Shopping

After a good night's sleep and breakfast, I feel much better. Today I wanted only to relax, but the weather didn't really encourage going to the beach, so I drove out north and did some shopping in a giant shopping centre.

I also went ice-skating. No, I'm not kidding you. These big malls seem to have everything.

One of the things I bought was a TomTom GPS navigation system, and so now I can easily find my way around. I went to a headland called Middle Head, and spent an hour at a small beach there (including a short swim) until it got too cold and started to drizzle.

Both the urban landscape and the streets I've seen so far remind me very much of the United States, much like California actually. There are clear signs everywhere, even a newbie like me can find their way quickly. The main difference to the U.S. is that the spelling of words is British English here (so I also try to follow it in this blog). The traffic lights make a funny sound when the light turns green for pedestrians to cross. It sounds like a Laser pistol immediately followed by a machine gun. Obviously designed to make the waiting folks jump and bolt across without idling!

The view of downtown Sydney from across the harbour is as stunningly beautiful by day as by night. Sydney has originally started south of the harbour, but now encloses it from all sides. Actually I find the term "harbour", which normally suggests something bay-like, a bit misleading for a complex dentritic shape as that of Port Jackson.

Sydney has 4 million people but is not comprised of districts like other big cities in the world are. Instead, Sydney consists of more than 600(!) independent suburbs, only one of which, at the centre and not much bigger than the 599 others, is called "the city". I wonder whether the locals here know the names of all these tiny suburbs. BTW, the population is really as multi-cultural as expected. The biggest minority are clearly the Asians (if taken together as one group).

Some more things that the writer found notable: Most windows are the Anglo-American type that open by pushing one half upwards. The electricity is the same as in Europe, but the power sockets are like this. Luckily I have an adapter (for my notebook and mobile phone charging cable). The sun rises in the East, is in the North at noon, and sets in the West. So it goes from right to left here. You enter the car on the right side, drive on the left, and also the pedestrians pass another on the left, surely without realizing they are following this convention. In cafés and pubs, don't wait for a waiter, but be your own waiter: make your order to the person at the counter and pay immediately, no tips expected. Many small restaurants won't sell you a beer but they allow you to bring your own alcohol in to consume (indicated by the letters "BYO"). The exact counterpart of the Bavarian Biergarten tradition where you can bring your own food as long as you order the beer from the bar). By the way, there actually is a Bavarian beer pub in the city, and a Löwenbräu place right at The Rocks. So I should not become homesick anytime soon! ;)

Birds make noises like you will only hear in a zoo in Germany, such as a high-pitched squeaky Aaaah or a low, very raspy Ääääh Ääääh. I saw wild parrots, beautifully coloured, just at arms-length sitting in a bush having dinner from the blossoms, not shy at all. When the dawn falls, other animals begin to make funny sounds. At some point at the evening, there is a loud echoing of bangs: fireworks are twice every night, but from the hotel I can't see them as there is no view of the harbour/city. I can see stars, but they are all unknown, except for one familiar constellation: Orion, the hunter. He is making a headstand. His "sword" hangs up from his "belt".

I wouldn't be too surprised to learn that here it's the mouses who catch the cats. ;)