Boys are My Favorite

Makela said two funny things pretty early on today. First, we were waiting for a bus at Bondi Junction, when one pulled up nearby. Although it wasn't the bus we wanted, Makela said, "Oh -- it's a boy today. My favorite!" As in the driver. She's been noting whether a man or woman ("boy" or "girl" in her lingo) is the driver, the checkout clerk, etc. Sometimes she's asked why it's a boy or a girl this time. But this is the first time she's indicated that boys are her favorite.

"Hmmmmmm..." I thought to myself. So I asked her, "Makela, why are boys your favorite?" To which she replied, "Because I like the way they look."

Okay. Fair enough. At least we can probably rule out her being a lesbian at this point. Not that it would matter, but she seems to have indicated her preference early on in life.

The other funny thing that Makela asked is what I'd call today's "Question of the Day." We were at lunch, and we were discussing her potential Halloween costume. She's indicated Tigger until today, when she said she'd like to be a koala instead. She made the mental leap from koalas to kangaroos, and asked, "Why do kangaroos bounce all around?"

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Now on to today's adventures. We decided to visit one of our favorite spots -- Bondi Beach. We took the City Rail to Bondi Junction, then a bus from there to the beach. Makela just loves riding public transit -- it must be the sheer novelty of it all for a SoCal girl.

It was a cool day all around, but it was really windy by the water. The sand was blasting off the beach, so we steered clear, walking on the path closer to the street and across the parking lot from the actual beach path. Still, we did find a great playground next to the Bondi Beach Pavilion -- and Makela had a blast. That is, until she ripped open her scab from a boo-boo she earned earlier this week. It started bleeding pretty badly, although it wasn't nearly as awful as it first looked.

I grabbed the only towel I had brought, just in case Makela decided to wander into the water (thank you, Westin Sydney). Meanwhile, Joe went to look for some paper towels, ice, and/or band-aids. A few minutes later, I see him returning with none other than a member of the Bondi Beach Surf Bathers' Life Saving Club -- a professional lifeguard.
Turns out his name was Adriel, and he was a cutie -- and you'd think Makela would have appreciated it more, given her earlier comment about boys. However, she was in full meltdown mode and was flipping out about having her scrape washed out with antiseptic and then putting on a band-aid. ARGH. Adriel was just laughing, telling us that he'd been the same way when he was little. After Makela finally acquiesced, we went on our way again, snapping pictures of the gorgeous Bondi views and scenery.

Then we went for lunch at Nick's, right in the pavilion. I had the special -- grilled kangaroo over a pumpkin ricotta lasagna, and it was DELICIOUS. Joe had the king prawns and knew to order the cocktail sauce on the side this time (he'd ordered the same at our hotel earlier in the week, only to learn that cocktail sauce means some kind of Thousand Island-like dressing poured over the top -- NOT our American version of ketchup spiced up with horseradish). Makela was delighted with her fish & chips and her "lemonade" -- aka, Sprite. And her kids meal came with ice cream for dessert, which was a special treat for her.

The last part of our visit to Bondi was rather quick, since the clouds had rolled in while we were at lunch and the wind had picked up even more. But we walked south along Campbell Parade, the street fronting the ocean, and ducked into a couple of stores. One of them is a touristy sort of spot, called Between the Flags, but their products are good quality and partial proceeds go to support the surf life saving clubs throughout Australia. We were able to shop a bit, since they had a mini sandbox right in the store, which Makela did not want to leave. I just love stores like this -- nothing like having to drag your kid out after you're done shopping!

After we got back to our hotel, Joe took some time for himself, while Makela and I ventured down to the pool. Joe took her a few times earlier this week, and they'd both told me how complicated it was to find, given its location within an urban healthy club. But honestly -- you'd think a major hotel would NOT want to actually HIDE its pool! So here's how to get there from our room (I'm writing this down just for the sheer ridiculousness of finding it):

Take the elevator down to the 3rd floor.
Walk through the glass doors and across the "bridge" into the old wing of the hotel, located in Sydney's heritage building General Post Office, or GPO.
Meander through the old wing until you go through another set of double doors -- these are equipped with an electronic eye to let you through on this side (hotel key card required on return trip).
Take the stairs down one level, where you actually find the front entrance of the health club.
Sign in at the front desk before you do anything else.
Walk past the desk and take ANOTHER flight of stairs up one level.
Walk through the big open workout room (looks like they probably hold classes here).
Go through yet ANOTHER set of glass doors.
Make an immediate left and go through another glass door.
Take one last stinking flight of stairs up to where you finally find yourself at the pool -- all two lanes and 25 yards of it.

And did I mention it's not even heated??? *sigh*

Anyway, Makela doesn't care, and it's not really a big deal. But it IS kind of comical, especially since every trip that Joe and I have taken to the pool has included an encounter with other hotel guests wondering why they weren't given a map and a compass to find said pool....

Flying Foxes, Finger Wharf & Fishy Eats

Today was Joe's first day off from work, and since Makela and I had done touristy things all week long, we took the day to relax and stay low-key. After breakfast (Makela had two of them -- one with Daddy, then later with me), we walked over to the Royal Botanical Gardens and just meandered around, enjoying the gorgeous weather and surroundings. We really didn't have an agenda, so Makela took the opportunity to mug with some of the statues and to play pretend games (we stopped at one point to play "shopkeeper," one of her favorites where she sells us items from her store).

We stopped for a cold drink at the restaurant in the center of the gardens and looked up to find THOUSANDS of "flying foxes" in the trees above us. Translated from Aussie, that means bats! Big ones. And many were even flying around, looking for a nice branch from which to hang. So much for bats only being nocturnal creatures! Actually, it was pretty interesting, although a bit later we walked underneath some shorter trees filled with more bats, and let me tell you -- it smelled like guano! At least I'm attributing the pungent odor to that....

It was also fun to see all the spring flowers in bloom, given that it's fall back in San Diego. Tulips, cherry blossoms, azaleas -- you name it.

We made our way across the Botanical Gardens into an area of Sydney called Woolloomooloo. It used to be really run-down and seedy, but it's been undergoing a 20-year revitalization, and now it's home to an upscale hotel, harbourview condos, and trendy restaurants -- mostly on the "Finger Wharf." In fact, apparently Russell Crowe calls this home, as the owner of a penthouse condo on said wharf. We decided to eat there, having had several recommendations to try a seafood restaurant called Manta (and knowing that we wouldn't be dining there in the evenings with an exhausted preschooler in tow). It was good, but not the be-all, end-all that Joe and I had built up in our minds. Frankly, it was more pretentious than it needed to be. The hostess (Marie -- she sounded French) fell in love with Makela, calling her "the princess" and making sure she had two pillows on her chair to help her reach the table properly. However, our waiter was clearly annoyed with having to serve us -- the only family in the restaurant during what appeared to be a frenetic business lunch hour. If anyone is interested, their web site is http://www.mantarestaurant.com.au/.

After lunch, we made our way back to the Westin. I left Makela and Joe to venture down to the indoor pool, while I went out shopping. I ended up just looking, but it was nice just to be kid-free for a few hours.

Later, we tucked Makela in bed around 6:45, and again, Joe sent me out for a nice dinner. At least nicer than the Pizza Hut I had last night. We're taking turns going out on our own -- last night, Joe had what he called a "fantastic meal" at an Italian restaurant called Machiavelli. Yes, we could hire a babysitting service to watch Makela. But call us old-fashioned or maybe just plain old overprotective, but we just don't want to leave her with a stranger.

Anyway, I ate at Sushi Tei, which Joe had tried for lunch earlier this week. It's a chain throughout southeast Asia, and this is their first location in Australia. It was fresh, the menu was vast, and the prices were unbeatable. I was feeling a little adventurous, so I tried my first eel roll. I've never wanted to try it until now, and it was delicious.

So now I'm back in our room, and Joe and Makela are both sound asleep. I should probably join them, so good night for now!

Visit to the Taronga Zoo

Today we visited Taronga Zoo. Silly me, I thought we might have time for something else before the end of the day. However, we spent the ENTIRE day at Taronga, although I'll admit we got a later start than I'd originally planned.

We walked down to Circular Quay, then caught the ferry to Taronga Zoo. We got off, then waited in line for the Sky Safari, an aerial tram that takes you up the hill to the "top" of the zoo. It was worth the wait -- what incredible views! And, just to prove that we really ARE in Sydney, here's one of our first pics of the day from the Sky Safari.
After we got off, it was non-stop animals all day long. Our first stop was Wild Australia, where Makela was immediately fascinated by the Australian pelican, due to it looking "just like Nigel from Finding Nemo." Next, we found kangaroos, wallabies, emus, and more on walkabout around Wild Australia. Then it was on to the spider monkeys, zebras, ostriches, barbary sheep (again, who knew these would be so mesmerizing, but Makela didn't want to leave them for a LONG time), chimpanzees, and giraffes. And I couldn't help stopping here and there, just to admire the stunning views of Sydney Harbour. The animals don't know how lucky they have it -- especially the giraffes -- just look at this view from their enclosure!
We took a break for a desperately needed lunch (at least on Makela's part -- she was a total grump until she ate something more than crackers on the go), and then we watched an elephant show in Wild Asia. All of the performing elephants were female, and most were rescued from various locations in Thailand.

After breezing by the gorillas, we headed into Kid Zoo, where Makela first played around on a really fun playground. Then we discovered the live animal encounters with two volunteers, who introduced Makela to a shingle-backed lizard, an Eastern blue-tongue lizard, a rabbit, and a guinea pig. We explored the Farm Yard a bit more, and just when we'd entered the barn to see what was inside, a zookeeper -- or Farmer Leana, that is -- asked if Makela would like to help feed the animals.

So off we went with Farmer Leana, first to the pigs, which Makela fed through the fence, along with several other children. They were a bit feisty with each other, so I can see why we weren't allowed in with them. Then Makela fed the turkeys, including some "poults" (aka baby turkeys -- and no, I didn't know that until today). Next, it was chicken feeding time, and Makela and two other kids (Zoe and her big brother) got to collect eggs from the henhouse. Our last stop was at the sheep pen, where Amy the goat got in on the action, mooching from her farmyard friends.

We soon found ourselves in the Bush Friends section of Kid Zoo, where Makela wanted nothing to do with the animals, but instead dove into the sand and proceeded to bury Mommy's feet. We ducked back to the Backyard to Bush exhibit, then found ourselves wandering by the "Spider Show" just as it was about to start. Strangely, despite my fear of spiders (I am getting better at tolerating them), I have a morbid fascination with them. And Makela seems to have a genuine interest in them, so we stopped to watch. Out came the Sydney funnel web spider -- the world's most venomous spider -- in a securely latched box of course. Also on display was a redback spider -- Australia's answer to the black widow. Then came a snake -- another diamond python, a female named Widdi Giddi. Makela loved seeing them all and was really happy to pet a second python this week.

Our last exhibit was the Great Southern Oceans, which showcased penguins and seals. We were both pretty tired, so we sped through it -- and I think Makela is a bit jaded on seals and other marine animals, with our Seaworld membership back home. In any case, we soon found ourselves headed for the ferry, but with one last plea in a sweet voice and using her best manners, Makela asked to go up on the Sky Safari one more time. I agreed, so long as we came down on it again. So we did, and it was again worth the trip up the hill and back.

We just missed one ferry and so waited for another to come along about 20 minutes later. As always, Makela was quick to make friends, this time through a window, as we were seated outside (her preferred seating area on the Syndey Ferries). There were two families traveling together with four young children, and Makela smiled and waved at them through the window. The oldest, and the only boy at about seven years old, started making silly faces -- of course I couldn't resist a few pics.

Then it was one final walk up Pitt Street to our hotel, with a stop in Pizza Hut one block shy in order to grab Makela's dinner. It was another fun day -- and I continue to adore Sydney and its people (although I did encounter a few tourists today who were not so polite as others I've met to date). And Daddy is now "off duty" from work, so we will be spending some quality family time together for the next week. Stay tuned!

Sydney Aquarium

Okay. Time to catch up on my blogging. So here we go -- a blow-by-blow of our adventures at the Sydney Aquarium on Tuesday, September 23rd.

Makela and I set off on foot in the rain. I thought about taking a bus, but honestly, it wasn't raining that hard, and Darling Harbour isn't all that far from our hotel. We made it without getting very wet, and started off at the aquarium, where Makela immediately spotted a life-sized statue of Bruce -- the great white shark in "Finding Nemo." After practically dragging her away from that, we started seeing some pretty unique animals, such as the platypus, Eastern water dragon, an enormous saltwater crocodile, water snakes, fairy penguins, and more. The aquarium also had great hands-on exhibits, such as their Southern Oceans touch pool, where Makela got up close and personal with sea urchins, sea stars, and shark egg cases. She thought the urchins were particularly interesting, since they turn their spines toward whatever is touching them in defense -- this time, Makela's index finger. And, without a hand-washing station or even paper towels to dry off, Makela came up with a "dry your hands dance" where she flapped her hands around in the air.

Next, we found a great tank full of all the "Finding Nemo" fish. It seems kind of obvious, but what a great idea for kids! Makela just adored it -- I think we spent at least 10 minutes watching these fish.

After we had our fill of the Nemo and his friends, we headed into the "Open Ocean Oceanarium," full of sharks, rays and sea turtles. As we walked into it, Makela started pointing excitedly and saying, "Mommy, LOOK! It's Mr. Ray!" Sure enough, there was a positively ENORMOUS stingray swimming right in front of us. We also found "Crush" and discovered how he sleeps (nose down, with his head kind of wedged under a rock so he doesn't float away while dreaming).

We then went on to the Northern Oceans habitat, which includes all of the Great Barrier Reef fish. Makela had more fun with another touch pool here, and started making better friends with the same education staff member who had been helping us at the Southern Oceans touch pool. Again, Makela had fun touching an anemone and more sea stars (including a big one called a cushion sea star -- think big, puffy pin-cushion and you've got the right mental image).

Our last stop in the aquarium, before heading to the cafe for lunch, was at the "reef theatre," a floor-to-ceiling wall of glass (on several sides) with classical music playing in the background. The final hallway around the side of this amazing exhibit had a plexiglass floor, which Makela found fascinating. She loved being able to lie down and look at the fish from above, including a shark.

G'Day from Sydney

Okay, if anyone has checked since my alert that I would be posting from Australia, it hasn't happened. Until now, that is. I'll keep this short, since it's nearly 11 p.m. local time, and Joe has been snoring for about 30 minutes already....

We've been having a BLAST since we landed in Sydney early Sunday morning. Only problem with blogging is that Joe has had to prep for his depos each night, and I've fallen asleep before he's been done, until tonight.

I'll expand on our adventures later, but here's what we've done so far:

Sunday afternoon - walk down to Circular Quay and ice cream on the Opera House pier
Monday - visit to Koala Park Sanctuary in West Pennant Hills outside Sydney
Tuesday - Sydney Aquarium & Sydney Wildlife Sanctuary
Wednesday - Powerhouse Museum and Darling Harbour

Makela has gotten up close and personal with various animals in just a few short days. She has fed kangaroos, petted a koala, touched a goliath stick insect (yes, that's its official name), stroked a diamond python, and touched sea urchins and sea stars. She's also mastered the art of saying, "G'Day." And she's now asking where the "lift" is and for "lemon squash" -- also known as lemonade back in the States.



Tomorrow, it's on to the Taronga Zoo.

The Why of Water

Okay, today's question was a doozy. I need to look up a better answer to this one.

Just as we were pulling into the Dinosaur Park today, Makela was drinking her water, and blurted out: "Mommy, why is water wet?"

Oy vey. I managed to take a scientific approach, telling her that it's because of the way water holds together in each of its tiniest parts -- called molecules. Each molecule is made up of two hydrogen parts and one oxygen part. When they come together, they are a little "sticky" and feel like a liquid.

That's the best I could muster on such sudden notice. It seemed to placate Makela. For now, that is. For now.

Makela's First Day of Preschool

Today was Makela's first day at the La Jolla YMCA Preschool. Hard to believe she's already three and a half, but here we are.

I was pretty sure that Makela would have a good day and would adjust well to being away from home for a full day. Sure enough, from the moment we walked into school (with Makela insistently bearing her gigantic rest mat on her own) at 9:10 am, she was in her element.

After arriving and putting her lunchbox and tote on the wall hooks near the front door, Makela bounced into the school room and greeted her teachers, Miss E.J. and Miss Jenna. They told her about her journal, labeled with her name on one of the tables and asked her if she could find it. To which Makela replied, "My letters are M-A-K-E-L-A!" -- and then she found her journal right away and started coloring in it enthusiastically. Mommy and Daddy were left behind, as she was now completely absorbed. We managed to distract her enough to say "goodbye" to us, and we made our exit. I didn't cry, but I couldn't resist taking one last picture as I left the door to her classroom, leaving my baby girl for her first day of preschool.

The day passed quickly enough for me, and I got SOOOO much done! I did some laundry, checked my e-mail, deep-cleaned the master bathroom, and organized and put away a few things that hadn't managed to find a proper storage home yet. Oh, and I got in a workout at the Y, too!

Even though I could have picked up Makela as late as 4:00, I went over a few minutes early, eager to see how she did through the day. I was particularly interested to hear how she handled nap time, having to stay quiet and with other children sleeping around her.

The children play on the preschool playground at the end of their day, and I found Makela hard at work in the sandbox and was able to sneak in and snap a few more photos before she noticed that I had arrived. When she did see me, her first words were, "But I want to stay and play longer." Not "hello." Not "Hi Mommy!" Just a declaration that showed her complete lack of interest in seeing me again.

I told her we could stay another five minutes, so I took the opportunity to talk with Miss Jenna about how Makela's first day went. And from the report I got, Makela was a star student! Miss Jenna said that she did great, even at nap time. Of course she didn't sleep, but she was quiet and only asked about when she could be done once or twice. Jenna said to me, with a big smile, "Makela is a great kid. She has quite the personality." Then she added, "She's not afraid to tell you what's what."

Eventually, I managed to pull Makela away from the playground, although in the end, she was really quite tired and came to the car resigned to her homeward-bound fate. And for the rest of the evening and all the next day, all we heard were variations on a request to return to preschool asap. What follows are snippets of our conversations:

Makela: "When do I go back to preschool?"
Mommy: "On Thursday. The day after tomorrow."
Makela: "When is that? The day after this day?"

Makela: "Can I go back to preschool tomorrow?"
Mommy: "No, honey. Not until Thursday."
Makela: "But why?"
Mommy: "Because we only signed you up for Tuesdays and Thursdays each week."
Makela: "Why?"
Mommy: "Because you are just starting preschool. We'll give this a try and we'll talk about it."

Makela: "Why can't I go to preschool EVERY day?"
Mommy: "Because you don't need to go every day."

And Mommy really doesn't want you to be away at school every day. Not just yet.