So the week before I went on an impromptu trip, haha I hardly even have time to do any research - very unlike me, usually i NEED to research like, starting 3 months prior to the trip. hahaha well not that over the top but you get what I mean, this time round all i did prior to the trip was basically book air tickets, search for accommodation and soon after i was on the plane to Australia!
This is usually how i pack for my trips, i will try on gazillion outfits and see which ones i would want to wear and take snapshots of those outfits and pack accordingly and when I'm at my holiday destination i would refer back to the snapshots to decide which outfit to wear! (:
So I was feeling a little tad bit overwhelmed by work [haha i definitely don't handle stress all that well] and I needed a short break and to be away from all of that. Leon was heading to Sydney + Melbourne for Lee Hom's Concert Tour as his backing vocalist, so I thought i'd tag along too!
Leon's sister and brother-in-law, May and Adrian drove up to Sydney from Canberra to catch Leehom's concert in Sydney and also was really awesome to bring us around!
Just to introduce to you my personal man slave. Awww love you!
hohoho, we were very lucky that Leon's tour manager requested for us to have a row of seats all to ourselves so i had 2 cuppa Baileys on the rocks and lie down on Leon's lap and managed to catch at least 5 hours of sleep! 5 hours of sleep out of 8 hours plane ride is awesome for my standard!
LOL I remember the last time i flew over to Sydney alone and it was horrible cos i couldn't fall asleep + they keep waking us up to have our meals or whatever [who needs to eat that much terrible plane food!]
So we finaaaaally landed woots mad excited!
Customs was really quick this time round, last trip was a crazy long wait.
Out of customs, turn right and you will see all the telco station, i'd personally recommend Optus, $2 a days for unlimited data = whatsapp + if you need to call, use Tango/Talk box? Any other phones except for iPhone you can hot spot and share the data to your iPad/Laptop if you need to use them, don't ask me why iPhone can't cos even the telco guy wouldn't answer that question lol.
So i was there for 6 days so in total i paid $15. A damn good deal if you ask me!
Waited for the entire crew to reach the airport cos we're taking the transport to the hotel together with the entire dance crew etc so it took awhile, my restless butt couldn't wait to get outta the airport and start my adventure! :D
So i booked Pensione Hotel Sydney by Darling Harbour for our 3 night stay in Sydney
Pretty basic and cute little hotel, price is pretty reasonable for a hotel right smack in the CBD, extremely convenient to get to anywhere really. Just a relaxing short walk to anyway like QVB, Paddy's Market etc.
On our way to our hotel we bumped into Mr Fake Boo! Hahahah how adorable is this little baby?! Awww It's quite weird that leon loves dogs that are mini sized like this little baby here and all my life I've wanted a huge huggable Labrador or collie, we might have to keep something right in between next time so we both can be happy. Hahah
------------------------------
So if you're in Sydney for the first time i would definitely recommend you to go for:
I'm Free Tours[ http://www.imfree.com.au/ ]
Basically there's 2 time slot a day, 1030AM + 0200PM, all you gotta do is turn up at Town Hall to meet with the guide who is wearing a lime green tee, no need to book tours or anything!
Trust me, The entire tour is very funny and extremely entertaining. It's a 2 hours walking tour and you really get to cover lots of places and learn about lots of fun facts that i will never ever have knew if i had not gone on the tour. Without going on this tour, Sydney CBD is just another city just like Singapore!
They actually work solely by tips because obviously they are called I'm Free tours!
I went on the tour on my last trip, you can check out my Aussie Travelogues on the top navigation bar, i blogged about all 13 days i was there! I really wanted to bring leon
but we didn't have any spare time in the end ):
------------------------------
So May and Adrian came to pick us up at our hotel, we took the Tram Link, $6 for a return trip
[ http://www.cityrail.info/tickets/which/tramlink ] from Paddy's Market to the Sydney Fish Markets!
You don't have to worry about tickets for the Tram Link, the tram attendant will come to you when you board the tram and you can let him know where you're heading to and he will issue a receipt to you.
I really have no idea why i did not go there on my last time but it's an absolute MUST-GO!
Just LOOK at those jumbo oysters! freaking amazing.
My greedy boy wanted one of these huge ass monster crabs!
Scallops. Pretty expensive but just a-okay. For them to cook for you with garlic and scallots it's an extra $15AUD!
The Sydney Rock Oysters are AMAZING, sooooo creamy soooo fresh. Endless stream of oysters for me baby!
Oh these prawns are a must-have! I'm positive i have never had soooo much prawns in my life, hahah helps that i didn't have to pluck any obviously, that's what my man slave is for hahahaha awww. But they were really mad delicious, crunchy, super fresh + sweet!
Yay we bought us some Easter eggies!
We shared the meringue + lemon curd pie omg. Best invention ever for sweet tooth's like me!
Leon's sister bought these crazy pretty Hint Mints for me!
So gonna refill it with my own mints after I'm done with them~
Seafood by the Harbour on a perfect day.
So after Sydney Fish Market we took the tram back to Paddy's Market and we went to Darling Harbour for a short walk, Guylian Cafe for some hot cocoa, by then most shops are closed already so no shopping for me, boo boo.
Lol one thing i could say easily that Singapore is better is that our shops opens till 9pm so at least we get to shop here in sg even thought it's not very very late as compared to countries like Taiwan etc! But Aussie is craaaaaaazy 5/6pm and you can't shop anymore!
Our 3 monkeys named Leon, Adrian & Walter working the spidey web!
Hahaha we played a little lottery and as usual leon got carried away by it and as usual i lost interest 20 seconds into it.
You see that HUGE ASS gumball by the right? Yeah leon decided to act like an annoying kid lol. It was damn disgusting and everybody was so damn scared he's gonna act dumb and break his jaw or chip a tooth or whatever.
So we went to have sushi for dinner although i have no idea why we're having Asian food in Australia lol it was quite good thou, then we headed to Chinatown where May brought me to this fantastic little shop that sells tons of Aussie fragrance/candles/whatnot! I really can't recall what is the name of the store thou.
I bought some really adorable teas/soaps for my colleagues and bought myself one of my recent favorite perfume from Urban Rituelle - Peach Blossoms EDP to stock up and a new EDT fragrance by MOR.
[ http://www.morcosmetics.com/ ]
Look at the amazing packaging! Hahah ok I'm a sucker for such things, even thought I've started using this fragrance I'm still keeping it in the "vintage book" box cos it's simply too adorable to throw it out!
I picked out Lychee Flower, it smells DELICIOUS! Even the description sounds amazing-
Sparkling, sweet lychee flower unites with ripe berries, soft powdery florals and the slightest hint of green forest woods. A thousand moments crescendo as one to whisper secrets of a magical journey suspended in time, a library of fragrances transport the senses to a bygone era where the spirit soars in an enchanting and mystical world.
Sounds awesome doesn't it? Like one spritz of it and I'll be transported back in time.
Just a very random art installation on a very random street. Hahaha it's really random like it's not even a very significant lane way but there's like rubbish chutes and all right there.
But i guess everything is kind of amazing when you take a break from life and go on a holiday. (:
