Darling Harbour, Sydney

It's rare for me to blog about a place I spent less than a day in. This time, it was only a few hours' long, but the experience was so lovely it is worth noting down.

This was the first time Sarah was not free to meet up with me, understandably with such short notice. But it was too good an afternoon to waste indoors. The Aussie sky was blue as it almost always is and there was a certain liveliness in the atmosphere, people celebrating the weekend out where the weather was perfect. Not too chilly, just right.

I took a walk around the Queen Victoria Building, but the shops didn't really catch my fancy. I wasn't in the mood for shopping. I just wanted to chill out and relax outdoors. Darling Harbour seemed like the perfect sollution. It was only two blocks away from our hotel.

Darling Harbour is a great place to hangout. It has a good mix of entertainment (cinema, theatre, street performances), attractions (Chinese Garden, Sydney Acquarium, Sydney Monorail), exhibitions (Australian National Maritime Museum, Powerhouse Museum), shopping (Harbourside mall), and has a conducive area along the bay for people to sit to enjoy the blue waters and the city's skyline.

I had scallops and chips from Ice Cube Seafood Takeaway ($9.50) by the pier (while constantly keeping my eye on those seagulls!) and enjoyed sculpting my whopping portion of macadamia caramel gelato from Gelatissimo ($4) into a smaller ball that actually matched the size of the cone, while the sun started to set.

I was just about to head into Harbourside mall to take away the next day's breakfast when a street performer from Japan started his show. I was caught up there for a good half hour. It was only 6pm by that time but the sun had set completely.