More Sydney sightseeing

At 29.7m high and 35.7m wide, Sydney has the world's biggest IMAX cinema, a fact that they're very proud of as they display it in big, bold letters while the audience waits for the imminent film. When I took a walking tour back in June, the guide had told us how impressive (but also expensive) the cinema was and recommended catching a film there. Until now there hadn't been a film that I fancied spending $32 on but when I saw adverts for Forrest Gump, one of my favourite films, I'd found a reason to go. With a 20% off voucher the viewing also became cheaper so Sunday 19th October was filled with a trip to the cinema... 

... and a FaceTime call home to share in Jamie's 6th birthday. Proudly cycling along the lounge and dining room, he showed me his huge new bike. 

He carefully read my card aloud...

...before opening the box of gifts I'd sent back in July. Weird to think that it took 2 months on a ship to get there and was then stashed in mum's room for a month!  I think he liked the Scooby Doo lunch bag and bottle, super hero book and theme park photo but the cuddly koala and batman mask were certainly a hit. As soon as the mask was in place, he sped up to his room and after a couple of minutes we heard a "Daddy, can you help me?". Apparently he'd emptied the contents of his dressing up box onto his tidy floor and he was struggling to pin the batman cape onto his tshirt. 

Then he showed all his other toys and games before opening the presents from mum and dad. He's not stupid and saved the biggest till last - a big lego ice station. 

As I put the phone down to let them get started on building, I had the first proper pang of homesickness, wishing I was there to help construct the latest edition to the lego city. 

Monday (20th October) morning I'd managed to double book myself and after receiving a lot of stick from Issy the night before, I had an early start as I had to be at the Opera House in plenty of time for a 9am tour. The free shuttle bus along George street doesn't start until 10am so I decided to take an early morning walk. The city took on a different, more subdued atmosphere at 8am in the morning as commuters quietly headed to work. 

The tour around the opera house was pretty cool as we took in all three theatre/concert hall spaces. Unfortunately we weren't able to take photos inside due to copyright but we could take photos of the entrance lobbys and the structures. The King and I was on in one theatre, hence the oriental bar space. 

I managed to take quite a few interesting notes on our way round, of course these are only a sample of the flood of facts that bombarded us.

- Same architect designed the Opera House and birds nest stadium and swimming cube at Beijing Olympics

- Architects son and the same engineer are now creating tunnel underneath the Opera House to make deliveries safer/more inconspicuous

- Engineers are Arup

- It cost 102 million dollars and took 16 years to build

- The difference between the budget and actual coat was paid off in 18 months using national lottery tickets

- Opera Winfrey and Nelson Mandela have both spoken on the steps of the opera house

- The architect, Jørn Oberg Utzon, won a competition that had the following results:

1st prize - Danish

2nd prize - 7 Americans

3rd prize - 2 Brits 

- The Opera House has he same providers of glass as provided the glass for the Louvre

- There are 700 staff members, some of them check all of the chairs every day! 

- The Opera House was not initially designed as spherical segments - it was created that way as a structural solution and constructed using 'ribs' - slices of sphere - to aid construction. 

In the afternoon, Zoe, Steph and I met up at The Grounds of Alexandria.  Unfortunately, because of my cock up, Issy couldn't make it but we still worked on her recommendation.  Steph had moved to a different hostel so Zoe and I took the train together. Walking through an industrial estate from the station to the coffee shop, we wondered where on earth Issy had sent us but when we arrived, she didn't disappoint. She takes a lot of stick for her love of food and her French Canadian nationality but, boy, Issy can dig out awesome restaurants and coffee shops! 

This place reminded me of a classy Hatton Country World with lots of shrubbery, a small section of animals, a pub, a florist selling rainbow roses and a coffee shop (although they served 'proper' food too). Interspersed with the converted buildings there were carts selling items like popcorn but I guess they're only open at weekends. After a 40 minute wait (this place is POPULAR!), we were finally seated in a fantastic spot next to the servery so we ooh-ed and aah-ed at the dishes that emerged.  I ordered a strawberry and pear juice, making Steph jealous when it arrived! It was a strange sensation tasting strawberry but smelling mint simultaneously! 

Back at the hostel we took on a Monopoly challenge and my usual competitive streak took over. Zoe amused us as she wouldn't succumb to my constant bartering but agreed to Steph's first offer!

Now I stupidly sent my journal home before I wrote this blog so I can't exactly remember what did on Tuesday 21st October but I think I just had a chilled day writing my new blog which, if you haven't found it, is observationsofathirtysomething.blogspot.com. 

Similarly I'm not sure how I spent the daytime of Wednesday 22nd October but in the evening I met Steph outside the hostel and we headed up to Sydney Harbour YHA,  the hostel that Issy had moved to. After a short time in the dining area we climbed up to the rooftop terrace and the views we stunning. I now realised why tickets up here had sold out in April! By 10pm we'd finished several drinks and 'visitors' were kicked out of the hostel so Steph and I enjoyed a walk back to Railway Square, chattering the whole way about all sorts. 

During the day of Thursday 23rd October I completed a few chores in preparation of my impending trip to Brisbane and started crocheting a fox scarf - an ironic take on the 'fashionable' fox fur scarves. The evening brought my last rehearsal with Sydney Gay and Lesbian Choir for a while and it felt really special - see my post in my other blog for my reflections. Walking home, I'd become so used to not really knowing anyone that when Liz was waving at me from her car at the traffic lights, it took a while to realise she was waving a me and not the girl waiting in front of me!

Friday 24th October brought a lazy morning before I met Steph after lunch at the Anzac memorial. We'd planned to spent the afternoon reading in the botanical gardens but ended up chatting instead. We walked back to the hostel through the noodle markets and agrees that it would be great to meet here on Saturday evening to celebrate my last evening in Sydney. 

After dinner I FaceTimed Amy and it was great to catch up with all of our news 'face to face'. While I was sitting in the lobby of the hostel, it was brought to an abrupt end when an older gentleman didn't realise that the main doors were made of glass and walked full pelt, face first into them from the outside. No one out there was going to check he was ok so it was left to me to quickly put the phone down, open the door, guide him to a seat on the bench and fetch him an ice pack. Luckily he was just bruised and a little shocked!

The next morning (Saturday 25th October) I had to get up early but my bed was far too comfortable! It took the tooting, huffing and puffing of this beast outside the dorm carriage to lure me from under my duvet. 

The morning was filled with last minute jobs (including the beginning of several frustrating conversations with CheapOair about my flights) before I went to the Powerhouse Museum for TEDxUltimo. When we arrived and registered, we were given name lanyards and we had to write down something interesting about ourselves. I was surprised by how many people wrote their occupation - surely there's more interesting things than that!

There were 8 speakers during the event and these abridged biographies are taken directly from TEDxUltimo.com:

Muj Ahmed

A passionate humanitarian, Mujahid Ahmed has spent the last decade-and-a-half working with the world’s most vulnerable populations in Africa, Australia, and the Middle East. This includes periods of employment with the Australian Red Cross, The Salvation Army, St. John Ambulance, and Doctors without Borders.

Mujahid Ahmed has been providing subject matter advice on refugees and forced migration since 2005. To the best of his knowledge, Mujahid is the only professional Sudanese Australian motivational speaker and stand-up comedian in the world! 

To the best of his knowledge, Mujahid is the only professional Sudanese Australian motivational speaker and stand-up comedian in the world!  An acclaimed comedian, Mujahid blends his experiences from life situations in Africa, Australian and the Middle East with a hilarious narrative about the funnier side of being a global citizen.

Mujahid Ahmed’s stories are uplifting and humorous. His knowledge of Australian culture and humour quickly gains him the affinity of fellow Australians and he excels in the use of metaphor and narrative. He has toured Australia and Europe performing comedy. An Australian resident since 2001, Mujahid hails originally from Sudan but lived for 18 years in the Middle East before moving to Australia.

Vida Askinka

Vida is a coffee lover who believes that coffee shops are the best places to discover new ideas. She is passionate about humanity, people, community engagement, cultural and social issues, entrepreneurship, design thinking, and their relationship with architecture.

Vida is the co-founder of Kupi Culture, an innovation hub in Banda Aceh, a town in Indonesia that was affected by the tsunami 2004. As part of her project she is researching post-conflict architecture and how a community can rebuild their city. Vida and her business partner Joanne Taylor use coffee shops as public spheres as a platform to generate ideas in these communities.
Hayden Smith

Hayden Smith is the Project Director for Sunswift, the UNSW Solar Racing Team. Currently in his third year of a Bachelor of Engineering (Mechatronic) and Bachelor of Science (Computer Science) at the University of New South Wales, Hayden has been a member of the Sunswift team since the beginning of 2013, and has been leading the team since the beginning of 2014.

Sunswift is a team of highly motivated undergraduate students that devote their spare time to building and racing solar cars.  In July 2014, Sunswift attempted, and broke, a 26 year old international record for the fastest electrical vehicle over a 500km distance at a speed of 107km/h. 
Anne-Marie Elias
A disruptive purveyor of change, this charismatic Egyptian-born, Italian-Australian applies passion and tenacity to creating better outcomes for the disadvantaged. [She is a] youth activist in her teens, [and] a former senior policy adviser to several Australian and NSW Cabinet Ministers. 
She preaches the gospel of disrupting status quo and collectivism and her influential following is growing exponentially.

Monique Schafter

Monique Schafter is a Walkley Award-winning journalist and documentary filmmaker who reports for the ABC’s nightly current affairs program, 7.30.

Outside of 7.30, Monique recently co-directed the short documentary ‘In My Shoes’ exploring the issues faced by young transgender Australians.

Previously, Monique co-hosted the ABC's ground-breaking current affairs program Hungry Beast.

She also writes columns for a range of LGBT publications.

Jo Giles

Jo is an architect with a passion for revealing the hidden meaning behind a design. Working as a female Architect in what was seen as a largely male dominated, Jo combines her own blend of unique design principles with a more sustainably spiritual orientation.

Gender focus was not the issue but more of a sensitivity and ideology based on balance, fluidity, style, engineering and sustainability issues. Sometimes the influence came from particular architects philosophies and ideologies. However Jo’s inspiration mostly was from being a mother and experiencing the changing needs of our built environment ; whilst other times is was mixing sacred geometry, golden ratios and ancient wisdoms with a social and environmental conscience. 

Rae Johnston

Rae Johnston is a technology, video game, comic & pop culture expert. She presents news and opinions in a way that can be appreciated by hardcore fans and newcomers alike. 

Rae isn’t afraid to stand up for herself and female gamers. She is quick to remind us of the real-life person behind the avatar. 

Poppy Olsen

Poppy Starr was 8 when her love of skateboarding began. Being the sole girl at her local skate park she was determined to achieve two things. Firstly, to encourage and inspire more girls to skate and secondly, to become one of the best skaters in the world.

 In 2011, Poppy started her own company www.poppystarr.com and began selling her artworks, gift cards and jewellery designs in order to fund trips to World Cup events. Since then, Poppy has been invited to speak at various business conventions including Google ‘Women in Business’ and The Unconvention for Young Entrepreneurs. As a result, Poppy has become a leading role model for Women’s skateboarding. 

Poppy has also completed several commissions from Waverley Council including painting signal boxes and is currently involved in a mural project at Bondi Skate Park. In July 2013, Poppy won her first World Cup title in Girl’s 14&U division. This year she has won another two World Cups giving her a current No 1 ranking with the World Cup of Skateboarding. A huge highlight this year was touring with one of the world’s best skaters, Tony Hawk, giving demos at the Australian F1 Grand Prix in Melbourne.

Poppy is an advocate for skateboarding to be an Olympic sport and has campaigned the Australian Sports Commission for Skateboarding to have its own National Governing Organisation. 

I'll now share the photos I took, along with the titles of their talks and the notes I took during the day. I was surprised that some of the speakers I thought would be interesting we're not so  and those that I was disinterested in were often the most interesting!

MUJ AHMED

The dialogue torch and movement for free thought

- there are 30 million refugees worldwide

- there's a 10 year average wait in refugee camp to be taken to a permanent asylum country

- told a story of 2 women in Iraq hiding their relationship who embraced amongst shooting

- 'for us to care, people must continue to suffer'

VIDA ASKINA

Coffee Think Tank for Youth. The road to a creative economy

- coffee shops were male dominated in Indonesia, similar to bars in Western culture

- she's from the Tsunami hit area of 2004

- coffee shops appeared in refugee camps

- coffee culture changed, Western culture influenced dermography - women were now at the shops including international workers

- the only entertainment came from coffee shops and soon the internet became available which led to gaming and social media

- parents objected to children/teens being involved in online world

- set up Kupi-culture project, bringing back the idea that coffee shops are places to share ideas 

- giving young people a chance to be creative

HAYDEN SMITH

Take the wheel: lessons from breaking a world record

- "You can't do this because..."

But what if you could?

This then changes to 'but where can I start?'

- students can achieve things that companies can't because of polices and practices that make solutions difficult/long winded

- 'cruise control' - doing the bare minimum

- be part of something that's world changing

- learning and growing isn't about books and exams

ANNE-MARIE ELIAS

Disrupting the status quo

- 'he didn't faff around and travel the world' - I completely disagreed! Travelling ISN'T faffing!

MONIQUE SCHAFTER

Growing up transgender: The power of personal stories

- gender queer - not identifying as male or female - there's a spectrum

- 'your biggest bullies are your teachers' - Liz, transgender female

JO GILLES

Masculine and feminine principles in architecture and life

- the only thing I wrote here was that she used 'female' instead of 'feminine' when the two things aren't the same

RAE JOHNSTON

Avatars are people too

- Twitter - a role playing game, loosely based in yourself, acrewing followers 

- Social media is a game too

- when games use collaboration for a positive goal they can have have a positive impact - violent games can reduce aggression

- video games used for post traumatic stress 

- reduces anxiety levels

- gamers - often high risk mental health but end up better than those who don't play

- need to be putting humanity into social media

- being vulnerable is difficult

- never hope harder than you work

- if you see harassment online, speak out

- when you've got support you can speak out for change

- speak up online, 'I've got your back'

 POPPY OLSEN

What would it be like if men's and women's extreme sports were equal?

- painting electrical boxes - painted 8 so far

- skate decal graphics have a meaning

- skate park at Bondi is a fish, based on Aboriginal art

- skateboarding is an art form, sport and lifestyle 

The day ended with Lacey Cole singing and an almost 100 year old dancer!

In between the talks and the breaks we were shown videos of other Ted talks. One was by Simon Sinek. 

- there's a difference between leadership and authority. 

- that's why good leaders make is feel safe

- spoke about a company who's sales dropped 30%. The leaders had a meeting to decide who to lay off. CEO said no, instead gave all staff 4 weeks unpaid leave (not necessarily consecutively) - all sacrificed a little instead of a few suffering a lot. Staff ended up trading weeks - those that could afford it took 5 weeks while those that struggled took 3. 

Another talk was by Rives and was very amusing. It can be seen here:

http://www.ted.com/talks/rives_on_4_a_m?language=en

And then there was 'a ted speaker's nightmare':

https://www.ted.com/talks/a_ted_speaker_s_worst_nightmare

I came out of the TED feeling really inspired and thoughtful. I had a pensive walk back to the hostel for dinner. 

That evening Steph and her friend Bonnie, Zoe and I went to the noodle markets. The walk there was particularly misty and the top of the tower was covered!

The makets were very similar to the Brisbane noodle markets and there were parts including these paradoxes and the dancing dragons that made me wonder whether they were the same people touring from city to city. Watching the dragons light up and dance made up for the fact that I missed them in Brisbane after rushing over the bridge.

After stopping off at the bottle shop we arrived at Sydney Harbour YHA and we enjoyed several drinks with a huge crowd from Railway Square YHA and Issy. Writing about it now makes me realise that I miss the camaraderie that's made between 'long termers' at hostels. For me it was just someone to eat breakfast or dinner with or discuss our days. For others it was good friends for nights out however I definitely made good friends in the 'Oz Gleeks' - Zoe, Steph and Issy. 

Back at the hostel, I grabbed a quick shower before FaceTiming Sharon who was at Auntie Doreen's 'Big' birthday party.  I was swiftly toured round all of the cousins, aunties and uncles and it was great to see everyone, even if it was fleetingly because of the noise there - I could barely be heard!

 

Come midnight, the weather put on another show for us with thunder rumbling loudly and lightening flashing brightly.

 

Although I was sad to be leaving my new friends, the SGLC and the city of Sydney, I was excited to move on to join my new 'host family', to have my own bed, a 'proper' bathroom and to be with the same people every day. 

On Sunday 26th October I flew to Brisbane to join the Byrnes as their au pair but I'll save those adventures for my next blog. 

Experience, travel – these are as education in themselves. - Euripides