Well, I have been slack haven’t I? It’s one of those things – the longer you leave it, the harder it gets, but never one to back down, I’m here and have I got a lot to catch you all up on. So take this as your cuppa tea and tim tam moment and enjoy.
So, because I’ve been so slack, I’m breaking this down into 3 sections: Pre-Oz, Return to Oz and Post-Oz. I suggest an intermission between each section so you don’t risk the chance of developing sores from sitting too long.
Usually, in orthodox fashion I would start at the beginning (i.e. Pre-Oz), but I’m in a fickle mood so I’m going to go back to front. Bear with me – it’s an experiment that I don’t even know will work…
Post Oz
So, here I am on this sunny Monday afternoon (delayed until Tuesday before I could press send) sitting on an airplane on my way to Mexico city for the week. I’m in the very last row in the aisle seat, enjoying the constant stream of people bumping me on their way to the toilet, and particularly savouring the fresh aroma that is the airplane toilet – ahhhh, just love that fresh air.
Last night was full of excitement with the Emmy’s live on tv. I sat there with pen and paper in hand scribbling down the shows that I must latch onto – the problem is, said list has about 15 shows on it, so I don’t think being a tv junkie of that sort will be too good for me and particularly not my butt. Though in saying that, the winter is coming and I may not be as blessed with the nice weather we had last year, so in fact tv marathons might be a necessity. I’ll give you the low down on these next week
Yesterday was what I would describe as a surprise day. Working away on my uni homework in the morning with my windows open to let the lovely Fall air blow through the house, my ears prick up to the sound of music. My street is exceptionally quiet except for the occasional squeaking bus brakes that can be heard from down the end of the street and the occasional tourist helicopter overhead, so with the sound of really loud music, my attention was peaked. I walked outside, like one of the pied pipers mice, and followed the sound of the music. In a trance trying to find where the source was I made my way toward the big park and the sound of Latin American tunes got more and more loud – I’m talking vibrating through your body loud. So, finally I discover the source and see a swarm of blue, white and red. Is it some sort of political rally in prep for the November elections? No, they certainly wouldn’t be playing Latin American music. As I get closer I discover it’s the Hudson County Annual Dominicana (The Dominican Republic, which is located in the Carribbean and shares and island with Haiti) parade. The parade hadn’t yet started, but the party had! There were vans with sound systems that would rival the Metallica concert I went to. I’ve been to a number of Summer/ Spring Nats events in my time and the cars loaded with speakers are nothing compared to these beasts. Couple it with the fact that there were about 10 of these all playing their own selection of tunes, and it’s not surpising that I passed a couple of old timers furiously rushing away with their hands in their ears. Anyway, I have a couple of shots and videos from the parade – of course it will never give you a real sense, but hopefully a little taste gives you the flavor. One things I’ve come to realize, wow, the Americans sure do like a parade. I’ve managed to see more parades in less than one year than I think I have in my entire life (thanks a lot mum for not taking us to the Moomba festival every year…). Here's a few pics and videos to enjoy - keep your eye out for the boogying granny.
The politicians always looking for an opportunity....
I don't know, but I rekon these vans could fit in at least another 15 speakers....
Take a close look at this bike...
... and I got to see an amazing new way to do sky writing.
It was five planes doing it at one - amazing!
Saturday morning I arrived back from Brazil in the wee hours, and having managed to get a pretty good rest on the 10 hour flight, I made myself get out and about and enjoy the sunshine. After showering and catching up on a couple of my shows from the week (really enjoying The New Normal – from the maker of Glee, another one of my faves that I also caught up on), I ventured over to Manhattan and enjoyed a lovely afternoon and then caught up with Judy for a lovely French dinner. I say, you’ve gotta love Groupon – we got dinner for $20 each, which included an appetizer (what we would call an entrée), and entrée (what we would call a main meal), and of course a glass of wine. Would you believe they even let us trade one appetizer for a dessert (what we would call a dessert). It was a delicious meal and not too late as I was tucked in and ready to sleep at 11pm.
So, in my second trip down to Brazil (the fourth largest country in the world), I caught a plane from NY to Sao Paulo, got a connection to Porto Alegre (1 hour south by plane), and then took a two hour drive west on a bumpy road to the lovely town of Santa Cruz del sol, population 130,000. What a lovely little town – sort of like being in Ballarat, not really, but sort of. Anyway, I was there for three nights, one night enjoying traditional Brazilian BBQ, or Charrascurria, where they come to your table with large skewers of mostly meat (they also had chicken hearts, a big slab of cooked cheese and cooked pineapple) that they carve directly onto your plate for you to eat to your heart’s content – or maybe not to your heart’s content, because with that much cholesterol there is the chance your heart just may give in. Here’s a sample – happy fella, isn’t he?
Here's a picture of their famous church - the largest gothic church in South America.
Here's also some locals dressed up for their national holiday on the Thursday where they celebrate their civil uprising to become independent that they lost...
On Thursday, after a two hour drive back to Porto Alegre, I then flew to Curitibia, went to meetings all day Friday, and then flew from Curitibia to Sao Paulo, with a ridiculously short connection that after an excrutiating 20 minute wait on the tarmac, followed by a bus trip to the terminal, required me to run in what is possibly the most confusing airport I’ve ever been to, to my connection to NY via passport control (I tell you, someone was looking out for me, because there was absolutely no one in the queue!). In what seemed like would be an inevitable sleep over at Sao Paulo airport, which I tell you, you would not want to sleep in (let’s just say it’s not just a confusing airport…), I somehow made it to my gate with 20 minutes to spare – amazing given I only had 1 hour and 10 mins from landing until the next flight.
So the weekend prior, I had a real NYC experience. It was fashion week, so what else to do, but go to a fashion show, though I must say it wasn’t as glamorous as it looks in the magazine, though that may be because we (Judy, Teena, Matt and I) went to a show that we were able to get tix to on Thursday, so maybe that should’ve been a sign in itself. Anyway, it was a fun experience.
On the Friday night was true NYC, with a Yankees match at Yankee Stadium. I went with a lady I met through work who is a season ticket holder, so we were only 5 rows from the field. What a game! It was really great to watch (I’d been warned that it would be boring, but I don’t mind watching the cricket, so baseball is a lot quicker in comparison), and I was really thankful I had watched many a baseball film, so it didn’t take me too long to pick up the rules. Unfortunately, the Yankees lost, but it was a very close match that came down to the last innings.
I had arrived back from Australia the previous Sunday night, and the week that followed we had a conference with the entire MOD team in NYC. The week is a bit of a blur to me as I was a space cadet because I was waking up at 3am every morning – quite a torturous week really.
So, that brings us to section two – Return to Oz (now would be a good time to take a toilet break)... I also apologise for the lack of pics - these are on my camera which is back in NJ, so I will add them when I get back:
What a great two weeks I had! Lots of great time with Brett and Jack, meeting my adorable nephew Jackson, hanging out with my beautiful sisters, Taylor, Jack (nephew, not the dog) and Mitchell (who was very excited that I came back especially for his 7th birthday party at the Hallam indoor slide center), with Brett’s family, and catching up on the goss with my friends. I was particularly popular with the kids that got some true dinkim Canadian Long Johns – complete with a little exit flap at the back. The adults liked them so much, they wanted some too (Oh well, another excuse to head to Quebec City).
Brett and I did a couple of really nice day trips – one up to the Dandenongs to see the best view of Melbourne from a secret spot, higher and better than sky high, with a special hang gliding ramp ( I just saw the ramp, I didn’t run off it myself).
We also went down the Great Ocean Road with binoculars in hand in search of whales. After some false sightings (what we thought were whales were fishing boats) we ended up seeing nothing L. It reminded me of when we went out on a boat to swim with dolphins in the Bay of Islands in NZ and after 4 hours of bobbing around in the bay we came back to shore dry (I still have a lifetime warranty voucher tucked away in my passport wallet that I will use someday, even if it kills me!). Anyway, despite the lack of whales, it was a lovely day. I actually got to see Bells Beach, though I think I have been there before, I just cant remember it. Even though there were some terrible weather days, there were also some gems in there, this being one of them!
On the middle Sunday of my visit mum held a bbq as a welcome to the world for Jackson, a housewarming for Nicole and an opportunity for me to catch up with family. Coincidentally, Hiske, my cousin who has moved to Germany with work had just come back on the Friday for a quick visit too, so it was the perfect opportunity for her as well (she too is a blogger – Snag amongst the Sauerkraut… love it J). I tell you, it was such a perfect day. The weather was amazing, the food was good, and the company even better. I treated the family to one of my new discoveries since arriving in the US – savoury salads with fruit in them. My fave being baby spinach, goats cheese, beetroot, walnuts, cranberries, topped off with a raspberry dressing, bloody delicious and I must say a bit of a crowd favorite!
I also enjoyed a lunch with my girlfriends, of which the clan had nearly doubled in size since I left with the addition of four new babies (out of five mums, that’s pretty remarkable). Again, a beautiful day, we enjoyed lunch on the deck up at the Pine Grove pub in Upper Beaconsfield where the kids could run happily run amok, twas absolutely lovely!
I also caught up with my oldest girlfriends – we’ve been friends since 1993, so officially we’ve been friends for over half our lives now. It was a hoot of a night, as it always is when we’re together, at our old fave restaurant, Dantes (where I used to be a waitress), that has had a bit of a makeover since I left.
I went into work for a quick visit, that ended up lasting over 5 hours, and I must say I was really surprised that they had prepared a special Souvlaki lunch in the courtyard in my honour (not really, I just had good timing to coincide with the farewell to Parker who is moving back to South Africa). Perfect opportunity to see everyone in one condensed period. It was really good seeing everyone again.
It was a really ‘interesting’ experience I had being home. One my trip home, I reflected a lot. Two things came to me – one, I realized that it’s really hard to describe what it’s like when you are asked the question, “So how’s NY?”. The answer is not an easy one. To try and describe the experience and the city is really hard, and still now upon reflection I struggle to describe it in words. However, being one of the most famous cities in the world, there are lots of songs that describe it, and coincidentally when I was in Oz watching Big Pond music, Alicia Keys came on with her solo version of Empire State of Mind II, and being away from the city and faced with the problem of describing it, I listened to it with different ears and found that it really is the perfect description of the whole experience.
Onto my second reflection, it was so awesome seeing everyone, it made me really realize how much I miss everyone and the relationships we have, something that’s not so easy to build. It was really hard to leave this behind again. Not to feel sorry for myself though, I know it’s the trade-off I have to make to fulfill my dreams – something I’m sure you’ve all had to face in one way or another in life. The good thing is that Australia is always home, and I know I’ll always come back.
Wow, that was deep – something about airplanes and emotions I tell you. I don’t know if you’ve experienced it before, but funny movies are funnier, and sad movies are sadder when you watch them on a plane (do not, I repeat do not watch the Notebook on an airplane – ever!). Must be the altitude or something.
Okay, now time for the third installment – Pre-Oz. We’re nearly there, hold in there, take a deep breath, roll the shoulders, and get yourself another cuppa (or even a bourbon will do).
Pre-OZ
So, the working backwards thing is working well for me, I hope from a reading perspective it’s making sense to you as well. This is the challenge though to remember what I actually did. When I left you last, I recall I was just about to head out to see Kasey Chambers, so I’ll finish there, but before we get there, there was another really cool NY experience that I had, and a not so cool one as well.
Starting on a high, on the Sunday before I left, I caught the 5 minute ferry with Yaelle down to Governor Island (down the bottom of Manhattan next to Brooklyn) to a jazz festival that they hold twice during the summer (this was unfortunately the second one, it would’ve been great to go to both). The cool thing about this jazz festival was that it was big band jazz, I’m talking 20 or 30 piece loud style, old fashioined jazz, and the other cool thing was that people got dressed up in 1920s gear – what a great era of outfits. There was lots of lace, head bands and tassles for the ladies, and straw hats and braces for the men (pics to come next week). Unfortunately, I wasn’t fully aware of the dress code (Yaelle and I thought just some of the people dressed up, not 80%), so I missed this opportunity for get into theme, and I tell you I love a dress up opportunity (definitely on the list for next year). Being there, it was easy to feel like you were back in time (except for the fact that even in costume, everyone was checking their iPhones). After the festival finished, it was time to get back to the other island (Manhattan). This is where the downside comes in…
If there’s one thing I hate about NYC, it is the queues – they’re everywhere! Getting on the ferry that morning there had been a queue that was well over a km long, but then coming back, it was more like 3 kms (the problem with an event on an island). It took us well over 2 hours to get on a ferry back. This was on the back of a miserable Friday night commute home, where I had already faced another 2 km queue to get the bus… if you think I’m exaggerating, check out these photos… The trip which would normally take max 1 hour door to door at peak time, took 2 ½ hours! At least it was the exception and as a result on the other side of the tunnel to NJ, but bloody hell, it was painful. Here you will see that I wasn't exaggerating about the 2 kms. This is the queue I was in, each from a completely different position (in sequence)...
That takes me back to the last piece – Kasey Chambers concert. This was at a place called City Winery, a place about the size of the Hallam Pub, that makes their own wine and serve really good food. The concert was really excellent. I was there with Yaelle and her friend who was visiting, both from Switzerland, and they really liked it to. When Kasey started talking, to hear an Australian accent like hers, I tell you, it nearly brought tears to my eyes. As opposed to the opinion of my uncle Chris who is clearly not a Kasey fan, the concert was really great – I had been to see her the year before, at the Hallam, with Denise (friend) and Catty (sis-in-law), and it was a similar show, which I was really pleased, because the selection of music both times was really good. She was travelling again with her mum (her manager) and her dad (part of the band, divorced from her mum), but this time with her brand new baby. She was doing a big roadtrip across the states, and I must say, the yanks absolutely loved her.
At the start of the concert, a waitress came up to me, recognizing that I had an Aussie accent and asked “Have you heard of Jimmy Barnes?”. I said, “have I hear of Jimmy Barnes, of course I have, he’s an Australian rock legend!”. She said “well, he might be coming here tonight”, and I said “well, you better introduce me”. I was so excited, this was going to be my opportunity to get some real celebrity photos – who cares about Jude Law, Emma Watson, Samuel L Jackson etc. etc. this was Jimmy Barnes! Through the whole concert I was looking around anxiously waiting for my opportunity, but devastatingly, said opportunity never came. He obviously shunned Kasey and didn’t turn up – devastating…
Well, I’m a bit disappointed this week to be travelling – Gotye is touring in the US, which would be good to see, but more importantly, he’s touring with Missy Higgins, of who I am a large fan. They are in NYC this week, but by the time I found out, the tickets had sold out anyway, so I couldn’t have gone anyway.
After this week, I’m with my feet on the ground for at least the next two weeks (in the past three months I have spent more than 70% of my time away from NYC!), and then I’m off to Europe, which is exciting! In the meantime, my little Jack is being vaccinated for Rabies this week and once that kicks in (at least 30 days unfortunately) he, and more importantly Brett, will be making their way over here… just in time for the festivities of Thanksgiving, Christmas and the winter. I am praying it’s similar to last year, though I’m not so hopeful.
Well, so much to write and I know I have forgotten so much, but really I don’t want to bore you all any longer – I hope I haven’t sent you asleep… at least writing this has prevented me from falling asleep with my mouth wide open and drooling – definitely not a good look, particularly where I’m sitting in the most busiest part of the plane. I know people have been reading my writing over my shoulder as they write. I hope for them, like for you, this brought you some entertainment!
Miss you all xxx
Michele
