I Like Your Face ~ Colby Brock

Chapter 9

During my 10 hours and 55 minute flight to Sydney, Australia, I'll be listening to my downloaded music. Right now, I'm listening to Shawn Mendes album Wonder, that came out 2 years ago now, but it's a brilliant album. The title track, Wonder, is so good. I sing along to Shawn Mendes sweet vocals in my ear. I'm sitting at a window seat, so I can watch as the plane takes off and soars high into the sky. About halfway through the flight, I have to get up and use the bathroom. After using the bathroom, I go back to my plane seat and pass out, falling asleep.

When I wake up, one of the stewardesses taps on my shoulder,
"Ma'am, we have landed in Sydney, Australia. You need to leave the plane."
"Oh, I'm sorry. I fell asleep." I said, getting out of my seat. I ask one of the stewardesses to help me open the overhead storage compartment so I could grab my carry-on suitcase. The stewardess takes my carry-on suitcase out of the overhead storage compartment and hands it to me. I place it down on its wheels and wheel it out while I walk out of the plane.

I take a look outside and it hits me that I've just landed in Sydney, Australia. I'm actually here. After years of dreaming of going here, I'm finally here. I go to baggage claim to pick up my large luggage. Once finding mine with my contact information on it, I pick it up and walk outside. Wow, it's quite humid out here in Australia. The temperature is 62°F or 16°C, and the low for today is 47°F or 8.3°C. It's quite warm here in Australia. I wasn't expecting it since I thought the seasons would be flipped here. I thought summer hit around November/December in Australia. I guess it would be considered spring or fall right now.

Anyway, I make my way from the airport to my hotel. I'll be staying at The Ultimo located at 37 Ultimo Rd, Haymarket NSW 2000, Australia. I'll be staying here for the next 5 nights. I check into my room, then once settling into my hotel room, I leave my big luggage and carry-on suitcase in my room, and only take my Betsey Johnson backpack with me to adventure around Sydney. I have to take a taxi from the city of Ultimo where I'm staying to the city of Sydney. The taxi ride was only about 11 minutes, so I only paid a small fare. Once arriving in Sydney, I then start adventuring around the city.

The first place I go to in Sydney is the iconic Sydney Opera House. I take a ferry from the Sydney Harbour to Sydney Opera House. Seeing this place up close and in person, and not in pictures is so surreal. I've always seen photos of the Sydney Opera House and thought to myself; I'm gonna go there one day. Now, my dreams are coming true one by one. I take many selfies in front of the Sydney Opera House and ask passersby to take photos of me posing in front of the Sydney Opera House. Once I finish my little photoshoot, I leave the Sydney Opera House, and go to Darling Harbour. While visiting Darling Harbour, I bump into Hannah Bang and Oliva Lee. Hannah Bang is the little sister of Bang Chan from Stray Kids and Olivia Lee is the little sister of Felix from Stray Kids. Hannah is vlogging for her YouTube channel. I decide to say hi to them.
"Uh, hi guys. Hannah, I'm a huge fan of your channel. I love your content." I said.
"Wow, thank you." Hannah said.
"Olivia, your TikTok is iconic." I said.
"I wouldn't call it iconic, but sure." Oliva said.
"What are you guys up to?" I asked.
"We're just out and about, wandering around the city. I'm making a vlog for my channel. You wanna be in it?" Hannah asked.
"Sure." I said.
Hannah points her camera at me and says, "Say hi to the people."
"Hi, guys! I'm Rae, nice to meet you." I said.
"Your name is Rae? That's a nice name." Olivia said.
"Well, my full name is Raeshel. My family members and close friends call me Shelly, and my online alias is Rae. I quite like Rae the most as a nickname." I said.
"Ah, I see." Olivia said.

After befriending Hannah and Olivia, adding them on KakaoTalk and Snapchat, I then leave them be. The next place I go to in Sydney is the WILD LIFE Sydney Zoo. I wanna see some cute koalas. I also want to try feeding some kangaroos. Apparently, some Australians eat kangaroos, which is kind of sad to think about, but there's an abundance of kangaroos out here, so they're doing the country a favor, I think. I arrive to the zoo, pay the entrance fee, and I'm given a zookeeper tour guide named Eliza. They've also got a dingo pen here, I wanna go see the dingoes too.
"Welcome to WILD LIFE Sydney Zoo. We're so happy to have you here. If you look to your left, you'll see our 'gator exhibit. To your right is our koala exhibit. Which would you like to see first?" Eliza asked.
"Oh, 100% the koalas. I love koalas." I said.
"Righty then. Come this way." Eliza said.
Eliza leads me into the koala exhibit. I get to feed the koalas eucalyptus leaves, which is a koalas' version of our Marijuana.
"What you're feeding the koalas, eucalyptus, gets them really high. It's like koala weed." Eliza said.
"Oh my God." I said, laughing.
I finish feeding the koala. Now, I have a chance to take pictures with the koala I fed since she's calmed down after being fed. This koala's name is Carmen. Eliza carries Carmen into the photo taking place and puts Carmen in my arms.
"Kind of hold Carmen like you would a baby." Eliza said.
"Ah, okay." I said. I put on hand on Carmen's butt and another on her back. Eliza grabs Carmen's attention by snapping and making noises so she could face the camera for the photos. Touching Carmen, she's so fluffy, and the softest animal I've ever touched. Koalas are just adorable, ugh I love them.