Foster's is Australian for crap!
Sydney is gorgeous! I could spend hours (days?) on Mrs. Macquarie's Chair area, looking at the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. I remember thinking how amazing Sydney Opera House looked when it was showcased at the 2000 Olympics, but seeing it in person was absolutely breathtaking.
It's winter here in Australia, but it's not nearly as cold as Boston. It's been sunny every day since we've been here, which is apparently somewhat odd. Hopefully it keeps up.
I flew out of Boston at 845am Tuesday, landed in San Francisco at about 1230pm local time. Met up with my cousin, and spent several hours just wandering around downtown SF. I got United Airlines to comp my Continental Airlines status; one perk I got was access to the lounge for this trip. It was pretty dinky! Only one complimentary alcoholic drink, and wifi wasn't free :(. The furniture was also a bit dated. To make up for it, I snagged some individually wrapped fancy cheese and crackers for the plane ride :). We took off from SF at 1045pm June 30, and landed at 645am on Thurs July 2. I didn't get a July 1st! The flight itself was about 14 hours. It was my first time ever flying United. I was able to get a free upgrade to premium economy (same amenities as regular economy, but with 5 more inches of legroom). I didn't have anyone next to me, so I had ample elbow room. But I certainly miss the business class cabin from my previous trip to Korea, along with access to lounges that have real perks!
I've met several long lost cousins/aunts/uncles that live here in Australia. My parents haven't seen some of them for years. I can understand a good bit of Vietnamese, but it is more difficult for me to speak it. My cousin James (who I'm traveling with) can speak Vietnamese better than I. But ironically, he has a noticable American accent, but when I speak the little Vietnamese that I can, I have no American accent (so they say).
Anyway, after getting off the plane and freshening up, my cousin Henry offered his services as tour guide for the city. We went on the Sydney Explorer bus, which has 27 scheduled stops, and it comes every 20 minutes. We had a pass where we could hop on and off as we pleased. We didn't stop at all 27 stops; luckily we had Henry to help filter out any "fluff" parts of the tour. We made stops at the Opera House, Circular Quay (pronounced "key" apparently), Botanical Gardens, Wooloomooloo Bay (famous Harry's meat pies!), King's Cross, Chinatown, Darling Harbour, and parts of downtown Sydney. We did quite a bit of walking as well. We went out to dinner with more family and cousins at a Thai restaurant. By then, jet lag had finally taken its toll on me, and I was ready to pass out at the table.
Needless to say, I slept quite well that evening. On Friday, my great-aunt took James and I back downtown to go to Centrepoint tower to partake in Skywalk. Unfortunately, it was closed due to high winds :(. We would have been tethered to the building and gone out on the roof in order to have a 360 degree view of the city. Sadly, we had to settle for the Observation Deck (much like Vegas's Stratosphere tower). It was a great view from the height though. We went to lunch at a restaurant called Doncaster. My great-uncle ordered us all steak. But, it was completely raw! There was an area where we could cook and marinate the steak as we pleased. It was delicious! After lunch, we went on a cruise around Sydney Harbour and Darling Harbour. For dinner, James and I were taken out to dinner by my cousin Marty and his girlfriend Sarah. We went to a restaurant called the Belgian Beer Cafe and stuffed ourselves with Belgian sausages and beer.
On saturday, we did a little window shopping at a nearby shopping center. Then my other cousin Rupert with his wife Romy took us Manly Wharf for lunch. They showed us around Manly Beach, and drove us out to North Head, which offered a spectacular view of all of Sydney. It was really calm; it was great to be shown a place that was not frequented by tourists.
Sunday, my great-aunt took us to Chinatown to go shopping. I scored some fake Burberry scarves! heeee! After a quick lunch, we flew to Adelaide on Qantas airlines. Only a two hour flight, but they managed to hold a full meal and beverage service, something American domestic airlines have forgotten!
Apparently, no one in Australia drinks Foster's beer, because it's horrible!
It's winter here in Australia, but it's not nearly as cold as Boston. It's been sunny every day since we've been here, which is apparently somewhat odd. Hopefully it keeps up.
I flew out of Boston at 845am Tuesday, landed in San Francisco at about 1230pm local time. Met up with my cousin, and spent several hours just wandering around downtown SF. I got United Airlines to comp my Continental Airlines status; one perk I got was access to the lounge for this trip. It was pretty dinky! Only one complimentary alcoholic drink, and wifi wasn't free :(. The furniture was also a bit dated. To make up for it, I snagged some individually wrapped fancy cheese and crackers for the plane ride :). We took off from SF at 1045pm June 30, and landed at 645am on Thurs July 2. I didn't get a July 1st! The flight itself was about 14 hours. It was my first time ever flying United. I was able to get a free upgrade to premium economy (same amenities as regular economy, but with 5 more inches of legroom). I didn't have anyone next to me, so I had ample elbow room. But I certainly miss the business class cabin from my previous trip to Korea, along with access to lounges that have real perks!
I've met several long lost cousins/aunts/uncles that live here in Australia. My parents haven't seen some of them for years. I can understand a good bit of Vietnamese, but it is more difficult for me to speak it. My cousin James (who I'm traveling with) can speak Vietnamese better than I. But ironically, he has a noticable American accent, but when I speak the little Vietnamese that I can, I have no American accent (so they say).
Anyway, after getting off the plane and freshening up, my cousin Henry offered his services as tour guide for the city. We went on the Sydney Explorer bus, which has 27 scheduled stops, and it comes every 20 minutes. We had a pass where we could hop on and off as we pleased. We didn't stop at all 27 stops; luckily we had Henry to help filter out any "fluff" parts of the tour. We made stops at the Opera House, Circular Quay (pronounced "key" apparently), Botanical Gardens, Wooloomooloo Bay (famous Harry's meat pies!), King's Cross, Chinatown, Darling Harbour, and parts of downtown Sydney. We did quite a bit of walking as well. We went out to dinner with more family and cousins at a Thai restaurant. By then, jet lag had finally taken its toll on me, and I was ready to pass out at the table.
Needless to say, I slept quite well that evening. On Friday, my great-aunt took James and I back downtown to go to Centrepoint tower to partake in Skywalk. Unfortunately, it was closed due to high winds :(. We would have been tethered to the building and gone out on the roof in order to have a 360 degree view of the city. Sadly, we had to settle for the Observation Deck (much like Vegas's Stratosphere tower). It was a great view from the height though. We went to lunch at a restaurant called Doncaster. My great-uncle ordered us all steak. But, it was completely raw! There was an area where we could cook and marinate the steak as we pleased. It was delicious! After lunch, we went on a cruise around Sydney Harbour and Darling Harbour. For dinner, James and I were taken out to dinner by my cousin Marty and his girlfriend Sarah. We went to a restaurant called the Belgian Beer Cafe and stuffed ourselves with Belgian sausages and beer.
On saturday, we did a little window shopping at a nearby shopping center. Then my other cousin Rupert with his wife Romy took us Manly Wharf for lunch. They showed us around Manly Beach, and drove us out to North Head, which offered a spectacular view of all of Sydney. It was really calm; it was great to be shown a place that was not frequented by tourists.
Sunday, my great-aunt took us to Chinatown to go shopping. I scored some fake Burberry scarves! heeee! After a quick lunch, we flew to Adelaide on Qantas airlines. Only a two hour flight, but they managed to hold a full meal and beverage service, something American domestic airlines have forgotten!
Apparently, no one in Australia drinks Foster's beer, because it's horrible!