I was walking up a narrow winding road through a wooded area to arrive at a unbelievably lush yet pocket-sized suburb completely surrounded by massive broadleaf trees in a sweeping vista; I believed it was the US, because I’d come here to find a reclusive expert who didn’t live in Australia. And it looked nothing like any Australian place I’d ever been to. I was in complete awe of this place and wanted to find out more…

I looked at the map on my phone and this unusually green village appeared to be cleverly tucked behind a train station and commercial area beyond a band of trees to the north. Thinking I had plenty of time before meeting the expert, I headed into the thicket of trees down a small, well-worn dirt path for a good while until I emerged to a row of slightly grimy shophouses and the sounds of a town on a lazy afternoon.

I spotted a narrow arcade and walked through its tiled corridor to the other side, only to find out I was now in Sydney - specifically Eastwood, according to the train station further down the road, though the area looked nothing like the actual Eastwood; it looked more like the high street of a Japanese suburb, two-to-four storey shophouses, cute pedestrian crossings, narrow roads, pot plants and all. I found myself next to a gaggle of chatty Korean ahjummas, many of whom were just leaving (or waiting to go into) a travel agents that mostly ran English classes. Somehow I was fixated on what they were saying even though I don’t understand Korean…

The loud wheeze of a departing train snapped me to my senses; it had turned into evening and the streets were emptying out. I realised I was now supposed to get to my cousin’s place before sundown (IRL i have a cousin who lives a short drive away, in this dream it was ten years later and he had moved closer to “Eastwood” because his landlord sold the rental and his kids were going to high school. I just knew this all along without any exposition or signs, and almost thought it was still true when I woke up; isn’t it amazing how that happens in dreams?)

After walking for a while following confusing map instructions, I came to an industrial area and thought I was really lost, only to turn the corner and find my cousin kicking a soccer ball in an abandoned lot while waiting for his kids to finish their after school activities at a converted warehouse nearby. He greeted me warmly like we hadn’t seen each other in a decade, and gave me instructions to get to his place, where I was told a delectable fish stew had been set aside for me (and at this point I was acutely aware of my hunger)… but first, could I do him a massive, jump in his car and have a look at the malfunctioning video screens in there? This part I’m curious about because I didn’t “know” I was handy with hardware throughout the dream (and I’m not IRL either), but I had this weird confidence.

So I get to the car, a sort of early 2000s-looking grey Toyota SUV, and when I get in it’s still got a cassette player and buttons and knobs from the 80s - and it seems like my cousin has jerry-rigged a few video screens about the size of those TomToms: one in the front and two to the back. Everything looks grey and overcast. I twist around to get a better look at the back seat, which has a bunch of old clothes for donation bundled up in those grey supermarket bags you don’t see any more…

Only then does it hit me: I must have entered a portal that transported me not just to Sydney but an alternate universe where technology developed differently, and that’s why my phone map was being weird - it wasn’t of that world. I wasn’t of that world! That’s why I had no idea why I was asked to fix the screens. Was I even going to get to eat that fish stew?

Just as I realised this, I felt my fingers start to disintegrate, and that’s when I heard the 8:50am school bell from across the road IRL and started waking up…