Month: June 2011

Hey! I’m over he-ya


Alibi Room

Hey! I’m over he-ya…yup, right he-ya. That’s “here” for all you people. Exactly!

So I love Sydney. Straight up, no lie. When I was traveling back in November it was places like Sydney that made me say, “Damnit, I’m going to move here!”  –  he-ya.  But let’s be honest, Brisbane isn’t’ Sydney. Brisbane isn’t New York. It’s all in its own. But that’s cool, we’ll just move along with it.

So, two weekends ago was the fabulous Queen of England’s birthday. But not really. But they celebrated it. Okay. So I had a long weekend. I spent too much money to board a plane to guess where? Sydney damnit! And I loved it all over again. I stayed out till 7 am in “the Cross” drinking expensive-cheap bottled beers and mingled with ridiculous chefs. Actually, hilarious. Attempting to get into a bar around 5 am, we kindly got denied but we’re pointed to the “open 24 hours” joint next door. Excellent.

Steph and I out in Syd

Then on a very groggy Sunday morning/afternoon we (Steph, my only friend in Australia – former Mountbatten, London, New Yorker) and I slept in late, watched some Singapore-knocked off DVDs, and finally made it out to dinner in Surry Hills around 10 pm. Yikes, the rain was pouring and it was “cold”. It was quote – cold – merely because, yes, it was damn cold, but I still don’t feel dignified to complain. So another late night out in the Cross left found me dumbfounded confronting a very cute boy I found myself confronting back in November, really? Sweet.

Back in Brissy I have housemate drama but thankfully it’s resolved. Samm and I are awaiting a new roomie to make this home fabulous and beautiful and charming. This week is filled with a local sales conference in our Milton office so everyday I’m delivering what I would like to think are compelling presentations to sales reps staring back at me blank-faced. At least I get delicious food and wine in the evenings and free lunch in the afternoons. These events cannot compare the US shenanigans that go on in exotic locations around the US – with late night swimming and hotel room parties, but alas, they’ll suffice.

So am I missing anything? Ummm.  I’ve been laughing most often, which seems daily, at hearing the term “here”, pronounced, “he-ya”. It’s one syllable for us, two for them.  It’s awesome.

There’s a Winter Festival going on Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane right now. The one in Brissy is in King George Square, where I switch my bus in the evenings. On Thursday I thought I’d take a gander to scope things out. I heard rumors of things such as ice-skating and mulled wine. The rumors were true, but I must be honest, the scale of this event was like the Nutcracker to a local play. I even feel silly of thinking of winter things, although it is winter and all, but with you all tan, and glorious in the sun. Anyway, needless to say, the idea is cute, and on a Friday or Saturday this place be hopping, but it’s nothing to take the time that I’m doing right now to write home about. I guess I just wanted to share a caption for the pictures.

Winter Fest

Last Friday evening I witnessed local Aussie white rap sensations Evil Eddie. It’s like Eminem, but not, all over again. It was actually kind of cool. The most memorable line was “show your back to us, shake that glutinous maximous”. Awesome Edie! But seriously, after a mediocre night out in the Valley, Edie was a saving grace! I had a sentimental moment of Mikey-G rapping in the shed back in the day. Love it!

Evil Edie

Sunday, after eating delicious left over Indian takeaway I decided to run, and I sure as hell ran – just like Forest. I ran up the hills, and over the Story Bridge. It was pretty sweet. I came back, cleaned the apt – was dumbfounded in the grocery store trying to select cleaning product – having a cleaning lady for the past 5 years will do this to you – how the heck does it work? I have to what! With what? To the ….seriously! Yea it sucked, and now I think I should convince the others to just pay for someone to do it on our behalf, seriously.

So yea, after cleaning I walked to the Eagle Street Pier to visit their Sunday markets. I love crap, so this was excellent. I even bought some jewels. At this point it was mid-day, and I thought there is no point in traveling home, as I have to meet for work drinks in a just a few hours so it was a quick jaunt to the city for a more-expensive than New York ($50!) mani-pedi session before walking the 30 minutes to our office. Holy shnikes. If I knew I’d be walking so much all day, I would have never run over the damn Story Bridge. Aside from the awesomeness it was.

Eagle Street Pier

Last night, Samm and I wandered across the street to Alibi Room – a quirky pub on the corner that features local artwork and a laid back vibe, where I relived my college days playing Galaga, the video game, creating a top score like a top dork and knocking back a few delicious ones while bonding.

This week is filled with more presentations but hopefully my next communication will be exciting. I have this weekend –guess where? Sydney bound then about 7 days in New Zealand! Yay! I also failed to mention I’m day 4 without smoking. Let’s make this happen!

Cheers!

Okay, thanks for that!


Wagga Wagga, the largest inner-state city in New South Wales. You’d never know it though. It’s built out, and not up. There’s a main street with a shopping mall, some other little shops dispersed, and farm land. Coming in on the plane, it was just a vast landscape.

Checking into the beautiful Best Western I was greeted with a mini-bottle of milk. Okay, thanks for that. I never handed over a credit card. The other lady at the check-in counter was giggling up a storm as the large dog had its head in-between her legs. Okay, thanks for that.

It was odd on both my flights down southwest, Bris -> Syd -> Wagga, firstly I never showed ID once. Not when going through security, and not when boarding the plane. Okay, thanks for that. Apparently they recently did away with showing ID when flying domestically. I guess anyone can board any plane using someone else’s ticket.

I’m finding lots of things slow and inefficient – day to day things at work, people taking my food order, the shuffle on and off the bus during my morning commute. But then I’m surprised by others. Like how quickly they board the plane, without necessarily having people stampede the doors. It’s take off, a free snack, free booze, land – all on a 40 minute flight. Okay, thanks for that for realsie. They’re even overly apologetic if they don’t leave on time. For a second there I thought I might score something free out of it. I constantly remind myself, appreciate it for what it is, not what it’s not. Thanks for that Bruce.

If you’re wondering what would constitute Wagga Wagga as a city as opposed to the small town that one would think, it’s the mere fact that it has a cathedral. Cities have cathedrals, towns don’t. As I met people walking around the vast campus of Charles Sturt University, people who have come from the States and big cities like Sydney, I question to myself “how could you live here?” But then again, there are many places in the States you would ask yourself the same question. At least my accent gets me brownie points in most situations. Okay, thanks for that.

Another score, a wild kangaroo hopping through the bush on the outskirts of the campus. While killing time me and the regional manager sat in a decrepit bus stop checking our email. The good news, flying at the change of a month means a new in-flight magazine on my return. Okay, thanks for that. There’s nothing I love more than in-flight magazines. And I’m dead serious.

My first commute to work after moving into my new flat in New Farm was unsuccessful. I missed the train by a mere 30 seconds, couldn’t identify the bus stopped, and walked the 30 minutes through the city to Milton. Oh well, I think I’ve got it down now. There’s no monthly transport passes which sucks because it’s about $130 a month when you just add the M-F work commute, at least you get free transfers between multiple types of transportation within two hours. You touch on and off, kind of like London. And, the bus drivers will actually stop and re-open the doors even if they were about to leave. Okay, thanks for that.

Here’s a fun fact. There are no pennies. Yet! Items have cents associated with them. So what they do? If it’s under two cents they round down to zero, if it’s above three cents they round up to five.

Work is a tough adjustment. I miss my work fam. Things are backwards as expected. There’s a lot in the works, and I’m excited to make stuff happen. I just hope they do. Luckily, next work trip is to New Zealand at the end of the month! Okay, thanks for that!

Over the weekend I got to spend time with the new roomies. Some drinkies at home, apparently the delicious German beer is the cheap stuff at the liquor store. Okay, thanks for that! After a few at home with the two new flat mates and another friend, we headed out to some of their local hotspots, before a hissy fit between the two of them ruined a bit of the evening. Seriously? Dramas already! Oh, right, it’s funny because people say “let me know if you have any dramas” or “don’t worry, no dramas” in place of saying things like having a problem, or trouble. I think it’s hilarious. So back to the dramas, one roomie is moving out and the evening was kind of a bust. Bummer, but I look forward to scouting someone out who may become a new friend and housemate as a result.

I live a spit from the Powerhouse. It’s an abandoned power station that was converted by the city to a community center. Weekly there is free music, comedy, art and theatre. It sits right on the river and on the edge of a park. Sunday I went with the flat mates to listen to some local music acts, drink wine in the park, and then laugh along to some comedy. It was an excellent evening.

This morning as I got ready for work for a strange reason I thought about David from CVS. I wonder if he knows I’m gone. At least I can shop for personal items in peace over here. I also thought of Johnny while jamming out to old-school Killers during my run this evening, down the Brisbane River, looking across the Story Bridge, and thought that I can’t wait until I go out and jam along somewhere around here.

It’s a long weekend this weekend. So while you all enjoyed your sun tans and bbq’s over Memorial Day weekend, I’ll either be hopping down to Sydney to enjoy the Queen’s birthday, or exploring more of New Farm.  Not rubbing it in, and don’t get me wrong, I would have loved to be having swimming races in a pool in LBI, while riding my bike at all the wrong hours, and then soaking in the rays in the heat. But in the meantime, I’m thankful winter is a mere 70 degrees during the day, my windows are open this evening, and I just ate a delicious home cooked meal by flat mate. Tomorrow, we’ll be going to karaoke at the local, apparently.

Okay, thanks for all your love!