Living Nerdy in Sydney

Mezza Train is a Lebanese restaurant located in Mascot, NSW. The restaurant is very near the airport. Like a sushi train, it serves small dishes, also known as "mezze", on a conveyor belt. My husband loves Lebanese food, so we decided to visit this restaurant on his birthday. Setting The restaurant is decorated in somewhat a mix between industrial and modern styles. It has both counter seating, where you can access the food off the conveyor belt, and table seating, where you predominantly order off a menu. The biggest irony (and probably downfall) to this restaurant is that there is a lot more table seating than counter seating. If you don't book in advance, you would probably get a table seat. Most people do come here for the train experience. However, even if you get a table seat, you can access the conveyor belt by squeezing between 2 sets of diners on the counter. I do admit it does get very awkward after a while. Food Lebanese flat bread (fresh ...

The Primates of the Anglican Communion has suspended the Episcopal Church from full participation in the life and work of the Anglican Communion for 3 years. This was largely due to the Episcopal Church’s change in practices and beliefs, allowing for same-sex relationships. The primates of the Anglican Communion pray during Evensong in Canterbury Cathedral on Jan. 11, the first day of their five-day meeting. Photo: Canterbury Cathedral (Source: Episcopal News Service ) So who are the Primates? The Anglican church is one of many Protestant Christian denominations around the world. Church leaders include lay ministers, parish clergy, bishops, archbishops and primates. Primates are the nominated leader over a country or a region, usually a bishop or archbishop. There are 38 primates around the world. The current primate of South East Asia is the Bishop of Kuching Datuk Bolly anak Lapok; while the primate of Australia is the Archbishop of Melbourne Philip Freier. Lead by the ...

Hospitals are not as safe as most perceive it to be. Really. Recent studies show than in most first world countries, the error rate is around 10%. Think of 10 friends or relatives who have been in hospital recently. One of these 10 people you know has very likely been involved in a preventable hospital error. Errors can result to no harm, to minor harm, to major harm or even death. In the US alone, it is estimated that 440,000 patients die annually as a result of a hospital error. Here are some of the biggest problems facing hospitals across the world today, and here's how you as a patient, a carer, or a relative can help. 1. Hospital acquired infections One of the worst cases of hospital acquired infections in the developed world in 2015 is the Hepatitis C outbreak in on of Singapore's leading hospitals. The outbreak affected 25 patients, of whom 7 died as a direct consequence of the infection. Lesser known to the public, the most common forms of hospital acquired infec...

The Voyager of the Seas is one of 4 Royal Caribbean ships based in Australia. The Voyager's home port during the Australian summer months is in Sydney, New South Wales. The Voyager has 3 main destinations during the Australian Summer - Australian east coast, New Zealand or South Pacific. Itinerary Picture Source: Clean Cruising and Google New Zealand is broadly divided into the North island and South island. The shorter 10+ night itinerary sails from Sydney to the top of the South island, then up to the North island (or in the reverse, clockwise loop). The longer 14+ night itinerary sails from Sydney to the bottom of the South island then doing a full loop around to the North island (or in the reverse, clockwise loop). The north most port stop will either be Auckland or Bay of Islands. This is 3 sailing days from Sydney. The south most port stop will either be Dunedin on the south east coast of the South island for the longer cruises, or Picton on the north of the S...

On Royal Caribbean suite class benefits are available for passengers in a Grand Suite or above (i.e. Grand, Owners, Royal, Royal Family, Loft suites). Unfortunately, these benefits do not apply for Junior Suites. Crown and Anchor loyalty members with Diamond Plus status and above share some of the same benefits. On different vessels and destinations these perks might differ slightly. I would be using my last voyage with Voyager of the Seas from Sydney to New Zealand as an example for this post. With your suite, you will receive a Gold SeaPass Card upon checking-in dock side. Perk 1 - Priority Boarding At the cruise ship terminal, suite class passengers enjoy a priority check-in line. Unlike the big terminal Fort Lauderdale, Sydney's cruise ship terminal (Overseas Passenger Terminal in Circular Quay) is pretty small. Lines are divided into the various C&A levels of membership. Suite class passengers enjoy the same priority check-in with C&A Pinnacle members. At S...

The Voyager of the Seas first maiden journey was in 1999. The ship then underwent extensive refurbishment in 2014. We had the pleasure of sailing on her during her 2015 Christmas cruise - 18 - 29 December 2015. We shared 4 to a cabin in Grand Suite 1248. The cabin is located on the 10th floor, on the starboard forward end. The cabin was the nearest cabin to the starboard forward lift. However as the cabin door did not face directly into the lift lobby, we did not have any noise problems. The cabin is also located right under the solarium pool. We did not have any noise related problems from the pool deck. The suite can be roughly divided into 5 sections - Bedroom, Living area, Bar and Storage, Bathroom and Balcony. Bedroom The bedroom consists of a king sized bed with bedsides tables on each end, a dressing table and chair, and storage space including a safe. The bed was a medium-firm spring mattress with a comfortable topper. The bed linen used were silky smo...