Sydney, Australia: Part 3

Are you getting tired of my trip reports?  I've come this far, with my posts about New Zealand (part 1, part 2, part 3 and part 4), Cairns, Sydney (part 1 and part 2), I can't stop now!

Here's my last post about Sydney:

The next day, we started with a walk through The Rocks Market.  The market has some cute crafts and yummy-looking food, but you have to search for good deals because they don't jump out at you.

After visiting the market, we took a ferry to Manly Beach.  Along with Bondi, Manly is one of the most popular beach areas in Sydney.

We spent most of our time enjoying the nice weather and watching the surfers.  I still can't figure out the rules they follow to determine who gets to take the wave.   These instructions are posted on the beach, but I have no idea what they mean.

Here's some film I took of the surfers.  

Before leaving, I managed to track down some Lamingtons on the main drag between the ferry terminal and the beach.  So good!

The ferry ride home, as the sun was setting, was beautiful.  

That night, we went to the Sydney Symphony.  I took this restricted photo and then subsequently got in trouble for it.  

The next day was our last day in Sydney and we still had several things on our list.  For starters, I really wanted to try DinTaiFung.  Rumour was that they have the best dumplings.

I knew, from what I had read, that there would be a lineup.  So, we took some time while waiting outside of the restaurant to review the menu, prepare our order and take pictures through the window of the factory-like dumpling space.  In fact, the whole place runs like a well-oiled machine.

Not being a dumpling expert, I really appreciate the "guide to enjoy the Xiao Long Bao":

Aren't they cute?!?  I want some more.  These dumplings are like little purses of heaven.  I want them to open a takeout window next to the place I work.  No.  I want them to open up a restaurant a couple of blocks from where I live.  I want to reverse time and ignore the full feeling and order another dozen.  Anyway - you get the idea.

The other dishes were also good, but not nearly as good as the dumplings.

After lunch, we walked to the Sydney Fish Market.   

You know your fish is fresh when you can see all of the boats that bring fresh fish in.  

For our last night, we went to see a Rugby game at the ANZ Stadium.

We watched the South Sydney Rabbitohs, a team co-owned by Russell Crowe, play the Wests Tigers.  

The Tigers didn't score during the first half, which left some Tiger fans pretty outraged.  They managed to gain speed in the second half, but the Rabbitohs held on for the win.  It was fun to watch, although we didn't fully understand the rules.  But, now that the Rugby World Cup is on (in New Zealand), we're going to continue to try to figure out the rules and what the difference is between rugby league and rugby union.

With that, our Sydney trip comes to a close.  Next (and last stop) is Melbourne and the Great Ocean Road.  

Ottawa Cultural Festivals

Growing up in Winnipeg, Folklarama was one of the summer festivals I looked forward to attending every year. Folklarama has been around for over 30 years and has grown to a two week festival with over 40 different cultural pavilions set up around the city. The festival typically draws about 425,000 pavilion visits.

In Ottawa, cultural festivals are smaller and usually initiated by individual cultural communities.  But, still well-worth checking out.

Here are some pictures of the food from a few that have taken place over the summer:

Recently, we went to GreekFest, probably one of the most popular cultural festivals in Ottawa.  I can't even imagine how much food they go through during this festival.

Chicken Souvlaki

Gyros Platter

Bougatsa

Baklava

The weekend before last, we checked out Ottawa's first Night Market.  The market was small (about 15 stands total), but it was a great start to what hopefully will grow and become an annual event.  

These ladies are making Turkish gozleme.

Baklava

curry fishballs

A third festival we attended, the South Asian Festival, took place earlier in the summer.  At the festival, we picked up a jar of Ishina's ready-made curry sauce.

I decided to make a vegetarian dish, using the curry sauce and a bunch of these vegetables:

Vegetarian Curry

2-3 zucchini, chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
kale (as desired)
1.5 cups cooked brown rice
3 small carrots, chopped
2 garlic, crushed
3/4 jar of curry sauce
2 tbsp olive oil

Add olive oil to pre-heated frying pan.  Add garlic, stirring constantly to avoid burning.  Carrots take longest to cook, so I threw them in first, followed by the zucchini and tomatoes.  I added about 1/4 jar of sauce at this point.  After about 5 minutes, I stirred in the kale, rice and the remainder of the sauce.

Flavourful & healthy!  Great combination.