Just touched down in Singapore last night and I am already feeling it - I miss Sydney.
Let's bring it all the way back to day 1:
Met the rojak travel group 10PM at Changi Airport Terminal 2. As usual, I was late.. But that's partially because I was damn unlucky? All the buses and trains took longer than expected tsk.
To break the awkwardness, we took the mandatory departure board shots!
After we checked in our luggage, we had our dinner at Swensen's. Since we weren't planning to purchase any food on the flight (because airplane food sucks and they are crazily overpriced), I stuffed myself with a main course and ice cream. My freaking awesome mum also prepared lotsa snacks in my bag for the 8-hour flight.
Catching the sunrise mid-flight.
Had a really bad experience on Jetstar the last time I went to Taiwan, so I was worried that seats will be the same. Surprisingly, Scoot's leg room was quite reasonable. So yep, SCOOT > JETSTAR.
Flight Fare: S$454 (2 way)
When we landed, Billy's elder brother, Michael, was already waiting for us at the arrival hall. We hired a cab for 5 people and our adventure begins!!
The day I turned into a man, and Billy into a girl.
Cab Fare: AUD$70
Welcome to Australia? Hahahaha. I swear my heart skipped a beat whenever the meter jumped.
11 Rawson Place, Sydney Central YHA
The picture on the left is the view from our room! We booked a 4-bed room. It consists of 2 double decker beds and 4 lockers. Really clean toilets are shared with the people living on the same level. It's location is not bad as well!
Accommodation: ~S$250/pax for 6 nights
After we left our luggage in our room, we went over to Paddy's Market to have our lunch. That's when we all realised that food in Sydney is very expensive compared to Singapore. I had a Vietnamese set meal which costs AUD$9.50. Note that we were in an ordinary food court *heart shatters* On a lighter note, their portions are huge.
Dylan losing the very game we played in Aussie.
Punishment: Eat a slice of lemon.
After filling our stomachs, we started to venture around the hostel's vicinity.
Just felt like taking a group shot here because the word 'CAPITOL' reminds me of The Hunger Games.
We managed to walk all the way to Westfield Shopping Mall. We wanted to go up and try the skywalk, but they were expecting a storm, so we gave it a miss :( More details about the mall in the next post because we went there again the next day!
McDonald's there has such awesome variety of desserts!!
We bought beer on our way back, because according to Michael, drinking beer every night is the Australian culture! We brought our beer up the the rooftop BBQ pit at our hostel and just chilled while watching the gorgeous sunset. I swear I wanted time to stop.. And yep, totally regretting not bringing my camera/phone up that evening.
We swam and sauna as well (yes YHA has wonderful facilities for a hostel). We also made friends with a group of Italian students in the sauna! I really liked how we shared the cultures in our respective countries and we even sang our national anthem inside LOL.
So after we bathed, the guys and I decided to visit Chinatown! Tasmay decided to rest instead tsk.
Finally got to try the Dragon's Beard!
It's basically sugar/corn syrup that is solidified and stretched into fine strands. They are filled with peanuts inside, and are really chewy and sweet. I personally like them a lot!
AUD$2 each
Chinese food for our super late dinner. I really love the toufu omg.
We walked to Darling Harbour and found this pretty big playground. Even though it was quite late, it was kinda crowded. There were mainly teens sleeping around the place and I have to admit, they look quite intimidating.
But anyway! We still had our own fun! We tried the slides and swings and other interesting stuff that playgrounds in Singapore do not have.
30 cents vanilla cone to end our night!
So this marks the end of the first day in Sydney! It wasn't much, since we touched down in the afternoon. I still remember how I couldn't sleep that night because I didn't want it to end, and partially because I was excited for the next day.
I will try to post day 2 as soon as I can. I am still waiting for the boys to send me the photos!
Goodbye for now! X
