... So I'm still here in Sydney... still a bit cynical but getting into the spirit a little bit... I'm still maintaining my cheap life style... luck today was a Cup Noodles in the park with hot water in my flask and tap water from the hostel as a beverage... very classy... I'm quite annoyed to be back in the world of money in coins... In Bangkok I'd purchased a money clip (always a bit of a weird dream of mine) which through my 3 months had proved so useful... especially in Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia where coins are (all but) non-existent... I loved slipping out a wad of cash and flicking through it to find the equivalent of 40p I needed to buy what ever it was I was buying... a bit gangster, a bit Mad Men... let's be fair, whenever you think of me you instantly think 1950s gangster... original G;)
... but my life here has been cheap and void of tours, just had to spend a pretty penny on flights to Melbourne (cheaper then the bus) so I'm going into stingy overdrive... good job it's a very sporty weekend to keep me distracted and to help me get into the Australian spirit... yesterday was the final of the Asian cup (the Asian equivalent of the European championships... it's football if you don't realise, and soccer if you're a Neanderthal;) ... the final was Japan vs Australia (yes, Australian are Asian these days)... the 'Blue Samurai' V the 'Socceroos'... a clash of the shit nicknames... .... to add further spice it was in Qatar (the country who controversially just beat them to the rights to host the 2022 world cup... hence lots of debate in the bar I was in about the corruption and a hell of a lot of boos for Sepp Blatter... head of FIFA... scumbag)... the biggest game in Australian football history and I was there, in a sports bar on George Street, 'Cheers' (A Canadian lad, Eric, made me feel so old when he said he didn't know there was a Sit Com called Cheers... when I told him it was massive in the late 80s, early 90s I felt old... then I heard that he liked Death Metal and I began to lament about the youth of today... it's not like in my day...)... there's quite a big Asia population in Sydney so the bar was packed, about 2/3rds Australian against 1/3rd Japan... so a good atmosphere and a bit of banter between the groups... the Japanese fans constantly chanted 'Nippon, Nippon' (Japanese for Japan) and shrieked uncontrollably when their team got in the Australian penalty area... like some pop star had walked into the bar... ... the Aussies had there own chants, many too English to mention but they did have some good banter for the Japanese... ... To the tune of 'You only sing when you're winning' they chanted both 'You only sing when you're whaling' and 'You only sing karaoke'... to the rhythm of 'Come on City' they started chanting 'Hello kitty, Hello kitty'... I was loving it... the lad behind me know a good phrase when it hit him... When Australia gave possession away he shouted, 'Don't give it to them you silly bugger' and when the Japanese chanted 'Nippon' he mumbled, "Nip on this" without offering anything tangible for them to nip on... ... the atmosphere was good and it was a tense game... and there was further spice, there was a Japanese TV crew there filming live reaction from Sydney for Japanese national television... and guess where he stood, directly in front of me and my two mates, Andy (from Liverpool) and Barry (from Ireland)... So when it constantly switched to him during the game he was stood in front of 3 grinning Europeans as he wanted to show the tension in Australia during the final... ... but during the final something came over me (maybe it was the beer, who knows) but I got more and more sucked in to supporting Australia and chanting for them... during extra time I put on my best tension face as the Japanese camera began to focus on me and Andy... When Japan scored their extra time winner and the Japanese presenter jumped up and down and started pointing at an Aussie guy who's started crying I began to fill with sadness, pity and rage... ... but then when the game finished and it was all over, I reverted to classic English and disassociated myself from the loss, critical of the quality of football... and I reassured myself that I was English, not Australian... I know it's quite a bad thing to do but it helps me enjoy the game... ... ... and no the subject of flakey loyalty, tonight Murray is in the final of the Australian open... As Andy said to me (not Andy Murray, the guy Andy I met here!), "If he wins he's British, if he loses he's Scottish." ;) ... So that was a good night last night... but as the game didn't kick off 'till 2am here, it was quite a late one... yawn!
... as I've been cheap and spent most of my time just wondering the city... yesterday I went to Bondi
... and in that vein, I'm now looking at booking up the Inca Trail tour... to see Peru and old Machu Picchu... should be lovely stuff:)
... Keep well people, I'm off to Melbourne on Tuesday for a week so I'll write to you (and probably complain again;) from there...
Love you all,
Matt:)
... but my life here has been cheap and void of tours, just had to spend a pretty penny on flights to Melbourne (cheaper then the bus) so I'm going into stingy overdrive... good job it's a very sporty weekend to keep me distracted and to help me get into the Australian spirit... yesterday was the final of the Asian cup (the Asian equivalent of the European championships... it's football if you don't realise, and soccer if you're a Neanderthal;) ... the final was Japan vs Australia (yes, Australian are Asian these days)... the 'Blue Samurai' V the 'Socceroos'... a clash of the shit nicknames... .... to add further spice it was in Qatar (the country who controversially just beat them to the rights to host the 2022 world cup... hence lots of debate in the bar I was in about the corruption and a hell of a lot of boos for Sepp Blatter... head of FIFA... scumbag)... the biggest game in Australian football history and I was there, in a sports bar on George Street, 'Cheers' (A Canadian lad, Eric, made me feel so old when he said he didn't know there was a Sit Com called Cheers... when I told him it was massive in the late 80s, early 90s I felt old... then I heard that he liked Death Metal and I began to lament about the youth of today... it's not like in my day...)... there's quite a big Asia population in Sydney so the bar was packed, about 2/3rds Australian against 1/3rd Japan... so a good atmosphere and a bit of banter between the groups... the Japanese fans constantly chanted 'Nippon, Nippon' (Japanese for Japan) and shrieked uncontrollably when their team got in the Australian penalty area... like some pop star had walked into the bar... ... the Aussies had there own chants, many too English to mention but they did have some good banter for the Japanese... ... To the tune of 'You only sing when you're winning' they chanted both 'You only sing when you're whaling' and 'You only sing karaoke'... to the rhythm of 'Come on City' they started chanting 'Hello kitty, Hello kitty'... I was loving it... the lad behind me know a good phrase when it hit him... When Australia gave possession away he shouted, 'Don't give it to them you silly bugger' and when the Japanese chanted 'Nippon' he mumbled, "Nip on this" without offering anything tangible for them to nip on... ... the atmosphere was good and it was a tense game... and there was further spice, there was a Japanese TV crew there filming live reaction from Sydney for Japanese national television... and guess where he stood, directly in front of me and my two mates, Andy (from Liverpool) and Barry (from Ireland)... So when it constantly switched to him during the game he was stood in front of 3 grinning Europeans as he wanted to show the tension in Australia during the final... ... but during the final something came over me (maybe it was the beer, who knows) but I got more and more sucked in to supporting Australia and chanting for them... during extra time I put on my best tension face as the Japanese camera began to focus on me and Andy... When Japan scored their extra time winner and the Japanese presenter jumped up and down and started pointing at an Aussie guy who's started crying I began to fill with sadness, pity and rage... ... but then when the game finished and it was all over, I reverted to classic English and disassociated myself from the loss, critical of the quality of football... and I reassured myself that I was English, not Australian... I know it's quite a bad thing to do but it helps me enjoy the game... ... ... and no the subject of flakey loyalty, tonight Murray is in the final of the Australian open... As Andy said to me (not Andy Murray, the guy Andy I met here!), "If he wins he's British, if he loses he's Scottish." ;) ... So that was a good night last night... but as the game didn't kick off 'till 2am here, it was quite a late one... yawn!
... as I've been cheap and spent most of my time just wondering the city... yesterday I went to Bondi
... and in that vein, I'm now looking at booking up the Inca Trail tour... to see Peru and old Machu Picchu... should be lovely stuff:)
... Keep well people, I'm off to Melbourne on Tuesday for a week so I'll write to you (and probably complain again;) from there...
Love you all,
Matt:)
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