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....