Weekend

On Saturday I went to Manly for my volunteer position and it was such a lovely day; blue skies and warm temperatures and yet standing right next to the water at the wharf it was so cool. I forgot I missed the sea salt smell.







I am a fan of Cecelia Ahern's novels; there is something quirky about them and just different to other romance/chick-lit novels that I have read. They almost remind me of a fable (minus the animals) crossed with a fairytale; her stories are more substantial and less fluffy than they appear on the surface.

At work a week ago, I came across her new novel, 'The Time of my Life'  and I finished it earlier tonight.

Lying on Lucy Silchester’s carpet one day when she returns from work is a gold envelope. Inside is an invitation – to a meeting with Life. Her life. It turns out she's been ignoring it and it needs to meet with her face to face. It sounds peculiar, but Lucy’s heard of this before. Anyway, she can’t make the date: she’s much too busy despising her job, lying to her friends and avoiding her family. It turns out that Lucy’s life isn’t what it seems. Some of the choices she’s made – and stories she’s told – aren’t what they seem either. From the moment she meets the man who introduces himself as her life, some of these stubborn half-truths are going to be revealed in all their glory – unless Lucy learns to tell the truth about what really matters to her. From a big family dinner to an extraordinary work crisis, from chasing after a long-lost boyfriend to learning what home really is, Lucy Silchester has an appointment with her life – and she’s going to have to keep it.

I believed that Life would be a God-like figure who would lead Lucy to the right path. Rather to my surprise, he was just an average person who was so intrinscially connected with Lucy and her emotions and mental state. Overall, just a lovely read and her novels always make me feel so inspired.

Wendy Whiteley's 'Secret Garden'

My friend and I decided to have picnic at Wendy Whiteley's 'Secret Garden' this morning. After some mishaps and aimlessly wandering through the park trying to locate this 'secret garden' we finally stumbled upon it. Other blogs had merely stated that it was down a flight of stairs; there were a lot of stairs in the area.  But they were correct, it was down a flight of stairs right next to Indian Harbourside Restaurant.





















The garden was fairly nice although when I heard the words 'secret garden' I had vivid images of the secret garden as described in Frances Hodgson Burnett's novel. Although I guess they did bear similarities minus the hidden door and walls. Nevertheless a unique place and unexpected. The effort in the creation of the garden was obvious and the intricate paths and scattered items throughout the garden was very exciting. Though, it was a bit bizarre; right next to the garden was the train line and so if you looked up and across you would see it contrasted with the garden. There was also a kumquat tree which was unexpected.

Hyde Park

I met up with a friend this morning for breakfast at Whole Meal Cafe which I pass twice a (university) day but I had never realised. I was sorely tempted trying 'The WHOLE Meal' breakfast item which included sausages, rindless bacon (to which my friend protested, 'but that is the best part of the bacon' which I wholeheartedly agree), field mushrooms, 2 x toast and 2 x eggs. But alas I settled for the eggs benedict with ham and spinach. The orange juice was super amazing and yet at $6 per glass (maybe 500 ml?) I thought that was tad pricey.

One of my favourite spots in Sydney would definitely have to be Hyde Park. I think I spent the vast majority of my free time last year lying in the grass in Hyde Park and it is really gorgeous. It is also so strange; when you are in the park it is very serene and yet you look 100m away from you and the roads are filled with buses and cars and yet on the grass it is almost as though it is another world entirely. I am in love with this walkway; it is so grand.

When I was a little girl, my mother took me to Hyde Park and to see the Archibald Fountains. As a child I was so embarrassed to even look at the fountains since they were nude (shock horror!) and so I never really noticed what the statutes were of. It was actually only a few months ago when I realised that they were all mythical characters.

There is Theseus and the Minotaur; represents sacrifice for the public good.

Apparently Diana who was Goddes of Purity and yet for some reason, the greyhounds/dogs behind her remind me of Astraea although Google cannot confirm this. "Goddess of purity, of peaceful nights, symbol of charity; the ideal which watches over mortals - all that stands for poetry and harmony."

Jason and the Golden Fleece; "it is the young god of the fields and pastures, of the pleasure of the countryside"

 Meaning of the Sculptures - Source

For some reason unbeknownst to me, I forgot to take a photo of the key sculpture - Apollo.

Dinner - Khao Thai

It is Father's Day today and until I met my husband-and-wife coworkers 2 years ago, I never knew that Father's Day wasn't the same day universally; it is the first Sunday of September in Australia and New Zealand whilst it is June in United States and Canada and well, the majority of other countries.

We went to dinner at Khao Thai with my family and my sister's BF / future brother-in-law. The place wasn't that great to be honest. I don't think I actually like Thai food despite eating it everytime I go out with friends. My camera isn't very good in low light despite the claims that Canon has made. It came out super grainy and well, maybe it would have looked better in another setting; trial and error.

Manly Ferry

Living where I live, one of the activities that I enjoy doing more than anything else is to catch the Manly Ferry either back to where I live or to the CBD. There is something incredibly calming about the whole experience and then the view -of course- is amazing. 

Sydney

Sydney. The place where I was born and the place where I have lived my entire life. It's so easy to forget the true beauty of the place when you have lived there for so long; easy to stop seeing the simple things. Just a few photos taken in the past month.

Grill'd at Crown Street

Two weekends ago, C and I were eager to satisfy our craving for real burgers (aka non Macca burgers) and Grill'd was our next place to cross off our list. Walking from Wynyard, it was a relatively short walk to Crown Street but then again, I normally drag my friends to walk everywhere.  C ordered a crispybacon and cheese burger whilst I ordered the mustard and pickled! burger.

And since I'm not a food blogger or photographer for that matter, I shall finish off this post with images and the aftermath (which always amuses me). Grill'd at Crown were celebrating their 1st anniversary and hence the cupcake at the end. And no, there wasn't two red icing piping, my friend didn't want to eat it but in the end I didn't eat it either; it tasted like red butter.

Travels

In the fall semester of 2012, I embarked on a student exchange programme to Emory University in Georgia, USA. The places that I visited in North America:

• Los Angeles, California
• Chicago, Illinios
• Atlanta, Georgia
• Six Flags over Georgia
• Chattanooga, Tennessee 
• New York City, New York
• Washington, DC
• New Orleans, Louisiana
• Savannah, Georgia
• Tybee Island, Georgia
• Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
• Columbus, Georgia
• Opelika, Alabama
• Auburn, Alabama
• Dahlonega, Georgia
• Boston, Massachusetts 
• Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 
• Toronto, Canada
• Niagara Falls, Canada

I solo travelled around Europe for under a month and the places that I visited:

• London, England
• Oxford, England
• Pisa, Italy
• Florence, Italy
• Rome, Italy
• Prague, Czech Republic
• Berlin, Germany
• Hamburg, Germany
• Munich, Germany
• Innsbruck, Austria
• Amsterdam, the Netherlands
• the Netherlands
• Paris, France
• Versailles, France

And a stop over on my back back to Sydney:

• Hong Kong