Xpressions

Happy New Year!! ... Looking forward to even more eventful 2014 ...

Was really excited about this trip as it was our first trip outside of Sydney. And secondly because it was our first trip in our new car. Yay! We planned a 2 night-3 days trip over the long weekend of labor day holiday. We had booked our accomodation with Youth Hostel(YHA), Canberra. I love YHA - awesome location, affordable prices and very good facilities. Parliament house as seen from  War memorial Canberra - the capital city of Australia - a remarkable and very well laid out city, is around 300kms south of sydney. In Oct, spring season of australia, Canberra hosts the spring festival of Floriade. It's a 100% must see event if you are visting the country during the spring season. War Memorial Day-1: We started from Sydney early in the morning - it's about 4 hrs drive to Canberra. Spring + holiday = great mood .. :) After a few re-fuelling stops for both the car as well as the passengers, we reached Canberra by 11am mid morning. We visited War memorial in the aft...

Hawksburry River is a charming picnic spot with magnificent natural scenery and the river at the backdrop. It's most popular for fishing and sailing and you can see lots of private owned boats arriving and leaving on a trailer after a day at the bay. The river side is surrounded by park area and has picnic benches and child play areas as well as some cafes and open barbecue facilities. Leisurely walk around the river and a picnic lunch. Peace all around .. :)

Archibald Fountain Hyde park is a beautiful patch of fresh green right in the midst of Sydney CBD. With weather heading towards great, we headed out to have a relaxed day at this park. Nearest station is either Museum or Wynyard. From Wynyard there runs a free CBD shuttle which drops you right outside the park. Captain Cook It's a nice walk in the park with the Archibald fountain in the center and the palm avenue - more like a large lane with palm trees on both sides. There is also this pool of reflections which actually puts you in an introspective mood. Also came across the statue of the famous captain cook! And coming to the best part - the hyde park cafe right outside the park. Some coffee and muffins (and i wonder where all that weight comes from .. ) after a great walk in the park just gave it a perfect ending. Hyde Park Palm avenue St. Mary's Cathedral Pool of reflections

Sydney is famous for it's beach lifestyle. There are many beaches along the Sydney coastline. The famous among them being the Bondi and Manly. Although it's nearing the end of winters, the weather is never too bad for some time at the sea in Sydney. Manly beach is best visited by the ferry from Circular Quay. The walk from the Manly wharf to the Beach takes just about 5-10 mins and passes through the high street market kind of area of Manly. The beach is good for a walk or a swim. Mostly famous for surfing but that's some serious business and would love to learn to surf someday .. Apart from surfing, there is also kayaking which is another thing on my top to-do lists of all time .. :) The area around the beach has many eating options, options to just laze around or do a bit of shopping. Had a great day outdoors enjoying some sun and sea. Walking along the beach, eating at the high street and shopping at street markets. Next time I'm coming in the summers with s...

Had a whale of a time .. at whale watching Sydney .. :) It's that time of the year when the whales are on their north-wards migration probably due to winters in the southern hemisphere. They travel just a few kilometers off the coast of Sydney and are a treat to watch. Though the biggest of the species weigh somewhere between 40-50 tons, the ones we saw were the hatchback whales which are between 20-25 tons. They are really huge and from the cruise boat although quite far could be seen very clearly. The exhalation of water through blowholes that the whales do can actually be seen like a small fountain right in the middle of the ocean. It is always followed by the huge animal showing itself up and the famous pectoral fin which it flaps in the water just before going in for a long time below water. It was a treat to see these huge creatures. The weather was great, the views amazing. We were even able to spot dolphins. Coming up and going back in the water in their trademark st...

Sydney is really blessed with an amazing weather. It's still winters, but the sun shines bright and the atmosphere is so pleasant. To top this I'm lucky to be working in this heritage building right next to the Harbor bridge and Opera house. The waters so blue and the surroundings so green .. well enough to make you poetic .. :) We had this charity lunch of Pie and drinks at the office organized for a worthy cause. The highlight of the event was an opportunity to have  lunch at the Terrace. Sure as hell I would never have missed it. The Pies were delicious and the drinks nice and cool. But the best part was the amazing, jaw dropping view from the top. Sharing a few pics .. waiting for another charity event at the terrace. Amazing views + some good deeds. Complete win-win .. :)

Tried something different for Hubby's birthday today. Pavlova. Well the name and snaps suggests some really complicated, delicate desert. But it's pretty simple and more like assembling off-shelf products. Probably the original dish is indeed a complicated, delicate desert created in the honor of a Russian dancer during her Australia/New Zealand tours in the 1920s. The pavlova shells or nests are available off the shelf in any groceries stores. These are shaped like cream nests with a crest and are crispy and sweet. The filling is any simple flavored yogurt. And the toppings can be any fruit of the season. I've used the following ingredients here: Off-shelf Pavlova nests   Blueberry flavored yogurt Cherries, Strawberries and Kiwi fruit - local and in season Assembling this desert hardly takes a few minutes. Also it tastes best when the outer nests are still crispy, hence it should be made just before consuming so that the nests don't turn soggy with too ...

Town Hall Great month so far. May-June is best time for us since we have too many occasions to celebrate. Both our birthdays and anniversary fall in the same period. Things like our first car and possession of our first house together also fall during the same period. Nice coincidence. So to celebrate all these events, been on a shopping spree. Got myself a new Samsung S3 4G. Nice phone and best with the 4G reception. It really feels as good as being on wi-fi. Also since we are still so new in Sydney there are loads and loads of places and opportunities to explore. Working in CBD has been good as I get to experience the city feel. With the trains bustling with people on peak times and the lunch hour frenzy at the food courts. The sleek shopping areas and sleeker people. Loving it all. Few snaps of the Pitt street mall and Town hall areas in the vicinity.

Vivid Sydney - the festival of lights, music and ideas was in Sydney between 24th May to 10th June. Visited the fest several times during this and took a lot of snaps. Most enjoyed the laser show on the boat and of-course the laser show on Opera house. Also loved sampling the street food here like hot fresh corn on the cob on wintry evenings and grilled chicken sandwiches. There were loads of ice cream carts as well, but i'm definitely not an ice-cream person during winters. So a hot chocolate at Starbucks always makes my winter evening great .. :) The fest pulls huge crowds, so most eating options around rocks are over crowded and have hours of waiting for the table. So the street food and other fast food options come to your rescue .. :) Cant help sharing a few more snaps ..

Lights show at Opera House It feels really different to have winter in May .. :) But the climate in Sydney is really beautiful. So even in winters we have sunny days which really feel great. Another event we were looking forward to was Vivid Sydney - the festival of lights, music and ideas. The main venue for this is the Opera House and the area around it. The preparations start about a week in advance. They have huge light installations along the Rocks. The buildings in CBD also participate in this with their own installations and idea exchange forums. There are many music shows as well lined up during this event at various venues around Sydney. Custom House Color changing light panels The main attractions this year were the 'Move your Building' installation at the Custom House. This had a digital projection over the whole building with music. There were few specific themes during which the music and the projection played in sync to create an illusion...