Darling Harbour, Part II

When I got up this morning and noticed the cloud-free sky, I rushed to get ready and out of the house to go wandering around the city. Earlier in the week I'd already learned that the weather here is highly changeable so I wanted to get out and shoot some pics before it turned cloudy, or worse, rainy again.

I got off the bus near Chinatown and wandered a few steps before stopping into a Vietnamese noodle restaurant. I'd been craving a bowl of pho for a while - you may think it funny, but it reminds me of home... Anyway, I ordered my bowl of pho with the works and silently lamented at the high price of pho in Sydney compared to back home - a whole $10, and given that I had randomly walked into this restaurant, it probably wouldn't even taste good! Well, was I pleasantly surprised. I had a very authentic Vietnamese restaurant experience, and I would even say that it is the best bowl of pho I have ever had.

After my serendipitous pho restaurant discovery, I wandered around a few markets (stories and pictures for another day) before it quickly clouded over and started raining again. Here's a shot of Darling Harbour from atop a bridge. If you look carefully, the ship on the left is a destroyer - now it's just a museum piece, but still, pretty cool city to have a destroyer sitting in your harbour. More on that another day.

More umbrella weather

Another day of dodging raindrops and meeting recruiters and potential employers, this time without the cell phone mishap, but I still managed to gimp my new umbrella so that now one of its ribs flops around. That's 2 umbrellas in 2 weeks. They don't make umbrellas here like they do back home. That, or I just don't know how to pick good umbrellas. I'm beginning to find umbrella usage a huge nuisance. Having to carry around a wet umbrella is the main annoyance. At home, I'd have just done without one in the spitting rain, but in Sydney, when it rains, it pours.

I got schooled in my interview today. This was the second technical interview I've ever had to do, and it sure made me realize how much more I have left to learn! Well, at least I learned a few things in the process of being guided to the answers. :P

On the bright side, a couple more opportunities coming up next week with two other companies.

Oh, and the picture. Notice pedestrians crossing diagonally - at some intersections, all traffic stops and you can cross whichever way you like.

Bridge climbers, Part II

On the topic of climbing and bridges... If you can get past the barbed wire, it's free to climb the Harbour Bridge. Unless you get caught, then it's $2200.

In other news, I received another polite rejection letter, and a call from another recruiter who's setting up an interview with a second company. This company makes travel software, and thinking about travelling makes me want to scratch that travel itch...

Yesterday it was a beautiful blue sky sunny day and I chose to sit at home preparing for technical interviews instead of exploring outside... I was hoping to take a break from that by wandering around my neighbourhood today, but it just started pouring rain. Argh.

The Whistler Blackcomb of climbing gyms

I've been trying to set up same the routines I had back at home, and one of the first things I set myself up with is a climbing buddy and a climbing gym. This gym I've been going to is just a 20-minute walk from my place and it is just an indoor climbing heaven. Compared to where I climbed in Vancouver, this gym has walls that go twice as high up, and it must have at least 4 times as many routes. The picture I took only shows a quarter of the space. It's a shame I'm only able to do the green runs on this Whistler of climbing gyms.

Bridge climbers

I spotted this trio of bridge climbers walking along the underbelly of the bridge. I can't tell if they're tourists or if this is their job... they didn't look very excited, so I'd guess the latter.

The Harbour Bridge

Here's the bridge that Sydneysiders have lovingly dubbed "the coathanger". One of these days, I'll have to do the touristy climb to the top arch of the bridge.

The Opera House all dolled up

Yesterday's full day of rain made it another indoor day, which I was sorely disappointed about because I've been itching to get out and see more of the city. I ended up using the indoor time to make Beef Rendang, which did not look anything like the picture on that page, but tasted better than the picture, as pictures are not very delicious themselves. My polite and hungry roommates helped me polish all of it off.

In the evening I checked out a roommate's friend's themed houseparty where I was introduced to Eurovision. Am I the only one who hasn't heard of this televised song contest among European countries? Seems every Australian knows about it... or maybe it's just a good excuse to dress in costume.

Today the weather decided to cooperate with me, so I went and explored the area around the Sydney Opera House. This week, the sails of the Opera House are decorated in projector art as part of a special event called Vivid Sydney. About every 5 minutes, the building puts on a new costume in a little Opera House fashion show. Here are a few of its outfits.