Beer

Luke you should skip reading this blog entry since it may make you sad. I have been meaning to do a post about some of the watering holes we have sampled since we've been in Sydney, but I keep forgetting. Well the other night Luke was making his "I am thirsty for beer" noises while we were eating dinner and it reminded me to write this post. I told him to skip this because due to some recent financial restrictions (me not having a job) we have had to curb our beer outings for the moment.

The Australian Hotel, in my favorite part of the city, The Rocks, is pretty cool. It's sort of like an institution here. We showed up on a Saturday afternoon and it was packed! There were about 3 bachelorette parties going on, all of the outside tables were full and the sun was shining down on us! We managed to scoot into the end of a booth where I mouthwateringly gazed at the other people's pizzas and Luke headed in to get us a drink. I went for the honey beer (obviously the most expensive one on tap, oops!) and Luke got some Ale that is brewed on site (I think?). Mine was honey-licious and although the bartender called Luke's choice an "old man's drink" he thoroughly enjoyed it as well. Overall a good spot and on a sunny day I'd probably go again. Otherwise the inside didn't look like much and everyone that was anyone was sitting outside.

Harts Pub is one of the best we've been to in Sydney in my opinion (Yes, that is the flash from my camera, I am an excellent photographer). The ambiance is spectacular, it is always busy, they have live music, and they have so many craft beers on tap you could go there every weekend and try a different beer. We've been twice now and both times have sampled some incredible beers and ciders. The interior of the place is really cool and old style pub-like. They have a bar upstairs and downstairs for when you just can't stand to stray too far from your coveted outdoor seat. On the walls are tons of quotes about beer and drinking that can keep you entertained when you company doesn't. The beer garden outside is pretty good as well with a shaded spot that's always taken and a spot right in the sun that always seems to be reserved just for us. I would definitely recommend it. It's just on the cusp of The Rocks as well and a slightly closer trek from our apartment than the Australian Hotel.

Our other favorite spot is where we headed on my birthday, King Street Brewhouse. Besides being the best place in the city to watch the Superbowl, they have delectable beers. They also have loads of craft beers on tap, they have a super cheap happy hour from 5-6 every weekday (by Australian standards anyway), and it is the closest of the three to our apartment. Clear winner. They have this ginger beer on tap that makes my heart sing and after drinking them as quickly as if they were ginger ale they make me actually sing as well ;)

Hopefully this is only the beginning of our drinking explorations. May there be many more to write about!!



Running the World

Remember when I told you about Why I Run? Well I've had to remind myself recently. After moving into our new apartment, I started running again at the gym. It's so hot and humid here right now I never tried to even run outside. I was trapped on the treadmill boring myself to death running. Then on my birthday I headed outside on foot for the first time since I've been in Sydney. It was like suddenly I remembered how much fun running can actually be. When I ran things actually went past and new things were in front of me (although I don't hate looking at myself in the mirror on the treadmill).

So now I have been running outside a lot more and in doing so have found some more really interesting areas around Sydney. I stumbled upon this trail near Darling Harbour and it lead me to this amazing view of the harbor bridge.

When I was running along the harbor I saw this sign and got so excited. I'm sure I looked really cool as I did an awkward veer off the path I was on to follow this new one.

So I followed this cool blue running man all the way to here:

You tired of seeing this bridge yet? I'm not.

Twenty-Four

I have a confession. I was sort of absolutely dreading kind of nervous about this upcoming birthday. In my head I had this idea that at 24 I should be a "grown-up", and anyone that knows me knows that is a curse-word. But I woke up on my birthday feeling really excited. Mostly because I knew there were presents awaiting me in some hidden cabinet somewhere in the apartment. After presents, Luke and I headed straight off to what turned out to be one of the biggest super bowl parties in Sydney! It was at the King Street Brewhouse. It was absolutely jam packed with people drinking beer at 10am. When we went up to the bar to order coffees the bartender grabbed a bucket and asked how many beers I wanted. I had to correct him and ask for my coffee. It was a great game with an even better outcome!

Then headed over to a local pie stand to get meat pies with mushy peas on top. YUM.

After a quick lunch Luke was off to work and I was off to lay in the apartment trying to digest my ever expanding pie.

When I checked my emails on my birthday to see how many people loved me I had received one from Luke's Mum saying how lucky I was that I was spending my birthdays in a new country every year. Last year was New Zealand, this year Australia, and who knows where next year. You know I read that and I actually couldn't believe I had not come to this conclusion on my own. I was so grateful that someone had reminded me of how lucky I am (thanks Jill!).

After reading that and finally getting up off the floor I put on my new running shorts and headed off to enjoy this years birthday location. I was going to run across the Sydney Harbour Bridge. I had to walk there because I'm no ultra marathon runner, but once I got to the bridge I ran over and back and realized I still had loads of energy so I ran all the way back to my apartment building! Running across the bridge I tried to take in where I was and remind myself how cool this is. I may be away from home, from family and friends whom I miss very much, but I was running across the Harbour Bridge looking at the Opera House and the city's skyline thinking: how frickin cool is this?! (yes I say frickin in my head)

After this runner's high, Luke returned from work and we were off to gorge ourselves once again! There is this food court in Chinatown that we have been eyeing for sometime now, so we thought my birthday was a perfect excuse to head in. There are so many choices, which obviously meant we were wandering around aimlessly looking at pictures of food for ages until we finally decided. I ordered Mongolian Lamb and Luke got chilli soup with chilli, beef and chilli. I mean there were whole red chillis floating in the soup. It was hot. The food was amazing as we expected it would be. It even came with rice and soup. We waddled back to have Chocolate Mud cake.

A perfect day. What was I so worried about?

Dragon Boat Races

This morning after Luke left to run "errands" (it is my birthday on Monday after all), I decided to head down to Darling Harbor to check out the continuing Chinese New Year festivities. This morning it was Dragon Boat Racing. I'd heard a little bit about it before, but was not prepared for the amount of people that were there. The boat I think holds about 20 people. There is a person at the front beating a drum to the beat of the rows and a person at the back who has to stand up the whole time and use a really long oar to stear the boat. Every other person is sitting and has one oar that they row really quickly. Everyone in the race looked to be about 65+ and not Chinese. There were teams from all over New South Wales so it was a really big event.

18 Months and Counting!

It's official, I have been off of American soil now for 18 months! Unbelievable! Where has the time gone?

Oh yea! Time well spent I'd say!

In other news, Luke and I made the most delectable dinner last night that I have to share with you.

Bottom layer red onions

then thickly slice tomatoes

then olive oil and rosemary

then sausages

bake for an hour

viola



Nothing new has occurred because there seems to be a very large cloud over Sydney that will not go away. It has been raining almost non-stop for the past few days. It has really helped my job applying and book reading, but not my touring.

Bondi Bummer

I don't know if its the fact that I am avoiding applying for jobs while still pretending I'm being productive or if its the fact that Luke and I have actually started doing some interesting things again, but I have been a super blogger this week! (its definitely more the former).

Yesterday after spending the morning doing our usual stint at the library applying for jobs, we decided to head to the beach. My least favorite option which is obviously the cheapest option, was to head to Bondi Beach. Don't get me wrong its a nice beach, but everyone visiting Sydney agrees. Mostly because of its popularity, the city has deemed it a 'zone 1' which means its a cheaper bus ride than going to any of the better and quieter beaches. If we weren't so lazy we could take the bus to Bondi and walk to Bronte which is a beautiful beach just south along a windy cliff hike walk. Anyway to cut a short story (that I turn into a long story) short, we ended up laying on Bondi Beach. The sun of course went behind a cloud and the wind was whipping us from all directions, but we would not be defeated. With my atrocious tank top tan and Luke's even more offensive t-shirt tan, we needed to spend a little time tanning up that area in the middle.

Eventually we gave into the devil of the sand and headed up to higher ground to rest our towels on the beach. If it wasn't for the fact that Bondi is a really over-rated beach town that's actually pretty run down and dingy looking, I might say that I enjoy going there. I'm being harsh. The beach is beautiful. The sand is super fine and so comfy to lay my bath towel on and the water is crystal clear. The surfers there are incredible to watch (for several reason ;)). I just think there are much better beaches in Sydney, and I also hate when things are super hyped up and end up being just that, hype (like fergburger). So when I can unclench my hand from my wallet and hit up 'zone 2' beach, I will report back.

Until then, life here isn't so bad.

Sunset from our balcony last night

Happy New Year!

Chinese New Year that is. Last night Luke and I headed into Chinatown to watch the New Years Parade. It was a pretty great parade until it carried on for two hours. But the dancers were great, the dragons were bright and funny, and the floats were really cool. My advice? Don't stand at the end of the parade route. Everyone was pretty exhausted by the time they made it to us. I would have liked to see everything at it's peak at the beginning probably. But still a really great parade and there were fireworks afterwards!

Happy Year of the Dragon (which also happens to be the year Luke and I were born!)

Some kids looking less than Chinese