Halloween weekend

Today is Halloween but we obviously went out hard last night instead.  I had a full weekend...

On Friday night Jaime invited me to a place called Shh Bar in Kings Cross.  Now we all know that I love Kings Cross, so the answer was obviously yes.  We went with one of his friends that I had never met, and no one really knew how to get there.  We had the address, which turned out to be around the corner from World Bar and Hugo's, in a dead end back alley that reminded me of my weekend in Melbourne last month.

We didn't see a real entrance and asked a few guys smoking beside a backdoor if this was Shh, and they said it wasn't.  We got to the end of the dead end and saw a few cooks dumping water out of a door to the right and a glowing keypad on a door to the left.  One of the girls with us walked up and punched in a code given to her by a friend and the door opened.  How random.  This article does a pretty good job of describing it.

It was a pretty small bar with a locked door in the back that connected it to Le Panic, a bar that fronted the main street next to World Bar.  Once inside we were greeted to everyone in costumes... except us.  Pretty awkward.  We made our way to the bar where the bartender hooked us up with a great drink without a name, so we called it "The Shush":

• Shot of vodka
• Shot of Midori Blue
• Shot of Malibu
• Two squeezed limes
• Sprite
• Splash of Grenadine
• Served over ice in a tall glass

Later in the night everyone was pushed out of the bar into Le Panic, where we spent the rest of the night.  It's definitely a place I will go back to, I just have to get that password.  I didn't stay out too late because I have gotten in the routine of playing soccer every Saturday morning.  I met up with the Russians and played for about an hour and a half and then rushed home - I wanted to get some beach time before our Halloween party.

I bought a wetsuit a few months ago and haven't had a chance to use it.  I went down to Gordon's Bay where Tim and I went snorkeling back in July.  The water was cold and there were more people out of the water than in it.  I took my waterproof Sanyo camera to try to get some shots, but it wasn't as waterproof as I thought.  I got one picture and then dove about 10 feet and it stopped working.  Oops.  I guess it wasn't THAT waterproof.  It's ok though, since I found it at a bar.

I didn't see all that much, which was disappointing.  There is supposedly big blue grouper live in the area, but they have eluded me so far.  I saw a bunch of Sydney Lifesavers walking along the rocks, easily recognizable by their yellow shirts and goofy looking hats.  They had a few boats in the bay that were driving around, so I thought they were doing training.  I went about my snorkeling and then got out after about an hour to give me enough time to get ready for the night.  As it turns out, I was wrong about the Lifesavers... very wrong.

I was browsing the Sydney Morning Herald online when a headline with Coogee in the name caught my eye: Shark warning: Coogee Beach closed.  So while I was snorkeling, the beach just on the other side of the bend had been closed for a shark sighting.  Now I really don't think that the shark picture is representative of the shark they saw, but still.  I guess I should keep my eyes open.

I rushed home and cleaned up and then went over to my friend Steph's house in Glebe.  She lives near a costume shop so I went there and picked up a top hat, bow tie, cane and mustache to complement my black slacks, white shirt and black coat.  Charlie Chaplin... easy costume and someone that has been in the news recently.  We went to a party at The Argyle, a bar in the middle of The Rocks that was hosted by a Canadian Ex-Pat club.

Australians as a whole don't celebrate Halloween, but these did to some degree.  They all seem to dress as someone scary, so more than 50% of the crowd was a vampire, devil, ghost or some other traditional Halloween character.  Most kids don't trick-or-treat and there were almost no decorations, except at the bar.  Steph went as a ballerina, Ben a cowboy, and Francisco a Mexican (see pic).  The bar was pretty full, but no where near the full capacity crowd at Park Tavern's Spiralween last year.

On Sunday Steph and I walked around Darling Harbor and had lunch at the Sydney Fish Market, which is a great place to go if you love seafood.  I also walked by a bunch of guys playing soccer at Wentworth Park and found out they play at 3:30 every week.  Now I have a Sunday game, though it's a bit of a trek for me to get there.

Should I...

I'm no Lebron lover, but this is a great commercial.



Here's another great one from a few years ago:

New Music Tuesday

I've been getting into some new music recently.  Most notably, I was reading Paste Magazine online and came across a blog called Cover Me, which posts famous and not-so-famous artists covering famous songs. You should really check the site out, it has some quality stuff. I have already spent hours there. Speaking of wasting time on the net, have you seen Dear Girls Above Me?  Another good site, but not music related.

Now for a few YouTube links for your entertainment...

First, Mike Snow - The Rabbit
I'm still scratching my head over the video, but the song is good.



Second, The Foals - Blue Blood
I gave the band the #1 spot on my favorite songs from 2009 and this is their new single. Another good song, another odd video.



Third, Atomic Tom - Take Me Out
This video was played live on an NYC subway only using iPhones.  It reminded me of a song I downloaded in 2005 of a band that played a song totally with childrens' instruments.  I can't for the life of me remember the band or song, but a glockenspiel was involved.  I'll try to find it because it was a good song, but I digress from the song here:



Fourth, Jukebox the Ghost - Empire
I don't remember how I came across this band, but they have a couple of good songs that I like.  This one tops the list.



Lastly, Jack Carty - Hey You
I went to see my friend Milan (I think I can call her a friend now, after all - we're Facebook friends :) ) play with Massema at the Newtown RSL on Saturday. She sang well, as usual, but I forgot my video camera so I have no evidence of her voice.  I'm trying to convince her to put up her own YouTube videos. This guy, Jack Carty, opened up for her and I really got into his music. If I could sing and play guitar to go with my lyrics, I'd probably go for a sound a lot like his.



Let me know what you think and share your new music with me!

Vacation Plans

I'm here in Australia on a short term working visa, which means I have to leave every 3 months.  I've gone back to the US twice (in June and August) and my next 90 days is coming up in November.  I had the opportunity to go home again, but I would just be turning around in another 4 weeks to make the same trip for Christmas, then again when the project finishes in February.  So instead, I've been plotting to make a trip to an island somewhere near Australia.

My visa requires that I leave the country for 24 hours, so I could do something in as short as a weekend.  I looked into Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia and New Zealand, but then I thought, 'Why not Fiji?'  It's fairly close, it's cheap and I'll have a good time.  I was a little worried that the client would have a problem with paying for me to fly on a long weekend away, but I could always request that they send me home and double the flight cost (not that I would).  I spoke with my company's travel coordinator and team lead back in the US and they were all about me getting a few days away.

I did a bit of research online and learned a lot about Fiji.  I had always thought it was just this remote little island, but it is in fact a group of 200+ islands.  The main island hosts the two largest cities of Suva and Nadi and the rest you can mostly reach by boat.  I found a cluster of islands called the Mamanucas that looked promising. There were a bunch of islands to choose from that ranged in prices and I finally settled on one called Beachcomber. From the pictures I saw, it looked like you could fit it inside my high school's track.

After I booked 4 days at the resort I posted on Facebook that I was ready for some R&R on Beachcomber Island.  My friend Dan quickly informed me that this is the party island of Fiji, so I probably won't be doing much resting.  Ah, well, I guess it's destiny.  We'll see what happens, I'm definitely looking forward to it in about 3 weeks.

More Friends Rolling Through Town

Nick, one of my old UK college roommates, informed me that he and his girlfriend would be coming through Sydney a few weeks ago and they hoped I would be free to show them around.  Caroline, sister of my friend Laura, joined us from time to time throughout the week since she was looking for things to do while her sister was out of town.

Nick and I have known each other for 10 years - wow.  Around this time in 2000 we were stumbling through the dorm halls in Lexington.  We lived on the same floor our first year (Haggin Hall), the same building our second year (Blanding Tower), then moved out of the dorms halfway through that year to live in a house with some other friends in a 6 bedroom house near campus for the next year and a half.  I saw Nick a little over a year ago when I spent a week in DC for work.  He went to grad school there and met Camelia, who I met at dinner during my trip.

It's funny... I've had just about as many people visit me in the past 4 months in Sydney as I've had in 5 years of living in Atlanta. KY friends, I'm looking in your direction.  Just because you're busy getting married and having babies doesn't give you an excuse.

Camelia came over here to Canberra for a work conference and Nick tagged along to see Australia.  They allotted a few extra days to see Sydney and came to stay with me for a few days.  I spent the next few days showing them the sights - pretty much everything I did with Tim and Erin.  We did the Coogee to Bondi coastal walk, walked through the botanical garden and saw the bats (check out my video documenting them from a few months ago), went up to Manly Beach on the ferry and walked through Hyde Park.  I finished the day with one of my favorite restaurants in town, a Taiwanese dumpling restaurant called Din Tai Fung.  They hadn't fully acclimated to the Australia time zone, so I didn't get to show them the full night life of Sydney.  I was kind of bummed about that, but I'm not sure how much they would've enjoyed it.  Maybe if Nick had come by himself, hahaha...

All of that walking gave us all a bit too much sun, but the next day the weather turned worse to even it out.  I had talked to Nick over the previous few weeks about going to the Blue Mountains, and the weather provided a good opportunity since we couldn't take advantage of the beach. I took the day off work on Monday (my first day off since I came on the project in April) and booked a trip through Dal Myles for $175 per person.  It seemed somewhat expensive, but Tim and Erin gave it good reviews in July so I figured it would be worth it. My friends Nat and Jenna went on an Aboriginal walkabout tour that looked pretty cool, but it was booked solid on Monday.  I might do that one eventually but it would have to wait.

We set out on the tour on a rainy Monday and first stopped at Featherdale Wildlife Park. A lot of the animals there had been injured and rescued in the wild. I finally got to pet a koala, as we had breakfast in a private function room and one of the handlers came in and spoke with us.  I'm still on a mission to hold one, but will have to go outside of NSW because it is illegal here. There were also kangaroos, wallabies (see picture at left), emus, kookaburras, pretty much everything typically Australian.  We didn't get to explore the whole park, which I've heard is a lot of fun.  I'd still recommend Taronga Zoo and the World of Wildlife before this park based on my experiences, if only for the proximity to the city.  The one advantage is that you're walking amongst the animals most of the time and there is a much more limited amount of this at the other two venues.

From there we drove and drove and drove, out of the Sydney suburbs and into the rolling hills that lead to the Blue Mountains.  Our guide was almost constantly talking (some of it interesting), lulling Camelia and I to sleep.  Nick kept nudging her to wake up and enjoy the scenery... such a Nick thing to do.  The guide stopped the bus every now and then to view the scenery as we got into the Blue Mountains.  We pulled over at one point to see a troop of wild kangaroos.  Yes, a group of kangaroos is called a troop.  Now you know.  They weren't that impressive though - the rain was continuing to start and stop, creating a lot of mist that made it hard to see clearly.  The kangaroos were about a half mile off and weren't moving at all - they could've been dummies set up for our entertainment for all we knew.  We stopped for lunch at a golf course/country club and then made our way to the national park.

The Blue Mountains aren't so much of mountains as they are canyons.  You're driving along and you come up to these drop offs where you can see for miles.  The canyons are mostly filled with eucalyptus trees which emit a fragrant oil with a bluish hue (hence the name).  There are random outcrops that pop up here and there which give the appearance of mountains, but they are more like massive impressions in the earth.  At the start of the tour of the park, you take a cable car from one side of the ridge to the other, getting a good view of The Three Sisters, the most famous rock formations in the area (see picture at right).  My camera was pretty inadequate because of the contrast between the light sky and the dark terrain.  Add the mist to that and I didn't get very many good shots.  Nick had his heavy duty professional camera and tripod with him, so I'm looking forward to seeing those pictures soon on his website.

There are a few different stories of how the Aborigines explained the rock formation.  One says that three sisters were being pursued by three men from a different tribe so they were forbidden from marrying them.  A battle ensued, so a witchdoctor turned them into stone for protection.  He was later killed in battle and so they have remained in stone.

The other legend says that three sisters were in the area and stumbled upon a monster.  The witchdoctor turned them into stone temporarily to protect them from being killed.  The monster then turned on him, so he turned himself into a lyrebird but then lost his wand.  Now the lyrebird digs around at the ground, looking for his wand and the three sisters wait to be unfrozen.

Two tickets to that thing you love

The tour then takes you on a short hike through the ancient rain forest where people used to do mining in the 1800s. There was a horse and cart statue that they allowed you to get on and take pictures, so of course I took the opportunity to imitate the Old Spice Man.  Nick really didn't want to take this picture and I think Camelia was a bit embarrassed as the Japanese tourists walked by with confused looks on their faces.  Worth it.

We rode up what was supposedly the steepest rail in the world... it was pretty steep, I'll give it that, but not a lot different from the vernaculars I rode in Valparaiso.  These were proper rail cars and the Valpo versions were more like a gondola on rails.  The ride only lasted about a minute, so don't go there expecting this spectacular train ride.

The last thing we did was go to another lookout to have a glass of champagne.  There was a nice shot of Wentworth Falls, although I wish we were able to stay there longer.  There were trails that led down to the falls, but since we were on the tour and a timetable, we didn't have time.  I'd really like to go back there and properly explore the mountains on a full day hike when I have time... which will be never.  If you're going to do a trip to the Blue Mountains, this one was ok.  You get to see a lot, but not for very long.  I think all of the guided tours are probably like that, so it would be best to rent a car and explore at your own leisure.

When we got home, I took Nick and Camelia to meet up with Caroline and Laura since she was back in town.  We went to Darling Harbor to I'm Angus Steak House for the best kangaroo steak I've had in the city.  If you've ever wondered what country eats the most kangaroo meat, it's Russia.  Thank you, Blue Mountains Tour Guide.  Anyway, the meat is delicious and you should try it.

I had to return to work the next day, so I left Nick and Camelia to explore the city on their own. They made it up to the zoo and did some shopping on their last day before returning to the States. We had talked about having Thai all weekend, so I did some research and found a place called Longrain in Surry Hills. It was in an old warehouse and pretty trendy (i.e. expensive). I must say that it was the best Thai I've had in Sydney and I'm definitely going to go back.

Nick bought a 5.5 foot didgeridoo, so I expect him to be an expert the next time I see him.  It's surreal to think that we've seen each other twice in the past 6 years, but it's like we pick up where we left off each time.  I'm looking forward to the next time, for sure.

New Art

Nat introduced me to the work of an artist named Shannon Crees a few months.  You can find her work on her website as well as in a few select galleries in Sydney. I'm usually more into impressionism and more realistic painting (like my friend Jessica Harms), but I was really drawn to a few of her pieces. My favorites from her online gallery include La Madre, Tempest, and Delerium.

Nat had been in contact with Shannon over the past couple of weeks to see about buying a piece for her new place in Melbourne. She invited me along and we visited Shannon's studio in Manly during a long lunch break from work. It was a pretty small space that was stuffed with all kinds of canvases (finished and unfinished), paint, material, books, brushes, tarps, you name it. It was really interesting to see the place where Shannon worked and to hear her explain a few of the stories behind the paintings.

Nat was really interested in one that had already been put on hold for sale and didn't see anything else that she absolutely wanted. I browsed through and found this one called Drift (pictured at left).  I had seen this one on her website, but seeing it in person really made an impression on me.  It is very different from the other paintings in Shannon's collection and it really had a lot of emotion.  I think I liked it for the same reason that I like blues music.  There were only three things that prevented me from walking out of there with it - the fact that it was as tall as me, painted on a piece of wood (preventing easy transport) and the price tag.

I found out that Shannon was on the Australian version of The Apprentice a while back and I bet that is why she can demand high prices for her work.  Hey, more power to her.  I'm just not QUITE at the point where I'm ready to drop a couple of grand on a painting.  Maybe one day, so I'll keep her in mind.

She was really nice and I'm definitely going to go to one of her upcoming shows in the Sydney area.  Maybe she'll cut me a deal!

Melbourne Weekend - Part III

Note: See Part I and Part II of my trip for the other adventures of the weekend.

On Sunday morning we caught the last few teams sign in before they got on their bikes and took off on the 200 km (124 miles) race.  The first 25 km was from Melbourne to Geelong, followed by 11 circuits of the 15.9 km loop around the town.  We took the train to Geelong and made it just in time to see a part of the first lap.



We found a good spot on the second steep hill of the loop.  See the race profile here.  It was getting pretty warm so we found a spot in the shade.  There were a ton of people there because you can actually see them come by instead of just a blink when they hit the straight stretches.

It just so happened that we sat next to a sleeping kid with a t-shirt that said "Go Daddy".  This kid was knocked out, sleeping just under the shade on a steeply graded hill.  Nat recognized the cyclist on her shirt, who turned out to be Stuart O'Grady, one of the most famous cyclists from Australia.  That meant that the hot mom checking on the kid every few minutes with the diamond studded Coach watch (identified by Nat, I just knew it was blinging) and D&G shoes was a WAG.  They had a big group that went crazy every time the cyclists came by every 25 minutes or so.  I think some family from Cadel Evans were with them (he was the reigning world champion as well as 2007 and 2008 Tour de France runner up) because they were wearing the colors of the world champ.  I felt a little creepy taking this picture of the kid, but everyone around us was laughing at how oblivious she was, and the mom didn't seem to mind.  It was too funny to pass up.

We watched 6 or 7 laps from that location and then walked to a pub along the route because we knew the finish line would be crowded.  Every time the guys rode by, everyone rushed out of the bar to watch and then came back in to catch it on TV.  Evans was poised to repeat, but was beaten out in the end by Thor Hushovd (who was the defending champ of the race I saw in Ghent, Belgium, back in February).

After the train ride back to Melbourne, we took it easy after the full day out in the sun. Nat took me to Fitzroy, an artsy little suburb with good restaurants. We didn't make it to any bars on the list, so our goal of hitting them all in a weekend was a bit ambitious.  On Monday I had to fly home in the afternoon, so we did a little sightseeing around the Melbourne Botanical Garden before some shopping on Chapel Street.  I bought a cool Politix blazer and a pink button up shirt. That's right - I now own a pink shirt.

With the weekend over, it's back to work.  Melbourne was really cool and Nat was a great tour guide although she has only lived there for a few months.  Many people say they prefer Melbourne to Sydney because of the friendliness, culture, art, music, etc.  I see that argument, but I'm still voting for Sydney because of the beaches, if nothing else.  Regardless, I'll definitely try to make it back to Melbourne before my time here is up.

Melbourne Weekend - Part II

Note: See Part I and Part III of my trip for the beginning of the weekend.

On Saturday morning after my Vegemite, butter and toast breakfast, we got up early and drove out of Melbourne to the Great Ocean Road toward the Twelve Apostles. I have read up on Australia and even did a report on the country in middle school, but I don’t remember ever hearing about or seeing pictures of these amazing natural rock formations. Apparently until the 1920s the site was known as Sow and Piglets until it was renamed 'The Apostles' for tourism purposes. Somehow this turned into 'Twelve Apostles' even though there were only nine of them (now there are eight, as one was reclaimed by the ocean in 2005).
After seeing them, I would put it at #3 on my list of things to see in Australia after the Opera House and Great Barrier Reef. Scroll down for pictures, but back to the story for now.

Nat and I used my Lonely Planet guide to point out sights along the route that twists and turns along the Victoria coast. I'd love to come back and cycle at least a piece of the road - the twists and turns along the coastline would make for a very scenic and difficult ride. The only downside is that the roads are so curvy that it would be a bit dangerous, but definitely worth it.

At one point the guide suggested that we go to Cape Otway lighthouse, the oldest in Australia. We turned off the main road and were told in the description to keep our eyes above to spot the wild koalas hanging from the eucalyptus trees. A few miles down the road we stopped and saw this guy.



The lighthouse ended up being not worth seeing, but we stopped back by the koalas to get a few more shots, then it was on down the road.  We made it to the Gibson Steps in another few hours and took the short walk down them to the beach.

Just a little further down the road we saw the visitor's center for the Apostles, and a little further to a helipad.  We walked up to the short line ($95 for a loop of the Apostles, $145 for a bigger loop that includes the Apostles and London Bridge formation, and a few more even larger loops that were more expensive).  We quickly decided that a flight was worth it.



After the ~20 minute flight, we walked around and took a few more pictures before starting on the drive back to Melbourne. We didn't follow the coast on the way back to save time, so there wasn't much in the way of excitement on the back. Highways are highways.

We planned our night around the Deck of Secrets from Friday night, this time focusing on the highest concentration of bars. It was near Chinatown, so we walked through the streets until we found a restaurant for dinner. We met up with a few of Nat's friends and bar hopped to Lily Black's, Loop, Double Happiness, New Gold Mountain, Meyers Place which were all OK. A few we just peeked inside and then left before you think we were doing a true pub crawl.

The best bar by far was called The Carlton Hotel. When you walk in, there is a soft red lighting and a huge bar. A massive stuffed ostrich with a pearl necklace guards the door and multiple stuffed peacocks line the shelves. A mounted giraffe head was posted on one wall and a psychedelically painted rhino was on the other. I'm not sure if they were real/legal, but they added to the uniqueness of the bar. The crowd was very eclectic, with tattooed hipsters and trendy socialites alike. It had multiple rooms as well as an outdoor patio that looked out over the street. Not only that, we went up a few flights of stairs to their roof bar, called Palm, for a view of the city. It had more of a beachy theme, but provided a contrast for those looking for a different vibe.

Although we multiple places, we still turned in fairly early to rest up for the Cycling World Championship the next day.  Stay tuned.

Melbourne Weekend - Part I

Melbourne... pronounced "MEL-bun" by the locals. It's been on my short list of places to see since I've been here. Australia’s Labor Day is the first Monday in October, which gave me the first chance to see the country since I went to Cairns.

Nat, One of my friends and coworkers for my client on this project, recently got reassigned when she got a promotion a few months ago. She had to move to Melbourne with the new job so we have only been able to stay in contact through email over the past few months. Months ago we had talked about taking a trip to Melbourne in October to see the UCI Road Cycling World Championships, and it made it so much easier to work out now that she actually lived there.

Melbourne is an interesting, artsy city that resembles large cities in Europe more than it does to Sydney. It's cultural and artsy and they love their Aussie Rules Football - 9 of the 16 teams come from the Melbourne metro area. Everyone talks about the little pocket bars hidden down random alleys spread throughout all parts of the city. My American friend, Laura, gave me a deck of cards called Deck of Secrets last week of 52 recommended bars in the city. One side had a picture along with the address, phone number and a short description; the other side had a map. These turned out to be really useful throughout the weekend. On a side note, this company only has a few cities covered (and only NYC from America). I’ve never seen a product like this in the US – if anyone wants to start this up with me back home, let me know!

Nat picked me up from the airport and we went out to a few places on the cards on Friday night. She has only been in Melbourne for a few month so everything was still new to her as well. I got some tapas and dumplings at a place called Golden Monkey. As promised, it was on a side street and down some stairs. The restaurant/lounge was Asian themed and pretty dark so we only stayed for one drink after I finished my food. Next up was Cookie, which was on a main road and not as hidden. It was also very open and large inside and resembled a 1920s general store. The third place we visited was Sister Bella, which the card promised to be ‘grungy’. We turned down a side street and then had to turn again into a dead end alley, going past 20-30 dumpsters and trash cans. With our expectations lowering by the second, we weren’t surprised to be disappointed when we saw that the inside was a reflection of the outside. We didn't go to hard since we had an early morning ahead of us.  See Part II and Part III for more.