mrsjono

Whenever we fly back to New Zealand, my heart would race a little as I take in the spectacular views of Aotearoa from my window seat. It's like taking a scenic flight at a fraction of the cost.


Wellington coast and Makara Peak

On our last day in Sydney, we bumped into the Anzac Day March in town. Anzac Day is quite a significant event in New Zealand and Australia but I've never watched the parade in New Zealand so we hanged around to see what it was about. People clapped and waved their flags as war veterans, civilians who had supported the Australian troops, descendants of Australian veterans, Commonwealth and allies marched down the main street. It was quite a nice way to honour those who had served or suffered during the war.




We were looking out for Singapore on these flags


Archibald Fountain, Hyde Park


Photobombed by an ibis bird lol 

Time to check out of Lane Cove North today. Caught Victoria (the host) before she left for work. Had breakfast with Bella (not her dog) before leaving at around 10 am. Bella ran away when I opened the door, Rui went to catch her back. After checking out of the apartment building, we could see her looking at us from the balcony, perhaps bidding goodbye to us. Took 288 to Darling Harbour and it was a pleasant walk across the bridge.



Took a couple of photos here because I was trying to get the full Straya flag into the picture but the wind was not cooperating! 😝




Transferred to light rail and walked to our next Airbnb at Scotsman Road, Jubilee Park. It looked like a new apartment. The house was plain and did not feel as welcoming as the previous Airbnb in Lane Cove North. Dropped our packs and made our way to the fish market.



Pathetic room there wasn't even a dustbin

It was super crowded at the market and we had to make decisions fast. Ordered a fish combo with a prawn kebab. Fish was huge! Just when we were about to start eating, there were table seats nearby. We ended up sitting at a table with four men from a logging company. One of them was from Singapore and we had a few good laughs with them.






Bus to Bondi Beach in the afternoon. Couldn't decide where to alight and got off at the last stop. Bondi Beach was busy and the wind was cold. We walked from Bondi North to Tamarama Beach. Along the way, a guy approached me and asked me to help him take a photo. After I was done, he started apologising when he saw I wasn't alone. I was surprised with his reaction and speculated he must be trying to hit on me. We both had a good laugh afterwards. That was probably the highlight of our visit to Bondi lol.






Train to Central to look for dinner. It was a distance to Chinatown and he was cross. An unhappy episode occurred at 皇冠 (a Chinese restaurant) - I ordered roast duck because I heard him saying he wanted it but he insisted he never said that at all. Finished the night with a bowl of Meet Fresh. Didn't have a good sleep at night because the pillow and blanket had no flesh!!

It turned cold today below 20°C with showers and I was underdressed. Realised Kam Fook changed name to King Dynasty and decided to have Tim Ho Wan instead. Since the weather was poor, we did our shopping and eating in Chatswood for the rest of the day.


I spent $256 on winter wear. I've never bought so much clothes at one go!



Shared a beef noodle soup at Bao Dao; it was good on a cold day. Otaku (a hair salon) was busy so we went to Kmart to find the cushion my sis was after but there wasn't any. Rested our sore legs in front of a hearing aid shop that has no business. Had our hair cut and some more shopping at H&M. Waited for dinner time to come while surfing wifi.



Pork bone potato soup was daebak, damn full.


New hair cut and new PJs. This was the first time we stayed in an Airbnb. Check out my review below.


Chatted with the owner on our first night in her lounge.


Here is my review of our two nights stay at Lane Cove North

After a nice brunch at The Wooden Whisk, we took the bus to the start of the Manly coastal walk in Sydney. It's an easy walk along the beach, some bush, back on the beach again and ends at the Manly Wharf. There are several points of interests, detours and lookouts along the way; we didn't stop at all of them as they look pretty much the same after awhile.


The Spit Bridge can be lifted up to allow tall ships to pass through





Checking out the aboriginal rock engravings on the ground. Spotted a fish!


Views from Grotto Point


I've never seen these in New Zealand before


Crater Cove


This was the only part of the entire walk that was worth taking a photo of ourselves in it


Forty Baskets Beach?


Back at the wharf after walking for around 2 hours 45 mins


Nasi lemak and


Fish curry at Mamak

Anzac long weekend in Sydney. Not a smooth start, as usual on the first day. Flight was delayed by 30 mins. Air New Zealand is so stingy; there was no cookie on this flight. I was tired, hungry and thirsty when we landed in Sydney. Tried to redeem free coffee at Gloria Jeans but they won't accept the loyalty card anymore. Managed to get a free SIM card at the airport and was happy I can use my iPhone (albeit hand me down) to take photos now. Unfortunately l dropped it at the Opera House after taking a selfie. The screen was chipped off on the corner. I was so angry and upset with myself I wasn't in any mood to take in the sights around Circular Quay. Felt irritated with so many people trying to take photos. It got worse when I mistakenly alighted at the wrong station thinking it goes to the malls along Pitt St. My feet were sore from lots of walking and I just felt uncomfortable throughout the day without enough sleep and still forced ourselves to keep walking.







Din Tai Fung for dinner


I have absolutely no recollection we stayed here