Kangaroos, Kualas, and Dingos, Oh My!

So I have been off in the great down under for the past week and a half: Sydney, Australia. I have been slightly obsessed with visiting Sydney since the 2000 summer Olympics. I came to the conclusion that Malaysia is way closer to Australia than Michigan and decided to treat myself to an early 24^th birthday present.

My Sydney tour has been the family friendly route. My first few days included visits to the Aquarium, the Opera house, the zoo, the Australian wild life exhibit, and the Royal botanical gardens. Lots of school kids on field trips and lots of animals, which has actually been a lot more fun than my original expectations- I’m not really an animal person. I have also been reading the book series “Clan of the Cave Bear” which is a well-researched fiction book about the lives of cavemen, cavewomen, and the origins of humanity. I think the combined efforts of seeing these really unique animals and reading these books has given me an intense desire to go back to school for biology. And that’s just weird; I’ve never been a science person. However it does fit into my typical pattern in school of wanting to know everything and not being satisfied with only studying one thing. I want to figure out how everything in the world works weather it’s the reasons that lead one country to develop while others stay stagnant or the mysteries of the first people (and yes as I type the words “figure out how everything works” I’m realizing how science geek it sounded. Maybe I am a science person deep down). Anyways the first half of my vacation definitely led me to the conclusion that I never have an excuse to be bored- there is just too much cool stuff to learn about.

Feeding a kangaroo at the Sydney zoo.

My first day was extremely overwhelming. It was cold, rainy, and oddly familiar; everything that Malaysia is not. I kept forgetting that people could understand me, and the market near my hostel had everything you would ever need. In Malaysia I’m lucky enough to live near a large super market, which is fairly rare in Terengganu. When I’m in KT I have a hard time articulation what I’m missing from home. I don’t really feel like I’m missing anything (except maybe good Mexican food), but being in that super market made me feel like I’m missing so much.

One of the coolest things in Sydney was called ‘Vivid’. It was a month long event happening at the harbor where the opera house and the modern art museum are located. At night the whole harbor was turned into a light show. Meanwhile the opera house was hosting techno inspired performances and the local restaurants turned themselves into faux night clubs. The harbor was packed and the energy was high, definitely one of the highlights of my trip.

View of the harbor from the Rocks during the Vivid light show.

Opera house tour- check

Aquarium visit- check

Forced to buy a winter coat- check

Stay a night in a Olympic village hotel- check

Spend a lot of time sketching and reading- check, check

Sketching on the back of an old reciept from the Royal Botanical Garden.

Now it’s time to get back to school and prepare for the second half of the year. Time is going to move so quickly the next few months. I already have every weekend booked through September, starting this weekend. My dad has arrived in Malaysia for a work trip and this weekend I’m making a trip out to KL to celebrate Father’s day with him. I am beyond excited and life is good.