So I leave tomorrow

So tomorrow night I leave for Thailand. I am really excited my friend and I will have a great time. Believe it or not Sydney really has grown on me and I will kinda miss it and miss my friends for 6 weeks. Not to mention my awesome roommates who are like the 3 sisters I never had haha. They take good care of me and are fun to be around and I will really miss them. My going away party is tonight so that should be good. Then I gotta tie up my loose ends and get ready to go :) I will keep in touch with yall for sure as much as I can.

I had my party last night on a friend's rooftop overlooking the city and it went over great. I really had a good send off for sure. I have made some good friends here and I will miss them. As much as I have complained about Sydney life on and off it has been my home since Nov. and I will even miss Sydney too. Of course I will only be gone for 6 weeks on a new adventure and I am coming back but, I will miss this city and miss my friends. Luckily I know I will have a good time in Asia with my friend and we will make new friends. I will be sure to take lots of pictures and have fun. I will keep in contact as much as possible. I Fly out tonight  so I will update this once I get situated.


Take care and see you over there,Ty

My last day at work

So Friday was my last day at work before my trip to South East Asia on Monday. I really did enjoy that job,it was pretty easy and I got paid great and worked with great people. I am sure I will find another good job when I get back but, that job did treat me right.

Well I will be having my going away party with my friends this weekend so that should be fun. Just gonna hang out and relax, nothing wild before I leave. Then on Monday I am off with my friend Kevin to start our trip in Bangkok,Thailand and work my way thru SE Asia for 6 weeks. I am really excited! Soon after I return from SE Asia (back to Sydney) I will be going to New Zealand but, one trip at time lol I will talk about that later.

The girls (my roommates) took me out for a belated birthday dinner to one of those Japanese restaurants where they cook everything in front of your face. Only this chef actually involved me in the process since I was birthday boy. I got egg and food all over me  because he threw stuff really fast haha. But it was really fun and I enjoyed it a lot. 

Well I am just tying up my loose ends before my trip but getting excited and ready to go! Honestly I have grown attached to Sydney and I will miss it but, I will be back in 6 weeks. I am now looking forward to a new adventure! See Yall,Tyler

My weekend so far

I know I haven't blogged in a while I have just been busy with work and really had nothing to blog about haha. But here goes... 

Today I was meant to go to the beach with some friends but the weather turned bad and my plans with friends fell through. This would really bother some people being alone but, traveling alone for a whole year I have really learned how to occupy time by myself and hang out alone and be ok with it. So I went to Subway for some breakfast and at the risk of getting my dear mother a little emotion I will explain what happened next.

So I discovered that Subway just recently has started offering cinnamon rolls for breakfast and they are really really good. They totally remind me of sat/Sunday mornings back at home when I was growing up and mom would have hot cinnamon rolls ready for me to eat once I decided to roll my lazy butt outta bed :) So it was a nice taste of home so to speak.

After that I decided to treat myself to my first Sydney museum. I had a coupon/voucher for The Prison and Justice Museum down by the Quay here in Sydney so I got in for under 7 bucks it was a great deal! They had some really interesting stuff there, neat old stuff and new stuff and a really cool exhibit on women criminals from the 1890's to present. Prisoners sure are inventive with their time sitting in those cells. It is amazing what they make to kill each other lol. There was even a female who pretended to be male ( and she did look quite manly) she would marry women and then rob them blind!

After I left the museum I was walking home and I passed Ken a homeless guy I see quite regularly. He is always in the same spot asking for money. Sometimes I give him money and sometimes I dont. He seems like a nice enough guy but there doesn't really seem to be anything physically or mentally wrong with him. I think he is just lazy looking for a handout. I wish he would get motivated to improve his situation. Anyway, here in Sydney every so often I run across those super religious people and he went up to Ken and started preaching to him about how he was gonna go to Hell and stuff. This was a very interesting exchange to watch because Ken wanted money from the guy and the guy wanted to save Ken's soul. Neither was willing to budge on their position haha. I didn't stay to watch the whole thing but I assume Ken got no money and the guy still thinks Ken is going to Hell lol.

Later tonight I will be going out for drinks with a couple of bud's of mine and also in less than 2 weeks I start my 6 week trek to Asia!  I am excited :) so yall take care enjoy your weekend. -Tyler

Just a little update

I know I haven't blogged in a while but, I have been busy with work since I came back from Christmas holidays. I am glad to be working though. Just a little over 2 weeks from now I will have my holiday with friends to Asia and I am excited about that! I do have a few things to talk about though.

First off I wanted to discuss the birds. No not the Alfred Hitchcock movie, I am talking about the bird that lives outside my window. It is either a crow or a magpie. Now really I have never had any issues with birds before but, since living here we have no air conditioning and no fan so sounds really carry far here. I usually sleep like a rock but this demonic bird which I am pretty sure is possessed by some kind of evil spirit makes a noise like "caw, caw, caw"! really really loud. The agonizing part is I can hear this bird very clearly but I cant see it. This bird isn't limited by day or night it goes off all hours. I mean what kind of crazy animal is this?! I am prohibited from owning fire arms while I am here in Australia and even if I could get one it would be very hard here in Australia they are pretty strict about it but, if I could get any kind of fire arm I wouldn't think twice about blowing that bird into next week and smiling while I do it!

Next I wanna talk about the street light sensors. You know the "red man,green man" that lights up when you can cross the street. In America they dont make any audible noise they just light up but here in Australia they make a clicking noise to help blind people which is good I guess. But, here in Sydney the amount of time you have to cross the street is about 2.3 seconds so everyone jay walks here its just what you do. But, if I jaywalk I do it rarely and I do it safely a lot of people just run in front of cars! The weird thing is even I am guilty of doing this, you will get up to an intersection and push the button to cross the street. You push the button even though there is people there waiting to cross the street so they clearly pushed the button before you. So the crosswalk button gets pushed about 900 times when it only needs to be pushed once haha.

I really do have a good job, they pay me a lot of money for what I do. I do a lot of things but the majority of my job consists of putting stickers on boxes. That is simplifying it a little bit but that is basically what I do. Well as you can imagine after 3+ months of doing this it is starting to get boring so the guys I work with and I we have created the "Stickering Olympics". We do races to see who can sticker a box the fastest, sticker the straightest, sticker with your eyes closed, behind your back etc.... I have gotten pretty good! It breaks up the boring job  somewhat :)

The last thing I wanted to mention is the Internet access here in Australia. The Internet was created in America in 1969 but really rose to prominence in the 90's. Back home you pay X amount of dollars per month and you get Internet access for as long as you want for whatever you want. The Internet is so ingrained in culture now that it really seems more like a God given right and not a privilege huh?  I guess we are a little spoiled. Well here in Australia you pay X amount of dollars per  month and you get X amount of Internet. So basically if yo go over your monthly "limit"they dont cut you off but they slow your Internet WAY down. It sucks. To me it seems so restrictive and unfair I dont like it at all but over here it is just accepted I guess. I know in America that would NEVER fly. We love our unrestricted Internet too much lol.

Ok that is all for today yall have a good weekend,Tyler

Mondays....

This was my first Monday back at work and it was a Monday. But it really wasn't a bad day at all considering it was first day of the new week. Over the weekend I went to Bondi Beach with my new American friend from Boston, he is a cool guy and it was good hanging out at the beach and just relaxing.

Friday night I went to Hyde Park in Sydney for a free music festival and it was huge! there was a ton of people there and a ton of acts there. The best part was I got to see Al Green! You know, one of the God Father's of soul music :) it was really good.

Really I am just working and doing the usually until Feb when I am on to Asia. This will be a short update because I really have nothing else to say haha. Well yall take care.

Oh Good news, the postal and bus strikes ended Jan 2nd so everything I need is working again :) -Tyler

Back to work I go

I start back at work tomorrow again it was a nice holiday for me but it was unpaid so its good to be back at work! Gotta make that money before I head off to Thailand in Feb. so today I just relaxed and ran some errands went to the bank etc.... The bank hours here are a little frustrating, its M-F 8am-4:30pm and most people (me included) work during that time so you literally have to take time off of work if you wanna go to the bank! Glad I got it all done on holidays.

I have been here just over 2 months now and of course I dont know all of Sydney because its huge but I have really gotten to know my little area of Sydney CBD. Within probably about a 10 mile square radius I can get anywhere I need to go without a map. If my parents are reading this they will be so proud because I am terrible with directions haha. I think I have just ingrained this area in my brain because since I dont drive here in Australia I walk everywhere or take the bus or train. I am willing to bet I walk a good 20 miles a week at a minimum but its good cardio and at first my legs were sore but now I can walk all day and not mind it.

I found out just recently that here in Australia you pay X amount of dollars for home Internet service and you can use the Internet just like it is back home in America but the biggest difference is here they "cap" your Internet usage. You get X amount of bandwidth (Internet usage) for X amount of dollars per month. If you go over your usage they dont cut you off, they just make it REALLY slow. Personally I find that very unfair and restrictive and im not used to that. I think if you pay for Internet you should be able to use it as much as you damn well please. I know that system would NEVER work out in America but there is nothing I can do about it here so I just unhappily deal with it. It is frustrating though.

I went to go sign myself up for Latin dancing lessons today but they require a 6 wk commitment at the place I went so unless I find another I will have to wait til I get back from Thailand. I have really been adventurous here lately and it has been good. Like I said before I have this bucket list of things I want to do before I die and it always gives me a great sense of pride to get out of the norm and do something on the list and just check it off.

I also wanted to mention a few other random things. I have noticed here in Australia when you go anywhere that involves an escalator people almost always move immediately to the left. I mean its the polite thing to do so that people who are walking up the escalator in a hurry can just pass by. It just makes me laugh, reminds me of that Seinfeld "Soup Nazi" episodes.... true Seinfeld fans will know what im talking about haha. I think they stand on the left side because Aussies drive on the left side.  In America generally people just stand all over the escalator lol.

Here in Australia tax is already included in everything which is actually a much easier system and I wish America would do it. The price on the tag is just the price. They do "rounding" here though because they have no penny or 1 cent coin. so  nothing is ever 1.99 its 2 dollars etc. They have a nickel,dime,20 cent piece,50 cent piece,dollar coin and 2 dollar coin. No dollar bills here but I have gotten used to their money. Its colourful and cool and its coated with a plastic so if you wash it, it wont matter! pretty cool.

Ok last thing my roommate reminded me to mention our "hobbit closet" I have never lived in a house that has one of these but our house has one. Its like a little storage closet built into the inside of our staircase. Its pretty cool and pretty large too. I just wish it had a light in it and right now ours is full of junk! lol. I think that is all for tonight.

Yall take care of yourself and each other-Tyler :)

Trivia Night

So last night was trivia night at my former hostel I went there was 3 other friends and we ended up getting 2nd place! earning each of us 3 free beers. Not a bad deal for a little brain work. After trivia I went with my friend Josiah to another pub down the road for Karaoke Night. Now for those of you who know me you know that I cant sing. Plain and simple I just cant sing and I know it. It's ok God has blessed with me other talents just no singing voice and I am fine with that.

That being said, I had just enough liquid courage in me to let my friend convince me to get up on stage with him and sing "You lost that lovin feelin'" a la Top Gun style. I really got a kick out of it. There was this random girl in the audience and we really had this crowd going, I pointed at her with my index finger and she started screaming like a teenager haha. Right then and there I felt like a rock star and had my 15 minutes of fame :)

I seriously doubt I will ever do Karaoke again because I really want to go out on a high note and I think it could only get worse from here lol. But, I have been trying new foods ( yes veggies and fruits Mom) since I have been over here and it feels good to let loose and try new experiences. Next for me is giving Latin Dancing a go. Well thats it for tonight. -Tyler

Today at Bondi

Today I went to Bondi Beach with my roommate Sandra and her friend Matt and a few other friends. It was the perfect day for the beach! not a cloud in the sky it was nice and warm and the water wasn't absolutely freezing haha. It was still cold but very refreshing once you got in. There was literally 6 to 10,000 people there though! it was SO crowded, it seems everyone else in Sydney had the same idea. we did see a extremely drunk Irish guy in a 3 piece suit literally haha! You aren't allowed to drink on the beach so he was asked to leave but he must have been burning hot in that suit! He was quite the character for sure. I put on sun block and managed to not get extremely sun burned which is good because we are over that hole in the ozone layer and that can happen easy here. I actually spent an extended period of time in the ocean and really enjoyed myself it was a relaxing day before I go back to work soon.

Tonight at my former hostel they are having their weekly trivia night which is always a good time and I will be going to that. Then after that, I will be headed to the Latin Club to take the plunge into Latin Dancing and see if I cant sign myself up for some lessons. It has always been on my bucket list of things to do before I die so I might as well do it while I have the chance. I could be absolutely horrible at this dancing thing but who knows? It might work out for me and I might really enjoy it. so wish me luck lol. Well I guess that is it for now.

Yall take care,Tyler

A blog about nothing

I really dont have a subject to blog about today so I will just write about whatever. After I woke up today I went to a good breakfast with my roommate Sandra and her friend Matt. My family and friends know that I am some weird food eating habits, I dont like my food to touch at all and I eat one thing at a time so breakfast was a little difficult for me mentally haha but, it was really good! Then after that I went to buy her late Christmas present and the guy at the shop heard my accent and asked if I was Canadian. In all actuality I dont have much of a true Texas accent at all. I have never been able to figure out why but I am just accent neutral whereas I have heard from people that my parents have a strong accent. They dont to me but maybe to others.

I dont have a Texas accent but when I speak they can tell I am obviously not a native Australian so you would be surprised how many times I get the Canadian thing. Honestly I have only had 1 person even guess I was from America straight away. I dont mind it though its all good :) I haven't picked up the Aussie accent as of yet but, I have picked up the Aussie lingo. Really once your here for an extended amount of time you just start speaking in Aussie language. It makes it easier to be understood by the locals. So, in a years time when I come home if I say things that sound odd it is just because I spent a year here lol.

I am doing wash today and a little cleaning up around the house. Just having a relaxing day really. I should start back at work by the end of this week so that is great news! I can start to cash flow going again. I got my first haircut here in Australia and it was only 10 bucks that is right in my price range and amazingly cheap for Sydney! Those who know me know that I am really particular about who cuts my hair, when I find a good hair cutter that is who I stick with for as long as possible. It wasn't an amazing haircut but she didn't butcher it either so all in all I am a happy man. I am also going to to a Spanish club this week and signing myself up for Latin dancing lessons. I have decided to take the plunge into dancing and give it a go :) so wish me luck. I have really been enjoying myself here and having a good time so things are going pretty well for me now besides the fact that I have a little head cold but I have been taking some over the counter meds so I should be all good soon. In less than a month I will be in South East Asia so I am excited about that! Hey if any of yall have Skype and you wanna talk to me on there just let me know.

Ok that is enough for today I think. Yall have a good one,Tyler

My trip to the blue mountains

Today I went with 5 friends to The Blue Mountains outside of Sydney. It was really nice to get away. it was about a 2 hour bus ride with our guide JC. We got there and got going about 10:30am, it was beautiful day and everything was great. Until it started raining. and I mean raining! it just dumped rain on us until I was soaked to the bone. A little while later we had gone and seen some great views and such and we were walking down a 52 degree inclination going down to some water falls. That was really steep! man those stairs were hard to get up and down! About this time the sun came out and it was hot as ever. At this point I was really wishing for rain haha.

After seeing and hearing everything from our guide JC we were gonna head back but a couple in our group decided they wanted to wander off (knuckleheads!) and we had to wait til JC went to go find them. That really delayed us and he wasn't too happy. I wasn't too happy because we had to miss out on our last stop off due to them being late. But, I did meet a cool British couple who had been to Southeast Asia pretty much exactly where I will be going so I got some good tips from them. :)

After our day in the blue mountains the 6 of us (4 Germans,1 Japanese and myself) all we went to eat Korean food for dinner. Quite the multi national gathering haha. All in all, a good day! I guess I will end it for tonight. Hope your New Years was safe and happy. yall take care and enjoy 2010. I cant believe it already!

Also another thing I wanted to mention, when I first came to Australia this time just like last time I had some "lost in translation" issues. You know things I would say in America that would make total sense but not make sense at all here. For example, I went to maccas today for breakfast before our tour and I ordered a "sausage biscuit" which in America would go over fine but, the girl looked at me like I was insane. So I said it a 2nd time thinking she didn't hear me. Again, same response. Then I finally realised that what us Americans call a cookie is their "biscuit" so I was asking for a sausage cookie! haha.

Well what I ended up getting was sausage and cheese on an "English muffin" for a stupidly high price and it was small but, it was brekkie as they say here. So, my "lost in translations" have become much less since I have been here but obviously I still do have the slip up now and again.

check out my photos here :  http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=32044775&l=10528a79e1&id=194600613 

-Tyler

NYE in Sydney

My friends and I decided to go to Mrs Macquaire's Chair ( had a great view of the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House from there) to ring in the new year. They shot fireworks directly off the Harbour Bridge at midnight so I watched that along with 20,000 other people. I know it was 20,000 because that is the maximum capacity of the view point we were at. We had an awesome view right up until the end once everyone stood up and blocked our view haha. But, it was a good show. Lots and lots of fireworks. After that we went back to my friend's place for a drink and then out for a bit. They closed most of the major roads in inner Sydney so we could walk wherever we wanted. It was pretty cool.

It always amazes me how in a city of about 4 million people once I got to know the city how small it becomes. I really dont need a map anymore to get where I wanna  go for the most part. You would also be amazed at how many times I randomly bump into people I know all over the place even though there is over 4 million people here. I just thought I would mention this. Oh ya I head to The Blue Mountains tomorrow I am excited to get out of Sydney and see that! it will be a good break :) 

So all in all I had a safe enjoyable new years and I hope you did too. For you north American's you still have about 15 minutes left until yours as I write this so I hope yours is great too. Hopefully 2010 brings you everything you want. It was kinda neat this year to celebrate my birthday and new years in 2 different time zones. Yall have a good one, be safe and have fun. -Tyler

My birthday

So today is the 30th here in Oz. I got a good call from my family and birthday brunch from my awesome roommate. so far its been a good day : ) I will be going out later with friends and out again tomorrow for NYE so I hope wherever you are in the world you have a good start to 2010. I will be in Sydney somewhere. Yall take care. Your newly turned 25,Tyler

KFC

So just recently I went to KFC here in Australia for the first time because I was absolutely starving. I tend to avoid chain fast food restaurants here because they are expensive and not good. No Maccas (Macdonald's) Hungry Jacks (Burger King) for me. Well I paid 10 Aussie dollars for my meal at KFC. That is roughly 8.50 American dollars. For that amount of money you would expect a good amount of food right? WRONG!

I swear my meal was like a child's meal. I got 2 tiny chicken tenders, a very small amount of chips (French Fries) and you know those small round plastic to go containers for salad dressing back in America? they are about 2 ounces big, that is what my mashed potatoes came in. Don't even get me started on the drink, it was so small I finished it in 2 gulps.

I will never go there again. What a waste of money, on the other hand now I really feel that either Australia has really small portion sizes or America has really huge ones haha.

It is a public holiday here today so the bank and post are closed not much to do today but my rant is over now :) I am relaxing and enjoying my time off of work. I really had a great time up in Port Mac although the ride up there in Economy Class on the train left A LOT to be desired, next time I will go First Class for sure!

Australia sure has a lot of public holidays. Yesterday was like a continuation of Boxing Day (day after Christmas)  they gave us the Monday after off, so everyone who did work. Not many people due to New Years holidays got a 4 day work week. Most people dont go back until early to mid Jan they take longer breaks here than they do in America.

The other thing I forgot to mention was when I went to Port Mac I went with my friend to one of those really cool old stereotypical pubs you see in the movies with all the old guys and regulars and everyone knew everyone. It was really neat experience for me. I got to meet 2 Aussie World War Two veterans they were 94 and 91 years old! I still sharp as ever! Very funny and nice guys. That is an experience I will always remember. Now I am met WW2 veterans from more countries than just the US that is pretty neat actually. Alot of history there.

Near home today I saw that homeless guy who plays guitar and balances another on his head. Generally I dont give money to all of the  beggars who come up and ask me but he just amazes me so I give him some change.  It is 2 days until my birthday and almost new years. I hope yall have a good one. I had more to write but again it has slipped my mind. I am gonna start writing down my blog topics as I think of them so I dont
 forget. Yall have a good one,Tyler

Xmas for me

For Christmas this year I spent it with a friend up in Port Macquarie and had a great Christmas lunch/dinner with her family. They are Irish and we had Duck,Ham AND Turkey along with all the trimmings and excessive amounts of good Irish beer that was home brewed. I got to go to the beach Christmas day and toured around. I have uploaded some pictures to facebook. Christmas Eve was good as well. This year it wasn't spent with family but, all things considered I had a great Christmas and I hope yall did too. I hope everyone has a great New Years Eve too I will be here in Sydney for it. I am off work for a bit so I plan to do some day trips out of Sydney for a while and then back to work. I had more to blog about but I have forgotten so maybe I will remember later. Yall take care and I hope your holidays were great. -Ty

Almost xmas

Well it is almost Xmas here and soon I will be off to Port Macquarie for Christmas (about 5 hours by train from Sydney) so it should be a good time with friends. I dont have to work the 24th like I thought so that is a good thing! Well due to the postal strike any packages I want to send/receive may not get here so I am not gonna be bothered about all that until after Christmas but thank you friends and family anyway :)

Work was good this week and now I just have one more day left of it til Xmas break. I did go to the beach this past weekend (Manly) and got a bit sunburned even though I used sunscreen but it isn't even the worst one I have ever had so I will live. I also got a map of South East Asia as I will be going there in Feb. Generally I am not a planner at all, just the plane ticket then I figure it out but I figured it might be good to at least have a general plan for my time over there. I will be going with one or two of my friends so anyway I have a month and a half to bum around over there and see how it treats me. I cant use chop sticks so I will be bringing a knife and fork lol.

I saw that new movie Avatar in 3D over the weekend. at first I thought it was gonna be quite stupid and I generally dont go for those types of movies but, even though it was a hair over 3 hours long it was really really good! It really kept your attention the whole time and you didn't feel like it was 3 hours. The computer generated graphics were the most amazing I have ever seen. I paid about 18 US dollars to go see this movie which is insanely expensive but it was worth it and honestly for 8 more dollars I could have seen it at the true IMAX theatre which would have been even better.

So you know how I mentioned about the registered charities here (red cross,heart association etc) how they want you to sign up with them for 1 or 2 years and automatically take money out of your bank account on a monthly basis. Crazy I know?! They should just ask for straight up donations but they dont. Well the employees are mostly backpackers and they work on a 100% commission basis so really they just act like vultures hounding you trying to get your money. I always turn them down because I dont have the money to spare and I wont be here more than a year anyway. ( I looked into getting a 2nd year visa but for Americans it is impossible)

Well just today I turned them down again saying I had somewhere to be. I honestly had to be at the bank! so I was in a rush. Well the guy kept talking even though I told him I had to go so I just walked off and then he said "You suck!" I thought it was very rude and if I hadn't been in such a rush I would have reported him. That is no way to get any money from anyone. But, to be fair I have been hounded many many times since arriving in Australia by these charities and this is my first bad experience.

Everyone is seeming to scatter for the holidays here in Australia and I am sure its the same all around the world. I dont have much else to write so I will go now. But whoever you are, wherever you are you have a Merry Christmas and take care. I will enjoy my time on the beach lol. -Tyler

Striking country

So apparently all of Australia is on strike it seems. First it was the postal workers striking right before Christmas and delaying the mail (still on going) then just last night the bus drivers decided they wanted to strike so this morning I had to get up extra early and walk a good ways to the train station in my heavy thick hot steel toe boots. But I finally made it work actually on time. I have also heard that British Airways is striking as well. I dont know what is up with Australia but alot of union's seem unhappy.

All of this was on top of the fact that two days ago I locked myself out of the house on accident by leaving my keys inside and having the door slam shut on me. My roommates were out for the night so I spent 6 very boring hours laying in our driveway like a hobo lol. But, I did sleep quite a bit and the concrete wasnt horribly uncomfortable. I finally did get back in and I learned my lesson so all is well now but that was no fun at all.

Yesterday at work it was 43 degrees C or about 103F so it was really really hot. On top of the fact that I work in factory so it felt like 100000 degrees I was guzzling water. Now today it was 40 degrees colder and raining. Crazy Aussie weather! But, my job did provide us free lunch a huge unlimited BBQ which was really nice of them and the food was good so I was real happy about that. I work up to the 24th then we are off for about 2 weeks so it will be a good break.

Not sure of my plans for the weekend yet but if the weather is nice they will involve the beach I think. Hopefully all the public transport is up and running and happy. Today on the train which was actually running we were randomly stopped on the tracks for about 20 minutes but not all that bad. Christmas is fast approaching I hope yall will have a good one. Soon I think I will write an Aussie to American dictionary for yall that sounds like fun.

I had something else I wanted to write about but now I have gone and forgotten, I think I am off to the movies now so yall take care. -Tyler

Random People.

I have found that when I travel I meet other travelers very easily. I think that people who are traveling and world travelers just kinda have a different mind set than your average person who goes from home to work 9-5 everyday of the week. I just think we are more open and available to meeting new people and new experiences. To some it may seem odd or like travelers are too trusting but, as long as you are smart about it and trust your gut instinct so far it hasn't lead me wrong. I have made many close friends just from talking to people at the bus stop/bar/on the street whatever. At home I dont tend to do that and I dont think others do either but, once I am traveling I find that I do and so do others.-Tyler

The Pictures! and other randomness

I finally got the pictures on Facebook for yall! just copy and paste that link :)

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2064119&id=194600613&l=d30114b34f



So today will be another random topic day in no particular order lol. First I wanted to say that over here in Australia they have no Walmart or super large chain store like that. Not that I know of anyway, They have Coles and IGA and a few others but for the most part their grocery stores are a lot smaller with less things in them and smaller trolleys (carts) than back home. In Walmart you can buy pretty much anything you can think of. Over here really just food and that is it. They seem to have less of a selection of junk food too.

Here in Australia tax is already included in everything you buy. So the price on the sticker is the price you pay. Actually I really like it and its quite handy I do wish America had that. But, over here they have no penny so the sticker may say 1.46 but they round it down to 1.45. Or it could say 1.99 and they just bump it up to 2 dollars. I haven't figured out why they put 1.46 on the sticker if they are just gonna round down and charge you 1.45 anyway lol.

They also have no one dollar bills just one dollar coins and 2 dollars coins (which are actually really tiny while the 50 cent piece is huge!)Their money is coated in a plastic film so if you wash it in the washing machine or something then it really doesn't matter. I think that is cool. It is also quite colorful and fun while I think American money for the most part is pretty bland.

Free water/bathrooms are really hard to find here in Australia. Water fountains for free use are almost non existent and most restaurants and places wont even give you water unless you pay for it. Same goes for using the restroom, you dont get that privilege unless you are a paying customer so that has frustrated me more than once when I am thirsty and I have to pee!

The banking system is also different here they are only open M-F 8-5 generally speaking so if you work in those hours ( I do) its a little frustrating if you need to get something done. A lot of banks here charge you a service fee for using the branch services indoors instead of just on the Internet and you also have to deposit X amount of dollars per month or they charge you a service fee for not doing so. My bank charges if I dont deposit 2000 dollars a month! But, I was just told they are getting rid of that fee so that is good news for me :)

The petrol (gasoline) here is about 5.20 a gallon which is pretty freaking expensive so you dont see big cars here at all. I haven't seen a single SUV or truck since I have been here except for big work trucks. With gas prices like that I would drive something small too lol. But, traffic in Sydney is always a mess. backed up all the time due to the amount of people and really tiny roads. I would hate to drive here!

I took a free bus to Circular Quay (pronounced KEY) and caught the ferry to Manly Beach then I took another bus to Dee Why Beach and it was really nice to relax today I did take pictures like I promised finally! Well at least I finally did it haha. I hope you like them. The girls I am living with got a new roommate today so now we are up to 3+ me. Life is good though :) I am still breathing, in one piece with food in my stomach and a roof over my head and a job. No complaints here.

Yall stay warm ( or cool) wherever you are. I am all done for today hope you enjoy my random blogs. -Tyler

So I just wanted to blog again today

Just to say that for the first time in my adult life since being here I have had daily access public transportation. Back home we drive our personal cars everywhere because everything is so spread out and we have no public transportation network where I live.

The public transport here is a double edged sword, on the plus side it cost me about 40 dollars a week and I get unlimited access on the train,bus and ferry to anywhere I wanna go.

On the negative side the time tables seem to me more like "guidelines" and not set in stone because sometimes my train/bus/ferry is early and sometimes its late. You kinda just gotta stab in the dark and hope you get one roughly on time. Normally this isn't an issue for me but, if I miss my train to work in the morning that really causes a lot of issues! But overall its good and I like it. Sitting in traffic and trying to drive on the left side of the road is not my idea of fun at all haha.

The only other thing that frustrates me about Australia is that most businesses including the bank/post office etc are closed on weekends and the businesses that are open on the weekends shut by 5pm generally. This wouldn't really be an issue for me except that I work M-F 8-4pm and I am generally not home until 5pm or later so if I need to get anything done its really hard! I know I might sound like I whine a lot about Australia but I really dont mean it sound that way. These are more just daily observations spilling out of my brain and onto here. In fact I quite like it here and things are pretty good. Sydney isn't so bad and in a few months I will be traveling anyway!

Yall take care,Tyler

Portion Sizes

I just noticed the size of our trashcan today at our new place. Its really small! I guess it isnt small for Australian standards but it sure is for me. Back home we have a green trashcan on wheels and it just seemed normal size to me but you could fit 2 or 3 of our Aussie trashcans in the American one we have back home.

I never really noticed that our food portion sizes were larger than everyone else until I got here. I am not quite sure why they are so small here (or so big in America if you like lol) its just different. I went to a Mexican restaurant with some friends and paid like 26 Australian dollar which is over 20 bucks American and I got fajitas. They were good but the portion size was pretty small. I was left still hungry and I paid more than I would back home.

Maybe that is why America has an obesity problem, we are given larger portions not even realising that what we are given is larger than everyone else's. It may seem like I am really ragging on America here but I am not. I am just trying to note a difference because Australia does have one of the world's worst obesity rates. I guess it just has something to do being in a developed nation with access to everything you could want.

That being said, the only "fast food" places I have seen in Sydney so far like chain style is Maccas (Macdonald's) and Hungry Jacks (Burger King but with a different name) and Subway there is no Wendy's or anything else like that. Its just kebab stands and other random restaurants plus all your food in China Town.

Everything just seems to be downsized here as far as portion size goes. My Aussie roommates jokingly call me the lazy American because I am used to having a dishwasher,dryer,a large oven (ours is really small) and having AC in the house. All of these things are luxuries but I guess after having them all at your disposal for your whole life you think of them more as a God given right lol. Well I have a different perspective on things which is good.

It has been an adjustment for me getting less stuff for more money haha but such is life. I really cant complain, I have a roof over my head. a steady job. food in my stomach. Life is good :) Not many people get the chance to come half way across the world and do this so I am luckier than most to have a supportive family and friends who let me randomly pack up and move half way across the world. So all is good so far.

Thats all for today I guess. Your traveling Texan,Tyler