Back in Oz

From Nihon to Japan
and
my initial Impressions and actionings in my pursuit of Pho!

Upon my return to Oz, I find that there is indeed a plethora of cultures at play, more so than my first return to Australia some 6 years ago from Japan.  My first return just made me see blonde hair and hear dinky dye Aussie accents everywhere I went, particularly at the airport.

Finding myself in Sydney City only an hour or so after landing at Sydney Airport I immediately go on the lookout, with suitcase in tow, for a Pho restaurant near Central Station.

Looking at the time and seeing 6.59am meaning 8.59am I notice that the earliest a Pho restaurant will open is 9.30am.

Nearby are some adult stores/shops with one lady opening up a store standing directly in front whilst peering intently down one end of the footpath.  I notice this and make eye contact.  I then notice that the Adult shop is right next door to the Pho restaurant that would soon open up.

With 30 minutes remaining on the wait for that delicious bowl of pho, a kind of 2nd breakfast after the Qantas plane b-fast, I decide to go to a cafe which is a couple of shops down.  I order my chai latte large paying the $3.80 and after browsing the selection of pies noting the over $5 price I notice a back section.

Lugging the suitcase out the back but leaving it midway in the hall to better check out the back end scene of this newly found cafe I see a group of asian girls and an older asian lady.  I also semi eavesdropped the moment I felt the inkling of Japanese in their midst.  So I decided that I would bring the suitcase over to a table that gave me a good bit of space to pull out the macbook but also give the group some space.

It then immediately became obvious that they indeed were talking in Japanese, though I wasn’t sure if it was a Japanese lesson, or if it was some other sort of get together.  One of the girls wore a big cross, and I do mean big.  It was silver and kind of funky looking.  Unfortunately though, not long after settling into the groove with chai latte in hand, the group begins to making ready their move to head out of the cafe.

Seeing the Japanese group, or group talking in Japanese, gave me a rye sense of confirmation that indeed I will be returning to Japan soon.  I already have a number of strong feelings and direction on this, but it was just funny that the moment I decided to sit down in Sydney to chill out for a bit before my Pho fix, I find that I am right back in Japan...well kinda.