Highlights from Sydney

I have been a bit lapse with my Sydney posts, so I'll condense the highlights for you into one post of places that a worth a visit or things that are worth seeing.

Day One

Bondi is a beautiful area, famous for its beach and sexy TV lifeguards. We did keep our eyes pealed for them on the Friday morning but alas didn't see any. We did however visit an amazing breakfast place called Lamrock Cafe, which is well worth the visit. Meals are very reasonably priced and the food is delicious. I ordered the big breakfast and my plate came inundated with beautiful, buttery mushrooms. My only suggestion would be to sit inside because it gets very windy outside.

The rest of day one was taken up by my friend's wedding and beautiful view from L'Aqua Restaurant of Darling Harbour.

Day Two

As you can see day two was very wet but a girlfriend of mine was thankfully very keen to hit up the shops with me. Our first port of call was Topshop. I had always loved the store in the UK, so I was very keen to visit but a little underwhelmed with my experience there. It's not quite what I remember it being in the UK.

 

A trip to Sydney is never complete for me without visiting the decadent Queen Victoria Building. I love this place! It has such beautiful design inside, not to mention Haigs and my mother's favourite kitchen discounter, 'Victoria's Basement'.

I also have to admire the shop windows outside the Queen Victoria Building. This was just one from Camper. The colours seemed quite appropriate seeing as Anzac Day was the following week.

My next stop was The Strand Building, also across the road from the Queen Victoria Building. It houses my favourite bookshop in Australia, the Kinokuniya Bookstore. It seems to contain large sections of every possible genre, including Manga. The building also seemed to house a vending machine for Havaianas. I feel Brisbane is somewhat missing out here. Where is our Havaianas vending machine? What if my heels accidentally break while out? I actually got to see someone using the machine just before I took a picture.

Manly was the meeting point for the afternoon and quite pleasant once the rain cleared up. The only unpleasant thing about it was the ferry ride over and back, which was quite choppy. The ferry was almost perpendicular at one point - it's never a good thing when you can only see water in front of the boat and no boat!

I was quite happy with my Manly find for the afternoon, which turned out to be a patisserie owned by Adriano Zumbo. It was almost a hidey-hole in the wall and you wouldn't know it was there if you didn't see the tiny sign above the cut out wall. Hubby and I took our macarons home on the plane and devoured them. The flavours are quite unusual but still work really well together. One example is salted butter popcorn.

Whilst I was happy with my macaron find, my first experience of Max Brenner made Manly all the more sweeter (literally). The queue was still huge (nothing unlike Brisbane) but the white hot chocolate purchased for the ferry ride back was well worth it.

Day Three

Our hotel was right used to Paddy's markets, which is now known as Market City. Hubby and I ventured out of our hotel to find breakfast there but were sadly disappointed. The markets were nothing like to ones here at Kelvin Grove, where you can purchase fresh baked goods. Instead we stumbled upon a backpackers breakfast spot, right near our hotel and were quite surprised by the quality of the food and the price. The place was called the Wake Up Bar. Here's a photo of my banana, cinnamon and maple syrup pancake breakfast - yum!

I think I'm noticing a trend in the things I'm eating, hmm. Can you tell this pregnant lady has a sweet tooth at the moment?

Sparrow and Finch for Breakfast

I met up with a friend this morning for breakfast, who writes for Style from the Suburban Intellect. The cafe of choice was Sparrow and Finch, which you'll find on the corner of Adelaide and Creek Streets in the Brisbane CBD. Now I'm not accustomed to getting up at 5:45am but I thought I'd make an effort today. It just so happens that my brother-in-law was on the bus into the city, so my day was off to a good start.

Unfortunately the cafe doesn't have a website but I can direct you to Urbanspoon's review of the cafe here - http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/337/1534735/restaurant/Brisbane-CBD/Sparrow-Finch-Brisbane
I tend to agree with most of the reviewers. It is a laid back, easy-going cafe that is reasonably priced, for the city. The coffee wasn't bad and although I was expecting a bit more fruit toast on the plate, the fruit toast that did come out was quite tasty and included figs! The company was also great :).

Here's some dad joke humour for your Friday too: http://www.addictedtohumor.com/lol/best-short-jokes-ever-part-5-41-50/

Taken 2 Review

With nothing better to do on a Saturday night, Hubby and self decided to visit the local cinema complex last night and see Taken 2. We managed to get one free ticket through Cinebuzz but still ended up paying $18.50 (booking fee included) for an adult ticket for a 90 minute movie. Is it just me or does that seem a bit steep?

If you've never heard of Taken 2, here's the official trailer...

We both loved the first 'Taken' movie but had low expectations going into the 2nd one, after hearing poor reviews. Unfortunately, the reviews were correct in this instance. The storyline follows from the last movie and there there are a number of holes in the plot. You are left wondering how did the movie suddenly jump to here and why didn't they show this. I was left feeling disappointed after paying $18.50 for one ticket and would recommend this one as a DVD rental.

On a more positive note my Sunday morning has started with a trip to the Banneton Bakery, where the food is always fresh and amazing. I will have a long walk to go on this afternoon after sampling their almond croissant, apricot and pistachio danish and raspberry brioche. I'll leave your mouth watering with this image.

  

Just a Normal Week Day

Well these new years resolutions seem to be going well so far - pity it's only day 5 :). We managed to finish the first bedroom renovation today, aside from a few electrical things, which we obviously can't do ourselves. Here's a few piccies of the finished product.


For the foodies out there, my husband and I tried out Eurovida for breakfast this week and were very impressed. This is their haloumi, ciabatta, poached egg, tomato and pesto combination - delish! I also loved their internal lighting.

Now for something fun. I found this link on a friend's facebook page and had to share. It's about English Pronounciation but try saying just one paragraph ten times, fast. It's quite a tongue twister.