Brisbane

From Sydney our ship sailed North along the East coast of Australia. Next stop after two days was the city of Brisbane (pronounced "Brizbun").  Brisbane is a large city of 2.2 million with a very modern looking city center.  I have stated before in my earlier posts that I love modern , contemporary architecture, and Brisbane was not going let me down. I love it when contemporary architecture is taken to an extreme!

Sydney is about 33 degrees South of Equator just about the same as San Diego is North of Equator about 33 degrees.  Brisbane on the other hand is 27 degrees South of Equator, which makes it similar to Tampa, Florida in Northern hemisphere.  In Southern hemisphere Spring begins in October.  So it was already quite hot in Brisbane during late November.

In Brisbane we had the pleasure watching a traditional dance ceremony of the aborigine people.  In the picture notice what our modern diet has done to these once slim and hardy people.

  

The best part of the visit to Brisbane was seeing the rivalry between the Aussies and the English.  You see, at that time a cricket test match was going on between the two countries.  A test match lasts for five days.  After showing a stellar performance on the first day the match the captain of England's team had bragged a lot.  However, on the second day the Australian team excelled to new heights.  It was fun to see planes flying over the stadium with banners taunting the captain of the English team.

From Sydney Apartment to Cruise Ship

After spending 17 wonderful days exploring Sydney we returned our apartment keys to the owner.  Our cruise ship Celebrity Millennium was ready and waiting for us at the Sydney harbor (Circular Quay).
The question I was asking myself was, would I like to live in Sydney?  Sydney is a great city and I like it very much, but San Diego is even better.  
This experience of living in Sydney verified my suspicion that in order to know a city or country one has to live there for an extended period of time.  We learned a lot in 17 days but we could have learned a lot more in 17 weeks. Bottom line, I am going to try out living in other cities.  At this point I am not adventurous enough to live in a non-English speaking country.  So it will have to be another city where English is generally spoken.
With a heavy heart we said good-bye to Sydney as our ship sailed away parading in front of us gorgeous evening views of Circular Quay, tall buildings of the CBD, the harbor bridge, and the Opera House.  We will have to come back again one day.

Sydney Opera House

No trip to Sydney is complete without a visit the iconic opera house.  We had visited the opera house on a previous trip to Sydney but the design and construction of the opera house are so unique that I had to take the tour again.  For those who are interested in the engineering and the architecture of the opera house, did you know that the petal like parts of the flower like structure are actually different size segments of a sphere?
The idea of installing an opera house at the bay in Sydney was conceived in the late 1940s.  A design competition was launched in 1955.  The winner was a Danish architect, Jørn Utzon, who had not followed the rules of submission and had submitted a simple sketch to describe his idea.  Construction began in 1959 without the full design having been completed.  The original estimate was for completion in four years at a cost of AUS $7 million.  After many challenges, it took 14 years to complete at a cost of AUS $102 million!  The opera house was inaugurated by Queen Elizabeth II in 1973, for which the architect wasn't invited and his name wasn't even mentioned.  However, the Sydney Opera House Trust started a reconciliation process with the architect in 1999, which led to him being honored before his death in 2008.  We attended a symphony conducted by the famous conductor Vladimir Ashkenazys on November 15.

Did you know that the Sydney Harbor Bridge is not only a famous landmark but also a challenge to those not faint of heart?  Can you see the people who have reached the top of the bridge in the photographs below?

What we call "downtown" in America is called CBD (Central Business District) in most parts of the world.  One end of Sydney's CBD is called Circular Quay (pronounced kay).  Circular Quay is where all the ferries depart to various harbors of Sydney, multitude of bus routes and commuter trains begin at this point,  and Sydeny Opera House and the Sydney Harbor Bridge are in the vicinity.

Sydney Experience

By now you must have gathered that I am less interested in tourist sites and more interested in how people live in different places.  As a person, I am less interested in nature and natural beauty, I am more interested in urban architecture, and modern, contemporary designs.  When I visit different places I will eventually visit the important sites, but I avoid museums and love to visit supermarkets and other shops.

Supermarkets:

We noticed some interesting differences between the supermarkets in Australia and the U.S. 

Coffee: 

The coffee section contains a small section of ground coffee but a much larger section of instant coffee.  This is no surprise because almost no one drinks drip coffee in Australia.  It is either coffee from the espresso machine or instant coffee.

Packaging: 

Everything is sold in much smaller containers than in the U.S., mega packages are absent.

Cheeses:

The section of cheese is also limited.  American cheese equivalent is sold as Kraft's "singles", not as American cheese.

Restaurants:

This subject fascinates me the most about Australia.  Unlike back home, the wait staff does not depend on tips.  They get regular wages, overtime and health care.  Tips are not expected so any waiter or waitress in a restaurant is willing to help you.  There is none of, I'll send your waiter to your table.  Most cafes are open from morning to mid-afternoon only.  Many restaurants stay closed one or two days in a week.  Most restaurants stay shut between 2 PM and 6 PM, and some are open during evening hours only.  Despite all this, Sydney has a bustling restaurant and cafe culture.  I believe there are two cafes or restaurants on an average for every block, if not more, in the entire city of Sydney.  And in most restaurants you pay your "bill" (not check) at the front counter, not to the wait staff.

To Sydney

Flight:

It all began with a short hop flight from San Diego to Los Angeles (LAX). 20 minutes in a smaller jet is really comfortable but the real journey was about to begin. Boeing 777ER is a monstrous jet plane.  I was trying to imagine how many gallons of fuel was going to be necessary to fly 200+ passengers, two sets of crew, baggage, and cargo on this 7,500-mile, 15-hour, non-stop flight from LAX to Sydney. Although we had fully flat sleeper seats, 15 hours is just too long to be cooped up in a plane.  Imagine the condition of those in economy section.  The only alternative to such a long flight is to take two long (8 to 10-hour) flights with a connection in between! Not an improvement.

Diwali Disappeared!

Our flight left LAX at 9 PM on Nov 2.  We arrived in Sydney bright and early at 6 AM on November 4.  This peculiarity happened because we were flying towards West and crossed the International Dateline sometime in the middle of the night, which advanced a day in our calendar. In that process November 3, Diwali day, just disappeared! We greeted Sydney with a Saal Mubarak (Happy New Year for Gujaratis).

Apartment:

Four months ago I had signed up to rent this apartment in the Pyrmont neighborhood of Sydney using a web-site called AirBNB. We had no idea how the apartment would actually turn out to be, but our plan was to be adventurous and experience life in a different country, so I was ready for anything.  The two bedroom apartment is actually quite nice, located on a quiet side street.  From the balcony we can see our Saunders street.  Young people would understand what I mean when I say that the apartment location has a "walk score" of 87. Pyrmont is a neighborhood bustling with young people, restaurants and cafes. One can walk to the CBD (Central Business District or downtown) from Pyrmont in about 20 minutes.    

Bicyclists:

Interestingly, there is a bike path that passes right in front of our apartment building leading to the ANZAC Bridge which connects the western suburbs to Sydney. Since we had arrived early in the morning, we noticed lots of bicyclists using the bike path to go toward CBD.  In the late afternoon the phenomenon reversed directions and hundreds of bicyclists were coming from the direction of CBD and going West using the ANZAC Bridge.  We have seen this phenomenon repeat everyday since we have arrived here.  Apparently a lot of people bike to work in Sydney.  Included among the bicyclists were some joggers too.  I think Sydney can easily compete with Portland, Oregon in being a bicycle friendly city.

Cafes and Restaurants:

After a quick shower we were ready to explore the neighborhood.  The first cafe we tried was "Big Mouth". Here we learned a few new terms probably being used in Australia only.  We ordered a "Jaffle", which is a toasted breakfast sandwich filled with eggs, cheese, meat, or vegetables.  Coffee shops do not sell American style drip coffee.  You can get black coffee, "long black", made using the espresso machine.  In Europe this kind of coffee is called Americano.  Or you can get "flat white", which is almost like a latte.  Or you can go for a straight espresso or cappuccino.  We also learned that the prices shown in the menu include all the taxes (just like Europe) and tips are generally not expected.  The prices do seem quite high initially compared to the U.S. but when you factor in taxes and tips the prices are reasonable in cafes.  However, we found out that the lunch prices are generally 50% higher for equivalent restaurants compared to the U.S.  This is why we love the good old U.S. of A., and this is one of the reasons why I travel abroad - to reinforce that feeling.

Electrical Stuff:

Having been trained as an electrical engineer I have a tendency to notice things electrical that other people generally wouldn't notice.  Electrical outlets in Australia are very different from outlets in any other country.  Luckily I had all kinds of adapters for charging my phone and laptop.  I need my laptop to continue working from here otherwise Niel would stop paying me.  Another interesting thing about electrical outlets here is that every outlet has an on/off switch. I guess you need the switch for safety reasons in a 220 volt environment.  So to turn on a clothes washer you have to turn on the switch at the outlet, then the main power switch at the washer, and then select your wash cycle.  The dish washer not only requires those steps but the power switch has to be pushed in for 5 seconds before it would turn on.  
Australia clearly does not have the same requirement as the U.S. electrical code for having a duplex outlet located at least every 12 feet of wall space in living areas.  Every bedroom in this apartment has one simplex outlet only, and the living room has two! Another reason to love the U.S.  

Melbourne Cup:

Tuesday Nov 5 turned out to be an interesting day. A very important race, Melbourne (letter O is silent) Cup is held in Sydney.  I guess this would be equivalent of Kentucky Derby.  Many people go for these races and there is constant debate on TV about whether the schools should be kept closed on that day.  More importantly this is a dress up day whether you go to the races or to the office.   People dress up in their best outfits. Women wear their most formal, colorful dresses with fantastic hats.  It was amazing to see the outfits of women during lunch time and after office hours.  At the very least every woman was wearing a fancy colorful bow on her head. Also off track betting on the races was going on at many places including mobile betting parlors near touristy areas.

Bondi Beach:

On Saturday we decided to visit Sydney's most famous Bondi Beach. Sydney has an amazing public transport system. We now have a weekly pass to go anywhere in Sydney bus, train, light rail, or ferry. Three bus hops later we were at Bondi Beach.  The place was crowded with tourists and locals alike - it being a beautiful Saturday.  The "Sculpture by the Sea" exhibit was in its last phase. You can see pictures of Bondi Beach and some of the sculptures on my Google+ page.  If you have trouble accessing it, please let me know and I will fix it for you.