Hunter Valley

Hunter Valley with uni mates.

27th to 29th June 2011

Famous angels never come through England

The temperatures in Sydney have dropped dramatically, hovering around the 15 - 17 degrees Celsius mark and its starting to finally to feel as if we're heading into cooler weather. It's the last day of April - a rather shocking fact to realise. The past two months seemed like a whim and I really don't have much recollection as to what had happened but only a slight understanding that I was stuck in a routine. And as I think back to 2010, I don't remember much of it either. Perhaps its the effect of routine, once you immerse yourself fully into something that you do so laboriously, you start to lose yourself and forget about life on the outside.

I can still remember that day in London when we treaded to Buckingham Palace to witness the change of guard. The day was chilly, excessively so and despite wearing those thick winter jackets, nothing seemed to be able to keep me warm enough. It was terribly cold, even more so with the dribbling rain that never seemed to stop and regardless of what type of rain, the English don't seem to use umbrellas at all but only take refuge through their beanies and hats. Anyhow, we walked from Victoria Station to the gates of Buckingham Palace, shoving our way through the other eager tourists and somehow, found a spot by the gate. My hands were frozen and the leather gloves, which I had bought the day before, didn't seem to work as they were pretty wet themselves. Most of the ceremony of the change of guard was cancelled due to the weather which naturally, got us pretty disappointed from making the trek to Central London from the suburbs and exposed to the chilly weather. Nevertheless, we headed indoors to the Queen's gift shop and here we saw, merchandise celebrating the wedding of William and Kate. Upon seeing those ceramics that were beautifully decorated with their names and the date of their wedding, I scoffed to myself, thinking that their wedding was ages away. April! Dah, centuries away! And here we are, on the very last day of April, the Royal Wedding had already taken place and we are heading off into May. Time really does escape you sometimes.

I fell in love again.

Homebound.

Arriving in Sydney after 41 days abroad filled with people and loudness is odd. It's quiet in the household once more and again, the loneliness strikes me. What I loved about being overseas was the people. Everywhere I went were people...even in cold and wintry England. There's no doubt that Hong Kong is lively and bustling so from here onwards, Sydney feels so empty. I've not spent Chinese New Year in Hong Kong since 2009...which hasn't been so long ago but the way that the Chinese celebrate the coming of the Lunar New Year trumps every single New Year spent in Sydney.

From the apparent initial shock of arriving in Hong Kong after a year's absence came the eventual growth of fondness for the place. Yes, it is quite ugly sometimes...with the rude and obnoxious Asians scattering about but in its core, there is fundamentally beauty in Hong Kong. My mum is currently in Hong Kong, with the four of us here in Sydney. The household is oddly empty which isn't an entirely nice feeling...and I really miss her.

Nighttime is falling here. Time does escape me sometimes. We only arrived in Sydney this morning, flying in from the north to Sydney Harbour then eventually, the airport. I've posted about my mad love for the skies and once again, I was blessed with a window seat...I could stare out that window for hours...watching the sky change colours, blend into darkness and the clouds bounce off one another. The flight down from Hong Kong was so pleasant as well, with my cabin actually pretty darn empty. The steward, who was Japanese was so kind and friendly, making the flight even better.

From my time abroad, I've been having a lot of downtime by myself thinking about the things of the past and present. Many things don't matter anymore, especially the things that plagued me before....I hope you are good dear friend.

Buckingham Palace

little shadow will you follow me?

I am currently in Hong Kong, suffering a rude shock from the transition between polite Londoners to absolutely horrendous Hong Kong locals. I never recalled Hong Kong people being so rude...but here I am, less than a day into my trip and I am yearning to go back home where the people aren't so mean.

I flew from London Heathrow to Hong Kong at Midday GMT time and landed in the morning at 8am, HK local time. The skies were bright as we took off from England, transitioning to darkness as night fell upon us then we saw the morning unfold as we jetted into HK. The sky is so beautiful to look from the world above, clouds floating and the sunrises transitioning from yellow hues to shades of purple. We truly live in a beautiful world. I felt overwhelmed as I looked below, humbled with what amazing beauty nature offers us. Sure, with the Queensland floods that have occurred recently may showcase nature's at its worst but at it's best, nature is truly amazing. The plane glided through the clouds, seemingly bouncing off those puffy balls. There is really, in my opinion, nothing in comparable to how beautiful nature's sights are. I'd rather be up in the skies viewing it all instead of owning a designer handbag.

So...the UK was great and utterly amazing. What's that phrase they say when you can't learn from a textbook or something? I'm not sure, but I feel as though coming to the UK has taught me so much and made me feel quite alive. I've spent 3 weeks there....mm, quite a while. But each and every day was spent with fun and I don't think we wasted any day.

Even though I have left, I am positive that I will be back one day.

the northern line is the loudest.

waiting for the 7.18 by bloc party

listening to bloc party on the trains in london is a special feeling. their music was made to reflect the english lifestyle and london. i listened to kreuzberg as the train left the city and into the suburbs - i very much enjoyed that ride.

i've been going out to central london lately and i have to say, i have pretty much fallen in love with it. all the buildings are so magnificent and everything has a story to it - unlike the buildings in australia. the english are also very polite and some, well - very dashing. I really like it here and don't want to leave.... one day, i'll be here. :D

my post is so unstructured - i really hate it.

i'll update more later.

Ldn

I'm in London now and feeling really disorientated. I cannot for one believe that I am in Europe, a place I've only seen through films and other things...but here I am. I am struggling in vain to stay awake despite it being only 4pm - oh the pains of jetlag. Sleep will only come at arond 7 hours time. Everything in England is like a romanticised version of Sydney and its really cold - 10 degrees by which the English regard as warm. Oh what a tourist I am.

With regard to feeling disorientated - being here is so surreal. In many ways I already miss home...the lure of my comfortable bed and pleasant weather. Nevertheless, I strive to make the most out of my time here and see England from a foreigner's perspective.