Arrived!

I have safely arrived in Sydney. Everything looks the same as I left it! :)

The weather is overcast, 20-24 degrees and humid. Good for taking a walk to explore the area. I'm staying in a hotel in Milson's Point (just north of the Harbour Bridge) for a week. On Friday will be my start of work. Until then I have a few days to relax, settle and adjust to Australian time.

I remember a year ago: my arrival in Australia, when I first set foot on this continent and didn't know anyone or anything and was so full of curiosity what this country would be like! Now everything is already familiar. The good and the bad, the blessings and curses of civilisation. Looking over Sydney Harbour from one of the points where this is possible, I try to block out the noise from the cars and machines, and imagine how the view looked 200 years ago before the white man came from Europe, took over and started building. There were trees everywhere, and it was quiet and serene.

To think that we spend so much effort and money on building -- and the best places in a city (whether it's Munich or New York or Tokyo) are the gardens and parks. People, buildings and cars are good so long as they have the space they need not to be in each other's way. My belief is that the problem is one of density. And the challenge is to reduce density to a healthy level without adverse side-effects.