Visit Margaret River Chocolate Factory -again?

Haha.. yeah, it's one of places to visit when you visit Perth, and the best thing is you don't have to be in Margaret River (about 4 hours drive) to be in it's chocolate factory!! This factory is in Swan River (about 40 mins drive!) :-)

It's a chocolate haven and if you looooooove chocolate, you will like this place. Not only are they selling .. you know what.. they also have a cafe which serves delicious everything chocolate as well as other yummy food!

Last Sunday...

Agnes (my neighbour) and me went to see the Fremantle festival.



Ok taken before I left home, checking my camera to see if it still works!!! hahahha

We left our car at the Claremont train station and hitched a train ride. It was fun. There were many people heading that way too. Now Fremantle festival is an annual event (apparently.. hehe.. only heard about it this year!!!) Anyway, we arrived there at around noon, train ride took about 15 mins. First stop - Target!! I needed to buy a christmas present for a little boy/girl, part of our office Christmas program to collect gifts for the orphan kids. So into Target we went, me looking for a present and Agnes, just browsing. I suppose as the store is big, we got sidetracked around the ladies section :-) (I know, I know..an excuse ...) 20% off ladies clothing... hmmmm.. who could resist that??? Good bargain!!! Tried on a few pieces, liked one, and guess what??? Just had to have it... hahahha... Then we went upstairs to look at toys (which was the reason I was in Target) but didn't buy any. Reason being??? Oh, too hard to carry all over the street. We still had to watch the parade remember?? :-)

After Target we went roaming the street and found some other bargain!!! Red Dot was our next stop and this was where I bought my gift for a little girl, and it was good bargain too!!!.. Ok by now, I was already carrying 2 plastic bags. So much for saying 'No more buying, gotta save money!!!!' or 'Don't want to buy lah.. so hard to carry' ...Yeah right - the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak!!! or something like that..

Well, we went wandered down South Terrace where the hoo-haa was supposed to take place, and guess what? We saw the road was closed, people were wandering around.. but nothing much happening. Just like a typical Sunday in Fremantle... Where were the stalls?? Where was the parade???


See no stalls. I was hoping for a street fair..like Gaya Street.. hehehe...

Now, shopping makes one hungry, so we went into Dome for lunch. Picked a window seat and enjoyed watching people walking by. And this is what we saw...



This man was in a costume and posing for everyone who wanted a pic :-)

After lunch, we went a walkabout and saw some interesting events...




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At the end of the street, a stage was set up and these young ladies were dancing the bhangra.. Very catchy music.. kids watching were dancing along.. very vibrant!!!

We also found where the stalls were!!!




Parade started at 4pm, and it was indeed a colourful one. Here are some pics of the parade..










Parade ended at around 5pm but the street festival went on till night time. We didn't stay till late. We left Fremantle at around 6pm. It was a tiring but interesting day.

Next will be the Christmas parade :-)

Christmas is always a special time, a time spend with family, friends and loved one. This Christmas was spent with friends from home - Lily, Helen, Anda - at Anda's home in Boyanup, a small town down South, about 17 km from Bunbury. Lily, Helen and I took the Australind down to Bunbury after work. The journey took 2.5hrs but it was a pleasant one. Sat next to Emily, a young girl from Bunbury who was on her way home to celebrate Christmas with her family.Had an interesting conversation with her - whole trip too! Anyway, left Perth station at 5.55pm and reached Bunbury at 8.20pm and thanks to daylight savings, it was still light when we reached there. Anda came to pick us up and that is where the Christmas adventure started.

We had Christmas lunch with the Suttons - Aileen, Robert and little Alby.Robert brought a ham and a pavlova (an Aussie desert) and we had a good lunch. Later we went to visit Theresa who lives in Eaton. Theresa is also from Sarawak, but have been here for many years now.

Boxing day was hot day indeed and guess where we went? The beach! Forrest Beach I think the name is. Robert put up a tent so that we could protect our skin from the hot sun. But before that we had a little gift opening session, and look at the happy faces receiving the gift they wanted :-)

Nicolas, Anda's hubby came home from work the next day so that means more places to visit :-)

Went down to Bunbury for post Christmas shopping, had a drive down Ocean drive and then had dinner at One Thai Restaurant, reported to be the best Thai restaurant in Bunbury. Next day we drove down to Harvey and had lunch there before coming home to have dinner with the Suttons, our last dinner at Boyanup.

All in all it was a great Christmas. Lily and Helen went back to Malaysia on Saturday and I sure miss them. I miss the conversation, the company and most of all the laughter. Not only did I spend the most festive season of the year with good friends, I also got to made new friends.