December 28, Monday

Public Holiday

We were all tuckered out from our Blue Mountain trip the day before, so we opted for a chill day on Monday – spent meandering around the city and shopping

Sydney Opera House

Circular Quay exploration

We’ve been to Circular Quay several times the past few days for the ferries, but we never got the chance to walk across its whole length. So that’s what we did on Monday, with the walk culminating at the Sydney Opera House

I found the Sydney Opera House much more impressive from afar compared to the up close and personal view – as you could see some parts were not as well-maintained as others when up close. Either way, I’d recommend you still go in and check it out! We opted not to do the Sydney Opera House tour as we weren’t interested in the acoustics of the place, and we already knew the history of the place from our previous walking tours. Nevertheless, we still entered to check out the interiors and use their bathroom (which is really pretty with its curved walls, do it!)

We also dropped by the gift shop to buy a few (pricey) souvenirs. If you’re a Pandora charm collector, you’ll be interested to know they sell Sydney Opera House and kangaroo charms (at “dirt-cheap” prices supposedly. Don’t know if you consider AUD 50 dirt-cheap, but the woman beside me certainly did as she rushed to order 2 charms for herself and her daughter.

The Rocks Market

10:00am to 5:00pm, Weekends

The Rocks Market is typically open on weekends only. However, since they were closed on December 26 (public holiday), they ended up opening on December 28 (a Monday) instead

Anyway, we decided to check it out as everyone kept saying this was a great market to go to. I wasn’t impressed. Everything here can already be found elsewhere (most notably China), except for some handmade Australian handicrafts and clothes which I wasn’t terribly interested in. Note: there were lots of collections pieces that people might like, but definitely way beyond my budget. All in all, it was a bit of a disappointment for me

Lunch at The Australian Heritage Hotel

Corner Rochester Street

If there was one food I was sure I wanted to try (aside from the kangaroo kebab), it was the Coat of Arms pizza topped with half kangaroo and half emu here at The Australian Heritage Hotel

Place is fairly busy as it’s widely known and regarded to serve really good food, so we dropped by around 1:00pm when there were hopefully less people around. The food we ordered were:

• Quinoa salad with sweet potato: tasted too healthy to me, but that’s supposed to be one of their best sellers)
• Coat of Arms pizza: half kangaroo and half emu – I love it
• Saltwater Crocodile pizza: not sure how I feel about this, was a bit chewy and bland but my sister really liked it
• Kangaroo Union Burger: good! But it honestly tasted like a normal beef burger

Shopping

There’s a wide range of malls you can choose from, e.g., Queen Victoria Building, Strand Arcade, Westfield Mall, The Markets (Chinatown), Harborside Mall, Pitt Street, etc

However, my mom was stuck at Pitt Street – she ended up spending the whole afternoon here. Unbelievable! But hey, she was happy with all the clothes she bought so no complaints from us either. We did get to check out QVB and Strand Arcade for its architecture though. Sadly all the stores were closed by the time we got there

Dinner at Menya Mappen

537-551 George Street

Quick, cheap, and yummy – three adjectives that perfectly describe Menya Mappen. Discovered this through Timeout, and am super happy we got to try it out

I love their ramen here – my whole family got different types of ramen and we all loved it, so you definitely won’t go wrong here. Serving size is pretty small however, so just go with a large if you’re hungry. Each bowl costs around AUD 6.50 to 8.50. Note: They only accept cash

For more details, feel free to click the links below to read specific parts of our 6-day Sydney journey:

• Tips and tricks to enjoy a family trip to Sydney
• Day 1: Airport + Hotel and supermarket + The Rocks Tour
• Day 2: Taronga Zoo + Manly Beach + Golden Century dinner
• Day 3: City Tour + Fish Market + Paddy’s Market + Darling Harbor
• Day 4: Blue Mountain + Leura Village
• Day 5: Opera House + Rocks Market + Australian Heritage Hotel
• Day 6: Bronte to Bondi Coastal Walk + Watson’s Bay + Harbor Bridge + Luna Park

OTHER SYDNEY BLOGS

• Eating my way through Sydney – top picks!
• Best nature trails and areas in Sydney – my top picks!
• Events to catch in Sydney – my top picks!
• My experience skydiving with Sydney Skydivers

MELBOURNE BLOGS

• What to see and do when in Melbourne
• Eating my way through Melbourne – top picks!
• Day trips from Melbourne (Great Ocean Road, Brighton Houses, St Kilda)
• Great Ocean Road Tour experience