Yvette rang this morning – woke me up – and suggested I walk down through Kings Cross via Woolloomoolloo. What a great suggestion, but unfortunately the walk turned into something bigger than Ben Hurr and also pretty upsetting. As I wandered down Crown Street, I became aware of just how many people sleep outside at night. And walking up to William Street, I became aware of just how many women are still “working the street” at 6.30am, although I couldn’t decide if they were up to get the “pre-work” trade or still out from the night before. Anyway, Kings Cross is a much different place in the early hours of the morning than it is later at night, although I did see quite a few people still in hotels.
After Kings Cross I wandered over to Woolloomoolloo Bay, through the Royal Botanic Gardens and finally to Circular Quay. Despite some of the more sobering aspects of Sydney life in the early hours of the morning, it really is a rather beautiful way to spend the first hour or so of the day. This morning, however, it turned into a two hour walk as I dawdled, sat, relaxed, and had a coffee. Anyway, I feel good and a couple of people at work have commented that I’m losing weight.
There’s something wonderfully chaotic about Katz’s Delicatessen. There were queues everywhere. I don’t know how many waiters there were for how many customers. As soon as someone stood up, there was someone to take their place. Their daily turnover must be huge. And yet in the midst of the apparent chaos, people came in, found a seat, and were fed efficiently.
Katz’s Delicatessen
While Michaela joined a queue, I scouted for a table and found four empty seats. Within a couple of seconds, a couple had asked if I minded if they shared the table. Of course not. I don’t remember what we chatted about, but they seemed nice. And a few minutes later, Michaela was back at the table with our food.
Katz’s Delicatessen
“When I used to live here, a friend and I used to share one of these when we didn’t have much money”, Michaela told me. It’s not just a question of money, though, as the sandwiches are quite large. At the table to our left, they were all ordering individual sandwiches. I don’t know how they managed to eat one all by themselves.
It was a really great thing to do on my final day in New York, and so “very New York”.
With only a day or two left, there was still much to do.
Statue of Liberty
Yesterday, we saw the Statue of Liberty, and last night we saw a musical play called “Funhouse”.
It’s the story of a young girl who grows up, realises she’s a lesbian, and then further realises her father was closeted gay. Based on a true story, there are layers upon layers upon layers. The story was terrific, the music was excellent, and all of the actors performer their roles well. So this is what it’s like to see a proper Broadway play, I thought to myself. :)
Times Square
My friend Colin once told me about New York: “You will love it. You will gobble it up”. He was right, you know. I’ll be back.
These are some photographs of the works by last year’s HSC students, currently exhibiting at the Art Gallery of NSW, including a photograph of the chat with some of the students conducted by the legendary, Gretel Killeen.
Art ExpressArt ExpressArt ExpressGretel Killeen chats to some of the exhibiting students from Art Express
And then on Friday, I took the day off work for an annual lunch with friends, including former and current colleagues. Each year on roughly the same day, at the same time, we go to the same restaurant, https://www.lacapannina.com.au/, sit at the same outdoor table, enjoy the food and wine, and solve the problems of the world. Last year, I was fresh out of hospital, and still getting around with crutches, but this year I managed to get myself to and from the restaurant on public transport, an indicator of the achievements of what’s happened in the time since, my friends noted. We struggled to remember how long we’ve been doing this for, but it’s a lovely tradition we all enjoy, and we’ve already made a tentative restaurant booking for a 2025 date.
By the time Saturday came around, I was a little exhausted.
I was also unsure what to expect from a 90-minute Friendlyjordies live show show. I’ve been watching his YouTube videos https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2-i3KuYoODXsM99Z3-Gm0A for a number of years and generally enjoy his content. While he can be a bit much at times, I appreciate his sharp wit. But, could he hold my attention for a full hour and a half, especially with a topic like the Byzantine Empire, something I knew little about?
Arriving at the Paddington RSL, I noticed I was one of the oldest people in the audience. Almost everyone else seemed to be in their 20s. I was also struck by how many people were watching the show, and simultaenously using their phones s – a generational thing, I suppose, but still surprising to me.
The show itself was a pleasant surprise. Friendlyjordies presented a fascinating history lesson on the Byzantine Empire, highlighting how much of its history has been rewritten or erased. He drew parallels to modern society, discussing achievements like universal healthcare and challenging the notion that each generation is inherently smarter than the last.
While the history lesson was engaging, Friendlyjordies didn’t shy away from his trademark humor. He peppered the show with jokes, some more sophisticated than others, keeping the audience entertained. There were definitely moments where he seemed to lose some of the crowd, particularly during the longer political segments, but overall, the audience seemed to enjoy the show.
I appreciated the combination of humor and historical insights, and the 90-minute runtime felt just right. It was also interesting to watch Friendlyjordies interact with the visuals on screen. The pacing was good, and the show flowed well. If he tours again, I’d definitely consider going to see another show.
I thought for a moment I was in a Swedish disco tonight.
I’d just left the Lewisham Hotel which is my regular Wednesday night venue with friends.
As I walked towards the bus, I’d put my headphones on, and was listening to some Magnus Carlsson, one of my favourite Swedish pop singers. It was one of his louder disco numbers recorded in Swedish.
All of a sudden I found myself walking past a shop with a disco ball circling in the window, with the flashing lights making their way out onto the street.
For just a moment I was tempted to have a bit of a “disco dance” right there on Parramatta Road.
Who needs to go to Oxford Street when you can have your own little dance party right there? :)
The older I get the more childish I get some times, I think.
Play School is a terrific show, although at the age of forty, it’s been quite a while since I’ve watched it. However, it was one of my childhood favourites, even at an age when it was no longer really designed for me.
This week, Play School celebrated forty years on television. And today, an exclusive photograph of Jemima caught immediately after the Fortieth Birthday Celebrations of “Play School”. She really has to watch her drinking!
By the time you get to the airport, wait around for a while, catch the flight, get off the plane, and make it home, you’ve likely already burned two and a half hours. Add the hour-long flight itself, and travel time becomes a major factor when weighing up flying versus taking the train to Wagga.
The other thing I considered was cost. I could get a train ticket for considerably less than a flight between Sydney and Wagga, so I chose the rails, especially since time wasn’t really of the essence. I was also keen to take my mobility scooter, which is much easier to manage on a train.
I was honestly surprised there weren’t more mobility scooters on board, as I was probably one of the youngest people on the train when I came down on Thursday. I booked a first-class ticket and I’m pretty sure I was one of only a handful of people paying full price; most of the passengers were enjoying the $2.50 regional excursion daily fare that senior citizens are eligible for in NSW.
There was definitely an old-world feel to the trip. The attendant described the journey as “heritage”—a polite way of saying the XPT train, which had no power points or USB ports, was still in its original 1982 state. It probably didn’t matter all that much, as there were large swathes of the trip where you were completely out of mobile range anyway. So, I used the time to sleep, read, and listen to music.
I also had lunch, which managed to be both wonderful and awful. The wonderful bit was that because the vast majority of the passengers were older, the lovely attendants offered to go back and forth to the buffet car to help out. I gave my card to an attendant who went up to tap and pay for me and grab my meal. As an amputee, walking back and forth against the rock-and-roll of the moving train is difficult, so this was an absolute lifesaver.
XPT Lunch, including wine in a glass!
The meal itself, however, was pretty average. How do you heat up spaghetti bolognese so badly? You know when you buy frozen pasta and some parts cook, but other bits stay hard like they’re straight out of the packet? Well, that’s what happened. On the bright side, the wine came in a glass that closely resembled the old Vegemite jars of my youth that were converted into tumblers, which was a nostalgic novelty.
The service on the train heading back was just as terrific. One of the attendants was particularly helpful with my scooter, moving my seat closer and giving me two seats instead of one. This meant I could stretch out more comfortably and have a proper sleep.
In between naps, I was able to look out the window at the changing geography as the train crossed the Great Dividing Range and rolled out into the Riverina plains. You could easily spot the difference between the more fertile, green patches and the areas where it’s been a while since they’ve seen a drop of rain.
As the journey went on, I felt a bit inspired and started wondering about the logistics of catching the train all the way between Melbourne and Sydney. Much like I would with a long-haul flight, I concluded I’d likely break the trip up, stopping off for a few days in Wagga and Albury along the way.
Unlike the grueling long-haul train and bus trips of my youth, where cost and raw convenience were the only things that mattered, I thought this could actually be a nice, leisurely way to travel instead of the usual rushed flight. Maybe something for next time?
