So I left you right before my parents and I went off on our big train journey. Which I'll tell you about in my next post, but today I'll do some catch-up on the time in Sydney.
I had my parents on a bunch of tours during the week (Opera House, Great Synagogue, Harbour Cruise, Historical Walk, Blue Mountains...) but on the weekend we spent it exploring together. My parents aren't big hikers, but I wanted to take them out to one of the national parks near Sydney. There are so many beautiful, natural places within an hour of Sydney to explore, and the nature is one of Australia's most striking features, so they had to see it.
So we drove up to Ku-ring-gai National Park, in the north of Sydney, with a few friends of mine and did a little hike to an ocean lookout. It happened to be election day, though, so on the way we stopped off at a polling place for a sausage sizzle. Now, you may have heard of a sausage sizzle before. I only learned about it when I moved here, but it seems like it's gaining some international attention. It's a typical Australia barbecue, basically just sausages served on a piece of white bread, with optional grilled onions, and optional ketchup. That's it. Super simple. Super Australian. Not great food, but so good in that terrible food sort of way. And it happens all the time, but it has become closely associated with elections because most polling stations have sausage sizzles on. Apparently it's a way to bribe the kids to come with you, while also fundraising since many polling places are at schools and public libraries. And there was a big, in-depth report on the sausage sizzle on CNN this year, which shocked me. But anyway, we got that typical Australian experience, which my parents loved, then went and hiked. Then went back to the city and did another urban walk to watch sunset, which my parents also loved. And then they were exhausted so we went home and ordered dinner in.
But after dinner, I went back out to meet my friend Nina and her sister. Nina works in government down in Canberra, but was up in Sydney to meet her sister who had just flown in from the US. And they spent their evening at the post-election party for this guy Anthony Albanese, aka Albo, who is one of the Labour party senators (if that's the name...) for the Sydney area. Now I was told many things about Australian elections on this day, but the only thing I really took away is that the voting system is really weird and involves either voting above or below the line, and raking parties by priority, not just voting for the one you like. And also that the conservative party are called Liberals and their color is blue, while the liberal party are called Labour and their color is red. Very strange.
The party itself was also quite strange. It took place at an RSL, which is like a club for army veterans. But also kind of like a community center, and most neighborhoods in Australia have one. So this was held at the bar in the RSL, with no security whatsoever. I walked in and said I was there for the politica party thing, and the guy was like "yeah ok, just sign in over there" and then I walked into the open bar party. For a Senator. Who will likely be the next leader of the opposition party, since Labour lost (which was a big surprise and everyone at the party was very sad and crying and comparing it to Trump winning). I was shocked at the low level of security. I could never just walk into a senator's post-election party back home. But yeah, it was interesting.
And then on Sunday, we went to a reptile park up north of Sydney and played with kangaroos and wallabies and koalas and alligators and snakes. And we also saw a bunch of other animals, but those are the ones we got to pet. So that was fun. And that was the weekend. And then back to the tours before we left for my birthday trip, which I'll talk about next time.
Musically, we've got something very chill today: Omar Apollo. He's just put out his second release, although I'm not sure if they are EPs or LPs. They're both like 8 tracks, which is either a long EP or a short LP. But anyway, the new one, Friends, is pretty great. The music is very nostalgic of all the best of 90s R&B. The first track I'm sharing, Trouble, is a much more relaxed one, but it's in that heartbroken, melancholy vein of Frank Ocean or James Blake. So you know I love it.
But we'll pick it up for the next track, Kickback. This is real 90s R&B style. I'm talking Blackstreet, Boyz II Men, Soul 4 Real type of R&B. So I love it. Before I go, a bit about the man himself. Much like myself, he's a 1st generation American. And his parents are from Guadalajara, much like my mother. So he gets extra points for that.
I had my parents on a bunch of tours during the week (Opera House, Great Synagogue, Harbour Cruise, Historical Walk, Blue Mountains...) but on the weekend we spent it exploring together. My parents aren't big hikers, but I wanted to take them out to one of the national parks near Sydney. There are so many beautiful, natural places within an hour of Sydney to explore, and the nature is one of Australia's most striking features, so they had to see it.
So we drove up to Ku-ring-gai National Park, in the north of Sydney, with a few friends of mine and did a little hike to an ocean lookout. It happened to be election day, though, so on the way we stopped off at a polling place for a sausage sizzle. Now, you may have heard of a sausage sizzle before. I only learned about it when I moved here, but it seems like it's gaining some international attention. It's a typical Australia barbecue, basically just sausages served on a piece of white bread, with optional grilled onions, and optional ketchup. That's it. Super simple. Super Australian. Not great food, but so good in that terrible food sort of way. And it happens all the time, but it has become closely associated with elections because most polling stations have sausage sizzles on. Apparently it's a way to bribe the kids to come with you, while also fundraising since many polling places are at schools and public libraries. And there was a big, in-depth report on the sausage sizzle on CNN this year, which shocked me. But anyway, we got that typical Australian experience, which my parents loved, then went and hiked. Then went back to the city and did another urban walk to watch sunset, which my parents also loved. And then they were exhausted so we went home and ordered dinner in.
But after dinner, I went back out to meet my friend Nina and her sister. Nina works in government down in Canberra, but was up in Sydney to meet her sister who had just flown in from the US. And they spent their evening at the post-election party for this guy Anthony Albanese, aka Albo, who is one of the Labour party senators (if that's the name...) for the Sydney area. Now I was told many things about Australian elections on this day, but the only thing I really took away is that the voting system is really weird and involves either voting above or below the line, and raking parties by priority, not just voting for the one you like. And also that the conservative party are called Liberals and their color is blue, while the liberal party are called Labour and their color is red. Very strange.
The party itself was also quite strange. It took place at an RSL, which is like a club for army veterans. But also kind of like a community center, and most neighborhoods in Australia have one. So this was held at the bar in the RSL, with no security whatsoever. I walked in and said I was there for the politica party thing, and the guy was like "yeah ok, just sign in over there" and then I walked into the open bar party. For a Senator. Who will likely be the next leader of the opposition party, since Labour lost (which was a big surprise and everyone at the party was very sad and crying and comparing it to Trump winning). I was shocked at the low level of security. I could never just walk into a senator's post-election party back home. But yeah, it was interesting.
And then on Sunday, we went to a reptile park up north of Sydney and played with kangaroos and wallabies and koalas and alligators and snakes. And we also saw a bunch of other animals, but those are the ones we got to pet. So that was fun. And that was the weekend. And then back to the tours before we left for my birthday trip, which I'll talk about next time.
Musically, we've got something very chill today: Omar Apollo. He's just put out his second release, although I'm not sure if they are EPs or LPs. They're both like 8 tracks, which is either a long EP or a short LP. But anyway, the new one, Friends, is pretty great. The music is very nostalgic of all the best of 90s R&B. The first track I'm sharing, Trouble, is a much more relaxed one, but it's in that heartbroken, melancholy vein of Frank Ocean or James Blake. So you know I love it.
But we'll pick it up for the next track, Kickback. This is real 90s R&B style. I'm talking Blackstreet, Boyz II Men, Soul 4 Real type of R&B. So I love it. Before I go, a bit about the man himself. Much like myself, he's a 1st generation American. And his parents are from Guadalajara, much like my mother. So he gets extra points for that.
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