Cabramatta: Sydneys little Vietnam and the West

Besides the all the the pretty and beachy Eastern Suburbs and the cool urban Inner West, there is another very inspiring yet much rougher and very unexpected area in Sydney: The West.
Most areas here are very suburban and while the area has plenty or affordable housing it certainly hasn't the best reputation.
We found many interesting multicultural things to discover spending a Sunday wandering around Cabramatta. The mainly Vietnamese neighborhood, full of fresh exotic fruit, vegetables, fabrics and pound stores. I mean: 87% off!?! This is the uniquest offer I have seen in my life!
By day it was very vibrant and buzzing. It felt like we are actually in Asia.
I had an Avocado shake and we stocked up on groceries for plenty of stir-fries.
Oh food is too delicious over here, we got to watch ourselves before we know it we will double our size ; )
We also got to meet our little nephew Marcus, who is the cutest thing.
I am looking forward to seeing him growing up and playing with him.

Sydney is exciting. I am feeling so lucky and happy about our new little life we started to set up over here. I could write endless happy-lists.
P.S: We now both have jobs and an apartment confirmed! We'll tell you more soon.
Have a great week everyone!

A Sunday by the beach

We had another great week, with new challenges and new discoveries.
For the first time, since we got here we made it to the beach.
It felt like an instant recharge. Just seeing the water... and walk.
Walking by the ocean from Bondi to Clovelly.
We spent the whole day outdoors strolling, talking, dreaming...taking pictures, slurping smoothies.
In the evening we grabbed some delicious veggie burgers and salads and had dinner by the beach.
And here is to a new week, packed with more things to do, interviews, meeting more people,
looking for places and cars. Settling in one step at a time.
Hope you guys had a good weekend too.

Hello Sydney! We love you.

Sydney has been good to us!
I am feeling very lucky having the chance to live in such a beautiful city.
Daves family is just the best, welcoming us in their home and being so helpful.
His brother Mark is the best Pizza dough maker on the planet and his little sister Rebecca got us tickets for one of her dance performances one night.
And his Mum just constantly fills up the fridge with all sorts of delicious vegetarian food for us.
Thanks Guys, you are all awesome.

We have been exploring different neighborhoods, in the search of the best matching suburbs to call our home. Walking around the warm Spring air, soaking in all the incredible smells and colours we are recharging and taking plenty of photos.
Spring is purple here in Sydney! Thanks to plenty of blossoming jacaranda trees everywhere.
I get excited each time I am spotting one, they are one of the prettiest things I have ever seen.
The coffee over here is even better than in Italy.
Also we had the chance to meet some lovely people from the blog-sphere in person.
Gaby showed me round her beautiful hood and Trishie joined us for a fun night out at a pop up vintage store. I am looking forward to seeing more of these two.

The move and the Journey

Hey everyone. We are here. Safe and sound in Sydney.
And we are loving it. Only that we are very very tired.
Loads to catch up on. The last weeks, leading up to the move were a little crazy.
Clutter everywhere, as you can see in the pictures.
We shipped all our belongings and furniture had our farewell parties and were a little nervous.

A few weeks later, we are still waiting for a regular sleep pattern and for things to fall into place.
Living out of our suitcases, time changes, climate changes and being on flat and job hunt.
Everything still feels a little surreal.

We have had the best flights though:
Equipped with dorky neck roll pillows, comfy clothes and plenty of entertainment and all the yummy food at Korean Air we managed to really enjoy the long flight.
It really helped that our stop over airport in Seoul is just the best. They offered free showers, free Internet, beautiful life music and so many plants within the building I felt like on a little holiday for three hours. Seriously everyone, if you have the chance to fly Korean Air via Seoul, I can tell you already it's a very good idea.
We are feeling warm and fuzzy about our new life! Tired but happy to be back to blogging.
And thanks again to Jessica, Gaby and Trishie for their fabulous guest blogs over the last weeks.
We will post about our first week in Sydney shortly!

Guestpost: Trishie about Australia

Hi, I'm Trishie from Under Lock and Key blog. Very pleased to be guest blogging here today as Liv and Dave are busy with their big move to Sydney. I myself moved to Sydney from Singapore some 12 years ago, so I thought I'd share some of the things I love most about this beautiful city and country I now call home.

Well, in Sydney, the sky is a bright bright blue and the grass a gorgeous lush green.
Yes, I find colours to be extra vivid in Australia. Maybe it's because we get so many lovely clear days that allows the sun's rays to shine through. True story - I've never seen colours as vivid anywhere else.

Yes the rumours are true - Australians really do have kangaroos living in our backyard! But that's only for people who live near the bush out of the metropolitan areas. Which means the majority of us don't. Sorry to disappoint.

Our beaches are world class. Australians don't just have some of the best beaches in the world, they also have the loveliest weather to enjoy these best beaches in the world. Most parts of the year is warm enough for a dip in the sea. Winter here is so mild it's probably warmer than summer in other parts of the world.

You may not know this, but Australia is a bit of a wine country and producer of some really yummy wines (Shiraz is my favourite). Hunter Valley for one is just 3 hours drive from Sydney and a picturesque area made for wine tasting, good food and weekends away. I might be a bit biased though, as I got married there just last year! But Liv, please promise me you'll crack open a beautiful bottle of Australian red or white once you've settled in.

Of course there is much more to Australia than wine and kangaroos and beaches but I will leave it to Liv and Dave to discover for herself during her time here.

Liv and Dave, I wish you all the best in Sydney! Have a wonderful time, I hope you fall in love with this city just as I did 12 years ago. x Trishie

Thanks Trishie for this wonderful post! The colours in these photos are amazing.
We made it to the other end of the world.
While you guys are reading this we just touched down in Sydney and will be back to regular posting from now on. If you want to see what we were up to in the mean time, follow me on Instagram.