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