I Hate the Washer/Dryer

Apparently the washer is capable of washing up to 5.5kg in one load, but the dryer can only dry 2.5kg per load.  So you are supposed to wash the clothes and then take out half of it, dry it and then dry the other half.  If I wash and dry a load in one cycle and run it on "Express Wash," the whole cycle takes an hour and 45 minutes.


5.5kg is about two pairs of pants and two shirts.  I'm not kidding.  Then when you pull the clothes out of the dryer, they are all wrinkled as hell.  I don't iron.  I don't like to iron.  I don't care to iron.  I don't want to spend all my time ironing.  I already have to work full time.  When I'm not working, I would like to be able to do things that I like to do.  I don't understand why Australia cannot produce a decent washer and dryer.

Lovely Day in My Life

Didn't think you'd see a title like that, right?  LOL - sorry about the depressing stuff lately.  But hey, it's my life right now.  I'm working through it.


So this morning I awoke at 6am.  I find that I like to get up a little early so that I can take my time easing into the day.  I made a cup of Creamy Chocolate Caramel coffee (Kate/Mark/Kristie - it's not Chocolate Truffle, but it's absolutely delish) and turned on my computer.  I turned on a morning show called Breakfast and got started on Cafe World.  Once that was done, I brushed my teeth and took a shower.  I've been wearing a lot of dresses lately.  It's warm out and I've found that it's quite comfortable to wear dresses to the office most days.  There is no dress code in the office and as you all know, I quite like that.  It's nice to have the option.  My work hours are 9a-6p with an hour for lunch every day.  So I left the apartment at 8am because I am going to try to walk to work and back home every day.  At least as long as it's not raining.  I stopped at Starbucks on the way so that I'd have coffee in the office.  I arrived at work at precisely 8:50am.  So that wasn't too bad. A 45-minute walk.  Hopefully by doing that twice a day (most days) I can lose some weight.  I've been doing so much stress eating in the past couple of months that I'm scared of when my scale arrives.


So the day went along fine.  I went to lunch by myself today.  I would have met Jim for lunch (we work about 5 minutes from each other), but he was in Melbourne for the day so it was just me.  I found a lunch spot where there was a guy with a pile of rotisseried chickens.  There are many options of what he can do with said chickens, but I opted for him just taking the meat off the bones (skin and all) and just slapped on a little roll with a bit of cheese.  It was only like AU$7.50 and it was scrumptious!!!  I will definitely go back there.  That's like half the price of all the other stuff I've been eating for lunch.  But no complaining on that front either.  At least I know how to place an "Yvette" order in Japanese/Korean/Chinese eateries.  :)  Very important.


I left work a little late today - about 6:15pm.  Not a big deal except that I had to get some saline at Priceline and they close at 7pm.  I got over there in plenty of time and was on my way home.  I decided that since I'd left work late and then had to walk over to George to get saline, I wanted to take the ferry home.  When I get off the ferry, I'm less than a 5 minute walk from the apartment.  Besides, I'd never take the ferry to Kirribilli before.  So I took the ferry.  It was so nice.  I sat outside.  The ferry pulled away from the dock and turned around so that you watch the Sydney skyline easing away from you.  Then you turn slightly toward Kirribilli and glide right by the Opera House.  The ferry drops you off on a platform that jetties out from the rocks.  It was a very peaceful day.  I love Jim, but I really like being by myself sometimes.  I don't feel any pressure to meet someone else's expectations.  I can just be me and I can change my mind if I want or I can take my time making a decision.  It's nice.


I got home and did the dishes and started some laundry.  Then I got on my computer and worked in my Cafe.  Full circle.  :)


Jim texted me to let me know when he would be home and we made a date for lunch tomorrow.  Right now... at this very moment...  life is good.

Annoying Stuff

#1 -     So like I was saying before...  we have a combination washer/dryer.  The dryers are so small that everything ALWAYS comes out wrinkled.  I'm a spoiled rotten American who is accustomed to a very large washer and a very large dryer.  And I don't iron clothes.  I can't think of anything more pointless.  No matter what I put on in the morning - as soon as I sit down the first time, everything is wrinkled anyway.  Absolutely pointless.  But at least back in the states, when I pulled things out of the dryer, they were fairly wrinkle-free.  At least enough that everything was presentable.


#2 -     My fluctuating emotions...  I hate how I've been feeling lately.  It was understandable to me that I would have some ups and downs while apartment hunting and job hunting.  I thought that after finding a job everything would be great.  For some reason, the thing that bothers me most right now is the lack of communication between me and my family and friends.  Some people are really good about replying to my emails, but some are just busy with their lives.  I know that.  Intellectually, I know that.  And it's okay.  I knew that this would happen going in.  I guess I just thought it would take longer.  I need to realize that I have to make new friends.  When I feel like I'm ready, I'm going to look for some Zumba classes near me.  Maybe I can get into a couple classes a week and just meet some girls who are like-minded.  I think I may also go to a knitting/crocheting group.


#3 -     I can't wait for my bed to arrive.  LOL!  We were told that the boat should arrive around April 6th.  Then we only need to wait for everything to clear customs.  There's nothing more to say about that.  I'm sure you know what I mean.


#4 -     They put capsicum in everything.  PERIOD.  Annoying.


#5 -     They charge you for every megabyte on the internet.  So, sure, Skyping is free, but we have to pay for bandwidth.  They get you coming and going.  Right now, since our phone and internet are not connected (apparently a problem with the lines in our apartment due to the remodel), we are having to use our mobile broadband and I totally hog it.  This means that only one of us can be on the internet at a time.  Right now, that lucky person is me.  I use it all the time because it's the only way I can keep in contact in some way with everyone.  Poor Jim.  He's been really patient dealing with all my disappointments.  I thought I would be just fine out here, but it's been hard dealing with loneliness.  Maybe it's a combination of my age and hardheadedness.


I'll shut down for now.  Most of the things I am encountering in Sydney are lovely.  I swear it's true.  :)

Go Get Car Share

Before moving to Sydney, we got rid of all our vehicles - one way or another (tongue in cheek here).  Jim thought it would be a good idea for us to join Go Get.  It's a car share program.  The Go Get cars are parked in various areas (a lot near us).  You can go online or on an app on your phone and reserve a car for any amount of time that is available.  There are three different programs: Get Started, Go Occasional or Go Frequent.  We decided to Get Started in the beginning.  With this program, you pay $49 for the credit/background check then you pay like $14/hour and like $0.20/km.  If you reserve the car for a day, it caps at like $68/day or something like that.  Anyhoo, you don't have to pay for insurance or gasoline.  It is provided by Go Get.  There is a fuel card in the glove box and everything.  You just have to make sure you park the car where you found it with at least a quarter of a tank of gas.

So anyway, we decided to reserve Barbara, the Hyundai i30 for 2 hours to go to a REAL grocery store.  Jim found a Woolworth's with a parking lot in Neutral Bay... not far from us.  So we loaded up the car and headed out.  We had not been in a real grocery store in almost 2 months.  You should have seen our faces!  How exciting!  However, it didn't last long.  First of all, we were late getting to the car.  By the time we got to Woolworth's, we only had an hour and a half left before the car had to be parked back where we found it.  You may think this is plenty of time.  That's what I thought.  But remember... I had no idea what aisle contained what.  Not to mention that most groceries in Sydney are COMPLETELY different from what we buy in America.  So you can't even buy the same things you are used to buying.  By the time it was 11:00am, Jim is constantly looking at his watch and pointing and I had not even found saline solution or the milk or frozen food or minced chicken.  (The minced chicken was sort of an add-on because we decided to break down and buy a pan to cook something in instead of only eating frozen stuff for the next month or so.)

First of all, saline solution is not sold in stores.  I'm going to have to go to a chemist or to Priceline to buy it.  I got most of the other stuff, but then went through the checkout only to find that the total was $420.  I thought I would have a heart attack.  I just never want to go through that again.  I would much rather just take the train into Town Hall, run into Woolworth's for whatever we need for the next couple of days and then take the train back.

We decided to walk over to Sydney CBD to go to Priceline for my saline solution.  It's not like I'm in danger of running out tonight, but I guess Jim just wanted to go for a really long walk for ice cream.  We get over to Priceline only to find out that they are closed on Sundays.  We should have known.  So then Jim suggests that we take the ferry home, since the ferry stops down the road from our apartment.  But the next ferry was going to be in an hour.  We just bought an ice cream at Copenhagen's (same as price of ferry ticket!) and walked back home.

First Day Living in Kirribilli

We moved into our new apartment this morning.  We got everything packed up in the hotel, hailed a taxi and got out at 22 Peel Street.  Okay, so we got out a little ways down the street.  For some reason, our cabbie thought that our street was a one-way, but it's not.  He wouldn't drive down the road, so we just got out.  You should have seen us with all our luggage, plus groceries that we had accumulated over the month.  I'm still not done unpacking because we decided that we wanted to head out to the markets and to try to find another grocery store.  The markets were nice.  A little too "flea-marketish" for me, but still nice.  I saw some candles that I liked and there was a lot of food that I'm sure we'll get to sample one day.  The markets are down at Milsons Point station at least a couple of times a month from what I hear, so there will be plenty of opportunity for shopping and browsing.


We found an IGA in North Sydney.  It's probably about a 20 minute walk from our apartment.  That's not bad of a walk, but if you're buying milk and ice cream and stuff like that, well I think I'd prefer to just take the train to Town Hall and go to Woolworth's.  We did pick up some stuff while we were there, though.


Then we came back home.  We stopped at our local haunt for lunch.  Jim discovered the last time we were there that the chickens are roasted with stuffing in them.  I think he was hoping that he could just get a whole pile of stuffing.  He really enjoys stuffing.  I got a toasted sandwich with pork, cheese and mayo.  Yum.


Okay, so now we're back home.  I put away the groceries and took a cat nap for a bit.  Jim was watching TV. I ran the dishwasher for the first time.  Did I mention that the owner has just had the whole place remodeled?  So we keep finding out little things.  Like the first time we were here, we discovered that the faucet wasn't working in the kitchen, but it was only that the water needed to be turned on at the pipe.  So we also found out today that the water needed to be turned on at the pipe for the dishwasher.  Thank goodness Jim is handy.  Perhaps I could have figured it out on my own, but I don't have to worry with Jim around.


I've also done my first load of dirty clothes in the combination washer/dryer.  I was worried at first because we girls know that you are not supposed to put your bras through the dryer if you want them to last.  But come to find out... you can wash and dry separately.  You don't have to run the wash/dry at the same time.  You can program the machine to run each cycle concurrently, but you don't have to.  So I was able to wash a load of whites, take out my bras and then dry the whites.  I haven't pulled them out yet, but hopefully everything will be okay.


We went to 5:30pm mass tonight at Our Lady Star of the Sea.  They are Jesuit priests and a bit modern.  We were the only ones there in shorts and tshirts.  The funniest thing about every time we have to choose a new parish is the way parishioners get communion.  In Connecticut, we were shocked the first time everyone shot straight up and started lining up instead of waiting to get up when it got to your row.  The church that we went to during our first month here - everyone just jumps up and gets in line all willy-nilly.  Like if the people in the last row get up first, they can run up to the front ASAP if they want.  No one waits for their turn or anything like that.  Completely freaked us out.  In this church, we thought we were doing it right.  There were four groups of pews.  It seemed like the two outer groups would just cross over the two middle groups to get to the middle aisle.  But then the people who were in front of us walked to the back of the church and went up the middle.  I'm still confused.  But at least at this church you are given the option to get the wine, too.  Most parishes we have belonged to do not do that.  But this is a small community, so that's probably why.  Or maybe because they are Jesuits.  Not sure.  We will probably join that church.  It's about a 5 minute walk from our apartment, so convenient in that way.  But there are only two options for mass:  5:30pm Saturday or 8:30am Sunday.  That's an early start on Sunday, so we have to make the 5:30pm or take the train into the city for the church where they serve mass once an hour most of the day on Sunday.


That's my update.  Sure wish more of you would email me.  Pretty lonely out here. 

First Two Days Done!

Wednesday was my first day at PostClick.  It's very interesting.  There are about 20-25 of us all in one room sitting in long rows of tables together.  It's a group of mostly people in their 20's and 30's.  I'm working in accounts payable.  I know... that's the boring part.  So I'll tell you about my lunches out with the gang because if you know me, then you know that's the most interesting part.


First, I should tell you that I'm the only American.  (Whoop!  Whoop!  Represent!)  There are a vast array of nationalities in the office.  They are from Bangladesh, Hong Kong, Korea, China, England, Singapore, New Zealand and Australia.  There may be other nationalities that I'm forgetting.


On Wednesday, a group of 7 of us went to a Chinese restaurant.  We all sat at the same table, but before you sit down you get a number to put on your table and tell them which table you are at.  Then each person orders one at a time and you pay at that time.  I looked at the menu and everything looked very foreign.  This was real Chinese food, not Americanized Chinese that I'm used to.  They told me that I should order the Hainanese boiled chicken with fragrant rice.


Hainanese Chicken Rice


So I did.  It also came with a chicken broth soup that was AWESOME!  Such flavor!  I poured some of the soup over the rice and ate it with the boiled chicken.  It was served with a side of chilli sauce that was really good, too.  I really enjoyed it.  I would go there over and over.  It was AU$11.50, which is pretty good for Australia.  And my water was only AU$2.80.  They can charge upwards of AU$4.00 for water usually.  So not bad.


Today we went for Korean BBQ, a restaurant called Doorae at 209 Clarence Street.  We went there because there were 9 of us and they serve family style.  So the Korean girl ordered for us.  She ordered beef, pork belly, fried whole fish, beef bones stew and a tofu dish.  The side dishes are laid out for free when you order - potatoes, kimchi and something green.  :)  You also get a side of rice.  My favorite was the beef bones stew.  Very tender beef and flavorful broth.  The potatoes that were served on the side were very good too.  I would definitely recommend it.  I love my new co-workers.  Even though I'm a very picky eater and scared of stuff, they totally work with me.  They even asked the waitress for a fork.  Very nice of them. LOL!

Paula, Are You Listening?

I've only been out here a little over three weeks and I hate their bottled spaghetti sauce.  I've tried a few.  They all taste very strongly (to me, at least) of capsicum (their word for red bell pepper).  Maybe it could eventually grow on me.  But right now all the food is so foreign to me, I'm dying for something familiar.  I made my own sauce once a long time ago.  I'm pretty sure it involves tomato paste, tomato sauce, maybe tomatoes, garlic, etc.  I just need a little help.  I know that Paula Sommer makes her own sauce and everyone is in the kitchen dying to each lunch, so please help me, Paula!!!


You have a bit of time because our stuff isn't here yet and so I don't have a pot to cook it in.  And I'm not going to start buying pots because I have plenty coming and there isn't all that much room in the kitchen.  Of course, I know that everyone at Eder Brothers is dying for a daily update on my blog (LOL), so she'll respond quickly.


By the way, if anyone wants to pass this message on to Heather Burrows - there is lamb EVERYWHERE!  I know how she loves it.


TIA, Paula

Guess I'm Employable After All

So guess who got a job?  Yippee!!!  I knew about it on Friday, but I wanted to make sure that everything was progressing smoothly with the recruitment company before I posted anything.  I'm not sure of the start date yet, but I'll be working for a company called PostClick, which was acquired a little over a year ago by Komli Media.  They are Asia Pacific’s leading digital media network platform.  Here's the website for PostClick:


PostClick Media, my new employer


I can't even describe how I felt on Friday.  Like a huge weight had simply lifted from my shoulders.  Thanks to all my family and friends for the thoughts and prayers on this.


Anyhoo, I'll be helping Shiplu with accounts payable, reporting to the Head of Finance.  Her name is Marilyn and she's a sweetheart of a woman.  I'm so excited to get started.  I've always worked in different industries and this is no different.  Obviously I'm very interested in learning more about online advertising.


What's new with you?  Drop me a line!

Rock Star in the Family

My sister sent me this video of her daughter, Riley.  Riley, age 3, has dressed herself and wrote her first song.  LOL!  Enjoy.

I'm Being Held Hostage...

... by Ikea.


I bought a small sofa, two armchairs and two ottomans on Friday.  They told me that they would be delivered sometime between 8am-6pm on Saturday.  We were to expect a phone call between 8am-10am advising us of a two-hour window and then another call when they were 30 minutes away.  We never got the first call.  I called them at 11:30am.  They said that basically they had no idea where my stuff was and that we should call back in two hours if we still hadn't heard anything.  Never got a call, so I called at 1:30pm.  They still had no idea.  At 7pm, we got a call from the delivery guy saying that he would be there in two hours.  OMG!  So we waited.  At 9:30pm, I tried to call the delivery guy back.  No answer.  I left a message asking whether they were ever going to show up.


This whole time we have been at the new apartment with no furniture.  Just our Aerobed.  Jim was standing in the kitchen on his laptop ALL DAY LONG.  By the time it was 10:15pm, we decided to leave and walk back to the CBD.  We were halfway there when my cell phone rang.  It was the delivery company telling me that they would be there in half an hour.  Really?  Fine.  So we walked back.


They showed up before promised, but only had 4 of 6 boxes.  The guy said that he would call me the next day and we could decide when we wanted the other two boxes delivered.  I'm pretty gullible, I guess.


So we waited for that call all day today.  We got calls from Ikea about the fact that we never received our sofa and sofa cover.  Every time we called them, no one ever had any idea where our stuff was.  We finally just came back to the hotel after the last guy told me that he was quite certain our stuff would NOT arrive today.  I've never had worse service in my life.  At least as far as my memory serves.  I will never return to Ikea at Homebush Bay.

A Baby's First Steps

Kristy, I sure hope you don't mind, but I've watched this video over and over and I just know that everyone will love it.  The sheer expression of wonder in Parker's face as he takes his first steps!  I can't get enough of it.

I Don't Handle Rejection Well

If you know me, you know that I'm one of those heart-on-my-sleeve kinda girls.  I know that I probably take things way too personally and I don't always know how to handle it.  So I've sent out a lot of resumes.  You wouldn't believe how many rejection emails I've received.  Also, the interview I had yesterday at 2pm?  Well, it was between me and another candidate (he was male).  The position was to be working with two other females.  I thought I had it in the bag.  You know, all us women need to stick together type of thing.  Well, I got that rejection phone call today.  They decided to go with the guy.  I got the whole, "You're too experienced" line.  Right.  Too much experience.  That's a real problem.  I don't think I come across as a girl who has so much ambition, I'd be vying for the CEO role.  Whatever.  I'm over the whole crying jag.  I realize now, reflecting on it, that the company is perhaps a bit too stuffy for me anyway.  I'm just so desperate for a job.  I need to get over that.  Jim (realizing how upset all this is making me) is now telling me to just take my time and find the right spot and to stop being so hard on myself.  Easy for someone who's got a job to say, though.  They liked him so much they paid to move the both of us and our stuff across the world.  Just sayin'.


But I just got a call back from the recruiting agent who sent me on the interview yesterday afternoon at 4pm.  She says that they really like me and want me to go back tomorrow at 3pm and meet with their accountant.  So that means that tomorrow morning at 9:45am we go to sign the lease on the new apartment and then tomorrow afternoon I have my second interview (they call it an informal meeting - LOL).  Keep your fingers, toes, etc crossed.

Pink Floyd

I have no idea why, but I dreamed last night that Richard was walking down the halls of Eder Brothers singing Wish You Were Here really loudly.  Maybe because I was talking about Eder a lot yesterday.

When It Rains, It Pours

No.  It hasn't been raining.  I'm talking about the mad rush to get to all sorts of requested meetings and interviews all over Sydney.  When you only have your two feet and public transportation, it's not that easy.  Yesterday was extremely boring.  After sending out about twenty resumes, I spent the day reading on my Kindle because free-to-air TV in Sydney sucks rocks.  And considering that you have to pay for bandwidth here, I've been trying not to spend too much time on the internet.


So my interview for 2pm today was set since Monday, so I was planning to get dressed just before heading out the door so that I wouldn't get all wrinkled.  I was planning to leave the hotel at about 12:50pm.  At 11:50am, I received a phone call from a placement agency who had received my resume for a job doing accounts payable at an online media advertising firm.  I agreed to meet her before going to my interview.  All I knew was that she was on Pitt Street... I thought it was around the corner.  It ended up being a 15 minute walk.  In high heels.  At midday.  It was hot.  So I finally arrived and she took me right in, knowing that I had to be at an interview in North Sydney in under an hour and a half and I had to get to the train station, buy a ticket and get to North Sydney.  She and I spoke for a while and she was very enthusiastic about getting me in to meet the client today.  So we scheduled an informal interview for 4:30pm.  I took off.


I started to try to find the Town Hall train station.  I have used that station before, but it was last May and I couldn't quite remember how to get there.  And I know my way around Wynyard station.  So I decided instead to sprint down there and catch that train.  By the time I got to Wynyard, there was sweat pouring from every orifice and I felt like my feet had punched through the soles of my heels and were getting sandpapered down on the concrete.  Who invented high heels anyway?


Thankfully, I made it to North Sydney at 1:30pm.  I stopped at a convenience store on my way to the 2pm interview and bought a Vitamin Water for $4.20.  I was dying of thirst.  Another blessing... the building where the interview was taking place was air conditioned and I had about 20 minutes before I needed to go up to the 15th floor.  By the time I went up, all the sweat had dried.  LOL!  The interview went okay.  I liked the two girls I would be working with.  It was definitely a more conservative type of place.  Here's one of the interview questions:


What is something that you have learned from your past experience that you will carry with you for the rest of your life?


REALLY?


The interview lasted 30 minutes.  So they are supposed to let me know by Friday if they want me to continue with more interviews with the Group Financial Controller and also go in for psychometric testing.  I think I had to do something like that at Eder.


So then I took the train back to Wynyard and over to Starbucks for a refreshment before my next interview.  I had a Dark Mocha Frappuccino.  Yum.  So time for my interview at the online media advertising company.  The company is located on King Street Wharf.  Right on the water.  What a view!  I met with a couple of guys and we talked for over an hour and a half.  There are about 20-25 employees here.  Mostly mid-20s to mid-30s.  They are looking for someone to do Accounts Payable using Microsoft Dynamics NAV.  I think that's what got me in the door.  Apparently not many companies use Microsoft Dynamics in Sydney and so not many people have experience using it.  Now, they are using the internet version of the program, but it's essentially the same program I've been using at Eder for over 8 years.  They've just had the program tweaked to suit their own company.  I'm not sure, but I think they think I'm going to come in and solve all their problems with the program.  I'll give it a go, as they say.  One of the questions THEY had for me:


You've had so much experience.  Why would you want what is basically an entry level position?


LOL!  It's funny that they think I'm too experienced and no one else will even interview me because I haven't used their SPECIFIC software.  Funny.  You just have to laugh.  I told them not to worry - I have no ambition to throw one of them over for a CEO position.  They want me to interview with the accountant and with the general manager.  It's still a waiting game, even though they want someone to start IMMEDIATELY.


So now I have an interview tomorrow morning for (get this) Recruitment Consultant Assistant.  Here's a short blurb from the advert:

Healthcare Australia (HCA) is the leading healthcare recruitment solutions provider of nursing staff, aged care workers and medical specialist placements in Australia with operations in every state and territory.

 

An exciting opportunity has arisen within LML Medical Recruitment, our locum medical practitioner placement agency.  The successful candidate will be responsible for working closely with one or more recruitment consultants and carrying out a wide range of tasks including:

• Booking doctors’ flights and/or car rental
• Liaising with hospitals to ensure accommodation is booked for doctors
• Coordinating doctor & hospital paperwork
• Creating and submitting doctors’ invoices; chasing up payments
• Updating, maintaining and circulating LML shift lists
• Updating in-house database
• Answering phones, handling doctor/hospital queries

REQUIREMENTS:

• Self-starter with excellent multi-tasking skills, attention to detail and ability to prioritise
• Ability to work as part of a team; good communication skills
• Professional and friendly telephone manner
• Excellent customer service ethic
• Good Microsoft Outlook, Excel and Word skills

When the woman called me today I was getting on the train, so I was having a bit of a time understanding what she was saying.  She asked me why I would apply for this position when I had so much experience in bookkeeping.  I told her the truth.  That I didn't have experience in the accounting software that most companies were using and so I was finding it difficult to get past the resume stage.  I also said that I thought I was a people person too, and so I was willing to branch out and try new things.  So we'll see how that goes.  Actually, I really liked the media company I interviewed at this afternoon.  I'll keep everyone informed.  Stay tuned for my next episode.  :)

A Day at Bondi Beach

We decided to go to Bondi Beach today.  We took the train to Bondi Junction and then jumped on a bus to Bondi Beach.  I can't believe how much I'm getting Jim to get on the bus.  LOL!  It was a beautiful day and we spent most of it walking the beach.  I feel as though I'm suddenly surrounded by models 24/7.  Here are some pics (all taken by Jim):

Queen Mary 2

The Queen Mary 2 is the largest ocean liner in the world and she was docked in Sydney Harbour this past Wednesday and Thursday.  Here are some pics:

Our New Pad

Everyone keeps asking to see pictures of our new place.  These are the pictures I took when looking at the place.  Enjoy!

This is the entry to the building.

The front closet.  Look - a place for coats on the left.  LOL!

A combination washer/dryer.  I'd never heard of such a thing before moving here.  Should be interesting.

This is our shower.  Look up - see the giant square shower head?
There is a towel warmer on the wall - WOW!

Another hall closet - linens and towels

Master closet

View from master bedroom

Closet in the second bedroom

More storage behind the door in the second bedroom

This is yet another closet in the hall.  They are wiring the living room for sound.
There is going to be an iPod dock to play our music.  Cool beans, dude.

Pantry in the kitchen

This is more storage and, honestly, I can't remember where this is.

View from the corner dining room.

View from the balcony

View from the balcony again

Living room - apparently they are installing a flat screen TV on the wall on the left for us.  We had no idea!

View from the corner (dining room?) again.  Couldn't get enough pictures of the view.

Brand new microwave oven

Brand new refrigerator/freezer

That's Julia on the balcony.  She works for Relocation Specialists and helped me to find the apartment.
See the balcony doors how they fold to the right?  Really cool place.  There are no screens anywhere.

A Day in Hyde Park

I spent part of Monday in Hyde Park.  Here are some pics:

Looking toward Elizabeth Street

My Empty Shoes

Looking at the Australian Museum (I think - LOL)

This is a chess game going on in Hyde Park.

Here are some pics from my walk over to Hyde Park:

Flower Shop in Martin's Place

Fountain in Martin's Place

First Sydney Parade

There was a parade in Sydney last week commemorating 150 years of the police department.  Here are some pics: