In love with Sydney. Part 2.

Day 4. Morning went on a harbour cruise which brought us to Manly which is on the other side of Sydney Harbour, passing by the Gap and back towards Circular Quay. Sail pass the Opera house and underneath the Harbour Bridge. Weather started off wet but soon the weather cleared up. Slightly after was a tour around The Rocks. This is where Australia began. Slight history lesson and just simply enjoy the sights of the old buildings around. Later on in the evening was our debut performance at the Opera House concert hall. Weee!!! Excited and Awe to finally be able to play in the Opera House. =D Gotta be there to know how it feels like.

This is waterfront living!!!

Day 5. Finally a free day to roam around Sydney by ourselves. Start off with a trek to the nearest explorer bus stop but end up trekking towards St Mary's Cathedral. I am simply speechless when I stepped into the building. The architecture and design of every arch and stain glass is awesome. Follow on is a trip up to King Cross where we stopped for lunch. Ordered an omelette but in the end I got a gigantic one. hahah! will never forget the experience of eating one. Soon after we continued on the Bondi Explorer route towards The Gap park where we get to view the entrance of Sydney Harbour. Okay, lots of illegal stuffs done here. Waiting for photos from other camera before uploading. hahahaha! but had lots of fun up here. Bondi Beach soon followed on. Not much surfers but just love that beach a lot.

Day 6. Quick trip to Paddy's Field Market which is a stone throw away from our hotel then onto QVB which is a very high end shopping mall in a very old building. Chanced upon which hotel SIA crew stays in Sydney. Shall not reveal. And finally wrapped up the morning free day with a trip to Sydney Aquarium. Travelled on the monorail which will take you round Darling Harbour and some part of the CBD area. Later on is an exchange with the Sacred Heart College from NZ. Well, its always fun to play with bandsmen from somewhere else and get to learn about their band culture.

Day 7. Morning weather wasn't doing us a favour so we had to call off the outdoor performance at Darling Harbour. =( In return, it was more free time for the band until at night where we had to put up with the most important performance of the whole tour. Okay, small group of us had a private tour up to Watsons Bay which is in the same area as the Gap except this time round was a harbour boat ride up there. Awesome seafood platter topped it off with white wine for lunch. Lovely! I doubt I will ever find this experience back here in Singapore. Sunday afternoon by the bay, seafood lunch, winter weather, lay back and relax. One of the reason why I feel deep in love with Sydney.

Alright, so it was a performances most wish it wouldn't have come. Command Performance where groups who are the adjudicator's choice once again perform on stage at the Opera House. I see it as a second chance to get things right. It's one night to remember in my journey as a musician to play not once but twice at the Opera House and the performance end off with a standing ovation from the audience. The thought of it now still sends shivers down my spine. But yes, Opera House + Standing Ovation = Priceless! Symphonia did well at the 20th Australian International Music Festival. I guess this is no better way to end off the tour down under. =)

Day 8. After the night's performance is a frantic rush to get all the luggages packed and double check for the morning flight back to Singapore. Had 3 hours of sleep before, so again its the wine that send me to sleep but most part of the flight is to enjoy the inflight entertainment. Sushi buffet dinner while waiting some baggage from the 2nd flight of the day to return. Lucky them to fly on the A380. =(. Never mind, I am going back to Sydney anyway. hahah!

Well, up till now, I still trying to tune my body clock 2 hours back with lots of difficulties. hahaha! Going hungry and sleepy at odd hours. And the weather! argh!!!! HOT HOT HOT! That's all for this trip. The city is awesome and beautiful. I won't rule out moving there in the near future. It suit my kind of lifestyle. =)

Auf Wiedersehen!

In love with Sydney. Part 1

2 days after arriving back and still feeling tired. Anyway...

This is one of the best trip I had in my life. =D Sydney is such a beautiful city in terms of its mix of natural and urban architecture. Even though its winter and coincidentally that the trip took place during the coldest week of its winter season, the weather... Lovely! Its a city of multi-culture where you will meet people who come from all over the pacific region from the local australians, asians and any other places you can never think of.

Kicking off the trip was a simple dinner at my grandfather's place, meaning I have to lug all my bags there before heading back to school to pick up all the instruments before dashing to the airport. Well, I could barely enjoy the architecture of Terminal 3 since there is lots of baggage to be checked-in so i basically stuck at the counter getting it all weighted and tag and sent it on its way to the aircraft. Slight hiccup but it got settled out in the end. That's what matters most. =)

This is one of those time when I paid for the an expensive bed. Owing to the lack of rest, I sieze the opportunity to grab as much rest as possible on the plane. With its generous offering of wine onboard Singapore Airlines, 2 cups would send me into a slumber all the way down under. The first 2 hours we encountered some turbulence, but it became a rocking bed for me and gently coax me into dreamland. =D Occasionally waking up to get orientated with where in the world I am and how much more slumber time I have left. Food onboard was good, chocolate found amongst the meal what else can I complain for?

Upon arrival, baggage claim again was a hell of a mess. And to know that none volunteer to come forward to assist makes it messy. Thank god that baggage claim isn't lightning fast compard to Singapore, there was time to sort out procedures and soon after the first of the oversize bags appear. Soon, we were up the bus and out for a lightning quick orientation tour of Sydney, down to Mrs Macquarie Chair for a photo opp of Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. I shall skip the minor events related to the festival. The opening concert was... Spare me the pain if you could. haha! Dozed off most of the time. Just too tired la....

Day 2. Facult workshop at St Andrew's Cathedral was really really really awesome. I had lots of fun learning from our clinician. Some pointers are things that I used to practice while teaching band but gradually lost it since I stopped. A good reminder though. And what more suitable piece to play, Ave Maria, in the cathedral. One must personally visit there to awe at the architecture of the Cathedral. Thank you Lord. It was really cold that night and the rain makes it even colder. Brrr...... Very flat tuning on the horn. hahah!

Day 3. Adjudication day. Morning rehearsal at St Andrew's Cathedral Chapter House, one of the small rooms around the Cathedral. Trying to grab as much rest as possible in the afternoon and its time to put up a performance at Angel Place Concert Hall. Nerve wracking but keeping focus is more important than anything else. We did well as a band. I know personally I could have done better. =( But well.... we sounded good that night.

To be continued...

Auf Wideresehen!