Australia - Arrival in Sydney

When I initially arrived in Sydney at the start of the week, I spent a few days sleeping and relaxing after a couple of incredible months round South East Asia. Also, the weather was not favourable, and I wanted to wait for a good day to explore. On the first Thursday the rain departed and allowed me to check out my new city. Above is my first glimpse of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Sydney is really pretty in the sunshine!

I decided to have a closer look at the Sydney Opera House, where I had stood with my family back in 2005. I hadn't remembered how it looked up close, and was fascinated by the sails. The next few photos are close up of the scales.

The Opera House is right next to the Royal Botanical Gardens, with views of the CBD in the background. The Park is massive, and has lots of different gardens concentrating on different plant species. You could spend an entire day in here and still not see everything it has to offer.

I then headed up towards Mrs Macquarie's Chair, and was met with the following views.

I really need to find friends who have a boat here. I miss sailing!

Back to the Botanical Gardens.

Earlier in the day, when it was too hot, I visited the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Inside I was met by a flash mob chanting 'This is so contemporary' and dancing around me. I laughed it off, as I thought I was being filmed. When I went to the front desk to ask about the exhibitions, the guy explained I had already seen one of the main exhibits... how contemporary.

I loved this building and the collections inside. I think I will make time to visit here often.

A rare occasion below, seeing the arrival of a cruise ship coming into Circular Quay. It was pretty special, although I need to practice taking photos at night...

I went on a free walking tour of the Rocks, which is where they placed the convicts in the beginning as it was inhospitable. The tour went quite fast, so not a lot of time for photos, but managed to grab a few.

Susannah Place was built by an Irish family, and the sturdy block is the only building left from that time. It has been preserved into a museum and the family shop still runs.

We made our way up to the Observatory and were met with this fantastic view looking back at the Rocks and the Harbour Bridge.

Over the first few weeks I tried to get out and see as much of Sydney as I could. One day I had a trip to Manly, but the weather was pretty changeable. The ferry was crowded with tourists, and wasn't the most pleasant experience. Below are some paddleboarders. I want to learn how to do this while I live here.

I met with Julia, whom I had met on my Cambodia/Vietnam trip. We had met up with each other in five countries on our trip, but this was to be the last for a while.

We had intended to do the Bondi to Coogee Coastal Walk, but the weather had other plans. So instead we went on another free walking tour around the city. Below is St Andrew's Cathedral.

Town Hall, supporting Mardi Gras and Equality.

The Queen Victoria Building is quite a site. Shortened to QVB by locals, it houses some luxury brands and fine dining.

Sydney even has its own version of Greyfriars Bobby... this dog talks when you donate...

Inside QVB.

I can't remember the story about this pig, but only that certain parts of its anatomy are rubbed for good luck.

The Commonwealth Bank and crest of Australia. They decided to chose the two animals who cannot walk backwards to represent Aussies, showing they are constantly moving forward.

The bird cages and sounds represent the many extinct bird species in New South Wales. It is scary how many there are.

Next post will be about Mardi Gras!

Singapore - Two Days Of Exploring Before Oz

Despite the fact I landed in Australia around seven weeks ago, getting decent wifi has been a nightmare! Here we go with my final instalment of my South East Asia journey, with two days to explore Singapore.

I have actually visited Singapore before with my family back in 2005. This was our stop over on the long haul flight to Australia. We didn't really get to see very much as we were so jet lagged. When booking my flights for this trip, it made sense to me to go back and see the places I had wanted to visit the first time around.

Leaving Vietnam had been such an emotional experience, and now I was on my own again. My taxi driver from the airport gave me a tour on the way to the hostel, and some tips about local cuisine. Singapore Chilli Crab was a must in his eyes. Dropping me off in Chinatown, I went into my hostel and immediately regretted booking to stay there. There were so many rules, no lockers, and people could walk around all over. I didn't feel very safe. As it was only for two nights, I persevered.

All of my roommates were Chinese in origin. I made friends with a girl called Zhen, who lives in Melbourne. We decided I would be the tour guide for the next few days, and she would be the translator. Our duo somehow worked really well, and I think we both managed to see a lot in the short space of time we were there.

First things first, dinner in Chinatown. Zhen took me to a restaurant just across from our hostel which served local delicacies from her region in China. We tried a whole range of food, like spicy cucumber, special mushroom dish and chicken gizzards (below). They were so spicy, I was tearing up!

Afterwards we walked around Chinatown to see the last day of the lantern festival, end of Chinese New Year. The streets were all lit up with amazing displays. It is the year of the Horse, so there were quite a few around.

Being situated in Chinatown, there are quite a few temples around. We walked past Sri Mariamman temple, and decided we would visit again early the next day.

We got up super early to make sure we could see the most out of Singapore. The street below is where our hostel was.

Back to Sri Mariamman temple, and I paid a few Singapore dollars to take photos inside. The amount of characters is extraordinary, and I was fascinated with all the colours.

Just along the road is the Buddha Tooth Relic temple, which houses hundreds of Buddhas. It is a massive building with many levels.

After a spiritual morning, we had worked up an appetite. Zhen found a Chinese dumping place which served traditional congee. This is like congealed rice pudding.

Onwards to the Botanical Gardens. We walked round as much as we could, but the focus of our trip was the orchid garden.

I took so many photos of orchids, as there were lots of varieties. They even had a celebrity garden, with a lovely blue one created for Nelson Mandela and other statespeople.

My friend Julia, whom I had shared a room with throughout Vietnam, was in town with her friend from home. We went to meet them down at the Merlion, the symbol for Singapore.

After pushing the crowds out of the way for photos, we headed to Raffles. When in Singapore, you have to get a Singapore Sling from the Long Bar in Raffles hotel. It is a must, and yet my family didn't bother when we came.

I loved the old colonial building and the furniture. The Long Bar itself had pulley system fans operating, and each table had a box full of peanuts. The custom is to throw the shells on the floor. We ordered our Singapore Slings, and thankfully I was able to take a photo of it before my camera died. Great service, beautiful surroundings and amazing company.

The next morning myself, Zhen and another one of our roommates, Angela from Shanghai. She had tried to get us access to the Marina Bay Sands Infinity Pool, but no such luck. Instead we went for breakfast at a place called Kaya Toast. Here you get soft boiled egg, with soy sauce. Also toast with butter and sugar, followed by sugary tea. Sounds disgusting, but it was sooo tasty!

When researching cool things to in Singapore, I came across the iPod art tour in the Ritz Carlton. I went up to the reception desk and the friendly staff gave us a follow along book, map and the iPod. The hotel has hundreds of works from the likes of Frank Stella, David Hockney and Andy Warhol. I was in my element, walking around, pretending like I could afford to stay there.

After the disappointment of not getting into the infinity pool, we just decided to go to the Skypark anyway at the Marina Bay Sands. The building is ridiculous and so are the views.

As it was our last day, we just had a bit more time to see the Gardens by the Bay, which personally I felt looked like the movie Avatar.

The park is quite peaceful, and I would have liked to have explored more if I had the time. But as both myself and Zhen were leaving that night, we went back to our hostel to pick up our things. Zhen's friend came to pick us up, and we went to meet some others from Zhen's college in the US. We had chilli crab, and a whole host of Malaysian/Singaporean treats. It was an interesting dinner, and a great way to end my stay in Singapore. Zhen's friend also dropped us off at the airport, and we said our goodbyes, as we were in different terminals.

My flight was delayed by 8 HOURS! I will not be flying with Scoot airlines again. As compensation, they were offering $200 flight vouchers, but considering I got to Australia about two months ago, I have yet to see these materialise...