Sydney Part I
DAY 1
Ginger brulee tart and chocolate berry muffin (yum)
While everyone raves about the pastries, the star of the show has to be the coffee. We only got one cup of latte to share cause it was quite late in the day. Regrets. This is probably the best coffee we had in Sydney. Not sure if the latte is memorable because it warmed us up in the chilly weather, or it warmed our hearts (you know the warm fuzzy feels good coffee gives?) but am guessing it's a combination of both.
Paddy's Market
DAY 2
Skydiving / Hyde Park / St Mary's Cathedral / Black Star Pastry / State Library of NSW / Royal Botanic Gardens / Sydney Opera House
Cappuccino while waiting for bus to skydiving location
Queen Victoria Building
State Library of NSW
Heaven for book worms please
Sydney Opera House
Sydney Harbour Bridge
Tiramisu; cause ice-cream in cold weather is a brilliant idea
Sunset over Sydney Harbour Bridge (wonder how it will feel climbing the bridge then)
Bourke Street Bakery / Central Station / Market City / Paddy's Market / Chinatown
Bourke Street Bakery's exterior
First thing first, pastries and coffee. Okay maybe not.
After a long (and pretty uncomfy ride cause budget airlines) and topping up our Optus prepaid SIM (1 GB/day for $2 for new SIM cards but 500MB/day for top-up), we were all prepared to take the train to where our Airbnb is at... Guess what? The train fault followed me to Sydney 👏 So we took a small van instead (the online reviews does seem varied).
View from Airbnb
Didn't take any photos of the room but the apartment was pretty decent I guess. Pantry was stocked with cooking necessities e.g. oil, salt, pepper (if you really want to cook), room was clean, the view is pretty good (can see airplanes haha) and the apartment is ~ 15 minutes walk away from Central Station.
So after nua-ing admiring the apartment, it was time to check out places on the my list.
Bourke Street Bakery is top of my list, given how much I have heard about their pastries particularly the ginger brulee tart.
Look what we got
Saw a couple of locals getting their pastries/caffeine fix from here 👍 This outlet at Surry Hills isn't exactly accessible (see the construction barricades in the background?) but there's quite a sizeable crowd so we had no choice but to sit outside lol.
Both the pastries were good. Ginger brulee tart like its name suggest, has the texture of creme brulee but infused with ginger. The ginger taste is strong but not overpowering (think something similar to ginger beer) and the tart is topped with pistachio (yum). The muffin despite being made of chocolate was not jelak.
To walk off those calories (sidenote, why do I gain weight in cold countries), we walked to Central station and checked out several shops.
Tip: Get your Blackmores and Swisse supplements in Aussie! #auntiemode
Tip: If you want to getcheapaffordable typical souvenirs (e.g. koala key chains, magnets), this is the place to go.
Think I am born to be an auntie, cause I do like looking at supermarkets HAHA. Yup other than souvenirs shop, they sell shades (cheap as well) and also contain a market.
Next to Paddy's Market, there is Market City, the only outlet store in CBD (quoting from the ad I saw there).
Tip: If you are looking for Havaianas, nuts & nougats to bring back home, this is a good place to visit!
Since we had an exciting activity planned for Day 2, we decided to have dinner and go back rest. Being Asian, we decided on ramen in Chinatown for dinner. Nah, it was because of food recommendations ok (see this).
Gumshara Ramen at Harbour Plaza
The serving was huge (suitable for sharing) but the broth was too thick for my liking. Yup, it did feel like half a pig was used to make the broth lol. The gyoza however was very yummy! The chef is a Japanese so I guess quite authentic hmm. And obviously nothing wins Ichiran ramen sobs.
Yup, the exciting activity was skydiving which didn't happen on day 2 cause of the strong winds. And we didn't realise till it was like half an hour before the pick up time...
So, we decided to proceed with another day's itinerary (yea, cause I cannot stand not having a planned itinerary ooops)...
First up, Hyde Park (which was actually very near to our Airbnb).
Captain Cook and gorgeous St Mary's Cathedral
There's something amazing about Australia's skies (such a pretty shade of blue) and their gorgeous architecture. 😍
And then, time for food at the renowned Black Star Pastry.
The famous watermelon strawberry cake and eclair
See, the perks of being my travel buddy? You will never have rack your brains to think about what to eat cause I am well-read on food.
Okay, the cake really does deserve the hype. It's refreshing (different in a good way from the normal cakes) but the strawberries were sour?! The eclair was delicious as well (think generous portion of chocolate cream).
Told ya, their architecture is picture worthy (and ignore the human head please lol).
Interiors were also picture worthy.
After reading about State Library of NSW (or more like seeing pictures), I wanted to visit this library...
State Library of NSW
Are you thinking "Nah, what is so fascinating about this". Well, wait till you see the interiors drum rolls
Well while Melbourne has State Library Victoria, Sydney has this. Will totally visit this library very often if I am working/studying in Sydney.😝
Just opposite the library was one of the entrances to Royal Botanic Gardens. It was heartwarming to see families/friends having a picnic gathering. Ahhh how I wish our weather (and our pace of life) allows us to just lepak on the grass patches HAHA.
At the other end, the entrance leads to Sydney Opera House/Circular Quay area.
So yup, say hi to the Sydney Opera House which is definitely a must-see I guess.
We thought of visiting The Rocks market since it was still quite early but the market was cancelled... cause of the wind. LOL cannot skydive, cannot go markets as well.
But at least I had yummy icecream from Gelato Messina.
And then, sun set! (Lucky the sun sets early in winter, if not what else can I do at Sydney Harbour while waiting for the sunset view😅).
Bye Sydney Opera House
That's it for Day 1 and 2 of the trip. Stay tuned (like this is a show haha) for posts on Blue Mountains, the beaches and sky-diving.
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