Life in Adelaide - First Impressions!

Helloooooo world! 

Here comes my first post from south of Australia! I know I have neglected my blog for a long time but moving is not easy! I keep reminding myself that I moved a “whole continent” to feel less guilty for the procrastination! and it works like magic! I am here finally and I thought of giving you my first impressions of this totally new place that is now my home. 

I have been in Adelaide, South Australia for more than a month. It is known as a quiet, small, slow-paced city but I think most of us have it wrong - at least I had it really wrong.

Adelaide is quite a big, well-equipped city. It does not have high rise buildings but it is not like a big barren piece of land with scattered houses. It is well developed with plenty of well-planned housing units, shopping areas, and recreation spots. Yes, it is slow paced because there are no highways in the city, restricting the speed limit to an agonising 60km/hr ....but oh well, nobody got hurt by driving safe :D 

The city centre, called CBD, is small as compared to bigger cities like Melbourne and Sydney and it mostly has offices, cafes, and shops; nothing much for tourists unless they want to go shopping. For tourists, Adelaide offers plenty of breathtaking gorgeous picnic spots, beaches, historical settlements, parks, and gardens. Also, Adelaide proudly has Adelaide Oval - cricket stadium which is the most picturesque test cricket ground. On weekends you can plan to drive to any nearby place and get a good getaway. Melbourne is 8 hours drive - if you really want a great weekend, find a good friend in Melbourne and you have all the entertainment you need.

Adelaide is also called the City of Churches

Sunset at Henley Beach

Victor Harbour

Umbrella Rock at Granite Island  

Parliament in City Centre 

Because I am a Halal foodie, I thought that there won't be many options for me especially after coming from Malaysia - the land of unlimited food options but in a few days, we found many halal restaurants near our place and also grocery stores to buy halal meat. Spotted 4 Pakistani/Indian/Persian/Afghani grocery stores within a 10km radius of our house when only one was enough! Cafes and eateries in some places remain open until 9-10 pm, so I am not dying hungry. I was ecstatic to find a halal Malay restaurant to enjoy Koay Teow and Nasi Goreng. Best is that a local burger chain called Oporto has halal chicken burgers - compensating for Burger Kings and Hungry Jacks! Plus, you get these amazing fries at Oporto that are worth every penny you spend on them.

We also found ourselves sitting in a Pakistani/Indian restaurant eating potato stuffed paratha with pure Pakistani tea! Tummy is happy!

Malls close at 5 pm sharp. Heartache, I know. But, they remain open until 9 pm on Thursdays. Most people are paid weekly here; so Thursday is the day they get their salary and they spend it all. The biggest mall in Adelaide is smaller than the average mall in Malaysia but then you have these shop lots with huge outlets. There is so much of land here that there is no need to build multi-storied malls and thus there are these long roads with shops on both sides. So shopping is horizontal and not vertical which tires you quickly so you spend less. Some might find that attractive. My hubby definitely does!

Weather is unpredictable. When we visited in February, it was summer and we were wearing sweaters even then! Now it is real winters and I literally brought the thickest, gigantic jersey I could find and I wear it all day like a uniform shamelessly and still shiver! I look like a big blue bear, honestly! I really can’t believe I am saying this but I am waiting for actual summer anxiously. Maybe this is what a rainy, cold day does to you.

Then these colours make me fall in love with the weather and I just can't wait to see what colours next month will bring!

I haven’t met many people here yet; especially locals. People on the streets and in shops are very kind and cheerful. Generally, the older generation that I get to see in libraries during working hours (as I am still job hunting) love to talk and are mostly polite. Customer service is very good. You would be surprised how cashiers and sales people engage you in conversations! 

More to come really soon! 

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