It Just Isn't Done That Way - Sydney and the Blue Mountains - TR Complete #284.

[dolphingirl47]

Another fantastic day. I loved all the historic architecture. The views were stunning, too. The breakfast looked amazing. I have to say Australia has not really appealed to me as a destination as it is just way too far for our liking, but after having seen the part of the trip report about Sydney, I think I may have just changed my mind. I thing we just have to make sure to break the journey in Dubai and in either Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur or Singapore in both directions.

Corinna

 

[jedijill]

Your tour of Sydney continues to be great! I'm not sure how I'm going to fit all the great stuff into the limited vacation time I will have!

Jill in CO

 

[mvf-m11c]

You had a very busy day in Sydney stopping at all these different places. I really enjoyed the pictures from the Sydney Tower. The QVB looks so amazing. I have really enjoyed reading your trip report in Australia and it makes me want to come to Australia one day when I have the time. But this is a great way to read and learn about Australia.

 

[zaccy]

Shushh....We're having a DisMeet




Anyone else get the feeling I was killing a bit of time wandering around Sydney?


Yes and no. I really do enjoy meandering around looking at historic building and people watching; and it's been a while since I've been in Sydney CBD so I was genuinely wandering.


No....because I was filling in a bit of until lunch and a bone-fide DisMeet.


Back in 2010, a Sydney Dis-ser posted on the ANZAC section of the Disboards that she was coming to Melbourne. She was seeking information about things to see, do and eat in Melbourne and a number of us duly responded. The upshot was that we also thought it might be fun to do a DisMeet. To my knowledge (and it only goes back to 2010 on the Dis), it was the first ever Aussie DisMeet held and became the foundation point for the ANZAC DisMeets since. We even posted about the meet! (Reference here)


The attending Dis-sers include zaccy, shushh and myself....way back in July 2010.

 

Oh wow Princess that's a blast from the past, the very first (known) Melbourne Dismeet - I guess that might just make us founding members

Hope all is well with you Shushh and your lovely family

 

[PrincessInOz]

I agree with Wendy - you're not doing too badly this year

That has to be the best breakfast spread I've ever seen at an Australian hotel. I'm not at all surprised at the going price for it. Hotel breakfasts in Australia are notoriously expensive and poor quality!

I'm disappointed we didn't get any photos of the Sydney Tower walk But to make up for it, we got some great photos of some more historic buildings. I agree with you about the escalators - it really detracts from the building.

Thanks Zanzibar.

Yes, the breakfast was a surprise.

Oh my, I haven't been back to Sydney for ages but I could cry looking at the escalators in the QVB, I loved that place, it's quaint lifts & clocks it just seems wrong!

My one memory of Mrs Mcquaries chair is doing a handstand in the park just before we got there and realising at 11 years old I was a bit old to do that with a loose top lol.

Great trip report!

Thanks.

Wow! You did a handstand on Mrs Macquarie's chair as an 11 year old?? I don't know whether to ask if you can still do a handstand now or if there were any pictures of you doing the handstand then.......

Another fantastic day. I loved all the historic architecture. The views were stunning, too. The breakfast looked amazing. I have to say Australia has not really appealed to me as a destination as it is just way too far for our liking, but after having seen the part of the trip report about Sydney, I think I may have just changed my mind. I thing we just have to make sure to break the journey in Dubai and in either Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur or Singapore in both directions.

Corinna

I would recommend you look at a stop in Singapore on one of the legs and perhaps a stop in Hong Kong on the way back? That way, you could cover HKDL....

So....when am I pencilling you in for?

Your tour of Sydney continues to be great! I'm not sure how I'm going to fit all the great stuff into the limited vacation time I will have!

Jill in CO

Thanks Jill. You need extra vacay time if you're coming all this way.

You had a very busy day in Sydney stopping at all these different places. I really enjoyed the pictures from the Sydney Tower. The QVB looks so amazing. I have really enjoyed reading your trip report in Australia and it makes me want to come to Australia one day when I have the time. But this is a great way to read and learn about Australia.

Thanks Bret.

Glad you're enjoying it and I hope you make it out here one day.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Oh wow Princess that's a blast from the past, the very first (known) Melbourne Dismeet - I guess that might just make us founding members

Hope all is well with you Shushh and your lovely family

Isn't it great?

That was such a real treat to be able to pull out the flashback picture. And founding members??? For real??? Why not?????

 

[dolphingirl47]

I would recommend you look at a stop in Singapore on one of the legs and perhaps a stop in Hong Kong on the way back? That way, you could cover HKDL....

So....when am I pencilling you in for?

Unfortunately none of our flights to Australia stop at Hong Kong. I would love to visit Hong Kong Disneyland.

Now let's see. 2014 is fully planned vacation-wise and it looks like 2015 is as well. We have a plan for 2017 so 2016 may look good.

Corinna

 

[PrincessInOz]

Unfortunately none of our flights to Australia stop at Hong Kong. I would love to visit Hong Kong Disneyland.

Now let's see. 2014 is fully planned vacation-wise and it looks like 2015 is as well. We have a plan for 2017 so 2016 may look good.

Corinna

 

[zaccy]

Isn't it great?

That was such a real treat to be able to pull out the flashback picture. And founding members??? For real??? Why not?????

'Founding Member' does kind of have a nice ring to it, doesn't it? I can certainly see that sticking...

 

[PrincessInOz]

'Founding Member' does kind of have a nice ring to it, doesn't it? I can certainly see that sticking...

It sure has a nice ring to it.

 

[zaccy]

It sure has a nice ring to it.

Have a great Saturday fellow 'Founding Member' I am off to enjoy this wonderful Melbourne weather.

Oh I just got to more that 150 posts - such an active little bunny on the boards, if only it included my PM's !!

 

[zanzibar138]

Oh wow Princess that's a blast from the past, the very first (known) Melbourne Dismeet - I guess that might just make us founding members

Hope all is well with you Shushh and your lovely family

Isn't it great?

That was such a real treat to be able to pull out the flashback picture. And founding members??? For real??? Why not?????

'Founding Member' does kind of have a nice ring to it, doesn't it? I can certainly see that sticking...

It sure has a nice ring to it.

Are you two quite finished?

Where's Minniemum when you need her?

 

[zaccy]

Are you two quite finished?

Where's Minniemum when you need her?

Zanzibar I suspect Princess and I will never quite be finished on this subject

Now I really must go and do some of this and make the most of this sun.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Have a great Saturday fellow 'Founding Member' I am off to enjoy this wonderful Melbourne weather.

Oh I just got to more that 150 posts - such an active little bunny on the boards, if only it included my PM's !!

Congrats on 150 posts.

I'm enjoying the wonderful Melbourne weather as well. Hope it holds into the afternoon.

Are you two quite finished?

Where's Minniemum when you need her?

Finished? Yes. I think the founding members have had the last word.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Zanzibar I suspect Princess and I will never quite be finished on this subject

Now I really must go and do some of this and make the most of this sun.

The lines must be absolutely laden with clothes in the backyards of Melbourne today.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Chinese Garden of Friendship



At the south end of Darling Harbour, you'll find this wonderfully tranquil and peaceful oasis. It wasn't far from our hotel and the perfect attraction to fill in our afternoon.






The Chinese Garden of Friendship was built as a symbol of friendship between Sydney and Guangzhuo in China, to mark Australia’s bicentenary in 1988. It will set you back $6 per adult to enter. For that, you will get a self-guided map to discover the gardens. We dutifully followed the map and kept to the marked paths.






Along the way, we saw the Dragon Wall. It's a gift from Guandong with the golden-brown dragon representing Guandong and the blue representing NSW. Apparently that's the Pearl of Prosperity between the two dragons.






We also saw a few features that you would expect to find in any Chinese garden.





















Boys will be boys!






The walking path was had rather delightful twists and turns.












And we didn't forget to look up every now and again.







Or down.







There were quite a few pavilions in this garden.
















DH just HAD to step into this Pavilion.






We had seen this character walk round and had originally thought that she was part of the Garden experience.






Turns out she was part of the Garden experience. We realised very quickly that there were a few dress-ups going on around us.






Which meant only one thing.







I hadn't been in dress-up mood that day but someone else had been.












It was perfectly priced and managed. The people inside the pavilion dressed you up and then let you wander around the garden without supervision. As long as you didn't leave the Garden, they didn't worry about how long you were gone for or where you were. And they didn't force you to buy any photographs. In fact, there was no one inside taking pictures at all. It was definitely all self-help and self-photography.






On hindsight, I wish I had made myself dress-up. Oh well, next time.

 

[PrincessInOz]

(Continued from Previous Post)



It is quite a rocky path to tread in this garden. I didn't think it was particular accessible for anyone who had difficulties with walking. There was one high point to climb up to and the vista of the garden was stunning from this point.






That high point is where the Gurr is.






The Pavilion of Clear View (the Gurr) is a beautiful hexagonal, two-storey building.







The golden roof tiles and intricate wood carvings are gifts from Guangdong.







The ornate lamp signifies prosperity. With all the prosperity symbols around, I guess this garden is a veritable goldmine!






We spent at least 90 minutes exploring the gardens.













There were lots of corners to explore and little delights to find.












There was lots to admire and be reflective about.







We had left it too late in the day to enjoy the tearoom here. Something else to come back for next time.







If you are in the area and enjoy wandering around gardens, I highly recommend you come here. For me, it was a wonderful way to spend the afternoon.









(Continued in Next Post)

 

 

[PrincessInOz]

Home - A Thai Dinner




When we had caught up with shushh, there had been a couple of places suggested for the meet. We eventually settled on Menya. However, over lunch, shushh mentioned that the other contender for lunch was worth visiting.

I guess it was a case of there's no place like Home. You'll find it on Sussex Street (Chinatown) and location wise, it was very convenient to our hotel. It literally was a 5 minute walk to Home from our hotel.






Armed with our knowledge of how these kind of eateries fill up in Sydney, we headed to Home earlier rather than later. Even so, we were shown a table upstairs as all the downstairs ones were already filled.






Not that I was complaining. The view into the open kitchen was great from our table!






Order up!






Despite appearances, this place was hi-tech. All orders were taken quickly and by iPad with WiFi speed. It came as no surprise that our order starting to flow very quickly. Drinks came first. I had decided to order a longan drink. Next time, I'll ask for less ice.






It didn't take long for the rest of the food to get to our table.


DS ordered the special fried rice. Very tasty!






This was my order. The amazing soft-shell crab and mango salad. It was absolutely delicious.






DH followed my lead and he also ordered the same thing. He was really glad he did. No order envy for either of us.






We were hungry enough to eat dessert on this night.

DS ordered the Fried Bananas. I don't think he liked it much; truth be known....the bananas were not ripe enough so it was just a tad bitter.






I think this might have been the cassava in syrup with coconut milk.

Cassava or tapioca is a starchy tuberous root that is a staple diet of the developing world. After rice and maize, it's the 3rd largest source of carbohydrates. You need to be careful with this crop. It is considered to be one of the top 10 most dangerous foods in the world. If you don't prepare or process it properly, you could be consuming cyanide in lethal quantities. Not surprisingly, you'll find people do have allergies to cassava.






I was surprised that DH ordered the cassava dessert. It turned out to be another miss. The syrup was overly sweet and the cassava really was very starchy.


My dessert was easily the pick of the night. I settled on the sticky black rice pudding with coconut milk. I can't remember what the slightly crunchy orange strips were on top but this was delicious. The balance of sweet, salty and crunchy was just right.






It turned out to be a very good meal. And our decision to go early had been the right decision as well. When we left, there was a queue outside the door.






I would definitely go back for the soft-shell crab and mango salad and the sticky black rice pudding.




(Continued in Next Post)

 

[PrincessInOz]

Winter Festival




Earlier in the day, when we were walking in this direction, we saw something really cool and thought it would be fun to come back after dark.


Cool? Take a look!






More like "cold"....as in Winter Festival cold.






The Winter Festival is an open air event designed to encourage people to head out in winter. Afterall, winter in Australia can be mild in comparison with the winter temperatures in any other part of the world. Our visit to Sydney had coincided with the Winter Festival held at Darling Harbour. It's effectively the same concept that travels round to the various cities and towns around Australia. I think the equivalent one in Melbourne was not held this year so I was curious to check out the one in Sydney.

There's usually some sort of pavilion of lights.






The one in Sydney was completely white with coloured lights on a rotation sequence.






The boys were happy to pose for me in here.






I liked the light trees on display.






The flowers were very sweet.






There is usually an open air ice skating rink with the Winter Festival. The one here was no different.






There were a number of marquees around the rink; selling food and drinks. As we had already eaten, we didn't check any of them out.

But we did take a look inside the igloo.






DS was not amused by the Winter Festival. And he was right.






I think I did go check out the Melbourne Winter Festival 2013 and thought it was a bit sad. Aside from the ice-skating, the food was overpriced and there really wasn't much of a drawcard for people to attend.


It was definitely time to head back to the hotel.







We had some packing to do. We're heading home on the next day.

 

[Aussie Wendy]

The costume really suited DH - he looked just the part! Useful info as I have seen people dressed up but never investigated the arrangements. It is much cheaper and easier than I thought, definitely consider this next visit! We all love the garden and visit most times we go to Sydney.