Pardon...

Happy Memorial Day everyone.  Not much of a celebration here, but the Queen's Birthday in a few weeks should be a blast (or at least a chance to finally get away and start to explore outside of Sydney).

After being here for two months, I've started to understand (not necessarily pick up) some of the local slang.  Here's a handful of that slang:

flick - send an email
ta - thank you
How are you going? - How are you doing?
arvo - afternoon
tingle - to call, as in I'll tingle you this arvo.  Yep, people actually say that.
I feel like there were more, but I'm drawing a blank here.  I'll try to post them as I come across a few more.

Fridge finally gets delivered tomorrow.  I'm in the mindset right now of I'll believe it when I see it.  I'm still working on transferring utilities to my name which has been quite the hassle.  But I am learning that it's the building that's causing the majority of the problems.  Had I found someplace else, it might not have been so difficult. 

The neighborhood is definitely more city than I'm used to.  The buses on E 8th Street are nothing compared to what flies down this street.  It would probably be similar to living right on the corner of Milwaukee and Damen.  Always people, always cars, at all hours of the day.  In fact, there were people leaving a bar/club at 7:30 AM on Monday morning as I was walking to work.  The upside is that there are plenty of cafes, restaurants and normal hour bars within a few blocks as well.  A big thing here are places trying to recreate the dive bar feel from places in the US.  The ones I've been too haven't really been close, but it is pretty interesting

I do have a long weekend next week for the Queen's birthday.  Funny thing is, I don't think that's even a public holiday in the UK.  Now that I'm settled, I'm trying to figure out where to go.  All the books I got were about living and working here, but not travelling.  In my searching, it is pretty interesting that I can hop on a plane and be in New Zealand in 2 hours, or head off to Fiji after a 3 hour flight.  Don't know if I'll be able to swing that next weekend, but I definitely want to head north up the coast to get some sort of summer before winter hits.  Where ever I end up, I'll make sure to bring my camera to finally get some pictures of the area.

First Night in the books

I just wanted to let everyone know that I survived my first night in the new apartment.  It wasn't too bad, so that was good.  I'm still furnishing the place.  I spent a good 3 hours last night trying to put together the bed frame which didn't go so well.  This is what it looked like this morning.

That's right, that's what three hours of sweat looks like.  I reckon it would have been easier with an electric drill, but all I had was my nifty Eddie Bauer 8 in 1 gadget.  So, this was my bedroom last night.

Fridge gets delivered Tuesday assuming they can confirm with the warehouse they do have one in stock which will be nice.  Getting that sofa in the background into the place was kind of a nightmare.  They gave me a delivery window from 11:30-3:30.  Guess what time they showed up.  Drinks on me here in Sydney for anyone who guessed 3:10.  But what made it worse is that the delivery guys didn't want to take it up to the third level (4th floor for people stateside).  I pushed and prodded and taught them some geometry, but it finally made it through the door.  It's going to be a huge pain to get it back out if I decide to move at some point.  But I can't worry about that now.

Hopefully the TV I want is in stock this weekend so I can have some noise at the apartment.  Then hopefully one last trip to Ikea next weekend to pick up the last bit of furniture and I'll be set.  By then hopefully I'll have internet at the place and can load a video of the place.

I don't even live like Red Man, yes THAT Red Man

So I moved in this weekend (for the most part) and feel a little bit scammed by the real estate agent. But after what I've gone through with him this past week, I'm not all that surprised. When I first saw the apartments I specifically asked if all appliances (fridge, laundry and AC) were going to be included in all units. As is the case with most real estate agents, the answer is "Yeah, of course." So I took his word on it. I'm sure you can all guess there this is going. Yep, got in on Saturday to find no Fridge, AC or microwave. Pretty awesome. I had visions of living like Red Man on his episode of MTV cribs for a while. Sleeping on a mattress on the floor, ironing on the floor, boxes everywhere until furniture came. But I can say that after this weekend, I think I'm living one notch below him. If you don't recall this episode, it's worth a few laughs to find on YouTube. His claim to fame was his dollar bill box that he kept on top of his fridge for when he needed to get a loaf of bread or milk or whatever. Now granted there aren't dollar bills here, just coins (which I'm still getting used to) but at least Red Man had a fridge to put his dollar bill box on. I guess I'll just have to put mine in the spot where the fridge should be. That and the unit I was shown wasn't exactly the same one I ended up in. Here are a few pictures of what the place looks like completely empty.

I do have some emails looking for confirmation that appliances (and not just hookups) would be included so we'll see how this conversation goes.  If it's much like the last few, it will be one big circle and I'll end up right back where I am now, without a place for my dollar bill box.

MTV Cribs....Here I Come

Well, I was able to convince the real estate agency to take first months rent and the bond using a credit card.  I thought that was a major feat (even though the charge hasn't come through yet).  I know what you're thinking, it's all set right, now you get to move in?  Wrong.

I'm going tomorrow morning to pick up the keys and talk to the developers about a few "items" they need to tell me about the apartment.  Not sure what sort of surprises are coming, but it should be fun.  Figuring the hard part was over I started calling utilities companies since I imagine I'll need at least electricity and water my first day.  Things like that work a little differently down here.  When I gave them the address not one utility company was able to find the address to set up service.  They all kind of got quiet over the phone and put me on hold.  That was yesterday and of the four companies who told me they'd call me back, I got zero calls today, probably not a good sign.  But thankfully I was able to get a few extra days on the corporate housing so I just need to make sure that everything is set by Wednesday of next week.

This place better be awesome at the end of all this.

On the upside, with Europe collapsing people have been selling the Aussie Dollar and running to the "safety" of the US Dollar like crazy driving the AUD/USD rate down.  Just a few more points and it will be cheaper to by a MacBook Pro here than in the States.

Matt - 1 (hopefully)
Aussie Dollar - Well, frankly I lost count when I started applying for credit cards

Progress, or so I thought

This whole credit thing is becoming one big pain in my a@@.  I have to go sign a lease tomorrow but apparently they'll only take a bank check for the deposit and first months rent.  Unfortunately, I don't have that kind of money in a local account and the plan was to handle all payments through wire transfers (after all who wants to deal with actual checks anymore, especially half way across the world)?  So, I spent the afternoon going from bank to bank to bank trying to find anyone who will give me access to enough credit for one week to get a bank check.  After all, I need to be out of my current apartment by Sunday and have furniture being delivered on Saturday.  It's a good thing I can laugh about these things or else this would be pretty stressful.

My fingers hurt

Well, I'm putting all my eggs in the Apple basket.  I went with the cheapest prepaid phone option in hopes that the new iPhone will be coming out within the next few weeks in both the US and over here so I can get the latest and greatest.  And after having this:

for just 2 days, I'm slightly regretting that decision.  Typing on the old style number pad hurts, auto correct is horrible and to top it all off, they even got rid of the game Snakes (or whatever it was called).  Here's hoping that the rumors of a June release date are correct.  I can already feel the arthritis kicking in.

Pretty low key weekend.  Went to a bbq (no shrimp, seriously, I thought that was a necessity for all bbq's here) in Bondi.  The weather was great, but it is definitely starting to get cold at night (and by cold, I mean upper 50s).  Yesterday was all about buying furniture.  I still don't have a confirmed lease, but the realtor said he could guarantee I'd be in this Friday, though I'm skeptical since he originally told me I could get in this past Friday.  That better happen because I have to move out Sunday.  Buying furniture was interesting as well because I still haven't been approved for a credit card either.  Thankfully one store was able to sell me a mattress when I applied for their credit card.  If it doesn't come through hopefully the other one will.  The furniture store was nice enough to take a 10% deposit to lock the furniture in for me and then I can pay once I get some local credit.  So best case scenario I have a bed, mattress and couch this weekend.  Worst case is just a mattress for two weeks (all assuming I have an apartment to put them in).  Here's hoping...

FOOD!!!!

I've been here for about a month now and be able to get to a handful of places to eat.  By and large, I haven't been any place yet that has blown me away, though every restaurant has some form of wagyu beef and from what I've had it is definitely more flavorful.  At first I had a bit of price shock (and confusion over whether to tip or not), but I've been able to rationalize it lately.  I have found out that you don't have to tip and if you do, 10% is the high end and that is usually only at high end places with excellent service.  Because of this, you can pretty much subtract 20-25% of the bill to get to prices of what they would be without tax or tip.  That's helped with the sticker shock some.

I stopped by the Sydney Fish Market a few weekends ago to check it out.  I was expecting more market, but instead it just felt like a tourist spot to get fried fish.  There were a few markets, but the fish didn't look overly fresh (way too many cloudy eyes in the whole fish).  Granted I didn't buy any, but I would have been hesitant.  I did have a fisherman's platter which was good, but average.  It definitely had more variety that we'd get in the states (oysters and octopus), but the batter was pretty bland.  Rock Oysters are pretty big here (note the oysters covered in "bacon" and cheese - not to my liking at all), but as I watched the guy open and clean them, I was shocked to see him immediately rinse them under water, flushing the liqueur away.

I did stop by Chinatown this week for dinner.  Food was good and fresh, but again the sticker shock.  It was a pretty typical Chinatown restaurant with live tanks all along the wall.  I will say that the seafood they had in those tanks was significantly larger than what Boston restaurants had.  Their lobster's (the spiny kind, not Maine - no claws) were huge.  And they didn't like being in tanks with other lobsters judging by the fighting and desperate attempt to crawl out of the tanks.  At $140 per kilogram (about 2 lbs) I stayed clear of them.

I have a few spots that I want to try closer to the neighborhood where I'm planning on living, so hopefully that will be a little more like what I'm used to in Boston and Chicago.

Other than that I'm just trying to work out furniture deliveries and buying furniture without any credit.  Still don't have a final say on the apartment yet which is worry some since I have to be out of the corporate housing a week from this coming Wednesday, but it will all work out one way or another.  And if worse comes to worse, the weather has been great so sleeping outside can't be that uncomfortable.

And so it begins

Well, sticking true to the blog title (click is a local reference for a kilometer and 42 is roughly the number of clicks in a marathon), I've entered the Sydney marathon and have also started training.  It's the morning runs where I wish that I didn't stop running in the first place.  The hardest part by far is having to start from scratch again.

The marathon isn't till mid september which is good because for once, I'll be able to train through winter and not have to deal with sub freezing temperatures or 100 plus degree days.  It should be perfect running weather (at least that's what I'm hoping for).

What's also great about the time is that I'll be able to do the Sydney to Surf in early August.  It sounds like this is just one big ole party.  Similar to the Bay to Breakers in SF, people by the tens of thousands (maybe 60,000 last year) run from Sydney to Bondi mostly along the coast.  It's a 14k so hopefully this will tie in with a weekend run and I won't have to do a there and back.  No one in the office seems to keen on running, so hopefully I'll be able to find a running group to do it with.

Not much else new here.  Spent the weekend furniture shopping (sucks) and trying to shore up some Aussie credit so I don't have to pay a 3% fee on top of a bad exchange rate.  Here's hoping I have a bed at the bare minimum the weekend I move in.

Almost settled

Well, it's another beautiful day here.  It was 17 degrees this morning (62 for you all stateside) and about half the people walking down the street were wearing winter coats and scarves.  I guess this is what it's like living in LA when winter approaches.  The moment it goes below 20, people start to bundle up.  To me, this feels like a perfect spring day (except leaves are falling off the trees).

I'm still waiting for confirmation on the apartment.  I've been told that they're just waiting for the developer to give them the actual move in date to put on the lease before I can sign it.  They've said I can have the keys as early as next Friday.  Hopefully this all works out because I had to give 21 days notice to leave the temporary housing.  So if this falls through, I could be couch surfing for a little while.  I've been working on tying up the loose ends with getting the apartment, it hasn't dawned on me that I really need to have furniture in place when I move in (at least a bed at the bare minimum).  I've been through a few furniture shops as I find them, but it's been just a casual stroll trying to get an idea on prices.  This weekend, I think I have to actually start buying stuff and scheduling deliveries.  But I need to have a move in date before scheduling a delivery (you can see where this is going and get a look into the past few weeks here).  And, now that I think about it, I made sure the place has air conditioning but I didn't ask about heat.  I would assume that it will have heat, but I guess nothing's a given over here.

They do have Ikea over here, so I'm going to venture out to the west to find that this weekend.  It also seems like a bunch of furniture stores are having pre-winter sales here so hopefully I can find some good deals.  But of course, I don't have any dimensions of the place so shopping for couches and tables will be a little interesting.  Oh well, its all part of the experience.

Lastly, for today at least, if Ikea is the furniture winner I'll get to rent that car a lot sooner than I planned.  I'll make sure to rig the camera in the dash to capture all the excitement of my first right and left hand turns so you all can experience that with me.  It should be fun and definately something to look forward too.

Hope everyone had a fun Cinco de Mayo (we tried to bring the holiday here, but people don't seem to need a holiday here to drink mid week) and the Seis de Hangover wasn't too bad.

Bacon???? Maybe in Canada

I've been to a few restaurants so far and haven't been overly impressed.  I think as I move to a neighborhood with a few more options things should get better (and venture into those neighborhoods to find the hole in the wall dumpling houses that Sydney is supposedly known for).  But one thing I have noticed is that only Canadians would only look at this and call it "bacon."

I stopped by the store the other day and picked up a pack of "bacon."  Sure, it says short cut bacon, but there is no long cut bacon.  And at first glance, you'll notice by the meat to fat ratio that this certainly isn't bacon.  It did taste like a thick cut ham and would probably be good grilled on some bread, but it definitely was missing the salty, fatty crunch of the bacon that got delivered to me monthly.

I've noticed that other things taste a little bit different over here.  Everything seems to be a little bit sweeter, but not necessarily in a good way.  The Barilla jarred pasta sauce had a bit too much sweetness for me.  The soy sauce I used to cook some chicken in last night was almost more sweet than salty.

But back to bacon, I guess I'll have to order Michael Rhulman's Charcuterie to learn how to make my own US style bacon and show these Sydneysiders what they're missing.  I'll make sure to post pictures once I start that little adventure.

One last side note, for those who haven't seen Grant Achatz of Alinea has announed a new restaurant and bar in Chicago (Next Restaurant and Aviary).  Not many details yet, but looks pretty interesting (as you would probably expect).  Like Disney World you'll be able to buy tickets for a menu that changes every three months and focuses a different region and time frame (including the future???).  And it might come in at around $100 for 7 or 8 courses with wine.  Sign me up