i heart sydney

1 week and 6 posts after, and I'm only at the 2nd day of my trip Down Under. This must either be the best holiday ever or I have nothing else to blog about.

I've left my heart in Australia. Damnit, I should've burnt my passport there and then! Sighs...


Oh, oh, isn't this baby cute?? Saw this cutie while lining up to buy stamps at the local Post Office at Stanhope Gardens.

Okok, I will post one last one about Sydney before continuing on to Brisbane. You can tell I'm trying to prolong my memories while I struggle to reluctantly return to reality.

can it get any better than this?

After a satisfying dimsum lunch, we headed to The Rocks, the oldest area in Sydney and known to be "Sydney's outdoor museum" due to its historical significance.


Even though it was the end of September, Oktoberfest seemed to have started way in advance at a few pubs here. Images of blonde German babes balancing mugs of beer and big burly German men red in the faces come to mind.


Here at Löwenbräu, they have a poster grrl who looked just like Bridget Jones! Build up the muscles and drink in the beer and you'll qualify to be a beer waitress.


Preserved as Sydney's oldest colonial district, The Rocks have been carefully transformed while retaining its Old World charm.


The heritage and character is much retained, while pockets of street cafes and tourist shops were tastefully added to bring in the $$$ add life and vibrancy. Two things I noticed about Australians (other than their size!), is they really love their waterfront and markets.


It's not just any flea market selling 2nd hand stuff or unwanted items. Some of these are original handmade items which can certainly add charm to a room or as a gift for that special someone.


At The Chilli Factory, there were various types of sauces with varying levels of spiciness ranging from 1 to 10+! With names as delicious-sounding as Turbo Supercharge Extremely Hot Habanero Paste, Double Trouble Hot Chilli Wasabi Mustard and Morning Afterburn Hot Chilli Mango Sauce you wouldn't mind bearing the spiciness just to try them out. Typing this is making me salivate already.


Caricature drawing services is also quite popular here. I wonder if that man naturally looked congenial or he seemed pleased that someone thought he looked congenial enough to be photographed.


Accessories and costume jewelry are hits too. I've never been to the outback, but bush leaves must be significant enough to be coated in gold.


As long as you have an original idea and know how to market it, there's always an opportunity to make some $$$.


Next stop before the sun finally set - Bondi Beach! Finally, sand, sea and surf! They say you can see nudies here, but it must still be quite cold coz I didn't see any.


Even with the setting sun and from afar, you can tell that the beach is just so beautiful - just look at the colour of the sand and the azure waters. I must confess, I was about to post pictures of my beach outing but I held on to the dream of travelling out of Asia and experiencing a better beach.

Just for comparison's sake, here are some pictures I had meant to post up, but was too embarrassed had somehow left them in Drafts.




So uninspiring and flat, eh? I don't know if it's the brownness of the sand or the tepidness of the waves, but it's not surprising the Japanese flock to beaches in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia for a more fulfilling experience. To be fair, the beaches all the way south in Okinawa are more gorgeous and I should not lump all beaches in Japan under the same category.


Anyways, back to Bondi. Running a length of about 1km, it's popular not just for swimmers and surfers, but also those who walk their dogs, skaters, joggers and anyone who just love the outdoors. I was almost tempted to take off my boots and jump into the waters, if not for the sign stating the water temperature at 16 degrees!




There were even people playing with hula hoops nearby. After the sun set, the hoops seemed to come alive with neon lights!


It was time to leave Bondi and head to Darling Harbour for dinner with another Malaysian friend. Thanks to Esther & Joseph, who seemed to be pretty experienced bringing guests around, my 2nd day in Sydney was just as wonderful as the 1st!

dimsum down under

One of the highlights of any holiday trip, for me at least, is the food.

We all know that there's no such thing as Australian food. Mention Japanese food and sushi comes to mind. Mention Indian food and curry comes to mind. Mention Australian food and (perhaps) fish & chips come to mind. And still, that is not authentically Australian. Originating from the UK, it has found its way to countries once colonised by the British such as Australia and New Zealand and has remained popular there.


So when my friends were hosting me, one common question they would ask is what kind of food I would like to try. I only had one request : Anything good, as long as it's not Japanese!

I have never had a good Chinese meal in Japan. If someone out there can recommend me a good and authentic Chinese restaurant, I will mention it here and share it with you all. As common as Chinese food is over here, I'm disappointed they have had to modify the taste to suit the Japanese taste bud. Suffice to say, I have given up on ever finding a palatable one in Japan.


So I was telling this to Esther & Joseph whom I managed to catch up after the Hillsongs service, and they offered to bring me to Zilver Seafood Restaurant. They served dimsum for lunch. And there was a waiting list outside the restaurant. The last time I had really good dimsum was at Maxim's, Hong Kong, more than a year ago.



Eating at a dimsum restaurant allows you try a little of everything. If you've ordered the har gau and you don't like it, it's ok, there's just 3 of them. If you realised that siew mai is not your thing, not a problem, there are 2 other people on the table who will eat it for you. That is probably why I also like to go for buffets. Just take in a little of everything and you'll be sure to find something you like.


I would like to think I'm quite adventurous when it comes to food. So when Esther suggested chicken feet, I had to give it a try. If I was eating with my Mama, I would gladly pass her mine. But since I was on a mission to eat, I took some and tried to imagine I would get some collagen benefits by eating those rubbery skin.


However, my biggest craving was for the chee cheong fun. I missed the curry version that comes with yong tau foo, but I also liked the Hong Kong version which is soaked in soy sauce and sometimes topped with sweet chilli paste. Dimsum is not complete without the rice noodle roll stuffed with shrimp or pork.


And of course, egg tarts!


Must balance the meal with some vege as well. Look at those succulent choy sum! Anyone with a dislike for greens will want to dip these into the soy sauce and eat them all up.


And to finish off with dessert, the humble tau foo fah. With all the soy-based products they eat everyday in almost every meal, I don't know why they don't have it in Japan! Such a waste.


Thanks to Esther & Joseph, my cravings were satisfied. Nevermind that dimsum is usually associated with Hong Kong food, but since the island transferred back to mainland China, dimsum is Chinese food!

intriguing, this plant

So land is abundant in Australia. Houses are huge and gardens are everywhere. Australians, I heard, are overtaking the Americans in being the most obese people in the world. I have not been to America, but coming from Japan, I felt like the most petite and slimmest when I'm Down Under.


Everything seems to come in XXXL sizes. Even their fauna is huge. Malaysia has their rafflesia, and Australia has this. I tried asking Tze what this flower was, since there was a tall one just outside his house, and he has no idea!


They tower over 2 meters tall and it was quite impossible for me to get a good shot. However, there were some which seemed to be leaning down as if too heavy, and I managed to get a closer look at the petals.


They looked kinda complicated, with the top part resembling the slim multipetals of a chrysanthemum, surrounded by thicker sepals almost like that of a pineapple. With that height and size, I can almost imagine them turning into man-eating plants ready to extend their stalk and gobble up those who dare to pluck them off their stems, if not for the delicate filaments sprouting all over their heads.

church on the hills

One of the few reasons I chose Sydney over Melbourne, other than the distance, was the opportunity to attend the Hillsongs Church. For years, friends in the worship and dance ministry have been going Down Under to attend Hillsongs' music conferences and for some reason, I did not join them even though I was actively serving with them that time.


This time, I made sure it would be on the itinerary since I would be flying all the way from Japan and wanted to make sure I maximised my trip! With Cindy's help, I managed to contact a former GTPJ'er who's since migrated to Australia with her family, and who was most willing to bring me there. I was surprised to hear that she was a member of that church, what a coincidence! Well, not surprising really, since Hillsongs is a pretty big church, and that area around it is known as the Bible Belt.


True to its location, Hills Campus really felt like being on a university campus. With modern buildings sprawled on acres of greenery, walking from the parking lot itself to any of the chapel or hall took some time. Even the main hall felt like being in an auditorium. I could immediately feel the energy as soon as I stepped in and saw all the happy faces that Sunday morning.


I had this conception that Hillsongs got so big and famous because of its songs. That's true to a certain extent, judging from their albums and concerts. However, as I joined the congregation in their 9am service, I learnt the other reason why people choose to come back week after week. I was only there 1 weekend, and it was a guest speaker then, but friends shared that it's the solid preaching of the Word that attracted them. I can understand when there are churches which focus unhealthily on prosperity gospel or fluffy interpretations of the Bible hoping to win a certain target audience.


Anyways, since I've been overdosed playing lots of Hillsongs back in GTPJ, I was curious naturally about their worship session. It was, well, very Hillsongs both lyrically and musically. My only disappointment was that it was too short, or maybe I was just expecting the worship leader to flow more in the Spirit. Later after the service did I find out that it was actually Reuben Morgan who led the worship! He certainly looked different from the album cover of his World Through Your Eyes CD. Darn, should've asked him for an autograph or something!

simply awesome

Australia was simply beautiful! I could immediately feel the difference as soon as I got out of the airport. The weather was spring crisp, the wide expanse of greenery everywhere a sight for sore eyes, and the atmosphere famously laid-back Aussie. I had made the right choice in going Down Under for my break.

Just an idea hatched a couple of months ago, it was made in preparation for the unforeseen circumstances. The timing was such that it would coincide with the end of my 1 year here in Tokyo. Lots of things were happening over the last few weeks and planning a holiday at the same time made it even more stressful.


But more importantly, it was my first trip out of Asia. I've been to many countries in this continent already and I've always wanted to explore further. There was no way I could take longer holidays with the limited number of leaves I have, and thus, the best option seemed to be Australia. I was already excited as I saw the sun rise from the plane as we began to descend in Kingsford Smith International Airport.



Apparently, the day I arrived was the hottest spring day ever in the history of 40 years in Sydney. It went way up above 30 degrees Celcius. No wonder it was so hot! To think that I escaped the end of summer in Tokyo to experience even hotter weather on the other side of the Equator. How ironic.


Tze was waiting for me at the arrival hall. It had been years since we last met. I was really glad that he came, there's nothing like having someone wait for you when you arrive at a new and unfamiliar country. He still looked pretty much the same, I was expecting him to have put on weight since almost everyone Down Under is at least double or triple my size.



Our first stop was the Sydney Fish Market. The best way to enjoy seafood here is to eat out in the open air, together with the seagulls. If you think they were cutely annoying in Finding Nemo, they actually are in real life. Or at least here at the Fish Market where they have no qualms picking food from the table and making sure you have an interrupted meal with them lurking over the umbrellas and around the vicinity.



We got ourselves a seafood platter and some fresh oysters. It was quite a task trying to enjoy good food under the blistering heat excellent weather while fending off the seagulls. On top of that, the wind occasionally blew over half-used soy sauce sachets and discarded ketchup containers which simply added to the experience.



It had been awhile since I had a meal al fresco. As it was such a touristy spot, there were many foreigners there. In fact, I think I saw more Asians than Australians dining out. Many were enjoying the sun and seafood, sans seagulls. Since I had just endured a 10-hour flight with little opportunity to sleep, I was still a bit dazed. Nevertheless, I was trying to take in the atmosphere the best I could.



At the pier, there were people having their own little party in their private boats. I was almost tempted to dip my toes into the water just to feel the sea water below me. But I reminded myself that I would head out to the beach one day. And not only would I allow my toes to play in the water, but I would do something I had never done before. Which would involve more than swimming in the sea and drinking a whole lot of sea water!



To avoid being baked in the sun, we decided to continue on to the city. We took a walk at Chinatown and Paddy's Markets. There was a fresh produce market at Paddy's which amazed me with the variety of vege and fruits that were sold. I envied the Asians here. They do not have a problem cooking the dishes they are familiar with.


What's more, the price was so much cheaper than what I pay for in Tokyo. For AUD2.80 they get a kilo of tomatoes, I get 6 tomatoes. For AUD1.80, they get a big bunch of long beans, I get a measly 20 sticks! No wonder the Aussies are so well fed.



Before I turned green with envy, we decided to continue on to the Central Business District. Since it was a weekend, a lot of people were out and about. I was looking at the traditional buildings that had been carefully preserved when I caught an interesting sight at the Bank of Australasia. I hope this applied to their working principles and not merely as an amusing decoration at the entrance!


As the weather cooled down, we walked towards Hyde Park. It had a mixture of tropical and temperate fauna. Seeing people enjoying the greenery reminded me of Tokyo's Yoyogi Park. However, there was something else which attracted another type of crowd here on weekends. The backdrop of a St Mary's Cathedral and a lovely fountain in the middle proved to be irresistible to wedding entourages.


One of the couples that we saw had quite a big group of best men and maids of honour with them. They looked Lebanese and must be quite well-to-do if they had to provide their entourage with matching suits and dresses.



What's more, they were chauffeured in antique cars such as the Rolls Royce. One of the limo even had a bar in it. Complete with wine glasses and a mini juke box. Their bouncers drivers were nearby taking a breather and making sure the cars were in tip-top condition and ready to whisk the group to the next destination.




Then we walked on to Circular Quay where I got even more excited. Surely this must be the most touristy part of Sydney. Tourism posters of Sydney all over the world have at least these 2 icons - the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. The sun was beginning to set and the sky was awashed in soft lavender and pale blue.




I had originally wanted to attend a hi-tea with a live opera as part of my attempt to fill my performing arts quota, but unfortunately the only day of the week they had this was also my flight to Brisbane. But being here itself was just awesome. When I planned for this trip, I did not have a specific list of places I wanted to visit. There was just a lot of ideas thrown in as to what I wanted to experience. After all, spontaneity makes it a whole lot fun.



Even though it was only my first day in Sydney, I could tell that it was going to be a good holiday. Thoughts of work still crept in, as if trying to tell me that I did not deserve this break. But as I gazed at the waterfront and its surrounding, I thanked God that I had finally made it to Australia. It may not sound like a big deal to a lot of people, but this trip itself had a lot of significance tied to it. And having seen so much of Sydney city just in 1 day was more than I expected.