A Plethora of Stories

I decided to take a break from my studying (my willpower to study has never been lower) and create a new blog post. But honestly I had no idea what to write about. There were several things that I figured I could conjure up, but they would be very small posts, and lacking of any real enthusiasm I guess you could say. So what did I do? I decided to combine all of them! So sit back, grab a beer/wine/or soda for all you under 21ers, and read on about life in Sydney over the last month!

Field Trip

For my marine environment class we went on a number of field trips. First the aquarium, second to God-knows-where, and third to Botany Bay. I wont really talked about what I learned, Ill just treat you with pictures that are far more interesting to me than the "learning" we were supposed to be doing. 

Neptune's Necklace on top. The black and red thing is anemone, which is very fun to stick your finger in.
It tries to pull it in with small barbs it has on its tentacles. 

Large, pretty shell that I wanted to keep but couldnt.
There was something living inside!

Dead Sea Urchin. Very cool to see and hold.

So poetic...

Botany Bay

Guide on left. Not interesting. What is interesting is the HUGE shipping vessel .
This picture does not do its size justice.

And then we arrived at somewhere special, or at least special to me. I love the movie Mission Impossible 2, probably because it was the first PG-13 movie I saw in theaters, not to mention its freakin awesome. One of our field trip locations played a very prominent part in the end of the movie: the bad guys' base.

Very interesting to see. Notice the bridge...

This is Ethan Hunt riding across that bridge that a car just blew up on. Sweet!

And this is me. In mid action stance. I know, I know...how I havent been in
a big budget action movie yet is beyond me. I guess Hollywood is just waiting
for the right movie. 

 The Sweet Tooth

Cole's Fresh Baked cookies, dessert thingys, candybars, and
of course TimTams. This is a weekly purchase. Dont judge us.
That is all.

Party Rockin'

A couple of weeks ago, my roommate Ian and I were invited to go on a party bus for this one girl's birthday on a Friday night. The party bus drives you around to a bunch of different clubs (5 in total) and you get a free drink at each. It was a pretty fun night and a good way to see the city at night. And meet a bunch of Irish people, cause apparently this girl was Irish. They get rowdy when they drink...but needless to say pretty fun. I even got a sweet tattoo!

Inside the party bus. Loud. Hot. And tons of fun.

Inside party bus again. I was trying to be artistic and put my hand
in front of the camera...I'd say I failed.

The new tattoo. Im so excited that I got it.
Dont you think it looks great?

Stamps from a few of the different bars. 

Its clearly fake people. Relax...I still have a shot at getting a job.

The night after the party bus, we attended one of our housemates birthdays. Her name is Alejandra and she turned 21! We went to a Spanish style restaurant-bar to start and I had the most satisfying meal I have had my entire time here: fajitas and a margarita. Seriously I had no idea I would miss Mexican food so much, but my word that hit the spot. Afterwards, we went to a club called Ivy, one of Sydney's ritzier clubs. Loved the atmosphere, the design, and the layout...hated the people. Drinks were so small they made Dixie cups look like Big Gulps, they cost an additional arm and a leg (Sydney already costs exactly one arm and one leg), and it was filled with the single most shallow group of people I have ever met. Let's just say that unless you were wearing a $5000 Armani suit, you had no chance. But we danced as a group regardless and had a fun time, I just will most likely never return...it's not worth the $20 cover to watch ugly guys in handsome suits pick up girls they dont deserve/cant handle. And that's my 2 cents!

From left to right: birthday girl Alejandra, Rachel, Gucci model, and Ian

I mean with a butt like that...

Dancing to Will Smith's "Summertime". The DJ was old school and way fun to
dance to.

In Australia, Ivy is spelled s-h-a-l-l-o-w. Still you cant
deny it's an awesome place. 

Features an open air section right in between two skyscrapers and a indoor pool!

Great lights too.

Sydney at Night

Well for starters, these adds have been driving me nuts around town. The highest rated game of the year, and I havent played it yet...it slowly drains my soul inside. Anyways, I think whoever came up with these posters needs a big raise. Very iconic.

Batman Arkham City.

Currently at a 97 on Metacritic.com. 2nd highest rated game of
all time

And I haven't played it yet. I guess I have a good excuse
though. But I had to nerd out with these pictures.

Now that I have gotten the nerd out of me, I can continue with some pictures of Sydney around town at night. Once again, the iPhone camera did me proud.

Lit up trees at a food festival in Hyde Park. Great food and great atmosphere!

Some of the booths at the food fair. 

Anzac Memorial in Hyde Park. Very very peaceful at night. 

Pretty beautiful picture right there.

Lit up at night.

Panoramic of Sydney. Skyline to the left, part of the Botanic Gardens in the middle (hence the dark spot) and the Opera House and Harbor Bridge to the right.

So those are some of the things that I have been up to in Sydney. Its crazy to think that I have less than 2 weeks left here. I started this journey four and a half months ago and it feels like I just left, but at the same time it feels like I have been here forever. However, its now starting to hit me that I am leaving soon, and while I am excited to go back home, I am also sad. Sad because I probably wont be able to return down here for a long time. So hopefully my Thermo final on Tuesday goes well and then I can experience Sydney for one last, great week.

See you again soon with a blog on my Dad's visit to Australia and one of the Halloween cruise that I will never forget. And of course movie reviews! Have a good day everybody!