WICKED - the musical

When I was in the US, everyone was talking about this musical.  I didn't get a chance to catch it in San Francisco.  So when I heard it was coming to Sydney, I was the first ones to buy the tickets.

The girls enjoyed a nice Sunday afternoon at Capitol Theatre (a couple of us almost missed the show...the doors were about to literally close on them).  

For Halloween, I dressed up as Dorothy.  One was a witch and another was the scarecrow.  One of our friends was wearing a leopard sexy dress...she could have been the lion (lol) and if our friend, Tim, had arrived, he could have been the TIM man!

Anyway, go and watch the show if you get a chance.

Mass without a priest???

I went to mass this morning and I was waiting and waiting for the priest to arrive but he was nowhere. This is the first mass I've been to where they read the gospel and I've taken the communion without a priest presiding. They had a leader that presided the whole thing...they had to mention about the body of Christ we are about to receive being consecrated from a previous mass. Something different for me.

Road Trip

Last leg of our trip...about an 8 hour drive back to Sydney...so we stopped and went along the way. Before leaving, we walked along Coffs Harbour's promenade (we forgot to bring our camera...but there wasn't much to report on that anyway).

On our drive back to Sydney, we passed by Sawtell town centre for a bit of a walk then checked out the beach. That's me on the left!

We had lunch at Kempsey.

Then drove to Nelson's Bay to see their lighthouse. Its not the typical lighthouse that I've featured on my blog. Its more modern, doesn't even look like a lighthouse. But we passed by a squadron of pelicans and they were huge!!! They look like they could gobble up a little baby!

And the end. That's our little road trip along the coast of NSW. Check off my list!

Byron Bay

We did the walk through Cape Byron Lighthouse and didn't realize this area is the most easterly point of mainland Australia...so it says on this picture.

The highlight of this walk was seeing some whales over the ocean. At this time of the year, they are migrating to Queensland where its warmer when they give birth.

After walking around the beach, we headed over to the "balcony" - bar and restaurant to pass the time before driving down to Coffs Harbour. We sat by the corner on the 2nd floor so we can see the roundabout and people passing by. Its such a beach town compared to Port Macquarie and Coffs Harbour. Between the three of these, I'd go back to Byron Bay.

Nimbin

Nimbin is already near the border of NSW and QLD. We drove up there to see what the hype is all about. Nimbin = Marijuana.

Before we entered the town, I saw a "Mardi Grass" sign event coming up. And just right after we got off the car, my friend was already asked if he'd like some weed. In less than 5 minutes, he's already been asked three times if he'd like to buy some weed.

We went to a coffee shop and I asked the barista what the deal is with marijuana. It is totally ILLEGAL but people come here thinking they can get them easily. Apparently not. There are cameras everywhere and if you're caught dealing or transacting, you're going straight to jail.

When we got to Byron Bay, I saw a tour bus from Nimbin called "grasshoppers". Funny!

Next stop: Lismore...but there's nothing worth to talk about there.

Big Banana - Coffs Harbour

The highlight at Coffs Harbour - the Big Banana! Because they have banana plantations everywhere. Its a Banana Republic.

This is the first big thing that was constructed in Australia. Soon, other cities followed by constructing their own big thing.

http://www.bigthings.com.au/

Smoky Cape Lighthouse

We continued our road trip up north to Southwest Rocks Lighthouse. Its a nice quiet place, far away from any town. If you want some quiet, alone time, check in at the bed and breakfast just below the lighthouse. Its got great views of the ocean. But you'll just have to hike up to get there.

After admiring the views from the top, we drove up a little further and saw these two bikers on the freeway. When we had lunch at a rest stop, their families were waiting for them there, too. These two french bikers (one bikes with only his arms) planned to bike all over Australia 100km every day for two months. Gosh! It will be hot for them soon. Their families are blogging about their whole trip. Check out their website: http://www.australia2009.net/

Two days later when we were heading back to Sydney, we saw the french bikers on the road again. Good on ya! Goodluck on your travels!!!

And by the way, today is September 9, 2009 (09/09/09).

Road Trip - Port Macquarie

Five hour road trip along the east coast to Port Macquarie. The highlight of this trip was not much of Port Macquarie (I didn't think there was much to see there) but the motel we stayed at Crescent Head (30 minutes north of Port Macquarie).

I did think the walk path along the water was nice. Next time you come to Port Macquarie, bring some paint and you can paint your own memories on one of those rocks.

Surfaris is a motel for surf campers. We met lots of people from all over the world coming to this place to learn how to surf. And the night we stayed there, we had a 2hr jazz concert. We even got to participate when they handed out different instruments for us to strum along. Audience participation.

Inglourious Basterds

I went to the premiere of the movie, "Inglourious Basterds". Unfortunately, Brad Pitt wasn't there. But I did get to see the director, Quentin Tarantino, Diane Kruger, and Christoph Waltz.

Quentin's movies are famous for its violence. I liked the "Death Proof" one (girl power!). I think his movies are cool that I've made a list of all his movies and decided to buy all of them:

1. Reservoir Dogs
2. Pulp Fiction
3. Jackie Brown
4. Kill Bill
5. Death Proof
6. Inglourious Basterds
7. Four Rooms
8. True Romance