I will get to the Asian news in a minute, but first I want to mention the stellar immigration staff in Sydney, Australia. We had a 6 hour layover there and wanted to take the train into the city for a couple of hours. We didn't even think about needing a visa until we were at immigration. A very nice Australian did up paperwork for us in about five minutes to get us a temporary visa so we could visit the city. We took the train to Circle Quay and saw the Sydney Opera House and Harbor Bridge. We walked over to the Rocks to have breakfast, then walked down MacQuarie St. past several government/historical sites. We were most amused by the statue of a guy who sailed to Australia and mapped part of the coastline.
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