Dear Guests

    WELCOME TO PACIFIC INTERNATIONAL APARTMENTS--SYDNEY

    Now we are updating (更新) our information folders in the rooms in order to help you during your stay. Please notice the following:

    Phone number:

    Reception(接待处): Dial 7

     Housekeeping: Dial 4

    Apartment-to-Apartment: dial the apartment number ( except 1st floor apartments: dial the apartment number followed by the ＃key)

    Outside line: dial 0, wait for dial tone, and then the number required.

Please keep your key with you at all times. The main doors to the apartments are locked from about 10:30 pm ~ 07:00 am, and you will need to swipe (刷卡) your key to gain access (通道) to the apartment.

    If in the event of the fire alarm(警报) sounding please stay calm. If evacuation ( 疏散 ) is necessary, please go to the fire exits. DO NOT USE LIFTS. Remember to take your valuables and key with you. When you go down, please gather at the Wishing Tree and the Corner of Sussex and Hay Street and either the Fire Brigade. A staff（职员）member or Hotel security（安全）will issue necessary instructions. For future details on this, please dial 7.

    Please see reception for any advice on tours and Sydney's attention, and please dial 7 if you want any further information.

    We hope your stay with us is an enjoyable one.

    Kind regards,

Paul Williams

Guest Services Manager

    One of the many great lines in the movie Apollo 13 came from Ed Harris, who played NASA Director of Operations, Gene Kranz. The famous line was, “Gentleman, failure is not an option.” He said the words because he had a clear purpose that the three astronauts trapped in space must be sent home safely. The driving force behind their seeking of a solution was motivated by a true purpose.

    Here is the simple principle. If you have a big enough 'why' in life, you will always figure out the 'how.' A person without a purpose in life is like a boat without a rudder, floating aimlessly without a direction and going nowhere. In all walks of life, when referring to someone's success, we often hear the words “focus and determination”. But Merriam Webster defines the word “purpose” as the reason why something is done, a feeling of being determined to achieve an outcome. There are many talented and intelligent people in the world that are unsuccessful because they lack direction. I believe that our life depends on our purpose. Whether you're single or in a team, having a purpose allows you to start, evaluate, and improve your talents or abilities helps you find your path in life and achieve your success finally.

    A friend of mine once told me that the most motivating speech he had ever heard was just three short words. It came from his wife when she said, “Honey I'm pregnant.” He said those few words instantly motivated him because he now had a big “why” in his life, a purpose to work hard to support his family. In fact, when your “why” gets bigger, you get better because you stop holding back and you'll go all out. It's why you often hear about some great people perform superhuman actions when failure is not an option!

    I visited Copenhagen for the first time last Easter. As a student，I'm always strapped for cash，so I assumed I could only afford to breathe the air — but luckily everything about Copenhagen is breathtaking.

I was staying in an Airbnb, and rented a bike so I could cover more ground. One of the first places I visited was the Rundetaarn, or "round tower" built in the 17th century as an astronomical observatory. It has an equestrian staircase (a wide set of stairs big enough for horses to use) that went on and on. As I was going up, I stopped to visit the tower's library hall. At the top, there's a glass platform that gives a view 80-foot straight down, as well as a bell loft. Luckily, the views over Copenhagen from the top were well worth the climb.

    After coming down, I hiked up to the Kastellet Fortress to see the famous Little Mermaid statue. Taking a photo with her was almost impossible with all the tourists crowding around—but sitting there and hearing the lapping waves of the deep blue Baltic Sea, waiting for the sun to set, was an unforgettable and calming experience.

    The next day, I visited the Glyptotek art museum, exploring the grand exhibits. I looked into the marble eyes of many Roman gods，and walked down dimly lit staircases to see mummies from Egypt.

    Before I unwillingly boarded the train back to the airport, I told myself that I must visit again—to experience the thrills of Tivoli Gardens, try more of the street food and everything else from this amazing city.

    For years, decades in fact, I've puzzled over the response most people have when I tell them I mostly travel alone.

    "You're so brave!"

    Why is it that a woman travelling alone, as I have often done for months at a time, is perceived to be "brave", whereas men who travel alone are entirely unremarkable?

You are only brave when you are afraid of something but still do it anyway. I have never been afraid of travelling alone.

    The first time I travelled alone was when I was 19. I was due to travel in Europe with a friend at the end of the summer. She announced by letter two days before our departure that she would be leaving me halfway at Vienna. It was too late by then to rope in another friend, so it was either to go home after Vienna, or keep going by myself. I kept going. I got on trains by myself, checked into hostels by myself and found my way around by myself. It was weird at first, but later I stopped worrying about it.

    When I got back to Ireland after that trip, I felt proud of myself. I had done something I had assumed would be hard, and it had turned out to be not hard at all.

    That was three decades ago, and since then I have travelled all over the world, usually on my own. I still do what I did then, which is to keep a diary. The greatest gift of solo travel has been those I've met along the way. I may have set off alone each time but I've encountered many people who became important to me. I met my husband in Kathmandu, Nepal. I met lifelong friends in Australia, Poland, Hungary, Turkey, India, Indonesia and many other places.

    Donna Strickland is a professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. Professor Strickland is one of the recipients(受领者) of the Nobel Prize in Physics 2018 with Gérard Mourou, her PhD supervisor at the time. They published this Nobel-winning research in 1985 when Strickland was a PhD student at the University of Rochester in New York state. Together they paved the way toward the most intense laser pulses ever created.

    Professor Donna Strickland is only the third woman ever to have won a Nobel Prize in physics. She and her fellow winners were honored for what the Nobel Committee called ground-breaking inventions in laser physics. Professor Strickland devised a way to use lasers as very precise drilling or cutting tools. Millions of eye operations are performed every year with these sharpest of laser beams.

    "How surprising do you think it is that you're the third woman to win this prize?"

"Well, that is surprising, isn't it? I think that's the story of Maria that people want to talk about — that why should it take 60 years? There are so many women out there doing fantastic research, so why does it take so long to get recognized?"

    Physics still has one of the largest gender gaps in science. One recent study concluded that at the current rates it would be more than two centuries until there were equal numbers of senior male and female researchers in the field.

    The last woman to win a physics Nobel was German-born Maria Goeppert-Mayer for her discoveries about the nuclei of atoms. Before that it was Marie Curie, who shared the 1903 prize with her husband, Pierre. This year's winners hope that breaking this half century hiatus will mean the focus in future will be on the research, rather than the gender of the researcher.

    If you love eating and drinking for free and are looking to make some pocket money, there's a job in China with your name on it. A new type of online service allows people to hire others either to eat or drink their favorite treats or satisfy their appetite without the calories that usually come with it.

    Chinese media recently reported on an increasingly popular service on online platform Taobao that's as startling as it is appealing. People can now go online and hire others to consume certain foods and drinks, and ask them to provide video evidence of them eating or drinking the said treats.

    Fees usually range from two to nine yuan ($0.30 - $1.35) plus the cost of the food. It's not exactly a get-rich-quick job, but there are quite a lot of people willing to do it for the free treats alone.

    "Bubble tea drinking" is a particularly popular service, as the chewy tapioca(木薯粉) balls and popping drink is all the rage in Asia these days, but there are also ads from people willing to eat fried chicken or hot pot for anyone willing to pay for them.

    Advertised as being "fat-free" and "free of queues", those who pay for the service will receive the full experience, which includes a 360-degree video of the drink, photos, and a detailed description. Prices of the service are based on the drink's sweetness level, its price, and popularity. Some clients even require a short written review to be sure that the person they hired actually does what they are supposed to.

    Sellers explained that most customers buy their "Bubble tea drinking" service maybe because they're trying to shake off desires while they're on a diet. Drinking bubble tea by proxy may help customers avoid high blood pressure, high blood sugar, and other health problems that the sugar-laden drink may cause.

    So why would anyone pay a total stranger to enjoy a treat rather than consume it themselves? Well, apparently, the online service is so cheap that some people simply do it out of boredom, while others get satisfaction from watching others indulge in their favorite treats.

    This indulging-by-proxy service(代享受服务)has received a lot of attention on social media in China, with some people describing it as the job of their dreams.