Twilight parade

Last Sunday we went to check out the Lunar New Year parade in the city. There were lots of people so we couldn't see much, and it wasn't that great anyway. I like something a little more traditional with a proper dragon.


First order of business, fuelling up with Korean fried chicken at the new Arisun at World Square, where we ordered exactly what we could've got at the other Arisun.


I love when they close off roads and you can walk on them while pretending there's a zombie apocalypse happening.



So the only thing we got a clear view of was this giant, ominous ram which rolled slowly down the street like some sort of horror movie thing... bizarre.


Everyone watching through their phones.


When we got bored so we turned around and headed back to Azoto, which is a nitrogen ice cream place attached to the new Arisun. N2 still has more interesting combinations so I'll probably stick with them for my Chinatown ice-cream fix.

Golden touches

My recent major acquisitions: a pair of Saltwater Sandals and Alpha-H Liquid Gold. The Blistex I also recently bought but is only in the picture because it sort of fits the colour theme.

I've had my eye on Saltwater Sandals for a while now, but I kept on feeling like I didn't need sandals. This summer, I finally got sick of rocking ankle boots in the heat so I caved. I really liked the navy and red as well, but I settled on tan because tan is such a sandal-y colour. My usual size was too small for me, so I sized up to a pair that fits a little bit loosely on me, so I didn't need to break them in at all. I kept hearing about how legendarily durable they are, we'll see how they go.

I've also been hearing about how good Alpha-H Liquid Gold is for various skin issues. I'm mostly hoping to get rid of all my old acne scarring, and also to give my skin a bit of a boost - it's been looking a bit dull and oily lately (from lack of sleep I'm sure). I will report back on it once I've used it for a bit longer.

New year

Just poking my head in to say Happy Chinese/Lunar New Year to everyone who celebrates it! This is a photo from when I was in Shanghai for last year's Chinese New Year, when we went to see the lights at Chenghuang Miao. I have lots of relatives there so I turned a neat profit of red envelopes... I should go every year. Anyone doing anything special?

Summer reading summary

A round-up of books I've read since I did my last book post, including the ones I read over my trip.

Feminism is for Everybody by bell hooks. This is the first book of feminist theory/essays I've read. bell hooks' ideas are based on radical feminism, which I appreciate more than what is applauded as feminism in pop culture today. She also writes about how feminism intersects with things like race and class, which I think gets missed a lot in general discussion. It's a short and easy read, I recommend it to everyone who wants to read more about feminism. I'm not sure I agree with everything she says but it definitely got me thinking.

The Lumatere Chronicles by Melina Marchetta. I'd read the first book (Finnikin of the Rock) a while back, and loaded the trilogy onto my Kindle for my trip. Melina Marchetta is an amazing writer, her books are always so engrossing and she usually has great plot twists. These made for good plane/airport reading, but I think I would've enjoyed them more a few years back when I was more into fantasy.

Sharp Objects and Dark Places by Gillian Flynn. I found Gone Girl a good read so I checked out Gillian Flynn's other two books. Sharp Objects was a bit more straightforward in plot but it's a good mystery anyway; Dark Places is more substantial but I couldn't get into the characters as much. Both worth reading if you liked Gone Girl!

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt. I unexpectedly liked The Secret History, a lot, and The Goldfinch has the same sort of feel to it (although in a completely different setting, with different characters). It somehow manages to make a series of unlikely events involving antiques, fine art, teen delinquency in the suburbs of Las Vegas, drugs, and European criminal gangs, work together. It wasn't as tightly written as The Secret History, and I felt the plot and writing were a bit more rambling and pointless at times, but otherwise I enjoyed it.

The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling. This is a cheat, it was a re-read, but the BBC series is coming out this week and I'm excited for it so I read it again in preparation.

Jamaica Inn and The Apple Tree and other stories by Daphne du Maurier. Rebecca is a really good book and her short story collection Don't Look Now was amazing so I've put basically everything du Maurier wrote onto my Kindle to get through bit by bit. Jamaica Inn is a good story, just a tad less exciting compared to Rebecca but still very atmospheric. It reminds me of Wuthering Heights in that it's set on the moors and there's a love interest of questionable character. The Apple Tree short story collection includes The Birds (which the film was based on). I think I might like her short stories more than her novels; they're so suspenseful and her plot twists/surprises work better in a shorter format, I feel. A lot of her shorts are a bit disturbing - not overtly, but still not the kind of thing to read to relax before bed.

Next up I think I'll try and finish The Little Friend by Donna Tartt, which I started but couldn't get into, or another of Daphne Du Maurier's novels. What are you reading right now?

Tuesday two

Korean BBQ on Tuesday night at Sydney Madang. It's super fun - you order the meats you want and cook it on the grill built into the table - but you just need to sort of keep an eye on things. I greatly enjoy the little side dishes you can keep getting refills of.


Afterwards, we went to Aqua S, which is apparently the newest ice cream craze in Sydney (it's in Regent Place, across from Chanoma the green tea cafe). Their signature is this blue sea salt soft serve, but I played it safe and went for chocolate with a marshmallow. I was regretting not getting the fairy floss topping instead until Wai Lam's fairy floss began to melt over her hands from the humidity.

4 in 4

I haven't been up to much in the past month or so - going out with friends has generally involved watching the Socceroos Asian Cup matches at The Star, which doesn't make for the most interesting photos or posts. Here's my tiny roundup for the last few weeks.


Rainy day a couple of weeks ago.


Ate Belly Bao in Goodgod. They're alright, but the prices are a bit steep for tiny baos.


Went to the Asian Cup final between Australia and South Korea. We got worse seats this time but the atmosphere was great, it was a full house. Australia was 1 up at full time and then Korea scored in injury time, I thought I was going to die. But the Socceroos won it in the end. It was such a good tense match to be there for.


It's been coolish for the last few weeks but beach weather was back today so we took advantage of it. We changed things up and went to Coogee; I think I still prefer Bondi, it's cliche but I love seeing that vast expanse of beach as the bus turns the corner there.

Strait-laced

Tommy Hilfiger shirt / UNIQLO pants / Bass loafers / Fossil bag.

I guess one of the only things I've found easier than expected about being on hospital placement every day is dressing for it. The dress code for doctors is pretty lax so I've been able to wear what I usually would, minus jeans, since my style is sort of smart-casual to start with. This is more formal than what I usually wear but I really wanted to wear the top with these patns! Still in love with this bag, expect a cliche what's in my bag post soon.

Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu is probably the most famous of the Incan sites, and the place I was most excited to see after Rio. You can do a 4-day hike on the Inca Trail from Ollantaytambo, or just catch a 3 hour train to Aguas Calientes. We went for the train, because I know my limits and walking for four days is past that (lucky we did, because we couldn't even make it down the street with the altitude).


Aguas Calientes, where you catch the bus to Machu Picchu (or it's about a two hour hike).



Again we did a tour with a guide to start off with, who explained the significance of the various places around the site.






Still blowing my mind how this was built in the 15th century.





"Jenny can you take a photo of me from-"
"If you ask me to take one of those cliched photos of you from behind I will throw your phone off this ledge."
"... behind?"

A classic llama shot.



"Is that llama okay?"


We picked out a nice rock to sit on and watched the sunlight shifting over the city for ages. I still can't believe I've been there!

That was our last stop in South America. I've still got San Francisco and LA to talk about but I might hold off on those for a few weeks and get some more up to date posts I've been meaning to write up!