About an hour after reaching Australia, we all make a beeline for the beach. What better way to get rid of the I-feel-like-crap-after-stepping-off-a-plane mode?! Plus, the sky was a brilliant blue and it was so hot and sunny – it was just a no-brainer.

After meeting up with Mum and Dad (who had flown in a few days before), we drove to Dee Why Beach for some good ‘ol sun and surf. I just SOAKED up the heat. It was so good to be able to prance around in little dresses or shorts, considering we came from sub-zero temperatures.

It was actually pretty surreal to see so many Caucasians around (the area isn’t very heavily populated by Asians) – I’m not used to that anymore 😉 Even more surreal to not be hustled or shoved, have people cut into the queue, or see globs of spit all over the floors. Ahhhh… the luxury!

On the flip side, we were also reeling with all the RIDICULOUS prices rampant in Sydney. The taxis, food, EVERYTHING, is so overpriced it made our heads spin. We’ve gotten to be extremely stingy after being exposed to China’s fabulous price points 😉

“Hi ho, hi ho, it’s off to the beach we go”

Got a bit of lunch first, at a beach-side fish & chips joint

My deep-fried fish burger. Oh man it was luscious.

*GLOMPS*

NO ONE does better fish & chips better than the Aussies!

And then we crossed the road over to Dee Why’s beach

The scaredy-cats hid in the shade…

…while I frolicked in the sun to try and get a tan

Taken after we went for a swim in the ocean and were drying off under the sun

Bluewater Cafe
28 South Steyne
Manly, Australia
PRICE: $$$
RATING:

After our swim and bumming around on the beach, we adjourned to yet another one – Manly Beach. This one is my favourite beach in Sydney, because it has a huge pedestrian mall with loads of fabulous Aussie shops and restaurants. I just love the vibe – cool casual and very chill. It felt different now though, as Chris and I are now “tourists” in Sydney and no longer “residents”. In fact, we spoke Chinese to each other in stores and whenever we wanted to ensure people around wouldn’t understand what we were saying – too funny!

Hungry now, we adjourned to Bluewater Cafe – which was next to the beach and looked like the perfect spot for a good meal. Their food and wines were excellent! A fabulously relaxed place for a meal, after a day down by the beach.

An early dinner at Bluewater Cafe, at Manly Beach

Fabulous wines

Sourdough bread baked with butter and Parmesan cheese –
this was only so so, as it was over-baked and so super hard and oily

Chowing down

Sweet potato and corn fritters, smoked salmon, preserved lemon, creme fraiche –
just delicious. The flavours were plentiful but blended together well.

Cajun Spiced salmon with tzatsiki on mixed leaf salad and soft tortilla –
I adored this, the salmon was still moist and pink inside and I loved the spices on top

Lemon linguini with and garlic chilli prawns, pancetta, basil, grape tomatoes and parmesan –
my favourite dish. Ultra spicy (!) but oh so tasty. Generous amount of seafood too.

Portuguese Espatada – skewered rump dripping in red wine and chilli sauce –
it came dangling on a massive metal skewer!!! The beef was delicious.