{Travelicious Bits} Which kind of photographer are you?

My mummy is definitely a Jazz Hand-Hahha and it just crack me up always!

{ Sydney Bits } ✈ Sydney's Major Economic Activity Coal Mining

as part of the Blue Mountain tour package, we visited the Katoomba Coal Mine 1878 n the Blue Mountain National Park. Mining is a dangerous profession as you can imagine,  fire + cave + long hours. 

we were told by the tour guide that the export of coal to fuel China's rapid economic progress also helps them to tide over the recent economical crisis 2007-2012, or rather economical crisis did not hit Australia due to the burgeoning coal demand from China *stats at the end. 

because of the huge demand  + shortage of  miners,  even young fit female miners are enticed to join the mining workforce.  heehee real coal in my hands!

generally, a miner could pocket AUS$3000 for 3 days of  work. so there's a pool of manpower who is referred as 'Fly-In Fly-Out' - fly into Australia and work over the weekend and fly back to their country and fly back in the next week on a cycle 

here, you can take a peep into the grotto.

mining tools on display

now I know why this isolated country has a strong economy despite the lack of a strategic trading port or sort - the bloodline of the economy lies in the bountiful coal :D

*China-->Australia  FDI 2004-2010: $6.97 billion source

China is Australia’s top trading partner. Chinese appetite for the country’s natural resources has made Australia one of the biggest recipients of Chinese foreign investment.

China’s FDI in Australia increased significantly after 2007. Net FDI from China doubled from $531.6 million in 2007 to $1.9 billion in 2008. Despite the global financial crisis, Australia saw another $2.4 billion in FDI from China in 2009. That same year, the Australia government changed its investment rules to limit Chinese investments in local mining companies, according to confidential U.S. embassy cables leaked by Wikileaks. The move came after China’s state-owned Chinalco was denied an 18 percent acquisition in mining giant Rio Tinto for $19.5 billion.

{Travelicious bits} Photograpghy Cheat Sheet!

{ Sydney Bits } ✈ Sydney Supermarket Self Check-outs

{ Sydney Bits } ✈ My Sydney Fav Bites / Grill'd Burger /Coles Potato Chips/ Queensland Prawns / Blackbird Cafe Pizza and Kangaroo Meat/ Handmade Yogurt

so Im gonna give a special Shoutout to my Fav top 3 bites!

#1 Grill'd Burger AUS$8.90-14.90 

so AWESOME that it deserves a collage✌ 

If LA has got in-n-out burger, Sydney has got Grill'd Burger! The meat patty is so satisfying, juicy and tender that even takeaway taste superb.Combine with generous amount of fresh and rich veggies like avocado, rocket, onion and more makes this the IT BURGER. luv luv the onions, yum! even the burp taste yum seriously! heehee.

Lotsa choices here including Veggie Burgers and they have cute names that makes you drool and feel more powerful like Almighty/ Summer Sunset/ Baa Baa Lamb! My fav has gotta be the BEEF & LAMB! awww MEAT-grass fed!! and i cant get enough of Summer Sunset-Grilled grass fed lean beef, avocado, crispy trim bacon, golden pineapple, salad, relish & herbed mayo copied from their online menu here. I thought its like the Hawaiian for pizza, really hard to resist the playful refreshing fruity flavor to it esp with avocado + golden pineapple. could totally picture myself in an ombre beach dress playing ukulele in a hammock between two tall coconut trees.

AWW!! besides the plethora of meat/flavour choices, we get to choose from 2 kinds of bun for the burger. 1) Traiditonal wholemeal burger bun with roasted sesame seed or 2) PANINI- the one im holding in the collage and this is LOVE . The burgers are as big as my face, too big to eat in glam so i requested them to in halves.

Anyway I have to share how we got into eating here as it was quite a magical experience! So we touched down on 25/7, checked in at darling habour and when the sky turned dark we found ourselves so hungry and desperate for heavy eats. We went to the STAR as we were told there are marvellous eating options but nothing impressive caught our attention and so we head back to Sheraton Fourpoints thinking we will try our luck on the way back and see if there's anything!

and lucky us, we spotted Grill'd burger and gambled that it must be a good choice because its burger, and we were craving for substantial feeds spelt M.E.A.T! The decor was really inviting, its casual, fun and upbeat with young crowd and there were red balloons at the entrance. Seems like there's a party going on and sure it was. Their 2nd Birthday and burgers that  night was 1-for -1 til 2Aug! Tourist luck, at McDonald's price we get premium burgers. getting hungry as i typed this even now! and so with the promo, we ordered 2 for dine in and 2 for takeaway as supper back in the hotel! We had Simply Grill'd, Baa Baa Lamb, Cripsy Bacon and Cheese and Back Bar Steak Sandwhich and we came back for more before the night of our departure for Summer Sunset, Goat Cheese and Hummus, Almighty and Tuscan delight- a chicken burger that was recommend for spicy lovers but I didnt like it as much as the beef ones.

Verdict: Simply Grill'd for a classic no frills Beef Burger / Summer Sunset for the bohemian you / Back Bar Steak Sandwhich if you are feeling to slurge a lil / Baa Baa Lamb for the non spicy flavourful lamb taste with richness of avocado!


#2 Black Bird Cafe Indiana Pizza AUS$24.90
tandoori chicken, shallots, onions, capsicum topped w. cucumber yoghurt pasted from their menu here.  I fall in love with adding cucumber to yogurt, as a dip  such blissful taste! This pizza is really awesome, the thin pan crust, yummmy indian/mexican flavours and to die for dip! omg, im so glad we ordered this :D It's hard to miss this if you are at Black Bird as this is their must-try pizza, highly recommended by staff too.


#3 Seafood @ Sydney Fish Market & Four Points by Sheraton Seafood Buffet
FIND SOMETIME TO VISIT THE SYDNEY FISH MARKET or GO FOR A SEAFOOD BUFFET. BOTTOMLINE Y'GOTTA GET YA HANDS ON THE SEAFOOD WHEN Y'ALL IN SYDNEY!FOR SEADFOOD LOVERS, DON'T MISS THESE!!!

#3.1 QUEENSLAND LARGE KING PRAWNS De Costi Seafood AUS$23.99/kg

many seafood mongers at Sydney Fish Market, but get the freshest Queensland Prawns here! 

De Costi has got the widest selection of prawns with a Prawn Bar, and all of them look so fresh!

this is biggest-  Extra Large Queensland Tiger Prawn

but the Large ones are good enough! I brought some back to Singapore on the last day and they still taste so heavenly after 8 hours of flight.  It's so fresh that you cant imagine til you eat it!! Succulent sweetness of the prawn with the taste of the carefree blue ocean, so good on its own. This raises the bar a notch too high that even the prawns served in Singapore 5 star hotels pales in every shades, haha!

and next, the usual suspect! 

#3.2 ROCK OYSTER Christie's Seafood AUS$13-14/dozen

I got mine from Christie's Seafood as there are dining area so we can sit and savour. There are a few selection for the oyster, I cant remember the name of the ones I got but its the ones displayed in the middle AUS$13-14.  hmm Im still in the midst of sorting out the photos, I believe I took the photos of the oysters selection at Christie- will post it when I finds it.  If you're not sure what to get,don't be shy to ask for help :)

Here's the Christie Staff shucking the Oysters

or You can get Oysters from De Costi, but there are no dining area here. 

the oyster selection over at De Costi

I will do a separate post on the Sydney Fish Market but Im gonna post 2 more seafood recommendation at Christie's Seafood.

#3.3 SASHIMI

Get all 3 kinds - Salmon. King Swordtail Fish , Yellow Fin Tuna 

#3.4 ALASKA CRAB

this is a dream come true for Crab lovers, affordable and fresh!

 #3.5  SEAFOOD BUFFET Four Points Sheraton Hotel AUS$45/pax

more pictures coming soon!

{ Sydney Bits } ✈ Sydney Aussie Slang

I guess most of us are familiar with no worries / mate / g'day but I was puzzled when I got a "see ya later" from the cashier/salesperson upon my purchase.

Cashier: Thank you very much .See ya later! (big smiles)

Me: thank you! ( big smile back + huh did we agree to meet later?later..??Hahha are we friends now...???walk out still puzzled )

Seriously I thought we did have an agreement which I may not be aware. In any case, it's just my ignorant wish and truth to be told it actually meant See You Again/Around kinda thing. It sure provided solidarity for a moment. Aussies are really very positive people as also reflected in their slang.

A pleasant culture shock Haha!

{Sydney Bits } ✈ Sydney Trading Hours

So I found out that in Sydney, opening/trading hours differ daily and usually shops close later on Thursdays because Thurs is paycheck day!

Haigh's Chocolate trading hours below for a gist.

{Light Bits} Infographic: Which major city is best to live in?

more here

Travelogue ✈ Sydney Day 5 Ferry Cruise

Overlooking the opera house and the habour bridge from the ferry, heres an iPhone/instagram shot.

Pretty nice shot from iphone dont ya think! amahzin!

Travelogue ✈ Sydney Day 3 Featherdale Wildlife Park

Early Mornings

Being a tourist can be a tiring thing!

Travelogue ✈ Sydney Day 2 Paddington Tiger Mottle {NomNom}

The second day was scheduled for the city sighting bus tour and we decided Paddington to be our first stop. Before we bid Paddington goodbye for Bondi, we stopped by at Tiger Mottle for some light eats-

Eat: Third * on chalkboard menu Panfried Califlower +Butter Breadcrumbs, Eggs with Herbs + Aioli Dressing on Olive + Rosemary Toast

Sips: Tea Craft Organic Masala Chai tea and Mocha 

Timeout awarded 4 ☆s for this good coffee and real food sidewalk cafe and so we marked it as our must visit in Paddington- if TimeOut says its good, it must be. This is that kind of space one would yearn to sip a cuppa with a good read in the hand, or do some catching up in a sophisticated neighborhood on a lazy afternoon.

Not an ardent coffee fan, I got the Masala Chai Tea otherwise usually conversed as Chai Tea for convenience. I'm gonna blog about some encounter with Chai Tea for the rest of the blog post and leave the tasting/ambiance review part to Google, Timeout and many other fantastic bloggers  ↖(^ω^)↗

♪  Some Chai Tea Time ♪

Ironically with Masala Chai Tea being an Indian Spice Tea, I am more familiar with Teh Terik  and Lassi at those Indian Roti Prata eateries. I may not have visited enough Indian restaurant to draw such a comparison which in any case, I would love to know where is good for Masala Chai Tea in Singapore besides Starbucks.

It has only been my day 2 but I have noticed that Chai Tea is fairly a big thing here as compared back home in Singapore. There are dedicated selves space for it in Coles/Woolsworths/Super IGA and it makes a common suspect on the cafe drinks menu. Again, perhaps I have not paid enough attention to the Chai Tea in our NTUC/Cold Storage/ Carrefour/ The Market Place and our cafes to comment, it does appear that Chai Tea is more like a way of life in Sydney as compared back home.

I used to intern for an American Born Indian Boss and he would ask his maid to make tea everyday and that was the first and the best Masala Chai Tea I ever had. Aromatic, filling and comforting especially served warm. I didn't knew it was called Masala Chai Tea until later as he always just refer it as tea.

I could still remember how alien it was- the concept of a delightful milk tea with spice is very new and that naming it is a struggle.

Now that we got on to the naming part, some of you might already know about the pleonasm. In fact, there seems to be a community online being really upset about the whole Chai Tea pleonasm. I remembered chancing upon an image saying Chai or Tea, not Chai Tea online and I was fascinated.

I later found out about the etymology of Tea and Chai when My Language Change professor brought it up briefly during the Language Contact and Cultural reconstruction lecture. He said back in time when the Portuguese first traded and brought back tea from Guangzhou, the Cantonese people there called it chàh .  The Portuguese then spread it to India, Central Europe like Czech, Russia which explains why the use of Chai in some places.

The Dutch and the British wanted to be different from the Portuguese and thus went to trade for tea in another part of China being Fujian or Taiwan where the min dialect speakers called it  tê  which was then spread to Western Europe and most prominently borrowed into English as Tea. As we have seen, trade routes affect the spread of languages and through the languages we can associate the similarities in different cultures.

Beyond the unforgettable aromatic velvety taste, I could understand why people would call it Chai Tea even tho it literally means Tea Tea because for us it means a special kind of tea. I guess the association with Masala Chai = Spice Tea is so strong that people drop the Masala and used Chai to mean Spice and added Tea to mean Spice Tea. Of course it would sound ridiculous to those who refer their Tea as Chai but for people like me who see Tea as Tea finds 'Chai Tea' more therapeutic and appetizing than 'Spice Tea'.

So that's that on whats running in my mind  upon every Chai encounter and to side track abit, the  Panfried Califlower was yum and it tasted like mashed potato! Enough said, Im gonna leave you a cute illustration for some Chai Tea Ice Cream making!   ︶ε╰✿

aww
lydd

Travelogue ✈ Sydney Day 2 Paddington

Travelogue ✈ Sydney Day 1 { Quick Shout Out! }

Alo!

currently  updating  from Four Point by Sheraton hotel over the wifi at $29/3days!

a quick flashblack for our Day 1:

Darling Harbour is so quiet and dark by 4pm so we decided to hunt for their grocery store/ supermarket for some light shopping. What is worth mentioning is the self check out station at Coles Supermarket, u get to be your own cashier,  totally awesome.

tiring day, will catch up soon.

bikram yoga tmr morning at 6am darlinghurst.

ciao ciao

Travelogue ✈ Sydney Day 1

Arrival!

Travelogue ✈ Sydney Day 0

Sydney 1 Min Check




The Planning

{ The City }
Time Out Sydney *recommended!*
Slices of Sydney
Sydney Wiki Travel
NSW Government


{ What to do in Sydney }
20 Things you must do in Sydney, Time Out Sydney
Sydney Best Markets, Time Out Sydney
Sydney attractions and Activities Trip Advisor
The Ten Best Markets in Sydney
Sydney Business Itinerary
One Week in Sydney Wiki Travel
Explore Sydney Harbour by Ferry


{ Getting Around }
Free CBD Shuttle Bus 555
City Rail Station maps
Monorail
Manly Ferry Timetable and Map


{ Packing } 
Packing Checklist
Power Plug Type







The Itinerary

8 Days 7 Night Sydney Tour

25/7 Wed - Around Darling harbour, Paddymarket, Chinatown
11.40am: Welcome to Sydney Aiport!
1pm: Reach Hotel/check-in & washup
1.30pm: Free-n-Easy at Darling Harbour 3.5km
o Cockle Bay (lunch here; cockle bay @ Ice-Cube)
o Walk along harbour towards Tumbalong Park/Chinese Garden and to Sydney Entertainment Centre
3pm-5pm: Paddy’s Market
o Walk around Chinatown area: Dixon St
o Walk to Harbourside
    (Foodcourt, has a large collection of souvenirs, and other Australiana. Open until 9PM most nights)
o See Pyrmont Bridge
o Go to Star City Casino
o Walk Back to hotel

Ref Links:
Darling Harbour Wiki Travel 
Darling Harbour Map
Chinese Garden Self Guided Map 


26/7 Thurs - City sightseeing on Sydney Explorer Bus
Take red route and on 2nd round stop at #5 then blue route at #D
7.30am: Wakeup,Breakfast.
8.15am:  Reach  Albert st (depart 8.30am)
- Busstop #E Paddington (till lunch 2-3pm)
- Busstop #F Bondi Beach (till early evening 5pm)
- Busstop #6 Kings Cross (stop at J take bus at #5) , can explore DarlingHurst Rd/Victor St
*Hotel taxi to albert st to board the tour bus
*Tax from Kings cross back to hotel
*Cost: A$40 per pax for bus

Ref: Links:
East Sydney,Wiki Travel
Area Guide, Slices of Sydney
Kings Cross Area Guide, Time Out Sydney
Sydney Explorer Bus Route Map
Bondi  Urban Walkabout Map
Paddington Urban Walkabout Map


27/7 Fri - Blue mountains
Tour  A$95 per pax


28/7 Sat City East- Paddington, Surry Hills, DarlingHurst
 9am: Wakeup, Breakfast
 10am: Paddington Market
 Walk along Oxford St [Paddington] to Crown St [Surry Hills]
*Taxi to Paddington Market and back to Hotel at day end

Ref Links: 
Surry Hills Urban Walkabout Map
Darlinghurst Urban Walkabout Map
Paddington Walking Trial Google Map

29/7 Sun- The Rocks + Ferry Cruise
9am: Wakeup, Breakfast
10am: Rocks Market
          Rocks walking tour
          Take Manly Ferry (MyFerry2 return ticket)
          Lunch and walk around Manly Marketplace, Manly beach
          Walk to the Rocks along George st and return as well to Hotel

Ref Links:
Rocks Walking Tour Goggle Map
Rocks Walking Tour Sydney Architecture
The Rocks Urban Walkabout Map
One Week in Sydney Day 2 Wiki Travel
Manly Ferry Timetable and Map

30/7 Mon – Short Town Hall Walking Tour + Whale watch + Free-n-Easy
7am: Wakeup, Breakfast
 9am-11.50am: Short Walking Trip:
                         o Route:  1.3km, 18mins
                            Highlights: B Queen Victoria Building, C State Theatre, D Pitt Street Mall,
                                            E Sydney Tower, F Sydney Town Hall / St Andrews Cathedral
                          o Lunch
 12.45pm-3.45pm: Whalewatch A$75 per pax
Evening: Free-n-Easy [either one]
                o 1. Shopping @ Pitt Street
                o Or 2. Sydney Aquarium + Sydney Tower Eye + Madame Tussauds [extra $58.5 per pax]

Ref Link:
CBD Urban Walkabout Map


31/7 Tues – Sydney Fish Market
7am-4pm: Sydney Fish Market
Evening: Royal Botanic Gardens [Macquarie chair stroll for photoshoot]
Night: Sydney Opera House , Meet friends


1/8 Wed - home/last min shopping
7am: Sydney Fish Market to pack home
10.20am: Leave Sydney city for airport
10.50am: Reach airport.
12.50pm: Departure for Singapore

ALO (✿◠‿◠)