#darling harbour

[famousinuniverse]

Darling Harbour, Sydney, Australia: Darling Harbour is a harbour adjacent to the city centre of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia that is made up of a large recreational and pedestrian precinct that is situated on western outskirts of the Sydney central business district. Wikipedia

[silk-and-blade]

Merry Christmas ☆

[tcr55]

From the height of the blight that is Crown Sydney, following skyline to the now humble Sydney Tower on the right, this cloudy dawn foretells the rain that is to come.

[kyndaris]

Coffee Shop AU

Most first dates, or meet-ups as I like to call them (especially with a stranger), that I've gone to have involved lunch or coffee at a local cafe. Thankfully, in the city of Sydney, there are plenty of cafes (of varying quality) one can visit. And all of them come with a decent brunch menu (though some will close by 2:30 or 3 PM at the latest). Enter Edition Roasters. While it has a few branches in and around the CBD (Australian shorthand for Central Business District), my date and I picked the one in Darling Quater.

But I've jumped forward to our date and failed to introduce the person behind it all!

Although I've gone on a date before with a woman, Eivor, which didn't end up as well as I had hoped, I wasn't quite willing to quite throw in the towel. After all, how many dates have I gone with men? And while the men in my life have failed to make my heart flutter, who was to say I wasn't an asexual lesbian?

Especially with the so-called 'squishes'/ brief flirtations of attraction I've had with a few women I've met over the years? THough now that I think on it, do fictional men count in terms of romantic attraction? Am I still clutching at straws?

No, I couldn't yet label myself as aromantic just yet!

I mean, Dikottir isn't bad! It's just...I don't feel a sense of romantic attraction to him. Even though we've gone on five dates and have technically 'known' each other for a year now.

Alas, I have once more been distracted. Where was I? Ah yes, my so-called 'date.' So, yes, this trip out to Edition Roasters was my second meet-up with a woman.

From the very start on Hinge, we struck up a conversation on musicals including one that has yet to grace the stage - Epic: The Troy Saga by Jorge Rivera-Herrans. As a frequenter of Tiktok, she had heard the songs being performed whilst I had the good fortune for my Spotify shuffle list to insert a few of the songs whenever I chose to listen to songs from musicals.

Though not a frequent replier, we were both able to share our passion for musicals and also touched a little on their second passion: fanfiction. Given the obsession of my fellow classmates back in Year 8 and 9 for all things anime, and to stretch our writing skills, I was no stranger to fanfiction.

Back in my heyday, I used to frequent ones for Kingdom Hearts, Naruto, Shugo Chara! Even now, trying to ween myself off fanfiction, I still can't quite kick the bucket as I continue to lurk among the Harry Potter fandom, while occasionally experimenting with Far Cry 5 (yes, I'm a gosh darn sinner), She-Ra and a host of Disney ones as well.

It was because of her heartfelt passion for Epic, and how we did initially chat about mythology, that I've given my date the code name: Athena. Unlike Eivor before her, she was keen to arrange a meet-up sooner rather than later. So, after some discussion - with a variety of choice between multiple places to eat at - we finally settled on Darling Square.

I was the first to arrive. Shivering in the cold Australian winter, I put my name down on the paper sheet out front and waited for our number to be called out. Athena joined me shortly afterwards and we chatted a little about our week and our lives. Before too long, our number was called and we were directed to a table out in the wind (perhaps not the best choice but given how busy the place was, it made nabbing a table easier). Despite not having much sun, there was a heater purposely positioned close by to offer some warmth. Although, if I'm being honest, it was the hot chocolate I ordered, more than anything else, which served to defrost me.

Then it was time for the main meal. Athena ordered a miso salmon ochazuke after crunching the numbers on online reviews regarding the cafe's signature dishes, while I settled for a miso wagyu bolognese. As we ate, we talked a little of the work we did, our family composition, and the reason why we were dating. We even reminisced on many a bad date we've had - with her recounting one where the man hailed Hitler.

And though this is the second time someone I know has gone on a date with a seeming Nazi sympathiser, it's a bit strange that it's happened twice. I honestly have to wonder if they went on the date with the same man.

After lunch, we walked around Darling Harbour before heading up towards Town Hall station. It was, in my eyes, a wonderful day out. While I wouldn't have called it love at first sight, I certainly didn't feel as intimidated as my meet-up with Eivor at the ice-rink. Nor did I feel like Athena fail to meet the expectations I'd set up in my head.

I wouldn't say we clicked immediately but it definitely felt like we had a strong connection and understanding of the other.

Now, I wouldn't call that love but I'd say it went far more swimmingly than I'd feared. Yes, I was probably still putting up a front, but I didn't feel either one of us dominated the conversation. It flowed well, like having a good deep and meaningful natter with a good friend (rather than an acquaintance).

Is this a good sign?

But Athena did say to hit her up for another outing.

The only problem, of course, is that I'm not so much a foodie as someone who simply tags along and enjoys the food on offer (as long as it's not spicy). Does make me wonder if the two are related, though...

Are all asexuals bad with spice? Or is it just me with a low tolerance for both? Probably just me. And the smut fanfictions I read simply represents my ability to enjoy wasabi (to a degree). It's not the perfect analogy but I'll have to make do. This is, after all, coming down from spending an entire Saturday out and about at the Sydney Manga and Anime Show (SMASH!) and then finishing off all the chores I needed to do in preparation for the week ahead.

Give a 31, who will be 32 when this post goes up, woman a break! It ain't easy trying to juggle care for an elderly grandparent, work, hobbies, dating and what else when it comes to the adulting life. It's not like there's a manual!

[slidesworthseeing]

Found stereo slide: Happy Lunar New Year! Dragon Wall, Chinese Garden of Friendship, Darling Harbour, Warrane Sydney, March 2002. Photo by Harry B Richards

[ysalis-analog]

Harbour - Sydney

[shanmcl]

Long weekend at Sofitel, Darling Harbour 💙

[etude28]

[mk-photographer]

Weekend fireworks at Darling Harbour

Darling Harbour

Jan 2024

[thingsihavedoneandenjoyed]

Good day for flags. Nice slow wind.

[seniouesbabes]

Lily Maymac 🌸💋🍒🌸 Melbourne Cup party at work & Café Del Mar Sydney 😍

[rajlakshmihb]

Darling Harbour | Vivid Sydney 2023 | Sydney

Vivid Sydney is an annual festival of light where technology, art, and commerce intersect. This year it was celebrated from 26th May to 17th June 2023. I couldn’t visit all the popular spots like Opera House or Botanic Garden, but witnessed the amazing light show at Darling Harbour. This year I went with my family. After getting down at Townhall station, we walked along the street near Queen…

[callmeabeverhausen]

a different view of the "darling harbour"

[tcr55]

This is as glamorous as Sydney will get today.

Rain and clouds at Darling Harbour and Barangaroo on a damp dawn.

[indahs-photography]

Just Follow Your Heart: Sydney Harbour Bridge

One thing I learned from my trip to Sydney is that following your heart could be wise.

One thing I learned from my trip to Sydney is that following your heart could be wise. Yes, I love travelling, but I have had low energy to travel in the past few years; I blame it on the pandemic and major changes in my personal life. Travelling requires a certain level of energy. Usually, I was excited to plan a trip, but I had minimum excitement when preparing for the trip to Australia.…

[wonderingwendy]

Well Sydney, you did not disappoint us today. Third (technically 4th) times the charm. We left our apartment hotel on foot and turned right down Kent Street towards the Rocks as we knew there’s an artist’s market on the weekends and maybe a lunch stop at our favourite pub “at the top of the stairs”(there are a lot of stairs as we found out).

Kent Street leads you right to the Sydney Harbour bridge so we took a left and stayed under the bridge on the city side. Epic sentry spot - they placed cannons and anti-aircraft guns here to protect the whole harbour because you certainly can see for miles who’s coming. Before the bridge foundations were built in 1930s, the house of Major General Finn and his wife stood here but now only the outline of the home remains. That would have been some expensive real estate by now. We also passed Dawes Point where an Englishman, William Dawes was thought to have met and “befriended” (their words not mine) an indigenous woman and recorded some of their language. This rumoured level of trust drew more Indigenous peoples to Sydney to avoid the devastation in their rural communities.

We passed by piers 2/3 and 4, finding new sites. We even had a glimpse of our Meriton hotel on the north side of the harbour which will be our home in 3 weeks time. The market in the Rocks was just as good as we remembered, lots of great stuff and Craig picked up some almond nougat. Then off to find the staircase leading to the pub. Always fun to climb lots of stairs in the heat of the day. Finally found Harts pub and downed a few glasses of water and then a Bertie’s organic apple cider (better than the other way around) while Craig enjoyed a Pickled Monkey lager. PS Ordering the vegan nachos was a bit of a mistake since we just wanted to avoid meat not real cheese etc.

Anyway recharged, we set off for the Royal Botanical Gardens and enjoyed the newly opened second building of the Art Gallery of NSW. Such a lovely way to escape the heat - beautiful building, beautiful art.

Our afternoon well spent, we set off to wander in the shade of Hyde Park. Oh yeah, and we knew the best espresso martini awaited us at the other end at Canopy cafe - arrived during happy hour, no mistake here.

Back to our room to cool off and then a Greek dinner. A refreshing evening breeze took us for a after dinner stroll home along Darling Harbour only to watch a surprise 9 pm harbour fireworks display. Amazing where 20k steps will take you in a day.