East Siy-eeda Trip :P
Thursday, 04 January 2006, 13:15 +0800 GMT
I recently went on a trip to the East side of Australia, to visit Melbourne and Sydney. This is my quick diary of what happened! :)
Friday 23rd December
Today was mainly packing. I got up at about 10:00am and packed until 11:30. My parents came home at about 12 noon. We had a quick lunch then headed off to the airport at about 1:30pm. Got to the airport at about 2:10pm. Checked in no worries and wandered through to departures, picked up a crossword book and started to do them while I waited. Plane was delayed until about 4:00pm, so just did more crosswords. Finally got on the plane and just did crosswords until I landed in Sydney, it was great :) Had a fantastic cheese, lettuce and ham roll that I made at home ... Virgin flights equals no food hehe.
Landed in Sydney and found my sister, was great to see her after so long :) We chatted about random crap while we grabbed a taxi to her house, about 20 minutes away. She had gotten some Thai takeaway a before she came to meet me, so we ate that and then basically headed to sleep.
Saturday 24th December
Got up at about 10am and went to grab breakfast at 'Bills' restaurant at about 11. Was really good! Walked into the city from there, and then down to Central Quay. I hate the age of Sydney, all the buildings are just too old for me. But Central Quay was quite modern, so that was cool =) Lots of modern appartments etc. Met up with my two cousins from England down there. Pretty much a once in a lifetime experience that I think! One of my cousins is in Sydney doing work experience for a year as part of her degree at an English university. Her brother wanted to visit her and the east side of Australia, so he came out. When he found out I was going to be in Sydney at Christmas as well, he extended his stay to include Christmas. It was really great to meet them again, and now I've met them a few times it was almost like meeting old friends - no real 'nervousness' at all :)
We basically just walked around the city doing very little until it was time to go home. One variation was a detour via Kinokuniya, YAY! :P I LOVE that place, it's seriously the most kickass bookshop :) So many books...picked up a few hacker books and then wandered down to the chinese section, where I managed to find a dim sum recipe book...in Chinese though, so I'll have to get my friends to help me read it =) My sister and I picked up some food on the way home. Got home, cooked, ate, then watched La Femme Nikita DVDs until it was time to sleep :)
Sunday 25th December
Christmas! Got up quite early and headed down to some train station in the city to meet my cousins. We all jumped on a train to somewhere in the east of Sydney, where my dad's aunt picked us up. We went back to her house for a massive Christmas lunch with all the east side of the family. None of the four of us actually knew anyone there, but they were all friendly and we got along pretty well, so that was great :) Headed back lateish in the arvo and just sort of veged out until it was time to sleep again :)
Monday 26th December
Woke up very late today (afternoon late) and decided to head to Darling Harbour for a look :) We wandered around there then into Chinatown, where I found a wicked store that sold Chinese pop CDs for between $10 and $15...was awesome! Grabbed 12 CDs - the guy at the counter looked at me strangely :P It was great hehe. Grabbed some food from a 'Bread Top' style place, then headed home again. Ate the bread top stuff for dinner, watched more La Femme Nikita, then went to sleep again.
Tuesday 27th December
We decided not to go to the sales today because it would be insane. Instead, we headed to the Blue Mountains with my two cousins. We grabbed a train then hopped off at Katoomba, home of the Three Sisters. I wasn't sure how far we were going to be walking, but we ended up going down the 900 steps next to the Three Sisters, walking 4 kms to the 'home base' on the other side of the cliff, then walking about 3km back. The walk to and from the train was about 2km, so we covered about 10km that day :) It was immensely fun, I love walking in the bush. Got home really tired and did the usual...eat, watch La Femme Nikita, then sleep :)
Wednesday 28th December
Headed to the sales today in town, was pretty good. Managed to pick up some great stuff in JB hi fi and went back to the CD store in Chinatown to buy another 12 CDs :) Grabbed lunch with my sister, then we caught the bus back home. Went down to Clavelly beach but it was pretty feral, so we walked across to Coogee beach. Was really great, forgot how fun the ocean was...must go more back here, given the beaches are better :) Again, eat, watch La Femme Nikita then sleep :)
Thursday 29th December
Today was my last full day in Sydney, so we met up with my cousins again. Had dim sum lunch, wandered around and looked at a few shops. Didn't really buy anything. My sister went home and I went to go to Manley with my cousins, but one of them lost her wallet :( Pretty upsetting, was stolen from out of a zipped compartment on her bag! :( So we helped her out with cancellations and money etc...by that time it was too late to head to Manley, so I went home instead. Chilled out with my sister and had Indian for dinner, was pretty good! More La Femme Nikita then sleep.
Friday 31th December
Woke up so that I could see my sister off this morning, as she was going to work. Packed my case then grabbed a taxi to the airport. Simple plane flight to Melbourne :) Was met in the airport by a close friend from work also visiting Melbourne, and another friend from Perth who is a Melbournian :) Checked into the hotel then went to a large shopping centre for a while, bought some more DVDs from JB :) Headed back to the city for dinner at a very funky restaurant called Lime Leaves. Really really nice but surprisingly not very busy? Anyway, had the best mee goreng evar! :P We also had cocktails there before heading to Crown Casino and the all famous Cafe Greco for cake :) Wandered back then pretty much crashed out at the hotel.
Saturday 31st December
Today was the all important day for meeting the Melbourne EY people we had made friends with when we were over there for training in May. They'd organised a dim sum for us which was great. Had dim sum, then went back to the city. To be honest, I was pretty disappointed with the Melbourne reaction to my friend and I being there. When one of them came over before we tried our best to treat him as a king, getting a whole bunch of us together and heading out for a really great meal...and this was after work as well, not even on a weekend. To fly all that way to Melbourne (it was the ONLY reason I was going to Melbourne) only to have an hour of dim sum with these people was ... disappointing at best. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the time I had with them. But it was weird...it was New Year as well, and I know damn well that if one of them came to where I live over New Year I'd be sure to include them in what I was doing for New Year. Obviously Melbourne people don't think like that, because I know that at least two of the guys we met had things on for New Year but they didn't bother to invite us. It just struck me as strange, that's all. I can understand if it's a bash at someone's place rather than a sort of park picnic...but still, I'd try to get them invited anyway if they came here. It's not like they didn't have enough notice. Anyway...final consensus on this issue is that the Melbourne people are cool, but as far as I'm concerned if they want any more dealings with me, it's up to them to initiate. I'm sick of pushing the boundaries for people who aren't willing to push them back for me. Sorry guys. Don't take that the wrong way if you're reading this. Perhaps it was all just a misunderstanding. Or something. Who knows.
Anyway, because of all this New Year was a write off. I went to sleep at 6pm and woke up at 10am on the 1st. Do I regret it? Sort of. But then again, I needed the sleep. Which was good, because there sure as hell wasn't anything else to do.
Sunday 01st January
Last day in Melbourne today. It rained hehe. Did a bit of shopping and went to the Aquarium, then had dinner at Cafe Greco again with my friend. Was good =) Did some night photography then back to the hotel room where my friend and I talked until about 4am :)
Monday 02nd January
Got up feeling a bit worse for wear today hehe. Rush around getting ready only to have my friend rock up late to take my to the airport. Whoops :P I was very very lucky, I got there JUST in time. They initially told me that the flight was full...I was like, WTF?! I'm here 30 minutes before (the minimum for putting baggage onto the plane) - so you'd better get me a fucking seat on that plane! Anyway, they managed to get me on because someone cancelled. I would have gotten hell pissed if that hadn't have happened. Still, it was partially my own fault hehe. Flight back was boring (more crosswords) then a taxi home. Got back at about 3ish. Was supposed to head to a barbecue but was too tired. Caught up briefly with an old friend instead.
So that's my trip. It was ok...probably about 7 out of 10 stars? :P Nice to see my sister and cousins, and Melbourne colleagues again (however briefly).
Thursday, 04 January 2006, 13:15 +0800 GMT
I recently went on a trip to the East side of Australia, to visit Melbourne and Sydney. This is my quick diary of what happened! :)
Friday 23rd December
Today was mainly packing. I got up at about 10:00am and packed until 11:30. My parents came home at about 12 noon. We had a quick lunch then headed off to the airport at about 1:30pm. Got to the airport at about 2:10pm. Checked in no worries and wandered through to departures, picked up a crossword book and started to do them while I waited. Plane was delayed until about 4:00pm, so just did more crosswords. Finally got on the plane and just did crosswords until I landed in Sydney, it was great :) Had a fantastic cheese, lettuce and ham roll that I made at home ... Virgin flights equals no food hehe.
Landed in Sydney and found my sister, was great to see her after so long :) We chatted about random crap while we grabbed a taxi to her house, about 20 minutes away. She had gotten some Thai takeaway a before she came to meet me, so we ate that and then basically headed to sleep.
Saturday 24th December
Got up at about 10am and went to grab breakfast at 'Bills' restaurant at about 11. Was really good! Walked into the city from there, and then down to Central Quay. I hate the age of Sydney, all the buildings are just too old for me. But Central Quay was quite modern, so that was cool =) Lots of modern appartments etc. Met up with my two cousins from England down there. Pretty much a once in a lifetime experience that I think! One of my cousins is in Sydney doing work experience for a year as part of her degree at an English university. Her brother wanted to visit her and the east side of Australia, so he came out. When he found out I was going to be in Sydney at Christmas as well, he extended his stay to include Christmas. It was really great to meet them again, and now I've met them a few times it was almost like meeting old friends - no real 'nervousness' at all :)
We basically just walked around the city doing very little until it was time to go home. One variation was a detour via Kinokuniya, YAY! :P I LOVE that place, it's seriously the most kickass bookshop :) So many books...picked up a few hacker books and then wandered down to the chinese section, where I managed to find a dim sum recipe book...in Chinese though, so I'll have to get my friends to help me read it =) My sister and I picked up some food on the way home. Got home, cooked, ate, then watched La Femme Nikita DVDs until it was time to sleep :)
Sunday 25th December
Christmas! Got up quite early and headed down to some train station in the city to meet my cousins. We all jumped on a train to somewhere in the east of Sydney, where my dad's aunt picked us up. We went back to her house for a massive Christmas lunch with all the east side of the family. None of the four of us actually knew anyone there, but they were all friendly and we got along pretty well, so that was great :) Headed back lateish in the arvo and just sort of veged out until it was time to sleep again :)
Monday 26th December
Woke up very late today (afternoon late) and decided to head to Darling Harbour for a look :) We wandered around there then into Chinatown, where I found a wicked store that sold Chinese pop CDs for between $10 and $15...was awesome! Grabbed 12 CDs - the guy at the counter looked at me strangely :P It was great hehe. Grabbed some food from a 'Bread Top' style place, then headed home again. Ate the bread top stuff for dinner, watched more La Femme Nikita, then went to sleep again.
Tuesday 27th December
We decided not to go to the sales today because it would be insane. Instead, we headed to the Blue Mountains with my two cousins. We grabbed a train then hopped off at Katoomba, home of the Three Sisters. I wasn't sure how far we were going to be walking, but we ended up going down the 900 steps next to the Three Sisters, walking 4 kms to the 'home base' on the other side of the cliff, then walking about 3km back. The walk to and from the train was about 2km, so we covered about 10km that day :) It was immensely fun, I love walking in the bush. Got home really tired and did the usual...eat, watch La Femme Nikita, then sleep :)
Wednesday 28th December
Headed to the sales today in town, was pretty good. Managed to pick up some great stuff in JB hi fi and went back to the CD store in Chinatown to buy another 12 CDs :) Grabbed lunch with my sister, then we caught the bus back home. Went down to Clavelly beach but it was pretty feral, so we walked across to Coogee beach. Was really great, forgot how fun the ocean was...must go more back here, given the beaches are better :) Again, eat, watch La Femme Nikita then sleep :)
Thursday 29th December
Today was my last full day in Sydney, so we met up with my cousins again. Had dim sum lunch, wandered around and looked at a few shops. Didn't really buy anything. My sister went home and I went to go to Manley with my cousins, but one of them lost her wallet :( Pretty upsetting, was stolen from out of a zipped compartment on her bag! :( So we helped her out with cancellations and money etc...by that time it was too late to head to Manley, so I went home instead. Chilled out with my sister and had Indian for dinner, was pretty good! More La Femme Nikita then sleep.
Friday 31th December
Woke up so that I could see my sister off this morning, as she was going to work. Packed my case then grabbed a taxi to the airport. Simple plane flight to Melbourne :) Was met in the airport by a close friend from work also visiting Melbourne, and another friend from Perth who is a Melbournian :) Checked into the hotel then went to a large shopping centre for a while, bought some more DVDs from JB :) Headed back to the city for dinner at a very funky restaurant called Lime Leaves. Really really nice but surprisingly not very busy? Anyway, had the best mee goreng evar! :P We also had cocktails there before heading to Crown Casino and the all famous Cafe Greco for cake :) Wandered back then pretty much crashed out at the hotel.
Saturday 31st December
Today was the all important day for meeting the Melbourne EY people we had made friends with when we were over there for training in May. They'd organised a dim sum for us which was great. Had dim sum, then went back to the city. To be honest, I was pretty disappointed with the Melbourne reaction to my friend and I being there. When one of them came over before we tried our best to treat him as a king, getting a whole bunch of us together and heading out for a really great meal...and this was after work as well, not even on a weekend. To fly all that way to Melbourne (it was the ONLY reason I was going to Melbourne) only to have an hour of dim sum with these people was ... disappointing at best. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the time I had with them. But it was weird...it was New Year as well, and I know damn well that if one of them came to where I live over New Year I'd be sure to include them in what I was doing for New Year. Obviously Melbourne people don't think like that, because I know that at least two of the guys we met had things on for New Year but they didn't bother to invite us. It just struck me as strange, that's all. I can understand if it's a bash at someone's place rather than a sort of park picnic...but still, I'd try to get them invited anyway if they came here. It's not like they didn't have enough notice. Anyway...final consensus on this issue is that the Melbourne people are cool, but as far as I'm concerned if they want any more dealings with me, it's up to them to initiate. I'm sick of pushing the boundaries for people who aren't willing to push them back for me. Sorry guys. Don't take that the wrong way if you're reading this. Perhaps it was all just a misunderstanding. Or something. Who knows.
Anyway, because of all this New Year was a write off. I went to sleep at 6pm and woke up at 10am on the 1st. Do I regret it? Sort of. But then again, I needed the sleep. Which was good, because there sure as hell wasn't anything else to do.
Sunday 01st January
Last day in Melbourne today. It rained hehe. Did a bit of shopping and went to the Aquarium, then had dinner at Cafe Greco again with my friend. Was good =) Did some night photography then back to the hotel room where my friend and I talked until about 4am :)
Monday 02nd January
Got up feeling a bit worse for wear today hehe. Rush around getting ready only to have my friend rock up late to take my to the airport. Whoops :P I was very very lucky, I got there JUST in time. They initially told me that the flight was full...I was like, WTF?! I'm here 30 minutes before (the minimum for putting baggage onto the plane) - so you'd better get me a fucking seat on that plane! Anyway, they managed to get me on because someone cancelled. I would have gotten hell pissed if that hadn't have happened. Still, it was partially my own fault hehe. Flight back was boring (more crosswords) then a taxi home. Got back at about 3ish. Was supposed to head to a barbecue but was too tired. Caught up briefly with an old friend instead.
So that's my trip. It was ok...probably about 7 out of 10 stars? :P Nice to see my sister and cousins, and Melbourne colleagues again (however briefly).