Cities and Their Meaning

MyPublisher is an online photo album company where I get ALL our albums printed.

Each time we come home from a days outting or holiday all our pics are uploaded to the laptop, popped into files, edited/sorted, then over a short period of time, the 'best' pics are filed into an album. This file is then moved across to MyPublisher; photos laid out, copy written (lots of Googling for facts that are too quickly forgotten) then sent off for publishing.

You all do that too, right?

We love looking through them. So many memories; seeing MissM as a little person, remembering friends and places.

MyPublisher has just posted a list of the Top 50 Cities To See Before You Die.  It's not that different to all the other Top Cities to Visit lists. Most travel magazines and major newspapers run an annual list, as does travel programmes, TripAdvisor publishes one based on users comments, expedia.com and other online booking sites also offer their users opinions in a comprehensive list.

Add to these lists, UNESCO List of Sites around the world, various National Trusts, Heritage Trusts, there's Cultural Importance lists, environmental lists and so on.

Each time one appears, do you find yourself drawn to opening up the link, counting where you've been, drooling over where you haven't and opening Google Maps to find a few places you've never heard of but are happy to add to the Bucket List anyway?

How many of you been to on this list? Several friends will probably hit close to 30-40 range for sure.

BG (AKA Before G, which is just over 14 years) I had been to only two cities on MyPublishers list (SanFran and NYC). Since then I can add another 13, making 15 in total. Obviously, still got a LOT MORE to go.

Before each trip, we make sure to have spent time with MissM at the library or Googling about where  we're going and what we might see, so she has some points of reference before we get there. It definitely helps sight seeing with a child who has some basic knowledge before hand. Some things are a surprise, but most are not. It depends on where we are and what we're doing.

Part of the success we had as a family touring Italy in June was her enthusiasm which started in Ancient History at school in the UK, and from watching Horrible Histories.

You'd agree I'm sure, that every holiday memories comprise of what happened while you were there, the giggles, and sometimes the not-so-funny; the meals you shared with friends, the antics the kids might have got up to, a strange bus or taxi ride, a tour guide etc.

Club Med, Noumea was my first ever overseas holiday, my first ever holiday with a girlfriend. We were both 20 years old. It was 10 days of pure fun and I remember a lot of it to this day. The girl I travelled with was one of my closest friends at the time, and we've recently hooked up on FB. She hasn't changed a bit!

I then waited a few years and met my boyfriend at the time in New York (that's on the list) much to my parents disappointment. From there we went to San Francisco (also on the list) and Los Angeles (Disneyland, Hollywood, Bel Air - we spent most of our time fighting) before flying back to Sydney (also on the list).

After launching colour for The Australian, I went to Club Med Nusa Dua in Bali on my own as no one could take time off to join me. Never having gone away my own, it was an eye opener for sure. I promised myself I would do one day at the Club and one day out touring. What an adventure I had. White water rafting down the Auyung River! Day trip on the island culminating at sunset overlooking Tanah Lot, buying a wood carving in Ubud (the carving is in storage), bartering in the local markets.

That was the extent of my overseas travel until we became expats. I'd been waving goodbye to friends and family for literally years and seldom if ever went anywhere. One HUGE positive about being an expat, is living in different countries and being full time tourists, and having friends literally all over the world.

So going by MyPublishers list, here's where we've been fortunate to have been, and the instant memories for me. 

Our recent trip to Italy added Venice, Rome, Florence and Vatican City. As you know, we enjoyed each and every place we visited there and would recommend it to anyone to go!

London - My first visit to London was a weekend with MsH. She could not believe we'd never been. We were living in Dublin and G had no desire to go. So, I did. We had a great weekend doing all the quintessential things one does in London as I didn't expect to be back there. MsH was mortified at my suggestions but played along and added a few 'unique' things to the mix. Stand out memories from that trip is her huge red bag which got in the way of most photos, the most amazing chocolate milkshake ever at Harrods, seeing Harrods pet shop and Christmas shop, standing outside Buckingham Palace, seeing London Bridge and doing the tour, going on The London Eye and standing in a London phone box. Seeing all the signs from the Monopoly board was a hoot too.

The fact that we ended up living in Winchester allowed me to visit London several times.  The train from Winchester into Waterloo was quick and easy which meant I could zip in/out while MissM was at school.  MrsV and the art gallery; MrsW and Ottolenghi; MsH and walking'n'talking along Southbank; MrsW and Westfields; a weekend with G and MissM sight seeing; another weekend with godson and girlfriend. We did so much, yet there's still so much we didn't do. Might have to go back one day and finish the list.

Living in Yokohama was amazing. We were only 40 minutes on a fast train into Tokyo and the Shinkansen to Kyoto with Mum was a fabulous weekend. So many great day trips into Tokyo with G and MissM and the mums from school. Art galleries, shopping, festivals, food, gardens, temples, shrines, cosplay, history, technology. We're surrounded with memories as I look around our home with the various paintings, crockery and ornaments we collected. The day trip to China Pete's every time we use our dinner setting; or getting lost on our way to Dirty Dishes when the small crockery pots are used to hold dips or olives. Every Ikebana vase, even those bought in the UK remind us of our 3 years in Japan.

Kyoto - temples, gardens, shrines, food, Geisha, shopping, walking. And Mum. A fabulous weekend with Mum. Seeing the Golden Temple for the first time, still takes my breath away when I think about it; wanting to stay and savour the moment at Ryoan-ji and being rushed out as everyone else thought it boring.

Paris! MissS was performing at EuroDisney (a long way from the dance studio in Sydney) and we thought 'why not pop over and see her perform and take MissM'. Little did we know we'd end up going back to see MissS perform her very last night at Moulin Rouge a few short years later (this time without MissM). I went  back a 3rd time with Mum and her friend and caught up with MrsA&Co who we lived with in Yokohama, MrT and MrP (from Sydney) and MrsC (who I met in Dublin). Can't wait to go back again - still so much to see!

Singapore - our first visit was to spend Christmas with Mr&MrsP and Co (best friends from Yokohama days); we stayed in a hotel and swam every afternoon, went to the Zoo, did the Hop on Hop Off Bus and had a family oriented Christmas lunch. G and I had NYE at the Hotel which was hilarious for many reasons and MissM had a sleep over with her bestie. Fell in love with Hawker Markets.

We went back for a second visit on our way to living in the UK. G went ahead of us, and as we were in no hurry, we took a 3 night stop over and hung out with the P's again. Saw the Terracotta Warrior exhibition!

Bangkok - great stop over between Dublin and Sydney when MissM was tiny. We organised a private guide and saw the main sights. Too hot for us! This time round we fly straight thru via Abu Dhabi, two long legs.

Prague - a great city for a girls weekend. Thanks MrsS (Aussie friend, met in Dublin) for a brilliant weekend of non stop sight seeing. My candle sticks, puppets and Challah cloth are constant reminders of this great city.

Budapest - Another city we got to experience because of MrsS and Co (same friend went to Prague with). We visited with them just before they repatriated to Sydney. To be fair, not sure it would have been a city we'd have thought to visit otherwise (Copenhagen is another one we have been to cos friends were living there, otherwise we'd not have gone). Loved just walking around the city, drinking in the history. Our days out with The S family were fantastic!

And no list of Cities to See Before You Die is complete with out SYDNEY being there. Our home city! Where does one begin? I so love helping friends put together their 10 day visits.

I used to catch the Sydney Ferry to work from Rose Bay to Circular Quay. Never once taking for granted the fact I lived there, and could do this every single day if I wanted to. People save for years to make the trek to Sydney, to be able to see the Opera House, Harbour Bridge and to catch a ferry to Manly (my brother and SIL live there, and surf, walk, ride bikes, walk the dog daily).

Do your own city a huge favour and PLAY TOURIST the way millions of other people do.

You' might be surprised to learn how wonderful your city is!

Our bucket list, like yours is ever growing .... tho our money tree isn't.

That's the downside of expat life, the fact that most of us are legally bound to being one-income-families. All this bucket list stuff takes money! If only we could be two incomes, holidays might be more easily attained.

Expats tend travel - domestically and internationally. We never know how long we'll be living in one place, so have to make the most of where we are as it could quickly come to an end. MissM could not believe that I had never been on a plane to go on a family holiday. That all our family holidays, and we have one every year, was a driving/exploring holiday within Australia. Her face was a picture of WT!?!?!?!?!?!?!? She's been flying internationally and touring since she was two and a half!

We do things and go places that 'locals' don't, and when we they hear about what we've been up to always comment along the lines of 'haven't been there since school' or 'never been there'. We have our DK or Lonely Planet tour books, we note all the long weekends and school holidays, keep an eye on cheap air fares, spend countless hours online googling and comparing and ask FB friends for recommendations.

So, go live like a tourist or expat in your own city or country.

How many places on this list have you been to?

What are your stand out memories?

What will you next do to play tourist in your own city?

If you had to create a 10-day itinerary for someone who's never been to your home city,

what would it include?

With friendship

x

ssshhhhh! it's still a secret

This morning there were 3 text messages, and one email all asking the same question where's THERE and YONDER'

It's really pleasing to know that there are friends taking time to read ms-havachat as I really enjoy writing each chat. Once again, THANK YOU!

THERE and YONDER are still a secret as there's no way I want to jinx either one, however, talking about them even in loose terms is very helpful, as there's no one close by who would really understand the 'guess what' of the texts G received, or the call to action we're experiencing.

Even in an expat community you tend to keep this phase quiet - when we were leaving Japan for here, we couldn't say anything public until contracts were signed because there were so many families at school with the same company that if word got back who knew what the ramifications might have been. Of course people in Sydney knew and BF's in Japan knew - gosh, I can't keep that quiet!

The chatter about who's leaving when and where they are going is always fun tho. It usually starts around April/May as most people opt to leave over summer so they can settle into their new home and be ready for school to start in Sept (talking northern hemisphere obviously)

FB is great for keeping up with who's moving where and when. Love receiving messages saying 'not sure if you know but so-and-so-family is moving to Timbuktu. Don't say anything til they announce it on FB'

The vast network of friends and acquaintances that very quickly builds up happens because of this migration of human beings.

Friends used to live here, now live there, and you knew someone from there that lived here so they should meet for coffee.

The other interesting observation is people's reactions - both those who are leaving, and those being left.

MrsK shared with me her experience years ago - she landed in Tokyo and started to make friends thru school. She eventually found herself in a regular group and noticed that one lady who was very open and welcoming at first had become cold and, well rude. Ignoring people generally, not being involved in things. MrsK was concerned and asked if something was wrong, was the woman unwell, had she had bad news, could they help? The answer was a simple everything's fine other than they are leaving ...... she's not recruiting, she's getting ready to go (in 3 months)

This woman had decided because they were moving onto a new adventure that she was 'checking out' of the current one, not 'recruiting' new friends, and pulling back from activities ....... the other side of the same situation is that the person leaving keeps engaged in what's going on around them but the people who are not moving on, close ranks, start to exclude the one leaving, learn to cope without them around.

I've seen both happen and still don't really understand either.

We hang on to what's going on around us til we leave for the airport and we hang onto friends well, forever .....

Not being in an expat community has been fraught with all sorts of issues which I'll probably feel more comfortable chatting about once we've moved on but what I do know is that no one here will understand the phone call/offer/going/not going/back on/oops of it all, so no point talking about it.


Update:

'He' phoned G back yesterday with approval for the type of contract being offered (the company has several different expat contracts depending on the country you are from and where you are heading to). It's a very pleasing contract, but it's still not in writing and there's still the issue of a written job spec. Can't accept a job without knowing what the job is, right?

The people from YONDER haven't replied to G's last email. G has given what little he knows about it some thought and has a lot of questions to ask, before doing any more considering, so I've also stopped doing my research.


It's funny, as in funny weird not funny HA HA that I can share with you what's going on but we've not told our parents or immediate family that we 'might' be moving. It wont' be a surprise to any of them, however, THERE and YONDER are not close to Sydney but they do offer excellent travel opportunities!

As Mum often says, who knew I'd live in Dublin for 3 months, spend 6 weeks in Japan and return to England - she often asks G where's next, and if it's ok if she starts saving to visit.

We've decided now we know there's a very good chance we'll be moving onto Adventure No 4 soon, that we need to focus on a few things:

• Prioritize our UK Bucket List to ensure we do the things we really want to do in terms of tourist experiences. The fact that the weather is improving, and G's parents are here means we'll do a lot anyways, and the long summer vacation helps too.
• Finish the photo albums from Japan - I've never been so behind in album work. 
• Finalize the UK photo albums - doing them online which is easier.
• Go thru the house with a eager eye and de-clutter (not that we have that much left to declutter, but I'm sure I'll find a few things)
• Make a list of what to sell depending on if we go  (a) THERE or (b) YONDER as each destination is very different and housing opportunities will be different.
• I need to focus on my pottery as there's a few specific Ikebana vases I'd like to create.

At the end of the day, like most things, there's only a few ways this 'thing' will go.

Both offers will fizzle out, or we'll decline both of them (doubtful!)
One offer will fizzle out, leaving only one to consider..
Two will be worthy of consideration and we have the luxuary of choosing.

We're quietly hoping that G's signing contracts sooner rather than later so MissM can finish the school year out here, plus G's parents are here mid May - early August and we can move over summer to start the new school year either THERE or YONDER.

But please remember, it's still a secret,

With friendship
x