Friday,
14 July 2017
We
had decided to go to Parramatta today and left our room at almost 10:00. We
walked up to Circular Quay (took us 45 minutes), bumping into fellow Gooners
along the way. After consulting electronic board, we went to the designated
wharf and waited. There was a bit of confusion as the boards first showed our
ferry departing from right side and then showed it departing from the left
side. We departed later than scheduled too. It took one hour and 23 minutes to
reach Parramatta by ferry but at least you get to experience riding the ferry.
Parramatta is the furthest stop inland that ferry can go.
At
Parramatta, we waited for the Parramatta Shuttle Bus that takes you on a
continuous loop around downtown. We got down near Parramatta Park and left not
long after. We then took the shuttle bus on another loop before getting down
near Centenary Square. To be honest, I found Parramatta a tad underwhelming. We
then went to Westfield Parramatta as we wanted to find free wifi – the mall
provided it, Alhamdulillah! – to check in for the flight back. We’d only
arrived a couple of days earlier and would already be departing after the next
couple of days. Well, I didn’t intend to stay too long in Sydney anyway. It has
become more and more expensive over the years and I sadly only earn Malaysian
Ringgit.
I then went to browse some stores to find some wipes that my sister asked me to
and after a dozen stores and spending 10 minutes on average at the wipes aisle
of those stores, I concluded that the particular brand that she wanted was no
longer in production. I bought some crisps and then went to check out Target
before leaving. We got the train back to Central within 3 minutes of its
departure and it took only 26 minutes.
Today
was my last fasting day so after prayers, we cooked dinner at the kitchen a floor
up.
Saturday, 15 July 2017
I
slept again after Suboh and got up after 08:00. We left for Paddy’s Market
after breakfast but didn’t buy any souvenirs. We came back at almost noon and
stayed in. I took advantage of this and made progress on my book. We left at
17:30 after having dinner and performing prayers and went to Central station.
This time, there was a direct train to Olympic Park. Even better!
We
headed directly for the stadium and entered (hardly any queue by the time we
arrived). Our seats this time were at the fourth row from the boards that
separated the pitch from the spectators. The crowds around us were more vocal
too this evening and there were always a few individuals trying to get us to
start chanting. So much so, one bloke in front of missed one of the goals (he
was too busy looking back and rallying us). I also heard another chap a few
rows behind saying that we all just wanted to watch the match.
This
time, the rush back to the station wasn’t as bad as on Thursday and we managed
to squeeze into the first train that arrived. There were some vocal Gooners in
the carriage we entered and we all sang our way back to Central station. Now that
was fun!
Sunday,
16 July 2017
I
woke up early this morning after the post-Suboh kip to finish packing. We had a
late breakfast and left at 09:45. We followed the same route back to the
airport that we took on Wednesday in reverse and arrived at the airport almost
an hour later. After dropping off our bags and getting our boarding passes, we
cleared security and immigration. There’s no prayer room once you clear
immigration so I performed prayers in the parents’ room before making my way to
the gate.
We
took off on time and landed at KLIA at 20:00. The bags came out well after we
finished performing prayers and we took a Grab back to KL.
So
that was my third trip to Sydney and sixth to Australia. I doubt if I’ll be
back because there are many more places that I haven’t been to. Thanks anyway Sydney
for all the memories.
~~~~~~~~
Just
a bit on my Airbnb: from the airport, you can take a cab or Uber (AUD20-40
depending on traffic and terminal (departing from international terminal would
cost more), or you can take the Airport train to Central. The Airport train
costs AUD16.22 from the airport to Central with an Opal card as you have to pay
the airport access fee of AUD13.80 so we chose to walk to Wolli Creek instead. The
Airbnb is pretty near Central station, about 15 minutes’ walk away. You can
also take a bus from Eddy Avenue Stand C, routes 338, 374, 376 and 391; get off
at Flinders St near South Dowling, cross at the lights and walk three minutes
downhill to the front door. We chose to walk.
We
had to get the keys from a locked box at the unit next door and after opening
the door, walk up the stairs to the first landing where the bathroom and TV
room are. Our room is one of the two rooms just a few steps up the landing and it
overlooks South Dowling St. There is another flight of stairs up to the host’s housemate’s
room, a bathroom and kitchen and another room above the kitchen (accessed from
the kitchen). The two other housemates couldn’t be friendlier.
My
comments are that the room is slightly dusty (those with dust allergy should
avoid it) and the dustbin in the kitchen just overflew, and the housemates were
not diligent about keeping the kitchen counter and sink empty so a few times I washed
up their glasses and crockery. I know I wasn’t paying to stay at a hotel (too
dang expensive and even this Airbnb didn’t come cheap what with inflated Sydney
prices) but I would have appreciated a cleaner and tidier kitchen. Not sure how
frequent garbage collection is there or why no one bothered to take the trash
out. Those are my main comments.
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