Sydney Today

 

So almost 30 months since the Covid pandemic began, downtown Sydney shows the intensity of lacking meaningful infrastructure, as it always has been.

The attention seeking Crown Casino skyscraper at Barangaroo can be admired from road, ferry, train, yacht and more.  Its building height  can highlight the excesses of a city I once fell in love with and was proud of.  A city's pulse and reputation is not in having a questionable gambling centre, or new highways usable only by dishing out expensive tolls, but by the joy and purpose in the hearts and minds if its denizens.

Sydney now is not a practical or user friendly place.  Its over commercial emphasis has superseded most other priorities.  It is not the quality of friendships, sense of security and ease of commute that defines Sydney, but the density of dwellings, making enough money to sustain livelihoods and self preoccupation that overwhelm a Sydneysider.

Greater Sydney residents can be as totally varied and so different, depending on where they reside and work.  There is no stereotyped Sydneysider, just like yum cha at Yummys in the heart of Cabramatta can be not just the same as in corporatised Rocks area of the city ( the former option is more tasty).  It is a hassle for a Westie to try to get to the beach, while the northern beachers can find it confronting to visit the suburbs condensed with specific migrant backgrounds.

It is impossible to find a space in a downtown public car park at certain hours on certain days.   One has to prebook car spaces as if they are dinner tables.  After hours parking can be as high as Aud 30 per vehicle entry.

The number of vehicles and dwellings have exploded, yet the related supporting infrastructure has not changed much.  Trams offered around the city centre are replacements for discontinued bus services.   Thank goodness the ferries still run around the Harbour and nearby coastal suburbs.  The variety of culinary choice is still generally there post Covid lockdowns but Sydney in my opinion still is behind Melbourne in that respect.

Office workers have mostly not got out from WFH arrangements.   Small businesses in outer suburbs have prospered better than downtown Sydney as Covid infections continue.  The tourism sector and handful of universities around Central station have been impacted by international politics and border interruptions.

Sydney downtown lacks the extent of  hotel accommodation befitting of an international city.   The annual events for a city of this size remain muted in number - is it due to a stagnating number of venues and facilities?  Its potential growth as a world class financial centre can be stunted by the duopoly of the banking sector, telecommunications choices and unrigourous taxation inflexibility compared to its traditional rival cities.

Sydney's continuing lack lustre can be underlined by its lack of village communities.   A great city does not just depend on gatherings around its barista cafe hubs.  It is what local councils do more with the hipster and night gathering spots that diffeterentiate large from great cities.  If authorities do not work on a more embracing sense of belonging to the daily routine, individuals are less likely to mix and get to know each other.

Maybe the history of Sydney has left too much to a free market evolution, rather than through an enlightened guidance.  Even the roads of its city centre just developed in a rather rough fashion, compared to the grid planning in Adelaide and Melbourne.

Parts of greater Sydney can be favourites in treatment by ruling politicians.  The contemporary Metro trains and their accompanying huge sized car parks plus deep underground stations in the North-west contrast with  outdated outlets of the same Sydney Rail elsewhere with non-ergonomic stair cases.  Most outer suburb residents have to put up with long distance driving, compared to the walk around truly urban lifestyles of inner city 20 somethings.

Attending a concert or sports event involves a logistical exercise that has not changed in as many years.  Sydney truly is a federation of several towns, so many different migrant cultures and yet no truly shared embrace of collective sociality.

#yongkevthoughts

The Changing Supermarket

 

So I noticed the new packaging, smaller serves and higher prices charged.

Just dropped by a mainstream supermarket, which does hold a duopoly advantage in a business sector vital to everyone's lives in a nation of around 25 million.

Perhaps it is just me, but the increased processing of food is so obvious on their aisle shelves, as opposed to the more pleasing sight of natural produce.

Ready made meals with more preservatives.  Bites and packages that utilise latest food technology but coldly hiding behind manufactured artificiality.
Convenience emphasised with the furthest distance from the natural producer.

So much sugar, so much salt and other chemicals.  Edibles over standardised in look and formula.  So many items looking like clones and fulfiling measurements that cater to logistical and cost imperatives, rather than appealing to our human instinctive need for variety.

The inevitable self check out of the future is reinforced by the opening of only one cashier's aisle.  The seeping dominance of contactless payment methods is already foreshadowed by less direct contact between staff and customers.

Still, old fashioned pyschological methods to spur unplanned purchases, mixing of items with big discounts and high margins plus the attention placed on certain brands continue to be deployed.

More home brands at lower prices seem to oust separate brands not so connected with the supermarket chain.  Many of such home brands are made in the same factory.  There is a continuing hum about the significant hold by such supermarket chains  over producers, who increasingly have to decide on take it or leave it realities.  Too big to fail can summarise the powerful ability of such businesses.

Fruits and veg look not so appealing in the remaining fresh produce aisles, compared to what is on offer in local outdoor markets.  Milk is sold with labels stating it is sourced from various Aussie producers, rather than proudly naming the farm. 

Go figure.

#yongkevthoughts

Another Ever Spinning Wheel

 

Round and round on an ever spinning wheel?

A long weekend in Australia can mean different things to different people.  It can be an opportunity to do something away from routine. It can also be an option to enjoy a cooler or warmer clime.  Hobbyists prefer to utilise the freed up time to further indulge in their passions. Leaders of organisations can use the occasion to framework new ideas, strategies or paths.  Small businesses may take a break or get more busy.

Catching up, taking a sabbatical or getting in touch more with our inner selves.  The shorter daylight hours in the southern Hemisphere can mean spending more time by an outdoor fire. Eating out can be combined with dressing up.  We tend to somehow let go of being too aware of time or schedules - and heal our selves with not being tied too much to the clock.

Social restrictions are but a memory from the Covid tainted years of 2020 and 2021.  However, the value of any personality, who enjoys downtime, with crowds, someone else or just in her or his own company, 
cannot be underestimated.  Variety in this respect is truly the spice of life.

Taking a conscious break from gaslighting politics, overwhelming media and dished out distractions can be heaven sent.  To read or digest something meaningful, or to discover an unplanned delight, rewards each of us with unexpected positive vibes. 

What is it they say about not over planning, whether they are functions, trips or getting away from boredom?  The beauty is to enjoy the journey as well, not just the destination.

Having a relaxed embracing attitude of come what may adds to riding on more joy than being preoccupied with obstacles. Let the winds blow away.  When we let go of expectations, we allow other types of happiness to come in.
No lettuce, no tablets, no problem. 

We listen to our choice of music.  We choose to alllow more music, in all sense of the phrase, come into our personal lives, on that ever spinning wheel.

#yongkevthoughts

On an ever Spinning Wheel

 

Round and round on an ever spinning wheel?

On the eve of a long weekend, traffic sprawls and airport queues occur.  Double or triple demerits are imposed on vehicle drivers.  Bowser petrol prices spike. No one in authority can do anything about it.

Trees seasonaly lose their leaves when they are deciduous.
Flora slow down in growth as the Earth embraces longer hours of night.  Yet the winds blow and temperatures plummet off whack in timing - but they are all part and parcel of the power of Nature.

What is on offer as food continue to be more processed and artificialised.   Produce not so tainted with chemicals, hormones and additives are harder to source.   Fresh produce are increasingly made available in predetermined sizes and shapes.  Nutrients as body and health friendly are deemphasised in the rush for convenience and commercial profits.

Society is portrayed by media as divisive, aggressive and negatively competitive. Compliance and regulation can be out runned by powerful connections and funding.
Hidden brokers and forces overly influence our authorities.  There is more talk than action, more noise than results.

Each of us are subject to more addiction, delusion and distraction.  We are collectively more dependent on a growing global grid of what is incalculated to us as our needs.  We are rarely offered a pause and opportunity to reflect on whether we really require what we are constantly shaped to need and want.

Labels, titles and names continue to be misleading.   More access to information and data does not translate to better use of them.  Are more people more fallible to transitionary and temporal things?  Or are more people losing faith and trust in what we are asked to do and believe?

Evolution and transformation can oddly at times reinforce rhe same, or bring us in a round circle varying between the new and the old.  Conflict can make us personally grow better, but do politics, nations and social cultures really change?

Do we trust our professions as much when strong signs emerge that they can be pressured or bought?  Are some occupations just out to limit privilege and power?  Do we feel more optimistic or not about the advent of new technology, same old geopolitics and the stranglehold of belief?

Is it better that we have more contactless transactions, instantaneous gratification and widespread communication?  What are the implications of a throw away society that devalues repairs and heritage?

Specific nations can be stuck with their own peculiar obsessions.  These get reinforced in seemingly logical ways but not to outside observers.   Whether they are arms ownership and misuse, religious justification, historical tradition, economic prowess, political distractions or survival strategies, such obsessions serve a covert or overt purpose in its modus operandi.

So willingly, unknowingly or being forced, each of us are participants in various aspects of this spinning wheel.

#yongkevthoughts

Awareness

 

Does the wind blow?
Do we get hungry?
Do we use what Nature provides?
Do we need to rest and sleep?
We all do.

Does power corrupt? Only for those seduced by excess.
Do we get addicted? 
Only when we cannot let go.
Do we get distracted?
Only when we cannot see behind the manipulation.
Do we waste our time?
Only when we are not in touch with ourselves and those who love us.

Do step back.
The present is the only moment.
Our body and mind is our own responsibility and joy.
Do some things matter over the long run?

Do step up.
Enjoy our personal journey and thrive in our own challenges.
Surprise someone in a positive and unexpected way.
What you give will come back to you.
Rejoice in shared values and retract from divisiveness.
Go with the flow for change is the energy we can ride on.

Some things are just are, with no judgement required.
Some things will be, but you have to work on them.
Some things were, but you decide what makes you strong.
Some things are just in our mind and what we allow them to be.
Observe such things with a new awareness.

#yongkevthoughts