Subway in Bathurst

not even a breeze to keep the windmill company

Bathurst.  A place renown for it's spacious skies and awesome clouds.  Located just over the Blue Mountains (see previous post), this sleepy little town is renown for the Bathrust Stampede (i assume).  yeah another frisbee tournament.  WEll, that's where I went last weekend.   For all you frisbee folk, it's pretty fun (1st day is with your team and 2nd day is a hat tournament).  Anyways, I didn't get to see much of the town, (just the accommodation, fields and the party).  take a look at them pictures and that pretty summarizes bathurst. .. i think there was a gold mine or something in the past.

damn clouds, you big

As you can see there's a whole lotta nothing, though the lowest point of the weekend occurred during 2nd day of the tournament.  The lunch provided was Subway, yeah the makers of the world's worst sandwiches.  I can't remember the last time I ate Subway, or even stepped foot in such a cursed establishment.  Well, since that was the only thing to eat.. and I was pretty hungry, I buckled down, swallowed my pride and prayed for well being of my tastebuds.   I couldn't tell which flavor of meat I got,... the pink/grey hue of much indicated a mash of turkey or chicken, but the taste was that of regret. Oh, I've never met bread so soggy from the combination of 'freshly' bagged veggies.  It is not a mistake i'll soon forget.

Bathurst in all it's glory

 Bathurst was the most west (in australia) that i've been.  Not saying much, since it was only a 3 hour ride, but located in the Murray-Darling Basin (look it up), i can't imagine a lot of difference in geological features within that featured chunk of New South Wales.  To be fair, I didn't get a chance to see the desirable parts of the town.  I mean, there could have been some small town charm or a spot for really good Mexican food!! (highly doubtful, but possible')  Well, in the next couple weeks, i'm hoping to stray a bit away from the coast.  keep yall updated, and until then... stay classy

Stuff and Stuff

festive tree with festive stuff

 So a couple weeks ago was Buddah's b-day.  didn't know? well, I hear he's a pretty forgiving dude.  anyways, I stumbled onto a celebratory festival and snapped the picture of this tree.  While I'm no expert in the teachings of any religion, I think Buddhism's pretty sweet.  I mean checkout the tree, it's all covered in ribbons and apparently the tranquil/ peace vibe is pretty sweet.
well I mainly just ate some food.  It's a bit unfortunate that I haven't had the chance to eat much chinese food, so I indulged a bit.  There was modern stuff like eggrolls and milk tea, but also the older traditional stuff, which I really like.

the food place with cheap stuff

Anyways, there's a pretty big asian population in Sydney... and this is the headquarters.  Market city is just a pretty big mall, though it's got a bunch of iconic aspects of malls found in asia.  Bottom floor is like a street market, with stalls of produce and cheap knock offs.  This is where I do most of my shopping (food).  Since the heat and humidity add to fructose production... makes the fruits and veggies extra sweet and most delicious.  The 1st and 2nd floor got some shops... nothing special.  I think there's fashion stuff or somethings... well the 3rd floor got some big food court.  pretty good food. pretty good prices.

outside fair with stuff

It's (like I said) pretty big, I've gotten lost a couple times, but every time I've gotten lost, I've always end up finding something good to eat/ buy.
So this pic on the left is a street version of the mall.  I think they have this street fair every week or something.  It's pretty similar to the ones found throughout asia except everything (mostly) is in english... which is pretty convenient.  There's tons of street food, some street performers and bakeries.  YEAH bakeries..  I'm a huge fan of baked goods and, if you've never been to a chinese bakery, it's full of cheap, flavorful pastries.  I will warn you the ingredients may seem unorthodox but the tastes are rewarding if you've got the gut.  (I think the same can be said about all exotic food..)

I guess the point of this post is to show the cultural diversity of Sydney.  of course, I'm only pointing out the asian influenced areas (only cause I happened to have my camera at that time), but Sydney's got tons of other cultures too.  I haven't had the chance to explore all the ghettos yet (yeah, i'm talking cultural ghettos,... there's no hood over here), but once I do.. hopefully i'll have my camera then.

well, dear readers, I realize i've been down under for a few months and it's great having an audience.  hopefully i've painted a picture of what Sydney is like though this blog.  If you wanna postcard, hollahback and i'll throw one in the post.

I hate Kings

old man bumping tunes on the rascal

little music never hurt anyone

tool bags

Oh, the college life.  Waking up in the wee hours of the afternoon.  Rushing to class, just to arrive 5 minutes late in a panic of sweat.  Checking my watch every so often to count down my moment of freedom.  Jamming to the gym before dinner and rolling out into the night for some shenanigans.  Yep, the good ole days.
Well, as a former member of the UC Davis ultimate frisbee team (and subsequent drinking team) I have done my fair share of drinking games.  In fact, weekly gatherings were held to partake in such events.  Quarters, flip cup, beirut, dia-lau you name it and there's probably some variation that I've played.

Well, back to the current uni life (I'll call it uni, cause I'm in Australia).  I've joined the school's frisbee team and such social customs are withheld.  We have trainings (practice) and subsequent drinking activities.  Everyone like a brew, but here cocktails make up a good portion of the drinks.
It seems like the essential equipment for drinking games are just cards.  This makes sense, as everyone from the uni team lives in different areas, so we meet up at various bars.  Institutions like these wouldn't appreciate games like thumper or feats of strength.  So cards make up the majority of games... the most popular one is Kings cup and, for the most part, ends up being the staple of the night.

I hate Kings cup.  (aka Kings, for the lazies who couldn't be bothered to say 'cup')

Now, I'm not dissing the rules or the functionality of the game.  I think all the mini games are pretty unique and fun.  The problem is the cup.  In Australia, cider and cocktails are quite popular (along with beer); as such, Kings cup get quite distorted with a ugly shade of bleh.  I have never lost at Kings cup (and don't plan on losing), but I have never wanted to drink anything so vulgar... ever.  I would not wish a thing on my worst enemy.  To make matters worse, we (as a frisbee team) tend do not use a center cup, but rather a center frisbee.  yep, that disc we throw around, bouncing in the dirt and mauling with our grubby little hands.  gross.

Well, I realized I've rambled on a bit about and although it may sound like i dread drinking with my team, that's quite the opposite impression i'm trying to make.  They're a bunch of lovely people, on and off the field.  Drinking culture is definitely different here.  not better. not worse.  Just got me wondering when the next time i'll be hearing- "Konrad 1".

The Natives

So this week I went to the most magical place in all of Australia... the Featherdale wildlife park.  Just a little drive out of Sydney (thanks Sarz), we got to see a bunch of Austalia's native animals.  I can't remember the last time I went to the zoo, but I like animals and animals like me.  So when I found out we were allowed to interact with the animals, I was like, 'WAHH FOREAL>'  

So I knew Australia has some weird animals due to isolation and whatnot (evolution just went outta control for a while), but there were some animals that were just hysterical.  I knew I was in for a good time.

This, ladies and gentlemen is a Wombat.  They are by far the funniest looking animals at the park.  Imagine a hamster on steroids, then it got dumped by his girl friend and just got fat.  The only interest of this beast is food and water, these guys are the size of a mini-fridge.  Yeah, this thing is HUGE and it just constantly eats.  Though don't be fooled by its harmless appearance, these things stink like BO and something else I can't pinpoint (it's probably poop).  I will say that the best part of the Wombat is the movement of their walk/ waddle.  They've got so much sass when they move, with their fat limbs and round body.  If I could sum up the movement of a Wombat in one word....'Bootylicious'

not pictured: dat ass

ohh.. that's where them leaves at

The Kings of Chill.  The Masters of Relax.  The koalla.  Such a fascinating creature that pretty much does nothing and looks adorable.  As you may know, koallas just sit in trees and eat eucalyptus leaves all day (which contain some chemicals that make the koallas 'relaxed').  I've heard koallas are pretty sedimentary, but at the park, they were pretty active.  They crawled and climbed to tree branches that were shaped in a 'Y', just looking for that perfect sitting spot.  And once settled down, they would just fall asleep.  Yep, the koalla's purpose in life is to be more relaxed than it already is.... and reap the benefits of nature's happy leaves.  

They DO exist!!

The staple of Australia's economy can be based on the existence of kangaroos (citation needed).  Yeah, these hoppity hopping creatures exist and they're AWESOME.  They're friendly creatures that just look lost all the time... unless you have food, then they're all up in you face.  yeah you can hand feed these guys with grains and pellets at the park (note: only attempt with domesticated hoppers).  I should explain, kangaroos only move in two ways: hopping (pretty well known) and crawling.  CRAWLING?? wtf, yeah it sounds weird and it looks worse than it sounds.  Imagine if Golem (LOTR) played leap frog with the ground, the motion is that awkward.  Luckily kangaroos are covered in fur, so it makes them cute.  Another thing that surprised me was the size of kangaroos.  They're pretty small.  I played with a bunch of the baby ones (Joeys i think), but the largest adult one was about the size of a washing machine.  I mean, I didn't think they were gonna be towering over me, but I thought they would be at least the size of a refrigerator.... which is pretty freightening, now that I think about it. 

paint me like one of your french girls

 So, one thing that I took away from kangaroos, is that they're super goofy.  They like to eat pellets and just hop around to wherever the food is.  They're quite attention needy but don't travel in a pack/ herd.  So when you're playing with one, suddenly three or four will hop over and see what's going on.  Oh yeah, I also got to see a mother kangaroo hop around with the little one in the pouch.  It was pretty cool.  And the mother didn't just take it easy cause it had a child on board, it went into a full hoppity bounce (presumably to get away from all the people taking pictures, like myself).  Anyways, I probably spent like 30 minutes in the kangaroo area, but it was definitely the highlight of my visit.  In the future, when I'm great tyrant/ dictator, I think I'd like to have large garden and raise kangaroos where they can hop around to their hearts content and maybe a magnificent tree house for my koalla friends... of course there'd be a sign that says 'No Wombats Allowed'

don't be hatin'

Don't be hatin

This week was pretty calm for the most part.  just chilled around, went to class, and, OH YEAH, bought some of these bad boys.  For less than$8, my feet have been overly comfortable... it's like walking on marshmallow clouds made of yawning kittens.  yeah yeah, I know, they're ugly and wouldn't be caught wearing them outside, but damn it! they're comfy and in my crib, i'll wear whatever I want!!  To be fair, I was the last person in my house to grab a pair, but the sensation of cold feet on colder hardwood floors made me weak to the luxury of boots with the fur.  

Break me off a piece of that chrysler car... apple sauce... fancy feast?

Anyways, I went to the store earlier this week and picked up this!  How do you make kit kats even greater? throw in some caramel and we're all good.  Who would have thought!  And lemme tell you, I'm not a big fan of caramel (just hear me out), but the combination of the wafer texture, crisp chocolate and creamy caramel will make any candy enthusiast melt.  oh by the way, I wish i had a quarter or paper clip to show the scale of the bar, cause this is a king-sized bar.  yeah, like the full on, fits in your hand, small remote control size.  needless to say, it's got some weight behind the tasty goodness.

obligatory 3rd photo

So, here and there, i'll write a bit about my school.

This is a view from the 'quadrangle'... oohhh ahhh.. it's pretty much a fancy courtyard with a tree .. and it looks magnificent.  earlier this week, I came here to read and subsequently took a nap.  After a while, I was woken up to some majestic melody.  Some orchestra was practicing in the main hall for a concert and it was glorious.  Waking up to symphonies in such a architecturally distinct place was pretty trippy, so I went with it.  So I wandered over and listened to the musicians; it has been too long time since i've listened to flutes, harps, violins, etc.. It was a nostalgic feeling, bringing me back to my trumpet days.   As the sun set, it was a beautiful and wonderful sight.... then I popped in my earbuds, set to Outkast, walked home and went back to reality..