Small disappointments in Sydney

Someone said that when you first get to Australia you should make note whenever anyone says "mate" because after a while it'll happen so often that you will lose count. Well, it hasn't happened even once yet! I think perhaps I've wandered into a parallel Sydney, which wouldn't surprise me too much, because it doesn't seem very foreign at all.
I said that to a guy behind the counter a the closest convenience store to our hotel (whose colored stripes suspiciously resemble those of 7-11), and he said, "All big cities are alike. I come from a third world country and I don't feel like this city is any different.
It definitely reminds me of Seattle or San Francisco, those other cities by the bay, except cleaner and with better weather. And, alas, even LESS affordable.
Some morning when we don't have other commitments, we want to walk to the Queen Victoria Building, which some famous designer declared was the most beautiful shopping mall in the world. Except I'm sure he didn't say mall.
The Internet kiosk in the hotel gives you 15 minutes for $2. The Y down the street gives you a half hour for the same price.
We passed by a big billboard for the Sydney production of Urinetown, the pseudo-Brechtian musical about a town with a severe water shortage. It could be about Sydney; the toilet in our room has two buttons on top --- one for a full flush, and one for a half-flush. Our tour bus passed by a man washing his car, and our guide said, "Do you think we should report him?"
When we have our workshop/performance tonight I hope I can remember how to play the piano because I haven't touched one in three days.
Last night at dinner I sat next to a woman named Cathy who has been with this choir for 20 years and has been on all their performance trips. I asked her which was her favorite. She mentioned singing at St. Peter's in Rome, the Sistine Chapel, Notre Dame in Paris, and at Lourdes in front of 10,000 people!