Jo's Asian Holiday

I thought I'd post some pictures of Jo's trip to Singapore and Hong Kong, they had an amazing time, bought so much stuff I can't believe but they managed to squeeze in so much in their 2 weeks.

At Singapore Zoo

Raffles Hotel - Home of the Singapore Sling!

Repulse Bay, Hong Kong Island

Hong Kong from the Hotel

Two weeks

These past two weeks have been a strange one for me, I've been completely out of my comfort zone not only with work but being home alone without Jo as she spent 2 weeks with her Mum in Singapore and Hong Kong.

I've been working heaps and trying to come to terms with the new challenges my role brings, while still doing my old role and trying to cope with the workload.

I've also lost my social planner and it's been very different for me to organise catching up with people! I started out well though as Claire and I went to see 'Another One Night Stand' at the Capitol Theatre - a comedy night hosted by Red Symons and starring Jimeoin, Judith Lucy, Corrine Grant etc

I've caught up with Claire twice since as we've started our "Management Meetings" as we both have the same crap going on a work and they are basically a work whinge session over dinner and wine! We've had two so far, both extremely successful! If this is the best that comes of my promotion then I'm happy as they have been such good fun.

I managed to catch up with Carl and Martinette too as I took a trip to Manly, it was such a beautiful clear winter day and we took a nice walk to Shelly beach and back. It was great to catch up with them both again. I picked up Lisa and Christian (and the twins) from the airport as they were back from their trip to Germany to see Christian's family and had dinner with them on Sunday.

I managed a night out at the pub with my team on Friday night and I also had a work offsite with my new management team which ended up quite messy in Surry Hills!

So, I've managed to keep myself busy but I'm now exhausted! I picked up Jo and Mrs B on Saturday morning at 6am and we had a very quiet Saturday after the shopping show and tell. Sunday morning we all went for brunch to Wah Wah in Waterloo, I met Chiara (a friend of Steven) for the first time and she joined us for brunch. It was great to meet Chiara finally as Steven has talked about her so much and we got on really well :)

I can't believe the weekend is nearly over again, I'm trying to brace myself for another week at work, wish me luck!

One girl, two cats

This week wasn't as bad at work, that was because I only worked 3 days and I was in bed sick on Thursday and Friday. This is preferable at the moment.

I started to get sick on Tuesday night and it got much worse on Wednesday. I tried to shake it off and even went out for dinner at planned with Carl and Martinette to Radio Cairo in Cremorne (bloody fantastic food, sort of north African, I had one of the best curries I've had in a long time) for Carl's birthday.

Thursday morning though was a different story. Stupid me left my laptop at work the night before so I went into work and picked up and came straight home to bed. That's were I've been pretty much since.

Yesterday afternoon, Jo's mum came down in the afternoon and kept me company. We were all up early this morning as they jetted off to Singapore and Hong Kong for a nice holiday. I just received a text from Jo saying they had arrived safe and sound and that it's really really hot!

Hot Water!!

Not the most exciting of news to report but it is for us! At our flat, the so-called hot water takes approximately 2-3 minutes to come through in the morning for a shower and when it does, it's usually just warm.

Lately it's been getting worse so I called strata, who called a plumber, who arrived yesterday morning. He tried a few things but said it might take some time to fix up. We left for work and left him to it and when we arrived home Jo had to try out the shower to see if it was working.

The water is now scorching hot and he has probably doubled if not tripled the pressure! We're so excited. How pathetic! We both can't believe we've been living with such crap hot water and pressure for so long!

More Manager updates

Well, if this doesn't sum up my week I'm not sure what does. It's 11.21 on Friday night and I've just finished work.

This week has been extremely intesting as tomorrow is end of financial year here and working for a superannuation, investment and insurance company, coupled with massive incentives for people to invest in super due to federal budget changes things have been somewhat hectic!

It has been suggested that over the past week we as a company has taken 3-4 times a much money as usual and our systems are getting hammered left, right and centre.

I have resourcing issues, people problems, a mobile phone number that won't port over to a work account, no credit left on the stupid phone, a million unanswered e-mails and to-do items....ahhh remind me again why people want promotions!!??

My birthday continued!

Well, my birthday surprises didn't stop there as when Jo and I got home from the Hilton on Sunday there were some other little goodies in store!

Firstly, I opened all my cards from family and friends and Jo gave me my birthday present; a brand new Babolat tennis raquet! Looking forward to trying it out soon, when it stops raining in Sydney!

Jo had also arrange for heaps of our friends to join us for dinner at Govinda's in Darlinghurst for dinner and then for a movie in Govinda's legendary lay-down-on-beds-and-cushions movie theatre.

We arrived on time at 5:45pm to find Kate, Vanessa, Guy, Josh, Phillipe, Jade, Carlos, Brenton, Janet, Nicci, Joe and his son Rory all ready to tuck into some yummy dinner.

Some of us then rushed up to grab some spots for the movie Pan's Labrynth but we weren't quick enough to get the cosy beds but we did get two cosy lounges at the back so that was good. The movie was odd but very enjoyable, kind of a mix between fantasy and adult drama, I was surprised as I wasn't expecting to like it but by the end I thought it was great and forgot about the subtitles!

The stragglers then headed to The Piccadilly pub in Kings Cross for a nice nightcap :)

Priscilla Hilton

This weekend we've been celebrating my birthday in style!

I bought Jo and I tickets to see Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (The Musical) for her birthday and she thought it would be cool for us to stay at a nice hotel in the city to make a weekend of it. Jo found a great internet deal for a night at the Hilton that included breakfast at Luke Mangan's Glass Brasserie and a drink at the wonderful Marble Bar.

We spent the morning with Ryan who drove down from Newcastle and we all enjoyed some great Thai for lunch in Newtown. He gave us a lift into the city and we checked in at 3pm, dropped off our bags in our room and then headed out for a bit of afternoon shopping at Myer and David Jones.

We spent some time getting ready and headed downstairs to check out the Marble bar for a nice glass of wine before hopping in a cab to Star City where Priscilla is playing in Sydney. We took our seats in the dress circle and looked forward to the show. In our performance, the character of Bob (usually played by Michael Caton from The Castle) was played by Home and Away's own Alf Stewart!

The show was fantastic, the costumes were amazing and the musical did extremely well following all the main plot lines of the movie and keeping all the great one liners such as "That's all Australia needs...a cock, in a frock, on a rock!". The music had the crowd going and there was a great atmosphere in the Lyric theatre - this show has been a huge success for the producers and Star City alike and is in it's final run in Sydney before it moves to Melbourne.

We enjoyed a great breakfast in the Glass Brasserie, I've never seen so many type of bread, muffins and cakes! And for $39 per person for the full buffet you'd bloody well expect quality! Luckily, this was included in our deal as I think most people would struggle to get their money's worth without feeling sick!

It was a great way to spend the weekend and my birthday :)

Gold Class

Jo and I finally made it to Gold Class at the Greater Union, Bondi Junction last night. We had a call from Nicci who had two vouchers and asked if we'd like to go see Shrek the Third with her and Joe and we thought why not!

We arrived at 7:15pm and thought we'd get something to eat from the yummy food court at Bondi Junction Westfield but they were all shutting up shop for the night. We then wandered Bondi trying to find something open and eventually found a Thai Restaurant so red curry beef, chilli and basil seafood, vegetarian pad thai and asian greens it was for dinner.

We made it just in time for our 8:40pm showing of Shrek and the usher took our tickets and showed us to our front row lounge chairs. I've never been Gold Class before but god it's great. First, the cinema must only seat about 30 people. All the seats are like massive cosy lounge chairs that have a button that reclines the chair and extends a foot rest, there is a table with a wine cooler between each set of two seats, wait service for food or drinks if you would like. Basically, why ever go to the normal movies again!

My first week

I'm officially at the end of my first week as a manager (or people leader as we tend to say now) and it's been interesting to say the least.

My first day involved attendance at the monthly People Leader's Forum from across technology meet for a whole day for education sessions, working groups all that sort of stuff. As I'm trying to replace my old role I was only able to stay for the morning but I was welcomed into this clan-like group :)

Apart from that, I really have been just getting used to the idea of what this change means for my (and my team). I certainly have lots and lots to learn and to be honest am quite daunted by the challenges that are sure to come my way. I can't say the week as been smooth, I've experience many bouts of self-doubt and I can feel my usual confidence ebbing away at points but I suppose we all have to do things once and time will be the thing that will give me the experience I need.

Facebook

Strange co-incidence this week as I was pointed in the direction of Facebook by two completely unrelated friends!

I had no idea what this whole facebook thingy was all about (it's like an online community where you can keep in touch with friends) but after I signed up I instantly had 3 friends linked and after 4 days I can proudly say I have 13 friends :) Quite an acheivement.

I'm now back in touch with people I haven't heard from in ages, including one (my good friend Andy) to find that his wife is expecting their first baby any day now!

The real value of technology :)

I'm that Twat!

You may remember from this post that my team is being split off, will need a new manager and that I was hoping that person wasn't going to be a twat.

Well, I'm that twat! I finally plucked up enough courage to put myself forward for the role (after some conversations with my manager and his manager who practically told me to apply!).

I had the interview last Monday, about 3 hours after I found out that Nell had died :( and I was interviewed by my manager and his manager. The interview only lasted 30 minutes but felt like an age but I did heaps on preparation and it definitely paid off as I answered all their questions well and presented my vision of the team going forward. I'm sure this much have looked impressive!

I found out on the morning of last Thursday that I had been successful and am now (well from tomorrow as it hasn't been announced yet) promoted from Senior Business Analyst to Development and Support Manager with 15 team members!! Wish me luck!

Farewell Nell

We had some very sad news last week that Jo's Aunty Nell had passed away. She was 72.

Nell had been ill for some time, being a heavy smoker her lungs were not good and she had been in hospital for a few days before being admitted to intensive care were she died on Tuesday. Even though we knew she was ill it still doesn't prepare you for when the worst happens.

Jo drove up to Coffs Harbour with her Mum on Wednesday and I flew up on Thursday to attend the funeral on the Friday.

Nell was a religious lady and her service was held at the local church in beautiful Sawtell that is no more than 50 metres from her house. The local priest, Father John, had tears in his eyes during the service as they were very close and he was there when she died. Nell's daughter Karen (Jo's cousin) and her 3 sons; Matt (13), Luke (15) and Cameron (10) all made speeches at the service and did so well considering the circumstances.

The amount of people who turned up the funeral and wake was a testiment to how loved Nell was and she will be missed by us all.

Life on Mars

For those in the UK this will be old news but for us on the other side of the world the TV show "Life on Mars" finally aired on Sunday night.

This is a show my mum told me about probably a year ago now so when I saw it advertised on the ABC I had to tune in.

The show is about a 21st century copper who has an accident and wakes up in 1973. He can't determine if he is in a coma and has a very detailed and vivid imagination or if he really is in 1973. He finds himself Detective Inspector at his normal 'nick' in Manchester on a murder case with startling similarities to one he was working on in 2006 (but without the help of mobile phones, DNA evidence or computers)

Sam: "Where's my PC terminal?"
1973 copper: "You need a constable down here?"

The contrasts between the two eras were very interesting. Everyone smoking in the office, woman officers treated like tea ladies, having to use an operator when making a phone call. I thought the best line of the episode was from Sam's boss "Hey you kids! If anyfing 'appens to that motor, I'll come over to your house an' stamp on all your toys. Alright?". Hehehe. I really enjoyed it and will definitely be tuning in next week.

Names & Dates

Ok, this has to be at least an 8.5 on the cacky handed witch scale - Steve, your opinion please as you're the only one who reads this blog :)



The cocky cow even re-tunes mid song! Hehe.

Ps. The 'cacky fingered old witch' phrase comes from a very amusing story by the very amsuing Jack Dee.

32 Flavours

Check out the rare live TV performance by Ani Difranco - playing one of my favourite songs "32 Flavours"...

Chad Vader strikes back

Thanks to Steve for the heads up that Chad Vader episode 7 is now available on youtube. Will Chad get back the Day Manager's job? Looks like we'll have to wait for episode 8 - doh!



Best line: "Shut up! No!! You shut up!!" Hehehehe

Pink!

Last night we went to see Pink at the Sydney Entertainment Centre. We met up with our concert companions at Donna's place in Surry Hills and were introduced to Michelle, Julie, Trish, Steph and Bronwyn.

We all enjoyed a few drinks and nibbles before heading into Chinatown for a bite to eat (and to avoid the support act) before the show. I've never been to the Emperor's Garden before but the food was fresh, yummy and cheap so chances are I'll be back! We got to the Entertainment Centre at about 9pm and Jo and I took our fantastic central seats, unfortunately not sitting with the others who had seats elsewhere.

Pink kicked off her "I'm not Dead" tour to an extremely enthusiastic and noisy crowd to "Cuz I Can" and the got the entire place rocking.

Pink struts her stuff

She dazzled the crowd throughout a 2 hour energetic show that saw her display huge amounts of flexibility in a net 30 feet up in the air and talk to the audience in an intimate mini acoustic set. In between she was dancing around the stage, voice strong and always with a smile on her face. The entire show went so quickly but was so packed with energy you certainly didn't feel short changed and definitely left feeling fully entertained.

Donna had arranged for us to get free entry into the Shelbourne Hotel after the show for a few drinks and a dance. As suspected, our little dance turned into a long one and we eventually left at about 3:30am!! I blame the "retro" theme of 70s, 80s & 90s and my quality air-guitar :)

Still, I paid for it in the morning as there was a server upgrade at work this weekend that didn't go to plan and I had to have a tele-conference at 9am to decide what action to take. Eurgh.

My Humps

Fergie: "Check it out!"



It really should've been like this originally and Fergie should've done the cover! Hehehe.

Hungerford Hill

Jo and I took our first trip this year up to Nelson Bay to visit Jo's Mum for her birthday. We left early on Saturday morning and arrived at about 10:30. We had no plans of what to do for the day but inspiration struck and we decided to go to the Hunter Valley for the day.

We were off shortly afterwards and decided to stop into a winery for a look around as even though we had decided on our destination we still had no idea what to do once we got there.

We entered Hungerford Hill and saw people having a very nice lunch out on the terrace, well that was that. We were sat at a table in no time looking at a delicious menu that was to turn into Mrs B's birthday lunch treat :)

The head chef is Darren Ho (yes, brother of Lisa) and his asian influenced menu was delicious. We were all treated to a complimentary

Mrs B and I started with the aylesbury duck won tons with roast duck jus, blackwood fungus & pickled vegetables while Jo had the sea scallops stuffed with water chestnuts on sautéed garlic chives & sauce vierge.

Jo and I then had the beautiful fish of the day and Lyn had the waygu beef cheek slow braised with hungerford hill shiraz, on braised witlof & paris mash potatoes, served with béarnaise sauce. Yum!!

If that wasn't enough, we had already had a plate of mixed bread before the entrees and after we treated ourselves to gelato at a place down the road! Pigs!

Missy's Back

I went to see Missy Higgins showcase her new album "On a Clear Night" at the Enmore Theatre on Friday night.

We spent the first half an hour trying to "sell" a spare ticket we had by a late cancellation but with a lack of touting skills we ended up giving the ticket to some French tourist who seemed pleased enough!

We arrived in time to get a drink and take our seats to watch the support act. Leroy Lee played about 5 songs, a simple acoustic set that was reminissent of Jack Johnson mets John Butler.

Missy arrived on stage at about 9:40 and the crowd awoke and burst into cheers as the catchy but simple riff from "Secret" emerged from behind the curtain. The album was only released about a week before the concert but I've been lucky enough to listen to it for free for the past week via Claire's website :)

"Secret" is one of my favourite tracks on the album, probably because it consists on 3 notes on 1 string so I should be able to play it on my guitar hehehe.

Missy in action....

Missy played a great set mixing new with old favourites from the ever popular "The Sound of White". True to form she stuffed up the opening lines to no less than 3 songs but her innocent charm means she can get away with it with the crowd laughing along as say blurts out "Ahh! Those are the wrong words!" then mentally backtracks to the beginning to start over again.

Points have to be awarded for effort though when she gave up her trusty piano and guitar to simply sing, although you can tell she finds it extremely awkward and you want to shout "That microphone does detact from the stand you know!". Once again, a very enjoyable show from someone who improves everytime I've seen her.