Sydney: Where to go and What to do

Disclaimer:  This guide is most definitely not complete.  But it's what we experienced.  You see, we did not have any itinerary during our trip to Sydney.  We booked a one day tour, and that's it.  All we wanted was to relax, bond, eat and (for me) shop!  So in short, it's a lazy shopaholic's guide to Sydney.  Enjoy!

1. Stroll and Dine along Darling Harbour

In addition to a great view, Darling Harbour boasts of a number of great restaurants.  What could be better than watching the sun set with a bottle of cold beer, or a glass of chilled wine?  Food + Sights = Awesome. 

2. Shopping 

Sydney has a lot of shopping centers.  But the three best would be:
a.  Sydney's Central Business District, where you can find almost anything and everything you need.
b.  Broadway Shopping Centre, which houses two retail giants namely Target and Kmart, or
c.  The outlets.  In our case, we went to Birkenhead Point Outlet Centre.  Lots of great finds!

3.  Tours

We booked a one day tour to the Blue Mountains.  It includes a trip to:
a.  Lincoln's Rock

Brother makes a cameo appearance in my blog.  Say hello! :)

b.  Scenic World (where you can ride the world's steepest railway)

c.  River Cruise (where you can see sights such as the Sydney Opera House)

Was it enjoyable?  Yes and no.  Yes because you get to see a lot of things outside the city, but no because it had to rain on the one day that we decided to go on a tour... and the whole tour is outdoors!  So we had no choice but to skip half of it.  Sigh.

4.  Zoo

Our hotel is right smack in the middle of the Central Business District.  Since the tour did not include a trip to the zoo, we went to the Wild Life Sydney Zoo in Darling Harbour near our hotel.  The zoo itself is quite small, but if you just want to see the "basic" animals in Australia, then Wild Life Sydney Zoo will do.  I couldn't leave Australia without seeing the kangaroos and the koalas, so this zoo was perfect. 

Above is just some of the animals that you'd find in the Wild Life Sydney Zoo.  Cute huh?  Cutest (at least for me) would be the koala.  Who can resist that adorable sleeping face?  Awww...


So that's it!  A short roundup of what we did in Sydney.  Don't worry, the Sydney posts are not over yet, I still have some food posts coming up!  

Sydney Eats: The Meat and Wine Co.

Australia is well known for their steaks.  And we are not leaving Australia without trying at least one steakhouse.  So during dinner at the Emperor's Garden Restaurant, we asked the manager which steakhouse was the best in Sydney.  He recommended The Meat and Wine Co.  The next day, we wasted no time and found ourselves in that very steakhouse.  Efficient huh?  We're never lethargic when it comes to food.  LOL.

Szechuan Calamari

Our appetizer.  Oh wow.  I was blown away from the very first bite.  Extra soft squid with flavorful batter.  I daresay the best calamari we've ever tried!

Greek Village Salad with Chicken

Brother's salad.  Dear brother is on a diet so instead of protein-loading, he opted to have this.  Bo-ring!

Monte Grain Select Rib-Eye

Mom's steak.  Tough as a rock.  Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating.  But you get my point.

Monte Black Wagyu Rib-Eye

My steak.  This one was a lot softer, but incomparable to the better wagyus I've tried.

Overall impression?  Not impressed.  Heck, we can get better steaks here in Manila!  Mom didn't want her rib-eye, so she gave it all to me!  And I seriously had a headache while chewing on her rib-eye.  The only dish that saved the restaurant from getting a zero from me was the calamari.  So... 1 out of 5 stars.

The Meat and Wine Co. is at L1, 31 Wheat Road, IMAX Theatre Complex, Cockle Bay, Darling Harbour, Sydney NSW 2000