Off to Australia. Did you know that the term 'Australia' may have been coined by the Romans who referred to it as Terra Australis Incognita (an 'unknown land of the South?') Now this is primarily a business trip so I am trying to make most of the weekends I get. This is my first trip in which my bag does not contain a morsel of food from India despite the incessant, loving coercion to take some from my mother. I figured, lets be adventurous with my food for once. Even vegetarians can have fun when it comes to food.
The trip from Hyderabad to Sydney was uneventful. Arriving into Sydney on Monday night, at customs, I was asked if I have in my food in my bag. Confidently, I said no. Perhaps knowing Indians too well, the officer went, 'Are you sure you have no sweets in your bag Sir?' I said 'no.' Now in Australia, when you arrive from an international destination, all bags are then sniffed by dogs (not sure if for foreign plant and food material or weapons or both). At that point in time I suddenly remembered that last minute my mom had put in a box of badam barfi in my bag. Darn! The dogs came but didn't catch it and walked past.
I am staying at the Oaks Goldsbrough apartments. My company has an apartment there booked for those to visit. The location is excellent (15mins walk from office and the harbour) and my room has an excellent view of the city landscape. Apart from that, the room's terrible. I wouldn't stay here if I were on a vacation (or on business for that matter).
Now here's the amazing thing about Sydney, almost everything shuts at 5:00pm. Now that's living! To me this is super impressive. At a time when even Europe is expanding it's business hours, Australians still like to down the shutters early and live life to the full. As a visitor on work, it of course gets difficult, but if I was a native, I think it's awesome. However, strangely enough, all shops are open till 9;00pm on Thursday. Why? Because they need to stock up as they travel over the weekend...nice!
I spent Tuesday evening at office so nothing to report there. Wednesday evening took a walk around the harbour and came upon this amazing eatery called 'Pancakes on the Rocks.' Their menu is a delight. I started the meal with sliced grilled eggplant with sundried tomato, zucchini, spanish onion, mushrooms and mozzarella cheese, topped with fresh rosemary and ended the meal with crepes filled with cream cheese and sultanas, served with rasberry coulis and vanilla ice cream. The eggplant was great, I didn't like the cream cheese in the crepes but loved the sultanas with the rasberry coulis.
Wednesday, Thursday at office.
Friday, I booked tickets for the Sydney Opera to watch a musical ballet called 'British Liaisons.' The reason I chose this because it was the only event playing in the main Opera Theatre. The opera house has many theatres so be careful when booking and book something in the main (and most famous) theatre. To begin with, the Sydney Opera House does not disappoint. I would definitely agree that it's one of the most impressive modern architecture buildings I have seen.
The 'British Liaisons' was a 3 part ballet. Also, my first ballet. Part 1 and by far the best was 'Checkmate.' The storyline is intriguing, it's a game of chess being played between love and death and the ballet consists of the pieces on the chess board. I liked this the best because the ballet was pretty intense and action oriented from duels between the pieces (each a human character) to the choice of love or country. Checkmate is widely regarded as de Valois' signature ballet and a cornerstone of the British ballet repertoire, being performed regularly by the Royal Ballet and Birmingham Royal Ballet.
I wasn't awed by the second and third part (all too slow). The second part was 'After the Rain,' an unspoken love affair and the third part was 'Concerto,' a modern classic.
After the concert, I went down to the Opera Kitchen (an open air restaurant). This restaurant has by far one of the best views in Sydney. I sat right next to the water, the Opera house on my right, the Sydney Harbour bridge to my left and the Sydney skyline north. This restaurant makes for a fantastic, quiet evening. You can just there devoting time to your thoughts. I ordered a vegetarian burger (called the 'Producer's Burger). I so wish I had jotted down the contents to share. The burger was excellent.
Saturday, I took a ferry that gives you a tour around Sydney harbour and then takes you to Taronga Zoo Tip: Take the 'Zoo Express' ticket which includes return ferry and zoo entrance and save AUD $20. I was real lucky as on the way to the zoo, our boat saw the season's first ever dolphins....4 of them! Even more lucky to be able to capture them on my amazing Google Nexus S (courtesy of Google). I have uploaded the video on YouTube (where else?). My first ever video upload! Click here to view.
Taronga zoo...the highlights being the Koalas (ooohhh so cute and fuzzy)...the Koalas were sleeping all curled up like a little fur ball. They actually sleep for 20hrs a day (waste of life if you ask me). The Kangaroo enclosure was great. You actually walk the path and the Kangaroos are hopping away freely without any fencing. They actually hop right next to you and jump around on the same path on which you walk! The same enclosure has emus, wallabies and other native Australian species (ducks and such) all roaming freely around you and it's fun to see how these animals interact with each other. It was a very unique experience. I saw a Kangaroo jumping around and a Kangaroo cleaning itself up with it's legs...very human actually, it was brushing it's teeth, combing it's hair...all captured on video: Kangaroo Hopping Video and Kangaroo Lazing Around.
I took the ferry back and for the evening I walked over to 'The Rocks.' The area is famous for it's roadside cafes coupled along with historic pubs and hotels. A very happening street. In fact, all streets are under surveillance for maximum tourist safety. I first went over to the Guylian Belgian Chocolate Cafe. Sitting outside in the cold, warmed by a fire lamp post, I had Belgian Waffles served with Guylian praline ice cream with seasonal fruit (strawberry, kiwi and the third was peach I think) & Guylian chocolate dip (African 70% chocolate). Needless to say, the dish was fabulous. Need to come back here again.
I then walked down the street to reach Sydney harbour bridge before heading back to the 'Fortune of War' which is the oldest pub in Sydney. Set up in 1828, I sat on the same table on which the likes of Sir Don Bradmund and Sir Edmund Hillary once sat. The pub has an amazing history...revolutionary armies have had their secret meetings here to famous ship crew stopping by for a drink. The best part is that throughout the pub, the walls are decked with the history of the pub and a bio of its visitors. As detailed as the names and particulars of the names of the crew members who sipped a drink there with details of the ships.
Saturday night also had a dark side. Back at home, at around 9:00pm, my work colleague and I headed for dinner at the nearby mall. As I went to get my food and he went the other way, three guys tried to provoke him with nasty comments. This went on for a good 10mins before they broke off. This at 9:00pm in a crowded mall. The same night, at around 3:30am, our room suddenly had knocking with shouting around 'let me in.' After a few seconds the person walked off. Probably a drunk but two incidents in one night makes you cautious. For example, in the first week, I usually stay back in office and walk back home at around 9-9:30pm. I know I won't be doing that again and have now enabled Google Latitude on my phone.
Sunday, I caught a two hour train to a town called Katoomba to see the Blue Mountains, a UNESCO world heritage site. Katoomba, is a quaint little (population of 7,000, the street where I work has more people), Australian town with friendly people. Just like you see in the movies. Blue Mountains is a pretty place famous for trekking, hiking etc. The highlight was the Three Sisters a unique rock formation. The commonly told legend of the Three Sisters is that three sisters (Meehni', 'Wimlah' and Gunnedoo' lived in the Jamison Valley as members of the Katoomba tribe) they fell in love with three men from a neighbouring tribe (Nepean tribe), but marriage was forbidden by tribal law.The brothers were not happy to accept this law and so decided to use force to capture the three sisters causing a major tribal battle. Battle ensued, and the sisters were turned to stone by an elder to protect them, but the elder was killed in the fighting and no one else could turn them back. I missed visiting the Katoomba waterfalls but that's all right (just a heads up that you must go there if you visit).
Took the train back home to end a pretty good first week in Australia. Stay tuned for more...
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