On our last day in Sydney, we explored the fascinating Chinatown, tasted teppanyaki food and enjoyed amazing views from The Rocks.
We awoke a little tired after yesterday’s trip to Caves Beach. After a good breakfast at Hayley’s uncle and auntie’s house, we said our goodbyes and had a lift to Woy Woy railway station to return to Sydney.
The train from Woy Woy to Sydney
We got on the 9:45 am train with our bulky baggage. Unfortunately for us, the train was full. This meant we were not able to see the stunning views of the coast en-route that we were told to look out for.
The journey would take about 1 hour 15 minutes before arriving at Sydney Central Station. Not long after leaving Woy Woy, the heavens opened with torrential rain. This was actually good news as it would hopefully help put out some of the bush fires.
From Sydney Central Station we took the short trip back to our friend’s residence in Lilyfield by light rail. Again the train was full to capacity.
Sydney’s Chinatown
After dropping our bags at our friend Jam’s house, we made our way back into Sydney. The first thing on our agenda was to visit Chinatown.
Sydney’s Chinatown started to develop after Chinese immigration began in the 19th century. The area is really thriving with an Asian market, noodle bars and vegetable stalls. We had to try some pastries from one of the stalls which were absolutely delicious.
As well as many sculptures there are also traditional Chinese gates on both ends of Chinatown. This really added to the experience and reminded me of Chinatown in Vancouver.
Leaving the market behind us we ventured into the adjoining Haymarket area where we got to try some amazing Vietnamese pork rolls.
A few of Sydney’s bars
With the rain starting to get heavier, we decided to take refuge in some of Sydney’s bars.
First of all, we had a couple of schooners in The Palace Hotel before heading to one of Sydney’s famous backpacking bars Scruffy Murphy’s pub.
Yes, we also did the stereotypical tourist thing of posing for a photo with an inflatable kangaroo.
Ichiban Teppanyaki
With a few beers resting quite nicely in our stomachs, we made our way for our evening meal in Ichiban Teppanyaki.
Teppanyaki is a type of Japanese cuisine where the chef uses an iron griddle to cook food. With that in mind, we opted for a banquet which included miso soup, spring rolls, king prawns, teriyaki chicken, misoyaki steak and fried rice.
We were sat around a chef who cooked our food on the iron griddle. It was so entertaining as the chef also got us involved in the experience. He achieved this by throwing eggs for us to catch in a bowl and launching fried eggs at us to catch in our mouths.
Blu Bar on 36 at Shangri-La Hotel
With the rain easing off a little bit, we made a 30-minute walk through central Sydney to the prestigious Shangri-La Hotel. Here we took a lift up to the Blu Bar on 36.
This is Sydney’s highest bar and serves creative cocktails, fine wines and cold craft beer. The views were incredible and we could see Sydney Observatory, Walsh Bay and Darling Harbour.
It was great to watch the sunset with these views with a drink in our hands.
Views of Sydney at night from The Rocks
With the day, and indeed our holiday drawing to a close, we made our way down to The Rocks. We wanted to enjoy the views of Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge at night.
The views were even more sensational than our first day in Sydney. Especially with the backdrop of all the skyscrapers lit up in central Sydney.
This was such a great location to end our first trip to New South Wales, we had such an amazing time and saw some really interesting things.
We would like to thank Jam, John, Viv, Dan, Shari, Tim and Gabriela for hosting us, Black Cab Central for driving us, and all our new friends we met during our trip.
Both of us had an amazing time and we hope to get back to Australia in the future.
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