The Cube

I haven't been travelling to Sydney for work for awhile, and my manager offered that I could extend to the weekend if I want as I was flying in on a Thursday and would be in the Sydney office for Thursday and Friday. 

I did lug my camera to Sydney but not many photos were taken because I was dining with friends who either didn't take photos of their food or I just grabbed off them. I did get around to a few different places because it has been awhile since I caught up with some friends in Sydney. 

27-41 Magdala Rd, North Ryde NSW 2113

This is one of the dining option in North Ryde RSL I was having dinner with a friend and this was near his place. There are a few different restaurant within the RSL and I was told the Asian restaurant, House of Tong is decent too. Might try that next time. 

Friend shouted me dinner, and I chose crispy skin barramundi but kind of had food envy when friend's food came. He ordered a chicken schnitzel with toppings of tomato sauce, avo and cheese. I asked if I could pinched his chips so he ordered a portion to share. 

210/298-304 Sussex St, Sydney NSW 2000

I've also finally made it to La Hacienda Peru. Food was tasty, generous portion but the shop was so warm and stuffy unfortunately. South American food, sadly, is very expensive in Australia. 

Shop 4/8 Bourke St, Mascot NSW 2020

I initially wanted to go to Pawfect cafe and have their mochi waffle for breakfast because I saw it online. However, it wasn't on their menu when I was there. So I walked back towards the station and went into Anita's Fusion. 

I had lunch plans with friends and didn't want to eat too much for breakfast. So I ordered a vegetable croquette burger and iced long black because it was too hot when I visited. 

33 Ultimo Rd, Haymarket NSW 2000

We were seated downstairs with a fan facing us and even with that, it was warm. The portion was good sized but I find it on the pricier side. We ordered larb, papaya salad with salted duck egg and a prik khing with 'fluffy salmon'. The first 2 dishes were decent but I couldn't identify the components of the dish including salmon. This dish is no longer found in the menu today, not sure if it was a specials for the month kind of dish. 

I feel there are more good Thai restaurants in Sydney which are much cheaper, so unlikely to return. 

11/35 Ultimo Rd, Haymarket NSW 2000

It was very warm inside Porkfat so we moved to a different location for dessert. Homm is just across the road from Porkfat so Homm it was. Luckily they had a better air conditioner. We ordered Pink Himalayas Avalanche Bingsu and Thai Tea Avalanche Bingsu to share and a drink each. 

6 Little Hay St, Haymarket NSW 2000

I was indecisive between hot & spicy pork dumpling and dan dan noodles. I went with dan dan noodles because it was marked as 'must try' on their menu. I did a takeaway and ate in the airbnb as it was too early to have dinner at that time but I knew I would be hungry if I didn't eat. As it was in a takeaway container and didn't look pretty when I was ready to eat, I didn't take a picture. I would go revisit especially if they have a branch in Melbourne, but they don't. 

2/127 Forest Rd, Hurstville NSW 2220

A work colleague told me about this shop when I mentioned that I was meeting a friend for lunch in Hurstville. I reached Hurstville earlier than meeting time so I decided to visit while waiting. Tart and coffee were good but I find the staff who attended to me a bit grumpy. 

131 Prince Edward Park Rd, Woronora NSW 2232

We had dim sum lunch and friend brought me here for coffee/drinks with views of Georges River. She's very thoughtful and suggested places that she thinks I have not been. The iced tea on offer were good. We ordered mango & passionfruit and peach & lychee, staying away from milk based drinks because it was very warm and we were stuffed from lunch. 

My trips to Perth nowadays are mostly to visit sis and famiy. However, usually sis would organise activities or go to places I've not been to maximise my visit and I am appreciative. This round aside from camping at Hamelin Bay, we caught the Terracotta Warriors: Legacy of the First Emperor exhibition in the WA Museum Boola Bardip. 

The exhibition has now finished and only a very small fraction of the warriors 'travelled' to Perth. It was still a pleasant surprised because I fully expected that maybe only one terracotta warrior was being loaned, and of course, I've not been to Xian.  

313 William St, Northbridge WA 6003, Australia

After exhibition, we walked to the Northbridge for an early dinner. Dinner venue choice this round was Cambodian food at My Bayon. There were 3 adults and 2 kids. We got an appetizer to share, 2 main dishes with rice and drinks to share. 

2/447 Cambridge St, Floreat WA 6014

Souffle pancakes are best when shared. We ordered 2 drinks and 2 pancakes to share. We ordered their seasonal souffle pancake which was sunny mango at the time we visited. The other one was something pandan kaya which I thought was in their regular menu but I can't seem to find it on their menu now. 

Hamelin Bay is four hours south of Perth and situated north of Augusta. It is on the southwest coast of WA between Cape Leeuwin and Cape Naturaliste. It is famous for the abundance of stingrays that frequent the bay. This was the selected camping area that sis invited me to join - we stayed at the Hamelin Bay Holiday Park campsite. 

There was a kiosk near our tent and many kids hung out there. We asked one of the kids what could we find in the kiosk thinking that it could be more of a hot food kind of kiosk. We were told, "lollies". Haha. We did made it to there during one of the opening hours and yes, there were good selection of snacks but also a decently stocked convenience store. 

A jetty was established to service the timber milling operations in the past. Only a few piles of the original jetty remain on site. 

We saw stingrays again in the morning before we departed but the waves were high and the stingrays were fast. We saw them but not fast enough to get good pictures, and vertical challenged. 

It was raining on/off so was cloudy during sunset timing, but we saw double rainbow though. 

Augusta is about 15 minutes drive away from Hamelin Bay, so we visited Augusta the next day. It is the nearest time to Cape Leeuwin. 

Index page for 16 days in Egypt, Oman and layover in Manila.

Day 6 - Valley of the Kings, Temple of Hapshetsut and Colossi of Memnon

Day 8 - Shali Fortress, Gebel Al-Mawta

Day 9 - Salt lakes, Cleopatra's Pool, Temple of Umm Ubayd, Gabal Dakrur, sunset from the desert

Day 10 - Aman Yden Hot Spring, Shali Fortress for sunset

Day 13 - Spending a day in Nizwa

Day 14 - Day trip to Birkat Al Mouz and Bahla

Day 15 - Around Muttrah

Day 16 - Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque, Bayt Al Maqham, Omani brunch and around

I find Muscat is a large spread out city. I had a day in Muscat but it started in the evening to the next evening. This round I decided to stay near the Ruwi bus station, and it won't be too far from Mutrah. With the delayed buses and what-not, by the time I checked in to the hotel, it was evening time. I initially planned to go to the Yiti street viewpoint above Ruwi before to going to the Muttrah area. As the sun was about to set, I decided to skip the viewpoint and headed to the Mutrah area. 

Muttrah, also spelled as Mutrah or Matrah is around a beautiful seafront corniche, used to be the city's old commercial centre. Around this area one can visit the popular Muttrah Souq, Muttrah Fort, Fish Market and the Sultan Qaboos Docks. 

I walked the seafront corniche, walked into the Muttrah Souq to get last minute souvenirs. I walked into one of the branches and got a bit lost. It took me a bit to get back to the main street because I wanted to have my dinner at Bait Al Luban which serves traditional Omani cuisine and about 9 minutes walk away. 

When I got to Bait Al Luban, I was a little taken aback because it looked more fancy that I pictured it to be. Anyway, they were fully booked till at least 9 PM. They mentioned that they have another branch about 15 minutes drive away. I asked if they do takeaway service, so I ordered a Makbus Dijaj - spiced rice cooked with fresh vegetables broth and topped with oven roasted chicken (OMR 5.50)

 

The next day I walked to Ruwi bus station and took a bus to the airport for luggage storage. I paid OMR 3 to store my small luggage for 12 hours. Then another bus to the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque. 

True to its name, it is indeed a grand mosque. The construction of the mosque started in 1995 and the mosque was opened in 2001. The total main area is 933,000 square meters. The main prayer hall can accommodates 6500 worshippers, a smaller female prayer hall can hold 700 worshippers. The courtyards and corriders can accommodate 12,800 worshippers. 

The carpet in the mian hall was knitted by hand by professional craftswomen in Iran, is one of the largest carpets in the world. It is a one-piece carpet and weighs 21 tons. It took 600 craftswomen 4 years to make. The German manufactured chandelier was 14 meters high, 8 tons in weight and consisted of 1122 bulbs.  The Swarovski crystals used were imported from Austria. 

It is free to enter but my daypack was deemed too big and I had to deposit it at the shop at entrance. I paid OMR 2. 

I walked to Dukanah Cafe for brunch. I ordered their breakfast set (OMR 3.70) and a pot of Omani coffee (OMR 1.80). It was all tasty. I was stuffed and rolled out of the door. 

 

Bayt Al Maqham (or Bait Al Maqham) is located amidst the plantation in the quaint suburbs of wilayat of Bawsher. The house was built for an Omani noblewoman, Sayyida Thuraya bint Muhammad bin Azzan Al Busaidi who lived in it in the 18th century. More than just a big house, it was also built for defence.

This is really not a major tourist area. I chose to go because it is near to C39 - Ghala Jabel Heed Hiking trek. I had time to kill but also too much time because I needed to get to the airport a bit early as I wasn't able to check in online. 

I travelled around Muscat by public bus, including to and fro the Muscat Airport. I paid for my bus fares to the driver with cash. The bus fares were either OMR 0.30 or OMR 0.40 except the ones departed from the airport. Buses I took out of the airport cost OMR 1.00. 

My flight out of Muscat Airport was at 8:10 PM, so I had a shower and dinner at one of the airport lounge.