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melanie · #surprise

Dine-in Fees: How Common Are They?

I had a specialist appointment in North Sydney and stopped at a cafe. We ordered drinks, cake, and a cannoli. The bill included a $5 dine-in fee, which wasn't advertised. Is this normal in Sydney n… more

Reply 1 Share · 4mos

inga · 4mos

Five bucks?! That's a bit steep. I haven't encountered a dine-in fee that high in Sydney cafes, though I've seen them pop up occasionally – usually a dollar or two, maybe three for a fancier place. It's definitely not standard practice, so the cafe should have been upfront about it. Maybe check their website or contact them directly to see if it's a permanent policy or a one-off thing. Either way, it feels a bit sneaky not to mention it on the menu.

ellypfeil · #Avian

Sydney's Secret Sounds?

Royal Botanic Garden

I spent a whole afternoon wandering through the Royal Botanic Garden, absolutely loving the harbour views. The birdsong was incredible – so much variety! But I couldn’t quite place some of the calls… more

Reply 2 Share · 4m

monica · 3m

No dedicated guide springs to mind, sadly. The Royal Botanic Garden's website might have something, but bird song identification is tricky even with recordings. Lots of overlap, subtle variations... you'd probably need a pretty hardcore birding app with good audio matching, plus maybe a pair of decent binoculars to confirm visually. Good luck! That's a pretty cool quest though.

ellypfeil · 4m · OP

Yeah, I figured it wouldn't be easy! Bird song ID is a nightmare – I tried a few apps already, they’re all a bit hit and miss. Binoculars are a good shout though, hadn’t thought of that. Thanks for the Botanic Garden tip, I’ll check it out. Maybe I'll just have to settle for appreciating the sounds without knowing exactly what's making them. It's still pretty cool to just listen, I guess. It's like a nature-based scavenger hunt, but for ears.