“Life In The So-Called Space Age”
That’s the plane I’m just about to board to fly to Tokyo, and begin ‘phase two’ of this vacation. It’s time to say ‘goodbye’ once again to Australia.
These past 10 days have been fantastic and funny and busy and tiring. I saw and did so much, so much so I very nearly broke myself (I walked over 430,000 steps)! My plan is to recharge my batteries on this ten hour flight, so I can face Japan with no limiters 😉
Yesterday Sue and I went to Vivid, the annual light festival in Sydney.
It’s a bit different this year with more attractions, including some that cost extra. We started with one of these: an underground installation called ‘Dark Spectrum’.
This was a series of 8 rooms in an old set of train tunnels under the city. Each room was themed to an emotion or mood (such as ‘pressure’) and the eight light installations – all of which are paired with music – were all very different.
We both enjoyed this immensely! The green laser room in particular was extraordinary, since you had the impression the beams were real physics things and many times I wanted to touch them. The use of darkness and mirrors in this room made the space seem enormous, and we (wisely) went earlier in the day and there were hardly any people in there with us.
It took about an hour in total to pass through the eight exhibits. The work that went into it was impressive, and we saw such things as moving laser projectors, industrial robots, and rooms full of thousands upon thousands of LEDs all synched to the music. Dark Spectrum far exceeded my expectations and based on what I saw yesterday is probably the best of Vivid this year.
The lights for Vivid itself went on at 6 pm and the highlights – as they were last year – were probably the bridge and opera house. Crowds were much smaller than last year though, which was nice, and we were able to walk lazily to enjoy the lights.
But it was a long day, and even when we started Vivid we were exhausted. About halfway from circular quay to Darling Harbour we got a taxi back to the hotel since we were both absolutely knackered. In particular I suspect I’ve overdone it a bit, and will take today off to rest before my flight tomorrow 🙂
I ate fries at five fast food places here in Oz. How did they compare? Let’s find out!
McDonalds fries are exactly as you’d expect since they taste the same everywhere. They have a familiar if unremarkable taste but the excessive salt is a distraction from a hint of grease and perhaps even an inkling of regret. Of the five types of fry I tested, these were the worst (and yet paradoxically the ones I ate the most).
Hungry Jack’s (aka. Burger King) served up robust and tasty fries with a slight crispy snap to them. I got these three times and every time they were piping hot, not too salted, and delicious! And yet, I’d only rank these fourth of the five…
The above sad excuse for a fry serving was from Henny Penny, but they tasted much better than they looked. But this review is based on the large serving Sue and I shared a few days prior, which was delightful. Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo but the fries were hot as hell, thick and full of potato energy, not greasy at all and dusted with delicious chicken salt. They were fantastic, but still only the third best of the five I tried.
Incidentally I feel obliged to showcase the ‘chicken roll’ I bought at Henny Penny, which was undoubtedly the single worst piece of food ever served to me:
Cold garbage chicken on a stale roll: this travesty was possibly excreted by Satan and I hurled it into a bin at light speed!
I’ve only had KFC once this trip, but it was in the middle of a long walk and I was very hungry at the time. The fries were extraordinary! Crispy and fluffy inside, they were golden brown and drenched in chicken salt. I devoured them in seconds, would happily eat more, and yet they’re still not the best I’ve had this trip.
And so we get to Oporto. I’ve had it several times this trip, and every time the fries were perfectly cooked, served hot, generously portioned (the above is a small serving), chicken-salted and tasted wonderful. And I don’t even have to give them extra points for giving me the longest fry I’ve ever seen! So just as Oporto served the best chicken tenders last year, this year they served me the best fries 🙂
Truth be told though, the fries at all five of these fast food places were all good, and even the worst were tasty. But if you’ve only got time for one fast food visit in Oz, as always my suggestion remains Oporto!