My Life, A True Story

Date: 10th July 2009

We checked into Ibis Hotel in World Square, because they have the best rates ever especially for poor students like us and also that it was in city centre where Darling Harbour is just like 10 minutes walk away? How can you beat that? Well, unless you have relatives/friends who can accommodate you then of course, by all means save on accommodation costs and splurge on everything else!

Pardon the mess because we just have so many things with us and did not feel like packing till we had to and because we got a telly there which is just perfect when we’re lying in bed, feeling lazy after walking a whole day to watch whatever that was shown. Btw, the things were mainly newspapers and brochures we grabbed here and there

For the love of chocolate and Lindt chocolate in particular, I’ve visited this place 3 different times! Hazelnut latte was bliss, macaroons a tad bit too sweet but it was my first time trying it, maybe I just wasn’t used to it yet or something

And.. not to be missed is their hot chocolate where you get a whole set and make it yourself. Mmm.. I can so remember how it tastes like, the texture, the colour, the scent. All of it was heavenly and I could sit in Lindt every day. How come we don’t get such cafes in Malaysia?

Lindt Chocolat Cafe

Webbie | http://www.lindt.com/au/swf/eng/home/

Address | Shop 104 – 105 Cockle Bay Wharf, Cockle Bay

Date: 11th July 2009

Visited the shopping centres in Sydney as well, got myself a pair of white boots, 2 pair of Rubi flats and a tee. Other than that, I managed to get say, 4 books as well too? It sounds silly but there are just way too many bookstores in Australia and they have really great deals!

Only like the biggest Apple store I’ve ever seen! It looked so inviting with the many floors of gadgets just waiting for you to take ‘em home, can? But sadly, we didn’t have time to go for a walkthrough so we just ogled at it on the way to the Rocks and back

After a really, really, really long walk, we reached the Rocks! It’s a weekend flea market of all sorts where individual designers and artists sell their goods but of course, there are a lot of food to accompany that as well too

See? What did I tell you about the food eh? But no… these here are soap not food! There are so much more like these but I didn’t take photos because it would be rude and all these privacy rights and all that so go see it for yourself!

I wanted to buy like so many things, tile-painted earrings, hopping wooden kangaroos (just for the fun of it), the cake soaps (as above) and many, many more knick knacks. But if only, my funds were unlimited but I did buy something of course from Studio Oat because it was simply too adorable to resist and also because I have someone in mind for the gifts

While I had ice cream or latte or chocolate every day, there are which I missed out on like this Guylian, because we were too stuffed from earlier, even after the super long walk to the Rocks

Be sure to check it out if you’re there and let me know how good it taste like

Guylian Belgium Chocolate Cafe

Address | 10/3 Macquarie St, Sydney NSW 2000, Australia

Webbie | http://www.guyliancafe.com.au/

When in Sydney as a tourist, these shots are a must!

Love the one with the sunset behind the bridge. Oh yea, we could have walked the bridge but we would freeze to death if we did

We also went hunting for Mrs Macquire’s Chair because it is after all a tourist spot and also it’s supposed to be a huge chair! Off we went, round and round but no sight of the chair despite the many signs pointing towards the direction

Reason was, we passed it and this rock, is the chair:

A long walk and we got lost trying to get out of the botanic gardens before they locked us in, managed to somehow and made our way to dinner after a disappointing hunt for the “chair”

Another Asian cuisine, Korean hotpot at MillioRe in Capitol Square Shopping Centre. The reason why we were there so often is because it’s near, we pass by it every day, our friends were staying right opposite it and we kept going there to try to grab those soft toys in the machines and wasted a lot of money because none of us came back with anything after a few days of trying. It was really frustrating though because some of the soft toys were really adorable!

Anyway, about the food here, it was my first time with Korean hotpot and it was yummy! Not that filling for me, but I’m glad I tried out something new while I was there

MillioRe Korean Restaurant

Address | G10 Atrium Street Level, Capitol Square Shopping Centre, Haymarket, NSW 2000

Webbie | http://www.capitolsquare.com.au/html/milliore_korean_fusion_restara.html

Date: 12th July 2009

Met up with some of my friend’s friends and they brought us to this Thai restaurant which had really good food and dessert as well too, although the dessert taste pretty much like the sweet potato balls we find in our local pasar malam, but it tasted awesome all the same. Was difficult when it came to ordering because everything sounds so foreign despite the translations for it and I settled with something (picture below, right bottom corner) which tasted close to our local kung fu chow

Chat Thai

Address | 20 Campbell St, Haymarket NSW 2000, Australia

Webbie | http://www.chatthai.com.au/

For chocolate lovers like myself, Max Brenner is not to be missed! There were just so many things to try, so many things to eat and the smell is heavenly. This was definitely “home” to me

Hot chocolate in adorable hug mugs are a must when you’re in Max Brenner. Even more during winter

And because I was so greedy, I also ordered waffle to be shared of course, with strawberries, vanilla ice cream and bananas. Mmm.. it was scrumptious and I would eat it again and again and again if I could

Max Brenner

Address: | 273 George St, Sydney NSW 2000, Australia

Webbie | http://www.maxbrenner.com/

Date: 13th July 2009

Another thing that is a must when in Sydney is to visit the Sydney Fish Market for their seafood! And yes, more pelicans were there to greet us too. This time, we met up with Jack and a couple of his friends who were there. It’s been a while since I saw him alright and it was great that we did meet up

Plenty of selections for you, cooked or fresh! Talk about spoilt for choice for those who love food, especially seafood!

Oysters, scallops, prawns, fresh sashimi (lovely!) and many more which I cannot remember. It was so good alright, my most expensive meal in Australia but hey, how often do I indulge in good seafood like that?

Sydney Fish Market

Address | Pyrmont Bridge Rd, Pyrmont NSW 2009, Australia

Webbie | http://www.sydneyfishmarket.com.au/

Checked out the pork ribs at Hurricanes along with garlic bread. I was really, really hungry and the meal was awesome! Check out the garlic bread as well too, it’s one of the best I’ve ever tasted (not to say I’ve been eating out that much)

A very satisfied customer, savoured every bite of it and definitely would want to eat there again some time. Plus, I love meat, it makes me a happy camper

Hurricane’s Grill & Bar

Address | Harbourside Shopping Centre, Shops 433 -436, Level 2, Darling Harbour, Sydney, Australia

Webbie | http://www.hurricanesgrill.com.au

Chinatown has awesome food and we tried out this emperor custard ball thing because we saw everyone else lining up to get some. Delicious and hot too! Yum! Should have bought more

There was an exhibition going on of the many kinds of ships (which I fail to identify) because we didn’t take a tour on them and it was rather cute that one of them was named HMAS Vampire!

Night scene at Darling Harbour, very pretty lights all over

Ferris wheel was setup there too but we didn’t take a ride because it was too pricey and I’ve never particularly like Ferris wheels because they’re too slow and I’m more of a roller coaster kind of person. I suppose the ride can be somewhat romantic if you’re there with your other half but I’ve never tried it, yet

Other sights on the way to Darling Harbour from our hotel. Can’t remember what this place does, but it looks like a temple with that design. If I’m not wrong, it has something to do with tea?

Water features to accompany you which you make your way to Darling Harbour. Looks even better at night and with sights like these, who would mind walking at all? I wouldn’t and I don’t feel exhausted too. Probably because I only wore boots with very low heels and also my Adidas. If I wore heels, perhaps it would have turned out to be a different story

Date: 10th July 2009

They had a local market/food setup along Chinatown and a lemon bar in a lemon-shaped cart. Didn’t try it though but we did try out the chocolate strawberries though. They are huge! Compared to the ones we get here, one of those is probably 3 times of what we get here (or well, what my granny gets from the market anyway)

Managed to get their name card too. Looks great and imagine having strawberries dipped in chocolate as door gifts instead of muffins! Yummy and adorable at the same time

Date: 15th July 2009

Our last meal, was dim sum for breakfast before heading back to Brisbane at Zilver. Woke up bright and early to make sure we get there in time before the crowd comes along and yet, we weren’t the earliest. Plenty of people and families were already enjoying their meals and tea for the morning

The servings were the same but the size of the dim sum? Huge! and yummy of course especially the “poh lo pau”, the texture is just heavenly, haven’t ate anything to match that before and since then. A great goodbye Sydney meal

Zilver Seafood Restaurant

Address | Level  1,   477  Pitt St, ( corner of Hay St ) Haymarket,  N.S.W. 2000

Webbie | http://www.zilver.com.au/flash/main.html

Time to leave Sydney, very reluctant to go actually because it feels so homely even in the middle of the city. I guess that’s the attractive part and all the scrumptious food. Mm…

It was a very relaxing trip as compared to Gold Coast which was packed with events. Here, we just took it slow, one thing at a time and there were days we just walked around, enjoy the food and the scenes. One thing is that I definitely ate more Asian cuisine, especially Japanese than I’ve ever had in my whole week in Sydney compared to any other time.  I’d definitely want to go back there some day, perhaps during spring to check out how different it would be

* – * – * – * – * – * – * – * – * – * * – * – * – * – * – * – * – * – * – * * – * – * – * – * – * – * – * – * – * * – * – * – * – * – * – * – * – * – *

On a side note, we tried out much more food than pictures can tell and I did not managed to capture all because we were just too hungry and we ate it before I could snap any shots or I was being silly and forgot to charge my camera

Super Bowl Chinese Restaurant

Chinese food never taste so good, even though all we ate was roasted duck, fried rice (which we didn’t finish) and vegetables in oyster sauce for dinner and another time to have breakfast of lean pork and century egg congee. The place is always, always full as you would expect from Chinatown and with such great food, you cannot miss out on it

Address:

41 Dixon Street, Chinatown Haymarket, Sydney

* – * – * – * – * – * – * – * – * – * * – * – * – * – * – * – * – * – * – * * – * – * – * – * – * – * – * – * – * * – * – * – * – * – * – * – * – * – *

Korean at Sydney Madang

Located at this back alley or perhaps it was night and dark so I assumed it was a back alley which served real awesome food. Tasted even more awesome because it was hot and spicy and it was winter! Be sure to go early or make reservations because the queue is never ending because the food is just that awesome

Address:

371A Pitt St
Sydney NSW 2000, Australia

* – * – * – * – * – * – * – * – * – * * – * – * – * – * – * – * – * – * – * * – * – * – * – * – * – * – * – * – * * – * – * – * – * – * – * – * – * – *

Harry’s Cafe de Wheels

Image credited to Harry’s Cafe de Wheels

Another one was pies outside Capitol Square. Oo.. their pies are awesome and we tried out the Harry’s famous Lean Beef Tiger pie with Peas, Mash & Gravy. ! Even though we were sitting out at night in the cold in winter but it was worth every chill because each bite into their pies make you all warm and fuzzy on the inside

Address:

Hay Street (near corner of George)
Outside Entrance of Capitol Square Shopping
Centre – Next to Paddy Maguires Pub
Haymarket, NSW 2000

* – * – * – * – * – * – * – * – * – * * – * – * – * – * – * – * – * – * – * * – * – * – * – * – * – * – * – * – * * – * – * – * – * – * – * – * – * – *

Yumei Japanese Restaurant

We also ate Japanese there, not too bad and also reasonably priced as well too. I had their unagi bento set and it was a very filling and fulfilling meal for me, considering the portion I eat which scares people, myself at times too

Address:

G09 Atrium Street Level
Capitol Square Shopping Centre
Haymarket, NSW 2000

Photos were take with:

• Nikon Coolpix S620
• HTC Touch Pro