Aria Restaurant & La Boheme opera – Sydney Harbour – Sydney – New South Wales – Australia – March 2018

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Aria Restaurant, Australia, La Boheme opera, New South Wales, Sydney, Sydney Harbour, Sydney Harbour Bridge, Sydney Opera House

An opera on Sydney Harbour and a restaurant with a Harbour view

(Firstly apologies but this post is a little longer than my usual posts)

I love going to the opera; it really is one of my favourite things to do and I really enjoy going up to Sydney to the Sydney Opera House which means I regularly check to see what’s on.  When I saw that Giacomo Puccini’s La Boheme was playing on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour I knew I had to go.  He probably is my favourite composer!

I asked a few friends if they wanted to come away for the weekend and in the end friends Ray and Natalie drove up to Sydney whilst I flew and we met for lunch at Aria restaurant.  The choice was Nat’s as they had been there before so I was looking forward to the experience.

But firstly I booked into the Soffitel Hotel and had the loveliest surprise…an upgrade to a larger room, a complimentary breakfast and late checkout – all because I was the chosen guest of the day – what a nice surprise. Oh and two little boxes of chocolates on the bed.And a nice view of the city from my window…We then walked to Aria.  The entrance is not what I expected; it’s a little unassuming but once you are inside it’s a completely different story – the walls are full of original art, the atmosphere is fabulous and the views….wow!!The restaurant is located down near the Opera House with those magnificent views I just mentioned and as its web page says Aria is one of Australia’s finest restaurants. Our table was not right next to a window but we still had good views of the Bridge, Harbour and a docked cruise ship.We decided on three courses; entree, main and dessert and started off with a bottle of French champagne before selecting our dishes.  Some of the vegetarian options contained non-animal rennet cheese and all desserts contained gelatine so the waiter kindly brought me a vegan menu.I was rather disappointed with my first course which although arrived beautifully presented, was cold.  But…it was supposed to be cold but I didn’t know that and unless the dish is a salad I am not a fan of cold food…perhaps I should have checked before I ordered!!Ray ordered a seafood bowl which was very nicely presented and Nat had the blue-eye trevalla with almonds, capers and  razorback prawns.  That was presented so beautifully.Service was top quality; our waiter was so friendly and our Sommelier was extremely knowledgeable.  We ordered a glass of wine each for our main course and a different wine for our desserts.  My next course was a sweet potato, Jerusalem artichoke and nasturtium – this was lovely.Ray ordered a duck dish with treviso, sausage and sweet potato mash and Nat ordered another fish dish; the Murray cod with an angasi oyster, white radish, miso and celeriac…they loved all their dishes.Our sides which I think were complimentary, were a mashed royal blue potato (absolutely delicious) and a beautiful leaf salad with a delicious dressing which Nat kindly displayed with serving utensils for my photo.My dessert was pineapple, coconut and almond (forgot to photograph this) and we were also given complimentary cones with a raspberry sorbet which was a very nice way to finish our mains and wait for dessert.Nat and Ray ordered some nice desserts but I think Ray’s was the winner. Nat’s is the pie and Ray’s is the chocolate ball with a chestnut, cognac and cocoa crumble which once broken there flowed an amazing caramel like thick sauce.  How good does this look!!Nat also chose a selection of Australian and international cheeses to share with Ray which came with quince paste, grapes, fruit and lavash bread…And then more complimentary dishes; some dark chocolate and small treats.  I could only eat the nougat on the small treat platter as the lemon sweets contained gelatine.  But lucky I had very willing friends who managed to eat them.  It was a lovely few hours and I am glad I have been; it’s not a cheap restaurant but the service, food and views were all part of the wonderful experience.After our long lunch we went back to our respective hotels and I met Nat a little later to walk to the Harbour.  I did pop into Ray and Nat’s room at the Intercontinental Hotel to see fabulous views of the harbour.

On our way to the opera we were lucky enough to see a rainbow and even more fortunate that it didn’t rain during the evening as the opera was outside.We had good seats and both Nat and I loved the opera (Ray is not an opera fan so he didn’t come).  The usual merchandise could be purchased of course…And wonderful sunset views over the Opera House and Harbour Bridge…When I bought our opera tickets on-line I also bought two drink tickets for intermission as there was a pop up bar which was beautifully decked out with tables, stools and lovely fresh flowers.  It was a nice way to spend thirty-minutes so Nat and I enjoyed a white wine each.A great opera after which we walked back to our hotels for a comfortable sleep. And the next morning, I went to the restaurant for my complimentary breakfast from the huge buffet [I don’t usually have this much tomato sauce; it poured out way too quickly].
I love going away for short breaks and this was such a lovely weekend away.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Revisiting Hong Kong (2) – PRC – April 2018

Tags

Hong Kong, Kowloon Walled City, PRC China, Star Ferry, the lawless city, Victoria Harbour

Different things to do in Hong Kong

During my six days in Hong Kong, my friend Naomi and I did all the usual sightseeing, but there were a few places I wanted to take her which were a little off the usual sightseeing program.  One was the previous site of the Kowloon Walled City or as it was colloquially known ‘the lawless city’.  I had last visited back in 2008 and just knew Naomi would like its history.I did a little bit of research and found we could take the larger ferry from North Point to Kowloon city.  Only thing was I had no idea where to go from Kowloon as I had not previously been there and our map didn’t cover Kowloon but I thought there would be signs…wrong!! Outside the ferry terminal was the bus station and I asked for help but no-one knew which bus would take us to the Walled City including some of the drivers.  Finally a lovely man approached us and offered assistance.  He found out which bus we should take and off we went.  He approached us at the bus stop once again and asked if we knew where to get off.  We both laughed as we hadn’t even thought of that…thank goodness for this lovely gentleman.

And when we got off at the bus stop he recommended, I saw this sign…great relief!!We walked to Kowloon Walled City Park; about ten minutes from the bus stop. From the 1950s until 1994, over 50,000 people lived and worked at Kowloon Walled City.  It was a massive complex of 300 interconnected buildings that took up an entire city block.  A government survey in 1987 showed an estimated 33,000 people resided within the City and at its peak there was an estimated 50,000.  Based on this survey, the Walled City had a population density of approximately 1,255,000 inhabitants per square kilometre making it the most densely populated spot in the world.

(source: South China Morning Post)

Until the 1970’s the city was controlled by triads and had high rates of prostitution, gambling and opium drug abuse along with an inordinate amount of dentists.  Police, customs and taxation officers were said to be afraid to enter.

(source: Greg Girard ‘City of Darkness Revisited’)

In 1987, the Hong Kong government announced plans to demolish the Walled City. After an arduous eviction process, demolition began in 1993 and was completed in 1994.  A park now stands in its place with some historical artefacts from the Walled City remaining including remnants of the South Gate.  Once you enter the park, you immediately come across a model of the walled city; it’s amazing to see how many buildings comprised the city. The park has many beautiful gardens, statues, terraces and floral walks.Every plant and tree is beautifully manicured and maintained including bonsai and one long bush shaped as a dragon…There is also an educational aspect which was really interesting.  We watched a few  videos on the city and its occupants.  There were dozens of alleyways often only 1–2 metres wide with poor lighting and drainage.  Construction in the city went unregulated, and most of the roughly 350 buildings were built with poor foundations and few or no utilities including electricity.  

 

(photo taken from video in park)

We then strolled around the park looking at the trees, pavilions, lakes and gardens…so lovely.We decided to take a taxi to the Star Ferry terminal to get back onto Hong Kong Island; one of my favourite things to do in HK, enjoying the views of the well-lit buildings along the harbour front.  And also passing by one of several junk boats on the harbour…After hopping off the ferry, we decided to walk back to our hotel and along the way we stopped and bought pineapple cakes, which really are fresh milky bread with a sweet topping – not a pineapple in sight but delicious anyway.Another great day out in fabulous Hong Kong!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bamiyan Restaurant – Braddon – Canberra – Australian Capital Territory – Australia – January 2018

Tags

ACT, Afghani cuisine, Australia, Bamiyan Restaurant, canberra, dinner with friends

A new cuisine to try in Canberra

A few months ago my friend Jane invited me out to dinner and said she wanted to try an Afghani restaurant near the city.  I had no idea what Afghani food tasted like so took a look at the menu on-line and it looked great with lots of vegetarian dishes so off we went.We decided on a banquet as both of us were relatively hungry and Jane suggested all vegetarian was great for me, but we really could not eat all dishes as there were so many!

We started off with a plate of samosa and Afghan pan fried flat bread stuffed with pumpkin, chopped onion shallots, coriander and spices.  Both were accompanied by a raita yoghurt dip and an Afghan chutney…Jane was being very good and did not eat the heavy samosa [I did]…that and the bread was really good.
We were then served a traditional Afghan dumpling which is steamed and topped with yogurt, chickpea tomato sauce and garnished with a little bit of mint.  Again very good and so tasty…feeling a touch full at this stage!Our next dish was called Kachaloo Loobia Korma; a chef’s special comprising a korma sauce with red kidney beans, mild spices and herbs accompanied by a really good naan bread.  As you can imagine very full by now but had to taste this delicious dish and eat the naan bread.At this stage I took a little break from eating and took some photos.  It really is a lovely restaurant with great traditional ornaments, pictures and wall carpets. And the iconic photograph of the young beautiful green-eyed Afghani girl who appeared on the front of National Geographic in 1985.I did find a photograph of her now on the internet [courtesy NY Times)…still with same amazing eyes just probably not staring as intently at the camera.But back to our restaurant…still more food to come…the Banjan Boranee arrived which is another traditional Afghani dish of fried eggplant covered with cooked tomato and yogurt sauce and it was supposed to be garnished with dry mint but I couldn’t see any.  Loving this dish so much along with a separate [large] dish of rice topped with a layer of julienne caramelised carrots, sultana and almond nuts [had to pick out the sultanas but apart from that a delicious aromatic rice].A really good restaurant that I must take my friend Naomi to as she lived in Islamabad for over four years and I think she would love the food and ambience which I know is similar to that of Pakistan.