Sydney 29th april-5th may 2015

For our company trip this year 2015, my boss treated us to a trip down under- Sydney, Australia.

After 8 hours of red eye flight.

I didn’t sleep a wink. The first day went like this.

We arrived early in the morning like around 6am and we went straight to the Sydney Fish Market for an early breakfast. We decided that is was too early for oysters on an empty stomach, so we started off with grilled seafood platters from Fish Market Café for AUD48 that we shared among 6 people.

After we had warm food in our stomach, we took 2 types of oysters that is Tasmanian Oyster (yellowish & creamy texture) and Pacific Oyster. I get why my boss kept talking about how we MUST try the oysters there because it was to die for and totally different from what we have tasted before. This combination of oysters (6+6) costed us about AUD18.

One of the rules when ordering and eating at the fish market was you must consume your food at the tables where you bought the food from. We have no problems with trying to find seats because of how early it was and seeing that it was a weekday.

We went to the fish market again during the weekend and in the afternoon. The place was jammed packed with tourists and locals alike. The seats are very limited. We ended up eating lunch at a Japanese restaurant and ordered fried seafood platter for 4.

For me this place is a must visit.

After our breakfast, it started to drizzle and our coach captain drove us to visit Mrs Macquarie’s Chair. 

Which is actually a carved rock ledge, shaped like a chair. There’s a whole history to that chair which I will let you find out yourself. It was big and covered with vibrant moss green. I like the color of the green moss a lot. Mom slept almost all the time on the coach ride. Too tired from the flight over.

We spent the entire day taking pictures of The Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge from near and far and also from a cruise. 

More specifically, the Captain Cook Cruises. We had our lunch while listening to a recorded commentary of the bridge, the small islands scattered around and the demographic of the people living close to the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Afterward we went to the place just outside of the Sydney Opera House. We took a walk along Darling Harbour to get to our coach. After the cruise we went around The Rock area and took some picture on Ives Steps under the bridge. On the way back to our hotel, I saw Westfield and a statue of Albert the Good.

We stayed at a hotel called Break Free On George which is located on George Street. Duh~..The location of the hotel is only minutes of walk to Coles and other restaurants. It is also just 5 minute walk to the tram to get to fish market and casino. There is also an arcade near our hotel. Market City and Pitt Street are all close by. Our first dinner in Sydney was Chinese food (the only Chinese food we had during this entire trip) which was arranged by my other boss at The Eight in Market City. We reserved 2 tables for 22 people. My boss will only be joining us on the next day.

I will definitely stay here again if I ever go to Sydney again.

On Day 2, we went to my most anticipated activity at Ana Bay and the sand dunes for some sand boarding. 

I was excited about the opportunity to experience sand boarding and the 4WD across the sand to get to the sand boarding place. However, both was a little underwhelming. 

Maybe I have much too high expectation on the adrenaline rush that I was about to get. I thought that We were supposed to stand on the board like surfing down the sand dunes. Nope, we had to sit with both feet on the board and with two hand on the back acting as brakes and slide down instead. 

I thought the 4WD is the adventure type like OMG that was real cool and dangerous kind of ride. Nope, we were all packed into a bus. Anyway the sand-boarding was not all that bad. The height of the sand dunes was intimidating. It took some talking into to myself while I was at the top of the lower sand dunes on my first try. 

And even more pep-talk on the second time around on the higher peak. The climb up was the hardest for me. Damn my lack of stamina- I’m just fat. Most of us just did 2 drops. And off we went to clean ourselves up and change clothes. 

We had lunch at Port Stephens at a restaurant called Aqua Blue.

I like their fish and chips. Chicken’s a bit tough though. We were served coffee/ tea and soft drink during every meal. Then we continue our journey on another boat. A family owned Tamboi Queen Cruises searching for wild dolphins.

I was also excited about this one plus the captain was really cute. We had the boat all to ourselves. And true enough, we saw some. On every sightings of dolphins fins, we shrieked and pointed like little schoolgirls. The dolphins even went as near as to the bottom of the boat. After that we made our way back to the Sydney suburb for an Italian dinner at Pino. The ambiance was great but we wasted a lot of spaghettis as we were not accustomed to the type of cooking. The entrée was bread dipped in olive oil, smoked meat and cheese. Then we had some greens. And then we had pizzas and the spaghetties. We had some wine and water with a slice of lemon to make the water alkaline. This dinner was also arranged by my Sydney boss. When I said this, it was paid for by my boss. Our coach left us there so that we can dine on our own sweet time which we did. My boss’s son and the girlfriend came and joined us and together, we walked to the train station to catch our ride (double decked train) back to Central. It was quite a long walk from the restaurant, but I didn't  mind it even if we had to walk in light showers. After we reached central, we walked some more right up to our hotel. And that’s a wrap on day 2.

On day 3, we went to the Koala Sanctuary Park to feed some grey kangaroo and took pictures with a Koala. One of the grey kangaroo was getting into fight with one of the visitor. It was amusing and scary at the same time. 

It was also raining that day. We also went and watch a sheep shearing show where this guy with full beard explained the process in very thick Aussie accent that I only get 30% of what he was saying. I watched this show before in Perth and it was about the same. The lanolin cream is from the sheep’s wool. We had our Drover’s buffet lunch at this place and the verdict was, the meat was tough, I like the fish and the chicken and also the milk flavored ice cream desert. 

After that we made our way to Blue Mountain to have peek at The Three Sisters rock formation. 

The weather on this day was not with us. On day 1 and 2, it did rained while we were on our way to our destination, however it stopped whenever we reached and ready to explore. But on this day, it rained the whole day. We reached Blue Mountain and the fog was so thick that we could not see anything. So we decided not to waste time and continue to the Scenic World. This could be a great place if we had time to enjoy the wildlife and read all the notes along the wooden walkway. I literally had no expectation. It kept raining and I was drenched because I gave my umbrella to mom even though I still had my cotton hood on. So we reached the train ride. It was a 52degree train track.

I was expecting a relaxing ride like the Penang Hill slanted train ride. I were totally not prepared for a sudden roller coaster like rush to the bottom. My bag flew under the seat to the rows in front, I was so sure that the bag is gone and irretrievable that I was not able to fully enjoy the ride. I think everyone was not prepared by this. 

After retrieving my bag from the passenger in front, we continued on for the cable car ride to get a closer look at the surrounding mountain area. We took the ride back and fro for a record of 3/ 4 times just because it was not clear enough to get pictures of the mountain ledge because of all the fogs and also because it was free. After some coffee and buying some souvenirs. We made our way back to the Three Sisters again but they are still too shy to meet us. We then said see you later and made our way back. We had our dinner at Palace Hotel at Market City. I had the most delicious garlic bread and beef steak. I also had some latte. Mom had salmon which I think I will definitely like as well. This dinner is also arrange by Sydney Boss. 

We played at the arcade upstairs while waiting for them to arrive. And my colleague continued at the arcade after dinner trying to capture a soft toy, and they did get one. I was so happy for them. I think this was the night that we went to The Star Casino as well. Six of us took a taxi ride for 10-15 minutes, while the driver cursed everyone that was in his way. Three of us (Ho, Yap and me) waited outside the casino for our other friends to arrive. We stood outside for almost an hour waiting for them and finally gave up and went up on our own. After locating wifi and sending them messages on where and what time to meet up, we explored our possibilities of winning the games. We saw our colleagues one after another and we started to play against a computer in roulette. I was down on my last dollar and I chose number 11 hoping for a miracle. And I got it!!! I won 15 dollars and quit while I can still pay for our taxi ride back. We should have ridden the tram to the casino, but we didn’t know that it was very near to our hotel. Oh well. Mom was very disappointed that she didn’t get to follow us to the casino. She said she would have won if she did. Hehe.

On Day 4 was our free and easy day, which was also on a Saturday. We planned it so that the free and easy days fall on Saturday to give us ample time to shop on our own pace. After breakfast, we started the day at Paddy's Market just 2 minute walk from our hotel. They have all kinds of souvenirs here. From the placenta and lanoline cream (I bought mine at a souvenir shop on Blue Mountain which is more expensive than the one selling at Paddy's Market), nuts, fruits, vegetables, soft toys, apron, bags, coin purse etc. I would suggest that people buy their souvenirs here. It is way cheaper than those at The Rocks (some even 2 times more expensive). We spent the other hour of the morning exploring The Rocks morning markets. Honestly though, the things that they are selling doesn’t really appeal to me. But if you are into hand-made arts and crafts, then you can come and see what they have to offer. Some of us followed my boss to the fish market again for lunch since he missed it on day 1. He and his wife were also meeting up with the son, son’s girlfriend and niece. The son was already in a bad mood seeing my boss was late and the place was really crowded. It was not a nice experience for me. One thing is because, I did not want to go to the same place twice. But my colleague asked me to come along and maybe we can score some free lunch with my boss being around. I can afford my own lunch. My boss was already hinting to us from the night before about how we should take the bus and tram to get there from The Rocks. We ended up having to buy our own food and look for our own seat. Two of my colleagues left right after without meeting up with my boss. My boss bought us Opal card which only cost AUD2.50 for weekend trips. So my boss became our tour guide after our lunch to hunt for supplements and nuts to bring back. We went to Chemist Warehouse, Coles and Woolworth. On our walk back to our hotel, we stopped at Gloria Jean for some coffee alfresco style. In the cold.

After dropping off our stuff at the hotel, we had our dinner at a German restaurant called Essen. 

Also walking distance from our hotel. Had pork knuckle, pork belly, hotdogs, black-forest cake, ice cream cake, pancake and some beers (ironically no German beer). All paid for by my boss. Yes even my mom’s portion.  The only thing that I missed and actually hoping to go to is The Capitol Theater which is only at the opposite of our hotel and they were showing Les Miserables. So sad that I have to skipped this and went on an involuntary 2^nd visit to the Fish Market just to accompany my boss. O, and my boss each of us (the employee) AUD100 for us to spend on this day.

This also reminds me that I didn’t get to go to see Moulin Rouge while I was in Paris when it was just around the corner from the place that I stayed in (Plug In Hotel).

Well I guess plays and I are just not meant to be.                 

On the 5^th and final day of my trip we went to Hunter Valley for a relaxing tour. First, we stopped by a chocolate factory to buy some chocolate and nougat. Then we went to Tuscany Wine Estate for a beautiful patio lunch and we had wines red and white. 

A few minutes away, we had our first wine tasting at Hermitage Road Cellars. Mom bought a pink Moscato wine. And after, we went to cheese tasting without the wine.

None of us bought any. And right next door was another wine tasting. I could not remember if any of us bought any. The lady doing the presentation was not clear enough on which wine was which that we tasted. So it was all a blur to me. 

After which we went to Hunter Valley Garden.

 Seeing that it was not spring time, there was not many flowers. But the story book display was quite interesting and at times creepy. I would like to have more time here as we didn’t have much time to explore all the nooks and crannies.

We were rushed back to our coach to get back to our buffet dinner at The Star casino. I would also like to have more time here. Hahah.. for the food and the gambling. And that was my trip to Sydney. Took forever to write this and i am still missing some pictures. I will update this post again soon or 1 month later. See ya later mate!