#42 - Bring on Superior

The break between terms has ended and I am now back in London - warm, sunny days and little humidity.

The primary purpose of having gone to Sydney to see my grandmother was only partly successful due to the very sensible (but unfortunate for me) policy of not allowing people into the nursing home if they might be sick.  In my case, the persistent cough which has dogged me for the last however many weeks (is it 8 yet?)...so, an almost, but not quite, fail on that score.  The cough has finally departed - just in time to begin Superior with a clean bill of health.

Other things I have done on the trip:

• Seen my grandmother as much as I was able, as well as other familial commitments;
• Seen a great many friends (obviously) - and thanks to all of you who made time to see me at such late notice;
• Helped people pack, move and unpack, to varying degrees;
• Attended to certain social commitments with family friends;
• LOTS of administration (it's amazing how mail can pile up when you go away, despite the invaluable and immeasurable assistance by a local friend who checked and forwarded a great deal of my mail);
• Made it to ballet class!;
• Cooked - just a few things, but I have further battle scars as a result;
• More cleaning...but normal stuff - I think the OCD has been slightly lessened due to the entirely differently league of gross out factor in London;
• Organising home and the kitchen cupboards again - London has been a great lesson on how much stuff we have, but don't need;
• Lots of coffee and food - (Is it redundant to write that?  Reminds me of that song - I don't remember who sings it - which goes "if you don't know me by now, you will never, never, never know me...")
• Trying to remember where I put what - it's like the children's game, Memory - only with a whole apartment;
• Attended a committee meeting for Young Lawyers and started taking steps to return to work for next year (including a networking event - I have a huge intellectual crush on a former Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia - listening to him answer a long convoluted question with a couple of precise sentences reminded me of the inspiration which led me to my career despite an avowal to do anything but).

As part of my last day in Sydney, I had lunch with JelLo at Jazz City Diner in Sydney - see the link:  http://www.jazzcitydiner.com.

Jazz City Diner

It was our second time there.  The first time, it was because I had to try the Jonny burger (aka BBQ beef burger) which was delicious - especially since I had it with delicious crispy onion rings (not greasy) instead of the sweet potato fries.  We tried a nod to healthy eating by adding a salad to the mix - also yummy and just what I wanted to balance out the meat and the crispy bacon on my burger.  Yes, I had bacon - the first time JelLo saw me eat pork ever.  I'm slightly ashamed of myself - a burger, onion rings, salad and tasting ribs (which were absolutely beyond delicious - if it didn't sound pretentious and wannabe-food-writer, I might even venture to say they were sublime).

This time I tried the fried chicken with waffles, spinach and maple syrup (syrup on the side, of course - channeling my inner Sally from When Harry Met Sally), JelLo had the Jonny Burger and we shared a vanilla milkshake - they even divided it into two glasses for us, a definite plus.  I happen to love fried chicken, so I ate it on its own instead of dipping it in the maple syrup.  Some people go for that but I've never really gotten into the sweet and savory at the same time - it's too confusing to my tastebuds.  Anyway - yummy for everything - the Belgian waffle was crispy and had the deep pockets to hold as much (or as little) syrup as you want.  Then the (unanticipated) star of the show:  the vanilla milkshake.  Dan, the chef owner, makes his own ice cream.  The milkshake was vanilla-y, creamy and very, very more-ish.  It's a good thing JelLo and I decided to share.  Otherwise I would have tried to have the whole thing by myself - a bad idea when it was a struggle to get through my waffle.

Preparing for the final stretch

There are some differences from the last time I left Sydney, of course.  For one thing, my grandmother has had a birthday.  For another, there have been several other deaths of which I was informed during the course of this visit, some expected and some not.  There was actually time to finish cleaning my apartment and tidying it up a bit before I left.  And of course, this is the final stretch with only a short time before I return to Sydney.

It's strange how time seemed to drag at certain times during the year but looking back on it, everything has gone by in a flash.  It seems like just yesterday that I was getting ready to start Intermediate.  Tomorrow I start the first day of Superior - a gallop to the finish which will leave most of breathless from the amount of work we have committed ourselves to over the next 11 weeks.

The flight from Sydney was pretty uneventful except for the 400-mile diameter thunderstorm our pilot detoured around, rather than flying through.  It's a decision I can wholeheartedly agree with given the turbulence we caught during the detour.  I could feel the plane shuddering and see some of the parts where the joints were in the body which looked like they were moving in different directions.  Hopefully that was more a result of bleary-eyed observations in dim lighting rather than the plane actually doing what it looked like it was doing.

I can't tell you what the jetlag is like just yet as I've only been on the ground in London for just over a day.  It is warm, sunny and not humid - a perfect summer weekend.  My taxi driver from the airport yesterday asked me whether I liked London, Sydney or Hawaii best.  I couldn't tell him if I liked any one more than another because they are all so different and call to corresponding parts of me.  There is always something to love about a place and I have been learning to appreciate everything as it is - both the good and the sometimes less good.  I can't remember if it was a thing about Japanese pottery where sometimes they would make a small imperfection in an item - the imperfection making it more perfect than if it had been left blemish free.  That wasn't articulated very well.  Perhaps it's better to repeat the old saying that you can't appreciate happiness fully without sadness to provide context and contrast.

It is now a civilized hour in London, so I am off to the markets to see what has changed (or not) since I left over 3 weeks ago.  Apologies for there not being any photos but rest assured that they will start to go up again from next week.

So until next time, don't worry, be happy...

#41 - Around half the world in 21 (+) hours...

I arrived in Sydney at the very uncivilized time somewhere around 6am on a Saturday morning.  The only upside was that traffic was light - a plus, considering that I was being picked up at the airport.

The flights themselves passed quickly - I had interesting people to sit next to - we chatted for a bit before everyone fell asleep.  I slept through most of both flights - so landed in Sydney a bit turned around but not too exhausted.

Who needs sleep?
Jetlag has now had me in its grip for the past 4 nights - the first night I fell asleep sometime after 7pm.  I awoke refreshed and convinced I must have slept hours and days away, only to find out it was...10pm.  The same night.  The outcome of so little sleep - clumsy, tired and emotional.

Have also finally managed to have a full night of sleep.   It was the first time since last week - what with the strain of waiting for exam results, packing, cleaning, travelling and - oh yes - jetlag - it was a struggle to get enough sleep (the most was on the plane trip over from London).   3 hours at a time or less = crazy person.   8 hours after lots of sleep deprivation = shiny, happy vacationer.   Who knew you could have such trouble sleeping when normally it's the opposite problem?

Sad beginning
The first order of business in Sydney was to make an appointment with a doctor (to treat the cough which is still dogging me) and then to attend the funeral of a family friend.  It wasn't unexpected, but I'm not sure one can ever really be prepared for the passing of someone dear.  Anyway, I saw several friends there, whom I had already arranged to meet later during the trip - it was nice to see them, although not under the circumstances we would have liked.

Stymied...
The whole purpose of this trip was to spend as much time with my grandmother as possible.  Unfortunately I have to wait a few more days - there is a sensible policy that one not go to the nursing home unless in good health - as the elderly may not have as strong immune systems as an adult in their prime - a consideration we take into account when in the kitchen as well, for "high risk" foods.

What vacation?
The upshot is that I have a great deal more free time for the first week than initially planned, with the result that I wandered into the office.  Disaster!  I found out that I had missed work (well, that I discovered a few weeks ago) but now I can't seem to stay away.  Maybe I have been conditioned, like Pavlov's dogs...this is also my home when I am in Sydney.

Social butterfly - kind of...
There are many friends whom I haven't seen in ages - so the calendar has quickly filled up with various social doings, the ones from next week all planned around trips to the nursing home.  Who knew that you could be so busy when you have neither job nor study to take up all those hours?  (Speaking of jobs...I was hoping, and was offered, some work to do while home.  I was told that was not quite normal to love my job.)

Anyway, on the agenda - a dinner at Tetsuya's. It usually has a long waiting list - for some reason 3 months is flying around in my head, but it may be less. Here are photos of a) confit of ocean trout (their signature dish) and the salad next to it; and b) my dear friend Pip, whom I missed. We had a wonderful time together and got to catch up on all the girly gossip that can sometimes be difficult to have when in a large group. Absolutely delicious food (except the foie gras - sorry, Mr Wakuda - I still don't like it, but the rest of the meal was wonderful).

Technologically challenged
My old phone had to be replaced because I had dropped it so many times in London that it had basically fallen apart - I was holding it together with sticky tape - very classy.

The good part is that my old phone was almost out of contract anyway so I could switch to a new one.  It's a 2 year commitment but I have finally gotten used to that - and I kind of switched providers (they merged, but I got the benefits) so a better deal for the phone plan anyway.  The new phone which came with the plan:  a Blackberry.  Possibly very cool - I wouldn't know because I am still trying to figure out how to get my messages from it.  I basically push random buttons on it until it seems to come up with a message - kind of like the way that I turn on the music part of my DVD player which has an ipod dock.  There is a huge question mark as to whether it is possible to turn on the music on purpose - currently the answer is "no" but I am hoping to change that upon my return to Sydney in January.  As for any other options it may be able to do?  Well, I figured out that if you lock the phone, the only way I know to unlock it is to turn it off, then back on.  Otherwise?  No clue...

Other things to do on this trip:  visits, dinners, etc. with friends - I will be overloaded on coffee and food before I leave Sydney.  There was a private little happy dance in what is not my office today at the news that one of my girlfriends has had her baby.  I believe he was even a little early - so a big congratulations to SL & GL - I am so excited to be an Aunty to your little man!

So until next time - I wish you happiness, health and sweet dreams.