In Search of Lawrence

Film festivals and stuff

2011-12-22T18:50:00.008+11:00

I managed to extricate myself from the horrible mess of a place that is Monaco.

I felt like I was in some horrific dream. It looks nice from a distance and it definitely doesn't resemble the glamorous mirage I had created in my mind.

My next stop was to visit an old friend.

This old friend happened to live in Cannes, so it was only a short train ride along the French Riviera.

My expectations of this region had been more than a bit crushed by my time in Monaco so I wasn't really bouncing with excitement anymore.

I was quickly proven wrong though!

This was a really nice place.

I had come at a time when most people weren't in the holiday mood and there was a distinct lack of celebrities roaming the streets.

It didn't matter. I was able to search out the tidbits that had been left by some truly world changing and culturally significant artistes of recent generations.

People like Van Damme!

.... and some other guys who had far less impact on our culture and times.

Guys like Dennis Hopper....
I saw famous landmarks.
I saw pretty views.
I saw some mediocre beaches!
What struck me the most about this place was that there was a strangely laid back attitude towards life.

For a place that is supposedly a Mecca for the high flying cinema industry, I got more of a feeling of "relaxed comfort" than of "superficial wealth".
When I was able to meet up with my friend, she and her friend took me out into the old quarter of the town for dinner as well. It was an incredibly nice place to have dinner with friends. It was quiet without being deserted, there was a cozy feeling to the streets that was not cramped and like most places in France, there was tasty food to be had.
In the back of my mind, I thought that this was one of those precious places, the ones that you could actually see yourself living in.
However, as I walked past the row of beautiful hotels I had to remind myself that while it was nice at the moment, this was probably not a state of affairs that lasted the entire year.

The Life Aquatic

2011-12-19T22:06:00.004+11:00

Well this is weird.

Walking around the top of Monaco, near the Prince's palace, I discovered an aquarium.

It seemed to be a reasonable aquarium, but not a great one in the modern sense. It was more interesting for the old artifacts and historical pieces it held of past explorations into the sea.
The aquarium itself was fairly ordinary.
Once again, I was confronted with constant reminders of the Monaco royal family.
Apparently they love the sea and this aquarium goes to show just how much they love the sea...
... there was something strangely ridiculous about it all. It reminded me of the Wes Anderson film "The Life Aquatic", and somehow their behaviour and claims seemed to be even more preposterous than those of the characters in the movie.

I needed to leave this silly place.

More rich people

2011-12-18T11:02:00.003+11:00

I was still wandering around the streets of Monaco.

This place sure was tiny.

It's so tiny that the Monaco golf course isn't even in Monaco. It's in neighbouring France. It makes sense when you consider that the whole Principality probably only a little bit bigger than a golf course as it is....
There were lots of famous things to see.

Such as the final resting place of Grace Kelly. Is she the most glamourous princess of all time? The Diana supporters may disagree, but Princess Grace had the movie career and the French Riviera upping her claim.
Then there was the notorious hair pin turn of the Monaco Grand Prix.
For most of the year, I guess this is just a random turn on a road.
But for those brief moments during the Grand Prix, this tiny little corner of the world becomes so much more!

.... to be honest, I was finding it hard to get excited. Monaco is an empty place. Once you get past the not so shiny exterior, you're about done with all there is to do.

Rich people

2011-12-17T16:13:00.006+11:00

My wanderings had brought me to a place with more ostentatious displays of wealth than I had ever seen.

I was in Monaco!

The land of royalty, F1 and luxury.
The only thing was... it wasn't the land of class and elegance that I had expected.

Monaco has always been in my mind as one of the most glamorous places in the world. I expected big things from this place. I expected the place to be full of architectural wonders, fast cars and people who were the definition of chic.
I didn't really get that feeling.
There was something almost tacky about the place. It felt as though everything would have been brand new and high tech, had we still been in the 80s. There were obvious signs of wealth to be seen such as with the cars being driven, but it wasn't consistent and it didn't necessarily imply any class whatsoever. There's also something incredibly creepy about seeing the really rich old man with the strikingly beautiful young model girlfriend/wife.

Secret gardens

2011-12-13T23:43:00.005+11:00

About half an hour outside of Paris is Parc de Sceaux.

This would have to be one of the hidden gems of Paris.
It is an enormous and well manicured park that displays all the regal bearing of its even larger and more famous relative at Versailles.
However, unlike Versailles, the purpose of this lovely park isn't to recapture the lost glory of the Ancien Regime for precious tourist shekels.

Instead, this park exists to be what it was originally intended for. To be an open space where people can walk and sit whilst surrounded by the beautifully kept grounds.
On a cool, but sunny day, I saw this park fulfilling its purpose.

Families were out with their children, people were jogging, whilst others were just laying around on the grass gazing up at the sky.
When I thought of Paris and France, this is the type of image I had in my mind. It wasn't of enormous city scenes or of busy cafes, it was of parks like this. I imagined parks such as this. Where I could walk through while the wind blew and the leaves fell.

Je suis Napoleon!

2011-12-12T22:22:00.008+11:00

Les Invalides is a grand and imposing structure.

With it's golden dome, it radiates power and magnificence. Even from a distance, there is a distinct glow that emanates from the beautiful gilding.

Inside, it is no less impressive. There are numerous museums and monuments dedicated to the glory of France's military past.
I even found myself standing in front of a small display case filled with batons belonging to some of France's field marshalls. No one seemed to care or notice, so I was stood there silently in awe of this amazing spectacle.

Six batons. All representing incredible power and achievement. Each one the symbol of accomplishment by great men. Now they are confined to being ignored by tourists in search of more impressive looking exhibits such as big guns and pretty light shows. It's a bit depressing.
Wandering into the main hall, there were monuments dedicated to the heroes of France, such as Marshall Foch.
One monument stuck out more than the others.

The sarcophagus of Napoleon Bonaparte.
Pacing in a circle around this sarcophagus was a strangely surreal experience. This was the resting place of the man who tormented Europe, and yet in many ways was also the man who broke down the old order and began the move of the world into modernity. I had read so much about the Napoleonic era over the years and seeing this in person somehow made it all slightly more real.

Just like Amelie

2011-12-11T21:46:00.005+11:00

Someone once said to me that they imagined that I saw the world as Amelie did.

I wasn't sure how to take that. Did it mean that I was a bit loopy or that I viewed the world through a unique lens?

... maybe a bit of both.

It seemed fitting then to find myself standing in front of Sacre Coeur.

Standing at the top of the Montmarte, my only real knowledge of this place comes from the move Amelie. I know almost nothing about it, and to be honest, it had never struck me as one of the "must sees" of Paris.
Being at Sacre Coeur, I felt obliged to go inside, have a look, and as usual, climb to the highest possible point.
It was definitely a nice view.

The sky was clear and I could see straight across Paris.
I was definitely beginning to feel a bit of the "not another **** cathedral" phenomenon that so many tourists go through.

There was nothing "wrong" with Sacre Couer, it was just that after seeing so many other places in such a short amount of time, I was beginning to struggle with differentiating them in my mind.
Even so, standing out the front of this old basilica made me feel strangely nostalgic for the film Amelie. It was like being transported into the film itself, with Audrey Tatou surely only just around the corner...

It's so pretty

2011-12-08T22:26:00.007+11:00

It's such an overstated comment that "Paris is beautiful" or that it's "magical".

Whenever I hear such comments, I generally recoil as I am usually unconvinced by the strength of the arguments.

Paris in particular seems to garner praise as a destination that is beyond compare.

It's a nice place, but I certainly wouldn't say it's the most amazing place I've ever been.

Some things definitely exceed expectations though.

The Eiffel Tower for instance.

Who would have thought that arguably the most touristy of all tourist destinations in the world is actually a pretty amazing site?
I don't like heights though.

I seem to find myself climbing all manner of structure on my holidays.... but I really don't actually like heights.
I find myself becoming a little bit light headed and I get that shaky feeling in the legs. However, I push on, knowing that it won't be so bad once I reach the top.
It's more than not bad.

It's beautiful.

The view from the heights of the Eiffel Tower completely unobstructed and unhindered. As such, it gives a near perfect perspective of this famous city.
Then there is the tower itself.

Phil and I were fortunate enough to get there late in the afternoon when the crowds had begun to dissipate. We wandered past all of those waiting patiently in line to ride the elevators to the top, and instead walked up the stairs ourselves.

This gave us a better understanding of the scale and size of this impressive structure.

As afternoon slowly became evening, we were also treated to a startling change in the tower itself.
The lights of the city began to flicker on. We had been on our way down the tower, when we realised that we were being given a completely different view.

We decided to stay longer and stare out for just a bit more.

Eventually, we had to go.

We were getting hungry and the winds began to pick up at the top of the tower.

Even as we left, we were given more to see.
The tower began to sparkle as lights began to flash up and down its length.

As we walked further away, it became clear that the top of the tower had spotlights shining out like a lighthouse.
The Eiffel Tower is a stereotypical tourist attraction, that is beyond a doubt. However, that doesn't make it any less amazing to see. Sometimes, too many travelers become too caught up in the image of travel, and forget that people will flock to see popular sites for good reason.

The Parisian lifestyle

2011-12-06T21:55:00.008+11:00

After my visit to Oslo, Phil and I set forth for Paris.

It was the first time I was traveling with Phil for about 8 years. He had been my first traveling buddy when we were both just kids. Looking back at our travels through SE Asia, we were almost comical in our naivety and greenness. We squabbled and bickered, we didn't know how to interact with other travelers and we went to great pains to bargain over pittances whilst being completely ripped off for other things.

A lot of time had passed though. We were now both far more savvy as travelers, far more world weary, but also far more experienced.

Going to Paris to visit some friends would be fun. It was going to be a laid back trip giving us more than enough opportunity to both relax and enjoy the French culture.
I was shocked by the number of tourists. Truly shocked that you couldn't really go anywhere without being one of a huge crowd. There didn't seem to be any trait or characteristic to the tourists either, they came in all forms and met all the different tourist stereotypes from the tour groups, to families, to school leavers, to grey packers, to a couple of a traveling idiots like Phil and I.

What amazed me the most was that what I found myself enamoured with in Paris wasn't the famous sights.

Instead, it was just the lifestyle.
The cafes, the brasseries, the patisseries, the boulangeries, the salon du the. The general attitude towards existence. It was all very appealing.

Living in Paris is clearly an experience in lifestyle.

The very first meal that Phil and I had, sitting at just a standard little cafe by the side of the road, we found ourselves eating meals prepared with a care and quality that would never be present in similar establishments back home.
We found ourselves lulling over coffees and cakes, whilst just chatting the hours away.

It was a nice change from the frantic rush of traveling from site to site.
The whole concept of slowing down is appealing.
It's got my name written all over it!

Nordic cuisine

2011-12-05T19:26:00.003+11:00

Norway seems almost too good to be true.

It isn't.

I have never been to a place more expensive in my life.

This is not simply hyperbole either. This place is by far and away the most expensive place I have ever set foot in. Even with the spectacularly performing Australian dollar, I found myself taken aback by how quickly my money seemed to be slipping out of my grasp.

Even for something as simple as one of their delicious bolles, it was a shock to the system every time they told me the price.

On the whole, the food in Norway was quite simple. There wasn't too much complicating or masking the flavours of the underlying ingredients used.
That's when I was actually able to find real "Norwegian" food that is.

On the whole, the locals seemed to have embraced foods like Thai and Italian as the cuisine of choice.

It took a bit searching, but I was able to find some more traditional purveyors of Norway's food.

Selling local delicacies such as salted fish and smoked elk, the strong flavours of the food reminded me of some of the more interesting foods I encountered as a child growing up with Chinese parents.
I wasn't completely surprised that this food wasn't common inside the homes of Norwegians anymore.

It took too long, too much time to prepare. The easy options are so much more enticing due to their simplicity.
It didn't mean I didn't like it though. The food was like nothing I've ever had before. Eating things such as the "molter" jam, with its sour and strangely sharp flavour was incomparable to anything I've ever eaten.
I was also able to try the famed "brown cheese" of Norway, which completely changed my preconception of what a cheese could be. Biting into the traditional brown cheese from the specialty store, only a sliver, was like eating a creamier version of some of the strongest burnt caramel I've ever had. Who would have thought that to be possible from a cheese?

A very big park

2011-12-03T21:02:00.003+11:00

If you knew nothing about Norwegian cultural contributions to the world, a visit to Oslo would have you swearing that it was actually Vigeland and not Munch who was the better known man.

Munch may have his museum, but Vigeland has an entire park dedicated to him. A very, very, very large park.

A park that is filled with some of the most intriguing sculptures I have ever seen.

Sculptures that celebrate humanity and the emotions expressed by all of us.
Sculptures that seem to speak of humanity as a whole, rather than as individuals.
It's an amazing park.

I found myself at Vigeland Park on a crisp, but clear day that let me see from end to end.

Surrounded by the lush, green, moving forests, the sculptures stood out silent and still. Vigeland had tried to capture the movement and emotion of bodies, yet it was all stuck in a moment in time.
It is an amazing site that is definitely worth a wander.
As you wander out, you almost feel as though you have left a kind of museum that has captured these individuals and their emotional expressions and frozen it for an eternity of viewing.

A fjord!

2011-12-01T20:33:00.004+11:00

The shortness of my trip to Norway meant that I wasn't able to travel out into the wilds, but that didn't stop me from seeing the natural wonders of the country.

Oslo isn't a city that excludes nature, but instead is one that seems to be melded into it.

It is surrounded by mountain ranges, interspersed with park and forests and most strikingly of all, it has a fjord running through the middle of it.

It is difficult to properly describe how beautiful a setting it is.
There's a calmness that seems to radiate from the fjord into the rest of the city.
Sitting alone on the banks of the fjord, pondering my existence, I felt at ease with the world. It made all the concerns and worries I had slowly float away with every ebb of the water.

Munch!!!!!

2011-11-28T22:40:00.004+11:00

What's famous about Norway?

The fjords? Ibsen? A-Ha?

Well personally, I think that Edvard Munch and his "Scream" series of paintings would have to be up there as one of Norway's greatest ever cultural contributions to the world (besides the songs of M2M of course).

So, I jumped on the surprisingly efficient and convenient Oslo metro system (who would have thought that such a small city could support such amazing public transport?) and dashed towards the aptly named "Munch Museum", that was apparently full of the works of the great man himself.
The funny thing about this museum though....

.... was that they didn't display any of the "Scream" series.
None at all in fact.

Instead they were showing his lesser known works.

I have no problem with this and I think it's a good thing to display lesser known works in order to give people a better understanding of his full body of accomplishments. However, not displaying his most famous paintings at all? That I find to be a bit much.

Instead, I found myself inside the National museum, in a room that was dedicated to Munch. There I was able to get my fill of some of Munch's masterpieces such as one of the "Screams" and "Madonna".

Sadly, I wasn't allowed to take any photos in the room itself, so this was the closest I managed to get.
It's an impressive legacy that this painter from the tiny country of Norway has managed to create some of the most widely known paintings in the world. Works of art that transcend the art world and are embraced even by people in every day life.

Norwegian wood

2011-11-27T20:53:00.003+11:00

Who would have imagined that I would have THREE friends whom I met independent of one another living in Norway?

Three!!!

It's not exactly a country that is on the "must do" list of tourists and travellers.

However, knowing this number of people in Oslo meant that it had now moved onto my own personal "must do" list. The way I think about it, this trip to Norway was not only necessary to visit my friends, it was a welcome journey down a road less traveled. It isn't every day you get such compelling reasons to go to country outside the norm, so taking advantage of it is a must.

This was not a decision I regretted.

Norway is a beautiful country.
In fact, the decision I made to only spend a couple of days here may have been a bit of a mistake, as it confined me to Oslo.
This is a country where nature dominates, and while it was a great experience to be in Oslo seeing my friends, I definitely wished I could get out into the countryside.
Wandering through the parks and the forests, I felt at peace and relaxed.
It was quiet and calm. Everything I needed to unwind from the stress of work and the daily grind.

Learning stuff

2011-11-22T23:06:00.005+11:00

London is a learning experience.

A historical and cultural learning experience.

Most of my time spent there seems to involve museums.

It can get a bit much. Moving from one historic location to another, trying to soak in all of the displays and the knowledge.
Still, there are worse ways to spend your time.
It's a journey through history, only with an audio guide.

Mega tourist

2011-11-22T20:56:00.005+11:00

My inner tourist is slowly forcing its way through.

It's becoming increasingly difficult to convince myself, let alone others, that I'm not into the touristy stuff when I travel.

.... I really am.

I enjoy travel for all it's perks, and one of those perks is being able to be embarrassingly lame!

So in London, how do you do that?

By visiting the Tower of London!

Navigating my way through the throng of tourists was an experience in itself. I'm used to hanging around a different style of traveler. I wasn't used to the tour groups or the older crowd of couples and families.

Was it worth it?

It probably was! It was horrifyingly manufactured, but it was still something that you have to do. It's something that has been instilled in my mind since childhood through a combination of stories and nursery rhymes.
I even got to see one of the ravens!

Vertigo

2011-11-17T20:05:00.002+11:00

Every time I travel, I seem to end up climbing up stuff.

That seems to be the fate of all tourists. To see something tall and then feel compelled to reach the top for a "better view".

It's a bizarre compulsion that never seems to arise when I'm at home, only when I'm somewhere outside of home.

In London, I found myself staring at the Monument to the Great Fire of London.

Clearly, I had to climb this.
Even though I was feeling shaky in the legs as I ascended the steps, the view was nice enough.

A bit disappointing

2011-11-14T23:07:00.005+11:00

One of the big reasons I wanted to return to London, was the Tate Modern.

This art gallery had a major impact on me and triggered my appreciation of modern art. Since I first went to the Tate Modern, I have come to learn about the story of modern art and I have come to be inspired by how breath taking its message can be (when it is done well of course).

So I was very excited to be going back to the Tate Modern.

Walking down the Millennium Walk Bridge towards the building, I felt excited as I did when I first stepped foot inside years ago.

Down in the Turbine Hall, I wandered across what was left of "The Crack" installation that had been there previously. All that was left was the marks showing where the concrete had been filled in. It looked like a giant scar across the floor, just as had been intended by the artist.
Walking through the different halls, I was still confronted by the amazing works that had drawn me to this place.
But sadly, things were missing.
I had come at a bad time, and the new major installation hadn't been put in place yet.
Added to that, changes to the display meant that my Mondrians weren't on show and my favourite painting in the entire collection, "Night Vision" by Fiona Rae wasn't there either.

It was a bit sad actually. It just wasn't quite the same. It was like seeing a ghost of something I had once loved. A faded whisper of what was once such a loud scream in my mind.

London calling

2011-11-11T00:06:00.003+11:00

It's nice being back in London.

It's been years since I first wandered the streets and I think in that time I've lost much of my greeness.

Seeing everything through some more mature eyes was nice.

The awestruck wonder with which I first viewed London was gone, but now I was able to appreciate it from a different light. It was a more measured view of the place and I still liked it.

Somehow, London didn't seem as "amazing" as it did to me when I first saw it. However, it seemed more like a place I could actually live as I now seemed to see more than merely the famous landmarks.

I loved the convenience of the place and how accessible everything was. Everything was just a short tube ride away, only a short walk and you could get to pretty much anything you wanted.
Not to say the sights weren't still amazing though.
Something you notice particularly as you stroll past St Paul's Cathedral.

Canadian stereotypes

2011-11-09T22:48:00.002+11:00

Canadians love their ice hockey???

I never would have guessed it!

Oh Canada

2011-11-07T22:00:00.004+11:00

I only had a few days in Canada. But it was worth it.

I got to see Connie and her family for the first time ever!

It had been 8 years since I had seen Con, so seeing her with a young family was a pretty crazy thing.

Canada is an incredibly serene and pleasant place. It sure is cold though.
Surprisingly so in fact.

There are always stereotypes about how "nice" Canada and Canadians are, but there really is a lot of truth to it.
I even found myself some lumber jack food in the form of the "beaver tails"
What was most unexpected was the quality and the freshness of the food.

Canada is pristine and it definitely shows in the food. The salmon and the fresh produce were amazing.
However, some of my newly formed habits were difficult to break, and even in Canada, I sought out some bagels. Thankfully, I was able to satisfy my wants with the famed "Montreal bagels".

New York, I love you

2011-11-01T21:56:00.003+11:00

I have never been in a city that has had such a positive impact on me.

New York is truly an amazing place.

It's a place that barely lets you rest. There is just so much to do there. Anytime you stop doing things to rest or relax, you get the uneasy feeling that you're missing out on something. It's as though the opportunity cost for rest is almost always something amazing.
This feeling definitely has an impact on you.
I was loving my holiday, but relaxation was not something I was experiencing. In fact, I was feeling more exhausted. I couldn't sit still. I had to move. I had to be outside. I had to be running from one place to another, trying to soak in as much as humanly possible in as little time as possible.
Eventually, it had to come to an end though.

Sitting on the plane as I left JFK, I couldn't stop looking out the window and feeling sad. I wanted to stay. I didn't want to go.

This was another first for me. An overwhelming feeling of despair that I was leaving a place!

Future millions

2011-10-31T22:53:00.003+11:00

I'm convinced.

Totally convinced that this is how I shall make my millions.

I am going to do it through PINKBERRY!
This delicious frozen yoghurt is sadly missing from Australia.

I must be the first to bring it back home. It will make me millions!

Growing fatness

2011-10-30T11:15:00.003+11:00

I have been surprised by a lot of things in New York. Never did I expect to find a city that so completely enthralled me.

One of the biggest surprises has been the food.

America gets a pretty bad wrap about it's food overseas. The view of America is that the food consists of fast food and not much else.

This is so far from the truth.

In New York at the very least, I found a range of food truly astounding and the quality to be far higher than other places I had been.

This was a place where you could find anything from food out of a cart on the side of the street to fine dining at some of the most expensive restaurants in the world.

I found myself eating tacos from Mexican bodegas, chicken and rice from carts on the street, hot dogs at baseball games, amazing sandwiches from delis as well as some incredible meals from fancier establishments.

Food like cheesecake from Carnegies that was enough to give me a heart attack.
Or a Ruben from Katz's that was enough to give me a heart attack!

My definitive favourite food in my entire stay in New York were the bagels, cream cheese and smoked salmon out of the Jewish delis.

In particular, I grew to love the smoked salmon and sturgeon in scrambled eggs served with a bialy and cream cheese from Barney Greengrass'. The combination of the smokiness of the fish with the cream cheese was a lethal combination. Topped off on a crispy and chewy bialy, is there anything better?

I'm not quite sure how I'm going to handle life without them being readily available to me anymore.
Even the burgers in New York were pretty special. Sitting in a diner, the burgers are served promptly and taste far better than any burger I've ever had. They take them seriously in this country and use good meat for their mince ("ground meat") unlike back at home where only the poorer cuts are used.

Even the process of ordering food seems more fun!
Surprises never stop in this city.

Famous things

2011-10-27T22:40:00.007+11:00

Wandering through the sites of New York is like taking a journey through my own personal television and movie watching history.

It feels as though every street I turn down brings me onto the scene of some movie/series/sitcom that I watched at some point in my life.

Even sitting on the subway, I get the distinct recollection of old episodes of Seinfeld.

As I walked around the Downtown part of Manhattan, I found myself in Wall St was pretty amazing.
It was far smaller than I expected, and due to the "Occupy Wall St" movement, there were lots of pennies on the ground.

At night, nothing changes either. The skyline of New York is so familiar. I almost feel more at home wandering through these streets than I do back in my actual home.
It helps that this is a rather pretty skyline as well. The Chysler Building really must be one of the most beautiful buildings ever made, whilst the Empire State Building stands as a monument to America and its achievements.

It almost felt cliched, turning the corners to see more monuments so engrained in popular culture.

I have to say that I liked it though.

It was fun seeing them all. I was even tempted to buy some of the tacky souvenirs for tourists like the Statute of Liberty headwear or some of the terrible photos. Thankfully, I thought better of it and decided against it.

The Met

2011-10-17T07:16:00.004+11:00

This is a big museum.

I always thought that the British Museum was big, but I was clearly mistaken.

You can definitely tell that a museum is truly enormous when you encounter a sizable section dedicated solely to Chinese ink blocks.

And that is before you consider that Chinese garden that has been completely recreated within the building.
Or the old Indian temple that has been relocated into one of the halls.
It seems as though the Met has attempted to take a slice of every single period of humanity's artistic history and present it for the public view.
Literally any time period.
Any style of art as well.
It is a strangely disjointed museum, full of so much incredible sights and displays, but without any real coherence or theme.

It just seems to be an attempt to show the public EVERYTHING.
There are of course, amazing items of display.

I found my Mondrian, which made me happy.
However, what struck me the most was still the sheer size of the place.
It overwhelms and it is almost overbearing.

I found myself spending almost the entire day in this museum, and it required a fairly quick pace (with little to no breaks) to cover the majority of it.
It is impressive, but I am not sure I like it. There is something lacking in subtlety and in clarity. The approach of having so much on display may please some, but for me, I prefer the more considered approach of the British Museum.

Waxing lyrical

2011-10-12T09:52:00.002+11:00

You do some stupid things when you're travelling sometimes.

I shall tick this off as one of those stupid things.

As Pete, Ros and I were picking up some bus tickets as part of our New York explorer pass, we found ourselves next to Madam Tussaud's.

Why not go in we thought.

It really wasn't great.

Not great at all.
This became abundantly clear to us when we found that one of the best exhibits was probably the Sponge Bob Square Pants.

However, there are always a few gems to be discovered in the filth, no matter how much filth there is.
So it was nice for me to sit and have a chat with Woody Allen.

Play ball!

2011-10-11T08:18:00.002+11:00

I am unsure how or why, but I managed to become a huge fan of baseball while I was at university. There is something about the game that captures my imagination and intrigues me with every at bat and with every pitch.

This is odd considering there isn't really any baseball in Australia and I have never been to a baseball game in Australia.

However, now that I was in New York, that would change!

I found myself with Andy, Pete and Ros at Citi Field for a game between the Phillies and the Mets!

This was fantastic for me on many levels.

Firstly, I'm a Phillies fan.

Secondly, the mighty ace of the Phillies, Roy Halladay was pitching.

And thirdly, the Mets are very very bad, making the chances of a Phillies win high.
It was great fun.

Sitting at the game, in good seats, eating hot dogs and cracker jacks.
It's clear how this became the great American past time. It is a relaxing and enjoyable day out.
At the seventh inning, we even got up to sing "Take me out to the ballgame". The fanfare, the pageantry, the food, all of it combines to create something that just doesn't seem to be there in a cricket game.

It also helps when the Phillies win!

Drinks on the skyline

2011-10-10T00:37:00.005+11:00

I'm finding it hard to control my growing obsession with New York. Every extra moment I spend in the ciy seems to present me with more to be marvelled at.

After Andy finished work one night, we wandered down to a bar that had opened up not too long ago.

Even this was something that was amazing. As we got to the roof and ordered our drinks, it was clear that this place had a view that was to be marvelled at.

As well as I could with my camera, I tried to capture the view.

We quietly enjoyed our drinks, looking into the distance at the skyline that seems have more to do than any place I have ever set foot into.

The Bodega

2011-10-03T14:11:00.003+11:00

Having wandered gawking and gasping at the sights of New York, I was hungry. Andy had come home from work and decided he knew just what was needed.

He told me to get my wallet and to make sure I was cashed up.

Not being completely sure about whether he was joking or being honest, I grabbed my money clip and stuffed it full of cash.

As we walked down 10th avenue, I still wasn't sure whether Andy was telling the truth or not.

Suddenly, he turned abruptly into a fairly non-descript little Mexican bodega. I only assumed that he wanted to buy something quickly. However, instead he continued to move into its depths and I soon found myself in a Mexican restaurant.

This clearly wasn't going to be the expensive dinner I had been cautiously prepared for.

Three soft tacos cost me effectively the change in my pockets.

And it was good!

It was so good! Better than any of the faux Mexican food that I've eaten back at home! Packed with flavour and perfectly encased in a couple of pieces of the soft bread.

It's the Late Show

2011-09-29T12:46:00.002+10:00

Ever since uni days, I have loved the Daily Show.

David Letterman's sense of humour is strangely appealing to me. His irreverence and sarcasm in particular have always been something I've found to match my own personality and tastes.

Many a night, I found myself slowly fading into my sleep in my university dorm whilst listening to Letterman's opening monologue and finally switching the television off once he had finished with the nightly top ten.

To find myself standing in line out front of the Ed Sullivan Theatre was something else.

Waiting to go in to see the Late Show LIVE sent shivers down my spine.

As I slowly went inside, I felt almost like a little kid again, waiting to open my Christmas presents.

The guests for the evening were Nathan Fillion and Larry Miller which was pretty great. The musical item at the end was played by the Jayhawks.

Just seeing Dave in person and his interactions had made the trip to New York completely worth it!

The High Line

2011-09-26T09:09:00.003+10:00

One of the first things I found on my wanderings in New York was the famous High Line.

This is the culmination of a modernisation project of the old raised railway tracks that ran through the Meatpacking District and Chelsea.

Instead of demolishing these old railway tracks, they have been converted into a raised public walkway and gardens.

I think it's a fantastic idea.
The area has been transformed by the High Line. An area that was once industrial and run down has become a focus for development, with the High Line drawing people in.
It's just such a New York thing, something so out of place in the a bustling city that seems to fit in so perfectly.

New York state of mind

2011-09-23T09:33:00.005+10:00

As a child, New York was a place that I always wanted to live. It seemed to be a place so full of life and activity that never stopped.

Even through uni, it all seemed a likely possibility.

Changes in the global economic situation have now made this seem far less likely.

Instead, trips like this may have to suffice.

I was in New York!

The greatest city in the world, the centre of the universe... etc etc!
It was not disappointing me at all.
The vibe from walking in this city, the activity and the constant rush of people can be immediately felt.

So much so in fact, that I don't think that I've ever been to a place that has created this much immediate excitement in me.

Delays

2011-09-21T10:54:00.006+10:00

It's very nice to be flying off again.

The rush of knowing that I would soon be in new surrounds and out of my comfort zone was exhilarating.

Even a bit of industrial action resulting in some delays couldn't shake me.

I was more than content to merely relax in the airport and wait for the call to come through.

Cheap shot

2011-09-19T22:07:00.002+10:00

My theory on how to win any form of bake sale or bake off is to keep it simple and appeal to people's base desires.

None of these fancy dishes, with lah di dah techniques to really do anything special other than to confuse the paying public who are really just trying to satisfy the 4:00pm sugar craving

Something with chocolate in it.

That's usually the answer, and there much that is more tantalising to the hungry eyes of an office worker than a nice, thick, slice of brownie.

Hotel nostalgia

2011-08-21T13:06:00.003+10:00

I found myself at a strange hotel recently.

Not strange from the perspective of the hotel itself, but rather from a personal perspective.

It was a hotel that I stayed at with my parents when I was about 5 years old. My memories of this place and my trip with the parents continue to colour my thinking about hotels and what it is to go on a trip.

My memories are of a sparkling hotel with service beyond imagination. There were smiling faces everywhere and a uniformed bell boy to take our bags to our rooms.

Things have changed a bit.

It's not the sparkling, brand new hotel it once was (after 20 years, who can blame them?)

But much of the old quirks that I liked such as the inner court yard are still there.

It was a nice walk down memory lane. It was like looking at a faded photo though, it lacked the sharpness and vitality that my memory gave it.

More nuptial fun

2011-08-20T09:22:00.003+10:00

The weddings seem to continue....

It is a constant reminder of the passing of time and that my own childhood is fading fast into my memory. Instead, there is the growing spectre of responsibility looming... the horror of it all.

However, none of that was going to stop me going to the wedding of my old friend Tammy. A wedding, regardless of what implications it may have on those getting married, and regardless of what terror it seems to create in me with thoughts of growing up, is still a fantastic party.

I've known Tammy and her family since I was a kid. Growing up as friends with her brother, I was always welcomed into their home, particularly when I was a starving uni student. Being able to go to her wedding was a great, though I found it a bit odd seeing her all grown up when I had still sharp memories of her as a primary school kid beating me at Nintendo.

Branding

2011-07-31T16:42:00.002+10:00

I understand the power of branding. I still remember it in the classes of marketing I took back in university.

But how far can branding really go?

At what point does it move from being the "mark of quality" to being a way of tricking suckers out of their money?

I found an example of the latter the other day after having had a nice steak with Kieran during our lunch break. On our way back to the office, we walked past a store that was selling a water pipe. It wasn't just any water pipe though, it was a "Porsche" water pipe.

Who would buy this?

Does the Porsche brand really carry that much swagger that they are now deemed to be the most trusted and true makers of water pipes?

It all seems a bit much for me.

Too much?

2011-07-06T21:44:00.003+10:00

I paid $9 for a loaf of bread the other day.

Is that too much? I think it's too much....

Even the packaging that the bread came in seemed a bit too much.
That being said, it was damn good bread.

Sitting on the bus

2011-07-02T16:01:00.002+10:00

I think I have fallen into a rut in Sydney.

Most days seem to be relatively similar to the last and worst of all, I find myself seeing nothing new.

I've only been living in Sydney for a few years. I'm amazed that I've so quickly reached a stage where I no longer explore and no longer seek out new things to see.

I don't quite know what has led me to this behaviour. I love the feeling of being in a new place that I am unfamiliar with. There's a strange rush of uncertainty.

As lame as it may sound, I finally experienced some of the feeling of being somewhere new from being on a bus of all places.

Rather than jumping on my old bus back home, I thought I'd try a bus that went a different route.

It was deserted. However, strangely enough I felt the lack of familiarity that I had been seeking. As the city slowly past me by and shop fronts I had never seen sped past, I started thinking about the need to actually keep searching this city for some of the sites that I clearly hadn't been to.

Ikeaaaaaaa

2011-06-20T21:44:00.003+10:00

Is it weird to buy food from Ikea?

I used to think it was (and maybe it still is), but I have developed a strange occasional hankering for the Swedish meatballs they sell.

I picked up this bizarre liking from my Swedish friend Adam when I was in the UK. To my surprise, he told me that Ikea was actually one of the few sources of Swedish food that he and his friends had access to.

Who would have thought that Ikea was this source of cultural comfort for the Swedish community?
The meatballs aren't even that great.... but there's something strangely appealing about them.

Bored

2011-05-18T15:32:00.002+10:00

I really need to get out more.

The other day, I needed to hang up my laundry, so I cleared everything off the line that wasn't mine. I gathered up all of my housemate Josh's clothes and dumped them into the basket.

Clearly there was some residual moisture, as a day later, when I tipped the basket onto his bed, I was presented with this.

It's a clothes terrine!
When you start finding things like this amazing, there is definitely something amiss....

Banoffee madness

2011-05-16T22:22:00.002+10:00

I really need to stop making these.

They're delicious and they are hard to turn down, but they really aren't good for you.

It's sickly sweet, it sticks to your teeth and it is so damn rich.

Add to that the ridiculous price of bananas in Australia at the moment and you really have to wonder about why I still make them?

I am talking of course about the simple banoffee pie.

They really are incredibly simple to make.

All you need to do is boil some tins of condensed milk, make or buy a pie crust, scoop on the toffee and then slice on some bananas.

It is the lazy man's dessert and yet it always receives a rapturous response from those receiving it.

No more. This must stop.

My teeth and body can take no more!

Food on a stick

2011-04-27T19:41:00.004+10:00

Easter is a time in Australia that is usually reserved for religious contemplation and family get togethers.

It is also the time of the Royal Easter Show.

I have never been to the Sydney Royal Easter Show. This is probably due to the fact that I've only been in Sydney for three years. However, the fact remains that I haven't been to ANY Easter show since I was about 8 years old.

This was a little bit exciting for me. I was probably a bit too excited to be honest, particularly since I'm not a child.
Still, I was determined that this would be a fun day. It was an opportunity to go and look at the rural displays and the farming exhibits.
Everyone seemed happy to pet the baby animals and we even saw the "Fonzy", the world's biggest Holstein Fresian bull..... oh the amazement of it all!
My brother and I ran off at one point from everyone else in order to get into the true spirit of the day with some carnie rides. After a couple of fast spinning rides, I was close to throwing up, but persevered on.

The most important part of this day for me was the carnie food.

I was determined. This day would only involve eating food that came served on a stick.
The show provided more than ample opportunity for me to achieve this goal.
Who knew that food on a stick was such a prevalent thing?
I was even able to indulge in my love of the show "Arrested Development" by eating a frozen banana from a frozen banana stand.
There are definite disadvantages to eating food on a stick. The main one being the incredible illness that seems to follow....

Big casinos

2011-04-25T12:38:00.005+10:00

The casinos in Macau are so imposing. Like small mountains rising out of the ground.

The most imposing of all of these casinos is the Venetian.

This thing is huge.

It is so huge that on the inside, it has recreated a city scene of Venice for it's shopping mall section. This is including the canals and all!
You get a surreal feeling wandering through this false reality.

The attempt to recreate Venice in this clearly fake manner is done with such care and detail, and yet this seems to bring it even further from being the reality.
Wandering through the gigantic halls of the Venetian, I found myself lost on numerous occasions. I was constantly searching for the maps in a futile attempt to find my bearings, but this usually only helped for a few moments. Everywhere you walk within the Venetian, there are sights to see.
As you walk through the main halls, it is genuinely impressive. It is hard not to look at what they have created with awe. It is a symbol of humanity's ability to build and create.
I also found it interesting as a symbol of humanity's ability to warp and distort though. Wandering past the singing gondoliers, I remembered when I had been here a few years ago and had been confronted by Italian gondoliers shipped in for the purpose of singing to the patrons. It has clearly been a long time since then.

The Italian gondoliers have now been replaced by what I am assuming, is their non-union Chinese equivalents.

Annoyingly unfortunate

2011-04-24T15:12:00.003+10:00

My trip to Macau also gave me the opportunity to further embrace my love of Cirque du Soleil.

The Venetian is the location of the Cirque show "Zaia"!

This was going to be exciting. I had only worked in and seen big top shows. This would be my first ever experience of one of Cirque's arena shows.

I was feeling very excited!
I wandered up to the ticketing desk and with a big grin said "One adult for tonight's show please!"
The man behind the counter looked at me blankly.

"There are no shows on tonight sir".

Oh no....

Oh no no no!!!!

There were no shows on for the entire period I was in Macau. The show was on holiday.

Fantastic.

Beautiful Macau

2011-04-22T22:34:00.005+10:00

Macau gets alot of tourists these days. And I do mean ALOT!

The tourists from mainland China are literally pouring in across the borders. They are arriving by boats, trains, buses and on the planes.

Yet surprisingly, the small enclave of Macau really doesn't feel that packed or crowded. The thousands upon thousands of tourists charging into Macau have certainly made the place more lively, but not to a detrimental level.

Macau has still kept its colonial feel. The streets still have the old cobble stones, the buildings have not been torn down and replaced with glass and steel monstrosities and there is a beautiful combination of Portuguese and Chinese buildings. I love being able to wander around in this amalgamation of Europe and Asia. It makes me feel as though I'm somehow wandering through some sort of alternative universe where Europe and Asia developed in unison.
Strangely enough, I also get the same feelings I had when I was walking through Istanbul. However, there the coming together of East and West was more subtle and blended, whereas here there were stark contrasts between the Western and the Eastern.
From most vantage points, the evidence of the growing modernisation of Macau could be seen.

Standing at the very top of the ruins of St Paul's, you can see the imposing silhouette of the enormous Grand Lisboa.

This huge casino is one of the many casinos that has brought the tourists to Macau. It's also one of the reasons that I'm able to enjoy Macau without too much distraction.
In a strange paradox, the tourist boom that has resulted from the casinos has also protected Macau from being completely overwhelmed. The casinos have had the effect of containing the tourists within their own complexes. The majority of the people coming to Macau find themselves moving from one casino complex to another, with only quick tours to the important tourist checklist items. The casinos have become self contained worlds for the tourists that do not need to be exited. They cater to every gambling need and want.
For me, this entire situation is fantastic.

Macau feels livelier for the tourist influx, but still buffered from feeling overwhelming.

Macanese treats

2011-04-17T14:42:00.006+10:00

My love of the former Portuguese colony of Macau is not limited to the architecture and streets. A big part of my love for Macau stems from the food.

Over the years, I have spent an enormous amount of time gorging myself on Macanese cuisine, which is an amalgamation of the cooking cultures of Portugal and Southern China, along with a smattering of South East Asian, Indian and even African influences.

Of particular importance to me were the Portuguese egg tarts.

Portuguese egg tarts, or "Pastel de nata" are a Macanese specialty. They combine the delicate egg custard with the light crispy pastry with the crunchy sweet caramelised bases.

I probably went a bit overboard with the number I ate, but I couldn't help it. I knew that this would be the last decent Portuguese tarts I'd be having for a while, so I ensured that I gorged myself appropriately. I've had "Portuguese egg tarts" in other countries and back home in Australia, but it's just not the same. In fact, it's worse than not the same, they're usually terrible. The egg custard normally tastes bland, the pastry chewy and there is almost always a lack of the crunch that I have come to expect.

That being said, eating 12 in a day was probably still excessive....
The other Macanese specialty I decided to focus on this trip was the pork chop bun.

Unlike the Portuguese egg tarts, there really isn't a standard to expect with these pork chop buns. Every store seems to have their own take on the pork chop as well as the bun. For the pork chop, some places deep fry, other shallow fry, some are crumbed, some are marinated. It's completely up to the maker of the pork chop. I found one shop in particular that marinated their pork chops in a curry sauce. For the bread, a portuguese roll is normally used, but some places vary to use other breads such as chinese style steamed buns. All of these is served with no garnish. Why would you need a garnish when you have so much flavour and texture from the pork chop and bun already?
Even in the most touristy of touristy places, the Venetian, I was still able to get my fix of a pork chop bun.

A Macanese adventure

2011-04-13T20:17:00.004+10:00

I was sick of being bored by the monotony of Hong Kong. The constant sameness of the streets was starting to get me down. How much pleasure can a person derive from moving from shopping centre to shopping centre?

The crush of humanity was also weighing on me. I needed to go somewhere that wasn't as crowded and where the pace of life was slower.

The answer to my troubles were very simple.

Starring me in the face really.

It was time to leave Hong Kong and make my traditional side trip to Macau.

Macau both calms and excites me all at the same time.

I love this place! It's quite possibly one of my favourite places in Asia.

Unlike other parts of Asia, the old colonial heart of Macau hasn't been flattened. It remains an important part of the modern developments.

And besides all of that, the place is just pretty.

It's a lovely old city that isn't just a mass of concrete, steel and glass.
Can you feel the serenity?

Canto cuisine

2011-04-07T22:56:00.005+10:00

There's something about cantonese cuisine that really doesn't seem to grab my attention in the same way it used to when I was younger.

This is the food of my childhood, the food I had at home and that I still consider to be my personal comfort food. It's all delicious as well. There's a combination of texture and flavours that is completely missing in the cooking in the West.
But for some strange reason, I really didn't feel it this recent trip to Hong Kong. I have returned to Australia feeling as though nothing really stood out, feeling as though there was nothing eaten that was memorable or particularly amazing.
Not that anything was bad, it was all good, fresh food. It was food that highlighted the natural flavours of the ingredients and brought people together as all good Cantonese cuisine does.
And still, I found myself a bit bored with it all.

I found myself lacking the desire to try new dishes, returning instead over and over again to the same old tea house for their strong tea and hot pineapple buns.
It leads me to wondering whether my palate has changed or whether I have lost the desire for trying new things entirely?

Being traditional

2011-04-04T21:52:00.005+10:00

The real reason I went on my trip to Hong Kong was to be a good grandson.

My grandmother was having her 80th birthday, and this was an event that I had promised to attend for years.

It was something I had definitely been looking forward to. Not only would it give me the opportunity to finally see many relatives whom I had never had the opportunity to meet, it would also give me the opportunity to take part in some truly traditional Chinese customs.

For one thing, it was around Chinese New Year that I went. Chinese New Year involves numerous givings and receivings of "Red Packets" which are little envelopes filled with money. As a child, this period could be very important for your yearly finances, and yet I had never experienced the sheer magnitude of a Hong Kong Chinese New Year. There was lots of work to do to help my mother with the preparations of her Red Packets to provide to others.

Eventually, this was all done and I was able to actually wander in and wish my grandmother a happy birthday.

And it was so much fun!

As a mark of respect, in Chinese culture, there serving of tea is to the elders.

This seemed like fun! So I ever so gingerly bent down onto my surgically reconstructed knee and did the traditionally upstanding thing and served my grandmother tea.
However, standing up was still a touch difficult and we had to wait until some other relatives came over to help me get up!

A clouded wander

2011-03-16T20:56:00.005+11:00

Off I went on this walk!

My knee was feeling strong and I wanted to be out in the open being cooped up in the enclosed spaces of Hong Kong .My hopes of seeing some views of Hong Kong really weren't going to be happening on this walk.

It felt like something out of a movie, it was as though I was walking into the underworld or into a dream. Looking out into the distance, all I could see was the same whiteness that didn't change.
When combined with some of the more surreal looking natural features, I definitely began to feel as though there was something almost otherworldly about this walk I was taking.
But onwards I walk!

Clouded views

2011-03-14T18:50:00.004+11:00

The top of the Peak wasn't exactly what I was expecting.

I had been hoping for vast and expansive views of Hong Kong, instead I found myself confronted with visibility reduced to about 20 metres.
Still, being a tourist means that you're meant to embrace the experiences and this was definitely something I hadn't experienced before.
For one thing, it isn't really "fog" that I found myself in. It was actually the clouds! I was literally wandering around in the low level clouds that had surrounded the mountain range (and which was most likely sending rain onto the residents in Hong Kong below). It's an incredibly surreal feeling to know that you are walking through a cloud, that people down below are looking up into the sky and that you're pacing around in that exact sky.
I didn't want to leave so quickly. So after some quick inquiries, I was able to find out about some walks I could do.
So it was off into the clouds I walked!

Tourist fun

2011-03-06T18:50:00.005+11:00

I've been to Hong Kong so many times over the years. It's not that surprising considering it's where much of my extended family resides.

However, in all of these trips, I've spent a surprisingly small amount of time exploring Hong Kong. I've rarely had the opportunity to actually be a tourist. Instead, I've found myself being shuttled from one family obligation to another.

The result has been that I have found myself with not only a poor understanding of where anything is in Hong Kong, but also a distinct lack of opportunities to see what makes this town so special.

This was going to change though.

This trip to Hong Kong was surprisingly event free which allowed me more than enough opportunity to be the tourist my heart yearned to be. I wanted to do my usual tourist thing and just wander and wander until I found myself too exhausted to walk anymore (this was also going to be something of a test for my reconstructed knee).

The big thing on my list of things to do was the Peak!

And not only the Peak, I wanted to ride the famous tram up to the Peak!
The Peak is on top of the mountain range that runs across the middle of Hong Kong island. It has long been the location of choice for the richest of the rich to live and for the rest of us mere mortals to visit.
Catching the tram, at certain points, the incline reaches ridiculously steep levels that force you into the back of the chair.
... ideally, there should be a lovely view of Hong Kong and the harbour...

Tranquility in the heart of the city

2011-03-04T20:00:00.004+11:00

I always seem to find myself in this park in Hong Kong.

It's located near Admiralty in the heart of the city and it's a lovely, calm and quiet place that is amazingly removed from the traffic and congestion only a hundred metres or so away.

I remember coming here years ago and wandering around the tea museum.

It's not as good anymore (or maybe my memory betrays me), but it's still nice being somewhere that doesn't involve people trying to sell you things.
It always amazed me that these places can exist though. Such secluded and quiet places that are surrounded by so much congestion.

People living in these busy places often complain about the lack of space and the lack of any greenery, but do they realise that they have places like this a mere five minute wander from where they are?

It almost seems like an intentional blindness to justify their own ways of living.

Forrest Gump?

2011-03-01T21:43:00.004+11:00

This seems silly to me.

My friend insisted that we go.

But I still find it silly.

It's a Forrest Gump themed restaurant called "Bubba Gump's".

An entire restaurant that's been based off of the movie Forrest Gump....

It all seems just a bit excessive to me. Is anyone that into the movie that they would be keen on experiencing it all again in kitch restaurant form?

Amazingly, it's also located on "The Peak", one of the highest points in Hong Kong that overlooks the entire city.

The food was mediocre and overpriced and the novelty factor wore off pretty quickly....

A random indulgence

2011-02-26T01:34:00.006+11:00

I don't eat fried chicken.

I really like it as well.... but quite a few years ago, I made a decision that for the sake of my health and fitness, I would give up eating and drinking a substantial number of things. One of these things was fried chicken.

However, there are rare occasions when I allow myself to cheat.

For instance, when I was in Belgium, I allowed myself to eat chocolate (I mean how could I not???)

When I was in the Middle East, I allowed myself to drink coffee (though to be honest, I only really drank tea during my time there).

For fried chicken, I allow myself to partake when I find myself in the vicinity of a "Popeyes". Hong Kong is one of the few places in the Asia Pacific region that actually has a Popeyes and I wasn't going to pass up the opportunity.

Ahhhh, Popeyes!!!

It may sound silly, but I just find that they make the best fried chicken. The Colonel may have his secret herbs and spices, but he just can't get that amazing crispiness that Popeyes has.
Not only that, but Popeyes serves its chicken with biscuits and cajun spiced fries. How can I resist that???

It didn't take me long to demolish the Popeyes in front of me.... I feel so full....

Nathan Road

2011-02-24T20:49:00.004+11:00

There's nothing quite like the hustle and bustle of Hong Kong.

Even the CBD of Sydney feels almost empty compared the packed streets in the middle of Kowloon.

It's intense, it's busy and there is a hurried feeling wherever you go. The place definitely feels busier than the last time I was here as well. The influx of tourists from mainland China is clear and the sound of Mandarin now seems to fill the air as much as Cantonese.
Being in the middle of Kowloon also means that I'm nice and close to many of the famous street markets.
This claustrophobic atmosphere always gives me a bit of a rush!

Lost bags

2011-02-22T17:47:00.003+11:00

It feels good to be travelling again.

It feels so liberating. As soon as I stepped into Sydney airport, I felt a weight lift from my shoulders knowing that for the duration of this trip (as short as it was), I would be without obligations.

I was heading off to Hong Kong for some family events!!!

It had been over two years since I had been overseas (far too long) and over three years since I had been to Hong Kong. I generally don't like going to places I have been to before, but as far as I'm now concerned, a trip is a trip.

Cheap tickets had been sourced, but unfortunately this meant I was actually flying to Taiwan first...

I found myself running through the airport in Taiwan at around 4am in the morning searching for someone to print out a boarding pass for me, but thankfully someone appeared and I was able to run (as well as my reconstructed knee will allow me) to the gate and my connecting flight to Hong Kong.

Not that it really mattered anyway.

It turns out my bags weren't able to run as fast as I was and they were bumped onto the subsequent flight.

So instead, I found myself sitting at Chek Lap Kok airport, waiting for my bags to arrive.

It's a nice looking airport.

The huge ceilings seem to glow, no matter the time of day and the white has an eerie calming feeling.
It was annoying having to wait the extra hour (which was still better than waiting the 6+ hours for them to deliver it to my hotel), but I was on holiday. So who cares if I have to sit around?

Dinner at Google!!!

2011-02-02T21:07:00.007+11:00

Most of the time, I accept that I have a pretty good job. It pays the bills and the work is interesting.

I really can't complain considering many people struggle to find a job these days and even more people find themselves in jobs that they hate.

However, there are a few times when it is difficult to hide the jealousy I have for other peoples' jobs.

My trip to visit my friends working at Google was one of these times.

The invitation had been simple enough: "Hey, you guys should totally come and have dinner with us at our work!" said Andy in his casual American accent.

Dinner at work??? How odd! Why not I thought.

Something was clearly amiss when Nick and I arrived at the Google offices to find Andy playing on the tyre swing in the reception. The girls laughed at our surprise.

.... this was clearly going to be an upsetting tour.
Nick and I also felt strangely out of place walking through this office in our suits and ties. This was a laid back office of t-shirt and jeans and we were clearly squaring up the joint with our lameness.

There's a reason Google is consistently voted as one of the best employers in the world. It's because they treat their staff VERY well.

Unfortunately I couldn't take any photos inside (fair enough), but what my eyes beheld was astounding.

The first thing we saw was the kitchenettes that were peppered everywhere in the building. Full of food and drink, there was no expense spared. Even the coffee machines provided were no run of the mill mass coffee dispenser, but the quality espresso machines that have the large handles to allow the control of water pressure.

Next, we were shown into the games room were a Googler was entranced in his game of Guitar Hero. A pool table, foosball table and a tennis table lay un-used, surrounded by musical instruments for anyone who felt like unwinding in a more cultured manner.

We then wandered upstairs and were shown the library. I had to be careful where I stepped as to not upset the model trains on the ground that someone was working on.

The presence in the office of hammocks and sleeping pods made me particularly upset.

"Yeah, naps are acceptable. There's an attitude of do whatever you want, so long as you get the work done well."

This seemed to be a great attitude! It was definitely an attitude that fit in with the creative approach being sought be this fine organisation. Somehow I'm not so sure it would work as well in the world of law and finance that I find myself in. Still, the ability to power nap after lunch for even half an hour would improve my productivity.... if only it were to be so!

Andy and the girls then took us to look at the myriad of themed meeting rooms. Yes, that's correct, all of the meeting rooms are themed. The most eye catching one was easily the room that used the theme of bath time and rubber duckies.

With the main tour essentially complete, it was time for dinner.

We were escorted into the cafeteria, where the Googlers are provided with buffet breakfasts, lunches and dinners. Each day had a different theme, and we had been fortunate enough to arrive for Indian food. Again, there were no short cuts taken with the food provided. It was good quality food and, even though mass produced cafeteria style fare, it was still better than what I had been used to in my boarding school days. What's more, the free flow of drinks, desserts and ice creams showed that cost cutting wasn't going to be sought in this benefit.

Talking to the Googlers, their admiration and love of the company was evident. And why shouldn't it be? This company cared for them and went out of their way to ensure that they were comfortable in both work and life. These employees genuinely believed in the vision that their company was trying to establish.

As I sat listening to them, slowly eating the paddle pop ice cream that I had taken out of the fridge, my hatred for this company began to grow. It wasn't a hatred because of a dislike. No, this was very much the type of hatred that stems from being an outsider wanting to get in!

We all finished up dinner and began to head off.

Before I left though, there was some unfinished business.

I needed to jump on the tyre swing at least ONCE before I left the premises!!!!

So now I'm left with the question of how I can find a way to sneak my way back into this company???

Cricket!

2011-01-24T19:12:00.005+11:00

On a beautiful summer's day, what's better to do than to spend a lovely day at the cricket!

This traditionally British past time both confuses and stupefies foreigners, and yet it still holds a powerful grip on the culture of this country. Other sports have become increasingly popular in Australia, but the state based rivalries still exist and cricket remains the unifying sport that is embraced by the entire country.

So, with the sun high in the sky, we joined thousands of others as we made our way into the Sydney Cricket Ground for the one day international between Australia and England.

Our seats were good!

Seated in the Trumper Stand, we were perfectly placed to view the action, whilst still receiving some protection from the upper parts of the stand.
With the game underway, there was nothing more to do than to sit back and start on the beers.
Cricket is a nuanced game that requires patience and technique. The traditional test match form of the game takes 5 days, so even the one day version is a bastardisation of that original pure form. The even newer 20-20 format is even further from what is traditionally considered cricket. Even with this "shorter" version of the game (a one day match being comprised of 50 overs per team) this was still going to take more than 8 hours.
What better way to enjoy those 8 hours though? Sitting in the shade of the stands, having some drinks with friends while watching Australia play the old enemy.
The English have been rather good this summer, with crushing wins in the Ashes Test series, so any wins to Australia (even in a one day match) is a welcome thing.
However, even with Australia taking hold of the match, the length of time involved in the game was clearly too much for some.
Part of the fun of going to the cricket seems to be in watching the crowd themselves as they start creating their own entertainment (usually after some liquid courage).

Bottles are thrown, beer snakes are formed and the crowd start hurling abuse at the police.
As the match wears on, the procession of fans being escorted out of the stadium with varying degrees of police encouragement steadily increases, almost always to the standing applause and cheers of everyone else!

Broken

2011-01-12T22:08:00.002+11:00

The new year has come in with a bang and a drunken haze.

I feel ill, I really do. I've definitely overdone it.

One morning, Josh clearly wasn't paying attention in one of this wake up hazes and managed to kick the antenna cord out of his new TV along with the socket.....

His annoyance was clearly compounded by the realisation that this would not be easily repaired.
.... I think we all need to let up for a few weekends.....

I'm so bored....

2010-12-23T23:07:00.004+11:00

I am so bored.

So damn bored. There is nothing to do. The clouds are killing my summer. I want to go to the beach and instead I'm stuck wallowing away my days in my apartment...

My tax filings are done.

My banking filings are done.

I've cleaned the apartment.

I've washed my clothes.

I've got no study to do.

What else?

Might as well try some new recipes I guess.

For some bizarre reason, I suddenly felt the urge to make a Black Forest cake.
People have told me it's complicated, but scrambling through my pantry, I was pretty much able to find everything I needed except for the cherries. I wander to the shops soon fixed that.
The chocolate sponge cakes were basic and something that Josh and I have made countless times before.
As for the cutting and fillings.... again, it wasn't really an issues. All it required was a steady hand (check), a bit of stewing (check) and patience (check).
Unfortunately for me and my boredom, the creation of a Black Forest cake is really not very difficult at all. Anyone who says otherwise is lying. It is completely dependent on bringing together multiple parts and assembling quickly, none of which is too difficult if you have any experience baking and a hand that can steadily and accurately layer out the sponges with.

..... I wasn't even hungry after finishing it, just still bored.

Christmas in Coogee

2010-12-20T18:18:00.004+11:00

Ahhhh Christmas.

I love Christmas, always have. It's just a nice time when things at work become more laid back, everyone seems more relaxed and there's a happy attitude in the air.

The food is also nice.

Andy, Josh and I enjoy filling up the apartment with all of the foods associated with this time of year like mince pies, pannatone and Christmas cake (that I carefully soaked in cognac).

This biggest event for us our annual "Christmas in Coogee".

This event started well before I moved in when the boys bought a new fridge and were given a free turkey with it.

It has now evolved into a Christmas celebration that we invite lots of people over for, an annual year ender to see everyone before we all disappear off to our families.

It requires lots of preparation!

Two days before the big event, Josh and I went and bought a nice big turkey to begin the defrosting of it.

Then the day before, the real work began.

We wanted a nice dessert, so Andy and Josh began constructing the blueberry trifle. We even managed to find an excellent source of old port to soak the sponge cake that Josh made for the layers.

As those two boys did that, I began to make the stuffing for the bird.

Everything we do is made from scratch and this stuffing is no different. I even went so far as rendering down hunks of bacon fat so that I could use the dripping to cook the onions, celery and apples. The kitchen was feeling nice and hot as I cracked the last of the eggs to mix into the stuffing mixture.

Josh began to clean the bird as I wearily cleaned up the rest of the mess, ready for bed.

The next morning, the real work began.

At about 7:00am, I heard Andy wake. I knew it was coming, but it was still an unwelcome noise when Andy knocked on my door to wake me up.

After a quick breakfast, we began cooking.

The turkey was stuffed, prepped and put into the oven.

There was lots more to do. Andy and I had a pile of potatoes and carrots to peel. The beans had to be prepped, the onions chopped. The drinks were prepared. The cakes sliced and plated. The puddings were taken out. The trifle had settled nicely, but the almonds needed to be roasted carefully sprinkled on the top.

As time approached, the beans went on. The carrots when on. Potatoes, onions, parsnip and pumpkin went into the oven. Potatoes were put on the boil.

The timer went off and the bird came out.

It looked PERFECT. The colour was as we had hoped and the stuffing was spilling out as expected.

The whole apartment was filling with the smell of the roasted turkey and the sage from the stuffing.

We let it rest as Andy began to mash the potatoes and I began to make a gravy from the dripping of the turkey (remember, everything has to be made from scratch!)

Meanwhile, Josh had been very busy outside. He had rearranged, cleaned, vacuumed and moved two tables into the living room so that we now had a nice "T" configuration for all of our guests.

He had even set the table beautifully with the bon bons and napkins placed just as he would have back in the days when he was a waiter serving celebrities and the Prime Minister.

However, it was all worth it. From the moment the bon bons were cracked open and the drink was flowing, it was clear that the preparations were well worth the effort.
Everyone was happy with the turkey and it wasn't too long before the effects of the food crept up on us and food comas set in.

We couldn't stop though!

The desserts were still to come.

The standard cheer and applause came as we doused the puddings in brandy and Andy set them alight. In hindsight, we have gone a bit overboard dessert-wise. Serving trifle, pudding and cake may have been a bit too much for our guests to manage.

It was damn tough work, but totally worth it. After all, isn't it a sign of true content to be pouring yourself a glass or port out of a fire truck shaped bottle?

360°

2010-12-17T09:20:00.006+11:00

I went to see the U2 360° tour!!!

I've been a fan of U2 since I was in high school. I was never big on music when I was young, but U2 was one of the first bands that I began listening to late in high school, helping me to develop an interest in music generally. I still remember that their album "All That You Can't Leave Behind" was one of the first I ever bought.

People may complain that they're too political or that they've got problems with Bono, but I still like their music. It's strange hearing people criticise them, often the criticisms seem to have nothing to do with their music and performances, but more to do with "who" they are.

None of this was going to stop me enjoying my first ever U2 concert though. This was the 360° tour as well! I had wanted to see this since I had first seen the incredible circular stage set up.

The opening act was not to be ignored either! It was Jay-Z!!!

It seemed like a strange opening act. A hip hop artist doesn't really come to mind as a natural opening act for U2, but I wasn't complaining.

Jay-Z was fantastic and the crowd definitely appreciated what they were hearing.

Seeing him live wasn't something I had ever expected I would experience, so hearing him rapping out "99 Problems" and "Empire State of Mind" seemed almost surreal.

Andy in particular enjoyed Empire State of Mind. He's heading to New York next year on secondment, so this song game him more than enough opportunity to gloat to the rest of us.
As great as it was hearing Jay Z and showing him our "diamonds", he was still just an opener. It's amazing to think that U2 is so massive that someone as famous and talented as Jay Z is willingly reduced to being a warm up act (though a very fine warm up act he was).

Still, not everyone was as keen as the boys and I were to see Jay Z and the stadium crowd reflected this. There were a lot of people, but most people were still filtering in as Jay Z finished up.

The clock on the stage began to slowly countdown.

At "midnight" the clock began to break apart.
The song "Space Oddity" by David Bowie began to play as the stadium erupted!

U2 began their slow march towards the stage, with smoke filling the ground like four astronauts approaching the launching pad.
It didn't take long for the stadium to erupt again as they began playing "Beautiful Day"!
Seeing this concert live was more than I could have hoped for. It is a true sensual immersion as you find it difficult to work out where exactly to look.

The cylindrical screen they use is also something special.

During the performance, it began to open out like a concertina.
The screen became more than just a place to watch the video, as it transformed into a light show that filled the entire stadium with colour.
The screen then changed again, to float images only slightly off the stage.
I was amazed by the set list that U2 had chosen as well. The concert seemed to keep going and going (in a good way). I later found out that they played 24 songs! If nothing else, they definitely gave value for money.
It was also great to see them playing some of their classics. Songs like "Sunday Bloody Sunday" being played to the stage being illuminated in Irish green were very inspiring.
As the night wore on, it seemed as though they were done and the band did a few bows and the lights went out.

Some people began to filter out of the stadium, but then the stage began to glow an eerie red.
The band reappeared on stage, with Bono decked out in leather jacket covered in red lasers.
The lights slowly began to change from the red to blue as Bono asked the audience to turn on their mobile phones.
Combined with the lights shining off the mirror balls, the entire stadium began to glow.
The crowd looked like a moving sea of lights as the band sang "With or Without You".
It was hard to not be awe struck.

This band has been around for so long, and yet they still seem more than capable of capturing the imagination of audiences everywhere. It was definitely an experience to be remembered.

A Melbourne wedding

2010-12-13T19:17:00.002+11:00

There's been a lot of running about lately.

A week before I went to the Gold Coast, I actually found my way down to Melbourne for the wedding of one of my old friends from high school.

Melbourne is a nice city. But this was the first time I had been in Melbourne during the summer in at least 15 years. I was confronted with the unhappy fact that I seem to be allergic to the city. From the moment I landed in Melbourne, I felt congested and my eyes watered. It took me back to my childhood days as one of those kids who was constantly suffering from allergies. Ahhh, sweet memories....

This trip had a very specific purpose though. The wedding.

Amazingly, I was late (an annoying re-occurrence recently). I found myself rushing to the church in a taxi, looking anxiously at my watch as the minute hand past the time that the ceremony was meant to start.

I jumped out of the cab (as best I could with my knee in its recovering state) and rushed (again, as best as I could) towards the the front door of the church.

It then dawned on me that I had no idea whether I was at the right location.....

.... luckily for me, right in front of the church, there was a nice big sign that this was the right wedding.

My friend Steve had chosen two Combi vans as his mode of transportation for the wedding.

Clearly the "white wedding" hadn't diminished his sense of humour. Taking this cue, I quietly slipped into the church and sat at the back to watch the wedding.

It was a lovely wedding too. Done in a combination of English and Vietnamese, so I was at least able to understand half of it.

As the formal part of the ceremony came to a close, everyone could suddenly hear the noise of a band play up. Out of no where, the band appeared and began playing the song "Sexual Healing" to lead out the bridal party.

The bride and groom looked happy. The parents looked happy. The family and friends. It was hard to find a fault at all? Then again, why would you want to?
Everyone retired for a few hours before the reception. I headed to a quiet pub with some friends before making my way towards the reception location.

Of course, my habits were continuing though, and I managed to get us lost. We arrived at the reception as the last guests.

It was a big wedding. There would have been close to 400 guests.

I found my seat with my friends and began to have a great time. I even managed to eat two dinners since there was a spare seat at my table (something that one would assume I should have grown out of doing by now... but hey, I'm not going to turn down extra lobster).

As the night progressed, the true entertainment started. The bride and groom, slowly approached the dance floor and began their first dance as husband and wife.

They danced slowly and lovingly.

And then as their dancing came to a close, a rush of people literally charged to the stage.

About thirty of their closest friends had been rehearsing with them for a choreographed dance that they put on for everyone!

It was fantastic seeing them all dancing along in step and livening up the entire event. As their dance finished, they all rushed into the crowd and dragged people onto the dance floor.

I stood on the sides and took my photos and then annoying, I slowly made my way back to my seat with a knee that was screaming at me for having been standing for far too long.

It's a waterfall!

2010-12-11T23:11:00.002+11:00

Looking at this waterfall on my trip to the Gold Coast made me ponder something.

How many times has it actually been that I've seen a waterfall?

Seriously.

I think that this is only the third or fourth time at the most in my entire life that I have actually stood looking at a waterfall.

Simple natural sights like waterfalls are ignored and dismissed as being common occurrences. And yet it's so rare that we can actually see and appreciate them.

Totally unexpected

2010-12-10T22:30:00.002+11:00

The Gold Coast definitely has a reputation.

And it's a not a good one.

The Gold Coast has the reputation of being a bit plastic and a bit trashy. It's where tourists congregate and it's where the annual event "Schoolies" is held for the kids finishing high school.

I was definitely surprised to find that to my horror.... I quite liked the Gold Coast!

Now don't misunderstand me, there are definitely parts of the Gold Coast that are incredibly trashy and tacky. However, these areas appeared to be relatively localised to the area of the Gold Coast known as "Surfer's Paradise".

The rest of the Gold Coast was quite pleasant.

It was green, leafy and had the benefits of the lovely warm climate.

Add to this the generally friendly nature of Queenslanders compared to their Southern counterparts, and I was beginning to understand the attraction of this region to many of the Victorians who were migrating North to flee the cold.

I was also surprised by the wide range of terrain that was on offer in the Gold Coast region.
The thoughts of the Gold Coast usually begin and end with the beaches. This was definitely not the case, as a mere half an hour drive from the beach was enough for me to be wandering through chilly, mist covered mountains.
It really is a very nice place.

And yet I still can't shake the lingering feelings that this isn't something I should be widely sharing....

The Gold Coast

2010-12-08T22:01:00.002+11:00

It had been more than 20 years since I had been to the Gold Coast.

However, with my friends from overseas visiting their parents, it was as good as any time for me to do some visiting of my own.

One of the first things I did with them was to climb the Q1 tower, the tallest (for now) residential tower in Australia.

I'd be lying if I said it didn't give some fantastic views of the surrounds.
But I would also be lying if I didn't say that $21 for an elevator ride seems more than a bit steep.
Still.... while I won't be racing up that tower anytime soon, it was still nice to get a glimpse of the Gold Coast in all its glory.

Festival of lights

2010-12-06T19:21:00.003+11:00

I was visiting some friends who were in Oz from overseas. I always enjoy catching up with them, even if it does leave me a bit nostalgic for younger days when we all used to live in the same city. I'm still young, but I'm definitely feeling the days and the weeks moving past me at an ever increasing rate.

My visiting friend is Jewish and I was staying with her and her family.

As part of her culture, she celebrates "Hannukah" or the festival of lights.

The intricate details and reasons behind this holiday are a mystery to me, but I enjoyed being able to view the simple and beautiful act of the family lighting the candles for the menorah whilst quietly singing.

The image of the metal menorah being slowly filled with the lights is almost entrancing, my eyes being drawn the the flames.

Hilarious....

2010-11-25T21:31:00.004+11:00

At the end of every football season, it is traditional for there to be a black tie formal event called a "Presentation Night".

This evening brings the season to a close and provides an opportunity for all the players to celebrate the achievements of the year.

It also gives the club an opportunity to celebrate some of the other things that happen during the year....

This year, it was my turn to be one of the "other things".

I was still on a crutch at the time, and I found myself in a room full of footy players being presented with the award for the most physio used all season.....

.... basically I was given the award for being the most injured player of the season....

It's good to know the guys care.

Post Op (Week 7)

2010-11-14T15:48:00.004+11:00

Who says hard work doesn't pay off?

I now have FULL RANGE OF MOTION!

This is a goal that is set for the third month of rehab. I have reached it in under 2 months!

It hasn't been easy.

I now find myself involuntarily waking up at around 6am every morning, my body anticipating the next round of exercises that I need to subject my body to.

The stiffness in the knee is slowly disappearing, but it's still a struggle to get the initial movements going.

It's time to move myself to the next phase of my recovery and begin my gym work.

My next goal is to be running in a month.

Post Op (Week 5)

2010-10-30T13:37:00.003+11:00

My exercise regime has changed as I am now able to do significantly more in terms of strengthening exercises.

I have increased the resistance on the exercise bike and my floor exercises now include hamstring curls and tensing of my knee at a 90 degree angle.

I'm also pretty much completely weened off the crutch now as well. However, for my own safety, I continue to carry the crutch when I go outside and when I use public transport getting to and from work. I just find having the crutch ensures that I get a seat on the bus and that people know to give me space!

Looking at my scars, they're not too bad either.

It's pretty amazing looking at these scars compared to the enormous damage the surgery used to do only 10 years ago.

Escape attempt!

2010-10-25T20:54:00.002+11:00

It was just a normal Saturday night.

I was being lame and studying in my room and my housemate Andy was half asleep on the couch watching a movie.

A pretty pointless and boring night for everyone involved.

.... nothing was happening. Sitting quietly in my room reading journal articles....

A concerned cry from Andy changed that.

"Ummmm, Paul.... we may have a serious problem...."

I rushed out of my room to see a noticeably agitated Andy rummaging through the enclosure of our pet snake Heidi.

It seemed as though Heidi had escaped.

A 3 metre long centralian carpet python had escaped and was loose in the apartment!!!!

Now, this isn't exactly the thing you want to hear when your evening is drawing to a close and you're thinking about going to sleep.

"What the f*** do you mean a serious problem!?!?" I politely enquired.

"I don't f***ing know where she is!!!!" Andy courteously responded.

"Check the f***ing enclosure!!!!" I ventured.

"I can't f***ing find her!!!!" was Andy's retort.

Heidi was not in her enclosure.

We started trying to think like a snake. Where would a snake go?

I ran into the kitchen and tried to search behind the fridge, thinking that she would be drawn to the heat. Sadly not.

Andy rushed into the living room and began lifting the couches. No dice.

I started wandering to the other side of the apartment. I turned the corner and opened the door to the bathroom.

Immediately before me was Heidi.

Two metres and she would have been out the window.

Thankfully, we had probably found her ten minutes before she made her way out of the window into the apartment of one of our neighbours.....

It's going to be a while before Heidi gets outside privileges again!

Post Op (4 weeks)

2010-10-23T11:41:00.003+11:00

Four weeks in.

I'm back in Sydney and continuing my rehabilitation.

Things are going very well too.

I'm already able to full weight bear on the leg.

My range of motion is only 1 degree away from being fully straight and I can bend to 127 degrees.

The physios have placed me in the top 10% of recoveries so I'm very happy.

It hasn't been easy getting to this point though. Hard work and diligence have become my mantras.

Every morning, I wake up early, exercise then go to work. I go to the physio during the day. I get back from work and exercise. I exercise just before I go to sleep.

Eight more months.

Post Op (2 weeks)

2010-10-11T19:19:00.004+11:00

I'm finally out of the bandages.

The stitches are also out.

I now have in place of the bandages a rather fetching legging.

Most importantly of all, I am now able to have a shower unimpeded by the giant brace on my leg (which I am allowed to take off at certain times).
I was absolutely gobsmacked by how much my left leg has shrunk when the bandages were taken off. It was as though it had halved in comparison to my right leg.

I've also kicked off my physio and personal exercise regime.

Physio, three times a week.

Exercises, four times a day.

Slowly, slowly, slowly....

Post Op (Day 6)

2010-09-28T11:33:00.005+10:00

Did I mention how annoying this whole knee reconstruction has been?

It's starting to drive me batty. I need to keep my bandages and brace on for another week and I think I'm going to lose it well before then.

My knee has been aching slightly, but more than anything it just feels stiff. I think the first few physio sessions I go to are going to be nice and painful.

However, I would gladly take on that pain to be rid of the encumbrance on my leg.

Even the simple act of having a shower has become a chore as it requires me to bag up my leg to waterproof the brace and bandages.
One more week. I just need to console myself with that fact.

One more very annoying week.

Post Op (Day 4)

2010-09-26T21:31:00.003+10:00

I was out of hospital and being well looked after by my parents.

The lack of pain had been a real surprise. I was clearly immobile as a result of the operation and definitely feeling tired and lethargic from the process, but on the whole it wasn't too bad. I had purposely built the whole thing up in my mind as part of a coping mechanism to ensure that what I did actually experience was nowhere near what I would actually face. The thoughts of "worst pain I had ever experienced" that echoed in my head from what I had read in other accounts wasn't even close to being true. In all honesty, this isn't even in my top ten for the worst pain I've experienced. It's a mild annoyance.

In fact, I've even stopped taking my pain medication. I simply don't need it. There is a mild irritation in my knee, but nothing that is worthy of the requirement for pain medication. Additionally, there's something very disconcerting about being on pain medication. It makes me feel a bit lost and distant. Being able to press the morphine button was one thing, but I felt a strange and uncomfortable sense of detachment when I was taking the other pain meds. I'm glad to be rid of them.

The worst feeling I had to date is still the throat though. This was something that I wasn't expecting (or even aware of) and yet everyone who has gone under general anesthetic seemed to be an after the fact expert. Apparently, when they intubate you, the tubes the push down your throat can irritate the throat. It's been 4 days and my throat still hurts like hell. No amount of ice blocks of lozenges has helped. The one thing that has, is not talking... wonderful.

Mobility is improving as well. I'm up and about without too many issues and bouncing around on my crutches.
As you can see, I have a pretty hefty set of bandages and a nice big brace preventing me from moving too quickly though. I can "partial weight bear" but generally I prefer doing the long hop motion. It gets me around quicker (and I feel myself getting increasingly impatient).

It's all just so annoying. This entire process. Annoying is the adjective that describes it completely.

Post Op (1-2 days)

2010-09-25T10:24:00.003+10:00

Annoying and uncomfortable. Those are the best words to describe the feeling of the recovery.

It doesn't hurt that badly, but it's annoying not having my mobility.

I was always very upset when the nurses took away my morphine button. I had become quite attached to the button.

Sitting in bed, I was becoming increasingly bored. The CPM machine did its job and kept my leg moving, but besides that there wasn't too much too do.

The food came around and brought back memories of boarding school.

It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great. Nothing to complain about.
I had started wandering around on my crutches as well.

This whole process of recovery was clearly going to be time consuming and frustrating, but thankfully it looked like there would be no major issues with pain.

Post Op

2010-09-24T12:03:00.003+10:00

Was it that bad?

I don't think it was.

Or maybe it's just the painkillers that are coursing through my veins, making everything seem so much better than it is.

Either way, the last thing I remember is being hooked up to some needles and then the next thing I remember was waking up in the recovery ward.

The nurses were nice and gave me a drink and an ice block.

I couldn't feel anything in my leg. Nothing at all. The femoral block that had been administered to manage my pain had clearly done its job.

Laying in bed with the tubes sticking out of me and the slow whir of the CPM machine ensuring that my leg was moving and not stiffening, I was overwhelmed by a wave of fatigue.
The lack of sleep from the night before was clearly catching up with me.

I groped around to my side and found the painkillers button. I pressed it and allowed myself to float off to sleep.

Pre Op

2010-09-23T16:24:00.004+10:00

I hate waking up early. I always have and I always will. I'm much more of a night person.

The day of the surgery was upon me and I had to wake up at 5:00am to get to the hospital nice and early to check in.

Andy very nicely woke up and drove me in.

It was strange to not feel nervous. I was just relieved that I was finally able to get this done. I had been waiting a long time for this. I had been over 4 months since the injury so it had definitely been a long time coming.

After I was checked into my room, I sat silently waiting for the nurse until I got bored and decided to wander around and take a few photos.

Soon enough, the nurse came back and began to prep me.

She shaved my knee and I washed my leg in an antiseptic soap. Once I had done that, my leg was coated in betadine and I was wheeled towards the operating theater.

It felt strange being wheeled through the halls, the lights passing as I rolled along.

As I lay in the operating theater, I felt the needle of the anesthetist enter my arm. The doctor placed an oxygen over my face.... and then I was out cold.

Very very loud

2010-09-21T21:11:00.003+10:00

I never expected to be here.

I have always appreciated music, but I have never been a dedicated or passionate fan as others are.

So it was more than surprising for me to be at a Metallica concert.

This band conjures up such passion amongst its true followers that I felt almost like a heretic at a religious event. Seeing the adulation and the adoration of the fans towards the hallowed stage, I was a distant observer.

It probably didn't help that I only have knowledge of a few of Metallica's most famous songs.

So as the others around me sang word for word what I found to be at times to be lyrics that were impossible to decipher through the volume of the music, I was forced to smile and soak up the atmosphere.
None of this prevented me from enjoying myself.

I have always been one to appreciate the spectacle, and this was well and truly a spectacle.

Metallica have finely tuned their performance abilities and it was amazing to see the precision of the show. The songs were well chosen, the effects impressive, and the choreographed movements around the stage perfect to ensure that no part of the arena felt neglected.
A few pyrotechnics also helped to keep me nicely enthralled.
As the night came to an end, it was great seeing the band hamming it up. They engaged the crowd and they even provided additional fun with a Metallica beach ball drop.

Standing in the crowd, it looked as though there were dozens of droplets of oil dancing and bouncing around in a surreal sea of people.

Damn it was loud though.... my ears are still ringing.

Broken knee

2010-09-12T17:41:00.003+10:00

It's happened.

I was fearful that this was what had happened and I have been justified in my fears.

I have ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in my left knee.

The initial denial stopped me from seeing a doctor as soon as I should. I tried to persevere and I even managed to go back to training a few times.

Alas, it was for nothing. Collapsing in a heap in agony should have notified me of this earlier.

Instead, I now find myself facing a full knee reconstruction.

So I have a painful surgery and a huge amount of rehabilitation in front of me.

Talking to my doctor (who it turns out is one of the top knee orthos in Australia), I have been advised to use the patella tendon graft as opposed to the hamstring graft. It's going to hurt more, but it seems like it's going to give me the strongest knee ligament and the smaller chance of the graft not taking.

The extra pain isn't welcome, but short term pain for longer term gain seems like the best option to take.

Not having the surgery isn't really an option.

I want my active life back. I want to ski again and I want the thrill of taking a mark back.

It's just another challenge to overcome.

Just one more game

2010-09-07T20:32:00.004+10:00

Damn Hawks.

I've never quite known why the fortunes of the Hawks impacts my mood so much, but it does.

The Hawks had somehow managed to lose their finals game and so I was guaranteed a week with a foul mood.

I had to console myself with attending the game between the Sydney Swans and the Carlton Blues instead.

The Hawks may have been knocked out, but there were plenty of teams I hated who I could cheer against. The Blues would be a good team to start cheering against.

One enormous downside was that I would need to go to ANZ Stadium out at Homebush.

I hate this stadium.

It's cold and unfeeling. There's a disconnect between the seats and the action on the field.

My boss refuses to even go to it.

And that's before you even start thinking about the annoying trip required to reach it.

However, that wasn't going to stop me enjoying the game.

And what a game it was! A tight and close encounter that lasted until the very last moment of the game. The Blues lost, which was fantastic. The Hawks may be out of the finals, but that doesn't mean there aren't plenty of teams for me to barrack against.
I love being at the footy.

There isn't anything that compares to the roar of the crowd at an AFL game. The Sydney supporters were out in force for once and provided one of the few occassions where the atmosphere at an AFL game in Sydney was actually a positive.

But, for every winner, there must be a loser.

Watching the Blues drop their heads into their hands, I almost felt sorry for them.

.... until I remembered who they were, at which point I burst into hysterical laughter.

Classy seats

2010-08-23T11:02:00.004+10:00

I went to a Aussie Rules football match a few weeks ago.

My beloved Hawthorn Hawks were playing up in Sydney, so as a Hawks member, I was able to get my fix of football for the year.

Sadly the result didn't go as I had hoped.

So I won't be discussing it.

In fact, as far as I'm concerned, the result never happened (and I didn't spend the end of the game screaming abuse the players as the ran off the field).

A few days ago, I was given the opportunity to watch a game minus the personal interests affecting my mental state and judgement.

The added incentive was that I was being offered SCG members' tickets.

The seats were fantastic, with the added bonus of a conveniently placed bar that served a far wider range of beers than in the general admission areas.

They also had a lovely selection of cakes.

I found myself in a strange situation I had never been in before.

Sitting at the football, drinking beer that wasn't awful and eating a slice of cake.

It seemed a world away from my usual cup of tea, meat pie and obstructed view.

The game was also significant because it was the last time that the Swans captain, Brett Kirk, would ever play at the SCG as he was headed towards retirement.
It was a fantastic way to watch a game.

From outside, we always used to yell at the Members... but it's hard not to be happy once your in the comfortable confines this section.

Like a sponge

2010-08-15T10:44:00.003+10:00

Josh decided to look back to his childhood for the first thing he would make with his new toy.

Instead of making something exotic or that he had seen being made by one of the dozens of celebrity chefs (and there really do seem to be a lot of celebrity chefs these days... many of whom don't even appear to be celebrities), Josh decided he wanted to make a nice sponge cake.

And really, who could blame him?

Growing up in Australia, this was a staple of our childhood diets. This was what you would have packed into your lunch box for recess. This was what the old ladies at the church picnics would bake for everyone.

I was happy to help.

As Josh began to prepare the sponges and the creams, I gave him a hand making the chocolate icing.
It's such a relatively straight forward cake compared to what people seem to demand these days, but that did not impact our anticipation of it.
As Josh began spreading the icing with the palette knife, what was before us was like a vision from our childhood days.
And in all honesty, who can say no to a nice slice of sponge cake?

It's time to kick it up a notch!

2010-08-05T20:08:00.004+10:00

Cooking as something enjoyable started for me during my university days.

Unable to afford food cooked in restaurants and sick of eating meals out of cans, I was forced to learn how to cater for myself (it also didn't help that I had accidentally signed up for a self-catered college instead of the fully catered college I originally wanted to go to).

As time progressed, cooking moved from being purely for the purposes of sustenance to being an enjoyable challenge.

And like any challenge, as I became better at it, the difficulty of the tasks I gave myself increased as well.

However, none of this changed the fact that I was still a poor student....

I could learn all manner of skills, but that wouldn't change the fact that I was still working with relatively basic tools and ingredients.

Things were now changing though. Full time jobs and the associated funds have that effect.

Josh was the one who fired the first shot in our escalation of seriousness towards cooking and food.

He bought a KitchenAid for the apartment!!!

It looks amazing doesn't it? And it's completely worth it. Tasks which used to take an age, now get finished in seconds. It reduces so many tasks that were previously time consuming to being mere formalities.

Meandering through life

2010-08-02T20:48:00.003+10:00

Before heading back to Sydney, I thought it would be nice to have a quick look at the local towns of Katoomba and Leura.

They were nice places and it was impossible not to use the word "quaint" to describe them (even though it's difficult to describe what the word really means).

However, there was definitely something amiss.

At first I couldn't work out what it was.

But it came to me quickly.

I didn't really fit into the "Blue Mountains crowd".

There seemed to be two types of people who travelled to the Blue Mountains. There were those who were part of the organised tour groups and then there were the couples on romantic get aways.

I didn't fit into these two groups.

Wandering on the streets between these two groups made me feel strangely out of place. It was like being a child again, being dragged to an event by your parents.

Or maybe the better way to describe it would be the other way around. Being a parent, dragged to something your children wanted to go to.

With all of the boutiques, expensive furniture stores and high end chocolate makers, this certainly felt like some sort of bizarro Disneyland for pensioners and couples.

Still, I made the best of it.

I wandered around like a tourist. I browsed a CWA market. I bought some pancake syrup.

I gawked at the Christmas store.....

A positive attitude is usually all you need to enjoy yourself.

Relaxing in the mountains

2010-08-01T13:01:00.003+10:00

Walking around a huge amount wasn't on my agenda with a very sore knee.

Instead, I was hoping for a quiet break where I could have some respite from work and the city.

The place I found myself seemed fairly sufficient for that purpose.

The birthday bash was being held in this house with its own large garden and we were all staying overnight.
There were no complaints from me at all.

Getting out of the apartment and to somewhere more spacious was welcome.
I had become accustomed to constant noise and activity of working in the city and living in a full apartment.

The peace and quiet of these surrounds stood in sharp contrast. It was nice to be able to walk through the gardens by myself and to smell the scent of eucalyptus in the air.
As night arrived and the temperatures dropped, we were all able to gather next to the fire.
All of these things were very simple pleasures, but I had clearly forgotten about them until now.

The Blue Mountains

2010-07-31T21:01:00.002+10:00

It feels like it's been a long time since I've been travelling anywhere. I don't like the static feeling of being stuck in one place for so long. Living in Sydney, while generally enjoyable, is beginning to make me feel a bit trapped.

The opportunity to get out of the city was very welcome, even if it was a short trip somewhere close.

My good friend Rachel was being given a surprise birthday party and we were all invited up to the Blue Mountains.

I had amazingly never been the Blue Mountains.

Well, that wasn't exactly true.

I "had" been to the Blue Mountains when I was younger. However, this was back in high school days, when we were driven into the middle of the bush and left to fend for ourselves. Struggling through the bush with backpacks, freeze dried food and tarps for shelter was not the most relaxing way to experience the place.

I now found myself enjoying this place at a far more than my previous experience.

Being able to walk at my own pace rather than being forced on a death march seems to have that effect.I was also able to see the famous "Three Sisters".

It was OK I guess.

I didn't understand what all the commotion was about though.
The scenery was admittedly very nice. But I wasn't blown away and I didn't feel the shiver in my spine that I get when I see something truly spectacular.
I wonder whether it's because I am comparing it to other places? Am I being unfair and comparing it to places that are simply too much more impressive? Or maybe it is that I now look through eyes filled with too much cynicism.

Regardless, what I should do, is ignore these thoughts in the back of my mind, and just enjoy the moments immediately before me.

Cooking a cloud

2010-07-07T18:55:00.012+10:00

In the last two years, Australia has been taken over by the craze of "Masterchef".

This show was originally from the UK, but it has been reformatted for Australian audiences.

The results have been pretty spectacular. The show has taken over popular culture. It's on 6 times a week and regularly tops the ratings. Who would have thought that a cooking show would have become this popular?

Something that people have become fond of doing is attempting the numerous recipes that are used in the show for themselves.

I was keen to try this myself!

And the recipe I wanted to try was a rhubarb and blackberry soufflé with a crumble topping.

Sounds good doesn't it?

Andy was keen to try the recipe as well. Sadly for Josh, he found himself called away at the last moment. As he grabbed his keys and walked out the door, Andy and I could see him staring hungrily at our preparations.

That wasn't going to stop Andy and I with our attempt at the soufflé though.

I was a touch nervous. I had never made a souffle before (of any kind) and I knew of how temperamental they could be. The last thing I wanted was another macaron debacle that would leave me tired, cranky and with little to show for it.

First thing to do was to prepare the stewed fruit. Lots of chopping and a disturbing amount of sugar later and the stewing of the rhubarb and blackberries was under way.

As Andy continued to stir the stewed fruit, I began to prepare the crumble to top it off with by chopping the hazelnuts.
I chopped the hazelnuts finely and combined them with the sugar, butter, flower and oats. I then spread the mixture out evenly on some baking paper to be placed in the oven.
Things seemed to be going well enough as I put the crumble mixture into the
oven to brown. Nothing disastrous had happened and all our work appeared to be going smoothly.With the crumble nicely browned, and the fruit having been stewed to a point that it now held its shape, we now needed to prepare the ramekins.

A souffle is a delicate thing. Even the most minor of interferences can stop it from rising properly. To prevent this from happening, the ramekins need to be well buttered and sugared. This creates a lubricant that allows the soufflé mixture to rise as it expands.
One layer of butter is brushed on, then another, then sugar is laid over the top of this.
With the ramekins ready and sitting in the fridge. We turned out attention back to the soufflé mixture.

The fruit stew needed to be combined with the egg whites after we had beaten them to soft peaks. These beaten egg whites have a huge amount of sugar added to them.

Once beaten, we take turns slowly folding the mixture together. Carefully, we move the spatula through the mixture, ensuring we don't knock the air out of the soufflé. After all of this work, the last thing we want if for a mixture that fails to rise.
Then, we gently spoon the mixtures in the ramekins we prepared earlier, taking particular care to not disturb the butter and sugar coating on the side. We cleaned off the tops with a palette knife and using the tips of our thumbs, we carved sharp edges into the mixture to create a lip on each soufflé.
The soufflé were now ready to be placed into the oven.
I sat in front of the over, waiting patiently. Hoping that they would rise.
Thankfully, all my worries were unfounded.

After they had risen about a centimetre, we took the soufflés out of the oven and added the crumble on top.
A few more minutes and they were done!
It was hard not to feel pleased.

After the difficulties I had faced in making the macarons, I was taking this as a win.

Our soufflés had risen more than I could have imagined, with the crumble perched precariously on top.
It was now time to determine whether our best efforts had been successful and whether the flavour matched the appearance.
Thankfully, the recipe and our best efforts had been a success.
The soufflé's flavour was sweet and fresh, matching well to the lightness of the texture.

I wonder what I should try to make next.

How the professionals do it

2010-07-03T15:37:00.002+10:00

My best efforts to make French macarons came up painfully short (on the whole).

The success I had with a few couldn't disguise the failure I had with most of the others.

This reality presented itself again when my housemate Josh brought home a box of macarons made by a professional.

I may have a bit more to do before I reach that level.

Macarons are hard to make

2010-06-19T12:15:00.003+10:00

I enjoy baking.

I think it comes from my days back at uni. Living in a self-catered dorm, and rushing between study, work, classes and socialising, there was a need to become efficient with cooking.

It was around this time I discovered the oven. The long forgotten cooking implement in a college full of students.

Baking seemed to provide with the ability to prepare, then walk away.

I would do the prep, shove it in the oven, wander off to do my study and come back to find a hot meal that didn't come out of a packet or a can.

Over time, as my abilities grew, so did my ambitions. I would start baking more complicated dishes and start challenging myself with more difficult recipes. It wasn't too long, before baking became more than merely a convenience, I actually began to enjoy it.

However, there was one thing I never tried to make.

French macarons.

I had always been told about how difficult these were too make. So now that I had a bit of time, why not? How difficult could it really be? Surely this would only take a couple of hours or so and then I would have some fresh macarons to eat.

The first mistake I made was not adjusting the volume in the recipe.

The next mistake I made was thinking that this was going to be easy.

Every single step of the way, I seemed to run into difficulty.

Forcing the almond meal through the sieve, getting enough egg whites, having large enough bowls for the mixtures, getting the egg whites to stiffen....

Two hours in, and there still didn't seem to be anything remotely close to a finished product.

I kept working, and eventually I managed to combine the mixtures and get everything in the oven.

Thankfully "some" of the macaron shells came out looking like I had hoped.
As I left them to cool, I started to make the ganache. I didn't want to make a simple ganache, so I had chosen a more complex recipe that was supposed to give a smoother and more velvety texture.

By the third attempt and two discarded disasters, I managed (with the help of Andy who had grown tired of hearing me screaming in the kitchen) to achieve what appeared to be a semblance of what I had hoped to make.

Time was ticking on past three hours since I had started now.

I slowly began filling the macaron shells with the ganache, boxed them up and put them into the freezer to set.

It had been almost four hours since I had started.

The simple job was clearly not so simple.

What I had was a small batch of macarons that I thought looked the part!
Crispy shells, nicely developed feet, chewy textures and silky smooth ganache.

I'm still undecided as to whether it was worth the trouble though!

A different view (part III)

2010-06-15T16:11:00.003+10:00

I need to start carrying my camera with me again.

Part of the fun of taking photos is the spontaneity of finding the shot you like when you least expect it.

Unfortunately, the camera in my phone really doesn't suffice. The grainy photos it takes doesn't do justice to the images I am trying to capture.

One cold and wet night in Sydney, I was wandering out of the public swimming pool having completed some laps as instructed by the physio (Aussie rules football has wrecked my knee) when I noticed another of Sydney's landmarks being illuminated as part of the Vivid Festival.

Seeing St Mary's Cathedral glowing an eerie blue, with strange writing slowly scrolling across the front isn't something you see everyday.

Even though I was standing shivering in the rain, I couldn't help but think that the foul weather we had been having somehow added to this show, with the rain capturing more of the light and adding a glistening shine to everything.

Creating atmosphere

2010-06-05T10:37:00.007+10:00

I used to hate buskers.

I found them annoying and generally a bit sad, garnering most of their money from pity rather than actual talent.

However, my attitudes began to change as I started to see that buskers were not merely school children and professional annoyers.

I started seeing genuinely talented performers, people who were dedicated to the craft of performing. Working at Cirque du Soleil also gave me a far better insight into the world of performers, with many of the top Cirque artists having honed their craft as street performers.

Then, my first trip to Europe truly opened my eyes. I was given a glimpse of a world where even the average street performers seemed plucked from concert halls. Walking through the train stations, I would be confronted by violinists and pianists who played with such emotion that I felt compelled to reach into my pocket for any loose change. I found myself in Bonn, standing in the town square once mesmerised by the Roma performers in their brightly coloured clothes and almost hypnotic music.

And now I find myself with a changed perspective towards the craft of the street performer.
.... even those who are clearly seeking to achieve more through novelty value rather than through skill in their craft.

A different view (part II)

2010-05-30T21:17:00.010+10:00

I maintain that living in Sydney during the winter is boring.

This is a city that is made for warmer temperatures.

Through the gloom of the rain and the lack of sunshine, it can sometimes be easy to forget that Sydney is a beautiful city.

During this time of the year, Sydney now plays host to the "Vivid Festival". A reasonably new event, this festival changes the city at night through an enormous light show.

It's amazing to see familiar sights under a completely different perspective.

I particularly liked the constant change of the lighting.

Seeing the Opera House in the multi coloured light reminded me of the importance of seeing things in a different light (sorry for the pun).

Lately I've been feeling bored and uninterested in my surroundings. I've become increasingly blasé towards the daily grind, ignoring the sights around me.

It's not the right attitude to have.

There's always something to see, and there's always something amazing to catch your eye.

If all it takes it is for a slight change to make the mundane interesting again, then maybe it was never uninteresting to begin with.

The lights have brought me a new appreciation of Sydney. The city is and remains stunning.

The lights make it seem as though it is glowing and alive.

And now, it's even filled with new and wonderful creatures to share the experience with.

All I had to do was open my eyes to it.

A different view

2010-05-19T22:40:00.002+10:00

Sydney is a strange city.

Many people don't realise that the city of Sydney itself isn't actually that big.

Now don't get me wrong, there are still lots of people here as there's a population of more than 4 million. However, it is hardly the bustling, non-stop metropolis you would expect. Instead, much of the population lives in the huge suburban mass that sprawls out from the city centre.

I found myself in a strange part of town.

Instead of being the middle of the city (where I work) or in and around the high rises, I actually found myself at the very southern part of where the city ends and where the suburbs start.

Standing on the roof of a building, I was able to look North through the centre of Sydney, a far less well known view.

From this angle, there's far less glamour and excitement to this place.

It's amazing how a simple change in perspective can completely alter how you see a place.

Classy as ever

2010-05-07T21:59:00.004+10:00

Is there anything that's classier than a moving a mattress on a the roof of a car?

If there is, I'm yet to discover it.

And if you've found that you don't have enough rope to hold the mattress to the roof, isn't it just as acceptable for the four guys in the car to reach their hands out the window and hold on tight?

No safety issues whatsoever....

Not in any way weird

2010-05-02T22:26:00.002+10:00

.... and as you can see here, Andy is modelling the latest in winter snake fashions....

People have pets. Lots of people have pets.

A snake isn't the first thing that comes to my mind when I think of pets.

But, as part of moving into the apartment, compatibility with the house pet was necessary.

A snake as a pet is surprisingly easy to adapt to. It really has to be one of the lowest maintenance pets that a person can own (I'm not including a pet rock in my analysis). There's minimal feeding, cleaning, costs, time or energy that is actually needed. In fact, you can pretty much ignore the thing for the 3 weeks between the feedings and it would be fine.

I was personally relatively nonchalant to the prospects of living under the same roof as a snake, but from what I have learnt in the last year, that's the not the same response of all people.

In the space of less than 12 months, I have seen people screaming, people instinctively jumping away and I have even seen one person run screaming at the top of their lungs out of the room when the snake was brought out of its enclosure.

But again, as you can clearly see, that's not the reaction that I have to the house pet....

It's relatively harmless (I hope) and up close she is genuinely a beautiful and amazing animal. Her skin is something to be marveled at and usually elicits comments from me directed at my housemates about how great a belt or pair of shoes she would make (only in jest of course).

There are times that I'm made to jump though.

Those instances usually involve the surprise of Andy or Josh holding the house pet behind my head just before I turn around so that I find myself face to face and inches away from a hissing snake's head..... lovely.

Or they could just hide the pet in my bed.....

Old Melbourne town

2010-04-18T20:24:00.003+10:00

Work has been hard. Hours have been long and the work has been crazy.

Being sent off to Melbourne for work was something I both welcomed and dreaded.

It had been a while since I had been to Melbourne, but these weren't really the circumstances I had wanted to rediscover the city in. Moving from airport, to office, to hotel doesn't give you much of an opportunity to do anything.

I will admit that it was a nice change being in a different city. Change (even if fleeting) has always been something I've approved of.

For this trip, I found myself in the Windsor Hotel. This is an old landmark of Melbourne. Directly opposite of the Victorian Parliament, it has played host to more than its share of dignitaries over the years.

It's getting on a bit in years now. It's still a very nice place, but age has clearly sapped some of its granduer.

Still, I much preferred this old style of hotel to the new generic hotels. The old fixtures and the wood gave the place a warmth that's wholly lacking in the newer counterparts.