Michi Photostory

Among the hostels and hotels I listed, I booked at Hyde Park Inn even though it was over my budget. I read mixed reviews about this hotel; some were disappointed, and some were satisfied, but I still chose it because it has a mini kitchen, so we can prepare our own food, just like when we went to Copenhagen and Oslo. Don’t forget to register on their website to avail of the 5% discount, best rate guarantee, and free car parking. 

Hyde Park Inn is a 4-star hotel in Sydney's CBD. It is near the Museum Train Station, restaurants, Pitt St Mall, and tourist spots. The hotel offers different rooms, so it is ideal for families or big groups. Since we are just a family of three, I booked the Standard Studio. Full payment is due upon arrival at the hotel, and in case of a no-show, a penalty of one night will apply. For 5 nights, we paid AUD1470.60 = PHP54.380.93. 

One queen bed, one single bed, and an ensuite bathroom with a shower 

Split system air-conditioning 50-inch LED TV’s and DVD player 

Kitchenette with tea coffee making facilities, bar fridge, toaster, and convection microwave oven. 

Free, unlimited Wi-Fi for multiple devices is also provided 

Work desk, dining table with seating for 4, lounge, and armchair for relaxing 

Max occupancy on existing bedding is 3 people. Room size 36sqm 

Subject to availability, an additional rollaway bed for 4th person can be arranged at an extra cost Strictly non-smoking 

Hyde Park Inn offers a guest laundry facility which is available for 24 hours, just purchase your own washing powder at the reception. They have complimentary in-room entertainment where you can watch Movielink in-house movies, and read international magazines and newspapers using PressReader. In addition, they also provide complimentary Guest Changing Room and Luggage Storage Room so just in case you are arriving before the check-in time.

Check-in is from 1PM and check-out is before 10AM. We arrived at the hotel before 11AM so we just dropped our luggage so we could explore the area while waiting for our check-in. We were able to check in before 1PM and this was our room for 6 days. 

For toiletries, they only provide hand soap, head-to-toe wash, and tissues. 

The room has a kitchenette but there was no stove. But we were still happy because we had a fridge, kettle, toaster, and a convection microwave oven. 

The kitchenette has cutlery and crockery but it was incomplete so we asked for additional forks and teaspoons, yung iba hindi na namin nirequest. 

Hyde Park Inn has a Complimentary Continental Breakfast but guests have to prepare their own meal in their own room because they do not have a dining room or cafe. 

Bread 

Packets of assorted cereal 

Orange juice 

Fresh milk 

Pre-packaged fruit cup 

Assorted condiments (jam, peanut butter, marmalade, honey, Vegemite, butter) 

Tea & Coffee 

There are nearby groceries and convenience stores so we bought additional breakfast meals like bread, ham, bacon, sausage, etc. Tap water in Australia is safe to drink so we only bought juice and sodas. 

One thing I like about Hyde Park Inn is the location… 

1. It is near the train station and HOHO bus stop so we did not have a hard time commuting. 

2. It is near restaurants and Pitt St Mall so we can buy our own food before going back to the hotel. 

3. A Duty-Free Shop is also nearby so we can buy last-minute souvenirs or pasalubong. 

4. There are so many tourist spots within the area like Anzac Memorial, Australian Museum, Hyde Park, Hyde Park Barracks, and St. Mary’s Cathedral. 

271 Elizabeth Street, 

2000, Sydney NSW, Australia

We were left with two choices which are Taiwan and Australia, but we took a risk with Australia even though we don’t have visas yet. My husband even called Mabuhay Miles while he was in Jakarta so we spent thousands on that international call because we had no idea about a toll-free number. But at the end of the day, we were still happy because even though we added the phone bill, mura pa rin yung airfare namin, kapresyo lang ito ng Davao trip ko.

After purchasing our plane ticket, I bought our travel insurance and started searching about “How to Apply for Australian Tourist Visa” in the Philippines. 

Two months before our flight, we booked our hotel and I chose Hyde Park Inn because of the good reviews, location and it has its own kitchen. 

When I applied for our visa, this is my submitted itinerary 

Day 1: Manila to Sydney Flight 

Day 2: Explore Chinatown 

Day 3: Sydney Tour 

Day 4: Bondi Tour 

Day 5: Blue Mountain 

Day 6: Taronga Zoo + Luna Park 

Day 7: Sydney to Manila 

But during our trip, there are a few changes. We did not go to Chinatown anymore because we discovered that there were few tourist spots that we could visit near our hotel. We no longer visited Luna Park because we were so tired already. 

On the day of our trip, our internet connection was fixed after one week of no connection so I was cramming. This was the only time that I purchased our tour tickets via Klook. I printed our vouchers and off we went to NAIA. We checked in, ate dinner, and waited for our flight. The flight is on time.

As of this writing, I couldn’t find the exact links of the activities I purchased and Klook is giving me these options. 

After 8 hours of traveling, we arrived at Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport; we went to immigration, got our luggage, and went to customs. Then we went straight to the Airport Train Station and purchased our Opal Card here. 

We went to Hyde Park Inn to drop our luggage, ate lunch, and went back to the hotel for check-in. We took a rest and started to explore the tourist spots near the hotel or Museum Station like Hyde Park, Anzac Memorial, Australian Museum, St. Mary’s Cathedral, and from afar, we can see the Sydney Tower. 

I purchased a Big Bus Tour Sydney Hop On Hop Off ticket via Klook. This tour has 2 routes, Sydney Route and Bondi Route so I bought the 48-hour ticket to cover the two routes. 

For Day 3, we traveled to Circular Quay via train, and from the train station we just walked to the Big Bus. The duration of the Sydney Tour is 1 hour and forty-five minutes so we enjoyed the view while listening to the pre-recorded commentary. 

Australia is the third continent that I have visited. 

After two weeks, I decided to finish the cards so I could give them to my mom before the graduation. I made 3 layered cards so she will have options. 

The Happy Graduation Layered Card is designed by The Bearded Housewife and the envelope is already included in his SVG file. My mom chose this card for my nephew. 

The Hat and Diploma Graduation Card is designed by Craft with Sarah. There is a 2023 date on the card so I covered it with a “Happy Graduation” phrase. 

The Hip Hip Hooray Graduation Card is also designed by Craft with Sarah. It is so easy to cut and assemble. 

I gave one to my mom so she could write a message to my son. Then she asked me if I could make cards for my niece and nephew so I cut this Congratulations Layered Card. This is a 4 layered card but I used white cardstock for the 2nd and 3rd layers and colored the flowers and plants using Ohuhu Markers and Glitter Markers. 

I joined Card Making Countdown of Craft with Sarah and one of the projects is Fractured Card. I only had a few patterned papers so I cut the design using black cardstock, embossed the paper, and lastly, I used Simon Hurley Lunar Paste to add colors. The "Congrats" is stamped and embossed using embossing powder and a heat gun.

I made a Father’s Day Cake Topper but I was not able to use it because my husband doesn’t want a cake. For the cake topper, I just used one of the SVG designs from the Father’s Day Greeting Quotes Bundle. 

I also made this Father’s Day Layered Card using the Me and Dad Layered Card Design of The Bearded Housewife. I like this card because it reminded me of the the days when my son was in toddler years, lagi siya nasa shoulders ng Daddy niya kasi ang bagal maglakad or ayaw na maglakad. hehehe! "On Dad's Shoulders was the best place to be" Happy Father's Day! 

Check my process video here. 

Akala ko hindi na kami aalis but I remembered that my mom gave money to my son so he can watch “Inside Out 2” movie. His cousins watched this movie na kasi kaso hindi siya nakasama kasi naman malayo kami so para no FOMO, I suggested na manood na kami. I checked the schedule at Southwoods Mall and buzzer beater kami sa 4:10PM na movie. 

I was checking my blog post and yung last movie na pinanood namin sa big screen was Avengers: Endgame and sa Norway pa. Hindi na kasi ko mahilig manood ng sine, hinihintay ko na lang sa Netflix. PHP380 x 3 persons, mahal din ha, buti na lang may free popcorn and water na yun. Hehehe! 

When my son made it to the overall top last year, I told him that maintaining to be on top is not easy but my son proved to us that he can do it. Actually, my son told me na 5th honor dapat siya but extracurricular is part of the final grade computation so he ended up with sixth honor. Regardless of the ranking, we are still proud of him because he worked hard for it. 

This year, my son received 3 medals; Sixth Honor, Gold Eagle Awardee, and Special Conduct Award for Male. I was not surprised with this award but happy kasi na notice na rin yung pagiging good student niya ng teachers. Introvert kasi anak ko so madalas hindi naman siya kilala ng mga teachers except for his subjects teachers. 

After the Recognition Day, we just went to the mall to eat lunch and buy cake. We ate at Ben’s Halo-Halo x Meshiya and ordered Classic Spaghetti PHP174, Shio Ramen PHP230, BBQ Ribs P280, California Maki PHP230, and Iced Tea PHP50 each. Cake is from Contis which is Banana Dream.

 

We are in a hurry kasi we need to go back to the wake. May mga ex-officemates nga si hubby na nakiramay kaso nasa Recognition Day pa kami. Yung Recognition celebration, sa wake na rin nangyari and we just ordered a Family Feast Bundle from Shakey’s. 

Of course, I made “Congrats Cards”, using one design but different cardstock. For the Congrats Cake Topper, I used Birthday Verygood Font which I also used in my graduation cake toppers. 

The day that we fear has come because a few weeks ago, my mother-in-law passed away. She was one of the strongest people I know and hindi ko nga alam kung saan siya humuhugot ng lakas. She raised 6 children, unfortunately, my two sisters-in-law passed away.

It was year 2010 when my eldest sister-in-law passed away because of colon cancer and in 2019, my sister-in-law lost her battle to uterine cancer. Then, in 2020, my mother-in-law was diagnosed with colon cancer. 

My late mother-in-law survived uterine cancer so we also hoped that she could fight the colon cancer. She underwent colon cancer surgery and finished all chemotherapy and the results were good so we thought, okay na. But in 2021, she went back to the hospital for a cholecystectomy. Oh no, another surgery again, and unfortunately, it is also the start of her dialysis. 

So since 2021, she spent most of her life going to the hospital for dialysis, check-ups, surgery, and confinement. I can’t imagine kung paano niya kinakaya ang lahat. Imagine nagkauterine cancer, may diabetes, nagkacolon cancer, nagkagallstones, nagkacataract and nagdadialysis pa. 

I witnessed how she tried to be tough and hold on even in pain. Maybe that is the reason why God took her home, she experienced so much pain in this world. We were sad because she was gone but we felt relieved because we knew that she was in a better place, no more crying, fear, or pain. She will be missed and Christmas gatherings will not be the same without her. 

I found this poem and I don’t know who is the original author but this is the exact words that I want to tell her because I am forever thankful to her for raising a loving son and blessed me with a wonderful husband.