This morning I was up late – around 8:30. Steve was driving me into town, and we were planning on meeting Mr. Hayashi and Miss Kageyama for lunch. We stopped in along the way so Steve could do some business along the way – he had to inspect a house for his insurance company.

Afterwards we went directly into Sydney, and then found a parking spot almost immediately. Since we found a spot so early, we walked around town a bit, stopping in for a beer at a pub and walking through the courthouse. Steve was looking for a bathroom and bypassed a turnstile that said “Exit Only” to get to one. The funny thing was that the security was tight only a few meters away, but nobody even glanced at him as he skipped over the turnstile. They were too busy concentrating on the X-ray machines and metal detectors, I guess.

We went to Mr. Hayashi’s hotel and met him and Miss Kageyama in the lobby. We went upstairs and had a pretty good lunch. Mr. Hayashi and Miss Kageyama had a Christmas lunch, with turkey, cranberry sauce, potatoes, and such. Steve and I had the Malaysian lunch, and it was pretty spicy and fairly good.

We got to talking about our plans after lunch – it turns out Mr. Hayashi had to rush off and help our students do some shopping. I took a chance and asked Miss Kageyama if she’d like to join us – we were planning on doing a little shopping in the area.

She said that she was free, and so we decided to take her along with us. Mr. Hayashi paid for lunch, and then we went to the elevator. As soon as Mr. Hayashi got off the elevator, Miss Kageyama heaved a sigh of what I think was relief. I guess she was getting tired of hanging out with Mr. Hayashi every day.

Steve, Miss Kageyama and I went out and Steve ran to get his car. We sat and chatted while we waiting for Steve, and then he pulled up. He leaned out of the window and said that he had just gotten a call on the cell phone and he had to visit a client – so he took off and Miss Kageyama and I had some time on our own in the afternoon. We decided to walk around a bit and try to walk off the big lunch we had just eaten.

We visited Hyde Park, St. Mary’s Cathedral, the Pitt Street Mall, and several other shopping centers. I found a warm fleece to bring back to Japan, and we both found some goodies at Woolworth’s to bring back as omiyage for teachers in Japan.

Finally we went back to the hotel, and Steve came by to pick me up – we said our goodbyes to Miss Kageyama, and then we were out of Sydney and on the road. On the way home we stopped at a liquor store, and I picked up some nice Australian wines – I can take three bottles back, so I got one for Mr. Hayashi and two for myself.

Once we got home Steve cooked up some wonderful pasta that he had picked up during his travels. He also had purchased some sourdough bread, and had run into Russell Crowe while he was there. He was pretty nonchalant about mentioning it; I guess he’s a regular around Sydney.

Dinner was great, and we drank a nice Shiraz while we ate. Afterwards we sat around and talked a bit, and planned a little for Christmas Eve. I’m heading into the city one more time to catch all the things that I’ve missed in one fell swoop. I’ll be back around 7 o’clock for drinks here in Wollongong – it’ll be fun! Christmas tradition here is opening one present on Christmas Eve – something different than what I’m used to!