We went to see Cirque du Soleil's "Varekai" on Thursday night at Moore Park. We were there early as parking at Fox Studio's is usually a nightmare. Parking actually turned out to be very easy and as we walked around the "Entertainment Quarter" at Fox it wasn't hard to see why. It's gone to the utter shithouse. Fox Studios used to be ok, had a few good shops like Stussy, Beach Culture, General Pants etc. Now, it's full of cheap asian crap clothes shops and if it wasn't for Cirque I'm sure there would be no-one there.
We walked through the gates and took our seats under the Grand Chapiteau. Our seats were fantastic, on the side and close to the front. The show started slowly with the odd characters creeping out onto the stage.
The people behind Cirque du Soleil must be absolute nutters as their stories never make any sense to me but you can't question the talent of the performers. The show is a blend of gymnastics, theatrical dance, acrobatics, comedy and traditional circus skills (see the mad juggler below) with a twist.
Everytime a performers has finished their act, you think to yourself 'That's my favourite'. That is until the next act comes on! Every part of the show is just amazing, every performance is timed to perfection. We both really enjoyed all parts of the show, but if we had to choose the stand out acts we would go for:
1. The two guys on bungee ropes
2. The contortionist lady who could bend her body into any position possible3. The three cute chinese boys (couldn't have been more than about 8years old)
This weekend was supposed to be peaceful and relaxing, just pottering around Sydney doing a few bits and pieces but all that was shattered as it turned out to be one of the busiest weekends in history!Friday night saw us head to the Kirribilli Hotel after work for a few well deserved cold beers (that eventually turned into beers and pizza). Saturday morning saw us up and out to Guy's place by about 10:30 for Dale's birthday 'coffee and cake'. We then all headed into Chinatown for Yum Cha, Jo and I hadn't been for months and Dale had never been at all. We did well, sampling the best that the East Ocean had to offer and the bonus was that we didn't have to wait for a table as we were at their doors by 11:45! After Yum Cha, Jo and I treated ourselves to a goodie from the best Chinese bakery, while Philippe went for Cold Rock Ice-Cream and Dale and Guy went for Gelato!We left the boys around 12:45 and decided to walk from Chinatown to Paddington via Oxford Street. We walked and walked and walked and practically made it to Centennial Park before we walked down the other side of Oxford Street back towards the city. Jo picked up a couple of really nice tops along the way. We made it all the way to Crown Street before diverting through Surry Hills. By the time we made it to Cleveland Street we thought we might as well walk home. We arrived home after about 4.5 hours of walking and about 20kms at about 5pm.I spent the night on the lounge watching the NRL and the Dragons lose to the Storm and went to bed completely shot.We were up early on Sunday as we were meeting Lisa & Christian for breakfast. We headed to 'Bird Cow Fish' on Crown Street and I enjoyed a fantastic cappucino and egg & bacon roll with homemade bbq sauce. Yummy! Jo went slightly healthier and opted for the bircher museli with yoghurt, apple and prunes!We headed off to Manly in the afternoon to see Carl & Martinette, they are moving from Mosman to Manly and had offered us some furniture they are putting into storage. The furniture looked great so we said we'd look after it for them instead of them storing it. This saw us spend the rest of the day moving furniture and dismantling a bed as the movers were coming to put the stuff into storage on Tuesday so we didn't have another opportunity to move it! We finally finished moving at about 7pm and we both had a 2 minute shower before heading over to Bo & Claire's for dinner. Claire arrived home on Thursday after a 3 month stint in the UK and Spain, we went with Bo to pick her up from the airport. She brought us back a huge back of PG Tips and some squeezy Marmite!! Bo & Claire cooked the best pork roast I think I had ever eaten and we enjoyed it with a nice bottle of Taylors Shiraz. We left them at about 10pm and Jo was still on high when we got home and she wanted to move the furniture to clear the lounge. We finally hit the sack at about midnight and I was up at 6am for work. ZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
This weekend saw two big footie games take place. Firstly the Dragons got beaten by the Storm in the NRL on Friday night dammit! So close but yet so far for the Dragons team that couldn't shake off the demons of their Grand Final loss to the Storm in 1999 despite being 14 points clear. The Swannies did Sydney proud though by making their second AFL grand final apperance in as many years. They'll be hoping to back up their fantastic win last year against last years rivals West Coast this Saturday at the MCG.Go the Swannies!
We re-arranged the loungeroom furniture on the weekend (getting ready for when we can buy new things as we will officially be 'homeowners') and we love the new look. The only thing wrong is that we really need another sofa or chair to fill up some space and provide some more seating. We don't really want to be spending a lot of money on a brand new lounge or chair so I thought I would do some research (god bless the internet) and I came up the most fantastic, the most genius idea ever. Are you ready? Sure? OK here it is....a bean bag. No, no wait you have to hear me out. Not any old beanbag, but the godfather of cool beanbags.
Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you....the MILANO!!!
I know, I know. It's the coolest thing you've ever seen, you don't have to tell me :) If you have beanbag envy, you can purchase one at www.beanbaglounge.com.au
An update on our impending house purchase, we finally got the approvals that we needed and exchanged contracts last thursday. We now have about six weeks until settlement when we will be the proud owners of a mortgage and apartment :)Jo's cousin came to visit from Coffs Harbour on the weekend, she and her partner Paul went to see Hugh Jackman in "The Boy from Oz" currently playing at the Entertainment Centre. Jo and I spent most of the weekend looking around for things that we want to get for the apartment, starting with replacing the ugly vertical blinds - yuk!Will keep you posted on any further housey type updates.
My iPod sadly departed us on Monday. RIP.
Crikey! Who would've predicted that one!! I was at work when a colleague told me the sad news. I had to admit, I was truely shocked and even upset to hear that this inspirational Australian had died in such a freak accident. He really did seem someone who was invincable and would be around forever.
I have been lucky enough to visit Steve's "Australia Zoo" in Beerwah in Queensland, and he had created a truly great experience up there. An employer of 500 people and a father of 2 he leaves a lasting legacy behind him.
Today was "Community Day" for me. The company I work for allows all employees two paid days a year to work as a volunteer for charities.
I volunteered to help the Cancer Council in Wolloomooloo for the day. I was told to arrive at 10am, which I dutifully did along with my 10 other co-volunteers (most of which I knew from work). Our role for the day was to help sort all the returns they had received since Daffodil Day.
All the merdandise that doesn't sell is posted back to the office as we had boxes and boxes to sort and then package up for storage until next year. They didn't have as much mail/merchandise as they thought they would have and the 11 volunteers from work and the volunteers already there made short work of the task and we were all finished by 12pm!
We went to see Cirque du Soleil's "Varekai" on Thursday night at Moore Park. We were there early as parking at Fox Studio's is usually a nightmare. Parking actually turned out to be very easy and as we walked around the "Entertainment Quarter" at Fox it wasn't hard to see why. It's gone to the utter shithouse. Fox Studios used to be ok, had a few good shops like Stussy, Beach Culture, General Pants etc. Now, it's full of cheap asian crap clothes shops and if it wasn't for Cirque I'm sure there would be no-one there.
We walked through the gates and took our seats under the Grand Chapiteau. Our seats were fantastic, on the side and close to the front. The show started slowly with the odd characters creeping out onto the stage.
Everytime a performers has finished their act, you think to yourself 'That's my favourite'. That is until the next act comes on! Every part of the show is just amazing, every performance is timed to perfection. We both really enjoyed all parts of the show, but if we had to choose the stand out acts we would go for:
