Tag Archives: circular quay

Vivid 2017

Vivid Sydney is an annual light show that showcases great ideas and creativity of amazing artists. The event has spectacular illumination of the Sydney Opera House sails, botanical garden and an amazing water show at Darling Harbor.

Last week, we went to Vivid like every year as it is one of the best shows Sydney puts on apart from the New Year fireworks.

This year, canon had a special setup in front of the Opera house and Harbor Bridge. We queued up for 30 minutes to take our photo and it was worth it :).

They emailed the digital version and gave us printed copy as well.

Overall, we had a great evening out and Chhori enjoyed it a lot too.

Have a great day everyone.

M from nepaliaustralian

XOXO

Take care

Vivid 2016 and Smashed iphone6

Last week, we went to watch Vivid like every year. It is one of the best shows Sydney puts on apart from the New Year fireworks. I loved Vivid this year as there was line-up of amazing lights in even more places.

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My favourite was the animated canvas on Opera house inspired by Aboriginal arts. It was so nice that we stayed in front of it for a long time, admiring the view and taking some great photos.

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Another one of my favourites was the Sydney’s Hidden Stories projection onto the Custom’s House. It was full of great characters like the lizard, snakes, cockatoos, gnomes and gumnut fairies and even a witch. Even though it was a cold evening, we loved the night out and Chhori was happy to run around.

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On the way back to the train station, we found a phone on the middle of the road. It was an iphone6 and a car must have run over it. The screen was all smashed and we could not see anything.

The phone had a cover which had a student card with name and a photo. The first thing I could think of was to search for her name on Facebook just in case we could find her. We found a Facebook page with the same name but we were not sure if that was the same girl as the photo seemed a little different.

In that mean time, the phone started ringing but we couldn’t pick it as the screen was smashed and was not sensitive to touch. So I decided to leave a message on her Facebook just in case it was the same person.

The phone kept ringing and eventually died.

The next morning, I checked my Facebook for a response but there was none so I decided to call the university. Luckily when I talked to the lady there, there was only one student with that name. So I left a message for her to call me back and let her know that the phone is with me.

That afternoon she called me and was happy to know that I had her phone. Unfortunately I had to inform her that the phone was smashed and unusable. We arranged for her to pick the phone up from my friend’s office as that was closer to her.

The next day, she picked up the phone and I was happy that the phone was reunited with the owner even though it was battered. It is a good feeling when you know that you did the right thing. 🙂

And it was really nice of her to send me a pack of nice chocolates as a “Thank you.”

Do you have a similar story where someone has returned your lost item or you found the owner for a lost item that you found? Please do share.

Have a great day.

Take care,

M from nepaliaustralian

XOXO

Vivid Sydney 2014

Sydney has once again been transformed into a spectacular canvas of light and music when Vivid Sydney took over the city. This year the festival is so big that we had to go twice to make sure we saw all the great displays.

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The first time we went to the Darling Harbour where Cockle Bay was centre stage as the stunning Aquatique Water Theatre again brings a little of the magic of Versailles to Sydney. Even though it was a cold evening, we had heaps of fun enjoying the show. The video projections, colour laser was really worth the trip. Here are some amazing photos from the night.

Then over the weekend, we went to Circular Quay for another amazing display.

1 IMG_7720 IMG_7721 IMG_7742 IMG_7744Vivid Sydney 2014 (1)

We reached there before 6pm and there were lots of people already. We had fun watching Opera house transformed into a colourful canvas, Customs House turned into a series of massive ‘musical sculptures’ with Play Me!, in an explosion of light, colour and sound. We also enjoyed giant snakes sliding across the Art Deco façade and Cellular Tessellation is a geometric architectural installation made from recycled plastic milk bottles.

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There was food market in the Rocks and we enjoyed the street food for dinner. I also enjoyed the photos with the big Robot called Chip, yellow transformer looking guy and two very tall ladies in pink walking around on stilts.

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After resting or a while we walked to Martin Place to enjoy more displays. Martin Place is part of Vivid for the first time. I loved Urban Tree Project and geometric head that uses live video to put your face on the work.

 I have to admit, Vivid Sydney this year is bigger and better than last year.Vivid Sydney 2014 (4)

Here are some of the amazing photos I found on the internet courtesy of  James Morgan from Destination NSW.

If you are in Sydney don’t forget to go and enjoy the amazing displays.

Take care.

M from nepaliaustralian

XOXO

Anniversary dinner @ARIA

As I mentioned in my last post, we went for dinner yesterday to Aria Restaurant at Circular Quay.  As it is winter here it was cold and the rain didn’t help either but it wasn’t able to dampen our spirit.

aria (1)Aria is owned by celebrity chef Matt Moran who has been a guest chef on Masterchefs TV series and other TV shows; and restaurateur, Peter Sullivan.  Aria is one of Sydney’s most established fine dining restaurants and was awarded 2 Chef’s Hats in 2012, cementing its position at the higher end of the dining scene. Apart from its reputation for superb food, it also boasts a postcard perfect view of the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge through its glass windows, providing a very scenic backdrop for our meal.

aria (2)We were working yesterday so we went to the restaurant after work. We walked in and a waiter took us to our table. We were the first ones in the restaurant so we got the table with the best view.

aria (7)As I looked around, I found that the decor inside isn’t particularly eye-catching but I suppose that’s to avoid detracting from the gorgeous view of the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge . We had the view of both Opera House and Harbour Bridge.

aria (8)We were swiftly handed menus but both AS and I kind of already knew what we wanted. We decided to go for the three-course meal and we order our meals and drinks.

aria (3)As soon as the waiter who took our orders left, another waiter came with a shot of soup. It was cabbage and potatoes soup with goat’s cheese and walnut. I am not a big fan of soup but this was just delicious and both of us enjoyed it. The taste was just right with a creamy texture.

aria (4)While we were having the soup, another waiter came with sour bought bread and butter. He explained that that the sour dough bread was locally made in Bondi and the butter was Australian made too.  After the soup, we both had the bread and butter while waiting for entrée to arrive. I have to say I have never tasted such a good butter and with sour dough bread it was just perfect.

aria (5) aria (6)By that time, both of us were really impressed with the waiters as they were very professional. They knew exactly what they were doing and they made us feel very comfortable, explaining what each dish was. I guess you need to be the best to work at 2 Chef’s Hats restaurant.

Anyway then came our entrée. I had ordered Pork belly, which was Kurobkta pork belly with chestnut puree and poached persimmons and AS ordered Peking duck consommé with duck dumplings, shaved abalone and mushrooms.

aria (9) aria (10) The consommé was pure brilliance with its broth bursting with the rich flavours of shitake and abalone and a hint of duck. The duck filling for the dumpling was also quite flavoursome and had a nice soft texture. And my pork belly was just awesome with the meat perfectly cooked and the crackling top just yummy.

aria (11) At that point, both of us were happy that we picked Aria to celebrate our anniversary. I was almost full with our entrée. Then the main came. I had ordered roasted lamb rump with crushed borlotti beans, eggplant and nettle pesto while AS had Blue eye roasted fillet with Jerusalem artichoke, Jamon and witlof.

aria (12) aria (13) My lamb was just perfectly cooked and every bite was heaven and borlotti beans and eggplant equally delicious. AS’s blue eye was yummy as well but he didn’t like Jamon (ham) on the plate. When I was finishing my main, I told AS I may not have room for dessert in my tummy so he helped me finish the main.

By that time I was so full that I wished I haven’t ordered dessert. But as we had already ordered them so it came. I ordered roasted almond pannacotta with honey infused mandarins, blackcurrant and almond crumble and AS had Valrhona Jivara chocolate tart with caramelised hazelnuts and vanilla choc ice.

aria (14) aria (15) Both the plates looked so delicious that I forgot I was full. I dug into my dessert and I was very happy with what I had on my plate. The pannacotta was perfectly sweetened and every item on the plate went so well together. I was telling AS that I felt like I was trying food on master chef’s TV show :). AS’s plate was equally delicious. I was really happy to taste some of the chocolate from his plate. It took a while for us to finish the dessert and finally we were done.

aria (16)After dessert, we enjoyed the view for a while and spent some time talking before asking for the bill. Before the bill, they served us with some chocolate plate consisting of Chocolate ball, passionfruit sweet and burnt sugar thins.

aria (18)They looked so delicious but both of us were so full that we tasted one of each item and left the rest on the plate. I wished I had more room on my tummy but I knew I had to stop. Overall, all the dishes were flawless and all beautifully plated. It was the perfect evening.

We had a great celebration and when I looked at my husband next to me, I was thanking god for sending him to my life . I love my husband more each passing day.

 Thank you everyone for your anniversary wishes and blessings. It means a lot to us.

Take care everyone,

XOXO

M from nepaliaustralian

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Vivid Light Festival Sydney 2013

Sydney was once again transformed into a spectacular canvas of light, music and ideas when Vivid Light Festival Sydney started last week. Colouring the city with creativity and inspiration, the largest light, music and ideas festival in the Southern Hemisphere, Vivid Sydney features lighting installations around the Sydney harbour foreshore, live music performances, and over 120 creative industry events.

vivid (1)So on Saturday, hubby and me put on our warmest jumpers and went to the city to enjoy the colourful event. First stop was Darling Harbour and I have to admit Vivid is even better this year than the last few years. Vivid lights up the city like never before and creates an atmosphere of creativity and fun, transforming iconic buildings and spaces into canvases for light.

This year, Vivid Light has tripled in size, with one-third of lighting installations from international artists including from the USA, Germany, Italy, Greece, Malaysia, Korea, Poland, Brazil and New Zealand.

As we reached Darling Harbour, they had just started the 7pm show. As there were so many people, we were on the side and the view as not very good. Still, the 3D projections and laser sculptures were just amazing and it went for around 15 minutes.

vivid (3)We wanted to see it again and someone told us that the show would be even better at 8pm with fireworks at 8.30pm. So we decided to hang around until 8pm and went to get the best place to watch, from the top of the bridge, next to IMAX.

vivid (2)And we were glad we stayed. The 3D projection was different and much better than the 7pm. Aquatique Water Theatre transformed Cockle Bay into a 20-metre wall of water, light, colour, projections and music inspired by the fountains of Versailles. They had Spanish music, Bollywood music and ballet as well. That is not all, the water and display was just amazing. Watch the videos and photos below.

vivid (1) vivid (2) vivid (3)The show lasted around 15 minutes. Then we waited another 15 minutes for the fireworks to start. Fireworks were amazing as well and they went on for around 10 minutes. Me and AS just enjoyed the wonderful view cuddling with each other.

vivid (5)-tileIf you are a Citibank customer, you can also enjoy a pop-up bar on the Darling Harbour foreshore.

After the fireworks, we walk to the train station and went to Circular Quay where Opera House, International Passenger Terminal, a ship from P & O cruise and Harbour Bridge were lit up in bold colours and 3-D graphics.

vivid (6) vivid (7)The grand façade of Customs House at Circular Quay displayed an amazing visual feast of 3D-mapped projections .

For the first time in the world also, the famed Harbour Bridge of Sydney comes fully alive through an “interactive lighting installation” found in the western side of the bridge.

We were home around midnight and were glad to have had a great night out. If you live in Sydney, do go out and enjoy this awesome festival, and for everyone else here are some videos, I managed to capture and some from YouTube too.

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