Some info: The Opera House is in the middle, just above the nr 4.
Bondi Beach (south east) is the place to be for the young and famous apparently. Also very popular with backpackers. New year's celebrations are huge here..
Kings Cross is the red light district, also a very popular backpackers area.
Sydney has about 4 million inhabitants, almost 5 times as many as Amsterdam.
Arrived at bloody 6 in the morning, and sooo happy to be here! Have a dorm to myself near Darling Harbour, which is a luxury after such a long flight. First impression of the city is great, beautiful, 25 degrees and sunny. Plus the nice people, I have already had several chats which is always nice. All feels a bit strange though, like a regular holiday, not like having left home for about a year. I guess once I found a job and a room, it'll feel more for real. For now, I enjoy being a tourist: did the harbour cruise this morning and am now in Kings Cross which I find pretty weird and not so nice.
Went to bed at 7pm last night, absolutely knackered. Woke up this morning at 5 as a result, but feel fine. Really love this city, walked through Darling Harbour and the CBD this morning at around 8 and loved the atmosphere, people with their coffees on their way to work and all.Sydney reminds me a bit of San Francisco, with the CBD, the sort of hills and the victorian-like buildings with the big skyscrapers behind them.
Took a ferry to Parramatta for my interview with Michael Page this morning. Hope it went well, the lady said they'd try to find me a job. Also opened a bank account and ran some other errands. At the supermarket I was offered a job by a Pom who thought I was Irish (weird), but since this involved bothering people at Woolies and try convincing them to buy banking products, I decided to wait until I am very very desperate.
And another sunny day! Just had lunch with Cecile, a French friend of my brother's. Was nice seeing her again, and sitting in the sun at Darling Harbour enjoying a good salad and berry yoghurt is really good! Meeting her again tomorrow, for the Friday-Europeans-lunch. Sent my CV to some more agencies, and really hope to find work soon!
Quick writing before meeting with the first of two agencies today. Had lunch on Friday with Cecile and 5 French friends of her, rather funny. Dutch friend Rishma called which was really nice. Wendy celebrated her birthday at night in a tapas bar, and I was invited too! Met some of her friends, which was good. One of them offered me a piece of furniture for my new room, really sweet of him. New apartment is brilliant. It's big, has two floors and the compex has a gym and lap pool as well as two tennis courts and an outdoor pool. Wendy hadn't yet managed to buy a futon, so we took the car to King's Cross where Cecile lives and borrowed Cecile's spare matrass. I feel completely at home already here, just wonderful! Did loads of grocery shopping yesterday, so I don't have to eat out all the time.
Yesterday friends of Wendy's came over to go to a food festival in Newtown together. Was really nice, we just had some Indian and Fijian food and some wines and sat down in the sun. The weather here is just soooo amazing, I love it! Heavy thunder and lightning last night, but that only lasted for 10-15 minutes. Tomorrow we're having dinner at Stephen's place, the guy who has a ladenkastje for me. Really nice of him. He lives in Coogee, haven't been there yet so a good opportunity for exploring.
Off to the interview now!
Weird, it's October yet so sunny and warm. Today is a beautiful day! Checked out King Street, Newtown's main street, today and I just love it! It's really long, and has many many shops, cafes and (mostly Asian) restaurants. It's a bit alternative, with Chinese Massage shops, second hand book and clothing stores, furniture shops, very expensive or 10 $ hairdressers, loads of goodies for the interior and more. Super super. Have to go back this afternoon, as I dropped Wendy's plunger, which broke. Stupid.
Saw the Botanic Gardens yesterday, they're beautiful. I also realized that the flower beds near Circular Quay contain loads of parsley! Very weird, never saw anything like this.
As for the job hunting: had a call from HJB today, another agency, and will be meeting with them on Tuesday. I am sooo ready to start working, and being an impatient person, I really can't wait for anything to happen in that area. The interviews with TMP and Ambition went well, I think. It's funny how people have problems with my name. When I give my name I always have to spell it, and reception will end up calling the person I am meeting and just say "Saskia's here". My bank details say Sas Bosch van Rosenthal as my whole name didn't fit in the system.
Dinner at Stephen's yesterday was nice. He lives in a wonderful, older, house in Coogee, really pretty with a veranda and a big garden. The drawerthing he gave me is really good, very happy to have it in my room. Brought some incense and a scented candle from home, and with some furniture in it, I start feeling very happy and homey in my little room in the wonderful apartment. When we drove back from Coogee, I said to Wendy how much I love the hills here. She thought that was very funny, as she'd loved Amsterdam for being so flat! It's nice that Wendy knows Holland, she likes to talk about it, and likes to practice her Dutch. Makes me feel a bit closer to home, as I do realize how far away I am from my friends, family, Arne and other people that are important to me, no matter how much closer email and the phone make you feel. Listening to De Dijk a lot makes me feel close as well, especially as I'd see Huub van der Lubbe on his bike at least once a week at home, so this feels very much like AMS.