Chinese New Year is February 17, 2026, so I planned the trip to be from Feb 10 to 24. Anne is coming along. She moved her teaching duties to the second half of the semester.
I usually get 280 Plus Points every year as a 1K member, but they don't get deposited until mid-January (varies by year, it seems), so I used miles and fees to try to upgrade our flights. To go from coach to business is a $600 and 30K miles proposition, each way. If the waitlist clears, it will be a great discount from a typical RT business fare of about $8000.
In any case, the LAX-SYD upgrade cleared about two weeks prior to departure.
Tuesday 2/10/2026. NJ is in the depth of a long cold spell, and our upstairs heater has been acting up, so we made sure all the appropriate doors upstairs are open so the downstairs heat can find its way up there if necessary. Also, for the next couple of days the forecast is for above freezing temperatures during the day, and this hopefully minimizes the chance of a pipe freeze.
Things were quite smooth on our way to the airport. Our flight UA2641 EWR-LAX departed from Terminal A, so we used the United Club at that terminal.
Boarding was quick. Then the pilot came on and said some "messages had to clear," and Chicago (operations HQ, I assume) would have to do it. All said and done, an initial 15 minute delay turned into an actual departure time of 9:08 pm (6 pm flight). The plane landed an hour after the LAX-SYD flight took off. Meanwhile, I changed my LAX-SYD flight to a day later (Feb 11). I was able to confirm Business for the two of us. After we landed, I had to message customer service to get hotel and meal vouchers.
I had a similar problem in November, 2024, when I was connecting at LAX to Hong Kong. Late arrival of the EWR-LAX flight caused me to miss my connection, but at least there was a flight the next morning, so the delay was about 12 hours rather than 24.
It was close to midnight when we got to the gate. The LAX-SYD flight left on time at 10:55 pm.
United issued meal vouchers for the delayed EWR flight (we could deplane at one point), and for our missed LAX-SYD flight. We got a total of six, used 4 of them.
The hotel shuttle bus came not long after we started waiting for it, so that was okay. Hotel checkout is noon, so I decided to book another day, even though we would check out at around 8 pm. I will also try to get the second night reimbursed (either by United or through Chase's Trip Interruption Insurance), but that's a problem after the trip is over. My general complaint is such a delay puts quite a bit of strain on a customer, the responsible party (in this case United) can at least make the customer financially whole. In today's case, what was the customer supposed to do between 12 noon checkout and 10:55 pm departure?
Accommodation: Holiday Inn LAX (1 night).
Wednesday 2/11/2026. After we checked in the hotel, I also moved our SYD-BNE flight back by a day, that change cost a bit more than the original tickets. Perhaps CSR will reimburse that additional expense? Again a worry after the trip.
It cost more than the original ticket prices to change our SYD-BNE flights. Of course buying new tickets would be even more expensive.
Breakfast cost $25 per person, and the server mistakenly credited us with $30 (should have been $40).
$25 breakfast at Holiday Inn LAX is slightly better than what most free offers at hotels, barely.
To while away the rest of the day, we visited the Getty Center. Admission is free, ride share both ways did cost a few dollars.
"Lot and His Daughters" (ca. 1628) by Orazio Gentileschi. I actually guessed what the topic was by looking at the figures depicted.
One of many Monet paintings of the Rouen Cathedral.
"Strangler Fig: Adam & Eve" (2022) by Chicago-born Afro-Cuban American artist Harmonia Rosales. The Strangler Fig symbolizes manipulation and colonialism in Yoruba (a West African ethnic group) mythology.
Some of the best "art" is the view from the Center, and the design of the Center itself.
We stopped by the Polaris Lounge, it was crowded. United has three flights (to SYD, HKG, and MEL) leaving around 11 pm, so there are about 150 passengers in Polaris, and the lounge has a capacity of perhaps 80. We decided to opt for the restaurant, the wait was about 20 minutes, but the food was decent.
Our flight to SYD departed closed to an hour late due to airport congestion, but managed to land within 15 minutes of scheduled arrival.
Accommodation: Overnight in plane (UA839).
Friday 2/13/2026. Both Anne and I caught quite a bit of sleep inside the plane - even though Apple Watch said my sleep was fitful. I also watched quite a few episodes of Bad Monkey.
Immigration and Customs were straightforward, even though the automatic gate bounced me, so I had to go see an agent. That didn't hold things up for long.
Since my SYD-BNE (on Jetstar) was on a separate reservation, I left plenty of time for the connection. Priority Pass managed to sign up REX lounge for its members, so we spent some time there. Anne decided to go to the food court to buy something to eat, I was fine with the sandwiches REX Lounge offered.
The lowest priced tickets on Jetstar would charge for seat selection and luggage. The next level (Starter Plus) includes those and an A$10 on-board food voucher, good for a soda and a small can of Pringles chips.
Alfred came by to pick us up. After "resting" at Ling's place for a bit, we went to Yum Cha Cuisine in Indooroopilly for dinner.
We had plans to visit Gold Coast for a couple of days after staying with Ling and Wally for a few days. With the missed connection we decided to cancel that part of our plan. We kept our rental car reservation as flying Gold Coast to Sydney still remained the cheapest of the several options I considered.
Accommodation: Gibson Crescent, Bellbowrie, QLD (4 nights).
Saturday 2/14/2026. We basically hanged out at Ling's place for the day, visiting her vegetable garden, and taking a short walk in the neighborhood.
It was raining on-and-off today. Water can be seen dripping from one cup to one below in this photo.
Sunday 2/15/2026. Wally had to preach at an early service in Eight Mile Plains. We were hoping to visit a Chinese restaurant (Parkland) but they got back too late as I had a rental car pickup. We instead went to Arrivederci Pizza in Milton and ordered a meter-long pizza. It came with four different kinds of toppings, including shrimp scampi. The four of us ate most of it.
The 1-meter pizza is basically 4 good-sized pizzas. One could pick different toppings for each of the four.
Blocks of mozzarella cheese being prepared for the number of pizzas they expect to sell.
Picking up the rental car was easy enough. We drove it back to Bellbowrie. The rental agent told me usage of their toll tag costs A$4 a day, which is very reasonable.
Wear and Tear Guidelines provided by Budget. 25 mm is about an inch.
Dinner was prepared by Ling. Alfred joined us.
Monday 2/16/2026. The rental car gave us quite a bit of mobility, so we drove north to the Sandgate area to check out the many wildlife related facilities in the area. We saw some common shore birds, and an osprey. We had lunch at Doug's Seafood - fish and chips.
Ibises at the Sandgate Second Lagoon Reserve.
The swamphen looks like a large moorhen. It walks with confident strides and a rhythmically flipping tail.
Wally's old colleague Vivian and her husband Daud came to Gibson Crescent to have dinner. Vivian taught at BST for many years. Daud used to work for the Bible Society. They now pastor a church in Indonesia.
Tuesday 2/17/2026. Today was a travel day. My original plan was to leave early enough so we could spend sometime in the Gold Coast area to look around, before heading to the Gold Coast airport (OOL). We ended up leaving a bit later than planned (mostly because we were chatting with Ling), so we drove directly to OOL instead. When we were about to leave the Motorway to get gas before returning our rental car, we decided to drive a few minutes to the beach to take a look. Today was a sunny day, and things looked nice. We also decided that staying in the OOL area would be pleasant; the beaches seemed nice, and things didn't look as commercial as we expected at Gold Coast.
Saying goodbye to Ling as we left her house.
Car rental return is close to the terminal area. We put about 300 kilometers on the car. After checking in our luggage, we stopped by the Virgin Australia lounge to have a snack; it was quiet. Our flight OOL-SYD was delayed by about 30 minutes, which wasn't a big deal. But not finding our passports at one of the "usual" places was a big deal. We spent quite a bit of time going through our hand luggage. After we landed, Anne went to pick up the luggage and found them in the small backpack I have: we took them with us when we went to rent our car at BNE. Meanwhile I tried to locate SYD's Lost and Found office. They close at 4 pm.
We took T8 and M1 to get to Chatswood. M1 was a lot more crowded than I remember from my last visit. The trip was easy enough.
Ruth and Stephen picked us up, and we went to have dinner at Zilver located in the Chatswood Westfield Mall, joined by Susanna, Chris, Amy and Peter. A couple of "lions" showed up during dinner to perform lion dances. These dancers are very athletic, but I find the drums (and music) too loud, especially in an enclosed place like a restaurant.
Lobster (the spiny kind) is very expensive, costing over A$300 per kg cooked in restaurants. This dish came to A$850.
It is an enjoyable dish.
Today was Chinese New Year. The restaurant (Zilver in Chatswood) engaged two different lions to perform. The drums were very loud in an enclosed space.
Accommodations: Duke Street, Forestville (5 nights total).
Wednesday 2/18/2026. Lunch was at Chatswood Westfield Foodcourt with Stephen and Ruth. I had the Korean fried chicken wings, 12 pieces for A$23. Anne and I then went on an "adventure" on the Sydney Ferry system. We first took F3 from Circular Quay out to Chiswick, and then caught the return ferry to Barangaroo where we had coffee. Then it was another ferry back to Circular Quay, followed by a roundtrip to Manly. (We took the same ferry back, it was raining on and off this afternoon.) The trains took us to Chatswood, and we took an Uber to get back to Forestville. Dinner was prepared by Ruth, anchored by roasted meats bought in Chatswood. Anne and I also picked up some food supplies from W Metro.
F3 connects Circular Quay with Parramatta. Sometimes the ferry cannot make it all the way due to low tide.
After riding various ferries for the afternoon.
It took over 1:15 hours to get from Circular Quay to Duke Street.
Today's forecast called for a high of 95F (at one point the forecast was 97). Perhaps it got that high, but the showers cooled things down considerably.
Thursday 2/19/2026. Even since I started to come to Australia (late 1970s) there was always a Fish Market, and over the years it had gotten to be a popular tourist attraction. Despite all that, it always had a "wet market" feel to it, although the fish they sold were always of good quality. Investing over A$1 billion (yes, a B), a new Fish Market opened about a month ago. We met up with Tim and Whitney there for an early lunch. The good thing about an early lunch was things weren't busy, the bad thing was only a few restaurants were open for business. Touch Wood was offering breakfast and some selected items when we sat down at around 11 am. I had my go-to fish and chips.
Fish and Chips at Touch Wood, Fish Market. A bit expensive at A$32.
ANZAC Bridge as viewed from Fish Market.
These King Crabs sell for about A$250/kg.
Despite being a tourist location, prices here are reasonable - I am told.
Tim hooked one of these fish (called spotted mackerel) but a shark got most of it before he could reel it in.
We then drove to Tim's place in East Gosford. He wanted to go fishing, and I went with him. It was quite rough when we got out of Brisbane Water into Broken Bay, but the boat seemed to take it in stride. We didn't catch anything, but it was a nice day for being on the water, the rough waves not withstanding.
Back from a trip to Broken Bay. The boat is a Yellowfin 7000.
Tim went out on the boat several times. This fish head was what he had to show for it. A shark ate the rest as he was trying to reel the fish (a spotted mackerel) in.
On his last day out he caught this cutlass fish. About 80 cm long. As the fish is quite skinny, it doesn't weigh a lot.
Twelve units are being built next to Tim's house. They list for between A$2 to 4M.
Dinner was at RSL Gosford. I had been there before. Good food at reasonable prices. We got back to Forestville before it got dark. (Sunset was around 7:40 pm.)
Waiting for food at the Gosford RSL.
Friday 2/20/2026. For lunch we went to the Chatswood RSL. The sirloin cost A$28 (roughly) and was surprisingly good. It actually ended up being "free" as the club offers a tenth meal for free. Many of the customers at the club were Asian, reflecting the population of the Chatswood area.
Inside the Chatswood RSL. Surprisingly there were not many Chinese new year "decorations" around town as in past years. All RSL clubs I have been to have a lot of slot machines and similar gambling setups.
After lunch we checked into the Meriton Suites in Mascot. The location cost about 1/2 of what a downtown property would cost, yet offers reasonable access to the city. Dinner was at a'Mare with Whitney, Tim, Ruth, Stephen, and Chris. Chris had just helped with taking the boat out of the water.
a'Mare offers a set dinner for A$210 per person, or one can order from the menu. The top is a duck dish (minced, ragout), bottom is Moreton Bay Bug and pasta in vodka sauce.
Rib Eye.
Not that A$972 is cheap, but I did expect a much higher bill for a dinner for 7.
We took a taxi (at A$30 a bit steep) to the Opera House to attend the 7:30 pm performance of Madama Butterfly.
The Odyssey Villa Vie Residences is a cruise ship that goes around the world in 3 1/2 years. One can evidently rent by the month. It's on the small side (less than 1000 passenger capacity) so a long stay could really present various problems such as rough seas and cabin fever.
Curtain call Madama Butterfly, Opera Australia.
Harbor Bridge and Sydney Opera House as seen from Circular Quay. Taken at about 10:30 pm.
Accommodations: Meriton Suites Mascot Central (2 nights).
Saturday 2/21/2026. I didn't realize today's performance of Turandot was going to start at 12:30 pm. If I had know, I might have shortened my stay at the hotel for one night. That would certainly save some money. But having some time to ourselves is also nice.
The opera ended at around 3 pm, so we headed back to the hotel to rest. I texted my nephew Alfred to see if we could meet up, and decided to do so at a Malaysian restaurant close to the hotel.
View of Harbour Bridge from Opera House. One can see a group of bridge climbers on the left.
Curtain call Turandot. The lady dressed in a traditional Chinese costume is Luo Ling, ancestor of Turandot.
Sunday 2/22/2026. While Meriton Mascot is a convenient place to stay, one negative is that guests are expected to check out at 10 am. They did give me an hour so checkout was at 11 am. We were to meet up with Ruth after church, at around 12:45 pm. Anne and I basically walked around the area a bit; too hot, so we ended up at the hotel lobby until about 12 noon. The Uber ride to East Village in Zetland was about 15 minutes. We still had time for coffee for the two of us.
Ruth showed up at 12:45 pm, as expected, and we put our luggage in her car before heading up to East Phoenix for lunch. It's their usual practice to do lunch with Wan, and Rev. Ting and his wife. I met them in the same way last time I visited. Lunch was dim sum and a couple of noodle dishes, followed by coffee at the same cafe we visited earlier (so Anne skipped this time).
House of Pie in Matraville used to be a lot more popular. We frequented it many times when the family lived in that area.
Visit to my parents' gravesite.
Dinner was again with the Ngo's, this time at Joyful House in Hornsby. It's neighbor, a Korean BBQ restaurant, was doing great business. We were the only table occupied for quite a while. The food was quite good, and slightly more reasonable than Zilver.
Monday 2/23/2026. The trip is coming to a close, and today was our last full day in Australia. I was up late last night trying to catch up on my blog entries. We started the day with dim sum lunch at Zilver in Chatswood, followed by coffee. Anne and I then left for Manly, via metro, train, and ferry, and walked to first the beach and then towards Shelly Beach. It was a pleasant walk, although we did work up some sweat.
View of Opera House and Harbor Bridge as boat leaves Circular Quay for Manly.
The Great Crested Tern is common in Australia.
This pose of a Pied Cormorant drying its feathers is similar to the ones we see in NJ. What is different is here the birds constantly flaps its wings to help with the process.
A some point the siren sounded, and an announcement came on saying swimmers should get off the beach as sharks were sighted nearby. People evidently take these warnings seriously as the bay soon cleared all swimmers (although some canoes remained). No one got back in for the rest of the time we were there. Indeed warning signs were posted along the beach.
By the time we got back to Chatswood it was about 7 pm. We had dinner with Ruth and Stephen at Mr. Stone Bowl.
Tuesday 2/24/2026. Today was a travel day. A winter storm was forecast for Monday 2/23 up and down the East Coast, threatening air travel in the area. Indeed United canceled all its SFO-EWR flights from mid-morning 2/22 through all-day 2/23. A total of more than 10 flights. It also looked like EWR canceled all flights on 2/24 through early afternoon. So it's a possibility that we will see major disruptions on both ends of the trip - even though that happens rarely. In the back of my mind, I had always hoped that our SFO-EWR flight could slip in after the airport re-opened. That hope was borne out.
Ruth took us to the airport. Traffic was light that time of day, and we got there in about 40 minutes. Passport control was a breeze. At SYD Priority Pass and United offer many lounge choices. My prior visit to The House in 2023 was disappointing, but it is close to our departure gate, so we gave it another try. This time it was quite a bit better, although food selection is still quite limited.
About an hour before flight departure - and just before boarding - Anne and I got upgraded to Premium Economy. The flight lasted about 13 hours (wheels up to touch down). I didn't get any sleep other than perhaps dozing off every now and then: watch all 9 episodes of "Dark Matter" didn't help. While the plane touched down at 8:15 am (per Flightrader), it didn't get to the gate until 8:51 am. And we had to take the train to Terminal 3 as we made the wrong turn for Terminal A after exiting customers. That made for a rushed visit to the United Club, which was very crowded. Customs was strightforward, even though MPC rejected our passports as being invalid (don't understand why, they worked las time).
We had coach seats SFO-EWR, although bulkhead aisle seats are quite reasonable, and the flight was relatively short at about 4:30 hours. It landed at 6:17 pm, 40 minutes ahead of schedule. Again gate unavailability meant 20 minutes before gate arrival. (Touch down times from Flightradar, gate arrival from United APP.) We came home via Lyft.
The house was warm (I had turned on the heat while still in SFO), but the water heater stopped working. I think it was a pilot problem but couldn't get it relit by myself. The PSE&G technician came and got it working the next day.
