Vivid Sydney

This is an amazing city. Everything is walkable and so lively all the time. I love the historic, beautiful buildings interspersed throughout the modern urban scene, and the importance placed on culture and all here.

Huge downside-- This is the most expensive city I've ever been in. All of the food/drink costs double what it should, and the entire city is poised to take all of tourists' money since it is so easy to get around and explore the entire thing, unlike Hawai'i where all of the tourist traps are condensed into Waikiki. The Dollar Menu doesn't even exist at McDonald's. A Big Mac Combo meal is $7.25 AUD. Blasphemy.
What's really sad is that the Swedish girl sleeping across from me says it's so cheap for her to be here compared to Sweden...uh.

Before Today:

My room in the hostel. Fairly empty these 2 nights which has
been nice. My bed is the one on the bottom right.

One of many nice communal rooms here. It even has a
kitchen/dishes/utensils so guests can actually live
and cook here. I've heard of people staying for months at a time.

 Woke up before 6 am (I think I talked about this already), and headed out before 7 to explore.

Skyline at sunrise, Tower on the left.

Gate to Royal Botanic Gardens.

View from Mrs. Macquarie's Point. Opera House and Harbor Bridge.

Sydney Hospital, built from rum money, with a lucky pig.
People rub his nose, and other parts, for good health.

Sydney Tower. I have yet to go inside. Oops.

St. Mary's Cathedral. Beautiful architecture.

I don't even like churches. But this one didn't make me entirely uncomfortable!

Fountain in Hyde Park, commemorating Aussie/French relations in WWI.

Inside the Parliament House. They were in session when I went
and I sat in the chamber for a bit but couldn't take pics.

Jubilee Room inside the Parliament House.
Like Belle's dream-- stacks of books on 3 levels lining the wall.

The Domain. How does anyone NOT want to play ultimate on that?

NSW Art Gallery. Tons of schoolchildren but they were relatively
quiet and being cultured so I didn't mind them too much.

Cowper Wharf. Apparently I love water.

Famous meat pie-- minced beef inside, topped with mashed
potatoes, mushy peas, and gravy. So hearty.
Couldn't help thinking of Sweeney Todd.

From Circular Quay, where a bunch of docks are. There's some
historical significance too which apparently was insignificant to me.

 Today: Hit Chinatown/Paddy's Market, then ventured out to the Fish Market, Darling Harbour, Maritime Museum, Cockle Bay Wharf, and King St. Wharf. Then went back to Chinatown for their Night Market which was interesting but still SO EXPENSIVE so I figured I'd wait until Taiwan for the real thing.

Fish Market-- so much fresh, delicious seafood everywhere! It was laid out so each 'shop' had 2 sections-- one for ingredient seafood, and one for freshly prepared stuff, featuring a raw oyster bar and a sashimi bar at each one.

All of these were shucked by a guy at a sink at the corner of the
counter, and there were countless varieties of fresh, raw oyster. I
think it would have been offensive to ask for them steamed though.

Hello, hello. Look at how clear their eyes are!

Live mud crab. I've never seen such fatty arms on a crustacean.

One example of freshly prepped seafood. It's the cheapest, best
seafood you'll find here since the Fish Market is right on the Bay,
so the boats come in and literally bring everything from the boat
directly into the shop.

GIANT King Prawn Skewers.

More prepped food. I would be an embarrassment to Asians since I
don't like to suck prawn brains. They say it's the best part.

This is beautiful.

View from behind the Fish Market.

View from the dock to the back of the Fish Market.

Lunch. All of this cost me only $8. Best meal deal I've gotten so
far! I also had a piece of fried fish-- Dory I think? Delicious, and
only $1! I feel like Rachel Ray, but hopefully with a less annoying
voice.

I shared some bits.

Advertisement win: Eat Oysters, Love Longer!

Waiting for the Lightrail-- also ridiculously expensive
and rather unnecessary for the trip I took. Oops.

I won't bore with pics of fruits and veggies at Paddy's Mkt since it's like any other Asian grocery store-- piles and piles of every imaginable type and color of produce, still in cardboard boxes and all. The other part of the market was a bit of a flea market on steroids. Lots of interesting souveniers (I bought a little kangaroo backpack. Like... A backpack that looks like a kangaroo... with a Joey. Can't wait to wear it for the first week of class when we don't do anything anyway!), but I can't help wondering how most of the vendors make any money. Like in Asian market booths, they have so much inventory, most of which is absolute shit, and there are at least 10 other vendors with the exact same stuff so I imagine they compete to the point that they barely make any money off of sales even if it's cheap shit to begin with.

Chinatown and Chinese Garden look as expected.
Wharfs are wharfs.

There was this random Street Football Festival at Darling Harbor though--

They put a mini turf field on a dock in front of the Convention Center.

I like this angle.

 Australian National Maritime Museum was ok. They had some cool ships on display though. And the first room is the United States of America Gallery, to commend our ongoing diplomacy and cooperation on the seas. Aka the US saved Australia's ass in WWII after Pearl Harbor by bombing Japan as they were prepping to take over the Northern portion of Australia. My trip segments are meshing.

If only Johnny Depp were here on display too. Note Tower in
background! Everything is relatively close-- takes maybe 40 minutes
to walk from one side of the city to the other.

End of Pyrmont Bridge. Rustic, and so pleasant to have around.

On the Pyrmont Bridge. I like playing with lines, even with my very
average point-and-shoot camera. Monorail on the right.

Lego Poseidon at the Aquarium.

Kangaroo statue at the Wildlife Center. I didn't pay to go into
either of these-- meh.

USC needs to get these decorative barriers for construction zones.

Silly monkeys. 3 Wise Moneys Pub. I love that
this is in an ex-Aussie Gov Bank.

 Plans for tomorrow include Opera House tour, ferry to Manly Beach, food hunting around The Rocks (the only fully historic area in Sydney, complete with amazing little alleys with hidden shops and pubs), and night drinks at the Opera Bar, under the lighted sails.

Lastly, Vivid Sydney is an artsy initiative that's been going around the city for awhile. There are various music, culture, art events, featuring colored light elements at 43 points throughout the city, both works of original art and lights to highlight significant points. Pretty cool. Naturally the central feature is the lighting of the Opera House sails, which I will be sure to post a picture of when I'm in that area tomorrow.

Vivid. I couldn't think of a better word to describe the city.

...Though a hostel is a little like a dorm and I'm again dealing with being surrounded by trashy-looking girls eager to go get wasted and groped. And again I retreat into my dark corner.

To Oz

At the Honolulu airport but this won't be posted until after I've arrived in Sydney, Australia due to not-free internets. These last few days on Oahu have been amazing, but before I delve into my usual summary there are quite a few people who deserve some attention...
First and foremost, Alex, thanks for being the best tour guide/bed & breakfast/chauffeur/concierge/foodie/mom/cousin, and for being so willing and happy to make my visit so wonderful. So many great jokes and food and conversation that I'll always cherish.

Parents-- for financial assistance. And good genes.

Kara-- best wishes for tomorrow! If you're not Kara and not sure what I'm referring to, please don't be a nosy asshole :) Nose + ass = STANK.


Fun fact: I'm flying out at around 12:30 pm on Tuesday in Honolulu. Arriving at around 7:30 pm on Wednesday evening in Sydney. There is a 20-hour time difference. That means a 17-hour time difference from LA, and a 14-hour difference from ATL.

Logistical note: Please don't call or text before July 19, when I'm back in the states. I will invoice you for my international roaming overages if you do.


Now for the re-cap.
Sunday. Aiea Loop Trail mid-morning. Beautiful, 5 mile hike through a more forestey forest than Manoa Falls which was more of a rainforestey forest. Superthanks to my new friend who went with me, after I was no longer willing to shop and Alex was no longer willing to hike.

View of the H-3, built on stilts through the valley
to preserve the mountains in the middle of the island.

Hiking buddy, much taller and more athletic than me,
surrounded by forest vegetation.

Sushi break. No pics, but it was conveyer belt sushi. Constant salivation as food temptations continiously ride by.

In a moment of possibly stupid spontaneity, I decided to go hike Koko head that afternoon. It's known as Oahu's "Stairmaster on Steroids," and it consists of I think 1048 steps that go straight up the side of Koko crater. The steps are the remains of an military old railroad track so the rail ties are uneven, far apart, and slightly rotting. And at one point the ground drops out from under it, leaving an inclined bridge over a ravine.

View looking down, 3/4 of the way through.
Stolen from
http://www.aroundhawaii.com/lifestyle/
around_town/2009-11-koko-head-crater-
trail-hike-natures-stairmaster.html.

View looking up, 3/4 of the way through.
Stolen from the same site.

View from the street. Fairly mild incline until the
death bridge, then death (steeper) stairs the rest of the way.

 No pictures of the progress to the top. I felt like such a little girl, needing to catch my breath more than I care to admit.

View from the top. You can basically see everything on the eastern end of the island.

Other hiking buddy, Sean, who beasted and then hiked it again.

View of Hanauma Bay from the top of Koko crater.

The way down made me appreciate gravity and my meniscal cartilage. I basically hovered one foot over where I wanted to land, then just let myself fall from stair to stair.

And of course, after a decently intense workout day, what better than a seafood buffet? No pictures since I was preoccupied, but I think I had 5 plates of food including a ton of sushi, crab legs, clams, tempura, prime rib, artichoke hearts. Moment of glory was arriving back at the table with my last plate, whining about how full I already was, and proceeding to finish that plate, plus a plate of around 4 dessert selections. Plus watermelon. And green tea. Pretty sure I consumed the amount that a family of 4 would require for basic sustenance :/ Oops.


Monday started with being at the beach at 6 am. Missed sunrise, but the ascent of our favorite star on the quiet beach was beautiful.

Wave-particle duality of light.

This beach is hidden behind a residential area,
with only a small hidden pedestrian path to the water.

 Went back to Pearl Harbor to go to the USS Arizona Memorial, and to play around on some of the displays. Memorial Day win!

On a missile of some sort. It was baking hot. My burning pain is
apparently expressed as carefree bliss... Stupid face.

I like big guns. Holding my hair, it was windy.

On a propeller, in front of a plumeria tree.

On a tree, in front of the USS Bowfin. It's an exhibit, I think.

On a Harpoon Missile.

USS Arizona Memorial. I don't quite understand the architecture.
As Sean says, it looks like a toddler made it and squished it together.
Really serene place though, sitting over the remains of the ship.

Then went to the Lantern Festival, combining Hawaiian, Japanese, and probably other sorts of memorial ceremonies in honor of Memorial Day. They released thousands of glowing lanterns, labeled with names of passed loved ones, into the ocean and they floated like fireflies.

Sunset. Those people are not me.

Ala Moana skyline at dusk.

Lanterns in the water. My camera sucks at night pictures.

I can't believe this was only the first section of my summer adventure. Already so many new experiences, people and perspectives, and constant questioning of everything I've taken to be a truth. Excited for more.
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No time to organize pics or plan captions for my first morning in Sydney, but here's the short version:
Woke up before 6, emailed, showered, ate, and was out by 6:45. Walked through the Royal Botanical Gardens which had amazing birds and bird songs, the plants were less interesting but that's ok. Made it to Mrs Macquarie's Point providing one of two famous views of the Opera House, this one featuring the Harbor Bridge directly behind. Then, cruised around the city (on foot), hitting all of the expected touristey spots in Central Sydney: Parliament House, State Library, Sydney Hospital, Hyde Park, Hyde Park Barracks, St. Mary's Cathedral, NSW Art Gallery. Stopped for lunch at a famous little meat pie stand on Cowper Wharf.
Now I'm off to Sydney Tower, Town Hall, St. Andrew's Cathedral, a free 3-hour walking tour of the city, and the Edinburgh Castle Hotel, featuring $3.7 Carlsberg Schooners (425 mL of beer!) on Thursdays! Yeah I packed my days and yeah I planned them out. Not much of an option when there is so much to do and such limited time! Passed the most amazing grocery store, upset I can't buy all of it. Also, the food here is all SO EXPENSIVE WTF. Thriftiness + walking = I will not get fat.

Best part-- All but one of my morning activities was free! Tourism/culture/government/social consciousness superwin! The one I paid for was the worst :( The Barracks. Meh. So don't pay to go there. At least I had a coupon.