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Published: October 15th 2007
Under the lazy eye of Queen Victoria
QVB - Queen Victoria Building's dome, Sydney. It occupies an entire city block, and dubbed to be one of the most beautiful shopping malls in the world since its completion in 1898.I have to admit that I have not found any negative things about Australia so far. Beautiful nature, stunning harbors and an easy going culture - what else one might want? It seems like the whole continent has a good gene pool - everybody is fit and athletic, and the only obese people I have spotted so far are international tourists (and unfortunately most of them seemed to be Northern Americans).
After another twelve hour coach overnight ride from Melbourne’s Southern Cross, I was excited to be back in Sydney CBD. Although a public holiday was observed throughout New South Wales, Sydney still maintained its boisterous quality. But also, strangely, it felt familiar and welcoming, quite frankly it almost felt like coming home.
So as I strolled back into the familiar city, I smiled and decided to love Sydney as is.
It was a pleasant and warm day in Sydney, so Vivi and I decided to get together with Jenni to experience the longing beach culture. We grabbed our towels and thongs (the flip-flop sandals, not the other meaning! That’s an Aussie slang for you) and headed
Maroubra beach
Of which the local gang call themselves, 'the 'Bra Boys'. off to Maroubra Beach nearby Jenni’s apartment. It has a nice built-in pool called Mahon Pool, which was carved out from a natural rock. The pool is connected to the ocean, so once in a while we received some big waves on the pool surface itself.
We slapped lots and lots of sun block; sun in Australia is notorious to be unforgiving, noticeably of the high number of skin cancer cases in the continent.
Lots of people were on the rock side; it appeared that they were attracted to the place for the very reason of enjoying the weather. Unfortunately the water was a little too cold for my sense - my ocean dip experience was closer to a polar bear plunge. Wait for another week or so, and the water would be in a perfect temperature.
It was warm and cozy by the Pool, but of course laying on a rock wasn’t a great idea for a beach vacation, so we beach-hopped to the nearby real Maroubra Beach. Apparently Sydney’s surfing and beach culture also has some negative impacts. With many picturesque beaches to choose from, local gangsters were claiming their territories, and Maroubra’s ‘occupant’ called
Within the Four Seas All Men Are Brothers
A very well said Chinese proverb at the Sydney Chinatown's formal gate. themselves ‘the ‘Bra Boys’. Although it wasn’t intimidating to many visitors, their presence was evident, noticeably by tattooed neck and back lurking around the beach ground.
The other location we observed was the Redleaf Pool, which is located closer to the Sydney Harbour instead of the Pacific Ocean. The water stayed cold, of course, but definitely less waves and calming atmosphere. This time Vivi and I found a patch of lawn for our base, and the beach/pool was packed with locals. Evidently, everybody was enjoying some of the first warm days of Sydney.
Tuesday, October 2nd, 2007 - Sydney, New South Wales, Australia Australia’s legality of driving system is worth mentioning. It is based on a point system, just like everything else in the country (including for gaining the Australian Permanent Residency). All drivers shall start with twelve points, and any traffic violations reduce those points that would stay in one’s record for three years. Any long weekend, especially any Monday holiday, would double the merit for any violators. And yes they are very strict about the rules.
One can not ignore the fact that Queen Victoria had left a deep impact on both New
Darling Harbour
A lovely evening stroll by the Darling Harbour, Sydney. Zealand and Australia. It is the equivalent of name ‘Washington’ in the United States, where in almost all locations you can find the queen being honored. Sydney’s most famous and elite shopping mall occupies a whole city block of CBD, and the front entrance is adored by a big statue of familiar Queen Victoria sits on her throne. As you might guess, the place is called ‘QVB - Queen Victoria Building’, a Victorian sandstone building that was completed in 1898.
In an attempt to imitate the sleek Australian style, I purchased my first ‘Tarocash’ and ‘Morrisey’ shirts that are well known Australian brands here at the Shopping Mall. Who would guess that my backpacking style of traveling was replaced quickly by shopping extravaganza, thanks to Jenni’s provocative support.
Ryan and I had received two free admission tickets to the Sydney Harbour Bridge Pylon Lookout Museum from our BridgeClimb experience. We had never used the tickets prior to today, but since Ryan departure back to the States without using it, Jenni was more than delighted to claim the prize. Once again, I climbed up to the pedestrian section of the bridge to reach the museum’s entrance, which is located
Monumental stairs
Bennelong Restaurant at the end of Sydney Opera House's monumental staircase. at one of the Sydney Harbour Bridge’s gigantic pylons.
The ‘Giant Coat Hanger’, as it was affectingly known became a national icon since its completion in 1932.
Wednesday, October 3rd, 2007 - Sydney, New South Wales, Australia Multicultural is a very crucial part of Sydney’s modern life with majority of Asian immigrants from the nearby continent flocked into Australia in the past decade. For the same reason, Australia has been one of the friendliest developed countries that has an open hand policy towards immigration, and unlike the notorious United States immigration’s, the Australian really means it.
The superpower Chinese government has maintained a good bilateral relationship with Australia. In 1976 as part of Bicentenary of Australia celebration, the Government of People’s Republic of China presented a generous gift of ‘Chinese Garden of Friendship’ - consists of hand crafted, delicate structures and carefully designed garden with ancient Chinese principals. The Guangzhou from the Guangdong Provincial hired traditional Chinese landscape architect from its region to work on it. As the result, there is a Mecca of Sydney resident to escape from the city life to the tranquil of Chinese chic, complete with elements such
as ‘Wandering Gallery’, ‘Lake of Brightness’, and ‘Jade Pavillion’.
My last sunset in Australia was finalized.
Tuesday, October 4th, 2007 - Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
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sandy
non-member comment
significance of phrase?
This phrase was used by Pearl S, Buck as the tittle for her translation of the old story sometimes tittled The Water Margin or The Outlaws of the Marsh in other translations from Chinese. I would like to know more about the origins and significance of the phrase within hinese culture. Can anyone help me?