A Different 2009: Valentine Day in Sydney

Sunrise on our way to Sydney (aproximately 368 km from Canberra, 3.5hours)

By the time we reached Sydney, it is 1030 and we are hungry. So we started hunting from food... Chinese Food since we are near Chinatown. Supposed to have dim sum only to realise that they only do wholesale or retail but not catering. So we settled for dumpling noodle and curry rice at the nearest food court we could find. The dumpling is huge and quite yummy. Starved when I started eating but the portion is huge and I could not finish it.

We found Ding Tai Feng only after we had finished our food... So next time?

The Market City is a ‘must’ visit as recommended by Lonely Planet, so we took a look too. The shopping bazaar is huge and in fact there are so many stalls that you would go missing. This is also the place where we could not resist getting some Chinese vegetable.. water cress and also Tasmania organic cherries, chilli padis, strawberries etc. In fact we bought a box of 5 kg. It was fun shopping for grocery here but unexpected venture of the trip.

Capitol Theatre and an old bank building which I cannot recall the name.. Would revisit on my next trip and update.

Mardi Gras flower display outside Queen Victoria Building. It is a posh shopping mall with the international names of Coach, Ferragamo, etc and local names CUE, etc.

Sydney Harbour Bridge opens in 1932 and the structure is immediately loved by Sydneysiders for both aesthetic and practical reasons built with $20 million, a bargain in today’s money, and took until 1988 to pay off. Giving it a new coat of paint takes 4 years and 80,000 litres. Nicknamed the ‘Coat Hanger’ it crosses the harbour at one of the narrowest point linking the northern and southern shores. It is the heaviest and largest steel arch in the world. It also has the function of uniting the city. It’s a windy day in Sydney. Previously temperature was extreme high till 41oC and today it became 20oC.

We had our memorable shot of the opera house as would many tourists. It is a glamorous heart of performance in Australia with a Concert hall and Opera hall holding about 2600 and 1500 people respectively. The weekend market at the Rocks which is mainly a tourist attraction.

Chinatown in Sydney
Buslting Chinatown has been centred on Dixon St Haymarket since 1920s and now covers much of the city’s southern fringe. It no longer covers just the Chinese but also the other Asians. There are plenty of Koreans, Vietnamese, Malaysians and Thai, not forgetting the Singaporeans.

Chumama Taiwanese Food – Yummy and authentic Taiwanese food highly recommended by one of his classmates. I had Taiwanese hot and sour noodle and his was pork chop rice. We were amazed that the dou jiang is served hot in a bowl without sugar.