Only Child Syndrome

Have you ever been away from home during the school year and finally make your way home for a weekend? You go shopping, eat at the local breakfast joint, snuggle up on the couch... or how about coming home after a summer from camp... You get a little spoiled by your parents, taking you to your favorite restaurant and spending some quality time with one another....
Well how about moving away to another country, not going home but having a little taste of home come to you? After over 4 months, I finally was able to hug my mommy. This past week is one I will never forget. About 10 days ago my mom and Steve landed in Sydney. At first it was like I had never left. Of course it felt normal!!!
The first day they came I gave them a tour of the Ivy. Mum was impressed;-) We then had lunch at Darling Harbor where they got to meet Jasmine... the famous cousin of mine that has adopted me into the Streimer family here. :-) Next we headed to the famous Sydney Harbor bridge where we spent the afternoon climbing up and seeing all of sydney. Very amazing experience!! From there I took them to Opera bar where they saw the friday evening scene on the water. After showering and washing up, we went down to the Rocks for Thai food. Got a table at Sailor's Thai and was able to enjoy one of Sydney's top thai restaurants for under $30 a head (not including drinks of course)

Saturday morning we awoke bright and early where we headed to the Blue Mountains. A 2 hour hotspot outside of the city. On our way we stopped at an animal wildlife park where they got to see the roos and koalas and basically see what I did that entire summer down under. The Blue Mountains were beautiful, though not blue, the 'three sisters' poked out of the trees and we took the steepest funicular train in the world, back to the top. After arriving back in Sydney, we headed to 360. A bar on top of the Sydney Sky tower, rotating 360 degrees an hour and seeing the lights of the city. Mommy and Steve met erica as we sipped our $20 drinks and admired my city;-) From there it was pretty late for dinner but we happen to stubble across this amazing restaurant that apparently only opened four months ago (right when I arrived) I stuffed down my Mediterranean mezze plate and enjoyed some vino...(yes that was a trend for the week). Erica and I put the parents to bed as jet lag was kicking in. What was supposed to be going out for 1 drink...turned into several and once again, did the VIP service at my spot.

Sunday morning, a day I was personally excited for...We woke up and headed to the rocks markets and then to Pancakes on the rocks. For those that have been there I must say, MUCH better when you are drunk. But they had to try it. I then put mom and steve on a bus to coogee to do the coastline walk and I went back to my apartment to clean up and pack. I met them back on the beach with a warm welcome of "welcome to my front yard". Mom was a bit jealous. We grabbed a quick bite before dragging them to the markets. Steve opted to go get a beer but I took mommy and FINALLY, after four months, added to my wardrobe. After hanging out for a bit, we went back to my place, cleaned up and got ready for my "meet the parents" meet and greet. I have met SO many wonderful people here so I wanted my parents to get to meet them. See that I am in good hands!! It was WONDERFUL!!! SO many of my friends came and it was nice to finally have everyone in one place. After probably 8 or 9 liters of sangria...we went to ICEBERGS for dinner. The views from this place are amazing, right on the water and everyone RAVES about it. But for at least $40 a meal, I waited for the parentals to come (smart I know). Well everyone was right. It was SOOO unbelievably tasty. You cant really explain. If youre coming to sydney and want the beach, sunset, and great food, ICEBERGS is the spot.

Monday morning we woke up and had a day to take it easy before our evening flight. On our way to the Opera house, we stopped in to watch the Super Bowl. And stayed to finish watching the game... Then we did an hour tour of the opera house! very cool and interesting. We were able to go inside of the theaters which they would not have been able to do. Then off to Melbourne! We arrived rather late but stay in a GREAT hotel. Introduced them to Indian food down under (and what a typical restaurant here, is like)

Tuesday we woke up for our Great Ocean Road tour. SO amazing seeing the different spots AND we flew in a Helicopter over the 12 Apostles. So incredible. LONG day but so great. Wednesday we started a bit later before our tour to see the little penguins. At sunset, all of the penguins come back from out of the water to go to their burrows. People come from all over to witness this. Thursday we went to St Kilda beach and walked around, had brunch and relaxed. Then we did a little shopping on the famous Collins Street. We went to Eureka, the tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere and watched the sunset over the entire city. From there we did the dangerous. Fine Dining buffet. Yea, when you hear the word buffet you think, cafeteria, vegas etc. Well this was just insane. A nice restaurant and all you can eat everything and anything. Lets just say I got rolled to bed that night;-)

Friday morning we woke up and went to the airport. Flew into adelaide, then Kangaroo Island. Some place I never would have thought about visiting. Because of the rainy season in the outback, this was the next best thing. We immediately got picked up to go on a tour from the airport. We went and saw the Arch rocks, Sea Lions and had a great lunch. It was a lot of bush walking nature stuff where pictures dont really do the justice. After an incredible lunch and some more touring around, we got dropped off at our Bed and Breakfast. MY first B & B experience. Very lovely!! Run by a couple that just bought it about 2 months ago. They were so sweet and I tried to talk them into taking me in and I would teach pilates before and/or after tours haha. Saturday we went out for another wildlife adventure. Could not help but think about my Wildlife4life crew and kara and jess. We saw Billabongs, learned aboriginal tales and saw more than 1, glossy black cockatoo (only 300 remain on the planet). After another great lunch with wine, we took naps on the bus. Haha no but then we went to a beach where there were hundreds of sea lions laying out. Just there on a beach! It was so incredible. Something you could only see there. Then we got dropped off at the airport, took the 20 minute flight back to adelaide and I was FINALLY around people under 40!!
That night I had to go see the town! A bit exhausted we walked around and saw how cool adelaide could actually be. Had dinner and all passed out!
Sunday...WINE TOUR. After doing a bunch of bus tours and seeing too many wildlife parks, we decided to hire a driver to go to the Barossa Valley. Well normally when you go to a vineyard, you try maybe 3 wines. Well After seeing Jacobs creek, Gary our driver took us to the places HE knows and the places that KNOW him. Our first place we tried 12 wines!!!! Yes!! 12!!! We went to another place, Rockfords, and tried some more wine and spreads/jams which became our purchase lol. From there we went to a smaller vineyard where there were americans there for business. One guy from maryland (small world). Thats when things started to become blurry haha. At lunch I had cheese of course and we all had a grand time. I HIGHLY suggest doing a wine tour when visiting and spend the extra money for the personal driver. See what YOU want to see and do what YOU want to do. Finally back at our hotel, we walked the streets and though not hungry, of course got food.
WOke up around 6:50am and got ready to go to the airport. Had some time to walk around, get a few more last minute things and couldnt help but to tear up when saying goodbye. I will be seeing mom and steve at the end of the week but I had the most unbelievable time. I missed my brothers and sister being there but I must say, it was REALLY nice getting them to myself. They always visited my siblings in their cities, it was nice to be away with them in my country...

I know I have not been so good with updates... but that will change! Before my parents came, I went out with my friend to a bar here. It was so weird because it was like Pikesville or Fe in Australia. Basicially everyone knew everyone but came with their own group. All the jewish kids from the Eastern Suburbs. I felt at home haha. This week I will see mom and steve again and Saturday I am working at Good Vibes! A day long Festival ran by Merivale (they own the Ivy). Fatboy Slim, Sam Sparro and some others are performing. Then the following weekend, Helen, my friend I met in Europe and travelled Greece with is coming to visit! I am SOOOOO excited to see her!!! We are going to plan our trip to Thailand:-)

SOOOO.... about a week ago, my best friend from uni IMed me telling me she wanted to come visit. My mind went in a million directions. The next day she said it was alot of money but she will still look (but not to get my hopes up). Well within a week, she talked to her parents, figured things out, AND BOOKED A TICKET. BIGSTER DOWNUNDER!!!! one month!!!!

Hannah and Mel AND Pam, cody and Maggie, SO GREAT seeing you all on skype. i miss u more than words!!! xoxo


Alot to look forward to and ALOT more going on. Stay tuned and PLEASE Update me!!!
CHEERS