Month: March 2006

Lunchtime today, I found Kinokuniya. The little story goes a little something like this.

So it’s 1:05, and I’ve finished the lunch I brought from home. Good food, but eating at the desk is just one of those things that keeps you thinking about work, not relaxing. I ate at the desk because there’s a microwave in the kitchen, but it’s one of those tiny bar-kitchens and you pretty much only have the option of sitting back at your desk. So anyway, I try to think of a way to spend the next 40 minutes without going straight back to work, because that’s what I’d done the last two days and it wasn’t what you’d call fun. I remember that I’d said to myself I’d find Kinokuniya in Sydney, so I idly google and find that it is at 500 George St, “The Galleries Victoria”. That’s right opposite the Queen Victoria Building, a designer-filled “mall”, but to say mall is to insult it. It’s classy.

Quick calculation. That’s at least 15 minutes of walk, before allowing for traffic lights. I’d be cutting it fine, and most likely just sighting and turning around. Hell with it, last couple of days I haven’t taken the full hour, why not today.

1:15. I walk out of my building, I imagine something like a small arcade or something. It’s got to be something in the vein of Japan Book Plaza in Melbourne, a small bookstore (closing, from last reports). There’s more Japanese here, sure, but nothing too much bigger can be supported by the Japanese alone, and how many non-Japanese are interested in a Japanese bookshop? Can’t be a big number.

It’s a decent hike. I’m at the north end of the city, about as far as the business part of it extends – further north is well touristed. QVB and Town Hall station, near my destination, is the southern end, with Chinatown beyond. The day is warm and pleasant, and there’s a fair amount of foot traffic to dodge between, but I’m making good time. Encounter a few walking walls, but overall I’m ahead. I get to QVB in about 12 minutes, and I stand consulting a map before thinking “No, wait, QVB isn’t quite 500 George…” I glance at the road signs, but they point only to further walking.

Then I realise I’m standing on the odd-numbered side.

Continue reading “Kinokuniya”

I suppose I’ve been talking a bit much about work recently. It’s now been a month, believe it or not, and work’s no longer “new”, really. Routine is vaguely settled. All good and all that. So the botched segway is into the next most important thing: a social life.

Yeaaaaaaaah. Um.

I guess I have a social life in the same sense that I suppose spiders have thoughts – basic and instinctive. (wow, terrible analogy). In terms of going out and just enjoying, I’m averaging at least once a week, usually Fridays, and the occasional (i.e. every second) Saturday. I’ve got family friends I’m pretty much obligated to visit, but that does make it sound somewhat like a chore, and usually it’s not, because most of our social circle up here is around my age. This is distinctly in contrast to Melbourne where I was the eldest “child” – a very rare and unusual position for me – and the only guy between the ages of 9 and 40. Suffice to say I got bored shitless more than once visiting family friends in Melbourne.

From my limited explorations, it’s clear that I haven’t explored nearly enough. The Rocks seems to be a good area, although a little over touristed. There’s an abundance of restaurants in the city, but very rarely is the set up like Melbourne, where there will be a good bit of street seating filled with people and thus giving a damn good indicator as to where to grab a bite – it’s all a little hidden away. This is in stark contrast with the clubs, pubs & bars, which are pretty well signposted. Completely the opposite of Melbourne, really.

I’m starting to build a circle of friends, but it’s hard within the company as a lot of the grads are investment bankers and so have hours which would make the average man falter far sooner than they do. Other than that, people meeting opportunities have been… limited, to say the least. Need to get out more.

I’ve just seen this pile of book-type things dumped on my desk because the intern who had them has finished up, and I’m the next person in line that these things are relevant to. It’s the “training materials” for our course.

And I swear to you, it is the size of at least 3 A-K Yellow Pages. And it’s not complete – I can tell there are things that are missing because there’s stuff like “vol 2” and no corresponding volume 1.

It looks very much to me like it’s practically a whole year of uni compressed into 8 weeks. Which, given working 8hr/day, 5days/week for 8 weeks, is probably the same amount of time a full year course has; that doesn’t take away from the fact that this is freaking insaaaaane. I’m gonna get started on it now.

A pigeon just brained itself by flying into my kitchen window, where I was cooking lunch, scaring the shit out of me. Its death spasm certainly didn’t help.

The dead bird is in my rubbish bin now. I could think of no other way.

Geh, I feel horrible.