"Breakie" in Sydney

Throw out the pop tarts and frozen waffles. The Australians are serious about their breakfast. It seems like everywhere we walk we come across cafes filled with customers sipping their expresso drinks and eating delicious-looking plates of food. Though we normally save our meal out for lunch, we couldn't resist partaking in this aspect of Australian culture. After having brunch at two different eating establishments, we decided that either of these two cafes easily tops the best Seattle brunch spots, such as Coast Kitchen, 5 Spot or Portage Bay Cafe. Those of you back in the States who lives for weekend brunch will looooove Sydney!

Bondi Trattoria - a nice restaurant across the street from Bondi Beach.
1. Asparagus & Fried Egg with prosciutto, parmesean and crostini
2. Baked Egg with spinach, smoked tomato and red pepper, parmesean and toasted turkish

La Buvette - a cafe within a 2-minute walk from our apartment in Potts Point.
3. Vanilla French Toast with a vanilla anglaise, grilled bananas, ham, maple syrup and an extra side of bacon.
4. Vegan breakfast with a poached egg


February 14th = Free Pass Day

I can't remember when J and I ever observed Valentine's Day. I don't think we ever did. However, I have gradually learned that he cuts me a lot of slack on this magical 14th day of February. I get to be a little less logical and a little less responsible.

For example, this year on Valentine's Day I got to the following in front of J without him shooting me dirty looks of disapproval:

- Buy and eat sour rope candy from The Rocks Weekend Market. In fact, once he saw that I was looking at the stand he started digging in his jeans for pocket change.
- Snack on french fries from the McDonalds at Circular Quay. 
- Eat Smith's Thinly Cut Sour Cream & Onion potato chips from the bag.
- Drink coke with the 2L bottle in front of me ready to re-fill my glass.

Yes, I got to do it all in the same day! =)

First things first...

We arrived in Sydney this past Sunday at 8 AM. After getting settled into our apartment (more on this later) we headed out to Chinatown and ate some above-average dim sum, and did some shopping at the Chinese supermarket. It's nice to be back in a city with ample Chinese resources!

Some amusing local novelties from Sydney

- Burger King is called Hungry Jacks.
- "Business hours" is know as "trading hours."
- There are on/off switches for every electrical outlet in our apartment.
- People don't just drive on the left side, but they walk on the left side. On the escalator you stand on the left side and pass on the right side.
- They sell 4-ply toilet paper. We had to try it.
- The pharmacist is known as the "chemist."

Recommendations for Sydney

J and I will be in Sydney for 4 whole weeks starting this weekend!

Here are some activities we're thinking of doing while we're in Sydney (in no particular order).

1. Climb the Sydney Harbor Bridge
2. Learn to surf
3. Learn to sail
4. Go to the beach
5. Visit the Opera House
6. Eat good Chinese food.

If anyone has recommendations for things to do, places to eat or attractions to visit please let us know! Thanks! =)

Day 92: Disaster strikes

I'm not talking about the 4.5 magnitude earthquake that struck Puget Sound this morning. It was so minor that it wasn't even on komonews.com's front page.

Last night I basically found out that we no longer have anywhere to stay during our month-long stop in Sydney. When do we arrive in Sydney? One week from tomorrow! It doesn't help that I'm still on this cruise - $0.37/minute for internet! 

What to do? What to do? We've been so incredibly lucky on our trip so far. This was bound to happen sooner or later. Let's hope it works out in the end.

If any of my readers have any leads that may help out our situation please do let me know! 

Current Location: Somewhere in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Chile