Today was a work day for Kevin so he was out the door around 7:15. Joe and I stayed in and had a slow morning. I had purchased a new SIM card for my phone and tried to set it up, but had a problem. It wanted my address, which required an AU address. When I entered that, the passport information it didn’t match my AU address, so it wouldn’t let the app register. When I used a credit card, the app wouldn’t activate because the zip code didn’t match my billing zip code.. So much for easy technology. Joe suggested we just stop at an Optus store when we got downtown.
At 9:30 it was on a mission to Costco. My Panasonic camera started acting up. The zoom would malfunction. Since there is a Costco close to here, and close to a tram stop, I decided to try to take it back and get a replacement. Well!. I should have know it wouldn’t be that easy. I thought I could just swap out the camera and leave the rest of the boxed stuff with them. However, they don’t carry the same camera and the lady wouldn’t give me a refund without all the stuff. Since I knew I had to have a working camera, I just bought a Nikon and will get credit when I get back to Melbourne, or San Diego, whichever comes first.
From there Joe and I took the tram back to downtown. I stopped at an Optus store and the lady activated the phone. It was easy for her. She said it would take about 15 minutes and when I got a text message I would know that it was working.
From there, we walked down a couple of blocks and met Joe and two friend for lunch at Betty’s Hamburgers. The conversation was good and so was the burger. The fries, sorry, the chips weren’t so good. The working men had to get back, so after lunch Joe and I strolled around a bit. I had to get some cologne.
While we were waiting for Kevin, I had received the text messages from Optus and Joe and I were able to call each other. I thought the phone problems were over. Wrong. The internet browser would only go to the Optus website. So on our walking around I stopped at another Optus store, they are everywhere...just like Starbucks. The lady there said “Oh, I know what the problem is” and ran to the back room. She came out with another phone and looked at the settings. She then grabbed my phone and started changing my settings. I was very nervous about this because I know I will have to put in my Verizon SIM when I get back to LA. I hope I can reverse all the changes so my phone will work. Leslie, if you are reading this, you may hear screaming from LAX if it doesn’t work.
After getting the phone fixed, Joe and I stopped for a chocolate fix. Kona Black Chocolates. Very tasty. A guy sitting next to us said that the chocolates here were the best in town. We then went to Kevin’s office building and waited for him. He was taking an early leave today. We had decided to go see the new Star Wars movie. Rogue One. It was good, but not as exciting as the first 3. The theatre here has reserved seating, so when you buy your tickets, you pick your seats. Nice setup. The tickets were a bit pricy though 62.00 AU for 3. About 16.00 US each.
After the movie we went to Chilli India’s for dinner. It is in the same mall as the theatre. The food was very good, but not spicy hot like we are used to. I had the lamb korma, very good, and cheese nan. Joe had beef vindaloo, which was a bit spicier and very good. Kevin had butter chicken, basically chicken in a very mild sauce and plain roti (a type of fried bread).. The butter chicken was tasty, but not something I would ever order.
From there we went next door to Max Brennen’s Chocolate Shop. I had a chocolate fudge brownie, Joe had thick Italian milk and Kevin had white chocolate cheesecake. They were very good, but not spectacular. However, Joe really liked his drink.
You can see all the pictures in today’s Gallery.
Tomorrow we are off to Sydney and catch the cruise the following day.
