Sydney!
Finally got to Sydney yesterday. Staying at the YHA at Central, very convenient. After a week bumming in Gold Coast, I'm now looking forward to trying to pack as much as I can in the next coupla days. Yesterday was essentially wasted, as we idled around waiting for our flight in the afternoon and only had time to go for dinner at a place supposingly famous for porridge in Chinatown (another long wait of an hour just to get a table arghhhhh!!!!)
Sydney's first impressions - larger than Melb, but dirtier. People less friendly and transport system much more complicated. They've got buses, trains, ferries, monorails etc here. Trying to obtain transport guides proved to be a hassle. Finally picked it up at The Rock's visitor information centre. Looking at my options, at first going aww its $15 for a full day pass for trains/buses/ferries. Then realised I could get a 7day travelpass for 2 zones for $40. Took that, but unfortunately they don't sell it everywhere, could only get it from a train station just now.
Today was the rest's only day in Sydney, they've just left for the airport.. We booked separate places, MunYee and me staying at YHA and them at some awful "hotel" in the city. Apparently the pictures online were misleading and their room was in fact danky small and reallllly old. No such complaints from me though. YHA looks exactly as the pictures they offer. Would really recommend this place to anyone dropping by. Although we paid for a 6 person multi-share room, they gave us a 4 person one. My other roommates are an Austrian lass and a Chinese girl from Toronto.. We've got kitchens which (according to MY) looks like the ones in restaurants. Hahha noticed something funny-- they've got video surveillance to ensure no one steals the foods on the racks :P More bout YHA when I get the pics up..
Today basically just walked from Central to the Fish Market, had some good seafood - lobster & oysters! yummmy.. might return to sample some fish.. From there we walked to Darling Harbour, passing by the Maritime Museum etc. There were some beautiful views, especially because it was a really sunny day. Finally saw where "Passionflower" (a gelati shop @ ice-creamery) was located, right at the waterfront. Dropped by into Star City Casino as well, decent-looking (casino-ish decor) interior, but exterior.... wasn't spectacular. From Darling Harbour we took a ferry to The Rocks. The (again) long wait was under the blazing sunlight, making me dizzy on the floating platform. I shall be back though! haven't had time to properly rayau these places. Our main purpose today was "Pancake on the Rocks" at George St. Just had to try their famous pancakes before the rest went back.. Yes it looked nice, tasted okay, but at the end was SUPER muak already.. more when pics are available..
Next - a recap of GOLD COAST. Basically for the first 3 days we were there, it just didn't stop raining. Thought of going to Brisbane but had to abandon that plan when the rain was absolutely pouring in bucketloads. The largest shopping mall around(Pacific Fair) just down the road was closed due to floods, airport closed awhile. We ended up going to Australia Fair, a mall up north. But more than half the shops were closed "due to bad weather". Whoa I wonder if that ever happened in Msia??
The next coupla days was spent being "touristy" -- meaning we visited the theme parks Gold Coast is so famous for. Seaworld was first. Enjoyed the seals and dolphin shows. The dolphins were acting up cos their performing arena was "flooded" with more than 1.5metres of rain from the day before. Will try putting up videos of the seal show, really fun!
Went to Movieworld next. Did the usual - Batman/Rides/Looney Tunes stuff etc. I may not look like it but I'm such a big lover of Looney Tunes!!! had to stop myself from getting everything from the souvenir shops. Posed with BugsBunny/Daffy/Sylvester!! I feel 5 year old again =) They even had my fave Martian on 3D -Marvin the Martian! with Daffy co-starring..
Dreamworld was the one where I surprised myself. Usually I'm not such a big fan of rides. Amber can testify to that, she had so much trouble draggin me to one of the Genting rides years ago, really DRAGGED me with her hahha. That, in comparison to Dreamworld makes it even more laughable now. In Dreamworld there're lots more rides, classified into different categories according to the thrill levels.. I ended up going for some crazy ones. A week ago I'd have gone "over my dead body" before going for all that. Now, I'm learning to relax and scream my lungs out. The "high" is certainly thrilling =P
WaiKuin YuanMeng Tob and me went for the Tower of Terror first. Something like a warm up, albeit from a 120 m high tower. The ride - blasting out from a tunnel thingy, going up the tower and reversing down. All at veryyy high speed. There's hardly time to think, let alone scream. Opened my eyes wide when we were up, and saw - beautiful skkyy....
Tower of Terror - Fast Facts:
SPEED 160 kph in seven seconds propelled by electro-magnetic forces.
HEIGHT 38 storeys high
TRACK The 'L'-shaped track stretches 330 metres horizontally - or the equivalent of three football fields.
EXTREME FACTOR 100 metre vertical free-fall backward. Experience 6.5 seconds of weightlessness.
Wanted to go for it again, but the wait's agonisingly long. Tob and me headed to The Giant Drop, something like the "Spaceshot" ride in Genting but MUCH higher.
Giant Drop - Fast Facts:
HEIGHT The tallest free-falling ride in the world at 120metres (39 storeys) high.
SEATING Riders' legs dangle freely from the open air 8-seat gondolas.
STRUCTURALThe Giant Drop shares the tower that supports the Tower of Terror.What's stopping you? A sophisticated magnetic braking system stops the gondolas metres from the ground.
EXTREME FACTOR Free fall time is 5 seconds. The cruise to the top takes approximately 90 seconds.Falling 120 metres is the equivalent of falling from a 39-storey building.
The going-up part was scary. Never really crossed my mind that I'd be soooo impossibly high up. We could see much more than beyond the park. I was just going "OMG I"M CRAZY WE"RE ALL CRAZY".Worse was they let us "enjoy" the view for quite a long time (more than a minute), never knowing when its going to fall. Damn scary! but really syiok when it ended. Wanted to go for it again, cept for the long queue..
Hmm after going for the more extreme rides first we only had time for The Claw (went for the milder ones before tower of terror etc).
The Claw is the most powerful pendulum on the planet. You'll be propelled 9 stories high, swinging up to 75km/h while spinning 360 degrees. It’ll scare you to shreds!
Actually the realllly scary part was the wait in the line. Seeing people go on it, seeing how fast it went plus all the dangling legs whizzing past. I was looking forward to it surprisingly.. hahha probably the previous rides made me a lil immune.. Akin to the Pirate ship, just that your legs are dangling, swinging AND spinning in the air. Its really high up as well. At times I was seeing the scenery almost upside down, going "wooooooooooww". The harneses feel pretty secure, else I'd have qualms bout the ride since at times I'm sortof free-falling with only the harness to keep me from tumbling out.. Definitely not for the faint-hearted!!
More updates later.. the hols are whizzing by, with results out next week plus the expo to look forward to next weekend, its going to be a very busy July! Reports to be done, plans to be submitted, meetings to be held, rosters to follow.. Will need some time to just stop and catch my breath..
Sydney's first impressions - larger than Melb, but dirtier. People less friendly and transport system much more complicated. They've got buses, trains, ferries, monorails etc here. Trying to obtain transport guides proved to be a hassle. Finally picked it up at The Rock's visitor information centre. Looking at my options, at first going aww its $15 for a full day pass for trains/buses/ferries. Then realised I could get a 7day travelpass for 2 zones for $40. Took that, but unfortunately they don't sell it everywhere, could only get it from a train station just now.
Today was the rest's only day in Sydney, they've just left for the airport.. We booked separate places, MunYee and me staying at YHA and them at some awful "hotel" in the city. Apparently the pictures online were misleading and their room was in fact danky small and reallllly old. No such complaints from me though. YHA looks exactly as the pictures they offer. Would really recommend this place to anyone dropping by. Although we paid for a 6 person multi-share room, they gave us a 4 person one. My other roommates are an Austrian lass and a Chinese girl from Toronto.. We've got kitchens which (according to MY) looks like the ones in restaurants. Hahha noticed something funny-- they've got video surveillance to ensure no one steals the foods on the racks :P More bout YHA when I get the pics up..
Today basically just walked from Central to the Fish Market, had some good seafood - lobster & oysters! yummmy.. might return to sample some fish.. From there we walked to Darling Harbour, passing by the Maritime Museum etc. There were some beautiful views, especially because it was a really sunny day. Finally saw where "Passionflower" (a gelati shop @ ice-creamery) was located, right at the waterfront. Dropped by into Star City Casino as well, decent-looking (casino-ish decor) interior, but exterior.... wasn't spectacular. From Darling Harbour we took a ferry to The Rocks. The (again) long wait was under the blazing sunlight, making me dizzy on the floating platform. I shall be back though! haven't had time to properly rayau these places. Our main purpose today was "Pancake on the Rocks" at George St. Just had to try their famous pancakes before the rest went back.. Yes it looked nice, tasted okay, but at the end was SUPER muak already.. more when pics are available..
Next - a recap of GOLD COAST. Basically for the first 3 days we were there, it just didn't stop raining. Thought of going to Brisbane but had to abandon that plan when the rain was absolutely pouring in bucketloads. The largest shopping mall around(Pacific Fair) just down the road was closed due to floods, airport closed awhile. We ended up going to Australia Fair, a mall up north. But more than half the shops were closed "due to bad weather". Whoa I wonder if that ever happened in Msia??
The next coupla days was spent being "touristy" -- meaning we visited the theme parks Gold Coast is so famous for. Seaworld was first. Enjoyed the seals and dolphin shows. The dolphins were acting up cos their performing arena was "flooded" with more than 1.5metres of rain from the day before. Will try putting up videos of the seal show, really fun!
Went to Movieworld next. Did the usual - Batman/Rides/Looney Tunes stuff etc. I may not look like it but I'm such a big lover of Looney Tunes!!! had to stop myself from getting everything from the souvenir shops. Posed with BugsBunny/Daffy/Sylvester!! I feel 5 year old again =) They even had my fave Martian on 3D -Marvin the Martian! with Daffy co-starring..
Dreamworld was the one where I surprised myself. Usually I'm not such a big fan of rides. Amber can testify to that, she had so much trouble draggin me to one of the Genting rides years ago, really DRAGGED me with her hahha. That, in comparison to Dreamworld makes it even more laughable now. In Dreamworld there're lots more rides, classified into different categories according to the thrill levels.. I ended up going for some crazy ones. A week ago I'd have gone "over my dead body" before going for all that. Now, I'm learning to relax and scream my lungs out. The "high" is certainly thrilling =P
WaiKuin YuanMeng Tob and me went for the Tower of Terror first. Something like a warm up, albeit from a 120 m high tower. The ride - blasting out from a tunnel thingy, going up the tower and reversing down. All at veryyy high speed. There's hardly time to think, let alone scream. Opened my eyes wide when we were up, and saw - beautiful skkyy....
Tower of Terror - Fast Facts:
SPEED 160 kph in seven seconds propelled by electro-magnetic forces.
HEIGHT 38 storeys high
TRACK The 'L'-shaped track stretches 330 metres horizontally - or the equivalent of three football fields.
EXTREME FACTOR 100 metre vertical free-fall backward. Experience 6.5 seconds of weightlessness.
Wanted to go for it again, but the wait's agonisingly long. Tob and me headed to The Giant Drop, something like the "Spaceshot" ride in Genting but MUCH higher.
Giant Drop - Fast Facts:
HEIGHT The tallest free-falling ride in the world at 120metres (39 storeys) high.
SEATING Riders' legs dangle freely from the open air 8-seat gondolas.
STRUCTURALThe Giant Drop shares the tower that supports the Tower of Terror.What's stopping you? A sophisticated magnetic braking system stops the gondolas metres from the ground.
EXTREME FACTOR Free fall time is 5 seconds. The cruise to the top takes approximately 90 seconds.Falling 120 metres is the equivalent of falling from a 39-storey building.
The going-up part was scary. Never really crossed my mind that I'd be soooo impossibly high up. We could see much more than beyond the park. I was just going "OMG I"M CRAZY WE"RE ALL CRAZY".Worse was they let us "enjoy" the view for quite a long time (more than a minute), never knowing when its going to fall. Damn scary! but really syiok when it ended. Wanted to go for it again, cept for the long queue..
Hmm after going for the more extreme rides first we only had time for The Claw (went for the milder ones before tower of terror etc).
The Claw is the most powerful pendulum on the planet. You'll be propelled 9 stories high, swinging up to 75km/h while spinning 360 degrees. It’ll scare you to shreds!
Actually the realllly scary part was the wait in the line. Seeing people go on it, seeing how fast it went plus all the dangling legs whizzing past. I was looking forward to it surprisingly.. hahha probably the previous rides made me a lil immune.. Akin to the Pirate ship, just that your legs are dangling, swinging AND spinning in the air. Its really high up as well. At times I was seeing the scenery almost upside down, going "wooooooooooww". The harneses feel pretty secure, else I'd have qualms bout the ride since at times I'm sortof free-falling with only the harness to keep me from tumbling out.. Definitely not for the faint-hearted!!
More updates later.. the hols are whizzing by, with results out next week plus the expo to look forward to next weekend, its going to be a very busy July! Reports to be done, plans to be submitted, meetings to be held, rosters to follow.. Will need some time to just stop and catch my breath..
posted by xaverri at 9:21 pm
1 Comments:
Wah, you really had a ball of a time! Good for you.
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