Wedding Bells in Sydney

Just got back from Sydney on Sunday evening – somehow this trip really drained me out. Maybe it was because our schedule for the weekend was really tight or perhaps it was my body fighting extremely hard not to fall sick. The bumpy flights did not help at all; did I mention I hate flying?

Pen and I went down to Sydney to attend our friend James’ wedding. The wedding was on Saturday but we flew down on Friday evening to get ourselves settled in first. Poor Pen fell sick on Wednesday – so apart from taking care of him and making sure he takes his medicine regularly, I was also desperately fending the virus from myself. Praise God for watching over us! Pen recovered speedily over the weekend and I fortunately didn’t feel too much under the weather.

We stayed in North Sydney, at the Rydges. This place sure brought back some memories – same time last year, I lived in North Sydney for two weeks by myself while working for LEWIS Sydney. Hence, I became quite the “local” and ended up being the better guide for our hunt for breakfast on Saturday morning.

Best part was, the church where James and Roberta got married, St Thomas Anglican Church, was just up the road from our hotel, a mere 5 minutes walk. It was such a gorgeous-looking church with such intricate details that there was absolutely no need to decorate the sanctuary. The landscaping outdoors also made it a perfect picture opportunity for a wedding. After the ceremony, we briefly scanned the grounds for familiar faces from Pen’s Sydney church. A few photos and some refreshments later, we jetted off to...

Paddington! I was soooooo excited because I’ve heard so much about the markets and boutiques there and couldn’t wait to get my hands on some unique finds. We had an interesting journey there though. Pen got a bit lost driving and we ended up at a suburb near Paddington and thought we were at the right place when we saw some tents set up there. We parked, got out of the car and walked towards the “market”. Wasn’t long till we noticed something was amiss – the surrounding looked dodgy and we found ourselves in the midst of a police and thief chase. (A woman had her mobile snatched off her hands and a couple of policemen had just caught the alleged thief by the collar.) Riiiight. Turned out we were at Kings Cross* and the “market” was a mini food carnival.

When we finally found our way to Paddington, I was absolutely stoked to see streets and streets and streets of boutiques. And the markets totally lived up to my expectations. The only downside was we only had about two hours to explore because we had the wedding dinner to attend. Arghh, I knew it was impossible to cover this much ground in two hours, so my joy quickly turned into disappointment. And because of the time constraint, I had to choose between focussing on shopping or taking photos AND shopping, which would greatly reduced my ability to concentrate. So guess which one I chose?

When our time was up, Pen had to drag me away from the splendour that was Paddington. Well, at least I didn’t leave the place empty-handed – I bought a ton of stuff from Make Up Store and a chunky silver ring from the markets. I was very happy with my jewellery purchase and I must say I was glad to have Pen with me as he always does all the bargaining for me! Paddington is an amazing shopping strip and I am kicking myself for not stepping foot into that suburb during my previous trips to Sydney. I will be back.

And oh yes, the wedding dinner was a ball too. Heh.

*Similar to Singapore’s Geylang

Eating at Harry's Cafe de Wheels on Friday night, a push cart famous for its hotdogs

Breakfast at a cafe in North Sydney

At St Thomas Anglican Church - The bridal party and parents after signing the registry

We missed out on the group photo (too busy eating) so we got a private one taken with Roberta and James

L - Susie, Ivan, me and Pen

Wedding dinner at Zilver Restaurant, very good Chinese food. There were suckling roast pig, mock shark's fin, abalone, etc.
L - Pen, Me, Amanda and Luke

Our table
Top L - Luke, James, Ivan, Kris, Susie and Amanda
Bottom L - Susie, me and Pen

Me and Pen

We're going trigger happy!

The boys - Pen, James (groom), Wilson, Luke, James and Kris

Swinging at Manly

On Saturday, the Young Adult Fellowship spent the morning together playing putt putt at Manly. We split into groups of four and tried to conquer the nine holes. I thought at first that it would be a piece of cake but I sure was wrong about that. Turned out some holes weren’t as simple as they looked because the slopes made them really tricky. Especially this one...

Mic, Fong, Rev Alexis and YC strategising their next move

After putt putt and a few more swings at the driving range, we went to Manly Harbour Village for lunch. It was my first visit there and I was pleasantly surprised by how beautiful the place looked. There were heaps of boats and yachts anchored at the quay and rows of coffee shops and fish and chips takeaways located along the water. Very picture-perfect indeed.

Manly Village - overlooking the water

Had lunch at this fish and chips takeaway

Waiting for our food!

Just as we were leaving, I was suddenly reminded of the times (yes, plural!) when Ally and Hui took the wrong train and landed up at Manly instead of home. The first time it happened, I was worried. Second time, it started to get funny. Can’t remember if there was a third time. Ahh, those were the days.