Sydney - warning: long post ahead (links to pics in the last para)

As many of you would have known, I left home for Sydney on 5th May, and came back just recently on 10th June. Besides having my flight delayed on my way there as well as on the way back, the entire trip was... i cant find the right word... charming.

First of, the weather there was so much better than that warm, humid, walk-5-metres-and-you-sweat kindof climate I've been used to back at home. It got colder throughout the time I was there and I thoroughly loved it. The taxi to my hostel (a mere 20 minute ride) on the very 1st night brought me back by $19 AUD (about $24 SGD)... and it was shared!!! The total cost was $38 AUD, and I'm sure the taxi driver cheated us. When I arrived at the hostel, I was a little disappointed as I was used to staying in a clean place. The hostel looked old, tattered and torn, dim... too bad I forgot to take a pic of that place, but the people running the place were friendly enough, and I guess that made it more tolerable. Anyways, I got used to it after awhile.

I forgot to mention that I went to Sydney for my overseas elective. I was posted to the gastro department of Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. My friend, KY, who went with me, was in the respi department. Yes, that meant that on times when the docs were not free to have lunch, I had it alone. Well, I never do that in Singapore - I would rather skip lunch then be seen in the school canteen alone eating. The food in the cafeteria there was kindof bad though, especially the vegetarian noodles, which felt like chewing plastic - bland and hard. Luckily McCafe was nearby and I learnt to enjoy some Deli sandwiches which were available there. Moving away from the lunch topic, 5 other med students went to Sydney, but they applied for a different hospital, so we met up only on weekends and when we were invited for dinner at the apartment which 3 of em are staying in. Yep... apartment. I kindof envied their place, as a couple of weeks into my elective, i started getting bitten by bed bugs. The bites become erythematous (red) and pruritic (itchy)... which was irritating, and that really sucked big time. I tried wrapping myself in the blanket from neck to toe, and that worked initially. After a few days, I assume that the bugs had somehow learnt to wriggle under my cover, as I found new bite marks on my arms and legs.

Anyway, the elective at RPAH was good. The docs were friendly. The conditions seen were not really seen back in sg. On a "good" day, there were 2 UCs and 1 Crohn's... how cool was that?!

I was looking forward to 1st June. That was the day where my mum, sis and gf would come to Sydney for a holiday! (My dad had to stay at home as my grandpa was not feeling well... )Although I didn't mention earlier in this post, I really missed em. Lucky for the invention of the webcam, the wait was better. I was webcamming with my gf almost daily during my elective, and on some days with my family. The day finally arrived, but before I went to the airport to pick them up, I had to check-in to the apartment. The place was near my hostel, so I decided to walk there, which was a horrible decision. I had to drag my million-kg luggage, carry my backpack, and hold on to 3 huge plastic bags of shoes and food up a 90 degree slope along a dark alley to get to the place (it was dark at that time already). I am exaggerating, but it did feel that way. And for the 1st time in the 4 weeks in Sydney, I was drenched in sweat after the 'walk'. I dropped off my barangs in the splendid apartment, and rushed off to the airport via train. When I arrived, I checked the monitor, and it showed that their plane had "Landed".

I was so damn excited. I got a coffee and sat at the cafe in front of the arrival gate and waited... and waited... and waited. Finally, the oh-so-familiar shapes of my family and gf appeared. This was the moment I had been longing for, for so long. I jumped out of my chair and waved. I'm not sure whether I looked like a clown then, but they were all-smiles when they saw me. I hugged them. The feeling then was really wonderful.

Just abit about the holiday... I drove. And I think it was really an achievement as I drove in all kinds of horrible conditions, from strong gales, to heavy lightning storms at night in the last 4 days. Besides, we were really lucky to have left Hunter Valley just before the area became flooded. It really looked like a flood was coming when we were there. Besides that, the trip was great, and we had a great time. We did the bridge climb (up Harbour Bridge), we saw dolphins in Port Stephen (the whale watch was sadly cancelled due to bad weather), we had some great walks in the Blue Mountain, and we had great food all the way. Now, back in humid and warm Sg, I miss Sydney, but well, I guess I'll be back there again some day. Here are some pics which I've taken, and sorry for such a long post. You have finished reading it... good on yer!!! & have a good dai!