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-