Longtime silence is a prime indicator of romance

Sunday, I received this email from a friend:

"What is happening in Australia? Nothing on ye olde blogue for a while, nor Facebook ... have you got a boy? Longtime silence is a prime indicator of romance, I say."

Very astute. My hiatus has been caused by a man. Way back over christmas I had a date in Boston. Well, I've just had my second date: a two week holiday in Australia covering Sydney, Cairns and Brisbane. Allow me to introduce, Paul:

We spent the first week in Sydney (at the Westin, which we can highly recommend, especially the club lounge with free breakfast, cocktails and canapes everyday) doing touristy things. We took the ferry across the harbour to the Taronga zoo, which is built into the side of the hill and has spectacular views of Sydney and some pretty cool animals as well.

Day two, we went to high tea at the Opera house (pictured above). Tea included tea, champagne cocktails, tiny sandwiches with the crusts cut off, and more sugar on one plate that one could possibly manage. It also included a short program by one of the opera's sopranos who sang one of my favorite arias, O Mio Babbino Caro (yes, the one from a Room with a View).

Day three, we nearly missed our wine country tour when we didn't change hotels (I mean really how can you change hotels when there are canapes every night). But we made it. It's a two hour drive from Sydney to the hunter valley, where we visited several small wineries, then went on a cheese tasting tour on our own. Ok, I'm going to be honest. We spent about 3 times as much on cheese as we did on wine. And we ate all of the cheese the following day. I love cheese.

Day four, we ate cheese.

We did eventually make it out to the Victoria Room in Darlinghurst for several amazing cocktails: tequila manhattan, a drink with bourbon, chambourd, and ginger beer that we couldn't get enough of, and finally a cuban blazer. Our bartender, far more the cocktail enthusiast than most, was fantastic. We were rifling through the cocktail book (not really a list) and she asked us what we liked and devised our cocktails for us. Devine.

Day five, we hit the paddington markets, then headed up to Cairns.

I was more sentimental about Cairns than I thought I might be. I believe I narrated every shop and corner we passed. And Paul was good enough to feign interest in my fun facts (couldn't really call them stories, "This chemist is new!!"). We took the skyrail up to Kuranda, mostly just to take the skyrail (Gondolas that take you from the coast over the rainforest to the tablelands). And had a fantastic Aussie BBQ on the Esplanade with Kimberley and Hamish, complete with a park ranger asking us to at least not be so blatant with our alcohol. We weren't rowdy, but we'd decided to recreate the bourbon drink from the Victoria Room, so we had many alcohol bottles out on the picnic table.

The following day we went up to Port Douglas and took a reef tour with two intro dives. It's scuba diving without any of the training! That sounds unsafe, but really, you have a guide who adjusts your buoyancy, and we never went further down than 8 or so meters. It was fantastic. Giant clams, gorgeous coral, a shark, a barracuda and nemo. The drive to PD also included a bit of narration ("the paddock with wallabies", "the turn around point for a 50K ride", "the turn around point for a 60K ride", "the furthest north I've ever cycled" - exciting stuff).

Next we drove South to Mission Beach and stayed in the rain forest for two nights at Sanctuary. Here we stayed in a tiny hut (think screened in porch) in the heart of the jungle. I took a lovely yoga class, and we watched Queensland get spanked in the state of origin game*.

Upon returning to Cairns we spent the afternoon in my favorite bar, Tides before heading down the Brisbane.

Contrary to Rowan's suggestion, I did not just import Paul to help me do household things. However, he did help me hang my curtains. In Brissie, we mostly just explored my neighborhood. It was fun just to have some one to check things out with. We tried out the jazz happy hour at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre, had dinner at Satchmos with a live band, pub crawled our way back to my house from the West End and had the world's largest tapas at Sling.

And now he's back in the states. So what does one do for a third date?

Paul in Sydney

Paul in QLD

*State of Origin is a three game rugby league series where professional players play go back and play for their home state. Only Queensland and New South Wales play rugby league, so it's always the rivalry between the two. This was the first game of the series. Game two is in several weeks.

Photos from Sydney

Jeff's visit to Sydney

details to come

Sydney

I spent 3 more days in Sydney. The first two I worked out of the BCG office there (which has incredible views of the entire city). I’ve found Sydneysiders to be incomparably welcoming and friendly.

I went to see an adaptation of the Sun Zsu’s “The Art of War” with some other BCGers. The play was well done, though a little overwrought. It mixed cast members reading from the book in unison with a story of corporate warfare and a commentary on the Iraq war. It was interesting to have another country criticize a war that my country is fighting. Not that I disagreed with their points just makes you feel a little uneasy as an American on foreign soil. And the American accents sounded funny.

I spent the day Saturday with friends Nick and Henock, took the ferry out to Manly beach. The weather was nice, probably mid-60s, so there were a few people sun-bathing and a bunch of people surfing. The water was definitely warmer than Boston water and probably warmer than the south coast of the cape. Finally, I saw the musical adaptation of the “Priscilla, Queen of the Desert” which was totally fantastic. The costumes really stole the show, right up to the finale when every cast member was dressed as some Australian flora or fauna.

Sydney Day 4

Photos from Sydney

I spent my first day in Sydney wandering about. Here are a few highlights from my walk. More details to follow.

http://picasaweb.google.com/lmiyakawa/SydneyDay1?authkey=jWMMEOIuwws

First Impressions

I arrived in Sydney yesterday morning, and none of my luggage was lost. Here are a few initial highlights I've drawn in very little time on very little sleep:

• An hour in the LA airport supports stereotypes of LA


• Sydney is a tiny London set in Northern California


• Sex sells in Australia, too


• I have not seen a kangaroo yet

I've never actually been to LA, but now I can say that I've been through LA. You know how when you view a city from above and all the cars look like ants crawling slowly along the road. LA is not like that. The cars are still ants, but they are flying along, not crawling. And they all seemed to be moving in the same direction, an entire side of the highway was empty. Also, I was tickled to discover that that lights on the runway at LAX blink like a marquis.

I spent yesterday walking around Sydney and trying to get a feel for the city. Sydney doesn't feel like any other city I've been to. The presence of London landmarks like Hyde Park make it feel European, but it's distinctly not European. Perhaps, like everything else in Australia, evolving in isolation has given it some very familiar and some very unique traits to the rest of the world.

The skyline has a 1970s aesthetic with the exception of a few highrises that dot it with modern appeal. It's winter here much like a Northern California winter - it's 50 degrees and people are sporting coats and scarves. But unlike American winter, it's surprisingly green. There are few deciduous trees in Sydney, just leafy evergreens.

I wandered through the Royal Botanical Gardens and into the Tropical House yesterday where they were advertising "Sex and Death". By which they meant a room of orchids and a venus fly trap. They were so excited about this exhibit they spelled out "Sex + Death" in topiary bushes outside the Tropical House which is legible from the BCG office here.