Monarto - Adelaide :: Days :: Adelaide

This blog post comprises of the rest of our holiday in Adelaide. The days just melted into one another until it was time to leave again......

.....Once we arrived and settled at my parents’ place in Adelaide, we had dinner at Bangkok Boulevard at Tea Tree Plaza with Kim’s side of the family. Initially, it was just Kim’s mum, Uncle Malcolm and Kim’s brother. Somehow or rather, Kim’s sister’s children came with their partners as well. It was good to be able to catch up. The food and service was great. 

Poor Thomas had a blood nose at the end and the bleeding didn’t stop until he sat down with a glass of ice water. I think the weather was just too hot. 

The children managed to spend more time with the Jollys during this trip. 

Adelaide was a restful stay as we chilled out in my parents' beautiful garden. Unfortunately, some days were too hot and we just hid in the house.  My parents pampered us by cooking delicious home-cooked traditional meals such as steamed minced pork with egg and preserved vegetables, braised pork belly with black fungus, and roast pork belly. Mi also experimented with sago dessert with mango. 

We went to Costco for the first time and it was an overwhelming experience. Everything was a little bigger, including the trolleys.

We also met up with my high school friends and their families, Jemie, Khai, Irene and Tony at Paradise Hotel. The children didn’t interact with each other except for Thomas and Tyler. Their connection was Minecraft. For dessert, we had gelati at Gelato Bello in Glynburn. Our Adelaide trip would not be complete without it. This time around, we were here twice. 

One of the days in Adelaide, we caught the O-Bahn into the city. To the children’s delight, we went down the new tunnel and popped out near Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute. 

The city’s terrain and tartan pattern was conducive to walking and cycling. This is one attractive feature of Adelaide.  We wanted to borrow bicycles from the City of Adelaide. Unfortunately, there were not enough bicycles to go around. So we had to have a different plan. 

The children patted the bronze pigs; and made faces at the Silver Balls at Rundle Mall. We were surprised that there wasn’t any water in the Rundle Mall Fountain. Bees were congregating there. We also took a detour to Adelaide Arcade in Rundle Mall. 

At the Art Gallery of South Australia, the children tried their hand in printing. They folded and cut the paper and then used rollers with paints to print the pattern onto another piece of paper. The colours used were orche, red, white and black. These were to emulate the Indigenous art colours because the current exhibition was Tarnanthi. 

One of my favourite pieces was Djalkiri, the totem poles that were painted with fish by Wukun Wanambi. The experience was floating Escher-like layers. The continuously fish became a bigger picture. We meandered and found a beautiful and delicate piece of art by Chiharu Shiota that seemed to soften the white painted walls. 

We visited Adelaide University and showed the children where we used to linger, contemplate and learn - The Barr Smith Circle and Barr Smith Library. Unfortunately, the library was closed.

The tram we caught only partly covered our journey to Himeji Gardens. The consequent walk was never-ending as Ella Mae and I were overheating! We welcomed the shady trees when we arrived. The water in the gardens possessed a strange green tinge. That didn’t seem to worry the tortoises that weaved through the water plants or the young men who dipped their feet into the water.

We introduced our children to one of our favourite pie shop in Adelaide, Perryman's Bakery. Next door to that is one of my favourite butcher in Adelaide. I used to work next door to them at DesignInc, and thus were my local shops.

At Kim’s sister's house, the children swam in the pool with their cousins. Wolfie was agitated by the company of a younger dog. He just wanted peace and quiet in his old age. 

We also did something new this trip to Adelaide. We drove to Garden Island Dolphin Sanctuary. That day was tremendously hot and we didn't manage to spot dolphins. We have to try again in another trip. However, we found one of the best broken rice in Adelaide. It was at Hoang Gia Quan on Hanson Road. The rice was plentiful and fluffy. The pork chop was juicy and tasty. The egg was runny. The other condiments were fresh and delicious.

For New Year's Eve, we played Monopoly. Ella Mae's eyelids fought hard to keep open but they gave up two minutes before the countdown. We had to wake her up to watch the fireworks. 

The children also learnt about South Australia Container Deposit Legislation. Pa kindly kept aside some bottles and cans for the children to take to the recycling depot. They were very happy to see that these items were converted into cash!

We took our parents to have a lovely dinner at the River Cafe. The service was good. But the food was sensational. It was a cold evening. We walked to the lock after and enjoyed the view of the city from there. I think the next time, we would like to bring our bikes with us and explore the Adelaide bicycle paths. Moreover, I think it would be an interesting challenge to cycle from Hope Valley to the beach.