Guddayah

It's amazing how far away I am from America yet how very non-foreign this country feels... Melbourne feels exactly like Brooklyn, NY or Hoboken, NJ just with a lots of Australians around... young, hip, fresh, English-speaking, loud, noisy Australians.  They jay-walk.  They ask strangers for directions.  They like Lady Gaga.  They have crappy CSI-type TV shows and gang fights.  They have "Lateline" which looks suspiciously like "Dateline." They have a diverse crowd...whites, blacks, asians, indians.  They have Dominos, KFC, something called Hungry Jack which looks suspiciously like Burger King.  They have obnoxious sea gulls that try to eat your food.  They have birds of paradise, agave, lavendar and lots of other flowers commonly found in California.  They have malls and a Chinatown, Korea town, Little Italy.  They are very similar to your typical American city.*

And they don't leave their babies outside in prams...

Melbourne is very much like Copenhagen in that they have a 7-11 on every other street corner, however, just like the US, 7-11's in Melbourne do not sell booze.... It's ok though, I found the beer store next store.

Melbourne is also very much like Copenhagen in that everyone rides bikes, however, just like the US there don't have very safe bike lanes and you can expect to be honked at, flipped off, and maybe run over.

Today is the first day of summer in Australia.  I've come to find that Australian summer is very much like California winter...gorgeous and not too warm during the day, but freezing at night  (when I say "freezing" I mean California freezing = <60 degrees Fahrenheit).

The sun is setting around 8:30pm and today has been nice and sunny.  Yesterday was a mess.  A wise Australian once told me if you don't like the weather here, just wait a few minutes...because it changes ... non-stop.  Yesterday we arrived and it was hot, humid and sunny.  By the time we got to the hotel, showered, changed, and headed back out it was cloudy, windy as a hurricane, and absolutely freezing.  We went into work for a few hours then left.  Decided to walk home because although it was still grey, the wind had died down.  Then the heavens opened up and dropped the Indian Ocean on us....Soaked...freezing. We get back to the hotel, change, try to make plans for the night.  Decide we will walk to the park.  Literally we make it down the hotel steps and it starts pouring again.  We run back inside deciding what to do.. Change of plans, let's just go watch an IMAX movie...something indoors.  We decide on that, walk outside, and it is absolutely gorgeous outside....

Tonight we went to the top of the Eureka tower.

The sky deck of the tower is 88 floors up making it the highest vantage point in the southern hemisphere (984.3ft high).
It also has the fastest elevator in the southern hemisphere.
There are two 300,000 liter water tanks on the 90 and 91st floor to prevent excess swaying.
It would be bad if the ceilings gave way....
The glass on the top 10 levels is 24 carat gold plated.  Is this a waste of gold?


*TOG + Gary 2011

Cause I'm Freakin [out] on a Jet Plane

Prepping for international travel...Arriving at the international terminal at the Los Angeles airport I stumble into a Chinese-speaking lady and mumble, "unskyld,"  which is Danish for "excuse me"... getting ready...warming up...losing it... 

I climb aboard the gigantic two story airplane that somehow flies!?  I still don't understand how airplanes work.  I find my seat...row 85, yes 85...aisle seat, phew.  I can hear a dog barking down below the floor.  Poor dog.  I wonder which one is his owner.  They must feel terrible.  I feel terrible.

Safety instructions...."We know you're more than capable of operating a safety belt, but here are a few tips on how it works" ...  much less insulting than on non-American airlines, at least they acknowledge they are not trying to teach you something new...

Now everyone's seated.  Waiting.  The captain comes on the speaker system announcing they are re-fueling the gas tanks and reminds every one to please remain seated without their seat belts fastened. "I repeat please do not fasten your seat belts until the refueling process is finished"....  Well that's an ominous warning.   For some reason I don't think whether or not me having my set belt on or off would help or hurt my chances of surviving if this plane were to explode right now...

An hour later the pilot announces they have successfully filled the tank up with 224 tons of gas.  I think I heard him wrong but I'm pretty sure that's what he said.  --Fact checking is encouraged-- How are you going to get 224 tons off the ground?  And that's just the fuel?  He then signifies it is safe to put on your seat belt.  I cannot stop thinking about the plane exploding.  Wonder how big of an explosion 224 tons of jet fuel would cause?  Would I die instantly? I hope so. Don't think about dying... cannot stop thinking about dying... this is the end... why did I do this?

These new fancy planes have individual TVs for each seat where you can watch movies, play games, read the news etc.  You can also watch live camera footage of the plane from the sky camera placed on the top of the plane's tail.  Every time I turned on the skycam I kept thinking I was going to see a wing fall off or another plane crash into us, or a goose get sucked into the engines.  Cannot stop looking for causes of death. Turn off skycam. If I'm going to die, I don't want to see it coming.  Order a ginger beer and vodka.  Turn on Lord of the Rings....Sleep is upon me.

23 hours after I left my house, I arrive at my hotel in Melbourne, Australia. 


Then went for a walk to explore this new city...

Carlten Gardens

Imax

Chinatown:

 Church:

 Graffiti:

 Federation Square... where all the cool kids hang out:

Cricket stadium in the distance:

 Glass fish:

Opera house:

Boathouse:

South beach:

 Swans:

 Crewin' in muddy waters:

Al, are you Australian?  This isn't the first guy I've seen here who reminded me of you...

View from the hotel: