Christmas Tree Hunting

There is something magical about seeing those giant Christmas trees in Europe or North America. Alas, there are Christmas trees here in Sydney but they are all fake and honestly, they don't feel as special. But here is a post dedicated to the Christmas trees in Sydney CBD.

QVB Swarovksi Christmas Tree
Every year, a giant Christmas tree adorned with Swarovksi crystals is set up in the centre of the QVB. It fits snuggly in the gap between the floors and it is not possible to take a photo of the entirety of the tree.




George Street Christmas Tree
This identical tree popped up last year on George Street. Almost the entire street has been blocked off for over a year now for the light rail project that ... well hasn't started . Yet, the council has placed a Christmas tree up instead.



Martin Place Christmas Tree
For the past 4 years, the same Christmas tree has been put up in Martin Place. You can text a message to a number and the message will appear on the electronic banner around the Christmas tree.





Custom House Christmas Tree

Jasmin 1

When people ask me what my favourite cuisine is, I am slowly gravitating towards answering middle eastern (Turkish, Lebanese, Iranian) rather than Japanese or Italian which is what I have done in the past. Over the weekend, we visited the popular Lebanese restaurant, Jasmin 1, in Auburn for dinner and it was fabulous!


Mixed plate $17 // Combination of grilled chicken, kafta, shish kebab, falafel, fried kebbe, tabouli, served with hommus, baba ghannouje, garlic dips, pickle salad, lebanese bread
There is something amazing and very addictive about garlic sauce with lebanese bread. My favourite from the plate was probably the grilled chicken and kafta.


Kibbeh


Fattoush $8 // A mix of fresh lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, radish, onion, parsley, capsicum, shallots, mint, dressed with fresh lemon juice and olive oil, and topped with fried crispy Lebanese bread

The salad was a nice break from all the carbs and meat from the other two dishes. As the salad was topped by something deep fried, of course it made it that extra bit special!

Too much food was ordered and I was so full by the end of it. Another highlight of the meal was the complimentary cinnamon tea which was a nice contrast to the heaviness / oiliness of the dishes.

Lazy Sunday at Wattamolla

On Sunday (and the last day of being 24 years old), we headed south to the Royal National Park to Wattamolla Beach. There is also a small waterfall however as there hasn't been any rainfall, the waterfall was only a small trickle. There were quite a few people when we arrived at 10am and already 25 degrees.




Some 'light' reading about the British rule in India

Melbourne

I had 30 hours in Melbourne however that was enough time for me. This was my fourth visit to Melbourne and there wasn't anything that I really wanted to see in the CBD that I had not seen before.


I loved the borek from this store last time I visited Melbourne. As you can see in the photo from then and the one now, the dough is a lot thicker now. Since my trip to Turkey in 2015, I also tasted what a REAL borek should taste like and I think neither of them are very authentic. But definitely not the one I had that day, almost like a pide but not! 










This was my eleventh trip as part of #take12trips. To see previous trips please click here.

Victoria Roadtrip: Canola Chasing II

Wordless post

Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence.

Victoria Roadtrip: Canola Chasing

I had been wanting to find canola fields for the past few years to photograph. Canola or rapeseed results in gorgeous yellow flowers when they bloom in September - October. The canola fields in NSW are located around 4 hours [one way] away from Sydney which was why I hadn't made the journey to them. However in Victoria, they are only 2 hours away from Melbourne CBD and therefore it was a lot more convenient to visit them.

On an early Sunday morning after I woke up in my car, I headed west to the canola fields.


Where I slept for the night. The first time I have car camped in suburbia. 

Victoria Roadtrip: Lavandula Lavender Farm

On the way to Ballarat, I stopped at Lavandula Swiss Italian Farm. The 100 acre property was once farmed by Swiss-Italians who came to Australia in the 1850s.

Victoria Roadtrip: Bendigo

After Heathcote, I continued my journey to Bendigo. I didn't have any particular reason to head to Bendigo, but I had thought it might be nice to see some of the larger cities in Victoria. It also gave me the opportunity to pop into the supermarket to grab some supplies.




Bendigo Joss House Temple

I stopped first at the Joss House Temple however I probably should have done a bit more research. Rather than a proper active temple, it was more a museum about the Chinese migrants who came to Bendigo during the Gold Rush. I didn't end up paying for admission as that wasn't really up my alley and headed to the town centre instead.