Australia // Sydney - The Baxter Inn

Some folks call her a runaway
A failure in the race
But she knows where her ticket takes her
She will find her place in the sun - T. Chapman

I am not actually a whisky drinker, but after this post I think I'll try to gain some knowledge about that. At least because I know a few whisky lovers who told me it is something worth a try.

If we think well... history is plenty of famous whisky drinkers, such as Bill Murray, Frank Sinatra, the baseball legend Babe Ruth, Margaret Tatcher, Humphrey Bogart, Winston Churchill, Walter Scott, Mark Twain.... I could go on like this for several lines... I guess.

Today I want to tell you about a very nice place I was once in Sydney: The Baxter Inn.

You wouldn't know this place was here unless someone told you about it. At the time it was my friend Nicolas, now it's my turn to inform you about its existence.

The entrance was already a nice adventure... you know it looks like one of those weird places you are not supposed to enter unless you are in search of some troubles... well something like that :)

You go down this alley off Clarence street, through a tatty door with no sign at all, walk down some narrow stairs and through an old cellar... you really think you have got to the wrong place but after opening an old door.. you will feel like Alice in Wonderland. I felt in this way.

Alice: How long is forever? 
White Rabbit: Sometimes, just one second.

You enter another world. Crazy.

The first thing I noticed was the wall full of bottles of whisky. The menu board starts at the very top of the ceiling and it sneaks down under the counter and it goes even further.

The second thing were the well-coiffed bartender, simply magic.. they were definitely belonging to another time...though from today (see their "pants"). They look like they have just stepped out of the Great Gatsby movie.

The atmosphere was amazing, people everywhere, top shelf music.... in a perfect prohibition-era style.

If you go to Sydney, please have a look to this place.

You will find it here > Basement 152-156
Clarence Street, Sydney 2000

It's all for now. A big big hug :)
[ed. remember the healing power of hugs / if everything looks hard, go and hug ;) - oh... well... soon after the covid-19]


“He smiled understandingly-much more than understandingly. It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life. It faced--or seemed to face--the whole eternal world for an instant, and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor. It understood you just as far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself, and assured you that it had precisely the impression of you that, at your best, you hoped to convey.”

- F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

Australia // 7-Eleven - my home (sometimes) at nights

----- mY StOrY -----

“Every life is in many days, day after day. We walk through ourselves, meeting robbers, ghosts, giants, old men, young men, wives, widows, brothers-in-love, but always meeting ourselves.”
― James Joyce, Ulysses

One of the things I abosolutely love is the feeling of being anonymous in a city I've never been before.

Walking around, looking whatever and not caring about speding time in observing.

It's been almost 5 years since I came back.. but who knows why.... you really never come back from a journey or...if you do... you are not the same person anymore.

Yeh... I know... a commonplace :) but damn true!!

I have actually to thank a person for that...I have never written about him and I don't even think that I'll start now to write about this person... but everyone has an epiphany in one's life and my breakup was exactly that... I usually like to define it a moment of impact... but this time I prefer to bother Joyce and to steal his words..."epiphany".

“I wanted real adventures to happen to myself. But real
adventures, I reflected, do not happen to people who remain at home: they must be sought abroad.” 
― James Joyce, Dubliners

Well... in my "wanderings", I often ended up in one of those convenience stores... sometimes it was because I was waiting for friends, some other times to take a 1-dollar-capuccino (of course... in its beautiful taking aways cup) and some other times to rest a little bit after a shift or before starting a new one.

I remember there was a standing chair just close to the windows in one of those at the corner between Elizabeth St. and Liverpool St. (in Sydney -- btw, is it still there?) and while sipping my capuccino... I was spending my time in observing people running everywhere... I loved that. That was my first 7-Eleven "meeting".

---------------------------------------------

Out of curiosity I made some research and I have just learned that it is a Japanese-American international chain of convenience stores founded in 1927 as Tote' m Stores.

In 1946, it changed its name into "7-Eleven", for the opening times from 7:00 am to 11:00 pm, seven days per week. The first convenience store was born after a Southland Ice Co employee in Dallas started selling milk, eggs and bread from an ice dock.

Today (June 2019), the chain has grown to about 68,000 stores in 17 countries (more than McDonald's just to have an idea). Customers can grab drinks, snacks and everyday products on the go. Its main core is to meet the market needs. It has actually become a real case study. 7-Eleven is a very good example of how a brand needs to and benefit from adapting to a local market.

What does it mean "to adapt to a local market"?

For example, customers in Taiwan can service their bicycles or photocopy at a local 7-Eleven, in Hong Kong they can pay their phone and utility bills, and in the US they can pick-up their online Amazon shopping there.

The first 7-Eleven in Australia opened on August 24, 1977, in the Melbourne suburb of Oakleigh, Victoria. One of the main traits of the Australian stores opened in suburban areas was that to operate as petrol stations.

Actually, in 2010, 7-Eleven bought Mobil's remaining Australian petrol stations, converting them to 7-Eleven outlets, resulting in a huge success.

Well...there are other things to tell about its history and its development, but it'll be for another time... now I'm getting a bit tired :)

Just a note:

Each year on November 7, 7-Eleven promotes "7-Eleven Day" by giving away a free Slurpee to customers. - so please... do not forget to get yours!!

A man who swears to do something which it is not in his power to do is not accounted a sane man. ― James Joyce, Stephen Hero 

Australia // Working With Children Check

"Don't limit a child to your own learning, for he was born in another time." - R. Tagore


It's such a long time since I last updated my blog. I'm a bit sorry for that.

Anyway... today I'll go back to my life in July 2014 (in Sydney) to talk about the Working With Children Check.

What is actually the WWCC?

It is a requirement for anyone who works or volunteers in child-related work. It involves:

- a National Police Check and
- a review of reportable workplace misconduct.

It is valid for 5 years, during which you are continuously monitored. BUT BUT BUT...wait a minute... mine is still valid ;)

It implies a fee if you are a paid employee or self-employed, otherwise (as in the case of students or volunteers) you don't need to pay the fee. For those who are considering to go there, you can have a more detailed look at the website: WWCC.

-- My StOrY -- 

Let's go back to my story. How did I get to the "working with children check"?

Well...I was working in Lane Cove (Lane Cove Gymnastics Club) and I was recreational coach for children from 4 to 8.

There I understood that I needed this check if I wanted to work with children. At that time I went directly to the service centre of Bondi, but now I see you can easily apply online.

I really loved my time there. I remember I was feeling like the happiest person in the world after my class. Teaching in general... not only in gymnastics ... makes you feel good.

Another thing I remember is the good amount of words I have learned, that are: straddle, pike and tuck. Then the expressions "nice and tall", "chest in", hurdle steps, handsprings, cartwheels and so on. It was lovely to coach those kids. They give you evidence that you can always overcome your limits.

"I would hope I would inspire kids everywhere to know that you can do anything you put your mind to." - S. Biles

Australia // "Let Stalk Strine", the Aussie slang - Part I

Many many times we hear the "Down Under People" talking a  misterious language... in a misterious way... with misterious noises...

No idea what the hell they were talking about even after 10 years of languages' classes, travels abroad and living for a while in Sydney. Even though, I must admit that... the worst accent ever is the Scottish one... Once I met a guy (Jonathan), I thought he had serious problems with the English language... NO WAY. I mean for me... not for him ;). No clue he was native of Scotland.

Anyway, I love discovering new expressions and in particular new "languages".

That's why I want to share with you what I have learnt so far.

First of all... I have noticed while I was working there that the customers used to greet you by saying: "G'day, mate.. How are you going?" and I understood after a while that they were not really asking to receive a real answer...but they just need to place the order... and when I was replying "Fine, thanks and you?"... that "and you?" was a problem. They were not expecting that.

I didn't stop to reply in that way, though... I'm Italian and I love to be a good host and it was funny to see their reactions, like...

customer: "How are you going?"
me: "Fine, thanks and you?"
customer: [a couple of secs of hesitation + embarrasment] "Well... I'm fine.. ehmm ehmm.. a double shot flatwhite please"

then .. it comes the moment, where you will hand the flatwhite and they will answer back by simply saying "TA".

and this is now YOUR turn of hesitation .."TA" ... "TA what?" ... to discover that it was "thank you".

Another answer to the same flatwhite could be "Cheers".. and don't pretend not to think my same thing... "why are you saying that for a coffee? where is your beer?". Aussies use it for different circumstances.

Among my researches about the Australian slang and interesting ways to map the world through words, I have found a lively guide, Let Stalk Strine, by Afferbeck Lauder.

Afferbeck Lauder was the pseudonym used by Alastair Ardoch Morrison, an Australian graphic artist and autor who, with this book, illustrated phonetically the Australian way of talking to show it as a complete different language.

A couple of examples:
"Emma chisit" - How much is it?
"Egg wetter gree" - I quite agree

and the pseudonym of the author itself is an example of that "Afferbeck Lauder =Alphabetical order".

I am personally fascinated by all this. It might be because languages are in a continuous change and - by changing - they bring with them a portray of an age, a culture and somehow of the people. I LOVE IT!

"I think there's just one kind of folks. Folks." - Harper Lee

Australia // Chapter 4, part 1 - Bondi and Le Petit Bateau - A Cultural Exhibition of Life

1st ApRiL 2015

"Sharing our culture is the beginning of creativity." - Le petit bateau philosophy

Me in my creative order

It was one evening at the 3 Wise Monkeys Pub in Sydney and someone told me about Le Petit Bateau in Bondi. It was a few months later I decided to take a look there and I got the chance to discover a very nice spot in Bronte Rd.

It is like a big building where people from different nationalities live together: Italian, French, Swiss, Polish, German etc..

Le Petit Bateau - backyard where I had my coffee

As soon as I entered the backyard, an Italian guy offered me a coffee. It was not the best one I had but for sure the most welcoming one. [I am not saying that because I'm Italian btw].

Gaetano, that was his name, started immediately telling me about their project.

Le Petit Bateau is an art collective launched in May 2014.

Everything started into a garage and backyard space, conceived by Anne-Sophie Ridelaire, a curator from Paris, and her fiancé Gaetano Russo, an Italian boat designer [and the guy with the coffee to me ;)]

LBP is composed by visual artists, performers, musicians, designers, architects from all over the world, working together to promote Art in all its forms and make it "user friendly".

Le Petit Bateau - building @ Bronte Rd.

The two guys (AnSo + Gaetano) share the dream to create a gallery on a boat, with the message that "you never know which way things are going to go".

At that time they were taking part to The Big Picture Project.

Le Petit Bateau - The Big Picture Project

"The Big Picture Project is a show of grand scale contemporary photography exposes, the possibility of images as art via email, instantly exchanged globally and blown up to large mural proportions."

These images are expanded as large Xerox prints and displayed inside the gallery as well as posted in approved outdoor locations. All began in the city of Denver in USA and then it spread all around the globe. And Sydney is a sister city of this project.





  Have a look to this video to make yourself an idea  of this dream reality in Bondi.

  Well... it's all for today... a big big hug!


  Don't let small minds convince that your dreams   are too big.

Chapter 3, part 1 - Randwick and my first flat

That's how a regular table looks like in Australia
ROFL

It's that time of my life I feel like leaving again... no worries I won't do that. First I need to try something else.

Anyway... before trying that something else, I will write my chapter about my flat research in Sydney.

I was lucky honestly, I changed only three times and in all the three flats I was really happy.

1st flat - Randwick
2nd flat - Kingsford
3rd flat - Coogee

They are all located in the Eastern Suburbs. I don't know if it's the best area in Sydney, but I loved it.

And this was my first room in Sydney. I guess that in that apartment it was where I cooked most. Maybe 4/5 times in 3 months...I was a real shame.. really unable to use a kitchen...

Let's start with the first one: Randwick.

Randwick is for me... actually... just a street, that is Belmore rd. If I think about it, what pops into my mind are:

Coles
Liquorland (lol)
Cotton on
Prince of Wales Hospital (yeh... I tried that as well cos of a cut to my thumb)
and last but not least my Coffee Crazy.... a name... a guarantee...

I have just seen that it has now turned into Vigor Espresso.... lovely coffee shop but really made of lovely CRAZY people. At least when I was there (Ciao Claire, Lance and Sydney).


I miss them sometimes as I miss my adventure there...

Even my first flatmates were great and still are: Rob, Max and Justin. Three amazing guys ...they are now well spread across the world ... I hope to meet you again... maybe on a plane ;) Who knows...


2 Years ago the average price for a single room per week was of about 200,00 $ / 250,00 $, which was pretty good... I do not know now... if you have any udpdate about it, feel free to add your comments below...


A quick post just to keep the dream real!

I love you all...

VaL

Australia // Food & Drink and the strange case of the BYO

"There are many points in life when we cannot see what awaits us around the corner, and it is precisely at such times, when our path forward is unclear, that we must bravely keep our nerve, resolutely putting one foot before the other as we march blindly into the dark" 

Ciao a tutti,

Back in Milano after an 18-day-trip along the East Coast. Simply perfect! Breathed every single moment, tasted every single street, swum every single sea and surfed a wave every 10 ;)

Once arrived in Sydney last September I realized very quickly I forgot almost everything of my year there and I felt a bit upset. How was it possible? Everything already gone?

Actually, it wasn't.





Everything was there... I just needed to feel home again.

For instance... at the Coles (ed. an Australian supermarket chain) I felt as strange to see the liquor section outside the supermarket. I was in front of a reality I perfectly knew - I mean I know that alcohol is sold outside the supermarket - but I was not used to it any longer.

You might not know that .... but in Australia if you want a bottle of wine or a 6-pack of beer, you don't find it in the aisles of the supermarket, but at the shop next-door because according to the Australian laws every liquor shop requires a special license and that's even the reason why some bars or restaurants do not sell alcohol.

Some of them are called BYO, or Bring Your Own, that means that people can bring their own wine or beer to enjoy with their meal since they do not have a licence for that. Usually a small corkage fee is applied - around 5 / 10 AUD - either per bottle or per head.

BYO was first introduced in 1965. This was pretty cool because many small restaurants were able to open without having to pay thousands of dollars for a liquor license. Dining out suddenly became affordable. In particular for travellers lol. And that's was my case (Yellow Tail n°1 - btw we have that brand in Milan as well).

Me @ Pyrmont Bridge - Sydney, 28th April 2015

My first work place, a pizza shop, was a BYO. Its name was Gladiatori, unfortunately it has changed owner, but trust me that was for me the best pizza I have ever eaten. All ingredients coming from Italy... I can honestly say that I didn't miss Italian food there.

The shop was located in Pyrmont, a residential area of Sydney, very close the CBD. I still remember the long walks from Market St. to get there across the Pyrmont bridge. If I close my eyes it's still all there...

I am at home.

"The person who follows the crowd will usually go no further than the crowd.
The person who walks alone is likely to find himself in places no one has ever been before." - A. Einstein

Tax File Number - otherwise known as TFN

Bondi Beach - waiting for the perfect wave

In exactly one week I'll be leaving to Sydney again :) Trying to arrange a kind of planning to visit the most of the East Coast in 18 days. I guess I'll try to keep you posted on the way.

However I still need to accomplish my first task, that is supporting those who are starting their gap years in Australia, so after the steps I have already pointed out:

- Bank Account
- Sim card
- Health Insurance -- Medicare

now it's the turn of the TFN. What's the TFN?

It was the ...3rd July 2014 (ThUrSdAy) - The TFN

TFN stays for Tax File Number which is your personal reference number in the tax and super systems.

Before finding a job there (and well this reminds me I have to talk about how to find a job in Australia, it'll be on my next post), you need to apply for a TFN.

It's necessary to declare your income and pay taxes in regards to them (as you do in your Home country) and once you leave the Country you can claim your taxes back... which I have not done yet... my fault...

I'll try now to get informed and I'll let you know as soon as possible. I'll do next week once in Sydney. (Cool to say that)

To apply for it, it's really easy... please click here and you will find all the instructions, step by step. Hard to miss it :)

It's all for today. Share the love!
Val

d2R

Chapter 2, part 2 - Newtown and its vintage touch (#vintage #vinnies #thelentilasanything)

Good evening, Everybody!

"With the sunshine in my pocket" or maybe "with the moonshine", I'm writing (as promised) my second chapter on Newtown and its vintage loving soul.

Newtown's vintage clothing and retro furniture scene began when vintage was still called second hand and most people were just thinking of second hand as a way to save money.

Now it is not like that anymore. Vintage is urban, posh and alternative and that's Newtown as well.

Newtown suburb

This lively suburb is located to the south-west of Sydney and easy to reach by bus.

A good place to start your 'retro' journey is to head down to South King Street. A large street full of old stuff everywhere, weird things and ... dust... heaps of dust 😊

Among all the various show windows, there is a chain called "Vinnies" which you will meet almost everywhere in Sydney and I guess all around Australia as well.

I would like to talk briefly about what is behind this chain.

One of the paricular shops on South King Street

It was found by the Vincent de Paul Society, a lay Catholic organisation that works to shape a more just society and tries to offer a "hand up" to people in need.


You can donate your old clothes (but still in good conditions) or buy at these shops knowing that you are helping someone.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Me in "Flashdance-mood" @ Vinnies

One of the vintage shops in Newtown

I bought several good things there and sometimes I had even great fun in trying different styles through times. If you have theme parties or special events you can really find what suits you at a very good deal.

"When you give up your dreams, you die." 

Another interesting stop there is at the Lentil as anything. From outside it looks like a regular bar but it will save your belly if you do not have money.

It's a unique not for profit community organisation, at whose core is "the pay as you feel" philsophy, where customers give what they feel the food is worth.


So basically you can eat as much as you want even for 1 $, though this organisation is made to help the community.

So if you feel like supporting them and you can, please pay 50 $/dish LoL.

It's all for today. I wish you a lovely night and follow your dreams!



How to get there: from Central station --> buses 423 // 308, metro T3 direction Bankstown Line

"The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place" - G.B. Shaw (Amaysim, Telstra & Co.)

China - Italy - Australia

Gb ergo sum.


Second thing in a foreign country is a SiM cArD. It's really important to discover which mobile plan suits you most. For me it was Amaysim. My first flatmate Robert suggested me this company and I was pretty happy with that.

My plan was of 45 dollars/month but I 've just had a quick look on their web page and I have seen they have a kind of  "no worries" mobile plan with 5GB and unlimited talk & texts for 39.90 dollars/month.

Basically, the best deals are usually from smaller mobile companies which use the big telco companies networks (Amaysim and Yatango Mobile use for instance the Optus Network). The best deal depends on your calls, texting, data use and how long you want your credit to last.

We can split the users according three types:

- heavy
- medium
- light

Getting ready for work @Gladiatori

For heavy users the Amaysim Mobile Unlimited ist the best pick, that is 5GB and unlimited talk & texts for 39.90 dollars/month.

For medium users there is unlimited calls & texts + 1Gb Mobile data for 24.90 dollars/month always of Amaysim and

for light users the best offer is from Telstra with 200 dollars calls & 200Mb Data for 12.50 dollars/month.


When I started with Amaysim, the activation was really quick. Everything can be easily requested online and once done you receive the sim card by post. You get the bill monthly and it goes directly away from your bank account. That's why the first step is to open one (see my previous post).

Once again it's all for today :) I wish to all of you a good night and sweet dreams :)

"How beautiful the world would be if there were a procedure for moving through labyrinths" - U. Eco

Chapter 2, part 1 - Newtown (#Gawaa #SteertArt)

---- First draft, 15th May '15 ----


Today we are in another verly lively suburb of Sydney, Newtown.

ARTISTIC

VINTAGE

RECYCLING

GRAFFITI

URBAN

STREET

ART

MULTICULTURAL

VIBE

UNKNOWN

INSTALLATIONS

ALTERNATIVE

These are just few of the words that pop into my mind while thinking of Newtown.

Actually, I discovered this area quite at the end of my stay in Sydney (it was in May), accidently from a bus. It was so full of lights, people, sounds, traffic and I had simply realized...

I didn't know all that :) 

I went back a week after to explore the place and take some notes for my journal. So here I am :)

"ThAnk YoU tO the South WeSt GoBi deSEerT wINd aNd itS bLuE Sky, My BiRThPlaCe", #Gawaa

Newtown - Sydney, #toomanythingstodonotenoughtime, Gawaa

This poster, "too many things to do, not enough time", belongs to the so-called Goddard Street Gallery, which is a sort of open-air art gallery.

It has been realized by a Mongolian ARTIST, Gawaa, who moved to Brisbane and then to Sydney a while ago.

His work is mainly based on experience as a Mongolian living in Western Society and he creates that by RECYCLING materials he gets from the STREETS.

This is not the only artist active in the area and unfortunately I was not able to collect info for all the GRAFFITI I saw there, but I've recently found a very interesting page on facebook which gives a clearer picture of the suburb.


"Good shoes take you good places"

Just a few steps later on the main street I met a "shoes pole". It's a massive INSTALLATION completely covered by shoes, which for me was really impressive.

UNKNOWN artist, at least to me. If any of you knows something more about it, just please let me know. I'd really appreciate that.

Newtown will surprise you from every point of view. It's a mix of everything ALTERNATIVE you can imagine. It's the home and hangout of a huge population of students, artists, musicians, backpackers, local and foreign, giving the area a MULTICULTURAL taste.

I'll come back soon with another chapter, aware of the fact it will not be enough for NEWTOWN :)

Good VIBES to all of you :)
VaL

Newtown - Sydney, Goddard Street Gallery

Newtown - Sydney

Newtown - Sydney

Chapter 1, part 2 - ChinaTown (Street Art)

Me as #citytraveller

Good evening there! Cold day spent under the blanket, trying to nip my cold in the bud, but it doesn't seem to work that much :)

I wanted to talk about a new chapter of this amazing city, but first I feel like giving a few more curiosities and pics on this area of Sydney.

Here you have a view on how the Paddy's markets look like from the inside. Basically it's a huge warehouse with many stands offering mostly Australian souvenirs, but as I said in my previous post, you can also find all sorts of things.

Paddy's Markets 

Such as maneki-neko (the welcoming cat we usually see in the Chinese restaurants, even though it belongs to the Japanese tradition), katana, bags of all kinds, t-shirts, hi-techs tools and so on.

A stand @ Paddy's Markets

"In Between Two Worlds" by Jason Wing

Strolling the streets I ended up in a small lane full of angels. At that time I didn't know what it was and I was not even that much interested in that. It was a hidden world. It reminded me of another installation I saw a year before on a picture of a friend of mine. I didn't know it was in Sydney but I was already somehow captured.

"In BetweenTwo Worlds" by Jason Wing

Only recently I have discovered it was created by Jason Wing, who was born to Aboriginal and Chinese parents. This laneway art is titled "In Between Two Worlds", it' s a reflection of the unique ancestry of the artist by making references
to both Chinese and Aboriginal motifs.

It consists of three main components:
- wall murals
- floor murals
- and 30 suspended illuminated "spirit" figures.

It was a project commissioned by the Council of Sydney in order to create high quality public places in the City.

For further details click here.

Well, that's all for now about ChinaTown. I hope to come back soon for more updatings.

Cheers!

Chapter 1, part 1 - ChinaTown (Dixon Street & Co.)

It takes really a while to stop and talk about this amazing city. You can't believe how much I miss it and how many times a day I think about going back there again. Who knows...

Artist @ China Town

I'm closing my eyes right now, trying to remember when was the first time my feet were walking across ChinaTown. I'm quite sure it was to buy something very cheap :) Because if you need sheets, pillows, adaptator for your mobile, laptop and so on... there... is the place to be. I can't really bet on the quality, but for the first times, it's definitely where you can find all you need.


Okay, now I remember... actually my first steps there were on my very first day in Sydney with my friend Dima, who was so kind to walk me there to have lunch and to arrange the first things such as my bank account and my phone number. Oh... dear... I was so tired with the jetlag that I couldn't really understand where I was. I remember on that day I ate noodles served in a very strange soup inside the court of a shopping mall and I was asking myself "What the f**k I'm doing here?". I never replied to that answer, because that was not the point of my travelling so far and now that I'm writing about that I'm smiling and I guess this was the point :)

To have an idea this is the Paifang in ChinaTown - Sydney

It was in Dixon Street, a pedestrian street mall with many Chinese restaurants, and with a Paifang at each end. At the eastern end of Chinatown there is a sculpture made from a dead tree trunk, the Golden Water Mouth, created by the artist Lin Li in 1999 to bring good fortune to the Chinese community.

At the southern side of Chinatown, next to Hay Street, a large complex called Market City has been built. It contains the famous Paddy's Markets, a Wednesday-to-Sunday produce and flea market where you can really find all you need.

A lady working @ Paddy's Markets

If you are planning for a year, sow rice; if you are planning for a decade, plant trees; if you are planning for a lifetime, educate people. - Chinese proverb

Opal Card -- I love it!

One of the first things you need to have as soon as you arrive in a city is definitely a public transportation card.

Sydney is very espensive and public transportation represents one of the biggest expenses you'll need to face during your first days there. It might be helpful to have already from the beginning a few tips which allows you to save a bit of money.

For instance ... you will need to travel to visit the flats for renting a room, looking for a job, making trials and that will take a few weeks during which you will not be working and your money will be very fast to disappear.

So here you are...
You have different kinds of passes according to how frequently you need to travel around.

- MyBus ticket (1, 2 or 3 - it depends on the sections)
- TravelTen (1, 2 or 3 as above)
- Opal Card

The MyBus 1, 2 or 3 Single tickets are valid for one trip only. You cannot purchase a return MyBus ticket. To work out which MyBus ticket you need, first determine the distance you intend to travel, measured in sections and to have an idea on how to calculate the sections, have a look here.

MyBus 1, 2 or 3 TravelTen tickets are valid for 10 trips and offers a substantial savings on the cost of 10 single tickets.

My favourite one is the Opal Card. It's the electronic ticketing system which was launched in Sydney a while ago, but only in September 2011 appeared under the new name of 'Opal'. It is an easy, convenient and fast way of travelling on all transport modes - trains, buses, ferries and light rail - in Sydney, Blue Mountains, Central Coast, Hunter, Illawarra and Southern Highlands.

Just a small curiosity about its name. It has been chosen from a selection of 665 names (I would like to know which were the other names in the list) and Opal was chosen because it's easy to be remembered and moreover because it's Australia's national gemstone. Personally I think it's a good choice.

By the way... the most interesting aspect of this card is that after the 8th paid journey from Monday to Sunday, you can enjoy free travel for the rest of the week. I think that's all for now about the Opal Card, but if you need more (we all need more ;) ), here the link to the website.

This is my awesome Opal Card - you can get it for free, but you need to top it up.

They got that O

Visit their FB page 

Last Friday a nice and talented guy I'm working with took part to the realisation of the music video of Johnny Ruffo, 'She Got That O". He deserves a few words, I don't know him at all, I only see him getting ready for his performances, but you can tell he's got that passion. His name is Jackson Aces and I feel so lucky to meet him.

Actually I would like to dedicate this post to 2 other people as well, Simone and James Karp. They represent part of my magic experience here in Sydney. It all started in the end of August 2014, when I answered to a job offer for a cabaret show, The Magician's Cabaret

I didn't know what to expect...but finally it has been one of the best experiences of my life.

That's why I suggest to all people who walk by Paddington to book a night at this lovely Theatre Restaurant Venue. You can't even guess what kind of place you are going to see.

[a brief update - I think they moved to Darlinghurst, anyway... check their webiste]

In the meantime have a look to Jackson's amazing Cardistry. So proud to be part of this magic team :) Simply awesome!!