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Best Places to See in Sydney (videos)


Sydney is the cleanest and Greenest City I have ever been after traveling to more than 10 countries.  Cleanliness is not just around the city but it is absolutely everywhere.


Sydney is surrounded by peaceful suburbs with amazing beaches, beautiful and safe to explore mountains and parks with a dedicated track for the walker, biker and 4WD adventurer.

Manly

One of the best ways to get to manly is via ferry ride with stunning scenery along the way coming from Sydney Circular Quay.


Watson Bay

The amazing ferry ride is the best way to get to Watson Bay coming from Sydney Circular, a bus ride is also an option that will go through Bondi Beach all the way to Watson Bay.




Mosman Bay

Mosman Bay is another short ferry ride from Sydney Circular Quay.



Blue Mountain


Train from Sydney Central Station is the cheaper way to get to Katoomba for amazing Blue Mountain trip



Bondi Beach

From Sydney CBD take a train ride to Bondi Junction then take a bus ride to Bondi beach. You can also take a bus direct from Sydney CBD all the way to Bondi Junction.


Cronulla Beach

A train or bus ride will bring you to this beautiful suburbs with the vibe of Manly having many shops and restaurants walkable to the beach.





Coogee to Bondi Beach Long Walking Trail

We did walk this trail and took us around four hours of relax walking along the coastline, the scenery is amazing.


Sydney Harbour Bridge

Together with the Sydney Opera House, Harbor Bridge is another stunning structure situated within the Circular Quay and The Rocks area. 


Sydney Darling Harbour 

Darling Harbor is a few minutes' walks from the Sydney CBD's Town Hall Train Station. This is where big museums, hotels, shopping malls, and convention centers are located.


Surry Hills

This is located just on the other side of Central Station and the popular Oxford Street at Darlinghurst.


Parramatta

Parramatta is almost the second Central Business District of Sydney having many establishments in the center. 


Sydney China Town

Sydney China Town is located in Haymarket which is a few minutes walk from Central Station through the Sydney's main Road called George Street.


Potts Point

Potts Point is a classy suburb of Sydney located next to the popular Kings Cross and the beautiful Elizabeth Bay.


Royal National Park

This place is so huge that you can have access by coming from Cronulla and you can also take the train going to the Illawarra.


Newtown Sydney 

A short ride from Sydney CBD will bring you to this beautiful old looking town.


Maroubra

A short bus ride coming from Sydney CBD.


Kiama

This is an hour or two train ride coming from Sydney CBD.  This place is known for its blow hole.


Palm Beach

Palm Beach is an hour bus ride coming from Sydney CBD Wynyard Station.  Palm Beach is  the filming location of the popular Australian TV Show called "home and away"


Morisette

Morisette is popular having friendly kangaroos in the wild. The place is a two-hour train ride coming from Sydney CBD



La Perouse

Is a short bus ride coming from Sydney CBD, The place is popular with its scuba diving site.




Those places are just a few of the reasons why Sydney is the best city in Australia.


From Dubai to Australia for Work

Travel comes to an end. Welcome to Australia, start a new life here.

I left the Philippines on Feb 2008 to go to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates to work as a cook. I left Dubai in October 2015 to travel around Europe and Southeast Asia.  Feb 2016 I arrived in Sydney without enough money to support the new life. But I survived.








Bad Accommodation in Australia 

When I arrived in Sydney I first stay in a $25/night backpacker guesthouse with 12 bed in the room.  I stay for 3 nights and then moved to apartment renting a shared room with four people paying $125/week. Note that i borrowed money from a Filipina lady from my sponsoring company.

Ending the Southeast Asian Travel

This is my second time in Kuala Lumpur and lasts before flying to Sydney. During these days I am already on tight budgeting because I am already running out of money. This is already the 5th month of our travel since we left Dubai and travel to Europe and Southeast Asia.

I and my buddy stayed in a not nice hotel in the area of Chinatown,  feeling the dirty floor and walls, a hot room without air-conditioned.

In this period I received my visa approval in Australia. I was very happy because I and my buddy are waiting for this for almost 5 months. I plan my flight to Sydney, bought Air Asia's cheapest ticket and it was good.  My buddy went to Singapore and stayed with his Long Distance Relationship girlfriend while waiting for his Australian Visa. Around 10 days of my stay in Sydney my buddy's visa arrived.

I and my buddy are now both here in Australia and note that his girlfriend followed a year after as a girlfriend de facto visa approved in 2017.


Cheapest Flight Vietnam to Malaysia.



Coming from Vietnam we arrived in Penang Malaysia via the very first commercial flight of Air Asia Ho Chi Minh City To Penang Airport. It is good to know and to experience a fire truck throwing a massive amount of water to the airplane as Firs Flight Welcome procedure. All the passengers of that flight got a welcome gift from the airlines which basically are tourism flyers and little souvenirs. We got this flight as little as 25$ one way per person.





We stayed in Georgetown, Georgetown is a preserved quiet community, walking around you'll notice the houses and apartment are the same pattern as old houses in Singapore, Sydney and I think like other city occupied by the Brtish.

The Murals for me are the most attractive thing to see in Georgetown, every tourist that comes there takes a creative photo of themself with the murals.

The same as other parts of Singapore and Malaysia, Penang is also a very diverse community where locals are Indians, Malays, and Chinese looking people.

Penang Hill is another interesting place to visit in Penang. It is a mountainous park with an exciting train ride showcasing the Penang History and the view of Penang.  Looking at Penang Hill in the picture will make you think it is somewhere in Europe like those trains in Switzerland.









Filipino Travel Vietnam

I and my buddy arrive in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam via bus coming from Cambodia.  Getting into the immigration is easy as the conductor of the Bus collected all the passenger's passport for Vietnam's immigration check-in.

As we get closer to the city the first thing we notice is the volume of scooters/motorcycles on the road, aside from the bus where we are in, there are no other vehicles. If Amsterdam has the most bikes then Vietnam has the most Scooters.
I got a nice first impression of Ho Chi Minh City as it clean with a lot of parks within the city. Noticeably that this city is already like Bangkok with so many white tourists. Expect a lot of travel agency, food shop, bars and nightclub. I didn't notice any striptease show club.

The shopping area of Ho Chi Minh City is maybe smaller than those in the Philippines and Thailand but they also have those signature expensive international brands.

English is not a problem in the commercial/touristy area because most of the people speak English, but getting into the other places is a bit of problem to communicate.

In the parks, you'll notice young people, group of teenagers chatting with foreigners, and then one of my Vietnamese friends mention that that is their way of learning English.

Fast food chain like McDonald, KFC is not big in Vietnam, there are some but not like Philippines where Mac Donalds, KFC, Jollibee are in every corner. Oh! there are Jollibee in Vietnam.

Vietnamese Coffee, Bahn Mi, Pho are some of the original Vietnamese food and drinks that you should try when you visit Vietnam.

As a Filipino, we are allowed to stay in Vietnam for up to 21 days visa free, we consume those days staying in different hotels, the cheapest good hotel room that we can afford. We re using hotels.com to book a hotel because it charges exactly as it is, no need to pay extra when you arrive at the hotel.

Filipino Drama TV program was big in Vietnam at that time. They dubbed the audio to Vietnamese.

My cost of living in Australia

Australia particularly Sydney is one of the most expensive cities to live in, despite Australia is also the country that gives more salary to its employees. If you are coming to Australia on a working visa, it is required by the Australian immigration that your sponsor/company must give you a salary of not less than 53,900 Australian Dollars annually. That is roughly 900 Australian Dollars net every week.



My Cost of living in Sydney
I first came to Australia staying in a backpacker guesthouse paying 25 Australian Dollars each night for three nights. I then found a shared room of 4 people a total of 8 people in one apartment paying 125 Australian Dollars every week including everything except food. The apartment is not comfortable so I moved to a single room paying 200 Australian Dollars every week in a shared apartment with four people. Some of this apartment are usually providing a set of bidding but if they're not, blankets are available at a very cheap price from Kmart, Target, Big W, this three department store are awesome.

Every week I spend more or less 200 Australian Dollars for food because most of the time I am eating outside and sometimes cooking food at home. The average meal in Sydney is ranging from 10 Australian Dollars and up from the food court, fast food chain and regular restaurant. The cheapest meal with rice, meat, and vegetables at a discounted prices of 5 Australian Dollars in the most food court, this is happening at around 3 o'clock in the afternoon to finish the sale of the food.

New South Wales including Sydney are using prepaid Opal Card to pay for every travel by Bus, Ferry and Train. You can purchase Opal card at the most convenience stores with the value of 10 Australian Dollars and up. I rarely used the Opal card because I am just walking to work. The fare is charged with around 3 Dollars depending on the distance, time, day, and usage. 10 Dollars Opal will go a long way.
The same as everywhere the Taxi ride is expensive and Uber is a little bit cheaper.

Basic Personal Hygiene needs like toothpaste, bath soap, shampoo, deodorant, ear cleaner are roughly 3 Australian Dollars except for shampoo, and most of them last for more than a week.

Branded shoes like Nike, Adidas the cheapest are around 120 Australian Dollars, Branded Shirts and Pants are around 50 Australian Dollars. But you can always find a good quality of shoes and clothing at a 75% cheaper price at Kmart, Target and Big W Department Store. 


Moved to Regional New South Wales. Australia
I am now living in the regional area of New South Wales, In here you can rent a full house with at least 1 bedroom for just 250 Australian Dollars usually furnished with water and electricity included. The prices of grocery items are the same as those in the city, but I am now able to save a little bit more because there is no so much restaurant here., and Because of that my budget for food is now just around 40 Australian Dollars every week. 

Grocery like Coles and Woolworths are everywhere in Australia they usually have a sale, ALDI and IGA are some of the Grocery that sells the cheapest and most affordable ranges of products. There are other independent Grocery and Department Store in every local area of Australia.

Health Insurance is usually paid every month, and my one is 109 Australian Dollars every month,  My prepaid mobile phone before was 40 Australian Dollars for 28 days with 7GB of data, and now I am on a postpaid plan paying 70 Australian Dollar with 120GB of data every month. 

Haircut in the city is cheaper from 10 Australian Dollars and it is very rare to see 10 Dollars haircuts in the regional area which mostly is 30 Dollars. I had a Gym membership at fitness first in Sydney and it was 26 dollars every week, I'm sure the other gym is cheaper.


Public transportation is not very convenient in my current location as buses don't come as often like those in Sydney. A car here is a necessity that is why almost everyone owns a car. Because of this, I bought an electric bike that I used for my daily travel to work and recreation. I don't drive mate.

In Australia, People are welcoming and friendly, it is clean and green everywhere, Amazing beaches...Life is Good here actually.

Bus Travel Sydney to Nelson Bay (Port Stephen NSW)

The Port Stephens
I am currently living in Port Stephen's Nelson Bay, still part of New South Wales here in Australia.  Port Stephen is a city in the Hunter region with a lot of bushlands (Tomaree). Parks and Beaches are naturally beautiful.

There are several bays in Port Stephen where you're going to see clean and beautiful residential beaches, they're Anna bay, Fern Bay, Fishermans Bay, Corlette, Shoal Bay, Fingal Bay, Nelson Bay and the Salamander Bay where the only legit shopping mall is located. other parts of Port Stephen are Raymond Terrace, Clarrence Town, etc.

Train Travel
This place can be reached from Sydney by taking the NSW Trains and getting down to Hamilton Train Station and then taking a bus (Port Stephen Coaches) ride going to Fingal Bay. Travelling time is approximately 5 hours including the waiting time. Note that the bus last trip from Hamilton Station to Fingal Bay is at around 7 o'clock in the night, and the last trip from Fingal Bay to Hamilton Station is at around 4 o'clock in the afternoon. Use google map or Port Stephen Coaches website for the timings.


Bus Travel
Port Stephen Coaches are basically the public transport service in the area of Port Stephen. Port Stephen Coaches Sydney Express travel to Sydney from Fingal Bay once a day and travel from Fingal Bay to Sydney once a day.
Depending on your location they are able to pick you up at the proper bus stop. People usually need to make a booking from the Port Stephen Coaches website to secure a sit. You can pay cash on board or by card.

Taxi and Uber from Hamilton Train Station
Hamilton is a suburbs of Newcastle, There are metered taxis within the area of Hamilton that are able to bring you to any part of Port Stephen,
I once arrived at Hamilton Station late, and taxi and Uber are the only options I have to go to Nelson Bay. I asked the taxi driver for the approximation of fare and it so expensive more than a hundred dollar. I decided to check my Uber app and luckily Uber works in Newcastle. I choose Uber and reached my home in Nelson Bay for just $80.  Note that there is no Uber service if you are coming Nelson Bay ,Fingal Bay.