First set of pictures are general sightseeing pics, the second set are from our dinner at Attica, descriptions under Feb 18 entry.

Sue’s 50^th Birthday Extravaganza

Friday, February 7, 2020

Full day at work before heading over to Honolulu for the evening. We had Terri & Carla drop us off at the airport - earlier than necessary, but I’m always a nervous wreck about that. We had a few beers in the lounge while we waited for our flight. The flight over was pretty uneventful. We took a cab over to the hotel only to find out that the cabbie didn’t take credit cards on arrival, so I had to seek out an ATM to pay him. And of course pay a $3.75 fee to get my own money. Ticks me off. But after the bumpy start, we checked into our hotel. We decided to stay at the Aston Executive Center because it’s close to downtown for the dining options we wanted. While the location is good for downtown restaurants, the hotel rooms are pretty old and outdated. They are large, with a kitchenette/microwave/fridge, etc, but I think it’s only a full size bed, so it was a tight night for sleep. But it was only for 1 night so no big deal.

For dinner we went to Fete. We will definitely be back. We really enjoyed the food. They had a special on Oysters = $2 each, so we got a dozen of 2 different kinds. Both were good, but we both like the smaller ones better. (don’t remember the types). We also had the Fete spread appetizer and then shared the Milanese risotto, made with beef cheeks. All, really yummy. Afterwards we went to Bar Leather Apron for a bunch of yummy drinks. We really like this bar. We’ll probably come back in April when we’re back on Oahu.

Saturday, February 8, 2020 & Sunday February 9, 2020

Up and at ‘em early. We grabbed a Lyft and headed to HNL. The roads were clear at 6:45 on a Saturday morning, so we got the airport in plenty of time. We decided to head to the lounge to pass the time and have a light breakfast. We then made our way down to the boarding gate, just to be delayed almost an hour. We didn’t board the plane until we were supposed to be taking off. They never made any announcements as to why.

The flight itself was good. The staff were pleasant and attentive, and the food was actually really good. We were served 2 meals – breakfast and lunch. For breakfast I had the gourmet everything bagel with streaky bacon and cheese. Mark had the poached eggs. For lunch, Mark had the mahi mahi with Okinawan potatoes and I had the Chicken with sundried tomatoes. For dessert we both had the chocolate mousse cake which was very delicious.

Somewhere about 2 or 3 hours outside of Auckland we crossed the international date line, so that’s why this entry crosses two days.

We landed in Auckland about 30 minutes late but got through customs and immigration without any issues. We then tried to get our zoomy app to work to hail a rideshare, but it wasn’t working, so we just got into a cab. The cab driver was nice and as we got into the city told us about where certain things were and most importantly explained why the entire city appears to be under construction – they are hosting America’s cup in 2021 so they are working hard to spruce up the city. If I didn’t know this was a special thing, I’d probably not like Auckland too much, but now that I know it’s easier to let it go.

We arrived at the Hilton Property which is right on Prince’s Wharf. Checked into our room – 601. The room is fairly large with a really nice balcony with a view of the water (off to the side). We were both a little tired and we had received 10 free drink coupons for the Bellini Bar inside the Hilton, so that made our decision easy. We had some Cauliflower bites (which appear to be a thing in Auckland), basically deep fried cauliflower and cheese. We also had some fish and chips which were really good too. The drink selection for free isn’t great, but we were able to settle on a couple of local beers – Mac’s Schwartzbier for Mark and Green Beret (IPA) for me.

That night we had great seats to see the moonrise over the distant point. It was quite beautiful. It is known as the snow moon. After that we pretty much called it a night.

Monday, February 10, 2020

Today we went for a walk around the city trying to get our bearings. Auckland is a pretty walkable city (although there are some hills). It was sort of a madhouse though since we were weaving in and out of construction zones and people trying to get to work. We couldn’t figure out the traffic flow. We had tried to give the proper right of way, by walking on the left (similar to how we walk on the right at home) same as how they drive, but it felt like they just walk any which way to get to their offices. Speaking of offices, we are staying very close to the Zurich Auckland office.

After our walk, we came back to our hotel and had breakfast, which was complimentary due to our Diamond status. This was so much better than anything you get back in the States. A full breakfast buffet, with cereal, toast, fruit, eggs, bacon, lunchmeat, smoked fish, potatoes, mushrooms, baked beans, potstickers, fried rice, pastries, etc. I’m sure I’m missing something. While we don’t normally eat much for breakfast, it feels like a waste not to have something. And it’s mostly pretty tasty.

Today we decided to walk down to the ferry building and check out the ferry information for Waiheke Island. There wasn’t much to see, but we were able to find where it takes off from, so that was good. We decided to stop by Shucker Brothers (SB) to have some Oysters and wine. Their sparkling prices were a little high so we wound up just trying a couple different wines by the glass instead. The oysters were Te Kouma – they are quite large because they are aged a little longer. They were tasty and very briny as well. We both enjoyed them. We wound up with 3 glasses of wine each – 1 prosecco, 1 local rose, 1 French Rose, 1 local Sauvignon Blanc, 1 Syrah and 1 Shucker Red cab franc – which was by far our least favorite. But I would still recommend SB, especially for the oysters. Their shoestring French fries with salt and vinegar seasoning were also quite good. While we were seated a couple from Toronto sat next to us and we were talking a little bit to them. They had just arrived and would be spending a few days in Auckland before heading out to explore the North Island.

After our stay at SB, we decided to walk around and do some day drinking at pubs. Our first stop was The Brit (named that as it’s near the Britomart). Here we each had 2 pints of beer and shared a Scotch egg and cauliflower fritters. Both of which I thought was good. They served the scotch egg on a bed of rocket with ketchup and pickled mustard seeds. I thought the ketchup was a little weird, but it worked. The cauliflower bites with buffalo sauce here were really good. After this we decided to walk down to Brew on Quay. Walking in here it felt like a proper British Pub – except the owners were Irish, so I suppose it should be a proper Irish Pub. Here we got a couple of pints and really liked the red IPA so we bought a “jug” (aka pitcher) of that and enjoyed an order of beer battered onion rings and a sticky date pudding. The beer battered onion rings were good, but after a while it was just too much fried stuff. The sticky date pudding was awesome though. I would come back for that. The portion is quite large, so definitely something to share. Then we headed off to the Chamberlain for Tappy Hour. All their draft beers are half off Monday through Saturday from 4-7pm. We got a couple of pints and sat outside. Met 2 couples that were here from Canada. One was just leaving and the other was just arriving. Brother and sister and their spouses. It was fun to talk to them – they kept referring to Millenials as millies, which I think we’ll probably start using. After they left, we decided to get a jug of the Viator IPA – a whopping 8% ABV, but tasty. We didn’t have any food here because we just weren’t hungry. After that we headed for home and had a final pint and 2 more orders of Cauliflower fritters at the Bellini bar before calling it a night.

Tuesday, February 11, 2020

Today, after breakfast we decided to do Mount Eden. After getting through the CBD, you start to walk through a bunch of different universities and that’s when the hills start, but certainly not where they end. After you pass the universities, we passed Symonds Street Cemetery. This cemetery was the first formal cemetery established in Auckland. It was established back in 1842, when there were only 2,000 residents in the city! Today it is a heritage park.

About 20 minutes later we arrived at the foot of Mount Eden. Mount Eden is dominated by a volcanic peak also known as Maungawhau. We entered the park at the Tahaki Reserve and walked through the lovely park setting. Then we began to climb…and climb….and climb. By the time we reached the top, my Fitbit said we had done the equivalent of 70 flights of stairs. And it was a pretty steep climb, but the views were spectacular, so well worth it. We snapped a bunch of obligatory photos and then headed back to base. The walk back was so much easier and faster than the walk to Mount Eden (it was mostly downhill, so that helped, except some areas were so steep, you really had to walk slow).

After we got back we took a shower and headed out to get something to eat. We originally tried to stop at St. Alice, but it was closed for a private function, so we went to Dr. Rudi’s. We got a bottle of champagne and a dozen oysters, an order of brie & jalapeno poppers and parmesan crusted polenta sticks. The polenta sticks were just okay and needed a dipping sauce. It came with a horseradish aioli, but I preferred to use the hot sauce instead. The food was just okay, we didn’t get a chance to sample any of their beer, not sure if we will go back for that or not.

On the walk home, we saw that Lulu’s had a special, all day, every day on Mumm, Cordon Rouge champagne for $59 NZD – around $30 US – if you consider that price includes tax and tip, that’s an awesome price. So we sat at Lulu’s enjoying the harbor view and drinking our champagne.

Then we stopped at The Culpepper which had $2 oysters and $5 glasses of prosecco. After which Sue went to buy a New Zealand t-shirt for a souvenir.

Lastly we went to The Crab Shack and had a glass of white sangria (not very good), and then a couple of beers and an order of fries.

Finally we made it home and had some wine from New Zealand: Montana Reserve Pinot Noir – not very good. But we sat on our balcony enjoying the evening weather and eating some cracker and cheese snack boxes.

Mark couldn’t figure out how to work the HDMI input so we could watch a show and I fell asleep anyway.

Wednesday, February 12, 2020.

We both woke up expecting to be sore after the Mount Eden hike, but we weren’t. We walked down to the laundry mart to get our clothes done. We decided to have them do it but were told that regular service is 3 business days, so we had to go with express, which is double the cost. But at least we don’t have to do them ourselves.

It was an absolutely glorious weather day here in Auckland so we went out to Waiheke Island also known as Wine Island. That was a lot of fun. On the boat we met an old man named Gary who is from Auckland and he would point out some of the sites along the way. He was a little hard to hear over the noises of the boat engines, but he was a nice fellow. He had the strangest eyes I’ve ever seen. They were brown with blue around the outside. Almost like he had on colored contacts that didn’t fit over his eyes right.

When we arrived at Waiheke we hopped on the Hop On – Hop Off bus and took it to stop #4, where we could pretty easily get to 3 separate wineries. Stonyridge Vineyards was first on our list and so we trekked up the steep driveway for about 10 minutes until we got to the Cellar Door (which is what tasting room is called in New Zealand). They have two different tasting options – regular (3 for $15) and premium ($28) – so we got one of each, so we can try more of their wines. The regular had Sauvignon Blanc, Syrah and a Bordeaux blend. The Premium had a Chardonnay, Rhone Blend (Pilgram) and a tasting of their most expensive wine LaRose, which is almost a Bordeaux blend, but it also has Carmenere in it. The wines were mostly good, but the staff was not quite friendly and was just interested in getting people out the door than spending time with the tasters. After our tasting, we each bought a full glass and sat outside and enjoyed the wonderful weather and the beautiful views of the winery. I had a Sauvignon Blanc, Mark had the 100% Syrah.

We decided that, although it wasn’t originally on our list, we should trek over to Te Motu which you can get to cutting through a field from Stonyridge. Besides the Hop On / Hop Off lady said that it was her favorite. We both loved this place. The people, the setting and the wines were all really good. We are both so glad we stopped. Their tasting menu was 4 wines for $20. Today they offered the 2019 Dunleavy The Shed rose, then the Dunleavy “The Strip” Cab/Merlot blend. Called the strip because the vineyards are now on what used to be the local grass airstrip. The third tasting was Te Motu “Kokoro”, which means Patriarch in the Maori language. It’s so named as this is a family winery that has been passed down multiple generations. This is a Merlot dominated blend also featuring Cab Sauvignon, Malbec and Syrah. And the finally tasting was the 2014 Te Motu flagship wine – a Bordeaux blend – Cabernet Sauvignon dominated blended with Merlot and Cabernet Franc. We also got a free tasting of the 2013 flagship wine to see the difference in years. The 2013 was better, but you could definitely taste the Cab Franc more – even though it held the same amount. Afterwards we bought a glass of the 2013 Te Motu and a glass of Rose. We also ordered some snacks while at the winery – marinated olives and sourdough with local olive oil. The olives were super yummy and the local olive oil was beyond delicious. It was really pleasant sitting there enjoying the weather and the wine. At this tasting they are much more relaxed and they come out to serve you instead of standing around a little bar. And they take the time to tell you about the wine and the family. They were passionate about what they do there and it shows.

Next we walked over to Tantalus Estates. Beautiful vineyard and building. In their wine tasting we had: Hawk’s Bay – Methode Traditionale Brut NV, Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough Chardonnay, a Pinot Noir, Evoque Reserve Merlot Blend and Ecluse Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon blend. We then bought a glass each and sat down to enjoy the view.

It was after 4 o’clock and we decided we should start to head home after the most enjoyable day. While we were waiting for the Hop On Hop Off bus to come, the public transit came and picked us up and dropped us off at the ferry for no money. We thought that was nice and honestly the public bus was more comfortable than the Hop On Hop Off bus was.

On the ferry ride home we met some Aucklanders who were fun to joke around with so that helped us pass the time. We did have to buy a drink on the ferry to celebrate Mark’s birthday time, which the Kiwi’s couldn’t understand and then the ferry driver wished Mark a happy birthday. We gave up on trying to clarify it and just joined in the merriment.

We were knackered from our day in the sun, but needed nourishment and had 2 free drink stubs left, so we went to Bellini bar one last time. We got fish and chips and you guessed it – cauliflower fritters – to end the evening.

Thursday, February 13, 2020

Our last full day in Auckland. We walked down to Mint Laundry to pick up our clothes. The attendant really raved about St. Alice – but his friend owns it so we’ll see if it’s that good, although it was on our list of places to go to eat.

Mark has a pretty bad blister on his foot, so we’re taking it easy today. We went to St. Alice for lunch and ordered: a glass, then bottle, Fox John Belsham 2016 Hawkes Bay, Glass Soho ‘Pink Sheep’ 2019 Marlborough, 6 - Te Kouma Oyster (Coromandel, NZ), 6 - Orongo Oyster (Russell, NZ), Oyster McMuffin fried with black garlic aioli / pickle radish, Pork & Spiced Carrot Croquette / caramelized beetroot puree / housemade mayonnaise, Woodfired Sweetcorn paprika butter / horopito salt / citrus, Chips with parmesan cheese & truffle mayo, Pan Roasted Monkfish w/ cloudy bay tua tua / grey lynn butchers nduja (spicy salami) / toasted baguette / burnt leek & herb butter. It was a lot of food we were certainly full, but it was all delicious. The Monkfish was a huge portion and so were the chips.

After lunch we decided to stop for some cheese and crackers at the Countdown store and then hit Lulu’s for the $59 bottle of Mumm’s and sat and watched the harbor activities.

After dinner, we went to a local liquor store and bought a couple bottles of wine to enjoy with the cheese out on the balcony after we packed. It was a lovely evening although it did get a bit cool once the sun went down, so we headed inside to read and go to bed.

Friday, February 14, 2020

We got up by 5am to catch our cab at 6 for the airport. The cabbie was on time and quite talkative. We didn’t realize this before but Hilton actually has a set rate from the Hilton to the airport, so this was a little bit cheaper than the reverse trip. Even though we ran into an accident on the way to the airport which slowed us down a little, we still made it there in plenty of time. Air New Zealand has a completely separate room for priority baggage check, which went quickly and then we went up to the lounge for a little breakfast snack while we waited for the plane. We headed to the gate at the appropriate time and again we waited about 15 minutes past the noted boarding time, but we still landed on time, so that’s really the important part. The flight to Melbourne was again uneventful and the flight attendants were pleasant and eager to serve. Once we landed, immigration was a breeze. It took a little while for our baggage to come out, but once we got it and headed towards customs we breezed through. From there, we hopped in a Taxi with quite an old guy, but he got us safely to the Doubletree, so that’s all that matters.

At the Doubletree, we were there before official check in time, so the upgraded room we got wasn’t ready yet, so we just sat at the restaurant and tried a glass of wine and some pupus, while we waited. It only took about 30 minutes. So because this hotel is in the heart of the city the rooms are not quite big, in fact they’re pretty small. And the storage is horrible, some of their design decisions were not thought through. But these are fairly minor things, once you figure out where to put your clothes. 😊 The upgrade we got is to a room that has a window (yes they have some rooms without windows). Although the view is of a building about 3 feet away, so it’s not like you get much light anyway. If you put your head on the glass and look left, you can see a sliver of Flinders Street Station.

After we got up to the room and unpacked, we had about 20 minutes until my birthday time, so we headed out in search of a bar. We stopped at the first one we saw, called The Joint Bar. It was an actual bar and had nothing to do with marijuana. We had a pint each, toasted to Sue’s birthday time and then left. Even though it was early, we decided to head to Tipo 00 for dinner. Justine Schofield had suggested it on Instagram and the food looked amazing.

Even though we got there around 3:30, the place, which is small, was pretty full. But we were able to sit at the bar. We ordered a mixed drink to start the evening. I had a White Negroni and Mark had the Aviation. For starters, we shared their Lingua - grilled ox tongue, balsamic & pink peppercorns. It was beautifully presented and tasted delicious. For dinner I had the Riso vialone nano – roasted onion, cacio e pepe. This was also good, but a little shy on the pepe part of the dish. Mark had the Gnocchi di patate – braised duck, porcini & pecorino pepato. This was absolutely delicious. Not sure if there were actual porcinis in the meal, or if they were in the sauce, but the gnocchi were super light. For dessert we shared their Bomboloni – ricotta doughnuts, lemon & fig leaf. This dish was larger than expected but so good we finished it anyway. Mark had the Romano Levi Barolo grappa and Sue had the Recioto Soave. We were both happy with our choices. Completely full and happy we walked back to the hotel and sat at the bar for a few happy hour drinks. $5 house wine (the equivalent of $4.20 USD). Their House wine is Little Leaf, so we tried their Shiraz and Sparkling Brut. Considering they are house wines, they were decent.

We met a nice couple at the bar who were locals and just out for a couple of drinks. We talked to them briefly and they both said we should go to MONA in Tasmania, so we may have to look into going to that art museum. It will entail a ferry ride, plus entrance fees, so we’ll see.

Saturday, February 15, 2020

After eating our complementary continental breakfast, because it was pretty gloomy and raining off and on, actually misting most of the time, we decided to head over to the Queen Victoria Market (QVM) and do some browsing/shopping before lunch. Inside the CBD in Melbourne, there’s a free tram, so we decided to try that. It was easy and came with some amusing entertainment as a mom and grown son were arguing for the whole time they were on the tram.

We arrived unscathed from the family’s argument to find QVM to be huge and have a plethora of options. There is raw meat, cheese, fish, delicatessens, fruit and veg, and also general merchandise. There isn’t a large variety in the general merchandise area. Lots of cheap t-shirts (we bought 2 for $10 AUD), leather products, knick knacks, etc. Definitely something for everybody. If we had a VRBO here with a kitchen, instead of hotel, we’d definitely have bought more and cooked it back home. But that was not to be on this trip.

After walking around we were a bit hungry and Mark wanted to find a place to sit, so we went to a restaurant in the food court called Funk Fish. Not a great name if you ask me, but really good fish and chips, some of the best fish (in a fish and chips meal) that Mark ever tasted. They were also licensed so we got a bottle of wine to go with it. Since we shared an order of the fish and chips, we decided to go down the street to another restaurant called El Rincon. It was a Spanish tapas place and most of the staff were from Barcelona. So we attempted to speak Spanish, but we were horrible. But the food was pretty good. We received two pintxos as we sat down. One with eggplant and manchego the other with serrano ham. Both were good. We ordered, patatas bravas and albondigas. The patatas bravas came with two sauces, we liked the traditional sauce the best. The albondigas was super moist and fluffy. It came in a tomato sauce, which we weren’t expecting, but it was still pretty good. Mark really wanted to have pan con tomate, but it wasn’t on the menu, but they were willing to make it anyway. To round out our meal, we had a couple glasses of wine each and ended with 2 glasses of Oloroso Sherry which they served to us with a mixture of walnuts and almonds and a sugar cooked fancified for Valentine’s day.

We were completely full after this so we headed back to the hotel and had a couple of glasses of free drinks at the bar (because we’re diamond members) to celebrate my birthday time, before heading up to the room to watch some tv.

We both were a little hungry but not starving so we decided to go to one of the takeaway joints (there are plenty) around the corner. We chose Rocket Burger – Mark had the Rocket Classic – mustard, mayo, cheese, tomato, lettuce, pickles and ketchup. I had the Hot Chick – chicken breast, cheese, bacon, lettuce, tomato, onion, hot sauce, jalapeno and mayo. We shared a large fries. OMG there was so much food, but it was so tasty. And they even have vegetarian and vegan options available.

We ate in our room while watching tv and turned in early.

Sunday, February 16, 2020

Today we walked along the Southbank area of Melbourne. It was a nice walk, this side of Melbourne is much more modern and there are lots of cafes and restaurants on the river. We walked past Rockpool which was owned by Neil Perry whom we’ve seen as a guest judge on MasterChef Australia. We decided that we would come back for lunch. We walked to the harbor, then decided to cross over and turn back so we could shower and go to lunch.

Back at Rockpool, it was a strange experience. We had to wait a few minutes for the hostess to come back to her station to seat us. Which happens, I know, but it just seemed odd that there was no one there for a good 3 minutes or so. Then when she sat us, she just left the drinks list, no menus. Apparently, they do that at Rockpool, but Mark and I like to see what we’re going to order for food before we decide on our drinks. So after waiting at least 10 minutes before anyone even asked us if we wanted a drink, someone stopped by and we were finally able to say that we’d like to see a menu so we can pair our food and drink. I have to admit, during the wait, I actually contemplated leaving. With hindsight being 20/20 – I wish we had. We decided to order a few different things to share. We got the Fried Southern Calamari with Macadamia Tarator, Saltbush and Kampot Pepper, Wood Fire Grilled Wagyu Sausages with Grilled Peppers, Capers and Sherry Vinegar, Confit Lamb Ribs with Orange and Snow Pea Salad and Mac and Cheese. Most of the food was a letdown, especially given the price point. The lamb ribs and sausages were both good. The fried calamari was ok, almost too big of a portion, because after while it just got to be too much. The mac and cheese was not very good. (How do you mess up mac and cheese?) The saving grace was the dessert – Profiteroles with hazelnut ice cream and warm chocolate sauce. Super yummy. However, all in all just okay and not recommended based on the price.

We were so full after lunch that we just went back to the room and hung out watching some old episodes of Seinfeld. Then we went down to the bar for Sue’s birthday time drink. We then decided that it would be a good idea to head out to see the street art since it was a beautiful day and a walk might help us feel better. The street art was closer than we thought and we got to see it all in like 15 minutes. Unexpectedly we came across two baby yoda drawings that were quite good. After making it down to AC/DC lane and seeing the Bon Scott 3D image, we headed back to the hotel. We just sat at the bar and had a few drinks since it was happy hour, then we decided to order a little food – I got a farro salad and mark ordered the braised oxtail. The oxtail was delicious, but too much food. The farro salad was nice and refreshing.

Monday, February 17, 2020

Today was a glorious weather day. We decided to drop off our clothes for laundry at Breezy laundry in the Gallaria Mall, before having breakfast at the hotel. After breakfast we decided to head over to the Botanical Gardens for some exercise. It was fairly close by and quite peaceful, after dealing with the CBD hustle and bustle at rush hour. We wound up only seeing about half of the park, as it was nearing 11:30 and we wanted to get back and shower before heading out for lunch.

For lunch we stopped at DoDee Paidang Thai food. We ordered (copy and pasted from their online menu) DEEP FRIED PORK SPRING ROLL : Spring roll pastry wrapped with glass noodle, garlic, minced pork, beansprout, carrot, deep fried served with sweet & sour sauce & peanut, CHILLI BASIL ROASTED DUCK FRIED RICE: Stir fried roasted duck with chilli and basil sauce, onion, long red chilli, basil leaves mixed with rice and SAI AUA (Northern Thai Spicy Sausage) : Homemade grilled pork sausage with chilli, garlic, turmeric, lime leaves, shallot served with fresh ginger, peanut and vegetable. All very delicious and the chili basil roasted duck fried rice was good and spicy. My nose was running and after eating a chili Mark had the hiccups. But it was very delicious. So glad we stopped here.

After we left, we realized that my birthday time was coming up soon – so we hit up Belle’s for a beer. We walked in and the waitress/hostess/bartender, was wearing a Kona Brewing Co shirt – it was fate. We each had a pint of the 4 pines India Summer Ale – which I liked more than Mark. Then we had a funky cider from the Yarra Valley. It was interesting, but not our favorite. And unfortunately we can’t remember the name.

We decided since it was a lovely day that we were going to make it a day drinking day. Especially since Tuesday it was scheduled to rain all day. So our next stop was Campari House and their rooftop deck. It’s about 4 flights up but a nice space once you make it up there. We both ordered a Sicilian – which has gin, lemonade and chamboard float – maybe some other stuff, but for some reason this drink is not on their drinks menu. We were getting close to leaving, but the bartender gave us 2 free glasses or prosecco since he had just served two other guests and the bottle had been opened since yesterday. Who are we to look a prosecco-bearing gift horse in the mouth – so bottoms up. We decided that we should at least order one more drink since we got the prosecco for free, and so we both got a negroni.

After that we decided we should check out Kirks Wine Bar. While they had outside seating, we chose to sit inside because we weren’t sure about smokers. We were starting to get a little snacky hungry at this point, so we ordered a half dozen Tasmanian oysters, olives and polenta sticks. And of course wine. We ordered a sparkling wine and an “orange” wine. Neither of us were fans of the orange wine but at least we tried it. Then we moved on to 2 glasses of red wine – a local Cab Franc and French Croze Hermatage. I thought the French was off, but Mark just thought it was acidic and in a dumb period. Surprisingly we both liked the Cab Franc, which did not taste green peppery at all – so we ordered a bottle. After that we had enough day drinking and headed back to the room to call it a night.

Tuesday, February 18, 2020

Today the rain did not cooperate for Sue day. We woke up to rainy weather, which we expected based on the forecast. There really wasn’t much to do so after a quick continental breakfast we hung out watching tv and blogging until it was time for lunch. I chose to go to MoVida, which as we’ve heard good things about this place and it’s a part of the Eater Essential 38. We started with a couple of glasses of red to warm us up after the wet and chilly walk. Then we had a few Tapas and two raciones. The waiter mentioned that the Anchoa – Hand-filleted Cantabrian Artisan Anchovy on Crouton with Smoked Tomato Sorbet – we decided we needed to try it. Mark liked it more than me, but it was quite complex and if you like anchovies and smoky tomato, it would be great. We then had Croqueta – Crispy Fried Zucchini & Mint Croquettes. Sue like these a lot. We also hade Mollete – Toasted Sandwich with Spicy Mallorca Pork & Paprika Sausage, Sheep’s Curd & Honey. This was also very good. This one was a little larger and we could have shared one instead of getting one each. Then we moved on to the Raciones. We shared 2 – Berenjenas – Charred Eggplant with Crispy Chickpea Tortillata & Parsley Salad and the Carrillera de Buey – Pedro Ximenez Braised Jack’s Creek Black Angus Beef Cheek with Cauliflower Puree. Both of these were excellent. The Cauliflower puree was super smooth. It was no longer raining as we went home. We had Sue’s birthday time drink at the bar, before heading up to the room to chill and watch Dr. Who before getting ready for the main event.

We decided to Uber it to Attica, which may have been a mistake. The driver, while pleasant, was erratic and went off course quite a bit and we’re not sure if that cost us more money or if he was just trying to avoid the traffic, which was horrible. Uber originally said we would get to Attica at 6:01 – we were 20 minutes late and charged $20AUD more than what I was expecting, which doesn’t make me happy. We were also worried about what would happen to our reservation if we were late. Mark sent him an email just in case. We finally arrived under threatening skies, but made it into the restaurant about 3 minutes before hail and a massive downpour. The hostess couldn’t have been nicer and more understanding regarding our predicament and sat us without issue. The restaurant was nicely decorated and even though we were in jeans, we didn’t feel out of place. The menu is heavily focuses on native Australian ingredients so we were in for a fun night.

Here are the courses we enjoyed:

1. A dish called “From Out Back” which had many different ingredients that you could mix and match with sorrel leaves to make little wraps. Included in the dish were – finger limes, smoked egg with beet root, pine nut crème, macadamia nut salt, Australian kim chee, desert limes, something like pomegranate and something like a native plum, mussels, fried saltbush and wattle seeds with sour cream. Also included in this course were Nyamanka – or honeypot ants. You didn’t actually eat the ant, but rather sucked the honey like liquid out of its sack. A little weird, but tasty. Next was Tomatoes with Bunya bunya (which is a type of pine tree and the nut is used to in the dressing).

2. Happy Little Vegemite. These are so much better than the vegemite you find in stores. House made cheese roll with vegemite swirled in. Very yummy.

3. An Imperfect History of Ripponlea consisting of 3 tarts: First is a nod to the Jewish settlers and is a smoked chicken and dill filling held in a shimmering broth jelly. The next one represents the bright aromas of lilly pillies and blood lime on a pepperberry cream paying homage to the indigenous people, and the last one is a tea cream topped with pears with a slice of black pudding referencing the original Rippon Lea estate.

4. Emu Liver Bagel – a house made everything bagel topped with emu liver pate and a Davidson plum jam.

5. Sticky Wattle and Prawn Dumpling – I liked this more than Mark, but I love dumplings

6. Saltwater Croc Ribs – these were very tasty, not as fishy as alligator. They were however a little hard to eat because of the bones.

7. Hand Picked Crab and Wattle Bread – the crab was good but not my favorite, since I don’t really like crab.

8. Pearl and Ngerdi – This was lightly poached meat from pearl oysters topped with a green ant dressing. (yes, more ants. These were tiny and without reading glasses, you would never have been able to tell they were ants.)

9. Burru with Truganini – kangaroo tartare topped with grey saltbush leaves

10. Blue Moons cooked in Kelp – this was a very rich dish. Blue moons are potatoes that were cooked in the kelp, which imparted a bit of a seaweed flavor to the potatoes. The kelp was not intended to be eaten, but served as a vessel for serving and seasoning.

11. Marron with Sunrise Lime – Marron is a type of Australian Crayfish. This was pretty good but we’ve already had a lot of food by this time.

12. Diversity Ice Cream – here we got up from our seats and took a tour towards the back of the property. They shared with us some pictures of family members of the team and ice cream cones with various toppings that were inspired by the staff – from many different countries.

13. Finger lime and Sugarbag honey – this was a poached finger line covered in honey and then cream. The tartness of the fingerlime was offset by the sweetness of the honey and creaminess of the cream.

14. Bonus course – for my birthday, Attica provided an extra dessert – a white chocolate ice cream with a strawberry granita.

15. Finally ended with a Rainforest Cherry Ripe which is Attica’s riff on a beloved Australian Chocolate bar called Cherry Ripe.

There was a lot of food and a lot of things I never thought I would eat – like Ants – twice! But it was a very good meal. A nice way to spend my birthday evening.

February 19, 2020

Today was a cool weather day and rainy in the morning. We went to pick up our laundry from Breezy Laundry in the Gallaria Mall. Thankful we went a little later, so the streets were quite so packed. Breezy laundry worked fine, but we didn’t like that you couldn’t specify how you wanted your clothes handled. But at least we have clean clothes.

For lunch we decided to go to Miznon on Hardware Lane. This is an Israeli/Mediterranean restaurant that first opened in Tel Aviv. One of their signature dishes is roasted baby cauliflower. It’s a whole head of cauliflower that is so moist, and tender and delicious. We think it’s just slow roasted with some olive oil then charred and salted before serving. We are going to try to make it at home. Mark had the PITA WITH A BONE: Lamb rib stew, tahini, pickles, onion, chili. I had the GOLDEN FISH: Cod, Aioli, Tomato salsa, coriander, vinegar. I think the fish was different than cod, but I don’t remember the name. The main thing is that it was delicious. We would definitely go back here. It gets quite busy for lunch. We also saw that they had Kona Brew – Hanalei Bay on tap!

After lunch we decided to stop for another beverage and wandered over to Chin Chin. Their food menu looked good, but we didn’t have time to eat there during this trip in Melbourne. We each had a glass of wine and then decided to go back to the bar since we still had 4 free drink coupons. So we sat at the bar and used up our coupons, then had another drink so we could get decent wine glasses for our room as the ones that are provided are about the size of shot glasses. Then we went back to the room to relax. We also decided to start watching Monty Python and the Holy Grail while we waited for Mark’s birthday time. The we ventured out to find Gami Korean Chicken and Beer. It was a little tricky to find and we walked right past it. But after we turned around and made our way back, we found it hidden in a hallway with a yellow cardboard sign that says Gami. It’s in the basement and almost feels like a speakeasy, but we ordered a half chicken of the Korean Spicy fried chicken, mixed (meaning they toss it in the sauce for you) and a jug of Australian Pale Ale (we don’t remember the name) and a side order of fries. The fries were super yummy. So was the chicken. This is another place we would definitely go back to. And it was cheap - $45.50 AUD!

Thursday, February 20, 2020

Our last morning in Melbourne before heading to Hobart. Not much for us to do since we want to leave for the airport around 10:30am. So we partook in our last free continental breakfast buffet before finishing packing. Next stop – Tassie!

We decided to take a cab to the airport because there were always some outside the hotel, of course this time there were not. I went in to ask the concierge to call one for me and he recommended that we walk a half of a block down to the Rendezvous Hotel because there was a lot of construction in front of the hotel. Sure enough there were plenty of cabs waiting down the block and we took off for the airport and got to the airport in plenty of time.

This was our first time flying Jetstar and since it is Australian’s budget airline we weren’t sure what to expect. But we got checked in and after a little finagling with our bags – it was having trouble reading the barcode on my bag – we were on our way. The security line wasn’t too bad. It moved quickly and we didn’t have to take out our laptop or take off our shoes. We got through rather quickly, although one thing we noticed is that no one checked our id or ticket through security. We figured maybe they would check it at the gate.

After we got through there were restaurants and shops but we decided to find our gate to see how long it would take to get there. It was a good walk, about 7 minutes, but there were no real amenities by the gate, so we headed back to security and stopped at Two John’s for a pint while we waited for our plane.

We headed for the gate right around boarding time and got into the line to wait to board. Jetstar just boards you en masse – they do open both the front and back doors for boarding and your seat number will determine which staircase you use. (They do not have jetways for Jetstar – they board on the tarmac. It was chilly, but at least it wasn’t raining.). While they do check to make sure you have the appropriate boarding pass, they still didn’t check for IDs. Given all the crazy security in America, it seemed quite odd to us, but perhaps for domestic flights in Australia, they are apparently more lax.

We had the exit row on the plane so we had two seats by ourselves and LOTs of legroom, although the seats were a bit tight/narrow, it’s only about an hour flight so it wasn’t too bad. We didn’t realize that we bought a package with $10 food and beverage credit each for the plane ride. We weren’t really hungry or thirsty, so we got some sausage sticks, cheese and crackers and olives to eat at the hotel.

As we arrived in Hobart, we exited the plane to quite chilly weather – similar to Melbourne, but at least the sun was out so it felt better. The Hobart airport is quite tiny, and we were surprised at how quickly our luggage came out. We got our luggage then grabbed a cab. The cabbie we got was actually wearing a White Sox cap! I asked if he was a fan and he said, no he just liked the cap. LOL. We hit a little traffic on the way to the hotel, but we still got there in around 30 minutes.

There are no Hilton hotels in Hobart, so we are staying at a place called Somerset on the Pier. It’s more like a studio apartment. There is a 2 burner hob, dishwasher, microwave, refrigerator and a washer/dryer in the unit. And the bedroom is in the loft, so there is a proper dining room/living room. We also got a room with a balcony overlooking the marina. It’s nice to sit out there in the afternoon sun with a glass of wine and people watch. We are right above some restaurants and the Lady Nelson Tall Ship is outside our window too, so lots of people watching to be done.

For linner (late lunch/early dinner), since we were hungry, we stopped at T42 downstairs. We had a dozen oysters – which happened to be half off! Mark had the local fish (blue eye) with ratatouille and fried semolina and I had the crumbed catch (Ling) with chips and a salad. We both enjoyed our meals.

We then walked to Woolworth’s for some water and snacks and hit up Cellarbrations for some wine before retiring for the night.

Friday, February 21, 2020

It was quite chilly again in the morning, so we stayed in the hotel until about 10ish. We thought the place downstairs opened at 10am for lunch but it didn’t look like it so, we decided to go to the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery which was up the road. It wasn’t very exciting, but it helped pass the time and it is free! Since we were already on the other side of the road, Mark decided we should hit Ettie’s wine bar for lunch – it was about a 10 minute walk from the museum. We had a couple glasses of wine, then bought a bottle to go with lunch – we had wild venison salami, marinated olives, pork and fennel sausages with apple, watercress and fresh horseradish shaved on top and of course French fries. Everything was very good. We debated getting dessert and decided we would have to have another bottle of wine, so we got the 2018 Kalleske Moppa Shiraz. It was quite good, unfortunately it was their last bottle. But it went well with the Tassie Cheddar Cheese and prune spread we got for “dessert”. The staff at the store was nice to talk to and we had a good time.

After lunch we stopped to get some more wine before heading back to the condo where we had some sparkling wine and I decided to take a nap. I woke up about 90 minutes later, just in time for Mark’s birthday time.

Then we went and grabbed some burgers from Billy’s burgers. I got the Billy, Mark got the classic with caramelized onions, and we shared an order of jalapeno poppers and an order of fries. We were quite happy with the meal – even though they almost forgot my fries and then said she didn’t charge me for them – she did. We brought the food up to the room, had it with some wine, before watching tv until bedtime.

Saturday, February 22, 2020

We woke up this morning and it was still in the 50s so we puttered around the hotel room until it warmed up. The sun is shining at least so that’s making it warmer. Once it warms up enough, we’re going to go out and hit the Salamanca Market.

The Salamanca market was a bit crazy. Tons of people, most of which were just standing around getting in the way annoying us. There were lots of stalls with lots of stuff and food, but there really wasn’t anywhere to sit and eat the food, so after about 15 minutes of being jostled by people going the wrong way and just be rude, we turned up a side street and decided to go to a sit down restaurant – Mezethes Greek Restaurant. We were starving, but they didn’t start serving lunch until noon, it was only about 11:30. So they let us sit down and wait and wait and wait. Finally they took our order – after taking the order of someone else who came in after us first. But after the hangryness subsided, we were fine. We ordered a Greek style tapas – a roasted eggplant dip called Melitzanosalata, Keftethes – basically Greek meatballs, Spanakopita, Loukaniko – Greek Sausages. It was mostly good, our least favorite were the sausages. But it was good to finally have some food. After food, we walked through the market again (still pretty crazy) to find some tshirts, which we found, purchased, then went back to the hotel.

We decided to go pick up some snacks and wine and spend the night watching people. We also decided to have dinner at Fish Frenzy. This is basically a fish and chips shop. We got one order of flathead (or flatty as they call it) and one order of Blue Eye Travalla with an order of chips. The fish was good, but Mark still thought that Funk Fish was the best.

Sunday, February 23, 2020

Today there was a “run the bridge” race, causing traffic issues, so we hung around the house watching tv until it was lunchtime. Then we went to Mures Upper Deck for lunch. Mark had the daily special Curry Seafood dish and I had the Pink Ling fish and chips. Mark’s special came with a glass of wine, so he chose a George’s Sauvignon Blanc. I chose the Gala Rose. Mark really liked his dish. It had a warm flavor without being overly spicy. My fish and chips were really good as well. And their chips are really chunky, but they were crispy on the outside and almost like mashed potatoes on the inside. Yum.

After lunch we decided to do some day drinking . First stop was The Glass House Hobart inside Brooke Pier. We were seated at a bar table with a view of the water. We were able to watch the ships come in and go out. It was very nice. We each got 2 cocktails, all of them were lovely and unique. We also had a good time with our waiter who was from France.

We next moved on to the Derwent Bar to ensure we were able to celebrate Sue’s Birthday time. Here we had 2 ciders. They had 2 options, so we got one of each, then sat outside in the sun to enjoy them.

We then headed to the Woolworth’s and Cellarbrations yet again to get some more supplies for the evening. We decided to just have wine and cheese and crackers for dinner, spending the evening out on the lanai people watching for our last night in Hobart.

Monday, February 24,2020

Our last day in Hobart. We had to check out at 10am, but our flight wasn’t until 4:20, so we stayed in the room as long as possible before checking out and dropping our luggage off at reception so we could walk around town. We walked around past where the Salamanca market was, along the water for a while until it started drizzling. It stopped on our way back and we saw that Irish Murphy’s opened at 11:00am, so we hung around until they opened, then went in for lunch. While they opened at 11, the kitchen didn’t open until 12, but we managed with a couple of pints and a packet of crisps (hmm, almost familiar) until noon. Mark, who was having a hankering for bangers and mash, ordered that. I ordered – chicken schnitzel, chips and a salad. The portions were large and the food was tasty. I couldn’t even finish my food.

After lunch we decided to go to T42 for one last glass of Tassie wine before heading to the airport. When we picked up our luggage from Somerset, they offered to call us a taxi so we took them up on that offer. The taxi arrived in about 5 minutes and we headed to the airport. We got there in under 30 minutes and probably WAY too early. We couldn’t even check into our flight yet. The airport is small – really small. They have gates 2-6 (I don’t know what happened to 1). So we had to hang out for 20 minutes before we could even check into our flight. Once we checked in (they didn’t check our ID), we headed through security which was pretty quick – although you do have to take your laptops out of the bags. After security we decided the best thing to do was to go to the bar for a drink or 2. So we had 2 rounds, Mark had 2 ciders, I had a pale ale and a cider. Then we decided the plane was supposed to board in about 5 minutes so we went to the gate – which was about 100 steps from the bar and waited. While we were waiting for the plane to board, we noticed two little French boys – probably twins about 3 years old, playing nicely. Mark even noted how well behaved they were.

We flew Qantas and in coach – oh the horror – but we purchased extra legroom and had exist row seats and 2 seats by themselves. There was plenty of room and for the 2 hour flight to Sydney these seats weren’t bad. However, remember those 2 well behaved French boys, well they were seated directly behind us. And they weren’t quite as well behaved. The family took up the whole row, so they were across the aisle behind us as well. The one little boy did not shut up the entire flight. And because he was speaking French we didn’t know what the hell he was saying. I’m not sure if that’s better or worse. At one point he was either kicking my chair or pushing on it or something, but only for a little while. The other boy fell asleep for a little bit, but boy the other one just didn’t shut up. It’s clear it’s a good thing I never was a mother.

Once we landed, our luggage came out rather quickly and we were on our way to the hotel. We got there in under 30 minutes and got an “upgraded” room. Not sure what the upgrade is, except we can see a sliver of water between 2 buildings over the A4. The room is small and the storage space deplorable. But it is in the middle of the CBD, so it’s probably intended for single businessmen, but there are literally only 5 hangers – 5 hangers – what’s that good for?! But after unpacking and tripling up shirts on hangers and having only one usable drawer to put underwear in, we went down to the bar for a nightcap and some snacks. The service seemed slow and we had to wait a long time for our drinks to be refilled. The bartender who was from Evian Switzerland, liked to do everything with a flourish, so it took longer than it probably should have. And to top it off the kitchen was out of the scotch egg which Mark really was looking forward to. But after a couple of drinks, we decided to head back up and call it a night.

Tuesday, February 25, 2020

Today we decided to do the walk to Mrs. MacQuarie’s chair in the royal botanical gardens for its view of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. The walk from our hotel takes you through the CBD (uphill), through the Sydney Hospital Grounds, then through The Domain Philip Precinct Park past the royal art gallery and then past the Royal Botantical Gardens. We decided to take the outer route along the wharf and Elizabeth Bay. We never actually saw Mrs Macquarie’s chair as it was up top, but we still had wonderful views of the bridge and the opera house. I even got Mark to talk a selfie!

We then continued along the route, past the outdoor movie theatre and through the Royal Botanical Gardens. Before we got into the garden there was an Australian White Ibis hanging out on the wall right in front of the Opera House. These things are all over. Very large birds. They appear to be used to people as they are quite tame. After the photo op, we continued through the gardens. The gardens are beautifully manicured and there is a section with a bunch of wild Sulphur crested cockatoos. These birds are super loud, but still quite beautiful. After a brief walk in the gardens we headed back to the room.

Today for lunch we went to El Loco at the Slip Inn down the street. It was Taco Tuesday after all and their tacos were on special for $5 each. They had 7 different kinds, so we got one of each: Lingua (beef tongue), Tinga de Pollo (shredded chicken), Conchinita Pibil (Pork), Camaron (Prawn), Coliflor Frita (fried cauliflower), Baja Fish, and Tacos secreto (Secret Taco – today was Chicken heart). They were decent, but not great. The fish and the pork were probably our favorite. Not sure if they came out a little cold, or if it was because we had so many that they weren’t very warm when we ate some of them. We also ordered a side of chips and guacamole. Mark had a couple of the Grand Jalapeno Margaritas and I had a couple of the El Loco Margarita. Both were good.

After that we decided to walk by the harbor to find someplace for Birthday time. We decided on All Hands Brewing House. Where we ordered a couple of IPAs and sat down and watched Cricket. At first we didn’t really know what was going on, but we started making up rules based on what we saw, so we think we understand it, kinda’ sorta’ now. The couple of pints we had there certainly helped.

Afterwards, we walked a little further down and found Barangaroo House Bar, one of Matt Moran’s (another former guest judge on Masterchef Australia) place. We found a nice spot with a good view and a nice breeze/fan to sit down and have a couple of jugs of their Rose Sangria Not too much alcohol, but easy drinking on a warm sunny day. We sat there until it started getting quite crowded as the regular Joe’s got off work and stopped by for happy hour.

We headed back to the hotel for our usual evening nightcap.

Wednesday, February 26, 2020

Today we walked to Paddy’s Market for some T-shirts and to check it out. It’s amazing how many of the stalls sell the same crap. But we found our cheap tshirts and then decided to walk back the long way through Chinatown and along the harbor promenade. It was an absolutely gorgeous day.

After a shower, we decided to go to Long Chim Sydney for lunch. This restaurant is owned by David Thompson, we’ve seen him on Masterchef Australia and we have his cookbook. This was one place we really wanted to go. We decided to do CLASSIC MAA LONG CHIM, which is basically a tasting menu. Here’s what it included:

Spicy Cashews: northern spices chilli tamarind – Super Yummy – we need to figure out how to make these addictive nuts.

Chive Cake: chilli dark soy coriander- this was good, but not our favorite

Crunchy Whitebait: thai herbs eschallot lime. When eaten by themselves, the whitebait was a little fishy, but when you combined it with the herbs, lime and shallots, they were much better, a lot more complex

Grilled Chicken Pomelo Salad : chilli jam lemongrass mint – we both liked this dish. It was my second favorite and Mark’s third

Grilled Scotch Fillet: smokey tomato relish – while this dish was good, it wasn’t anything that we couldn’t get a lot of other places.

Sour Orange Curry of Ling Fish: choy sum, shallot, tomato – this was a very complex dish and Mark’s second dish. I liked it as well, but not as much as he did.

Siamese Watercress: garlic chilli yellowbean – these were pretty good, but hard to eat. They were cut too large and there were no knives, plus there was a lot of food, so we didn’t finish these.

Jasmine Rice: of course, this is a required accompaniment.

Mango Sticky Rice: dessert – Mark and I weren’t sure about this one but it was actually quite good and refreshing.

One thing we noticed about the dishes is that they were all a little spicy, a medium spice level, but nothing too hot, just a lingering bit of heat on the palate. The mango sticky rice dessert was nice to cool down the palate with the fresh fruit and the coconut sauce. We got to the restaurant around 1pm and left around 2:30, very satisfied and happy we came. We would definitely recommend this place to anyone coming to Sydney.

We were both so full after this meal, that we just headed back to the hotel and watched a little tv until almost 5pm, then we headed next door to the Bristol Arms and had a pint of beer, before heading back to the hotel for some wine and dessert.

Thursday, February 27, 2020

Today we did a really good walk. We walked up to the Rocks, then around the Circular Quay – got to see Luna Park and the Zurich Sydney building before walking around the Opera House and through the Royal Botanical gardens again and heading home. Well over 10k steps just on that walk. It was mostly overcast but the sun did come out a little and boy did we sweat!

After coming back to the hotel and showering we went to lunch at Mr Wong, known for their dim sum. It was really good. We got the following: Pork and prawn shumai, Pork xiao long bao (aka soup dumplings – we actually got 2 orders because they were so good), Spicy pork char siu and zucchini dumpling, Pan fried Sichuan style lamb dumpling and Aromatic duck spring roll. We liked all of it. We would definitely recommend going here. It is down a little Alley and could be hard to find if you don’t know where to look. It was super busy and we got there after 1pm. The food comes out quick and hot.

After lunch we decided to head to Barangaroo House again for a couple of beverages, we had 2 on the first floor, then decided to go to Smoke – up on the 3^rd floor and had a couple of beverages there. We then headed home for a quick break before heading to the Bristol Arms for Mark’s birthday time. We decided to have 2 bottles of Mumm’s since they had it for $85AUD. Then we went to Solander bar and met up with some folks that sat next to us at Bristol Arms. We laughed and said we weren’t following them, but they said, that’s okay, why don’t you join us! So we sat with them (Candace, her husband Ben and their friend Monty) and had another bottle of wine. It was great fun.

Friday, February 28, 2020

Today started as a bit of a lazy day, but we decided to walk to Hyde Park for our morning walk. Hyde Park was a nice respite in the middle of Sydney, but it was also quite small. There are a few fountains and some statues. There was also a pretty walkway with a tree lined canopy.

Once we returned to the hotel and cleaned up we walked to Ho Jiak Malaysian Restaurant for lunch. Since we’re not really familiar with Malaysian food, we decided to do their tasting menu. They were extremely generous with their portions and it was WAY too much food. Here’s what we had:

1. Nasi Lemak In A Bite – Malaysian coconut milk rice, served with sambal, fried crispy anchovies, toasted peanuts and cucumber. This was a bit deconstructed but the flavors were awesome.

2. Kim Ah Nui Kay – these were spicy deep fried chicken wings – of course they were tasty – just look at the description!

3. Satay Chicken – these were good, but not great. By the time we got to try them they weren’t really hot.

4. Loh Bak - made with marinated pork jowl in Chinese five-spice powder and then rolled up with bean curd skin – these were very yummy

5. Rendang Wagyu – very good, rich and just a bit of spice

6. Ya Cniau Chye - Eggplant & long beans cooked in coconut milk – Neither of us knew exactly what this was when it was set down, but it was absolutely delicious.

7. Assam Nyonya Fish Fillet – This is a spicy fish dish. Unfortunately, the fish was overcooked. The flavor of the broth was good though.

8. Eggciting - Silky steamed century, duck & chicken eggs topped with trout roe. This was also very good. Almost like a custard.

9. Teh Tarik Affogato - Housemade Teh Tarik ice cream served with kopi. Teh Tarik (literally "pulled tea") is a popular hot milk tea beverage that they made into ice cream. They served this with black coffee to pour on top. The ice cream was served quite frozen and the hot coffee was probably to help melt it, but since neither of us like coffee, this wasn’t a big hit for us.

10. Ais Kacang - Malaysian shaved ice served with palm seed, corn, grass jelly, red bean, creamed corn and crushed peanuts – there was a LOT going on with this dessert. I’m not sure it was my favorite, but it was good to try it.

Way too much food at lunch, so we didn’t even eat dinner. We headed back to the hotel to decompress after such a large lunch, before heading to the Solander bar for our last night in Sydney.

Saturday, February 29, 2020

And just like that, our vacation is over. We decided not to eat breakfast at the hotel, since we would have access to the Business Class lounge in Sydney. So we headed to the airport a little earlier than expected, but got there in about 20 minutes. The lounge actually had hot breakfast options, so it was a wise choice to skip the continental breakfast at the hotel.

Mark was very excited for this flight because it was on a dreamliner. Unfortunately, reality was a bit of a letdown. The seats were set up weirdly – everything was set up in such an awkward manner – you had to turn around at such an odd angle just to reach the drink shelf. But it was a short flight.

We then had a 5 hour layover in Auckland. Again at least we had access to the lounge. We weren’t really hungry since we had lunch on the flight from Sydney, but at least there were beverages for us to partake in. While in the lounge we met with a local couple who were heading to Maui for a family birthday party/reunion.

We then saw the same couple while we were waiting to board the flight and as we were deplaning, and again while we were wasting time in Honolulu waiting for our flight to Kona. Very nice people.

One bad thing about customs in Honolulu is that there’s not a lot of structure. Perhaps the whole Coronavirus (COVID-19), added to it, but there were people standing right in front of the signs so we missed the Global Entry machines that were in a different area. Thankfully the general public lines weren’t very long and we had plenty of time – over 3 hours. It’s annoying, but we survived. 😊

The flight over to Kona was uneventful and our luggage came out quickly. Thankfully Roger and Judy remembered to pick us up, so we made it home by 1pm.