On our actual anniversary on the Thursday, we visited the Tulip Tops garden- the garden where we exchange rings and vows. On the way in, we met the garden owner, Pat- she still remember both our names! She lets us into her garden for free and I'm just so blown over by her generosity. I was looking forward to see the trees we got married in front of- when we got there we found that one of the trees had been chopped down and the other had been heavily pruned that to me it looked like an Japanese umbrella. I really love those trees... it's really sad for me to see that one of them is gone.
While walking around, we noticed that some of the tulips aren't doing so well. Later on we went inside the'history of the garden' marquee and learnt that on the second day of the opening of the garden, a huge hail storm fell all over the flowers and damaged the flower buds and leaves. Pat was standing under the main marquee when the hail storm happened and she thought the ice is going to collapse the marquee because it was falling so heavy. I can't imagine what she felt that her hard work in the garden is destroyed by a few minutes of hail. We saw that some of the tulip leaves are heavily damaged and some tulips have gone completely, but many are resilient and still spread colours all over the garden.
After visiting the garden Greg and I began our 3 hour drive to our hotel in Sydney. We booked our hotel through wotif mystery deal. I know where the hotel is and what but I really don't know what to expect. When we got there, the place was so fancy that we thought we got lost! We had to use the valet facility and concierge. I'm wasn't expecting that type of service and I only brought a tiny suitcase and some of my belongings aren't even packed inside the suitcase! So the valet and the concierge had to stood there and wait for me to quickly shove my stuff in my bags so that we don't leave anything in the car. It was so funny to see the concierge carrying our tiny suitcase in a giant hotel trolley thing. Hehe... I feel so out of placed.
When we got to our room I was sooooo excited I get to stay in a fancy hotel without my parents that I started screaming and jumping around on the bed Greg thought I was high. No time to waste, we have to get out of here and start exploring! We got out to darling harbour where we found a restaurant next to the water with a sign that says "Special all bar food $12, cocktails, $10 from 3pm-6pm". It's 4:30pm and Greg is hungry... perfect! After that we decided to see an imax movie because Greg has never been before. the film is starting in 15 minutes so we walked around the harbour a bit more.
As we were walking around the harbour, I saw this couple that looked exactly like me and Greg 5 years ago. They are sitting on the edge of the deck facing the water. The girl is a small asian girl with floral dress. The guy is tall and skinny with short blonde curls, scruffy shirt and a square backpack that Greg used to own. I was so amazed that I stopped and started poking my head on different angles trying to catch their faces. I called Greg back as he kept walking away from me and I'm like, "Greg! This is so creepy! But cool at the same time!!! And it's kind of like, 'aaaaaw...'. I really want to take a photo of them! Should I ask if their names are Greg and Fionna? We can tell them that if they get married, 2 years after that they'll look like us!" As I kept going with my suggestions he tried to drag me away from them. Although as he observed more I think he agreed with me on the level of creepyness. So he eventually lets me take a photo just before we get in the cinema. We saw "The Last Reef" and I really enjoyed it.
After the cinema we went to the hotel for a shower and went out again for a romantic anniversary dinner! Happy anniversary my love!!!
That night we went to bed early and got up late... we really needed that. We got out of the hotel at midday and walked around Sydney CBD when we ran into The Sydney Swans victory parade. Greg loooves AFL, and the Sydney Swans. They happened to win the grand final this year and are parading on the main street. Seriously can't believe our luck! And more importantly, I happen to be wearing the right coloured dress for the occasion! Ha!
After the parade we had yum cha for breakfast/lunch before we started our major hike to Cirque Du Soleil! That's right! Our trip to Sydney revolves around this event and I was sooo excited!!! We booked 6 months in advance to get a good seat at a reasonable rate to see this world class circus! I left the task of navigating our journey towards the circus to Greg- and truth be told, it was a complete agony. He kept telling me that the circus aren't too far away from where we're at so we might as well walk there. What he means by 'not too far' was actually 4 blocks, an oval and 2 stadiums away. I went crazy and became one of those wives who just kept nagging and nagging. Greg wasn't phased a bit about my harsh tone and negative vibe. He knows that I was uncomfortable but kept walking anyway, and for that he just kept holding my hand and said,"You're doing well honey. Keep going we're almost there!". And then I remember how much I love this man.
As soon as I saw the circus tent, I forgot about everything. "Ovo" was amazing beyond words. 'when the show is over I wished I was rich enough to see it over and over again.
After the circus we've learnt our previous lesson and took a taxi straight back to our destination: Crave's Sydney food festival! It was nothing much other than walking around surrounded by fairy lights and people queuing for Asian food in the out door, but it was still great to be a part of it.
After dinner we walked all the way from Hyde Park to the Rocks just to visit our favorite book store, Ariel. It has always been a habit of ours to always stop by this bookshop. From that night on we've realized that whenever we go to Sydney we have to visit this bookstore, otherwise it'll just feel like we haven't been to Sydney at all.
After just a few minutes browsing around the store, we walked all the way back to our hotel for a break. And then for some reason we decided to go out again at 11pm for a cocktail each at Cyren. We were surrounded by the reflecting water, the city lights and the weather was great for us to be outdoor. It was perfect a night!
The next day is pretty much the end of our anniversary celebration. We got up at 7:30am, check out of the hotel at 8am and moved on to our next task. I had to meet my Sydney friends on the far west of Sydney in the middle of nowhere to go for bridesmaids dress shopping of all things. My very good friend Liz is getting married in 3 months time. Seems like the rest of the bridal party are living in Sydney now apart from me. Greg and I are not by any mean a morning person at all, so it was a struggle for us to meet them ready in a sound mind to go dress shopping. I merged with the girls while Greg went away to see "Looper" in the movies. I don't know how we managed but we looked for dresses for about 4 hours and come up with nothing. I have to admit that clothes shopping in Australia is pretty lame... so since then our shopping had pretty much moved to online.
At 3:30pm we all met up in a cafe with the rest of the bridal party. It was interesting since I've never met any of the groomsman let alone their partners.
For dinner we met up with the man who will be hosting us for the night. Greg and I are staying at Conan's house for the last night to save some money- the thought of staying 3 nights at a 5 star hotel is waaay beyond me so I insisted on thisidea. Liz and our friend Steven from Canberra also joined us for dinner. After dinner, Liz went back to college while I now merged with the guys for a walk around the park in Burwood and chocolate dessert at melt. I had an awesome night out. Felt like we were just talking and laughing and eating great food all night. I'm so happy!
So, here's a bit of history about Conan. Years and years ago, about a month before I started going out with Greg, I had to move out of college and needed a place to stay while looking for a rental home with 2 other girls. And that's when Conan opened up his spare room for me to stay. It ended up to only be for a month, but it was one of the most memorable month I've ever had as a college student. Conan was just a dream housemate, and a big brother that I wish I had. Driving to his new house in Sydney I said, "I can't wait to see your new house!" "Oh, why is that?" "Well, cause all I can think of in my head is your house in Downer!"
Well, what do you know. As I stepped into his new home, the interior of the house, and the furniture that he has was almost exactly the same as the house in Downer 6 years ago! It's like someone had just picked up his house in Downer and planted it in a slightly bigger land in Sydney. Conan is working in a high paying public service job as a treasurer. His office is in one of the high rises in circular quay facing the Sydney Opera house... and yet the tv that sits in his living room is a 30 inch box tv, and his furniture is pretty much vintage without him trying to be retro just because he never replace them. "Well, if it still works, why replace them?" As I sat there in awe of what time really reveals about Conan when Greg said to me, 'He's representing this country's treasurer Fionna... that is what they do." Right... and that supposed make sense how?
The next morning, Conan seem to have our breakfast planned out. I'm in charge of the bacon and eggs, Greg is in charge of toast and Conan tea and coffee. We seem to find endless things to talk about but well... it was time for us to go as breakfast time is quickly turning into lunch time. We packed out bags again and it was time to explore Sydney one last time before we drive back to Canberra.
From there we drove to Eveleigh Market- which I love visiting even though it was just for a little while. At that market I bought a vase and a mug with flannel flower pattern molded into it from Denise MacDonald as presents for my workmates.
After the market, Greg and I have a strange curiosity to visit Ikea. We both had never been there before and was wondering what the fuss was all about. And now... we got it. Walking through Ikea was also like going through tunnels of display like in an aquarium, or 'it's small world after all display' except looking inside a model of a fully functioning rooms. I found it fascinating that when I open ambiguous drawers and cupboards in a display area, there's stuff in it! Wow! I know it's only a furniture store but for me it was still an incredible experience. I'm glad I went there with my husband and not with some guy that I'm not sure if I'm going to have a future with or not. The place really sparks up imagination of what a married future would be like. The things we will own and the memories we will create in it. Greg and I are so inspired by this visit that in the car on the way home, we started to plan our finance in order to buy a house by the time we have our 3 year anniversary. And just like that, our spending is now very restricted, and we're poor again... hehe.
Thank You God for spoiling us. I feel so blessed and happy to have these wonderful moments with someone that I love so much!
Thank You God for spoiling us. I feel so blessed and happy to have these wonderful moments with someone that I love so much!
