Sydney culture

Now that I'm happily back in Sydney, it's time to get back to having some fun in the city. We started my weekend back by going up to the northern beaches for a birthday barbecue. The barbecue was at a beach area called Clifton Gardens. The best way to get there without a car is by taking a bus, then walking down through some of the cliffside restaurants. So that's what we did!

The day was a perfect autumn/winter day in Sydney: bright blue skies and the sun keeping you a perfect temperature.

The birthday celebration was for a co-worker of T's, who's from Brazil. So naturally, it was a Brazilian barbecue. Which, as it turns out, means that the festivities start about an hour after they're schedule to and they go on for many, many hours. It also means that you eat meat for many of those hours.

Being outside in the beautiful Sydney harbor and soaking up the sunshine was a perfect way to beat the jet lag!

On the cultural side of things, T and I went to the Opera House this week for an evening show. The Symphony was playing the soundtrack to a Harry Potter (just like the Wizard of Oz show!). I had so much fun at that event in San Diego, I jumped at the chance to take T to one.

We made a night of it, with a fun dinner out before.

It's always fun to go to the Opera House. I took a quick shot through the sails during our intermission.

You're not allowed to take pictures inside the symphony hall, even when a show isn't going on. But suffice to say, we had a great time at the show! It made me happy to be back in Sydney and thankful for living in such a beautiful, fun city.

Three days in Austin

To finish up my US trip, I spent a few days in our Austin office. This was the first time I'd been to Austin, so I was excited to check it out. Plus, after San Francisco, I was looking forward to some sunshine and warm weather!

I was there for three days of meetings, but I managed to fit in a little fun on Sunday afternoon when I arrived. Coincidentally, I was staying right across from the flagship Whole Foods, and several people had tipped me off that I should check it out. I thought it was a little weird that it was on peoples' tourism list of Austin, but it turned out to be pretty cool! It was huge, for starters, and it was really set up to be a whole shopping experience. There is a bar inside, so it seemed like a lot of people would go in, grab a drink and then enjoy it as they walk around shopping.

The store itself was like every other Whole Foods, just a little bigger and over the top in every way. Whether this is because it's in Texas or because it's the flagship store, it's hard to say!

One of the best things was "Taco Alley." You could walk up, put in your taco/burrito/nachos order on the tablet, and then the cook behind the counter made it for you. There was no need to talk and you could customize the food exactly how you wanted it. Super fun!

On top of the store, there's a huge park & eating area. So you can get your takeaway food and then go hang out on the roof to eat. Apparently in the wintertime, there is a skating rink there. Too fun!

Even aside from the Whole Foods, Austin was a really fun little city! It was a pretty big change of pace from San Francisco (and even Sydney): the downtown was very quiet and life moved at a slower pace for sure. It was also striking how little public transport there is: everyone drives everywhere! 

The Colorado River winds alongside the downtown, so in that way, it reminded me a lot of home. There are miles of walkway alongside the river, and it was a 5 minute stroll from my apartment, so I went walking every evening I could. 

Even though it's a very car-friendly city, the pedestrian paths alongside the water were really nice. And there is a pedestrian bridge that connects two parks. People seemed to come hang out on the bridge in the evenings: every time I went there were people out busking or just hanging out with friends for the night. 

Even though the city isn't the most walkable ever, I managed to get around well enough. There were several cute little areas with shops and restaurants. They mostly seemed designed to take advantage of the warm & dry weather, so it seems like a really fun place to visit in the summer!

Austin definitely has a hipster-cool flavor to it, more so than you might expect for a Texas town. There are lots of food trucks. And not just food trucks, but really all kinds of trucks: bike rental trucks, phone repair trucks, and whatever this one is. 

Aside from the walks along the water, my other favorite thing about Austin was the food! Mexican food is at the top of my list of things I miss living in Sydney, so you can be sure that I took every chance I got to eat all the Mexican food I could fit. 

The office also gave me plenty of opportunity to fill up on the food I miss. Every day there's a hot lunch option, as well as a salad bar. I just so happened to be there on a day when fried green tomatoes and pimento cheese were on the menu. Lucky lucky me!

Speaking of the office, it was a really fun place to do some work. It's right in the downtown, on a few floors in one of the high rises. The best part was the outdoor balcony: you can take your computer outside and sit in the warm Texas breeze while getting some work done!

Inside, the office is really nice too: it's a smaller office than in Sydney, so it has a more tight-knit feel. 

You can tell the demographic slants toward a younger workforce... 

All in all, I really liked my short stay in Austin! I wish I could have been there a bit longer, and maybe in the summer to check out some of the water activities around the town. Maybe next trip!

San Francisco times

I was in San Francisco for a little under two weeks (with a couple cheeky days spent in San Diego). I don't generally love traveling to SF, but of course I can find plenty of bright spots during my visit!

I took the Bart out for dinner one night. I couldn't get over the orderly line people formed waiting for the train! Definitely different from Sydney where everyone jams onto the platform every which way!

Working at the San Francisco office is nice, and there are always fun treats happening. This trip, there was a special hot dog lunch to kick off the baseball season, and also a bicycle-powered smoothie machine for Earth Day. 

It’s always fun to get to see the dogs in the office! 

I didn’t get out for too many fun things during the week, but I did have a Saturday for adventuring out in the city. On the recommendation of a colleague, I walked down to the Ferry Marketplace building for breakfast, and then caught a ferry out to Alameda. 

The Ferry Building is really beautiful and had lots of really fun little shops and food stalls. 

Of course, I’m always able to find a marketing going on, and this Saturday was no exception. There was a really big Farmers Market all around the Ferry Building. This might be the only place I’ve seen people line up for coffee more than in Sydney!

The ferry to Alameda was quick: only about 10 minutes to get to the island. I have to say that, as much Sydneysiders like to complain about their public transport, it’s heads and shoulders above the system in San Francisco. Buses are on a different ticketing system to trains, and it was completely unclear how to pay for a ferry ticket. The fact that local people all around me in line for the ferry were confused made me feel a bit better. 

Alameda is a little island just on the other side of the Bay Bridge. It’s a strange place, as in the last 30-40 years it’s primarily been a military site. But 10-15 years ago, the military shut down the base there and moved to cheaper areas. So now a huge part of the island is just a concrete wasteland with deserted military housing, hangars, and piers. 

I was sent out to Alameda because part of its revitalisation is coming in the form of distilleries and wineries taking over the old military buildings. To get to that part of the island, it’s about a 20 minute walk from the ferry. Luckily on the day I was there, I only had to follow the trendy-looking San Franciscans to find “Spirits Row.” It was a weird walk, across a crumbling parking lot, through a deserted military checkpoint, and alongside a massive row of 10 graffitied housing units. It really set the tone for an odd day!

My main destination was Hangar One vodka; I’d seen pictures of how the hangar had been  beautifully refurbished, so I was keen to get a look at it inside. That building, like the three or four others on Spirits Row, was odd to navigate. There is big fencing up around the hangar, and you walk to the back of it from the main road, and enter through what I’d call the back of the building. From that side of the building, there’s a huge swatch of crumbling concrete and then million dollar views of the city. So very odd. 

The building was really cool inside, and there was a small tour happening of the distillery. I wasn’t really interested in the tour, but as I was the only person in the bar area to three employees, I felt like i should do a tasting. I did my best to put on an enthusiastic face, but it wasn’t really my thing. I think they noticed.

I did really enjoy checking out the building, though, and it was such a surreal experience, I didn’t regret my trip! 

There was a beer festival happening at one of the other distilleries, and I popped down to see the winery at the far end of the street. It was a bit more set up for events, but even still, I was amazed at how many people were hanging out in the middle of this deserted military base! 

After catching the ferry back, I wandered back through the hills of the city and took in San Francisco. Here's a stop at Whole Foods: does it get any more California than these electric cars charging outside? 

I had a quick stroll through Japan town.

And the next morning I headed to the airport for my next destination. Until next time, San Francisco!