Chinese New Year in Sydney

Chinese New Year has got to be THE biggest, most celebrated holiday in Hong Kong (although Christmas gets pretty festive too). Many shops/businesses shut down for the first few days of the new lunar year so that everyone can spend time with family. Some even stay closed for the first two weeks or longer. This was our first new year spent without having any family or relatives around to celebrate with, so we decided to get out of town.... we headed to Sydney, Australia.

Sydney was fun! It was summer there, so the weather was beautiful. Aside from the mandatory visit to the Opera House, we walked across the Sydney Harbour Bridge (twice), relaxed at Manly Beach, and went wine-tasting in Hunter Valley.

The highlight of our trip was the full-day tour around Blue Mountain National Park, also a World Heritage site. There, we saw kangaroos upclose and personal, hiked to waterfalls and through a rainforest, took in some amazing views of the park and canyons from the top, and rode up on the world's steepest railway. Took lots of pictures, so I'll post some after I get a chance to upload them.

Seafood dishes were fresh and delicious, namely the scallops and calamari. I personally don't like to eat squid (they're too rubbery for my liking), but I actually LOVED the calamari that Larry ordered. It was even more tender than the scallops on my own plate, which tasted great already.

Here are some Sydney restaurants that we enjoyed:
-Zaaffran (modern Indian) - 2nd floor, 345 Harbourside Shopping Center in Darling Harbour (excellent scallops and calamari!)
-Fish Face (seafood) - 132 Darlinghurst Rd in Darlinghurst (fresh sushi and fish)
-Micky's Cafe - 268 Oxford St in Paddington (tasty chicken/mushroom sandwich)
-Waterfront (seafood)- 27 Circular Quay West in The Rocks (good seafood, great view of the Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge)

Okay, I'll admit, it wasn't much of a celebration being in Sydney the first week of Chinese New Year. But you know, it's not a big deal for me to go out and watch Chinese New Year parades or such. (If I catch it, cool. If I miss it, no biggie.) The celebration was always more about getting together with family and having dinner together. Given the circumstances of not having family around, Larry and I simply spent the first day of the new lunar year together and enjoyed it in our own non-traditional way... we headed for the beach and ate Indian food for dinner. :)