Tonight I walked from the hotel up Bridge Street and then down George Street (reminded me of 34th St in Mahattan) and over to Darling Harbor. On the way I popped into a half dozen breweries trying to find someone selling a t-shirt or something to bring home for Paul – no such luck. And since I have a carry on bag, bringing home food or drink is not possible.

Darling Harbor was beautiful – all the places to eat and drink outdoors, with a view of the boats. It’s like the Boston seaport but 100 times larger. It’s also set up for “love month” with illuminated hearts, romantic row boats, a free Ferris wheel, a 10 foot “marry me” on a wall, a heart shaped love chair…all free. And everything is clean.

From there I walked to Prymont Park and Marina for the lunar festival. Red lamps hanging everywhere and dozens of Asian food stalls in celebration of New Year. There is A LOT going on in Sydney to celebrate the lunar new year. In Boston, you’d need to go to Chinatown or there might be a Chinese boat race at the public garden, but here the whole city gets involved with performances, art installations and more. On Tuesday night I missed seeing the Sydney Opera House and Harbor Bridge illuminated in red in honor of the New Year.

So at the Prymont Park, there was a food festival, and I was in Asian food heaven. Stall after stall of noodles and ban mi and dim sum — oh my! I opted for a “Sakura burger” at the “Everybody Loves Ramen” stand which was described as “Ramen fried chicken in a Sakura glazed bun with Japanese curry sauce served with buttered miso popcorn.” In other words, a pink sugar glazed bun with fried chicken. Super yummy but too sweet. I got a container of vegetarian pad see yoo (noodles) from another stand and did some people watching on the pier.

During the week here, it’s been hard to not notice how well dressed people are in Sydney….and thin too. No one is overweight. The men is where it’s especially noticeable to me. All the men have skinny dress pants or jeans, button down shirts, or polo shirts. And if they are wearing a t-shirt, then it’s plain without logos. Some men are in shorts, but it’s mostly pants even despite the weather. There are many families here, and it’s great to see all of the (non-Asian) children enjoying the food, eating with chopsticks, etc. It reminded me of when I was in Sydney 15 years ago and my colleagues had catered a lunch for some local journalists. In the US, we would serve sandwiches and a salad. But I recalls the menu being Chinese food. It’s just part of the diet / culture here I guess.

At 8pm, I made my way back to Darling Harbor, past the Australia National Maritime Museum, in hopes of catching the weekly Friday night fireworks only to find out I was off by a night and planned for Saturday. I decided to follow the crowds some more and ended up at a nearby park which was showing an outdoor movie, all the cafes were hopping, the neighboring buildings were lit up in red and pink, and nearby that was a Chinese festival – more food vendors and tents selling Chinese jewelry, chinese performers, tents where you can learn about real estate in China, etc.

Out of the US $20 I exchanged to Australian dollars, I spent $17 at the food festivals. I haven’t needed Aussie dollars all week, and hoping I can make it through tomorrow with my remaining cash.

I walked back through Darling Harbor, started walking back in the direction of the hotel, and I’m just tired out. Tomorrow will be another fun day exploring Sydney!