Shitney Day 2: Bad Hair Days n Ridiculously expensive parking~

I've been having bad hair days since arriving in Syd...
Reason: NO hairdryer.
My hair can be its voluminous/happy self in Sg, but in overseas climates... it jus... flattens after a wash...n explodes uncontrollably after getting outta bed...

D1: How come yr house no hairdryer one??
D2: I dun use one, n got 2 guys living in this house, why need hairdryer??
D1: Yar.. so yr housemate's gf suffer bad hair days all day everyday?? ;(

This morning....
D1: (walking outta bedroom with ridiculously explosive hair; whining) You seeee...... ;( how to go out like dat........ *grouch*
D2: Dun look at me like dat lar... told u to buy one at the store downstairs le....
D1: zzzzzzzz~

So... yes... I've decided that image is more important..
Later gonna succumb n buy tt AUD18.95 hairdryer from that store.
Bad hair days r depressing!!
......................................

I hopped outta the house anyway lar...
DC had school so i was left to roam town on my own...
which was pretty much the purpose of this trip anyway.... :)

First stop: Sydney Opera House..
Realise tt I have been to Syd umpteenth times but i have never taen a pic with the SOH
Well, once... when i first started flying a couple o months...
But it was in someone's camera n i never received it in the email as promised...

Wasn't very impressed with the SOH at first though...
Not too much of a architectural whore...
That was until i attended the AUD 29 Essential Tour...

The SOH is one of the busiest performing arts centre in the world, with an estimated 7.something million visitors a year. That's almost twice the 4.something million population of Syd itself.

Some interesting facts...

1)It was originally estimated to be completed in 3 yrs n cost bout AUD7mil some 35 yrs back... but the actual time taken to complete it was 16 freakin' long years n amounted to a cost of 102mil (which in today's value is an estimated 1.2bil)

Therefore the SOH is also built amidst lotsa controversy especially politically, since so much of the taxpayers' $$ were being channelled into something the city thought they won't be using much of. (the arts scene back then were obviously not as vibrant as it later became)

One of the reasons it took so long was cos of the architectural challenge the design posed to the engineers.
They took 4 years to figure out how to translate the design of the sails/shells into a reality.

In the words of the Danish architect himself.....

The solution seemed to be using some spherical concept...

The insides....
Imagine a fan-like thingy...
the core being the rib-like supports much like a radius of a circle?

Also... underneath all tt concrete... the SOH contains more steel than it took to build the Syd Harbour Bridge...

So who would know??
But they say tt the SOH was actually over engineered....
But tt it had to be cos the design was way too advanced for the level of technology then...
But once the solution came through.. the shells of the SOH were completed in 16 months...
hmmmmm...

2) The largest mechanical organ resides inside the SOH. (couldn't take pictures cos rehearsals were going on! But it was truly huge n covered the entire front wall of the concert hall.

10,000 over pipes 3 storeys high tt extend well into the back of the building... took 8 years to build n 2 years to tune.

I wonder if anyone knows/or have played it though...

3) Architect Utzon really put lots of love into every detail of the design lor.....

Apparently the under of the shells r supposed to be like the haul of a ship, overturned...
The whole concept is to get pple to feel close to the water surrounding the SOH.
The windows, the glass panes, the reflection of the surroundings of the water on the walls...
everything plays a part la..

There r many many other interesting things lar...
N its amazing when i'm travelling alone i can actually absorb so much of wat the guide said (no suubtitles needed! ;p)
The facts n numbers r regurgitated as much as memory serves me right... so...dun berate me if i get it wrong lar!

K hope i din bore u!

But i fell in love with the building cos of the story behind it.......... ;)

(seeee.... bad messy flat hair... ;( )

I also dropped into the Museum of Syd(MOS) after grabbing some lousy chow mein n coffee

That's also the thing i wanna holler bout..
I hate the food here!!!!
So boring lar!! Fish n chips, Chicken schnitzel n chips... caesar salad... etc etc... ;p
bleahg~
Think i will die of obesity or fade into an underfed shadow of myself if i ever have to live here..

For the Starbucks lover in u n me.. ;)
wow Baristas r cute here huh?
i dun understand why baristas in sg r not given the due respect of a professional coffee maker lor...
probably explains the difference in the quality of the coffees served, it's all in how the milk is skillfully steamed to perfection lei! ;p

Dun wanna bore u with more details so i'm jus gonna put this here..
Weights n Measures used long long ago(din check the year lar! but i think was when the British landed in Australia n turned it into a colony tt time!)

On the Syd Harbour Bridge when DC came to fetch me back from town n we missed a turn due to traffic congestion...
"WAh liao! make a U-turn after the bridge need to pay $3 toll lei!!!"
ARGH!!!
Stupid road designs!!!! >;(


We watched this Alfred Hitchcock classic... 39 Steps..
Comedy!
There r at least a 100 characters in the show but get this.... there r only 4 actors...

Cost: $79.90 per ticket. Student concession tix $74.90
N it's really worth it not just cos we were watching it in the SOH playhouse...But cos it's really interesting n FunnY, how with a change of a hat or coat... the actors could play 2 characters simultaneously.

But.......... the downside was....

Fuckanadoos~!@!$!$~!#$%
PArking fee was horrendously exhorbitant @ $32 for a period of 3h 18min!

WTF!!< >;O

Half the price of ticket lei!!

But bo bian cos we searched the surrounding areas for open parking n all were taken or only open for 1 hr slots.
I swear tt the number of 2-4hr parking slots were less than 10.
N the parking condition at the ever congested Boat Quay area suddenly seems not too bad at all.

n $32 is the flat per entry fee from 5pm-1am ONLY
so KNN one

N from time period of 7am to 5pm in the days... they allow Quick Park ONLY. which is like a MAXImum of 3 hr parking
Which farkin doesn't make sense cos if u wanna eat lunch n watch a matinee sure got not enough time or just have enough time.
Damn damn STUPID can!?!?!?

DC: "That's why they call this Shit-knee.. cos the shit is knee deep"
N we bitched all the way to The Rocks just across n took pictures.....

I still wish i had good hair.
Bad hair bad photos!!! ptui*

I vow never to complain bout the luxuries back home ever again...

Wat's a $20 bucks cab ride from Zouk to home after midnight when u can get home safe compared to having to pay the equivalent of SGD$30 here for a short dist of say Bishan to Jln Kayu?

Wat's a $9 parking fee at Le Durian n a $17 one for parking at the airport the entire day compared to the stupid airport here which does NOT even allow pick ups but a AUD$3-4 once u enter the airport parking compound??

I guess if i thought tt the increasing number of ERP gantries doesn't make sense in Sg, the everything other here pisses me off more.

This might come as belated patriotism post National Day....but the truth is, flygirl's been to so many cities n still thinks tt there is no better place than home....

i miss my Sg!!