We found a place! Well we found a temporary place to live, the housing market in Sydney is very different than that in the states, For one it is a seller’s market there are more buyers than properties which making finding prime real estate a hard thing to do it also drives up cost, so here is how it works here, there really is no such thing as an “apartment complex” where you walk into a leasing office they show you the floor plans and you decide on one of the many available units, pretty much every property here is rented through a real estate agency, and you can only see the property during inspection times, which are normally on Saturday in 15 minute increments, so if you were to like a property in two different areas chances are you will not get to see that property. If you wait until the next week to see the one you missed you will more than likely miss out on both. So you pretty much have to narrow down the place you want in the area you want and be there for the inspection so that you can be ready to put in an application.
Speaking of which everything is sooo expensive in this city for example our price range or rather the most we are willing to pay is 800 a week (yes I said week) for rent, that should get us a nice place, mind you not penthouse overlooking the ocean or, terrace overlooking the harbor, just a nice place. So most places charge a Bond or what we refer to as a deposit, this bond is normally 4 weeks rent so in our example if I went to go see a house and wanted to get it that day. I would have to bring 1st month’s rent plus a Bond, which in this case would be 6,400 to move in. which to me is crazy, but when in rome!
So since our last day at the hotel is tomorrow and we had not had time to look at all the areas we decide to go into a two month short term lease with a landlord that was advertising his place on Gumtree (their craigslist equivalent)…It’s a very nice studio apartment in the potts point area, not the end game, but it will do for now. Lets see what else has happened, um Stephanie is still, STILL on US time she falls asleep every day around 5-6pm which is like she stayed up to 4am US time. She has not been able to sleep thru the night yet it is 1am on Monday morning as I am typing this and I am sure she will wake up in able an hour, with nothing to do.
Still no iphone, we were told that we could not get a plan until we had an address, so now that we have one we are going to go to the bank tomorrow, change our address, try to find a vodaphone location that has the iphone4 and hopefully get hooked up.
Now that all of the business is taken care of, next week you should see some Pictures and videos of our travels, as I will finally have the time to take some!
Monday, August 30, 2010
Day 1 in Sydney
So day one is over, well I guess it is, it is really hard to determine what day it is. So we left charlotte on a 6:10 PM flight to LA (approx 5 hours). We then had a layover in LA for about 2 hours, we switched airlines to Air New Zealand, and took a 12 hour flight to New Zealand, a hour or so layover there we then took the three hour flight to Sydney. At last! We were here, the flight although 26 hours of travelling were not that bad, I would arguably say that the longest flight the one from LA to NZ was the best, we were on a huge, I mean Double Decker huge 747. We had a flat screen TV right in front of the seat a endless number of selections of movies television music and games, and enough leg room to make yao ming smile, well maybe not that much. But it was comfortable for me! First thing we do after picking up our massive amounts of luggage is stop by vodaphone to figure out our mobile phone situation. It seems like, we might be able to get an unlimited plan with international calling and a free iphone4 (say it aint so) for 79 dollars a line, that is less than what I was paying in the states for a less beefy plan so I was super sold, especially once he said it came with the iPhone 4 (what what) we were not able to do this at this kiosk however, cause they were not on stock so we got a prepaid sim in order to call home and figured we would stop by the larger store to try to get the new iphone. So here we are. Sydney is only kind of how I expected it. I felt it would have a British feel which, it does if you did not know any better the area around the airport looks the same as south London. But I also expected a very distinct metropolitan feel, a city feel which it may have, I just have not ventured out to explore yet. We check into the hotel and I am pumped ready to hit the ground running, but my poor travel teammate was POOPED. for a while we tried to come up with words that were even stronger than that to accurately describe how she felt.
I convinced her to go get some food, we walked down the street stopped at the first fast food we saw, the goal was to eat light so that we could have dinner later. After a quick bite we found a Vodaphone, walked in and they had 2 iphone4’s in stock (angelic voice thing happens) this was too good to be true and of course it was. In order to get a phone we had to have a residence, so we will not be able to sign up for a plan until we get a place, figures. We go from there to my bank that I set up before I left the states, so that I can pick up my debit card and my credit card (I got perfect credit here son!!) It was not ready, but I will be able to pick it up first thing in the morning, so after strike out number two Stephanie was ready to lay it down. We go back to the hotel, I lay down she lays on my chest and we both pass out…lol
Part 2,
I love being a black man, there is a freedom that comes with it, I will explain in a bit. I woke back up around 10 PM, after trying to wake Stephanie up who was not budging, I did what I always do when I get to a new city or country…I just walked around. I did not go far in either direction of the hotel, the night air was pretty cool but the wind made it feel like how I remember fall in Va beach. There was nothing much to see, we are not really in a “hoping part of town. The entertainment district of kings cross is near, I did not really venture that way though I was moreso walking around down town because I was trying to get a head start on our goal for day two. Find a place to live! The one thing that I did want to comment on was what I alluded to earlier, it is a dope feeling to walk around a completely foreign place and feel safe. I am not saying that I am superman or above getting mugged or worse. I am just saying I am not an easy or a likely target. And the dope thing about Sydney so far is that I can walk around trying to look poseudo hard and gansta, but I don’t have to worry about people fearing me at the same time, ok I feel like I am loosing you. Its like this, when I was walking around, no old ladys moved to the other side of the street or grabbed their pocketbooks, I am not seen as a threat or a suspect. I did not get followed around the store when I went to buy something. For one of the first times in my travel experiences I did not feel racially pre-judged. I also felt safe, not only because it is a safe place but because of my size and demeanor…as I re read this I don’t know if it makes since but it is my blog so it stays!.
Anyway I am back at the hotel writing this to you… it is around 11pm. I was really only gone for about 30 minutes or so, I don’t want to be worn out in the morning while a perfectly rested Stephanie is bouncing off the walls. Goodnight, day too starts in about 7 hours we talked about working out (ha) we will probably go to the breakfast buffet that was included in our reservation and then the goal of day two FIND A PLACE TO LIVE.
-log out-
I convinced her to go get some food, we walked down the street stopped at the first fast food we saw, the goal was to eat light so that we could have dinner later. After a quick bite we found a Vodaphone, walked in and they had 2 iphone4’s in stock (angelic voice thing happens) this was too good to be true and of course it was. In order to get a phone we had to have a residence, so we will not be able to sign up for a plan until we get a place, figures. We go from there to my bank that I set up before I left the states, so that I can pick up my debit card and my credit card (I got perfect credit here son!!) It was not ready, but I will be able to pick it up first thing in the morning, so after strike out number two Stephanie was ready to lay it down. We go back to the hotel, I lay down she lays on my chest and we both pass out…lol
Part 2,
I love being a black man, there is a freedom that comes with it, I will explain in a bit. I woke back up around 10 PM, after trying to wake Stephanie up who was not budging, I did what I always do when I get to a new city or country…I just walked around. I did not go far in either direction of the hotel, the night air was pretty cool but the wind made it feel like how I remember fall in Va beach. There was nothing much to see, we are not really in a “hoping part of town. The entertainment district of kings cross is near, I did not really venture that way though I was moreso walking around down town because I was trying to get a head start on our goal for day two. Find a place to live! The one thing that I did want to comment on was what I alluded to earlier, it is a dope feeling to walk around a completely foreign place and feel safe. I am not saying that I am superman or above getting mugged or worse. I am just saying I am not an easy or a likely target. And the dope thing about Sydney so far is that I can walk around trying to look poseudo hard and gansta, but I don’t have to worry about people fearing me at the same time, ok I feel like I am loosing you. Its like this, when I was walking around, no old ladys moved to the other side of the street or grabbed their pocketbooks, I am not seen as a threat or a suspect. I did not get followed around the store when I went to buy something. For one of the first times in my travel experiences I did not feel racially pre-judged. I also felt safe, not only because it is a safe place but because of my size and demeanor…as I re read this I don’t know if it makes since but it is my blog so it stays!.
Anyway I am back at the hotel writing this to you… it is around 11pm. I was really only gone for about 30 minutes or so, I don’t want to be worn out in the morning while a perfectly rested Stephanie is bouncing off the walls. Goodnight, day too starts in about 7 hours we talked about working out (ha) we will probably go to the breakfast buffet that was included in our reservation and then the goal of day two FIND A PLACE TO LIVE.
-log out-
Intro
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you....youre far to kind!
So welcome to my blog, as i travel the world i will do my best to keep you guys posted. What you can expect from this blog.
1. me to promise to keep it updated and never do so
2. horrible spelling
3. I never really grasped the whole grammer thing so sometimes i put punctaion where it should not be; i am work,ing on this. :)
3. some jokes, some poetry, pictures, and the occasional post were i go way to deep about something.
4. I try not to take myself to seriously and you should not either (but know i spit wisdome son!)
So here we go, my blog will not really go cronological. It might skip around a bit, pulling stuff from my past, etc...at the moment i am transitioning form Charlotte NC....to Sydney Australia.
Please if you read these blogs leave a post or two so I know somebody is ready my brain dumps.
Thanks!
So welcome to my blog, as i travel the world i will do my best to keep you guys posted. What you can expect from this blog.
1. me to promise to keep it updated and never do so
2. horrible spelling
3. I never really grasped the whole grammer thing so sometimes i put punctaion where it should not be; i am work,ing on this. :)
3. some jokes, some poetry, pictures, and the occasional post were i go way to deep about something.
4. I try not to take myself to seriously and you should not either (but know i spit wisdome son!)
So here we go, my blog will not really go cronological. It might skip around a bit, pulling stuff from my past, etc...at the moment i am transitioning form Charlotte NC....to Sydney Australia.
Please if you read these blogs leave a post or two so I know somebody is ready my brain dumps.
Thanks!
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
I Go Away
So uh, I had my going away party at work today, like they normally do this thing where your manager picks a bar, sends out an e-mail and everyone comes out to wish you a farewell. I did not really want to do one, ok honestly, I was super against it. I dont really hang out with these folks on the regular, and i am not one of those 'fake it till you make it' corporate dudes.
If i am not felling you, you are going to know that I am not feeling you. However i thought it would be pretenious, and rude to turn down the opportunity for my manager to plan a going away. I am trying to embrace celebration, I normally dont want anyone to do anything for me, like throw parties, get-togethers etc. But i feel like if people WANT to celebrate you than you should let them.
Fast Foward to 5pm when my little shin-dig was supposed to start, I got to the bar right on time, my thinking was...I should be the first person there so that when people got there i could speak and thank them for coming out...
Fast foward to 5:20 me and Blair, a girl i met at the bar, where about 10 minutes into a conversation, she was in town on business and happend to be at the bar for a drink, I was trying to read between the lines, as the stories she was serving did not sit right with me. But it was just her and i sitting there as i kept doing the look-over-at-the-door-everytime-it-opens-thing. So i am half listening to this girl at the bar, when finally my manager walks in, we had some akward conversation, my girl shows up about 10 minutes later which was cool, and that was it...like no one else showed up. So 35 more akward minutes of Blair, Steph, Damon and I, talking about Sydney and then everyone left.
Blair was cool though and somehow actually brought some normalcy to the entire situation. Since she was not aware of the akwardness, she was just kind of in the moment, bought us a drink and even made plans to go to a strip club later...
anyways i am blogging about this because i think it is introspectively relevent. normally i would be embarrased that no one showed up, that was not the case this time. I felt a sense of relief, as if it was a push in the right direction. No one supported me, which let me know even stonger that i am making the right move. I am following a plan, crossing my t's...red dotting my I's...I am on target, loaded...with god on my sholder, love in my heart, and the world in my palm. I cannot be stopped, because I said so.
If i am not felling you, you are going to know that I am not feeling you. However i thought it would be pretenious, and rude to turn down the opportunity for my manager to plan a going away. I am trying to embrace celebration, I normally dont want anyone to do anything for me, like throw parties, get-togethers etc. But i feel like if people WANT to celebrate you than you should let them.
Fast Foward to 5pm when my little shin-dig was supposed to start, I got to the bar right on time, my thinking was...I should be the first person there so that when people got there i could speak and thank them for coming out...
Fast foward to 5:20 me and Blair, a girl i met at the bar, where about 10 minutes into a conversation, she was in town on business and happend to be at the bar for a drink, I was trying to read between the lines, as the stories she was serving did not sit right with me. But it was just her and i sitting there as i kept doing the look-over-at-the-door-everytime-it-opens-thing. So i am half listening to this girl at the bar, when finally my manager walks in, we had some akward conversation, my girl shows up about 10 minutes later which was cool, and that was it...like no one else showed up. So 35 more akward minutes of Blair, Steph, Damon and I, talking about Sydney and then everyone left.
Blair was cool though and somehow actually brought some normalcy to the entire situation. Since she was not aware of the akwardness, she was just kind of in the moment, bought us a drink and even made plans to go to a strip club later...
anyways i am blogging about this because i think it is introspectively relevent. normally i would be embarrased that no one showed up, that was not the case this time. I felt a sense of relief, as if it was a push in the right direction. No one supported me, which let me know even stonger that i am making the right move. I am following a plan, crossing my t's...red dotting my I's...I am on target, loaded...with god on my sholder, love in my heart, and the world in my palm. I cannot be stopped, because I said so.
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