Another busy day

After I did the laundry and the grocery shopping this morning I left home and headed across Pyrmont Bridge eastward. On the bridge there was a woman taking a photo of her small son with her smartphone. "Mummy!" said the boy as I walked past, looking resentful. Soon afterward I saw a man walking two grey Afghan hounds on leashes. On Market Street there was a woman in a short skirt walking west and talking into her phone. "Yeah, let me come back," she said into the phone as I went past her.

I turned left into Pitt Street Mall and crossed King Street, heading right up the hill. At Castlereagh Street I turned left and walked along to Martin Place, where I turned right. The buses on Elizabeth Street roared past the pedestrians waiting at the lights. The street kitchen that had been moved away from the building site at the top of Martin Place had been moved across the plaza and was now set up right outside the Reserve Bank building. "We need homes not evictions," read a large banner strung up above the tables. Two people were sitting on chairs behind the tables. There were numerous tents set up on the ground closer to Macquarie Street. A young man sat next to one of the tents in the sun.

At Macquarie Street I crossed the road at the lights and walked into the hospital grounds. "No running or jogging on hospital grounds," read the sign on the fence next to the gate. Inside, there was a trio of jazz musicians playing their instruments. "Are you busking?" I asked one of the musicians. "No," he said. "Just doing it for fun?" I pressed. "No," he said. "Cafe." I heard them start up a well-known old song as I headed down into The Domain. At the gallery I went inside and bought a postcard then left, heading down the hill toward East Sydney. I crossed William Street into Yurong Street then turned up the hill toward Hyde Park.

Inside the park there were a lot of servicemen and -women in their dress uniforms, as well as similarly dressed police. Many had medals pinned to their chests. There were chairs set up in front of the War Memorial and a truck with "Emergency Catering Unit" written on the side. A line of people led away from the truck. I turned toward Liverpool Street and hopped over the wall onto the pavement, then walked down toward Darling Harbour. The street was closed to traffic between Castlereagh Street and George Street because of construction work being done for the new light rail line. A man and a woman stood on the corner of George Street. "Oh, is that what it's for?" said the woman. "Yeah, same thing as they did on the Gold Coast?" stated the man in response.

At Dixon Street I turned left and walked down toward Haymarket. I crossed the train tracks and entered Market City and went up the escalators to the second floor, where I joined a line of people waiting to get into yum cha.