It was cold and rainy when I left SF to go to Oz.
It is STILL cold and rainy when I returned yesterday.
According to the people that keep track of these things, it's been raining for 24 days in March. A record!
So it's not just me that's whining about weather here, it really has been wet! And cold too.
This is what you see when you get up early. And then go back to sleep.
Got a long day today. Am off to SYD for my flight back to the states. 15 hours on UA! Ergh...
One perk of staying in a hostel is that you have access to a kitchen and you can make your own food.
Sometimes you can get lucky when your hostel has a gas-fired barbeque!
It's my last night in Oz, so I figured I'd do a shrimp steak on the barbie! I drove into town with a couple of the fellas and got beer and a steak.
Rubbed it down with a little salt and pepper, and fired up the grill. They do things differently here. Note the spanners (pliers) for the steak below:
Kidding! Here's the implements of torture for da meat! Best and cheapest meal I've had here.
View image
Note the spatula thingy. Bigger than a CD and has a bottle opener on the neck.
Oz meat DOES taste different from US meat. US cows are fed corn while Ozzie cows are fed grass. Something for bar trivia!
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
This is Mia.
She lives here. She will come up to you as you're eating, put her paw in your lap, tilt her head and look at you with puppy dog eyes until you give her something to eat. According to Andrea, Mia has had wine soaked crackers, all kinds of cheese and the night I got in, chops and sausages.
Mia eats better than Andrea and Bessy do.
Sunset from the deck. See the grill back there? That becomes important later.
First thing you see coming into room #10
First thing you see coming OUT of room #10
Reception
as seen from the parking lot
It may look all bright and glamourous now, but at night, it's dark. Hella dark. It's soooo dark that the stars in the parking lot are really bright. I even saw a shooting star out here.
Kanna tell you what I wished for. OTW it dun come true. I think it's a law.
It all worked out, having to get the bigger car because of the two Lisas and their baggage. There was four of us driving to the wineries, comfortably! Plush! "Most of the time, things work out". The backpacker's credo. I need to remember that!
Apparently, according to Bessy, Australia has a list of "giant things". I've seen one of these in personam, the giant fork that I took a picture earlier.
She knew about the fork. Where it was and everything. Interesting...
Anyhoo, to add to the collection of giant things, I present to you, gentle (if not slightly bored) reader, the giant wine bottle.
This giant wine bottle is part of a complex that has a winery, food and book shops, picnic areas and a restaurant. We were here to grab lunch. Wine tasting started at 1000 and we've already visited three wineries. Food is in order. We all is hungry. Must eat or kanna taste anymore!
This is a schnitzel burger. Bessy is getting ready to attack it.
Gee, this is really big
Bessy: I tink dis is biffer den by mace (I think this is bigger than my face)
Burger: ooouch! My ass! (ooouch! My ass!)
strangely enough, these burgers (I had one too) don't count as "giant things".
We continued on the wine trek, visiting more cheese shops and wineries, purchasing some wine and cheese for dinner and some liquid omiage for some people back home.
A fun winery.
When we all got back, there was a bottle of yardstick, cheese, good company and 70 or so bugs. Now that's a nice evening...
So today was the big winery day! Andrea and Bessy work at the YHA, cleaning up the rooms and common areas and generally making it look spiffy. I saw a walking vacuum cleaner in the common room early in the morning and was perturbed until I saw it was just the vacuum cleaner wearing Andrea for propulsion. They stay for free in exchange for work. A lot of places that cater to backpackers in Oz have this kind of arrangement, according to Andrea. She's doing this because picking fruit for 10 hours a day is not her cuppa tea (she's English).
Andrea on the left side from LHR, Bessy's to her left from YYZ
Florio also joined us. He's from northern Italy. The part of Italy where they learn German in addition to Italian and the nearest airport is in Austria (?). I think he was either camera shy or was taking pix of the girls too. He learned english in four weeks using CDs and books and he's more articulate than many of my frens in SF. Of course a lot of them are in IT so they speak an completely different language.
Today was the first day of me driving on the "wrong", erm, "other" side of the road (thx, Christine! =P), It was a bit of a white knuckle ride getting from SYD back to the hostel. Unfamiliar roads, fast traffic on the RIGHT and right turns added up to thrills galore.
Since I now had passengers and they had stuff, I figured that getting a bigger car than the Toyota rollerskate I had originally reserved was a good idea. I wound up with a Ford Falcon XR6. Not bad! It's rear wheel drive, solid and not bad to drive. Why can't Ford US build them like this?
These girls had a lot of stuff. They filled up the boot and the part of the interior that they weren't sitting in. In short, we packed up the car (backpacks, bags, my roller and go-bag, skateboard and surfboard) and took off across the Harbour Bridge northbound around 1400.
Some on the road silliness:
Lisa #1 (because I met her first) in the backseat, drowning in luggage.
Luggage!
A very serious me, trying not to drive the wrong way down the highway
Lisa #2 (because I met her after Lisa #1) in a neat shot. I like this one.
After 2+ hours of Portishead, a meal and gas break and mixed roads, we arrived at Newcastle and their oceanside YHA. Originally the plan was to drop them off at the city center, but that wouldn't be right, would it?
The open road
I eventually made it to Cessnock, the city in the Hunter Valley where my hostel was. I wound up taking the long way around, but didn't know it at the time. All I did was ask "where's Cessnock" and got there eventually. I arrived around 2000. In the dark. But I got a room all to myself, yay! After 5 days in an 8 bed dorm, this is a welcome change. I met the other guests and the staffers and wound up organizing a self-guided winery tour. Self-guided = map and recommendations. That happens tomorrow. It's going to be fun!
It doesn't look far on the map, but 40% of the journey was on highways with the rest of it on freeways. But strangely, it wasn't that bad. Australian drivers generally follow the rules of the road. Stay left. Pass on the right. And I didn't see too many overt acts of stupidity. I found out later that it's illegal to talk on cell phones while driving here. Also to eat or drink while driving. And despite Australia's reputation as a hard charging, hard partying, hard farting people, their drink-driving laws are pretty stringent.
Hope you two made it to Brisbane!
Was wandering around the Bondi beach area when I saw these places:
I dun think they're related to the places in LA that I remember. Ha!
Today is the first day when it's not even threatening to rain. Yay. I even got to sleep in for a bit.
Big Hostel is right next to Chinatown (which, btw, is ROCKIN' on Saturday nights) which means that decently priced (as opposed to bargain-priced) food is close by. I was steered toward a dim sum house called Regal. Had yum cha there. It wasn't bad. The siu-mai was a bit dry and the mango pudding was kinda bland. Otherwise, not bad. Their daan taat is very good and they had these mango pancakes on the cart.
Naturally, it came out last, so full, cannot eat. Grrrrr.
Since it was a sunny Sunday, it was a good day to go to Bondi Beach. There was a flea market in one of the schools and a lot of people about.
Sunny Sunday at Bondi Beach
Appropriate advertising...
Sunbathers on the sand
Bondi is a top optional beach and I figure that 40% of the people about were sans top. No pix though. So get your hom-suppy minds outta the gutter, this ain't that kinda blog!!! In the words of Ice Cube, "...today was a good day"
Some pix of the neighbourhood too. If Newport Beach became a big ass city, it would become what Sydney is.
I could live here...
This little doggie was waiting in front of the restaurant for 2 minutes before I snapped it. Either was really hungry or a good subject...
Since it's really THAT impressive, I'll let the pictures do the talking.
These are the fabled Blue Mountains.
The haze that envelopes them is blue. The legend back in the day before they were crossed was that China and freedom waited for whoever made it across.
Remember that Australia was settled primarily by convicts...
These are the "Three Sisters", one of the most photographed sights here in Oz.
They are a rock formation high up that guard the entrance into this valley. Wah.
Once the train arrived at Katoomba, there is a tourist bus that runs the circuit within the town, hitting several vista points and areas to hike in. If you're planning a day trip, get the combo train/bus ticket at Central before you leave.
You begin your hike at the top and work your way down. Very down. Because you're really high up. Check out the pic below and note the heads at the bottom for scale.
There are a lot of people who hike this trail so unless you go off of it, there's no worries about getting lost. These three are students from New York and the Clairmont Colleges who are doing a semester abroad in Melbourne.
Yeah, you meet a lot of people traveling. Fun!
An abandoned "State Use Only" train stop on the way to the Blue Mountains
Today is an excursion to the Blue Mountains for a much needed nature walk.
Needed like a hole in the head.
But it is one impressive sight and a wonder of nature. I'm taking CityRail to Katoomba, the town that serves the tourist industry that is the Blue Mountains.
The ride there is two hours in each direction so that will give my feet ample time to recover from the thrashing (and blisters) they got on the other day's Coast Walk.
中環? No, this is a diff Central.
I like to travel by train, provided the rail network is expansive and isn't a complete rip-off (saaaaay, like Amtrak. Or British Rail). Most of my train experience involves Asian trains. The MTR. MRT. Tokyo Metro. JR. Even, to an extent (because of value for money), China Rail. I'm used to punctual trains. Which CityRail isn't!
I haul ass from one end of Sydney Central to the other because the train is scheduled to leave at 11:07 AM. Turns out I didn't have to run. Or walk. Or even get to the station when I did. The train left at 11:28 AM. Then it went hella slow. Then it stopped dead a few times on the way out of town.
Feels like British Rail.
Speaking of old trains, check out the interior of the train I was on.
hey, the 70's called and they want their color scheme back...
These are similar trains to what they run within Sydney. Heavy Rail. Imagine if CalTrain ran the Muni Metro with its own cars. Comfy.
Finally, we got some speed up and off we went. Whoosh. What will I see on the two hour journey there?
Now imagine yourself on a ferry boat coming back from Manly Beach, passing close to the bridge with cheesy Cantopop in the background...
"Stick a fork in me, I'm done"
Bondi's northern counterpart, a bit bigger, not as curved and more business friendly .
First you gotta take a 30 minute ferry trip from Circular Quay.
Once you arrive at Manly Wharf, follow the signs to the beach.
But first you walk the gauntlet of shops and restaurants.
About two blocks later, here you are.
It's not as dramatic as Bondi with the cliffs that surround it. The ride here is more fun than getting off the Eastern Suburbs line at Bondi Junction and taking the X81 basi for 6 minutes.
So in the whole, it's a trade off. Fun ride versus fun beach.
Coming down on the approach toward Bronte. Then I met these three.
Two students and a JET
The trail goes around a cemetery that is located on a cliff. Many famous Australians are buried here.
If you ask anyone that knows me, they could probably tell you that I like beaches. I don't LIKE beaches as it's something I must do on a hot summer day along with 30000 other people and the problems that brings.
I "like" beaches because of the serenity, the sand and water. Sunsets look great while walking on them. And beachfront houses rawk!
Today, I did a bit of an walkabout journey, walking the Coastal Trail that begins at the world famous Bondi and ends about 4 clicks above and below 3 other beaches. This walkabout began poorly. It rained (actually, it's still raining as I type this). What is the deal with me and rain? Do I bring it with me? This rain caught me in the open, requiring me to duck into a cafe to sip an overpriced coffee for an hour.
Then it cleared up.
I visited Bondi Beach and the Sydney Opera House today (which will be chronicled later). I came across something amusing and something hella tacky involving mainland Chinese tourists. They're very easy to spot because of the behaviour.
First the amusing part. Remember the picture of Richard Nixon walking on the beach in a suit? Despite what you may think of the man, business wear does not go well with sand and surf. I mean, if you're going to the beach, dress the part! And don't pull off the macho man thing unless you've got a surfboard to stand with!
Of course if this macho man (in leather dress shoes) stood next to a board, it would look silly...
The tacky thing I saw was in the gift shop of the Sydney Opera House. Two mainland tourists (I could tell because of the putonghua they spoke) were taking pictures of postcards. Literally. Holding up the postcards and taking pictures of them with their digicams.
COME ON! If you've got the renminbi to travel to Oz from the PRC, buy the damn thing! It makes you look tacky and by appearance, makes the rest of us (who are Asian) look tacky (even though we aren't)!!!
Grrrr....
On the other hand, while I was picking out some postcards to purchase (not take pictures of) there was a gaggle of Japanese schoolkids. Guys and gals. We had to squeeze by each other because the aisles were small. By force of habit, a quick "sumemasen" came out at the same time an "excuse me" came out of her mouth, followed by a LOT of giggling.
Either they weren't expecting Japanese to be spoken or my accent is really THAT bad! It's probably both, with my command of that language..
Remember a few days back when Cyclone Larry hit Brisbane? I mean it was a BIG cyclone. Now Sydney is waaay south of Brisbane, but the weather is all messed up. It's overcast and hella muggy and will continue to be so for the next few days. But is IS nice to be able to walk around in shorts and a t-shirt and not be cold! Now if they could do something about that humidity...
One of the joys of puttering around is meeting people and getting their take on the towns that they live in.
This is Kel. She's from South Africa, been in Oz for 8 years and works in the Crumpler store on George St in Chinatown. Crumpler is a local brand that makes messenger and laptop and accessory bags a'la Timbuk2. Except they're loopier. Visit their website with the sound ON.
Anyhoo, I poked inside to see what kind of travel bags they had. You know, a small shoulder bag to carry the tour book, camera, iPod and newspaper. They didn't have was I was looking for. However, I did leave with about 15 recommendations for places to eat, drink and check out (Queen Victoria bldg good, Sydney Tower, bad).
After my visit to the tourist bureau, I mean the Crumpler store, I decided to walk down George Street until I hit water. Instead, I hit the bottom of the Sydney Bridge.
This bridge is really big. It's impressive. And for AU$50, you can walk across it via those tall arches. But I don't see that happening. It's a bit high, ya see...
At the bottom of the bridge is a Park Hyatt and related fine dining. These are some of the guys that bring you that fine dining. Just think of Kitchen Confidental's "pirate crew".
The Rocks is the area near the bridge and the waterfront. This is the area that was first settled by convicts when Sydney was founded. Many of the houses are either old and preserved or new condo developments with neat design and built on piers. The new construction is incredibly expensive. Almost as bad as back home.
The old...
...and the Pricey!
This is as close as I got to the famed Sydney Opera House.
I hear it looks cool but the acoustics don't match the aesthetics. Maybe if there's a bargain show and if I know what's being performed, I may attend a performance. I've got long pants so it's all good.
Bank Report! Citibank has branches here, but does not run their own ATMs (WTF?). They slap their name on the machines but they don't run them. There may be a service fee (boooo!) in my future. On the other hand, there are a LOT of HSBC branches here. So if you're planning a trip down here, those are the international banks that are here in force.
Yes, sometimes this blog posts useful information! Besides where to eat, I mean...
The jet lag has caught up to me. Probably will hit the sack early this PM.
Arrived Sydney. First impressions: It reminds me a LOT of Singapore. I think it's because of all the old low-rise colonial buildings and because of how (relatively) clean it is out here. A fren said that (Sydney is) "different but familiar". Well, that turns out to be true.
I will now begin my obligatory rant at United Airlines...ohhh about....NOW
Service: Indifferent. And about 20 years past it's prime.
Food: Well, the hotcakes they served for breakfast were edible.
Flight: It was half full so I was able to get AN ENTIRE ROW to myself!
I curled up into a ball and slept for 9 hours on and off.
Just checked into the hostel and got out of the shower. Pix and pithy commentary forthcoming!
I was in Sacramento late last week on business.
Despite being the capital of the 4th largest economy in the world, Sacramento, California has always had the reputation of being a culinary backwater.
As in there's no real places to eat!
So when I had a meeting/dinner to go to, my companion suggested Mason's. It was pretty good. And if you hang out there long enough, the restaurant closes and it becomes a club. And since you're already inside, you're already in! (that's for all of you that want to make an evening of it)
Check this out!
This is, quite possibly, the bestest macaroni and cheese I've ever had. It's baked in a small souffle dish and has all kinds of salty, flavorful cheeses in it. It was truly sinful...
I ordered their Pan Roasted Organic Chicken (but was hungry so devoured it before had a chance for a pic) and my companion had the Whole Grilled Bone in Sea Bass (mutated sea bass with frickin' laser beams on their heads!!!).
If you're Chinese, this may look strangely familiar...
Yup. And neither of us know that ancient Chinese secret of deboning fish.
I've got my guide books, my place to crash, almost all my flights and (most important) lists of Citibank and HSBC ATMs ready to go (will need money). Figured out the SIM card thingy already so will be able to stay in touch (need phone, yes I'm weird that way).
Got my long-legged aisle seat on that 14 hour flight over there that somehow (!!!) makes me lose TWO days in transit. Yes, it's on UA =_= but they had the good price and I need EQMs. Maybe will get lucky with Oz based flight crew?? Knowing my luck lately, wouldn't bet on it.
All I have to do now is figure out how they dress over there so I know what to pack...
...or rather one at Angel's Share.
A simple drink, with a hella big chunk o' ice in it and made perfectly.
When you visit a place enough, you get into comfortable habits.
Restaurants you have to visit each time. Food you gotta eat. Katz's Deli is one of those comfort places for me. The pastrami (along with the Carnegie Deli's) rawks, though I like Katz's better than the Carnegie's (it's not as dry as the Carnegie's). I defied tradition this time though, ordering a messy, gooey, absolutely delicious reuben.
Katz's is where they filmed the infamous scene in "When Harry met Sally" where Sally demonstrates how to react when you have a really good pastrami sandwich.
They even point out the table they sat at with this silly sign.
So all you film geeks can pay homage (or act out the scene)!
From the frigid (because it's 0 degrees C outside!) city of New York, in front of the W Times Square...
A good thing to do after you get off the plane is to get a meal. A good meal. Or, if it's too late, maybe just a big sandwich from a legendary deli.
Now THAT's a pastrami sandwich! Dun get points for neatness. Burp.
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