My time in Sydney was short and long at the same time.
The main purpose was Luxperience, which basically means hours in the exhibition “working” and attending one networking lunch/dinner after another.
I loved it; for the opportunity was an amazing one, and I had much fun exploring the booths, meeting new people & learning about the world’s exclusive and luxury travel market.
It was a very eye-opening experience as I never knew how luxury can get when it is truly LUXURY.
If you think your average 5 – 6 stars hotels are luxury, you have no idea just what you HAVE NOT seen.
The Pier One Sydney Harbour Hotel, Autograph Collection (by the JW Marriot group).
I walked to the exhibition daily and took my time to appreciate the architecture and lush greenery around me.
I was in the thick of the city, and I was struck by how so clean and orderly it is.
** To spot more of Sydney’s iconic sights, check out these top 28 Sydney Hotels With Perfect Harbour View – The Ultimate Guide listed by HotelsCombined.
Rich in history and architecturally splendid, Sydney can be best explored on foot, when the weather is fair and time is on your side.
Some tours allows you to the historic streetscapes on foot as well, giving you a chance to appreciate Sydney’s outdoor heritage and not to mention the golden opportunity for some fantastic pictures.
Age is not important, unless you’re a cheese, or a prosciutto.
Damn right, or may I add, WINE too. 🙂
But if walking is not to your taste, you are welcome to hop on one of these buses!
Parking is crazily expensive here and driving laws are very strict.
I had thought Melbourne is very artsy and cultural, but Sydney is no less so. There are numerous museums here and many more churches and recognised landmarks, streets and cultural icons.
Below: A stone on a car in the middle of a roundabout, quite a sight no?
On one of our networking lunches, we went on a cruise.
The 45 minute cruise took us out to the waters around Sydney and it was such an exhilarating sail.
Exhilarating not in terms of excitement, but of the awe and astonished kind, for the weather was cooling, the wind invigorating (at one point it rained) and the views remarkable.
Back to inland:
The markets!
There are plenty of markets, especially weekend markets around Sydney. I had wanted to visit some of the bigger ones around (Paddington, Sydney Fish Market), but that requires traveling a fair bit out of the area I was in, not to mention taking quite a bit of time too.
With the exhibition on-going, I could ill-afford such luxury of time.
Fortunately I had a wonderful time exploring the weekend market nearby my hotel (I think it was the Balmain Markets) even if it was only for a few hours.
The air was chilly but the sun was warm.
It was a good day to be out and about. 🙂
The market is small, but it satisfied my need to see, shop and explore. Fashion items from handmade trinkets to clothes and hair accessories are aplenty, mostly rather unique designs.
Glorious pastries tempted me at every turn, though I learnt my lesson the hard way when I bought some and could barely swallow the first 2 bites. It was DIABETICALLY sweet.
Urgh.. no more.
But some of the food sold did look very very good. There were plenty of sandwiches, gluten-free produce and salads.
I saw quite a number of Muslim-friendly stalls too.
I realized that Australia is big on organic, homemade, handmade produce. The supermarket shelves may be groaning under the weight of commercial pastes, spices and chocolates available, but these artisanal produces are still very popular.
A walk by the waters is as soothing as it can get.
I tried to sneak in a run, but the timing proved too challenging.
I went into a theme park too; the Luna Park, though it was for an event rather than to enjoy the rides.
Nonetheless it goes to show that Sydney has almost all the attractions a family may need, though all of you may already know that by now. 🙂
Getting around Sydney:
I walked a lot and took the train from the city to the airport and back. Trains are clean, comfortable and punctual. I’m glad that I was able to commute direct to the airport without having to change to a specific “airport train” (like our KLIA expres) and having to pay extra dollars.
I took a cab one time too, but it was paid for the organisers of Luxperience. All in all, transportation around Sydney is costly, more due to our weak ringgit than anything else.
Well, until next time Sydney.
I spent my only available shopping hours at Coles (it is open til midnight) for protein bars, supplements and some healthy eating stuff. I didn’t manage to sample the Pancakes on the Rocks, missed the Sydney Fish Market and had to forgo any clothes shopping.
Yes, I’ll definitely be back for you Sydney! 🙂
you take really beautiful water-view pics, capturing the feel of floating around and enjoying the sights 🙂
Thank you Sean, I was so cheered by the sights that capturing them well was certainly my goal!