Am in Sydney
This week I'm in Sydney. It's the longest time I've ever spent in Sydney, and I'll be coming back here a couple more times this month.
Surprisingly good coffee. Why am I surprised? Don't know. But as in Melbourne, the very best baristas are often New Zealanders.
I have a big apartment hotel room, with a laundry and a giant bath and a TV with a wonky aspect ratio that I can't figure out how to fix. On Monday I watched the Biggest Loser finale, which was slightly more ridiculous than usual because all the people are squished down to look shorter and fatter than usual. So the startling transformations were all slightly dumpy and hilarious. I still cried, though, because I'm a sucker like that.
Ways Sydney CBD is different from Melbourne:
UGG BOOT STORES everywhere. I suspect there is an Ugg Boot tax, and every visitor to Sydney is required to buy at least one pair of Ugg Boots. I see no evidence that locals are wearing them.
Horn-tooting during rush hour. What's up with that? You don't get there any faster by tooting.
Randomly wandering around streets and laneways does not inevitably lead to the discovery of a cute/cool/funky cafe, bar or restaurant. Instead, eateries are clustered together, so you have to fiind a cafe or restaurant area, and then the choices are many. (Tonight's destination: Darling Harbour, where I saw a lovely place called Chinta Ria, with a giant Buddha in the middle, and fairy lights in the trees of the outdoor area.)
Lack of visible tattoos. I have become used to seeing tattoos on a significant minority of people in business and retail. Still not the majority, but enough so that my visible tattoos don't stand out as anything particularly freaky. No-one has commented on my tattoos, but I still feel a little bit freaky.
Surprisingly good coffee. Why am I surprised? Don't know. But as in Melbourne, the very best baristas are often New Zealanders.
I have a big apartment hotel room, with a laundry and a giant bath and a TV with a wonky aspect ratio that I can't figure out how to fix. On Monday I watched the Biggest Loser finale, which was slightly more ridiculous than usual because all the people are squished down to look shorter and fatter than usual. So the startling transformations were all slightly dumpy and hilarious. I still cried, though, because I'm a sucker like that.
Ways Sydney CBD is different from Melbourne:
UGG BOOT STORES everywhere. I suspect there is an Ugg Boot tax, and every visitor to Sydney is required to buy at least one pair of Ugg Boots. I see no evidence that locals are wearing them.
Horn-tooting during rush hour. What's up with that? You don't get there any faster by tooting.
Randomly wandering around streets and laneways does not inevitably lead to the discovery of a cute/cool/funky cafe, bar or restaurant. Instead, eateries are clustered together, so you have to fiind a cafe or restaurant area, and then the choices are many. (Tonight's destination: Darling Harbour, where I saw a lovely place called Chinta Ria, with a giant Buddha in the middle, and fairy lights in the trees of the outdoor area.)
Lack of visible tattoos. I have become used to seeing tattoos on a significant minority of people in business and retail. Still not the majority, but enough so that my visible tattoos don't stand out as anything particularly freaky. No-one has commented on my tattoos, but I still feel a little bit freaky.