Monday, July 29, 2013
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| Love how unique and creative this fountain is! |
Since the past 2 days we had taken a lot of public transportation - the ferry boat, taxi, and bus - we decided to take it easy and stay within walking distance of our hotel. We had actually planned on taking a day trip to the Blue Mountains (2 hours away), but canceled because it would be too hard on the kids to be gone literally the entire day, 7am-6pm (these are the sacrifices you make to avoid major meltdowns. Disappointing at times, but worth the headache of very grumpy kids!).
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| We think this might be the equivalent of a Denny's or Coco's in the States?? |
So instead, we walked to Darling Harbour and found a sit-down breakfast place called Pancakes on the Rocks. Pretty normal stuff, except for the chocolate pancakes with vanilla ice cream and raspberry sauce drizzled on top. What? James had sashimi for breakfast yesterday, so what's wrong with having ice cream for breakfast?
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| Chasing the birds!!! |
After breakfast, we didn't have any real agenda for the morning, so we just let the kids have a little bit of "kid time." Usually that just means "running freely." Running around chasing the birds, running in circles, running after things, like trains, running into other people, running like headless chickens, just running everywhere, but most importantly, running happily!!!
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| "Go Go Go Go Go Go!!!" - what Zaydee is saying, while she is running like a crazy person. |
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| "Choo Choo!!!" Ro Ro SO excited to see a train driving around Darling Harbour! |
It was actually a much warmer day than when we had first arrived in
Sydney, so we decided to let the kids play in the water at Tumbalong
Park from the other day. It really is quite interesting to see the different personalities between kids. For example, Zaydee would most likely jump her entire body into a fountain if we never taught her that's not ok, whereas Ro Ro takes his time just putting his hand in the water and making sure not to get the rest of his body wet.
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| Perfect example. Zaydee would have fallen INTO the fountain. No question. |
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| Ro Ro first touching around the fountain. |
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| Then he is ready to put his hand inside the fountain. But notice how he keeps a safe distance away... |
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| Zaydee likes to "Strike-a-Pose" frequently. Maybe she is imitating a fountain with her leg??? |
OK, the next few pictures are just amazing, thanks to Kevin and his newly acquired photography skills. Just want to mention again that many of the photos in this blog are taken from him - you'll know, because they are the edited ones that look spectacular. The ones below just happen to be all clustered up, so you can see his awesome work!
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| There was a zipline in the playground! A real, actually pretty long, zipline! |
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| Weeee! Down the slide and into the sand pit! |
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| Haha!!! Love this perfectly captured expression of Ro Ro mid-shirt-take-off. |
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| Captain Adorable that's right! |
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| Zaydee was completely soaked by the end of our play session. Good thing we had a change of clothes! |
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| Foreground framing??? Is that the right term? |
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| Another fantastic in-action shot! |
It turned out to be a morning filled with lots of fun for the kiddos at Darling Harbour and Tumbalong Park. Time to go back for a nap, and to pick up some goodies for the mommies and daddies at...
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| Yes, this was our 2nd time. Sausage roll, Choco croissant, Pecan tart... fatties. |
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| Oh, that's a happy James face!!! Definitely eating a sausage roll because of that ingenious ketchup package in his hand!!! |
In the afternoon, we visited the Sea Life Aquarium in Darling Harbour. The exhibits were very interactive, such as allowing kids to get stamps throughout each "station", answering questions written on the walls, and getting up close to all the different animals like the tidepool exhibit. Two sections were designed as a walk through tunnel, including the shark tunnel, and those were pretty cool. Zaydee did get scared in those tunnels, especially when the sharks, stingrays, or dugongs swam right against the glass!!! But for adults, it was a great close-up view of everything!
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| Yay! We're going to see FISH!!! |
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| What are the little munchkins looking at? |
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| They're looking at the little penguins bobbing in the water! Splash Splash Splash! |
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| Ro Ro - "Woah, look at that!" and Zaydee pretending to read about the fish! |
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| Something jellyfish like? |
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| Do you see what Ro Ro sees?? |
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| Zaydee imitating the stingray by hiding on the floor too. |
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| Ro Ro face to face with the Broad-shelled turtle, one of the longest neck turtles! |
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| Rock cod? We eat that one, don't we? |
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| Top view of the Dugong and Stingray Tank... ready to go down below? |
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| Woah... inside the tunnels with Eagle Rays swimming above! |
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| Look at that one!!! |
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| Reflection in the glass of kiddies looking at the Dugong eating cabbage. |
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| Scared Zaydee in the shark tunnel... rare to want to be hugged vs. running around on her own! |
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| Tidepool exhibit - Zaydee loved it of course. |
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| Kevin and Ro Ro looking at the creatures in the tidepool. |
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| Bye Bye Sydney Sea Life Aquarium! |
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| The aquarium is so much fun! Very happy babies! |
After a great time at the aquarium, we wanted to check out the Din Tai Fung that we heard was in Sydney. The kids had been eating pasta and croissants the past few days, so we knew they would eat really well at Din Tai Fung. We found it inside the food court of the fanciest Westfield mall (apparently, Westfield, i.e Valley Fair, originated in Australia and their malls, and food courts, are SUPER nice).
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| Yay! Xiao Long Baos, Beef Noodle Soup, Pork Fried Rice, Sauteed Spinach... Ro Ro and Zaydee love it!!! |
One thing we haven't mentioned since our first day in Sydney is the ridiculously expensive prices in Sydney. Well, coming from Pasadena, where we ate Din Tai Fung at least once or twice a month, we know what's considered already rather expensive Chinese Food. In Sydney, guess how many Xiao Long Baos you get in one order?
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| One order = FOUR Xiao Long Baos. As compared to normal chains that serve TEN in one order. |
What about the price? Haha... Four Xiao Long Baos cost $12. Ridiculous. And yet, we had to order enough for all of us to have a few at least... My beef noodle soup? $16. Let's just say that was another really expensive meal!!! But, worth it because Ro Ro and Zaydee were so happily full. They miss their Chinese food =)
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| Happy Zaydee. | |
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| Happy Ro Ro. |
Time to go back to the hotel and go to sleep! After the babies went down, the daddies escaped and went out for a few drinks. They ordered some different stuff like Bulmers cider and Carlton draught, but later discovered that their favorites were the Rekorderlig Ciders and the James Squire beers. Try those if you go one day!
End of our fourth full day in Sydney, and packing for our flight tomorrow from Sydney to Cairns! Time for warmer weather! See you tomorrow!!!
