Aussie friends reunited in Seattle!

I can't believe that 4 months ago I was in Australia! Memories came back as the 3 of us who were there studying together all reunited over happy hour this afternoon.  Yushi amazingly enough will be moving to Seattle at the end of this month from Wisconsin so I will be seeing much more of her this coming year and Mel will be leaving Seattle to head to the big Midwest.  It was an awesome time of catching up and laughing over happy hour at Ivars.

Ready for some HH

Reunited in Seattle

Oyster Shooters Yum!

Roasted Chicken Quesidilla

Good ole Fish & Chips

Good times!

It was not so much about the food today as it was the time spent talking and enjoying each others company.  So many things had happened since we left each other in Australia and many more changes will be happening in our lives as we graduate and start out our lives in the real world.  One thing is for certain though, we all will definitely take a trip back to Australia together at some point in our lives, but for now simple visits will do the trick!

Ivar's Salmon House

401 Northeast Northlake Way
Seattle, WA 98105
(206) 632-0767

Last days in Sydney..

It was a busy last week in Sydney with completion of my paper.  The weekend however was tons of fun.  I'll leave you all with pictures from this past week!

 

Jook Breakfast & Hillsong Service

 

Museum Time

World at my hands

Last time at Darling Harbour

 

Blue Mountains

 Spectacular Views

 

Dinner for the family

Great time!

 

This is how they do cappacino in Aus, YUM!

 

last view of Sydney from the air

 

Caught this beautiful sunrise as I fly into Honolulu

 

Departed the plane and the end of my AUS adventures

I have had an awesome 2 months in Australia and looking back now it has all gone by so fast. I've met many many people, made new friends, learned new things,  worked hard, gone through challenges, lived a different lifestyle, and have enjoyed it all! Thanks to those that followed. My posts will mostly be back now to food!

Back to Sydney!

2 days ago I headed back into the familiar town of Sydney with Yushi.  We caught the 3 hour train ride plus a ferry to Manly Beach where our preceptor picked us up and brought us to his home.  He has a flat adjacent to his house which affectionately is called the gummy flat because his 3 year old son couldn't say granny flat when he was younger.  It is a lovely place with an upstairs room with balcony and downstairs there is a kitchenette and bathroom, very quaint!

 

Train waiting/riding 3 hrs to Sydney

 Outside the gummyflat

The next morning we visited the University of Sydney for a meeting and then headed to the main even of our day, the beginning of the Chinese Lunar New Year festivities in Chinatown!  I finally got some real Chinese food and we were able to learn a lot about the province of Chongqing as this year the city of Sydney invited artists and performers to come and share their culture.  I did not know this, but Sydney has the largest Chinese New Years celebration outside of Asia and I can believe it as it is a 3 week long celebration.  We saw some amazing art work, dancing, famous change face show, food, and lion dancing. 

 

  

  

Steamed fish!

 

Shrimp & beansprout noodle with soup

 

Silk embroidery

Artist at work painting on banyan leaf

 

Lion Dance

 

Year of the Tiger!  Beautiful leaf painting

Gung Hei Fat Choi! More to come later....

Australia Day!

Sydney is an old friend and I was glad to return for the past two days to celebrate Australia Day.  January 26th the city stops to celebrate Australia's heritage.  I headed down to Sydney Harbour with Bob, Sharon, and their two grandkids to see the festivities.  It was a nice hot day and we lathered on the sunscreen, but even then still got a nice burn/tan.  Out on the harbour there were many things going on from noon till evening.  Everywhere Aussies were dressed in Australia's colors of yellow and green and had flags tucked in various places. Flags were in bags, back pockets, wrapped around shoulders, worn as tattoos etc etc, lots of Aussie pride if you didn't know.

 Flags in bags........

around the shoulders.....in hand....

We sat in the shade and walked to the water when the race took place

Many people had their picnic blankets and lawn chairs out by the harbour foreshore and we joined them in a shady spot to watch the water activities.  First up was the annual Ferrython.  There were boats of every size and shape out in the harbour loaded with people all cheering the races and from shore there were thousands of people lined near the opera house as well as on the foreshore closer to the Sydney bridge.  Four ferries dressed in bright colors and flags raced down the harbour to cheering fans.  The ferrython was followed by the Tall Ships race.  One of the ships, the Southern Swan, was one I had ridden and written about in an earlier post.  It was a sight to see, all the ships with their sails proudly out and filled! Following the races there was a display of F18 planes up above and a Red Beret splash down into the Circular Quay.  These berets jumped from a plane miles above shore and parachuted down safely into the water, amazing! 

 

Ferrython!

 

Tall ships race!

Red beret parachuting down!

Aussie pride!

We followed the hot day in the city with some fun in the water at Freshwater beach closer to home.  The boys and I bogey boarded and surfed to our hearts content in the refreshing surf.  Many other families also had the same idea and though it was crowded we enjoyed ourselves immensely! What a wonderful Aussie Day experience!

The Sydney Opera House!

I was lucky enough to be able to see a show at the Sydney Opera House this past weekend.  It was my family friend’s 30^th wedding anniversary and they invited me along with their two grown kids and their family to go see an afternoon show and have dinner down by the harbour.  The Australian summer is on in full swing with humidity and everywhere outside people were out and about with drinks and ice creams in hand.  

What a beauty on a summer evening

The Opera House is a structural feat.  Amazing, but construction began in 1958 and was finally finished in 1973. The pronounced shell-like roof of this building that is one of Sydney's most famous landmarks was inspired oddly enough by simple orange peels.  Who would have thought?!  Inside the house, there are several halls with flights of stairs going to different levels. 

Inside the Opera House

The show we saw was called Bale De Rua and was a performance that told of the history of the Brazilian Africans.  I didn't know, but they were sold as slaves by the Portuguese since 1532 to help Brazil develop their sugar cane plantations.   Many millions of people were imported into Brazil and when slavery was finally abolished in 1888, these individuals were left with nothing.  Bale De Rua is a show about the resilience of these people and the strength they had to survive throughout their history of slavery and the life after. Brazilian street dancing is a way for many of them to express their feelings and is a mixture of Capoeira, a form of combat with movements of kicks, slaps and leg sweeps set to music as well as hip hop and break dance.  This performance was an eye opener for me as I had never been exposed to Brazilian dance and music.  I was amazed to see some of the moves that were done.  The dancing was so fluid and in rhythm with the music.  Add lighting and various props and you have a show that intrigued with its story and excited with its dancing.  The performers really got everyone involved in the show with clapping and at the very end, people even were dancing!

View from where I sat.

All the seats were full by the time the show started!

Great show!

 I came out of the hall feeling exhilarated and want to try some of that capoeira now! We walked off some of that energy along the harbour down to dinner at the Italian Village. It was a quaint restaurant with a great view of the harbour.  So many choices on the menu, but I ended up ordering the Polpettine fettuccine with truffle oil, veal meat balls, baby spinach and parmesan. Truffle oil is so good that I was curious as to what it would taste like in pasta and veal meatballs is not something you have every day either.  The pasta was cooked al dente with just a hint of the truffle oil in the marinara sauce. I wished there would have been a little more of it as well as a little more spinach, but the veal meatballs were quite nice along with the shaved parmesean on top.  To accompany my meal, I enjoyed a nice glass of sauvignon blanc that was light and fruity. 

Polpettine fettuccine with truffle oil, veal meat balls, baby spinach & parmesan  
 

The Ramsey Family

Bob and Sharon in the middle with their two kids and their families

The 30th anniversary was a special occasion and I was thankful to have been able to celebrate it with my friends as they enjoyed with their family.  To many more years, Cheers!

Italian Village  
7 Circular Quay West
The Rocks, Sydney NSW 2000

A Walk!

I went on a hike today! They call hikes here walks actually so I went on a walk today!! It was one of the best walks I’ve ever been on and went around a place called Palm Beach.  Some family friends of mine took me on this wonderful excursion.  We went completely around the island in about a 2 hour hike.  The walk started out slowly and didn’t seem too difficult, but after we had left the flat beach and headed up a bit I was surprised to find that we were rock hopping huge sandstone boulders of all shapes and sizes along the coast.  It was low tide which made things very interesting as there were tidepools all around and we saw many living marine life.  I saw hermit crabs, a huge seaslug, crabs, fish, and more! It was a bit of a challenge figuring out which rocks to step on and I used all parts of my body to propel myself up and down and all over the rocks.  The sun was nice and toasty and with a bit of a breeze we had the perfect weather.

Beginning of our walk, not too hard.

 

Awesome tidepools everywhere because of the low tide

 

Our little shady hideout where we had lunch

We stopped to have lunch under the shade of a huge fallen stone.  Chicken salad sandwiches, Lindt’s chile chocolate, and some biscuits (what they call cookies) kept me well stocked for the final part of our walk.  We enjoyed the shade and even were able to see a pod of dolphins swim by.  Our break came to an end and we packed up and got ready to go.  As we were rock jumping, I was amazed at the sandstone cliffs and formations all around us.  There were carved out by the wind and the ocean and were just magnificent!! The two most challenging parts of our walk was a narrow goat’s path and a rocky path towards the end. 

Look at that! All the rocks behind is what we climbed all day!

 

Last part of the hike, end is the beach and a swim!

I was happy when we got to the end as we all got to jump into the ocean for a swim.  I haven’t been doing much physical activity since coming to Sydney, but this was definitely a getaway from the city and I loved it!

The day was not over though, my friends took me out to a pleasant little place called Cottage Point.  There we enjoyed drinks and some homemade baked good!  Perfect way to end a perfect day!

Tall Ships!

I was lucky enough to enjoy and evening out on a Tall Ship in Sydney Harbour. You may be wondering what a tall ship is and probably think it is just that, a tall ship haha, but it is much more.  Historically it is a boat that is built to the style of ships back in the 1850s and is made with different types of timber.  Our captain, Captain James gave us the history of our ship, the Southern Swan and said that the masts were made of pine and parts of the boat even is made with teak wood! They do maintenance of the ship for four months out of the year which is quite a bit, but it makes an enjoyable time for the Swan's passengers.  There were about 50-60 people onboard I'm estimating.  The ship carries up to 90 including shiphands and some of them even live on board!

The Southern Swan

I was able to help bring up the sails once we were out of the harbour which was quite an experience, much harder than it looks.  It was a perfect evening.  We set sail at 6 pm and came back around 7:30pm.  During that time we passed by many famous parts of Sydney including the Opera House, Luna Park, the Sydney Bridge, and much more. 

Pulling down the sails! I did that bottom one!

Aussie Barbie on the ship!

Chicken skewers and beef sausages, pasta salad, lettuce salad, potato salad, rolls and prawns

My new friends, Vincent and Captain James!

A BBQ dinner also came with our shipping experience.  There were three different types of salad, chicken skewers, beef sausages, and prawns.  Not the best, but was ok for the evening.  Besides the food though, the whole experience was just wonderful.  It was a relaxing way to end the day and to see Sydney from the water.