
| journal | sydney | opinions |
"...Officially, it was autumn, but the summer lingered on. Not that Sydney took a blind bit of notice of the seasons. Variable, she blew hot and cold like a moody child. Once, in a movie, I heard California described as a beautiful dancing lady, high on heroin, enchanting like the drug, who doesn't know she’s dying till you show her the marks. Sydney was like that; not so high, not so dying, only sick sometimes......"
-Marele Day; [The Life and Crimes of Harry Lavender]
I am born in June, which automatically deems me an irrational, eccentric Gemini blurring the line between sanity and pure pandemonium; it's probably right that I live in Sydney, 'cos it's as eccentric as I- it can blow cold one minute, pouring rain, thunderstorms the next, all while the sun is still shining above, then shoot up in temperature in a matter of seconds. (I make it a point to take my umbrella everywhere I go). It's exactly like Marele Day depicts, Sydney is a moody child. It imitates the great city of London in many ways; the street names are taken from the English (Pitt Street, Elizabeth Street, Oxford Street) and it desperately tries to maintain it's English roots with the Strand Arcade and Town Hall and The Art Museum of Australia, but like a pubescent child, Sydney doesn't pass without it's idiosyncrasies.
I am telling you now, pictures do not do this city justice; to truly appreciate Sydney, you have to walk through the artsy Rocks markets, shop at the Pitt Street Mall in the City, walk through Centennial Park and watch the New Years Eve fireworks at Mrs Macquarie's Chair or even better, McMahon's Point, the residential area that overlooks Sydney's two most famous landmarks; the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House. You have to taste the seafood, whether it be raw salmon or lemon tinted swordfish, listen to the buskers down at Central Station's tunnel and definitely check out the Bondi Beach (yes, it's the beach in Sydney that the Boys visited on their 100 hour tour), Cronulla and Vaucluse. But nothing says Sydney like a Christmas barbecue, down by a pool or beach. It's all part of the experience.
Hong Kong, will always be the place where I was born, where my roots stem from; but my home will always be Sydney, the place that shaped the person I am today.