Sydney is well known for its harbour and we had the chance today to take it in on a mini cruise using public ferry. We took the ferry to Manly Beach which is on the outer most Northeast side of the harbour. The iconic Opera House together with the Harbour Bridge makes a great background for any selfie on the boat The whole Sydney harbour is wide and long and extends about 30km inland with countless bays and inlets. There are lots of green spaces and parks in the downtown (locals calls it City) area.
Next to the Opera House along the shore is the Royal Botanical Garden. We found locals are very keen on fitness. Everywhere we turned, there were men and women in tight yoga pants running, jogging, exercising, and timing their paces with Fitbits or iPhones.
St. Mary's Cathedral is much bigger than I had expected. The front facade looks exactly like the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris! We walked across the main shopping core to the Sydney Tower and continued to Darling Harbour, another new development on the western side of the City. Locals say the pace of development really picked up after the 2000 Sydney Summer Olympics and hot money pouring in from China.
By the time we walked over the Sydney Harbour Bridge to its first pylon, we had covered the main downtown core. The view from the bridge is superb if you don't mind the added effect of being in a prison, barbed wires and all! There was even a security guard there to make sure people would not jump??
Speaking of prison, I found Australia can't seem to shake off its founding history: Our hotel is located on Coward Street; and one of the two questions asked of foreigners when entering the country (on that form which everyone has to fill coming in) is "Do you have a criminal record?"!!! There is a running joke that you may be more welcomed if you answer yes to that question!
Oh, btw, for whatever reasons, ginger is extremely expensive in Australia! The $18.99/kg is for young ginger. The old ginger costs over $45/kg!! So you would encounter this strange scenario that the condiments (shredded ginger and green onion) is more expensive than the main dish like steamed fish or shiao long bao!!
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