Blog Resuscitation cum Start of Sydney Adventure

I've been putting this off for some time now... the revival of this blog.

It's so hard to start it up again after stopping for so long. Gosh, the last entry was more than 2 years ago!

Maybe it's also because I've not had a compelling enough reason for me to continue blogging then.

But now I find myself faced with situation that calls for the revival of this virtual diary. It's a good thing really. At least I have motivation to update these pages again (hopefully ;P ).

The purpose of this first post I suppose is to get myself back into the hang of writing stuff in here..... a Virtual Literary Resuscitation if you will... (VLR?) ... so bear with me while I ramble on a little more in this post....

Well, I guess first up should probably be about the motivation for this 'VLR'....

We finally managed to send me over to Sydney for 3 months to take up the workshops. So it would be good if I kept a diary of sorts about my experiences and encounters here since it will also be the first time I'll be away in a foreign land on my own for more then 2 weeks. It will also serve as a more detailed way of keeping family and friends updated.

Now to do a some back tracking.... (warning: this could be a long post)

As of the date of this post I have been in Sydney for 2.5 weeks.

Flew in on the A380 with Singapore Airlines and arrived on the morning of 28 Jan 09 feeling excited and happy but also tired, apprehensive and slightly worried

The flight was actually pretty good. The seats were slightly more spacious when compared to the regular economy seats as publicized. Loved the USB socket, was able to charge my Nano with it so that it lasted for the whole 7.5 hours flight.
Seating on the upper deck is definitely quieter in terms of the engine sound than sitting at wing level. Should have kept to my window seat though. The window seats on the upper deck has an additional side compartment by the window that also doubles up as extra table space when necessary.
All in all is was an okay flight. Would have been better if I wasn't trying to fight a growing sore throat the whole time. Didn't think it was anything to be concerned about while still in Singapore, but it got gradually worst as we neared Sydney, probably agitated by the dry cold air in the plane. I was still stubborn and didn't want to take any medication so just asked the stewardess for some salt and warm water. It did help to relieve the pain slightly for a while.
But by the time I touched down I just wanted to check into the hotel and sleep. Thankfully it didn't take too long to get through customs and I was let through without having my baggage checked.

Managed to get myself from the airport to the Four Points by Sheraton by train without any hassle. Was checked in about 5 hours earlier then expected (which was great!).
Was hungry by that time but was too tired to go out hunting for food so ordered room service instead. Got the banana and strawberry pancakes. Tasted quite good but could not finish it due my sore throat and tiredness.


After eating and a warm shower got a few hours of sleep before heading off for my first class. On my way back after class I took a wrong turn and ended up getting a little lost. By the time I managed to find my way back to the hotel I was so tired and just absolutely irritated by my throat condition. So bought some cereal and milk for dinner instead. Looks quite pathetic but it wasn't all that bad. However my tummy didn't quite like to be left half full so it complained enough to make me get up at 2 am and order a chicken & vege broth from room service for supper. Was too tired to take any pictures of the soup, but I do remember it being tasty and very oily.

After the rather exhausting first day I slept in on day 2 hoping to sleep off the soreness in my throat. But didn't really work. Even with the usual dose of meds, there wasn't the usual signs of relief. But I still needed to go out and get stuff done. Didn't eat much as nothing will go down comfortably. Bought some groceries at the nearest Woolworths. Had instant cup noodles for dinner that night. Was actually very easy to swallow as it was soft. It doesn't hurt that it was tasty either. :)

I had booked the room at the hotel for only 4 nights and I still had not found a place to rent for the rest of my stay. So the rest of the days were spent going through the websites for suitable rooms for rent and making calls and sending emails.

Decided to eat a little better on Friday night so stepped into a little Japanese place I stumbled upon while walking to the bank earlier that day.
Ordered the edamame, gyu-don, and ox tongue. The beans were nicely steamed, although not as salty as Hoshigaoka. The beef bowl had a lot of rice but the beef was tender and well seasoned. The ox tongue was tasty at first but after a few slices it got too salty for my liking. I probably would have enjoyed the entire meal a lot more if I was feeling better. Could not finish everything so asked to pack it up. Unlike in Singapore where they pack for you, here they will bring out the containers and you pack the food yourself. Strange and slightly embarrassing experience for me.


As I found out, trying to find a decent place to rent within a tight budget for 10-12 weeks near to the city within 4 days is being naively optimistic. Thank God Missy Em is back from the UK and she graciously offered that I stay with them for the time being until I can find a place.

After checking out of my room on Sunday and while waiting for Missy Em to come pick me up I treated myself to a nice lunch at the hotel's cafe restaurant. I ate there also because I didn't want to lug my laptop AND camera gear around with me while I walk the streets in search for food. Ordered the lamb dish but unfortunately wasn't too impressed by it. The lamb was quite tasteless although the sweet potato mash was nice. Had to eat the meat in tiny little bits so as not to further aggravate my throat. But although it took a much longer time than normal to finish everything, it did fill me up.

After lunch I spent the rest of the afternoon at the lobby searching for accommodation while waiting from Missy Em to come pick me up.


So that was the first 5 days of my Sydney adventure. The next part of my experience will be staying with Missy Em and family. But that will be for another post.

:)