Blue Mountains and Sydney Cruelty-Free Festival

I went to the Blue Mountains on Saturday for another all day trip. It was basically a bit of hiking and staring at trees. Highlights were seeing the mountains (not actually blue- just a sort of mirage via eucalyptus leaves from afar) and going on the steepest railway in the world (traveling up a mountain backwards at 52 degrees), which was kind of epic. On Sunday, I decided I should go outside for a bit with my suite mate Jackie and pretend to be vegan for half an hour by visiting the nearby Sydney Cruelty-Free Festival. I was just curious about what there was there and Jackie is an animal studies minor, so she was curious, too (and we wanted to eat really good food). There were a few people there of interesting walks of life and many dogs, which was really nice. There were also the standard extremist groups, vegan pet food stalls, and human food stalls, as well as live music. We indulged in the human food and sat in the grass to listen to the 'grunge rock influenced' band. I got an Indian savory lentil donut thing and a sweet cardamom nut ball thing, which were amazing. The spices and flavors really pushed the appetizery foods over the edge of normal, but I can't really identify what those were besides delicious (like eyes popping out of your head delicious). Jackie got a vegan burger with beets, onions, and other vegetables, which was probably one of the best burgers (period) ever because of the variety of textures layered on top of one another- it was like all of my taste buds were singing. After, we split vegan cupcakes- Mandarin Walnut (weird) and Lemon Curd Earl Grey (REALLY amazing- actually tasted like lemon curd and earl grey). Late Sunday night, we celebrated one of the girls birthdays over cake. It was cute. In the meantime, I am looking forward to Thursday when I visit the Great Barrier Reef :)

Sydney Opera House and Kurnell Peninsula

A bit of meandering around the Rocks in the afternoon yesterday, I was off for a night of swankiness. We met at Establishment on George Street for drinks and nibbles 'dressed to impress' and then walked over to the Sydney Opera House. We watched BBC's Planet Earth in Concert with the Sydney Metropolitan Opera serenading us to the clips of sliding polar bears, leaping dolphins, and the evasive snow leopard. It was actually amazing and I was happily surprised.

Today, I had another all day field trip with my Journalism class. We went to Kurnell Peninsula to learn about the environmental issues there and went around Cronulla Beach. It was nice, but kind of cloudy. We had a nice tour guide who had a variety of taxidermy-ed native animals for reference so he could talk about them better. You know, how every teachers discusses animals. Besides that, I got a falafel and chai smoothie for lunch and it was magical. After the field trip, I went to the gym and did some reading for class. I say some because I actually spent way more time applying for internships for next semester than doing homework, which calms my anxiety.

Tomorrow I am off to the Blue Mountains for another full day of business :)

Jedda and a Sydney Food Crawl

On Tuesday, I watched the film Jedda as part of my Aboriginal Art class in the lovely auditorium in Science House. The filmmakers were not Aboriginal and it was a super racist movie, leading me to the conclusion that it was not Aboriginal art. However, there were a few Aboriginal people in the film as well as abductions and suicide. You know, stuff I want to see in the middle of the day. Well... at least we were fed by NYU. After, I went to the gym and locked myself in my room to watch Netflix- a common theme of this week since I am super ahead in my homework (actually almost more than a week ahead and literally did nothing this week). Anyways, I forgot to mention I got chili hot chocolate with Jackie at The Chocolate Room on Sussex Street. It was probably the best hot chocolate of my life, but the person working there was really weird...

On the theme of watching movies and eating food, that is what I did for most of today. I slept in late, went to class (where we had a guest speaker who was a comedian/ actor with a short film featuring him choosing a favorite twin and telling us in real life about his friend who was a cousin kissing mess- and yes, this is what my fancy education buys me), went to the gym, watched some more Netflix, walked around Darling Harbor to enliven my skin with sunlight, and got delicious food in Haymarket. I went to the famed malaysian spot Mamak for roti with 3 different sauce for $5.50- great deal in this town. However, it is clear my priorities lie in being healthy as I downed an $8 giant mango dessert (neopolitan ice cream, shaved ice, mango, and other substances that are delicious) from the Taiwanese dessert house chain Meet Fresh in my workout clothes as real runners passed me with judgement in their eyes in the park. Other things I consumed today (and yes, they were not good): grande soy green tea latte from Starbucks (starting off my day with too sweet drinks I have never had before, and at Starbucks for too much money- I am seriously bonkers); "naan" from chinese bakery (okay, this was actually amazing, but really greasy); and milky custard red bean bun (nasty, threw away most of it even though the ingredients sounded good). I think I am going to stick to making food myself (I just gave up today) and eating at the healthy places like Sumo Salad and Salad Plus (things here are hilariously named). The best thing I ate today was hands down the Meet Fresh mango dessert. Worth spending significantly more on dessert than dinner. I tried a few things I had been craving. But actually, I need to start eating more fruits and vegetables after today.

A domani!

Sculptures by the Sea and White Rabbit Art Gallery

Yesterday, I literally locked myself in  my room all day to do homework- sad, but true. I only left my room to make food and go to the gym. However, I finished my homework for the week and had all of today free- a great trade off in my eyes.

Dogman and Rabbit lady on Donkey sculpture by Tamarama 

Sculpture on Tamarama Beach 

Sculpture on Tamarama Beach 

I slept in and headed off for my beloved walk from Coogee to Bondi. I love the views and it is great to actually do a form of chilled out exercise outdoors (I guess it is glorified hiking). Anyways, the Sculptures by the Sea thing just started, which is basically 100 pieces of commissioned sculptures throughout the beaches and parks between Tamarama and Bondi. They were really amazing and I took photos. The one thing I did not like was how many people were clogging the path- I had never seen so many people walking the narrow beach paths before, but I guess it is good so many people came out to see the sculptures. I also went into an indoor gallery area to see smaller pieces, which were equally as cool. One of my favorite pieces were the colored dinosaurs- just ridiculous and amazing all in one. I guess there was also the beginning of a surf competition at Bondi and live music, which I partially paid attention to as I laid in the sand.

Dinosaurs! (Sculptures by the Sea)

After a bit of relaxing under the sun, I headed back into the city. I had been wanting to try a bubble tea shop near where I live called Happy Lemon and it was actually open when I walked by, so I had to get something. I had been craving a green tea soy latte, but they had so many varieties of that, plus a free tea deal with any purchase. I settled on a green tea with adzuki bean and pudding "specialty drink" and a kumquat lemon tea- both amazing. I think my only mistake was not getting a large. So far, Happy Lemon has been the best bubble tea/ tea shop I have been to in Sydney and I will probably go again- it was REALLY good. Apparently, there is a Happy Lemon on Main Street in Flushing, Queens, which means I know where I am stopping after visiting World Ice Arena!

Sculptures by the Sea 

After having a life changing boba experience, I waltzed over to White Rabbit Gallery (a privately owned, but free to the public, contemporary Chinese art gallery in Redfern). The gallery was really amazing and the pieces were hand picked by the owner of the gallery, who regularly makes visits to China and Taiwan to pick up art because she can and she is painstakingly rich. I also really love contemporary art, so it was a treat to see local contemporary art outdoors by the beaches and then Chinese contemporary art in the gallery. A lot of the pieces were not at all what I expected of "Chinese art" because a lot of the works were very political and some even anti-government. Overall, I wanted most of the pieces in the imaginary apartment I don't have. When I do get an apartment, I will name it something like Sir Richard III. Oh, and one of the security guards at White Rabbit Gallery was hitting on me, so that meant it was time to leave because talking to people just wouldn't be anti-social.

Is he falling into the branches or struggling for freedom? Is the red blood or flowers? (White Rabbit Gallery)

In other less interesting news related to school, I wrote a kick ass paper about two contemporary Indigenous Australian art pieces and this is what they look like:

Esme Timbery’s “Shellworked Slippers” at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia

 

Jonathan Jones’ “untitled (oysters and teacups)” 

from the 18th Biennale of Sydney at Cockatoo Island

Also, I am published again(!):   http://nyunews.com/index.php/2012/10/19/habits/

And for fun, here are some picks from when I was in Canberra (supposedly the most boring place in all of Australia):

The Big Merino (yes, you can climb the inside of the giant sheep)

A wall covered in postcards inside one of the ANU (Australian National University) bars

Canberra city view

Australian War Memorial

View from Parliament

Floriade

Other other news is that I made my schedule for next semester (lots of business classes) and my parents are going on vacation- again. This week, I will have an extra Aboriginal art class, an all day Journalism field trip Friday, and then a visit to the Blue Mountains on Saturday. This week is going to be busy!

A domani!

Triple Birthday and SURFING!!!

Yesterday was the Triple Birthday: 3/20 people in my program had their birthday on October 18th. Happy Birthday to Jackie, Alex, and Jimmy! This statistical anomaly truly was discussed for the past 2 months we have been in Sydney, with good reason. There was cake and lots of celebrating.

Today, I made my theoretical schedule for next semester/ my last semester of college in my panic of receiving 2 emails about registering for classes. Hopefully, I will be taking Into to Marketing, Senior Media Seminar: Digital Happiness, Mass Persuasion and Propaganda, and the rest I have in mind I will not reveal until later (but they do have to do with communication and stuff like that). After my panicked schedule making, I left for Maroubra Beach to learn how to surf. Even though Bondi is my favorite beach, I had never been to Maroubra, which happens to be the beach where all of the surf competitions are held in Sydney and where all of the professional surfers catch waves. There were 2 other people in my class who were a super nice couple from New Zealand and England. Our instructor literally looked like a Ken doll. His name was Jake and he had blond hair with eyes the color of the ocean (I am not just saying that, I had the ocean right there for comparison). We went over basic stuff and I tried to stand up, but was fairly unsuccessful. However, I did catch a lot of waves without fully standing up and caught lots of salt water up my nose. Regardless, it was an amazing experience. The feeling of the waves pushing you forward is really breath taking. It was just great. Usually, I am better at describing things, but I felt really happy and had a lot of fun, which was more important to me than being amazing at surfing randomly. After two hours of surfing, I wiggled out of my wet suit and laid on the sand for a bit. It was really relaxing considering how much energy I felt I used surfing. Surfing is actually pretty hard, but totally worth the effort. I am jealous of locals who get to surf every day (or just hang by the beach). I saw a few dolphins by where we were surfing, which was pretty awesome. Locals also wake board and snorkel when they aren't playing rugby on the sand. Basically, I am jealous of people who get to hang by the beach all the time (period).

As a side note, the whole time I was surfing, this song was playing in my head: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpadYhXHgwA

In summary, I felt like a bad ass today.

Me having a life: Pancakes, Sydney Harbor Bridge, Art, and Noodle Market

Today, I conquered. Well, not really. I slept in and went to class. Then, I got pancakes at Pancakes on the Rocks with my local friend Arwin. After, we walked the Sydney Harbor Bridge and back. It was really nice to hang out with him after not seeing him for so long. Then, I went to the Museum of Contemporary Art to do some research for my exhibition review paper for my Aboriginal Art class. I have some pieces in mind to write about, but I don't have a developed argument about the pieces- so I need to think a lot about what my paper will actually say. After, I walked to Hyde Park to get an early dinner at the Noodle Market. I was impressed with how many vendors were there and how crowded it was. I realized I should spend more time sitting in Hyde Park. I got butter chicken with noodles, rice, salad, and veggies. It was really nice. After eating a real meal, I thought I did a few chores like buying groceries and now I am typing to avoid going to the gym (but I will in a bit)...

Sotheby's auction and Interning for a non-profit

Monday night, I went to a Sotheby's auction for my Aboriginal Art class. It was smaller than I expected  and took 1.5 hours instead of the anticipated 4 hours, but I still did not really want to be there. It was not something I would want to do again, but I guess it was an interesting experience. I can say I went to  a high-end art auction now. Today, I started my internship/ volunteering for a non-profit creative writing center for kids. I did a bit of filing and some homework, and then I did a bit of tutoring. I really wanted to do something fulfilling, but I don't feel like I did much today. On the other hand, I think I might actually learn a bit about creative writing and do more in the following weeks. Who knows? I am gong to let it breathe. In the meantime, I have been thinking about where I am going to live next semester and what classes I am going to take, as well as watching movies on Netflix to avoid doing homework (even though I am technically ahead). L!fe Happens, Dakota Skye, and Mercy were watched (time stops for my movies when I procrastinate). Also, my coffee habit (long black with soy in Australia/ soy Americano in USA) is starting to kick up again, but I need to calm it down.

Ku Ring Gai Chase National Park and a weekend in Canberra

Two of the field trips I went on this week were to a national park and to Australia’s capital, Canberra. I went to the Ku Ring Gai Chase park for my Aboriginal Art class to see some of the Aboriginal art there. Honestly, most of the art we saw was not as impressive as the Aboriginal art I saw in the Outback, but the park was really beautiful and not even half as hot as the Outback.

I spent Friday through Sunday in Canberra for my Australian Society class. Friday, we saw the Big Merino (a giant sheep structure), visited the Australian National University (ANU) and met a few administrators for tea, then visited the ANU bar, and then went to a pub called Mooseheads for dinner. I ate way too much food because appetizer after appetizer kept being served to us and NYU was paying, so I was not complaining. Saturday, we visited a lookout that had amazing views of all of Canberra (a very small, cute town constantly accused of being boring as the nation’s capital and the origin of Australian law). Then, we visited the National War Memorial Museum (it was huge!), went to an annual flower fair called Floriade, and visited the Australian National Gallery. Although the flowers were really beautiful, I loved visiting the National Gallery because I love art so much. I was surprised (though probably foolishly) that the museum had a few Warhols, Monets, and even a Dali lobster phone (perhaps one of my favorite pieces). For dinner, we got pizza. Sunday, we visited Parliament and were given a tour around several national embassies (the United State’s embassy is the biggest!). After visiting Parliament, we visited a farm just outside of Canberra, where we got to play with 4-day-old lambs and watch a sheep get sheared. While on the farm, we were served an elaborate lunch of juice/wine/beer/soda, bread, beefsteak, salad, beets, potatoes, pineapple, tea, coffee, and cake (a nice change from my latest ramen obsession). Before leaving the farm and returning to Sydney, we were taught how to throw a boomerang and I didn’t kill any animals, so I felt it was a success.

On a side note, my newest website obsession is Art.sy, which is an algorithm-based, personalized art recommendation site (basically Pandora for art). I highly recommend signing up if you like art J My Monday is going to be an interesting day of class and a Sotheby’s art auction. I have never been to an art auction, never mind such a high-end one, so I will post about that soon. In the meantime, read my latest published article: http://nyunews.com/index.php/2012/10/11/sydney-2/ 

Barangaroo and Gruen Planet

I am back to class/ "real life," yet all I am doing this week is field trips. I have 5. That is serious. Anyways, yesterday I went to learn about the new Barangaroo development in the Sydney Harbor area. It was interesting, but I thought the coolest part of the development is that the cultural center they are building will be underground because of high rise laws and aesthetic value reasons. Today, I worked on a presentation for my Global Media class focusing on ethics, wrote 2 articles for the Washington Square News, and attended the taping on Gruen Planet. Gruen Planet is an ABC (Australian Broadcasting Network) show about media, marketing, and advertising. The host, Wil Anderson, is a hilarious 38-year-old who really liked engaging the audience. I attended as a field trip, which I had been slightly concerned about, but I am really happy I went because it was so funny and interesting. It seems like a show that I would love to watch and even work for. I actually realized that I would love to work in television and might even take a Tisch producing class next semester if I still am keen in a week and a month and later :) Wil reminded me a lot of Jon Stewart in the sense that he was such a quick and funny tv host. I would love to be part of something so fun, snarky, and on a topic I am obsessed with like media and marketing.

Back to Sydney from the outback

I had a crazy and long vacation from school in the outback. Honestly, it was really hard at times, but now that I am outside of my experience waiting in the Alice Springs airport, I learned a lot from my experience. I traveled with 3 classmates on 3 three day tours (do 9 days on touring plus 2 days of travel). We started with 3 days in Kakadu from Darwin, continued from Darwin to Alice springs for 3 days, and then traveled to Uluru from Alice Springs for the last 3 days. I am exhausted, but the following are highlights of why I did:

Day 1:
- swam in rock pool
- Swam in waterfall park (Florence falls)
- went on crocodile cruise on a billabong
- saw termite hill cemetery
- swam in a real pool

Day 2:
- visited aboriginal cultural center
- aboriginal rock art/ 360 degree views
- cave swimming and cliff jumping

Day 3:
- Jim Jim falls swim and hike
- twin falls swim and hike

Day 4:
- saw famous dead buffalo on the road and witnessed an incredible sunset
- 4 hours kayaking

Day 5:
- thermal pool under a bat colony
- pub with zoo and museum
- 1st pub in northern territory
- witnessed baby kangaroo rescue and held it in a blanket by campfire to stay warm without its mother

Day 6:
- devil's marbles
- 1st telegraph station in the northern territory
- kangaroos!!!

Day 7:
- camel ride
- hike kjata tjuta
- saw sunset at Uluru
- slept under the stars (the brightest I have ever seen!)

Day 8:
- sunrise at Uluru
- walked around Uluru (5k), as well as with aboriginal guided tour
- Uluru cultural center
- salt lakes!
- swimming!

Day 9:
- hiked king's canyon (3.5 hour creek walk)

As for wild animals, I spotted:
- kangaroos
- horses
- dingoes
- eagles
- crocodiles
- cockatoos
- water snakes
- various lizards and birds
- emus and camels (not in the wild, but I thought they were really cool to see at rest stops)

I feel like I have a lot to do when I get back to Sydney and I am very happy to have both phone an Internet access again now that I am getting out of the middle of the desert! This week, I have 4 field trips coming up including a weekend trip to Canberra.

A domani!