Stopping in Sydney

After my work trip to Melbourne, of course I needed to make a stop in my former home in Sydney. My friend Mike is still living there, and it was close enough for a quick visit. I left Melbourne early in the morning a short Jetstar flight. I found I wasn’t needing much sleep due to the excitement of working in the events industry and a healthy amount of jet lag.

I arrived at Mike’s apartment around mid day and we went to grab some delicious middle eastern food for lunch.

Both of us were still on the clock for work, so we spent the afternoon catching up between calls and emails. At night, we had some tasty Chinese food for dinner and stopped at a pub. Then, I forgot to take a picture, but we went to one of my favorite movie theaters, Golden Age Cinema, to see the new Paul Thomas Anderson and Leonardo DiCaprio movie, which I thought was fantastic. I love how the Golden Age theatre is small and intimate and offers a carefully curated set of movies. I’ve stayed on their weekly newsletter since 2019! Plus, they have good snacks.

When I lived in Sydney, I spent a fair amount of time in Bondi Beach (even though shockingly I never surfed there!) The next day, I felt compelled to revisit , especially because the yoga studio I used to go to has since moved to Bondi. I took a morning class at Om House, where I was sad to find that my former teacher Eileen was not teaching, but I took a lovely class with Trevor.

After class, I ordered breakfast at a nearby cafe and bookstore (Gertrude & Alice). As soon as I sat down, I saw a sign that said “No laptops,” which I fully respect in a bookstore, but which wouldn’t suit me because it was my last day of work before two weeks of vacation!

I ate very quickly, and it was immediately time for second breakfast. I headed over to Cali Press for a smoothie and banana bread— a very popular item in Australia.

I finished my most essential work and decided to leave some for the very last minute in the airport the next morning (risky!). That was because my visit happened to very fortunately coincide with SXSW Sydney music festival. Mike works in the music industry, so he invited me to meet him and his colleagues at a rooftop happy hour. I had a great time and met his coworkers from all over the place—New Zealand, Taiwan, South Korea, and even a band from way back home in the Hudson Valley, NY.

That night, we went out with Mike’s friends and checked out a few shows. SXSW Sydney is a very scaled down version of the bigger SXSW, but there were bands playing in bars and stages in the streets throughout the city. I’m happy I got to be a part of it!

Then it was time for bed and an early rise to fly to New Zealand the next day. My visit to Sydney was too short this time, but it was very sweet!