May
2
Australia: Day 1
I’m in Brisbane, Australia for The Best Job in the World, where I’m one of the Top 16 Final Candidates. I’ve been looking forward to this trip, but I wasn’t so keen on the flight. In the process of preparing, I’ve come to realize that most Americans (that I’ve spoken to) think the flight to Australia is 20-24 hours. That’s exactly what I thought until I saw the itinerary. Guess what? It’s only 13.5 hours from L.A.! Yes, it’s still a long trip, and one I wasn’t sure I was looking forward to, but it was surprisingly easy. I slept a lot of the way and the staff on Qantas were genuinely nice and attentive at all the right times.
We got to the hotel early Friday morning, before our room was ready, so we walked around Brisbane for a couple hours and grabbed lunch at a place called Jo-Jo’s. The food was fantastic! Every plate we walked by on the way to our table looked delicious and I wanted to try the whole menu! I wanted seafood, though, so after reminding myself that BBQ Salmon doesn’t mean BBQ Salmon as I know it, I ordered some along with the Caesar Salad and an appetizer of Salt and Pepper Calamari. The Caesar Salad was a bit different than what I’m used to in the US. Actually, I liked it better. The dressing was tangier and there were bits of BACON! How could I not like it better?! And the Calamari? It matches the best Calamari we’ve tried so far from a Chinese place on Biscayne Blvd. in Miami. Calamari is much better in lightly breaded chunks than as deep-fried rings.
We took a walk along the river through the Brisbane Arboretum, browsed Queen Street Mall and took in a small opera performance. My first impressions? I like it a lot! It feels a lot smaller than it is (2 million people) and the weirdest part is that it feels less like a different country than Canada. I feel very comfortable here.
We’ll have a meetup in Brisbane on May 11th. Details are being worked out here.
