First Saturday in Sydney
It's pretty ironic for me to go all the way to the city and not find a single cybercafe or wifi hotspot and to come back, walking from Macquarie Centre along Talavera Road to find an open network - on a lark, sitting at a bus stop. In front of my temporary office, no doubt.
It was a quest, indeed, getting there in the first place. I sat at the bus stop outside Macquarie Garden for an hour at 12, waiting in vain for Bus no. 292. So I walked down to the nearby KFC to have lunch and only started off at 2.30pm, finally getting the bus I needed and getting the bus driver to break 50 dollars for change.
I had no idea where to get off and just followed the majority of passengers get off the bus - to find myself at Queen Victoria building. A nice steampunk-ish building but entirely too commercialised.
I didn't fully realise the extent to which Asians populate Sydney - something that my colleague once mentioned - and could identify Chinese, Korean and Japanese. It was bewildering at first, but grabbing a map from QVB proved to be important. And despite the fact that I was carrying a map (or maybe because I was), I got stopped for directions by four different people. Guess they must think I'm local.
I walked down to Darling Harbour, and went past King Street Wharf (which wasn't as inviting as the pictures in the guide that I'd later see). Then I walked up to The Rocks, which was rather too polished and refined to be the charming little old place it could've been. From there it was Circular Quay, where I had a magnicfient view of Harbour Bridge and the Opera House and it's wide steps and pavilion. By the time I'd done all that I was pretty tired and sat down at a Starbucks, which to my relief had iced venti hazelnut mochas.
All in all it's been a good day of sightseeing. I know I haven't seen the half of it yet but I already love the citiness of Sydney. The well made pavements, sharp buildings all around, the urbanity of it all. Tomorrow I'll definitely be out again - targets being Sydney Tower, Paddy's Market, Sydney Fish Market and whatever else I get to see along the way.
It was a quest, indeed, getting there in the first place. I sat at the bus stop outside Macquarie Garden for an hour at 12, waiting in vain for Bus no. 292. So I walked down to the nearby KFC to have lunch and only started off at 2.30pm, finally getting the bus I needed and getting the bus driver to break 50 dollars for change.
I had no idea where to get off and just followed the majority of passengers get off the bus - to find myself at Queen Victoria building. A nice steampunk-ish building but entirely too commercialised.
I didn't fully realise the extent to which Asians populate Sydney - something that my colleague once mentioned - and could identify Chinese, Korean and Japanese. It was bewildering at first, but grabbing a map from QVB proved to be important. And despite the fact that I was carrying a map (or maybe because I was), I got stopped for directions by four different people. Guess they must think I'm local.
I walked down to Darling Harbour, and went past King Street Wharf (which wasn't as inviting as the pictures in the guide that I'd later see). Then I walked up to The Rocks, which was rather too polished and refined to be the charming little old place it could've been. From there it was Circular Quay, where I had a magnicfient view of Harbour Bridge and the Opera House and it's wide steps and pavilion. By the time I'd done all that I was pretty tired and sat down at a Starbucks, which to my relief had iced venti hazelnut mochas.
All in all it's been a good day of sightseeing. I know I haven't seen the half of it yet but I already love the citiness of Sydney. The well made pavements, sharp buildings all around, the urbanity of it all. Tomorrow I'll definitely be out again - targets being Sydney Tower, Paddy's Market, Sydney Fish Market and whatever else I get to see along the way.