An American Girl Down Under: Sydney

Expat life provides plenty of opportunities to jet off to new and exotic locations. This Christmas, Chris and I gave each other one of these opportunities: a trip to Australia.  For eleven days, I was able to cross items off our travel bucket lists!  Our whole adventure down under started in Sydney.

After spending 13 hours in planes, we were quite hungry, so we headed to the Lord Nelson Brewery for lunch.   It was there where I fell in love with meat pies.  I even enjoyed the mushy peas on top!

We then headed to the Circular Quay area for a Harbor Cruise.

The Opera House is not one theater, but multiple theaters, bars, restaurants and more in one complex.   The venue was spectacular!

After a post cruise nap, we headed to the Darling Harbor area for dinner at the Hard Rock Café.

The next day we returned to the Circular Quay area for a visit to the Royal Botanic Gardens. 

We toured the garden in comfort in the one of the park’s red trains!

Chris sips from the Lewis Wolfe Levy fountain located in the middle of the park.  Be careful if you decide to take a drink!  You may get wet!

We then cooled off in the Art Gallery of New South Wales.  We passed on the American Street Art exhibit, but got a cool pic by the sign.

I quickly learned that art comes in all forms Down Under.  For example, this sculptor distorted a classic Bugatti on a 30-degree angle. 

When we were finished at the Royal Botanical Gardens and the Art Gallery of New South Wales, we looked at some aboriginal arts and crafts at Circular Quay.  I was especially fond of the boomerangs.

The Museum of Contemporary Art is located next to Circular Quay.  They were advertising a Yoko Ono Exhibit.  This sign intrigued me, so we stopped to take a look at the interactive Ms. Ono's presentation.

When we entered the exhibit, we found pairs of folks playing chess with all white pieces.  Ms. Ono wanted patrons to see how difficult it was to engage in conflict when we are all the same.  All I know is all white pieces would cause significant confusion and even more conflict in my house.

After walking through a room where I saw a little too much of John and Yoko, we were greeted by suitcases full of papers.

Patrons were tasked with writing where they wanted to travel.  I had been dreaming about going to Australia for so long, I didn’t know how to answer.  So I gave my best response.

After writing where we wanted to travel.  Patrons were tasked with writing a letter to their mothers, and sticking the letters on the wall. 

Some people understood the assignment…others not so much.

After writing to our moms, we were presented with maps stamped with the phrase, “Imagine Peace” in many different languages.  Our task was to stamp our favorite cities.

After stamping, we were tasked with creating works of art with broken flatware, twine, and Elmer’s glue while thinking about peace.  

This was my work of art.  Chris politely declined to participate.  Workers at the museum take apart this display each evening and patrons start the process of making peaceful artwork the following day.

We then ventured into a room filled with army helmets containing puzzle pieces.  Ms. Ono wanted for each patron to take a piece, and one day reunite to assemble the puzzle of the sky.  It was at that point that we decided that it was time to scoot and prepare for date night.

For date night, we headed to the Sydney Opera House to see The Magic Flute.  The production was amazing!  One of the leads was former Citadel football player, Morris Robertson. 

On Sunday Chris and I took a tour of the Hunter Valley Wine Country.

For close to eleven hours, Chris and I were treated to wine, cheese, chocolate, fresh air, and sunshine.

We visited 5 different wineries in the Hunter Valley.  Some of the wineries were extremely proud of all the gold medals they have won in wine competitions.

Between wineries we went to food and cheese tastings.

The Stinky Cheese Shop sold an AMAZING Danish Blue Cheese.

Some of the wineries were small boutique vineyards.  One of the vineyards allowed us to taste the grapes.  The grapes were the size of blueberries, but extremely flavorful.

The Two of A Kind Shiraz was one of my favorite wines. 

The Bluberry Hill Vineyard also had amazing wine!

We could've spent at least a week in Sydney.  However, after a dream like couple of days, it was time to take off for Brisbane!

Dinner With Friends

In a city with over 24 million people, Shanghai has no shortage of amazing restaurants.   Each restaurant is as unique as the city’s inhabitants.  Many restaurants cater to the communal dining experience!  I have had a great time learning about different cultures while dining with friends at these local eateries.

Korean Barbecue at Ben Jia

If your party is craving flame-broiled goodness, Korean Barbecue is the way to go!  I have gone to a couple of Korean Barbecue restaurants, but I have found that Ben Jia is my favorite.

The Korean BBQ experience starts with a bucket of hot coals placed in the middle of the table.

Then meat and veggies are grilled on a screen or grate.

Then pick a piece of lettuce...

…wrap the meat and eat!   So yummy!

Hotpot at Haidilao

If you are looking for a soupy good time, go to Haidilao Hot Pot.  Hot pot is like fondue with a sauce bar.  The fun always starts once you set foot in the restaurant.

If you don't have a reservation for Haidilao, you may have to wait for a long time.  To help pass the time, diners play board games, check their email on waiting area computers, or even get manicures!

Once seated in the waiting area, diners snack on complimentary snack food and seasonal fruit.

Once seated diners order soup and a variety of meats, veggies, and pastas from the iPad! 

Most dinners come with two soup bases.  One of my favorites is the non spicy tomato base!

After ordering, it's off to the sauce bar to create your own dipping sauce from a variety of herbs, spices, and oils.

I am a fan of sesame, so I usually mix sesame oil, sesame seeds, chives, coriander, and garlic for my dip!  Feel free to experiment; you can get a different sauce if you mess up your secret recipe.

It's dinner time!  Diners cook their food in the boiling soup!  Yummy!

A visit from the noodle man is a must for every Haidilao meal!  He will dance with and hand pull noodles for your pot!

After all that cooking, I needed a free mani!

Duck at Lao Beijing

Imagine the crispness of a fine roast chicken with the flavor of a thanksgiving turkey.  That is the flavor of roast duck! If you don’t have time to travel to the Capitol to eat duck, head to Lao Beijing to experience one of my favorite dishes in Shanghai!

Chris stuffs his wrapper with onion, cucumber and duck!!

The table side presentation reminds me of Thanksgiving!

The crisps with kiwi and duck skin are amazing!!!

Teppenyaki at Tairyo

It is difficult to beat to 200RMB all you can eat hibachi and sushi at Tairyo.  Like many hibachi restaurants in the states, the hibachi chef entertains diners with his culinary magic, however they don’t serve the white sauce that most hibachi restaurants in the states provide.  The meal includes all you can drink kirin or sake, so prepare to stuff yourself!

At Tairyo, if one person orders a dish in your party, prepare to eat it!  I always leave Tairyo stuffed!! 

Late Dinner and Bingo Night at Mr. & Mrs. Bund

Being a Midwestern Catholic, Monday Night Bingo with friends was part of my culture.  When I learned about Bingo Night at Mr. & Mrs. Bund, I had to teach my international people about one of the great games from my childhood.    Every third Thursday of the month, one can purchase a two course late dinner or drink package for 200 RMB and play bingo for some great prizes!

Many of my friends assume that Chris and I love meat and potatoes because we are American. They are right!  The truffle whipped potatoes at Mr. & Mrs. Bund are amazing!

Bingo prizes include iPads, teddy bears, luggage, cappucino makers, hotel gift certificates and other random prizes.  The grand prize is usually a motorized scooter!

There are no B-I-N-G or O's on the board, but we still call out "Bingo!" when we win!

The first time I played, I actually won a set of earbuds!

The last time we went to Bingo, our table won 4 oversized teddy bears.  One bear ended up at my place!

There are many more great restaurants in Shanghai, but in my opinion these are a good start.  Have fun dining, my friends!

Tai Tai Field Trip Time: The Shanghai Aquarium

Chinese New Year is almost here, so like last year I have five unpaid weeks of freedom!  This year I have decided in an attempt to prevent myself from going stir crazy, I will be taking field trips to various Shanghai destinations every Tuesday and Thursday.

Last Tuesday, I took my first field trip to the Shanghai Aquarium.  I have to admit, after visiting the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, I am a little bit of an aquarium snob.  However, I have to say that the Shanghai Aquarium exceeded my expectations.  The visit to the aquarium was well worth the 160 RMB.

The aquarium is located near the Oriental Pearl TV Tower in Pudong.  I highly recommend visiting both locations in the same day.  For directions to the aquarium, click here.  

At first I was afraid the aquarium would be too much like a seafood restaurant for my liking. 

Fortunately, they had a large variety of many beautiful, colorful fish!

They even had some beautiful fish that weren't so colorful!  I had never seen an albino fish before. 

These were the most active penguins I had ever seen!  They knew how to party and entertain!

I was mesmerized by the thousands of jelly fish!

Many of the hallways and escalators were fish tanks!  I especially enjoyed the tank tunnel on the first floor.

A sea turtle floated on by. 

I was impressed by the sharks!  The entire time I was in the Shark tunnel, the Jaws theme song was going through my head. 

One of the perks of hanging out in the shark tunnel is the ability to get up close and personal with the fish!  Check out the teeth on this big guy!

While the aquarium wasn’t Shedd, it was a lot of fun!  I do recommend taking your time on each level.  Once you take the escalator down to a lower floor, you are not allowed to return to the upper levels.  For more information on the aquarium, click here.