The next morning we did our Starbucks wifi pilgrimage, then
rejoined our third member to hit up a yum cha restaurant in Chinatown. Yum cha,
for the uninitiated, is what we in the US tend to call dim sum. Dim sum,
however, only refers to the actual food in a yum cha dining experience. Yum cha
is the act of eating dim sum dishes and drinking the ubiquitous green tea that
accompanies them. In fact, the words “yum cha” translate to “drink tea.” So
there you go.
The restaurant we went to was called Marigold – another recommendation
of our local trip advisor Baron. Marigold takes up the top two floors of one of
the many malls in Chinatown. The dining experience is the typical yum cha whirlwind
of aggressive serving, constant consumption and choice paralysis. I have always
been an adventurous eater and things like tripe, intestine, haggis and hotdogs
don’t faze me one bit, and I took the opportunity to convince my party to try
one of the braver dim sum dishes – chicken feet.
mmmmm feet... |
Chicken feet are just that, the lower leg joint and claw of
the chicken, slow braised until all that tough, usually inedible cartilage gets
soft and succulent. Chicken feet taste just fine. It’s like eating the skin off
a braised piece of chicken. The practice of eating chicken feet however is a
bit of a trial, as they are almost all bone, gristle and skin – and the bones
are teeny tiny. Justin and I managed the experience just fine, but Oscar, upon
taking one too many close looks at the little claws, started to get a bit
anxious about the chicken feet. Food anxiety is something I am entirely foreign
with, but we made the feet disappear for Oscar’s benefit and moved on.
Sure you hear the water and the birds...but do you hear the grasshopper, which is at your feet? |
Next we went to the Chinese Friendship Garden, located just
south of Darling Harbour. By the time we got there it was once again pouring,
but after a few minutes we decided to enter regardless and try our luck ducking
into the various shrines, walkways and tea rooms of the garden to escape the
rain. Well worth the AUD $6 admission for adults, the Friendship Garden is
absolutely beautiful and perfectly located for tourists. It was designed by
architects in Guangzhou as a symbol of the friendship between China and
Australia and is packed with beautiful plants, buildings and wildlife. Because
it was raining we became intimately familiar with Australia’s various spiders,
as they camped out in the upper reaches of the open air walkways. One of them
even descended right in front of us to remind us that terror lurks in the most
serene places. Thank you, giant spider, for the life lesson.
I'm pretty sure the bird knew how awesome he was looking... |
The central pond of the garden was full of huge koi, whose
occasional wild urges prompted them to leap out of the water in an ebullient display
of acrobatics. There was also a very tenacious crane perched atop one of the
rock sculptures in the lake, who posed brilliantly for some pictures. The
garden also housed a very nice looking tea room overlooking the lake, of which
we did not partake.
The rest of the afternoon was spent tying up loose ends of
our tragically brief Sydney trip. First we returned to Paddy’s Market to allow
Oscar to pick up some kitschy Australian memorabilia, then we returned to the
Rocks to partake in their weekend craft maret. There I found the stall of an
artist vending some really cool prints showing caricatures of Australian
animals. The characters were full of appeal, and of course, as it turns out,
the guy who creates the pieces is an animator. They are currently hanging up prominently
in my guest bathroom. If you have a chance, check out http://www.cheekybucket.com to see and
possibly purchase some of Simon Williams’ charming artwork.
The Convicts, Soldiers and Settlers Monument in The Rocks |
Our last meal in Sydney we decided to try a highly rated
restaurant Oxford Social, on the edge of Darlinghurst, sort of near the red
light district. While it was quite good, it was overpriced for the offerings,
and their “perfect” martini used vodka instead of gin, which is a crime against
humanity. I did have some very delicious Arancini, which are fried rice balls
stuffed with, in this case, brie and tomatoe. I also had some acceptable fish
croquettes. Afterward we walked back to Baron’s house, straight through a very
gay friendly part of town - the Golden Mile, an area of Oxford street in
Darlinghurst. This was purely by happenstance, but it was good to see a healhy
LGBT community in the city.
We stopped off at a very popular gelato shop, rated number
one in Sydney, in fact, called Gelato Messina. I invite you to check out their
website at http://www.gelatomessina.com because their flavor list is spectacular, but
I had a gelato made with cardamom and raisins and it was wonderful. They are
cash only and expect a line, but it was totally worth it.
Beautiful Sydney at Night |
Finally, we returned to Baron’s place for a last look at the
Sydney skyline by night. I promised them some night shots, so I desperately took
hundreds of photos hoping that a few of them would come out. I think I managed
to get a few decent shots, but it definitely highlighted a need for me to bring
a tripod with me on trips like this. It’s nearly impossible to hold one’s
camera still enough to get a good night shot. You need a long exposure, and
anything longer than 1/30th of a second is too long to keep still
and get a clean shot.
Leaving Justin behind, Oscar and I walked back to the hotel
for the last time, tried to finish off the two 4-packs of cider and beer we had
bought, and fell asleep. The next day we were homeward bound.