Eating Sydney

 

For almost a year we have been waiting for this trip. A chance to get back to Sydney, to escape the longest wintry-weather misery of home and defrost and to get to see a show at the Opera House. Not any show, but one of Gudge's favourite bands, Swedish Prog-metallers, Opeth.

Before we got to the airport, we have a little tradition...

My usual: Whopper with Cheese

And at the airport, I have a little tradition (wink and smirk). On a side note, our flight was delayed. We live an hour from the airport so once we're there, we're there. I received a message to let me know of the delay 25 minutes after we were supposed to have boarded. Thanks for that Jetstar. I fly Virgin 90% of the time and I'm going to try to up that to 99%. Our flight home was also delayed, both for plane problems. Nope. Done.

The upside to this, and something I haven't been asked in some time, would I like a small or large wine. I think there's only one answer to that question, and I was very happy with my massive glass of Rose to get me through the delay. 

But we arrived eventually (we also had to circle around Sydney in the air for 40 minutes to wait for a storm to pass, I don't blame Jetstar for this.)

We stayed at the Meriton Pitt Street. My third time. I love its central location and walkability. I LOVE staying in an apart-hotel. Sydney accommodation is quite expensive and the Meriton is no different but we worked out the extra money for accommodation can be made up by eating one or two meals a day at home instead of at cafes or restaurants. So we were quite frugal but still ate well and had a wonderful time. I won't bother writing up the toasted sandwiches or cook at home pizzas.

View from room 3903 Meriton Pitt Street

Our first day involved a walk around Surry Hills and a visit to the Museum of Australia to see the Relics Exhibition. Gudge adores lego and we has certainly got me into it too. This was created by 2 of the winners of Lego Masters and depicts a futuristic, post-apocalypic world. Humans have ruined the planet and died out and mini-figs have taken over. It was extraordinary, so well done and very witty.

We stopped in back home for a midday siesta before walking down to Circular Quay for a ferry ride to Manly to take in the perfect weather before some afternoon window shopping.

As you can imagine, we were pretty knackered and opted for an easy, eat in meal.

I picked these up from the Woolies downstairs and reminded me so much of being in Japan, grabbing some bites to eat from the conbini and relaxing back at the room. These were certainly NOT the Japanese prices I fell in love with. 

Nigiri, Sushi roll, Takoyaki, Matua Savignon Blanc

Our second full day, we started with more window shopping before grabbing a little brunch of pistachio cheesecake to bring back to have with a cup of tea.

Pistachio Cheesecake, English Breakfast Tea

And a solo afternoon trip to the Botanic Gardens and specifically the Calyx for me. It was everything I hoped it would be.

The Calyx

As tonight was Gudgies special night, he was to choose the dinner destination. We had been on our last trip and it was very good. Of course it's for tourists and has the views to justify that, but the food and service was great so I was happy to go back to Wahlburgers.

It was one of those Tasmania-esque type days where all day it was coolish, but by the afternoon it was very hot in the sun, so we opted to sit in the shade, but still got to take in the surrounds.

It was happy hour and Monday night meal deals so I was happy with all of that. I started with a pornstar martini which was excellent, despite having to google the correct way to drink it (alternate sips between the martini and prosecco)

I couldn't go past a $25 Porterhouse (usually $44) with onion rings and salad with a side of truffle aioli and Gudge ordered a Chicken Burger. 

The steak, although it felt like a lower quality steak was cooked really well and was delicious. Good salad, the truffle aioli was excellent and very tasty accompaniment but the onion rings were cold.

His burger was not, in fact a chicken burger. But he was still happy with the burger and the tasty chips.

I decided I needed a little caffeine to get me through the night and I thought some sugar wouldnt hurt either, so we ordered an espresso martini and a serving of their Fried Dough- All American with cinnamon apples, ice cream and cream.

Although still pretty delicious, this was not cinnamon apples but chocolate sauce- The Classic. 

We certainly couldn't complain with 2 cocktails, soft drink, coffee, a steak, burger and dessert for not much over $100 but I don't think we'll be back after the incorrect meals brought out on two cases. (I still love Mark Wahlberg though.)

But the night was young and we were off to the show that was the reason we were in Sydney afterall.

A spectacular evening to wait. In a remarkably beautiful city.

And finally to the Opera House, great seats to a spectaular show. A bucket list item ticked off in having been to a show inside the Opera House and Gudge was so happy with the set. The band were outstanding, and had all the professionalism of a band formed 35 years ago.

Off to the airport in the morning and a quick eat before our lunchtime flight (once again delayed).

There's a lot of things we don't have in Tasmania- Ikea, Aldi and 2 weird things that we probably wouldn't miss if we had access to them, Red Rooster (oh gosh we get cravings for Red Rooster) and something I didn't even remember I had missed til I walked past. Roll'd spring rolls. I also ordered a Bahn Mi, which is good because we didn;t get home til close to 4 pm.

And that was our not-so-fancy but 100% enjoyable trip to Sydney. Done and dusted til next time.

A Drive to the Huon Valley

The destination was Tahune Airwalk. The party was myself, and my guest and very good friend from Brisbane and his daughter. From my house Tahune Airwalk, not far from Geeveston is just shy of two and a half hours by car, and with a five year old on board, we opted for an overnight stay.

First stop was one of the prettiest towns in Tasmania, Cygnet. As it was time to eat we stopped into Cygnet Japanese Diner which had opened when we lived down this way (over FIVE years ago).

I ordered the Traditional Okonomiyaki as well as the Takoyaki (Octopus Balls) while my guest ordered a ramen and Miss 5 had a tuna hand roll and an inari.

A short wait and our food arrived, steaming hot and looking wonderful.

I absolutely adore how unpretentious this little cafe is, it totally feels like being back in Japan, with well made, authentic Japanese food and service with a smile.

We had booked a two bedroom, self contained unit at Kermandie Hotel, Port Huon and had dinner at the on site Pub.

photo courtesy of booking.com and Kermandie Hotel

The room was comfortable and very good value and the pub turned out to be quite a surprise.

We were very grateful the pub and restaurant were open, as winter in Tasmania is definitely the OFF season. We were one of only groups occupying the accomodation, but I love this time of year and I love having the state virtually to myself, even if it is cold, and foggy and wonderfully British.

With glasses of Tasmanian wine, we both opted for the fettuccini with scallops and it was absolute perfection. For a creamy pasta, it was delightfully balanced, not heavy at all, great seasoning with a generous amount of delicious scallops.

As it was my birthday, I thought I'd treat myself to dessert. This was the Pina Colada terrine and it was vey lovely indeed. A refreshing frozen pineapple and lime dessert topped with roasted coconut and warm candied pineapple.

We made it to the beautiful Tahune Airwalk, my first time. This area was decimated by bushfire in 2019 and closed for many year afterwards, It is open once again and the forest regeneration is spectacular. It was absolutely worth the drive. We did the airwalk as well as one of the riverside walks and we all enjoyed the whole experience. 

Eating Tokyo

Tokyo was the last stop on our amazing trip. We had around 5 days in this incredible city with a population of 37 million. It was beautiful, vibrant, MASSIVE, quirky. I can absolutely understand the reason Tokyo has become such a bucket list spot.

I think you could spend 3 months in Tokyo and not see all that you wanted to.  We certainly saw some amazing things, albeit briefly. And unfortunately Tokyo is when after being on the go, that exhaustion caught up and I inevitably got sick. That aside, I forged though and still have incredible memories.

Shinjuku Gyoen is the Central Park of Tokyo and was one of my must sees! It was very close to our hotel and I ended up going twice. 

It was an incredible garden and was a little piece of calm in the middle of the city.

I couldn't resist when I saw this adorable food truck.

It was not cheap at AUD 13 but my goodness it was delicious. A really tasty hot dog on a perfect bread roll with pickled veg which are produced in the garden itself. Very fresh, very delicious and the vendor was really lovely and friendly. 

On our other visit, I stopped in at Tsubura, a cafe in the gardens. They offered a small selection of bentos, sweets, hot and cold drinks and I had a gyodon and home made lemonade slushy while dad had a latte. 

Really sweet presentation, and a nice morning tea. Around AUD25 for the bento, drink and coffee.

A month before we departed I had the most stressful time acquiring tickets to the Ghibli Museum. Logging on at 10am on the dot as told to, I was put into a queue where I was 4099th in line. Tickets are only $10 per person, but are very limited and very coveted. The museum was tiny but very lovely, and absolutely worth the trouble. We wouldn't have journeyed out to Mitaka if we hadn't had tickets and wouldn't have discovered the beautiful Inokashira Park, which was utterly Ghibli in itself. (photography is not allowed inside the museum)

While at the park we stopped for a beer at Italian Restaurant Isentai and decided to share one of the woodfired pizzas. It was beautiful as well as incredibly tasty.

This was the house special and had a base of mascarpone and fresh cream and was topped with prosciutto, rocket, honey and edible flowers.

On one of our last days, I was feeling particularly poorly, but I said to dad I wanted to venture out but I didn't want to do any of the thinking or planning, I just wanted to be lead around. Bless him he did such a wonderful job. 

He knew I wanted to see some seaside and he knew I found the subway and metro incredibly stressful, so se booked us tickets on the open top bus (we had previously open top bussed and ADORED it) and chose the route that would take us portside to Odaiba. 

It was a beautiful out-of-the-way spot that we assume is where Tokyoites spend their weekends and holidays. It was a perfect day and the beach was speakling blue and clean as anything and no hussle and bustle.

We stopped in at a cafe, Sea Side Cafe Solaris that had a decidedly Hawaiian feeling to it for coffee, I also had a cream cheese pretzel which has that perfect sweet and salty combo going on.

We wandered around the area for an hour or two before hopping on the bus back to Ginza. We drove past the Tsukiji Market which resembled a heaving mass of bodies and took a raincheck before finding a bite to eat at the cutest restaurant we'd passed, Il Barocco.

We were lucky to get a seat as it was getting towards the end of lunch time on a Saturday. Inside felt like a traditional Italian Trattoria, not a tourist in sight and smells of deliciousness thick in the air.

I started with a blood orange mimosa and dad a beer with our garlic prawns and house made focaccia (to dip). They were INCREDIBLE.

Our other entree was slow cooked pork shoulder served with mushrooms which was also gorgeous.

Mains were spaghetti marinara and pizza el fungi.

The pizza was very nice, but the star was the spagetti. It had perfect flavour that was in no way overbearing. The seafood was fresh and cooked perfectly and these two actually complimented each other perfectly.

And this place we chose at least partially for the outside of the restaurant.

Cheap and cheerful Chinese! My sweet and sour pork was perfect and I could have eaten two or maybe even three serves. 

Check out dad's plate, actually it was the size of a platter! With fried rice that dad said was superb, fried chicken and gyoza.

This is the final of the Japan series. I feel so lucky to have been invited to join my father on this trip of a lifetime. My dad is the perfect travel partner. I admire his calm in stressful situations, his never-ending youthful adventurousness and his open and empathetic understanding of those around him.

Love you, Papa.