Top Ten List Vol I

Knock Knock....who's there....Kanga.....(your turn).....what accent did you just say Kangaroo in?
yea...lame jokes...that's what happens to one's brain on vacation x 2 months!!
My side-kick "Lone Asian" has already provided a description of our happenings for the first few weeks. But I will add to it in traditional "TOP TEN" format:


TOP10 EXPERIENCES IN SYDNEY (Vol I):

1. running on Manly Beach with the smell of salty air and sights of surfer dudes, not to mention the gorgeous scenary, and laid back culture!

2. feeling a lump in my throat, gasping for air, and thinking to myself - "wow...this is the best city I have been to", as my eyeballs jump out of their socket after the opera house and sydney harbour slowly reveal iteself as the ferry turns a corner.

3. waddling alongside a pelican (it was the same size as me!), to race to the fresh BBQ muscles and prawn stand at the Sydney fish market!

4. walking down...and then up 900 stairs (1800 total) at the magnificant "three sisters" in the Blue Mountians - sherpa style (lots of gear), and surrounded by very lush vegetation.

5. eating at a fancy-smancy restaurant in Sydney - in pitch black!!

6. being introduced to some really nice Aussies by Sarah & Geoff (who have been so great at helping us to get settled in when we first arrived), and chillaxing with them all at the "opera house bar"....in the pouring rain! (gotta love heat lamps).

7. eating fresh shashimi (RAW FISH) for the first time in my life! so fresh! mmm.

8. winning a beer drinking competition at a German restaurant in Sydney (I was competing with old ladies) - in case you think that I have become a lush!

9. being able to wear only a light sweater during the peak dead of winter in Oz - June 21!!

10. re-watching the Sydney Olympic opening ceremony on a tiny screen found in one of the 60 tall decorative posts on the Olympic grounds...its enough to give you goose bumps, and summon up a tear or two!

"good on ya mates",

-ISLAND RICE