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Published: January 1st 2008
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Before the extravaganza of Christmas, Emma's birthday is nicely nestled on the 20th, which caused me a headache in terms of gift choices. Although we'd obviously agreed presents would take a back seat this year, it felt appropriate to still give things with some degree of thought. As a result, I found myself rushing about in the days leading up looking for something suitable, which ultimately turned out to be extremely thoughtful DVDs (everybody loves a DVD!!) and some perfume/skin/nails stuff. I hope she liked it as much as she said she did anyway.
Unfortunately, the day itself wasn't the most ideal as we both had interviews with job agencies for some proper work. After 4 months off, it felt really weird wearing a shirt and tie and having to churn out the usual "sell yourself" garbage, which probably wasn't even necessary for a job agency. Neither of us were too bothered about the nature of the casual work (to a certain extent obviously) and we ended up just sending agencies our CV. To cut a medium length story short, Emma ended up getting a job in office support to start Jan 2nd, however I was told there was nothing
available until the new year. Although the guy in one place said my data entry skills were top notch, which honestly did little for my self esteem. We just want money and Austalia's expensive!
We did salvage her birthday to some extent though and ended up going to India Down Under, a nearby Indian restaurant, and had a lovely meal. This was swiftly followed up by some wine (mostly boxed) in the flat and had a relaxing evening.
Anyway, aside from running about begging for work, we had a couple of sunny days which we took advantage of and spent a bit of time in the Botanic Gardens, which is in close proximity to the flat. It's very well maintained and certainly doesn't feel city-ish. Some guy gave us bird seed and we ended up feeding some random birds, which signs nearby discouraged due to biting. We came out alive though and took a walk about the gardens taking in the amazing views of the harbour and bridge.
A few other things which happened was a night out with Jenni, our snorkel buddy from Koh Phi Phi. This ended up in Scruffy Murphys, the fantastic 24 hour
Beautiful
One of the many sights found in Botanic Gardens pub in Haymarket, which we've praised in previous blogs for it's $5 steaks. Jenni was leaving to go back to England for Christmas and was quite sad to see the back of Australia, having been travelling for the majority of the year. Much alcohol was consumed and a great night was had by all.
We also climbed the Sydney Tower in the days before Christmas, which offered great panoramic views of the city. It was probably better than the similar tower in Kuala Lumpur due to Sydney being a lot more pleasing to the eye and we even managed to see our flat. They also had a "virtual tour" of Australia as part of the entrance fee, which consisted of 3D cinema footage where your seat shook with some pretty unconvincing acting. At least they tried though, and it made us hungry to see more of the country.
We also went to the cinema and saw the excellent "No Country For Old Men" which I would definitely recommend although it might not be to everyone's taste. It was good to do some relaxing things to take our mind off the rush of the rest of the week. The
popcorn wasn't salted though which was a bummer.
The 23rd was spent rushing around the city in order to try and make us feel more Christmas-y and to get each other some gifts so we could have something to open on the magical day. The 24th itself was a bit more relaxing and we ended up just buying stuff in Woolworths to make the flat more festive. We even got a wee Christmas tree and some crackers and once everything was wrapped, it felt a bit better. The only downside to this day was that our portable DVD player we'd picked up on the cheap in Thailand broke down halfway through watching Muppets Christmas Carol. Emma was more sad than she let on I think.
And then........CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!! We tided in the hour itself with some more boxed wine and some nibbles. I was hoping for some fireworks over the harbour bridge but no such luck, although I'm sure they'll make up for it with New Years.
The next morning we excitedly got up and had fun opening our presents which we were both very pleased with. The crackers proved to be crap though as they never cracked
Sleeping on Bondi Beach
Christmas in Sydney was too much for some people! when they were pulled, which as I understand it, is the main point of them. Once we were up and ready, we packed a picnic bag and headed to Bondi Beach, a backpacker Christmas haven. It wasn't as warm as it had been, but it was ok. Felt weird eating sandwiches on the beach on Christmas Day, but it was busy enough not to feel too weird. Although we never had Turkey, we did have Turkish sandwiches, which were chicken in Turkish rolls so it was close enough. After a few drinks in some nearby bars at Bondi, we eventually headed home having enjoyed our "alternative" Christmas.
We finished off the day with some more wine. It was good.
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Karen
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My Building
You have got lots of photos of the building I used to work in. I think it's called the Governor MacQuarie building or something. See in the photo of "Gary at the top of the Sydney Tower" it is the building second from the left, with the kind of criss cross on the roof. And Matrix and Mission Impossible were filmed there you know! Plus - you must live very close to 121 Cathedral Street and the East Sydney Hotel. Go and visit!!!! Karen x