Dinner with Neighbors

We had dinner with our neighbors a couple weekends ago. A good old Aussie bbq. It was actually a very international event with us being Americans, our neighbors Aussies and the neighbors on the other side German. We decided to each bring something from our native countries. Mel and Hugh supplied plenty of meat, ranging from their version of a hot dog (grilled sausage eaten on white bread with "tomato sauce") to chicken skewers and steak. Nina, Mark and their cousin brought beer and a tomato and feta bake. We decided to make macaroni salad and rice krispy treats! Can you believe that they have never had rice krispy treats before?

It was funny that the dominant conversation that night was about what Germans do on Saturday mornings. Hugh was so interested that he kept asking questions. What time do you wake up? Do you wash your car first or go to the local bakery? What happens if you don't open your blinds by 7am? What do you eat for breakfast? We spent quite a few minutes discussing this last question. So much so, that we decided our next dinner would consist of only international desserts. A German fruit cake (what we would consider a fruit custard tart), pumpkin pie and the Aussie pavlova (a marshmallow casing with fruit inside). I'll remember to ask for recipes!

A Touch of Circus

Every year, KPMG Sydney's social club puts on a ball. Last year it was a Masquerade Ball and this year, the theme was "A Touch of Circus". The ball was to be held at a circus venue, similar to a combination of Family Fun Center and Knotts Berry Farm. When I first found out about the theme, I was thinking jumbo red shoes and zebra mask and tail. Then I realized this was not Halloween and that no one else was going to dress up! Lili brought a bag of big bows for us to use but it never made it out of the bag. Probably because everyone else had the bright idea of wearing the exact same big bows.

I am highly dissappointed that I did not get a picture of the most amazing part of the night! When we walked in, we were flanked the entire way by waitors holding trays of alcohol... multiple types of beer, red wine, white wine and champagne. This is the way that all parties should start!

You could tell that the social comittee put a lot of effort into the night. There were streamers everywhere, colorful lights, smoke mister and a DJ. To be honest, it reminded me alot of my high school prom. Except this time around, the alcohol was legal and free flowing.


Besides the okay food, the plentiful alcohol and the pretty cool circus performers, I also got a tattoo! Unfortunately, I do not have a photo to show you. But take my word for it, it was a bad ass Chinese dragon across my back. It only lasted about 2 days.

Overall, we had a good time. But not as good as our friends Renae and Dylan. Just look at them rocking out on the dance floor!

The Northern Suburbs

There is a rivalry between the Eastern and the Northern suburbs in Sydney. The Eastern suburbs are more distinguished, influential, people are impressed when you tell them you live there. The Northern coastal suburbs may be considered new money, they also have some beautiful beaches. We obviously, live in the Eastern suburbs. ;)

We decided to do the Cremone to Mosman walk a few weekends ago (this was drafted about a month ago!). It was a fine and sunny day, top of 30 degrees Celsius (mid-high 80's). It was 3PM by the time we left our terrace in Edgecliff and made our way to Circular Quay to catch the ferry that would take us to Cremone. The 15 minute ferry ride was very pleasant, especially the watery breeze that cooled us off on such a hot day.

Our first stop was the Light House, situated on a little cliff overlooking the bay. It is a beautiful place to sit and watch the sail boats pass by.

We continued along the path that would take us to Mosman. Part way through, we reached a dead end! The pedestrian footpath was blocked off due to construction. We made our way through some residential neighborhoods hoping to find the other side. Eventually, one of the home owners (of a mulit million dollar home on a cliff overlooking the water) let us use her private entrance to the pedestrian path.

Finally reaching Mosman, we weren't sure which direction to go. We were meeting Paul and Lili for dinner at RSL for their famous burgers (Paul swears it is the best burger in Sydney, even though they put beets on them!). We started up this big hill and found our way to Military Street (the main road in Mosman). Military Street has a nice collection of cafes and shops.

We did this walk so long ago that I don't remember much! We promise to do better about updating our blog! The link below shows the Cremone to Mosmon walk.

http://www.sydneyferries.info/uploads/file/docs/harbourwalks/MosmanBay.pdf

Wine Tour: Hunter Valley

Our weekend trip to Port Macquarie was cancelled due to over booking of our hotel. The disappointment quickly turned into excitement as we booked ourselves a one day wine tour of the Hunter Valley. For $92/person they picked us up in the morning, drove us the 2 hours to Hunter Valley, provided us with 4 winery tastings, a chocolate tasting, a cheese tasting and topped it off with a tasting of liquors. Of course, they also drove us the 2 hours back to Edgecliff. That is pretty good value for your money, especially for you Americans since the Aussie dollar is about .72 US.

The day started pretty bleak, it was "bucketing" and EARLY! The shuttle picked us up at 6.45AM in front of Edgecliff Station. We were the first to be picked up and the only people who were on time. If we would have known, we would have slept in for an extra 20 minutes! Also, Ron lost his favorite beanie somewhere along the way. This was not the best way to start off our trip. However, the weather began to clear as we made our way out of Sydney and we were able to get a nice nap in before we stopped for coffee. (Coffee always puts a smile on my face.

We arrived at our first winery, Tempus Two, and commenced drinking at 10.00AM. Then we made our way to Mistletoe and Tintilla. Keep in mind, I only consumed a muffin and coffee for breakfast and the wineries in Hunter are pretty generous with their tastings, therefore, I was highly impressed with my alcohol tolerance, showing just a hint of the Asian glow on my face. After our third winery, we stopped for lunch at Blue Tounge Brewery, where Ron enjoyed a paddle of beer (6 tastings of their microbrew beer) and finished off with a midi. I enjoyed a nice glass of water. :)

Next on our agenda was chocolate and cheese tasting. I have to admit, the chocolate was pretty lame. For really good chocolate, please refer to my blog "Chocolate Heaven". The cheese on the otherhand was amazing. So good in fact, that we actually bought some. I have to thank Corrie and Nine:Ten Restaurant for turning me on to cheese.

Our final winery was McGuigan's where they had a list of 33 wines and we tried almost all of them! Out of the many that we tried, we ended up purchasing 4 bottles. Not a bad ratio considering half our tour group didn't purchase a single bottle the entire day.

The last stop was to a liquor shop that I cannot recall the name of. We did however, try multiple schnapps and bought two bottles. 1 is similar to Baily's and I am very excited to try it in coffee. The other is called Dragon's Breath and is a combo of butterscotch schanpps and red chilis. It is sweet with a big kick at the end. You'll have to try it when you come visit.

We walked away with 5 bottles of wine, 2 bottles of liquor and a slab of really good cheese. The best part was that we were able to take a nice nap all the way home.

Transmission

A work mate of mine was kind enough to invite me to an electronic music show the other night. This was really my first time getting out to a decent club/show, so naturally I was excited. I jumped on the train for a 1 hr ride to the Olympic Park Stadium on the west side of Sydney.

Like most things in Sydney the show was pretty expensive. It put me back a clean $100, but what am I supposed to do, stay at home. Some key differences between the US and Sydney shows. First there are no spirits to drink, only beer. This is good for the wallet but bad for partying. But they do serve booze until 6am so that makes up for it. The sound system was really good but the DJ's tended to suck a bit. Maybe I am just spoiled from going to all the great shows that my friends Paul and Brian used to put on. I ended up hanging out until around 4:3o in the morning and then caught the first train back home. Overall it was a really fun night but definitely missed the boys from back home.


Look lasers!!!


People, people everywhere!!!!!

I feel so insulted

I thought Australia was a progressive country where people tried to not discriminate against other races. To my surprise, when I went to the store the other day I found "Red Skins" candy. Now if that isn't a blatant attempt at racism then I don't know what is. Good thing I don't care about any of that crap because the candy is really good. :)

I ran into a celebrity!!!!!

Sydney is a dynamic and multicultural city that has a lot to offer. You know that if you live in San Diego or close to Los Angeles there is a good chance that you will eventually run into a celebrity. I thought those days were behind me when I moved to Sydney. But alas I was wrong, so wrong. I ran into none other then Jack Sparrow. Yes, thee Jack Sparrow. He seems to have lost his ship and decided to catch a ride on the subway. Go figure.

Wagga Wagga

You know your in for a treat when you fly a prop plane!


One of the cool things about my job is that I get to travel around to places I normally would never go. These last two weeks I started a project at work that involves travelling all over New South Wales. I have to fly to every place I go and normally this would be a serious pain in the ass. However, in Australia the airports are magically hassle free compared to the US. First of all checking in is about the same and only takes a few minutes. But the real kicker is the security line. You don't have to take off you shoes, you don't have to worry about liquids and the security line takes about 3 minutes. This is how all airports should be.

Anyway, I was able to get out to quite a few towns (not cities but towns) places like Port Macquarie, Coffs Harbor, Grafton and a place called Wagga Wagga. Gotta love the names of places in Australia. The reason for all the travel is I am working on reviewing a utility companies procurement and inventory management systems across their network. So myself and a few other team members have to fly to all of their warehouses located across NSW. Sounds pretty lame but it's actually pretty interesting.

These towns are a stark contrast to Sydney. The best way to describe it would be like San Francisco versus Barstow. It is a good experience but I definitely would not be going back to these places on my own free will.


Wagga Wagga, a great place to raise a family and tip some cows.


Wagga Wagga from the plane.

Chocolate Heaven

The chocolate fondue for 2 at Max Brenner Chocolate Cafe.


Cappuccino with dark chocolate sitting in a special "kangaroo" cup.


Chocolate souffle with milk chocolate drizzle.


Lili, Me and Tanaz enjoying our chocolate. Can we look any happier?

If you come to visit, we'll definitely go to Max Brenner!

New Job

Hi Everyone!

I recently got my first job in Australia. I am a corporate receptionist for Barclays Global Investors. It is a lot of fun so far, I actually get to interact with people all day! Definitely a change from being at home. Although this means getting up earlier and no leasure time during the day to watch my favorite reruns of Gilmore Girls and I Dream of Jeanie.

Today is day 3 of my job. Wish me luck!

Coogee to Bondi

It's time to start exploring now that we have finally moved into our place and got a majority of the major tasks settled. It was a really nice day out, so we decided to take the bus down to Coogee Beach and walk to Bondi Beach.

This is roughly a 4km walk consisting of a bunch of stairs, hills, curves and amazing views. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.


Fresh off the bus at Coogee Beach.



Cat gets a bit adventurous.



Looking back at Coogee Beach.



Boat parking lot :)



Of course, Ron has to walk to the edge of the 300 ft cliff to take a picture.



The end of the walk is near as we look upon Bondi Beach.

Working out Sydney style

So as most of you know, I like to go the gym every now and then. The first two weeks we arrived in Sydney we stayed at the York Apartments. Naturally the first thing I do upon arriving at a new place is go check out the gym.

First off I am excited that they even have a gym. But my hopes die down quickly as I go check the place out. The only thing in the "gym" is a rusty universal piece of equipment. Lucky for me I had a similar piece of equipment in my garage growing up. Awww the memories. This archaic universal gym will only do so much. So the search for my new gym begins.

I should add a bit a background to this story. In the U.S. I belong to 24 Fitness and was able to secure a ridiculous rate of $4 a month. Now I know this is an absurd price but I paid three years in advance to get this rate for the rest of my life.

Fast forward back to my gym search in Sydney. I find out that my work give a discount on gym memberships to a place called Fitness First. The price, wait for it ......... $90 a month. Thank you Australia for another overpriced luxury that I can't live with out.

So I naturally join the gym and the place is very nice. Some differences that were a bit of a shock are having weights measured in kilos not pounds. However the major difference is the music that is played in the gym. The song list can go from Michael Jackson to Daft Punk to Beyonce to some random 80's person I have never heard of. Definitely more unique then the U.S.

Anyways Cat and I miss everyone. Hope some of you can make it over to visit.

Oh and the views from the gym aren't to bad :)

Sorry! We've moved!

First off, I would like to apologize for not posting anything in a while. We moved into our new house a week ago and just received internet access late last night. Mind you, we signed up for internet (Telstra BigPond) over a week prior to moving. It took a little over 2 weeks for them to send us the equipment box. We had to install ourselves. That just gives you a little idea as to the speed of work here in Sydney.

What should I blog about today? House hunting maybe? We really had no idea which suburb to live in. The City was out of the question because of Cloud. Hardly any apartment buildings allow pets, even the amazing beagle who never barks. Our relocation specialist, Lynda, showed us a few places in different neighborhoods based on our survey that we filled out. The main criteria for us was convenience to the City, location near a park (for Cloudy), easy access to shops and close to the beach and pubs if possible.

The first couple places Lynda showed us were shit holes. And I mean complete SHIT HOLES. One terrace (townhouse) was dirt covered, rusted, and the previous tenants ran a whore house (at least according to the agent!). Even worse was the terrace next door. It looked and probably was a drug dealer home, rat infested, dirty hippie clothes hung on a line and pretty much just a shit hole. I for one, did not feel comfortable living next door to that, even if the actual rental property was a gem.

The next few were a little better but not by much. We were pretty disheartened and jumped on a one bedroom house in Paddington. Paddington is a very chic neighborhood with good shopping and cafes. Too bad the house was in an alley, the front porch was falling apart, the backyard an overgrown jungle and the bedroom smelled like damp mold. We went so far as to put in a deposit. The next day, Lynda told us about a 2 bedroom terrace in Edgecliff that was just released. She arranged it with the agent that if we liked the place, it would be ours. We decided to pull out of the alley house and take a chance on the terrace. If we didn't like it, we would keep searching by ourselves.

We got up early on a Saturday and went to the "viewing". I put quotes around viewing because it is literally a 10-15 minute window of time where people can view the property. The agents have it pretty easy here. So easy that the agent forgot to show up. There were 10 other people waiting in the cold with us. I was able to arrange a private viewing for the following Monday. The terrace was the best property we had seen so far. It looked nice from the front, good space, nice kitchen, a street from Edgecliff Station (train/grocery shops) and less than a minute walk to Trumper Park. All we need now is Cloud to make it a home.

We even met our neighbors, Melody and Hugh, the other night. Mel and I were taking the trash out at the same time and she invited us over for a drink. We got on really well, similar age and interests. Hugh is into sports and going to the pub, not too difficult to get along with. Mel and I actually went shopping earlier in the day. She showed me a few shops in Bondi Junction that I didn't know about. I purchased a trash can for $10 ($22 at Target and $18 at K-Mart), a few couch pillows and a pie dish. If you're lucky, I'll make you a pie when you come visit.

Cost of Living

WARNING! Warning to anyone who is planning on visiting us in Sydney, Australia. START SAVING NOW!

Okay, so maybe I am over exaggerating… just a little bit. We thought living in San Diego was costly and visiting LA and New York expensive. None of that compares to our lovely new home, Sydney. Let me break it down into a few examples so you can have a fuller picture.

Our first day in Sydney, after dropping off our many bags at the hotel, we decided to grab lunch. We found a simple café, Wynstop, in Wynyard Train Station and sat down. To our surprise, the sandwiches (a simple turkey, cheese with cranberry sauce) were $13. Each. It did come with a handful of baby greens on the side. A similar sandwich back in the “States” would only be $6.00+tax+15%tip= $7.37. Food in general is very expensive. Cherries are $16/kg or greater, that is $8/pound! Limes retail for $1.68 each (they are 10 for $1 at Henry’s at home!). Chicken breasts are $16- $20/kg on average, although I did purchase it once on special for $12.99/kg. I miss Costco’s chicken breast for $2.99/pound.

I went to Target our second week to check out the prices. I absolutely adore Target back home. Not so much here. First off, Sydney Target is tiny! I am use to the multi level big beautiful Target in Mission Valley or at the very least, the lovely Target in Clairemont where my girls and I spent many glorious hours. A $40 microwave back home is over $100 here. My John Frieda Brilliant Brunette (retails $5.80 at Ulta) is $15.99 at Target.

Cells phones (otherwise called mobiles here) are very different as well. In the US you pay for a plan that includes x amount of minutes, generally with nights/weekends and mobile-mobile free. Here, you pay for a plan that include x amount of dollars towards calls. You pay a “flag charge” of $0.25- $0.40 for each initial call made. Then each 30 seconds costs $0.25- $0.40 cents. There are no nights/weekends free and I only have the first 5 minutes free when calling Ron since we are on the same account. Sounds a bit confusing, right? Good thing I don’t really have any friends in Sydney yet so I don’t go over my allotted plan.


I have found a few bargain places to shop. Paddy’s market is a great place for fresh produce and sometimes they allow you to bargain. They are open Thurs-Sunday in Haymarket (Chinatown). You can find bananas for $2/kg instead of $3.50/kg at the supermarkets. They also have a lot of souvenirs so it is a great place for tourists to go. Fantastic! is a discount furniture store. We purchased an entire living/dining set and bedroom set there for a reasonable amount. It is IKEA style so Ron will be assembling all the furniture when they deliver it on Saturday. (Good luck, Ron!).

Coffee here is fantastic! It is the same price for black coffee, cappuccino and lattes. Why would anyone get a tall black when you can get a cap for the same price? The only thing is that the coffees here are small! The medium is a “tall” and the large is smaller than a “grande” at Starbucks. BUT the coffee here is much better. So much so that they are closing 61 Starbucks here in Australia.

I won’t even get into the renting market in this blog post. It deserves it’s own post.

Day 1 in Sydney

Our plane landed in Sydney at 8:30AM Monday, July 7th, 2008. Since we were situated nicely in business class, we were one of the first to step out onto Australian soil. We breezed through immigration and all 6 of our bags came out onto the revolving carousel one after the other. We were pleasantly surprised by how easy everything was... until we got to customs. The line for customs wrapped around the building and we had to weave and bob our way through groups of unorganized and loud kids. Finally, we made it to the front of the line where Ron declared that we had 2 wooden spoons somewhere in our luggage. We thought it best to declare it in case they decided to search through all 6 of our tightly packed bags. Keep in mind, we are here for 3 years. We brought a lot of stuff.

Our driver picked us up and thank god we did not have to rent a car and drive! Not only are there only 2 lanes each way, they are super narrow. Of course, they also drive on the left side of the road. We thought San Diego driver were bad, we were wrong. They tailgate, honk their horns and almost run people over (this is only our experience so far within the City of Sydney. I cannot comment about drivers in other parts of Australia).

I was in a daze our entire first day in Sydney, at least according to Ron. I was lost and dumbfounded. I had no idea how to get back to our hotel and I was shocked by the prices here (even though we were warned. I will dedicate a whole post to this topic!). KPMG placed us in temporary housing for our first 2 weeks. We are staying at the York Apartments right in the heart of the city and 5 minutes from Ron's work.

We went to Paul and Lili's for dinner that night. It was my first time meeting them and I was slightly nervous. Turns out, I had nothing to worry about! They are incredibly nice and easy going (reminds me a little bit of Tina and Kevin). Their apartment is right on the harbor, next to the Sydney Opera House with a view of the Bridge. Our blog photo was taken on their balcony.

LAX

Saturday July 5th, 2008
LAX

We arrive at the airport hours ahead of our flight. Although we were standing in line at Quantas with our 3 REI XXL duffle bags and 2 huge boxes, it did not feel as if we were leaving our home and moving to another continent. All of our belongings were packed away in these bags and we hoped they would all be there when we got off the plane in Sydney. We learned that our flight was delayed another hour until 1AM for departure and that our flight was over booked by 20 people. Our chances of having 3 seats to ourselves seemed slim. The next step was saying bye to Ron’s parents, Tina and Kevin (also my new Mom and Dad). They walked us up to the security line and we hugged and kissed. I had to turn away before I saw Tina’s face and started to cry myself.

Ron and I settled in for our 6 hour wait. We sat down at a Starbucks and began opening our going away gifts from Corrie and Lauren as we sipped our over priced airport iced vanilla lattes. The bulging card was the first thing we opened, I was curious why it needed to be taped shut. Lauren gave us magnets of different places in San Diego for us to remember our home by. If I ever get home sick, all I need to do is look at our fridge. If I ever miss Lauren, I’ll just open the fridge and eat a TimTam. ☺ She also named Ron and myself the keeper of the original Twilight, which I will return to her when she comes to visit. (Team Jacob!) Earlier in the day, the girls had driven up to Oceanside and we had our last girly nail day together. Lauren had given me a photo album filled with memories of the 3 of us from our first week in college together. The other package was from Corrie. She made me a Goodbye book filled with her favorite memories of our friendship and of me. It made me laugh and cry at the same time.

We were one of the last people to board the plane. Our seats were the second row after First and Business class. When I got to the front, my ticket was rejected! Apparently, they re-sold our tickets due to some system error and were not sure if Ron and I could sit together. We were clearly upset and almost made a comment when they came back with an upgrade to Business class. We settled into our 75 degree reclining chairs and toasted our new future with complimentary champagne. What should have been one of the worse flights ever turned into the best. Did I mention that it is World Youth Day 2008 in Sydney and that our flight was filled with hundreds of 10-12 year olds? Sitting in economy with all those kids would have been a complete nightmare. Instead, we changed into our fresh Quantas socks, reclined our seats, ate chicken laska for dinner, drank wine and fell asleep.