Farewell to Sydney

Prior to my trip, everyone but me was getting excited about the fact that I was going to Sydney, Australia! I was completely immune.... maybe as a result of the work, or actually even because of the fact that it was Australia, and therefore, a bigger deal than travelling to, say, the US for work. When I landed in Sydney, ironically, the first thing that struck me about the place was the peace and quiet. I immediately put that down to being in airports and crowded flights for a little too long! But that impression carried throughout the duration of my trip. It's not like there isn't any activity, in fact, there is quite a bit of hustle-bustle on the streets. In fact, on a Friday night, it feels like the entire city is out of hibernation! But inspite of that, there is a no constant background noise that you can hear, even if you are standing in middle of the business area at the busiest hour.

The other thing about Sydney is that it has a little bit of everything. The city has a mix of touristy things/places, old buildings which have a very old-world feel to them, as well as new buildings and skyscrapers. The entire city is very charming -- the buildings, cobbled streets, a sudden burst of flowers on a gray road, couples of all ages walking hand-in-hand (and really, all ages! not just young couples).

About the Opera House... My first reaction to it was that it was over-rated and completely over hyped! However, I think it grows on you.. The more you see it and that too from different sides, the more you start to like it. I think the angularity adds to the overall appeal. The most beautiful that I've seen the opera house though, is at night. The white of the structure reflects against the darkness of the night, giving it an ethereal glow. Dim lights strategically placed on the structure just adds to the beauty!

Overall, I really enjoyed my time in Sydney... and now, it's time to bid adieu!

Last Night in Sydney

End of week 3 and my last night in Sydney was here. We'd had a presentation with the client earlier in the day, which went off pretty well, so all the sleepless nights of the week became kinda insignificant. As a celebratory cum farewell dinner, the client and our team went out... and it turned out to be a complete girls' night out!

We went to this place called Cafe Sydney - one of the newer and apparently very popular places in Sydney. You apparently have to book quite a few days in advance. The restaurant is located on the 4th floor of the Sydney Customs House and is a perfect blend of old meets new. The Customs House - a building made in the 1800s - has been redone from the inside and has a public library. The interiors are very intriguing and include lights created out of newspapers!
What is most striking though, is a glass floor beneath which lies a miniature model of the city of Sydney. The floor is also strategically lit up at places so that you feel like you're walking over the city skyline! So, you can stand on top of the Opera House or walk over the Harbour Bridge!!

On to the restaurant itself, Cafe Sydney is on the rooftop of the Customs House with a fantastic view of the city! Sitting on the terrace you have a wonderful view of the water, the city skyline all lit up, lights reflecting on the water, trains and cars passing parallel to each other, minus the accompanying sounds! And then there is the Opera House, and its white light reflecting against a dark sky and the well-lit harbour bridge on the other side.

The evening ended with a total binging on some 4 types of desserts: a three-layered trifle, apple and rhubarb pie, lemon custard tart and a to-die-for chocolate brownie with hot fudge... A perfect way to end a long and stressful week, and a wonderful last night!!

On Aamir Khan's Trail!...

Appearance of the Sun and Zoo Visit!

I probably saw more of Sydney in the 1st 2 days of being here than what I saw in the past 2 weeks! From Day 3 of my being here, it started to rain INCESSANTLY!! So the last 3 winters, Sydney experienced drought. The ONE winter that I come here, it has rained so much that the water levels in the dams have risen to unmanageable levels!

But this Saturday, it finally stopped raining and lo and behold! the difficult customer - Mr. Sun - was out shining brightly!

Taking total advantage, planned a full and packed day of sightseeing, first stop being the Taronga Zoo. Now, I am not a big animals person (not unless you count my general love for a friend's dog or some animals that I generally 'like'!), but looking at the promotions, specially the ones of the Kangaroos and Koalas, I was pretty excited!

Took a ferry to the zoo which went around the Opera house (you guessed it! -- everything touristy in Sydney is around the Opera House area!)... It was a lovely day and a lovely ride! Clear, blue sky with just a spattering of clouds, deep blue water, sail boats out on the water... felt like you were in a postcard!

The zoo itself is made on a hill, you enter from the top and then come downhill for each level. To enter, you either take a bus or the cable car.

As soon as I stepped down from the cable car, saw the Koalas enclosure... there were some 4 or 5 but they were so well camouflaged with the color of the trees that it was a blink-and you'll miss them type of a situation! The cutest part was this one Koala was sitting upright on a tree and sleeping! (As the zoo attendant informed us, Koalas actually sleep for 20 hours!)

Next significant stop - The Kangaroo Enclosure! They were much smaller than I expected them to be... Also got lucky and saw a Joey first hanging out and then ducking into its mother pouch! The mother, poor thing, seemed very uncomfortable walking around with the roo's legs hanging out of her stomach!

What was probably the highlight for me was the Giraffe and Zebra enclosure -- 4 Giraffes and 2 Zebras. The Giraffe is an extremely elegant animal... the way it moves, stretches itself... all very graceful. What really caught my fancy was that in all 4 Giraffes I saw, the spots were unbelievably symmetrical and even. There were no jagged lines or any such thing!

Headed next to the section where the lions and tigers were... There were two tigers there - one sleeping on a ledge, the other was at the back of the enclosure. Spent some time standing there, and gradually the number of people who came there also grew, each one willing the tiger to come forward. Almost on cue, the mighty beast decided to walk ahead, and did a full circle of the area. He even stopped at various points in front of the various people, and posed for the camera. He was a complete total show off! -- He was the center of attention, he knew it, and he was loving every minute of it!
The most amazing part though was that he made eye contact several times... a full, intent gaze that met you straight in the eye! Though it was very intense, to me the look said 'I spot lunch'!

Moved on from there to the other parts of the zoo -- saw Wombats, Meerkats, Fennec Fox, Mountain goats (!), and some very hungry red pandas! Also saw a gorilla and a chimp but they weren't really in a very 'social' mood, and kept themselves inside this 'isolation' cell of sorts. As the signage outside that cell indicated, they liked to withdraw from the rest of the clan from time to time, and that's why an isolation cell had been provided.

All in all, Taronga Zoo was a lot of fun and definitely worth the while!

P.S.: Pictures coming up soon!

Exploring Sydney 'Night' Life

This was probably one of the more interesting moments I've had in Sydney, when a big 'a-ha!' moment happened!

My first day in Sydney -- 11th of June -- was a public holiday here - The Queen's b'day. I (and two of my colleagues) decided to get on Sydney Explorer - this bus that takes you to all the key sights of Sydney with a hop-in, hop-off at any stop type of facility. After some 4 stops we had realized that the distance between two consecutive stops wasn't too much.

One of the stops that I was very keen on going was the Hard Rock Cafe, so we went there, and spent some time. By the time we got out, it was almost lunch time, and we thought of grabbing a quick bite to eat before catching the bus. Faithful tourists that we were, we decided to consult the map to see what the next/closest stop of the the bus would be so that we could eat and reach the place accordingly. The next stop was at this place called Kings Cross, which was about a 10 minute walk from the Hard Rock Cafe.... the description of Kings Cross given in Sydney Explorer guide: Restaurants, cafes, nightclubs and weekend markets.

Restaurants and cafes to hungry stomachs, nightclubs to future trips to see nightlife and weekend markets for potential shopping expeditions -- Kings Cross seemed like a total winner!

So, we decided to walk down to Kings Cross, eat there and then catch the bus from there....

It turned out to be very interesting..... this street with um.. erotic clubs and 'restaurants' on both sides... the cafes (if you can call them that!) turned out to be these really dingy looking places...

The people walking on the street were even more interesting... the maximum clothes I saw a woman wearing were fishnet stockings and a coat that just about covered her butt!

Not quite the place for lunch that I had imagined!

We walked on, and somehow reached another street where suddenly, the landscape completely turned to commerical buildings, offices, etc.

When we finally made it back to the bus, the bus driver -- this very chatty local -- informed us that Kings Cross was actually the red light area of Sydney!

Drinks, dinner, and some aussie-isms!

Celebrated Saturday night in style! My client and her husband took us folks out for drinks and dinner...



Drinks were at this bar called 'The Blu Horizon' located at the 36th level of the Shangri-la hotel. Magnificent views of the entire city lights, especially the Opera house and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. (Disclaimer: the picture given in the link doesn't justify the view by ANY means!)

After a round of drinks spent in comparing who was more straight talking and could therefore ask more embarrassing questions -- The Aussies or the Indians! -- we went for dinner to this suburb just off the Harbour Bridge called Balmain. So, in the process, also got to ride over the Harbour Bridge! The restaurant -- Balmain Bug.

The ambience was excellent, the food... well, it LOOKED rather good. Yours truly, the lone vegetarian, had to choose between 'Fried Semolina Dumplings, With a Lentil & Bean Cassoulet and a roquette' and 'Sweet Potato, Mixed Mushrooms & Baby Spinach'. (no, i don't remember the names... just happen to have a copy of the menu with me!)

Opted for the former, and it basically turned out to be this Suji ka tikki with baked beans on top!

BUT, the best part of the evening... some euphemisms that our client told us about!

Aussie Speak: "Pineapple"
What it means?: "50 dollar note"!
Why?: Because a 50 Aussie dollar note is the colour of a pineapple!

Aussie Speak: "Pavarotti"
What it means?: "Ten dollar note"!
Why?: Because ten dollars is called tenner.. heard as 'tenor', and therefore, the man himself!

Aussie Speak: "Woke up at the sparrows"
What it means?: "Woke up really early"!
Why?: Because the poor bird is associated with early bird here!

And this one, I could make no sense of!:

Aussie Speak: "You are my China"
What it means?: "You are my mate"
Why?: Something to do with mate rhymes with plate, and plates are made of bone china... therefore, China!

Phew!!!

Cheers may-te!

This post was actually supposed to get online a little more than a week back when yours truly landed in Sydney! And I actually even typed out the different heads that I wanted to post about, but have been able to get around to doing it only now!

So here goes.. first in the series!

Landed in Sydney on the 10th after a hellish pre-journey experience that almost made me not come. and this time it had nothing to do with airlines or emigration rules or anything of the sort! Delhi's sweltering 49 degrees on Saturday combined with a colleague's farewell dinner on Friday night ensured that I came down with a severe attack of food poisoning! thank god for strong antibiotics that within 4 hours of consumption got me into enough of a shape to make it to the airport, clear all the formalities and then crash out in the plane!

About the journey itself... flew Thai airways for the first time. now, what I find hilarious about almost all airlines is the way they promote their economy class. Due to lack of anything else, the highlight for the class happens to be the superior range of in-class entertainment! of course, what makes the experience even more superior is that you don't even have a personal entertainment set on your seat in most airlines!!

Anyway, Thai did all of that too! what is also a little annoying is that the baggage limit is only 20 kgs. but have to say, their seats are quite comfortable, given that it is economy and all! there is a quite a bit of leg room as well. can't say anything about the food yet... was still too sick to eat, so am saving that experience for the way back!

So all in all, not a bad experience at all! and here I am in the land down under!