Food and Travel Overseas [11] 2012 – Australia

Sensational Savvy — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 16:43:14 +0000

AUSTRALIA

Sydney (25 – 30 Oct 2012)

Sydney, located in the boundary of New South Wales, the eastern coast of Australia, is such an amazing city with lovely litter-free beaches and dazzling sea. The nightlife is vibrant especially in Darling Harbour and Chinatown, bustling with activities till late evening.

The average temperature of 18ºC was perfect during autumn and formed a very impressionable joyful holiday for us.

It was unfortunate that we did not have enough time to scan through each and every beach because that should be the priority in Sydney. Thanks to my good friend who travelled with me and we have a lovely time together reminiscing our friendship of 2 decades.

DAY 1

Places of Interest: Arriving in Sydney (25th Oct) Five Ways

1) Arriving in Kingsford-Smith Sydney Airport (a.k.a Sydney Airport) at 7.30 am local time after a 7-hours flight from Singapore.

2) Glen Street – The brown building was where I have stayed for 5 nights. It took me about 40 mins of walking to locate it when the bus driver dropped us off in Glenmore Street. We have a hard time locating Glen Street on the map as it was off printing on the map. I need to ask around to get to Glen Street.

3) The apartment that I have rented from Airbnb cost me 53 USD per night for the entire house. I like it very much especially the 5-stars bed like those found in the hotels which were super comfortable to sleep in. It was really a value for money.

4) The very splendid, tranquil view from our bedroom and it was breezy at night.

5) This was our first breakfast after our plane touched down in Sydney. We stayed in the neighbourhood of Five Ways where many cafés and restaurants were located.

The small breakfast showed in the photo cost a whopping USD 26.00 which was terribly expensive for a miserable portion! The cost of travelling in Australia was crazy for tourists because the people there earn a high salary to justify the high cost of living in Sydney.

One of the cafés served the BEST coffee around!!! My friend and I made it a point to drink one cup every day in the same café because some coffee served in other places simply cannot match up to the same standard that this particular café had.

Most importantly I have matched up 2 photos beautifully!

6) Thomas Dux Supermarket – The only supermarket near to where we stayed. There was only one bus no. 389 outside the supermarket that served the street where I stayed. This bus would start and stop at Bondi Junction Bus Terminal.

DAY 2

Places of Interest: Paddington Market Circular Quay Ferry Wharf Circular Quay The Rocks Chinatown

7) The next morning, I walked to Paddington Market which is about 30 mins walk away from my apartment. This is a flea market every Saturday and Sunday from 10 am to 5 pm. The things sold there were expensive though.

8) Turkish Gozleme (Pastry) is a very popular market food in Australia. It is filled with spinach, cheese and lamb mince filling. We had both the Turkish Gozleme and Thai food for AUD 10 each. They were our brunch for 2 people.

9) While resting, a sight that could not be missed. The cheeky pilot was trying to form some letters in the sky with his plane and he managed to keep me glued to my chair for some time just to watch his masterpiece. The complete word was “DECORUM”.

10) Waiting at the bus stop for the bus to our next destination. The multi-link ticket bought for AUD 43 can be used for 7 days unlimited (zone limited) rides for buses, trains and ferries.

11) We decided to go to Circular Quay after Paddington Market to visit The Rocks (Flea market) and see the daytime view of Sydney Bridge and Opera House. This was the last bus stop near the Circular Quay where everyone had to alight after we went to Paddington Market.

12) Far view of the bus stop.

13) Front view of Circular Quay.

14) Circular Quay Ferry Wharf – There are many public ferries that can take you to many places in Sydney. It is free if you have a multi-link ticket.

15) Various wharves for different ferry destinations.

16) Various brochures of the ferries’ schedules.

17) Ferries’ schedules on the digital board.

18) A street performance along Circular Quay.

19) Walking along Circular Quay towards Opera House where the Sydney Harbour Bridge can be admired.

20) Even the birds know how to enjoy themselves under the sun.

21) There were a lot of people basking under the sun with some beer. It was very sunny but very windy as well. What a perfect weather combination!!

22) Walking towards The Rocks which was a flea market located very near to the Circular Quay within minutes. The Rocks was a more interesting flea market than the Paddington Market and have more exquisite Australian-made products. I didn’t buy any souvenirs as the prices were exorbitant!

23) Looking at the signboards outside the shops, one can guess that we had arrived in Chinatown. We came here on the second day to buy some instant noodles in case we were hungry and also planned that as our breakfast (Ya… I know it was boring…).

We wanted to spend our money on a better lunch. As you can read from No. 5 above, one simple breakfast in our neighbourhood cost us AUD 26.00 which was way beyond our budget for such a tiny wee portion that would not fill us up.

24) In Sydney, Chinatown Shopping Centre was one of the places that we had discovered to have longer operating hours up to 8 pm compared to most of the shops in Sydney which closed at 6 pm.

The people inside the shopping mall were almost all Asians and hardly any Caucasians inside. At one point, I almost forgot that I was in Australia. The shops in the street of Chinatown had a lot of people and bright lights.

We walked into one fashion shop in the shopping mall and the shop was preparing to close at 8 pm. The Chinese shop assistant asked us rudely whether we wanted to buy anything. Otherwise, she wanted to close the shop. She asked in a very nasty and unfriendly tone.

We had dinner in the food court of the shopping centre. It cost an average of AUD 10 for one dish. We bought from 2 stalls – one Vietnamese stall and the other was suspected by us to run by Singaporeans because the dishes looked so familiar to us.

Plus, the variety of food offered in the ‘Singapore stall’ was plentiful just like our ‘Zi-Char’ stalls in Singapore. We had nice food from both stalls.

25) What I did like about the trains in Sydney was that the windows were semi-opaque and blurry which obstructed us to see the view outside. I prefer to take buses most of the time to enjoy the scenery.

26) Smart looking police vehicles in Sydney.

27) This signboard caught me by surprise. “Alcohol-Free Zone. Consumption of alcohol is prohibited from 14/11/2011-13/11/2015.” Why was that so? Did it mean that one could not drink alcohol even during the daytime?

28) Cigarettes pricing in Sydney – Very very expensive cigarettes as compared to Singapore pricing. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw it. Upon further research, cigarettes in Australia are the most expensive to buy.

It was of no surprise that the staff in the 7-11 stores would ask you discreetly whether you want cheaper cigarettes at AUD 10 per pack. The whole market was filled with contraband cigarettes in Australia hitting a record level!

DAY 3

Places of Interest: Bondi Beach Bondi Markets Watsons Bay Robertson Park, Darling Harbour

29) Bondi Junction Bus Interchange

30) Bus Signage to show how to go to two of the most famous beaches in Sydney, Tamarama Beaches and Bondi Beach. Take Bus No. 361 for Tamarama Beach and Bus No. 380 and 381 for Bondi Beach.

31) We are going to one of the top travel iconic beach destinations in Sydney, Bondi Beach in which the popularity was justified by the number of visitors there. It has a huge sandy beach characterised by a litter-free environment and roaring waves.

32) 400 metres away from Bondi Beach located in Bondi Beach Public School, we walked 5 minutes to the Bondi Markets which was another flea market opened only on Sundays.

We didn’t spend a very long time in the market because it looked like one of the flea markets which we had been to and the size was smaller. This time, I felt that the market was nothing special if one had been to the Paddington Market and The Rocks.

33) We took a bus by mistake and we ended up here in Watsons Bay in Sydney Harbour National Park. What an incredible discovery! The bus driver told us that many people committed suicide in Watson Bay because the cliff was very high.

Watsons Bay was also the oldest fishing village in Australia. It had a deep blue sea and even from afar, the alluring blue beckoned us to run towards it.

34) Adjacent to the sea, is Robertson Park in the middle of Watson Bay.

35) Crossing Robertson Park and walking towards Watsons Bay Ferry Wharf.

36) The restaurant in Doyles Fishermans Wharf served Australian food and was established in 1885 by the Doyle family. It was conveniently located at the Watsons Bay Ferry Wharf.

37) This was the ferry that we would take to Darling Harbour for our next destination.

38) We took a ferry from Watsons Bay Ferry Wharf to Darling Harbour with our multi-link ticket for our next destination. The ferry passed by Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House.

39) A quick snapshot upon arrival in Darling Harbour.

40) Darling Harbour is one of the must-visit places of interest in Sydney. It is a very vibrant and dynamic city hub with commercial skyscrapers and plenty of dining options – restaurants, cafes and pubs. Even at night around 8 pm, a lot of people were still hanging around to have a drink.

It dispersed the prejudice that I had initially that Sydney would be a quiet town at night when the sun sets and there would be no place to visit at night. Far from it, Darling Harbour and Chinatown proved my biased judgement and limited knowledge on Sydney wrong.

There were a lot of opportunities presented in Darling Harbour to take beautiful photos while strolling on the busy street. Sometimes, we just went up any buildings and realised there were hidden gems and quirky backgrounds to see.

41) The IMAX Theatre which was similar to Singapore Omni-Theatre has the biggest screen in the world (123 x 97 ft). I am an avid IMAX supporter and thus took an interest to explore further. The ticket pricing in Sydney was very expensive as compared to Singapore pricing (SGD 10.00 per IMAX show).

They even had an AVATAR movie screening in IMAX. I wonder how the atmosphere was like looking at the largest screen in the world.. hmmm… Click and enlarge to see the ticket pricing.

DAY 4

On this day, our main itinerary was activities in Manly and we spent one whole day there.

Places of Interest: Manly Wharf North Head Sanctuary (North Fort) Warringah Mall Manly Beach

42) We took a 40 minutes ferry ride from Circular Quay to Manly Wharf. Other than the ferry, there were other public transport options too.

43) The beach and the sea around Manly Wharf were very attractive as well. We couldn’t help but take some photos to capture the beauty.

Upon arrival in Manly, we went to the tourism office to check out the activities in Manly. There were several places of interest that we could visit in Manly and so eventually we chose to take a bus to North Head Sanctuary in North Fort.

44) In this photo, this was the area of the bus stop which we alighted.

45) We realised it was a very silly mistake to alight so early because the bus could actually drive us all the way to the North Head Sanctuary without us walking for 20 – 30 minutes from the bus stop.

46) Finally, arriving at North Head Sanctuary. Looking at the map given by the tourism office, one could do tracking around the area which was about 10 kilometres where many places were interlinked to one another. There were not many people in this place and was quiet surrounded by nature.

I would think that if one was not going for the 10 km track, then this place should be given a miss as there was nothing much to discover in my opinion. North Fort tours can be booked on-site every Sunday.

47) Pathway to Australia’s Memorial Walk in memory of those who support the defence of Australia during war and peace for the past 150 years.

48) Read : 1. The Attack on Sydney Harbour, 31 May 1942

49) Read : 2. Midget Submarines Discovered

50) Read : 3. The Defensive Action

51) Read : 4. Aftermath of the Attack

52) After North Head Sanctuary, we proceeded to Warringah Mall for a change after our nature walks with the bus. Before we stepped into Warringah Mall for shopping, we spotted this sushi shop on the way having promotions at AUD 2 and AUD 4.

We didn’t plan to eat so early but when we looked at our favourite food with such a low price tag, we got excited and decided to eat there. The shop was run by the Koreans. Although the sushi was on promotion, it tasted great and fresh. We were really happy like we have found a treasure among the slit-throat restaurants.

On the first night, we were having sushi in a restaurant at 10 pm nearby our house because not many shops were open at that time. It cost us around AUD 18 with only a few plates of sushi that were not the fresh and limited choice of food because the restaurant was about to close. The food was not nice at all. It was the cheapest type of sushi that we have eaten and yet, it was so expensive for just a few pieces.

53) Warringah Mall was so damn quiet and had only a few heads inside where you could count easily. Looking at the price tags and the number of flea markets in Sydney, it was not difficult to figure out the crowd size. The most important contributing factor was shopping on a weekday.

Taking a bus from Warringah Mall back to the bus stop outside Manly Wharf, our next destination would be Manly Beach which was about 15 to 20 minutes away from the Manly Wharf’s bus stop.

54) Manly Beach was a much simpler beach with the least attraction compared to the rest of the beaches that we had visited. It had the least number of people on the beach too.

You can have a game of beach volleyball or simply jog on the beach like what the people did. One thing remained unchanged – The beaches were always spotlessly clean and pleasant to look at.

55) We stayed for a short time in the Manly Beach and strolled back to Manly Wharf. Along the stretch of the shopping street, we were amused to spot a fast food restaurant named “Hungry Jack’s” that was an exact copy of Burger King.

56) We had dessert for dinner in a restaurant along Manly Street before catching a ferry back to the city. The cake and coffee were very delicious and fragrant. The ambience was cosy. There was one more customer sitting beside us.

I wondered why the restaurant had so few customers at 7 pm and how did they survive with that. Nevertheless, from a customer’s point of view, we had a very quiet environment which we liked.

57) Back to Manly Wharf to take a ferry back to Circular Quay. There were not many people inside the ferry and it was very clean.

58) Since it would be a 40 mins ferry journey, we were lucky to catch a stunning sunset and it was already night when we arrived at Circular Quay. That was the end of a fruitful day in Manly.

DAY 5

Places of Interest: Bondi Junction Westfield Mall Tamarama Beach Cockatoo Island

We went to Bondi Junction shopping street which was located 5 minutes away from Bondi Junction Bus Terminal and Station.

59) Shops along streets of Bondi Junction towards Westfield Mall.

60) The Thai food cost AUD 17.20 per plate in Westfield Shopping Mall Food Court. It was very delicious and the food court had many choices of food that looked really appetising. We had a hard time choosing what to eat, going round and round many times admiring the food presentation as well.

The food court was also spacious to move around and easy to find places to sit. The view outside was nice too. It has the right amount of crowd for lunchtime. I wish the Singapore food courts would look like that. If that happen, the cost of food would be much higher than now.

61) Spotted this notice pasted outside a bank and thought it was interesting to share.

62) After a hearty brunch in Westfield Mall, we walked back to Bondi Station to take a bus. Bigger bus signage showed the bus numbers going to Tamarama Beach and Bondi Beach.

63) A notice inside the bus, “The bus is limited to carrying 15 standing passengers” for safety, I would suppose. Singapore could never afford to do that.
64) Stated “Tamarama Park”.

65) There were a lot of people here and school children in their uniforms were seen in the park.

66) Umbrella seats outside the one and only café in Tamarama Park.

67) This was the most perfect spot for us to sit for an hour or so and we were not going anywhere because we loved it so much.

68) We didn’t plan to go to this Tamarama beach from the start of our trip. I am generally not a beach girl because the beaches and waves in Sydney were too beautiful, we hopped on to any bus that would bring us to any beach and this was the most wonderful idea here.

Searching for more beaches to visit at the bus stop became a focus at the end of our trip rather than visiting the city when we covered everything we want to visit and have lots of free time.

We bought coffee in a café over because we wanted to find a spot, do nothing and just watch the waves. The sea colour was even more beautiful than Bondi Beach as it had several hues of blues and green.

While our ‘hop and go’ kind of trip to an “unknown” beach didn’t fail us, the diluted coffee unfortunately sucked big time and was truly a disappointment while we admired the beach, listened to the waves roar loudly which were really addictive and last but not least, took abundant photos.

69) Top view of Tamarama Beach. It was voted as the most beautiful beach on this trip and definitely the most impressive of the 5-day trip. Never miss it!

We took the ferry to Cockatoo Island from Circular Quay. This was last-minute planning since we still had some time left before flying home to Singapore the next day. We went to Circular Quay, ran through the ferry schedule and picked one destination to explore.

70) It was quite refreshing to take the ferry as a public transport because I had never experienced it before. The photos showed 2 of the ferry stops and how they looked like.

71) Many houses were located at the bank.

72) Arrived at Cockatoo Island at 6.35 pm. Cockatoo Island is a UNESCO world heritage listed island. Past office hours, there was no one around on this island except for us and the MANY NOISY, AGGRESSIVE BIRDS!!

It was a bit frightening to wander around on this island because we did not know what to expect here and whether it would be dangerous because we saw some old buildings and sawmill, my imagination got the better of me.

73) We saw 40 to 50 sailboats in the sea perhaps in competition. What sheer luck!

74) There were some birds in the nests on the log. When we walked near to the birds, they seemed very angry as they looked at us defensively and ferociously chirping louder and louder at us. It looked as if they were asking us to back off because they had their babies with them.

Suddenly, a flock of birds came a few metres away from me and they seemed to be fighting in the air, poking at each other in an aggressive manner rather than playing. A few of them charged towards me and I started to scream loudly and fled.

My friend was frightened by the sight and we hurriedly left the place before the birds really attacked us. We were seen as unwelcomed intruders and occupied their territory. It was a strong sense of communication between us and they wanted us to get lost.

Day 6

Places of Interest: Kingsford-Smith Sydney Airport

Always a sad time to bid adieu. I wasn’t so enthusiastic about Australia before coming and after spending a few days here, I could now understand better why Australia is one of the top choices for emigration because I like Sydney very much.

I didn’t have much contact or communication with the Australians here thus I have not many opinions about their service level or attitude towards tourists.

75) Kingsford-Smith Airport was not a very fanciful or attractive looking airport for me but the lounge was great to relax before boarding the plane back to Singapore.

Useful Link

Transport in New South Wales https://www.transportnsw.info/

Australia – Sensational Savvy

Food and Travel Overseas [11] 2012 – Australia

Table of Contents

Australia

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

AUSTRALIA

Sydney (25 – 30 Oct 2012)

DAY 1

Places of Interest: Arriving in Sydney (25th Oct) Five Ways

DAY 2

Places of Interest: Paddington Market Circular Quay Ferry Wharf Circular Quay The Rocks Chinatown

DAY 3

Places of Interest: Bondi Beach Bondi Markets Watsons Bay Robertson Park, Darling Harbour

DAY 4

Places of Interest: Manly Wharf North Head Sanctuary (North Fort) Warringah Mall Manly Beach

DAY 5

Places of Interest: Bondi Junction Westfield Mall Tamarama Beach Cockatoo Island

Day 6

Places of Interest: Kingsford-Smith Sydney Airport