Exploring downtown Sydney

While I'm here, I have the luxury of staying in Newtown - an Inner West suburb of Sydney. Suburb is used loosely here, it's only two miles west of downtown and is more like a neighborhood, but the locals won't call it that. Most of my Saturday was spent becoming acquainted with this area, as well as a stroll through downtown.

CarriageWorks market, where I tried my first lammington - layered sponge cake with berry filling, dipped in chocolate, then covered in coconut flakes.

View of downtown from the Australian Museum - with the Sydney Tower Eye on the left, St. Mary's Cathedral on the right. Westfield is an Australian brand that owns the largest mall in Sydney under the tower, hence the Westfield logo on it. On my walk downtown, we covered Chinatown, Town Hall, Queen Victoria Building (QVB) and Hyde Park. 

Walking up and down King Steret, one of the main streets in Newtown. A mix of shops, restaurants and convenience stores, the best comparisons I can make are Clark Street in Chicago or lower Second Avenue in NYC. 

Some more observations so far:

1) International food really is everywhere
In less than 72 hours here, I have eaten Indonesian, Vietnamese and Turkish meals. Australian essentials include meat pies, sausage rolls and particular pastries, many of which I'll try in the next two weeks.

2) Lack of unlimited data leads to less use of smartphones

None of the cellphone providers offer unlimited data, so it's not as common to "always" be online given the potential for extra charges for checking Facebook, email, maps just for fun. The folks I've spoken with predict once one provider starts offering it, they all will - which could change this, but overall, it's refreshing to not see everyone on phones always 

3) You don't have to tip!

Tax is built in to meal costs, and tipping is not required or really requested here. When I asked if I could leave a tip on the card, the waiter was taken aback and said "oh, thanks for thinking of it but it's okay." The service industry is well compensated here and not as reliant on tips as in the USA.