"See All of Sydney in One Weekend" Mission: Impossible

Day 1: Arrive Sydney International Airport at 6:30 A.M. Get picked up by my dad's high school best friend, my godfather, and his wife. They've lived in Sydney for over 20 years now.

We wind our way toward downtown; we stop at a hillside park to take a picture with the iconic Sydney Opera Theater from across the bay. Meanwhile, a flock of tagged cockatoos feast out on the grass.

A Peak Down Under: Western Australia

Day 1: Get settled in in Perth, Australia. Am met right away by an awesome new friend, Paddy. Paddy picks me up from the Perth International Airport. It's freaking hot out--it's February and summer is just winding down.

Drop off my things at a somewhat grungy hostel. I seem to be the only tourist; everyone else seem to be internationals on work holiday and on long-term stay at the hostel. The guy who met me at reception is a comically helpful, sweet, tiny bit creepy, pale, middle-aged, skinny, medium-height man with an Eastern European accent. He reminds of me of a well-meaning assistant of a villainous scientist in a dank laboratory.

Have dinner in Freemantle with Paddy, Caitlyn (his girlfriend, and a friend of a friend who has also lived in Iwaki!), and their friends (who have all also been to Iwaki...! The world just keeps getting smaller and smaller...).


(See more photos after the jump)

Rottnest Island... Well, The Hope of Getting There, Anyway.

The beautiful streets of Perth, Western Australia.

I would like to just take a moment and recount the time that I was met by the trifecta of bad luck on my first morning traveling solo in Australia.

It was an early February morning, hot and sticky, as it was just nearing the end of summer. I woke on the top bunk (because I got last dibs on beds) of my dorm room in a hostel, a solid three hours before it was time to catch previously purchased ferry ride to a nearby island called Rottnest, off the coast of Western Australia.

I woke up early because I'm an early riser and I love morning adventures more than late nights and because I was ready to see some quokkas on Rottnest. I fiddled with my phone for a bit, got dressed, chatted with my roommate, had leftover french fries for breakfast, and, at 7:15, set off for the port where I needed to be by 8:30. It was supposed to be a 25 minute walk.

Supposed to be.

I stepped out the front gate of the backpackers hostel and turned right (...or was it left? whether I turned left or right would end up being very important later), paper map in hand. I walked and I walked and I walked. I searched for a familiar street name matching the street names on my previously uploaded city-wide Google map. Street signs were few and far between; whenever I did find a street name, said street name was then nowhere to be found on my freebie tourist map. I combed the fold-able map for a street corner or store that matched the ones around me. None. I 180'ed and walked some more. And then 180'ed and did it again. And then turned a corner. And maybe another corner. But mostly, I did the only thing that seemed right to do at the time: I walked and walked and walked.

After what felt like 6 hours (but was probably 6 minutes), I passed a snappy looking business man on the street. I approached him to ask for directions... but too late--he stepped onto a bus before I could reach him.

So I walked and walked and walked. Finally, I spotted a young guy wearing headphones, sunglasses, and a backpack walking towards me up ahead. I smiled, waved to get his attention, and gestured at my map. He took off his headphones.

Plan 10 Steps Ahead, Take One at a Time.

Today is sure to be one to remember. This past weekend, Iwaki experienced the worst blizzard it's seen in 40 years--which, OK, isn't saying much, considering Iwaki is the San Diego of the Tohoku area. Oh, and the accuracy of my weather data only extends to my friend's dad who has lived in Iwaki his whole life and has never seen so much snow.

I'm headed to the Land Down Under in T-12 hours. Because I'm stingy with my paid days off, I went to work today and will zip straight to the airport as soon as the last bell of the day rings. I had little choice but to bring everything with me to work, despite the fact that today's local temperature is about 5°C whereas highs in Perth, Australia are around 30°C. What's more, city buses either weren't running today or were running terribly late. I asked one of the students at the bus stop how long she had been waiting for a bus: 30 minutes! On normal days, city buses are so punctual that you can arrive at a bus stop the minute that the bus is scheduled to come, and it will swoop by to pick you up in 0-5 minutes. The waiting girl went on to tell me that a bus hadn't come in the past hour and a half... which of course, made me seriously question her sanity for continuing to wait at that stop.

The people of Iwaki have been so comically thrown off of their daily routine for these past three days. Traffic was at a standstill this morning as, to my knowledge, our city doesn't even own snow plows. Yesterday, obaachans and ojiichans (elderly ladies and men) gingerly swept and pushed snow off of their driveways using dustpans and garden shovels; this morning, adults running late to work scraped ice off of their windshields with gloved hands and credit cards and kids sloshed their way to school in sopping wet Chuck Taylor Converse shoes.

Of course, I wasn't much better than anyone else. I trekked for 40 minutes to work carrying my 15-kg pack. 

I've got a hundred and one things on my mind as I tie up loose ends at home and at work on top of wondering if I'll make it to Tokyo -> Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia -> Perth, Australia -> Outback -> Sydney and back again in one piece. At the same time, I'm getting to be a lot calmer than I used to be the more I set off for new places. As much as I try to plan everything in life 10 steps ahead, I can only take one at a time and respond to one obstacle at a time. I've got my passport, boarding passes, credit card, cash, clean underwear, and journal. Everything else, I'll just have to figure out along the way.

It'll be my first time landing and roaming about a country where I don't know a single soul. As usual, though, I know I'll come back having made a few new friends and memories to last a lifetime. Here's hoping for a thousand things to write about, too.

And to not get bitten by a giant spider or large, wild reptile or mammal.

Punched by a kangaroo, at worst. But nothing more extreme than that.

Oh my gosh, I totally hope I get boxed by a kangaroo.

Here I come, Oz!