New Mates: Part 2

The second part of my friend finding took place Sunday. It was another beautiful day and I was excited to check out the Biennale of Sydney art exhibit on Cockatoo Island. The Biennale is a non-profit organization that presents Australia's largest contemporary visual arts event every 2 years. As a bonus, the ferry trip from Circular Quay to Cockatoo Island offers spectacular views of the opera house and the Harbour Bridge. 

Here are a few pics I took on the way...

As I was getting off the ferry I overheard someone say they were from NYC. I got excited and shouted, "I'm from NY too!" and we (1 Brit, 1 Texan and 1 NYer that now call Sydney home) ended up spending the entire afternoon together, wandering around the art festival, drinking wine in the park and sharing stories. The art was VERY eclectic and not really my taste so meeting and hanging with these fun girls was the highlight of the day.

Exhibit Pics

Ferry ride back to Circular Quay

 Cheers to new friends!

New Mates: Part 1

Week one of work is finished and so far so good! It's a very international office and coworkers have been very welcoming. Coffee & gelato runs, yoga and pilates classes and outdoor lunches have all helped me make new office friends, or mates! In general, there is a much more laid back feel in the office that I am fully embracing!

View right outside the office. The Google building is on the left.

The office peeps are great but this weekend I was determined to meet Sydneysiders to build my network and I did just that by going on a blind date (well not really as it was a friend of a friend but it felt like that leading up to our meeting!) and talking ---> tagging along with strangers for the day. I'd say I was successful!


Friday night after happy hour, my roomie and my "blind date" ventured out to the Chinatown Night Market to check out the stalls and get some grub. Although we were strangers just a drink before, we got to know each other over tasty street meat (sticks of lobster & chicken balls) and hand-pulled noodles, sautéed veggies & dumplings from Chinese Noodle Restaurant (such an original name, isn’t it?). It was a little whole in the wall restaurant that came highly recommended and was a BYO (surprisingly, there are a ton here), cheap and delish. Chinese Noodle Restaurant is famous not only for its handmade noodles, but because you can watch them making them as you eat. Afterwards, we walked around the stalls- mostly tchotchkes but fun to see, before we left the neighborhood for a nightcap.

Walking over the Pyrmont Bridge to get to the city

Chinatown Night Market Entrance

Ceiling of Chinese Noodle Restaurant. Classy, huh?

yum!

Stomachs happy & full we headed closer to home for another drink off Darling Harbour. I have no idea what this building is but thought it looked pretty cool!

Stay tuned for New Mates: Part 2...coming soon!

Spring, Summer, Autumn, Beefgiving?

My first Sunday in Sydney was spent being a tourist. The city still seemed huge (it's actually smaller than NYC) and confusing. To get acquainted with my new home for the next few months, I jumped on board the double decker bus to explore the city neighborhoods and Bondi. I do love hop on hop off buses and it was a beautiful day. It's winter in Sydney & July is supposedly the coldest month of the year so it's a tad chilly (mostly upper 40s/50s in the morning & night and low to mid 60s during the day). Lucky for me, the sun was shining which always makes everyone break free of winter hibernation.

The city tour was a great overview of all the neighborhoods but my favorite part of the tour was Bondi Beach. Yes, it's winter here but it's nowhere near as brutal as winters on the east coast. The beach was hosting a winter festival where people were ice skating- I kid you not. It was one of the funniest things I ever saw- ice skating on the beach? It also wasn't nearly cold enough for ice skating so the ice was melting rapidly.

After gawking in amazement at the ice skating I saw "an igloo" to warm up with drinks and beef. Apparently, Winter is now being re-branded as Beefsgiving. Strange, yes, but hey, I'll take it. I like beef much better than winter anyway :)

It was also funny to see that some people were ice skating while others were surfing or swimming. Sydneysiders didn't quite know what to make of this warm Winter day.

Here's a pic of me on Bondi Beach before I headed back home. I'll definitely be returning after Winter, I mean Beefsgiving, is over to enjoy the nice weather.

LEFT!

My first weekend in Sydney was pretty great- amazing food, new friends and even my first house party but there are definitely some things I need to learn to survive down under. I am pretty clueless with measurements here- weather, height, nutrition facts etc. It would be helpful to understand all of those but the most important thing I need to get through my head is that everything is opposite when it comes to driving or standing on a moving walkway for the matter. I have nearly been hit by at least one taxi, car, bike and bus and am pretty sure my roommate is ready to put me on a leash. In order to return to the states in one piece, I need to keep telling myself LEFT! whenever I leave the apartment. Luckily, this is also the land of nice so that works in my favor when I am in the wrong place.

Here are a few of the highlights from my first Friday & Saturday in Sydney.

After I got settled into my apartment and finished unpacking I headed to the office. Can't beat this view!

I was just in time for TGIF (drinks with my new colleagues) and recommendations for a fun first night out. We headed to Ms G's in Potts Point and it lived up to it's wonderful reputation. It was crazy packed for an early Friday night but we really enjoyed the scene, food (Asian fusion) and crazy drink concoctions.

First stop Saturday morning was obviously for coffee. We were in Glebe, a funky hippy town and cozy coffee shops are everywhere! Coffee culture is insane in Sydney (which I love) but there is no such thing as drip or brewed coffee here, just espresso. The closest thing and my order is a long black.

Next stop was the Glebe Market. I really enjoyed meeting the vendors (so nice and interesting!) and checking out the merchandise. There was a little of everything even bonsai trees. I scored a great dress, ate some shrimp dumplings and left happy.

I never had a July 5th!

Traveling from NYC to Sydney isn't quick (6 hours to LA and then another 15 to Sydney with a few hours layover added in) but I was actually surprised at how easy & comfortable my trip to the other side of the world was. I would definitely fly Virgin again and it didn't hurt that the week of festivities (sleep deprivation) leading up to my departure knocked me out for almost the entire flight. I only had time to watch two movies which I was kinda sad about. The weirdest part was the time adjustment/ difference to NY and completely missing an entire day. I think it's pretty cool that I am now living in the future but of all days I missed my sister Bonnie's 23rd birthday. A big birthday shout out to Bonzai from down under! It hasn't really hit me yet that I am living here but I am guessing that will change when I start working. I am so excited to be living as a Sydneysider for the next 3 months and will try to update this blog as much as possible to share my adventures.