Saffy's trip to Australia, Part 3

Day 4.

Today’s the free day. Eddie the Tour Guide mentioned a port somewhere, Port Steven, I think, where they let you get on a boat to watch dolphins, ride quad bikes and go sand surfing. Unfortunately for us, the mean age of our group was like 40, so bye bye quad bike. *cries*

Instead, we spent the entire day walking around Sydney, watching people and window shopping. All in all, we walked for 7 hours, which is my first time, and probably last, unless I move to a country with a cooler climate.

Right after breakfast we checked out and took the long route towards a shopping mall called the Queen Victoria Building. Long route means we traipsed along about 9 different streets when we could’ve got there is we just walked straight. :p On the way we saw people going about doing the stuff they usually do on a Sunday morning, which included having your ass grabbed by your bf at a road-crossing and asking for cigarettes from complete strangers. Again, all new to me. :)

Back to the mall. It’s a very different concept from Malaysia, cos here we only have modern malls, and the QVB is a seriously old building (residential, I suspect) converted into a commercial lot. Naturally the stuff was expensive as heck, so we just walked around admiring the architecture. At least I did. I had no idea what my grandparents were looking at. :p

Apparently the QVB connects to another building, cos after a while we found ourselves in a totally different building and had no idea where we were. No harm, no foul, just keep walking. I bought a scarf that I really liked, but in retrospect it was very overpriced. It’s not half as much fun to travel without being able to shop, IMO. The next place I go to will be Thailand, muahahahaha.

We eventually found ourselves in a food court, and sat down for some much needed sustenance. Had my first burrito, and it was not too bad. Stole a piece of salmon sushi from my aunt’s lunch and popped the whole thing in my mouth. Instantly regretted the action cos it had a LOT of wasabi. Note to self, next time lift the fish and check for green stuff before stuffing it in face. Moral of the story? Do not steal salmon sushi from aunt’s lunch again. Or maybe just don’t steal.

After lunch we exited the building and walked around the area, and I’m not naming names cos I had no idea where we were. Sydney girls wear nice clothes, very stylish, very fashionable, and very inappropriate for autumn. I mean, stretchy tube tops when it’s 17 degrees? But then maybe they’re used to it. I wish we had weather cool enough to justify wearing pretty coats and boots. Oh the boots...brown, suede, flat-sole... *swoons* I’m in love.

We came to an intersection and saw a couple kissing, which again, is not something I normally see cos like I said, Malaysia is a conservative country, though we’re actively trying to change that through an underground movement. ;) PDAs are not welcome in public places. I did try not to stare though, and just shot them discreet glances. I doubt they noticed me anyway.

Grandparents said they were tired, so they went back to the hotel. I for one, would definitely want to spend as much time away from the hotel as I possibly can, so we made our way towards Hyde Park, which I’m told is like New York’s Central Park. On the way, we passed a cathedral called St Andrews, I think, and took pictures.

Hyde Park is very pretty, with very nice trees. We saw a couple there in a wedding shoot, and the bride wore a very beautiful strapless dress and a lacey veil. The shot the photographer was posing looked very nice too, with the sun behind them casting soft glows on the dress. *sigh* So pretty. We took some photos at the fountain, where my uncle tried to capture a naked statue in the background. Like I said, Malaysia = no nudity, so it was all new for us.

I think I also saw a couple having sex at one of the grassy areas, though I didn’t really go near enough to verify it. Whatever they were doing, they were definitely not having a picnic, that’s for sure. I wonder if sex in public places is legal in Australia...

Then we went back to the hotel, met up with my grandparents and went for dinner at the Japanese restaurant next to the hotel. My mom wanted to eat at the hotel restaurant, but hey, I hold grudges, so it was the Japanese restaurant for me. My ramen was pretty good, not spectacular, but not bad either. So with a full stomach, we went back to the hotel to meet up with the rest of the group and waited for our luggage to be retrieved. It took the lethargic staff half an hour to get 9 bags. More grumbles around my group.

Next stop: Sydney Airport. We were taking a Virgin Blue flight to Melbourne. I slept most of the way, but woke up in time for 3 bumpy landings. We were then introduced to our Melbourne bus driver, a guy called Steven, and he’s a Singaporean who’s been living in Melbourne for 14 years. Finally, someone I can understand.

He took us on a semi city tour, but it was really too dark to see anything, so we just listened to his jokes instead. We eventually got to the Ramada Hotel, where we were supposed to stay for the Melbourne leg of the trip. Hotel staff were much better than the ones at the Corus. We dumped our luggage and went outside for a walk before going back to shower and sleep.

The first difference I noticed was Melbourne is colder, and a little dirtier than Sydney, and the streets were not as well lit, so it kinda gave a sense of danger. The back alleys looked like a nice place to dump a body. :) Seriously though, it probably has something to do with it being a Sunday night, since that means less people on the streets. There was also a lot of graffiti everywhere, and the buildings in Melbourne are not as beautiful in Sydney, in the sense that they had a less Victorian feel to them. The graffiti made Melbourne a little more personal though, cos it looked like Melbourne was lived in, whereas Sydney was just for show.

We walked all the way to Chinatown in search for food, and when we got there the shops were all closed. It was 10.30pm. I don’t think I can hack it in Australia, cos everything just closes way too early. In the end we ended up eating at Hungry Jacks, which is actually Burger King. Someone please tell me why they don’t call Burger King Burger King in Australia.

After food, we went back to the hotel. I’m trying to think of a way to describe my sleep other than ‘like a log’, but I can’t come up with one. So bleh.