So what follows the 2nd hottest day recorded in Sydney... rain of course!
Nevertheless we headed into the city...
~> !Travel tip!
Get a Sydney TravelPass! It's cheaper than those tourist passes! $47 ...it covers a massive region and includes train, bus and ferry!
I love overseas public transport. The bonus about Sydney trains are it's speed, it's quiet, size and they are DOUBLE DECKERS! :)
We headed for Central Station and had a quick exploration of the Queen Victoria Building. Again, we've noticed that Sydney retailers are silly. 2 Jan you'd think there'd be extra tourists in the city, still most of the retailers (except for the few smart ones and food places) were closed. *duh*
It's on sale Sale SALE!!!
Had a nice look around the QVB, then set a course for exploring downtown CBD shopping district :) We went up and down George St and Pitt St exploring the large shopping centres and Meyers (was Grace Bros), David Jones, Centrepoint, Pitt St Mall and anywhere else in between. We still have to go back to a few places. Why? Why it on sale of course! It's a good time to shop, but it's a bad time for your credit card. We didn't go crazy, have a list of things to get so we're not spontaneously shopping. :)
Special mention to David Jones, as Nick noticed, it has that special charm as Kirks, old-fashioned registers with notes stuck all over it, and the people addressing you by your name.
Also managed to find Dymocks. I love big bookstores, it's not the biggest bookstore that I've been in but nice to just browse around and see what is out there. Nice little cafe to rest our feet too.
These boots were made for walking and walk and walk they will do...
Even though you've been walking to and fro from work everyday or that you're in nice comfy shoes, it makes no difference it's a fact that you'll get very sore feet.
A bar somewhere - off George street
The identity crisis bar: Old meets new
Found another place to rest our feet. It's quite funny seeing how Sydney keeps on upgrading itself. We ended up in a place that seemed like an old wateringhole but the decor was trying to be upmarket. Result: mix of guys wanting to sit down with their beer, a few chicks and plus a couple of tourists :)
The tourist mover - monorail
Memories from taking the monorail when I was little was that it was empty and you could do as many rounds... wrong... jam-packed just like a Malaysian MRT, only managed to do 3/4 of the loop.
~> !Travel tip!
The Sydney monorail requires you to buy a "ticket" which is really a token that you slot into the machine to enter the platform so there's no ticket required when exiting. Take advantage and if it's not too full, stay on the monorail for as long as you like.
Laid back lifestyle
Te Papa, Wellington closes at 6pm so in a major tourist city where I'm sure there are over 100,000 visitors a day, you'd think that museums or other tourist attractions would be open much later. Tough luck. The Powerhouse Museum closed at 5pm so don't even head over there after 4pm. Must be the laid back lifestyle. Even the people walk slow and if you're thinking about getting good speedy service, you have another thing coming.
Laid back attitude to technology too... Credit card = sign sign sign
In NZ you can attach a pin no to your credit card not in Australia. Even though the eftpos machine says enter pin after you press credit, you still have to sign for it. You know, when I went to Australia a few years back, they were still getting to grips with eftpos, they still are. In NZ, min eftpos purchase is $2... in Australia, min eftpos purchase is $20... go figure.
If there's business to be made, trust the Chinese to be the ones open
If everything else is closed, the place to head towards is Chinatown. Everything was still bustling with people, almost all shops open and streets packed with people and tourists right into the night.
~> !Travel tip! : Paddy Markets
If you're a tourist and you're going to the markets, don't BE a tourist. Nick & I were at a stall with other tourists. Stupid things they did:
1) made it very obvious that they thought it was very cheap;
2) took the price as given;
3) told the guy where they were from (unfortunately they were NZers - Mr Stall Holder was smart enough to say "Kia Ora" and amuse the tourists whilst trying to sell another shirt).
So what if it's Sydney people! You're in a market you should still try to strike a bargain. Admittedly it is Sydney so the bargain is only a few dollars. The tourists paid full price, we paid a lot less :) nuff said
... ain't that a Darling?
Walked around Darling Harbour and really felt touristy :)
We have pigeons, they have these...
Went back to Chinatown to search for dinner. Interesting drink stalls at the foodcourts... no biggie that he's selling water, soft drinks, juice and of course... alcohol :) I kid you not... alcohol... anything from your common wine to your stellas, heinekens and a few spirits too!
Food critiques tour:
Sumo Salads - Centrepoint (?)
Budget: $ (under $10 per person)
Food: why salads of course
Comments: Yummy yummy yummy. Healthy, tasty, satisfying and as expensive as fastfood. Eat greens or processed meat in between cardboard? The choice is rather obvious. It was pretty cool, they even weighed the serving to make sure they were giving you enough stuff like chicken in the salad.
Food court - Chinatown, back one of the entry ways on Dixon Street and it's below street level
Budget: $ (under $10 per person)
I love Asian style food courts, wished that we had them in NZ. Altho a bit curious in their food
- Laska - very creamy and too much coconut milk, quite bland
- Gado Gado - ingredients that even Nick couldn't figure out... you know its a bit sus
- ice kachang - yum!
- crush ice lychee - yum
I managed to find a Laska, but Nick didn't so he's on a search to find Aussie-style Laska
Pedometer:
29139+700 steps just walking around the city. Apparently it's over 11.655km!
...and these boots will walk over you!
No comments:
Post a Comment