Pretty Ladies....Painful Feet

Horse racing is pretty big here and Tuesday is Melbourne Cup day which is a Melbourne only holiday, not even the whole state of Victoria but only Melbourne. Leading up to Tuesday are usually some horse races, parades, and general all night partying.

On Saturday while running our errands, we passed through/near the Flemington racing grounds, which was a really bad idea. Not only was there a sobriety road test (it was around 4:30 PM) that was causing a lot of chaos with traffic but just all the activity around the horse race brought a lot of cars, people, and detours. But driving through here we saw a lot of people all dressed up with their little or big hats. We saw several women carrying their high heeled shoes, which is apparently quite the norm.

I couldn't get a lot of nice pictures but here was some of what I could catch:

This dude in the car in front of us was hanging out of the car for most of the time waving at people and being obnoxious. Obviously "pissed up!"

- julie

Wash Your Car AND Wash Your Dog

We went to what we could find is the closest thing to a PetsMart or Petco called PetStock. Still pales in comparison but considering was had to buy quite a bit of stuff for the kids to replace what we had in the states, the more frequent boutique style pet stores were just going to be too expensive.

When we finished with our purchases and were heading out we saw that near the door was a dog wash!! It had a tub with a leash clipped and it was like a car wash where you put in coins to buy time for the shampooing and washing. It was kinda cool to see!

Ever since then though, I started seeing these dog washes but at car washes! It started off with one and I just thought it was a one off thing but then the next also said car and dog wash, then another, then another!

Dunno how often it is used but it's gotta be a good idea especially if you don't have room to wash a dog at their house/apartment or they're coming home from someplace that has their dog dirty.

- julie

Anticlimactic Much?

Today was suppose to be the big day to visit Chinatown in Sydney. Now you're probably thinking what's the big deal. And it really isn't that big of a deal. However, coming from Melbourne where the "Chinatown" is just a street block and Anthony's last visit there looked really busy and he had this gigantic crab there. So I wanted to see what I envisioned a Chinatown should look like. Tons of people, shops, and great good.

We start off the day with a car ride around the area we're staying, which is really beautiful. We saw some gorgeous houses that were $2M+ that probably would have cost about $500,000-$800,000 in Austin. We  stopped off at the beach, remember these are ocean beaches but with beautiful beaches with really fine sand.

Not sure if it's a Sydney thing because of the ocean beaches or an Australia thing but now is a big time for these Nipper Clubs. Yeah I know, take a second there if you have to. I did when I saw those words flash across a news story and a bunch of little boys in speedos were standing in the background.

Nipper Clubs are swimming clubs for boys and girls under the age of 16. It's HUGE here. When we went down to the beach where the Nipper Club was at that weekend, there was 4 distinct groups with a total of about 600 members then add in all the parents and coaches. Apparently they've had these clubs as far as they could remember, it's kind of the Sydney thing. Practically every kid at the age of 5 or 6 gets enrolled by their parents. I don't think there's a single Sydneysider that doesn't know how to swim and probably learned or spent most of the swimming in the ocean. How great is that??

You can kinda make out the two other groups of people further down.

Then....it starts drizzling. The sky was looking pretty dark but it finally started dropping some water. So we headed back to the house and got our rental car and headed back toward the city to visit Chinatown.

Once we get, what we thought was close and parked in a garage. The sky just opens up. It's just pouring buckets. We're trying to run from cover to cover but was getting pretty wet. We see an outdoors kind of place and make a mad dash for it in the hopes that they sold umbrellas. This Whole Earth kind of a place had umbrellas but small portable type ones. Which makes sense since it's meant for camping or travel use. We pick up one since they were stupid expensive. We attempt to squeeze under one umbrella. It just meant my left and back was getting drenched and Anthony's right and back was getting drenched.

We spotted a Woolsworth (Safeway) and made our way over there for more umbrellas. We had to cross two large intersections and because it was pouring so hard, the water was just rushing alongside the curbs on both sides. Not only was it wide (about 3 feet) but it was deep too! Which meant in our attempt to cross, we both stepped into water that rushed up to our ankles. Both our shoes were just filled with water. I had jeans on so it sucked up the water like a straw. I was immediately soaked from knee down. Jeans wet are REALLY heavy.

We got umbrellas but we were still miserably wet. We ended up walking about 10 minutes before it became evident that we were getting closer to Chinatown. We kept looking for the obvious Chinatown archway that signifies that we're in Chinatown but we could never find it. They sidewalks were packed with people, despite the rain, and the streets were filled with cars. We reached a point where Anthony and I just decided that we were just too drenched, cold, and hungry to keep going. So we turned around to pop into a noodle place that we had passed earlier. Hoping some soup would warm us up.

I think the place was Yee King Noodles. I ordered a beef noodle soup and Anthony ordered a king prawn stir fry noodle dish. Both were superb!!!! You could tell they made their own noodles too which made it even better. I have to give credit to Anthony since he was the one that spotted the place and recommended we stop in. So good, just thinking about it makes me hungry for it again!

Sorry, no pictures of Chinatown. I rain just wouldn't let up and there was just people everywhere that I was too preoccupied to take pictures. I'm sure we'll go back for a visit again.

So yeah, noodles aside, visiting Chinatown was a little anticlimactic. To make it worse...I didn't even get a chance to get a bubble tea!

- julie

There Could Be No Other Title But.....SYDNEY!!!

We're in Sydney!

We flew Tiger Airway, which after we booked it, everyone's initial  reaction when they asked what airline we were flying was a scrunched facial expression between disgust and sympathy. Apparently they're known for older planes and overall just not a good total experience. But seriously you can't beat the price and just suck it up for an hour long flight. If we had  left on a Thursday instead of Friday, each of our one way trip to Sydney would have been $28!!! No frills for an hour long flight, come on, you can't beat that. We take the Skybus from one of the large train stations in the CBD to the airport. It runs every 10 minutes and is $16 per person round trip to and from the airport to the train station. We get dropped off and after walking all over the building to find the terminal for Tiger, we soon realize it was in a separate building a bit of a walk away. It was at as if Tiger wanted to fly out of this airport well after it was built and wanted it so badly that they'd take the ugly stepchild building that nobody wants. Their coffee shop was out of a sheet metal shed box plopped down right outside the front door of the so called terminal.

Forget getting on the plane in an orderly fashion. We had assigned seats but they just opened the gates for an all out cattle call regardless if you were in seat 1 (like us) or seat 70. It takes a solid 3 minutes or so to walk out to the plane because apparently this terminal also has no connecting walkway. So we stroll on up to this jumbo plane from the outside and walk up the metal stairs wheeled up to it. It was interesting for sure. Wonder what happens if it was raining. The flight wasn't so bad and being only an hour long, we were soon descending. We made our way to get the rental car (they gave us a burnt orange Toyota Aurion Sportiva, how'd they know we were from Austin??) and I soon learned what Anthony had said about the way people drive in Sydney. Compared to Taiwan or Shanghai, the driving pales in comparison but hailing  from the states and especially Texas, they drive like lunatics here! It probably doesn't help that none of the roads seem to be able to go in a straight line for long and looked like a spaghetti bowl.

Sorry, it's so blurry!


Our friends have a really nice house on a great size lot in Cronulla so it's a bit of a drive from the city but you gotta love that it's incredibly close to countless beautiful ocean beaches.

On our drive to our friend's house. For a moment there, it looked like we were back in the states!!


After dinner and some beers, we crash hard. Our hosts are parents of a 2 year old and an 8 month old daughters and we woke up to a mantra that I'm sure many parents have heard, "I want to watch Dora, I want to watch Dora" she goes on a couple of times. The Dad, Sergio, is running the show solo since the Mother, Sharon, went out for a morning run. Brave Dad!!

Our friends take us to the beach to have breakfast and there's already a bunch of people out on the beach. Group exercise like running, swimming, and surfing seem to be very popular here.

Hopefully Anthony is asking for some parenting tips! 

The water temperature was posted as 20 C, which would make it about 68 F.

 We ate at a beach side place called Zimzala. Beautiful view of the beach and the food was delicious!

Kind of a bad shot since I was in a bit of a corner but to give you an idea of the view. Notice the windows were all open. Very relaxing!

Anthony had their "Big Breakfast" and it was really good. The sausage was lamb though, which is pretty big here, so I didn't much care for it but the rest was great.

I had an egg and bacon roll in a tomato type of sauce. It was delicious!!! I personally thought it was better than the Big Breakfast.

We all had a big mug of coffee. I had my usual latte with soy, which may have been my demise later that evening. Everyone else also had the Big Breakfast and Anthony ate about a quarter of my roll so I don't think it was the food but promptly after dinner, I excused myself to the restroom and it was on like Donkey Kong. I was as sick as a dog. I didn't even get to have the wonderful sounding dessert that everyone else got to have. So I could only suspect that maybe the soy in my coffee was bad. But I paid dearly for it that night.

Extremely adorable ball of never ending energy. I don't think we ever saw her stop moving when she wasn't sleeping!

If you know Anthony, you also know that he afraid to handle babies. Our friend Sharon, was quick on her feet and plucked the babe out of the stroller and in one fail swoop, placed her in Anthony's arms. I think Anthony was just reacting because he automatically reached out and the mother let go immediately. Anthony was caught! Fortunately, Gabrielle took an immediate liking to Anthony so she just smiled the whole time he was holding her.

The beach crowd now after we finished breakfast.

Fortunately we got several hours of beautiful weather that afternoon when Anthony and I did the obligatory Sydney Opera House visit. We hadn't expected to walk so much or for so long. Aside from REALLY sore legs, we finished the day a few shades darker and some new feet tan lines from Anthony's sandals and from my shoes that had a crisscrossed strap.

Here are some pictures from our walkabout.

On our way to the Opera House area. Two insane roadies!! We're on the highway!

Heading into the tunnel where there is NO shoulder!!

Our friends told us to park near the Royal Botanical Garden then walk across to see the Sydney Opera House, so the first parking spot we came to had this parking meter for it. If you can make out the text, it's $6/hr for a max of 4 hours.

We ended up parking in a parking garage for a $15 flat rate for the day, then walked across a big park to get to these pearly gates of the Royal Botanical Garden. I dunno why Anthony took the picture when I wasn't looking.

Walking through the Royal Botanical Garden was really nice. It's well maintained and really big!! I won't bore you with pictures of plants and flowers but these were a surprise to see. We saw a guy set up with his camera pointed upward on a tripod and just sitting there. So obviously, we looked up too. Who would have thought you'd see these out during the day in the middle of a big park! And there were LOTS of them!!

BATS!!! They were pretty big too!

This entire tree was covered with them! I forgot what kind of fruit they were after but apparently that's why attracts them. We watched some heated chasing of some by some of the birds, it was fascinating!

Our first view of the famous Sydney Opera House! The Harbour Bridge in the background is the one where people can walk to the top of it along the arch.

In case you were wondering if Anthony was really there. He's been to Sydney before but was being the good husband and taking me out for the obligatory tourist sightseeing.

He made me do it!

There was this HUGE cruise ship in the harbour which was cool to see but it also blocked a good chunk of the view.

We walk allllllllll the way to the other side of the harbour and along the way there were a lot of street entertainers like the aboriginal didgeridoo music, musicians, face painters, and a lady shoving herself into a small box......

Menu from a restaurant with a really nice view of the Sydney Opera House and the harbour.

We came across a really big outdoor market near The Rocks area. I think this was a one off event like maybe once a month or something. Some really nice stuff but we couldn't buy anything because we're already pretty maxed out on our suitcase space/weight to not have to pay.

We walked to the bridge then up and along the highway to get to the start of the bridge. I couldn't muster up anymore energy to walk up all the stairs just to get up to the top of the tower or to where the walking of the arches began. We'd already been walking almost nonstop for an hour and a half in the blazing sun! AND we still have to walk back!

But we did get this shoot off the highway bridge. Still was pretty. I'm sure it would have been nice to have gone up the tower but I imagine it would have been the same view.

Look what pulled up next to us on our way out of the harbour area to see Bondi Beach. I think it's about a $400,000 car. Too bad the highest speed limit I've seen so far is 80 km on the highway or 50 mph. 

 Bondi Beach! Suppose to be a bit of a hot spot. Just across the street are tons of food and shopping stores. It's funny that later that night the news mentioned that overseas visitors thought Bondi Beach was overhyped.

We were in a 30 minute parking spot (it was all we could find) so it was just a whirlwind visit to the beach, grabbed a fish and chips to go...I mean, take away, as they call it here. Then back to the house.

Next blog is on our trip the next day to.....Chinatown! Although the weather is suppose to be really crappy.

- julie

I'm So Out of Shape!

Was running late this morning and needed to catch the train to see the kids this morning since we're headed to Sydney this afternoon. And since the morning visiting hours are only for two hours, I didn't want to be late and cut into the visit time. So I realize there was only 4 minutes until the train. I grabbed my keys and bolted out the door in a run. My legs are jello and I thought I was about to pass out. I don't think I've run that hard for that long since....hell middle school! I did make it, with less than a minute to spare. Not sure if I'll have the legs for the walk from the train station to the kids!

- julie

Sent from my iPhone

Mucking With the Train Doors

So I finally get on the train at Southern Cross to Williamstown and we're moseying along. We get to Newport, which normally is where I'd get off to get on the next train that goes to Williamstown. But this time the train I'm on is going to Williamstown and people wanting to get on the Werribee line have to get off to catch the next train. I know, it's confusing, and it only happens during certain times of the day.

We get to Newport and you see that the platform is already packed full of kids getting out of school. And I'm thinking thank goodness I don't have to get off. Then the conductor says that this train is terminating here because there's a disruption on the Williamstown line so everyone has to get off. !#$!%!@#$!@#$

So I get off and there's no instructions on what to do for those going to Williamstown, which from Newport, the stop I get off is 3 more stops down the line. I considered walking but then I have no idea which way, where to go, and how long it would take me. Plus I already have blisters on my toes from walking around the CBD today. So I'm confused and just hanging around the station waiting for further instructions. They then announce that a Williamstown train will be coming in about 4 minutes. So I'm relieved.

A train pulls up and it's the Werribee line so a bunch of people get on. And it sits there. Kids are messing with the door and it keeps opening then the train people start walking along the train yelling at people to step away from the doors. The conductor is getting more frustrated by the tone of his voice over the PA system. Then what seemed like forever, the conductor comes across the system and says "The train is being delayed because the students keep mucking with the doors. This line is now a limited express train to Laverton," which means it's heading in the direction of Werribee but it's going to blow past a few stations instead of stopping. The conductor repeats and adds that if students keep delaying the train that they will cancel the line. Whatever....

So a bunch of people get off, the platform is packed. The train just sits there for again, what feels like forever, then he makes another announcement about it being the Werribee train and a bunch of people pile on. Then a few minutes pass and it's changed again so practically everyone piles off, then another announcement and a bunch of people pile on. THEN they announce that due to a defect in the door the train is not taking passengers so everyone gets off the train.....again. The conductor is yelling over the PA for people to clear the door from the platform so the train can leave. A few minutes later the Williamstown train arrives. ABOUT BLOODY TIME!!!!

So I'm finally home, about an hour and 20 minutes after I got on the train down at the CBD. Ugh.

My feet hurt.

- julie

Need a Belt With That Pants?

I blogged earlier about the love of skinny jeans here by both guys and girls. Well I saw a variation of that today. It's the skinny jeans that also hangs off your ass. A co-worker of Anthony's had briefly mentioned it at the BBQ but I hadn't really noticed. Since I'm usually too busy trying to watch where I'm going, trying not to run into people, and in general trying not to panic when i'm in the CBD area downtown. But today I went down to meet Anthony for lunch and noticed the guy in front of us with pants like it was painted on and hanging practically below his butt cheeks. At least he wasn't walking with an exaggerated limp.

Waiting for the train right now. Just missed it when I got to the station so it's a 20 minute wait. Blasted blisters on my toes!

- julie

Sent from my iPhone

I Say Pickle, You Say Gherkins

I've only been here two weeks and for the most part, I'm understanding everyone okay. Sometimes I just smile and nod or laugh along even though I have no idea what they just said. Sometimes it's just a matter of pronunciation or if they used a completely different word that I may or may not have heard before. So as I come across these interesting use of words, I've been jotting them down on a little notepad that I've been keeping on myself. Here's what I've come across so far:

• a bulb is known as a globe
• clothes pins are clothes pegs
• weed whacker is called a whipper snipper (our neighbor called it that when we ran into him the morning after Anthony used it in the backyard)
• liquor store here is a bottle shop (we have one just at the end of the block, in the states the residents would have been in an uproar whereas here they're in an uproar if there isn't one nearby!)
• post office is a post shop
• tires are spelled as tyres
• cell phones are more often called handsets
• the radio going over the traffic called car accidents as a smash
• textured rug is called a shag (although I'd use that one carefully)
• sleeping bag or bedroll is a swag
• sausage is called a snag
• heard pickles called gherkins
• afternoon is for some reason called arvo
• ground meat is called minced meat (although they don't seem to differentiate minced with really minced to the point it's like paste....I know because I found out the hard way)
• a tall dresser in a bedroom is called a tall boy

As I collect more, I'll share them with you. 


Good arvo to ya!


- julie

I Huffed and Puffed and About Keeled Over

After yesterday's debacle with about 3 hours of our life gone with taking the bus then train to get to our friend's house then back, we decided we'd stay in today. Well, at least nothing that would require us to get on the bus then train since the train departing from our place here in Williamstown is still unavailable. It's a dreary day, no real sunshine and a bit of a cool breeze, Anthony was pacing like a caged lion so we went for a bike ride with the intention of him showing me how to ride all the way to Spotswood where the kids are in quarantine. Since Anthony has been riding to work everyday, the two days a week that we visit the kids, he rides home afterward and I take the train. We found out that by the time he's home, I'm only just getting on the train in Spotswood then about a 15 minute train ride before I'm walking distance from the house. Anthony kept telling me that the bike ride isn't so bad and that it's all on bike trails except for just a hope over Nelson Place, kind of a busy shopping area.

Being that it was Sunday I figured it would mean less people on the road and we could take our time. So we get all decked out for a ride. Okay, so I get decked out since I'm a big wuss on the bike being that I'm not too tolerant of the cold and riding gets the wind blowing pretty good. I have no bike clothing so I borrow Anthony's long sleeve shirt and a cycling wind breaker. Obviously they're huge on me, practically goes down to my knees and extends well over my fingertips. But I was determined to stay warm and it helped a little that I strapped on a backpack (a first time for me while riding) so it kept the clothing from billowing like a sail.

We set out from the house and cross over Nelson Street only to find A LOT of people there for the Commonwealth Reserve Craft Market where there's a ton of booths of people selling their crafts and food stands. So it's teeming with people, kids, and dogs. I have to admit there was a moment of panic when I first saw the crowd. Keep in mind this was only my 4th time out on the bike and I'm still pretty wobbly and not too good around tight spaces so with people all over the place, there was a lot of tight spaces. Fortunately Anthony stops to ask if I wanted to walk around to see what they're selling since he thinks it won't be long before they start packing it up already. So we walk around, on foot, with our bikes in tow. After visiting a few booths and striking up a conversation with a Canadian that has a growing successful all natural homemade dog biscuits business, called Mucky Pup, we got back on our bikes to head towards Spotswood.

Now, I'm still at the point where I'm pretty tense when I ride and I hadn't thought that being on a weekend there would be more people out and about so even though we were on the run/bike path, there was so many people walking around and some with their dogs, that I was extremely tense the entire ride. In the last little stretch of riding before we got to the quarantine facility, we crossed a fairly busy road and up through the parking lot of the Scienceworks Museum, an interactive museum of science and technology (which we plan to go visit soon because they have a Star Wars exhibit), and I soon realize it''s at a bit of an incline. Once I get to the quarantine facility, I'm huffing and puffing and Anthony looks at me like I'm a little nutz then looks down at my chain ring and to his surprise says I was riding on my big gear. Then points out it would have been easier if I shifted down so I wouldn't have had to pedal so hard. I tried to give him a glare but I was too busy trying to relearn how to breathe so I just grunted something between an acknowledgement and a "now you tell me" sound. Like I understand anything about bicycles beyond rotating your legs and try to stay up!

To make matters worse, the ride there and back was about 6 miles (I think I've ridden 1 mile at most before then) and coming back we rode right into a head wind. I was too busy dodging little kids and dogs running across the bike path and trying not to let my snot bubbles get away from me to enjoy the fact that we were riding alongside the water. By the time we got home I could feel a headache coming and I was hurting in places that shouldn't have to know what pain feels like. I'm still trying to catch my breathe and taking a really long time to peel off all my cycle gear then clothing as well as trying to remember how to walk again while Anthony strolls right on in and pops open a bottle of beer having not even broken a bead of sweat.

Before I fell upon the bed to pass out, I told Anthony that he was trying to kill me. Anthony looks at me and cheerfully says, we'll have you racing in no time! I was too tired to lunge at him.

- julie

Could Have Driven to San Antonio and Back!

(Side Note: I'm typing this on my iPhone notepad while on the train)

Co-workers of Anthony are hosting a BBQ so after Anthony scoped out what train(s) to take we figured it would take us about an HOUR AND A HALF!!! That's calculating in the time on the train and all the time we'll be waiting for the next train. If we had a car it would have been about 30 minutes. UGH. To make matters worse, the train from our house to one of the 3 change points that we'll be taking was having problems so we had to get on a bus. I don't think I've been on a bus in years. Anthony is reinvigorated in his search for a vehicle.

- julie

Do You Wear Undies Under Those Skinny Jeans?

Visited the kids today and they were all doing well. Senna has a bit of the runs but that's probably to be expected with all the change in their environment and food. Sete is doing better with her urinary infection but I  don't think she's completely over it yet. Wasn't any easier leaving them at the end of the visit. =(

I had noticed before but today riding on the train I gave it a little more thought. I am apparently about a few decades behind on my clothing fashion. So I gotta trade in my tennis shoes for tall boots and my bootcut jeans for skinny jeans then I'll fit in a little more. Sadly, a lot of the guys wear the same fashion and seem to have an obsession with their hair. On the train there was a group of 3 guys that got on and stood near one of the doors. All had skinny skinny jeans and tight fitting top and they wouldn't stop messing with their hair! Like continuously keep side sweeping the front of their hair. When we were down on Nelson Place looking for a place to eat, there was a guy in front of us with tight skinny red jeans and curly messy style hair. From the back, I kid you not, he looked like Lyle Lovett!

Dinner was great thought!

- julie

1 Megabyte, 2 Megabyte, 3 Megabyte, 4

We're finally up and running with internet at the house. Yay! However, I'm afraid to use it!

So back in the states, you just sign up with Time Warner, AT&T, SBC or whoever. Then no worries. So fairly similar with that here except instead of sending somebody out they just mail you the modem. Then after about a week, the lights suddenly start blinking and then you have internet access. We had some initial problems with our with insane packet loss so we were having to refresh whatever page we wanted to get to multiple times before it finally pulls up and it was sooooo slow. Anthony calls them and he goes through all their troubleshooting steps then tells him that it's a problem with the modem and gave him the manufacturers telephone number. That's like Time Warner telling you to call Scientific Atlanta or whomever is the manufacturer of the cable box if you were having problem with your cable TV. And of course when Anthony calls, they're only open Monday through Friday and it was Saturday at the time. Oh well, fortunately the internet speed suddenly was up and running just fine.

Okay, so nothing too out of the ordinary there EXCEPT there's a monthly usage limit! Yes, there's no unlimited internet access here. And they have peak and off peak time. Broken down as such:

Consists of peak (8am-2:30am) and off peak (2:30am-8am) monthly usage quota. Speed will be shaped to 64k/64k for the period in which the monthly usage quota has been exceeded (peak and/or off peak).

Off peak is only 5.5 hours!!

And we're on the 40 GB on and 40 GB off peak. You don't realize how dependent we were on unlimited internet access. We thought nothing of it back in the states. We'd download all sorts of junk whenever or stream music and leave it running even if we walked away. And now....I'm afraid to even leave my browser open in case the website refresh and start downloading stuff or something tries to connect to the internet to update! The package we're on is near the middle in terms of usage limit and cost. They range from 10 GB for $29.99 up to 120 GB for $129.99. Yes, UP TO 120 GB, there isn't anything higher unless you're ready to pay some ridiculous amount for it.

Oh no! There's a browser tab refreshing! I better close it!

- julie

Corn....

Just got back from the grocery store. REALLY hope cornflour is the same thing as corn starch. Couldn't find anything called corn starch. Because if it's not, Anthony will have some choice words after he takes the first bite of the food.

Finger crossed!

- julie

Where's The Team from Queer Eye When I Needed Them?

I went to the CBD (central business district) to meet up with Anthony at his work for lunch and to swing by a store for a return. I took the train and got off at the Flinders Stations, never been before, but it was closer  to the Cisco building. Stepping off the train, I got up to the main street level and I had to stand there for a second to take it all in. There was lots of people, signs everywhere telling you this was this way and that was that way, and lots of little stores and eateries. Keep in mind I haven't left the station! It took me a while to try to get my bearings as to which direction to go. I initially thought I'd just get down there and go in the direction of the tall and shiny Collins building but then there was two tall buildings and I couldn't remember which one was the Collins building! So I just walked and hoped for the best.

As I made my way further into the city, it was CLEARLY evident that I was really....REALLY under dressed in the city. Almost everyone was dolled up in suits or skirts and heels. Now the guys weren't just blue or black suits, no, they were all patterned and some rather bright ones too! And the shoooooooes! Almost every other women were in tall boots and men in some seriously flashy dressy shoes. I'm way way under dressed.

- julie

Serviette Anyone?

Right at the end of the block from our house is a bar and restaurant that has a special for Tuesday $11 Chicken Parmigiana (normally $17.50) and Wednesday $12 Porterhouse Steaks (normally $23). Last week we tried the steak and today we tried the Chicken Parmigiana. Each time it's served with salad and chips, aka french fries. So today I couldn't finish the Chicken Parmigiana so when the server came around we asked for a "take away" box only to be told that they can't do take aways.

Um...say what?

So she explains that they're not licensed to do take aways but she could bring us serviettes and just don't let her see us take food away. She just couldn't provide us with a box or bag. We said okay....not really sure what a serviette was at the time.

She comes back with 3 napkins. Oh, THAT'S what serviettes are.

We go up to the bar to pay and ask about this whole not-allowed-to-do-take-aways. Apparently you're required to have a license to allow take aways for both food and drinks. The thought is that people may take food away and forget to refrigerate it properly and get sick then goes after the restaurant.

We're still reeling from the fact that we couldn't take the food that we'd already ordered and partially eaten at the restaurant.....because the government forbids it.

Anthony is loving the states more and more.....

- julie

Wanted: Mud Guards

Knowing I could only carry so much when I go to the grocery store, Anthony offer to take the K-9 Carrier to the store with me. So yay! I loaded up on groceries knowing we had a way to carry it. So we both go on our bikes and headed up to the grocery store. It was a rather nice day for a change. The sun was out and it wasn't too windy.

When we go to the store, Anthony showed me how I should lock up my bike in case I rode up there on my own in the future. Since I have the quick release tires, he brought along the long lock to wrap around both tires. Then off I went to grocery shop.

Usually I just use the hand basket because that was about all I could carry with me anyways but today I used the cart. Oh yes, the cart. The cart is similar to the ones that we have in the States, except, and I noticed this on the carts when we were at two other stores, that all 4 wheels moved independently!! No big deal you say?

Well, I was down to the end of the store and realized I needed something near the beginning. So I'm pushing the cart down the aisle perpendicular to all the aisles and what do I see? People pushing their carts out of the aisles and attempting to turn. Their whole body is contorted to try to turn the cart that is half turning and half gliding sideways, it looked like carts trying to turn on an ice rink! That's why it was amusing to have carts that have all 4 wheels turn independently, it's like the grocery store is entirely on ice. Pushing the carts around was like drift car racing in the grocery store with carts! The Australians must be use to it but I about plow into people every time I use those carts.

So I've loaded up on groceries and head towards the bike and carrier and what do I see? It's raining!!! Never ridden in the rain yet so I'm panicking a little plus it's gotten colder all of a sudden. But I suck it up, put on my helmet and gloves, and get on my bike. We get home without incident, well, with the exception that both our butts are wet and dirty from the bike tires kicking up mucky water. Lovely. And the grocery bags in the carrier are also splattered from the tire spray. Fortunately we had this test run before the kids actually got into the carrier. They would have been miserably soaked and really dirty if it was them in there instead of groceries! So now Anthony will have to come up with a contraption to cover up the mesh front when it rains.

It rained for most of the afternoon then later when it was all dried outside, Anthony dragged me out for a bike ride to the jetty by the water to watch the sunset. How wonder is that? We're in Melbourne and it's a bike ride away for us to sit along the water to watch the sunset and it's something we could do whenever we want to. Still surreal sometimes.

Well, back to reality tomorrow where Anthony is off to work and I'm back to try to clean up this old house and make it feel more like home.

- julie

Don't Make Eye Contact!

Once we passed all the car places we headed towards the Footscray Market. It not a market per se but rather numerous stores in about a 3 block by 3 block radius, rather large and LOTs of stores from groceries to hardware and clothing. It's predominantly made up of Vietnamese owned stores and there's a rather large population of Vietnamese people there obviously but it's a bit of a melting pot in there area too.

Sadly, it's also a bit of a scary area. Anthony and I went during the day today and for the first 2 blocks or so, it was okay but we turned a corner and it got really shady. Lots of groups of guys just loitering. We even happened upon a guy with two bottles of beer in his back pocket stopping another guy to ask if he wanted to buy "really good beer for really cheap." We walked a little faster after that.

On the upside, I got some loose leaf jasmine green tea that I've been wanting....too bad I don't have a tea pot yet. AND I found a bakery that made Chinese style items like these really yummy egg tarts. For some reason they make them oval here instead of round. They also had a bag of purple taro rolls. I'm sure most people would look at purple rolls and go yuck! But I saw the word T-A-R-O and I had to get a bag. We also got a bubble tea. Yay! There was two shops pretty much caddy corner from each other, should have known the one further from where we were standing which had all the people in it, would have probably have been better than the one that we were standing next to and empty of people.

On the way up the ramp to the train station, this one guy walks up to us and asks Anthony, "you American?" then looks at me and asks the same thing. He starts gabbering about something then also says, "don't get robbed or rolled." Well...DUH. Like we plan to get robbed or "rolled."

I think during the day I could visit there, probably get some pretty good and decently priced lunch. As long as it's during the day and within the first 2 blocks.

- julie

Who Needs a Car? You Have Legs, Walk!

Today we decided to go look at some cars in the Footscray area since there were some dealerships not too far from the train stop there. So we hoofed it on foot for about 15 minutes to a Toyota dealership. And I kid you not but when the gates came into view, there was at least 8 salesmen standing around in a loose circle. Like circling hawks! All we could do was groan in disgust and try to sneak around to another gate entrance. But unfortunately they were closer to the used car area than the new car area. We got asked no less than 6 times if we needed help even though we were generally in view of them each time they came up to ask. I can already picture them jumping up and down going "let me try, let me try!"

We gawked at some really nice new Toyota from the Yaris to the Aurion. And even the SUV's like the Rav 4, Land Cruiser, and Kluger. Loved the vans like the Tarago and the Odyssey. Anthony and I looked at each other after we looked at each car and smiled sweetly then gagged and I think I had mini-strokes after each car. Why? Because the prices were almost doubled what they were in the States!!! A base Camry was like $55,000!!!

So we did what we could do, tuck our tails and walk over to the used car area where most cars were in their late 90's to early 00's and still cost $15,000 to $30,000. Ugh!!

It was clearly evident that we're going to have to by a beater of a car to get us by, not that we would use it all the time anyways but it would be nice to have it for the weekends or if I needed to go to the grocery store or a shop to buy lots of stuff or big/bulky stuff. Cuz I tell ya, you can't buy a whole lot to fit into a messenger back to carry on your back, believe me I tried, and I filled it to the gills and it weighed a TON. I thought my back was cracking in half by the time I got home.

Anyways, we left the Toyota dealership and from under the eyes of those greasy salesmen and headed back towards the direction of the Footscray Market. Along the way we passed a Ford dealership and some of the independent used car lots. Now in the States I was always weary of those independent used car lots but here, I didn't know what to expect and the sales guy was even worse than the ones at the dealership. Plus he wore open toes sandals....and boy should he have not. He should have either gotten a pedi first or just stuck with closed toe shoes!

Well, we did some across a vehicle that was in pretty good shape, old, but with decent miles and good shape. Anthony was certainly interested in it but he did the smart thing and instead of making it into an impulse buy he said to me "if it's here in a week or two, then we can negotiate prices and possibly buy it." See, if it were me, I would have just bought it just so I didn't have to car shop anymore, it's just uncomfortable walking into a car dealership. Oh! And get this, we thought it was unnecessary for us to pay registration fees for our cars in Texas, you know, those $50 or $60 dollars or so. Yeah well, I won't complain ever again. It's about $600 a year here for car registration!!! It fluctuates a little depending on the type of vehicle but it's still several HUNDRED!!!

Next post, how scary Footscray Market was!!

- julie

Waiting......

Just a quick note for everyone not to lose faith in our blog. Julie has been writing "offline" for the last week, but unfortunately we're still waiting for Telstra to make the final connection for our home internet. Please check back often, we'll be connected soon!

16:01, 06 Oct 2009

Wait for Telstra to activate service (Our official holding pattern.)

-- Anthony

When A Dog Cries, An Angel Broke Its Wings

Yesterday we fell asleep at around 9 PM, which is pretty good! We fought off sleep for 3 hours! However, it didn't stop us from waking up at about 4 AM. Anthony headed off to work a little earlier since today was kid visiting day, yay! It rained for most of the morning though, a good long drenching pouring kind of a rain. The first thing I thought of was regret for having forgotten to bring my umbrella from the states. So I start considering where and how I can go buy myself an umbrella.

Kids visiting day also means it's my first day at taking the train by myself. Yikes! My adventure didn't start off as well as I had hoped. I was aiming to get on the 12:40 PM train at Williamstown, only to have showed up 1 minute late, so I had to stand around in the cold wind for the 1 PM train. From there, it's 2 stops then the Newport stop which I had to get off at in order to change trains. Fortunately Anthony mentioned it to me otherwise I wouldn't have figured it out. At Newport, I got on the other train and got off at the first stop, Spotswood. From here I have to hoof it. Of course, being me, the no-sense-of-direction self, I immediately exit the train station and go the wrong way, then thinking it was the other direction, go a different wrong direction, before I finally backtracked to the station to go the right direction. Yes....that was about 10 minutes of wasted time and unnecessary walking! Like my calfs aren't sore enough as it is.

I finally make it to the Spotswood AQIS Quarantine and the kids are going bonkers when they see me. I had brought them a bed to help try to make it softer and warmer for them since it has been still so very cold today and as I was bending down to put it on the floor, the kids are pouncing like Tigger. I get punched in the face, punched in the glasses, and a nice long slash across my throat from their overenthusiastic selves. But hey, can't blame them for being so happy. I'd be happy if I greeted myself too. Okay, no not really.

All 3 kids are doing well except Sete. At first I thought she was constipated or ate something she wasn't suppose to and it was painful for her to poo but then I realized she would play then suddenly squat and whimper in pain. I can only guess she might have some sort of urinary tract infection since she squatted about 25 times while I was there and cried in pain each time. The AQIS folks contacted a private vet to come take a look. We were hoping today but they had an emergency at their vet office so they're thinking not until tomorrow morning. Poor Sete, we think between holding her pee on the flight over then holding it the last few days since our last visit because she's trained not to go on concrete, it might have caused an infection. She was stuck to me light glue then to Anthony when he joined us from work.

I hadn't mentioned it before but while Anthony was here by himself, he bought a dog carrier that could be pulled by the bikes. It's so we could take the dogs to the beach, dog parks, or wherever. Well, we took it for it's inaugural trip and yes you would be right to recall that the dogs are in quarantine. So what did we have in it instead you ask? Well, Anthony saw a good deal on an advertisement from LiquorLand, which is the alcohol division of Coles, one of the large grocery chains here, so we both got on our bikes with Anthony pulling the trailer and picked up two cases of Carlton Draught. Yes, our first trip with the K-9 carrier....was for a beer run.

- julie

Now The Real Test Begins....No More Car

The rental car is due back today by 10 AM down in the CBD (central business district) which is in the heart of Melbourne (pronounced without the r). So we headed out a little earlier to visit the beach just 2 blocks from our house. Today is suppose to be about 18°C or something like 64°F, I think. So warmer than yesterday but being it was early in the morning, it was still pretty cold and being at the water, it was really windy. The beach was just being combed so it looked beautiful! We walked out onto the beach to get a feel for the water, which was mighty chilly, but that apparently didn't stop people from going in. We saw a handful of people swimming with wet suits on but there was this one guy that was just in swim trunks, now that's nutz!!

They're always on our mind.

Anthony had a little fun in the sand since it was newly undisturbed. And I picked up a few sea shells that didn't get crushed. There was quite a few people running already and some with dogs. Can't imagine how packed it will be when summer rolls around here.

Once we dropped off the car, we walked around looking for free wi-fi and found the McDonald's. 

Here were three things that were astonishing to see.

17.43 Liters....about 4.5 gallons.

A really big sign on the side of a building.

That's not even the most expensive!

So we stopped in to get online, finally after a few days of no internet access. And since I hadn't had a chance to eat at one, we went ahead and got lunch. The menu board apparently was all electronic with full pictures and prices but at about 10:30 AM, the screen completely changed to the lunch menu. Anthony got a chicken nugget meal, it only comes in a 6 piece instead of the 10 we get in the US. And I just got a cheeseburger meal. We both got smalls, I just had no idea how small it really was! The cheeseburger was tiny! I thought it looked like one of those mini-burgers. The first thing Anthony asked was if I got a kids meal! No Dr. Pepper so I settled for a Coke which actually is pretty good here since they use real cane sugar instead of artificial sweeteners, and I'm not a big soda drinker but it's good. Otherwise, the burger, fries, and chicken nuggets tasted about the same. Almost a little less greasy tasting though, like they used cleaner oil or something.

So after getting our internet fix, for probably the week, we went off in search of other areas of interest. Anthony took me to visit the Telstra office that he works at, which looked like a really old building that you walk into from an alley. Then he took me to the Cisco building, which apparently is THE building downtown. It had 40 or 50 something stories and when you walk into the enormous lobby, it was covered in beautiful marble and gigantic white columns. It even had a small art gallery display at the current time. Everything sparkled and shined and the elevators talked to you. What a difference between the Telstra building and the Cisco building!

Entrance to the building that Cisco is located.

In the elevator. It says Cisco Systems when we got to that floor.

Lots of elevators in that building!

Since we were already downtown, guess where I wanted to go? Chinatown of course!! Sadly, it was a lot smaller than I had expected and hoped for. Got a bubble tea though, pretty good but this one didn't use real fruit. I'll have to go back to see what else is around there.

 
The biggest event of the day though was visiting the bike shop. We got on the train to get to South Yarra to visit Bicycle Inc. Anthony had gotten his commuter bike there then brought two of his co-workers there and they got bikes too. The owner Craig was very cool and his shop was set up rather nicely with the upstairs as a workshop and downstairs as the show floor. He specializes in Giants and while we were there, he had quite a few customers come in.

Now keep in mind, it's been about 18 years since I last got on a bike so it was a really daunting thought that the bike would be a primary mode of transportation for me, second to the train. I already had horrible images of me riding all wobbly and stiff and of course the obligatory, crashing or falling off in an area full of people.

Keep in mind Anthony has more bikes than there are fingers on one hand so for him picking a bike isn't something he does on a whim. I think I sat on almost every bike in that store and every time Anthony asked how I felt sitting on it, my only response was, “I dunno.” Why? Because I have no idea what it's suppose to feel like sitting on a bike, they all feel uncomfortable. So after sitting on a couple road bikes and hearing that all the tires but the mountain bike tires easily slip into the tram tracks, we settled on a mountain bike for me. Plus being close to the beach some of the trails are gravel so it'd be easier for me to ride on them. So yay to getting my first bike in years and OMG what am I thinking getting on a bike???

- julie