AUSTRALIA 2011: City Weekender

AUSTRALIA 2011: City Weekender (May 13-14, 2011)

Traveling to a new place is always a treat, but traveling to a new place to visit someone is even better. This Australia trip is extra special because I’m visiting family. For my second weekend here, as well as Tita Anabelle’s last weekend in Australia, we spent time with my cousins Debra and John. After going around Sydney for a week as tourists, it was high time we went around the city with someone who actually lives there. 

B R A Z I L I A N  B B Q

William Street at night

John picked us up Friday night and drove us to the city. I haven’t encountered Sydney traffic yet, but this time the traffic going to the city was just terrible. It’s very orderly traffic though (compared to Manila traffic), and at least it was moving. After something like an hour and a half we finally made it to William Street, where we met up with Debbie and Barton at a Brazilian restaurant called Churrasco.

Unlimited meat

I’ve never had Brazilian BBQ before, so I didn’t actually know what to expect. Except for a pitcher of Sangria, we didn’t have to order from a menu. For a fixed price per head, the waiters just kept bringing food to our table – rice, potatoes, beans, barbecued cheese, barbecued pineapple, and of course, meat. From what I remember, they served a variety of sausages, filet mignon, sirloin, chicken, lamb, ribs, pork, veal, and so many others. The meat is brought to the tables as soon as the grilling is finished, so all of them are freshly cooked. You can choose to receive the meat or not, depending on your taste and on the size of your appetite. It was a unique culinary experience, and we enjoyed it thoroughly.

D R I N K S  W I T H  A  V I E W

Our view of the city

After dinner, Debbie and Barton took us out to drinks. We had no idea where they were taking us either, but we ended up at the Shangri-la, which we actually passed by during our self-tour of Sydney’s icons. The bar they took us to, called Blu Bar on 36, is located on the 36th floor, so the view we got of the city was fantastic.

Our Filipino bartender

We had a view of The Rocks, The Harbour Bridge, The Opera House, Circular Quay – basically everything Sydney is known for, as well as the glittering city lights and the harbour. Even better, we ended up getting two drinks for free. How cool is that for a Filipino discount? 

B O N D I  B E A C H

Fish and chips for lunch

After a good night’s sleep at their Bondi flat, John took us out for brunch at Campbell Parade. We had fish and chips at Fishouse, which was good, but wasn’t even the highlight. The highlight was dessert, which we got at the same place.

Fried Mars bar

They have what they call a “Fried Mars bar,” which is basically that – a Mars bar coated in breading and fried. So the outside is crunchy because of the breading, but once you take a bite the chocolate bar is all melted because of the heat from the frying, and it just does this beautiful dance with your taste buds. It was so sinfully good but also very calorific, so I think one fried Mars bar per person per lifetime would suffice.

After brunch we walked around the shoreline, this time with bare feet. It was a little less cold than the last time we were at Bondi Beach, and the scenery was just as beautiful. We walked back to their flat to meet up with Debra, who then drove us around the surrounding beaches. As we drove towards the city we also passed by this avenue of trees, which was extra pretty because it was autumn. 

Bondi Beach

R O Y A L  B O T A N I C  G A R D E N S

One of the century-old trees

The first thing on our agenda was the Royal Botanic Gardens. These gardens, situated near the Opera House, have a splendid view of the harbour. It was autumn so the flowers weren’t in bloom, but the century-old trees were still there.

Mrs. Macquarie's Chair

The Royal Botanic Gardens is massive, so we didn’t really get to see everything. We did, however, make sure we did the scenic walk to Mrs. Macquarie’s Chair, with the glistening harbour to our left and the gardens to our right.

View from Mrs. Macquarie's chair

Mrs. Macquarie’s “chair” is actually a rock cut into the shape of a bench, carved by convicts for Mrs. Elizabeth Macquarie. She was the wife of the governor of New South Wales, and she used to sit in this “chair” to admire the view of the harbour.

We kept exploring the gardens, walking back the direction we came from until we reached the main pond and the Oriental Garden, passing by remarkable trees and other spots along the way. Finally, after about two hours of walking around we reached the Sydney Opera House.

The main pond

The Opera House up close

S U N S E T 

We’ve always wanted a Sydney harbour sunset, but for the two times that we actually had the chance, we got there too late. This time we actually made it, and we even had time to look at the Opera House up close.  

When the sun finally started its descent towards the horizon, we realized that we missed the past two sunsets because we were meant to see this particular one. It was a bit cloudy earlier in the day, so the sunset’s pink, orange, and purple hues just danced with what was left of the feathery clouds.

Also, the dance these colors were doing in the sky was reflected in the water below it, so that added to the beauty of it. Place the harbour and the bridge in the picture, and the scene just took our breaths away. It was truly beautiful, and without doubt one of the best sunsets I’ve ever witnessed in my life.

Breathtaking sunset

S T .  M A R Y ‘ S  C A T H E D R A L

St. Mary's Cathedral

We walked back to the Royal Botanic Gardens just before 5:30PM, its closing time. We got in the car and Debra drove us just a few metres away to see St. Mary’s Cathedral, which we passed by constantly during our Sydney explorer bus tour. St. Mary’s Cathedral, the “spiritual home of Syndey’s Catholic community,” is just beautiful with its Gothic-style architecture. We actually went inside and it was huge – high ceilings, stained glass windows, and all that – but because a mass was just about to begin we didn’t get to explore as much as we would’ve liked to. 

L U N A  P A R K

Luna Park

For our last stop before dinner, we crossed the Harbour Bridge to the northern part of Sydney, where we visited Luna Park. Luna Park is a small amusement park located at the base of the Harbour Bridge. At night, it just lights up and becomes an integral part of the picture of Sydney Harbour. We also kept passing by Luna Park during our ferry ride and bus tour, and we’ve been intrigued by it ever since. We didn’t actually go inside; we just took pictures with the harbour and with the rides, which by this time were all beautifully lit-up.

K I N G S  C R O S S  P I Z Z A

Kings Cross at night

We wanted pizza for dinner, and it just so happened that Hugos Bar Pizza is located in Kings Cross, which we’ve been so intrigued with since our Sydney Explorer bus tour. Kings Cross was mentioned so many times during the tour, partly because we kept passing by the area and partly because of its notoriety as Sydney’s red light district. Because it was a Saturday night, dining at a restaurant located in Kings Cross could actually be a one-of-a-kind experience.

Pork belly pizza

Hugos Bar Pizza has garnered many awards, including “Best Pizza in Australia.” From where we sat we could see the quantity of people lining up for Hugos lounge, which was located right above us. The food was amazing, and I don’t even want to attempt describing what we ate, so I’ll just copy the menu. For starters, we had a platter of oysters and a “salad of figs with prosciutto di San Daniele, buffalo mozzarella & apple balsamic.” For pizza we chose the “Margherita – roma tomatoes, fresh buffalo milk mozzarella, Parmesan & basil,” “Ham – leg ham off the bone, ricotta, balsamic reduction & mushrooms,” and “Pork belly – slow roasted pork belly with sweet & sour onions & radicchio” (this was the best). For dessert we had gelato and the “Vanilla bean pannacotta with balsamic strawberries & biscotti.”

Moscato

To complete the culinary experience we had white wine (Moscato). The dinner was wonderful, and the company was even better. Tita Anabelle and I had such a good time chatting with John and Penny, Debra and Barton, as well as Barton’s friend Chris. As we were driving out of the area we even caught a glimpse of the Kings Cross Saturday night crowd outside the numerous bars.

All in all, it was definitely a great weekend spent catching up with cousins. Now I know and love Sydney even more.