Sydney

Exam results, another semester down. There's a sense of calm and anticipation. Amazing summer in Sydney. Family time, food, cricket and some beach.

Currently reading: "Death's End"

North Queensland: Annual Family Trip

The five day forecast shows icons of clouds, rain and lightning. The annual trip up to the tropics of North Queensland was already off to a bad start. We touched down in Cairns Airport on the 23rd of December and immediately retrieve our transport from the local car rental. Dad is his gregarious self, with the hire car folk exchanging holiday pleasantries. The KIA Carnival would be our primary mode of transport for the next few days. We loaded up the car and started our journey north up to Port Douglas. The weather forecast was accurate, with temperatures hovering between the 26-30 degrees punctuated by the high humidity and the constant fall of rain.

First stop,Woolworths. We stocked up on groceries, enough food for breakfast and lunch. We would eat breakfast and lunch everyday treating ourselves to the odd meal out in Port Douglas. With the weather so prohibitive, we opted for the following itinerary: Day 1, The Daintree. Day 2, Hike. Day 3, The Great Barrier Reef.

Day 1, went off without a hitch, the roads were fairly quiet, which probably had to do with the fact that it was pouring torrential rain. We drove up north, taking the ferry across the river (we would lose the return ticket), through to the famous Daintree Ice Cream Shop, which led us on the Great Jackfruit Hunt of 2018. Armed with the directions from a 15 year old teenager, we drove 30 minutes at 10 km/hour all peering out the sides of the car looking for the fabled wild jackfruits. We continued up to Cape Tribulation before we conceded that it was probably time to admit defeat head back to Port Douglas. We stopped by a roadside fruit vendor and managed to purchase some jackfruit. Success!

Day 2, Christmas Day. The weather has cleared up a little bit. We started the morning off with a hike around town. Christmas Day would be the best weather of the trip, which was an understatement. With most of the shops closed, we spent our time in the apartment watching the Carols on TV, lazing in the pool and continuously grazing on food.

Day 3, Boxing Day. The Great Barrier Reef. We woke early and triple checked the apartment before our departure. Unfortunately the weather had since taken a u-turn and was quite wet. We decided to do the tour from Cairns and started off early to get to the ferry terminal by 8. Unfortunately, the weather was deemed too rough and all tours were canceled. We had our breakfast and decided to explore Cairns, with our morning at the Aquarium, lunch at a Vietnamese Restaurant and the afternoon navigating the Cairns Boxing Day Sales crowd.

"I like your grinder, it's really big" - Dad to the gay barista

Imagine

There's a scene in the final episode of Scrubs where the main protagonist John Dorian exits Sacred Heart Hospital for the last time. He walks down the main corridor and lined in the hallways is every single person he's met during his time working at the hospital. Imagine the same thing happened when you got married and you passed through a hallway of every person who has been romantically interested in you. Would you feel flattered? Or even surprised? Would there be sadness and regret?

Imagine seeing that person from work? That person you see on the bus? That person you don't recognise? Nobody at all? Your neighbour? Your barrister? Your best friend? Your primary school crush? That person that broke your heart? Your future wife? Would you feel free?

East Coast

Blocked sinuses, sore throats, heavy feet. It's been a long East Coast tour. From New York, to Boston, to DC to Chicago. Meetings in the middle of the night at coffee shops, restaurants and bars. Good exposure to the overseas client base, good quality time with colleagues and even some sightseeing. Looking forward to getting back to Hong Kong.