Another week in Sydney, and it has been another great week! This week has been pretty much like the other weeks. I recently presented about wasabi’s history and cultural significance, which was fun to research. Something interesting about wasabi is that most wasabi outside of Japan is fake; it’s made chiefly of horseradish. It was a cool experience to dive deeper into a random food item and learn about its history and cultural significance.
This Friday, my roommates and I decided to go to the Chinese market in Chinatown. I was excited to see the market as one of my roommates had been before and had spoken highly of it. When we got there, it was packed with people exploring the many street vendors down the streets. I got Xiao Long Bao for 13 dollars, and they put soy sauce and siracha on it. It reminded me of New York City Chinatown and its dumplings, so the food transported me home. We then went to a restaurant in Chinatown, and it was a very authentic experience. I tried a spicy beef noodle soup for the first time, which was terrific. I will be coming back to Chinatown before I leave for Cairns.
Some photos from Chinatown
We had a planned trip to the Hunter Valley for wine tours this weekend. I was thoroughly excited, not just for the wine but for the views and the history of the wine regions. On Saturday, we hit two vineyards; one was a more modern vineyard, like the ones in the US. The second one was a more authentic and intimate experience. We all sat in a circle, trying this wine from the vineyard. Something that I learned about winemaking was that different wines can be created based on how long the grapes stay on the vine. This made me realize how complex winemaking is, and I am excited to learn more.
Some highlights from Hunter Valley
Here are some more things of note that happened this week. My roommate Colin was playing with a Rubik’s cube, and I asked if he could teach me. I learned relatively quickly how to solve it, and now I am working on remembering the moves and doing them faster. It’s cool to learn something new like that. I went to Bronte Beach today to check out their pool. I stayed on the rocks for an hour and a half, which was very nice. The water was very refreshing after not being at a beach.
Rubik’s cube and Bronte Beach