Sydney FC beats Newcastle!

Hello, we went to a soccer game on Sunday.  It was really fun to watch.  Sydney FC vs. Newcastle.  It was the first time that I went to a professional soccer game.  Sydney FC won the game.  We wanted Sydney FC to win.  The end score was 3 to 2.  Once there was a lot of head-butts and they did it about 10 times in a row.  It was so awesome.  A lot of the times, it looked like Sydney FC was going to score but they didn't.  We sat in the front-row seats then we moved because they were terrible spots.  We ended up sitting in the 6th row at the goal line.  There were over 14,000 people at the soccer game.

Chinese Rock Concert in Sydney

Hi, TJ Allison again.  Last night, I did something really amazing, I went to a Chinese Rock Concert and we got the tickets for free.  The singer was Raymond Lam.  He is a famous actor and singer in Hong Kong.  Some of the music was calming and some of it was rock.  He did some cool dance moves and he kept changing costumes.  We got bags with cool stuff in them at our seats.  There were hitting sticks that light up, coupons (which my Mom loves), a pen, and a poster.  Raymond Lam spoke and sang mostly in Chinese and my Mom, guess-lated (guess-translated!).  The concert was at the Sydney Entertainment Centre in Haymarket in downtown Sydney.  There were a lot of people there, over 10,000.  We got the tickets at an ice cream store called Cold Rock (like Cold Stone in the US).  We were talking to the owner and he said, “Hey, do you want to have these free tickets because I want somebody to use them?  The tickets sell for about $100 each.”   See one of Raymond Lam’s songs in this YouTube video.  In the video, you can see the audience with the light up hitting sticks.

Before the concert, we went to eat at a Chinese Restaurant.  We sat at the counter and watched the people make the food.  They made hand-made noodles, dumplings and other stuff.  Then, we went to an art gallery and in the front was a pile of black rocks.  The rocks were really Coca-Cola (the drink) and upstairs there were some paintings made from Coca-Cola.  It showed the artist making the Coca-Cola into paint.  First, the artist boiled down the Coca-Cola into rocks and then he ground them into powder and wet it into ink.  The paintings were similar to traditional Chinese paintings like I saw in China.  It was an awesome evening. 

Here is a YouTube video of a chef making noodles like we saw at dinner.

My First Day of School in Australia

Hi, this is my first day of school.  This is a picture of me standing on our balcony with my school uniform on.  I am in 4^th grade (combined with 5^th grade).  My teacher’s name is Ms. Cattana.  She is a nice teacher.  There are 31 people in my class.  There are ten 4^th graders including me.  Today was a fun day.  I did French class, art class, math, and some people did reports.  I played bull-run at recess which is like sharks and minnows or cat and mouse.   In bull-run you have to tag the people who are running across.  I had two recesses.  Lunch recess is over an hour.  Afternoon recess is about 30 minutes long.  School starts at 9:00am and ends at 3:00pm. 

We moved into our new apartment.  And I like it better than our other apartment because we have a nice view of the water and a huge balcony.  We can see Birkenhead Point (the shopping center) from our apartment.  There are lots of fun parks around.  My favorite is St. Peter’s Park it has a zip line. 

My Adventure at Scenic World

There are many fun places in Australia.  Like Luna Park, a small amusement park.  There are also many waterparks in Australia.  They are so fun, even though I haven’t been to any.

We went to the Blue Mountains and in the Blue Mountains at Scenic World: you can go on a cable car, a railway, and a Scenic Airway.  We also walked to Katoomba Falls.  Katoomba Falls is bigger than Niagara Falls in the United States.  Katoomba Falls is 150 meters high.  There are mountains called The Three Sisters.  These mountains got their names from a legend that there were three sisters that were turned into stone by a magician.  The magician was killed in a war and nobody could turn the sisters back except the magician.  The water from Katoomba Falls goes into our drinking water in Sydney in six days. 

In the Scenic Airway, you can see through part of the floor because it is glass and the operator controls the Scenic Airway and he can fog or unfog the glass.  You see the canopy of the forest and Katoomba Falls from the Scenic Airway.  We took the Scenic Airway across the valley.  It was fun.

Next, we took the railway to the valley floor.  The railway was so much fun.  At a 52 degree angle it was really fast.  It was dark and they played Indiana Jones music.  We went in the railway and the protection was like a cage.  You can go up and down on the railway.  There is a thick cable attached to the railway to make it go up and down.  The railway was originally used for coal mining.

We hiked to Katoomba Falls.  Check out the video with me and Dad.  It has more information.  Listen carefully because is not very clear.  The falls are in the background.

We went on the cable car and they asked for a driver and I got to drive (kind of).  I pressed the start button and I got to sit down in front.

That’s it for now, but check out my blog later and I’ll have more information.  Please comment on my blog because that will make me happy!

Hello from Sydney

Hello from Sydney, very far away.  We have been here for almost a week.  We’ve been doing many things. 

We arrived and we had twelve suitcases, two backpacks, and one messenger bag.  There was a lot of luggage but we got it all!  See my pictures with all of our luggage.  We had a long fourteen hour flight.  We left at 10pm San Francisco time and arrived at 8am Sydney time.  When we arrived, it was raining, but on our 3^rd day, it was sunny.

Our Sunny Day Adventure:   We touched the Sydney Opera House and we took a ferry to the Taronga Zoo.  We took the best way possible to the Taronga Zoo and the best way was by the Arial Safari.  The Arial Safari is a gondola that carries passengers in the air.  A gondola is a cube that carries you in the air. We saw so much in the air. We saw so many animals in the Taronga Zoo. It was so much fun seeing all the animals. We went to the Australian Walkabout, Australia Nightlife, etc.  There were platypus, koala, crocodile, alligator, chimpanzee, seal (and show), gorilla, giraffe, elephant, emu, basilisk, python, etc.

Fun Facts:

1.       Did you know that Australia has the 11 most venomous out of 15 snakes in the world?

2.       Did you know Australia is an island, a continent, and a country?

3.       Did you know about half of Australia is desert?

4.       Did you know Australia is about the size of America but only has about the population of L.A.?

5.       Did you know that the box jellyfish is one of the most dangerous sea creatures?