Hotels!!!!!

I don't get it. Why do hotel rooms all look the same?

I had somehow found myself being sent away for work again and ended up in another random hotel.

It was a nice hotel too. Nice area, beach frontage, expensive looking bar....

And yet it was so bland it felt like I had literally stepped into a catalogue. I had somehow ended up in yet another one of the completely non-descript hotels that exist all over the world. I don't think I spent more than an our there outside of sleep.

I don't understand it. Why is there this need for hotels globally to move towards this central, boring, homogeneous state of nothing. Why is there this complete lack of difference between the hotels? If they were moving towards a common goal of class, beauty or comfort, it would make sense. But that is not the case. What they have moved towards is mind numbing, colourless and drab. The rooms always feel empty and they always feel sterile.

And who designs these things? I'm assuming the owners don't just come up with the ideas themselves, but rather they hire people to do the designs. They would PAY people to "design" these things. This would have to be one of the most pointless and unimaginative jobs in the world. A job that consists of stealing an idea that has already been a stolen a countless number of times to ensure that you in no way display any originality or creativity.

... and it's not even a good idea that they're stealing...

A day at the races

I was initially reluctant to go to the races.

I had never been in my life, but as a strict non-gambler (I choose not to gamble for a whole host of reasons), spending a day being surrounded by the activity did not seem the most appealing prospects.

However, after much prodding I decided to go.

And as usual, the lure of going in the members section rather than in general admission helped my decision.

Royal Randwick is actually situated on my bus route to and from work. For well over a year now, I have sped past the race course in the early mornings and evenings. The extent of my interest in this place has been to briefly catch a glimpse of the horses being trained as my bus sped down the road.

I think it is quite amazing how often in life this happens. You pass things by on a day to day basis and never give it consideration. Amazement and wonder can stare you in the eyes, and yet you will ignore it because its shine has been eroded by familiarity.

Now the races isn't something that I would classify in the "amazement and wonder" category, but the idea remains the same.

Here was something that I had ignored. Something that was part of my daily routine that I had neglected.

Even with my personal ban on gambling enforced, I still found it to be a great day out.

Sitting in the sun. Chatting with friends. Having a few quiet drinks.

I also quite enjoyed process of the steward blowing his horn and the procession into the stands to watch the next race.

As the day came to an end, a light rain storm swept through.

People laughed and screamed as they ran inside, to continue the party without the horses.

The domain of Slugboy

Andy and I don't see as much of Josh as we used to.

He's undertaken a disappearing act. While we know he's in the apartment, he really isn't actually there with us anymore.

Even when we do see him, he seems to be a shadow of his old self. It's like we're looking at him through an unfocused lens. It's Josh, but it isn't the Josh we are used to seeing.

There are bags around his eyes, he's often yawning, he's paler and he seems perpetually tired. In the mornings, his wakeup times have been progressively pushed back.

Many people would be concerned by this change behaviour and appearance.

They would be questioning why this was happening and what help they should be arranging for the person.

Not Andy and I though.

We find this situation hilarious in fact!

We may seem callous, but we know better.

All of Josh's behavioural and physiological changes have been self inflicted. He has no one to blame but himself.

A few weeks ago, Josh decided that it would be a fantastic idea to a purchase brand new flat screen television for his room. It didn't matter that his room gets terrible television reception. There was only one main purpose for this purchase.

His PS3.

Night and day, Andy and I now find Josh glued to the television, black controller in hand, ear piece in place, hammering away at the latest Call of Duty game.

His lack of movement and slothful ways have led Andy and I to rename him "SLUGBOY".

His obsession with this game is starting to affect his perception of time as well. Last Saturday, he found himself playing from 10:00 am till 1:00pm, taking a short break for lunch and then playing from about 2:00pm through till 7:00pm. Count those hours. Those are EIGHT hours. What are they again? EIGHT HOURS!

Josh however, was certain that he had only been playing for "three or four hours".

No Josh, EIGHT HOURS.

It appears that even time slows down in the domain of the Slugboy.

Thunderstruck!

A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to get a free ticket to AC/DC!

Like many Australians, I hold a soft spot for AC/DC and their music. It's hard not to have an appreciation for what is probably Australia's most famous and successful band.

When Josh managed to get tickets, Andy and I were more than happy to join him at the concert.

Armed with our jeans and black shirts, we dashed out of our respective offices. Wandering through the city, we were confronted by a strange mix of black shirts and flannelette.

In Australia, AC/DC attracts a strange combination of fans. From the dedicated lovers of hard rock, to the fans of rock and roll music and through to their most famous type of Australian fans.... the bogans.

Every country has bogans. In the UK, they're called "chavs". In the US, they're called "trash". In Singapore, I remember they were called "Ah Bengs".

Regardless, it would be a good atmosphere. The sheer crush of people attending would ensure that.

Josh had wrangled us good tickets. We were up in the members stand, with a clear view of the stage, comfortable seats and a private lounge behind us.
Before the main act, the newly constituted Wolfmother came out to entertain.

Sadly, they were far from capable of achieving this goal.

In fact, we found the "music" of Wolfmother to be so loud, out of synch and screetchy, that we decided that it would be best to retreat to the comfort of the lounge for some drinks and quiet.

Thankfully, we would have to wait long though.
The main act quickly came on!

And they did not disappoint.

From the very start, they did not disappoint.

The concert started out with a bang as Angus Young came charging out onto the stage in his famous schoolboy uniform. This alone made it worth attending the concert.
More was to come though. AC/DC were up to their usual antics and were a well oiled performance machine. There was a clear understanding between the band members of what was happening and when it was to happen.
Seeing AC/DC perform was definitely a "box ticker". It's one of those things that I'm glad to say I've been able to do, one of those things that needs to be done before the opportunity is gone.

Who knows, one day, maybe I'll be able to sit grand children down and tell them with pride that I was lucky enough to attend an AC/DC concert.... and then listen to them look at me with questioning faces and either laugh at me or ask who they are......

Dexter-ing Josh's room

With Andy's room sorted, I turned my attention to Josh's room.

All of us are big fans of the show "Dexter", which follows the life of the serial Dexter Morgan. We're such big fans in fact, that Kosta gave me the perfect idea for how to destroy Josh's room. This would take some effort and work. We had decided to turn Josh's room into a replica of one of Dexter's "kill" rooms.

That should freak him out nicely!

So, with the help of Kosta, we gathered the materials we needed and set about turning Josh's room into the terrifying vision that we wanted.

This was not an easy job at all.

The amount of work that this took surprised the both of us. We came to the quick conclusion that there is no way that Dexter could put this set up together with such frequency by himself and in the time that is depicted. Showtime has lied to us.

After all the hard work, the room came together nicely though. We taped the plastic up all over the walls and we draped the bed and floor with the plastic as well.

To add a sense of terror to the whole prank, I even burned the Dexter theme onto a CD and played it on repeat on Josh's stereo.

With a final flourish, Kosta grabbed one of the large knives out of the kitchen and stabbed it into the head of the Dora the Explorer pinata. Placing it on the centre of Josh's bed was the final icing on what was now a very creepy cake.

Turning on Josh's stereo with the Dexter theme and standing in the middle of his now completely plastic-ed room, there was a strange feeling of oppression and strangely heat that was being trapped in the room. Standing silently in the middle of the room with Kosta... you could hear a strange echoing from the plastic and the occasional creak from the plastic as it shifted beneath your feet.

I think I need a new hobby....

What you need to Dexter-ise someone's room:

- an assistant;

- 2 rolls of painter's tape;

- 1 roll of double sided tape;

- 10m x 80m of builder's film or of plastic drop sheet;

- sturdy scissors;

- a step ladder;

- a way to play the opening theme of Dexter on a stereo.

Destroying Andy's Room

My stupid housemates Andy and Josh had somehow managed to take over a month of leave from work (paid leave). With this enormous amount of freedom in hand, they decided that a long trip to South America was in order.

Stupid housemates....

Since they were coming back soon and since I was in no way at all jealous of their travels, I decided that I needed to leave them some nice surprises for their return home.

Did I mention that I wasn't in any way jealous of their travels?

First up was Andy's room.

For Andy, I decided that what was needed was massive inconvenience for him.

So I cling wrapped everything in his room.

And I mean EVERYTHING in his room.

His drawers, his clock, his lamp, his shoes, his camera tripod, his chair, the things that were on his chair, his pillows, his bed.

EVERYTHING.
It seemed like it would be a relatively simple thing to do, but my god, it took an age. Roll after roll of cling wrap disappeared as everything slowly disappeared beneath the transparent film of the wrap.

Josh's room would be next. What I had in store for him would take a fair bit of effort and planning.

Travelling for work

It's a bit of a difference when you travel for work instead of working for travel.

Being sent to strange locations is a rarity for work, but it's not unwelcome.

It's been a while since I've actually gone and done any real travelling so I need to take advantage of any opportunity I get to do some exploring.

I was a bit surprised when I was sent out to rural Australia though.....

I was even more surprised by how much this place looked like Canberra.

.... like seriously......
This place was like mini-Canberra....

Or rather maybe it's that Canberra is just a slightly enlarged version of Albury?
Regardless, it was something new. I'm constantly amazed by Australia. The size of this country is difficult to fathom. It's strange how little of this place I've really seen.

Piñata Piñata!!!

I'm always up for a get together, a nice party, a catch up, drinks, dinner, chilling out at a cafe. Whatever really. It's just nice to DO SOMETHING. Anything is always better than nothing.

I had a great reason to do something though one weekend recently. One of my good friends had recently overcome some health problems and what better way was there to celebrate than to have a party near the beach (being my house of course)!

In honour to make the party truly awesome, I decided that we needed a piñata. We needed something to best represent the annoyance and suffering that the illness had caused her so that she could beat the hell out of it. I wandered off to the shops searching for the perfect piñata and to my immense surprise, I was confronted by one of those rare situations in life where what you get far exceeds anything you could have hoped for or imagined.
With the choice of either Dora the Explorer or Elmo, I knew that I was going to have to choose Dora. Leaving Dora in my apartment the nights before the party was more than a bit disconcerting.... the way she would stare at me with her empty eyes.....

The day of the party came and everyone seemed happy enough. Once Dora came out, the hilarity began though.

One by one, everyone gave in to their desires and started swinging away at Dora. It really didn't take long for people to get over their original nervousness and to start attacking this poor defenceless cartoon character.

As Dora was finally smashed open and the candy gathered off the floor, we were then treated to the bizarre sight of one of the kids at the party deciding that Dora needed to be rid of her head. Everyone stood in awkward silence as Dora's head was methodically removed. This was followed by the equally bizarre sight of the smiling child hugging the head and giving it a kiss.... lovely.

With Dora's head off, it seemed a shame to waste it, so I decided to turn it into a mask. I think it looks rather fetching.

An explosive start to the new year

Spending 11 days in Newcastle with the parents was an interesting experience.

What made it even more interesting was the fact that of the 11 days I found myself in Newcastle, it was raining for 11 days. By the end of my stay, the feeling of cabin fever was more than overtaking me. Being unable to go to the beach, being unable to go for a run, being unable to really even go outside.... there's something incredibly unsatisfying moving from one inside location to another by car. Whilst you may be in a new place, it still feels as though you are trapped and unable to get out.

Finally, my time came to an end though, and I began my trip back to Sydney.

The road works between Sydney and Newcastle have been completed and so the trip is now an easy one. There is little in the way of distractions and there are clear landmarks that help to notify you of just how far into the journey you are. It's a journey I've done numerous times now with no incident.

That should have alerted me. I had had it far too easy.

On this occassion, a little bit out of Sydney, just after Gosford, it was my time to come to grief. Driving along, I suddenly lost power and I found myself losing control. Luckily, I was able to pull my car to the side of the road. Unluckily for me, it was at a part of the road that did not have a shoulder, and so I found my car perched precariously between the deep storm water gutters and the left hand lane of traffic.

Getting out of the car, I quickly found out the problem. My right rear tyre had exploded. So badly in fact that the tread had become completely separated from the side wall. I came disturbingly close to some serious damage and harm it seems. After jacking up my car, I steeled myself to walk into the left hand lane of traffic to change the tyre.... I quickly lost my metal when the first semi-trailer screamed past at 110kph. I made the wiser decision of calling roadside assistance, who sent a truck to drag me to safety where I was able to change my tyre in peace and safety.
The tyre is finished. Completely destroyed. It's a good indication to me that I probaably need some new tyres on all my wheels.

Either way, what a way to bring in the new year....

Christmas Cheer

Well Christmas has come and gone.

This has been an interesting Christmas. The first in years that I've actually been in Australia. It was actually a nice change to be able to experience the lead up and the change in attitude of everyone as the holiday season approached.

The change in food was also very welcome.
Since everyone was going to be in different places over the festive period, my housemates and I decided to do a Christmas dinner a few weeks ago. Now this wasn't any simple Christmas dinner, we decided to go all out!

Here's Andy gloating over the fact that he won the wishbone.... stupid Andy.....

To top it all off, we even had a Christmas pudding that we flamed!

A lot of hard work went into making the whole dinner, but none of us seemed to mind.There's something about this time of year that brings out behaviour that would normally make little to no sense. For instance, cheering and applauding when we flamed the pudding? Yet during this period, it seems like a fantastic idea.

And the effort that goes into it all! Josh even found his inner Margaret Fulton and made a hard sauce for the pudding.

Food really is a fantastic way of bringing people together.

But unsurprisingly, when it comes time to washing up the ridiculous mess that was created preparing the meal, everyone seemed less festive....

Taronga Zoo

With my little godsister in town with her family, it was the perfect time for a nice little trip to one of Sydney's famous attractions.

We went to Taronga Zoo!!!

Now, I hadn't actually been to Taronga Zoo since I was about five (I think it was around that time anyways....) and I was probably more excited than my little godsister!

The trip over to the Zoo itself was fantastic. We decided to catch the ferry over and we were treated to the amazing views of the harbour.

The Zoo was fun. Much more fun than I expected.

I got to see this koala up close!
And I even got to see the giraffes being fed!
It was a nice day out. A simple thing to do, but fun nonetheless.

An artistic walk

Every year, there's a sculpture display that is set up on the walk between Bronte and Bondi.

The walk between Coogee and Bondi has always been pleasant, but I was keen to see what it was like now that the section of the walk near the Waverly cemetery had been upgraded with a walkway hugging the edge of the cliff.

So now, with the sculptures all up, it seemed like as good a time as any.

The walk really was nice and the new improvements worked well.

The warm weather brought out thousands of others too.

It was nice wandering down through all of the sculptures with all of the crowds. All of the bustle added a nice atmosphere to what is normally a much more serene location.
To be honest, not many of the sculptures really grabbed my attention bar a few. This nice silvery sculpture was the one I liked the most. Glistening in the light with the ocean as a backdrop it seemed to glow brighter than anything else I would see that day.

Winter's over isn't it?

Well, this has been one nasty winter for me.

The cold times are well and truly over and I can feel the weather warming up.

The beach is just around the corner and I want to enjoy some of the sunshine and sand that made me move to this silly city.

After a winter of what seemed like constant illness, I'm very much looking forward to the seasonal change.

Standing at the bus stop in the morning before going to work, I can smell the ocean breeze. It's inviting and fresh. I look forward to some early morning and early evening swims!

Terrible luck....

Great....

Seriously amazing.

Wonderful even.

I had ended up in hospital. I had been struck down with what the doctor would describe as being "incredibly unlucky".

Laying in the hospital bed feeling faint and weak was not the most pleasant experience.

However, like most experiences there were the funnier parts. Waking up to find myself surrounded by the medical students and their professor going through my case would definitely rank up there. It felt like I was in a medical drama, except from a vastly different perspective. Laying in the bed, looking up a bed surrounded by people in white coats all talking intently whilst looking at you is a surreal experience that makes you feel almost detached from reality.

Thankfully, my stay wouldn't last too long. I was looked after by the fantastic (and disturbingly overworked) staff and allowed to leave.

Hopefully there will be no return trips.

Laughing Kookaburra

I recently made one of my rare trips to Newcastle.

There's nothing wrong with the place. It's just there's nothing in the city that really interests me that much.

However, mother and father were there. So it was time to be the good son and visit.

Since I had last visited, dear mother had apparently decided to befriend some of the local wildlife.

So much so in fact that these kookaburras were now happy to be fed by hand.
There's something comical about kookaburras. They almost always seem to have a sneaky expression. This added to their intelligence makes them always appear to be up to something...

An antique sound

Recently I was lucky enough to be invited to a private performance of the guqin.

The guqin is an ancient Chinese stringed instrument. It has a history that spans thousands of years and has been in its current standardised form for over 2000 years. It is an instrument that requires immense dedication and is famous for its role as a solo instrument. This instrument is heavily linked with poetry in Chinese culture and its music has been favoured for its role in personal development and thought.

My old Chinese teacher Judy's husband Jia Wei is a professional guqin player in China. He has performed to audiences around the world and was in Sydney for a short time to see his wife and perform.

Amazingly, I was given this opportunity to hear him play in this private performance.

The guqin was beautiful. An antique no less. Jia Wei gave us a brief explanation of the history of his guqin. This priceless antique was made in the Ming Dynasty. It only survived to this day due to being fortunate enough to have been kept with a mathematician in a safe compound during the Cultural Revolution.
The sound of the guqin is something that cannot be described. It is almost like a person's voice, but there's a sadness to the sound that seems to reflect the tortured years of Chinese history this instrument must have witnessed.

The Nationals

It's been a while since I went skiing. About two years I think (well, according to my blog records anyway).

It has definitely been too long. Getting out onto the snow is something I would ideally like to do at least once a year. Once in two years simply isn't enough. I feel like I've missed out on something, as though the last two years have only been one. Skiing has become like a fulcrum for the year and not having it has made the years merge into one long unmanageable mess in my mind.

But finally, I was able to travel down to Thredbo. I had a couple of good reasons as well. First was that it was Angus' buck's party. He was getting married in December, but rather than have the traditional buck's party closer to the event, he wanted to go skiing (or in his case boarding) with his friends. It was great fun to see old friends (even if they were all boarding....) and we had a blast on the snow as you would expect.

However, the trip for everyone was done by Sunday. I on the other hand had decided that I would stay a little bit longer. It didn't seem right to only go for such a short time, but more importantly I would be catching up with Bryce!

Catching up with Bryce whenever I go to Thredbo is one of the priorities. After all, with his need to travel around the world for races, when else are we going to meet? The timing of this trip was perfect. I had arrived in Thredbo in time for the Nationals! Bryce and his brother would both be competing in the Slalom and the Giant Slalom. I had never been to a ski race, so I was looking forward to not only seeing the two of them race, but to see how a race took place.
The conditions were ordinary, but I was ready to watch a race! I had even brought along the cow bell that Bryce had given me years back to cheer with.
Thankfully for me, Hugh and Bryce's sister Cherry kept me company and kindly led me to the race course. She even directed me to the best places to watch the race.

Before Hugh and Bryce went, the disabled skiers raced.

These racers were truly awe inspiring. Seeing these racers flying down the mountain in the buckets or on one leg made me realise quickly the power of determination. It also made me realise just how slowly I ski....
Bryce got a decent result in his second race, but sadly crashed out of his first.
The speed at which these guys fly down the mountain is breathtaking. Skiing down the mountain from the top of the race course to the bottom made me quickly realise both how long the course was, as well as how slow I was going (my lack of speed was becoming a recurring theme). Many long minutes later, I was at the bottom of the course. Looking at the race timer, I could see the times for the racers light up ..... all of the times were under a minute. Again .... wonderful to know that see my own skiing inadequacies highlighted once more.

I really do love skiing. Being out here on the snow always makes me happier. There's something about the cold wind and the perfect white blankets of snow that seem to calm and relax. On those perfect white days, when the sun is blanked out by snow falls and when all you can feel is the spray of the snow in your face, you feel as though nothing can be more perfect.