Sydney

After a proper New Years celebration, I woke up at a hostel in Sydney some time in the afternoon. I wasn't the only one who had been out last night, all the beds but one were occupied with people sleeping. I was laying in the bed thinking how I had made it home from the party last night. I had only been at the hostel once, didn't have any battery left on my phone, walked for over 45 minutes, somehow came through 2 doors with 4-digit security codes... No worries, I made it and was almost ready to check out Sydney.
The hostel by the way, could only be booked in 7 days blocks, which turned out to be the best deal I could find. Other hostels bumped up their prices to $300-400 for New Years night and next day too. This was pretty decent priced but I had to take 7 days...
Got a closer look at the hostel, it was not very nice. Quite dirty, had not been cleaned for quite a while. People there seemed to be living there permanently, they had furniture there as well, drawers and hanger systems, plastic storage boxes under the bed etc. They certainly didn't do any cleaning, not even of their own things, so who did? I didn't see anybody except a lady emptied the garbage bin every morning.
Over the next few days I walked probably 30-40 km around Sydney, harbor, bridge, the shores of Northern Sydney, I got my walking done for sure. All in these cheap $5 flip flops from Cambodia that had been worn out for many months. My feet were starting to hurt a little, underneath. I bet it would have been healthier to walk bare feet. On top of that the right one had broken one of the first days so when lifting it I had developed a technique to prevent it from dragging, but curling the toes to keep it tight. I had not noticed until I saw myself walk one day, then I suddenly realized where my sore right foot might come from. I also hit my right foot into a concrete pillar one day, right where I had my blister wound. Shit that hurt, now the healing could start over again, crap
I had to do the thing I hate the most, go shopping. I also needed some hiking boots as I was planning to go to some mountains during the week. Now I regretted that I didn't take the ones Thomas brought to Thailand, my very own ones, already proven and dialed in. Sunglasses were on the list too, the previous ones from a street vendor in Kuta, Bali, had broken in the Outback. Walking in the 40C degrees sunshine the plastic lenses apparently had become so warm that they expanded and the frame then cracked, one both sides within 20 minutes. I have a theory that the cheap sunglasses are not pure plastic on the frame, they put some rice flour in the mixture to make them cheaper, as a result they crack in hot weather. Has happened to all 5 pairs of glasses I have had so far.
On the way from the hostel to the first store, I walked through this huge boulevard. The first stores I meet are all Backpacker travel stores, selling trips, tours and used hippie campers, a kind of backpacker goods exchange store. There were plenty of them, and all located within a few hundred meters. Next rental cars, all the companies you have ever heard about were represented there. That was quite convenient for costumers, you can bargain easier walking from one store to the next.
I finally get to a quite store deserted area where Google said there was supposed to be a Mountain gear store, they might have some boots for me. I couldn't find the store, but found another one which had a sale today. But I didn't want to buy just the first store I found, I had plenty of time to look for the real store. I came out and found the other one, which was quite big. I found some boots that looked and felt ok, the French clerk told me that they were imported from the US, which meant good quality... Hmm, he shouldn't have told me that, haha. They were $249, today was 20% off, so I could get them for $200. Sounded like a fair price to me, so I bought them. I came out of the store and looked around. I realized that I was in the middle of the outdoor stores in Sydney, again they were all located close to each other, pretty neat, but now I already bought what I needed. An hour later I tried checking the price in REI which is normally on the expensive side, $99. But they are made in the US so lets see how long they last, hahaha
I was searching for some thongs for days and days, and eventually found some I liked, nice and soft material, should be nice to walk around with! Also got myself a new pair of sunglasses, top quality authentic copy for $20 on sale, normal price $69.95. Hahaha, who would pay that? In SouthEastAsia these glasses would cost you $2-$5 depending on your negotiation skills.
Walking around Sydney is a pleasure. The weather is nice, not too warm, actually at times on the chilly side, probably because the ocean reaches so far into the city. There were areas that needed cleanup every morning after parties the night before, but that was taken care of every morning, so before most people even got out of bed it looked nice again. There are nice parks and walks a lot of places, especially around the harbor area, which is full of tourists and locals. It is just a very nice city from these parts of town.

Of course I have not been everywhere, but I did walk through some of the more shady parts of Sydney on New Years eve, with bars in front of the windows, people shouting and yelling at each other on the street, but every city has this. Sydney seems very clean and proper, people can have a beer along the harbor and there is a relaxed atmosphere all around.
Sitting next to the Sydney Opera house, Danish design by the way, with a cold beer in the hand looking at the many boats passing by, that was just nice. Comparing to the US and San Diego which also has a good harbor, it could be utilized so much better if most people didn't have a broom stick up their asses.
I enjoyed this part of Sydney, but at the same time, I had some difficulty finding what was Australian about Sydney. The few Aboriginals I saw looked more like homeless, than being a proud Australian. That was disappointing.
At the bridge there was a possibility to go on the Bridge Walk, which means you get to go on the very top of the bridge, from one side to the other. That would set you back $250, but then you got to wear fine nice blue suit as well. The poor man's versions was to pay $14 to climb one of the pylons instead and get some historical facts and see some pictures. To cross the bridge in either direction was free for pedestrians.
By the way, I was only taking pictures of the bridge because everyone else was. It is just a bridge... I don't think I ever too a picture of the San Diego Harbor Bridge, which is even more spectacular in my eyes.
Back at the hostel I talked to a few, but mostly overheard conversation from others. There were so many British young people 20-24 who came to Sydney in hopes of getting a job. But there were not jobs for everyone it seemed, because all of them were on the poor side, always complaining about not having money, not being able to afford anything etc. But partying, that they could. They would buy cheap box wine, get pretty hammered, go to the night clubs and come home early to over puke the bathroom, some sleeping in there. The pride of Britain, haha.
There was a curling iron on the table in the 10 bedroom dorm room, I figured it was one of the girls, but one morning I wake up, I see one of the guys curling his hair. Yes, that was his iron, but he let the girls use it.
On the top floor, there was a really nice open deck, where people would sit and drink during the night and be noisy. British drunk that is... Next to that there was a washing machine that I accidentally broke, I at least got my load started, but nobody could wash after me. All I could hear from the deck was people cursing, "Who the hell was the idiot who broke the washer?" Sorry guys, I thought one of you was an licensed electrician?
Talked to a Canadian couple who had been saving for a long time, they were going to spend 6 months in Australia and on the way back they wanted to stop by Bangkok, Thailand. I suggested that they should swap the itinerary, and go for Thailand and neighbor countries for 6 months, cheaper and more interesting. They were there for the beach and the sun. I guess living in San Diego, I already got that part checked off my list, can focus on the more refined things in life. Wow, now I sound almost grownup, so scratch that haha
In Sydney there live about 4.5 million people. Out of the many millions, I met only a handful who were truly Australian, where as I have probably met 10 times more foreign people during my stay in Sydney. You expect some Chinese or Japanese to speak with a certain kind of dialect, but then they speak fluently English with an Australian accent, quite funny some times.
Food here seems to be quite ok, but on the little bit dull side. I had a burger though, it was made from Wagyu beef, the name of the cow that is providing us with Kobe beef. It was actually quite good, too bad the picture of the burger I took was so blurry. The bad part is that there was so much junk in the burger that it was difficult to taste the meat itself. Beetroot, egg, pineapple, grilled onion and so on. But I am thinking that if this meat is minced anyway, they could just throw in extra fat before grinding, you'd never know if it was real Wagyu beef or not. And as most restaurants I had been to so far, no alcohol whatsoever, except if you bring it yourself... Strange
There is a lot of police around, everywhere. On public spots there are video camera surveillance, and marked as City Safe Area. That makes me think that there are plenty of other areas which are not considered safe? Comparing British and Australian people, they do seem to have a little bit of this British Hooligan mentality at some times. I did not experience any problems at all though,

My hostel was in a neighborhood called Kings Cross, which is Sydneys Red Light district. Stripclubs, prostitutes and plenty of bars were all there to make sure you'd have a good time in Sydney.
One morning I was eating my breakfast in a small narrow cafe, some people get into a brawl in the back of the restaurant. Some drunk/high couple had started to smoke, the waitress had come and asked them to go outside to smoke. They ignored her and some big fellow went over to their table and politely asked them to stop smoking or go outside. They laughed at him and 2 seconds later the skinny guy came flying out of the restaurant. His female companion walked out quietly. This is Kings Cross, the Wild Wild West of Sydney.

I don't know about Sydney, it definitely has a certain kind of charm, but at the same time, I don't feel it, this is not something special in my eyes. Honestly, a little bit of a letdown, but I did not have too high expectations to it anyway. In my book yet another big western city, very relaxed with plenty of nice cozy spots