Sydney best cafes and restaurants

It is less then a year and I am back at Sydney, Australia. This time I had to choose a hotel that was right in the heart of CBD so that I would not have to take to much of public transport, rather just walk from building to building for my meetings. I noticed that Sydney CBD is split by Town Hall station. Anything from Town Hall towards Chinatown is where the hub of activity is after office hours. Whereas anything upwards from Martin Place towards Circular Quay was mostly offices, crowded during the day, quiet in the night, with little food options. If I had a choice again, I would stay right at Town Hall station so that it would not be so difficulty finding a reasonably priced place to dine after work hours.

I arrived on the weekend before my work week to have a feel of Sydney city and walk around a bit to visit some of my favorite places. The first night on arrival, I stayed at Amora Hotel Jamison Sydney. It is a lovely hotel to stay, though a little shabby in the lobby, the rooms are beautifully maintained with a lovely bathroom and living room. The first item on my agenda was to head down to Barangaroo which was a 10 minute walk from the hotel. The area was bustling with diners and restaurants, so different when it first opened. I could hardly find a spot to dine, finally settling for a spot at Bel and Brio for a simple salad.

Meriton Serviced Apartments Campbell Street Review

Looking for a hotel in Sydney, Australia can be pretty challenging, due to the multitude of hotel accommodation available, budget and location usually becomes the deciding factor. Because of an existing offer at Meriton Serviced Apartments and how it ranked on Tripadvisor, it became an obvious choice of accommodation for me. One could stay in a hotel, but I have become to appreciate staying in serviced apartments because of the additional space that allowed you to prepare meals and as well as do your laundry.

I was pleasantly surprised and thrilled when I opened my apartment at Meriton Serviced Apartments. Luxurious, clean, tidy, and cozy it is indeed what I would classify as perfect accommodation for my week in Sydney. It is an apartment that is very well maintained and received my top marks of approval. Definitely this would be my accommodation of choice should I return again to Sydney.

Located at Campbell Street, we were surrounded with Thai restaurants, and with a couple of cafes around the corner on Pitt Street, one never goes hungry. Just about 8 minutes away on foot is World Square where we picked up groceries, and another 15 minutes, one would hit the main shopping belt at Pitt Street. Surry Hills, where all the upmarket cafes are located, is a 15 minutes stroll away.

Meriton Serviced Apartments
Campbell Street, Sydney
6 Campbell Street
Sydney NSW 2000

Sydney Australia - The Road Less Travelled

My challenge in this recent Sydney, Australia holiday trip was to do something different from the usual touch and go tourist spots. Given that I had 15 days in Sydney, it was quite a number of days to spend in the city, and that allowed me depth of the Sydney experience.

Day 1, Monday - Arrive in Sydney
Having taken a red eye flight from Singapore on Scoot, I did not have much interest to do anything but to rest. Initially, I was hesitant taking such a long flight on Scoot, but once on it, I was assured, as it looked just like an old SQ airline, without the fancy food and movie selection. As long as you eat before the flight, and arm yourself with the essential book or mp3 player loaded with songs, you can pretty much self-entertain on the flight to Sydney.

Upon arrival, one of the first things I did was to get a $30 stored value SIM card at Optus. This allows me almost unlimited use of 3G data and access to Google Maps which makes travelling around the city so much more convenient. I took the airport express train to the Central Station, and on reaching the city, I checked out Single Origin Roasters for their famed coffee and most delicious sandwich.

After a very satisfying meal, I headed to an Airbnb room located at Pyrmont Road for the initial part of my trip. It was not as convenient with a 15 minute walk to the train station. However the room came at such a good price and I would not have to deal with the noise and communal baths if I had put up at a hostel, plus plus being 5 minutes away from Coles Supermarket and Darling Harbour for late night wandering made the stay worth it's while.

Day 2, Tuesday - Manly Spit Walk, Sydney
The best time to visit Manly must definitely be during the weekdays when you do not see ferry loads of people unloading. A previous trip to Manly was purely to check out the beaches. And since I wanted this trip to be more active, I decided on famed Manly Spit walk. Though it was said it would be a 10km hike taking 4 hours, it took me 5 hours instead, and personally it felt more like a 15km walk than anything else. The walk requires great amounts of stamina as there are few places to rest with many steps to climb. It is a indeed a scenic walk as you get to see many coves with boats dotting the waters, walk on beautiful pristine beaches, and a good part of bushland walking. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to experience nature and active trip in Sydney. Prior to to the hike, it's super essential to slather sunblock and also a hearty breakfast.

Road trip to Hunter Valley and Port Stephens

We decided to go on a road trip to Hunter Valley and Port Stephens after the Hillsong Conference. This trip only works if there are drivers in the group, otherwise if you are on your own, you may wish to consider day trips to Blue Mountains or Hunter Valley.

Hunter Valley in winter is not the prettiest time to go as the vineyards are all bare, with leaves having dropped off and no grapes hanging from the vines. But our purpose of stopping at Hunter Valley was to have lunch and enjoy the area before making our way to Port Stephens. Getting out of the Sydney city would require some planning, for us was getting a print out of Google Maps so that we would know where to turn to get on the right highway.

Our stop over in Hunter Valley was Mount Pleasant Estate for lunch. Since the inside was full, we ended up with outdoor seating, which was fine, as we got to enjoy the crispness of winter.

Mount Pleasant Estate, Hunter Valley

Sydney, Australia - the best of places to see, shop and eat

I have been to Sydney about 4 times, and half of them have been for the Hillsong Conference. In fact I have gotten a little 'bored' of Sydney with the limited shopping. What made it special in my last trip was because we decided to check out the food in Sydney and would go all the way out to try coffee joints and restaurants in town. In addition, we planned for a trip out of the city to Hunter Valley and Port Stephens after the conference.

Sydney Harbour Bridge