I woke up in a concert. Well, not a real concert but rather a karaoke spree. My AirBNB flatmate is singing to DNCE's 'Cake by the Ocean' and he is belting it all out like he is auditioning for The Voice or something. It's 7 AM, such an early call time for someone who is supposed to be in a half vacation.
I rolled out off bed and grabbed my towel after checking my phone. He was stunned when he saw me after coming out from my room. "I thought you already left," he said. I just smiled. "I'm so sorry. I thought I'm alone!" His panic is denying him already of the neutral English accent. Clayton, may not have a Portuguese name, but he is originally from Sao Paulo, Brazil. He went to Australia a month ago to study English. He is here now renting the second room in this AirBNB apartment which is located just outside Bondi Junction.
"My conference will start at 11 AM," I replied while flashing a really huge smile. He went all red. Luna Park, the venue of the Advertising Week Asia Pacific, is just 7 train stations away from Bondi Junction. It's a convenient 20 minutes on Uber. If I will be really lazy about it, I could wake up by 10 AM and still make it on time.
"It's good that you're up early. At least you can still use the treadmill and eat this," he said while pointing at a plate of sandwich paired with two hard boiled eggs on the table. For someone who is suppose to have more 'authority' in the apartment, Clayton is being too apologetic about this. Honestly, I am also thankful that his Cake by the Ocean performance woke me up early. This means I can squeeze in a little sight-seeing on my way to the venue. Obviously he made breakfast for one. I ate the sandwich anyway. :p
What's Sydney without a souvenir shot of the Opera House and what's the Sydney Opera House without a sunset shot peeking at its stylized, sails-inspired, ceramic-tiled roofing. I tried to make the photos as dramatic as possible. The shot above is my best golden hour snapshot. No pressure please. LOL!
A trip down the other side of the Sydney Harbour (for another angle of the Sydney Opera House) will not be complete without Luna Park. There are several Luna Parks all over the world and Sydney's is one of the most popular parks. Yup! Their entrance gates can be, dependent on the type of person that you are, creepy or adorable.
It is my first time in Sydney and in the whole continent of Australia. My drive to learn more digital marketing stuff led me here. I was just shopping for classes online when I bumped into an ad for AWAPAC. I registered right away without even polishing my schedule. Five weeks later, I braved through a grueling schedule of website launch, blogger events and video shoots at work to make it here.
The 8-hour digital conference is worth it. It was the finest interactive seminar I've ever attended. By the looks of it, I think I will still have more of this in the future.
I'm not gonna bore you with the social media marketing insights I've learned from the conference. Let me take you take you through the sites and sounds around Circular Quay, which is the jump-off point to two of Australia's main identifiers: the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
I will apply here one lesson from the conference. That while content is king, online attention is getting slimmer and slimmer. Here we go with photos and my attempt to include short but fun captions.
My one and only Sunday in Sydney was dedicated to strolling along Martin Place. It's quite a long walk from the Martin Place Train Station to The Strands (last photo above) but the streets were all scenic. Prepare a feel-good Spotify playlist and you are all set!
It's like this in every foreign city I go to. I would always Google 'Most Instagrammable Places in....' Guess what's part of the Top 10 in the Sydney list? The Bondi Icebergs Pool, which is the most beautiful thing in all of the world-renowned Bondi Beach.
Don't say I didn't warn you about that 'Most Instagrammable Places' list. St. Mary's Cathedral is also there. One of the most beautiful churches I've ever been in, this structure is just stunning!
Then we end our trip at the most endearingly-named destination of them all, Darling Harbour. It's where the sunset sky is always golden, rain or shine.
As for Clayton, he did not sing since. Maybe I will ask him to perform 'Cake in the Ocean' again before I will depart for Manila.