2 Day 1 Night Sydney Trip

Hi everyone, I have returned from my short trip to Sydney with the party of 4, Bowie, Oi Yin, Jeannie, Wei Fun and Cherlyn. Reached home at around 12 midnight and was pleasantly surprised when the party of 4 knocked on my door at 12:06 am to wish me Happy Birthday. It suddenly dawned on me that I can no longer pass off as a teenager and that I am growing older at a rate faster than one could ever imagine. In July next year, I would be graduating from NTU and facing immense anxiety in the process of looking for a job to earn a living. As one grows older, making serious lifelong plans is inevitable. Okay, enough of the sombre talks. Let the Sydney trip stories begin!

Woke up at 8.15 am to have my breakfast and do a little blogging before setting off at 8.52 am in Aaron's car. The morning was cold but fair. After driving for an hour or so, we stopped to top up the petrol tank and have breakfast in Macdonalds. I was the only one who had breakfast before leaving home, so I just ate the red apple which I had brought along. The roads to Sydney are rather empty and straight, so the speed limit allowed is a "supersonic'' 110 km/hour. There are rock walls on the left side of some roads which fascinated me. Those sitting on the rear seats had to buckle up our safety belts, for they might be undercover policemen whizzing around,issuing summons for those who did not observe this important safety procedure. All of us, except for Aaron closed our eyes and attempted to doze off during the entire 3 hour car journey. It must have been exhausting on the driver, for he must have absolute alertness on the roads, for there are warning signs about strong winds and the weather might change out of the blue.

We encountered some difficulty in locating the Sydney Central Youth Hostel, which was our accomodation for that night. Luckily, with the help of Jeannie, who was the other driver of a rented car, we managed to reach our destination. Throughout the car journey, my eyes were treated to the panaromic view of the Sydney operahouse and the sea. There is a stark difference between seeing the attractions in Australia itself and looking at postcards. The feeling was exhilarating. All of us stayed in the 6th floor of the hostel. The couple and Aarons stayed in one room, while I stayed with the other 5 girls in another room 2 doors away. There are 3 double decker beds in the room and we were given bedsheets, for the mattresses had grains of sand on them.

Went to meet Vincent for lunch at about 1 pm, while my friends went to have Korean bbq instead. It was definitely nice catching up with him after about 2.5 years. We had a satisfying lunch cum chit chatting session over char kuay teow and tomyam mushroom and chicken soup at a Thai restaurant which Vincent recommended. Time passes fast when you are so engrossed in engaging conversations. There was a cute little boy with curly hair sitting at the adjacent table who kept making monkey faces at Vincent. We couldn't help but feel amused. Guess that toddler really likes him at first sight.

I did not have to fork out a single cent for lunch, for Vincent had very kindly offered to give me a treat. We walked to Market City which reminded me of Bugis village. There were many shops selling a wide range of clothes, souvenirs and jewelleries. And their prices were rather reasonable too. I bought some boomerangs and fridge magnets over there. In the heart of the bustling city, lies the University of Technology, Sydney. It is a tall building with the letters "UTS'' emblazoned on it. The streets of Sydney remind me of my holiday in Hongkong, where the human traffic is never ending and there are many Asians around. There is quite a lot of litter strewn on the pathways and the drivers are more intolerant towards waiting for their turn to move.

Despite having the map that Vincent gave, I still lost my way to the hostel in Pitt Street. He had to take the trouble to send me all the way there after meeting his friends. I felt really grateful but apologetic at the same time. Waited at the hotel lobby for quite a long time for my friends to come back from their lunch. After which, we proceeded to take the cityrail at the Central station to catch the Easter carnival at Sydney Olympic Park. The train ticket is extremely expensive, $17.50 for a half an hour journey. The train moved backwards from the position we were sitting and the wallks and windows were quite badly vandalized by spray paints and scratches. The standard of the train maintenance is a far cry from SMRT. During the train journey, Hongjun took some group photos and as usual, left the group in stitches with his crazy jokes.

The Easter Show Carnival is like a funfair, with many game and food stalls. But the prices were exorbitant, $6.50 for 2 small scoops of ice-cream and $6 for a thrill ride which swings us round and round at a fairly fast speed. I was so afraid I would feel faint after the ride, but thankfully I only had mild giddiness which subsided quite quickly. At around 7pm, we went to watch the Easter Bull Show. The stadium was so packed that we had to sit on the grass to watch. Basically, the show is a competition on how long the cowboys remain on the bulls which kept moving about aggressively, without falling off. There was loud music, such as the song "Macarena'' to add to the excited atmosphere. However, I didn't quite know how to appreciate the show. Without warning, the skies began to pour and all of us scrambled for shelter, for we were sitting in an open space.

The next stop was the Woolsworth Exhibition, where they showcased elaborate art pieces which were made up of real fruits. It was really fascinating as I had never seen an artwork made up of fruits before. Took several photos and then, we returned to Youth Hostel by train to take a break before having a really late dinner at close to 11pm. Dinner was at Pancakes on the Rocks. The eatery was very crowded despite the late hour. Needless to say, the place was very noisy with customers chatting at the top of their voices and the loud techno music was blasting at us. But I kind of like the music genre that they were playing. I ordered a Family Brunch which consisted of beef and potato crepes, with a scoop of cheese and vegetables as the sides. I regretted buying the sparkling mineral water, for it was carbonated and the taste was rather awful. Jeannie offered a bite of her chocolate and banana pancakes, which were tantalizing to my tastebuds. The Aarons, as usual, ate like a grizzly bear, for they ordered a main dish and pancakes for desserts. The pancakes are actually in the main course section in the menu, for the serving portions are large. Hongjun was the photographer for the night, for he took many candid shots of my friends' humorous poses with the food and the utensils.

The rain was intermittent in Sydney, the shower came and went swiftly, but it returned again when we finished our dinner. Aaron drove us to the Sydney Operahouse so that the couple and I could get a few snapshots of its magnificent structure before going back to the hostel to sleep. I slept on the upper deck, which was not as scary as I had imagined it to be in the past. Fell into a rather deep slumber, for the blanket was thick and warm. It was around 1 am by then already.

Woke up at almost 9 am the next morning. When I was going to wash my face and shower, I realised that I have forgotten to bring my towels along! What a careless mistake. Nevertheless, I still had a shower with the shampoo and soap which Cherlyn had kindly lent me, for I did not bathe last night because it was late. Checked out of of the hostel at approximately 10 am and proceeded to Marigold restaurant in Chinatown for a sumptuous and filling dim sum breakfast. We had egg tarts, barbeque pork buns, custard bread, siew mai, har gaos, chee cheong fun, glutinous rice and other dishes which we could order whenever the staff passed by our table with a trolley laden with food. We also had free flow of chinese tea to flush out the fats and impurities from the food we consumed.

After breakfast, we walked to the Asian Food Plaza, where I got myself a few packet of instant noodles with unique flavours, such as beef and spicy seafood. Most of the others bought titbits for the car trip later on. The prices of the instant noodles are really affordable in this place. Also had a brief trip to Woolsworth to check the groceries out. Woolsworth is equivalent to the NTUC back in Singapore.

The next destination was Sydney Operahouse by car. Jeannie had this really handy nagivator electronic device which could verbally give us directions on how to get to the places we want. The parking fees were really high at the Sydey Operahouse carpark at $9/hr. So, we only spent an hour there. Took several group photos and of the beautiful dome structure of the building, the sea and the unique design of the bridge where cars could travel on. There was a a pleasant sea breeze blowing at us, despite the the blazing the sun overhead. I also saw several of those white birds which we saw in Nobbys beach walking about on the ground.

Initially, I thought that we were going to the Nut Factory and that it was a brilliant idea, for I could probably buy some nuts for Serene, who requested for them before I left. But in the end, it was a mistake on my part because they had actually planned to visit the Nike factory. There was a wide range of sportswear,bags, jackets,shoes, equipment and waterbottles on sale. The designs were nice and the prices were really reasonable. But I had no practical use for any of them. So, I just bought a pair of Nike socks for one of my friends as a souvenir. However, my friends seemed to be really engrossed in their shopping and spent almost 2 hours there. I was bored stiff, so I just sat down on one of the benches to play with my handphones. I seemed like a wet blanket huh?

We left the factory at around 5 pm. I went to the Krispy Kreme in the vicinity to buy 2 doughnuts to eat as late lunch. They came in apple cinnamon and vanilla flavours. Coincidentally, my friends ate doughnuts as well. Drove to Jeannie's sister's house after that. The exterior of her sister's house is really beautiful and the surroundings were very clean too. The sun sets at an earlier and earlier time with each passing day, for the daylight saving time will end on 6th April, by then the timezone will be shifted backwards from +1100 to +1000.

Went to Istana Restaurant which served Malaysian cuisine for dinner. Was surprised at my own appetite despite having 2 doughnuts a mere couple of hours ago. The chrysanthemum tea was too diluted, and I could barely taste its true flavour. We ordered several dishes to be shared among us, such as laksa, char kuay teow, vegetables with prawn sauce, stir fried horfun and lemon chicken. Watermelon and orange slices were the desserts. Chatted quite a bit with Wei Fun during the dinner, which was a new and pleasant experience, for we never chatted so much with each other before. I played with the recording function in my camera, and managed to record 2 short clips of my friends' conversations and antics during dinner.

I felt a sense of deja vu when the skies poured again after dinner. Bowie and her friends wanted to Woolsworth to get something, but it was closed as the it was already night time. So, we decided to drive back home to Newcastle. The journey was surprisingly short this time around, it took less than 2 hours to reach Newcastle. As usual, all of us slept during the long car journey. As the roads were rather empty, Aaron's driving speed went up to 120km/hr. And I did not even feel the impact of the zooming vehicle. Jeannie probably drove at around that speed too, for the distance between our cars remained relatively constant. At the end of this trip, I arrived at a few opinions. I absolutely salute the 2 drivers, Aaron and Jeannie, for undertaking the ardous task of driving for several hours. Kudos to them for their alertness and helpfulness. Special credit goes to Jeannie, who made the special effort to plan our itinery for the entire Sydney trip.

Aaron was totally zonked out by the time we stepped into the house at around 12 midnight, and was the first among us to fall asleep. I only slept at 2+ am, after unpacking my things, showering and chatting online with Mummy. But I could not sleep very much and woke up at 9+ am for breakfast and doing laundry. On an abrupt note, I shall put a fullstop to this entry and continue on either the later part of the day or tomorrow, to keep my readers in suspense about my birthday celebrations. *pseudo smug smile*