Sydney so far

Well, it was a long flight but I made it here safely and am doing well.

I really want to blog because I have so many thoughts running through my mind about this curious new place right now, but I'm also so tired that I think I just need to get some sleep and write about all of it tomorrow.

For a very quick recap, though, I'll just tell you I've been eating in food heaven since I arrived this afternoon (meat & mushroom pies, Twisties, Gyros, fish'n'chips, sesame caramel bars...oh, man), I took a really fascinating tour of the Opera House this afternoon and then checked out the Sydney tower for a beautiful view of the sunset at about 8pm (compared to Japan's current 4:45 sunset! - caught the tower IMAX presentation about Australia, too).

As for the rest of my time here, it's proving to be a little too tricky to get to Jervis Bay without a car, so I think I'm changing the AU plans and just taking it easy, going to the Aquarium and weekend markets, tomorrow. Then, on Sunday, I plan to take a daytrip to the Blue Mountains.

My friend from college and former colleague that lives here also offered to let me stay at his place on Bondi Beach (a famous beach near Sydney) while one of his roomates is home in London for the holidays. I unfortunately can't get out of the hostel nights I already paid for (and have a few things I want to do), so even though it'd be fun to hang out and nice to stay on the beach all weekend, I think I'll just end up spending Monday and Tuesday there (before heading off to NZ). I supposed the forecast is looking a bit cloudy, but it's really warm compared to Japan and the beaches are georgous (at least from the pictures and what I've seen from afar), so I'll hope for the best and plan to swim in the worst ;)

I feel like I've really only seen city so far and I actually really like Australia, but it hasn't struck me as a place that I absolutely want to move to or would love to live in yet, like other places have in the past. That doesn't mean I'm not having a great time or wouldn't come back in a heartbeat, but I definitely think part of my reaction toward the city so far has to do with the fact that I'm in "backpacker mode", have been primarily surrounding by other tourists at the venues I've visited (or am staying) since arriving and that I'm traveling alone (because the Happy Hour on Darling Harbour tonight looked like a lot of fun that I could see myself doing if I went out with friends). We'll see what the next few days bring.

Anyways, I'm going to hit the hay. I'll try to write more soon - while my impressions are still fresh - but for now... Goodnight from AU! :)