Baseball - Australian Style

After experiencing the record breaking heat wave in Sydney, I was looking forward to a little less intense kind of warm - the kind of warm that doesn't cause of a river of moisture to run down your spine and make you feel like the top of your head is sizzling. So, that didn't happen. Instead, it was rainy (as in flash flood. So much for those new shoes.). And windy (I wasn't fond of that hat anyway). And cool (as in not warm). Too cool for my taste. Strike one.

Didn't cross anything off the list this weekend. I did book a few things to-do in the near future but felt like I wasted a perfectly good weekend by not doing anything new. Or exciting. Or worth mentioning. Strike two.

The gymnasium (or fitness centre) magnet door locked up and could not/would not open. Guess what side of the door I was on? Enough said. Strike three. 

And honourable mention goes to... My next door neighbors are noisy. They speak in loud voices, spend a lot of time going in and out to the balcony and in general, just make a lot of banging noises. This is not a surprise. The shower door. As I mentioned before, the doors here are somewhat tricky (where we pull, they push... remember?). This particularly shower door is a no-win situation. Push or pull, it is impossible not to soak the floor. Did I mention the floor is tile? Slippage is a daily occurrence. 

On a happy note, it was Chinese New Year. Thank God, as I momentarily thought I had stepped out of the Woolworth's and into a riot. Then I figured out all the loud popping noises were not an attack but people celebrating the year of the Rabbit. Sounded like the year to buy ear plugs but I guess if you like loud noises that make it sound like you are in the middle of a war zone then this is the celebration for you. After passing on the bananas which were an amazing $5.98 a pound (thank you cyclone Yasi), I was going to head to the farmers market to see if I could find some fresh fruit that maybe cost a hand or maybe a foot rather than an arm and a leg. But the parade of people was a little too much for me so I opted to head back to the hotel and lock myself in the gym instead. 

The tram was overly crowded and I was challenged to maneuver with my 2 bags of groceries whilst stepping over prams, backpacks, and people in general to make it to the door before the driver decided that someone had pulled a fast one on him (you see, you have to pull a cord or push a button to signal the driver that you want him to stop). Just getting to the button was a challenge as I almost landed in a gentleman's lap. 

So I felt like I struck out this weekend as several intended plans fell through. And I figured out that tentative plans tend to remain just that. So, I proactively booked a tour of the Great Ocean Road for Thursday (best weather day for this upcoming week) and Mary Poppins tickets for Friday night. This still  leaves Saturday in Melbourne as I don't head back to Sydney until Sunday morning (early again... what was I thinking?!). All I know is that I have to figure it out soon or I'll be kicking myself once again for letting valuable time pass me by.