Ok this unpublished post is beyond old and it's my last from the trip.. please read on if you care to!
Our first night back in Sydney was exciting!! It was great to be back in a power city after a quiet week in The Port. After checking into our hotel in Pott's Point, we headed out to Darling Harbour. It was about a 25 minute walk from our hotel so not bad at all. Pott's Point is a quieter part of Sydney and there's a few small bars, bakeries & restaurants. Along with some random pet shops, homeware boutiques and banks. It's close to King's Cross which once was a very bad part of Sydney. It's improved now! More on our experience there later! Once we got to the Darling Harbour, we had to find a spot to watch the fireworks! They were part of the Vivid light show I had mentioned last week. Unfortunately, practically ALL of the restaurants on the Harbour (and there were many!) were packed!!! We ended up watching the 'works from a little balcony near a bar. It was AMAZING!! The last time I saw such a great firework extravaganza was when I was a pre-teen visiting the East Coast! Anyway the show lasted about 10 mins. and before that, there was a light projection show on the water of the Harbour. It was so very cool! Once it ended we started scouting for a rez and ended up at an Italian place. Of course, P had more Kang meat. He's loving it!! Hah! During dinner, I asked a group of girls next to me about any fun night spots. There were plenty and they told us about some they liked right on the Harbour. I was excited but talking to them made me miss my own girlfriends!!!
The first bar we hit that night, Hotel Tokio had a live band and a cool vibe! Got bored a few songs later so we tried to get into a couple clubs nearby but PM wasn't dressed the part so they didn't let him in. So I went in anyway.. Just kidding!!! :)) We headed back towards the hotel with plans to hit some spots we had seen on the way to the Harbour. Once we got close, we realized the party was at King's Cross! This area had completely come to life from the time we had last seen it in the early eve.! The first place we went to was way too wild and full of young'ns so we headed to a couple other places. This scene was really diverse and each nightspot seemed to play towards a certain age group. One of the bars reminded me of one in Vietnam.. Very fancy, decorative & colorful!
The following morning and the last couple days have been a whirlwind. We have managed to practically see all of Sydney on foot. :0 On Sunday, we had brunch at an outstanding spot near our hotel. It was called La Buvette & a great start to the morning! After a yummy meal, we walked through the Royal Botanical Gardens to the Opera House. Wow!! I was stunned by it's unique design. It's cool a design so innovative was created in 1973..Afterwards it was time for a coffee break! As we headed for The Rocks, we stopped into Guylian-a Belgian cafe that made the best Eclair I had ever tried!! The chocolate was so creamy and smooth. It was TDF!!! PM got a double macchiato shot and I got a lemon-grass & ginger tea. That goodness brought us back to life!! We headed for the Contemporary Art Museum which was also located in The Rocks area. P & I really hit the jackpot for Sydney b/c there was free stuff going on all around!! First the Vivid Lights and then the Bienalle Museum walk! If we had more time, I would have loved to visit every museum around there.. Once we left the museum, we headed towards some shops but since it was Sunday- many places were already closed. Bummer!! Back on the streets, the Vivid Lights had just turned back on so we got back to it!! We wandered around Circular Quay near the bridge and picked up some wraps and yummy mulled wine for din. After we ate, we were on a mission to find the entrance to walk the Sydney Harbour Bridge! We found the stairs up to it and another couple told us it would take 15 mins. to walk across. YEAH RIGHT!! I knew that wasn't true b/c the bridge is huge!!! In actuality, it took us about 25-30 mins. power-walking!! I suppose it may have been shorter if we didn't stop for pix etc. I was relieved when we finally made it to the other side. We saw some more Vivid designs and went to Luna Park where they had a bright shiny ferris wheel!! Got our tix, waited in line and made it on. It was FREEZING at the top and around! Ay yi yi!! There was more cold coming up for us b/c we had to wait 30 mins. for a water ferry back to the Opera House. Boy oh boy that was NO fun!! But we came, we saw, we conquered. When we got back to the opera house, we managed to see the rest of the Vivid lights b/c it was on the way back to the hotel. There were so many cool designs, from robots to a lit-up car. The designs that stood out to me the most were hanging glass bottles that had lights shinning through them and a bunch of clear beach-like balls with pictures of mouths in them laughing along to the audio. It was pretty clever and you'll be able to see what I'm talking about through pix. 12 hours later- our tired legs were screaming for bed!!!
Monday: Off to explore the suburb of Sydney- Paddington & Oxford shopping precinct. Tucked into a place for brekkie and had some great Egg Benedict's and Bloody Mary's. Yum!!! Once we finished, I declared "let the shopping commence"! Haha jk- but really, it was on! We visited a lot of cool shops and I ended up with an amazing cape-like necklace and a dress for my lovely friend Keri's upcoming nuptials! Shopping in those towns was fun but Central Sydney is where it's at! Any shop you can think of is there.. From Zara to Prada-- they've got it all! It's basically 4 malls connected together within less than a half a mile radius. How insane is that?!! You've got MidCity, Pitt Street mall, The Strand, and Queen Victoria Building. The Strand & the QVB stood out because they were old rustic buildings renovated to add stores but the original decor was maintained. Overall, it was a fun day for me but you'll have to ask Plamen how he liked it! :p
Tuesday: Our last morning in Sydney was a hustle! We took a train to Bankstown to pick up some cosmetics for my family. It's a Viet community so I felt right at home!! However, we didn't get to enjoy it because we had to return to the hotel quickly to catch our shuttle. The rush turned out to be unnecessary because our shuttle was..wait for it.. 45 mins late!!! Ahhh after a few maddening phone-calls, we were eventually picked up. Lesson learned to ALWAYS book airport transportation while booking flights! I'm usually good at it but I didn't bother for this trip. Man was I sorry!! Our nice driver hurried us to the airport and we managed to make the flight. :)
Our first night back in Sydney was exciting!! It was great to be back in a power city after a quiet week in The Port. After checking into our hotel in Pott's Point, we headed out to Darling Harbour. It was about a 25 minute walk from our hotel so not bad at all. Pott's Point is a quieter part of Sydney and there's a few small bars, bakeries & restaurants. Along with some random pet shops, homeware boutiques and banks. It's close to King's Cross which once was a very bad part of Sydney. It's improved now! More on our experience there later! Once we got to the Darling Harbour, we had to find a spot to watch the fireworks! They were part of the Vivid light show I had mentioned last week. Unfortunately, practically ALL of the restaurants on the Harbour (and there were many!) were packed!!! We ended up watching the 'works from a little balcony near a bar. It was AMAZING!! The last time I saw such a great firework extravaganza was when I was a pre-teen visiting the East Coast! Anyway the show lasted about 10 mins. and before that, there was a light projection show on the water of the Harbour. It was so very cool! Once it ended we started scouting for a rez and ended up at an Italian place. Of course, P had more Kang meat. He's loving it!! Hah! During dinner, I asked a group of girls next to me about any fun night spots. There were plenty and they told us about some they liked right on the Harbour. I was excited but talking to them made me miss my own girlfriends!!!
The first bar we hit that night, Hotel Tokio had a live band and a cool vibe! Got bored a few songs later so we tried to get into a couple clubs nearby but PM wasn't dressed the part so they didn't let him in. So I went in anyway.. Just kidding!!! :)) We headed back towards the hotel with plans to hit some spots we had seen on the way to the Harbour. Once we got close, we realized the party was at King's Cross! This area had completely come to life from the time we had last seen it in the early eve.! The first place we went to was way too wild and full of young'ns so we headed to a couple other places. This scene was really diverse and each nightspot seemed to play towards a certain age group. One of the bars reminded me of one in Vietnam.. Very fancy, decorative & colorful!
The following morning and the last couple days have been a whirlwind. We have managed to practically see all of Sydney on foot. :0 On Sunday, we had brunch at an outstanding spot near our hotel. It was called La Buvette & a great start to the morning! After a yummy meal, we walked through the Royal Botanical Gardens to the Opera House. Wow!! I was stunned by it's unique design. It's cool a design so innovative was created in 1973..Afterwards it was time for a coffee break! As we headed for The Rocks, we stopped into Guylian-a Belgian cafe that made the best Eclair I had ever tried!! The chocolate was so creamy and smooth. It was TDF!!! PM got a double macchiato shot and I got a lemon-grass & ginger tea. That goodness brought us back to life!! We headed for the Contemporary Art Museum which was also located in The Rocks area. P & I really hit the jackpot for Sydney b/c there was free stuff going on all around!! First the Vivid Lights and then the Bienalle Museum walk! If we had more time, I would have loved to visit every museum around there.. Once we left the museum, we headed towards some shops but since it was Sunday- many places were already closed. Bummer!! Back on the streets, the Vivid Lights had just turned back on so we got back to it!! We wandered around Circular Quay near the bridge and picked up some wraps and yummy mulled wine for din. After we ate, we were on a mission to find the entrance to walk the Sydney Harbour Bridge! We found the stairs up to it and another couple told us it would take 15 mins. to walk across. YEAH RIGHT!! I knew that wasn't true b/c the bridge is huge!!! In actuality, it took us about 25-30 mins. power-walking!! I suppose it may have been shorter if we didn't stop for pix etc. I was relieved when we finally made it to the other side. We saw some more Vivid designs and went to Luna Park where they had a bright shiny ferris wheel!! Got our tix, waited in line and made it on. It was FREEZING at the top and around! Ay yi yi!! There was more cold coming up for us b/c we had to wait 30 mins. for a water ferry back to the Opera House. Boy oh boy that was NO fun!! But we came, we saw, we conquered. When we got back to the opera house, we managed to see the rest of the Vivid lights b/c it was on the way back to the hotel. There were so many cool designs, from robots to a lit-up car. The designs that stood out to me the most were hanging glass bottles that had lights shinning through them and a bunch of clear beach-like balls with pictures of mouths in them laughing along to the audio. It was pretty clever and you'll be able to see what I'm talking about through pix. 12 hours later- our tired legs were screaming for bed!!!
Monday: Off to explore the suburb of Sydney- Paddington & Oxford shopping precinct. Tucked into a place for brekkie and had some great Egg Benedict's and Bloody Mary's. Yum!!! Once we finished, I declared "let the shopping commence"! Haha jk- but really, it was on! We visited a lot of cool shops and I ended up with an amazing cape-like necklace and a dress for my lovely friend Keri's upcoming nuptials! Shopping in those towns was fun but Central Sydney is where it's at! Any shop you can think of is there.. From Zara to Prada-- they've got it all! It's basically 4 malls connected together within less than a half a mile radius. How insane is that?!! You've got MidCity, Pitt Street mall, The Strand, and Queen Victoria Building. The Strand & the QVB stood out because they were old rustic buildings renovated to add stores but the original decor was maintained. Overall, it was a fun day for me but you'll have to ask Plamen how he liked it! :p
Tuesday: Our last morning in Sydney was a hustle! We took a train to Bankstown to pick up some cosmetics for my family. It's a Viet community so I felt right at home!! However, we didn't get to enjoy it because we had to return to the hotel quickly to catch our shuttle. The rush turned out to be unnecessary because our shuttle was..wait for it.. 45 mins late!!! Ahhh after a few maddening phone-calls, we were eventually picked up. Lesson learned to ALWAYS book airport transportation while booking flights! I'm usually good at it but I didn't bother for this trip. Man was I sorry!! Our nice driver hurried us to the airport and we managed to make the flight. :)
Back in SFO, Plamen and I went our separate ways b/c I was back on another airplane to visit my best childhood friend, Karishma in Toronto. She was graduating!! I managed to make some phone calls to my family and couldn't help but tear up. Especially after hearing my nephew Ethan's sweet voice asking me when the heck I'll be back! The homesickness was in full swing.. Anyway, I felt much better when I was reunited with K and her loving family. They always smother me with love and good food! What more can I girl ask for?!
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