Sydney Tower

I visited Sydney Tower in the morning. OzTrek was a really fun introduction to Australia made for tourists. There were funny videos on holograms as well as a 3D cinema with moving seats that flew you over Harbour Bridge, the outback, and deep valleys and wild rivers in Queensland. Next, I got a bird's eye view of Sydney from the observation deck of Sydney Tower, and used my map to find places I've visited this week. My lunch in the cafe of Sydney Tower was delightfully delicious! I had fresh prawns (Sydney has plenty of fresh seafood) and salad with a light creamy sauce inside a big soft bun.

Walking up George St near the Tower, I saw street performers in a side alley. There was a human beat-boxer who used his mouth to play musical beats (like I do!) with unbelievable skill!


Drunken Teen

Later on MacQuarie St, a teenager walked up to me on the sidewalk and just starting talking to me. He was obviously drunk out of his mind! He said, "Is my friend Nick alive? I haven't seen him in days!" I told him he should stay off the streets and go home and rest. He agreed and said he hadn't slept in 3 days. I asked him if he needed help getting home. Realizing how drunk he was, he said he would really appreciate that. So I asked him where he lived and whether he had money for a taxi. I stopped a taxi and asked the driver to take him to his address. Hopefully he got home safe and got some sleep.

Australian Museum

In the afternoon I saw the Australian Museum and listened to an Aboriginal performer. He was talking to people about their way of life, the dangers of living in the bush, and most importantly that we should respect the land and the ways of indigenous people. Wandering through the Aboriginal section, I couldn't help but feel sympathy for Australia's Aboriginal people. The genocide of natives here by the white man is a sad part of Australia's history that is often left untold.

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Emmanuelle Grey Rossum, famously known as Emmy Rossum, is a Golden Globe-nominated hollywood actress and American singer-songwriter. She has acted in leading roles in the films like The Day After Tomorrow, Poseidon and The Phantom of the Opera.

Rossum was born in a jewish family in New York City, New York, was an only child of Cheryl, a corporate photographer and a banker. she was raised by her mother after her parents divorced. She won her Best Young Actress award in 2004 Critic's Choice Awards. Rossum is currently dating record producer Justin Siegel.

Name: Emmanuelle Grey Rossum
BIRTH Date: 12-09-1986
Birth Place: New York City, New York
Other name: Emmy Grey
Profession: Actress, singer

Labels: Emmy Rossum

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Taronga Zoo

Taronga Zoo took up most of my day. There I saw all kinds of animals from Australia and other parts of the world: Lazy koalas, small kangaroos, crocodiles, emus, giraffes, an orang-utan with very long hair, venomous snakes, birds, etc. The highlight of my day was when a monkey stuck its finger up its ass, searched for something, pulled it out and ate it! The group of monkeys had complex social interactions together, much like humans.

Afterwards, I did a full loop of the monorail, just for old time's sake.

A Bloody Mishap

At night after doing my laundry and freshening up, I headed out to a nightclub called Home. As I was wandering in front of the long lines to get in, all of a sudden a guy fell from a staircase 6-7 metres above straight to the ground right in front of me. Apparently he was drunk and trying to slide down the railing. He fell flat on the pavement , hit his head and started bleeding! He was unconscious and did not move. His friends started screaming in disbelief.

I immediately called the police (I knew the emergency number here is 000 not 911). The woman on the line was annoyingly calm, but it was interesting to go through the prompts: "Police, ambulance or fire department?", "Where are you?", "What's the street address?", "Explain what happened.", "What height did he fall from?", "Is he breathing?", followed by medical instructions like how to cover his wound and that we shouldn't move him. The ambulance arrived a few minutes later. They handled the whole matter very calmly, almost too calmly, as if there was no sense of urgency. Then the police came to investigate if somebody pushed him or if he fell naturally. I went up to a policeman and told him what I'd seen. He took my name and contact info in case I needed to testify later. All in all, it was a shocking but eye-opening experience.

Nightclubs

Then I headed to a different nightclub, stood in line and started talking to an Aussie. When we got to the door, the bouncer indirectly told us both that he wasn't going to let us in. It was a bit harsh. As my Aussie friend said, it was probably because we weren't young females with large breasts! This was odd, it has never happened to me in Canada.

In the end I decided to forget about nightclubs and just sit at Darling Harbour and do some people-watching. I saw lots of drunkenness, including a decent looking white guy taking a leak next to a rubbish bin.

I still don't have a plan for tomorrow. I'm going to flick through my Lonely Planet guidebook now and make one.

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Sydney Aquarium

I started the day at Sydney Aquarium where I saw some massive sharks, turtles and stingrays. I made my way through exhibits of seals, cute little dolphins, platypuses, crocodiles, corals, and the colourful fish from Finding Nemo! There I bumped into a cool young Austrian guy named Christian that I had seen yesterday on Harbour Bridge and exchanged contact info.

Austrian dude

In the Aquarium, I ran into a guy I'd seen walking on Harbour Bridge yesterday. So I striked up a conversation. Christopher, from Austria, is sightseeing in Australia with his family. He is younger than me but he's seen more of the world than I have, because his parents love to travel. I envy him for that! We exchanged contact info.

Hyde Park

This was followed by a stroll through Hyde Park. First, I visited the dignified Anzac Memorial. Then I found the fountain where my family and I took a photo during our first days in Sydney, and photographed it from the same angle!

Royal Botanic Gardens

Next, I took the free tour of the Royal Botanic Gardens, learning about the forms of plantation unique to Australia. I met a nice German girl there called Sabine. From the waterside I seized an opportunity to capture Opera House and Harbour Bridge together in one photo.

Miscellaneous

The New South Wales Art Gallery was amusing, especially the aboriginal arts section.

Martin Place was next on my agenda. No live performances unfortunately, but it was nice to see the busking arena and the WW1 memorial again.

This was followed by a tour of the Rocks Discovery Museum where I educated myself on aboriginal life in Sydney before the settlers arrived.


King's Cross

In the evening I took my first city bus to King's Cross, stopping under the famous large CocaCola sign. Walking along the street-side shops I saw gay couples, witnessed a fight almost break out, and was approached by a prostitute! If only I had enough money. (Just kidding! She was much too old. Kidding again!) I then had a pie and went for a stroll along the classy restaurants at Wooloomooloo Wharf. (Yes, there are eight O's in that word!)

I'm back at the Backpacker's now and about to change my room. My fat British roommate woke me up at 3 AM last night with the loudest snoring I've heard in my life!


Taronga Zoo tomorrow.

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Marat is out! Damn you Robredo! How could you?! Anyways Djokovic and Nadal through. At least....... :((((

Breakfast and off to Germany...jihaaa

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Can you believe it?! Michael Jackson turns 50 today. This is ... simply unbelievable! When I was smaller , Ulla and me, we were just Jackson-freaks. He ruled our world. We loved him beyond words! Well I actually still love his music- it's timeless, universal and every single song is a masterpiece of its own - totally unique. Anyways- all the best from Ulla and me!


I am back packing, tomorrow I am off to Germany!
L.L.V.L!!!

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G'day mates!

So I moved to Base Backpackers Sydney this morning near the City Centre. It's location is very central to all the attractions. This hostel is much better and cleaner than the last one in Manly. There seem to be hoards of British tourists here for some reason.

George St.

I headed out along George St. towards the harbour at about 1 PM so the streets were crawling with Sydney-siders returning to work from lunch. Interestingly, most of them were wearing black executive clothes.

George St. is filled with brand name clothing stores and fancy department stores; very colourful and vibrant. It looks much happier than downtown Toronto. On my way, I saw Martin Place with the statues of the soldiers!


Opera House

My first destination: Opera House. I got a tour. The main orchestra hall was very glamorous and rich in detail. The "shells" or "sails" of Opera House were very impressive structurally too. Pamela Anderson is going there tomorrow to promote her "Girl on the Loose" auto-biography. What a slut! Hehe..

Harbour Bridge

Next, I walked around Circular Quay towards Harbour Bridge. The view of Harbour Bridge from the base of the pylons is superb! I then climbed the pylon to the Pylon Lookout and got spectacular views from above the bridge deck. Then I walked on the bridge to the other side and back using the pedestrian walkway.

Going up all the stairs at Opera House and Harbour Bridge hurt my knees a little bit. Moving my backpack to the new hostel this morning and moving to my new house in Kingston last week must have taken its toll on my knees. I have no trouble walking though, and that's fortunate because I still have lots of walking to do!

Darling Harbour

In the evening I met a nice girl who offered to show me around Darling Harbour. The city looked gorgeous with the building lights that lit up at night.

I didn't get to see much this morning, so I must get up earlier tomorrow morning!

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Noapte buna,
Watching Ana Ivanovic struggling a bit against Coin. By the way -If I was a guy, I'd be crazy in love with Ana. She is pure beauty, she has talent, she is incredible. But I am a girl, so I am more into male tennis anyways- as mentioned before both Safin and Novak are through- and these are the line-ups for the second round of the US Open :

Marat Safin vs Tommy Robredo
Robert Kendrick vs Novak Djokovic
the rest doesn't matter that much.. well it does, but less. And I have to concentrate on Ivanovic anyways!

By the way my hunk (<3) dared to call me in the early morning today- at 6 am (give yourselves that!), and wants to do it again! He's really stopped enjoying life, eh?
Had a more or less beauty-day and feel gorgeous (even though people are mistaking me for an Italian or ROMANIAN chic...)- spent some more money (no more... no more) on a AC Milan retro-jersey, on a Tommy H. polo-shirt and on a track suit... well and on some beauty-stuff any girl needs. Had to say good-bye to my Dad , Aunt and Uncle- since I am leaving on Saturday and now I am at my Mommy's again. I can't deny it wasn't easy. Whatever happened, my heart's too great anyways and I carry much too much sympathy around with me! Plus : could be, that my Mommy's gonna adopt a dog very soon......
Back to Ana and the US Open!
La revedere!

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Karen Victoria Silvstedt is a Swedish supermodel and former professional skier. She was born on September 19, 1974,in Skellefteå, Sweden. Silvstedt was the first runner-up in Miss Sweden bowing to Johanna Lind, and went on to represent Sweden in the Miss World contest in South Africa, reaching the final eight contestants.

Silvstedt married WCBS-TV news anchor Chris Wragge in June 2000 at Tuxedo Park Country Club in New York. In June 2006, Silvstedt and Wragge separated and are divorcing.

Name: Victoria Silvstedt
Birth Date: 19-09-1974
Birth Place: Skellefteå, Sweden
Height: 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)

Labels: Victoria Silvstedt

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Novak Djokovic is also through- viva le US Open! Anyways I am off- getting my nails , my hair and a few other things done. Great!
Ciao ciao

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I had a big delicious breakfast early in the morning with a beautiful view of Manly Beach. My "Lonely Planet" guidebook is a god-sent!

Mrs. Kassel

Then I walked to Manly West Public School again. This time I met Mrs. Kassel, my English as a Second Language teacher in kindergarten. She remembered so much! She took out a book and showed me a picture I had drawn in 1990!!! She remembered that my last name used to be different. She remembered how my mum and dad hid behind the bushes one day to make sure she was doing a good job with me. She also talked about how my father insisted that I learn English with "native fluency" and not just formal English. I filmed her as she explained all of this very eloquently. Here's a photo of her:

Canteen

I also bought ice-creams and frozen pine-apple from the school canteen. They tasted exactly the same as before! The people at the Canteen were excited and thought it's great that I've come back to the school after all these years. Mrs. Burnes, who works there and whose daughter was in my year 4 class, called one of her friends to see where all of my classmates are now. Unfortunately, Tylah Maaka - my good friend and the strongest and coolest kid in class - has moved to Perth now so I won't be able to meet him. He has become a carpenter.

Here are some more pics of the school.

I also revisited Balgowlah Park and a bit of Condamine St.

In the afternoon, I had a nice big lunch with a British girl.

Ferry to Circular Quay

I was planning on going for a swim at Manly Beach but by the time I got there it was cold and windy and the sun was behind the clouds. So I went to Manly Wharf instead. I had lots of free time, so I took the ferry to Circular Quay. I sat in the open area in front of the ferry, watching as the ferry jumped the waves. I got splashed with water like the good old days! As we approached Circular Quay, the view of Harbour Bridge and Opera House was breathtaking! I took lots of photos and videos. Sydney is so outrageously good-looking! I took a walk around Opera House and enjoyed an aboriginal art gallery. Then I was too tired and it was too cold to do much more, so I took the ferry back with all the people returning from work to Manly.

I ran into that Israeli guy today and it was a bit awkward. I had to lie about why I changed the room and it was kind of obvious. So later when I went to his room to ask him if he wanted to go to Manly Wharf with me (he's a cool guy), he didn't open the door. Perhaps he thinks I changed my room so I could strangle him! It doesn't matter, but I'll have to make more friends. It's nicer travelling with a friend than alone.

I'm done with Manly now so I'm moving to a hostel near downtown Sydney tomorrow.

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Arrival in Sydney

The flight from Toronto to Syndey was pretty tiring as the plane was almost full and my sleep was interrupted several times. There was a turbulence incident where the whole cabin shook up and down violently like in the movies. Some people thought we were going to die and swore never to fly again, hehe...

I took the Manly Airport Bus straight to Manly, with a drive over Harbour Bridge and a view of Opera House! Just incredible!

I'm staying at Manly Backpackers for tonight and tomorrow. My roommate turned out to be a guy from Israel who has just spent 3 years in the Israeli military. He seemed like a harmless and cool guy, but I didn't want to take any risks. I changed my room so he wouldn't strangle me at night! Heheh.. (I'm an Iranian. In case you didn't know, Israeli-Iranian relations are terrible!)

Manly West Public School

I went to Manly West Public School, where I did my kindergarten and years 1-4 of primary school from 1990-1994. This was my first time to visit the school in 14 years!

Mrs. McLean

Mrs. McLean, my wonderful 4th grade teacher, was still there! She remembered me as soon as I introduced myself and was delighted when I showed her our class photo from 1994 (below). She took me around and showed me to everyone, including her current class. She was very passionate about her students and introduced me to some of the very bright ones. She used to encourage me for my skills in maths in very much the same way.

Principal and Staff

The new principal, Mr. Raymond A. Dayley, was kind enough to give me a tour of the school's facilities, telling me how the school is still expanding and improving.

Other school staff that I met were Mrs. Street, Mrs. Parker, Mrs. Simpson and Mrs. Kay. They remembered my dad and especially my mum very well. My brother's teachers, Mrs. Marinan and Mr. Cross, were still there too.

My old house

After Manly West, I visited our old house in Marjory Thomas Place, right next to the school, separated only by a wooden fence. It's very much the same as it used to be, except the fence has been repaired, lol. (My father purposely broke that fence so my brother and I could walk through it to get to school. One time the fence was repaired, but he broke it again!)

Manly Beach

Manly Beach is amazing! The sand is a clean white, the waves are huge, and surfers are everywhere.

I'm going back to Manly West and our neighbourhood again tomorrow, followed by a relaxing afternoon at Manly Beach.

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