dining in Sydney . . .

Green Peppercorn 388 Pitt St. Sydney

Google it and it’ll say it’s a “cool, relaxed Lao and Thai kitchen inside a pub, with fairy lights, corrugated iron and a tuk-tuk”. Damn right it is. Probably one of the best Thai / Laotian restaurants I’ve tried in Asia. The Charcoal BBQ Ox Tongue or grilled lengua as we call it, is tied to the Red Curry as our best orders of the day. Their Tom Yum soup was also very tasty. Perfect for winter nights in Sydney.  

In Hunter Valley, we dropped by McGuigan Wines for some tasting.

Emerson’s Cafe and Restaurant at Pokolbin 492 Lovedale Road, Lovedale

Ordered their famous duck pate and feasted on some yummy carbs.

Harry’s Cafe de Wheels 431 Church Street corner Fennell N. Parramatta

Night time we were right by Parramatta, 23 kilometers west of Sydney CBD, so we checked out  Harry’s & got some hot dogs and pies. Nothing special for me, perhaps after a few rounds of alcohol would’ve been better.

The Wayzgoose Cafe 74 Leura Mall, Leura

Before heading to the Blue Mountains, we had brunch here. I chose the Mountain Breakfast and it was very heavy. Perfect for guys I’d say.

We also checked out the Fish Market in Sydney (the fresh oysters gave me d i a r r h e a sorry TMI but probably because I had like 6 or 7 of those.

We also had lunch at the Darling Harbour, a quick dessert & coffee stop at the Lindt cafe and a bunch of meals around the CBD area.

All in all, Sydney is an awesome city for foodies out there. Although dining out in Sydney is not cheap (mostly pretty pricey). In any case, enjoy their fresh produce and oh, don’t forget to try their flat white!!

Sydney sightings

Who goes to Australia during their winter season? Well, ME! Haha 🙂 5 days with my colleagues in Sydney and we hardly spent any time in the city. We rented a Starex van, explored the mountains and vineyards nearby and had a look at Sydney, Australia in a different light…

The weather in Sydney was actually alright. 14-16 degrees yet the sun was shining. Yeah we had cloudy moments and short rain showers but luckily, we had pleasant weather on most days. I’d say Sydney in Spring or Summer is way better, still I had loads of fun… (as always).

Vanuatu on Video

Watch our adventure in Vanuatu 🙂 Happy to capture these fun moments…

Vanuatu!

Where in the world is Vanuatu??? I think all of my friends asked that question when i said i was going on a holiday trip to that Island. Well, to answer that question, let’s make it short and sweet. Vanuatu is one of the islands (it’s a country btw) which you will find in the South Pacific Ocean, about 2 hours away by air from Brisbane, Australia. It’s quite close to Fiji and the Solomon Islands and it is made up of 80 islands filled with beaches, coves, waterfalls, mountains and volcanoes – raw and unspoiled.

For 4 days, my boyfriend and I trekked, flew over, drove and swam just to discover the beauty of Vanuatu. As we had very little time, we chose the 2 places that you all have to see when you visit this country. You need a lot of time to explore the other islands and unfortunately, we only had less than a week to enjoy.

The first place we went to was Tanna Island. We booked a tour with Air Taxi Vanuatu to see Mt. Yasur, an active volcano that continuously coughs up volcanic ash and shoots lava bombs. It is best viewed at twilight so it is important that you stay overnight in Tanna.

Air Taxi Vanuatu arranged everything for us. The flight from Port Vila to Tanna was just about an hour and it was my first time to fly in a 10 seater plane! Our pilot, Sam (or was it Simon?), did a good job as we hardly had any turbulence. It was overcast and gloomy so i was a bit worried about the turbulence, but Sam managed to make it a smooth flight to Tanna Island.

Air Taxi Vanuatu

After the flight, we head over to Tanna Lodge, had some refreshments and left for Mt. Yasur. It was a LOOOOOONG and BUUUMMPPYYY 4 x 4 ride but i guess that’s part of the experience.

4 x 4 ride

When we got to the volcano, W O O O W W W is all I can say. I would have never thought that I would be able to experience an erupting volcano in front of my very own eyes. Really. Amazing. At times scary (because it explodes and you will see rocks flying over towards the edge of the crater) but really something you would want to witness in your lifetime.

Mt. Yasur

Blue smoke coming out

Mt. Yasur eruption

They say not seeing Mt. Yasur in Vanuatu is like not seeing the Eiffel Tower in Paris. So there you go! My photos and words cannot do any justice to this experience.

After Tanna Island, we went back to Port Vila (the capital & largest city in Vanuatu). We checked out the Mele Cascades, not far from the city. We rode a bus to the cascades, paid the entrance fee and walked by ourselves (no need for guides as it’s simply a short walk up the waterfalls). You will see the rain forest around the cascades, you will hear birds tweeting, the water flowing — aah nature at its best! The waterfalls are like what we have here in the Philippines, so probably for a Filipino it might be nothing new. But i must say that the cascades are quite nice. You can swim there, it’s not really that dangerous. Pleasant and refreshing, that’s how i would describe it.

on our way up

Mele Cascades

the view

Overall, our trip was quite adventurous. I am happy to see a place like Vanuatu, labeled as the happiest country in the world! The locals are nice and friendly. They will greet you and smile at you all the time. They live a very simple life yet they are quite happy. It’s nice to see that kind of environment.

Local Market

Check out Vanuatu now!