Month: December 2014

Yesterday we went to the beachside suburb of Manly. The boys loved the big waves and were safe thanks to one Manly lifeguards. They are one of the oldest lifeguard teams in the world, having been formed in 1903 after 17 people drowned in the first official bathing season the year previous. He has a passing resemblance to comedian Jason Sudeikis. The founder of Sydney, Captain Arthur Phillip named the area “manly” because of the masculine characteristics of the aboriginal people of the area. He was speared in the shoulder there, which is quite a masculine thing to have happen to someone. We took the ferry from Circular Quay to Manly and had some great views of the Sydney harbor (below). The only bad part of the day was the rain in the afternoon, which drove everyone home and made for a crowded ferry ride back home.

We had Christmas dinner and Skyped with a many family members as we could reach. We spent Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and Boxing Day mostly around the apartment in Chatswood. Some locals nicknamed it “Chatswoo” due to its high Chinese and other Asian immigration population. We did notice many Asians and at times it felt like we are still in Japan. Owen showed an interest in the Aussie sports of cricket and football so I took the kids to a nearby oval to play.

Tonight we leave Sydney for Byron Bay. I can see why Sydney is one of the world’s great cities! The massive harbor and weather are magnificent. The city is relatively safe, organized with a high quality of life. The one bad thing is the high cost of living which surprised me coming from Japan. I found it more expensive here than in Osaka. This trip also reminded me of the unique flora and fauna of Australia, which is one of the biggest attractions for me to the country.  Sydney is a little too big for me and I prefer life on the west coast. I am looking forward to watching the Boxing Day Test Cricket Match today from the MCG between Australia and India.

Our family has a close relationship to the wonderful country of Australia. Nadia grew up in Melbourne and we lived in Perth while she was going to Murdoch University. She would like to move back someday here and we are considering sending our children to university here.

It didn’t feel like our usual Christmas this year as we are traveling. It will be nice to be reunited with family this weekend. I’ll be posting from Byron Bay later.

The city of Sydney is blessed by nature. The Port Jackson harbor, with its deep inlets, peninsulas, islands, bays and ravines makes for numerous stunning views. The Mediterranean sunshine and climate allow verdant, tropical gardens to grow easily, and this combination of blue water, green hillsides and limestone cliffs is absolutely stunning.

City authorities have done a decent job of protecting some of the coastline from development. Yesterday we went for a hike in the Harold Reid Reserve, a protected area on the Middle Cove peninsula. It is about 3 kilometers from where we are staying in Chatswood. Running through the reserve is the small Scotts Creek where I caught a brilliant blue glimpse of the Azure King Fisher. The reserve also has a mangrove area and  we identified massive tree ferns, banksia trees, and saw two kookaburras. There was also a flock of sulfur-crested cockatoos, and a pair of rainbow lorikeets, loudly squawking in a date palm. I was sure we were going to see one of Australia’s infamous poisonous snakes, but no such luck.

The only thing that bothers me as usual, is the encroachment of housing developments. I guess the money is too good not for people to put multimillion dollars homes on. On the way back we looked in the window of a real estate agency and were shocked what goes for a million-dollar home + here in Sydney. In the USA, the same homes would go for a 1/3 of the price. I don’t know how so many people can afford such expensive homes.

It is always nice to have access to a bit of nature close by in a city of 5 million people. Let’s hope city officials can build on this and preserve more areas of coastline.

We are spending Christmas in Sydney, Australia. We are staying at a friend’s apartment in Chatswood, an affluent suburb on the north shore of Sydney, about 10 kilometers from downtown.

On our first day in Sydney, we visited the the iconic Sydney Opera House and walked around downtown. Seeing the opera house is like seeing the Eiffel Tower or the Taj Mahal, it is one of the world buildings that is instantly recognizable. The opera house is unique, although it is in need of a face lift as the roof has yellowed a bit and the dark wood beams scream 1980s. There were heaps of people outside the opera house and hanging out along the docks. The atmosphere is quite nice with outdoor restaurants, bars, and cafes. We escaped the crowds and spent the afternoon at the Sydney Botanic Gardens. The open lawns with a skyscraper backdrop reminded me of Central Park in New York. We had a fantastic, relaxing, and fun day with each other. We had running races, sumo wrestling matches, and I especially was interested in the trees and plants that were identified in the gardens. As I always say, it really doesn’t matter where I spend my holidays, as long as I am with my family, I’ll have a wonderful time.

Nadia is happy to be reminiscing about her childhood. She grew up in the suburbs of Melbourne and left when she was 14 years old. It was funny that we couldn’t find a meat pie yesterday for lunch. There are lots of Asian restaurants but not Aussie meat pie shops. It may be a reflection of Australia being in Asia or the impact of immigration. We did get some fish and chips for dinner and a stop at the Woolworth’s super market resulted in a descriptions by Nadia of every product she remembers. 🙂

We finished the evening enjoying some Australian wine. Nadia and I had a glass of botrytis semillon produced by the Nugan Estate here in NSW. I forgot how good Aussie wines were! We used to live in Perth 13 years ago (has it been that long since we left?) and we learned about wine through courses at Western Australia University and trips to the Margaret River wine region.

Some of my initial impression of Australia:

• Osaka Japan is cheaper than Sydney. Things are really expensive here. I always thought Japan, Norway, and Switzerland were the most expensive places, but I would put Sydney on that list. I wonder if the economic statistics bear that out?
• Owen nailed it on the head by saying he was reminded of Spain while were were walking to the train station. The sunlight here is like the Mediterranean and I would say Australia is a mix between California and Spain. I can see why people want to come here as it is so beautiful with perfect weather.
• Sydney is much busier and cosmopolitan than Perth. We lived in Perth from 2000 to 2002 before moving to Venezuela.
• Topics in the Sydney Morning Herald were breaking down the recent attack on the Sydney cafe by the Iranian immigrant and a horrific story of 7 siblings aged 15 months to 17 years old were found dead in a Cairns home. The mom was also stabbed but was alive and taken to the hospital. There was also an article about real estate, which continues to increase in value like in the USA before the bubble burst. I foresee a real estate bubble bursting here also. Incomes are not rising as fast as real estate prices are rising.

Well, that is it for this morning. We are headed off to the famed Bondi Beach today to give the kids a taste of Aussie lifeguard and beach culture.

Men turn into their fathers as we get older. I am more and more interested in the weather as I age. I remember my father always mentioned the weather when I talked with him from afar and he had thermometers outside all sides of the house to check daily. I guess a part of it is my background in science and my interest in the earth sciences like geology, astronomy, and meteorology. Understanding and observing climate, wind patterns, tracking precipitation, etc. is fascinating.

After living for 13 years in tropical countries, my past two posts, Serbia and Japan, have been refreshing because of the change of seasons. This is my seventh consecutive year of living in latitudes outside of the tropics. Osaka is 34 degrees north of the equator, which generally the same latitude as Los Angeles, California, Atlanta, Georgia, Nicosia, Cyprus and Kabul, Afghanistan.

Osaka’s climate is classified as humid subtropical. It has hot, humid summers and cool “mild” winters and a definite change of seasons. The summer was incredibly hot and wet and the fall was gorgeous with perfect weather. This winter so far has been cold, not northern Michigan cold where I am from, the more like the Balkans cold with temperatures around 0 C. We even had snow flurries yesterday, which is very rare for December here, and over the year on average it only snows 3 centimeters (1 inch) per year. That is a bit sad because I love snow.

It feels much colder because of the lack of insulation  and central heating in Japanese homes. They tend to close off rooms in the winter, use small heating devices like electric rugs/blankets, pocket hand warmers, portable gas and electric heaters, instead of a furnace like in European or North American homes. I was joking that living in our house is like living in our summer porch in my childhood home in Michigan. We had a non-insulated room in the back of our house that was used for storage or sleeping in the summer (before the days of air conditioning). I find this interesting why the homes are not insulated well, as things here have a developed infrastructure, like highways, buildings, etc, why not have insulated homes? It is a mystery I hope to answer in my time here.

The students at our school from India and Brazil were very excited to see snow yesterday. I am looking forward to see how the winter progresses into spring.

It is a cliche that kids grow up so fast, but it does seem like it. I can’t believe Owen, our eldest son is already 12 years old. It seems only like yesterday that he was a little, chubby baby and in my jogging stroller drinking his bottle while I ran around Anaco. Where does the time go?

I took the photo above last week showing Owen in his basketball uniform and holding his MVP trophy. He won the award as the best player on his team at the Western Japan Athletic Association (WJAA) middle school boys basketball championships hosted by the Marist Brothers International School in Kobe. He really enjoyed playing basketball this year and we are very proud of him.

Yesterday we took him to the Hard Rock Cafe, made him breakfast in bed, and allowed him to use his iPad as much as he wanted. Typical of a boy nearing his teenage years, he was thrilled to receive headphones. We got him the popular “beats” by Dre type.

We are so proud of Owen and we love him very much! Happy Birthday!