The truth is, Australia was not a place that I had actually wanted to visit. I have heard a lot from other people about it's boring night life. My friend was pretty insistent, we should experience it on our own and should not based it on others' view about the country; since that was the case, we gave it a shot, thus our booking of hotels and flight was done.
Our Flight to Sydney was by Scoot, a budget airline. One scary thing happened when we were checking in, we were denied to check in as we did not have a Visa to Australia. Oh my God, we had not done our homework right, it had never came across my mind that we required a Visa to enter Australia. However luckily, we were able buy a Visa at the last minute at the SATS Airport services, and that cost S$50/- per person. We departed Singapore at 0145hrs on 31st Aug 2014, we arrived in Sydney at 1130hrs on 1st Sept 2014. Australia time is two hours earlier than Singapore.
When the plane touched down in Sydney- Kingsford Smith Airport Terminal 1, We were not allowed to switch on our phones as they do not allow the use of mobile phones at the immigration arrival hall.
As we walked down the aisle of arrival hall, we saw a number of machines that allowed DIY check in. Only selected country like New Zealand, Singapore and a few others are allowed DIY Check in. There is no more stamping of a Visa Pass on your passport, it is now all IT based. This is quite a pity as I missed all those various country stamps on your passport. As now I flipped through my passport, I realized it is all empty pages, maybe in near future, there is fewer pages on your passport........
As we went through the DIY machine check in, when I had smiled into the camera, the immigration officers were very helpful, they said that for Singapore Passport holder, it is even easier, follow the photo on your passport...... which means, if you are wearing spectacles on the photo, then you have to put on your spectacles, and if in the photo, you are smiling, then smile at the camera..... that is it, simple as ABC.
Yap, we passed through immigration like learning ABC, so simple and quick. We then went to get our luggage ...... After sitting for more than 6 hours of flight, the first thing I spent on was a bottle of mineral water, Mount Franklin Mineral Water 600mls- which cost me almost AUD$ 5. Can you imagine that is so expensive......
While L was enjoying her little coffee break, I was observing to the surroundings, people..... I then saw that every tables in the café was so clean, and I realized that everyone was so responsible to clear their own tray and rubbish.. this is the same as when I was in America. Suddenly a question arise to my head, where is the rubbish bin? I could only see tables, chairs, a little round table containing all the sugar, disposable stirrer, napkins but there were no rubbish bin within my view.
I saw a lady who had finished her drinks and was too looking for the bin and could not find any, she then asked the café staff for assistance, finally I too saw where was the rubbish bin.....
It was in the centre of the round table .......... Can u imagine, all the clean items around the rubbish bin, but luckily the bin was quite deep in..... (How did I know, Well, I was the one who volunteered to throw the rubbish as I want to know how the bin looked like!).
The next chapter of our trip was to look for our hotel....... Thus we proceeded to the Airport train station, it is interlink with the city...... However, it could be due to first time, we bought the wrong tickets and all thanks to my gut feel of "six sense" whom told me that we had the wrong tickets..... we checked with the lady at the tickets and she confirmed my senses.... We were wrong, Thankfully she allowed us to refund the tickets and we got the correct ones to our destination: "Circular Quay"
The trains in Sydney have seven lines and each colour is coded for easy identification. They have a new electronic card system called " OPAL card" but we have no chance to use this card as we used the "WALK Card"
Can you imagine that only 8 stations, our ticket cost about AUD $17.20 +GST AUD $1.56 per person......... That is so expensive, imagine you have to take the trains up and down.......
However I like their MRT trains, They are double decks.......
When we exit the station, the first view was the harbour and we saw the world famous Bridge - Harbour Bridge.
The harbour was full of seagulls flying everywhere, cruise ships docking at the harbour, people moving around, the sunlight was so strong that my transition lens turn to shades immediately....
The weather was still cold despite sunshine shinning brightly ...... at least the temperature was about 18C. We are now at the Rocks....
The Rocks, located in Sydney's Precinct historic town is our destination. It is where our hotel is located.. The Rocks is where Sydney first began with the establishment of the English Colony in 1788. This historic town is preserved well as it was home to sailors, whalers and traders.. Everywhere in the Rocks we saw was unique early colonial architecture, historic pubs, markets and spectacular view of Sydney Harbour.... We took a while to look for our hotel which is well hidden in between these beautiful colonial buildings.... We strolled up and down the main street, George Street, pulling my luggage on cobblestone laneways of the rocks, that was real tiring.. It was a Sunday afternoon where the rock weekend market was on... This was Sydney's famous market that is only available on Fridays 9am-3pm and weekends 10am-5pm... I love walking down their beautifully restored 19th century buildings and lane..... 
Here are all the pictures taken at the Rocks. We finally found our hotel, It is known as
| Harbour Rocks Hotel Sydney MGallery Collection | |
| 34 Harrington Street | |
| The Rocks/Sydney/Australia | |
It is a beautiful small hotel...... It really took us almost an hour to find it along many little alleys and lanes..... We were able to cut through all those alleys and lanes, and it was not a bit frightening, in fact, the lanes were beautiful, I nearly mistaken myself to be travelling back in time to the 19th century England. It was a pity I don't see horses pulling carriages down the street.... then that is a wonderful sight......
Here is how my hotel look like......... Exterior
As my videos files were too big to be downloaded, it will be in my facebook......
Here are pictures of my hotel room, small but elegant and cosy.... in fact it look modern, you absolutely will not think that is a little room in a 19th century building....
The Harbour bridge was built to be 134 metres above the harbour.....As it was too expensive to do a bridge climb, or even on board the cruise explorer we walked below the bridge and it was equally enjoyable.. Enjoying the sea breeze, viewing the scenic view of the sea, tall ships, seagulls flying everywhere, u are going to be real worried as these birds shit while flying... I was so lucky that one of the seagull shit at least 2 cm away from me.... I heard a sound that goes Blakkkkk..when one of them was flying above my head.. I was like, oh no, shit is not going to ruin my hair........ The next minute u see "white fluid kind elements" on the floor in front of me......
We saw lots of couples posing in their wedding gown and suit at the harbour........ it seems to be very common to include the harbour bridge in your wedding photos...... It might be better if you are able to have your wedding dinner on the bridge itself, while all the guest are enjoying the view of the skylines and even views on the pacific ocean to the blue mountains.... I wonder anyone does that???? I think the bride and groom have to ensure that the guests attending their wedding dinner are not scared of heights..... 134metres.... That is real high !!!!!
It is just my thoughts.... hahahaha......
By the way- Climbing the bridge will take around 3hours and half and that costs AUD $198, $208, $308 depending on the time.... Climbing the bridge at Twilight is the most expensive.
Do you know the Opera house is a UNESCO World Heritage masterpiece structure..... actually I have no idea.... it was designed by a Danish architect and completed in 1973....
The opera house was opposite the harbour bridge, it was fun to walk...... even though I don't feel the sun, the ultraviolent rays were still very strong, my transition lens stayed black shaded throughout, even when the sun was setting...... it was very cold when the breeze blew through.......
At this very hour and weather, there are still some people doing the ice bucket challenge on the sidewalks of the Opera house..... Don't he feel cold..... anyway, After the challenge, he is just numb all over.... hahahaha....
Actually the weather was nice, but when the wind starts to blow....... oh my god, that is millions of needles poking you all over..... The first thing I covered was my nose..... too numb to smell anything despite the restaurant being next to me.......
(Shared the photos through my facebook as there were too many....)
We settled for a burger and a coke for dinner, as it was way too expensive to indulge in a dinner feast at the restaurant along the harbour, or even back at the Rocks.....
You have to be prepared to spend at least a few hundred of Aussie dollars per night if you want to eat at a restaurant...... or even a café.....
The food stalls by the street are all very expensive.... which include the supermarket.....
As the night had set in by 6pm, there are lesser people on the streets, shops except for the restaurants are beginning to close..... the trains stations will close by 8 pm.......
While returning to the hotel, I looked at my watch- Singapore Time was only 4 pm..... Oh my, What am I Going to do next in the hotel..... well.......
Relax and Sleep..... Actually on the first night we slept quite early, by 9 pm (Singapore Time -7 pm)... I was already snoring like a pig...... Thank god, both of us were too tired to get awaken by our own snores...
The next day, we walked from one trains stations to another........ this helped us to save quite a sum of money.......
