Day 113-119: Sydney (Week 12)
Trip Start
Sep 12, 2004
1
23
57
Trip End
Jan 05, 2006
Sydney,
Australia
Monday, January 10, 2005
Bank Holiday today...or public holidays as they call them, Alain had no idea what I was talking about when I said 'Bank'. Alain cooked breakfast this morning, pancakes with banana, cherries, jam and maple syrup!!! Four huge pancakes with all that on it, I insisted that he had half and had to say that he needed to use a little portion control when he cooks, but I don't like to complain coz he's so sweet and he enjoys cooking for people but I'm gonna be 10 stone heavier soon at this rate! Brekkie was lovely tho :O)
We drove to Cronulla which is a beach suburb south of Sydney in the morning, or when I say 'we' I mean 'I'. He let me drive his car which is a 300 year old Toyota Corolla which generally appears to be falling apart, the stereo only comes out of one speaker and is held in place with an air freshener tree, the dashboard is smashed after he had a road rage fit and smashed his fist on it one day, other than that it's fine! Was very strange driving after so long, the last time was when I moved from the hostel to the flat, and you know what, I soooo don't miss it. Alain thought I was in a mood coz I looked dead miserable driving, I pointed out it was coz I was concentrating really hard and it was my concentrating face.
Got us there in one piece tho and he enjoyed being a passenger for a little while, it was only a 40 min drive but I'm not that bothered about getting behind the wheel again. On the way we passed through various other 'burbs including Brighton-Le-Sands, Sans Souci and Mascot. The route we took was along Botany Bay which is where Australia was discovered, there are beaches along the bay but coz they're in a bay they don't get the ocean waves so they're not as busy as those directly on the ocean. Cronulla is a proper ocean beach burb and the reason we went there is because it's Alain's hometown, it's where he grew up and he says he misses it quite a lot. It's very different living there to where he is now, being a beach suburb it's pretty laid back and obviously there's the advantage of the beach and ocean on your doorstep which he doesn't have now he's in Lewisham in the Inner West.
It was a beautiful day too so just the right weather for a stroll along the seafront, it was pretty busy but not packed. The beach itself is quite small but there's also an ocean swimming pool. Most resorts seem to have them, basically it's a swimming pool cut into the rocks on the shore and the ocean comes right up and into it, but it's still safer than swimming in open water. We hung around for a couple of hours, it's a pretty small place so once you've been to the beach there's not a huge amount to do. Did find a bargain Memory Card Reader in a computer store there tho, needed one to view my pics on Alain's PC, plus having one of those will mean it'll be easier to get my pics up to the net when I'm in a net cafe.
I fancied having a picnic somewhere and Alain suggested a place called Sandringham Sands which is alongside a river estuary. We stopped off at a supermarket to get some picnic type stuff, crackers, pate, cheese, flavoured tofu (?? - his choice!), caesar salad, etc, as usual something bad fell into the shopping basket! He insisted we get some chocolate brownies which had been reduced from $4 to $2....guess the new year detox/cutback will have to start tomorrow. Sandringham was very pretty, the huge esturary had loads of sand banks and people were wading out and swimming in it, it was a bit windy tho which made eating the picnic pretty difficult but somehow I managed to stuff plenty of food in my face. We stayed there for an hour or so but it actually felt a bit chilly in the wind so we meandered home about 5.
Just spent the rest of the evening talking, listening to music, playin on the PC, etc.....nowt particularly exciting or of note. Alain took me home about 10 as I'm on the earlies all this week so have to be up at stupid o'clock - also known as 6.15am - and he buggered off about 11, alright for him as he's got this week off too....I really need to find a way of making money without actually working...hmmmm.....
Tuesday:
Back to the office. Pretty busy day as lots of people across the state were returning to work and it was generally the usual forgotten passwords, "my computer don't work", "help me I'm stupid", and other similar calls. Plus today is the start of my attempt to shift the weight I have clearly put on over the last couple of weeks which I'm not happy about. I've done so well not to put anything on whilst travelling and even lose a little, now I've gone and buggered it up in two weeks. So I'm gonna try and eat more fruit and veggies and definately cut out the chocolate, cakes, sweets and other bad stuff, for a little while, and reduce the portions....will have to give Alain a slap if he buys me food.
Went to Woolies after work to get some salady stuff, got home, changed and jogged to the gym. Just done 20 mins cycle, 15 mins step and then jogged back. Gonna try and go at least 3 times a week if not more, plus I'll be back going to Combat classes again. Couldn't really be bothered to do anything else in the evening as it's the first evening in I've had since last Thursday - you know my being such a social butterfly! So just stayed in, weather wasn't great either, we had some rain and a storm which was quite cool, it'd been pretty humid most of the day so wasn't a surprise, but sods law it started raining just as I planned to eat dinner outside on the balcony/fire escape. Watched telly and then chucked a video on - The Anchorman - pretty funny, the lead actor Will Ferrell was also in Zoolander and I loved him in that, enjoyed this film too. Early night, in bed by 10.30....yawn!
Wednesday:
Nowt of note happened at work, just another early shift. Gym after work for a mammoth session, 20 minute bike ride, 15 minute step then a weights session for about 45 mins. Carlos was at the gym so worked out with him for a little while and caught up with what's been happening since the new year. After weights I went to a Combat class and that was it....in the gym for over 2 hours...woohoo!! Still feel fat tho :O(
Had arranged to catch up with Arron (Dark Side guy) in the evening as I hadn't seen him since well before Christmas. His place is about 2 mins from the gym so stopped by there and we got a taxi back to mine. Got changed and we went straight out down Victoria St which is one of the roads which runs from Darlinghurst to Kings Cross, it's got loads of cafes and restaurants on it so there's plenty to choose from. Very warm night too so lots of people out and about. We ended up at a place called Roys in the Cross part of Victoria St which I'd been to before, they do a pasta deal on Weds night, pasta, garlic bread and glass of wine for $14.50 (£6).
All started off well but 45 mins after ordering we still hadn't got the pasta, had to ask where to food had gotten to, would appear they forgot us - gave us our first drinks for free for the cock up - then when the food appeared mine was wrong, they'd included fungus when I expressly asked for no fungus!! I was nothing short of outraged....well midly annoyed - I'm trying to avoid negative emotions and practice patience and tolerance (all part of reading The Art of Happiness by the Dalai Llama - no I still haven't finished it!).
I suggested that, as not only was the food very late but the order was also wrong, a discount on the food would be appropriate, they didn't agree so they got no tip and I won't be visiting there again! How rude! We stopped off for a coffee at Mad in Italia cafe on Victoria, well actually we had a fruit crush, all very healthy, no fat. Another early night as I was knackered after the early start and the long gym visit. Arron's back to Melbourne for the weekend, apparently there's lots of discussions about what to do with the business as Sydney isn't doing as well as hoped but it's more his business partner that seems to be panicking than him, I mean Sydney's only been open just over a month, there's no way a restaurant is gonna be full every night in such a short period of time! Hope it gets sorted for him tho as he's ploughed a lot of his own money into it.
Thursday:
No gym after work today, just trawled around looking for a pair of jeans but still can't find anything, this country is a desert as far as jeans go, well brand name cheap jeans for short arse people anyway!
Alan picked me up around 6, he's still on hol so spent the last couple of days tarting his car up, cleaned it removing layers of dirt and uncovering fossilised dinosaur remains (not really, I added that bit), new seat covers, new cover for the dash, a nearside wing mirror (it didn't come with one coz it's the base model, and when I drove the car I hated not being able to check the left mirror, so he's put it on apparently so I can drive the car more, can't decide if he's being a cheeky bugger or considerate...lol), a new vanity mirror on the passenger side (the old one was cracked so he's put a new one in so I can check my hair), and the piece-de-resistance....a new stereo which comes out of 6 speakers instead of the one and plays CDs. He was all proud and smiley when he arrived, plus he'd had his hair cut so he looked very cute....awwww :O)
We went for a cruise down to the coast coz it was another lovely day, clear blue sky, and warm. Started off at Bondi but just drove through, then went to Bronte which is practically next door, it's a small beach but a funky little place with a few cafes and shops, didn't stop there either, went down a little further to Clovelly where we stopped and went to the Clovelly Hotel for a drink and something to eat. Liked the bar a lot, multi level with a couple of verandahs to eat and drink on, good decor and good vibe. We sat on the verandah in the restaurant area, menu was good, but again I was bad and it's all his fault - nice to have someone else to blame! - I'd only had a salad for lunch (no meat, just veg!) so thought I'd get away with some nachos, Alan had chicken burger. The little bugger went and ordered garlic bread too...tsk! Portions were big, couldn't manage all the nachos which is a good thing but did nick a couple of Alan's chips....mmmmm, chips.....
Drove one beach down after food to Coogee, it was dusk by now and the stars were coming out...we went for a walk along the seafront but not on the beach, just along the promenade, sat for a bit watching the crazy people in the sea even tho it was dark and the water must have been freezing. Regressed back to childhood and went on the swings and the climbing frames for a little while before running away fearing that we may soon break something with our huge combined weight. Al then had the appalling idea of getting some gelato...now apparently gelato is different to ice cream, it's more ice based rather than cream, so he claimed it was healthier, I wasn't convinced. He couldn't find the flavour he wanted in Coogee so we took a drive into Newtown to a place he knew of which sold Cardamon (?) flavoured stuff, i mean the lengths people will go too!
We stopped off briefly at The Imperial to catch the 10pm drag show, Al's not really into drag but he stuck it out for a little while bless him, I wanted him to see the Gay School act but they only done it at 11, Al did say he fancied staying but then changed his mind all of a sudden...strange boy, ah well, if you don't like it you don't like it, I didn't hang around when he went to a gig with friends a couple of weeks ago so understand. He just dropped me home and was in bed by 11.
Friday:
Got an exciting call at work in the morning. It was the agency phoning to give me a casting! Blimey, first one ever, and coincidentally 2 days after I visited their office to chase where the money was for the photo shoot I done at the beginning of December. The casting is Monday morning and it's for a TV commercial for Frontline - not exactly glamourous as it's pet products - you know, treatment for fleas and stuff...however they will be paying $1500 for 2 days filming plus repeat fees. So of course I said I'll go to the casting, asked work for an hour or 2 off in the morning, they were a bit reluctant but I begged, didn't tell them why tho.
After work I went for a swim to Cook & Phillip Park which is on my way home near Hyde Park. Hadn't been proper swimming for ages! Managed to do 1500 metres over 50 minutes, 1000 of that was in the medium lane and 500 in the slow - that was the cool down you see. Was quite proud of myself for that. Just relaxed in the big jacuzzi after, nice to be back in a jacuzzi, miss not having one at the gym.
In the evening I went to the net cafe to upload a load of pics to the web, all the Christmas and New Year stuff. Alan called whilst I was there and came to meet me, we then went to Oxford St, had a little sushi and then went to the Brighton Bar. Apparently he's a regular there and knows a few of the staff, it's a tiny tiny place, one of the few straight/mixed places on Oxford, but is pretty friendly and quiet enough to be able to hear each other talking. Stayed there for some time chatting and chucking tunes on the video jokebox. Then we moved up the street to the Kinselas where the chat turned a bit heavier.
Alan said he's finding it difficult to work me out, to understand when I'm happy and when I'm pissed off. We had a long long chat, bit difficult to write down what was said and how I felt but basically let's just say it was a bit of a wobbly moment - he wasn't saying it was a bad thing, he said he was just trying to understand me. After all the heavy chat we just went for another drive, he took me down to Mrs Macquaries Point which is a famous part of the harbour not far from the Opera House. By now it was about 2am so it was really quiet and very peaceful looking over the harbour, couldn't see much though coz it was quite dark too.
After that we went to Wollomolloo to a place called Harry's Cafe De Wheels which is open through the night over the weekends. It's famous for it's pies, aussies have a bit of a thing for pies, anyway it's quite a long way from the main strip of bars but was still really busy. I didn't really feel like eating much and it was too late for food so Al had something and we sat by the harbour. He dropped me home about 3.30....bit of a strange evening, I went to sleep a bit confused about what Al was thinking, though he acted as if nothing had changed during the evening.
Saturday:
Went to the gym in the morning coz I wanted to do the Boxing class, was raining a little bit, couldn't be bothered to walk in it so caught the bus. Got to the class and turns out that you have to have your own boxing gloves to take part, I knew you had to have them but thought that they had a few for beginners and new people, turns out the didn't so couldn't do it...well I could but I'd have ripped my knuckles to shreds hitting a punch bag without them. So I had a 20 min run, 20 min bike ride, then done some weight work on the legs.
Strolled down to the Sydney City Plaza food court on Pitt St to get some lunch, had sushi and fruit juice...getting into this sushi thing now, tho I'm not really going hardcore with the raw fish, most of the ones I have are chicken or cooked fish. Just sat and read the paper for an hour or so before strolling down George St to Paddy's Market to get some veg and stuff for the week. Plus I bought myself a little manbag so I can carry stuff to work without using plastic bags, similar ish to the Fat Face manbag I used to have at home, and I got a mobile strap so I can attach it to me and actually hear calls coz I keep missing them.
Had arranged with Al to go and see The Lazy Kings tonight at the Sydney Olympic Park which is the opening event for the Sydney Festival. I got the train over to his way, well when I say the train that was the intention, unfortunately the line was having trackworks and there were replacement buses instead. Got to Al's about 7, he'd just cooked up some dinner so we stuffed that down our necks and I had a quick shower then we jumped in the car. The drive to the Olympic Park was about 30 mins, it was my first visit there and it's big. People had started gathering already and it was pretty busy, they were expecting about 10000 people to be there. The basic premise was 3 different parades starting from different points which everyone joined in with, these parades would cross over and then converge together and after that there would be an acrobatic display....you'll have to read up on it if you wanna know more coz it's too difficult to explain, and you'll see the pics online eventually.
It was a good evening, the acrobatics were ok but I was expecting a more spectacular show. Al and I got on pretty well too, didn't feel like much had changed since our discussion last night, I made an effort to try and show him how I was feeling so he knew that I was happy and that I enjoyed spending time with him. The event finished about half 10, after making a quick escape Al took me ofr another drive to some of his favourite spots around sydney....an old psychiatric hospital set in parkland which had now become a park open to the public (romantic I know!), and a couple of other harbourside points. We stopped off at a supermarket too as Al wanted to get breakfast stuff. By the time we got back to his it was around midnight, we just chilled in front of the telly...tho notably he sat in his own chair whilst I sat on the sofa... or am I just being paranoid??? As we were watching telly Al fell asleep in his chair so I went to bed.
Sunday:
Now as you know this travel log is my diary to help me remember what happens as I travel, so if you're not a fan of TMI (Too Much Information) you may not want to read today's bit....it's not graphic but there's a lot of 'heart on the sleeve' stuff....
Woke up on and off during the night but Al never came to bed, he must have got up during the night though coz the lounge light was off and some clothes which were on the bed had been moved to the floor. Obviously I started churning crap through my head about why he hadn't joined me. I'd felt something wasn't quite right since our chat on Friday night and then all of a sudden he doesn't even wanna sleep in the same bed, obviously I felt a bit crap. About 9am I heard him put the telly on so I got up and went to sit in the lounge, he said that he didn't come to bed coz he didn't want to wake me up, I said that it wasn't a problem and that I'd rather he joined me....then we had a long chat, I said to him that if something had changed then he should tell me.
Basically what came out was that he was pulling back a bit because he thought things were going too fast, he thought he was being subtle about it but the change was too obvious. He said that he still thinks a lot about his ex (they split about a year ago) and he's comparing me to him. I said it's only natural that he would but he has to accept that things aren't gonna be the same, he said he knew that but it's easier said than done. He also kind of intimated that he didn't know if he wanted us to be just friends or more but he didn't want to keep seeing me. He told me that before we went to the cinema on Christmas Day he bawled his eyes out because it was the first time he's started dating someone since the split and it made him feel emotional as he was kinda moving on....actually I thought that was really sweet and at least it shows he's got a heart. I told him that what's he's said kinda puts me in limbo, I know that I want to carry on dating and see where it leads, but now I don't know what he wants, so do I act as if we're just friends or not?
We chatted for about half an hour but then he said he needed a distraction and went to make breakfast. As expected my head was all over the place.....we had turkish bread with ham and cheese for brekkie. For the rest of the morning we fell asleep on and off, though again he was on the sofa and I was on the bed...it wasn't until lunchtime that we both kind of spent time together again and started talking again. Al was kinda carrying on as normal, I wasn't sure what to do, am I allowed to cuddle him, am I allowed to kiss him? For the rest of the afternoon we just bumbed around watching DVDs, watched Rocky Horror which I hadn't seen for ages, then Hedwig and the Angry Itch. Hadn't seen Hedwig before but had heard a lot about it, really enjoyed the film, there's a beautiful song called 'The Origin of Love' which brought tears to my eyes, Al's seen the films loads of times and it still made him well up...these are the lyrics but they don't really do it justice, you have to listen to the song being sung.
We thought we oughta get out of the flat as we'd been vegging all day so scrubbed up and went into Newtown for something to eat, went to a Vietnamese restaurant and had a chicken thing which looked nice on the picture in the menu but turned out to be on the bone...bleurgh! So it was 90% bone and 10% chicken, the rice was nice tho....Went to Gloria Jean's after for coffee, Gloria Jean's is the Oz version of Starbucks. By the end of the evening things seemed to have almost gotten back to normal, he was attentive again, you know the occasional touch and kiss so I guess I went home even more confused, guess I'll just have to see what happens over the next few days.....
