photo credit: Jeff Kubina

Off to the Races

Whether you love the thrill of betting on the horses or just enjoy watching the sport, going to the races will get your heart pumping and provide a full day’s worth of fun. The Royal Randwick Racecourse is known world-wide and is one of the premier attractions that Sydney has to offer. Locals and tourists alike flood the Betting Auditorium most Wednesdays and Saturdays.

While you’re there, you can also get in on other sports betting activities and enjoy dressing up in your finest races-worthy attire. If the hussle bussle of race day becomes too much for you, you can always hang out in the bar or grab a bite in Argy’s Café.

Shopping and Sightseeing at Randwick

Shopping fanatics will want to plan a trip into Randwick’s central business district for the Royal Randwick Shopping Centre. Here’s you’ll find tons of bargain-friendly boutiques and stores, including the Best & Less, Ella Bache and Millennium Babe.

While you’re there, you can grab a quick bite at one of the many restaurants inside the centre. Outside, in the surrounding area, you can choose cuisine from nearly any nation or culture. The Pinto Thong Thai restaurant has a great selection, and you can’t beat the menu at Little Istanbul Turkish.

For seafood with a whimsical bent, try Chish N Fips on Arden Street. The atmosphere here is laid back and fun, and the staff will have you laughing before you’ve finished ordering.

Randwick Indoor or Outdoor

No matter how you like to have fun and relax you’ll be able to keep busy in Randwick. If you’re a fan of the outdoors you can grab an early bus for a day at Bondi Beach or Coogee Beach. Sampling the fresh, local seafood is a must out here; try Fishmongers on Hall Street or the Skinny Dip just down the road. For a great coffee and snack menu Gertrude and Alice has you sorted.

Those who prefer to stay inside can catch a flick at the local cinema or enjoy a few games of ten-pin bowling. If you feel like splurging on a romantic meal, try the Montparnasse Café on St. Paul’s Street. To keep to your budget BYO wine can make a great meal out more affordable, and sometimes more special too. Keep in mind that ordering from the lunch menu will cost much less, so why not head out for an afternoon meal.

Furnished Apartments at Randwick

If you’re planning on staying in the Randwick area of Sydney, make sure to check out Furnished Property before you finalize your plans. You will be able to grab a great two-bedroom apartment for your trip, complete with a full bath. The properties for rent here are fully furnished with modern facilities in the kitchen and lounge. They are also located near public transportation, making it easy for you to get around the city.

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Shopping at Surry Hills

Crown Street will be your primary target if you’re going shopping in Surry Hills. This urban street glitters with an intoxicating mix of casual cafés, eclectic homeware stores and modern fashion boutiques. You will also want to check out Cleveland Street for a run through the Surry Hills Shopping Village. Next, skip over to Oxford Street and browse Oxford Square. The Surry Hills Markets hold great appeal for locals, and tourists alike, who know how to spot a shopping opportunity when it strikes.

If you’re near Mary Street, take the time to browse in Kyotap. This is the boutique of designer Fiona Buckingham, featuring clothing made with natural materials and an Eastern flavour. The Candy Store, on Bourke St, is also a must-see destination to marvel at the season’s best couture picks.

The Zoo Emporium on Campbell Street offers retro and recycled picks for the best in amazing budget buys. With a fun, frantic atmosphere and laid back prices, Zoo is a stand-out alternative to paying full price, and you’ll end up with something far more special.

Entertainment and Eateries at Surry Hills

Surrey Hills has quite possibly the highest concentration of restaurants in Sydney, ensuring cultural fare for nearly any type of cuisine desired. Along with the traditional restaurants, you’ll also love visiting the seemingly endless pubs that populate the shopping district. If you’re looking for a great pub to while away a few hours, drop by the White Horse Hotel on Crown Street or the Clarendon Hotel on Devonshire. From Art Deco to Victorian to ultra-modern, there’s a match every outfit and desired decore, all within a few city blocks.

If you prefer casual dining, make time to visit Bird Cow Fish on Crown Street- their espresso bar is well worth the visit. For cocktails or a gourmet meal out, the C-ique Design Bar is an awesome choice; call in advance to see if you can organise a booking to coincide with one of their cult film nights.

For great meals on the cheap, try the Bourke Street Bakery, offering blissful breakfast and brunch, or the Shakespeare Hotel on Devonshire Street. If you prefer a French bent to your morning feasts, the Lumierre Cafe & Patisserie on Bourke Street has a selection of affordable breakfast and brunch offerings.

Tourist Spots at Surry Hills

Sydney and the Surry Hills area in particular, are well known for its great diversity in cultures, and the incredible Churches are no exception. Make sure to visit the historic locations of the St. Sophia Greek Orthodox Church, the St. Michaels Anglican Church and St. Peters Catholic Church.

Take a box lunch to Prince Alfred Park or Harmony Park for a peaceful outing, and be sure to visit the Surry Hills Library to enjoy the plentiful works by Sydney-dwelling authors.

Now that you’re in love with the area, drop by Furnished Property and find a great flat of your own. You may be surprised to see how well you can live on a lower budget, especially with shared or student accommodations.

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1. Hurricanes in Darling Harbour if a favourite amongst locals for delicious steaks. If you are craving a Fred Flintstone size dino steak then this is the place to come! The menu contains steaks from small to gigantic, mixed with chicken and ribs. For a big appetite why not try the half rack of ribs with a steak? You won’t need to eat for a day or two after coming here! The atmosphere is buzzing and the constant queues outside for tables lets you know the food is good. Bookings are essential if you don’t want to wait until 9 p.m. to eat. A meal is approximately $30-$35 for a main.
2. Want something a little more formal? Then head to Kingsleys Steak & Crabhouse which is a great restaurant with wonderful views of the harbour. Here you can enjoy the finest cuts from rib eye to New York strip and if money is no object you can send your tastebuds to heaven with the Wagyu rib on the bone. For those that don’t like steak, these guys are the crab masters serving up Alaskan, king and mud crab as well.
3. For some good old Australian pub steak head to the Hotel Mosman which has been serving up its famous porterhouse steak with mash for years at a great price. You can choose from a range of sauces but the indulgent bearnaise sauce which goes great with the smooth creamy mash.
4. The Buena Vista Hotel also in Mosman, has great steak choices usually between $25-$30. If you’re picky about how your steak is done, you can cook it yourself or get the chefs to do it for you. The portions are large and the steak is tender, what more could you ask for?
5. The iconic hotel, The Oaks, in Neutral Bay has its own steakhouse. You can choose your own steak (they even serve up kangaroo steaks) and cook it on the BBQs with a beer in hand like a true Aussie. This place gets busy on a Friday night and even busier in summer so get in early if you want a table! Steak meals start at about $25.

Part of the fun is seeking out the restaurant or pub to find the best steak.The best thing about staying at Furnished Property furnished apartments in Sydney is that you’ll always be close enough to explore Sydney’s best steak restaurants and pubs.

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WARNING: This article is super-long, but chock-full of great tips. Stay with us!

WHY MELBOURNE?
Whilst Sydney is the largest city in Australia, Melbourne is considered the cultural hub of the nation. No matter what your tastes, there’s something in Melbourne for you. From secret clubs hidden down city laneways to shopping in the biggest designer stores in the Southern Hemisphere, we guarantee that you’ll love Melbourne.

GETTING THERE:
The two most common ways to get to Melbourne are driving and flying. The drive down to Melbourne is a beautiful, scenic coastal route, so if you’re after a road trip then this is the way to go. However this will take you at least two days, if not longer, so it’s faster, safer and cheaper to fly. Both Jetstar and Virgin Blue have flights leaving to Melbourne at multiple times each day.

STAYING THERE – ACCOMODATION:
There are plenty of good quality hostels and guesthouses in Melbourne. Some that we looked at included The Greenhouse Backpacker, the Melbourne Central YHA, or the St. Arnaud guesthouse. However we ended up not taking any of these options, instead finding an excellent deal on a site called lastminute.com. Hotels with rooms available will advertise their rooms secretly on this website at a greatly reduced price. It worked a treat for us, but if you’re not too keen on the secret bit, then the website also has publicly advertised hotels at reduced rates.

WHAT TO DO:

The Markets: Queen Victoria Markets

These markets are so vibrant, fresh and cheap, you’ll never want to eat anywhere else ever again! From fruit and vegetable stalls to bakeries, butchers, delis, cafés and even the occasional chocolate or alcohol retailer, you know you’re getting the freshest food around. I recommend going for breakfast or lunch, buying yourself a bread roll and some cold meats, sitting out in the laneway on the seats provided and taking in the atmosphere.

http://www.qvm.com.au/

The Café: That place

This place is so great that we hardly went to another café the whole time we were there. Located in the heart of the city, this place – which is actually called “That Place” – has basically everything you could ask for, and all at a reasonable price. The coffee is superb, and the milkshakes and iced coffees are among the best I’ve ever tasted. They also offer light snacks, as well as a great range of larger meals – and almost all of these are under $10! That Place is highly recommended. That having been said, there are more amazing cafés in this city than you could poke a stick at, so be adventurous – it’s unlikely you’ll be disappointed.

http://www.beanhunter.com/cafes/review/that-place-cafe

The Diner: Bimbo Deluxe

Perhaps the name isn’t too appealing, but you’ll change your mind once you’ve stepped inside and tasted their pizzas. Priced at $4 on Sunday – Thursday from 7-11pm, weekdays 12-4pm, and Saturday 7-9pm, you’d be pretty hard pressed to find a better value pizza anywhere. And the price is no indication of the quality – these pizzas are 100% gourmet. There are also a range of dessert pizzas, multiple drinks on tap (including some boutique beers and ciders), and generally an excellent vibe. And, the cherry on top – it’s located in Melbourne’s chic Brunswick st shopping precinct. A winner all round!

http://www.bimbodeluxe.com.au/

The Shops: Brunswick and Smith sts

If you’re into alternative stores, op-shops and boutiques, look no further than Fitroy strip malls Brunswick st and Smith st. Here you’ll find one off, small chain and exclusive to Melbourne designer boutiques nestled in amongst cheap as chips op shops. Smith st is the cheaper of the two, but has less of the designer stores. For the ladies, I would recommend Kinky Gerlinky and Lion in Love, both on Brunswick st.

Check this out – the streets have their own websites, complete with full, high-res interactive street view!
http://www.brunswickstreet.com.au/
http://www.smithstreet.net.au/

The Culture: Laneways

The city of Melbourne is famous for its laneway culture. The laneways are a series of alleyways and side-streets throughout the city centre which are host to a feast of cafes, restaurants, boutiques and street art. We won’t recommend any specific laneways to you, because it’s so much fun to discover them for yourselves.

If you want more information though, go here: included is a full list of Melbourne’s laneways:
http://www.onlymelbourne.com.au/melbourne_details.php?id=9408

The attraction: Tim Burton exhibition

Running until October 10th, this prolific exhibition celebrates the macabre world of Tim Burton’s creations. Included in the gallery exhibition are costumes, set pieces and props from some of his films; as well as storyboards, incidental sketches and even letters and stories he wrote in his youth. If you go at the right times, you can also catch a screening of one of his films, other films which inspired him, or documentaries and other examinations of Burton’s work.

http://www.acmi.net.au/timburton.aspx

The secret club: The Croft Institute

We found this club by accident, and it was a terrifically fun adventure. You’ll almost certainly need to google it in order to find it. To get there, you have to go down a graffiti-covered alley that twists and turns around until you’re hardly sure which direction you came from. Down this rabbit hole you’ll find a venue that is the perfect mix of cool and simple. There is a downstairs area which is a bit more chilled, usually host to some cracking hip-hop beats, and an upstairs area open on weekends, playing host to some fresh house, electro and dance DJs. This blurb doesn’t do the place justice, so check out the website to get a better idea of the vibe!

http://thecroftinstitute.net/

The live music venue: Yah Yah’s

If you’re willing to go for a bit of a risk, Yah Yah’s is the place it’s likely to pay off. Here you’ll find all kinds of live music – the website boasts “rock, soul, garage, surf, exotica, 60s, 70s and more.” All acts are likely to be independent and/or unsigned, but there’s still a huge amount of quality. Drinks are cheap and the vibe is cool. A warning, though – ear plugs are available for sale at $2 a pop at the bar, and you’ll need them!

http://www.yahyahs.com.au/

Phew! What a marathon article! But the fact is that these tips are just the tip of the iceberg. Part of the beauty of Melbourne is that there’s so much to be discovered. So whether you’re going on your own, with friends, or with your partner, you’re guaranteed to have a ball. If you go, let us know what you did and how you found it!

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CAFÉ REVIEW – San Churro

Shop 5/84 Campbell Parade,
Bondi Beach

OR

47 Glebe Point Road,
Glebe

Ever had churros? If not, you’re missing out. And the best place to get them in Sydney is chain store San Churro.

Prices: A little bit on the expensive side, but still one of the cheapest chocolate cafes in Sydney. A hot chocolate will set you back about $6, and a plate of churros for one costs about $8

Food: A churro is a Spanish fried dough stick – it’s kind of like their version of a doughnut. But in stick form. Anyway, you dip them in melted chocolate, and the result is pure bliss. San Churro also serve other chocolate-based food including fondue and brownies, as well as offering every kind of hot chocolate under the sun, their speciality being Spanish hot chocolates, which are more or less just melted chocolate in a cup. Be prepared for cocoa overload!

Service: Food arrives quickly and staff are nice.

Atmosphere: Pretty excellent. The room is full of dark wood and the lighting is dim, giving the impression of a Spanish taberna. It’s usually pretty busy – especially late at night – but never feels too crowded.

Take Away: Yes
Close to: Bars, pubs, cafes and restaurants on Glebe Pt Road; shops, cafes and the beach at Bondi
Public transport: Both are serviced by buses.

RATING: 8/10

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So, let’s kick things off!

RESTAURANT REVIEW – The Italian Bowl

255 King St
Newtown

Prices: Great considering the large serving sizes. $10 for basic pastas, up to $15 for veal and chicken main dishes.

Food: Serving sizes are generous, and food is always fresh and delicious.

Service: Speedy and very friendly.

Atmosphere: Awesome. There are tables for groups, as well as a bench with stools if you come alone or with a friend. The bench looks into the kitchen which is completely exposed to the restaurant, and the chefs are always talkative, funny and very friendly. In addition, the walls are covered with the signatures of the celebrities that have eaten at the restaurant.

Take Away: Yes
EFTPOS: Yes
Close to: Bars, pubs, cafes – it’s right in the middle of Newtown’s lively King St.
Public transport: Bus stop just outside the restaurant, or Newtown train station 150m down the road

RATING: 9/10

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