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

The Australia Day // Australia as the largest penal colony in the world - The Aboriginal issue & Other Stories...

----- 26th JaNuArY 2015 -----

"Once People come to Australia, they join the team" - Tony Abbott



Vintage buses running through the City
on the Australia Day

Good evening to everyone! It's dinner time Up Above here :) And I will just write a quick post to tell you a bit about the history of Straya.

Two days ago it was the National Day of Australia, the Australia Day.

It marks the day in 1788 when the so-called "Father of Australia", Captain Arthur Phillip, and his first Fleet of 11 ships arrived at Sydney Cove from Great Britain. Those ships were carrying convicts, who turned Australia into essentially the world's largest prison.

Governor Phillip founded a system of labour in which people, whatever their crime, were employed according to their skills - as brick makers, carpenters, nurses, servants and farmers.

To tell the truth, not all Australians have been proud of the country's past as a penal colony.

Another controversial aspect about this day refers to a delicate issue: Who belongs this anniversary to?

Two cultures meet on Australia Day.
Their worlds might touch but their views can be worlds apart.

Most Australians celebrate Australia Day as the day Australia was founded.

However, to many Aboriginal people there is little to celebrate and it is a commemoration of a deep loss. Loss of their sovereign rights to their land and the right to practice their culture.

Many of them rather call 26th January Invasion Day or Day of Mourning.

“Freedom begins where it ends ignorance” - Victor Hugo

 ------------------

Interesting to point out: The Harbour Bridge March.

On 26 January 1988, up to 40,000 Aboriginal people (from as far away as Arnhem Land in the NT) and their supporters marched from Redfern Park to a public rally at Hyde Park and then on to Sydney Harbour to mark the 200th anniversary of invasion. It was the largest protest since the 1970s.

Well... I will talk more about this topic in one of my next chapters. Stay tuned ;)

Ha... by the way...

.... though states and territories began marking Australia Day in 1935, it wasn't till 1994 that Australians began to celebrate Australia Day as a public holiday on Jan. 26.

???? See ya ;)

---- mY StOrY---

When I was there the Australia day was a Monday and with my special Husky friend (Alis) we went to Manly. Though it was Summer that day was pretty rainy but still we had a lot of fun in getting our faces tattooed as two teens.

Copenhagen // Superkilen - Nørrebro // Urban Project and What We Forget

"Triton: I just don't know what we're going to do with you, young lady.
Ariel: Daddy, I'm sorry, I just forgot, I." - from the Little Mermaid - Walt Disney

Last December I was in a surprising beautiful København and thanks to Claudia, my sister, I discovered a very particular area, called Superkilen, a urban open space in Nørrebro located in the Quarter of Mimersgade.

Superkilen is a half a mile long urban space in one of the most ethnically diverse and socially challenged neighborhoods in Denmark.

This project was born from the collaboration between BIG, Topotek1 + Superflex, which represents a fusion of architecture, landscape design and art.




It's a urban park divided in three main sections:

- The Red Square
+ The Black Market
- The Green Park

It looks like a giant exhibition filled with objects that come from all over the world.

A sort of an open-air museum that reflects the true nature of the neighborhood.

"Just living is not enough," said the butterfly, "one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower." - The Complete Fairy Tales - H.C. Andersen

3 ZONES - 3 COLOURS

Red Square // Photograph: Nanna Flachs

The red square is conceived as an urban extension of the sporting and cultural offerings of Nørrebrohall. It's a massive outdoor gym, exactly like Muscle Beach in L.A., where residents can meet for physical activity and games.

Black Square // Photograph: Val (that's me LoL)

The black square is a kind of urban living room. Mimers Plads is the heart of Superkilen and in just a glance it sums up 4 or more Countries (I've recognized just 4 of them, but as you can see from link to the document I posted below, it's plenty of objects coming from everywhere).




A suggestive Moroccan fountain and a Turkish bench under the Japanese cherry-trees is where usually the locals meet around.

Turkish bench + Japanese cherry-trees // Photograph: Torben Eskerod

Green Park // Photograph: Mike Magnussen

The green park is a place for families, picnics, relaxing, sunbathing, for hockey tournaments and badminton matches.

Actually there is much more to talk about this lively area of København but at the same time I do not want to bother you with too many words, that's why I'll just suggest you this interesting document if you want to know more about Superkilen and its world in miniature.


Bauman once said:

"Sport is one of the few institutions in society, where people can still agree on the rules". 

No matter where you are from, what you believe in and which language you speak, you can always play football together.

And Superkilen is a perfect example of it!

The answer my friend is blowing in the Gumtree!

Ciao a tutti, amici miei!
(Hallo to everyone, my friends!)

Well, it's one of those rainy days in Milano and it's time to set my mind off for another trip. Australia is so far but one of my friend I met during my East coast travel (Julia) is going to come to Milan for the New Year's Eve and it will be fun to share some nice memories together.

That's why I feel the urge to add one more chapter to my story. And having a look back to some pictures I took there I found the paper of a fortune cookie I had once at the Fox Studios @ Moore Park. It was saying:

"You are kind hearted, hospitable, cheerful and well liked"

It's something I always wish for myself.

There is even a nice story about the time I was @ the Fox Studios, but that is another lucky story I will tell you on another day :)

As a city traveller I like to share what I've lernt while travelling and so far I've not talked about the most important thing, that is what you need in that crazy jungle ... that is money.

If money is important to all of us, you cannot even imagine the importance in Sydney. According to some surveys Sydney was in the first 10 most expensive cities in the world in 2014 (which was the year I was there). However it looks like the situation has changed for this year due to a weaker Australian dollar ... not good.

But let's go back to money.

How can you find that? Easy... by working.

There are different web-sites. The most popular for the travellers community is Gumtree.

Gumtree is an interesting tool not only to look for a job but also if you need a room to rent or to buy things at a good price. It's def the bible for everything.

This website was born from the minds of two entrepreneurs (Simon Crookall and Michael Pennington), who had the idea to set up a classified ads website for Aussies, Kiwies and South Africans arriving in the City.

---- mY sToRY ----

It was ... WeDnEsDaY, 18th JuNe 2014

During my first week there I was 24/7 on Gumtree. After only five days I managed to have my first place and job. GREAT!

I remember it was really hard to find a decent room for a good price. I was so sad that for 200 bucks I was only able to find a bed in a sunroom or in a tent in the living room. Can you believe that?

But in the end I got to Randwick (Eastern Suburbs) where I met three awesome guys (Robert, Max and Justin). It's a pity I didn't take a picture with them all... because they are really great! I miss you guys..

Some friends of mine at my birthday party - 9th June 2015

That evening... I still remember... we had a nice cup of coffee together and I understood from the very first moment it was THAT my place.

And I met these nice people thanks to Gumtree.

And thanks to it I started my adventure.

                                                   

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