I am reveling
today. In Sydney. In Australia. I have had a couple of coffees sitting outside in
the sun at Grosvenor place. I have been sitting on a stone bench which is next
to a fountain that is near my office. I have been basking in the joy of being
home and in the sunshine. It is so nice to be able to sit in the sun without
the horrible humidity. The weather today in Sydney is perfect. There is not a
cloud in the sky.
I have a grin
on my face that spreads from ear to ear.
I took my
lunch outside as well. I grabbed a ham and salad roll from a local outlet. The
bread had a crispy and crunchy crust but was soft inside - just the way I like
it. The dough was unsweetened. All bread in Singapore is sweet because they
bizarrely add sugar. I don't know why but I don't really like it. My salad roll
contained slices of beetroot as well as all the normal salad greens. To add
beetroot is the norm back in Australia. We put it in our burgers as well.
It is all the
sweet we need.
I had my lunch
amongst other office workers and tradies and tourists today. We sat in the sun.
Tradies are tradesmen. They are builders and plumbers and electricians. Tradies
wear khaki shorts and solid work boots and tight tee shirts that show off their
big muscles. These blokes were eating big lunches. They are big boys.
They are
strapping.
A young Asian
couple sat near me on an adjacent stone bench. They were eating their lunch and
had also spread out a tourist map of Sydney before them. They were studying it
intently. I could tell that they were Singaporean from the way that they were
speaking. I smiled an introduction and had some banter with them. I threw in a couple
of 'La's" and 'Can's" which delighted them. I explained that I lived
in Singapore and was just visiting Sydney which also seemed to delight them.
The
Singaporean couple told me that they were only in Sydney for a couple of days
and they were keen to do some walks on some beaches. They explained that they
were a bit nervous about swimming because they were afraid of sharks. They were
afraid of being eaten. I asked them if they wanted any suggestions as to where
I thought they should go and what they should see and they said that they
would.
Like my
suggestions.
I thought they
might like to catch the ferry over to Manly and I also told them that Watson's
Bay was beautiful. A couple of the Tradies bought in on the conversation and
started to make a few suggestions themselves. Then a few be-suited office
workers weighed in as well. In a blink there were half a dozen of us
surrounding the Singaporean tourists and we were pointing out places on their
map that we thought that they should go to. We gave them fairly detailed instructions
as to what buses to catch and how long it would take to get there. We gave them
advice on what sights they should look out for on the way. Palm beach, Milson's
Park, Double Bay and Bronte were all thrown into the mix.
The
Singaporean tourists were loving it.
We others were
loving it as well.
And
all the time we were basking.
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