AUSTRALIA

This is one of the most memorable experience to me - Sydney being one of the most favorite tourist destination and known for beautiful tourist spots. You can see tons and tons of photos featured in the internet and having the experience of seeing or visiting these spots for yourself is truly a lifetime memories to treasure.

The City Centre of Sydney is a usual busy location for business establishments, working people, the tourist, same as other big cities all over the world (tall buildings, beautiful infrastructures, fashion, shopping malls, busy crowd etc etc. ). However, what makes this city beautiful for me is the responsible citizens keeping the city so clean and safe, plus the winter season makes it more relaxing in going around. There were several reviews from the internet that there are severe "racist" in the city but then I haven't encounter anything (there will always be in every part of the world I know).

Sydney Tower and Skywalk
Official website is: http://sydneytower.myfun.com.au/

Before my actual trip to Sydney, I've been doing a lot of research about this attraction it never fail to meet my expectation. It's beautiful! It's amazing!

Some Interesting information about Sydney Tower and Skywalk - Just copied these info from the official site

Sydney Tower is a true Sydney icon and has been an integral feature of the world famous Sydney skyline for over 30 years.

Construction of Sydney Tower Centrepoint shopping centre began in late 1970 with the first 52 shops opening in 1972. The office component was completed in 1974 and the final stage of the complex, the Sydney Tower, was opened to the public in August 1981.

Ranked as one of the safest buildings in the world, the design has made the tower capable of withstanding earthquakes and extreme wind conditions.

Sydney Tower Facts

* The golden turret has a capacity of 960 persons and contains two levels of restaurants, a coffee lounge, an Observation Deck, two telecommunication transmission levels and three plant levels.

* Three double deck lifts provide guests’ access to the Observation Deck.
* The 1504 fire-isolated sets of pressurised stairs, closely monitored by security, allow patrons direct access to street level, in case of an emergency.
* The 420 windows of the tower are cleaned by a semi – automatic window cleaning machine name ‘Charlie’. ‘Charlie’ recycles and filters 50 litres of water and takes two days to clean all the windows.
* A 162,000 litre water tank, the tower’s primary damping system also acts as a stabiliser for the tower.
* 56 cables stabilise the tower, and if the strands of these cables were laid end to end, they would reach from Sydney to Alice Springs or from Sydney to New Zealand.
* The spire located above the Tower is used for telecommunications and navigation purposes.
* Sydney Tower is the first to see the Sydney dawn, and the last to see its final dusk.

I forgot how tall the tower was or the equivalent number of floors but the experience of a less than a minute ELEVATOR RUSH ride going up (feeling the pressure and fear) is so exciting. The first word I uttered when I reach the Observation deck was. WOW! WOW .. and a WOW!

Here are some of the photos:

And view from the deck... There are Binoculars that you can use...

And of course for lunch time:
The Buffet lunch is 45 AUD per person. Dining while the restaurants revolves and enjoying the view of the city. It's worth paying the fee for they serve the best dishes! Choices of soft beef steak, chicken, port meat cooked in Aussie style. Dozens of deserts to choose from. Pastas and sea foods are overwhelming!

Next stop is Oz Trek

Oz Trek is an amazing virtual reality ride across Australia with 180 degree cinema screens, surround sound and heart-stopping real motion seating!

This is similar to Star City (Themepark in Pasay Philippines) 4Dimension but Oz Trek has bigger screen. It's fun because the show features All about Sydney. Very nice and fun! These is already included in the 45 AUD buffet lunch fee.

Getting to Australia is not easy. It takes several months of preparation HOWEVER as the saying goes, "Patience is a virtue". Compiling all documents needed for application of Australian Tourist VISA needs time, effort, money and a good strategy. For us Filipinos visiting big countries like Australia and United States for leisure means luxury but my personal travel was basically SIMPLE. I was very honest writing the Australian consul in my Letter of Intent saying that my reason for travel was with the ff reasons.

1.) To visit my college dear friend who is like a sister to me. And she was the one inviting me over to see Sydney.
2.) Approval of my application means birthday gift to me (I submitted my application 2 weeks before my birthdate)
3.) To experience WINTER season for I haven't experience it in my whole life, (Philippines having roughly 25 degrees Celsius as the lowest temperature VS Australia's winter season below 4 degrees),
4.) To utilize my employee rate discount at 3 of the IHG hotels that I am working for as a Reservations Sales Agent. I do have 3 hotel booking for the entire duration of my stay like Intercontinental Sydney, Holiday Inn Sydney Airport and Crowne Plaza Coogee Beach which serves as my supporting documents of my employment.
5.) To witness the the beauty of famous tourism attractions of Sydney like the Opera house, Sydney Tower, Sydney Circular quay, Famous Harbour bridge, Canberra City and it's Parliament house, and the Victoria Building.

And what a surprise when I received a call from my travel agent e weeks after submission that I indeed was successful in the application. I was very happy and so excited for this FIRST EVER out of the country trip. I was given maximum of 3 months stay in Australia and my heart felt like erupting of so much excitement! It took me several days shopping for the best possible airfare and I end up getting Qantas Air from Manila to Sydney last June 10, 2010. It's very expensive!!!! ( If you plan to buy an airfare, shop as early as you can for a better deal. Mine was about more than 1,200 AUD and there are fare lower than 800 AUD if buying in advance) All bags are packed, ready for the journey and SO SO SO EXCITED!

Flight from Manila was at 10:00 PM Manila time and arrived Sydney at 5:30 AM Sydney time. It was long 8 hours travel but didn't really seem to notice it since I slept the entire duration of my flight.

Qantas Aircraft was huge! I've seen some filipinos in the aircraft but roughly around 90% were foreigners. I said to my self, "this is it! this is really indeed an international flight" LOL. The food served at the flight was excellent. Passengers have 2 options to choose on what menu to take and I was surprised that both Menu on A and B are all Filipino food for dinner. I remember it was a choice of either Pork mechado or Beef "Bistek" plus fresh juice, bread and butter, fresh fruits, crackers and veggies. But breakfast served around 4:00 AM Sydney time an hour before it finally landed was American breakfast with more breads, butter and fresh fruit juices and yogurts.

The aircraft was about to have its final landing when I noticed that the temperature posted in the small TV screen was fluctuating -10 to -1 so I really thought it was so cold. We finally landed and waiting for the aircraft to properly position. The sun is rising giving a little view from outside of what Sydney is LOL.

It was freezing! It was so cold! I was chilling while walking through the pathway of the airport! Well it was my first time! LOL

The journey has started.... I will soon visit all these attractions and will take many photos as I can in the nest few days. Itineraries were all laid down and ready to go!

While staying in Sydney, you should not miss the cruise across Sydney Harbour to Manly. Here you can enjoy the beautiful scenery of the Sydney City. For photographers, this is one of the perfect site to take photos of the Harbour Bridge, Opera House and the city Skyline. The ferry fare is 25 AUD per person per way to Manly Wharf.

Temperature is roughly around 4 degrees Celcius and it's very cold while in the cruise. But you can enjoy the magnificent views - the beautiful houses made of bricks which are very similar to one another, the yacht scattered along the shore etc.

The famous Sydney Opera House

After roughly about 30 mins, the ferry will dock in Manly Wharf. It's also very clean. There are coffee shops and restaurants which are affordable but NOT the cigarettes which is 25 AUD. LOL.