Sydney's St. Mary's Cathedral and Archibald Fountain

During our vacation, E, M and I decided to hear Mass at St. Mary's Cathedral. It was a rainy day so I wasn't able to get a lot of pictures of Hyde Park and the surrounding area. I did ditch my umbrella a couple of times to take some pictures of the Cathedral and the Archibald Fountain.

Mass was really different from the one we hold in the Philippines. For one thing, dress code was non-existent. It was really solemn with I think it was a bishop presiding. Or maybe because it just so happened that the Mass we attended also had the ceremony for ordaining new priests. *shrug*

There was also none of the joyous singing so common to Philippine mass. I think that was what I missed the most. Though, there "peace be with you" involved handshakes even among strangers -- certainly not something we do here in the Philippines.

We got off at the St. James Station, so we approached from the Archibald Fountain.

Archibald Fountain

Archibald Fountain

Then, from the path, this bursts upon your eyes:

St. Mary's Cathedral and grounds

The tree-lined avenues were actually really gorgeous, but I didn't think to take pictures of it.

Anyway, put the Cathedral and the Fountain together and what do you get? Bippity-boppity-boo!

St. Mary's Cathedral with Archibald Fountain

 We walked around to the the front(?) for this picture:

St. Mary's Cathedral

A couple of shots I got inside the cathedral before I was informed that no picture-taking allowed inside:

Happy Easter Monday! and commemorate Araw ng Kagitingan.

What does it mean when you dream about someone?

It's weird because I've dreamt about B5 for the past three nights. Not just once in a night, sometimes 3 or 4 different dream "settings". Some of them are reminiscent of real places we've been too. But mostly it's just the the two of us and I feel effing happy!

This could just be my subconscious regurgitating my memories to make room for more? Hey, maybe I'm completely and totally over him? Or, God forbid, this isn't a sign that  we'll get back together, is it? Because that would be a mess.

Admittedly, it's taken me a couple of years to actually get a semblance of balance back in my life after him. It didn't help that it wasn't a clean break. Our social lives and common friends didn't allow it.

Come to think of it, I don't even remember what we broke up for...I think it was because I thought it was what he wanted...

Maybe it also didn't help that I never found someone after him. And he continued to be single too.

Anyway, so I've been dreaming about him and I have better things I should be doing but instead I'm doing this. There are lots of sites on the internet about dream interpretation, I'm just gonna take my pick of what this one means. Nyahahaha!

Flash Mob

Something new in my To-Do List:

Participate in a flash mob. 

Somewhere within Manila, QC, Makati.

Earth Hour

Is it just me who finds it ironic that for earth hour, some participants lighted candles? Hello, that produces carbon dioxide!

Sydney Aquarium

One rainy day while we were exploring Circular Quay, we decided to hop on the ferry and visit the Sydney Aquarium!

So, I realized that I'm horrible at taking action shots or I need a better camera (like that would solve it). We spent a good part of the morning at the Aquarium.

I especially loved the tunnel (which I don't have a picture of) where you can see the fishies and the sharkies swimming above and around you!

Friendly dugong. Someday I will swim with them in Donsol or wherever.

Dugong

Dugong

Colorful fish...I only got pictures of a few because I was too busy looking. :)

Manta rays? These are two different kinds, note how the, uh, eyes and lips are different.

A picture of a ray swimming below a school of fish -- before I figured out the camera settings for low-light pictures.

Seahorse! And not just the ordinary kind. This one's leafy? weedy? ferny?

Sea turtle!

Sharks!

These dog sharks are resting on the ceiling of the aquarium tunnel (or floor, from their perspective) right where the vent causes warm (or was it cold?) water to flow into the aquarium.

I haven't been to the Manila Ocean Park. Is it anything like this?

"Your blog's so depressing."

"Are you depressed?"

"No, I'm not depressed."

"Your blog's so depressing."

"Well, I'm not depressed. (Defensive much?) It's just easy for me to write depressing and sad stuff. I don't know why. Writing upbeat and lovely stories takes more effort."

"You sure you're not depressed?"

"How many times do I have to say that I'm not depressed? Well, not clinically diagnosed anyway."

"You know how they say write what about what you know? So maybe your writing's so depressing because you're depressed."

"Sweetie, I know sad. I know happy. I know contentment. Drama just comes naturally. Besides, while I'm sure a lot of people will be interested to read about tax (humblebragging), I don't think I could keep that up. Then I wouldn't have any outlet. THEN I'll be depressed."

snicker. snicker. (thanks G for this useful expression)

If we go on as we are now

I'd get used to not talking to you.

Pretty soon, I'd learn that I can live my life without you.

I will go on to live my life without you.

Maybe someday I will also realize that none of these mattered to you.

And then maybe we could go back to normal.

The way we were before I wanted more.

How to turn your life around

I really have no idea.

My soulmate died on the day I turned 18

When people ask me why I can't seem to make relationships work, I always say I TRY to make them work, it's just that something is always missing. He's not the One. And I'm not going to find the One in this lifetime because he died on my 18th birthday. I get strange looks because of this statement. Here's my story:

The day started out ordinarily enough. I had just the one class that day. A mind-numbing session of Econ 100.2 held at the auditorium, with 3 other blocks.

I remember while waiting for class, I was flirting and laughing. Because I was young and happy and had my whole life stretched out before me. I spent class alternately listening and watching the graphs being flashed on the screen and passing notes and giggling with my seatmates.

It was a normal day, until it wasn't.

I was on my way home when it happened. A sudden crushing sadness that made tears spring to my eyes. The kind where it grips your lungs and you can't breathe. If I didn't know better, I would have said that a dementor had gotten into the car with me. But it wasn't, because it wasn't cold. (Back then I didn't know about dementors anyway, Harry Potter hadn't yet made that big an impact in the Philippines).

I blinked back the tears and tried to breathe, and I wondered what had happened to me. I had no obvious reasons to suddenly feel so sad.

I wrote off the entire incident as hormones or maybe a chemical imbalance in my brain, but it has always stayed with me. Until now, I haven't felt that same level of loss as I did that day.

But since that day, I have had this empty place which nothing can seem to fill. I may be happy but there's that. Empty. Dark.

I never met him. And I don't have flashbacks of past lives bothering me. But this lifetime is really screwed up. He wasn't supposed to die. I don't know how many lifetimes it will take until all the circumstances are right for us to meet again. Because it was supposed to be this lifetime. And now I think he's lost. And I still have my whole life stretched out before me. Or lifetimes.

Until my soul finds yours.

Royal Botanical Gardens

I don't have a lot of pictures here...but it was a huge place. With lovely little benches. You can sit down and admire the ocean/harbour. All the different kinds of plants and trees. It was lovely and so green. E and I enjoyed a couple of picnics in this place.

A huge tree with fantastic spreading branches.  It reminded me of another tree, except this one's in real life:

How about this one. Is it lazy or has it given up? I don't know what type of tree this is. Or maybe it's an overgrown vegetable?

Sydney Government House

a.k.a. my dream summer house. LOL!

From the driveway, with the other tourists.

The back veranda, or was it the side?

Close-up of one of the panels

The back/side portion of the house, with the fountain.

Sadly, we didn't make it to the indoor tours. :(

Manly Beach, Sydney

At sunset, reflecting off of the buildings

Manly Beach