Sunday, March 28, 2004

Getting There

We head out at 5 a.m. for an 8 a.m. flight from JFK. At 11 a.m., we buy two bottles of Dom in the Duty Free shop in LA. One for Nigel and his new wife and one for us to share with Brian and Adele.

On the flight to Sydney, the other passengers are not too irritating, probably because everyone has enough space. Wine-guzzling, bad-skinned, blonde hipster and high-maintenance dude observed in Duty Free sit dangerously close to us. They are less annoying than the seat-kicking rabbi with the startlingly noisy body.

Gene is wearing a pair of new jeans that are at first a little too loose, but keep getting looser. In JFK, he is occasionally hiking up his pants. By LAX, Gene is clutching a handful of denim at his waist just to walk without his pants falling down. No belts for sale in the airport, we buy a blue necktie with bunnies to use as a belt. Gene gets through the trip without losing his pants.

Monday, March 29, 2004

More Bunnies

Brian and Adele are not at the airport to meet us. We wade through several emotional reunions to find a clear spot to wait. We are  uncertain where we crossed signals. Gene wanders off. Only me and a woman with bunny ears wait for our parties. The bunny-eared lady meets her friends. Now I am alone in the terminal.

When Gene returns, we grab a cab to the downtown Marriott.

We see the Sydney Opera House from our hotel window. By the time we check in and change, the lounge is closed. So we go out for a drink. Half a block away, the Ship Inn is serving, so we have a couple. The bartenders look like twins: same shirt, same brunette bun.

The Basement

Looking for food, we find The Basement, a bar across the alley from the hotel. The bar is familiar. Though it has a comedian and tables instead of a band and a dance floor, we recognize it as the place we went to with Brian, Adele and Nigel last trip two years ago.

We settle for cheese & crackers and fruit & nut bars from the 24-hour convenience shop across the street. Reminds me of raiding the 7-11 our first night in South Korea.

Back at the hotel, we plug in our international cell phone for the first time and discover Brian left a message asking us to call when we landed. He has taken off work next week and has music on his agenda—Dr John and Mavis Staples at The Basement.

Tuesday, March 30

Royal Botanical Gardens

I am sitting under a massive tree in the Royal Botanical Gardens where the signs invite you to "please, step on the grass". The tree's branches extend about twenty feet in all directions, offering sweet shade from the heat. There's a soft breeze and the feeling that this is how it should be all the time.

The grass curls funny here and I want to look closer at the stone sculptures in the sun. It looks like a Madonna and Child with a cradle next to it. I watch runners on the path next to the water. This is how it should be, all the time.

George Street galleries

Gene and I walk through some galleries on George Street. We see Nelson Mandela's handprint exhibit. We tour a gallery in an old church with flattened city images. It makes me want to open my own gallery.Gene buys a belt to replace the blue bunny neckie and I get some earrings and a hairclip.

We sit outside on a bench, looking at Sydney Cove. We watch the birds and feel tired, but relaxed. At the hotel's indoor pool, I chicken out of a dip:  cold air, exacerbated by fatigue, rickety stairs and no glasses. Gene swims a few laps.

We eat dinner at Cafe Sydney, on the fifth floor of the Customs House, which is under construction. The restaurant is dark and New York-y. A view of the Harbour Bridge reflects in the mirror across the room.

Snapper fillet with clams are excellent. We drink a bottle of Chardonnay, followed by port. Afterward, Gene and I order drinks in the hotel lobby bar, but I instantly regret it. We take the drinks upstairs and I go to bed.

Wednesday, March 31

Tarango Zoo

I'm at the hotel pool again and Gene is napping. This time I swim a couple laps. The air and water are a little too cold.

We go to Tarango Zoo by ferry. Friendly zookeeper tries to coax two red pandas out for photos. The zookeeper says they were named “Mayhem” and “Chaos” because they took a swipe at each other while he was being interviewed on live television. They missed and swiped him instead.

We eat fish & chips at the Metropolitan Hotel. We headed for the Mercantile Hotel for their fish & chips, but we stumbled on  the Metropolitan instead, not realizing we weren't where we intended to go.

We walk around the neighborhood, have drinks at an after-work hot spot called Establishment. We have a nightcap at a cute bar in an alley, all lit up, warm and bright. But we realize the people are not as warm and bright as we remembered. We wonder if its because we are in a tourist area or if sentiment toward Americans has worsened since our last visit, Christmas 2001. No one is rude, but no one cracks a smile at us. We go to bed by nine pm.

Thursday, April 1

Shopping

This morning we go to Shakespeare Pie for breakfast. We work out and swim ten laps. I count each direction as one lap and the pool is small. It isn't easy.

We shop at Utopia Records, dedicated to or skewed toward, heavy metal and rock-and-roll collectibles. Everything is expensive, but Gene finds a bin of 45s marked $1 each, most are fifty cents. Gene buys "I Think I Love You" and "Shadow Dancing".

Dom Perignon

We share a bottle of Dom with Brian and Adele in our hotel room, before heading out for a bite. We get pizza in The Rocks at a place that boasted of a Harbour view but the view is blocked by a glass building. Big gab-fest. Brian and Adele are two of the loveliest people we know.

Friday, April 2

afternoon with Adele

Adele has the afternoon off and she meets us for lunch. We walk around Circular Quay, checking out the cafes. We end up lunching at a little place outside the Opera House.

We walk around The Rocks, stopping at a furniture store with handmade wooden tables and chests, selling for $11,000 to $15,000. Next door we browse through a craft shop, mostly jewelry and hanging rugs. The owner's dog, Zsa Zsa, a toy poodle, plays with Gene outside the store while Adele buys an amber ring.

We stop at a boutique hotel for an afternoon beer. We sit on the second floor balcony and watch the Harbour Bridge climbers parade past. The climbers wear gray jumpsuits and safety belts with pulleys around their waists. They look like prisoners marching to their executions.

We notice all the Australian schoolgirls wear prison-like uniforms. Adele says even public school kids have to wear uniforms.

Darling Harbour

Brian and Nigel cancel on us for the evening but we don't mind. We are glad to go out for a casual dinner alone. We take a cab to Darling Harbour and we eat at a place call Baio. The food is mediocre, but the staff is pleasant for a change, and we don't feel quite so gouged on prices.

We have a nightcap at the hotel bar. The piano player makes every song sound the same. The bartenders entertain us, making specialty drinks and tossing cocktail shakers behind their backs. The tall bartenders looks like Derek Jeter. We triple tip because they are so nice.

Saturday, April 3

Paddington

Dinner at Brian's

We drive out to Brian's neighborhood and stop at the fish market. We buy white wine at Mr. Liquor and pick up grapefruit juice at the local supermarket.

Nigel and Young Hae present us with gifts, most notably Nigel's painting of our East Village living room. He apologizes for taking seven years to complete it. It is a treasure worth waiting for.

Brian makes deep-fried Camembert with mango sauce and grilled prawns on the barbie. We eat these on his balcony. Later, we sit at his table for seafood risotto and salad.

Adele shows up between the appetizers and the main course. She is dressed for an occasion: black tea-length dress and choker, red shoes and lips. Adele adds a burst of energy to the party. She draws Young Hae out, whose English is all right, but less than fluent.

We call a cab to return to our hotel. Adele hops in with us. She will meet girlfriends in the city.

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