From the Sydney's tight security, we had our first taste of the winter cold air of Sydney. We went to the taxi stand and hailed a cab. I was surprised that our hotel is just near to the airport but was so shocked to pay A$36! I thought we were fooled by the taxi driver or something. It was still 11 in the morning and the check in time is only until 2pm. So We left our bags at the reception desk, and started walking around. It was really cold and windy but good thing we were ready this time unlike when we were in Japan. We were just wondering why it looks like a ghost town and not much people are walking around. We were scouting for food to eat for lunch but couldn't find any place that serves soup. Most were burger joints so we had our lunch at "Oporto". Meals are really expensive! A burger meal costs around A$10-13 bucks! We thought we're still on our first day and it hasn't ended yet and we already spent about a hundred bucks. Along the way we encounter few locals who were asking for loose change or few who were talking to themselves but they look harmless I guess as long as you're not so flamboyant with your belongings. While waiting for our checked in time, we stopped by at a coffee shop that has this heater outside. It's so very italian! Me sipping my cappuccino and ffg sipping his hot choco while people watching :) There were actually italians talking beside us. Very mafia! Hahaha.
We went back to our hotel and checked in. The room was huge! We slept until 5 and went to the nearest train station we could go to. King's Cross train station is about 10 minutes walk from our hotel. The train was so vandalised. It looks so demeaning and terrifying. If you're used to the clean and well lit trains in Singapore, this will be a huge change of scenery to you. But trains were a safe and cheaper means of transportation to go around Sydney. The minimum fare is A$2.60 each but it'll be cheaper if you take the return ticket at A$3.60 only. We alight at the Martin Place Station and surprised to see that no one's walking around. There maybe two or three but all shops were closed. We were so relieved to see one japanese place still open and after that long walk we've had we were really famished. That dinner costs us A$26! Gosh it is really expensive in here. We called it a day as there were no places to go to unlike Orchard and head back to our hotel.
Expenses for the day:
36.00 cab from Sydney International Airport to Devere Hotel
13.50 lunch
7.00 coffee
5.20 train fare for 2 to Martin Place station
5.20 train fare for 2 to King's Cross station
15.00 groceries
25.50 dinner at sakura
Places we've been to:
King's Cross
Martin Place
