happily in the middle of a road. These statues was sponsored by some companies. Curiously, why did they choose pigs?? Anyway, they are definetly CUTE. If they are born in my place, sure they cant smile, cos they would be on chopping board.

What is this?? Ha~~~ must try to do it yourself

What is this??? Any ideas?? Fan?

Don't know? Another view of it. ps: it is on a dining table

The answer is... Spring Roll Rice Paper. Consumable paper.
Method to turn this hard paper-like spring roll paper into gentle soft yummy spring roll skin is: Soak the 'paper' in a warm water for about 30secs. pretty easy.

Ingredients of the spring roll: bean sprouts, cabbage, basil ........

and special vietnamese noodle

The tricky part is to wrap all the ingredients into the spring roll paper. The skin is so thin, and easily 'torn' or the spring roll may end up... instead of roll, it becomes pillow-shape or some other rather creative shapes.

This is a rather 'simple' dish that i think we can learn to make. believe if or not, we dont have to always buy the food, but we can do it ourselves. ( provided that we can get those ingredients in Malaysia..... never really pay any attentions to that. do we know that?)

FOOD DIY.