This was a great space to walk through and look at the history of this building…read more We also ate at the Bullion Bar and Dining. Couldn't find a page on Yelp for it but it was delicious. Excellent mash.

Stumbled across this landmark while exploring Sydney early in the morning…read more The Sydney Mint is the city's oldest public building. It is part of the old Rum Hospital. It was built between 1811 and 1816. The old Rum Hospital catered to convict patients from 1816 to 1848. It was financed by paying the contractors with 200,000 liters of rum, hence the name the Rum Hospital. The Mint was added in 1854. This was the first branch of the Royal Mint outside of England. The staff lived within the nearby hospital building. It is free to visit. There is also a coffee shop that has a bookshop attached. The bookshop is in an old vault.

As a part of The Rocks' Village Bizzare, this pop-up shop has, err, popped up…read more Two-tone corduroy ties, vests, suit jackets and suit pants make up this little 'Bizarre Experience'. Cuff-links made from the brain of a watch and neck chains (is that what you call a necklace for a man?) made from the same sit in the cabinet that separate the shop from the fitting room out the back. As well as just selling unique pieces, Son of a Master Tailor will tailor clothes specifically to you and give you an 'uber cool styling session' (his words, not mine). The man in here (I'm assuming either the son of a master tailor or the master tailor himself, alluding to the fact that his clothes are his offspring) is friendly and non-intrusive - he made himself available for assistance without following us with his eyes and/or body in a hawk-like manner. For anyone wishing to spend $150 plus on a vest, I highly recommend a visit to 77 1/2 George St to see this son of a gun. The vests are charming and quirky whilst still filling the dapper category and the ties are actually too cool to leave behind. And though I did leave it behind, I will be going back for it. (NB: The Village Bizarre runs from 4 Nov - 23 Dec.)

Today was a very chaotic day, but that did not stop them from helping us have a great time. The…read morestaff here are amazing! Read to hear the commitment from the staff members. We bought a gold pass (3activities) for 8 people, and our 3 activities were bowling, escape room, and laser tag. We did bowling, and straight after we finished, a guy cleaned everything on our lane ensuring clean equipment considering covid. There was also hand sanitiser everywhere in this place. We then had our second activity but we had to wait for an hour, so we got to play free table tennis. Once we were there ready to go in and start, they told us that we could only have 6 people in there due to covid restrictions. My mate and I missed out, but we got an hour worth of unlimited arcade access, but we couldn't play anything for tickets or prizes. We got this because we would have missed out on a third activity. Once the escape room finished, another guy came and gave us 2 a free voucher for any activity we want at the place, due to the problems that happened. We then got to play 2 games of laser tag, which were great fun. Once we finished though, we sat around for a bit, and a young lady came to us and said we can have 3 free games of laser tag because of everything that happened today. This is some AMAZING commitment from the staff members, and not only that everything else was great! We got our third activity to be unlimited arcade access (with restrictions), then we got a free voucher, and then we got 3 free laser tag games, what else could you ask for? If one of the workers read this, we would love to say thank you for all the hard work and efforts put in to helping us!

Situated along the bay run is the very RSL inspired Haberfield Rowers Club, complete with Keno,…read morerelatively cheap beers and affordable dining. Tables and chairs scatter the deck, and while at times it can be a bit windy, no fault of the Rowers Club, Poisedon doesn't work a split shift there or anything, the balcony has a luxurious relaxed feel. The fish and chips are my favourite here, and I find they go nicely with a lemon wedge in water, or if you're going for that more relaxed holiday Sunday feel, which the club inspires, a schooner of ale. Drinks are served at the bar and the food is table service. The restaurant and bar are open plan therefore there is no separation between the two, though I've seldom spotted a bar fly in there, though the facilities are available. Perhaps the fresh air, view of the water and of the fit people running up and down the track is too much for your common bar fly to handle. The Rowers is a club and you do have to sign in upon arrival though membership is only $10 and does provide some good deals both for drinks and dining and parking is available in their small car park. So while you're eating your fish and chips and drinking your schooner of beer, why not look out at all the people jogging along the concrete path outside and smile to yourself.

Haberfield is my old stomping ground. The rowers was always there, down the end of the street,…read morealways in use, but also in need of a good make-over. Imagine my surprise when it finally happened (some 20 years too late, as might be argued). Gone is the dodgy mission brown structures with their green fibreglass sheeting, the over-patched concrete and the tacked on extensions. In place now is a building more suited to the outlook, incorporating broad decking, floor to ceiling glass and a view to impress, especially as the sun sets. The launch area is a wide expanse of clean concrete with enough room to manoeuvre boats and equipment that avoids accidentally knocking people in to the drink. It looks impressive inside, too. I'm talking about the restaurant, which is positioned upstairs. Bar on one end, kitchen opposite, huge table area to suit groups, or small tables. Just move the tables around like a Tetris game. Does the service and food live up to the standard? Hmm, I'd say no. They could do with a few more wines either by the glass or as a bottle on the menu. And please, no imports. Australia produces enough of the not just good, but great stuff, guaranteed to please. The current wine list looks like someone went down to Dan Murphy's and picked up the specials. How about the food options? There were a couple of things that sounded and/or looked good, but sadly, did not translate well to palate. The tacos were too sloppy and of the MYO variety. Meh. The stuffed zucchini flowers were pretty good, as were the oysters. But really, how can you stuff up a natural oyster? The mains list was uninspiring and dull - so much so we didn't order any of it. We stuck to the entrees and salads, also selecting the laksa flavoured prawns (not bad), the pork belly and scallops on pea puree (served too cold and the puree was too lumpy) and the rocket and pear salad (pretty good but very, very salty). I'm not particularly fond, either, of the 'order and pay at the bar' system, as, depending on where you sit, you are crossing the path of the people entering and the meals coming out or plates going back to the kitchen. It's a bit of a shambles. My suggestion would be to head there for a party or event, but not for an intimate dinner. Another point to note is that there is also now a coffee window operating at ground level, on the Leichhardt Oval side of the building. Great for a pit stop if you're tackling the bay walk on the weekends.

Leichhardt Oval. The home of the Tigers. The 8th wonder of the world. Whatever you want to call it,…read moreit's one of the last suburban sports grounds in Sydney to retain its historic charm. It's a step back in time to when sports grounds were simple, not soulless concrete corporate behemoths. A great place to watch any code of football, I have returned to watch my beloved Sydney FC the on APIA Leichhardt in the Australia Cup (Australia's version of the English FA Cup). Normally I'd sit on the hill, but the rain has forced me into the grandstand. Food options aren't spectacular, but you're not expecting a la carte. This is meat pie, hot dog and cold beer out of a tin territory. And that does me just fine. It's picturesque, your close to the action. Long live Leichhardt Oval.

There really is nothing quite like a Wests Tigers home game when it's being played at Leichhardt…read moreOval. The atmosphere in that old, local ground is unparalleled and that's not just me as a Tigers supporter. I've been to home games of other teams I support, I've been to home games for the Tigers at other venues, but nothing beats Leichhardt! It's electric, the 20,000 seater/stander is always full when the game kicks off, the beers are expensive as is the food, but that's about the only draw back, you can time your runs to the bathroom and avoid a rush, and exiting the ground takes a while as you could probably imagine, a mass exodus of twenty thousand people. But not even that slow moving, pressed up against a stranger walk could ruin the excitement and energy of the match in question. There is one major grandstand where the members sit and then two sides are grassy hills, and the entrance is made up of smaller stands and a grassy flat area. The Oval is located close to Norton Street and all it's bars and restaurants as well as a brisk walk in the other direction to Rozelle's pubs and a slightly longer walk to Balmain. Leichhardt oval holds this reputation throughout the whole code as one of the last remaining local home grounds as all the teams, including two thirds of the Tigers games are moving to larger capacity stadiums such as Telstra Stadium and the SFS. Grounds with less atmosphere, less history and less character. And I do believe the reputation extends beyond the code as I recall early last year being at a game when Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles walked through the crowd soaking up an Australian experience in what must have been a Supernatural publicity tour, that is a tour for Supernatural, not a tour of supernatural publicity.

I had the lucky privilege to see the musical, Wicked here and it did not disappoint. The show had…read moregreat performers with beautiful singing and it was pretty magical. There was a green carpet welcoming where folks were taking photos with some of the cast. I am not sure if this was a special night or they do that each time. There was green lighting everywhere showcasing the musical. The venue seems pretty modern and clean and is located right at the Pyrmont Bay. There is a hotel, casino and several restaurants right next to it. Inside the venue it was on the warm side. It was a warm and humid night and it would have been great to have the temperature on the cool side but it wasn't.

I was at this theatre in the newly-presented Star (previously Star City Casino), which is part of…read morethe owners' attempt at an entire entertainment precinct. The layout, bars on every floor, and foyer views over Darling Harbour are nice. Inside it's very new, very clean, a very good-looking room. None of the ornateness of the old theatres here, just clean, dark lines that draw your attention to what's on stage. I saw Kevin Spacey in Richard III here on the weekend. It was, to be honest, a little big for that sort of theatre; I was up near the top and it felt somewhat distant, and some of the actors had trouble projecting that far. I'm sure it would be more suited to some of the musical acts that play here. I found the seats a little uncomfortable, though, and had to keep shifting throughout the performance (which, for Richard III, is admittedly three hours of sitting). I also found it awkward that - in the top grand tier, anyway - there were no central aisles to get to middle seats: you have to shuffle into the middle seats, past people's knees, from the far edges. Is that just to have more paying seats? And I noticed, when in the play and all the lights were off, that there were no exit signs over any of the doors. It was completely pitch black. Isn't there some safety requirement around that? A decent, good-looking venue, but perhaps not for long plays.

If you've never been, you might think Timezone is exclusively for silly boys in their early to…read moremid-teens, but you'd be wrong! Somewhat.. Of course you do get hordes of ill-behaved boys at Timezone, but it can also be a great, relatively inexpensive way to kill time, as I found the other day when I was waiting for a chronically-late friend. My personal favourite; the maxi claw. That thing is surprisingly hard to manipulate! But if you put your back into it, you can snag yourself a fluffy toy! Oh, and the staff seem some mixture of surprised/excited/suspicious to see a woman in her early twenties there (makes a nice break from rambunctious 14 year olds, I suppose), and showered me with attention. Which is always nice.

Pretty poor considering that there are much better arcades within walking distance (both Galaxy…read moreWorlds spring to mind). While small, it still has all the games you'd expect from this kind of place, and the same clientele (a mixture of sterotypical nerds, uni students and teenage boys). Can't really fault it, but the Galaxy World across the street is a hell of a lot better and if you can walk to Market City, the Galaxy World there is amazing. As it's in the cinema complex on George Street and opposite the Metro Theatre, it's a good place to visit to kill some time before a movie or concert.

I love this stadium. People complain about how small it is and how you have to schlep all the way…read moreto Homebush, but my answer to that is simple - stay home! Tell me how much you enjoy it on your 32inch disappointment! Getting to Olympic Park - if you don't take public transport you are an idiot. Good God, it's one of the only places that is designed to get you in and out as quick as possible (apart from your first girlfriend). The ground itself has the feel of a local ground with the facilities of a giant stadium. So close you can here the players fart! Enjoy whatever you are watching, it's a great family friendly place to go.

What a fantastic stadium!! It literally is spotless- super clean and comfortable. The oval is…read morereally great to walk around and check out the shops and food vendors. The choices of food vendors was enviable compared to what we typically have at ball games in the US (although they are getting much better). I wish we had options of kebab, shewarma, Asian food and lots of other great stuff!! The seats were solid and it seemed like no matter where you sat, you would have a decent view. Bathrooms were incredibly clean for a stadium (maybe this is common on the land of Oz?). I hope US sports team owners will visit stadiums in Australia if this is a similar experience I would have elsewhere. Top notch!