Who said anything about a down patch?
It's been just over two weeks now since I last updated you, and it seems like almost a year.
I'm steadily getting to know and love this beautiful city.
As I previously stated, it's actually just a big city with a few nice eye-catchers. What makes it so important is the climate. When the sun is out, you can really go anywhere you like without a worry on your mind. I can walk around for hours and not be aware of it, until the growling of my belly tells me it's time to move on.
Sydney really is an outdoor type of city. There are the odd museums you might want to pay a visit - same goes for the Aquarium and Wildlife World, which I've done already - but the most important thing here is, in my opinion, the amount of green.
There are parks galore all over the city. You can hike, run, bike, sit, walk, lie down here all day. See it as your back yard. Go for a barbecue, take a book, have a chat with your friends ... What can be nicer than to just rest your legs in the Botanic Gardens? Or take a walk around Mrs. Macquarie's Point with the typical view on Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House? Go for a run in Centennial Park? Or just chill out at one of the many, many beaches?
As mentioned before, I have made a few nice friends here. Floriane and Anne-Sophie from France both have become my regular dinner-and-giggle gals and we try to see each other every once and a while. Dorian joins us on the odd occasion. And of course there's homie Frauke who I see on some occasions and who it's always nice to meet up with :-). In the mean time I'm never too shy to go up to people and have a little chat - which is the way it's supposed to be, right.
I have also met my dear friends James and Ralf one night. We took the ferry to Manly with spectacular views of Harbour Bridge and the Opera House at sunset, followed by a delicious dinner in Manly Wine Bar. Thanks again guys for a lovely night!
Work in the Belgian Beer Cafe is picking up as well, since the tourists start flooding the city. Over Christmas there will be hell to pay, but hey wasn't that the reason why we came to Sydney in the first place? Haha!
Here are some things I've learned about the Belgian Beer Cafe and Sydney in general so far:
- Asians like to order food 'to share'. This basically means you get to throw a couple of amusettes on the table and this will keep them happy all night long.
- don't go standing beneath the Monorail rail. You never know what might fall on your head.
- after every shift in the Belgian Beer Cafe, you get a free tap beer of choice - I can only cheer to that :-).
- Sydney has loads of parks and bays and I want to discover them all.
- Australian girls don't eat a lot. In fact, I'm almost crying at the thought of how much food I throw away every day in the restaurant.
- my apartment has a nice evening sun (I'm saying this because I'm sitting on the balcony and enjoying the late afternoon sun right now.)
- the Belgian Beer Cafe is a big restaurant. My feet are witnesses.
- Sydney sun is mean, MEAN I tell you!
- 500 ml Hoegaarden glasses are very big for my poor hands to handle.
- there is a lot to do in Sydney. Apparently, like we recently discovered, there are fireworks going on in Darling Harbour every Saturday night. Which is only an example, of course.
Like a dear ex-colleague of mine said on departing from Belgium: it's my time now to see, feel, discover, explore, taste and in short enjoy whatever I can! I can only agree.
And with this wisdom, I'll leave you dear readers in peace again - for a while ;-).
Sunday 21 November 2010
Saturday 6 November 2010
The first impressions of Sydney
On 28 October, after getting up waaaaaay to early in Auckland in order to catch my airplane, I landed in Sydney.
The road - or rather, the tube - went straight to Frauke's office in Mascot ("It's only two stops from the airport, lady, it's not difficult at all!") where we had lunch together and a cozy chat about life and Adventures and whatnot. Since she had to work again after half an hour, I wended my way into the city and spotted my first glimpse of what everyone imagines when Sydney is mentioned: the Opera House, and looming in the background - the impressive Harbour Bridge. Nice views!
My feelings for the city are kind of mixed right now. First of all, I entered Australia after New Zealand, which is such a beautiful country. Compared to that, Sydney just is your next ordinary big city, once you've seen the eye-catchers. Secondly, the weather hasn't been too good yet, which means that there really wasn't a lot to do for me. Beaches aren't a possibility yet since I want to see those with a clear blue sky in the background, and that's what Sydney is all about, isn't it? So it's been trying to find things to do where I can keep inside for some time (and not spending too much money while doing that, for that matter). Thirdly, Sydney means "work" for me. I have been running up and down the long streets in order to get every practical thing ready in case I find a job here. This was kind of exhausting and trying, especially when you don't really know anyone and you have to start from scratch. Luckily I have a trial shift coming up in The Belgian Beer Cafe in The Rocks. After this shift, if I'm accepted, I might get the job and work over there for a few hours per week, which will make a nice change of scene.
And last but not least, with leaving New Zealand so abruptly, I had to leave certain important people behind and wasn't ready to do that yet. So that on top of everything, has made these first few days pretty trying.
But have no fear, my dear readers. Mary Jay - otherwise known as Marianello, the fifth turtle - is steadily climbing up from her down patch and is trying to make her time here as fun as possible.
The black pants and shoes for the Belgian Beer Cafe are already bought, a visit to the Sydney Aquarium and Wildlife World has been payed (where I was honestly impressed by the giant crocodile, the cute koalas, the fighting kangaroos, and the vicious-looking sharks), on the odd good-weather-day I visited Darling Harbour with Frauke, which was pretty chilled, and I retrieved my RSA (Responsible Service of Alcohol) certificate, which means I can legally work in licensed premises and I know how to recognise fake ID's - or at least should. I already met a bunch of nice people as well and have some more meet ups lined up, as well as an own bed in the city as of 13 November, address to be gotten on request. Bring on those post packets :-). The place is pretty central so I'm pretty stoked about moving in there - it will be good to have an own haven in this big city.
So, let's just see how long I last here - I'm sure when the sun comes out, you won't hear me complaining anymore :-). Cheers!
The road - or rather, the tube - went straight to Frauke's office in Mascot ("It's only two stops from the airport, lady, it's not difficult at all!") where we had lunch together and a cozy chat about life and Adventures and whatnot. Since she had to work again after half an hour, I wended my way into the city and spotted my first glimpse of what everyone imagines when Sydney is mentioned: the Opera House, and looming in the background - the impressive Harbour Bridge. Nice views!
My feelings for the city are kind of mixed right now. First of all, I entered Australia after New Zealand, which is such a beautiful country. Compared to that, Sydney just is your next ordinary big city, once you've seen the eye-catchers. Secondly, the weather hasn't been too good yet, which means that there really wasn't a lot to do for me. Beaches aren't a possibility yet since I want to see those with a clear blue sky in the background, and that's what Sydney is all about, isn't it? So it's been trying to find things to do where I can keep inside for some time (and not spending too much money while doing that, for that matter). Thirdly, Sydney means "work" for me. I have been running up and down the long streets in order to get every practical thing ready in case I find a job here. This was kind of exhausting and trying, especially when you don't really know anyone and you have to start from scratch. Luckily I have a trial shift coming up in The Belgian Beer Cafe in The Rocks. After this shift, if I'm accepted, I might get the job and work over there for a few hours per week, which will make a nice change of scene.
And last but not least, with leaving New Zealand so abruptly, I had to leave certain important people behind and wasn't ready to do that yet. So that on top of everything, has made these first few days pretty trying.
But have no fear, my dear readers. Mary Jay - otherwise known as Marianello, the fifth turtle - is steadily climbing up from her down patch and is trying to make her time here as fun as possible.
The black pants and shoes for the Belgian Beer Cafe are already bought, a visit to the Sydney Aquarium and Wildlife World has been payed (where I was honestly impressed by the giant crocodile, the cute koalas, the fighting kangaroos, and the vicious-looking sharks), on the odd good-weather-day I visited Darling Harbour with Frauke, which was pretty chilled, and I retrieved my RSA (Responsible Service of Alcohol) certificate, which means I can legally work in licensed premises and I know how to recognise fake ID's - or at least should. I already met a bunch of nice people as well and have some more meet ups lined up, as well as an own bed in the city as of 13 November, address to be gotten on request. Bring on those post packets :-). The place is pretty central so I'm pretty stoked about moving in there - it will be good to have an own haven in this big city.
So, let's just see how long I last here - I'm sure when the sun comes out, you won't hear me complaining anymore :-). Cheers!
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