Some Highlights

by Leah

The recent trip to Sydney was a discovery of sorts. As being my first stop in Oz, it basically showed how life was down under.

For one, vehicles here are driven on the left side of the road and all are right-hand drives. Even people walk on the left side of the sidewalk, much like what the vehicles do. People here respect pedestrians and do really stop and wait for them to cross the street. At the same time, pedestrians respect the traffic light and stay on the sidewalks until the traffic light allows them to cross the street.

As for food, there is a wide range of selections since the market is quite multi-cultural. There’s Asian food, Middle Eastern food, European cuisines and the usual fast-food, which we can also find in the Philippines. One common fast-food here is fish and chips (chips aka French fries).

I noticed too that people here are friendly, especially in stores. They always say “Hi.” or “How are you?” when you pay something at the counter. They also engage you in conversations, even if you don’t know them. I think it’s because customer service is considered quite important here. Customers can complain and report these clerks to the management at the slightest offense and clerks could lose their jobs.

Aboriginals playing along Circular Quay

As we were walking around Sydney, we found also a number of buskers — people who perform on the streets and ask for donations. Most of them played muscial instruments. We also saw a mime posing as a statue of Mozart while we were at The Rocks. They put up a good show, so passersby do stop and watch them.

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