Lakwatsera Fridays: Vivid Sydney and My Fave Places

I loved visiting Australia. It's one of those places I can walk around freely without fear of getting mugged. I walked around a lot and the best thing is people would go home early from work. After work I'd walk more and sometimes cross the Pyrmont Bridge to the CBD to visit some favorite places. 

Chanced upon Vivid Sydney during one visit. I just watched a vlog about it last night and remembered how fun it is. The lights were beautiful all over the city and the vibe was very festive. I'm not sure when they resumed it, but I'm glad they did. It's something you should experience at least once. 

Vivid Sydney

Whenever I cross the Pyrmont Bridge I normally go to Queen Victoria Building. There's a nice toy shop there where you can buy items not easily found in Southeast Asia/Japan. Of course, I always visit Lincraft. It's my favorite craft shop in Australia. JB Hifi is also one of my must-visit places. That's where I was able to buy box sets of my favorite 90s shows like Ally McBeal and Charmed. Plus Beauty and the Best from the 80s. Too bad they did not have Doogie Howser (it's on Hulu though).  I never finished it and it's not easy to find online.

QVB

When things get busy I stick around Darling Harbour. I sometimes go to Coles which is between the office and where I stay. They sell a lot of baked goods and I normally bring back some muffins for the boys. There's also a convenience store near the hotel where you can buy some ice cream (did that until I discovered there was a huge freezer of ice cream at work, haha). And there are a few restos in the mall I frequent, but I oftentimes just get some takeout from the fastfood when it's late. 

Yummy scallops

One place though I'd like to visit again is the Sydney Fish Market. I want to go back to eat scallops again. I never had the chance to visit again because the food places were only open on weekends. Maybe someday I'll get to visit again :)

#BeKind #StaySafe 

Throwback Thursdays: Long Walks in Darling Harbour

I mostly went on foot anywhere I went when I'm in Sydney. I walk to the office. Walk to the grocery. Walk to the mall to eat. I've always stayed in Darling Harbour and when I have time I cross the Pyrmont Bridge to get to the other side.

My main motivation is to get to Lincraft* (for obvious reasons). After I do my business at Lincraft I cross to the Queen Victoria building. The Queen Victoria building is a heritage building built in the 1890s. It served as a municipal market. It was restored in 1986 and is now a well-known shopping center. They have a lot of nice shops, but more importantly a toy store that collectors would love. I was able to buy a few Yoda figures there (budol is real!). It's a nice area and if you walk a bit more you'll get to St. Mary's Cathedral. 

The best time to visit Sydney is during spring. The weather is always perfect and it's always good to stay at Darling Harbour. There's a lot of restos in the area overlooking the harbour. I got to try them with Tita Chu. Miggy loved the Australian National Maritime Museum which is located beside Pyrmont Bridge. The mall was my savior whenever it would be too cold for me to walk outside. 

My favorite thing to do though was walk across Pyrmont Bridge. It's 369 meters, so I'd always walk slowly. I liked hanging out in the middle of the bridge to watch boats and the multitude of birds. Sometimes I would hear Pinoys banter with their friends. That would always make me smile because it would make me less homesick. 

The key though to those long walks I would make is the fresh air. That's elusive in cities in Southeast Asia so I'm always stuck inside an air filtered room. I realized that when we were in Bohol because I was able to walk more and do more. Perhaps time to move to a place with cleaner air? 

*Just found out it's now permanently closed, huhu.

P.S. Day 5 and 6, boys are feeling better. Still positive though so we're still taking all precautions. As for me, I'm just taking things slow. Not sure if the SOB I've been feeling is due to the bad air quality or if I'm coming down with it. Vitals are stable though so I'm very hopeful it's just the bad air.