When notified of our 2 hour flight delay, I was instantly thrown off my intended sleep schedule. I still couldn't get upset, after all they were fixing my plane. I never understood while people get angry when a flight is delayed because of required maintenance. I was fearful this flight would make me delirious, but I proceeded to sleep 7 of the 14 hours. Watching a Pixar flick and The Underworld's Hoover Dam and Sicilian Mafia episodes, I managed to avoid delirium. For that I am proud. Who would have thought being delayed and flying from LA to Sydney could be so calming? Maybe the Pacific Ocean makes for a smooth ride up above. I slept 9 hours despite being advised that I should stay up for the first half of the flight. Guess I wasn't worried. I was worried for him though. Earlier that day Mr. TC himself decided to enjoy a bowlful of hot sauce. Oh wait, I meant what should have been a bowlful of wonton soup with a dash of hot sauce. He depleted the plane's supply of ginger ale and I imagine he blessed one or two of the bum facilities on the plane. I was just thankful they had enough Ginger Ale and then Sprite to calm his tummy. I mean we were headed to Sydney! The last thing we needed were tummy issues. Thankfully he was rescued and everything thereafter continued to go smoothly. Luggage - check. Customs in record time - check. Trez (his Oz-residing friend from Alabama) at airport to welcome us - check. Guess love does conquer all :)
Upon exiting baggage claim, there stood Trez aka LeVar Burton from Reading Rainbow, my friend from college who I hadn't seen in 9 years. He looks the same. We hailed a cab towards Sydney CBD. I guess for my fellow Aussies and Brits this ride would be a normal 15-minute trip, but for Adayna and I this was quite the experience. Our cabbie sat on the right side and drove on the left. Very cool. I absorbed the scenery as much as I could, but was mesmerized (by Adayna's beautiful face) by the traffic flow. Our cabbie, who looked like Hiro from Heroes, dropped us off safely at our destination. I really wasn't expecting to do much touring on my first day, but we got it in. We walked the CBD (Central Business District for you up in the northern hemisphere), strolled to Darling Harbour and made our way to one of the world's most recognizable attractions - The Sydney Opera House. What an amazing sight. The sun was out (this is a big deal for his Seattle-living self). The Sydney Harbour Bridge stood proudly to my Northwest and the Opera House occupied my lens to the Northeast. We briefly entered the Opera House and made a quick pit stop at the gift store.
The sights were beautiful. The city reminded me a lot of Vancouver which my love so kindly took me to during my last visit to the big Sea. It has a different feeling though. People are everywhere, the sky seems wider and everywhere you look there seems to be water. Makes you feel like you are floating. Of course, sipping beers by The Sydney Opera House helps create that feeling as well :) It was Friday afternoon and people were hanging outdoors with drink in hand. Seriously, everywhere you turned there were people having a good time. My kind of city. If only America was this relaxed. After catching some amazing sights, we headed back to our place and gave in to a bit of jet lag. What was supposed to be an hour nap was a 3-hour nap. It was all good though because Sydney is on blast until the wee hours. We hit the strip at Kings Cross - think bars, strip clubs, drunken folk and that same open sky I spoke of earlier. We are so hip we managed to be there for the Grand Opening of The Bank a nice little spot which could be a hit if the Dee Jay knew a little something and the promoter didn't feel the need to MC over every freaking song :) I honestly think this guy was trying to impress the Americans in the room - aka Us. We did our thing as best we could and closed the night out at 4ish.
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