Thursday 25 March 2010

Sydney - a gaytime and some lessons

I am just back from a conference of sorts in Sydney and thought I would just post a quick list of what I have learnt. Mostly I wanted to share this picture of a golden gaytime icecream at the Opera House with you. It is not fancy or healthy but it tastes so good. It was my favourite ice cream when I was little and I still love to have one every now and again. E loves them too - they are high on butterscotch ice cream and low on chocolate - just his sort of thing. Even Sylvia enjoyed a bite. It seems that the old advertisement was right - "it's so hard to have a gaytime on your own!"

So what did I learn in Sydney? Here is my list:
  • Sylvia prefers bread, cheese and salad from a sandwich bar to a Hungry Jack's (aka Burger King in other countries) vegie burger. She is a great example to her parents, though she is partial to a few chippies.
  • Whereas in Melbourne you can have a baby on your lap in a taxi, in Sydney a taxi driver can refuse to take you anywhere because by law a baby can only go in a taxi with a special baby seat. The same taxi driver can fail to check your baby's age and/or tell you that this law only applies to babies under 12 months old.
  • Having a baby in tow makes it easier to be shameless about taking food from the downstairs buffet when overpriced room service food is rubbish.
  • It is advisable to have some small tins of baked beans in suitcase for an even better alternative to room service.
  • When feeding baked beans to baby in hotel room, even if dodgy highchair is brought to room, a towel on the ground underneath will be useful to deal with the mess of runaway beans. I wish I had been given this advice before dinner rather than after!
  • Don't rely on the cafe at the Museum of Sydney for feeding a vegetarian baby.
  • Glebe is only a short 10-15 minute walk from Central Station. I will post about the lovely cafe we visited there later and tell you a little more about Glebe Point Road.
  • The Opera House has only one lift as an alternative to walking up all the stairs to gaze at the beautiful building up close. E did an excellent job of carrying the stroller up the steps when we found the lift was out of order.
  • Crawling around the airport while your plane is delayed is a great way to get a baby to sleep on the plane.

6 comments:

  1. I get a feeling there's some Badde Manors coming on!

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  2. Oh, memory lane! I loved Golden Gaytimes as a child, too. The ice-cream was always so soft, and I am partial to butterscotch flavour. Definitely always chose the Gaytime over Bubble O'Bill :P

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  3. Too funny! But at least Sylvia had a good time (did you?). And I assume you are well aware of the double-entendre of that commercial slogan if it were uttered over here in North America? I've never had a gaytime but maybe now I should try one! ;)

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  4. I loved Golden Gaytimes as a kid too. Were you staying at The Intercontinental (the MOS ref makes me ask this) - if you were there last weekend, so was I! What a difficult rule abouyt the taxi - it seriously limits your ability to get a taxi in Sydney if you have a baby.

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  5. Thanks AOF - I didn't eat there but was tempted because the decor is so cool - but you are close

    Thanks Hannah - I've never thought of myself as partial to butterscotch but when it comes to Gaytimes I most surely am

    Thanks Ricki - I think gaytimes are all the more nostalgic because not only do they taste good but they hark back to more innocent times no one thought twice about who could have a gaytime. And I had a lovely time in sydney thanks

    Thanks Cakelaw - I didn't stay in the city because my workplace booked me in - would have been nice to stay in the same hotel as you - though I am sure you would have been as horrified as me by the food we got there!

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  6. Ahhh good to hear that you made it to Sydney! It seems that we were swapping cities as I've been to Melbourne recently (unfortunately just after the conference :( )

    And aren't GG the best? I like eating the crunchy bits from around it the best ;)

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