Seven Days.

and comes the next update. *warning intensive picture post*

there's nothing much to say really, the internet at home being capped, playing host to fookie and the usual shenanigans in the kitchen. as some of you may know, fookie came by to visit for a few days and being the gracious host i am, i provided him a straw pillow, a thin rag and the cold living room floor for him to sleep on during the cold sydney nights. jokes aside, playing host kept me occupied for a few days which was a nice change from the usual boredom i go through. i wouldn't say it was more of a sightseeing trip but more of a eating spree from the way our itinerary was planned, and still covered most of the major tourist traps such as the sydney tower, darling harbour, sydney fish market and chinatown.

action shots from darling harbour pond.

as luck would dictate, the weekend we decided to go sightseeing the rail transport decided to shut down the north-east railway line, meaning we had to travel by bus which was a lot slower. eventually though, we arrived at our destination; the sydney central station, a hub for both local and interstate trains and buses.

sydney central station.

the first day was spent going around chinatown, paddy's market and riding the monorail loop service around the city. we also visited places like the chinese garden of friendship and went up the sydney tower when it was getting dark.

sydney tower from afar.

being high up there was a breathtaking experience, watching the sun set and watching the busy sydney city slowly coming to life from all the night-lights. no one can say they've experienced sydney without having a visit to the ever popular scruffy murphy's bistro, where we had $5 steaks and grill, washed down with beer off the tap. *the very place where ernest's friend got drunk when i brought them there last year :D* we had a hard time trying to tear ourselves away that night from all the eye-candies that graced the place that night.

water fountains!

outside the chinese garden of friendship

moar ducks.

and baby ducklings.

the next trip, we traveled to central once again and from there on we caught the tram down to the sydney fish market where we had our lunch, but first we had to hunt for a place to sit down thanks to the weekend lunch rush.

inside the eating area.

imagine trying to find a table during the peak lunch hour in takashimaya and you'll get a rough idea how packed the place was. eventually we managed to find a table outside the area facing the marina. it was a great spot, sitting outside in the warm sun, refreshed by the cool sea breeze and having fresh grilled/battered seafood and enjoying the local eye-candies.

our lunch. :D

the batter platter.

and the grilled combo.

after that, we decided to walk down towards darling harbour and take a few snapshots. the weather being ideal, i wasn't surprised by the throngs of families and tourists at the area as well. we spent most of the afternoon and evening taking pictures, smelling the mouthwatering aromas from the restaurant grills and enjoying the scenery.

i looked pissed for some reason...

harbour front in the day.

and at night.

i think it's related to the sydney olympics?

i always loved this spiral water fountain.

upshot of the old SEGA building

darling harbour walk while the sun was setting.

nice boat.^^ *school days reference*

i was half tempted to walk up on the boat armed with a harpoon asking how much to harpoon a whale. :D

night view of the bay.

moar night shots of the marina.

busy busy.

i loved this shot with the lights and glowing sydney tower in the background.

the last day before fookie headed back, we visited chatswood; the other chinatown as i like to call it, there wasn't really much to say except that we did some window shopping and caught "don't mess with the zohan" at the cinemas. the highlight of that day of course was having dinner at suminoya, a japanese bbq restaurant. it was definitely money well spent as we devoured plate after plate of seafood, meat and more meat, and their specialty dish of ox tongue although fookie didn't like the yukke *yukhoe in korean* that i ordered, shame though. 2 hours later, somehow we managed to gather the strength to roll out of the restaurant and explored martin place before heading back.

clocktower along martin place.

in anticipation of the feast.

and the godly ox tongues. :D

pork loin, beef harami, beef rib and avocado salad.

:D~

and here we go :D~~

the yukke.

lime sherbet and green tea/vanilla ice-cream to end the night.

there were places which i wished we could had visited though such as the sandy beaches of bondi or the sydney bridge climb, but due to time constraints or being cheapskate, we didn't. i'll save them for another time in the future i suppose.