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Sydney, My Beloved City (And An Article Called “23 Reasons Life Is Better In Australia)

Is it possible to fall in love with a place? 

In my case…Yes! I have once tweeted something like, “Living in another country is like Marriage. You have to find the right one for you”. And just like the reality that Marriage brings, living in a country other than your motherland has its certain ups and downs. No country is ever perfect. No matter how taken we are with the beauty of a particular city/country, there are adjustments and challenges to go thru. I’ve lived in Sydney for eight years now and I’m still finding a lot of reasons to love this place. It is a city that gives even with its imperfections.
A view of Sydney cityline from my office (November 2013)


Below is an article about Australia that amused me because all of it are somehow true. Read on and know more about the land down under.

23 Reasons Life Is Better In Australia
(Source)

1. In Australia, it’s incredibly normal to take a gap year.

2. Australians have swimming pools in their oceans.

3. People in Australia really know coffee. Starbucks tried to invade the scene a few years ago, but Aussies didn’t break from their mom-and-pop roasteries. Starbucks was forced to close 61 of its 87 Australian stores.

4. Two words: Gold. Coast.

5. Precious, just-born, infant turtles crawl into the Australian sea from January until March. And there are turtle guides who will help you find and say hi to them. 

6. Everybody in Australia can swim very fast.

7. The minimum wage in Australia is $16.88. SIXTEEN DOLLARS AND EIGHTY-EIGHT CENTS! In America, minimum wage ranges by state from $5.15 (Georgia) to $9.19 (Washington).

8. Australia’s capital city threw itself a birthday party. And gave everybody the day off work. And put on free concerts. And set up the world’s longest champagne bar with hundreds of bottles of champagne. WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE?!

9. A bunch of lakes in Australia are pink, thanks to algae and prawns.

10. Handheld meat pies are, like, Australians’ national dish. They eat them while watching football that has its own special Australian rules, such as “you may tackle people without any helmets on.” 

11. You can apply for a travel visa to Australia online. No consulates, no lines, no heartache.

12. Australians don’t sacrifice sustainability for tourism. Lord Howe Island, the most beautiful island of coral reefs, is only allowed to host 400 tourists at any given time, no matter how many want to come.

13. Caramel slice is in Australia.

14. There are more kangaroos than humans in Australia, which makes life more adorable. To deal with all those marsupials, experts have concocted kangaroo birth control and a national Kangaroo Management Plan. Another population control — sniffle, tear, sniffle — is the kangaroo burger.

15. Australians dominate at rugby league, while the only rugby that Americans know is played primarily by grunting fraternity brothers.

16. Australians make a vacation out of helping the planet– on a conservation holiday, you can measure plants in the rainforest or monitor owl species at the base of the Australian Alps.

17. Everybody in Australia has accents.

18. When life gets rough (from eating too much Vegemite or winning too much rugby), Australians can always escape to the perfect blue heaven known as Lake McKenzie.

19. In Australia, there are creatures called fairy penguins. After they get home from long days at sea, you can visit their colonies by night.

20. The Great Ocean Road, the Aussies’ seaside version of Route 66, takes you past some pretty stellar rock formations.

21. Australians have the widest steel arch bridge in the world. You may have heard of it.

22. Liam Hemsworth was born in Australia.

23. Chris Hemsworth was born in Australia.

For the complete article with matching photos, check it out here.

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Photo Catalogue: Royal Botanic Gardens (Spring 2013)

Would you believe that it’s only recently that I got to explore the Royal Botanic Gardens of Sydney? I’m glad I finally did and I got to discover it with my Mom. Here are a few facts about this lovely space in Sydney:

Size of Site: 64 hectares
Size of Botanic Garden: 30 hectares
Size of Domain: 34 hectares
Annual visitation for the Royal Botanic Garden: 3,544,344. People attending concerts and major events in the Domain: 433,482; people using the Domain playing fields for booked sports: 59,300
Number of plant species in the Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney (including the Domain): 8,900
More information here.
Royal Botanic Gardens is a perfect place to relax while communing with nature. It’s also a good place to have a walk or jog or simply have some quiet time alone or with a loved one.

My Mom and I visited this month and there were lots of flowers abloom as it was Spring. Here are some of the snaphots of trees and flowers that we saw during our visit. 

Mrs Macquaries Road Sydney NSW 2000, Australia
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Morning Walk At The Rocks & Circular Quay

When my Mom was here in October, I made sure that all my Fridays will be spent with her. She became my Fridate! 🙂


We somewhat made a ritual. We start early, dine out for breakfast, have long walks around the city, have lunch and do a bit of shopping before we go home. 

Our first Fridate was at The Rocks and Circular Quay. These areas have the best vantage point if you want to see the Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House. It’s a massive area that has a lot of open spaces, restaurants and shops. 

We walked towards The Rocks, where you’ll see the Harbour Bridge if walk towards the end of it. 
We passed by the Museum of Contemporary Art.

The Rocks and its heritage-designed buildings. The facade cannot be changed unless approved by the government. 

Bicycles are used as street decor or for holding a signage of an establishment.

Flowers on the side street.

A red phone booth. The phone inside is functional.

On Fridays, The Rocks in George Street corner Argyle Street is closed for market stalls. You can find lots of food, fruits and specialty items for sale produced by small to medium-sized businesses.

A clock tower at The Rocks.

From The Rocks, we walked towards the other side which is the Circular Quay area. It is where the Opera House is located. In front of the Opera House, this is what you’ll see…

Here’s my Mom and I with the Opera House behind us. From the Opera House, we made our way to the Royal Botanic Gardens located not too far away. 

We enjoyed our leisure walks in the city. Mornings are great for such activity as there’s no crowd and we get to go to more places when were out early.

More of our morning walks in future posts.
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Lunch at Sydney Fish Market

I have received a few emails from AWCL readers asking for must-visit places when in Sydney/Australia. I have written about a couple of places I’ve visited in Australia in the past years so I guess the ones who have only known AWCL recently, they might have missed these blog posts. Now that my Mom’s here and we’ll be visiting a few places in Sydney, I will share each of our day-out here on the blog. 

Whenever my parents visit us, their only goals are to spend time with family, take leisurely walks around Sydney and eat good food as often as they could. So for my Mom’s visit this year, we make sure we take her to favourite places and let her enjoy her favourite food.

Our first day-out was at Sydney Fish Market. We were blessed with wonderful weather. The sun shone brightly but it was breezy so we ate by the wharf and enjoyed some fresh seafood. 

Why We Come Here?
The Sydney Fish Market is a seafood lover’s haven. Sydneysiders and tourists flock this place to have a taste of Australia’s freshest seafood produce. We come here to indulge in the freshest and afford seafood in the city and enjoy a view of the wharf.
Best Time To Visit:
Weekdays and early mornings. There are lots of people during weekends and public holidays.

Location:
Bank Street, Pyrmont NSW 2009

How To Get There:
You can catch the Metro Light Rail from Central Station, Haymarket or Darling Harbour to the Fish Market stop which is located across the road from the Market. Services run every 10 – 15 mins from 6:00 am to 11:00 pm (12:10 am Friday & Saturday) from Central and 6:00am to 11:20 pm (12:30 am Friday & Saturday) from Lilyfield.

You can also catch the Bus Numbers 501 and 443: 
501: Bus service departs from outside the Sydney Electricity Building, on the corner of George and Bathurst Streets, and Central Station every 20 minutes during weekdays and every 30 minutes on weekends. Passengers disembark on the corner of Harris Street and Pyrmont Bridge Road. The Market is a five minute stroll down Pyrmont Bridge Road.

443: Bus service departs from outside the Queen Victoria Building every 20 minutes during weekdays and every 30 minutes on weekends. Passengers disembark on the corner of Harris Street and Pyrmont Bridge Road. The Market is a five minute stroll down Pyrmont Bridge Road.
Here a few snapshots of our Sydney Fish Market visit:

Seafood Platter for two for me and my Mom included 2 Battered Barramundi Fish, 2 Oysters Kilpatrick, 4 Battered Prawns and Chips. 
Lunch at Sydney Fish Market
Be mindful of your food when you’re at the wharf as these Seagulls will steal your food with their quick demeanour. Here they are waiting for people to throw some food at them.
Lunch at Sydney Fish Market

Grateful that some of our friends took the day off and have lunch with us.

Lunch at Sydney Fish Market
Lunch at Sydney Fish Market
Lunch at Sydney Fish Market
It was a wonderful day to be at the wharf. After we ate, we just sat there, talked and relaxed for the next hour. 

Related Posts:

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Gelato “Me” Time and a Walk at Pyrmont & Darling Harbour

Before I faced my extremely hectic October, I was able to squeeze in some well-deserved “me” time on the last week of September.

I left the office early one Friday afternoon and got out of my work area via a different route. Instead of taking the bus, I took the tram as I wanted to have a walk from Pyrmont to Darling Harbour.

I got off at The Star, Sydney’s premier casino, and had gelato at Messina. I had a scoop of their Salted Caramel (my favourite) and Coffee (because my “me” time almost always includes my beloved beverage). I was by my lonesome and yet these “me” times of mine are some of my happiest respite at the end of the day. It is more enjoyable when there’s some sort of yummy food. 

Another thing I enjoy about my “me” time is that it usually involves a lot of walking. This activity relaxes me. Walking makes me think, helps me clear my mind and soothes my soul.

As I go out of The Star, I chanced upon a big Pink Snail, an art installation which was part of Sydney’s Art and About for this year. It is the city’s collaborative arts festival where streets, laneways and buildings becomes a canvas for creation and storytelling.

A sunny afternoon awaited me as I walked out to Pyrmont Bay Park. From the wharf, one can see the Harbour Bridge peeking. I stayed there for awhile and looked at some pretty boats. 

From Pyrmont, I walked towards Darling Harbour, my favourite little harbour in Sydney. I can never get tired of this lovely scenery. 

Our city has a laidback culture that it is normal to see people just hanging out at the wharf. They sit down, talk, watch the sunset, have a cuppa. 

As I left Darling Harbour, I took one last look from the stairs leading out to the train station and captured the Sun that was about to set. Like a ring of fire, the sunlight gave out a burst of warm colours. A wonderful way to say goodbye to a lovely day. 

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