365

I want to set up a rainy day vs sunny day poll for London. Anyone want to build this for me? I'll keep it up to date. Today = rainy. Tomorrow I'm guessing here, RAIN. This weekend... sunny with some rain. Yeah, I want to set up a 365 day poll and log all the days it rains. OOOOOOOOOOO maybe someone in Sydney (Marco? Andrew?) wants to do the same for Australia. We can compare. Bets anyone? I might even put my money on Sydney raining out London!

EYE

The London EYE ... wow. I've been told its not scary for those who have a fear of heights (that's me folks) yet I've been duped before....you shall remain nameless you who convinced me to do the Sydney Harbour Bridge climb, telling me it may even help conquer my fear. HAHA, right. By the time the hour tour was finished, I had learned nothing the tour guide said(they give you head phones to listen to the tour guide tell amazing stories of hows it was built and construction quality) and I nearly passed out from shaken so much from the stress of it all. So, it may be a while before I get coerced into taking a ride in this monster. For now, firmly footed on the ground, I'll take photos.

So you think you can Dance – Australia

Corina, a co-worker from R+M (my job in Sydney) had an extra ticket to the live studio audience for February 16, my last day in Australia., and offered it to me when I went into work to finish posting some items home. OF COURSE I took the opportunity to go, since I was just going to wander the city streets and shops before my final packing. We left the office just before 2pm and got to the studio around 2:30pm … It was the taping of the show where the dancers get kicked off; the first episode of final 20 getting booted. I don’t know any names, the judges, all Australian popular people, but it was fun non-the-less. After a few takes of the opening dance, a live band performance, a performance from a Sydney dance group and a few takes from the announcer and judges, we were ushered out of the studio for an hour or so. General audience, which is what we were, are the lucky ones who get to be up close to the stage and therefore have a great chance of being on TV, however, get to stand the entire time! From 2:30pm to 9:00pm with just a half hour or so of sitting in-between, our calves and legs were so tired by the end of the day. (Truthfully I didn’t mind, knowing that the next 24+ hours of my life would be cramped on planes!) I haven’t seen the actual episode yet, but while we were in the studio for the “live” part, we were able to see the shoe spliced together as the hour went on. I am clearly to the left of the stage in a cream top. So there ya have it folks. My last day in Sydney, I’m on ‘So You Thank You Can Dance’ cheering on kids and performers that I don’t know and part of a studio audience of a show I will never see again. HA! Oh the fun! THANK YOU CORINA!

Last week in Australia.

This last week has been a roller coaster of activity (mainly packing!). My last week of work was busy busy. At home, cleaning, packing, more packing, more cleaning… oh yeah.. I still have the windows and floors to do today! These few months have been wonderful; a true growing experience. I am sad to leave, but excited to get home. 2009 has just started….

Keep looking here as i'll continue to write on this blog.

Great Barrier Reef

After lots of planning and years of dreaming, I finally conquered scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef. I have never been as happy to be back on land, however, as our trip coincided with a tropical storm (cyclone watch). Dubbed the worst Pro-Dive has seen the conditions on the Reef, our trip was still a-go. But before we get out to the Reef, we have two days in the classroom and in the pool. Let me take you thru our week. We arrive in Cairns early Saturday morning to heavy rains….all day rains. Our hopes of sunbathing and swimming in the Lagoon (which was closed for repairs when Matty and I were there back in June) were flooded. So after as much sitting, reading, eating and watching the rain, other than shopping, there are movies to watch. Lee and I signed up for a learn to dive course for Open Water Diving. This would allow us to dive up to 18 meters (60 feet) certified PADI divers. The pool was a fantastic way to ease into the wonders and fears of scuba. Test after test performed in small groups with an instructor went off without a hitch; mask removal, regulator exchange, proper descending and ascending techniques, etc. With a few quizzes and a test at the end of day 2, the lot of us were packed and ready to get on the boat. Mind you, rainy weather and gusty winds still prevail. With a 6:20am departure Wednesday morning, ‘Scubapro II’ made its’ 3 hour journey to the reef. Shockingly this first day I did not feel seasick, although most everyone else felt it..or worse. I’ll spare you the chunky details. Upon arrival we suited up and went in the ocean for the first time as scuba divers! (for most at least). With choppy waters (swells, not the choppy kind we know and love at the Cape) and only 5m of visibility, I felt as if I were diving in the murky ick of Cape Cod. This was certainly not the dream I had of the GBR, but I will say that our group now has now accomplished what most (recreational) divers will never do and at the end of the 3 day at sea torture we are all comfortable in these less than desirable conditions. One day I’ll have to come back to the GBR to see it in it’s flat, sunny and endless clear water we all know it to be. (at sea) Day 1 of diving consisted of 2 dives, 12m and 10m, in which we performed all the skills we learned in the pool, below and above water; site seeing, of course, as much as the murk allowed. Upon completion of dive 2/day 1 my stomach started the oh so familiar flips and uneasiness. Bring on all the seasick pills, gravel tablets and anything else as we are here for the duration! (later I find that lying in bed immediately after dives and taking a short nap significantly helps with all hurly/twirly feelings) Day 2 was our long day with 4 dives altogether; 18m/16m/14m/14m, again with skills to prove our value as capable divers, more site seeing (sort of) and the mental horror of our first night dive. Let me say that the instructors must love the torture they put us through before this dive (tales of shark attacks, preventative circles of steal, bumping creatures in the night, on and on)… not a single diver felt comfortable going in. But what creatures come to life at night! Never mind the reef sharks, but cray fish, lobsters, worms .. funny how you see more at night because you are focused only where your light is. All divers came up satisfied and calm after this night dive; far less heart pounding and nervous than during our gear up time. I am so proud of myself for doing this dive in such bad (visibility) waters. Next time, however, any night dives will happen in clear waters. Day 3 was our chance to become Adventure Divers. Both Lee and I opted for this, as the dive was to 30m (99 feet). There are many (ship) wreck dives within this 30m limit all over the world. I may never use it, but it was a great test and fantastic to have for the future. Once at 30m we did a few things; passed around a coke bottle, cracked an egg (which stayed in tacked), tested ourselves for any nitrogen narcosis. Dive 2 and our last dive was a fun dive, we got to take a camera out…see photos! I’m happy to be back on land and out of the rainy flooding Queensland! Next dive … Pavelics/the Keys … ?

GBR

Well it's the night before I fly up to Cairns, I'm all packed, just watching the tennis [Fernando Verdasco (14) vs. Rafael Nadal (1)] - yeah big match! - and I can't get myself to get sleepy! It's 11:20pm and I have to get up at 4:30am to make a 7am flight. Knowing this and the massive anticipation of the week is keeping me wide awake! so much so that I've already done my first round of pre-packing for my flight on the 17th of February, cleaned the entire apartment, scrubbed the tub and shower walls head to toe...oh the list goes on. I have never been scuba diving before, although for the longest time I wanted to be a Marine Biologist - main interest in sharks. I guess 29 years old is a pretty good time to start that childhood dream. When I upload my next post, you can all safely assume that: 1. i haven't been eaten by any sharks or salt water crocodiles 2. i haven't been stung by any box jellyfish or irukandji (another deadly jellyfish) 3. i haven't stepped on any blue ring octopus's 4. i haven't been taken by a stone fish 5. i haven't been lost to sea 6. i haven't faked my own death This, to date, is the most exciting time of my life. Great Barrier Reef and all the wonders that it holds....here I come! disclaimer: If indeed my time will come here at the GBR to some large, or near invisible ocean creature, I want to send all my love to all my family and friends. My life has taken such great turns in the last year with the support and love from so many. I thrive on this support and can't be happier with where I am and who I've grown to be.

Australia Day.

Australia Day, January 26th, the day of the first fleet landing in Australia in 1788 from England, leading to the first European settlement in Australia and what Australian’s regard as the birth of their Nation. However, the indigenous population, regard this as invasion day, for obvious reasons. None the less, it is a day of national pride and celebration throughout Australia. To start this national holiday, Lee and I decided to eat Vegemite, an Australian Institution. A“spread” not at all like butter, jam or peanut butter, this spread is either loved or hated by its consumers. I’m happy to report that I’m on the grossed out side. Vegemite will stay off of my table and in the cupboards. Today there were free concerts all over the city, a oldie car show, and a ‘thong’ challenge on Bondi Beach, a flip flop inflatable float extravaganza, not to be confused with woman’s underwear as we Americans know thongs to be. We missed an early indigenous celebration in the Botanical Gardens, as 8am wasn’t on my radar…10:30am was a bit more like it. With great Aussie BBQ’s set up all over, aka Sydeny’s biggest backyard, beer+wine, sausage, and all the toppings, ques formed all over to get a bite to eat. Walking down to the Rocks to hear some free concerts, we passed by all the oldie cars for the NRMA Motorfest. Over 1,000 vintage, veteran and classic cars were lined up for the proud owners to show or sell. Oldie minis, MG’s, Jaguars, Rolls Royce’s, old Land Rovers and so many more lined the streets surrounding Hyde Park. We got a great spot on the wall just under the Harbour bridge to watch the Tall Ships race and the jet show. An hour too early to wait for the snail crawling ships to enter the harbour, we were informed that the jet show was cancelled due to the weather. So we waited for the ships…and waited…and waited…. No wonder it took months to travel by ship in the old days! 40 minutes after coming into view around the bend, the ships passed under the Harbour bridge. But a sight to see non the less. After a early dinner we decided to forego the remaining festivities, free concerts, and fireworks to watch the tennis (the Australian Open held in Melbourne) and nerd out on our computers.

Swim meet.

I’ve actually swam in a small swim meet! I can’t say that it was a big one or anything, but big for me, as it’s my first! I’ve been taking ‘swim fit’ at Cooks and Philips gym for the past few months for exercise and since I’ve never liked to work out alone but prefer a coach of some sorts, I thought this class would be great .. as well as a way to meet people. Let me say first that the staff at Cooks and Philips are the friendliest staff I’ve ever experienced at a gym. I started taking this swim fit class to improve my swimming skills, but more so just to get my butt into the pool. Our class ‘competes’ against other gyms as sort of a goal to reach. They are more time trials, than actual competitions. There were a few adults and a bunch of kids at this competition, and only 4 female adults, myself included. I ended up having to swim against the guys in the freestyle, which was a super adrenaline rush. I did ok against them, but knew I’d be way behind them. I swam freestyle 50meters in 34.74 seconds and breast stroke in 55.14 seconds. (the .00 may be off .. but that’s what I remember) How exciting! I may never do this again, but I’d like to see if I improve before leaving Australia. Thanks Hamid for all you have taught me!

photos

Ive been working on the panoramic photo montages for Sydney. Although i have yet to finish even the ones from Atlanta! But here's a seek peek of Darling Harbour. There's a whole other side plus some to this... finished product to be posted later. See below for the Open Air Cinema panoramic taken Sunday night Jan. 18. 2009.

Lee's birthday's festivities

This was Lee's 31st birthday weekend (oops.. i mean 27th birthday) and since we are 12-16 hours ahead of the UK/USA we celebrated all weekend! After a fantastic fish meal at Jordan's in Darling Harbour Friday night, we tried our luck at the Star City Casino just for a laugh. Well, it's not actually "funny" watching the dealers take your chips faster than you order a drink. About 15 minutes after sitting at a roullete table, quickly losing our allocation gambling money we decided that watching was better for us than playing. And what a scene! Filled with Asians, the casino floor was non stop! Saturday we had a crew of about 15 out for drinks at a really nice bar called Fringe. There happened to be two separate dress up parties there the same time. From Catwoman to Ace Ventura to Rambo, the bar was filled with all sorts of costumes which really made the night fun. Sunday after a bit of recovery from Friday nights loss and Saturdays party, Lee and I went to Watson's Bay to enjoy the afternoon in the park and watch the early part of the sunset. Overlooking the Sydney Harbour with some fish and chips in hand, we watched kids run around and boats doing what they do best...float. We caught a ferry back to Circular Quay and walked around the Botanical Gardens to get our seats for the Open Air movie. Lee had gotten us tickets as a Christmas present. St.George's OpenAir Cinema in Lady Macquaire's Chair hands down is the best January event Sydney has to offer. A giant screen that sits out in the water (which raises just before the 8:30pm movie showing) overlooks the Botanical Gardens, the opera house, bridge and Sydeny's panoramic city vista. Lee bought us tickets for Christmas to see 'Man on Wire', a documentary style film on Parisian Philippe Petit's daring yet illegal stunt between NY's World Trade towers in 1974. He also illegally set up wires to walk/entertain on the bell towers of Paris's Notre Dame and between two pillars of Sydney Harbour Bridge. Wikipedia him to find out more about this crazy but amazing man. We have more to look forward to this month .. but the BIG one, two weeks from now, OUR DIVE TRIP .. will really be the icing on my Australian cake.

Big Ups to Sydney - 2009

Sydney really likes it festivals! January is a month with outdoor cinema’s, concerts, performances, art, dance and pure celebrations! January 10th “Streets of Sydney” kicked it off in style with free outdoor set-ups all over the city. From Martin Place (the city’s business district) to the Domain (part of the Botanical Garden) there were stages with constant DJ’s, dance performances, and main acts. Choosing which to attend was more difficult than walking to get there! Lee and I decided to skip the children’s activities during the day, in Hyde Park, and instead test our bodies with an extremely hilly run on the infamous Bondi to Coggie ocean walk. (See below on my blog for the ‘Sculpture by the Sea”). Wow even with the best views in the world I still despise running…. Around 6PM we hit the streets of Sydney along with 50,000 or so people to check out what the stages offered. We heard some salsa and waltz from a big band ‘The Festoons Big Band’ in Hyde Park on our way to watch the dance teams in Martin Place (modern aboriginal dance groups to modern jazz to STOMP-like acts to a Caipoiera routine! (Caipoiera for those who don’t know, is a Brazilian style of dance which mimics fighting. This I would have to argue is the hardest style of dance/athletics!) .. there even was a Michael Jackson tribute dance team!! The Gypsy Kings and Queens, SoulShaker DJ, Santogold, Mission Control were some of the acts, just to name a few. On the main stage in the Domian, we got there in time to see the end of The Cat Power’s two hour set and stayed to hear the DJ Mr. Scruff (Mr. Scruff’s song ‘Get a Move On’ was the background music for the SUV, Lincoln Navigator, commercial in/around 2004-2005. Nana and I used to dance to the commercial every time it came on! I KNOW if you heard the song you would recognize it…go ahead, YouTube it!) We did not stay, however, for the main event – Grace Jones! The crowds got the best of me. This week we have a few outdoor big screen movies to look forward to! Some are free and others required very quick internet purchases as tickets sold out within minutes! Run Lola Run, Australia, Quantum of Solace, Man on Wire…. What a way to wind down my Australian six month adventure.

New Years!

We started this day very early, but with the masses in Sydney to see the fireworks, there was no telling how quick the parks would fill. Claire, Madaline, Lee and I decided to get to Rushcutters Bay at 11am to claim our area, right up front with a perfect view of the Harbour Bridge. Although we felt Great for getting up and getting ourselves there with food for the day, drinks, chairs, and mass amounts of sunblock, our timing was a bit off. People didn’t start showing up to this park until just before 5pm!! Our group trickled in all day, but our original 4 stuck out the 12+ hours to ensure we had a great view. But what a way to bring in the New Year. Two separate display’s of fireworks, one at 9pm for children and one at midnight for the actual New Years… of course 16 hours ahead of my home town. So I naturally get to say Happy New Years for over 2 days! In review of my 2008, I have accomplished everything I set out to do. The first year I have written a ‘TO DO’ list for the year, I can happily say I’ve done the list and much much more. I’m so excited to start 2009 on such a good foot and wish all the happiness to all my friends and family as well (even in this hard economic time). Farewell to 2008 and bring on 2009!

Olympic Park

Lee and I spent the afternoon at the Sydney Olympic park today. It’s a bit far to get to, as it was a two train ride and 30+ min outside the city center, but so worth it! The whole surrounding area is as new as the park itself…housing, cafe’s, reserve areas. The park serves Sydney now as the playground for rugby events, football events, concerts and other big ticket items. The individual sporting halls are open to the public, which is why we went! Starting the day with a golf range, I was highly disappointed it was turf tee’s. Turf is just not the same! But with a nice hazy far away view of the city center, one cant complain …I mean it is still golf! Since we had to rent clubs, I didn’t feel “on my game,” and since we were sharing clubs, Lee’s 6’4” stature required much longer clubs than I would…. So basically I’m telling you in the most round about way, that I played terrible! HA! We then decided to rent bikes for 2 hours. The park is massive and really without a car, the only way to see the whole park is by wheels. From the ring walk (a circular path up a mount to catch views of the whole park) to the archery park we rode as much of the park that we thought was worth it. The most fun, we raced (MUCH slower than Olympians of course) the BMX and Mountain X hills. I won of course! If you are ever in Sydney… the Olympic Park is a MUST.

CHRISTMAS 2008!

So much to report this Christmas season! With a (Tasmanian) lobster Christmas eve dinner to a televised sing a long along with 70,000 or so other people called the ‘Carols in the Domain’, I have to admit that that I’m enjoying the down under xmas over the snow and cold in Boston. Just a short tram ride over to the Sydney fish market, the day before Christmas eve, we purchased a live lobster some pre-cooked “prawns” (aka shrimp) and a few uncooked for the lobster sauce. The sauce was EXCELLENT, as it was my first time making it. Christmas Eve day was filled with eating, drinking and a whole lot more of eating. Christmas day Lee and I headed to Bondi Beach to see all there is too see; so many people out in there in a variety of festive costumes from Santa to elves to the gingerbread man. Boxing Day we headed to Coogee Beach and watched the professional sailboats racing from Sydney to Hobart in the distance. Lee and I also were invited to a BBQ with some friends of his from London later that night. They live on the wharf in Wooloomooloo overlooking the Naval base. What a sight to have breakfast to in the mornings! Due to the rainy weather, today, the 26th, we spent looking around the Australian Maritime Museum after an hour or so at the Paddington outdoor market. I have until the 5th of January before heading back to work, so between going to the beach, sleeping a ton and a few days of tourist attractions, I’ll hold off writing more until after the new year. HAPPY NEW YEARS!!

Christmas Spirit!

Last night I went to see a performance of Handel's Messiah at the City Recital Hall Angel Place in downtown Sydney. During "Hallelujah" the entire audience stood to give respect. Renowned young conductor Philip Chu lead the performance and was a joy to watch - very vibrant guy! Now i'm ready for Christmas!

PIZZA by Marco

Marco is a co-worker friend of mine working here at Robertson+Marks for a few years. From Milan, Italy, Marco asked a few friends over for a pizza dinner this past Saturday….and wow, what a chef! He made about 5 pizza’s which were engulfed by our hungry mouths soon after taken out of the oven. Four cheese to salami to tuna to veggie… we now joke that Marco should bring us lunches at work, including homemade gelato! Too bad that’s not reality … dinner was wonderful!

Car Weekend

After some "thrifty" talking, Lee persuaded Thrifty Car Rental into giving us gift certificates for a next car rental after a car mix-up for my birthday weekend. Instead of a convertible mini that weekend, we got a Nissan. Of course this means we would be doing business with Thrifty again, but hey..wheels are wheels! ... SO, with no big plans, we decided to drive to all the outter Sydney places that would be nicer by car.. our first stop Palm Beach. Palm Beach, about 40 min north of Sydney, is where the "hit" Australian T.V. show 'Home and Away' is filmed. A 'Melrose Place' equivalent of a t.v. show, I have yet to watch an episode. We spent the entire day up here although most of the day sitting in one of the two cafe's overlooking the beach watching it rain. Lovely day at the beach. Our next ‘day with the car’ we started at Bondi Beach for breakfast and decided to hug the cast and drive south of Syndey and see what we would see… We came to Botany Bay, (originally named Stingray Bay) the first landing site of Captain James Cook. Here we watched a small reptile show. The container terminal next to it (Port Botany) was cool to see. Really no different than on the Pike heading into Boston, the containers, seeming never to move, sit stacked with bright colors and cool names, feeding the imagination with its possible contents. My bet...they are empty. Bulk liquids storage and distribution complex makes this area seem even more industrial. Even tho its a busy port, Wikipedia suggests that it's a great scuba site with diverse marine life. We did see a few teams of divers out...I wonder how many Stingray's they saw?

Day at the Races!

Today a group of us decided to get all dressed up and hit the race tracks. Thanks to Claire (a friend I met at the Gym) a very fun select few of her friends were chosen to share the day together. Dressed to the max, suits, ties, dresses, fancy hats [suited and booted as Lee would say] we had a nice brunch and taxied it to Royal Randwick Racetrack. I tried to pull off a 1930’s look, but honestly by the end of the day, the fabric in front of my face was more annoying than anything! I found the hat just a few days before at one of the nicer thrift stores in Surry Hills (the area where I work). I was looking for a proper birdcage hat and this was closest I could fine. How were these comfortable?! Fashion before function I guess! Guys I work with happened to be attending this day as well for a birthday party, which was a fun mixing of crews. The day was filled with drinks and bets. Of course battling the remainder of this mono I kept this to a complete min. I bet on two horses (one horse, two races) The first bet I chose a horse I thought was very pretty… not the wises of choices, since she ended up last! But the last race of the day (there were 6 races altogether) Lee and I both put a bet on a horse we thought would do well…and she did! Our #10 won by a photo finish! What an exciting end to a day at the races. While waiting for the buses to head back into town, the weather started picking up.. A few of us were lucky enough to make it on the bus seconds before a torrential downpour. The guys from work I found out later weren’t so lucky. All those fancy dresses and hats ruined from the rain.

Thanksgiving in Sydney.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone State Side! I was lucky enough to skype with my brothers/sister/sister’s n law’s/family friends at a pre-Thanksgiving dinner party my brother Mark threw over the weekend. How lucky we are to live in a time with such awesome technology that allows us to chat free via the internet (video and sound) ..although 2 years from now, this will be outdated! Today, Thanksgiving day in Sydney, the city’s Christmas tree was lit. Sydney’s ceremony was it’s own special event…not at all like the grandeur one’s in New York, however, very fun for kids, and a nice start to the festive period. It’s a bit like being in Florida for Christmas…just doenst feel like real Christmas without the cold and the snow... but Christmas carols and candies will do just fine! The department stores do it up right with decorations, and I’m sure the streets will feel more and more festive as the date nears. A life sized manger was being assembled today at St. Mary’s Church opposite Hyde Park (where I will be attending Christmas mass!).

The nation comes to a stand still!

Melbourne Cup is one of the biggest events in the Australian sporting calendar, literally bringing a nation to a stand still. Despite being held at Flemington race course in Melbourne, the folk here in Sydney treat it as their own. Every office has some kind of function, betting ring, or shuts down to celebrate their “Australian-ism” for the day. Much like the Kentucky Derby, the fashion plays just as important role as the gambling…dressed to the max, men in their suits, and woman in their hats, even the current worldwide financial crisis took back seat to the fashion for the week. To join in the fun and festivities with my co-workers I put in $2 in a sweep stakes, but alas I still had to return to work the following day, $2 less in my pocket.