It's been a while since I wrote my last blog.. I think the last one was about me moving to Sydney.

I would say I'm pretty particular and picky about my cities. For instance, when I visited New York, I never thought I'd like the concrete jungle, but to my pleasant surprise, when I revisited as an adult - I had one of the best times there for fashion week.. the shopping is incredible, the food is delicious, and I just felt alive.. and felt like anything was possible. Although, there were some times - I felt nervous being out on the streets (late at night) past 1 am, mind you I am a very paranoid person haha. But I always knew that even though I love to visit New York, I would never live there.. I'd be exhausted by all the hustle and bustle, and I need warm weather, nature, and the beach near me.

During college, I thought I'd settle down and raise a family in San Diego.. haha once I got older, I realized I needed more of a city life - so I moved to Los Angeles. For five years (2015-2020) I thought that I'd live in LA for the rest of my life.. but I couldn't envision which neighborhood I'd reside in. I thought Malibu... but it's so out of the way to get to Malibu off the PCH.. and then I thought, would I want to live in the Hills or Laurel Canyon? I could never see myself settling down in LA for some odd reason..

And then I moved to Sydney (without ever visiting before). And I can't even begin to explain how amazing this city truly is. I could not have imagined nor thought up such a beautiful place up in my head. Before I decided to move here, I didn't know what it really looked like besides some photos of the beaches and of Bondi Beach. 

There are these beautiful harbour beaches, and I didn't even know about the little bays here. Sydney's main "downtown" city or what they call the "CBD" is so clean and spotless. Compared to LA, there are no homeless people at all.  It's very modern as well. The government here is protective of their history so some buildings remain old looking in Bondi, and other suburbs. Paddington is really cute and reminds me of London, with the architecture of the homes and shops there. Potts Point reminds me of New York with the high end restaurants. But I know now, that I will live here for the rest of my life. This is home. I feel like my entire life, I've been the "Goldilocks" of all the previous cities I've either lived in or visited. 

During the spring time, you see white butterflies every single day. There are bats once in summer evenings. There are all kinds of birds... painfully loud birds that wake you up every day (louder than 20 roosters put together), beautifully colored birds, and bugs. LOTS of bugs, whether they're spiders, with spiderwebs almost 2-3 feet large, or cockroaches that you will bump into almost every night haha. But despite the bugs and wildlife here, I love Sydney so much. 

It is also a "nanny state" over here, so the government does a great job of keeping people under control from getting DUIs, and the crime rate is pretty low here in the Eastern suburbs. I actually feel safe walking through all these parts of town during the night. I've never felt this safe in my entire life.. I've also never once been discriminated against for being Asian. There were always those random comments I'd get living in the states throughout the year... but not even one comment in Sydney! The culture in Sydney is very... Asian influenced I'd say. A lot of the population here is Asian and Australians are more well-traveled to Australia since Asia is so nearby.

 I'm still getting used to the Aussie slang here, they like to abbreviate everything. Worse than Californians. Lol they say "CBF" or "ceebs" which means "can't be fucked". One time this girl said to me, "Oh we've done coffs, and now we do parts". And I was like what? Which translated to "coffee and parties"... They love to say "Brekky" for breakfast. I'm trying very hard to keep my American accent and vernacular, but I did notice I now say "100%" and "yep" a lot...

 Overall, I feel much more inspired and alive. The nature is truly breathtaking. I feel like this place is so many cities put into one - Vancouver, Seattle, San Diego, Los Angeles, New York, London, Paris... Someone used the analogy that Sydney is like London with an island life mentality haha. Guess that's a quick summary of it.. people are nice and relaxed here as if we are on an island. Everyone wants to help each other out. One time, I was so frustrated, I kind of made a screaming noise (to myself).. and this man asks me, "Are you okay miss? Can I help you with something?" Another time, I was carrying a big television, and this old man asked me if he could give me a lift somewhere.. In the states, I would decline if a stranger wanted to "assist" me. But in AUS, you can feel the good island vibes haha. More weekly blogs to come.. 

Leave some comments below on what you'd like to read more about :)