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I had a very busy and social weekend. On Friday afternoon, I went to see Die Hard 4.0 with two guys from class and three of their friends. Afterward, a few more people joined the group, and we went out to a Japanese restaurant. Our group was primarily Taiwanese. The only exceptions were me and a guy from Japan. I ordered Tempura Soba, which was pretty good, but a little on the salty side. It was my first time to try tempura (and soba for that matter. Soba is a brown noodle made from buckwheat.) When we paid for the meal at the register, I found some blueberry gum from Asia, so I bought some to try. After dinner, we walked a few blocks to an Asian arcade. A girl from the group knew some people who worked there. This arcade was nothing like I have ever experienced in America. There was a sea of claw machines with a variety of asian toys in them. The machines were labeled in chinese and japanese lettering, but it seemed that a lot of it was japanese influenced. There were many toys that came from japanese cartoons or from nintendo games. Then there were Disney characters that didn't look quite like themselves. There was a wall of toy machines containing a large variety of knick knacks in those plastic shells. One of the girls gave me a funny looking toy that she got from her friend. I'm not sure what it is exactly. It looks like a block of tofu with a smiley face on it. I'll have to take a picture of it some time. After the arcade, I met up with a a couple of other people from school. In this group was the American I met on my first day of class. He is the only fellow American I have met here so far. We walked down to Darling Harbor and soaked in the night scenery. It was a nice night out; the temperature was perfect. We walked around for an hour or so and then stopped at a cafe in the QVB for some tea and coffee. We ordered a plate of "wedges." Potato wedges, that is. On Saturday morning, I met a few people from the Taiwanese group at the Fish Market. We ordered a huge seafood platter and enjoyed it by the harbor. Included on the tray were little octopi. It was kind of freaky, but I tried them anyway. They were very rubbery, but good, nonetheless. After lunch, we walked over to the Powerhouse Museum, which houses a variety of exhibits, mostly dealing with design through the ages. The place was way too big to explore in one outing, so we decided to save the rest for another day. After the museum, we walked to Starbucks and got some coffee (yes, starbucks are just as prevalent here as they are back home; one on every block. There is also KFC, which I find funny. McDonalds, too, of course. But there are also McCafes, which are a little nicer than McDonalds and have some extra menu items. There is Hungry Jacks, which is their name for Burger King. Krispy Creme is here as well, which is the first place I saw when I arrived in Sydney. There's one just outside of the airport. That's all I can think of right now.) Anyway, at Starbucks, we chatted about different cultures, and I learned lots of interesting things. On Sunday, I went to the Ferragosto Italian festival in Five Docks. I took my video camera and got some footage of the bustling place. I could hardly walk, there were so many people. There was approximately a mile-long strip closed off to house the many booths. There was so much food there. I tried some greek gozleme filled with spinach and cheese. It was very good. I also tried some cannoli and tiramisu from a bakery, and then bought an orange poppy seed cake, which I will probably share with my classmates this week. I had planned to snap a few photos, but I got my hands greasy from the gozleme and didn't want to ruin my equipment. Good thing I filmed before eating. I took an afternoon jog and then got ready for the evening service at a church I passed on my way to Five Docks. I have been scouting different area churches to find one that I can be a member of for the next year. Next week, I'm planning to go to one that's a bit out of the city. I will have to take a train, but I think it's going to be the best one around. Once I find the right church, I'll let you know about it. And that brings me to this point. I'm about to go to class, so I must leave you now.
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