Chippendale, New South Wales

It's been a record 3 weeks living in a hotel room in Sydney.  The streak ends this weekend when we move into an Airbnb in Manly.  Our apartment actually won't be ready until mid October.

Although living in a hotel for this long is not ideal, there will be a few things I'll miss in this suburb they call Chippendale.  Chippendale is right in the middle of Sydney.  In fact, the closest train station is Central Station.  Because of that, it's easy to get anywhere from here.  We can walk to Darling Harbor, China Town, or the Haymarket.  Today's going to be sunny, so I'm walking out to Hyde Park to do some jogging.  Chippendale is the perfect location for us to explore the different neighborhoods we wanted to learn more about.

It is definitely a big city, hustle and bustle feel here.  So, I'll be glad to leave this for the suburbs.  Our hotel is right across the street from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) and  the University of Notre Dame.  The University of Sydney and Charles Darwin University are close by as well.  It's  a very busy area.  I compare the walk to Central Station like walking in NYC, except with British Commonwealth rules which means we walk on the left and pass on the right.  This is also important to remember this when you're on the escalator.

This area has seen some revitalization after the completion of the Central Park project which boasts a beautiful park and eco-sustainable buildings fueled by it's own power generator housed in the old brewery.  I have a view of the brewery from my window.

If you look behind the smokestack on the left, you'll see one of the mixed-use buildings practically covered in plants.  The building is a vertical garden.  The story of it can be found here.  When it's time to water the plants, you do get a few sprinkles as you're walking by the buildings on your way to Central Station.

Another cool thing about this neighborhood is the restaurants.  This is a definite plus if you're living in a hotel without a kitchen.  Central Park Mall takes up the first few stories of the vertical garden buildings.  The Mall has many restaurants outside in a beautiful courtyard, or you can grab something from the food court and enjoy eating on the balcony overlooking the park.  Also, on the East side of the mall is Kensington Street with even more eateries.  Every Saturday this month, they had the Kensington Street Festival which featured artists, DJs and bands.

Also within Kensington Street is Spice Alley.  If you blink you'll miss the entrance.  Within that alley are more than a dozen Asian restaurants including food from Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan, even Hainanese, which sounds like my kind of food! It's like a Singaporean Hawkers Market with every possible variety of curry, dumpling, noodle and satay skewer you can think of.

Knowing I won't be here much longer, I splurged on dessert yesterday and picked up an Ice Kacang.

I only read about the Ice Kacang from Crazy Rich Asians.  As described in the book, it reminded me of the Filipino dessert Halo-Halo with the ice, gelatin and sweet red beans.  However, I have to say, it didn't hit the mark.  The crispy rice, ube and jack fruit were missing from the Ice Kacang.  So Halo-Halo is still my all time favorite.

Yes, the restaurant is called Happy Endings (insert eye-roll here).  This weekend marks the happy ending of my life in the big city.  Next week, we'll see what beach suburb life has in store.

And The Winner Is...The Esplanade

We put in a bid for all five of our contenders last Saturday.  The crowds at each inspection showed us exactly how competitive apartment hunting is out here.  At one of our inspections there were at least 20 people waiting before opening! As we were leaving we passed by 20 more just coming in!  The realtor told us that usually, they would let us know by Monday.

Monday, we found out that our number one pick, The Cove, was off the market.  The current residents changed their mind and have decided to stay.  But we were accepted for our number 2 pick, The Esplanade!  We are so excited to be moving in next month!

It has a beautiful view of the boats docked in the harbor from the 2nd floor, which is the 3rd floor to us Americans.  I'm still getting used to that and have found myself getting off the elevator one floor too early sometimes.

Situated on the wharf side of Manly, it's right across the street from the water and just 400m from the ferry building.  The commute into the Central Business District is just 17 minutes by Fast Ferry which departs every 20 minutes.  The beach on the East side is just a few blocks away as well.  The location is full of shops, restaurants, bars and coffee shops.

We'll make sure to furnish this room with a sofa bed for our US visitors!

This kitchen could use some extra counter space, so I will add a hightop table to my shopping list.

The same balcony view can be seen from the master bedroom.

I remember when our ferry rode into the harbor on the morning of our inspections.  The captain announced that there were a pod of dolphins swimming by on the starboard! I was so excited, and when I figured out which side was starboard, I saw them swimming along and noticed there were several paddle boarders enjoying the company of the dolphins as well.  This was going to be my new home!

Apartment Hunters International

We spent all of Saturday apartment hunting in Manly.  This looks like the neighborhood that checks off all of our boxes.  All of our "Inspections" as they call it here, were walking distance.  We planned on 7 inspections starting from 10 AM to 1:15 PM.  Even though they were close together, I was able to rack up 6.5 miles of steps.

Here's our list of contenders in order of preference.

5.  The Spicoli.
We call it this because as we swung by to view it an hour before inspection, the balcony above the apartment had Spicoli talking fairly loud on his mobile.  He was complete with long hair and a couple surf boards on the balcony.  The view was ok, considering it was on the 1st floor.  It was the only 3 bedroom we looked at and had a large living area.

The Spicoli Living Room

4.  Gardenview.
This is a 2 bedroom townhome surrounded by a nice garden.  It had a spacious front patio and bright interior.  It's clean and roomy.  However, there's no view of the water.  It's only 1/2 mile (800 meters) from the wharf (but uphill).

Gardenview

3.  The Osborne.
The current tenants have a lot of stuff, so it's hard to imagine the place cleared out.  It was on the 3rd floor (4th floor to you Americans) and on top of a hill.  You can see the bay and the beach from the spacious patio.  The kitchen was larger and had the same amazing view.  The bad thing about it was that the carpet was a little dingy.  Maybe, they'll give it a good cleaning (or removal and hazmat disposal?) before anyone moves in.  Also just 800 meters from the wharf (uphill).

The picture doesn't do the view justice

2.  The Cove.
Just steps from the Manly Skiff Sailing club and a common area swimming pool right on the bay.  I can see myself having coffee on the balcony checking the waves before hopping on the paddle board in the morning.  This place checked off almost all the boxes except for a garage.  Great view from the balcony, even if it was on the 1st floor.

 







1.  The Esplanade.

This 2nd floor apartment had an amazing view of the bay and was the closest to the wharf at just 400 meters.  It had nice hardwood floors and a big balcony for dinners al fresco.

The Esplanade

We've turned in our applications and hope to hear from the property managers soon! Wish us luck!

Seven Things I'll Miss About Arizona

In just one day, our family starts the long journey to Australia.  We leave behind a home we've lived in for 13 years.  But what we have ahead of us is a year living on the beaches of Sydney.  Here's a list of the 7 things I'll miss about Arizona.

7.  The hiking.  It's no secret, I've been on many hikes here in Arizona.  My favorite ones being Havasupai Falls.  My trail shoes are coming with me to collect some mud from the Southern hemisphere.

6.  My job.  Yes, I actually liked my job.  But last week was my last day at work.  I had my going away party at...wait for it...Outback Steakhouse!!  I gave my team lead a going away gift of a boomerang to remind him that I might be back.

5.  The cactus.  Basically, the desert landscape, flora and fauna.  Nowhere else will I find Saguaros that tower over you whose blooms attract the bats at night, or the calming red rocks in the vortices of Sedona.  I'll miss seeing the roadrunners, coyote, occasional javelina and bob cats.  I guess I'll be trading those in for kangaroo, koala, huntsman spiders, wombats and wallabies.

4.  The sunsets.  Seriously. A. May. Zing.  And the sunrises are even more spectacular!

3.  This house.  As I said earlier, we've lived here for 13 years.  My youngest is 15 now, which means, this is the only house he's ever really know.  This is basically the last night we'll ever be sleeping in this house.  This video was taken this morning when we painted over the wall that marked Trenton's growth throughout the years.  When we move back next year, we will most likely continue to rent this house out and downsize into something new.

2.  My Marley.  The red tape, cost and quarantine to bring our best friend with us is not worth the trauma that this sweet little pup will have to go through.  Our friends will be taking care of her while we're gone.

1.  These two.  They are 27 and 22 now with adult lives of their own.  I will miss them the most.  This will be the hardest to leave.  Hopefully, they will come to visit in January and before we know it, our year abroad will be all over.