Amazing Australia Trip Day 1: Flying into Sydney!

Continuing from my first post on the 8 Days Trip to Australia series, I am ready to share with you our Day 1 in Sydney!

Day 1 - 26 August 2017, Saturday

Overall itinerary of our first day

2355 (SGT) - 0950 (AET): Singapore, Changi Airport >> Australia, Sydney International Airport

0950 - 1115 : Buy Optus SIM cards for phone & Opal transportation cards at airport

1115 - 1130 : Airport station >> Central Station

1130 - 1200 : Meet up with travel buddy & Deposit luggage at Central Station 1200 - 1400 : Lunch at Haven Specialty Coffee

1400 - 1430 : Travel & Check-in at Airbnb venue

1430 - 1500 : Check into Airbnb venue

1500 - 1535 : Take Bus 440 from Broadway Shopping Centre >> Paddington Market

1535 - 1600 : Explore Paddington Market

1600 - 1800 : Explore streets around Paddington Market; Walk to dinner place

1800 - 1930 : Dinner at Bare Grill On Bourke

1930 - 1943 : Take Bus 440 from Oxford Street >> Broadway Sydney

1943 - 2130 : Shop around Broadway Sydney: Coles, Aldi & Kmart

2130 onwards : Go back to Airbnb venue to rest

Whenever I travel, I always go for midnight flights so when I arrive at the destination, I have 1 whole day of time to explore. Only downside to that is my first day at whichever holiday venue... I spent it walking around like a zombie because I could not get any sleep on planes.

Either way, I met up with Ling Yi (aka Travel Buddy #1 for this trip) at Changi Airport and took the same flight to Sydney. Before the flight, we had some toast (I did not manage to get dinner before that since I ended work late and had to rush to the airport.)

Let's take a look at our flight food, I had a roasted chicken wrap with capsicum and olive, some wine and a kitkat chocolate bar for midnight snack. When we were about to reach Sydney, we were served Mushroom omelette with grilled bacon, tomato, sausage and rosti potatoes. It did not look super appealing, but it was okay for an in-flight meal.

Once we touched down, we went to purchase Optus SIM cards and Opal transportation cards at the airport. We first topped up AU$40 each for our Opal cards as 1-way transportation from Airport to Central Station costs AU$18. Subsequently, we topped up a few more times.

After which, we took the train to Central Station where we met up with Lindy (aka Travel Buddy #2) who has flew into Sydney the day before. Quickly, we deposited our luggages at Central Sydney station here for AU$11/luggage for 0-4 hours.

Next, it was time for lunch! We popped by a nearby cafe called Haven Specialty Coffee. The queue was pretty long, I think we spent close to 30 minutes waiting for a table.

Known for their Iced Tea Mocktails, Signature Pork Belly Kimcheese Burger and Tartare Smoked Salmon, we ordered one of each and shared them among the three of us. Peaks of travelling in a group: you can to order a variety of dishes and you do not need to worry about wasting food!

They served us a bottle of water called Binchotan which has a piece of charcoal. Not exactly sure what the purpose of the charcoal is, but looks kinda interesting.

Enough about the water, we order 2 Iced Tea Mocktails - Dragon's Breathe (Apple, Honey & Cold Brewed Milk Oolong) and Marilyn (Watermelon + Honey + Lemon + Cold Brewed Mary Mary) which costed AU$6 each. Both tasted refreshing, I preferred Dragon's Breathe which has the right amount of sweetness.

We also a berry blend coffee from the Slayer Steam Espresso Machine. You can choose between berry blend and Citrus blend. I am not too sure about the difference but the berry blend coffee is good. It seems like Australia coffee is good everywhere, sort of.

Moving on to the Signature Pork Belly Kimcheese Burger (AU$20), the pork belly slices were chewy and it went well with the combination of kimchi, cheddar cheese, sesame frittata, radish, apple and garlic aioli. I preferred this burger over the Tartare Smoked Salmon made up of smoked salmon and that fluffy scrambled egg which is just as good (it is just personal preference).

Lunch was good, we walked back to Central Station to pick up our luggages before making our way over to our Airbnb. Hmm, we did not like this Airbnb home, kind of endured cold showers and slept in the cold for 4 nights as the room heater was spoilt by the previous tenants and went MIA (meanwhile, I don't know what happened to the shower either and the owner was pretty MIA too).

We had then rushed to Paddington Market which is only opened on Saturdays, from 10am - 4pm. They sell all sorts of things from clothes, jewellery, plants to candles. We spent some time walking around till the stalls start packing up. It was interesting to just soak in the atmosphere, we did not buy anything there.

As our dinner place is down the streets about a 20 minutes walk away, we decided to explore the streets as well. Opposite Paddington Market is a street with rows of shops, including clothings and small supermarkets.

We bought some chocolate covered strawberries, so big & juicy!

After going in and out of several stores down the street, the sun was already setting. Just had a fleeting thought that it is nice to walk around whenever I travel. It is only then I get to feel so carefree and these streets are not flooded with tourists.

Sooner or later, we got to Bare Grill On Bourke on foot. Apparently, there was a baseball game and funnily, the staff served us our food as quickly as possible and they went to stand in front of the TVs and cheered whenever the team scored a point.

So what did we have here? Everything CHEESY, because we love cheese, heh.

1 giant serving of Epic Fries (AU$18) made up of waffle fries, pulled pork, liquid cheese, chipotle mayo, bacon cheese and shallots, drizzled over with homemade BBQ sauce. A tad too salty for my taste, but overall, this dish is alright & it is good for sharing.

Also, we had another cheesy burger called the 'Son of a Cockfighter' (AU$16). It is a burger with a Southern fried chicken fillet, bacon, guacamole, lettuce, coleslaw and Big Bare sauce. Only when the burger is served, the server would then drizzle liquid cheese over the burger right in front of our eyes.

All these are certainly insta worthy, but really, the servings are too huge! Though I am not complaining as the food is good. It is just we need a larger stomach space.

We ended off the day by heading to the Broadway Sydney mall which is located near our Airbnb. It is a fantastic mall because it has all the supermarkets which I want to visit! Coles, Aldi and Kmart, do I need to say more?