Re: [Leica] Visiting Sydney with Leica (off-topic and long)

["Ross McLeish" <loksi@dingoblue.net.au>]

Apologies to LUG for long and off-topic response to:
Kevin Leong (Tuesday, October 03, 2000 11:57)

> Leica gear is expensive and hard to find in Australia so bring whatever
you need<

Expensive, yes. In case you hadn't noticed, that is the same in any country
you choose.
Hard to find? Where on earth have you been looking.....K-Mart?  It is not
difficult to source Leica equipment from any of the 'pro' or many other
serious photography suppliers in Australia. If you need a list, I can supply
one.....otherwise look at one of the Leica adverts, they list the primary
dealers.  Also there is a very healthy pre-loved market for Leica in
Australia.  I know this, to the great detriment of my bank balance.

>....carry on all your unexposed/unprocessed film so that it
> doesn't get zapped by the post-Olympic-X-Ray equipment.

Post Olympic-X-Rays?? What medication are you on? I want some... :)

 > Well, in terms of food, there's a lot of variety in Sydney but I think
the
> quality may not quite match what Singapore has to offer<

Balderdash! Where on earth do you eat, Kevin?  MacDonalds perhaps?  The
quality of food, and the quality of restaurants in Sydney, is second to
none. Terence and Patricia have no need to be concerned that they won't be
able to eat as well here as in Singapore, unless of course they only get as
far as one of the tourist-trap places such as Darling Harbour/Cockle Bay,
and pay gourmet prices for street-market food (Chinta Ria). Footnote to
Kevin: I suggest you purchase (and make use of) a copy of the 'Good Food
Guide', as it may assist you to locate various sources of 'quality'
nourishment in Sydney.  Perhaps, Kevin, you've heard of Banc, Level 41,
Tetsuya, MG, Salt, Aria, etc (all 5 star restaurants), the list goes on?
Strange how European and American restaurants are always trying to 'poach'
our sub-standard, low-quality chefs, isn't it, Kevin?

Terence and Patricia may also be interested in some of the following:

Chatswood:
'Fook Yuen' - Mainly cantonese and seafood restaurant. Good but pricey.
Depending on the season, you will normally get fresh prawns (or prawns that
are still swimming), large pacific oysters, mud crabs and emperor crabs

North Sydney:
'Armstrongs' - Fine steak house, with quality aged beef. Although, never
been personally, comes with good review from friends and colleagues who
have.

'Greenwood Chinese Restaurant' - good cantonese style food

Crows Nest:
'Malabar' - good northern indian food
'Red Centre' - gourmet pizza, slightly pricey because it is licensed

Chinatown:
'Kam Fook' - Yum Cha, contemporary Hong Kong dim sims, wide range. Just have
to get there early.
'Golden Century' for seafood. Service is a bit crappy but great seafood.

Paddington:
'Buon Ricardo' - Italian
'Bombay' - Indian

Neutral Bay:
'Kyushu' - Japanese
Japanese food in Australia (and NZ if they are going there too) is
affordable and fresh. Where do you think the southern blue fin tuna that is
so highly prized in Japan, comes from?

Leichhardt: (all these are fine Italian)
'Elio'
'Tutto'
'Portofino'

Newtown:
'Thai Pothong'
'El Bahsa' ( best Lebonese cakes and sweets. Excellent coffee)

Beverly Hills: (out-of-city but this is definitely worth the cab fare)
'Mas Thai' - cantonese cooking, with HK style pigeons and affordable fresh
seafood. (wonderful place! I'm invariably the only Caucasian in the
restaurant)

Randwick for Indonesian (huge choice)

Oh yes, don't forget the Fish Market (near city).

Quality buffet, you can't go past Crayons Restaurant at the Renaissance
Hotel in Pitt Street:
for good decent laksa and har mee (or prawn noodles), or 'Malay Chinese' on
Elizabeth St near Chanel boutique.

Also, Australia exports mangoes and most of our temperate-climate fruits to
South East Asia, and produces some of the finest 'Atlantic' salmon in the
world.

Of course, every city has good and bad restaurants. For sheer variety,
quality and affordability, Sydney and Australia can not be beaten (this is
an opinion shared by many of our Singaporean and Malaysian friends and
colleagues).

> ...Singaporean food is influenced by Portugese, South Indian, South
Chinese, Malaysian and
> Indonesian cuisine, the styles here are more from North India, Japan,
Italy,
> Greece, Vietnam, Thailand and increasingly, Northern China (but
thankfully, not
> English :-).

The greatest source of Chinese cuisine in Australia, and Sydney in
particular, is Southern Chinese, or Cantonese-style. It has been, for around
150 years or so. There are a very large number of establishments tracing
themselves to Portugal, Southern India, Malaysia, Indonesia, and
remarkably....Singapore. Do you need a road map, Kevin? Actually, doesn't
Telstra have a Yellow Pages directory somewhere in your office?

>There's far too much to say about food in Sydney <

Correct. I've just said most of it.