This Is My Exercise...

133 Bondi to 188 Oxford Street, Paddington
Distance: 4.0 km
ETA: 51 min

The daily routine (and mental thoughts) while walking to work...

8:05 – 8:10 – When I am supposed to be out the door.

8:11-8:15 – When I actually make it out of the door.

8:15 – Say good morning to George, Anna or the older guy that works downstairs at the flower shop (whomever is unloading the van full of pretty flowers).

8:20 – Wipe my brow as I briskly walk up the dreaded Bondi Rd hill towards Bondi Junction.

8:22 – Pass the fresh bread bakery and contemplate getting a take-away coffee.

8:22 – Don’t get a take-away coffee. You have no money.

8:28 – Hold breathe as I walk by the $2 Asian/Sushi pop up store. The musk of cheap Asian food in the morning is not how I like to start my day.

8:30 – Must be crossing the intersection of Oxford and Newland Street. If not, pick up the pace.

8:32 – Pass by the Bondi Junction Hobo. Do not make eye contact with the Hobo because he may beg for money, or growl – or both.

8:34 – Wonder why the Australians spell “tire” with a “y” (“tyre”) as I pass Bondi Junction Auto Services.

8:40 – Must be at the Oxford Street entrance of Centennial Park. If not, pick up the pace.

8:44 – Try not to get hit by a car at the intersection of Oxford and Moncur (also wonder why Australians don’t believe that pedestrians always have right of way).

8:45 – Creep a look inside the Centennial Hotel, which has been under construction the entire time I have been walking to work from Bondi. Also, wonder what is taking the workers so long to make real progress of the renovation.

8:48 – Pass by the Birkenstock store and do an acknowledging nod to the great shoe company (note: it is a 95% chance I am also wearing Birkenstocks).

8:49 – Glance over at Max Brenners Chocolate Bar and wish I was eating a chocolate waffle.

8:51 – Chuckle as I pass a painting of a Middle Eastern version of James Franco.

8:52-8:56 – Window shop at the boutiques I can’t afford

8:57 – Vow to someday go into Velder-Jones, The Wedding Boutique, and Luomo (all custom wedding boutiques) when I am engaged and looking for a wedding dress.

8:59 – Say good morning to the coffee cart man. Maybe he will give me a free green tea or hot chocolate today... 
9:00 – Walk through the doors of Bashful. Bam.

Mythbusted

In totally random and unrelated news, here is a picture of a dog I stumbled upon that looks EXACTLY like the dude from Mythbusters... 

Mind. Blown.

BOWL-A-RAMA Bondi

A few weekends ago, Bondi celebrated its 10 year anniversary of hosting BOWL-A-RAMA, an international skateboard competition that takes place in the iconic Bondi Bowl.  Professional skaters from all over the world (mainly Aussies, Americans and Brazilians - and few Danish…) gathered in Bondi for a week of skating and festivities. And not to mention, the headliner in attendance that made BOWL-A-RAMA’s 10^th birthday a massive celebration, was the legendary Tony Hawk.

The official BOWL-A-RAMA competition took place on Saturday, but the week leading up to the event was filled with smaller promotion events, such as art shows and skate-offs. Fans were able to see Tony Hawk exclusively skate one afternoon, while Beach Burrito – a local Bondi hot spot – dubbed as an art gallery another night. The gallery night at Beach Burrito was the kick off event for the week, and the majority of the young pro skaters were there sipping on tequila and catching up with the folks they met at last years’ BOWL-A-RAMA. I met majority of them, but lacked the expertise in sk8r lingo and overall intelligence of the sport… But they were super awesome guys, and this is their personal shout out in my blog! *HEY*

Anywho, the competition part of BOWL-A-RAMA, which is the very reason all these sk8r bois were in town, was a whirlwind event.  Because BOWL is one of our clients, I volunteered to work the VIP/Family & Friends ticket booth for part of the day – the other part of the day, I got to enjoy having an AAA wristband (Access All Areas, if you were confused and instead thought I was wearing a wristband sporting the American car/towing company).  I was able to literally sit inside the bowl rails as if I was someone of distinguished importance – which according to my parents and loved ones, I am very important, but not necessarily that important to the skater community… Well, this AAA wristband also gave me access to meet the one and only Tony Hawk and fulfill my middle school poser child fantasies. [Come on people (especially the dudes), if you could meet any celeb of your childhood, Tony Hawk would be up towards the top - thanks to the Nintendo 64/Playstation video game "Tony Hawk Pro Skater"]...

BOWL-A-RAMA had three main competitions: the Masters competition, the Pros competition, and the Best Trick competition. The Masters competition included all the older skater dudes (typically 40+) who are/were professional skaters - this group contained Mr. Tony Hawk. The Pros competition included a myriad of young skater dudes, with the youngest being only 14! Any of the contestants could enter themselves in the Best Trick competition, in which an extension of the bowl was mounted to provide the skaters with a "higher trick capacity" (NOTE: this is my personal interpretation and lingo - I actually have little to no knowledge of how to provide much insight into the skater world...). 

So I bet by now you are wondering who won BOWL-A-RAMA Bondi... drum roll... The winner of the Masters competition was TONY HAWK (*shocker*). The winner of the Pros competition was Pedro Barros (AKA arguably the most consistent and best skaters in the world at the moment). And the winner of the Best Trick was Josh Borden. 

I highly HIGHLY suggest checking out the highlight reel of the entire day - just click here. It is an awesome video of an even more awesome day!

Best Salad In Sydney

Okay, okay. I know what you are thinking - "'Best Salad in Sydney'...? Wow what an interesting blog story... Does Cary even eat salads? If so, since when? And again, why does this salad deserve an entire blog post?"

I'll tell you why - because the salads from South Dowling Street Sandwiches are the best in town, and I want everyone to know about it. If there is even the slightest chance of you someday considering to visit me/Sydney, then you must know about this local lunchtime gem. The unnamed sandwich shop, that is recognized by passerbys with only an amateur sketch of a sandwich, is located just a few blocks from Bashful, anddddd I probably go and get a salad from them once or twice a week for lunch. Thus, making it a relevant establishment and worthy of a blog post. 

Lettuce. Rocket. Lentils. Beetroot. Spinach. Grilled Eggplant and Zucchini. Tomato. Green beans. Capsicum (a.k.a. green pepper). Topped with a scoop of potato salad (don't know why, but I don't ask questions) and caramelized carrots (again, I don't know what compelled them to add this, but again, I won't object). Mixed to perfection with the perfect ratio of olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  

This, ladies and gentlemen, is a salad. 

BTW...

For those of you I haven't personally told (or for those of you who haven't stalked me on LinkendIn lately)... Bashful has officially hired me full-time as an Account Executive! 

Bring it on, real world.

OMG I, Like, Totally Love Summer

As I mentioned in a previous post, Bondi Beach is swarming with tourists (or as I put it earlier, shoobies) from all over the world.  In the peak of the summer holiday months, one can hear four different languages being spoken in their personal hearing radius while mindlessly lounging on the beach.  From Brazilians to Germans, to Russians and South Africans, Bondi Beach is the most diverse and touristy beach I have ever been to.  When I am in relaxation mode on the beach, I enjoy the mishmash of languages around me, most of which I can’t even make an educated guess of where they are from (although I try).

But there is one language that is so distinct, so very familiar and loud that anyone on the beach would be able to pinpoint the origin.  These tourists tend to travel in big groups, usually being lead around by one or two individuals that claim they “like so totally know where they are going” – these boisterous travelers are The Americans.

As I soak up the Australian sunrays, I can’t help but eavesdrop on the American tourists, not only because I love eavesdropping and it is undoubtedly one of my favorite beach activities, but also because it is almost impossible to drown them out.  I have overheard Americans on the beach many times this summer, but the most enlightening eavesdropping experience was when I tuned into a very large group of students obviously in Sydney for their study abroad. As they boasted about how jealous their friends back home were of them because they were enjoying summer in Australia while their homies were left fighting the bitterly cold winter, I learned a few things about this group of Americans:

• They use “guy in the black Speedo” and “chick wearing the fedora” as prominent landmarks to define their location on the beach
• The South Park insult, “You’re a towel”, is still a very amusing and crowd-pleasing comeback
• "Literally” does not actually mean “literally”. But they literally said “literally” twenty two times during one conversation
• They miss Chipotle (and REAL Mexican food) as much as I do
• They also have an obsession with Hungry Jacks – more specifically, they are huge fans of Hungry Jack’s limited time summer offer of $1 large frozen Cokes (in which, they reminded me to swing by HJ on the way home…)
• They love Kings Cross. Of course they do - it’s three blocks of filthy nightclubs and cheesy bars, and I bet $100 that majority of these ‘Mericans were under 21 years old and that they are fully embracing the 18+ drinking age
• And, they needed just one more person to commit to climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge to get the bulk discount. I was about to volunteer except 1) I’ve already climbed the Bridge with my parents last time I was in Sydney in 2012, 2) it is a very expensive activity (but totally worth doing if you can make room for it in your budget), and 3) the group would think I was super creepy for wanting to join, while at the same time I would have blown my cover and would have to admit that I was eavesdropping – which would be super awkward...

This group of Americans were loving life on the beach, and I couldn’t help but smile because they reminded me so much of myself when I first lived in Australia back in 2012.  Oh the glory days… Being able to go to the beach (or in my case, the Southbank lagoon in Brisbane) in between classes, talking about how holding a koala was a life-changing experience, and developing lifelong friendships with other adventurous students like you.  Although the group of Americans made me miss the fun times I had when I studied abroad, it also made me realize how much I have grown and how I have successfully immersed myself in the Australian culture.  Obviously I still think holding koalas and lounging with kangaroos is freaking awesome, but I have also learned that there is so much more to life in Australia than Hungry Jacks and overpriced beer. 

Sheep Toilet Cow Toilet

Welcome to Woolloomooloo

Woolloomooloo is a harbourside inner-city, eastern suburb of Sydney and probably has the best, most Australian name of all of the suburbs in the Sydney-area.  Not only is the name awesome, but whoever created the signs that welcome travelers (native and foreign) into the suburb is a creative genius.  If you must know, the name derives from Aboriginal origins, and according to Wikipedia, there are two Indigenous terms/sayings that it is argued Woolloomooloo stems from:

1) Wallamullah - meaning place of plenty 

or 

2) Wallabahmullah - meaning young black kangaroo 

Take your pick.