My Trip To Sydney

I just came to the realization this week that I’ve been here in Oz for over two months and I’ve barely written anything about Sydney. You may have read about my spending Christmas in Sydney, but I barely touched on what I did or saw. I had a great time in Sydney, and I reckon it reminds me a lot of a big city in North America. The city itself is very easy to get around. Just a tip to get a weekly pass if you intend on using the ferries and public transport more than 2 days in a row as a day pass with ferries is over $20! The city itself is also very safe as long as you’re streetsmart. I’ll start off by going over some of the tourist sites in the city, then go a little bit in detail on two sites that touch both extremes of good and bad. Lastly I can’t have an article on Sydney without touching on its beaches.

Be jealous of this shot, it'll be a tough one to match!

So lets start off with the site of all sites here in Australia, The Opera House. This is THE site that all the tourists want to get a picture with, next to the Harbour Bridge. I probably picked the best day of all to go there which was Christmas Day as there were almost NO tourists and I was able to get an amazing shot at the Opera House with no tourists in the background (also thanks to my buddy Rob’s photo skills!). I didn’t do the Harbour Bridge walk as it was >$200 which is a little hard on the unemployed man’s budget. There’s also a group of sites where you can get a discount if you purchase admission to all of them at once (you get like 30 days to go to all the sites). These include the Sydney Tower (ok but so not worth the wait!), Wild Life Sydney (as my friend Tor called it: pure rubbish!), Oceanworld Manly (never been), and the Sydney Aquarium which was totally worth it! (Thanks Rob!).

Lazy, lazy roos

I’ll elaborate a little more on Wildlife Sydney and the Sydney Aquarium as some of you may be curious on the extremely polar views on these two tourist sites. Lets start off with Wildlife Sydney... This is where you go if you’re ONLY going to Sydney and you’re dying to see a koala or a kangaroo. It’s pretty much a miniature zoo with a few kangaroos lying there, crocs, and some koalas you can take a picture with. While it’s cool to see the animals, if you’re visiting more than Sydney then you’re wasting your time (and money). The Aquarium on the other hand is full of exhibits ranging from crabs, jellyfish, to sharks! There are two massive tanks that are built with glass tunnels underneath which allow you to see all the action. The views from those tunnels were really cool, especially for the sharks exhibit.

A cool sight at the Aquarium

Now Sydney’s advantage over Melbourne is it’s stunning beaches. Sydney has Bondi and Manly while Melbourne has St. Kilda beach... While I love St. Kilda, the beach is a dump... Only beach ever that you’ll have trash blowing in the wind (a burger wrapper or two have rolled up my way while I was tanning). Manly and Bondi are both incredible beaches, big, clean and inviting. Be sure to always swim between the flags or you could end up on Bondi rescue. Seriously folks, I just went waist deep and could feel the water sucking me in. While Bondi is really nice, the area surrounding it is really posh and personally I find it has a sort of snobby feel to it. Manly was much nicer, with more of a mix of affordable (but not dodgy) restaurants and bars surrounding it. The only thing about Manly is that you have to take the ferry to get to it, so be sure to plan your trip ahead of time and possibly go for the weekly pass rather than the $21 day pass...

Me at Bondi

So there you have it folks, my first article on Sydney! It’s taken a long time for me to write about it, as I was there over the Christmas and New Years holidays. Don’t be intimidated by the fact that it’s a big city as it’s safe and easy to get around. My best advice is to plan your holiday ahead of time so you can save some money on public transit as well as maybe get one of those combo packs. No matter what people from Melbourne say, it’s not THAT bad! (Yeah I said it!)

The Many Flavours of Poutine

Yeah so I wrote an article a few weeks ago about how to integrate into a foreign society. While I make some great recommendations on how to set some roots down in another country, there’s nothing wrong with indulging in a little nostalgia of your motherland. Be it watching a taped hockey game at a bar, reading my hometown’s news, or indulging in some dishes from back home, there’s nothing wrong with that. While travelling my curiosity is always aroused when I see poutine on the menu. From personal experience, any poutine made outside of the general French Canadian area of Canada is garbage. Lets take a look at some of the poutines made outside this area:

Vancouver Poutine

This was my first ever experience having poutine outside of the safe zone. After an evening of watching the HSBC Festival of Light and walking back to realize that there was a bazillion people waiting at Granville Skytrain station, me and my friends made our way down the street and saw that the Roxy was quiet and still serving food. Low and behold “Genuine Montreal Poutine” was on the menu, how can you screw that up? Well folks what I got was not poutine, more like fries swimming in gravy with a token piece of cheese here and there. The amount of gravy I ingested made me sick. Hence a precedent was set, poutine outside of French Canada sucks. Took me years to be brave enough to try it again outside the poutine safe-zone. Strike 1.

Seoul Poutine

My Korean poutine

Heh yeah you read that right, I had poutine in Seoul! I thought I’d save this story when I wrote Seoul Food. I found a Canadian bar in the Itaewon district. Itaewon is the foreigner district, better known for it’s seedier elements such as hooker hill and American GI’s starting trouble. This is also where you’ll find bars/clubs/restaurants that cater specifically to foreigners. Over here I found the Rocky Mountain Tavern, a bar catering specifically to Canadians. There was hockey on TV, Canadian beer, and poutine on the menu. Made my order of a Moosehead and poutine. I got this weird metal pot with a concoction that looked NOTHING like poutine. There were chives, chicken (yellow) gravy, and the cheese just wasn’t right. I couldn’t finish this abomination, I seriously thought I was gonna puke. Also throw in the fact that in Seoul in wintertime, Koreans love their heat, so it was like being in front of a hair dryer as well. Strike 2!

Melbourne Poutine

Doesn't look right, but does it taste right?

So the precedent had been set, poutine sucks outside of French Canada and had been pretty much wiped from my mind after the Korean experience. Once day at work, my manager brought up the topic of poutine and mentioned that there is a place that will do it out here. Well obviously there’s a story in it for me so I just HAD to go and try it. I made my way over to Lord of the Fries after work and ordered myself some fries with “French Canadian” topping aka poutine. What I got looked almost like the real thing! It had the right gravy, the cheese was ok, but shredded not in curds. Despite that, it was definitely a hit which surprised me. For $4.95 for a medium it was quite a deal (at least by Australian standards) for a meal. So if you’re around and wanna have a taste of home go check ‘em out!

In the end, I learned that I was wrong. Sometimes poutine can be done right outside of French Canada. Had it of not of been for the hit here in Melbourne, the world would have struck out when it comes to my opinion of their poutine making. It’s also nice to indulge a little in a taste from back home every now and then. Just be sure to try some local grub as well!

Travel Apps

Hands down my smartphone is probably the one most useful tool that I’ve brought with me travelling. The phone’s done everything from keep me into contact with friends, provide me with countless hours of wifi and skype, as well as guide me to destinations. For example tonight the closest grocery store was closed by the time I got home from work (late aka after 6pm shopping is only on Fridays here in Oz). Thankfully I whipped my phone out and found the next closest Coles. One of the great uses was using my phone to guide me using public transport, and there are plenty of apps to help! Here are three apps available on the Android market that have helped me get around certain cities.

Seoul Subway

Seoul’s subway is renown worldwide for its ease of use and tourist friendliness. Despite these titles and awards, once you’re on the ground it can be confusing...very confusing. Seoul’s subway system looks like someone dropped spaghetti on a piece of paper. Lines criss-cross all over the place and there are so many of them. The other source of possible frustration is that at some stations they’ve installed the turnstiles at the actual entrance to the subway platform and not in a more general area. This means that if you go through the wrong turnstiles you’re either taking that subway to a station with a middle platform, or use hand signs and bad Korean to get the station manager to let you through to the other side. Seoul Subway will help you map your journey, telling you which station to transfer at and more importantly which direction your new train is going. This app was so helpful getting me to the tourist sites all over Seoul as it’s a MASSIVE city! Also one of the greatest tools would be to learn a little hanggul. Also from firsthand experience I highly recommend you AVOID the last train of the night!

Tram Hunter (Melbourne)

Melbourne has an extensive tram (streetcars for you Torontonians) network that can get you all over the city. While they can be a little slow and extremely cramped during rush hour, they’ve gotten me to many of the tourist spots throughout the city. There’s even a free tourist city-circle tram which can be extremely useful for a newbie to get a feel for the CBD. Tram Hunter is an app that will let you know which trams come to your stop and how long till they pass. An extremely useful feature is the GPS functionality which will allow the app to locate the nearest stop. This app has ensured that I’m always at work on time as I always know when the next tram is passing, with pretty darn good accuracy!

Train Trapper (Melbourne)

More recently I’ve been using Melbourne’s train network as I’m staying a little further out of the city. The thing about trains during weekdays is that there are express trains that don’t necessarily stop at all stations. While the express trains have been a blessing for me since I go from one extremity of the line to another, for those that are going to a not so busy station at rush hour could be in for a surprise. Train Trapper will help you find out what time the next train is passing at your nearest station (thanks to GPS). The app will also go into detail as to which stops the train will make and how much travel time you’ll endure. This app has been quite useful over the last few days, I highly recommend it!

As you can see, these apps can make your life much easier. Especially as a tourist and being new to the city and its public transit system. Having a pocket guide can be a priceless tool. if you can, be sure to pack your unlocked smartphone when you leave the country. That way you can pick up a local SIM and use these apps to their full potential. If you don’t want to unlock your phone, you can still use the wi-fi functionality but just keep in mind that free wi-fi is not necessarily as prevalent as back home!

My City

So I’ve been lying to you all when it comes to the city I live in... I actually live in the city of Port Phillip just south of Melbourne in an area called St. Kilda. While my pants aren’t necessarily on fire, I did manage to have a hole ripped through my fav jeans...To be quite honest I have it quite good here. I’m within walking distance of 3 supermarkets, have a tram that takes me from door-to-door to work (in under 10min), and loads of nightlife. Oh and not to forget the beach a short 10min walk away. Over the weekend we had the St. Kilda festival main day which is the main event of the 9 day festival and inspired me to write about my neighborhood. Almost half a million people descended upon my neighborhood for a wild party! While I could go into specifics about the different tourist gems around here, today I want to cover the very basics. First we’ll talk a bit about the underbelly here, next the general areas and lastly I’ll touch a bit on the nightlife.

Liar liar pants on fire!

St. Kilda is well known for it`s underbelly. I`ll always remember when I first moved here, I was quite shocked at the levels of prostitution. Having grown up on the mean streets of Vanier I`m used to seeing a hooker or two... Here however you can see 4-5 in a one block radius ON A SUNDAY AFTERNOON. I`ve gotten used to them now, and they`re pretty harmless so long as you don`t taunt or provoke them. A friend of mine witnessed a couple insult one and she (maybe a he) apparently went into a drug induced rage... not smart folks! At the same time you need to remember that the hookers on the streets here are mostly drug addicts. Prostitution (in brothels) is LEGAL and regulated here in Australia which means that the girls on the street are there because a) they can`t get hired in a brothel (drugs, STDs, etc.) or b) they`re hiding something of the penis variety (buyer beware!) Most of my friends here would laugh when I complained about the hookers, as it wouldn`t be St. Kilda without them. I now make a game of counting how many I see, most shocking was 3 on a Monday at noon!

Guess what's for sale... and no it's not someone's brother...

There are two general areas that I hang out in,  Acland street and Fitzroy street. Acland street is a fairly small street lined with restaurants, shops and small bars. It does cater mostly to tourists so prices may be a little inflated, but like Fitzroy street, the bars all have specials every night to attract the backpackers travelling on a shoestring budget. Walking along Acland street, you know you’re close to the beach, and it gives off a sort of small town feel to it. Fitzroy street on the other hand feels much more urban, full of nightclubs and restaurants. There’s definitely much more selection for food, drinks, and shops along Fitzroy. Along Fitzroy you also have access to Albert Park and some great views of the CBD’s (downtown for you Canadians) skyline. 

Acland st. during the St. Kilda festival

Lastly this neighborhood is well known for it’s nightlife, and I must say my weekends have been pretty action packed. All the bars in the area have at least one night that caters to backpackers as we make up a sizable portion of the potential clientele here in St. Kilda. You’ll often see Happy Hours advertised with $5 pints and $4 mixed drinks. My favorite so far has to be the Barkly Hotel which on Fridays offers buckets of vodka (2 shots) redbull for $10 (basically $5 per shot). Now you also have the other end of the spectrum over at the Espy which sells jugs(think a pitcher minus a pint) for $18... ouch! But don’t get me wrong it’s one of my favorite bars.

The oh so dangerous $10 buckets!

Hopefully this gives you a very general idea of my hood, and I hope to tell you a little more about it in the coming weeks. I’m sure you guys are curious about some of the places I’ve mentioned and some of the tourist sites around here. At least you all have a general feel for the area and what it has to offer (apart from the hookers). I actually love my new hood. Funny enough back home in Ottawa I’d be downtown every day, here I haven’t been to the CBD in well over a week! I was quite surprised when I realized this...

Hostel Life...

Heh, while I was definitely living the high life getting here to Australia... more recently I’ve been living a more humbler lifestyle after I got here. While you’re on vacation, hostel life is great as there’s always a party going on and people to have a drink with and stay up half the night. However when you’re running out of money, looking for work and taking life a bit more seriously, it can be a source of anger. Hostel life is what you make of it, remember YOU chose to live here... by no means are you forced to stay. Here are a few interesting tidbits of my daily life living in a hostel.

Sleep hard... or buy earplugs!

Notice those towels? That's the only way to get privacy... Why a bottom bunk is prized!

Many people would argue that it’s an Olympic sport to wake me up in the morning. Thankfully that’s a good thing here in a hostel. Depending where you are, noise levels can be pretty high, so it’s a good skill to have to sleep like a rock. The only problem however is getting to sleep... It can be a little frustrating when the bongo drums start a drummin or there’s an impromptu Oasis singalong at 1 or 2 am, but that’s just a fact of life here. Thankfully my brain could tune those out! What’s a little harder is when the couple sleeping in the bunk next to you (or god help you the bunk beneath you) are a shaggin’. I’ll always remember at one hostel there was a couple going at it next to me, as uncomfortable as it was I couldn’t help but laugh as all the girl could do was whine. Bravo Romeo... lol! Now some would recommend earplugs, but those are a double edged sword as if you have an alarm clock well guess what... your ears are plugged! Nightshades can be useful as well. It can be a little frustrating adjusting to living with 6-12 other people in the room, but you get used to it.

Kitchen Frenzy!

Try finding your bag in here...

As I’ve mentionned in my article Stretch That Australian Dollar, cooking food will save you A LOT of money. Only thing is that EVERYONE DOES IT, so sometimes space is an issue... the worst is if you have something like beer or goon which takes up a big chunk of space. The other thing is be sure to label everything! There’s always an opportunist waiting around the corner, and they WILL steal your beer or goon if they think they won’t get caught. Personally I recommend keeping your alcohol secure in your room and cooling it in the fridge in a cooler bag available from your grocer. For your goon, label both the box AND the bag that way you can try and catch the fool who stole your drink!  

Friends, roommates, and unsavory characters

It might not stop a determined thief, it makes it inconvenient for the amateurs!

The people you meet at a hostel will vary, thankfully while travelling you learn a very important skill that will help you weed through the unsavory characters. I’ve met tons of great people during my stays (you’re probably reading this right now!), and I’ve also met some unsavory characters as well. There’s always a few bad ones staying in the hostel, usually you can easily tell who they are and avoid them, but other times you’re stuck with them in your room. I’ll always remember one fellow in Halifax, he seemed really nice but something was off about him, we later found out he was kicked out for supposedly stealing laptops... I do recommend getting a security device for your backpack, but I recommend only using it when you REALLY feel sketch about the people you’re staying with. Otherwise a) you’re announcing to everyone you have something really valuable and b) you’re basically accusing everyone of being a potential thief, so exercise some restraint on using it in first world countries, third world...LOCK IT UP!

To be quite honest I never expected to be living the hostel life this long! While it’s been a challenge at times, and I can be caught cussing about it, deep down inside I do think it’s all right. I’m quite happy where I’m at right now... But don’t get me wrong, although I may complain about it from time to time, I still chose to live here. Sooner or later though, some privacy would be nice...

Alone for the holidays... maybe not!

This is the first time I’ve ever been away from home for the holidays. Love ‘em or hate ‘em you do want to be around your family during the holidays. My trip began as Christmas season was in full swing which made it very weird saying goodbye. Most of my family gave me my gifts before I left and threw many goodbye dinners. It really was weird saying goodbye, but I did. Reminders were everywhere!

Christmas tree at Seoul City Hall

Funny enough reminders of Christmas were everywhere in Seoul. There were plenty of Christmas trees, some of which were quite spectacular. As well there were the traditional Christmas tunes playing in the shopping malls. The one that I really found cute was the k-pop version of Santa Claus Is Coming To Town, made me chuckle but a little sad at the same time as it reminded me that I’m on my own. I was also in town for Santacon, which is a global gathering of people dressed up as santa. As I was coming home, Hongik University station was overrun with people dressed up as santa singing carols. What was great was that it was all foreigners and they invaded the bar area. It was quite the night lol! I managed to survive the holiday season in Seoul, but that was just the beginning, as they hadn’t even happened yet.

SataCon @ Hongik Univ. Station - Seoul                                 

One day surfing on facebook I somehow glanced at the people you may know... portion of the newsfeed and saw a name that I knew well many years ago. Funny enough... he was living in Sydney. Got in touch and found out he was going to be on his own for the holidays as well, so what better way to spend the holidays than together? Rob was nice enough to let me crash on his couch for both Christmas and NYE and every day in between, and a bit after. I got to have my first ever Filipino meal when a coworker of his graciously invited us both to spend Christmas Eve with their family. Christmas day I spent visiting the Opera House which gave me an amazing photo op as nobody was around, as well as stuffed my face with yakiniku, the Japanese BBQ. It was a lot of fun and definitely helped relieve some of those holiday blues being on the other side of the world. It was really odd Skyping with the family as I’m pretty much a day ahead, and the Christmas moment was done and it was Boxing day by the time we spoke.

Christmas with my mates in Sydney.

It’s definitely weird being surrounded by beaches and palm trees when you’re so used to snow and pine trees. I was a little shocked as well as the Christmas decorations weren’t as prevalent as they were in Seoul. In the end it just didn’t feel the same... but don’t get me wrong, it was still great to be on a beach on Boxing Day rather than freezing my butt off! I was very fortunate to be taken in by Rob and his friends at Christmas time. I had originally resigned myself to spending the day on Skype and watching Die Hard movies (truly a guy oriented Christmas movie series!) Sounds like fun doesn’t it... thankfully it didn’t come to that...

The #1 Skill You Learn While Travelling Solo

Face it, travelling solo is not for everyone. If you’re socially retarded and unable to make friends I definitely wouldn’t recommend this as you’d be VERY lonely. One of the best coping mechanisms when travelling solo is making friendships, as nobody likes being completely alone... especially on the other side of the world. But you need to be cautious, as there are a lot of bad people out there! There are many cases of theft, cons etc. among the travelling community, be it cons preying on tourists, a bum in the hostel trying to score some booze/drug money, and just some general lowlifes.  That’s why you’ll end up learning to be a great judge of character over time, and this skill will help you forge great friendships. Obviously you’ll also make some mistakes in the beginning, but you learn from them.

Good times in Greece!

A great example of this is my friend Nick who I had met in Greece. Imagine inviting someone you knew for a whole 2 days 3 years ago into your home. There’s a very big risk involved there but he chose to take a risk and offer me a place to stay my first weekend here in Australia. Who knew if I’d be some complete psycho. Same goes for me, choosing to stay over at some guy I knew for 2 days 3 years ago also had an element of risk. This is where the ability to judge character comes in handy as it turns the odds in your favor when it comes to this sort of risky element. Also without taking that risk I would have missed out on an amazing experience (camping on the great ocean road), as well I would have never ended up volunteering!

This was very late into the Oz Day festivities.

I must say that the friendships I’ve forged while travelling have fantastic, and certainly helpful in terms of integrating into the local culture. A great example would have been from a few weeks ago for Australia Day. While I could have joined the travellers here in the hostel and attend the festivities in the CBD and the fireworks on the Yarra River, instead I joined my Aussie friends for a BBQ. I also got to play cricket (more like hit the ball) which has given me more respect for the sport. It’s also something that I wouldn’t normally have tried anyways.

The friendships that you forge while travelling can certainly be some of the best. As well the skill of being able to judge a person’s character quickly helps tilt the odds in your favor. Nothings perfect and you WILL meet some bad people, but just take those as lessons learned and move on. These friendships that I’ve forged have helped me all over the world, from the Aussies who’ve adopted me as one of their own, to Stone Dogg in the Bay Area, even at home some of my Canadian friends who’ve shown me around their city. Pack your bags and get out there, you’ll learn a lot!

* Hehe you’re probably wondering... he’s talking about mistakes and bad shit happening, what happened?  Those stories are boring really, seriously who wants to hear about bar brawls and Russian strippers? Didn’t think so ;)

Integrating Into A Foreign Society

Being away from home can be tough... I’ve been away for almost 2 months now. Although it doesn’t seem like so long, I think the fact that I was gone over the holidays just kinda made it feel like I’ve been away for longer. My position is obviously a tough one as I’m here solo so I definitely have to milk my social skills and make some friends here otherwise I’d be a very bitter lonely traveller. Now I can’t really give many tips apart from being social and getting rid of your shyness, but I can definitely offer you some advice on what NOT to do if you want to integrateinto society.

YOU WILL NEVER INTEGRATE INTO ANOTHER SOCIETY IF YOU’RE ALWAYS IN CONSTANT CONTACT WITH BACK HOME.

Now don’t get me wrong, it’s cool and all to be on facebook or whatever your social network fancy is to keep in touch. You’ll only make your homesickness worse if you’re constantly chatting up, calling, skyping everyone from back home. I’m not advocating cutting your friends and family off, but if you’re talking to them daily I think that you’re overdoing it. Once or maybe twice  a week at most is probably the best solution. As much as you will get homesick on some days, DO NOT clutch your smartphone and start skyping or facebooking back home. Instead you should be concentrating on making connections and expanding your social network LOCALLY. Unless you do that you will be alone and it’ll just be a vicious cycle where you’re constantly calling people from back home instead of making friends and conquering the lonely traveller blues.

YOU WILL NEVER INTEGRATE INTO ANOTHER SOCIETY IF YOU STAY IN A BACKPACKERS HOSTEL

Hostels definitely are a great place for a solo traveller like myself to stay as they kinda force you to be social and get out there and be with people. However here in Australia you will NOT meet many Australians while staying in a backpacker hostel. My current hostel is pretty much a European outpost here in Melbourne. I’ve mentioned in previous posts about the amount of French and Irish out here, and while most are great people... I didn’t come to Australia to meet French or Irish... I also love my neighborhood but as well it seems like all the nightlife is dominated by backpackers. Almost like a sort of foreigner ghetto. Once you get out of this sort of ghetto you’ll have a much easier time integrating yourself into your new society and culture.

YOU WILL NEVER INTEGRATE INTO A NEW SOCIETY IF YOU STICK WITH YOUR OWN

It’s great running into fellow Canadians. I love to have a quick chat about the happenings from back home. But as tempting as it is, you didn’t fly half way across the world to stick to your own. If you did you just wasted a lot of money and time! For example the French here really tend to stick to their own and keep things in their own language. Between each other they will stick with French and not attempt to socialize with those around them who might not understand them. You see this with many foreign cultures here. Best advice I have is just get out there and create a diverse social network. Don’t just gather and lament about your motherland, if you want to do that then just fly home!

While the advice in here does seem harsh, it is the best advice that I can giver to you in terms of killing the lonely travellers blues. On top of that, if you’re looking for the true local experience, you won’t get that living in a foreigner ghetto surrounded by any culture but the local one. The best bet is to try and balance everything such as contact with your friends and family back home as well as your social network locally. Don’t fall into the traps I’ve outlined in this article as they’re a sure road to the solo traveller blues!