Cupcakes everywhere and More City/Harbour Pics

(BTW - you can click any of the pictures to make them bigger)

As promised, I'm reporting back - I've now had them two mornings in a row, $5 for a cake and gourmet coffee! Don't worry about me gaining any weight though, these glorious cakes have taken up all of my calorie intake for the good long day but are entirely and thoroughly worth it :)

Red Velvet Heart on Thursday and Molten Chocolate with vanilla buttercream & choc shavings on Friday.

I'm aware of what a big dork I am writing about cupcakes (and taking these pictures to prove it)...but for now I am stuck in the city and unable to travel anywhere else - so I hope you can deal with my silly blogs :) Besides if you could taste these little buggers for yourself, you would completely understand my addiction...

Additionally, I've thrown some more pictures of the city sights - Sydney Tower, Town Hall, Australian Regiment Memorial, the famous George Street, Aboriginal art, and more Sydney City/Harbour beautiful pictures...enjoy! xoxo

ANZ Stadium - Australian Football

Since I last blogged, I've seemed to run into a bit of bad luck...not everything always goes as planned right? Thank God I have the support from my friends and family back home, thank you for being there for me always and without fail - I Love you all so much!

Things are looking up more than ever, and last night I had the opportunity to take the City Rail - which is an entire experience all in itself, I'm not sure I want to repeat haha.

You guessed it, the the biggest venue in Australia holds 80,000 people sold out last night- Sydney Olympic Park for Rugby League the most popular sport hands down here...New South Whales vs. Queensland All Star Game. It was a really good time for me to taste this part of Australian culture. Enough said - the atmosphere was electric with sights, sounds and smells to say the least!!! And let me tell you these boys love this game! I got to serve beers and cocktails to these rugby boys and gals...I had so much fun working this event, unfortunately this will be the first and last game held in NSW for this season. NSW 14 - QLD 18

Out and about in the city today...

5th day - Today I got up at 6am on a Sunday, and yes it did help that I went to bed last night at 9pm! I thought I would save some money and use all of the Starbucks gift cards that my students gave me at the end of the school year (Thanks :) and slowly sipped on my chai tea latte, ate my gorgeous lemon tart, and people watched. Perrrfect morning to say the least!

I wanted to explore the city today and explore I did. Came upon some lovely art pieces titled "Walking in Time" - they look funny turned on their side, but I'm not sure how to straighten them out really. Then I came upon The Queen Victoria Building where there is an underground shopping mall which is fantastic! Shopping, shopping, shopping.

I was trying to stay focused and not to shop....so then I turned my attention to these beautiful ginormous disproportional cupcakes & store called http://www.thecupcakebakery.com.au/ ...and as you can imagine I am now cursing the beautiful lemon tart I had earlier because now I want a cupcake. Don't worry I will definitely return and report back :)

After I pull myself away from the sugar high I got off of the air around the cupcakes...my next stop was at St. Andrews Cathedral for Sunday mass, I promised my Irish Catholic father if I see a church I will go in but ironically I feel too guilty to leave once I step inside the church. Needless to say, my days at Saint Paul Catholic High School come screaming back to me, reminding me of why I am not Catholic! Haha just kidding Dad! No, really very nice service and St. Andrews had the most amazing choir I have ever heard! Stunning. Brought tears to my eyes.

I ended my day at Paddy's Market, which is like a swap meet/farmers market all rolled into and indoor version, three stories high. I selected some yummy dried bananas, figs, and honey roasted mac nuts. Now mind you that this day was great, but at two points in the day, two different people on the famous George St. (oldest street in Australia) asked me for directions, thinking that I knew where I was going! That's pretty cool, but as soon as i accepted my free Paddy's Market green recyclable bag nobody could EVER mistake me for a native Aussie AGAIN (or at least someone who can give good directions :) Oh and it didn't rain today either, well at least not while I was walking about in the city...good news yay!

Taronga Wild Australia Zoo Experience

This morning we had decided to take the ferry from Circular Quay in Sydney Harbour to visit the most spectacular zoo I had ever been to, Taronga Zoo was amazing! More so because we booked this particular tour where Meghan and myself got to go behind the scenes with a zoo keeper and personally interact with the animals native to Australia...SOOO MUCH FUN!!!

Of course our trip was not without rain :( In fact it was torrential down pour once again for most of our visit to Taronga...but yesterday when I had my job orientation and had to be in an office all day, it just so happen to be gorgeous outside! What can I do?

First we hung around the Koalas, I think they looked pretty relaxed, don't you? We learned all kinds of interesting information! Matilda is the one pictured above, and like I said before she was just chillin like a villain in the rain...such cuties! But it is actually illegal to hold a Koala in Australia, which is a good thing because if they are stressed then they would be susceptible to all kinds of diseases.

Movin on to the caged "beasts" - we got to touch a dragon, Sebastian the Snake, a saltwater crocodile (can't recall his name), and a very cool tree frog (we'll call him Really Cool Tree Frog).

Now, I know what you're thinking...that's it?!?!? What happened to all the other Aussie wildlife like the wombats, emus, echidas, kangaroos, wallabies???????

And then this would be the time where I would tell you that my camera...wait for it...that's right...RAN OUT OF BATTERIES!!! I have the best luck with these things that make my existence so...well...frustrating, for me and me alone!

Thank God Meghan also has a camera, I hear that it is a common thing to own? I'll be updating the picture portion of this entry very soon just as soon as she can possibly send them! Please hurry Meghan!!!

But I can tell you that we actually got to hold a wombat, we held Montari the Wombat in our arms!!! The cutest little guy ever, 18 months old! It was like holding a very sleepy baby :)

And of course we just had to sample the wine selection on the harbour after returning on the ferry, quite refreshing I must say. It was Meghan's last day in Sydney, so we had to "celebrate" even though I was sad :( We will keep in touch though, and this news makes me feel happy again :)

My first day of travels in Sydney, AUS...

So after 10 hours of wonderful sleep (yes 10 whole hours!) I was ready to start my day, but I didn't really know where to begin!

This morning I ran into this lovely gal that I had met last night, her name is Meghan and she is an English teacher who works for a French school in Montreal, Canada. We had breakfast at the connected cafe (we're staying in a Youth Hostel Aussie style which is like college dorm conditions, but it is very clean...it has a movie theater, last night we watched "Death Race" even according to my personal standards wasn't that bad haha - the free stale popcorn was a plus too :)

I decided to go on a walking tour with her to visit and learn the history of "the Rocks", the famous Opera House, and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. All of it was fantastic (the pictures can not possibly do it justice), up to the point where it literally DOWN POURED on us as we were walking up on to the bridge! Soaking sopping wet! What can you do but laugh?

We took this time to dry off at a local pub under some heat lamps and ordered 2 pints (each) of the local beer and yummy honey-mustard chicken & pesto pizza. Before we knew it our clothes were dry and we were very happy to be on our way back up the bridge once again :)

This day was so much fun (but very wet) and I'm so lucky to have met someone as well-traveled as Meghan. She has been traveling in Australia for the last 6 months, so she definitely knows how to get around. All in all I think that I can't wait to do more...they have tours where you can actually climb up on the arc of the Harbour Bridge...that would be awesome! Who knows, I just might make that happen...

Sydney, Australia

I had an hour lay-over in Auckland and went off and away again in a much smaller plane 737 and arrived in Sydney, Australia just a couple of hours ago. It is sprinkling and gloomy outside and I think I'm going to go take a nap now...I have no idea really how much I actually sleept on the plane!

Landing in beautiful Auckland, New Zealand...

G'day Mates! I had a wonderful flight, suprisingly it went by really fast :) I watched movies, had dinner at like 1am CA time, and got to drink the best hot chocolate I've ever had before! Liquid gold. Plus we got a baggie of goodies of snacks yum! They really took care of us on Quantas. Here is a picture shortly before we landed in New Zealand, however doesn't do it justice really. Breathtaking, a nice way to start off the day!

Not there just yet...

So here I am getting ready to travel all the way across the world for three months to fabulous Australia! Recently I've asked myself what is the one thing I would like to do? What have I always wanted to embark on? Well this might seem a little predictable but the answer is...you've got it...to TRAVEL as much and as often as possible! I've done my research and have decided to go through this wonderful international agency http://www.culturalembrace.com/ they will help me get acclimated once I arrive, including helping me find a place to live and putting me to work. As much as I would LOVE to have a three-month vacation...well let's just say that it would be difficult to make that happen without a little money coming in! However, my teaching job allows me to have summers off! While I'm very lucky to live in beautiful Huntington Beach, CA I'm a little spoiled in wanting to see the rest of the world! Why not? What do I have to lose? Only more experience and hopefully some cool stories to tell when I return. So now my only other problem is...where shall I like to go next summer??? I guess I'll have to think about that one on my 17-hour flight to Australia, and maybe on the way home as well :) I hope you enjoy my travel blog and hopefully I'll have some exciting posts to share...if not then I'm afraid that you'll have to live with the disappointment of my travels in Australia. Just kidding, of course! That won't be the case...I hope...

To all of my amazing family and friends, thank you for your immense support, love, and encouragement I am forever grateful! There is no way I could be who I am today without you walking besides me, positively impacting my life in such a way not thought possible! I love you all, see you in 3 months :)