Sydney struck
Trip Start
Jan 28, 2008
1
Trip End
Feb 09, 2008
Sydney, Australia
Saturday, February 9, 2008
In Sydney I've kept really busy but some mornings I just sleep in and spend time on the internet. I have to take advantage of it while I can! One of the most cultural things I did was celebrating the Chinese New Year here at the Ma's. Ada is Chinese and her parents don't speak much English at all. For New Years Eve, all the 6 siblings gathered around the table with boyfriends and wives and moi. They served two giant hot pots filled with pork, beef, dumplings, greens, seafood and stuff I couldn't identify. Later I was told that there were pig's feet and cow intestines in there. I wasn't the most adventurous but I did eat some things I normally wouldn't have. It was really funny because for the entire duration of the meal, so you think you can dance Australia was on T.V. It was like a sauna in there. Everyone sweating crammed into the table with soup bubbling and rosy red cheeks from the wine and beer. After the meal I was given a beautiful red envelope with Chinese characters on it and inside was money. I couldn't believe that this family welcomed me into their home to celebrate their New Year and on top of that, gave me a gift. Unbelievable. Every morning when I come downstairs and Ada is at work, her mom prepared traditional Chinese meals for me. I never really knew what they were but I always ate and I haven't been sick yet.
I went to the Blue Mountains on a day trip and I was seconds away from being stranded in the National Park. I found myself in a situation where I overestimated my speed and directional capabilities. On the bus tour we were offered a choice of two walks. I decided that I could do both. The first one was a stroll to Wentworth Falls. Because I was stuck behind an older Irish couple who were chaotically arguing about their new camera, it was a VERY slow walk. I wanted to see as much as I could so once we got to the waterfall, I decided to run back up the 20 minute trail and run to the other walk which everyone was already back from. I was not equipped with any rain gear because I left it on the bus. It was gorgeous out when I started walking so I didn't think there would be any need for it. The little old tourists were so Goddamn slow that the weather managed to completely shift and turn overcast. Once I got the lookout point of the second walk, it started really coming down hard. I was fearful of my new camera breaking from water damage like the one I dropped in the ocean two days earlier, so I stuck my entire bag under my zip up jumper and sprinted up the hundreds of steps. I thought I gave myself plenty of time except when I got up to the top I came out a different exit than I entered from. I found myself panting and literally dripping wet outside of a Bed and Breakfast. Where did this extravagant place come from and where the fuck was the car park! The rest of the gang was probably eagerly waiting to get on with the tour. This was the first stop and I already had an entire bus of people waiting for me. I couldn't be that girl. This happened to me in Cuba but I can openly say that it was entirely my mothers fault. We were on a bus tour in Havana and decided not go to the rum factory tour, only when we got back to the bus everyone had been waiting for us for 20 minutes. We were immediately shunned for the rest of the day. I was terrified that this would happen again. So there I was, wheezing, sprinting through the forests looking for any English speaking human to help me find my bus. Then there were the park rangers who saw me earlier strolling down with the oldies to the waterfalls. Now I was drenched, flustered and panicky. They showed me how to get there and it really wasn't that difficult or far but I still ran my heart out. Like a drowned sewer rat, I waked onto the bus expecting to be shunned once again. However, this time I got a round of applause and laughter. People were offering me towels and water, the bus driver even made everyone give me a hip hip hooray. This act created a snowball effect on the bus. Instantly everyone gravitated towards me, wanted to be my best friend. Old, foul breathed women wanted to know my life story. Fat polish men wanted to sit beside me and invited me to eat lunch with them. I never expected this reaction. It was all very funny. Later on we went to a natural landmark called the Three Sisters. There we had options to either walk, take a cable car or ride a train with any combination of the two getting up and down. I decided to walk up and down to save the money. Also, that way I would appreciate the views more and I couldn't let all my fans down. It was a phenomenal workout and worth getting soaked again, only this time I had my rain gear.
I spent a day pampering myself. I went on the ferry to Manly, a suburb of Sydney that you can only access from the city by boat. My friend Roxy lives there so I went and spent a night with her before she moved to Brisbane. She had a goodbye party at a Thai restaurant so I splurged on delicious food and wine and then we continued the celebration at a club where I spent more money. The next morning we went out for sushi, did some shopping and then went for a Chinese massage. The woman who did me was a teeny little Asian woman and I figured she wouldn't be strong enough for me. Turns out that it was the best and cheapest massage I've ever had and it was on top of my clothing. She was gooooooood.
I don't know if I've mentioned how big meat pies are in Australia. It would be like the equivalent to our poutine I would say. You see them everywhere. All bakeries offer a large assortment of pies. We went to the most famous pie place called Harry's Café de Wheels in a suburb called Woolloomooloo. No joke. Woolloomooloo. It's actually really fun to type. Woolloomooloo. This chip truck looking pie shop serves Tiger pies which is a term to describe the toppings that they put on top of the pie. My Veggie tiger pie came smothered in mashed potato, mushy peas and gravy and mmmmmm was it ever delish.
I went to Olympic park to have a swim in the pool. It was huge and the park itself is a giant maze filled with stadiums, fields and food. We wended up getting free tickets to see Gladiators filmed live. Gladiators is a T.V. game show where fit men and women compete against the fittest gladiators in challenges like rock climbing, running from one side of a bridge to the other without getting smashed off with giant flying balls, hitting each other with giant foam sticks bla bla bla. It was really entertaining but the event lasted for 4 hours and we could barely make it through two hours. They had to keep starting and stopping because they were filming it and I didn't get on TV. This was my goal so I left a little bitter.
Sydney has been fun but I'm really looking forward to being in my own company by the ocean with a good book. You'll hear from me again soon...hopefully.
