Sydney

So, way back in September I conceived the idea that perhaps a trip to Sydney (another city in Australia) might be in order during my Nov/Dec stay in my home country... however it wasn't until November 23, 10 days before my intended departure date (and that changed too) when I actually bought my tickets.

So yes... it was definitely an interesting trip, from Wednesday the 3rd of Dec until today, Tuesday, the 9th, 7 days total. Anyway, since I haven't blogged in a while, I thought I'd give a good recounting of exactly what it was like!

I woke up at 7:50 AM on Wednesday morning... which, when you consider that I only managed to fall asleep at 4 AM, was quite early. Plus, I normally wake up at 12 noon when I'm on holidays (cause I like to write at night)... so yes I was quite grumpy that morning.

Anyway, so I got dropped off at the station, trained to the city, then took a Skybus to Tullamarine Airport, just over an hour on PT, much better than I expected, and caught my flight with plenty of time to spare (read: I should have slept more).

Subsequently, when I arrived at Sydney, I had a BLAZING headache. It was horrible... you know those ones where you feel like your eyeball is about to explode and you wanna vomit? Yeah... like that... LOW blood pressure... =D

Plus, I somehow managed to skip lunch cause Jetstar doesn't do meals and I thought I'd wait until I was at my friend's house.

So anyway, Sydney trains are relatively unique, at least compared to the other cities in which I've used PT... for one thing, the train cars are double decker, hopefully you can see it in the picture.



That's one flight to steps going to the upper deck, and one to the lower deck... weird huh?

So I got to the station, and met up with Seng Han Yeoh, one of my oldest and probably most forgiving friends! Heh. I've known Han since we were about 4 or 5. We met in Melbourne, and our parents are quite close, but due to our father's jobs, we've both been dragged all over the known world, and perhaps that's what keeps our friendship going... the shared chaos =D. Either way, he had graciously agreed to put me up for the week, and so we trekked over the 50 or so meters from the station to his house (me = envious).

The week went pretty quickly, after that day anyway (it was a LONG headache, though Han's Bible study group is very cool! Godly, biblical AND friendly!). I spent a lot of quality time with Han and Kim, his sister, who I've known for just as long. (and who managed to consistently beat me in Super Smash Bros. Brawl... when we were playing time, not stock.)

Thursday I hung out with Han during the day, went around the local area, then went to the City, checked out his church (pictured below). You can see the awesome stained glass in my facebook album. We also went to Hyde Park (which had some cool photos too)



Then that night I went to Vincent's 21st (which I had been invited too the night before...) got to catch up with the CNEC boys (minus Gabriel who's in Brunei) and Anny! That was cool! You'll have to get the pictures off Anny though... with her SLR out, I didn't bother taking any... DOH!

On Friday afternoon Han showed me around the Botanical Gardens, which was very cool, and I got some awesome pics of the harbor, and of Han scaring innocent birds... before having dinner with Han and Kim at a pub (I miss Aussie food!) Chicken Parma all the way!



Come Saturday I hung out with Bonnie during the day, exploring Darling Harbor and the Sydney Aquarium.



There are a lot of very weird and wonderful fish out there, including a crazy dragon like seahorse!



After that I had dinner with Lydia, Uncle Munkit and his family (unfortunately my camera ran out of battery, and so I need Lydia to send me her photos). My 2nd cousin, Ken, (I think it's 2nd Coz...) took us around to some of the noteworthy parts of Sydney at night, and we got an awesome shot of the Opera house and the bridge at night!

Sunday I spent churching, visited Elliot, Anny and Yun at their church during the morning, and Kim's church in the evening. Had a few of her friends over at our place for some games (console and board) and then on Monday we mainly chilled out (I was watching some eps of Battlestar Galactica, as recommended by Han). Oh, though we did go to Manly beach, and North head, where we got some AWESOME photos... (well I only got 1, cause my battery was still dead, Kim got the good ones) and a really short hike in the rain... that was fun! Dinner was funny too.



All in all the trip to Sydney, despite being really rushed, was awesome! It goes to show that with loving friends, and the grace of God, life can be fun, enjoyable and uplifting, no matter how much we might have stuffed it up. I'm beyond grateful to everyone who took out time to hang out with me, and especially the Yeoh siblings for putting up with me over the last week. I reckon Malaysia is going to be a blast! ;)

Until next time space fans! Tune in next month for Joshua, and the future of his world!