2 Days 19 Hours 32 Minutes.
It is starting to really be real. There is a feeling of excitement, a tension. I am leaving my world to live in another country in less than three days.
Last night Chris and Adam took me out for a Last Night Out. Adam had a uni reunion early in the evening, so Chris and I started in earnest with some light refreshments, followed by a shot of vodka with lime. Adam was juggling groups (we were at the same pub), but once he joined us we went out for dinner.
Dinner was a typically Australian meal: all-you-can-eat stirfry at Genghis Khan. Although I had heard of it many times, last night was actually my first time there. I wasn’t disappointed, the food was cheap, meaty and tasty, and went well with a few tiger beers and a bottle of red. 9 serves of food, rice, 6 beers and a bottle of red only came to $130. For the first time that evening, we were asked to leave when the place closed.
A quick stop at a convenience store for some Mandarin Hydration and we were in a cab to The Rocks. Our first port of call: the Lord Nelson, a small pub serving beers brewed on the premises. The Lord Nelson proudly boasts that it is the oldest pub in Australia. We shared a few beers, a few laughs, and discussed rendez-vous plans for the next year. For the second time, the place closed and we were on the street. Luckily I knew where I was thanks to PGR2 and I directed us to general location of more beer. This was perhaps not necessary since we all knew where we were anyway.
Chris veto’d the idea of The Orient, as their bathrooms always smell of vomit. Instead we went to the Fortune of War, where the whole place smells of it. We were able to tolerate this, after all, it is Australia’s oldest pub. I enjoyed a few beers from Newcastle and many glasses of water, and all too soon we were once again kicked out due to closure.
After a night of drinking, what do you do? You eat a meat pie or a kebab, right? And what could be more theoretically Australian than a Tiger Pie at Harry’s Cafe de Wheels in Woolloomoolloo? Nothing.
After the pies, I watched Adam and Chris get in their cab, and for the first time it really hit me. I won’t see them again for a long time. I will miss my friends and family.
*[related]About 6 weeks ago I went out drinking with Stephen, to the Woolpack Inn, which is the oldest pub in Australia. I smoked a whole Cuban cigar in one sitting, something that I will never do again.
Now playing: Lemonheads – Buddy