A Day at the Races, Treasure Hunting, The Sleepy Zoo, and Vivid Sydney

Bubbly for Everyone!!!!!

A Day at the Races

Since the first day that I arrived here in Sydney and drove by the race track, I have been dying to experience a day at the races! Luckily after weeks of nagging, I finally convinced my friend to take me last week. Woot Woot!  My first impression of The Royal Randwrick was that the place was gorgeous! The grandstand, the gardens, the overall design and architecture of the entire place was spectacular.  But,  quickly I stopped caring about the design of the stupid bushes and trees and remembered why the heck I came..

 It’s gambling time baby!!!!

I am a weeee bit of a gambler- a responsible one though. I have my limit and play respectively, but it juussssst so happens that I am really really good at winning? So of course I need to go to the races, it would make no sense to waste such a talent, Right!?!?!? 🙂 Like most people, I have my own way on figuring out which horses to bet on and how much to wager.My formula is to  incorporate a bunch of random factors all together into one awesome betting strategy. I include all of the following criteria before making my final decision:

1. Read the most current stats on each horse along with the commentary
2. Ignore most of all that and look for which horses have really dope names
3. Look at each horse up close and see which ones look like good competitive horses
4. Ignore all those ones and pay attention to which ones have cool marks on them that remind me of my dog Daisy
5. Observe the jockeys and only focus on the ones that don’t creep me out for looking like mini grown ups doll kids
6. Combine numbers 1 though 5 in orders that make the most sense with their stats, and bet  accordingly

It works almost every single time!!!!  The day was fun as I made money as I sipped on champagne while making new friends. I have never seen so many drunk girls  at the same time in my life. Being as strict as they are about being drunk in public here in Sydney, I think I found the loop hole, THE RACES!

Side note – what is up with girls taking up like 93 percent of the population down here?? (exaggeration obviously) Girls out number guys as if they are eating boys for breakfast. No joke.  So many pretty girls, everywhere! Its like a man’s paradise in Sydney. I wish I could say they are as friendly as they are beautiful but most aren’t . I have lucked out recently though, and met 4 really cool ones last week. But its been a lot of work, my success rate is like…..10 percent? Chicks are hard man!

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Treasure Hunting

After the races, I was walking home from the bus stop and noticed that many houses along the street had all this stuff out in front it them. Was this a ginormous yard sale? Is this some weird trash Day? What is going on here Dee Why? Tell me what this madness is!!!!! Well frankly it didnt matter what was going on I just knew I loved it!!!! It was called the Council Clean Up, and happens a few times a year in each council, where everyone puts out all the goods they no longer find… good to them? Walking home, house by house just laid boxes and tubs full of things!! Cool things…trash..but mostly.. TREASURES!!!!!! I started looking though the piles of stuff, and began finding everything I have been meaning to buy since I moved in but never got around to because I hate shopping.

I’ve been needing a trash can. BOOM. A purse. BOOM BOOM BOOM  ( I found 3) Art work to hang. BOOM. Soap dispenser. BOOM. Knicknacks, mirror cupboard, candles, games, books, nice bowls, a lamp, wicker table and so much more. A thousand times BOOM! I found  it allll!! I observed a shopping cart near by and thought yes!! It was meant to be! I loaded that baby up and started steering it home to drop off the first fresh batch of new treasures. I just kept coming back cart after cart with new stuff.  I had my roommate and his girlfriend back at base camp ready for my signal to come down the stairs and pick up the new loads. It was exciting!! I love this kind of stuff. My advice for anyone moving out here would to be to see when a council is having one of these seasonal clean ups and move a week before. You won’t have to buy a dang thing once you get here:) I am extremely looking forward to the next one. But I am going to be more prepared and tactical next time. Map out which streets to hit first and coordinate a truck  to borrow to avoid the whole “looking like a homeless person with a cart”  part.

I mean, look at our new entry way! It went from empty, to this awesomeness! Check out some of our other additions! I am not sure the last picture was part of the clean up, it didn’t fit in my cart anyways….

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 The Taronga Zoo

That next  morning I woke up early with the random urge to go see animals.  So after an hour of trying to find someone to go with me, I finally suckered some poor guy from Tinder to accompany me. We got there later in the day, which I do not advise for others to do because all of the animal encounters were sold out. THAT’S WHY I CAME!! GRR. So no one on one with penguins or feeding giraffes for this animal lover. The zoo location was amazing, surrounded by water with gorgeous views of the city. The best location for a zoo I have ever been to. Having that said (cough) the rest of the zoo.. well… wasn’t all that great in my eyes? I thought it was going to be…. bigger and better. I set my expectations way to high.  I never realized how great the San Diego zoo and the LA Zoo were until I noticed they have never compared to any other zoo I have been to. This zoo was probably ¼ the size of the zoos back at home, with about ¼ the animals. Another thing that made this experience suck was the fact most of the animals must of taken like… 20 Xanex before I showed up because they were all sleeping or just laying there zoned out. No fun trying to engage a stoned zebra.

And to top it all off, my company was lousy. Yea, lousy. He was British and really reserved, which meant I was pretty much the only one talking the whole time. I’ve came to the configuration that British guys and myself just don’t really get along very well, cause all of the British friends (minus my homedogs back the hostel) I have made since I’ve been here…are no longer in contact. I think my personality is just too much for them, too crazy?? Or, the fact I spend half the time making fun of their accidents and oh, than the other half of the time showing them stand up comedy videos of my favorite comedians making fun of their accents… might have a little to do with it as well 🙂

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Vivid Sydney

Normally I would explain things in my own words, but the only way I know how to explain Vivid Sydney is by saying it was Sensational. Let me have their website assist me on this:

 “Vivid Sydney is a unique annual event of light, music and ideas, featuring many of the world’s most important creative industry forums, a mesmerizing free public exhibition of outdoor lighting sculptures and installations, a cutting-edge contemporary music program and the spectacular illumination of Sydney’s iconic architecture including the sails of Sydney Opera House.

Vivid Sydney is where art, technology and commerce intersect.”

– Vivid Sydney

I made a special trip into the city alone last night to check out the event. The event is spread out though many parts of Sydney which caused me to miss out on most of it.

Me.. trying to navigate.. alone.. in the dark… ha! I had no chance..

As you walk through Curricular Quay, there are light exhibits everywhere for people to see and interact with (Reminded me of pictures and videos I have seen of EDC, but minus all the people on drugs part).  One reason why I didn’t stay too long, was because I kept stepping on small children in the dark. It was just too crowded at the time I went 🙁

The first event I went to was “The Lighting of the Sails” at the Sydney Opera House. This was breathtaking. I think at certain points I even started tearing up, feeling so overwhelmed with what I was experiencing.  I stood there for about 15 minutes as music was blasting out of the speaks dancing side by side with the art projections on the Opera House.  From classic music to electro, each song gave me a new feeling and demonstrated a new sensation, as the vibe of each piece kept changing up.  If it wasn’t for the massive crowds of loud ass people, I could of stood there all night and watched, I was memorized.

The other event I was able to visit was called  “Play Me”  This event had 3D projectors synced up with music, transforming the Customs House into a alluring musical art masterpiece. I loved this one as well, as it turned a normal building into something I feel like my brain just couldn’t figure out.

It was getting later and the crowds were getting worse, so I decided to call it a night after seeing about 6 different events. Having well over 50 events, I didn’t even begin to scratch the surface of this festival. So am I going back?? YOU BETCHA!!! And if you live nearby you should too as the majority of the event goes till June 9th.  Here is the website,  everyone check it out!

Rather of ending my blog with my normal closures, I instead will leave you with some of the videos I took at Vivid Sydney.  I am still in Awe, as it was such a stunning and unique experience that left me feeling inspired and beautiful.. and hopefully it will do the same for you <3

<3 Michelle