K+S In The City: Day 5- Melbourne Cup & Sushi Trains

Tuesday I had to work during the day because it was the Melbourne Cup. The Melbourne Cup, for those of you who have never heard of it (I never had) is the "greatest 3200 metre handicap horse-race in the world" (www.melbournecup.com).  Its most equivalent to the Kentucky Derby in the USA, only one hundred times larger in Australia. The Melbourne Cup is as talked about and as big a deal in Australia as the Superbowl or World Series is in the US. The hype and anticipation built up around it the months, weeks and days before the two-minute race (at least it felt that long) was enormous, and surprising to me because horse races back home don't cause national frenzies. Sure, we (Americans) air the races on television and the winning horse may grace the front page of the newspapers the next day, but we don't stop work, halt our lives and attend special luncheons and parties to watch the big event. Some people may get out their fancy cocktail dress and wacky hats to attend the event, but us common folks at home don't do the same and head to the local pub. This is what the ENTIRE population of Australia does on Melbourne Cup day- they leave work, go to a party (the ladies wearing ridiculous hats, bows and hair accessories), bet on the races and watch the big event in crowds. Thus, like every other bar and restaurant in Sydney, the Summit hosted a special Melbourne Cup lunch. I was looking forward to working the event because I couldn't understand the hype and I was eager to finally experience the horse race that is basically a national holiday.

When I arrived to the Summit, the restaurant had been transformed into a replica of a horse race track: white fences and trees lined the elevators and grassy mats covered the floor. Three large plasma televisions stood erect for patrons to view the big day happenings. People all around me were buzzing about the races, talking about which horses they bet on and pondering who would win. I had not bet on the races. I am not a better, I have zero skills when it comes to gambling. When I went to Las Vegas I spent a total of $1.00 gambling at a penny machine. Thus I didn't even think to bet on the races. Fortunately for me,  my fabulous co-workers Natasha did. Well aware that I, Miss America, didn't "get" the Melbourne Cup, Natasha thoughtfully took it upon herself to bet for me. She came skipping into the Summit with a ticket in hand and gave it to me. "Here," she said, "I bet on Americain for you because you're American!" I laughed, thanking her for her kind deed. Then she handed me a headband with a black flower on it. "I also brought you this because I knew you wouldn't have anything to wear on your head." I laughed some more as I put the headband in place, now officially ready for the race that was about to take place.

The race itself was quick. I had no idea what was happening, which horse was which or who was in what place, but it didn't matter because seeing the excitement on the faces of everyone around me was all I needed to raise up on the tip of my toes, strain my neck to see the television and eagerly watch the race unfold. By the final lap most people were jerking their bodies and yelling at the screen encouraging their horse to cross the finish line first. And then, as if in the blink of an eye, the race was over. I was clueless as to who had one, but then my manager Maricia turned around and shouted, "Sarah, you won!" I looked at her perplexed. "Huh?" I said. "I won?" "Yes, Americain won! Isn't that the horse Tash bet on for you?" I threw my hands up in victory, laughing at the irony that the American who didn't know a thing about the Melbourne Cup won $15.00 because her Australian friend bet on an American-themed horse for her.

Americian, the winning horse, on Melbourne Cup Day

Meanwhile, Kristin met up with Aubrey in Newtown (where I went to the festival) for some afternoon beverages and quality get-to-know-each-other time. After the Cup had ended and I finished work, we all reunited back in Sydney along with Sara for dinner. The destination was Sushi Hero, a sushi train restaurant (you know, the kind with a rotating belt carrying plates of sushi that you pick and eat). Not only was the sushi good, but the Hero also had a stack up magazines available for your mindless, pleasure reading. And so the four of us spent the evening chomping on sushi while flipping through the pages of the latest fashion and trashy pop culture magazines available in Australia.

At Sushi Hero for some Din Din

Afterwards we went to a local rooftop bar, which in itself is not blog worthy but while there we saw a massive flock of bats (do bats fly in flocks? it looked that way) soaring through the night sky. I felt like I was in Gotham city and batman was being summoned to fight evil somewhere in the land. The picture doesn't do the moment justice, but it was pretty cool. Overall, it was an idyllic, relaxing Tuesday evening.

Bats taking flight, can you see them?