Sydney Part III & IV

Whoops the trip happened last September and I STILL HAVEN'T FINISH BLOGGING. 

I kinda forgot what happen in the trip so, let me be lazy and combine day III and IV ok?

Day III - Blue Mountains

We went to Blue Mountains as we did 12 years before, except that we have to venture on our own this time. 

There's quite a few stations to get to the place since Blue Mt. covers a huge area. I was a little :( that I didn't get to visit the caves as it's a tad expensive if all of us were to go, so I opted for the more budget (less exciting) tour instead. 

We didn't have a car, so we took the train to Katoomba instead, followed by a shuttle service - Blue Mountains Trolley Tours around the main attractions. Because of the shuttle timing, there were a few unexplored places, but that's okay. The whole point was for us to breathe some fresh air and we sure got a lot of that!

Bright and early at Katoomba

In the shuttle bus

Scenic World is probably the no. 1 must do thing in Blue Mt. if you have never been there before because it gives you a bird's eye view of the place (not the walkway obviously lol) 

As per the driver's suggestion, we took the Railway down, walk a little before taking the Skyway up. 

All of us took the Railway before but it was fun to do it again. I just dislike how people scream so loud on the journey down though - it's not even a roller coaster. 

It's just steep - that's all!

When we were there, some parts were still under construction, but now everything is done up. 

While this became a tourist ride, it was actually how the coal miners used to go to work. 

Walking along the trail we saw quite a number of things like how a parasitic tree feeds off another because its trunk was split into two by lightning.

I love these sort of nature trips. Unlike our botanic garden, they explained the nature behind things and not simply the name of the trees (like we would even remember those things). 

Looks like Singapore to me lol. 

And here comes the Cableway. 

I. Honestly. Forgot. What. I. Saw. Except. For. A. Waterfall

Some scenic shots 

and we did some other random stuff there (forgot what) and it's time to go back to the City.

It's actually a place where you can explore for more than a day, but we were pressed for time :(

Japanese restaurant again because they definitely have vegeterian stuff for my dad. 

Day IV: Final day adventure at Powerhouse Museum

I know.. I know.. I really have this thing for museums you know. 

Besides, I think museums are the best place for families. There's always something for everyone there. 

Made a good choice to go Powerhouse because

a) There was the special Narnia exhibition with the original cast stuff (no photography allowed. Boo.)

b) It's so sciency and I think bro really enjoyed seeing all the trains and engines stuff. Boys will be boys!. 

Train greeted us upon entrance

Another sort of special exhibition series: Love lace. 

Kinda spooky aye?

All sorts of possible transportations

Bro on the ancient bike. Seriously, it must be very difficult to ride it. I rather walk. 

And you know there isn't plasters during those times.. (i think). 

It was quite difficult to mount the bike too, despite help. 

A piece of meterorite

The zipper - this is probably one of the coolest and smartest invention for cities. 

Take a look at the video to see how it works. 

Kids in kindergarten learning liquid nitrogen o.0

I didn't even learn it until Primary 4 I think. 

To hear them say words like 'molecules', 'compression' was...

let's just say it made me felt (once again) how rigid Singapore education is. 

Olympic bike

Since it was the last day, we decided to enjoy our dinner... at yet another Japanese restaurant lol.

With the advent of Groupon, I decided to see if we can find cheap deals, prior our flight. 

and this was what we found...

Awesome omg we got too full meal from

Samurai Japanese Dining Bar

because it was again, quite close to the hotel. 5-10minutes walk. 

Entree

wasn't able to take picture of each dish because it was quite dark on the second floor, we can barely see if not for the streetlamp outside lol.

but it was really a very delicious meal - no chain restaurant: Sushi Tei, Genki, Ichiban and most certainly NOT Sakae Sushi can beat. 

this was the groupon we got

YOU SEE!! SO MANY THINGS FOR ONLY AUD29.90

Again, I felt sad after the meal. Because the service provided was so impeccable that we even tipped the people there.
Food cooked by real Japanese. Check.
Level of service given. Awesome (come on! You know Japanese people!)
Was the deal worth it. You bet it is!

It left me so so so speechless.
Ok I was also speechless because I got drunk by one small cup of plum wine.
lolololol.

But back to topic.
I was initially quite wary about groupon deals thanks to the experiences in Singapore and loads of untold horror stories of how shop owners give black faces when you showed them the deal vouchers, hard selling were extremely common for those who paid for hair/face/spa packages and miserable amount of food. It once again showed how ungracious Singapore can be sometimes :(

I don't really want to end the entry with a :(
but after writing this, I really want to go back again!!
Maybe I will go Gold Coast next time (again)!

Here's the link if you want to read the first couple entries on Sydney:
http://cherpopiah.blogspot.sg/search/label/sydney