Vivid Sydney 2013 (Our Darling Harbour Experience)

This is Part 2 our Vivid Sydney 2013 experience, this time I'll share the photos we took at Darling Harbour. Note: If you missed Part 1, read our experience at Milsons Point, Circular Quay and The Rock here.

Vivid Aquatique. It is a completely immersive water theatre, combining a magic 20-metre wall of light, colour and music inspired by the fountains of Versailles. This is the first time a spectacular show of this scale has been staged in Australia . Aquatique Show International are considered to be unrivalled experts in water shows and special effects. 

Other than that wonderful in sync movement of light, water to music playing, there was also a video of dancing and images shown which was projected via a water mist. 

Night Blossoms. Lovely to see lighted trees all lined up on Pyrmont Bridge. There were hundreds of glistening blossoms so bright and captivating. 

This reminded me of Cherry Blossoms (and you know I love Cherry Blossoms!) so I was very fascinated with the lighted trees at Prymont Bridge even if they're like the simplest light installations during Vivid Sydney. 

Vivid Sydney in Darling Harbour with Friends. Very happy to share the beauty of lights at Darling Harbour with friends Faith and Rachel on Thursday and Friday nights respectively. 

We missed seeing the light projections on Australian Maritime Museum but that's alright. Maybe next year, they'll have another show there.

There were light installations in Darling Harbour and Darling Quarter but we didn't take photos anymore. Congratulations are in order for this year's Vivid Sydney team for including Darling Harbour--it's about time!

Related Post:

Vivid Sydney 2013 (Our Experience at Milsons Point, Circular Quay and The Rocks)

Vivid Sydney 2013 (Our Experience at Milsons Point, Circular Quay, The Rocks)

One of our favourite events in Sydney is here! 

Vivid Sydney comes back this year with a more vibrant show for everyone. They've put lights up on the Harbour Bridge, Sydney Opera House, Museum of Contemporary Art, Customs House, Australian Steam Navigation Company building, Darling Harbour and Australian National Maritime Museum. They also have light and art installations in Circular Quay, The Rocks, Darling Quarter and Pyrmont Bridge. For three weeks, the city of Sydney glows from 6pm til midnight. 

If you've followed this blog, you'd know that we have never missed Vivid Sydney. Since 2009, we've made it a tradition to make time for it. If you want to see previous photos of Vivid Sydney, check out them out here: Vivid Sydney 2010, Vivid Sydney 2010 Macquarie Visions, Vivid Sydney 2011 and Vivid Sydney 2012. (Our 2009 Vivid Sydney photos are not available online.)

With so many places to enjoy, we always had to schedule our exploration of the city. Our first stop last Friday night was at Milsons Point to see and capture the beauty of the lit up Harbour Bridge. Fortunately, our photographer friends were there too. It was nice to catch up with an old friend and meet new ones.

Sydney Harbour Bridge in "Colour The Bridge". While it's okay to see the lit up Harbour Bridge from afar, we decided to photograph it at close range. The beautifully lit bridge is stacked with an amazing  100,800 energy-efficient LED lights that changes colour every few minutes.

There were a few stalls in Bradfield Park (located under the Harbour Bridge) where you'll get to buy food and crafts.

At 9pm, we made our way to the Circular Quay. The crowd was thick and intimidating that I almost backed-out (Me to Hubby, "Maybe we should just go home?" hahaha). But the Husband pointed out that we're already there and just to brave it out.

Sydney Opera House in "Play". The artwork on the sails of the Opera House is entitled "Play". This is the best lighting of sails to-date! We loved that they showed wonderful colours and happy artworks. They tickled the 80s child in us as they showed things reminiscent from that era: a spinning vinyl record, a cassette tape and a pinball game. 



The Customs House in "Move Your Building".  For the first time, Customs House becomes interactive with Move Your Building.Spectacular 3D mapped projections that are controlled by you and accompanied by music illuminating the façade of one of Sydney’s landmark heritage sites. You just choose a tune from a playlist, decide the graphic theme for the building and start dancing on a mini dance floor located in front of the building. As you dance and move, you’ll be interacting with the building via the latest projection and mapping technology.


The Museum of Contemporary Art in "Collaboration #3". Stunning 3D mapped illuminations light up the façade of the building in a creative splurge of colour and movement. This is another favourite of mine aside from the lightshow at Opera House.

Vivid Light Walk. Light and art installations surrounds the Circular Quay and The Rocks area. Some are interactive too. I wasn't able to take a lot of photos of installations this year as there were a lot of people (nakaka-uninspire mag-picture picture pag madaming tao). Instead, I soaked in all the beauty of all the installations by looking at them intently.

Cadman's Cottage, The Electric Canvas. This is an engaging interactive projection where with the use of a large touch screen, people can create their own architectural projection. With a variety of themes, tools and pallets the participant is able to select different architectural regions and then apply textures and animations to the cottage in real time. 

Australasian Steam Navigation Company Building in "The Speed of Light". In cooperation with A3, Audi and Spinifex Group, the Australasian Steam Navigation Company building' historic façade is transformed into a feast of light, colour and speed. As an artful homage to Audi’s reputation for world-class design, technology and innovation, Spinifex developed an energetic projection exploring depth and dimension.

What We Ate:
We had about six hours (from 6pm to 12 midnight) of exploring and taking photographs so we needed replenishment all throughout the night. We started off with early dinner of hotdogs, cheesecake and coffee at Chanoma Cafe. That meal got us thru till the time we arrived at Circular Quay.

When we got to Circular Quay a little before 10pm, we knew we had to eat something because we will be walking a whole lot more. The first line we queued up for was at a gelato store and it was packed. However the wait only took less than 10 minutes as the staff had a good wait system and they moved very quick.

We'd normally have a scoop for each of us but that night, we opted to get three scoops to make our waiting worthwhile.

Had a bit of walk towards the Opera House and then came back again to the wharf area where we bought a box of chips. Yummy load of carbs that gave us energy while we shoot photos of the Opera House at the Passengers Terminal area. 

The shoot of the Opera House took about an hour. We were a bit tired by then but we moved on to The Rocks and continued looking at light and art installations. 

We were about to go home when we saw food trucks!!! Yay! Our almost-midnight snack were dumplings, hot and fresh! Comforting on a cold night.

We finished Vivid Sydney til midnight, which was a first time for us. It was fun and we had a great time.

This is just an account of what transpired during our Vivid Sydney adventure at Milsons Point, Circular Quay and The Rocks. More photos will be shared next week. 

Our next Vivid Sydney adventure will be at Darling Harbour this week.

All photos by Chris and Ibyang Sanchez. Some descriptions lifted from the Vivid Sydney website.

Chanoma Cafe (A Japanese Cafe in Sydney)

Was supposed to go to my usual Korean cafe for some coffee after work when I suddenly felt the urge to pass by inside the Regent Place. I noticed in the past months that there are new restaurants that has opened recently there so I thought to have a look. 

I was taken at the sight of a pretty Japanese cafe called "Chanoma Cafe" that takes pride in their matcha shakes, floats and desserts. I was more convinced to have a meal when I read the menu that said "Japadogs" a.k.a Japanese Hotdogs. Hubby and I learned about Japadogs in one of the Jdrama we've watched (I know right, if we're not watching Kdramas, we are watching Jdramas haha) and since then we've always been curious to have a taste. So I messaged the Hubby, "I've found a place where we can eat Japadogs!".

Chanoma Cafe's brown and green motif gives you that clean and refreshing feel. I like that they're trying to be eco-friendly that all their cutleries are made of wood.

As much as I would love to try one of their matcha offerings, I needed coffee last Friday as we were to shoot Vivid Sydney that night. Hubby and I had a cup of coffee each, a large Long Black for me and a regular Iced Mocha for him. I hoped that they'd serve Japanese coffee but instead, they used an Australian brand. Oh well, it's not entirely a bad thing but, I wish someday they'd offer coffee from Japan too (since they are a Japanese cafe anyway). 

While I waited for the Husband, I started with dessert. Their Cheesecake was wonderful. It seemed like a fusion of the New York Cheesecake and Japanese Cheesecake. It was smooth, light and wasn't cloying. 

As soon as Hubby arrived, we ordered two Japadogs: Tonkatsu Dog and Kim-Mayo Dog. I'd like to say that both were tasty and a must-try when you visit.

The Tonkastu Dog is a hotdog wrapped in thin tonkatsu. The tonkatsu gives that extra crunch for when you bite into that delicious hotdog.

The Kim-Mayo Dog is a Chorizo hotdog with a sauce made of Kimchi and Mayonnaise. I ordered this because I wanted to try the Kimchi and Mayo sauce. It was a lovely combination! It wasn't hot at all, it just had the right heat in it to make you realize that there's Kimchi in it.

The best thing I love about their Japadogs is the size. Compared to other hotdogs we've encountered, their ones are good enough to keep one full especially if you will eat it with chips and dessert after. Plus, they're reasonably priced.

We are definitely coming to try out the rest of their Japadog offerings.

Chanoma Cafe

Ground Floor, Regent Place

501 George Street, Sydney

Phone: 02 9266 0667

Daiso and Yogurberry, Now Open in Blacktown

Two new places opened in Blacktown that will add to one's dining and shopping experience.

Yogurberry, the Korean frozen yogurt shop is currently aggressive in making Sydney the frozen yogurt capital of Australia. They've been opening new branches in different suburbs in Sydney Metropolitan. Their newly-opened branch in Blacktown is located near the train station, going towards Westpoint. The well-lit dining area can accommodate about 20-25 people and has a small TV that plays KPop video. I notice a lot of people coming in for take away yogurt. 

My Watermelon and Taro Yogurt with sprinkles of almonds, kiwi fruits and Maltesers

DAISO has finally reached Blacktown! A lot of people from Metro West are relieved that they don't have to go far now for their AUD$2.80 knick knacks from this Japanese store. We liked this store in Blacktown because they're spacious enough, well-lit and seem to offer more products. We hope it stays that way.

DAISO is located on the 2nd level of Westpoint Blacktown (near JB Hi-Fi).