William Chong

More silly names in Sydney: Ali Barber, Thai tanic, Thai Foon.

Went to lots of different places in the weekend, despite the rain. Gerald and his registered-partner Karen were kind enough to take me out and about, despite the rain. We changed the temperature by trying our luck with the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney: very, very foggy. I think one of the Three Sisters was visible for about five minutes while we were there. Also had a look at the Sydney Olympic Park, Darling Harbour on a Saturday night (think Auckland Viaduct, except much bigger and a wider selection of Floats, Loaded Hogs and Provedors). Had dinner at a place called Mamak, which served Malaysian food that I have craved for a long time. Price difference aside, if I lived in Sydney this would be a local haunt, nestled snugly in Sydney’s Chinatown area.

You know when I mentioned there were mentally uneasy people around the city? One of them, a short squat man with a backpack and a pair of DJ ‘phones, approached me whilst I was on my lunch break yesterday. The conversation was mostly one-way and made no sense. He was in essence responding to triggers in our discourse and detailing fabricated side-stories as we went along.

“Here, I’m giving you this. It’s a travel magazine, I flew there yesterday. See? That’s a bargain, $400 for 5 nights. Would you dare to that in the picture? I don’t need to jump, I can fly. You have to be careful. Where you from? Vietnam? I went there last week. Working for the Secret Jewish Police, keep it hush. You have to be careful. I tried to tell him he dropped his wallet, and got it for him. Wouldn’t listen to me, they’re all watching you, you see? Look that those two. I’d love to **** it into them, but I bet those black**** are on it, gotta watch out. Where do you work? Yeah, I work round here too. I’m the President of the company there. Those guys work for me. OK, I’m gonna see.”

I’m glad I left my wallet in the office that day, heh.

I’ve just found out our church’s missionary pastor is leaving for the US for 9 months. This is big news in a congregation of say, 10-15 people.

Might meet up with a few Aucklanders here in the next few days. Going indoor climbing with a few colleagues after work today, not long left in this city. Wonder what happens next in Prison Break.