Lovely Afternoon in Sydney by the Harbour - 20th April 2017

20th April at the Rocks, Sydney Opera House in the Background

       My colleague and I first arrived on 19th April at Sydney and took a connecting flight to Canberra. Its been 13 years since we were last in Australia (my family had 2 weeks in the Gold Coast in 2004) and 15 in Sydney. I must say that this short visit to Sydney really gave me a good feel of the weather in Australia, although it can fluctuate quite a lot in the day and dip by almost 10 deg C by evening time. 

      My colleague and I arrived in Canberra on 19th and had a day visit. After that, we checked out the beautiful city and the surroundings by car. Canberra is  the capital city of Australia and the Federal Government has its parliament located at - you guessed it - in Canberra. More about that in a later post.

                                          Sydney Opera House in the Background 

         

       20th April was a fine sunny day in Sydney. Upon arrival at Kingsford airport, we took the Airport Express down to Circular Quays, and finally, Wynard  station. Our hotel was conveniently located at Pitt Street and literally just 2 minutes walk from the Wynard station. Upon checkin, we proceeded to the Rocks and Harbour Bridge. The afternoon was just as what the brochures and postcards displayed, picture perfect. There were lots of tourists visiting Circular Quays and the Harbour - many of them from within Australia and many parts of Asia too.

One for the Memories 

We spent a good hour just wandering around the harbour area taking in the sights, sounds and colours. I must say, the fine mild weather (4 seasons), the variety of foods and the free wheeling democracy has attracted many migrants from Asia to Australia in the last 20 odd years. Some friends and classmates of mine have migrated since the mid 80s and while I am tempted, my heart is set on Singapore. It has so much convenience and accessibility to the other parts of Asia, which has seen almost 4 decades of economic growth with some years experiencing 1 maybe 2 years of recession (negative 2 quarters of economic growth).

        There had been not alot of development since I was last in Sydney, although that can be debated to no end. The Sydney metro is prompt, clean and on time. The Aussie young seem to be working hard now with the influx of Asian immigrants and competing for their jobs.Home prices in Sydney have doubled in the last 7 years - surely not a good sign for the young, as affordability of housing is critical for a stable and happy society.

360 Panoramic View of the Sydney Harbour 20 April 2017 

       Food prices, such as dining in restaurants are quite on par in price with Singapore and service standard is quite abysmal, about the same as in Singapore. So globalisation has many drawbacks and many threats to the millenials from Sydney to Singapore. HIgh paying jobs are few and far between, many top ranked foriegners are working and earning a good income, locals (as in Singapore) are finding it tougher and harder to remain relevant in this disruptive new economy.

      Well. I hope my business in Australia gets a foothold. I would love to return here on a regular basis and observe the social standards and local aspirations from afar. It is indeed the 'Lucky Country'.