sydney must-sees

As exhausting as my week is, I've gotten off my ass every weekend to enjoy the 'tourist' portion of my experience. As with any other place, there is are plenty must-see's in Sydney and I promise to note them in my blog as I go to them.

Syndey Opera House

Since he spent a few years in the seminary, my dad has a lot of priest friends in various countries all over the world. Coincidently, he's got a besty in Australia who's pretty much been my guide since I've been here. He lives a five hr flight away but flew into Sydney my first weekend here. He introduced me to this family who take me to Vietnamese church with them on Sundays, and he was also the one who took me to this notorious symbol of Australia. As expected, it was much greater in person than it appeared to be in 'Finding Nemo', complete with a perfect view of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Also a very majestic structure, one I recognized from the Olympics quite a few years back. I haven't gotten to go inside yet, but my friend and I plan to see a show or two very soon!


Aquarium-Darling Harbour

The aquarium as very large and the main exhibit was sharks, particularly because most of the deadliest sharks are found in Australia.( yeah can't wait to go to the beach despite hearing that one). It was a good day out but I wouldn't say it was anything I hadn't seen before. The set up is kind of like the on at MOA where you walk through the aqauarium. The fish were beautiful and the sharks were enormous. Tonia and I spent five bucks to feed the fish, I was under the impression that we would be tossing smaller fish into the tank. All we had was a pinch of fish food found at target and fed the coral fish. It's okay though we floated above the huge tank where the occasional shark dorsal fin would pop up by the boat just like in the movies. It was cool to see so many of the coral reef fish, they're abundant considering they live pretty close.

Taronga Zoo
Forecast said it was going to rain but by lunch time it was gorgeous so we decided all systems go for the zoo only to be rained on not too much later. The zoo here is nothing like the ones back home. The animals don't appear to be held captive in the ways that I've usually seen the kept. Everything is out in the open, since there aren't any harsh winters to worry about. There are also parts of the zoo where the animals go about their business with no fences while we're able to walk through and visit them. There was a sky safari from where we were dropped off by the ferry that took us to the zoo entrance via the sky cart things that allowed us to see the animal habitats from above. First thing we did when we got there was go see the seal show. I've seen these before and I wasn't the most excited camper to see another one. But to my surprise the show was great, the animals were trained so well and the show flowed with such ease in incorporating the seals' movements and the dialogue spoken to us. It was an amazing show. The rest of the day was pretty normal, it was great time spent up close and personal with all sorts of animals. I'm working on the animal fear deal, it's coming a long way =)

Royal Botanical Garden

The botanical garden is a bit past the opera house and it's a beautiful place for a walk or even a cute little picnic. The paths are scattered with beautiful trees and flowers on one side and the other looks out to the harbour sprinkled with sailboats far off in the distance. It's a great area for pictures but unfortunately I wasn't able to see all of it. I'm hoping to go back soon.


I went to one the girls' in the family's confirmation mass. I had just gone to a confirmation celebration before I left so it was nice to be able to compare the likes and differences of the two. At first I felt very homesick being involved with this family, but in reality no one else I know is getting this while they're here. It's more of a blessing than anything to eat at a round table with a close knit family some nights and celebrate birthdays and confirmations just as if I was a resident here. I'm making an effort to reap comfort about of this rather than use it as an excuse to be a puddle. Who else is getting the independence of being on their own with the moments of being part of a family here? None. So why fret eh? It's just one of those things and I'm lucky enough to have =)

well I think that's all I've done so far, minus the smaller encounters I probably don't recall. I'll try to retain more as I experience more. The homesickness isn't as severe as it used to be which allows me to enjoy my time here a lot more than before. I feel like I've been here for ages rather than the realistic three weeks I've had so far. I'm feeling more familiar with my surroundings and a lot more comfortable here which makes life to be a lot easier than it was. Just a little adjusting did the trick.

Ozzie note : pop = ecstacy lol ask for soft drinks or people will get the wrong idea