It's been five years since my cancer operation in 2018. Five years is the approximate survival rate they gave me, and I'm still here to tell the tale. In fact, I'm going to the LIFEHOUSE in Sydney for a final PET scan and check-up so they can wash their hands off me.
In the many weeks spent there after the operation and during the subsequent radiation treatment, our preferred accommodation had been the Quality Apartments in Missenden Road. I phoned to make a booking but while their website still exists, the apartments don't.
And so it's Plan B: two nights at the Golden Grove which we also know from previous stays. The best way to describe it is "homely" and its best feature is its proximity to the LIFEHOUSE and the hussle and bussle of Newtown's King Street which even made it into Wikipedia as follows:
"The residents include a higher-than-average concentration of students, LGBT people and artists, [which] are most visible on this street, sealing Newtown's reputation as Sydney's premier hub of subcultures."
[The Australian movie "Erskineville Kings" features King Street in its opening sequence.]
No subcultures for me: I just want some juicy chicken drum sticks and coleslaw from Clems Chicken Shop and in the evening a sit-down dinner at our favourite Vietnamese restaurant, Tre Viet - but only after I've checked out Vinnies across the street for interesting books and DVDs.
