Air New Zealand is delving into the gay and lesbian market with a special themed flight that will feature drag queens, pink cocktails and a cabaret performed by the flight crew.

The destination for the airline’s one-time “Pink Flight,” scheduled to depart San Francisco International Airport on Feb. 26, is the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras in Sydney, Australia, one of the world’s most well-attended gay events, said Jodi Williams, an Air New Zealand marketing director.

“We are looking at tailoring the inseat entertainment and having gay-friendly movies and contests and different music and things like that,” Williams said. The airline also plans to throw a “Get-Onboard-Girlfriend” going away party for its passengers, who will pay an average of $1,000 roundtrip.

The flight will be modeled after an Auckland-to-Sydney trip Air New Zealand made this year for the gay Mardi Gras, according to Williams. Before that full flight, the crew put on pink feather boas and sang for its couple hundreds passengers, she said.

“Even the pilot was wearing fairy wings and got into it,” Williams said.

Source: MSNBC.com

Now THIS is one flight I want to experience! (Aside from riding on an A380) I remember my flight to Sydney on the eve of the Mardi Gras parade. About half the people in that flight were business people in suits, the other half were Muscle Marys

You can buy and pay for tickets everytime you board the bus, ferry or train. However, it’s more convenient to buy a travel pass, which can be used on all services.

Which ticket to buy?

I give you three choices: the Daytripper, the Sydney Pass and the Travel Pass.

Daytripper

As the name implies, the Daytripper pass gives you unlimited travel (until 4am the following day) on all regular Sydney busses, ferry and suburban trains. It also allows for entry or exit at Airport Line stations (is this equivalent to the airport link?). This is a good deal if you plan on using the public transit system extensively in one day.

This pass also have a family fare deal:

The Family fare deal also applies to the DayTripper. When at least one fare paying adult travels with their children or grandchildren, the first child travels for a child fare and the other children travel free.

Source: 131500 Transport infoline

The Daytripper pass costs AU$15.40 for adults, and AU$7.70 for children (above 4 years old, less than 16).

More information about the Daytripper can be found here.

Sydney Pass

The Sydney Pass works similarly to that of the Daytripper, except it can also be used on the Sydney Explorer and Bondi Explorer buses, has return Aiport Link tickets. It also qualifies you for a discount on select attractions.

Sydney Pass tickets are available for 3-days, 5-days and 7-days validity. Tickets starts at AU$110.00 for adults, AU$55.00 for kids, AU$275.00 for families (2 adults, 2 kids under 16. Children less than 4 years travel for free).

You can read more about the Sydney Pass here.

Travel Pass

The Travel Pass come in different variations so you can pick one that would suit your needs. There are passes that are valid for busses only, busses & ferry only, and one that lets you ride all 3 services.

The colors of the Travel Pass also vary depending on the zones and available services. For example, the Red Travel Pass can be used on busses, trains in the red zone and all ferries, except the Manly ferry. The Green Travel Pass works similarly to the Red Travel Pass, but it has access to train stations in the green network and can be used on the Manly ferry (but not the Manly Jetcat).

The Travel Pass is available in weekly, quarterly or yearly tickets. Bus only and bus & ferry tickets start at AU$31, while bus, ferry & train tickets start at AU$33.

The Travel Pass does not have access to the Airport stations. However, when you buy your travel pass, you can ask to have return Airport Link access for an additional fee. I availed of the Green Travel Pass when I was in Sydney. With the extra return Airport Link tickets, I paid AU$68 for my travel pass.

To know which Travel Pass you need, click here.

The three kinds of travel pass I listed here is just some of the ticket options available. To know about the other available options, head on to the 131500 Transport Infoline website.

This sticker was posted in all the toilet stalls at the hostel. Better to be honest, than pretend sex doesn’t happen.

Sorry for the filler post, but life as been crazy both online and off. I have relatives flying in from abroad on ToyCon weekend no less, and having weird mood spells doesn’t help any.

Decent post to come as soon as I unscramble my brain.

So, want to talk about sexual health?

On my second day in Sydney, I decided to spend my morning over at Manly and see what they’re raving about.

Getting there

The best way to get to Manly is by taking the ferry from Circular Quay. On weekends, the first ferry out of Circular Quay leaves at 8:00 am, while during the workweek, they leave as early as 6:00am. The ferry takes 30 minutes to travel to Manly, however, if you take the Manly Jetcat, the ride is only 15 minutes. Tickets for the regular ferry costs AU$6.40 each one-way, while the Manly Jetcat costs AU$8.20 one-way.

I bought a green travel pass from the Airport station, with return airport link express tickets. The green travel pass gives me unlimited rides in Sydney buses, trains and ferry within the green travel zone. The best thing about the green travel pass is that it can be used for the Manly ferry. However, if you want to take the Manly Jetcat, you’d have to buy a seperate ticket.

I took the Manly Jetcat going to Manly and the Manly ferry back to Circular Quay. Both are really good service. Unless you’re really in a rush to get to Manly (or Circular Quay), there’s really no need to shell out extra money for the Jetcat. The view along the harbour is spectacular, so you wouldn’t really notice the travel time. Unless of course if you’re prone to terrible bouts of sea-sickness.

The Corso

The Corso is a paved pedestrian area lined with shops that connects the Manly wharf to Manly beach. At the Corso, you can find almost everything you need for a day in the beach or souvenirs of your trip. For those on a budget, there’s an Aldi and a Cole’s supermarket at the wharf and at the Corso. Aldi have great prices for groceries, but they carry limited brands. Cole’s on the other hand, carries more brand (though with a slightly higher markup), and usually have a deli (great for instant picnics!).

If you have more money to spend, there are several cafe’s and restaurants along the corso serving different cuisines and catering to all budgets.

Forgot your bathers? No worries, there are lots of stores selling bikinis and board shorts, including Quicksilver, Rip Curl and Billabong. Visiting Manly on a weekend? You’re in luck, there’s the weekend market! Sydney/Manly souvenirs, gorgeous accessories, baby stuff… it’s hard not to buy anything!

Manly Beach

Once you’ve pried yourself from the markets, the stores and the restaurants, head on now to the beach. There’s only one small road seperating the beach area from the Corso and once you’ve crossed it, it’s like you’ve already transported to a different place.

There’s a wide paved area, where there numerous benches and picnic tables, public toilets and change rooms, mobile surfboard, body board and locker rentals, and pine-y looking trees (I suck at identifying trees).

Manly Beach is great for different watersports: swimming, surfing, diving, snorkeling, windsurfing, fishing, boating and parasailing. The waves and undertows can get pretty rough in the beaches of Australia, so swimmers are always advices to swim only between the yellow and red flags. Those who prefer to stay dry can sunbathe on the beach (topless sunbathing allowed, apparently), walk, bike, hike or jog on the scenic path that winds along the water.

The verdict

I love love LOVE Manly! All those recommendations are spot on. Though Manly is only 7 miles from Sydney, it’s like your a million miles away from the city when you’re in Manly. The ferry ride over certainly adds novelty to the whole Manly experience.

Though I have a long list of places I haven’t been to in Sydney, I will certainly schedule time for another visit to Manly.

It’s truly a beautiful tranquil place. Built to celebrate Australia’s 200th anniversary, the garden is the local Chinese community’s way of preserving and sharing their rich cultural heritage. The garden was built with Chinese and Australian expertise and materials.

For only AU$6.00, you can experience the centry-old traditions of Chinese landscaping, architecture and garden design. I’ll let the pictures do the talking.

For an additional AU$10, you can rent Chinese style clothes while you walk around and take pictures inside the garden. They also have a teahouse in one side of the garden, serving various kinds of Chinese herbal tea. You can also bring in your own food inside the garden, and there are plenty of places to sit and have a picnic.

Chinese Garden of Friendship
Admission (in Australian dollar):
Adults $6.00
Children (under 15 yrs) $3.00
Family (2 adults & 2 children) $15.00
Website: http://www.chinesegarden.com.au

Another consideration regarding location is the hostel’s proximity to public transportation. Big Hostel is a comfortable walking distance to and from the Central Station, where you can ride the rain going to the airport, around the city and even out of state. What’s even better is that you pass through the Belmore park, which can be quite relaxing.

Also within comfortable walking distance is a number of shops like Market City (where there’s a weekend market) and Chinatown. If you venture further, you can reach the Chinese Friendship Garden, Darling Harbour and the Town Hall.

Rooms & Facilities
Big Hostel gives you lots of accomodation options depending on your budget. There are 8-, 6-, and 4- bed dorms with shared toilets and 4- bed dorms with ensuite toilets. Those who wants some privacy also have a wide array of rooms: single, twin, double, triple and family, all of which have ensuite toilets. They have both nightly and weekly rates.

Linens and blankets are provided, and lockers as well as ample shelf space are available in every room. There is a big common room where you can watch TV or videos. There are plenty of comfy couches and side tables for your food and drinks. The kitchen is off the side, and half of one wall is a bank of refrigerators, the other half is the sink. One wall is where the stove is, while the opposite wall are shelves filled with personal grocery stash of each person staying there. Tableware, utensils and cooking equipment are provided, so if you want to save on meals, you can opt to cook instead.

Breakfast is served every morning between 7 – 9am. It’s a buffet, featuring 2-3 kinds of bread, 3 kinds of cereal, oats, muesli, milk, coffee, and a whole load of preserves, peanut butter, and of course, Vegemite.

Washing machines and dryers are available for a small fee. There’s a computer that has Internet access that’s free of charge, but users are advised to limit their use to 10 minutes. There’s a bulletin board filled with job opportunities, cars/vans for sale and even ride offered by other travellers. There’s also one wall filled with tour brochures, so you’re never at loss as to what to do while in Australia.

The Big Hostel crew are a friendly bunch, always armed with a smile and ready to answer questions they’ve no doubt answered a million times. On my first day, I asked the guy in the reception on where should I go first, and he whipped out a map, and marked a route for me. The reception is open until 10pm. Upon check in, guests are given two keys on a lanyard: one for the room, the other for their side entrance, if you stay out late.

Big Hostel definitely deserves all the raves and mentions it got. Facilities are in pretty good shape, common areas are clean and the crew efficient and friendly.

Big Hostel
212 Elizabeth Street
Surry Hills
Sydney NSW 2010
Australia
Telephone: +61 2 92816030
Website: http://bighostel.com

It doesn’t help seeing my Sydney pictures, nor to hear about people planning on going there for the World Youth Day 2008. It specially didn’t help reading about Sydney over at the Lost Girl’s blog.

So what is it about Sydney that I miss so much?

1. The harbour. It is not an exaggeration when they say that Sydney has the most beautiful harbours in the world. Sydney harbour is simply teeming with life. Of course, there’s the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House, Circular Quay, Botanical Gardens…
2. The ferries.I can spend the whole day just riding the Sydney ferries. I don’t know why but it just feels so good to be commuting from one place to another by ferry. I suppose it’s because we don’t have it here in Manila (or at least not as extensive). Feeling the fresh breeze on your face, looking out and seeing the most beautiful harbour in the world… yes, this is the best way to get around in Sydney.
3. The Chinese Friendship Garden. This is one of the first places I visited in Sydney, and it wasn’t even in my to-visit list. I came up to it while walking from Chinatown to Darling Harbour. Since the admission fee was only AU$6, I thought, why no? It was the best decision ever. When you’re inside the Chinese Friendship Garden, you forget you’re even in a city. All traces off the outside world seem to vanish, save for the sight of a couple of high rises nearby. This is the place to visit after a long day of sight-seeing, as the place is so tranquil. Definitely the best place to wind down and relax.
4. Circular Quay. Everything’s in Circular Quay, there’s no time or space to be bored. There are plenty of places to get a bite or a drink, it’s a transportation hub (the main ferry dock, the city train, busses just across the street), The Rocks just a short walk away. The best part: the buskers. They are street performers that gives “free” shows on the streets. You can never ever be bored in Circular Quay.
5. Sydney Opera House. Of course, the list is not complete without the Opera House. The icon that is known throughout the world as Sydney’s and Australia, is really an awesome piece of architecture. It’s the place to see and be seen, for both tourists and locals, though most of the tourists are loitering around the Opera House steps, the locals are living it up down at the numerous bars that line the Opera Bar. Of course, whereever you may be perched in the Opera House’s vicinity, you have a view of the harbour and the harbour bridge.
6. Watson’s Bay. This may seem odd to be in the list, but there’s something about Watson’s Bay that is simply endearing. The oddest part is that most of the tourists who take the ferry to go there do nothing but eat while waiting for the ferry back. To be different, hop on a Bondi-bound bus and take a scenic ride along one of Sydney’s suburbs. For added thrill, ask the friendly bus driver to drop you off at the cemetery en route. It looks pretty awesome from inside the bus, though I wasn’t able to go down to investigate.
7. Manly. While everyone else says “Bondi,” I say “Manly!” I’ve been to both Bondi Beach and Manly Beach, and all I can say is that Manly has more character than Bondi. Not that I’m dissing Bondi; Bondi is a pretty great place to hang out, but Manly just felt different to me. It starts with the ferry ride from Circular Quay, to disembarking at the Manly Wharf, then walking through the Corso to get to the beach. You see a line of trees, and just beyond, fine sandy beach starts and beautiful blue waters rush in from the Pacific.
8. Mardi Gras. What can I say? Sydney’s Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras is simply awesome. It’s actually a month-long event, which culminates with a parade and several after parties on the first Saturday of March. Mardi Gras is not only for the gays & lesbians; when I walked unto Oxford street on parade day, the first group I laid eyes on were actually a family complete with grandparents, grandkids and picnic paraphernalia. People from around the world actually fly in to Sydney to participate in the parade, watch it from the sidelines or simply just to party.
9. Double decker trains. I am just amazed by their trains. I was surprised when I first saw their trains approaching the Airport station. I thought it was just the Airport Express that’s double decker, but it turns out all the trains in the Sydney City Rail network are huge. Lovely! I dunno, I’m just a sucker for trains.
10. Yum Cha at Chinatown.Almost every guidebook recommends trying out the Yum Cha in Sydney’s Chinatown. Always eager for dimsum, I decided to give myself one last treat before I left Sydney. I went inside the first Chinese restaurant I saw and was please to see that it was filled with Chinese families having lunch. I intially felt uncomfortable eating solo in a place where all table were occupied by 2 or more people, but once I took a bite of my first dimsum, I quickly forgot about shame and took as many dimsum I can eat. It was expensive, but so so worth it.

I’ve fallen inlove with Sydney, mainly because of the harbour and the ferries. I don’t know why, but I just love riding commuter ferries. It’s one of the reasons why I loved the Chao Phraya in Bangkok.

I only spent 3 days in Sydney, though I wish I could have stayed longer. Sydney has so much to offer to travelers, and admittedly, a weekend in Sydney isn’t too expensive. I was surprised when I saw the total myself.

Here’s my 3-day Sydney expense breakdown to give you an idea when you plan your own trip to this lovely city.

[EDIT March 5, 2009] I am an idiot. I made a HUGE mistake in summing up all the expenses, hence the ultra cheap total *facepalm* From Php 13K for a weekend trip, the real total finally came out (after TWO FRICKING YEARS): Php 23K!

Download in:
Excel format (.xls) – 70k
Portable Document File (.pdf) – 79k

Sydney’s Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras is a month long celebration, starting on the first week of February and ends on the first weekend of March with a parade as a grand finale. Of course, when my sister asked me when do I want to fly to Sydney for a weekend, I picked the Mardi Gras weekend. Afterall, how many times will you have the opportunity to fly over to watch drag queens and dykes on bikes?