1. Be prepared for ALL weather.

It was going to be hot, they said. Be prepared to fry, they said.

Australian summer temps had been steadily on the rise and it was said that this year’s summer would be one for the books. True enough, before I left for Oz, my Facebook newsfeed was littered with Ozzies griping about the heat and news stories of fires.

So, into my suitcase, I threw in mini skirts, shorts, and the flimsiest tops I could find. I didn’t even bring a decent pashmina, only taking with me a light scarf that could double as a sarong. I figured that the only place I would be cold would be on the plane, and I was bringing a small blanket for that. And out of the ten billion hoodies and jackets that I own, I brought exactly zero. NADA. I thought that one pair of jeans, one long-sleeved shirt and that scarf should see me through.

And see me through it did – THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE THREE WEEKS THAT I WAS IN OZ.

30 kilos of luggage and most of it useless.

While I was there, there was also a hailstorm when I was in the Blue Mountains, a monster storm in Queensland that wreaked havoc on the weather in Sydney, and how was I supposed to know that it’s not unusual for Melbourne to go through all four seasons sometimes within the same minute?

Of course, the one day that it was hot in Sydney also happened to be the hottest day EVER on record. That was the day after I arrived. I felt like one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse in Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman’s “Good Omens”.

Or Ned Stark, heralder of the seasons. Har!

2. Although I must say that January is a great time to visit Sydney, if only for the Sydney Festival. I got to see several awesome performances:

The Secret River – Six years in the making, this play is an adaptation of Kate Grenville’s novel of the same title. It’s storytelling at its best, with a bare but ingenious set and a stirring plot. Powerful and moving, I hope this play continues to be staged all over Australia and the world, because it is a story that will resonate universally.

Inside – A brilliant but disturbing play, featuring the physical comedy of Frank Woodley and Simon Yates, who both created and star in the show. Think “Of Mice and Men” but funnier and set in jail.

Urban – Colombian street thugs find deliverance in their circus acrobatics by going international with the highly charged and electric, “Urban”. A rougher, edgier Cirque du Soleil (- all its music is original and performed live), it’s creative, it’s fun, it’s inspirational. A must watch if it ever comes to a city near you.

Tickets are reasonably priced from AU$60 to 85.

3. The Aussies don’t seem to be as Instagram/Twitter/Facebook crazy those of us in Asia. It was rather refreshing. There were no announcements about whether we

4. On weekends, in certain parts in Sydney, especially around King’s Cross, after a certain hour, bars can’t serve shots, certainly not doubles of any kind, nothing on the rocks, and beer can only be served in plastic cups. This came into law after a young lad by the name of Thomas Kelly was killed in a random act of drunken violence in the area.

Even when I was at Pacha at The Ivy, at some point, they stopped serving alcohol on the rocks, which I wouldn’t have minded if I didn’t still have to pay $10 for a watered down drink.

It seems that this isn’t the first time Sydney has treid to reign in its drinking problem and the violence that is associated with it. I came across an article in 2008 where similar regulations were implemented.

I’m not sure if this law is only for Sydney or New South Wales in general, but they seemed more relaxed about alcohol in Melbourne. Then again, the baretender was a friend of a friend so we had all the shots that we wanted.

Lesson No. 3: Their dope-smelling dogs can do exactly that. A friend of a friend went to the Big Day Out concert. He had on him a bit of weed and the dogs smelled it on him right away. He was brought to the precinct, given a warning, stripped of the weed and his concert ticket. He bought another ticket and the dogs sniffed the weed on him again. He explained to the officer that he had just been to the precinct and no longer had the weed on him. While he wasn’t supposed to re-enter concert grounds, the police officer decided to look the other way and allowed the guy to slip into the crowd.