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Saturday, 17 May 2014

Sydney Day 7: Outlet Shopping, C3 Church & Darling Harbour Fireworks

We decided to take it easy today and wake up later than usual since the shopping malls only open at 10am.

We drove for about 30 minutes to Direct Factory Outlets (DFO) (Google Maps search term: "3-5 Underwood Road, Homebush"), which I've heard is very good for cheap shopping.

Parking was FREE and we managed to find a nice parking lot near the entrance on the 2nd floor.

Of course the first thing I did was to head straight to the kids stores to shop for clothes and shoes for my kids!

Sale at Pumpkin Patch!
(DFO Opening hours: 10am – 6pm)
Bought my girl's favourite Sketchers shoes with blinking lights at AUD$39

All of us managed to buy something nice so we thought, why not shop some more at Birkenhead Point Outlet Centre (Google Maps search term: "319 Roseby Street, Drummoyne").

Birkenhead Point
(Opening hours: 10am – 5.30pm)

Unfortunately we all preferred shopping at the DFO to Birkenhead Point so we didn't buy much. We would advise that if you only had time for one mall, you should go to the DFO.

We were supposed to head to Palm Beach next but as it was already 3.30pm, we decided to drive straight to C3 Church Oxford Falls instead. On hindsight, I would much rather go to Palm Beach for their famous Fish & Chips then shop at Birkenhead. Super wrong decision! But well, at least now we know.

We arrived at my favourite pastor's church at Oxford Falls and marvelled at the beauty of the hills that were the backdrop of the church. The eagles were flying in the sky as the sun started to set. It was a tranquill place to be worshipping God indeed =)

Welcome to C3 Church
We will be attending the Twilight Service, which takes place at 5pm every Saturday
Children's Church playground

My girl refused to attend Children's Church even though I showed her the beautiful playground that they had. Instead she joined us at the service, where the friendly and helpful usher gave her some colouring pencils and paper to keep her occupied.

We were crossing our fingers and hoping that Pastor Phil Pringle (my favourite pastor in case you didn't already guess =P) will be preaching that day but alas, he was preaching somewhere else in the world.

Inside the hall listening to the sermon

Alas it was not meant to be and a visiting pastor from Texas was sharing the Word of God instead. Don't get me wrong, he did an awesome job of sharing the Word (we were really blessed by it). It's just we were disappointed that it ain't my favourite pastor and we couldn't get a picture with him (*bummer*).

We did meet up with fellow churchmate and mum blogger, Sandra and her family who were currently based in Sydney.

With Sandra and her girl

She was one of the main persons that I go to for tips and advice on Sydney =)

After service, we drove back to Darling Harbour to enjoy the Harbourside Fireworks which happens every Saturday at 8.30pm. We parked at Darling Quarter, the same carpark that we did the day before.

Darling Harbour

We sat at some the steps together with the rest of the locals and tourists alike, as we waited patiently for the fireworks to start.

When it finally did, we were all treated to a beautiful display of lights and popping explosion which lasted about 10 minutes.

Harbourside Fireworks
(Captured by the brother's DSLR camera)

When the fireworks ended, we proceeded to Hurricane's Grill (came highly recommended by San) for dinner but were told that the wait was 2 hours long! Not wanting to wait, we decided to eat at Passello along the harbour instead.

Passello Restaurant
Relaxing in the warmth of the burner while admiring the beautiful view of the harbour
Cheers!

As the restaurant was crowded, it took a while before the food arrived at our table. We were so famished, we were more than ready to dig in!

Clockwise from left: House pour wine; Seafood risotto; Mushroom pasta
Clockwise from left: Best combo is beef with wine; Close up of the beef; Tiramisu

We had an awesome last dinner in Sydney (for once the brother didn't have to cook!). Still can't believe that we'll be going home the next day! Time truly flies when you're having fun!


Continue to >> Sydney Day 8: Flight Back & My Reflections
<< Back to Sydney Day 6: Bondi Beach, Madame Tussauds, Sea Life & Wild Life Sydney


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