Blue Mountains Weekend Getaway

Some of my family members came over to Sydney to visit us recently and we bought them to Blue Mountains on a short weekend trip.

Day 1 
+ Lunch at Avalon Restaurant 
   18 Katoomba Street Katoomba NSW 2780

We set off at from Sydney on a 2 hour drive to Katoomba and arrived at 11+ am. We had an early lunch at Avalon Restaurant, which was recommended by online reviewers. The price is not cheap but we share a main among 2 persons and the western food was pretty good. 

+ Scenic World 
   1 Violet St Katoomba NSW 2780 Australia‎, 9am- 5pm
   http://www.scenicworld.com.au/

Free covered parking is available at the attraction. It was very crowded but the queue for tickets did not take very long. We went for all three rides; Railway, Cableway and Skyway. 

The Scenic Railway which lasted only less than a minute. We went for the ride going down (you can take the same ride back up) which was extremely steep and I felt like I was falling off any moment so please grab on to the hand rails!

Next, we went for the Scenic Cableway after going for some short trails which has well maintained walkways. I personally don't find any thrill in the ride but was happy to look at the breathtaking scenery. We waited quite awhile for this as the queue was very long. 

Finally, the Scenic Skyway which offers stunning view of the Jamison Valley. Again, the queue was very long and it was stuffy with no air conditioning. As we were the last ones to board, the hot spots had already been taken up by other tourists but, there are still available space in the Skyway.
The ride from Top station across was not exciting as it was an up slope for the Skyway. I was excited to take the Skyway back to Top station as it was a steep descent but my family wanted to walk back to the Top station. 

We took around 3 hours to explore the place at a leisurely pace and went for some walks; not the long trails though. I don't view this as a must-see attraction if you have many places to visit in Sydney. It's overrated in my opinion but is a good place to explore if you are with elderly and kids.  

There were also tour buses with many Chinese and Korean tourists (I'm making a frank observation), so there's no other way around this and you just have to try to avoid them.

+ One night stay at Sky Rider Motor Inn and dinner at Leura

We checked into the motor inn at Katoomba and headed off to Leura for dinner. As the shops closed at 5pm, we did not manage to explore much of the lovely shops at Leura. I would love to go back there again! 

Our dinner was at Thai Square Leura after checking out majority of the restaurants/ cafe (half of which are closed) and the rest were overpriced tourist prices. My favourite was the tom yam soup and pricing was very reasonable. 

+ Three Sisters at Echo Point Lookout 
    23-31 Echo Point Rd Katoomba NSW 2780

As it was summer, the sun sets later and I recommend to visit Echo Point lookout after 5pm. You get free and available parking there. Parking is expensive before 5pm. The tourist crowds are mostly gone for the day. 

+ Everglades Gardens at 37 Everglades Avenue Leura NSW 
   10am-5pm, Entry: 10 AUD per adult, 4 AUD per child

+ NSW Toy and Railway Museum & Leuralla Gardens at 36 Olympian Parade, Leura NSW 
  10am to 5pm

We did not have time to explore the two areas above and probably would go again, next time?

DAY 2
+ Jenolan Caves
   4655 Jenolan Caves Rd Jenolan NSW 2790, 9AM-5.30PM
   32-38 AUD per adult
   http://www.jenolancaves.org.au/the-caves/tour-prices/

We had our breakfast at Sky Rider Motor Inn which was good and reasonably priced. We set off for Jenolan Caves which was around 1 hour 15 mins away. Please remember to top up your car fuel at petrol stations at Blackheath, Mount Victoria along the way. 

Check out the tour timings on the website to plan your visit. Based on my research, the most popular tours are the Lucas Cave, Orient Cave and Chifley Cave.

The later part of the drive is a series of long winding and sharp bend roads to reach Jenolan Caves so it will be good to have someone relatively experienced and confident to drive the car. 

We decided on the Lucas Cave which was rated as 'harder' fitness level. All tours are accompanied by a discovery ranger guide. The tour took 1.5 hours and there was plenty of time to explore the caves as there were always be certain people in the group stopping along the way to take lots of photos. My mum was slightly tired at some parts where there were lots of stairs but I would say it was pretty manageable. However, if you are not well versed in English, it would be an issue as the tour is conducted in English with an Australian accent so Mr Taro and I were acting as translator for my mum (of which Mr Taro also had to translate for me sometimes haha).

Free open parking was provided at the Jenolan Caves. I found a spider weaving its web on our car after our cave tour though.... 

+ Oberon/ Tarana

There was only one cafe at Jenolan Caves so we decided to drive further up to Oberon for lunch. My plan was to check out The Hungry Hare at Oberon but for some weird reason, we were unable to find it on our GPS, Googlemap and after walking around in circles at Oberon. We settled on some random cafe at Oberon for lunch in the end.

We came across many cows, sheep and horses along the way which we city folks were so excited! 

+ Hartley Historic Site to Blackheath Motor Inn 

It was drizzling for the whole afternoon and when we reached Hartley Historic Site, it seemed to be deserted. We were too tired to explore and decided to check into Blackheath Motor Inn for our second night stay. 

Thankfully, the rain subsided and we headed off for dinner at Piedmont Inn Pizza Restaurant, a 5 minute drive away in Blackheath town. The pasta and pizza were really delicious, so do give it a try if you happen to pass by there. 

DAY 3
+ Govetts Leap Lookout
   end of Govetts Leap Road

It was the end of our weekend trip on Blue Mountains. After checking out of the motor inn, we drove to the nearby Govetts Leap Lookout. The view was amazing and there were a few walking trails (short and long duration). 

+ Hargraves Lookout 
   Shipley Rd Megalong NSW 2785

This is one of my favourite lookout in Sydney so far. I came across this lookout while googling for the Blue Mountain stay and it's not stated in TripAdvisor. We were there for around 30 minutes and there was no a single soul. 

The roads into Hargraves Lookout is gravel sand so it's a pretty tough car ride but the scenery makes up for it. Absolutely beautiful and peaceful. It's a different kind of scenery with panoramic views of rural Megalong Valley.

Beware there were plenty of flying insects and ants though! 

This marks the end of our short weekend getaway. I would love to go for other cave tours in Jenolan Caves in future and explore other parts of Blue Mountain...

Sydney Relocation: Choosing a Internet Service Provider

Researching on the internet service provider was something that I neglected when we first arrived in Sydney. During the first two weeks when we stayed at the serviced apartment sponsored by Mr Taro's apartment, I was busy with apartment hunting, furniture and appliances hunting and assumed that selecting a decent internet service provider would be easy. 

My initial plan was to choose between Telstra and Optus. Upon further research, I was shocked by the amount of service providers available in Sydney. It was overwhelming initially due to majority of bad reviews for almost all of the service providers. 

I find that the websites helped me alot in my research:
1) Google Whirlpool forum and you can find loads of information on the different service providers as well as providers who work best in your suburb. If you are staying in City area, it probably would not matter that much though. 
2) http://www.eziconnect.com.au/ is a free service which assists you with your home phone and broadband connection. They would call you and go through various options depending on your needs but it is still best to do some homework beforehand. 
3) http://www.productreview.com.au/c/internet-service-providers.html is my favourite website. Unfortunately in this case, I find that majority of the reviews are really negative. So much so that I was wondering if the internet works at all in Sydney. 
4) http://broadbandguide.com.au/new-south-wales/naked-broadband/plans is a great website which compares the various plans available. 

The most important factor would be to check the proximity of location of the ports and your apartment/house for the service provider that you are interested in. If you are staying in Sydney city, it would not matter but if it's a suburb, it would be an important consideration.  

In the end, Mr Taro and I were down to Internode and Belong (which belongs to Telstra). Belong is actually recommended by Eziconnect and you only need to pay $10 for modem fee. No installation and set up fees required which Internode charges. 

Unfortunately, Belong called/emailed us to inform that there was no DSL ports available at our area in Pyrmont! Though it took me a few emails to get the refund of $10 for modem cost from Belong, they were pretty prompt and friendly in their email replies. We w ere not inclined to sign up with Internode as this means another week or more of waiting with no internet.

Though there were mixed reviews for Vividwireless, we went ahead with it as we could terminate the contract at any time. The delivery of the modem was really quick and took only 2 days after our online signup. The upload speed can be pretty slow at night and download speed is not excellent as well. So far, the internet speed is decent (crappy during rain and at night). For the price we are paying, I am definitely not happy with it. BUT we will live with it. We paid $79 for the modem. 

Just to share, my referral code for Vividwireless is 16329  (http://vw4g.co/16329) and we will both be entitled to one month free data credit when you sign up for a vividwireless account (: 

It is recommended to confirm on your ideal internet service provider as soon as possible once your rented apartment is confirmed as the setup of internet connection takes around a week or more and we depended on our 3G phones for the first week. 

Interesting #1 and #2- Life in sydney

Interesting #1
Two weeks back, we went to top up petrol for our recently purchased second hand car at Shell. I instantly noticed that people are doing DIY petrol top up and there are no petrol pump attendants at the petrol station! Call us noobs, but we are used to full service petrol stations in Singapore and we just kind of...What's going on?! Lol.

I quickly hurried out of the car and went to the guy in front who laughed and said "First time in Australia?". He was very kind to demonstrate the process which was pretty easy. Apparently, non self-service petrol kiosks are very common in Australia and well, we learnt something new that day!

I guess it got to do with the higher wages of Aussie workers which explains why the kiosks are majority non self-service.

Interesting #2
Our rented apartment has fire alarm detectors in each room and an intercom. A few days back...the fire alarm went off and it was the second time it occurred. The first time it happened was when we moved in only for a few days and it was 1.30am when it happened. It scared the wits out of me (I'm not sure about Mr. Taro) cos it was really loud and went on for 5-8 minutes.

Anyway, Mr Taro and I were mentioning that it must be a false fire alarm again. 10 minutes later, there was a knock on our door and there were firemen outside our unit! I was shocked beyond words lol because I caused the fire alarm with my shower earlier on. It turns out that the fire alarm detector was faulty which was rectified the next day, so fingers crossed it doesn't happen again!

Appointing Power of Attorney- POA for sublet/rental of HDB flat

As Mr Taro and I would be renting out our HDB flat during our 2 years overseas period, we need to appoint a POA for the management of our property and related matters.

I was fortunate my ex-boss had a recommendation for her ex-colleague who charged me $200+GST for the solicitor's fees to lodge the copy of POA with the High Court in Singapore. My queries with several HDB agents revealed that solicitor's fees can range from $200 to $400.

The entire process was pretty straightforward. I was required to email scanned copies of our (owners) and my sister (my appointed POA) NRICs to the solicitor. We then headed down to the law firm for the lawyer to do stamping and his signature. The actual copy of POA and 2 certified true copies would be lodged with the High Court and would be ready for our collection within 2-3 days. And..so that's it!

The POA is valid for a period of 5 years.. The copy of POA must be furnished to the tenant and it is very important to bring along this document to your respective HDB branch during submission of the subletting application.

My personal thoughts on the POA would be it is extremely important to discuss and ultimately appoint someone you really trust AND someone who do not mind the additional hassle to manage your property and affairs when you are overseas. The POA should also be assigned to someone responsible, mature and firm enough to handle the tenant and property agent; as he/she needs to assist with the tenancy matters.

A New Adventure

Today marks the first day of our adventure in Sydney. Here we are at our serviced apartment at Meriton at Kent Street after an eventful flight! The front desk staff had been so kind to allocate a Level 55 apartment facing the Darling Harbour view for us.

The view from our room...

The apartment which looks clean and spacious (:

I have been pretty nervous so far and hoping that I would be able to settle down into this city soon while Mr Taro has been in high spirits haha.

The qantas overnight flight has been an eventful experience...

With a re-time of flight to 5am with a 5 hours delay which we were only informed by the check in counter staff in the airport. While waiting, we saw several customers who did not receive any notifications as well.

My booking of additional baggage allowance of 10kg at AUD 244 was apparently rejected without informing me; and in fact I received confirmation of my purchase. My online check in and selection of seats was also not processed which is a mystery to me.

Thankfully, the flight was less than half full which helps us to repay our accumulated sleep debts from the past weeks. We declared medicine and were thankfully let through by the immigration officer without any checks on our massive luggage!

We had a funny incident at the Sydney airport where a group of friends took one of my massive luggage off the belt conveyor mistakenly. Thank goodness I saw it in time lol. 

Feeling very sleepy.. to be updated again~

Sydney Relocation: Packing Day with Allied Pickfords, Singapore

The past month has been crazily busy. We have known for a few months that Mr Taro will be posted overseas for 2 years and I will be the tag-along spouse.

However, we only started packing recently after the visa was approved. Despite being only 2 persons staying in a 4-room HDB, the amount of items we have accumulated for just a 2-year period is unbelievable..in a not so positive way. There were days that I wondered (dejectedly) if the packing was ever going to end and there were slight challenges of deciding what items to give away/sell vs what items to bring overseas.

I have been packing and clearing daily past 2am and still, I barely make it on 1 Sept 2014 which is the day Allied Pickfords, the designated moving services by Mr Taro's company came to pack and ship our items to Sydney.

Our experience with Allied Pickfords have been excellent so far. The designated move coordinator came by our place 2-3 weeks before the actual moving day and went through all the items that we wish to ship to Australia. She also advised on specific items that are not ideal as Australia is very strict on this. We strive to keep within the volume limitation of 8 cubic metres paid by Mr Taro's company and hopefully our actual shipment will be within this *fingers crossed.

On the actual moving day, the supervisor came by our flat at 9.30am sharp. He walked through all the items that we wanted to ship over. He came back at 10am with 2 crew workers and they started packing with super-human speed. They were done packing with 31 boxes in one hour!

There's one thing that I have observed though.. the 3 packers had their own style of packing. One worker was meticulous enough to wrap my clothes with a layer of paper while the rest plopped my clothes right into the carton boxes. 

Here are some observations/ experiences so far:
- Many people advised me to bring only my clothes and personal belongings over but given that we would be back in Sg permanently after 2 years and allowance is provided by Mr Taro's company, it doesn't make sense for me to throw/sell/give away household items which are only 2 years old, plus the recollection of the nightmare of stocking up the entire house necessities for our new flat 2 years back
- Being the shopaholic, I donated 5-6 big bags of brand new clothes away and dedicated much of my time selling off items in good condition. Still, I shipped large quantities of my remaining clothes to Aust which took up much of the 31 boxes I'm sure.
- I personally find it easier to collate small items in daiso/muji containers, which makes packing and unpacking so much easier. Only for glass items such as cups, the movers will pack them individually in paper and bubble wrap sheets.
- I prefer to consolidate all my stuff in one room so that the movers won't mistakenly pack items that are not supposed to be shipped. Valuables, items to be thrown or placed in checked in luggage should be kept separately.

I am thankful that my in-laws are generous enough to house bags of our belongings in their flat for us.. We had thought of the self-storage hubs but the monthly rental is way out of our budget and adds up to ~$5k for 2 years storage in one of the smallest rental spaces.

Shinagawa Educational Talk and Pre Lasik Assessment

Monthly Talk
Doing lasik has been on my mind for a couple of years but I had been putting it off due to fear of the outcome. Since I have been less busy recently, I signed up for Shinagawa monthly talk posted on their facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/ShinLasikEyeCentre) on a whim. It was a no-brainer to choose Shinagawa as my sister and a couple of my friends had their lasik done there previously.

Mr Taro accompanied me to the talk at Shinagawa Optical located at Level 2 of Wheelock Place. I attended Dr Lee Sao Bing's talk which was around 40 minutes. 

There used to be cash vouchers given by Shinagawa for the lasik treatments if you attend their talk some years back. During the talk I attend, Shinagawa offers an exclusive package rate of 3,688++ for their latest Intralase Wavefront using the latest Amaris laser. This rate is only valid for lasik procedure taken up within one month of the talk so if you are unable to make it, you can always attend the next monthly talk.

At the end of the talk, we were informed to follow one of the staff upstairs to Level 5 for make an appointment for the pre lasik assessment if we are keen. Mr Taro was like 'Let's go!' and I was like 'What!? I haven't make up my mind!' Anyhow, I followed Mr Taro and due to his quick action, we were in the front end of the queue and everyone was moving so quickly upstairs and I felt like a kiasu Singaporean on my way to some sale. I managed to get an earlier slot which is good as you can have more dates available for you to choose from for the lasik procedure subsequently.

After making the appointment, you can always head back to Level 2 should you have further queries for Dr Lee.

Pre Lasik Assessment
My appointment was at 9am and I was immediately led to two rooms by a nurse who performed various eye tests. She was professional and friendly and would explain each test that was performed. Numbing eye drops was also applied which stings slightly but was still manageable. I was then asked to watch 3 videos on the lasik procedures, eligibility and risks involved. 

I headed back to the waiting area which was crowded with patients by then and waited around 15 minutes before I had my consultation with Dr Lee. The consultation was really short, around 5 minutes where Dr Lee summarized about the lasik procedure which was mentioned during the talk. Honestly, I did not do much homework about lasik and could only ask if my cornea was thick enough and it was only that Dr Lee assured me that there was no issues with my eyes and in fact, my cornea is thicker than the average. I could opt for the newer Amaris laser or older Allegretto laser depending on my preference. There was no hard selling on his side to push me into doing the more expensive option. 

I was slightly disappointed though as the consultation seems really rushed and he did not really go into the details of my eye tests outcome. My sister assured me that probably there was no issue which is why he did not go into elaborate details. 

I headed back to the waiting area where you would be asked to book for a surgery date so it would be good to be really decisive. I could not make up my mind on which laser to use but booked the surgery date first. 

I waited awhile before 3 more eye tests was performed. The assessment took around 3 hours in total and I left before 12 noon. 

The numbing eye drops would affect your vision slightly for 4-5 hours according to the nurse. My vision was not really affected though and I could move around as per usual. The only thing was that I was not able to read texts on my phone with my specs on. 

One Man Coffee at 215R Upper Thomson Road

Mr Taro and I went to One Man Coffee at Upper Thomson Road as I read pretty good reviews about it. We were there on a weekday lunch timing and managed to get a seat. The cafe is located just a few steps down Habitat Coffee (which was quite crowded).

The cafe has a all day brunch menu with limited offerings. I had the brioche french toast while Mr Taro had the bacon jam at my urging heh. We were disappointed at our selections. At $10 each, the serving was small and nothing to rave about in our opinion. The brioche french toast is reminiscent of bread pudding which I did not fancy as I find it rather soggy.

French Brioche Toast with Homemade Berry Compote, Candied Walnuts and Fresh Cream

Gashouse Eggs-Toad in the Hole-Eggs in the Bread with the Hole in the Middle Served with Smoky Bacon Jam

 That being said, I enjoyed the cappuccino at $4.50 and would love to come back again for the coffee.

Recipe: Polenta, poached egg and vegetables

My Chinese Crackers Pork Chop dish mentioned in my previous entry was accompanied by polenta, poached egg and vegetables. 

Polenta, poached egg and vegetables Recipe (Serves 2)
Vegetables Ingredients

• Vegetables of your choice. I had carrots and cauliflowers in my fridge so I used them. You can also use broccoli, zucchini, tomatoes etc. 
• 0.5 tsp of coarse black pepper
• 0.5 tsp of Italian leaves herb/ basil leaves
• Dash of Ground thyme or Dried rosemary. I add parsley or coriander leaves as well. 
• 1 tbsp of Extra virgin oil
• 1-2 shallot and/or garlic, depending on own preference

Instructions
1. Cut the carrots into slices and cauliflowers into small florets. Wash them with salt water.
2. Bring a pot of water to boil. Add a dash of salt to the boiling water and add the vegetables. Boil for 10-15 minutes.
3. Remove the boiled vegetables from the pot and place them in a bowl.
4. Heat up the oil in a saucepan and add the shallot and garlic to stir fry for 3-4 minutes.
5. Add the vegetables and stir fry for 2 minutes before adding the coarse black pepper, dried Italian leaves herb/dried basil leaves herb, ground thyme or dried rosemary. 
6. Serve up the cooked vegetables in two serving bowls.

Polenta Instructions
1. I usually prepare 80gms of polenta for 2 servings. I'm using Bob's Red Mill Polenta.

2. Follow the instructions on the packaging. For mine, it states to add water thrice of the polenta portion.
3. Add 240g of fresh milk or chicken stock or water or a mixture of all first to the saucepan and bring it to a boil. 
4. Add polenta and stir it constantly for 10-15 minutes. Top up with extra water when required. 
5. Dish up and separate into the two serving bowls and mix with vegetables above.
Note: I use 120g DIY prepared chicken stock and 120g fresh milk. The solution gets absorbed pretty quickly and I add in plain water and additional stock and milk along the way. Usually I just keep a close eye on it to make sure it does not dry up. The result should be a creamy polenta. You can also opt to add in some Parmesan cheese for extra flavour. I have added ricotta cheese before and it tastes just as good. 

Poached Eggs Instructions
1. Prepare 2 fresh eggs. Add the egg to a measuring jar with water. If it sinks to the bottom, it is fresh. If it bobs up slightly, it is about a week old. I use my eggs bought one week back and I still managed to do a successful poached egg.
2. Bring a small shallow pot of water around 5cm height to boil. 
3. Add a teaspoon of salt and two tablespoons of distilled white vinegar. 
4. Prepare a bowl. Crack one egg into a mesh strainer and excess egg white will drip onto the bowl below. 
5. Add the egg in the mesh strainer into the barely simmering water. 
6. Stir around the egg with the slotted spoon to maintain the shape of the egg.
7. Remove the poached egg with the slotted spoon after 1.5 minutes for a runny yolk. 

Recipe: Chinese Crackers Pork Chop

I recently came across a Chinese pork chops recipe by noobcook.com (my favourite food recipe website) and decided to try it out. I have modified the recipe slightly as I'm not keen to purchase off-the-shelf breadcrumbs and lazy to prepare DIY breadcrumbs.

Crackers Pork Chop Receipe (Modified slightly from noobcook.com)
Ingredients

• 10 Pork loin cut to 0.5 -1 cm slices by the pork seller at my wet market
• 3 tsp light soy sauce 
• 4 tsp oyster sauce 
• Dash of black/white pepper
• 1 beaten egg 
• 5 pieces of Jacobs cream crackers crushed in a bowl 
• Oil for cooking   

Instructions
1. Tenderize pork chops by pounding with the flat blade of the knife. I use a pounding tool given by my mil as shown below. This is the most important step to achieve tender and springy pork chops! I pound diligently for both sides of the pork chops. 

2. Marinade pork chops in soy sauce, oyster sauce and pepper for a few hours or overnight in the fridge. I personally add a dash of Worcestershire sauce and mirin. 
3. If kept overnight, defrost the pork chops a few hours before cooking. When ready to cook, coat the marinated pork chops evenly in the beaten egg. 
4. Coat each pork chop (both sides) in the bowl of crushed cream crackers. 
5. Heat a wok with 1 tbsp oil. Shallow fry pork slices, in batches, until golden on both sides, adding more oil to the pan whenever needed. 
6. Place the pork chops in paper towels to drain excess oil before serving. Enjoy!

Mr Taro gave thumbs up for this recipe and declare it as his favourite dish for now. I served it with polenta chips with poached egg and cauliflower and carrots. Will share the recipe soon! 

New addition to our little family

Mr Taro and I recently adopted a cat, it has been two months so far and I have grown to love the cat so much (: It took us months of deliberation and I researched so much on taking care of a cat to convince myself that I am ready and suited for the 15-20 year old commitment; sorta like a research project ;p. 

To be honest, I'm not a big fan of cats and am terribly afraid of getting scratched. But Mr Taro's love for cats is evident and we decided to give it a go. We started off with visiting SPCA and stalking catwelfare and other groups for abandoned/stray cats. I contacted a few fosterers and shortlisted a few for Mr Taro's consideration. In the end, it was Nicci that caught Mr Taro's eye and we went for a 5 weeks trial adoption for TWO sibling cats much to my apprehensiveness. 

We decided for a permanent adoption for Nickel instead..mostly due to his personality which is more suited for our busy working life. It was a difficult decision especially for the Mr Taro but personally, I feel that two cats are too much for us to handle for now :(

Meet Nickel, the handsome cat.

Photos of Nicci and Nickel during the trial adoption period
They were as frightened as me initially ;p

Enjoying the air con breeze lol. 

They will sprint back to the room once there were movements outside.