Adventure, baby!

Month: July 2008

More Doggy Bliss

Juuuust more pics I took on my iPhone this time. Aren’t they super cute?

Dog or bear?






Lightening fast tongue.


You can almost hear the snore.

The Dark Knight

I was devastated when Heath Ledger died and have been looking forward to seeing this movie for a long time. I loved Batman Begins and was keen to see if the follow-up would be as good.

We decided to see the movie at Imax right in the middle of youth week. Not the best choice ever, but it was worth it! We did have to line up for a while to get in which was annoying. I don’t understand why iMax doesn’t sell numbered seats!

Back to the movie, Heath Ledger was undeniably amazing. He was such a cruel villain that he scared me and I had to look away several times. The movie is even darker than the first one and doesn’t leave the ending looking very positive for the future, it felt more realistic, if you can say that about a superhero movie.

Lots of people in line.

More people in line behind us!

Why hello there!

Ready for launch!

World Youth Day 2008


This is a photo of a few of the 150,000 pilgrims who gathered near my office to hold a giant mass. It’s been an absolutely insane week.

SYTYCD – Live Sydney Show

As my many, many blog posts of So You Think You Can Dance attest to, I am obsessed with the show. So much so that I bought tickets to go and see the live tour when it played at the Sydney Entertainment Centre tonight.

The show was a lot of fun – pretty much the same as the TV show, lots of dancing routines. The routines were a mix of old ones from the show and new. There were a lot of video clips from the show was well.

The only annoying thing about the show was the strange scripted dialogue between routines. The dancers all had to introduce each other and say super-cheesy things that made us ROFL.

It was also interesting seeing how different it was watching the same people live vs on TV. On TV the cameras focused a lot on their faces but live it was easier to see things like lack of stage presence and lack of technique.

To be brutally honest, they all looked a lot better on TV. In person I could only compare them with the many other professional dancers in shows I’ve seen. Perhaps that is unfair, but that’s how it is!

I still really enjoyed though. I liked a lot of the choreography and Kate was very good to watch in person.















Half of the opening routine

Rhiannon and Graeme – Hip Hop
“4 Minutes”

Last Routine – “You Can’t Stop The Beat”

The terrible angle is because the people sitting behind me were threatening me if I kept filming, so I had to be sneaky.

Top Ten Routine

I found this one on YouTube

New iPhone!

I was quite devastated by my iPhone loss back in January and have been hanging out for the release of the 3G phone in Australia ever since. Today it finally arrived. I lined up at an Optus store in Chatswood at 7:15 to secure the precious device. After being in line for about an hour I was told I needed a print out of my deposit confirmation – WTF? Surely this is in a database? I guess not! I had waited this long, I sure wasn’t going to give up now. I asked the nice people in line to mind my spot while I dashed out on the street to find an internet cafe that was open. I harassed the staff there to help me get up the email and print it – it took me over 20 minutes, so it wasn’t as easy as you’d think! I then ran back to the Optus store just in time – the man in front of me was now at the front of the queue.

Soon after it was my turn – and I thought I was only about 15 minutes away from iPhone glory. How wrong I was! An hour later, I rushed to the station to get to work – two hours and 30 minutes after lining up … OMG!

It was worth it though for iPhone glory. I got the 16GB in white on a cap plan. What I love most about the new phone is how less slippery it is. I dropped my old one so many times, resulting in its ultimate breaking. The new one has a different back that is grippier and some kind of beveling around the edges so my hands fit around it better – meaning less chances of dropping it!

My new phone in the store – it took so long to get it ready to go because the Optus and Apple systems were all crashing.



In the box … so pretty my precious!

Blue Mountains Offsite – Day 2

With all the work stuff done we head off on a 10km mountain bike ride. I’m really not much of a biker, I have to admit. Every pedal uphill made my calves feel like cement. Even with the pain, it was a lot of fun. Really crisp (OK, freezing) mountain air and a wee bit of exercise.

This was the entrance to one of the bedrooms one of my team stayed in.


Taking a break on the ridge to check out the view.





Caught in motion. Olah loved to take photos almost as much as I do.




Weeeeeeeeeeeee!





Picnic site at the end – so pretty! The water was so clear – but freezing cold.




Where’s the food?!


Wouldn’t be a mountains trip without more fire.

Blue Mountains Offsite – Day 1

I drove up to Leura for a work offsite. We stayed at the Old Leura Dairy – a completely renovated place that was truly unique. Very modern rustic, I guess you could call it.

It was freeeeezing in the mountains, but the air was crisp and the sky was blue, and we had plenty of delicious food.

The dining table set up for lunch.


Big ol’ salad.



Room set up for our conference. Note the corragated iron – it was a bedroom on top of the kitchen.


Roasted capsicums stuffed with rice – they catered very well for the veges.






Mmm fresh scones.


The cottage I stayed in.


My bedroom.


The living room in my cottage.


Hard at work as evening rolls in.




Dinner – noodles with ginger. AMAZINGLY tasty.


Mega bean meal.




Roaring fire – definitely needed up in the mountains!

Dinner at Bar Reggio

I finally met up with Emily to have dinner at a place she loves in Surry Hills – Bar Reggio.

It’s a really cute little place – a hole in the wall that you’d miss if you didn’t know it was there. Bar Reggio is very much an old-school family-run place, with an extensive pasta and pizza menu. The service was friendly, the food was fast, tasty and well-priced.

I’ll be going back for more!

My vege risotto. Very nice tomato base.


Em’s fave – spaghetti bolognaise.


Dining area.

Entrance and kitchen – squishy!


The entry we almost missed.


I walked through the city to get back home – past the war memorial all lit up.


Hyde Park.


Mucking around with the camera. I love Sydney at night!

Churros, Noodles & Panda

The release of Kung Fu Panda sparked excitement. Panda! Kung Fu! Together at last!

We gathered at San Churros for pre movie snacks. Hot and Cold Hot Chocolate, churros and a white hot chocolate … so basically sugar and milk I believe.

Yum yum yum … the best hot chocolate ever.


Chris: “What do you mean white chocolate isn’t actually chocolate?”

Churros with chocolate.


My fave – churros with caramel.


Lisa – times three Tokidokis.


“There can be more Tokidokis?”



Chocolate is not something to be laughing at.


After the movie we needed noodles. Badly. You need to watch the movie to understand why. We set off to our fave Vietnamese place in Chatswood – Golden Bo.

Tea!


Crazy food blogger.



Helpful pics on the menu.


Where are my noodles?


Panda! Kung Fu!


Mmmm raw bean sprouts.


Mystery herb – turned out to be mint.



Mmmm smells like crack!



Vege spring rolls.


Lisa needed dumplings AND noodles.



Alec gets the same thing every time – MORE spring rolls and noodles.


My flat noodles with soya and veges… YUM!


Noodle bliss.

More spring rolls – we ordered two lots and ate them all.


This was Chris’ – I have no idea what it is.


More food? Over THERE? No WAY!


Awesome movie, awesome night.