sf 2 oz

Let me start out by saying that in addition to Laura I also don't like to rant on this blog.  There are plenty of small inconveniences here that would be easy to complain about, but for every one there is generally an equal and opposite quality to balance it out.  That being said, there is one thing that has bothered me from day one, and it is the tolerance to littering.

Below is a picture of one of our neighborhood garbage piles snapped this morning.  These seem to appear every couple of weeks and generally start out with an abandoned piece of ikea furniture or a mattress.  Once this happens it seems to be fair game for all the neighbors to start dumping their junk in the pile along with passers by tossing out food and other random trash.  Eventually it becomes a public health hazard and at that point I assume the local council is obligated to deal with it.  As you can see, this rubbish pile has a nice assortment of couches, luggage, old bike parts, a vacuum cleaner, an old tv, and around 5 gallons of used motor oil (seriously people?).

It's not just dumping in neighborhoods that's the problem, what's even worse is the number of people who leave trash behind on trains, buses, parks, and beaches.  There have been numerous times where I've witnessed people blatantly leaving or tossing trash in public places with a crowd around and I've been the only one to say something.  This is not something I've ever seen in the past.  Maybe it's the places I've lived before, but most places I've been you would expect to see someone publicly shamed into picking up their garbage.  Below is a picture I took at Bondi on a Sunday afternoon a few weeks back.  Someone at least had the decency to gather some trash together, but still left it on the beach.  It's disguisting to see what the beach looks like sometimes after a busy weekend.

Don't get me wrong, Australia is still a pristine and incredibly beautiful place to live.  The water quality near Sydney is unbelievable for a large city, and there's almost no pollution to speak of.  It just makes me sad to see people disrespecting it in such an obvious way.

Do you know what a babychino is? It's a drink of steamed milk (sometimes with a bit of espresso, chocolate or flavoring) made by a barista for toddlers as young as say.. 2 yrs old. That way, moms can go order their flat white and feed their kids too..and make them feel included in the coffee ritual I suppose. But do these kids even want a babychino? Highly doubtful.

We started seeing the babychino after we moved here and I have to say, I find it so freaking comical! While I absolutely love the coffee culture in Australia, why start your child on an expensive take away coffee habit before they can string a sentence together? They have many MANY years ahead of them for this. 

The babychino could very well exist in the US, but I had never seen it or heard of it (and I did live in the Marina, which is SF's strollerville). I guess the closest thing would be a small hot chocolate at Starbucks.

Photo credit: Little Feet Family blog

Photo credit: sydneywalker@flickr

Photo credit: popsie@flickr

We had company this year for Christmas, which was fab. Mike's sister Nicole was here in addition to our friends Beth and Brian from Seattle. Christmas this year was much warmer than last year -- it was a perfect beach day. After brunch (complete with Christmas crackers and champagne) we opened some presents, headed to the beach and for dinner BBQ'd in the park. Mike even prepared some delicious prawns! And I made a pavlova with passionfruit and strawberry on top, how Australian of me!

I normally don't rant on this blog, but one particular topic has been building up steam and I've got to say something! The topic is that nothing - NOTHING - is free in Australia. I'm sure it annoys me since I come from the American culture of free drink refills, coffee top-ups, free ketchup, complimentary bread with dinner etc. But honestly, it really gets under my skin that Australians squeeze every damn penny out of you. Here's a few examples:

-Postage: I went to the Australia Post the other day to mail a few cards and since one card was a bit smaller than normal in terms of dimensions, I had to pay extra postage (for a smaller card!). When I asked why, the woman behind the counter said it was because someone had to post it by hand. As far as I know, the don't charge extra for that in America. Come on.

-Food: Obviously food is a biggie here. Now I'm not that shocked at having to pay for bread, but I'd like to rant on one experience we recently had at Sean's Panaroma in Bondi. On the menu there it says bread costs $4. So we ordered it for a table of 6 and when we got the bill we found out it was $4 per person! Yep, that's $24 for 6 sourdough rolls. Ridic. Also recently I went out to get a few sushi rolls for lunch. You know those little plastic fish they fill with soy sauce? Well, I got one with my sushi rolls and when I asked for one more, they asked me to buy it...for 10 cents. These are just a few small examples. 

-Buying flights: This is one that I discovered shortly after we moved and I've come to accept it like most other people here.. But, when you buy a flight (online OR over the phone) on one of the local airlines - Jet Star, Virgin Blue, Tiger Airways - you have to use your credit card. Ok, fine. But, the catch is they charge you about a $15 fee per ticket to use your credit card. When I asked if there was another way to pay (ie cash or debit card), they said no. So you're basically stuck with no choice but to pay a fee.

-Surcharges: Most restaurants and cafes charge a 10% surcharge on Sundays and public holidays. The public holidays one I understand, but Sundays? I have to pay 10% more because I want to go to brunch on one of the busiest days for a restaurant? In fact, it's been illegal to do so for over a year now. Restaurants must print a separate weekend menu if they wish to re-coup extra costs through their clientele. Here's an interesting SMH article on how many cafes are breaking this law - especially in Sydney inner city and eastern/western suburbs. 

That's my rant for now. If you're an ex-pat living in Sydney, I'd love to hear your thoughts - whether you agree or not? Or does this annoy you even?

It's spring in Australia, which means the nippers are out in full effect! We did not experience this last year living in Paddington, but it's hard not to miss these kids living by the beach. The Surf Life Saving Clubs (volunteer institutions at Australia's beaches) run the nipper programs, which teach kids about swimming, live saving and ocean safety - starting at a very young age. It actually seems to be a right of passage for many Aussie kids - sort of like how kids in America are thrust into peewee soccer, T-ball or the like. 

After seeing the force that is nippers, it's no surprise that Australia is home to some of the strongest swimmers and surfers in the world.