Sydney 22 Jan – 28 Jan 09 **Day 4

Sydney vacation Day 4 with even more pictures of Sydney Australia.


The Grand Dame of Australia - The Sydney Opera House

Today, we hired the coach to bring our whole group shopping. As we have some elderly people with us and being in such a big group, it was more convenient to do so.

Shopping started at Paddy’s Market and this time we found a shop that opens only on Sundays selling ladies blouses for AUD20 each. Some of these were made of sheersucker material that is a non-iron material. We bought a few different colours each with different designs as well as some sweet coloured cotton tee shirts with nice flower prints. These fabrics are supposed to allow the body to keep cool even in hot weather and supposedly can last ten years.

You can get souvenir items like Australian tee shirts, boomerangs, tidy bags, non-woven bags, key chains, handbags, etc… A good range and variety.

The Rocks
Next we headed north to The Rocks Market. Here you have another flea market which runs only on Saturdays and Sundays from 10am – 5pm. With more than 150 stalls housed under a sail-like canopy, the Rocks Market has something for everyone, including antiques and collectibles, art, fashion and beauty, food, homewares and furniture. A different range of products from what we saw in Paddy’s Market. More Aussie souvenirs and curios can be found here. We were fortunate that the weather today was not as hot as yesterday and walking in the open air market was quite comfortable. You could get organic dried fruits with no sweetener and no preservative. We were surprised to find that the organic dried pineapples tasted great as a snack or dessert and was simply delicious. A 180g packet costs AUD20 and it was almost all gone within the day.

Organic dried fruits

Other knick knacks

There were also fudge bars with various flavours including mint, mango, caramel, etc… You could sample some of the flavours before deciding what to buy. Buying in a batch of seven costs you only AUD20 whereas buying individually could set you back by USD3.50.

Fudge bars

Another interesting item that you can find here is the shoe deodorizer and wardrobe insect repellent. These are made from all natural herbs like lemon eucalyptus, lavender and rose and geranium to remove the odour and repel insects.

The Rocks is the historical precinct of Sydney, being the site of the first colonial settlement in Australia in 1788. It is home to Sydney’s oldest pubs and has a vibrant restaurant scene. It is also one of the city’s most exciting shopping, dining and entertainment precincts.

Next stop was Bondi beach, Australia’s most famous beach with the golden sand and turquoise water. We were originally supposed to have lunch at Bondi beach area and enjoy the atmosphere there. However, lots of the restaurants were full and as we had a big group, it would have been difficult for most of the restaurants and cafes to accommodate us. So we took a walk along the area and watched some pretty cool surfers and waves and enjoyed some sea breeze before moving off.

Bondi Beach - the sea, the surfers & the wave plus artwork
Even the seagulls love Bondi Beach

The 4 Muskeeteers enjoying a AUD4 hotdog

Bondi Markets is open only on Sundays from 1000hrs to 1700hrs. You can enjoy the roar of the surf and invigorating sea breezes while you search for the next big fashion designer, clothing, jewellery and cool gifts. The market is also a great place fro star-spotting.

We moved back to Chinatown area and finally had lunch at Super Meal Chinese Restaurant. The service was slow, most probably because they were not prepared to handle our big group at such a late lunch hour. However, the food was not too bad. We tried the Grandma’s Spicy Beancurd with rice. This would have tasted so much better if not for the fact that certain parts tasted pretty salty. However, the beef congee was great and smooth and was good value at less than AUD10. If you are not a huge eater, each portion should be enough for two persons. We also ordered various drinks including passionfruit soda and mango soda. These tasted quite sweet. The black sesame crushed ice was the best with a pleasant taste of black sesame.

Minced beef congee

Passionfruit and mango soda flanked in between by berry

Grandma's Spicy Beancurd served with rice

We had originally planned to go to DFO, Direct Factory Outlet, which is supposed to be Australia’s premier factory outlet centre and has over eighty individual retailers. However this happened to be a little out of the way at the Homebush area near the Sydney Olympic Park and so we finally decided to go back to Paddy’s Market as some of the group members wanted to go back to the same shop in the morning to get more of the ‘cooling’ blouses. Those who had enough of shopping for the day went directly back to the hotel. The others went ahead to do more shopping.

Harbourside shops

Dinner saw us back at Harbourside at Darling Harbour to do a bit more shopping as well as fill our stomachs. Harbourside is Darling Harbour’s main shopping mall, with boutiques, specialty stores and dining venues. This beautifully positioned waterfront development ranks as one of Sydney’s most elegant and innovative retail centres. You will be able to find a dozen or more alfresco eateries with some very stylish a-la-carte restaurants here, all with superb views of Cockle Bay, the city skyline and the rest of Darling Harbour. The shops here stay open till 2100hrs every night so you can shop at your leisure after the day’s touring.

Aborigine playing the digeridoo

Professional street entertainer playing with the remote control car

We decided to try the food court at ground level. The food here was not cheap and the portions small. We ordered some chicken sukiyaki noodles which was oily and the chicken was tough. The pizza had some great votes. Oporto, a fast food restaurant just beside MacDonald’s, served grilled chicken and burgers and had the thumbs up as well. We finished off the meal with Anderson’s ice-cream, AUD4.50 for a single scoop and AUD6.50 for a double scoop.

Oporto

Chinese New Year decorations at Star City

Tonight being the eve of Chinese New Year, Star City Hotel had arranged some Chinese New Year celebrations at midnight. The God of Fortune was there to hand out hong baos or red packets. These are traditionally given by the married adults to the unmarried and filled with money. There was a dragon dance as well as eight lions and the traditional fire crackers being let off. Great performance especially for those who have never seen such a performance before.

God of Fortune handing out the 'hong baos'. Of course, there were not filled with real currency but with gold 'chocolate' coins. ; )

Fire Crackers being let off to usher in the Chinese New Year

Lion Dance


And Dragon Dance

A great start to Day 5…

Sydney 22 Jan – 28 Jan 09 **Day 5

Continuing Sydney Vacation Day 5

Gong Hee Fatt Choy & Happy Australia Day

Australia Day

This is the first time in almost a hundred years that Chinese New Year and Australia Day falls on the same day. Thus there will be a spectacular display of pyrotechnics, music and lights at Darling Harbour at 2040hrs this evening. Plus this year is also Darling Harbour’s 100th anniversary. A beautiful scene watched by thousands of people who converged in the area.

We started the day by hopping on to the City Sightseeing, an open top bus that brings you round to various points of interest around the city. You can hop on and off the bus any time, as many times as you like. A day ticket costs AUD30 (AUD1 = SGD0.98)with concession rates for children below sixteen as well as senior citizens above sixty. A whole round trip lasts an hour and a half. If you are expecting to go round both Sydney and Bondi area, I would recommend you to take the 48 hour ticket at AUD48 and this will be valid for 48 hours, thus giving you the best value sightseeing on the double decker buses with the unique open top which gives you fantastic 360 degree views. There are a total of 31 stops including Sydney Harbour Bridge, Opera House, Bondi Beach, Circular Quay, The Rocks, Darling Harbour and Kings Cross.

Off the bus

And On the City Sightseeing bus

Various sights seen along the way

Victoria Market

Sydney Tower

Flowers by the roadside

Sydney Town Hall

Unveiled in 1961 - El Alamein Fountain

Naval Base at Woolloomooloo Bay

Harry's Cafe de Wheels where the navy boys grab the traditional Aussie pie on the wharf once back from an assignment

Cannon in Hyde Park

Our destination today was the Sydney Opera House. However, due to it being Australia Day and a Public Holiday as well, certain roads along the route were closed and we had to drop off at a different stop and take a longer walk to Sydney Opera House. We walked past the College Street and Macquarie Street and saw the awesome display of hundreds of antique cars. If you are an antique car lover, you would love this display.

Antique fire engine

Passed by St Mary’s Cathedral which has a huge and beautiful interior and the Botanical Gardens. Along the way, we had lunch at a cozy Vittoria café along Macquarie Street. The interior was just nice to accommodate our whole group. The chicken burger with avocado was quite nice whilst the home made sausage tasted too meaty for me and the outer crust that surrounded it was more hard than crispy.

Queen Victoria

Vittoria Coffee Cafe

Chicken burger (above left) and All Day Melt Special Chicken (above right)

Home made Sausage Roll with Salad

Enjoying a 'double' ice cream

Continued on our journey to the Sydney Opera House and we finally took the Essential Tour at 1430 hrs. The Essential Tour, a 1 hour tour, runs daily, every thirty minutes, between 9am and 5pm. It tells the story of how a young Danish architect designed the modern abstract masterpiece in the 1950s, took all of the 60s to construct and finally opened in the 70s by Queen Elizabeth.

Chinese New Year plants

The iconic Sydney Opera House

The Sydney Opera House, one of the busiest performing arts centres in the world, took sixteen years to build at a cost of AUD102 million. It was a masterpiece of human creative genius and the architecture was well ahead of the times. In fact, it came into existence against impossible odds.

Close up of the famous Sydney Opera House

The tiles of the roof

The Opera Theatre has 1500 seats and is fully booked year round by the opera and ballet organisations due to the acoustics. The Concert Hall seats 2700 and the total seating capacity of the Sydney Opera House is 5500.

Do look out for coupons in the travel guide books and maps that you can get in the hotels or at travel agencies. This will get you 20% off the normal price, thus costing you AUD28 instead of the usual AUD35. Do note that each coupon will only entitle you to one ticket at the discounted price, so if you have more than one person, do collect more coupons for more savings.

For those with mobility limitations, you can take the Access Tour which is based on The Essential Tour with a considerate route, only available in English at 12 noon daily.

For a more intimate tour with exclusive access to areas normally reserved for stars and their crew, you can take the Backstage Tour and visit the backstage areas as it is being prepared for upcoming performances. This includes a full breakfast and lasts 2 hours. As the Backstage Tour includes up to 300 steps, it is not recommended for children 12 years and under.

There is also some shopping to be had at the Sydney Opera House. As well as being an architectural phenomenon, the Opera House is the perfect place to pick up an official Opera House souvenir or a unique gift reflecting the very essence of Australia.

Nearby is the Sydney Harbour Bridge which is locally nicknamed "The Coathanger" because of its arch-based design. The Sydney Harbour Bridge is the world's largest steel arch bridge across Sydney Harbour that carries rail, vehicular and pedestrian traffic which opened in 1932. It is also one of the most photographed landmark. The dramatic view of the bridge, the harbour, and the nearby Sydney Opera House is an iconic image of both Sydney and Australia.

The Harbour Bridge

Sentry Box

After The Essential Tour, we took another long walk passing the Circular Quay Ferry Terminal and along George Street where you can find some shops along the way. Having walked a fair distance and with aching feet and rainy weather, we then hopped on the City Sightseeing bus to get back to Star City Hotel.

Although it was still drizzling, we decided to catch the City Sightseeing bus to the Maritime Museum area so that we could have a close up view of the happenings at Darling Harbour. However the last bus at Star City Casino was at 1847hrs. Thus we had missed the bus and took a walk in the drizzle to Darling Harbour. Thousands of people had already converged on the area to celebrate Australia Day and all were waiting for the spectacular finale of the day, the pyrotechnics display. The display started off somewhat slow but grew more and more exciting as the minutes passed. It was truly a spectacular display and we were glad we did not miss it and that the rain did not put a dampener on the whole celebration.

The pyrotechnics display

The float (no idea what it signifies though)