Thursday 15 September 2011

Sydney

Husband and I went to Sydney last week.  I've never been to Sydney.  We had a great time and I did a spot of shopping, however, I am hesitant to get too excited yet.  My plan was to go into Zara (the flagship store is in Pitt St mall) and buy a dress in a size 14 that I could hold onto until it fit.  The dream dress, if you will.  I'm an 18 now so only 2 dress sizes to get there.  A reasonable goal, yeah?  
Anyway, after a day of (again) walking the streets of Sydney, I managed to convince husband that he would be thoroughly entertained by the various (in number and level of talent) buskers that are always performing in the mall.  I whipped into Zara but was not, in any way, prepared for the hundreds and hundreds of women involved in a feeding frenzy over a table of knits.  Holy crappola!  There were people absolutely everywhere, I've never seen anything like it!  The Zara store is 3 levels (1: kids and women, 2: women and 3: men) and women literally push past you.  I felt totally overwhelmed and had to take a second to absorb what was going on.  I sharpened my elbows and eyes and threw myself head first into the throng.  There are literally hundreds of different pieces of clothing in a seriously diverse range of fashion styles.  I was desperate to find "the dress"  but couldn't even find anything that I liked the look of.  Being the beginning of September, I figured that the store would be full of gorgeous spring skirts and dresses but nope, winter is still very much on the minds of Sydney shoppers!  I was SO disappointed.  I left the store really underwhelmed with the whole experience.  Considering that Zara is internationally renowned for it's cutting edge fashion I was disappointed with what they had on offer.  
Eating out every night was also a new experience and I continue to learn my personal limits.  At home I just eat tiny amounts of whatever is on offer but when you eat out, you and your partner usually want something different.  It's hard to choose something when you know that you'll only just scrape the top of the serving and you don't want to look ridiculous leaving most of the meal.  
Most often, I chose something from the entree menu.  It is still far too much food for me to eat but it is easier to look at than a full main meal.  We went to Felix, a gorgeous French restaurant in The Ivy.  I ordered the smoked salmon salad and when it came out, i was quietly confident that I could get through most of it.  I got about half way.  I was fairly happy with that achievement, however I really didn't want to waste the smoked salmon.  It was AMAZING and is just so expensive to buy!  Thank goodness my cousin offered to help finish it!! Thanks, Pete!

Another night I ordered a meal at the hotel restaurant.  I asked if it could be made smaller but was told it was "pretty much standard size".  Whatever that means??  Pre-made maybe?  When it came out it was ENORMOUS!  I laughed out loud when I saw it!  After I had eaten my fill it went back to the kitchen looking totally untouched!  I had to laugh.  I think if I had said that I wanted entree size but would still pay the full price they might have been more likely to make a smaller one for me.  

A couple of tips I've picked up... 
  • I now share a meal when possible.  I'm only going to have a couple of mouthfuls and it's really not going to make that much of a difference to the meal.  Most of the time they're happy to share, knowing how little I eat.  
  • Don't order a drink.  If it's there, I'll drink it.  If it's not, I won't.  It makes the temptation easier.  I also try not to have even a glass of water in front of me when I'm eating.  Too much temptation to have some.  Disastrous results when you drink and eat. *Shudders*
  • Sugar. Lollies make me feel nauseous instantly. I avoid them.
  • Old habits die hard.  Really hard.  Although I am now accepting of the whole quarter of a stomach thing, it is really difficult to understand that I can't finish a meal.  I see a tiny entree sized meal and think; pfft, I'll get through that easy peasy.  Nope.  Wrong.  I'm really still learning how much I can eat.  I think it tends to vary, depending on the type of food and time of day.  Maybe I'm crazy but that's how it seems!
 

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