So Long Sydney!

After a year in Oz, we've decided to hit the road and do some traveling. While we've enjoyed our time here, it just feels like the right time to have a walkabout. We've been talking about doing this for a long time, so it seems now or never. Nothing like a global economic crisis to inspire you!

So we're off to SE Asia, then South and Central America after that. First stop, a month reboot in Bali!

To add a bit of closure to our Sydney year, it seems appropriate to offer a little scorecard on the things that matter most to me, Of course, these are wholly subjective grades though I do consider myself semi-remotely-expert since I've now lived in SF, LA, NYC, Seattle, London, Tokyo and Sydney. And let's not forget Ohio!

Quality of Life: B

Quality of life was one of our main reasons for checking out Sydney. It's probably better if you're a Permanent Resident of Australia, and can qualify for health insurance and other federal benefits. That being said, people do have a better QOL than in the US. BUT the idea that Aussies all knock off at 5 to hit the beach is a myth. Sure, people work a bit less but the improvement is "Oh, I only work 45 hours a week and not 60."

Peeps: B

We made some good friends here and people are generally nice and a lot of fun to know. Like many ex-pats, we did notice a difference between Sydneysiders who have traveled and/or lived overseas and are therefore significantly more welcoming, open to becoming friends and interested in widening their social circles. On the other hand, the place can sometimes feel like an extension of school -- lots of people have just stuck with their mates from age 15 and don't really want to meet anyone new. OK, be like that! Of course, this is true of many areas in the world but is more pronounced in Sydney many places I've lived. Despite reputations New Yorkers are a very friendly lot, for example. Except for the ones who aren't.

Nature: B+

Sydney should be proud of its unique and fantastic balance between urban life and Mother Nature, with incredible beaches, ocean views, the harbour and local bushwalks. Within minutes of the CBD, you can be on a lovely bushwalk that seems a million miles away. I hear that there are 250 beaches in the Sydney area, and I've enjoyed them all. Sure, there's been a lot of mindless development but a lot has also been protected and areas like Cockatoo Island are newly opened to the public. Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority: good on ya!

Culture: C

Sorry, Sydney, but you really should do better. There is a decent amount of music, theater, dance and art but you really have to look for it -- and be prepared to shell out much $. We expected more public support for the arts in general but there is a shocking lack of accessible art. The events that we did go to (Sydney Festival, Biennale of Sydney, Sculpture by the Sea) were really enjoyable, well-organized and fun. But anything that's free is absolutely swamped, because it's a rare treat. My huge media conglomerate job didn't even get you free passes to anything. Sydney Opera House, what's with those crazy prices -- come down to the people!

Food: C

All the outdoor food & wine festivals are awesome with a capital A. There is yummy asian, lebanese and gastro pub food but, like the cultural options, everything is mad expensive! After a year, we still experience daily sticker shock on the price of food and, in our Surry Hills neighborhood, by almost complete lack of fresh produce. Thank ye Gods for Paddy's market, where we bought all our veg, fruit and seafood at 30% off the "normal" Sydney prices though they're only open 4 days a week.

And I gotta whinge: a constant theme is the duopoly that huge grocers enjoy here such as Woolworth's and Coles. Same situation in telecom, the airlines, and many other industries. Australia is not so different than Japan in its attitude towards "open " markets, and domestic consumers suffer. It's also interesting that most Aussies think NYC is much more expensive than Sydney when, in reality, it's cheaper in many ways.

Fun: B-

For sure, fun can be had here: nature, music festivals, and traveling around Australia. The down side is that so much of socializing is centered on drinking and the pubs. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy drinking and love the awesome hotel/pubs here, but at night that's about it for entertainment; there isn't much to do besides drinking, going to an overpriced cinema and...drinking. I can't even think of a third thing. Oh, yeah: drinking.

We feel sad to be leaving now that its upon us and we're sure to miss a lot of things, including a lot of really cool, genuine people who we can now call friends. Might be back one day but, for now, it's on to new adventures and Happy Trails to Us!

Feed Me!

We bought a pitcher plant (that's Nepenthes Burbidgeae to you) a few months ago at a street fair and put it out on our terrace. It's a carnivorous plant that attracts insects into its hanging, pitcher-shaped cups of death, where they drown and are slowly dissolved into food. The woman at the street fair has been growing and selling several types of carnivorous plants for years, which I assumed were imported from Southeast Asia. Nope, they come from Alabama. Now THAT'S exotic!

It was a small little thing when we bought it, and didn't grow much for a few months. Then Ziggy learned that ants fall into the pitchers after a rain, because the surface of the plant gets all slippery on the outside and sticky on the inside. So she started spraying water on the pitchers regularly, and delighted in watching ants fall to their watery grave inside the plant. She liked this a lot. And so did the plant. This thing is now starting to resemble the star of Little Shop of Horrors, as Ziggy obsessively tends to its care, fueling its gluttony for...ant flesh.

But she apparently isn't the only one obsessed with these carnivorous vegetables; here's a flesh-eating plant montage that somebody posted on You Tube:

Year of the Ox -- and Stuffed Like One Too!

We visited Singapore to celebrate Chinese New Year with family and friends and had a great time eating, visiting, eating and...eating. The food there is uber-yummy and every get together revolves around enormous dinners. I especially enjoyed the pork rib soup, chili crab and curry fish head. The best thing about eating in Singapore is the hawker stands (think outdoor food court but all local) where you can get all sorts of amazing SE Asian food at such cheap prices almost anytime day or night.

It was This White Boy's
first trip to SG for Chinese New Year and, well, I didn't even KNOW they had so many people. The population is about 5 million and 4.9999 million were jammed into the streets of Chinatown -- with everybody eating everywhere: in the open air restaurants, on the sidewalks, in the street, sitting in cars, on top of buildings -- it's really an orgy of gastronomy. It's just a great time of year, visiting ALL the relatives and friends, seeing the wife's old stomping grounds (at least the ones that haven't been lost to developers) and everybody is incredibly welcoming -- plus we got almost as many Hong Bao as we gave out! Shout out to all the friends & family who put us up, fed us, and were so gracious & hospitable. Cute kids, great company, a beautiful pool and a couple bottles of Dom Perignon later, I'm in no pain. If it weren't for the 90% humidity 12 months of the year, I'd be Singapore dreaming.

Though my Significant Other may disagree, I find Singapore to be increasingly vibrant and -- dare I say semi-dynamic? -- every time I visit. There just seems to be something new (and big) being built or a new happening area to visit every time we return. We even saw Singaporean graffiti artists! I really liked checking out Dempsey Hill, the Portsdown Road area's old bungalows, and Little India is always fun. The new Esplanade performing arts center (the big Durian) was just ok, but the nearby Marina Bay will be quite some neon-drenched sight when they finish constructing the enormous casino complex.

Check out a couple of these fun Singapore links:

• Our Picasa SG web album
• Lonely Planet SG video

The Living Cinema -- New Zealand

Spent a truly trippy & magical 2 weeks over the holidays in Mapua, New Zealand, on the South Island near Nelson.

Driving from Christchurch (a fun city in its own right, from the Botanic Garden to Sol Square) to Nelson takes about 6 hours through beautiful mountain passes -- a landscape that makes you feel like you're in a car ad or the world's biggest Imax film. Nothing can really prepare you for the pristine beauty, expanse of nature and just raw magnificence. Yeah, we liked it.

Stayed at the fantastic Miro & Karaka Cottages run by Elspeth & Kim, two of the nicest people anywhere, and accompanied by their sweet pooch Poppy and a brood of seemingly self-replicating chickens. The cottages are located on a beautiful ex-apple orchard, along a huge estuary. It was fun watching the tides come in and out, kayaking, and my favorite extreme sport: hammocking. New Year'e eve we lit a fire, drank some local wine, watched the local town's fireworks from afar, and went gaga over the starscape above.

Kiwis have got to be some of the friendliest and open people anywhere, maybe it's due to all the fabulous wine they make. In our little area, there were dozens of vineyards -- really too many to visit, though we gave it our best shot!

Even though we were total strangers, we met lots of cool people like Fi & Ivan, who even invited us for a yummy meal (and more wine) on their awesome farm that they should immediately rename Shangri-la.

Drove back down on the coastal highway, stopping along the way to eat fresh crayfish, pick berries and watch fur seals along the coast at Kaikoura. Stayed a night at a cute farmstay, where we met Jennifer Lopig.

We were having such a great time, we delayed our flight for 2 days. (If it were up to me, I'd still be there...) Topping it all off, we left Christchurch at 6am, and were having dim sum in Sydney by 10!

Check out our New Zealand photos.

Mid-North Coast Region

Took a week off and drove to Port Macquarie and Coff's Harbour in the Mid-North Coast region of New South Wales. Really a beautiful area with a pristine coastline, long empty beaches and awesome ancient rainforests. Plus, on a purely hedonistic level, lots o' wineries and fresh oysters!



Our favorite areas were Bellingen and Dorrigo which are on the scenic "Waterfall Way" road. Bellingen is a small, authentically-funky town on the river and a place you can imagine moving to, getting into woodworking and setting up a silk screening studio in your old brightly-painted barn. (Note to self: learn woodworking and silk-screening.)


Dorrigo is at the top of a high plain which took about 30 minutes driving on a very twisty mountain road. Making it worthwhile was the even funkier, even smaller town itself and also the Dorrigo Rainforest. It's said to be one of the oldest remaining rainforests in the world, dating to when Australia was part of Gondwana, the ancient "supercontinent." Apparently, the big news of that afternoon was seeing a python knock a possum out of a tree and eat it whole. Luckier were the many "Bush Turkeys" we saw along the trail. I'm talking Aussie turkeys, not the soon-to-be-ex-Commander-In-Thief.


"Bush Turkeys" -- U.S. and Aussie versions:










Happy Thanksgiving!

Koalas are NOT bears, Dammit!

A typical exchange at the beautiful Taronga Zoo in Sydney:

AMERICAN: Those cuddly Koala Bears sure are so cute!

AUSSIE: KOALAS ARE NOT BEARS, DAMMIT!

Yes, Australians get a little touchy on this topic, and rightly so. Of course, this American would never make that mistake, as I'm keenly aware that koalas are actually "thickset arboreal marsupial herbivore" or, in Latin, Phascolarctos cinereus.

But, by whatever name, the little guys are as cute as just about anything on the planet. And endangered, of course. Their numbers are dwindling in Australia, due to habitat loss, cats and dogs, and many end up as roadkill. There are some great groups who rescue injured ones and work to keep them a central part of the Aussie landscape. In fact, our friends Katina & Will just visited Australia and saw a awesome koala and, of course, it was a highlight of their trip (other than seeing us)!

So, as a special Xmas offer, if you make a small contribution to the Australian Koala Foundation, I'll then show you some hot koala action.

Australian Koala Foundation









OK, now don't you feel better? Now enjoy this guilt-free koala porn!!

Sculpture by the Sea

Sculpture by the Sea is a tres' cool annual event along the seashore, stretching from Bondi Beach to Tamarama. There's all sorts of fun & funky sculptures installed for 2 weeks on the beach, in the water, and on the headlands. The quality of the work is quite high and, as always, we're continually impressed with the overall quality of the visual arts in Australia.

See Sculpture by the Sea