The Cube

Another work trip to Sydney which happened on Thursday and Friday. I took the opportunity to extend through to the weekend as my manager said it is allowable. Not great weather but as it wasn't pouring so still good enough to make a trip to the mountains. 

Many years ago, I went to Katoomba and Leura but I wanted to be a little more quiet this round so Blackheath was my choice this round. I don't know why I make questionable decision of not going to the more famous Grand Canyon Walking Track even though it really wasn't that much of a longer distance. 

Anyway the journey was easy as I was staying just across from Central Station so it was just a train ride away. I took the 7:16 AM train and reached Blackheath just before10:00 AM due to some signal issues at one of the stations. 

After a toilet break and grabbing a croissant from the service station, I walked towards the Govetts Leap Lookout. I must've taken a wrong turn because a certain part of the walk involved going through some rocks that didn't really look like a well trodden path but all was well as I got there. 

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. 

I followed sis to pick up my niece who attended a birthday party at Cottesloe Beach. I was told that Sculptures by the Beach in Perth was held at this beach. This was the only non food place I've been this round in Perth. 

This trip I went to 2 eateries and we had food ordered in twice. 

I haven't been to a buffet for awhile but been wanting to try the buffet in Epicurean. We chose the easiest available - lunch on a weekday. 

Tasty beef noodles with one free noodle refill per bowl ordered. We ordered 2 noodles, 2 portion of lamb skewers, 1 side dish of cucumber with homemade sauce, 1 snack - cauliflower popcorn and 6 pieces pan-fried pork & cabbage dumplings. We initially ordered the vegetarian dumplings but they have sold out. 

We went, saw the queue to get into the shop from the car and decided to head back home. We ordered delivery the next day. The kids picked the toppings and flavour. I think it was strawberry and mango. 

I dined in once when I was visiting 2 years ago. This round we got lazy and ordered delivery. Just realised I had the Strawberry Skies 2 years back. 

This was after the dessert after beef noodles dinner. Lychee-ade, strawberry matcha latte, biscoff cake and blueberry basque cheese cake.