Captain Cook, Ivy Events, Convention Center

Being a waitress. Even if I always fancy to work in a bar or be a waitress to practice english and get to know foreign friends. It's not occurred to me until I'm so worried about not getting next job after Peter's warehouse ended, so I brave myself to invest NSW RSA first and certainly it's partly because Max so confident telling me that he can give me a job right next week if I provided the certificate in time. I took the whim and Max did give me two positions: convention center and captain cook. I just didn't realize I need to invest more to harvest. The outfit cost me 8(tie)+15(white shirt in Paddy's market)+25(pant in paddy's market)+60(shoes!!)+5(black shirt)=113AUD. Half the money on shoe for I'm so afraid of painful feet.

 

20121206 to Hunter Valley

Lannie, Mebo & her BF 阿砷 are the tenants in Mike's sharehouse for two wks and they used to work in the chicken factory for a while. The couple is planning to travel around Sydney before they went back to HK. This day I don't get to work so I'm lucky to have one seat in 阿砷's car and join their journey to Hunter Valley. It's my first time to the wine taste tour and first time to a vineyard and Hunter Valley is a bit famous for their own breweries. I estimated that there're over dozens of vineyards in or around Hunter Valley and we went to around 6 or 7 breweries for wine taste. White, Red, sweet, dry, moscato(white, red, pink), Shiraz, Chardonnay, Cabernet...etc. It is fun and I'm glad to be with mebo because she did buy a few bottles. I won't feel sorry for tasting so many. Michael is working so it's no way that he can join us. such a shame.

20121224 Christmas Dinner with French & Polish

It is a Christmas that happens in summer time and my first time to really spend a western holiday in country outside of Taiwan and feel the authentic value of westerners toward this holiday. It is also the start of Ausralian summer break that last 2weeks to as long as 6 weeks for schools and factories alike. From this quite long break, I realize the leisure and laid-back lifestyle aussie live in. It is Ana who volunteerd to reunite everyone for Christmas BBQ near beach but it ends up a picnic pot luck in Bondi beach. I'm also invited over to Constance' s sharehouse in Koogara, also potluck, with Stephanie and Quentin. I didn't assume these two events will schedule the same day but they are after all. What I prepare for the estimated 15-20 friends of two events are rice balls (easy to carry and dine on the beach) and banana cake (my first time and also for its easy-to-transport matter of fact, and of course, for the palatable and satisfactory texture. 

I just made my mind one day before the party and couldn't sleep really sound for thinking what to buy and how to do. Rice ball also called Arancini and the dish is from Italy and it is rice ball with whatever fillings you like while the authentic one is with meat, mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. It turns out that what I thought as a simple and quick preparation is really a time-consuming task. We (with Michael) didn't finish this Arancini until 5:00pm before starting with banana cake, which took us just 1.5 hrs.

By the time we arrived Koogara it's already 9:00pm and I have the sense of impoliteness of being late when I see the formal, though congenial, setting by the Polish couple (house owner) in their lovly and snug back veranda. It's a sudden grasp to me that the Christmas to them is what Chinese New year means to Chinese and they're no less serious than we do for this important family time. 

It keeps rainly through the night and it's no way we can make it to Bondi beach because of the implication of the rudeness again to Polish and my french friends. It's also a hard to come by chance to have such real Christmas dinner with people believe in Jesus. The Polish are pious Christians and they don't enjoy meat (fish or sorts seafood doesn't count) before they join a Mass at 00:00 in Church and it's the unique tradition only for Polish.

I have a good time and savor lots of food that I rarely want to buy in Australia due to the price.  

 

20121230-20130101 Counting Down to NEW YEAR

The spectacular Sydney yearly firework show is on the top of the to-do list for no matter backpackers or tourists alike and it was what subsists me to stay in Sydney from the first day in Australia till now; although somehow the wish is worn out by a long period of jobless downtime (jobless or job less before Christmas holidays!!)

That's why when Max offers me the work on Captain Cook from 6:00pm till 1:30am on the exactly date of 31/12 I'm so overwhelmed by joy (partly because the pay doubles up to 43ADU/hr) and loss (because I can't watch the show with Michael and my lovely friends). I even conduct a survey to know if most people choose to just enjoy the moment without worrying about job and money and it appears to me that most people tend to just take one day off for the atmosphere and party, except My mom and Grace, who believe it's a win win to earn the money while have the rare chance to be on boat for the fireworks, which means you have the unobstructed view to it from the river. I make a international call to mom and she told me without thinking that it's a no-brainer easy choice.

To compensate my loss for being absence from the joy with whom I knew during the count down, I go for the field trip to the well known spot "Royal Botanic Garden" the day before (30/12), where Taiwanese already camp from afternoon. Grace, her roommates and so many other Taiwanese all determind to spend their night there to be in the front row entering the garden for a better spot the next day at 10:00am.

31/12, I decided to go with Michael early in the morning to St James, where we spend nearly 2hrs before the line starts to move into the entrance and it took us another 1.5hrs to really get to the garden to find a place to settle down to wait up till midnight. Mountains of people flock in the garden and it is said that maximum 17,000 is allowed.

The front row just beside the river is no doubt the perfect location to see the fireworks, where the seats, decorated in Australian flag, are lined up for ticket holders and the ticket can cost as high as 750AUD/person and it's available long before 6 months ahead of the event. I couldn't help wishing to bring my family to here for the grand fireworks.

While the garden is the most famous spot to watch the show, there're still several locations suitable for it, thanks to the natural geographical harbour topographies. For people afraid of dull overnight camping and overcrowded places, a few spots are also good to be: Blue point (beach side, no shelter from sun), Cremorne Point, Luna Park...etc.

The fireworks are fantanstic and it's totally worth it from the boat and it amazes me how the fireworks being planned: 180 degree availabilities --> totally utilize the advantage of the topography of Sydney harbour and its waterway. I didn't share the joy with who closes to me but it is an unforgetable experience and I'm so appreicated for the chance to work on boat at the very moment.

Botanic Garden - overnight lining up to get in

Paid VIP seats for fireworks - Harbourlights & Oasis

Circular Quay (Constance) - party on the lawn

The Rocks (Ana)

Blue Point (Davy)

Cremorne Point (Karen)

Party on Boat - Taiwan 400 AUD, Captain Cook 400~500~more

Captain Cook - Sydney Crystal in Pier 26 me working on boat with 80 guests, paid in 42.44AUD per hour (double pay)

20130102 to Featherdale Zoo in Black Town

It's a smaller zoo than Taronga zoo but you can have close interaction with the animals there. We're kinda snuck into the zoo because when the time we were in the entrance there's no guard whatsoever to check our tickets so we entered there for free!! The most exciting and first ever touch Koalas!!! Michael is so happy and we're just like kids and we keep lining up again and again to touch and photo with different on show koalas. Their fur is soft and they smell good!! And I have no idea why they're so tame, docile and not afraid of human.  I also like kookaburra and wambat, the two distinct animals that only can be seen in Australian zoo. They seem harmless and also obedient. The zoo is worth visiting if you've never been to any  other similar kinda here.

(By the way, the mall near black town station is quite big and could walk around.)

20130107-08 Ann came to Sydney - La Perouse / Bare Island, the secret place of mission impossible

Ann took 2 weeks off for vacations to Brisbane and Sydney. She came to Sydney from 1/5 to 1/11 and we meet first time at 1/7 in QVB drinking coffee when she introduced me Kevin - her previous ARRIS team leader 2.5years ago in ASUS age. Kevin is half ABC for his study in Australia from his teen, from junior or senior high to college so he has quite natural, generous and easy attitude when we're talking. I think Ann is so lucky to have Kevin to provide free accommodation in his really big house and the luckiest thing is to have him drive her around to some unheard places in Sydney and also save her sour legs from long hours of walking as we all familiar with backpackers' inevitable long long hours of walking. It's my first time to hear one shoting scene of mission impossible II is just near Sydney airport - La Perouse / Bare Island http://www.aromanticspot.com/location/oceania/sydney/bare-island/comment-page-1/

It looks indeed magnificent and worth going than bondi beach..haha..my personal opinion. This place is definitely not written nor a recommended place in a tour guide book. A private heaven!!

20130106 to Port Stephens

I've been in Sydney for 4 months long and finally decided to visit port stephens at this sunny Sunday. We booked the seats of the bus to port stephens from Dragon Tour and it costs only 20AUD/person and you  have four activities to choose 1. Reptile Zoo 25AUD, 2. Winte Taste (Murray's Brewery, nice one, with restaurant) 5AUD for servicing 3. Sandboarding 26AUD one hour 4. Dolphin Watch+lunch 45AUD. We chose to only go for the Dolphin boat cuz the total cost is expensive to us 126AU/person and it's a better option because we spend only 20AUD/person for return bus, although the drive/tour guide must profit from the activities you participate, you still have free will to choose from. The disadvantage of the tour is that you don't really have much time to look around the port, beaches and the places around it and our choice do give us more time than the rest tour member to enjoy the surroundings. We even have time to make fun of the camels when the rest go to ride the sand. As for dolphins, we saw them from a very far distance from boat, a shame, but I learned that the dolphins are actually a social mammals in nature, it's not rare for dolphins to choose to swim close to boats. In all, port stephen is definitely a worth going place in north Sydney and I'd like to visit Central Coast if any chance.