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Check-out time is 10am; we asked for a late noon check-out but were informed the night before that late check-out wouldn't be accommodated. The lobby was very crowded and busy the next morning for checkout. There must have been a busload of people dropped off for check-in.

Email info@mrespresso.com.au.

I ordered one of the lunch specials and inquired if it is spicy and asked for minimal or no spice. The pork dish had an ample portion of rice, and I found that I needed it to take away the spicy taste of the dish.

They accepted a credit card payment but wanted to leave the bill open till we finished ordering our drinks. They processed the bill, but it had to be done through a neighboring business. I'm not sure what was involved, but as long as it's transparent to the customer; that is, I don't have to be involved in the transaction more than I normally would be.

There's sidewalk seating, which we did for our lunch.

Dragon Star Seafood Restaurant (formerly Kam Fook) was a great choice, despite it being expensive. The food is generally very good to excellent. Items we had: bean curd – excellent; shrimp dumplings with thin, translucent dough, steamed and browned at the bottom – excellent; baked, barbequed pork buns - very good; roast duck - very good but too much quantity for two; shark fin soup - very good; custard tarts - excellent and with flaky crust; mango pudding - excellent flavor, not too sweet. This is the first time that I've encountered shark fin soup offered in dim sum – usually, advanced notice is required, and it’s quite expensive.

We were seated near a work station, where the workers were constantly moving about, empty dishes were removed fairly quickly, and the teapot was refilled with hot water from time to time.

We were actually going to go for another place in Chinatown where it was packed late at night, but not a customer was there in the late morning. Another restaurant adjacent to the one we were thinking of going to convinced us to go inside their restaurant. But upon going upstairs, it was also lacking customers, so I decided not to stay there. I wanted to go to a place for dim sum busy with customers, and preferably with trolley carts with dishes. We saw this place from outside the night before. When we decided to look for this place, we found it busy, filled with customers and dim sum on carts rolling around. This placing was bustling busy. We didn't see any prices until the bill was presented.

Lunch Mon-Fri, 10am-5pm; Sat-Sun, 9am-5pm
Dinner Mon-Thu, 5:30-11pm; Fri-Sun, 5:30pm-midnight

Blackbird Cafe offers a waterfront view from the balcony level, but it's marred by its plastic shields marked with painted stripes, interrupting the nice view. The music got really tedious very quickly, as the music was repetitive of the same theme over several selections of the CD choices.

We were there at about 10pm and were told the kitchen was closed. Only pizza and Greek salad were available, so a tandoori chicken pizza and a Greek salad were ordered. A bottle of unchilled water with a resealable top was presented upon my request for water.

The tando chicken pizza ($15.90) was pretty good, with six or seven slices, enough for one hearty portion; we ordered for two, and it was a good balance. The Greek salad was good, except I didn't care for the olives.

We were satisfied from the meal and didn't want to spend nearly an additional eight dollars for a dessert we really didn't need. Ten percent is added to your bill; no extra tipping needed.

Afterwards, we noticed some other places nearby on the ground level with unobstructed views and probably a lot quieter, perhaps cheaper.

Open daily, 8am - late
Email: blackbird@blackbird.com.au

The Midnight Shift Hotel is a hotel with a gay bar.

There are multiple large LCD monitors, a large area inside, a couple of pool tables in the far back, a large aquarium in center of the bar. They were showing Queer As Folk, which had the attention of all the patrons. The audio wasn’t very good, though.

Phone: 02/9360-4463

Phone +2 9360 2151

The entrance is up a stairway, and it offers two dry saunas, two spas, a steam room, private rooms, gymnasium, video lounge, snack bar, coffee lounge, and public access Internet kiosk. Complimentary condoms and lubricant provided.

Rates vary -- it was ten dollars when we went, plus a five dollar deposit for towel and key, refunded when we returned the towel and key at checkout.

The major attractions include: the Sydney Aquarium, the Australian National Maritime Museum, the Chinese Garden of Friendship, an IMAX Theatre, the Powerhouse Museum, the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre, Cockle Bay Wharf and King Street Wharf, and the Harbourside Shopping Centre.

One could spend all day here or spend a little time on multiple visits instead.

The Chinese Garden of Friendship was already closed when we went by late in the afternoon. The IMAX was playing features that were of no interest. We arrived late at Sydney Aquarium and were given the helpful advice to come back another day to get the full benefit of the aquarium, which we did. The Harbourside Shopping Centre and Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre contains a lots of shops and some restaurants. Cockle Bay Wharf has waterfront-view restaurants.

Grosvenor Club (The Taxi Club) is a gay club, lounge/bar, nightclub, and pub restaurant with a trannie clientele in a friendly environment.

Restaurant:

Breakfast Tue-Fri, 8am-2pm
Lunch Mon-Fri, Noon-2pm
Dinner Daily 6-9:30pm

Café:
Mon-Thu and Sun, 6-11pm
Fri-Sat, 6pm-8am

Phone: 9331 4256
Email: tax@iprimus.com.au

There's another Backstage Tour that starts 7am, taking 2 hours, at a cost of $140.

The Australian Museum offered a guided tour that covered the museum and its offerings, including a collection of 68,000 rocks and minerals, the indigenous Australians exhibition, an array of birds and insects and ancient Egyptian artifacts.

Allow yourself at least 15 minutes to browse through the museum gift shop to buy something. My partner saw some aboriginal artwork for $20 that he liked, but thought he could get it cheaper elsewhere. It ended up costing us more in terms of time spent looking for it for the rest of the trip. He managed to get something for his wall in Adelaide, our last stop, for the same price. He should have just bought it and been done with it instead of wishing he had bought it when he had the opportunity and kicking himself for not doing so.

Admission is $10 for adults, $5 for children, $17.50 to $25 for a family, and children under five and Australian seniors get in for free.

Daily 9:30am to 5pm, closed Christmas Day.
Phone: (02) 9320 6000, Fax: (02) 9320 6051

Sun-Fri: 9am-10:30pm, Sat: 9am-11:30pm

Admission Adult $22, child (3-15) $13.20, under 3 free, senior/concession $15.85. Check website for current rates. Credit cards accepted.

There are different prices, depending on what you want to see. The bottom line price for just this attraction is $22.50 for each adult.

Bondi Beach is a suburb of Sydney that is reachable from the city via the Sydney bus, nos. 380, 382, or L82 with the destination North Bondi, Dover Heights, Watson’s Bay, or Bondi Beach-about a 45 minute ride. The train at Bondi Junction railway station is 2km away. Once there, ride one of the above buses, a 15-minute ride, to the beach.

It seems like more locals visit here than tourists. We did the cliff walk to Tamarama and saw some beautiful views.

From the city, take Sydney bus no. 378.

Information Centre: +61 02 9130 5311

Dundee Arms Pub, originally from the 1850s, with indoor and outdoor seating for barbeque or just a drink, is now part of the Four Points Darling Harbour Hotel Sydney chain.

The bartender informed us that there was a Japanese department store next door, but that it had closed at the beginning of 2004.

If you order food, you're given a number on the table. The order comes out to match your number perhaps 15 to 20 minutes after your order is submitted, depending on how busy the kitchen is.

Monday to Friday noon to midnight; Saturday 5pm to midnight.

Anzac Memorial, located at Hyde Park South, part of the Austrialian War Memorial, commemorates the women and men in the war efforts. There are statues, military memorabilia and films documenting the self-sacrifice. No photography permitted without permission.

Mon-Sat, 10am-4pm; Sun, 1-4pm

Phone: 9267 7668

UrbanRail.net provides a useful map of Sydney's rail system. Metro Transport Sydney owns and operates both the Monorail and the Light Rail.

The Monorail, useful for the tourist attractions, has a higher number of employees required to run its operation. The Light Rail is the real heart and soul of the transport for the masses.

Monorail operates Monday to Thursday 7am to 10pm;
Friday to Saturday 7am to midnight; and Sunday 8am to10pm every 3 to 5 minutes; fares may be purchased at stations. Ages 5 and older for one loop is $4, and the unlimited one-day pass is $8.

The Light Rail operates daily between Central and Star City from 6am to midnight every 10 to 15 minutes and midnight to 6am every 30 minutes and between Central and Lilyfield daily every 10 to 15 minutes Sunday to Thursday 6am to11pm and Friday to Saturday 6am to midnight.

The single full adult fare for one zone is $2.80/return $4.20 and for two zones is $3.80/return $5.20, an unlimited all-day pass is $8.40, a family day pass is $20, a 7-day pass is $20, and a 7-day pass for the Light Rail and Monorail is $28. Check website for other fares.

Zone 1 stations: Central Station, Capitol Square, Haymarket, Exhibition Centre, and Convention.

Zone 2 stations: Pyrmont Bay, Star City, John Street Square, Fish Market, Wentworth Park, Glebe, Jubilee Park, Rozelle Bay, and Lilyfield.

CityRail has commuter service from and to the Sydney International Airport. Purchase your ticket with the station agent at the International station, hop onboard, and you're on your way, quickly, economically, efficiently, and simply.

CountryLink provides service of greater distances such as Melbourne or Brisbane.