Cherangsty: 2017

So, it is the time of the year where one may get to see multiple collages of people's best nine moments. Thought it will be apt to reflect upon some of the best (imo) food, drink, song, movie, TV show etc.

BEST FOOD

Would have wanted to differentiate into different cuisines but I don't think I am that adventurous with food. So the best food in 2017 would have to be Teppei Syokudo.

Colourful chunks of sashimi on rice 😍

The serving size of the rice is not a lot so I like it cause less carbs HAHA. While Sushiro (featured in the best nine on Instagram) is much cheaper, I prefer Teppei's version because the rice is less sweet (probably due to the sauce) and also no queue (cause time is precious and I had to queue for almost an hour for Sushiro).

Other honourable mentions include: Muchachos (my favourite Mexican restaurant, okay actually never eat much Mexican food) and Lola's Cafe (all time favourite cafe with amazing honey chicken wings).

BEST COFFEE/TEA

Having gone to Australia (Sydney) this year, obviously the best coffee will have to be from Australia right.

The best coffee will have to be from Bourke Street Bakery (Do try their pastries especially the ginger creme brulee tart as well). Coffee from The Lab is pretty good as well.

As for coffee/tea in SG, I do enjoy Magic Coffee (double shot ristretto to milk, in a magical ratio, indeed magical) from Strangers' Reunion!

Let's make love, coffee, and magic.

Okay, quote to live by. But can someone sponsor my coffee class?

Honourable mentions include Waan Cha (which I discovered at the Geylang Serai Bazaar), G7 Trung Nguyen Espresso ($3.80 for 15 packs leh) and also Essenso 2 in 1.

Waan Cha's coffee milk tea.

Usually Thai iced milk tea is overly sweet but this coffee adds this edge to the milk tea, cutting through the sweetness. So this milk tea is perfect if you aren't a fan of cloyingly sweet drinks (like me).

BEST EXPERIENCE

I guess the best experience will have to be meeting a koala bear and petting her at Walkabout Wildlife Park hehe (sorry can't remember her name already).

Koala bear awww

Australia, you will have a place in my heart (love their beaches, their blue skies).

A close second will be experiencing Yunomori Onsen. This probably pale in comparison to those in Japan but I thought this was still quite authentic in the sense given that there are a couple of Japanese mums and daughters enjoying the onsen there... Not a super cheap experience but I guess it's worth it to go and experience it at least once.

And bonus points for Yunomori Onsen for their decent food!

Last but not least, how could I forget sky-diving in Wollogong? Actually I was expecting a greater sense of achievement from doing it, oops. But definitely will recommend people to try it!

BEST MOVIE

I think I probably catch too many movies (what else is there to do in Singapore?) but the best (probably due to recency bias haha) is Coco.

And nope, the movie isn't about Coconuts but is about a kid's pursuit of his passion in music/dreams and balancing it with his family's expectations. Perfect movie for Asian kids and families I suppose? How often do we hear parents saying "How can you make a living by doing art/music?" etc?

There are a whole list of decent movies in 2017 (Marvel's movies are always good, Wonder Woman was good as well but Justice League was meh) but yes Coco you won (my vote).

BEST TV SHOW

I don't watch a lot of TV shows (oops) but Netflix's version of A Series of Unfortunate Events is the best thing I have seen in a while. I think the last I was addicted to something was probably Sherlock (and before that probably Vampire Diaries erms). Well, can't wait for the 2nd season of this show! And Neil Patrick Harris is a damn good actor.

BEST SONG

Well, the song that I keep listening this year is probably Heavier by Linkin' Park (ft. Kiiara). Probably too late to try and read into songs when lives have been lost (to depression).

On a slightly happier note, Ed Sheeran's newest album is dope (ooh young lingo is it). Happier, Perfect, New Man, Supermarket Flowers are all quite good.

As for Chinese/Korean songs, 后来的我们by 五月天, 黑色柳丁by Hebe,Can You Hear My Heart (from Scarlet Heart Ryeo), Stay With Me (from Guardian: The Lonely and Great God) are all quite good.

Okay, why do I like sad songs.

BEST BOOK

Definitely "When Breath Becomes Air". 10/10 will recommend cause I can't really remember the last time I felt such heartache (and cried badly).

We always think we have a lot of time but I guess the message is that we don't know when life will end.

On a related note, Being Mortal is a good book, especially if you are someone who often contemplate about what really constitutes life e.g Does a life where you are dependent on life support considered a life etc. Sidenote, if euthanasia is the way out for people with terminal illness to relieve their pain and suffering (ok typically those are the people who want to go for that), then what is the way out for people who are suffering mentally?

That marks the end of 2017? In this upcoming year, I hope I will get to travel more (time to explore Southeast Asia more, e.g. Indonesia, Vietnam), to find a proper hobby (instead of watching so much Youtube videos...) and to stop being nice to people who don't deserve it (hahaha).

Happy New Year (in advance) to everybody 😊

No comments

DAY 3

Manly Beach

Yup, we spent almost the entire day doing the Spit Bridge to Manly walk (10km walk).

Tip: Do travel to the further locations on Sunday because the transport is capped at a maximum of AUD$7.60. E.g. A ride on the ferry to Manly already cost $7.50.

Actually, I planned for another hike to North Head Sanctuary (but nope didn't do it cause tired af and the sky doesn't look promising) Apparently, North Head Sanctuary has whale lookout points...😞

Nonetheless, this walk was pretty amazing because it is challenging (some of the steps are quite steep), the views are breathtaking and it is not a very "touristy" hike (probably because of the length of the walk).

So I shall let the pictures do the talking 😁 Come on, what other words can I use to describe the view?

The huge waves; I wonder if they can bring away my sorrows/trouble along with them

Just keep going

Can I have a holiday home along the coast?

There are a couple of houses with their backyards leading straight to the beach. Never knew that I am a fan of the beaches (don't even like going to Sentosa lol). But the idea of living at the beaches in Sydney/Australia is really tempting.

I can spend my day looking at waves, clouds and watching the sun set

Ocean pool (doesn't look as blue because the skies are grey haha)

After the long hike of about 3-4 hours (average okay), we went to get lunch from Fishmongers. This place can be a little bit hard to find as quoted from online "low key space" but it's worth the search!

Mongers' Box

While this may not look very big, this is quite filling. And there's something about their fries, they all taste amazing (can taste the potato in them) 😍

So ending Day 3 post with another tip.

Tip: Travel from Spit Bridge to Manly Walk may be a better idea because most of the food options are located at Manly beach area

DAY 4

Skydiving

Yup, time to face my fears HAHA. I kind of always wanted to try skydiving (cause of the pictures of the birds' eye view of places I have seen online).

E.g. Dubai

So since Australia offers it (and in fact think it's the first country that I went for a visit that offers it), so yeah why not cause YOLO.

There are quite a few companies that offers skydiving and I went with Skydive Wollongong cause it's the only one that offers a beach view... nope, I just happen to see this company first and I like what it offers haha. I communicated with this company over email a couple of times (rescheduling of dates mainly) and they were very prompt 👍

Sadly, I don't have much photos to share because due to some miscommunication, I have no photos of my jump 😢 Shall use a thousand words to describe my experience then since a picture is worth a thousand words, ok not funny.

Given that Wollongong is quite a distance away from the city, we opted for the free transport which was only available for skydives scheduled at 11am. 11am was a quite popular time so the wait for the skydive was quite long.

So was I scared? Hmm I guess I was scared since the moment I signed up for the skydive haha but the scariest period was probably when the airplane was ascending. My thoughts were probably 'Oh no, it's okay pilot, there's no need to ascend higher, can we just fall from here instead of 14,000 ft?'

Then you see the instructors checking their alto-meter, discussing about something that you don't really understand and then the door is open. And my thoughts were probably 'Ok this is it. Shit. I will just scream my head off'. And then you watch people getting out, ok flying/dropping out of the plane and before you know it, it's your turn to slide to the door (okay I was probably dragged to the door) and sit at the edge of the aircraft.

Sitting at the edge of the door, you are supposed to position your legs properly but the wind was so strong that I couldn't even do that properly and before I could sat anything, I am out and falling 😅

Then the free fall begins and you accelerate and hit the speed of 200km/h. During this stage, all you can see is white clouds. Nope they do not feel like cotton candy. You scream but you are not making any sound (actually I think it's cause the wind is too loud?) And then you finally see the ground below you. In my opinion, this is the BEST moment (a close second has to be the free fall cause I love free falling haha). And then the parachute opens and you are being steered towards the drop zone. This is probably my least favourite part cause it makes me dizzy...

Oh and I was probably the most irritating person ever cause I kept asking my instructor a million questions once the parachute opens e.g. 'Ooh is this Blue Mountain?' 'How was your first skydive experience?' See how I really don't shut up oops.

So will I do it again? The price is a major deterrent so maybe only at Dubai? But Dubai isn't exactly on the top of my to-visit place so... Haha.

To reward myself for ticking something off the bucket list, we had dinner at Hurricane's Grill at Circular Quay (actually just wanted to tick off more food from my list).

Garlic mushrooms as appetizer- my favourite dish

Pork ribs and Portuguese chicken (spicy sauce) with sweet potato fries

DAY 5

Blue Mountains

Before researching on Blue Mountains, I always thought that there's only one location- the Mountains to visit haha. Blue Mountains actually has plenty of activities and attractions ranging from numerous walks and water falls to Leura Villages. So I would definitely recommend people to spend maybe two days here instead of just doing a day trip!

I got the Explorer Lyrebird Pass, which comes with unlimited rides on the bus, the skyway, scenic railway and cableway.

World's steepest railway

Fun fact: The railway was used to transport coal previously.

Other than this railway, we took the cableway and skyway as well, which gave a good view of the Three Sisters, Orphan Rock, Katoomba Falls etc.

Katoomba Cascades

So after taking all the three rides, we grabbed lunch at Echo Point before continuing with the rest of the attractions.

Sorry not sorry to disrupt the post with a picture of these cuties spotted at Echo Point

If you only had time to only visit one attraction (which should not be the case), you must definitely visit Echo Point, which provides a great view of the Three Sisters and Jamison Valley.

Meehni, Wimlah, and Gunnedoo

Jamison Valley

Leura Cascades

Blue Mountains is indeed one of my favourite attractions for this trip 💓 While it may be thronged with tourists, the feeling of standing in front of Three Sisters and Jamison Valley is amazing (sorry lack of vocabulary). The world is so huge and we are really just a small speck of dust in the universe.

That's it for part II. You may read part I here if you haven't. Shall blog about the rest of Sydney (Bondi beach, Hunter Valley day trip etc) soon!

Till then, going to be the best speck of dust in the universe.

No comments

DAY 1

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.

Ginger brulee tart and chocolate berry muffin (yum)

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.

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.

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

Paddy's Market

Tip: If you want to get ~~cheap~~ affordable 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.

DAY 2

~~Skydiving /~~ Hyde Park / St Mary's Cathedral / Black Star Pastry / State Library of NSW / Royal Botanic Gardens / Sydney Opera House

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...

Cappuccino while waiting for bus to skydiving location

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).

Queen Victoria Building

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

Heaven for book worms please

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.

Sydney Opera House

Sydney Harbour Bridge

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.