Sydney, Australia. August 11 – August 23, 2010.

8/11 Wednesday. Anne dropped me off at Newark airport, the airport was very quiet, with only a few passengers waiting at security screening. The EWR-ORD flight was delayed by about an hour, so I went to the Red Carpet Club, and there were very few people there. Got upgraded to first class, since this was a non-meal flight, and I had an exit row seat in economy, it wasn’t much of an improvement. The ORD-LAX flight was packed but uneventful. However, listening to the pilot on channel 9, I was amazed how busy LAX was. It seemed everyone had to talk very fast to get the number of conversations in. I don’t fly UA that much nowadays – since CO is that much more convenient – and their planes feel old. In any case, picked up a few boxes of See’s Candy, and am now enroute SYD, about 5 hours from landing. I got quite a bit of (fitful) sleep. Another passenger and I occupy the middle 4 seats, she is acting a bit like a camel, now taking 2 ½ of those seats.

8/13 Friday. Plane landed on schedule at 8:10 am. Since we were one of the first to land, and used a gate close to immigration, the lines were short in comparison. It took all of 15 minutes from the time the plane landed to the time I got to the waiting area. Must be a personal record. Ruth and Steven picked me up. After a brief rest and shower, we went to Hurtsville to visit mother. She looked okay. Dim Sum brunch at a Chinese Restaurant. Susanna came by with Amy and Peter to spend the afternoon. I also took a quick nap in the late afternoon. Ruth prepared dinner. Went to bed early today.

8/14 Saturday. Walked to visit father’s grave in the morning. Ruth, Steven & I went to Opera House to see La Sonnambula. Had early lunch at Opera Café. The owner knew Ruth and Steven and gave us free dessert plus a discount. Walked around the park (Domain) afterwards, then caught train to Chatswood to have dinner at Fook Yuen with quite a few people: Ruth, Steven, Susanna, Chris, Amy, Peter, Wilson, Wendy, Ryan, Ling, Wally, Alfred, Toby – 14 in all.

8/15 Sunday. Went to Praise Evangelical Free Church; we all agreed that the preaching by the seminary student was quite good. Dim Sum lunch at Zilver Restaurant was good. There were lots of people waiting for a table by the time we were done. I then got dropped off at Circular Quay where I bought a $20 Day Pass and took the ferry first to Manly and then to Watson Bay. Finished a novel while sitting at Manly Beach. Got back to Jennings Street at around 5:30 pm; enjoyed a beef pie from “House of Pi” along the way. Dinner was prepared by Ruth – supplemented by some take-out Chinese food.

8/16 Monday. Drove to Watson’s Bay to have lunch with Steven & Ruth. Short run around Matraville in the afternoon. Dinner (mostly leftovers) at Jennings Street.

8/17 Tuesday. Dim Sum lunch at Chinese Restaurant in Marouba (Wilson and Ryan joined us). Bought another DayPass and took ferry to Watson’s Bay for a short walk in the Gap Park. Didn’t get back in time to catch Darling Harbour Ferry, so did another Manly roundtrip – this time it was much less crowded. Took train to Chatswood and got picked up by Ruth to go to Alfred’s apartment in Hornsby. Got to see Naomi and their new son Josiah. Dinner prepared by Ling.

8/18 Wednesday. Lunch at Palace Restaurant in CBD with Steven, Ruth & Wilson (who brought Ryan along). Took Bus 555 (free) to Museum of Sydney which contains a good exhibit on the history of Sydney; spent over two hours there. Then took 555 back down and spent the rest of the afternoon in the Darling Harbor area; finished another novel. Dinner at Szechuan Chilli with Ruth and Steven. Since I didn't want any spicy food to aggravate my cough, we had only limited choice of dishes to pick from.

8/19 Thursday. We left a little after 11 am for the trip to Nelson Bay, which according to Google Map is about 3 hours away. Enroute we had a quick lunch at the Westfield Mall in The Entrance. I am glad the BB GPS managed to have enough battery charge to last us till our arrival, which was at about 3:45 pm. Ruth drove the whole way – a record distance for her. Took a walk along the shore before BBQ dinner prepared by Chris. The whole gang is occupying two 3-bedroom apartments.

47 Christmas Bush Ave, Nelson Bay, NSW

Pool

Nelson Bay Marina

8/20 Friday. We left mid morning for what we thought was a reasonable length trip to Hunter Valley. Turns out it would haven taken over 2 ½ hours each way. Wally suggested a restaurant in Newcastle (called Restaurant II) instead. I had only the main (lamb rack), share in some dessert, and a coffee. Food was reasonably well prepared, a bit on the expensive side, though. Jogged for a couple of miles with Wally before dinner. Ling prepared several dishes for dinner: seafood spaghetti, baked pumpkin and baked vegetables. This was supplemented with raw oysters and boiled shrimp brought at a local market. It was quite hectic with 4 kids running around, which makes the peace and quiet after they go to sleep especially enjoyable.

8/21 Saturday. Drove around the area, including Soldier Point and Fingal Bay. After a simple sandwich lunch, Wally and I made it up the 161 meter Tomaree Head, which involved hiking up a rather steep slope and about 300 steps. Good view of the surroundings. We then visited the Stockton Sand Dunes which turned out to be quite spectacular. Dinner back at the Nelson Bay house.

View of Fingal Bay from Tomaree Head. It was so windy that I soon lost the cap I was wearing.

A tour on camel back of the Stockton Sand Dunes.

8/22 Sunday. Walked around “downtown” Nelson Bay with Wally. It's a neat small town anchored by a marina. Checked out of house at 12 noon. Had Fish & Chips (Flathead) at BUP's, pretty good. The rest of the gang ate at Hog's Breath. Trip back to Sydney was uneventful, but quite a bit of traffic. We stopped by Susanna's house and we all went to Chatswood for dinner. It's now 8 pm and we are all ready to wind down.

Love Birds (pictured here) and cockatoos are very common in NSW.

8/23 Monday. Departure day. Even though the stay has been relaxing and enjoyable, I am ready to go home. Wilson – who has the week off - stopped by with Ryan and we headed off to the airport together. Lunch at Oporto’s in the SYD foodcourt. Plane left and landed on time. UA870 was crowded, but seat next to mine was empty. Didn’t get much sleep on both the SYD-SFO and SFO-EWR segments. Today I must have stood out as I was flagged both at the SYD security check and SFO customs check for additional screening. Neither was too time-consuming as I had only minimum luggage. The SFO domestic security even re-screened my bag of liquids. Chung Shu picked up and I was home at around 11:30 pm.