I love comparing international cities to US ones, especially in English speaking countries. For isntance, Chicago and Toronto are basically the same thing. Even geographically they are, just rotated 90 degrees. Sydney from my memory was very much like these two, and after a full day traversing a lot of it, I agree in some parts, but also find some unique elements or ones that are more similar for me to San Francisco (more hilly than I remember) or London (pubs and what-not). But overall, Sydney feels big in a way Chicago and Toronto (and of course a New York) do, and why shouldn't it - an Alpha+ city, the biggest one in one of the world's top-10 per capita GDP countries.
Anyway, enough hagiography, let's actually talk about Sydney. From my AirBNB in Darlinghurst, I'm about a 10-min walk to Hyde Park (yes, they have one of those too), so that's where I started my day, first with a quick traipse through the Australia Museum, which was small but still nice in terms of the exhibits and especially their dinasaur exhibit. I did take offense that they featured a ton of dinosaurs that absolutely did not leave in Australia (mainly, the T-Rex), but still it was effective. From there, I walked through Hyde Park, took a quick stop into St. Mary's Cathedral, which I will say is more impressive from the outside than teh inside but that's more a credit to its regality from the outside. Finally, I headed over to Darling Harbour, one of Sydney's main two Harbors/Bays, to catch the first view of Sydney's truly great skyline, beaming into a bright, sunny day (I've gotten really lucky in terms of weather). The walk from Hyde Park to Darling Harbour took me past a lot of CBD roads, lanes, pedestrian areas, with old, regal buildings and shops and stuff that to me were more like London than either Chicago or Toronto, still quite beautiful though.
My lunch was nominally near Darling Harbour, at Ho Jiak a bustling Malaysian spot serving upmarket Malaysian fare? How upmarket? Well, my main was an incredible "Beef Rendang Pot Pie", which was basically a rendang baked and served inside an all encompassing roti - inventive, brilliant and incredibly tasty, as was my starter of beef satay. Ho Jiak is the type of place I could see myself coming back to often had I lived here (and another reminder to me how annoying it is that Hoboken's lone Malaysian spot closed two years back - granted becaues the owners were retiring).
After lunch, I continued the museum circuit, which also took me nicely to Circle Quay - the main harbor of Sydney where you find the Harbor Bridge, the Opera House, and many other tall buildings. The first spot was their Museum of Contemporary Art, which was nice but probably missable. It isn't too big, so it won't take anyone long, but also for once for Australia required you to, gasp, pay for your entry. The big plus of the museum was its location, smack dab on Circle Quay, opposite the sparkling Opera House, which I had forgotten about how unique it truly was.
I took the long way to the next museum - the Art Gallery of New South Wales, walking around Circle Quay, taking a few snaps in front of hte Opera House, then walking around the edge of the Botanical Gardens (which I'll explore fully tomorrow) finally leading to the two-building Art Gallery, one featuring a mix of International (but nicely, mostly Asian and, oddly, North Amerian) and Australian art, and the other featuring Aboriginal Art. That was a perfect way to split the two, where you can really get lost.
**quick aside, to put this in the Toronto camp, I like that this is now the fourth large Commonwealth Metropolis I've been to where the main art museum bears the name of the State/Province and not the city - see here, the Queensland Art Gallery for Brisbane, the National Gallery of Victoria for Melbourne, and going back to my title for the post, the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto**
Of all the art museums I've been to on this trip (six of them now), this was the best to me. First, the had the European stuff tucked in one corner, but kept most of it to other art work. The number of great pieces in both museums were great. The paid exhibit in the newer building, the one featuring Aboriginal Art, was amazing, featuring the aboriginal art from one specific tribe. The poles, didgeridoos, tapestries and even standard paintings, all of it was great. In the main museum, they also had a ton of peices that were perfectly up my alley, showcasing deep colors, straight lines, popping visuals. The whole experience was just great.
From here, I ventured out Westward towards Newtown, which very much had a North York / Ossington type feel (or Wrigleyville), with streets of two-story buildings with cafes, restaurants, stores, bars on the ground floor all quite new, modern and inviting. The venture out towards this area was nominally to go to a brewery, which ended up being a bit trite. The first one I went to had no WiFi and not the best beer selection. The second I went to, Willie the Boatman, was better, but also in a warehouse type setup (like a real, real warehouse) which wasn't the most inviting. Again, the only real knock I have on Australia so far is their craft beer, aside from Sea Legs in Brisbane.
Dinner was at Firedoor, one of the restaurants featured on Somebody Feed Phil - but let it be known, I booked prior to the new season coming out (same is true of tomorrow night at Saint Peter). It is a tasting menu spot where the conceit is every dish is either fully or partially cooked over the open embers in the kitchen (which are beautiful and keep the space quite toasty). The meal was quite good, though I do wish there was something more cohesive about it. Granted, that's more my issue with these English / close enough to American countries. Like, in the end this is Australian cuisine, but other than the ingredients, there isn't much notable. Granted, since some of the ingredients were a local squid farmed in Queensland, or kangaroo, you get some pretty great stuff. More to come on my full breakdown later.
The one critique I would have is dinner did take a while, and I wanted to get to the EDM spot by 1am or so, which left me likmited options for the ~2 hrs in between. In the end, I went with PS40, which was a lot more crowded (granted, today is Friday). I had to stand for about 20 minutes before a bar counter stool opened up, and I could remain there for the rest of it. The place was buzzing, the drinks were great - at this point me having tride about 60% of their given menu (and most of the remaining 40% are close to no-go's for me). The place is really quite nice.
Same can be said of where I ended the night. Quick backstory - when I came to Sydney last in 2013, my cousin Vikram was on a project in Australia and came to Sydney that same weekend. We met up Saturday (or maybe Friday) night and went to a couple places before happening upon the Oxford Art Factory, a multi-room performing space focusing on EDM/Hip-Hop/House/etc. on the buzzing Oxford Street. We went, had way too many drinks but enjoyed the hell out of it. I have some great memories of a projector playing random music videos that did not in any way correlate to the music the DJ was spinning, but who cares because the various 200 or so Australians were just having a good time. It was a great night.
Tonight I went back. This is quite easily the longest gap between visiting a club so I was a bit nervous. Reviews still held it as a top spot. The event I got tickets for, which is basically just five local Sydney amateur DJs trading off, seemed right up my alley. I went in, and immediately did think it was a bit smaller - guessing they lost some space during covid, and the orientation changed (i.e. bar was on the other side as before) but man was the night incredible. The five DJs were spearheaded by the one who played second (when I got there) who was a really cool Aussie chick, as were DJs #3 and #4. #5 was a visiting friend of theirs from Queensland, who I guess is more known in the Aussie scene. The crowd wasn't the biggest - maybe 100 when I got there, maybe 30 by the time I left at 3:15am (closed at 3:45), with most of those 30 being people who knew this group personally. Still, being one of the few outsiders who hung on ingratiated me with the group, so by the end I got to know a few of the 30. I even got invited to various parties in subsequent weekends - me too sad or drunk to tell them I was leaving. Anyway, as a way to end the night, the fact the Oxford Art Factory was this good after all these years was just a perfect way to end the day.
