Adek In Sydney 2017- Part II

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.

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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.

Adek In Sydney 2017- Part I

This plan was hatched on 9 December 2015 when I first heard Arsenal were planning to go to Sydney. Then seven months later, in early July 2016, I received an email from Arsenal informing of a 48-hour priority window to secure tickets for the matches against Sydney FC and Western Sydney Wanderers. So on 16 July 2016, with the help of CT, I tried and finally managed to secure tickets – and all whilst preparing drinks for guests who came to visit (it was a few days after Eid then). Having secured the tickets, I then searched for air tickets and finally purchased a return AirAsia ticket. Truth be told, I was planning to visit Sydney again having been there twice before, or any part of Australia as I’d been there 5 times before. But hey, never say never.

In mid-February 2017, I decided to search for MAS tickets instead and bought them via Expedia. I had made a booking at a hotel via booking.com before deciding to source a host via Airbnb. After having a couple of reservations declined and one cancelled, I finally managed to secure a room at a flat in Surry Hills. Phew, Alhamdulillah! Then it was just a matter of time of waiting for the tickets to arrive (electronically in my case) and applying for a visa.

Tuesday, 11 July 2017

I left office and got a ride from my dear colleague to KL Sentral. I was fasting today and broke fast at Le Meridien Hotel. After performing prayers, I had some char kuay teow (the taste left much to be desired though) before going down to take the bus. I had a sudden fear of the 21:30 bus being full so decided to take the 21:00 bus and it turned out to be quite empty. And I found out the flight was retimed to depart 20 minutes later than scheduled. Strewth.

We reached KLIA after only 50 minutes and after dropping off our bags, we went in. I had my main meal then as I was planning to fast the following day.

Wednesday, 12 July 2017

We took off after midnight and as usual sleep was elusive. I liked the area where I sat; the first row of economoney and there are only two rows in that space before the food preparation area. We were not business class but we were somehow isolated from the rest of the cabin class passengers. Sleep was elusive as usual and at one point, I got up and had some water as I was feeling dehydrated. I then asked one of the cabin crew, Miss Afiza, when breakfast would be served as I was planning to fast the following day. She told me it would be served 2.5 hours before arrival, i.e. about 07:30 Sydney time but 05:30 Perth time. I had checked that Suboh was at 05:50 in Perth then so technically if they served us on time, I would be able to have my breakfast as predawn meal. And what do you know, Miss Afiza came and served me ahead of everyone, including those with special dietary needs. She remembered our conversation! How thoughtful, sweet and considerate was that? I had my meal gratefully. Syukur alhamdulillah. She did tell me to hurry as Suboh was approaching. No problem, I thought.

We landed into a wet wet wet Sydney at 09:50 but our plane was made to wait on the runway (along with about 5 other planes ahead of ours). A while turned out to be 45 minutes and I was desperately holding my bladder throughout. We were finally assigned another bay as the plane occupying our designated bay was still there. I was worried that there would be a long queue at immigration but I needn’t have worried as the officers were pretty quick. We did have to queue to clear quarantine though but we cleared it without much ado.

After freshening up, we went to WH Smith to buy Opal cards. I’d done my research and AUD20 would be sufficient to load into our cards. The chap manning the counter was on the phone and looked and sounded distracted but he asked us what we needed and we told him. After asking for directions from a lady to Wolli Creek, we set off, passing by another WS Smith shop.

It was pissing rain and we walked about one km to Wolli Creek. It wasn’t far but it wasn’t much fun in the rain. At the station, we looked at the electronic displays before heading to the right platform to Central station, not realising the machine where we had to tap our Opal cards. I had to return back to the station entrance to tap and was not happy at all to find that one card had AUD40 value while the other had no value. I asked at a nearby kiosk and they couldn’t do anything either as Opal is run by a different private company. I was seething at this point and was angry that I had to part with another AUD20 to reload the empty card. Stupid WH Smith man. Damn you!!!

We reached Central station after about 12 minutes and I was not amused to find that the machine deducted AUD5.95 from my card when the fare should have been only AUD2.36. Seriously?! Barely a few hours after arriving and I was already pissed off. It was still pissing rain when we walked out of the station, crossed over to Foveaux St that climbed up until the Crown Street intersection (no wonder it’s called Surry Hills!) and continued on Fitzroy St until we reached our Airbnb room (an upgrade from this room just next door to the one we stayed at).

After freshening up and performing prayers, we left and walked out and walked up to Sydney Opera House. The weather was acting up again with brief spells of sunshine alternating with spells of drizzle. I broke my fast at Sydney Opera House and on the way back, we stopped at Gelato Messina at Gateway Plaza. We also dropped by Romeo’s and Aldi to buy food. We reached our room after 8 p.m. and rested.

Thursday, 13 July 2017

I woke up at 04:45 and had my pre-dawn meal. I had another kip after Suboh prayers and got up after 08:00. We left after 09:00 and headed out. It was a beautiful winter’s day with endless skies overhead and not a cloud in sight. What a welcome change from the day before! We stumbled upon The Salvation Army shop at Crown St and had a browse. It had a good selection of clothes, household items, toys and books and some shoes and accessories. After that, we went to check out Hermès (branded luxury goods cost more in Australia but I wanted to check out the offerings) before heading to Queen Victoria Building. Anyway, after The Salvation Army shop, I didn’t feel like browsing the departmental store or other high-street shops. We then went to Woolworths and then Coles before I detoured to Paddy’s Market. I spotted a few Gooners there in their Arsenal tops (I was wearing one too beneath the shawl and jacket). I stumbled upon the produce area (never been to that area of market before and it’s mainly run by Chinese Indonesians. I finally bought some broccoli but not before telling off the rude obnoxious seller not to be so rude. I then returned to the Airbnb. There are some road works going on in some parts of the CBD, just like around the airport on the way to Wolli Creek.

We left at 15:15 and headed to Central station. Our match ticket included free public transportation until early the following morning so we followed instructions and crowd to the platform. We took the train to Lidcombe where we had to change trains (and platforms) to Olympic Park. We arrived early enough and after walking around the food stalls selling various snacks and the various Arsenal kiosks, we decided to head over to Pullman Hotel. I broke fast there and even performed prayers at a small corner in the hotel lobby (no prayer room in the hotel). We only made our way to the ANZ Stadium after 18:15 and the stadium was still empty. There were a couple of giant screens showing highlights of goals etc. and after a while, a few groups of school kids decked out in their various sports attire came out and walked half-way around the stadium before disappearing into the tunnel. The stadium started filling up and the Arsenal lads finally came out to warm up at 19:35.

The match kidkced off just after 20:00 and we sat back to enjoy. Well, we did get occasionally frustrated with Theo and Welbz but we finally managed a 2-0 win. We left at 22:30 after battling our way out of the stadium to the train station and to the platform. This time, the train took us directly to Central station without us having to change trains at lidcombe. Alhamdulillah. We dropped by Woolworths Central as I wanted to buy some milk (Woolworths closes at midnight). Then we walked up the hill back to the Airbnb.

To be continued