Earth Hour

Sydney 31 March 2007 7:30pm
Over 65,000 people committed to turning lights off for an hour in Sydney, click HERE for the official site. Sydney is engaged in a campaign to reduce it's greenhouse gas emissions by 5% this year - Earth Hour is one of the events planned in order to educate and motivate people to get involved.

Unfortunately, the Macro Cafe (below) was one of only 3-4 shops in my neighborhood that participated. And that includes all the shops that were already closed and left all/most of their lights on. Hopefully the EH website will have photos, too.

Cultural Learnings of Australia :: Coffee

WHAT IS THAT IN MY CUP?

Caffeine - How do I love theeee, let me count the ways:

ESPRESSO
(aka short black) a single shot topped with a rich crema

LONG BLACK
a shot of espresso topped up with hot water

FLAT WHITE
half a cup of espresso topped with hot milk in a cup

CAPPUCCINO
one third espresso, one third hot steamed milk, one third froth served in a cup and dusted with chocolate powder

CAFFE LATTE
a shot of espresso with steamed milk, and a topping of froth served in a tall thick glass

LONG MACCHIATO
espresso coffee in a regular glass or cup, topped with cold or warm milk and froth and marked, or stained, in the centre by the crema

SHORT MACCHIATO
a shot of espresso and cold or warm milk and froth marked, or stained, in the centre by the crema and served in a glass or demitasse

AFFOGATO
a shot of hot espresso over a scoop of vanilla ice cream, served in a cup

DOPPIO
two shots of espresso with a good golden crema

RISTRETTO
a double strength espresso with good golden crema

CORRETTO
a short black with a shot of brandy, frangelico, or galliano in a demitasse cup

ICED COFFEE
a shot of espresso added to ice cream, ice and cold milk in a tall glass, and sweetened with vanilla syrup, then topped with whipped cream and chocolate shavings

MOCCHA
a shot of espresso and a heaped teaspoon of chocolate powder in a tall glass topped with frothed milk and sprinkled with chocolate

Happy 75th Anniversary

This past Sunday, March 18, the Sydney Harbour Bridge celebrated its 75th Birthday and thousands of people celebrated by strolling over it. The bridge was closed to vehicles for the longest period in its history, and the Rotary Ambassadorial Scholars in the Sydney/NSW district got together to represent the wheel and meet each other.

Click here for the official website.

Our group photos are coming soon, in the meantime, here are a few images from the afternoon:








L to R: Thomas, Toby, Laurent, Tara

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Okay, so I'm cheating a bit, this is a photo in a German beer cafe on Manly Beach from two weekends ago. The Irish will congregate in The Rocks, part of the oldest part of Sydney, where the pubs today are packed from dawn until many hours past dusk.
Trusty Wikipedia here for more on the area:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rocks,_New_South_Wales

Newtown

King Street is like Main Street in Newtown and the area is best known for food. Most of it Asian. It reminds me of Astoria, except it's Thai instead of Greek, and it's less dense, meaning not much tops two or three stories. So, this is where I go to eat in, take out, catch the bus or walk to class. My 'hood -







Speaking of class, here's the Architecture building on campus, very solid looking if I do say so myself. All of my classes are here, stuffed into little corners of the building between faculty offices and undergraduate messes. Nothing against the undergraduates of course.




Sadly, I don't have any photos to show you of the girls who spent an entire day last weekend on a blow-up mattress wearing tiaras, on the Village Green, directly in front of my apartment. Maybe next time.

Rotary District 6330 Group Study Exchange

Welcome to Sydney! Or should I say, welcome to the current stomping ground for those having something to do with the number 6330... and the color yellow.

Before the group of five North Americans head to Newcastle, they are spending the weekend in Sydney where they arrived early this morning. Alex Martiniuk and I met up with them and the group of us invaded the Sidewalk Cafe under the Opera House to revel in the beauty of the area and forge the kind of relationship only known between Canadians and Americans. You know, the kind where we share stories over Australian beer while the sun goes down over the Harbour....


Those friendly Canadians and Aussies get along just fine.


Admiring the view of the Harbour.


From left to right: Alan Moir, District 9670 GSE Chairman, Nancy Fernandes-Giles, Ben Rycroft, Barbara Warnock, District 6330 GSE Team Leader, Lauren Shirey, Cindy Welsh, Julie Janiski, District 6330 2007 Scholar, and Alex Martiniuk, District 6330 2005 Scholar, with the Sydney Harbour Bridge in the background.

Contact Info (Finally!)

Mailing address:
Sydney University Village
Locked Bag M161
Missenden Road P.O.
Camperdown NSW 2050
Australia

Mobile: +61 (0)413 706 015
Room Phone: +61 (2)903 64465

Home Sweet Home

Village Green (where the village idiots hang out)


My place


Living Room


Kitchen + Carl


Three walls of my room. I'm on the ground floor,
while my roommates (all 4 of them: Carl, Tim, Will, Leah) live upstairs.

Mardi Gras!

In Sydney, the Mardi Gras festivities run from late February to early March and make more tourism dollars than any other event in Australia (according to Lonely Planet). The Parade and after-party are the most popular events, here's wikipedia for more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_Gay_and_Lesbian_Mardi_Gras
















(Priorities were strictly maintained.)

Sydney at Night

Sydney's Central Business District (CBD)
skyline from the hostel rooftop



CBD from Circular Quay


Sydney Harbour Bridge



Sydney Opera House

Sydney Uni - First Impressions & Orientations

Victoria Park on the northeast corner of campus of the University of Sydney.




The Quadrangle, off one of the main entrances to the University.




The interior courtyard of the Quad.




Walkway surrounding the interior courtyard.




Lots of orientations for international students, postgraduate students, first year students, architecture students, postgrad architecture students, etc, etc, etc...

First Week in Sydney: February 17-23

View of sunrise landing in Sydney, from my window seat on the plane. We "followed" the nighttime from LA to Sydney, staying in the dark for the entire flight. Slightly delirious from the trip, I was very grateful to have my Rotary host counselor (Cindy Lee) picking me up!




The Kings Cross train station.




My room at Eva's Backpackers in Kings Cross, home sweet home until I move in to Sydney University Village March 5!




The four of us shared the room above for my first week and ended our time together with a bbq on the rooftop of the hostel. From left to right: Tini-Tiny, me, Lucy, Stef.




First look! I met Alex Martiniuk, 2005 District 6330 Rotary Scholar, here at the Opera Bar. She is still in Sydney at the George Institute, which is also part of Sydney Uni, and will be enormously helpful over the next year as someone who has gone through the Ambassadorial program. Many thanks to Alex in advance... :)

Ode to the Empire State Building

I miss my view...

Going-Away Weekend in NYC: February 9-11

From 30 to 90 degrees F, or 0 to 32 for everyone else in the world!
Here's my snow-covered train station in Astoria, Queens.




My last day at Platt Byard Dovell White Architects, where we believe in happy endings and happy hours. From left to right: Ray Dovell, Charles Platt, yours truly, Paul Byard, Sam White.




Last Saturday night out with the girls in NYC. From left to right: Joanna, me, Tovah and Ellen. Many thanks to my beautiful friends for all their love and support during my move!




Cheese!







Last dance class of 2007 with Chio at Broadway Dance Center - it's up to these girls to hold it down and save my spot!! (^_^) From left to right: Chio, Lee, me, Tovah, Tinelle, Mai, Yae.




"And therefore, I proceed to break it down..."