Gone on a Lucky Country

There is this great couple that recently moved to Sydney from Atlanta.  Their names are Mollie and Dan and their blog is here.  The reason why I bring them up is due to the fact that we have a date with them tomorrow night - a date I have been looking forward to for a month - A date to eat incredible food...

The idea hatched itself over some glasses of wine (could it have happened in any other setting?) - basically, the four of us love to eat really incredible meals in top restaurants and we are blessed enough in our lives to have the means by which to pay for these meals.  So, we decided to make a list of the top restaurants in Sydney (after all, we are in a foodie's paradise - why not take advantage of it?) and then eat at one every month.  Obviously there are going to be some hiccups in the plan as we will be in New Zealand for a good chunk of December and will need to skip that month; but the four of us are also pretty easy going so no rigid schedule is being adhered to.

This month, November, is our first month in action on this plan.  We chose the restaurant Aria (when I say we, I mean Mollie and myself - the poor guys are just arm candy for this project!) which is located just before the forecourt of the Opera House and has a lovely view of both the Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge.


The restaurant is owned and run by celebrity chef Matt Moran who is most recently famous for guest-judging on the third season of Masterchef Australia.  Side note, if you don't download and watch this show, you should.... I think it's better than the American version and that's really saying something...

As you might have guessed by now, I'm more than a little excited about our dinner there tomorrow night.  I think we've all agreed to go with the tasting menu (always my favourite way to eat since you get to try lots of things) and with good reason.  Check this baby out:

I know I haven't been here in forever and usually I don't have a very good excuse for my prolonged absences; but this time I have a few decent excuses.  Our life has been busy busy over the last couple of months...  We took a beautiful holiday to Fremantle and the Margaret River region.  We drank (and bought) lots of gorgeous wine while we we there and returned in just enough time for a busy week of catch-up before Joe went in for surgery. Ha ha!!  See?  I do have good reasons?  I win....


My poor husband had been having horrible problems with breathing that were growing steadily worse over the last six months.  Sleep was eluding him (and by proxy, me) and slowly, breathing during the day also became a real hardship.  He started up with a horrible hacking cough, his asthma returned and every cold virus and allergy irritation seemed to be attracted to him.  It all happened so gradually over a period of months that neither of us really saw the true impact that it was having on us.  We were both exhausted, we were getting sick constantly and poor Joe could hardly breathe!  He finally got a referral to see an ENT specialist who took one look and told him that he need surgery and soon...

Basically, everything in Joe's breathing area (Please don't be intimidated by my fancy medical terms - I'm really just like you) was swelling up and slowly cutting off his airway. Nice right?  Additionally, he has some genetic malfunction where his esophagus is weak and will continue to swell and get irritated  if not taken care of...  The long and short of all this gross medical talk is that Joe had to have surgery.  In this surgery, he had his adenoids and tonsils removed - he also had part of his soft palate shaved back and he had his entire esophagus cauterised, widened and scored with little cuts to ensure a strong esophagus for life.

It was a rough procedure and there was a whole lot of pain involved.  A whole lot.  Joe could tell you a lot more about the specifics of the pain; but let me tell you, it was hard just to watch him go through it.  It was made much worse by the fact that the dose of pain meds that they gave him wasn't even half strength. He wasn't eating or drinking and I started getting concerned.  Thank goodness for my lovely sister Julie who is a nurse.  She gave me all the proper info on what safe dosages were, I called Joe's Dr., he agreed and we went forward with better pain management.  That's when things started turning around and the healing process began.  Yesterday was just 3 weeks out from the surgery and Joe is feeling like a whole new person.  He still gets a bit tired and sore when he talks too much and he still has to concentrate a little bit when he's drinking so as not to allow the liquids to come out his nose!!

The best part of this whole procedure has been the sleep.  Oh!  The Sleep!!  Neither of us realised (again, as it al happened so gradually) how little sleep we were actually getting through the night.  It has been absolute heaven to go to bed every night and wake up feeling truly rested.  As the sleep has improved, everything has improved.  We are in good moods all the time, we want to go out and do things, we are happy and life is beautiful.  I know that anyone reading this who is a parent will understand what I am talking about when I say that 6 solid months of interrupted and crappy sleep can make life seem like a very dark place.

Anyway, if you add together the general misery leading up to the surgery, the surgery, the recovery and some other largely life-changing decisions that have gone on in the last week and a half (and no, I'm not preggers) than I would say that I have some darn good excuses for neglecting you for the last month or so.

I promise I'll be better from here on out - and really, with this much sleep in my life, I am feeling like there is not much that I can't do right now.

More news to follow in the coming weeks - we are welcoming summer, our first overseas visitors and some big changes here so there should be plenty of writing material!

Well, Joe and I leave for Perth tonight and I can't wait.  I've been really struggling with anxiety this week - not sleeping well and generally feeling quite on-edge....  Luckily, I had plans to meet up with Cristin for a Mani/Pedi last night so that helped to get me in a holiday mood.  I also made the executive decision that I needed a massage so after my nails, I ran next door and got a 90 minute Thai massage.  So worth it (even though I'm a bit sore today) and exactly what I needed to finally let go of all my stress and tension and mentally prepare for our holiday.

Of course, because I spent hours after work getting pampered, I didn't get home till late.  That meant that we ate dinner late, I finished the laundry very late, started packing extremely late and went to bed ridiculously late.  So, I'm pretty tired today; but still feeling really mellow - maybe I'll try to sleep on the plane...

I was checking out some new blog followers when I came across someone who wants to move to Australia.  She posted a list on her blog of things that she wanted to do once she got here and she stated that she got the idea from another blogger (and kept some of the original items).  As I read my way down the list, I realised that the list came from me!  It was only my fourth entry in this blog and it has been so long since I wrote it that I had almost forgotten about it.  I went back and read through it and I thought it might be fun to re-visit it now that we have been living here for a year.  Anyway, thanks Jay Jay (hope you are reading this) for reminding me about this and I hope your immigration process goes smoothly!  You will love it here!

Here is the original list:

Visit Fiji at least once

Take a vacation to Thailand/Singapore/Malaysia/Philippines

Visit Melbourne - This was a fun trip; but I didn't really connect to Melbourne as a city.  It just made me miss Sydney.

Drive the Great Ocean Road - This was incredible!  I fully plan on going back again soon and doing this again.  I saw more beautiful things on a weekend during this trip than I have ever seen in my life.

Snorkel at the Great Barrier Reef

Visit Tasmania

Visit both New Zealand Islands - Not done yet; but we are going for 2 weeks with Joe's parents right before Christmas

Take a tour through wine country - Not sure why I was so vague with this one when I wrote it?  Which region?  I didn't know there were so many!  Anyway, we are going to the Margaret River Valley in a few weeks and I can cross this one off!

Go to Japan

Stay at one really upscale resort in one of the places listed above

Go to the Taronga Zoo - This was really cool - I went with a friend who got me on her family pass.  I can't get over how expensive the entry fee is; but it would be worth it at least once just to see it - it's a great zoo.

Walk through the Botanical Gardens - Happy to report that I've done this a fair number of times!  So many times, in fact, that I can't even tally them all up...

Go to a show at the Sydney Opera House at least once - Still haven't done this!  What is wrong with me?  I see that Opera House EVERY DAY and I still have not been inside... I am asking Joe for tickets to something for my birthday and we are getting this done. 

Visit every famous Sydney Beach - Again, I'm not even sure what I was thinking when I wrote this...  I'm not even sure if I know what all the famous beaches are in Sydney.  I've been to Manly, Balmoral, Bondi. Coogee, Tamarama, Clovelley and Bronte.  What am I missing?  Maybe Curl Curl and Dee Why?

Take a vacation to Hawaii

Have a picnic in all of the famous Sydney Parks - Again...  What parks are the famous ones?  Well, I eat my lunch in Cook and Phillip park all the time; but that isn't really famous.  Obviously, we have supped in many of the aspects of the Botanical Gardens.  Surprisingly enough, we have never had a picnic in Hyde Park.  I walk through it every day to and from work; but I've never eaten there.  Oh Wait!  I take it back!  We went to the Night Noodle Markets there, sat on some newspapers, ate pork buns and split a bottle of wine.  Sounds like a picnic to me!  Am I missing some famous parks?

Take a cruise through Sydney Harbour - Does taking the ferry back and forth every day count?  I think we will do one of those touristy sight-seeing cruises when Joe's parents come at Christmas

See Mrs. Macquaries Chair - Indeed, and have the pictures to prove it!  Not sure why I thought this was that important?  It was cool and all; but I'm not sure it belongs on a list with a trip to Fiji.... Just sayin...

Attend the open-air cinema - I'm crossing this one off even though we never got to go to the St. George cinema in the Botanical Gardens (which is the specific one that I was writing about).  We did purchase season tickets for the Starlight cinemas at the North Sydney Oval and spent many an evening under the stars watching movies...

Hold a koala - Now that I've seen koalas in the wild on our Great Ocean Road trip, I have less desire to hold one.  Seeing one seemed to fill whatever koala shaped hole was in my life at the time I wrote this..

See a kangaroo - I'm not going to cross this off since I've only seen one in the zoo - I don't think it counts till you see one in the wild...

Ok, I'm getting a bit nervous seeing as our six month anniversary of living in Sydney has come and gone without us having much to show for it.  We've done precious little in this great city and I plan to rectify that.  Of course, being here in the winter to start with doesn't lend itself to a whole lot of activities; but this summer is chock a block with fantastic stuff to do.

I've cobbled together this list and I'm looking for some input - anyone want to do these things with us?  Anyone been to these in the past with reviews of whats worth it and whats not?  Lots of them are happening in the next few weeks so I need to make a schedule, book tickets and make some plans!

I've underlined my favourites - and am now realising that that was most of them..... Guess I have some hard choices to make...


The Rocks Markets By Moonlight

Chinese New Year Events:

Dragon Boat Races - Saturday 12, Feb and Sunday 13, Feb - Darling Harbour

Twilight Parade - Sunday 6, Feb - Town Hall to Chinatown

Chinese New Year Markets - Friday 28, Jan to Sunday 30, Jan - Belmore Park

Cinema Alley - Friday 11, Feb - Haymarket - Must book seats

China Heart - Sunday 30, Jan to Sunday 13, Jan - Powerhouse Museum

Australia Day - Wednesday 26, Jan
Ferrython - 11am
Parade on the Water - 1pm
Live Music in the Rocks - from 11am
Darling Harbour - from Noon
Short Films
Concerts
Fireworks

Mike Birbiglia - 13 to 16, Jan - Everest Theatre by Central Station

The Giacomo Variations - 19-22, Jan - Opera House

Symphony in the Domain: Midsummer Shakespeare - 22, Jan - The Domain

La Boheme - July to October - Opera House

Sting: Symphonicity Tour - 31, Jan to 3, Feb - Opera Forecourt!

Mahler's Sixth Symphony - 3 to 5, March - Opera House

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
MISSA SOLEMNIS OP. 123, D MAJOR
SYDNEY PHILHARMONIA CHOIRS - Sunday 12, June - Opera House

Macbeth - 10, Sept to 8, Oct - Opera House

Sydney Shakespeare Festival - February Weekends - Glebe Harbour Foreshore

International Short Film Festival - Week of 7-16, Jan - Bondi Pavilion - Sunday 9, Jan - Best of Poland Films

Picton Rodeo - 8th of January - Picton

Opera in the Domain - 29th of Jan - The Domain

Annie Leibovitz - to the 27th of March - Museum of Contemporary Art

I went through a period in my life where I was big on New Years resolutions - I'm over that phase and instead of making a horrifying list with things on it like "Drink 3 litres of water everyday" or "Spend less money" I now just try to take a couple of days early on in the year for some reflection.  Firstly, I make a list of things, people, experiences etc... that I am thankful for (yes, I know that's what Thanksgiving is for) and, where I can, I try to thank them or pay something back or forward if I can.  Secondly, I try to be really honest with myself about the things that I really failed at throughout the year; but conversely, I recognise the places where I excelled - where I improved and then I try to build on them for the next year.

Honestly, I haven't really sat down to have "the big think" for this year yet; but some initial findings have become crystal clear.  Moving to this great country has had it's ups and downs.  More ups than down (Although, I confess I still struggle with the Anti-Americanism that I find so often); and so so so much learned from this whole experience.  My marriage is starting this New Year with a depth of love and shared experience that is overwhelming.

I've made friends here - incredible, generous, funny, wonderful people that enrich my life on a regular basis.  Friends that I can even see every day for a whole week and not get sick of!

Seriously though, this year is going to require an especially long "think".  If I find anything interesting I'll let you know.

I've posted below a video that I took of the New Years Fireworks - It's quite long and you can hear my uncontrollable giggling and laughing (a side effect of champagne and excitement).  It's also shaky and very "homemade" - so, I recommend forwarding to the last couple minutes to catch the grand finale.  Or, if you have no interest in hearing my super-annoying voice, you can watch the one below this one that was professionally taped!  If you have the time, I would watch both - if you are short on time I would definitely watch the professional one!

Just a quick note about the fireworks - They have a very good show at nine for the kids and then the regular ones at midnight (I think this is brilliant).  Also, they shoot them off from many different locations in the Harbour so that, depending on where you are, you can see the same thing as everyone else (I think this is brilliant as well).  So, the ones to the left in my video were being shot off from Ft. Dennison; but there were more to the left of that and them three other places on the right of the bridge.  It was nice cause there was a view from all the windows in the apartment!  They also shoot fireworks off the tops of the skyscrapers in the CBD - this city is crazy about it's fireworks! 

Anyway, enjoy!  I hope you had a wonderful New Years celebration - I'll see you again soon!

What a title right?  I mean, how could you not read this?

Obsessions:

Waverly cemetery was started in 1877 - amazingly enough, it is still operational today - and sits on the top of the cliff looking out over the Tasman Sea.  Apparently, the cemetery started off on a relatively small plot of land; but over the years has grown to over 140 acres of plots and monuments.  I know that some people don't really enjoy being around or in cemeteries; but not me...

I haven't felt much like writing recently - I think I am starting to hit the "now that we are settling in, I don't have anything interesting to write about " phase. 

So, in the interest of keeping myself honest and keeping you all from nodding off, I am going to start holding myself to an "every other day" posting schedule.  I am also going to start jotting down all my writing ideas in a list somewhere (I did this when we were in the apartment in the city and it worked great) and then actually keep up with it!

I think sometimes I just need a writing prompt - a photo, a topic or sometimes even a sentence can stick in my head, build up steam and then come pouring out on paper.  Those are my favourite entries - almost effortless!  I found a list tonight while I was cleaning out one of my notebooks and there are still about 5 relevant topics on it.  So, tomorrow my notebook and I will be making a visit to a cafe where I will revamp my list, come up with a few more topics and flesh them out a bit. 

Also, if any of you are interested in any specific parts of ex-pat life in Sydney, please let me know...

We started looking at apartments today...  We saw three and the experience was slightly disheartening.  The first was quite lovely; but had the downsides of being a short term lease and being pet-unfriendly.  The second one had an absolutely breathtaking view of the entire skyline and harbour; but had the downsides of being smelly, water damaged and dated inside.  The third was just awful - just completely awful.

So.....  We have about 30 or 40 more places that we are going to try to see in the the next few days.  It's hard to schedule them when you have to rely on public transit and walk to get to them.  I think we might rent a car all day Thursday and try to see a whole ton that day.

So far I am amazed by the prices people will pay for something.  I get the high rent prices - I am totally ok with paying them; but I am amazed that some of these apartments are even considered inhabitable.

We went to the Telstra store tonight to get our mobile phone situation sorted.  Turns out we need many more points of ID than we had with us.  I have to print out a copy of our membership card for our private health cover and we will be opening a bank account in the morning and that should get us to where we need to be.  Getting your new life set up here is just a series of small irritations and annoyances.  Someone tells you that you need a birth certificate and then later you find out that it doesn't count because it's not from the right country!  Ah!  I can't wait till things are a little more stable...

I'm sad that Joe starts working on Monday; but I'm kinda glad - we need some paychecks to start rolling in or else we won't have anything to open a bank account with!  This city is so very expensive.  Actually, I don't think it is nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be - it's just expensive to start a new life in a whole new place.  Every 5 minutes we are realizing that we need something that we forgot or running across some crazy fee or charge.

The Internet service in our apartment is $70.00 a week!  The saddest part about that is that the service is absolutely horrible. You can re-load a page over and over before it finally loads properly.  Our apartment had very basic sample packs in it so we had to run to the grocery for dish soap, laundry soap, hangers etc...

Thankfully we did not have to go out today and buy Joe a whole new work wardrobe as we located his garment bag at the airport!  Joe decided to call the airport just in case the garment bag never made it into the taxi and there it was!  So, on our way back from the outlets in Homebush I took the train into the city and he went on to the airport and collected it.  I love the trains!  They just make sense and they are so clean.  I had to change trains at the Wynyard station today and as I was sitting on a bench listening to my Ipod someone came up to me and asked me for directions!!  The best part was that I actually was able to tell this poor lost woman from Melbourne what train she needed to be on...  It felt good to realize that, only a few days in, I am really trying to learn this city.

Our days are so full - not just busy; but also full of the tiny little things that are so different in every day life.  I have about a million things I want to blog about every day.  I've been writing them down and I guess I'll get to each of them as I have time.  The sense of humor, the groceries, the food, the restaurants, the people... It's fascinating!

I’ve always dreamed of one day being able to quit my job to stay home and raise babies. The baby part hasn’t gone exactly to plan; but the quitting work part is soon to happen. My last day of work is the 11th of June and we don’t plan on me working once we get to Sydney. I can get a job legally under our VISA if I would like; but I don’t need to…

It feels somehow wrong to be anything but completely ecstatic about this; but I have to admit to being very nervous. I have lots of little plans in my head for how I will spend my time. I don’t know if they will happen or not; because I don’t know completely what our life will be like there. I’m going to make my husband fabulous meals, I’m going to decorate our apartment to within an inch of its life and I am going to have a vibrant social life (fingers crossed). More likely I’ll be huddled up on the couch with empty wine bottles stacked around; but it’s nice to dream!!

Really though, I am hoping for a real lifestyle change when we get to Australia.  There is no better time to break bad habits and create new good ones than when you are uprooting yourself from your comfort zone and going to an entirely new place.  I would like to change some of the ways I function in the world...  Instead of constantly looking behind and in front of me, I would like to start looking around in my present moment.  I'm hoping that not having to work will give me the opportunity to slow down, adapt to the laid back pace of OZ and learn to savor each moment.

Ever since Joe and I discussed moving to Australia as a real possibility, I have been doing tons of on-line reading.  I've also been secretly trolling as many Sydney ex-pat blogs as I could find.  I've spent hours reading about the things to do once we get to Sydney and compiling an ever-growing list of fun activities in my head.  I'm going to keep that list here so that I can refer to it during the dark days of moving.  I am fully expecting that there will be some rough days throughout this process and I want to have something listed here to remind me of the positives of this move. 

Here Goes (In no particular order):

1. Visit Fiji at least once
2. Take a vacation to Thailand/Singapore/Malaysia/Philippines
3. Visit Melbourne
4. Drive the Great Ocean Road
5. Snorkel at the Great Barrier Reef
6. Visit Tasmania
7. Visit both New Zealand Islands
8. Take a tour through wine country
9. Go to Japan
10. Stay at one really upscale resort in one of the places listed above
11. Go to the Taronga Zoo
12. Walk through the Botanical Gardens
13. Go to a show at the Sydney Opera House at least once
14. Visit every famous Sydney Beach
15. Take a vacation to Hawaii
16. Have a picnic in all of the famous Sydney Parks
17. Take a cruise through Sydney Harbour
18. See Mrs. Macquaries Chair
19. Attend the open-air cinema
20. Hold a koala
21. See a kangaroo

I'm sure there are many things that I have left off of this list; but they escape me at the moment.  I'll come back and add more as they pop up!