L is for...

Photo-a-Day Challenge

Day 1: L is for...

Love it or Leave it

This is the second time I've tried Vegemite. The first time I "didn't do it right", so I thought I'd give it a fair go again at some point. "Good on ya!" I think they'd say. The key, I've been told, is to use LOADS of butter, and a thin layer of vegemite. I've also heard that having it with cheese or peanut butter is good. And that it goes really well with a tall glass of orange juice.

Vegemite has a VERY strong flavour. It says right on the label "Concentrated Yeast Extract". Don't let the brown colour fool you; it is NOT Nutella, nor does it taste like chocolate in any way. I had done some research, so I knew sort of what to expect. However, my first experience with Vegemite had me running from the stuff as quickly as possible, gagging and spitting. OK, it wasn't THAT bad, but I had never tasted anything more salty-bitter-disgusting in my life. I wanted to scrape all my taste buds off. 

It was going to be breakfast as usual at the hostel. Everyday they put a jar of Vegemite on the table with the butter and jam spreads eagerly hoping someone would want to smear some on their toast. I decided, it's there, I don't have to buy a whole jar to experience it, so why not? I made my toast, took a tiny dab and put it on the corner of the slightly buttered bread. I realize now, there was practically no butter in that corner, and that "tiny dab" was not spread very thin for being in such a small space. Oh My God. I thought I was going to gag, I could hardly get the stuff down. Never again, I told myself.

The second go with the Vegemite was much less gruesome than my first (at least 3x as much butter as a normal slice of toast, and almost no disgusting sticky brown goo). It's still just gross. I can't really describe the flavour. My housemate, Chelsea, eats this stuff every single day. She admitted she wasn't a fan at first, and then tried it again and found it wasn't so bad. Now she can eat it by the spoonful! Ew. She says she's going to convert all of us to Vegemite lovers. Especially me, and Sven.

Yes, most people either love Vegemite, or they hate it. But really its just an acquired taste, so maybe I'll just Leave it on the shelf for now, and decide if I Love it, later.

Have you ever tried Vegemite or Marmite? What was your experience like?

Katoomba!

Greetings blogosphere! 

I'm going to try to do the March Photo-a-Day Challenge from Fat Mum Slim! Click the link for details on how to play :) Let's see if I can actually take all 31 pics this time (June and July were difficult for me)!

Yesterday Lisa (a friend I met at the hostel) and I had a proper adventure, and headed out to the Blue Mountains! It's about 2 hours west of Sydney. It was FANTASTIC to get away from the city and into nature.

The fun part was that the train was an hour late, and then about half way there the train line terminated due to a landslide, and we were shipped out in buses the rest of the way to Katoomba. 'Course by the time we got there, the trains were back up and running all the way back to Sydney, which at least meant the ride back would be smooth.

I just love the name "Katoomba"!

A proper "fish n chips" lunch at the Hatter's Cafe.

Awesome long handled spork from a thrift store.

Found my bestie! I knew the Blue Mountains were where it's at!

The Three Sisters

Echo Point

Trees for days!!

We attempted to get to Leura Cascades, but accidentally took the wrong path. They were not clearly labeled further up the trail! The Cliff Walk was actually quite nice, and not along a cliff like we thought.

Cool mushroom formation.

It was a bit along a cliff, but nothing like hiking in Costa Rica where you are literally scaling the cliffs and praying for your life.

Lisa and the ambiguous sign! One arrow, three paths...

Definitely going to go back, and make a camping trip out of it, go on some hikes (bushwalking, as they say here) and see some wild life!

No one mourns the wicked

I never did talk about the Sydney Aquarium. I was seriously impressed with this place. It was really well structured with lots of keeper talks, a simple path to follow to see everything, and a neat little scratcher quiz to take along the way. I did pretty well :) Sadly the platypus girls (3 females) weren't out on exhibit at the time I was there, so I still have yet to see one. I did get a chance to see a lot of other super cool animals I've only ever read about and seen pictures. It was great to see them swimming around.  After taking Biology of Fishes last quarter, it was very interesting seeing some of the fish we learned about. Some of my favorites from the Aquarium were the dugong, Australian lungfish, sawfish and fairy/little blue penguins!

Secondly, the didgeridoo. Apparently, females aren't allowed to play this because the aboriginals believe it affects their fertility. Just thought that was an interesting tid-bit.

On Monday, I decided to look up what shows I could see at the Sydney Opera House while I'm here. There were a bunch of cool things playing, concerts, ballets, etc. Some were VERY expensive and others were reasonably priced. After pages of sifting through shows I found the one I wanted. At the end of June, Idina Menzel (Rent, Wicked, Enchanted, Glee, etc) is coming to Sydney!!!!!! I think she is a great actress and has an amazing voice, so I'm really excited to be seeing her... at the Opera House!!! Tickets came out to about AUD$60, which I think it totally worth it. It will be a great way to celebrate the end of my last semester as an undergrad!! :) I can't even contain my excitement. OMG OMGOMGOMGOMG..... XD

Ok. Moving on.

On Tuesday some of my housemates and their friends and I walked across the Sydney Harbour Bridge. 2.2km round trip. I was anticipating it to make my knees quake and my heart to pound excessively and rapidly.. but it was not nearly as high up as I thought it would be. It was no big deal... really.
**Mom, here's fair warning.. I'm posting pictures. I don't think they will make you shudder, but just to prepare you...

The Scandinavians! From left to right: Sven, Arild, Andreas, Nora and Silje.

View from Mid-bridge

The allusive Other-Side-of-the-Bridge

Near Luna Park; view from the OTHER shore

I have some other pics I'll have to up load at some point. Tuesday was also Silje's birthday (she's a friend of one of my roommates -- Sven) so a bunch of us went out for lunch at Pancakes on the Rocks. Which was in the Rocks part of CBD near Circular Quay. I will definitely be returning for crêpes! Yum! Later that night we ventured out to some neighboring suburbs for a bit of night life and birthday fun. It was an interesting experience. One of our roommates couldn't get into the bar/club be cause he "looked too drunk". I think they discriminate against certain guys (they let all girls in no questions asked, it seems). We left the place and tried another, and he couldn't get in there (he wasn't actually drunk, and the other guys who drank more were never questioned). He decided that it wasn't worth it for the rest of us to keep bouncing around so he went back home :( a little sad but they guards were basically never going to let him in. Strange things.

The rest of this week has been laid back. Went to the beach to see what all the fuss was about. Apparently I'm "too white". I don't particularly care to be tan.... I like not having skin cancer, thank you very much. I have noticed at the pharmacy/chemist they have a lot of sunscreen options that have zink (clear, or colored), so when I finally run out of what I brought I will be loading up on that. I got burned walking to the grocery store, 7 blocks away! Anyway, the beach! You know what's special about Coogee beach this time of year? Literally TONS of Blue Bottle Jellies! Aka, Portuguese Man O'War, Physalia physalis. Really cool looking, but give a nasty sting.

Went up to campus yesterday for the Early Arriver's Afternoon Tea party. Met a TON of people. Ran into one girl from UCSB who I'd met briefly at meetings prior to departure. Some canadians, dutch, spanish, french, icelandic, chinese, american.... etc. Afterwards hung out for a bit, and met some of the Aussiemates (Sydneysiders/UNSW students who have already been on exchange). A bunch of us decided to head to Coogee for dinner, and found some cheap eats at an Indian food place. I had some very tasty butter chicken, and also lamb curry, which was very good.

And I will leave you with that for now!

Tropfest 2013

Yes, I know. Blog posting madness.

Every year for the past 20 years or so Sydney has put on a Short Film festival called Tropfest. It's a huge cultural event and thousands of Sydneysiders come out to enjoy these short films. Last night a friend from the hostel (Lisa) and I went to check it out. It was packed! They had a VIP tent and everything! It was held in The Domain, which is near the Botanic Gardens and the Art Gallery of NSW in CBD. Quite a lovely setting :)

The screenings last about 2 hours, and then the films are judged and awarded by the end of the night. One of my favourites, "Better Than Sinatra" got second place! :)

Check out the films from this year and previous years here (hopefully you can see it!).
My favourites were "Better Than Sinatra" and "Monobrow". Since we were late in arriving (I had some difficulties obtaining a new bus pass) we didn't get to see all of them, like the winner, for example. But we had a good time.

The buses are a bit confusing. Unlike in Santa Barbara, where you buy one bus pass and you can ride that line all the way to one end on the same fare, here they split tickets by number of sections. Each section is about 1.6km, and bus passes are divided into:
MyBus1: 1-2 sections
MyBus2: 3-5 sections
MyBus3: 6+ sections
From where I live now, its about 5-6 sections to get to CBD, depending on the drop point. Usually you can't buy tickets on the buses (M-F 7a-7p) but yesterday was Sunday. I got on the bus and asked for a ticket and the driver was so grumpy, saying "Yes, unfortunately we do sell tickets" and was complaining that he was running late because of so many tickets being purchased on the bus. Wah wah. Then be prepay only! Jeez. I didn't have exact change and he was such a grumpy gus that I ended up having to walk up to the grocery store to purchase my ticket (after checking about 4 other stores, who were sold out).

The ride back to Coogee was insane, because everyone was leaving Tropfest, even though we left before the judging. About 6 of my buses were so full they wouldn't even stop. So I waited around for about 45 min before I could even get on a bus. Managed not to get lost in the dark when I got off, and made it home in one piece around midnight. Thank God for Google Maps and Smartphones.

Everyone deserves a chance to fly

What did I promise you, dear readers? Oh yes. More pictures from my wanderings in Sydney, Central Business District.

Happy Valentine's Day :)

On Valentine's Day I was wandering around CBD waiting for my free walking tour to start, and I noticed 4 guys dressed the same (see above pic), and heard the faint hum of a pitch pipe. I knew it could only mean one thing. Barbershop Quartet Singing Valentines. They struck up a tune and I had to get closer to be sure I wasn't imagining this. "Longest Time" by Billy Joel is a favourite of mine, and that's what they were singing! I seemed to be the only one interested in what they were doing (they were parked out front of the train station entrance under a bridge) so basically they were singing to me. Then they asked me to stay just a little longer, and sang a tag, "You are so beautiful", which was amusing, and then sent me on my way. What a treat.

Also before my walking tour I checked out the Sydney Observatory. Originally it was set up to provide the time for ships in Sydney Harbour (1858). It was a neat little museum based on astronomy and timekeeping, using tides and meteorology. See the little gold ball at the top of the tallest tower? I know its a little hard to see in this picture. That ball drops every day at exactly 1pm, to keep time for Sydney and passing ships in the harbour. The ship's officers could check their chronometers against the ball dropping for time keeping accuracy.

Time Ball :)

Sarcophilus harrisii (Tasmanian Devil)

At Wild Life Sydney. My first tassie sighting!!! Really excited to see these little buggers in Tasmania :)

One of the tallest buildings in Sydney. How does it survive the stormy season? There are buckets of water that counteract the wind power, stabilizing it, and preventing it from falling over. I think its tropical cyclone season. Maybe I should hang out there.

Rub his nose for luck. Can you see where else people think its lucky to rub? Lol

An artistic tribute to the birds who have lost their song. Lots of empty bird cages strung up between buildings. Apparently Melbourne and Sydney are in major competition for who is better, so this is just one of the ways they compete. Street art! Below this you would see on the ground the names of the birds for each cage, and somewhere is a sample of their songs.

A lovely view on a lovely day.

Follow the white rabbit feet!

The Rocks Discovery Museum. Aboriginal fishing tools, pre-European settlement.

Hooks, flies and sinkers.

Aboriginal playing a didgeridoo!

Here's what it sounds like.

And now we leave CBD, and head to Coogee!

A beautiful day at Coogee Beach. Our house is about 10 min walk from here. Uphill, both ways.

 Our kitchen/dining room. You would not believe how small the fridge is for 6 people.

Beyond this  (to the left) is the washing machine, bathroom, and backyard.

Just to the left of the front door is a twin room shared by Chelsea and Bibi.

 Cozy little back yard.

BBQ, clothes line, backyard

Akvile and I share this room. We have our own bathroom :)

Next to our room to the right (facing our room), is Andreas' room.

Living room. We have a huge flatscreen TV (not pictured).

Poor lighting, but this is our sunroom. Wish you could see the awesome blue tiles better.

To the right of the sunroom is Sven's room.

So that is our house! I leave you with just one more note:

If you are ever in Sydney or Melbourne, I HIGHLY recommend taking the free walking tour. It was one of the best tours I've been on. Click here for more info!

Don't rain on my parade!

Here's a little bit of what I've been doing this past week since being in Sydney. So far, we have had nice warm weather, but scattered rainy days here and there. The beaches are nice, and the city has a lot of history. Australians are very proud of their country and love to teach people about it!


Chinese New Year Festival, 8-10 Feb 2013:
There is a huge population of Asian folk in Sydney. Hence a huge month-long celebration of Chinese New Year! This past weekend, they had it set up about a block from my hostel.

Oh, hey... Mom.. I got a tattoo.....

It's henna! It seems to be faring well even after a week, it was super dark staining, and it was pretty inexpensive too! Only $5!

Chinese dragon ensemble (kind of hard to see; the head is just above center)

Dragon made of plates and things! (Also hard to see, because there were so many people blocking better views)

Live music and dance!

 Royal Botanic Gardens:
This is one of my favourite things so far. I didn't get to see all of it the day I went, but I will be back! Plants are so cool! Also got to see some of my first real wild life!

Honey bees are our friends.

Thought this looked neat. The orange parts are called "bracts" which are actually differently pigmented leaves, not petals! This phenomenon is commonly seen in bougainvillea. As you can see, the white part is the actual flower, and comes from axillary buds between the leaves.

Who else gets excited about plants?!

Ibis! Ibis every where! Lots of bird tagging going on to monitor movements of ibis, cockatoo, etc for conservation efforts!

Dracaena draco (Dragon's blood tree) - this tree fell over in 2008 following a long drought. The canopy experienced heavy growth with the ensuing rains, and the weight caused the tree's root supports to fail. Due to the damage in the roots, it can't be put back upright. These trees can live up to 600 years in the wild, and apparently this one is over 100 years old!

Sexy Cycads!

Epiphytic bromeliads!

Cacatua galerita (Sulphur Crested Cockatoo)

These guys are everywhere here! I felt it strange to see them not in a zoo or exotic pet store!

Art Gallery. These people take their Bacon seriously! ;)

Nah, Bacon was the name of the guy whose art they are currently showing in their main exhibit.

Saint Mary's Cathedral, Hyde Park

Hyde Park fountain

 Chinese Garden of Friendship:
This place was so nice. Small garden, with a lovely tranquil setting. The day I went, it was raining, but it was beautiful, and the flowers were so fragrant, it was wonderful.

Neat 3D wall, allows you to see from both sides, but still maintaining some privacy.

ducklings!

This has a neat dragon sculpting wrapped around the base, and the top can be used as a light post (stick a candle in!)

Om nom nom, delicious hot tea and scones for a rainy day in the garden.

It takes so long to upload pics! So I will have to do them over a few days.

COMING SOON TO A BLOG NEAR YOU:

Sydney Aquarium/Wild Life Park, Sydney Observatory, Free Walking Tour, the Rocks, and our new house!