Ootd

I love the graphic prints on this skirt. With a semi casual blazer, this will be fitting for Fridays at work. And perfect for nights out.

Nuts and Bolts on travel and Sydney

Exchanging currencies

Sometimes friends ask me where is the best place to change currencies in Singapore. The answer is Arcade at Raffles Place. It's right next to Change alley. Situated on the second floor of the dark, a tad dreary but bustling Arcade complex is a whole chain of Indian money changers. Walk down the aisle and look for the best rates amongst them. The competition for every penny of traveller's cash keeps the forex rates closer to spot than anywhere else in Singapore. The spread is tight and the commission is little. Another good place is the ground floor of People's Park complex at Chinatown. Depending on convenience, you can go to any of these two locations to get good rates. Do not exchange currencies in Sydney itself. The spreads are shockingly huge. The bid/ask at the money changer was 1.38/1.24. Crazily exorbitant, those bloodsuckers.

Multipasses for getting around

So let's get to Sydney. We got around using a multi ticket that covers on buses, trains and ferries. Sydney is walkable by foot but it's still really big. A walk from central station to glebe just outside the city centre centre is about twenty minutes. A one way train ticket costs around 3 Aud. It's a really good idea to get multi passes. The passes have different prices for each of the 3 zones. Most travellers get the zone 1 ticket which costs roughly 42Aud. We got the 60aud zone 3 pass that covers intercity transport to blue mountains. More on blue mountains later.

Day trips out of Sydney

We visited two places on the outskirts of town- hunter valley and blue mountains. Hunter Valley is without a doubt worth going. Besides wine drinking, they have really good Pesto fetta cheese spread at the Smelly Cheese Shop (and italian gelato, see below) and why not visit the Lavender Gate Farm if its on the way? For the novice, expect slightly spicy Shiraz for reds and crispy smeillon for whites. I would buy both if i had luggage space and extra cash. For the ladies, do not miss out on their verdelho that boasts of mango passionfruit melon aroma. I am lusting for a sip already. Visit boutique wineries and some commercial ones. Spend a night or two if you are more interested in wine drinking. Each winery has it's own flavour and style, so don't regret not buying a bottle back. Visiting hunter valley definitely involve driving. The wineries are pretty spread out from each other. We booked a tour which was pretty worthwhile. You don't have to plan which wineries to visit or be concerned about their opening hours and location.

Blue mountains on the other hand is not worth going with a tour. One can easily take a train to katoomba from central station. The journey is about two hours long and the trains depart every hour. Echo point where the famous three sisters rocks are located are a half hour walk away from katoomba station. Alternatively tour buses that allow hop on and off around the area costs around 20aud. taxis costs 8 aud for a ten minutes ride to echo point.

Sydney

Hello from Sydney, I am alive. Apologies for missing from this blog space for some weeks. Its been an exhausting time for myself. I have grown rather homely over the past month. My spare time is spent  hermitting by reading up on boring valuation, spending time with girlfriends. This Sydney tip has been planned since March.

 I must say, Sydney you are beautiful. Cosmopolitan and a little rugged at the edges, Sydney is expensive to live in but the rewards are plentiful. A culinary capital with amazing international cruisine - Jamie Oliver's, Momofuku, Portengo. There are so many dining places to visit. I'll say upfront that I am saving those places for the future when I am feeling richer. A Taiwanese friend griped that Sydney is too internationalised. It lacks soul and character. Lets say food for example. We couldnt find any local traditional food that cannot be found anywhere else. They have amazing cruisine but none is unique. 

Sydney is dang expensive by the way.

I finally got to see the famous Sydney Opera House. It is beautiful indeed. Too bad for the Danish architect who was ousted from his project midway through the construction. He never got to see it complete and died still bitter about the outcome of the Opera House. What a sad story behind this masterpiece.

The harbour bridge. 6 million rivets hot fastened onto this baby. The Eiffel Tower has only 2 million rivets.

The views from around circular quay are amazing. Take a stroll but remember to wear sunscreen. Even in winter the sun is blinding hot sporaidically. The air is cold but when the sun decides to appear, the rays are almost uncomfortably hot. I can't imagine how summer is like.

Here's a picture of Manly beach. I think Manly is pretty, but i love Cogee the best. The pictures below speak for themselves. 

The sun sets by 5.30pm every day. It makes me feel like sleeping early which is great, but I never did.

Its somewhere along such beautiful trails that I made a major decision. I have been mulling over two choices for the longest time. I enjoyed watching the surfers (crazy people, its friggin cold!) and the waves. There were many joggers along the path. How lovely to jog along the coast.

Smooth, fragrant and strong bodied, the coffee here spoils me. There's a Byron's bay company right on the ground floor of the apartment and I am crazy over their flat white and mocha. Toby's estate is great too. Second after Byron's Bay. Yum. I have a coffee craving right as I am typing this.

A visit to the oldest wine growing region -Hunter Valley, is a must for any traveler. This was the highlight of my trip. We booked a tour with Activity Tours for 110AUD which includes a lunch at Oscars Cafe. I had their smoked salon with multi grain bread and a flat white. Both were uninspiring. Oh wells, at least the wine in Hunter Valley is awesome. Life is about managing expectations right. Our tour guide, a New Zealander who settled in Sydney, he's really funny and entertaining with a multitude of stories. He is really good at having monologues too. 

We visited three wineries. I loved the boutique wineries - Estate Hill Wines and Iron Gate Estates. First Creek is the bigger commerical winery. I wished I got to try Lindelman which is so famous. 

Oak barrels which is used to age wines. It affects the flavour of the wine. These Iron Gate's barrels hail from California and are mighty expensive I heard. Wines in Australia today are often aged in stainless steel cans for economical reasons. These barrels dont last a good number of years. Can you taste the earthy flavour in oaked wine? 

Hunter Valley is famed for their Semillon, Verdelho and their Shiraz. I usually dont drink whites but boy I fell in love with Verdelho on this trip. Medium bodied, its strongly aromatic and slightly crisp. Perfect for a night out with the girls. My favourite Verdelho is from Iron Gates while Estate Hill scores highly on the aroma of its wines.

I bought Estate Hill's Silver Moon dessert wine for family. Its a lovely dandy crowd pleaser. Shiraz is a tad too spicy for me but I suspect I will gradually fall in love as my palate adjusts. I absolutely hate fizzy moscato and overly sweet dessert or rose wine that may be artificially coloured. 

'The purpose of wine is to make people happy.' Everyone was ridiculously happy by the end of this trip. Indeed its great fun to be a little toasty.

A snapshot of the best gelato I've tried on this trip. A light sorbet of rose and hibiscus blended well with creamy lemon sorbet. 6.50aud. Have I not mentioned that most things are exorbitant? Oh but this combination was so good. I went around asking fellow travellers to try my ice cream. Other Singaporeans mentioned that the sorbet tastes like bundung. I beg to differ, it tastes like bundung because of the rose. Only much better. Its not creamy yet has good consistency, its light but not watery, its fragrant and stimulates your senses. A wining combination. 

Hunter Valley Smelly Cheese Shop

2144 Broke Road Pavilion G, Tempus Two Complex
Pokolbin 2320
New South Wales

Lantern Bar, Fullerton Bay Hotel

photo credits to: http://is.asia-city.com

What do you on weekends? I love hanging out at rooftop bars with my mates as much as I love drinking coffee at a comfy cafe. Its drinking with good friends with a view to boot. When conversions dwindle to a lull, you have the view to fill the spaces in between. 

Rooftop bars feel like a new trend. There have been many of such bars sprouting out across the island over the past years- from the CBD area to little india. Lantern bar is seated atop fullerton bay hotel. Right opposite our swanky marina bay sands. Make a reservation for the comfy couches by the edges for an unobstructed view. 

Lantern bar gets too crowded and the music pounds a tad too loud for me. I hope to find my own favourite bar to hang out sometime soon. It will be a moderately crowded bar, with a view and with great music. 

Krokodil

Narco drug trade from Afghanistan to Russia fueling the disintegration of a nation. Krokodil a cheap drug alternative to heroin that eats the body up from the inside. You lose a leg or two. It reduces men into vegetables.

My heart and soul is burdened. What can I do but pray? Help, Lord. Watchman on the wall, keep praying, never ceasing.

Old hainanese coffee, Chin Mei Chin Confectionary

Weekends are lazy affairs, a respite from the mundane workings of life. So there, a trip to an old hainanese shop for coffee and kaya toast satisfies the soul for comfort food.

Black coffee without a hint of sugar or milk. Kopi o kosong. Coffee mixed in with a dash of hot water. 

Soft kaya buns with a thick slab of butter, lightly toasted with their edges slightly burnt. These are served hot and fresh from the grill. The butter melts from the heat of the buns when pressed together. Try taking a bite, the kaya and butter melts into a delicious ooze, splattering haphazardly onto the table. It is impossible to be glamorous when eating such delicious treats.

Its time for some pastries. Luncheon meat in bread, custard bun, egg custard tart and oil luncheon meat puff.  

I call for another kopi o kosong, greedy because its my first time on this turf of joo chiat in a long while. Should I call for another kaya toast? A slight tug at my heartstring and my mouth waters. Eating is such an emotional affair. I rub my tummy and my brain registers fullness. I'll be back here again, I remind myself.

We got up to leave, my tummy is full and my heart is happy. The long queue of people waiting in line turn their heads expectantly towards our seats. 

Chin Mei Chin Confectionary, I'll be back.

random, but my favourite french phrase for the moment has got to be 'Je vais comme-ci, comme-ca'
It sounds so...hokkien.