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....

 A nice tonka truck to block the road...

 Some American gangster cars (carrying more politicians)...

 The local TV reporting team....

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?

Don’t worry, you don’t need to reject the lovely waiters with their skewers, once your done you turn your little ornament on the table that is painted half green and half red, from green to red.  That is basically your white flag, declaring defeat. 

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...

 Look at the rider, second from the front -he was lucky to be 2  1/2 or 3 years old and he had his own horse and whip!

 

 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 7^th 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

"Please don't stop the music!"

Hi Everyone,
I hope everyone is going well - I'm home in 2 weeks time so I hope I can catch up with most you when I get home - can't wait!

The past month has continued to be busy, but really fun!  Where to start????

I think last time I wrote, I was just getting to Argentina, so that's as good a place as any... 

The week went really well.  I spent time in the Buenos Aires office and three days out at Merlo (50 mins from the city) at the factory.  I was there for training that was being run by an external consultant, except said consultant had an issue (that's another story entirely....) and after finding this out at 8pm the night before, I ended up having to deliver the training.  Add to that, I turned up at the training and the consultant had printed the wrong materials!!!... Not happy, Jan! ... I just wanted to use that saying in here, because I can't use it in the US, noone has a bloody idea what I'm saying - not even my fellow Aussie colleagues because they haven't been in Aus for the past 10 years - feel so good to say, well write it!

Enough about work - as usual, busy and crazy, but nevertheless enjoyable.

Well, here's the most exciting news of all - that week on 26 July little Jackson Brown was born into the world - 3 weeks early, he arrived safely and he and Renee are doing beautifully.  He and I are regularly skyping, well via Renee anyway, so I'm lucky I get to see his gorgeous face.  I can't wait to have a hold of the little man soon.

That weekend, on a high as a new aunty, I went with Teena, Matt and Judy to see the Sydney Theatre Company's "Uncle Vanya" - it was an Aussie star packed cast with Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving, Richard Roxburgh (from one of my fave shows Rake) and Jackie Weaver.  I will just say it was very 'interesting' -  a Russian play performed by Australians.  We were in the nose bleed section of the theatre so it was tough to see, but it was so funny to hear true ochre Aussie accents - I was even struggling to understand some of what was being said, I can't imagine what the American audience was going through.  Afterwards Judy and I hung out by the stage show and managed to see Cate Blanchett - she wasn't up for photos with people as it was starting to rain, so this is the best we could get (that's me with the blue necklace on).

That week I then went off to Mexico City for the week - I was working with Jimena from my team (little fact #1 - in Spanish J, has the sound of a "H", therefore Jimena sounds like Himena.  In emails, instead of people showing laughter with Ha ha ha, in Latin America they send you Ja ja ja - so cute!).  Anyway, during that week I discovered through MTV that Metallica was playing 8 shows(!) in Mexico City with a few being on that week (little fact #2 - in the 80's international music acts were banned in Mexico, and when the ban was lifted Metallica was the first hard rock band that came, and they told all other bands to come, so Mexicans are huge, huge Metallica fans - this tour was a commemerative tour for Metallica to say thank you to their Mexican fans).  So, I made mention it to Jimena in the office and she said, "Yeah, me and my husband are gong to 3 shows" (fact proven...their friends were picking on them because they were only going to 3 shows!)... I made comment how cool it would be to go, but the shows were sold out - thought nothing else of it.  Anyway, later that night I get a text from Jime, who said her husband, Ignacio (nickname Naco - pronounced Nacho) managed to get me a ticket through putting out a call on Twitter (little fact  #3... Mexicans are huge social networkers. 95% of people with internet have a facebook account and there are over 4 million twitter users - put it this way,  the network at PM goes super slow after lunch in Mexico because they all get on facebook).  So, the next night, dressed of course in all black, off we went to an old bull fighting ring to see Metallica.  Mexicans are hard core fans - we were in General Admission (i.e. on the floor) and it is the done thing in Mexico to throw cups of beer everywhere.  Luckily I only got hit one and 1/2 times, but needless to say I didn't wear that outfit to the office the next day. It was pretty cool, I officially got to do the Mexican Wave in Mexico, and everyone sings in Mexico "Ole, ole, ole, Me-tal-lica; ole, ole, ole, Me-tal-lica...".  The show was really good, insanely loud and full of lots of cool effects.  Here's some pics

check out the litre cups of beer (yes, I did only have one as it was a school night, and they only served light corona to keep the crowd under control)...

So, home from Mexico on Friday.  Judy, Edward and I managed to catch up and upon Edward's request we made our way to Little Korea to try a little Karaoke.  We had our own private disco room - classy joint as you can see below...

We spent 2 hours singing away.   I managed to get in Total Eclipse of the Heart by Bonnie Tyler - pretty good performance I must say.... not sure Judy and Edward would say the same.

I also caught up with Broadway friend Lindsay to watch her husband Chris play a gig.  He's just written some solo stuff so was testing it out.  He played at Rockwood's in SoHo - this great little place which has three separate rooms where people play 1 hour sets of their music one after the other.  His show was really great (sorry, I couldn't get the pic to go the right way...).

 This is Lindsay and Chris...

Afterwards, we watched a bit of the next performer, but his music was a bit snoozy so we went to another bar and what do you know, it was karaoke night!  This time, instead of singing to recorded music, you sing with a live band!  Pretty cool for a frustrated rock star like me.  The bad thing though was I was there with a singer and a broadway star, and anyone who has had the pleasure of hearing me sing knows that as a singer, I make a pretty good HR person - however, never to shy away from the microphone I managed to sing a bit of "The Sign" by Ace of Base - an old fave from the 90s.

More on the music theme, tonight I am going to see Kasey Chambers who is playing in NY!  I'm going with a fellow colleague from work - Yaelle who is also here on international from Switzerland.  Her friend's in town with her, so the three of us should have fun. 

Finishing on something much more trivial, I had to share an experience from this week.  I caught the subway this week and I just had to share this photo with you (sorry again for sideways again) ....

.. if you can't tell, I'm sweating my onions off (and forgive the pose - I was trying to cool myself down) - I seriously had sweat dripping off me and when I got up a giant sweat patch on my back!  (Little fact #4 - the subway stinks in summer!!!  It's horrible and hot, no not just hot, boiling!... but apparently according to a lady sitting near me much better now than the 80's where it was really bad.... Not possible!)

Anyway, can't wait to see most of you when I'm back.

Have fun and speak soon :)
Michele

Panthers, Pythons and Pirates

Hi All,


I write to you from Buenos Aires.  I just arrived here tonight back into the shock of winter - it's 5 degrees here tonight, and after a week in Florida and NY for that matter where the temp isn't getting below 22 degrees at night, it is a shock!


First on the agenda, is the answer to the mystery.  A big thank you to uncle Harry and uncle Chris on solving the little critter mystery - it is a Groundhog, otherwise known as a Woodchuck, otherwise known as a marmot, and finally otherwise known as a Land Beaver (so I wasn't too far off).  I saw a whole family of the little critters on a walk with Kelly.


So, onto Kelly's visit.  She came in for a very quick visit, Sunday to Wednesday, but we managed a very busy few days.  Monday was filled with shopping, and Tuesday too - you think I'm a shopaholic, I'm nothing compared with Kell! Monday night we went to a restaurant called La Esquina.  You enter a place that looks like an old fashioned diner and through a secret door, down some very dark stairs you arrive in a small, but very trendy Mexican restaurant. 

It was 'shared plate' style and like suckers we ordered way too much on the recommendation of the waitress - though the food rocked, particularly the corn (my fave vegetable and the best I've ever tasted!).  Here's Kel chowing down on hers.

  Seating, like with many NYC restaurants, is "cosy" and coincidentally we sat next to a couple of Aussie girls.  Also in the restaurant that night was Joe Jonas (of the Jonas brothers).  Although I didn't get a photo with him, I was the photographer of this shot of Fiona (blonde, who could very easily be mistaken as a relative of Kelly) and the other one, whose name I can't remember (how terrible of me!).

So besides shopping, we also walked and walked and walked.  We visited Eataly (Italian Deli / Market)...

....held birds in Bryant Park....

...saw people dealing with heat by sleeping on park benches...

... cooled off by the fountain in Madison Square....

....battled to get a taxi....

... enjoyed cocktails in SoHo

Tuesday night we went to Buddakhan restaurant.  This is the restaurant that Carrie and Big (Sex in the City) had their rehearsal dinner at in the first movie.  Again, another very trendy place in Meat Packing District, with sharing cuisine.  This time Kell and I were more wise and would not let the waiter influence us to order too much (much to his annoyance). 

Wednesday – July 4^th – saw Kelly leave New Jersey for Texas, and me with a day that should have been recovery.  I ended up walking 38,000 steps that day – for those of you who wear a pedometer you know that’s insane…. I did it by going for an hour long walk and then playing tennis, by myself, for an hour – in 37 degree heat – and then I walked the 16km round trip to Hoboken to watch the fireworks.  You could see the fireworks from my end of town but it would be looking down the river, whereas from where my friend Teena’s apartment is, we had front on view.  I doubt there were many places with a better view.  After the fizzle that were the NYC NYE fireworks that mum and I saw from the booze cruise, I was extremely impressed with this effort.  Here are some of my fave shots of the fireworks.

... and me sweating like crazy whilst watching them!  It was over 30 at 9pm.

So, back to work for two days then it was the weekend again.  I saw another two movies that week, and I only mention it because they were so awesome – the first was Ted.  Definitely not one for the little ones (it is very  important that I mention this given I suggested once upon a time that Tropic Thunder was not so bad for an 8 year old – Sylvana has never forgiven me, but her son Christopher loves me for it!).  It was extremely funny and more extremely inappropriate – think a mix of Family Guy and Wilfred.  I also saw Savages, this just came out in the States and is an Oliver Stone movie.  It involves a Mexican Drug Cartel, a bizarre love triangle and a really great ending.  This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a long time and I highly recommend it.

Sunday I set off to the Florida Keys – every time I say that I can’t help but sing Kokomo…  This is where the title comes in.  My driver from the airport to the resort (1 ½ hours) was very informative.  To get to the Keys (as the locals refer to it) you need to go past the Everglades and through true swamp land.  Not only are there Aligators in the swamp land, but Panthers and Pythons as well.  They recently built a fence to keep the panthers off the road.  I sure wouldn’t have liked the job to build that – you’d hope it came with some pretty good danger pay!  Down past the swamp and we came to the small town, creatively name Taverner, after the many Taverns that once upon were in the town.  Why so many Taverns I hear you ask?  Well, Taverner was founded by Pirates (there are many a Jolly Roger flag in town).  Taverner is very close to Key Largo (yes, from Kokomo chorus) where there is the most highly dived reef in the US, so Pirates being the opportunists they are settled themselves close by so they could pounce on the many ships that found themselves wrecked on the reef. 

So the week in the Keys was very busy from a work perspective, but they did put on some lovely dinners.  Here is me with a group of the ladies from across the Region (from left - me, Maggie, Lula, Anto, Emilia and Clara).

Work aside, I was able to enjoy a day to myself yesterday as it was easier to travel straight to Argentina from Miami rather than going home first.  Yesterday I kayaked in the sea, swam, read by the pool, slept by the pool (unintentionally), snorkeled and finished the day off with a delicious massage!  It was great - it reminded me so much of being in Thailand with Mum and Nicole (such great memories).   This shot is from the kayak – I managed to paddle out a bit further than I planned and the wind was so crazy yesterday, turning around proved to be somewhat of a challenge (don’t worry though, the water doesn’t get deeper than 3 foot for over a mile). 

Unfortunately, I roasted myself a bit too much and have some pretty severe sunburn on the front of my legs – let’s just say my lily white pegs hadn’t seen the light of day for a long, long time!

Well, it's now time for me to ship myself off to bed ready for another big week!  Finally, before signing off I want to wish a huge happy birthday to Natalie who turned the big 3-OH this week!  I hope you had a ball Nat.

Ciao!

Michele

"It's hot in the city, hot in the city tonight, alright"

Hi Everyone!

Long time, no write... I can't say it's because I've got nothing to report, actually I've had a great few weeks, and it's not that I've been soooo busy that I can't write... the fact is I've been lazy, yep, just plain lazy.  But lucky (or unlucky!) for you I am in the mood for writing tonight.

So, first thing is a correction from my previous blog.  I feel like such a fool, but I have learnt that it was not a beaver that I saw...  a bit embarrassing given it even featured in the title!   Beavers live in water, not on land, and have a big wide paddle like tail... gee, I'm as sharp as a bowling ball.  Then I thought it might be a badger, but I wiki'd it and it's not a badger either.  If anyone can help me in identifying what type of animal it is, please let me know - there might be a prize in it for you!

I know you're all waiting in anticipation to know what I've been up to, or maybe not and you're just reading this to take a break from work, either way, here goes... So let's start three weeks ago, in Colombia.  So, when I knew I was moving here into a Regional role, one of my first thoughts was that I am worried about and want to avoid travelling to Colombia.  So, upon arriving in my new job I learnt that Colombia is one of the larger markets in the Region, so resigned myself to the fact that I would need to go, and I knew I wouldn't be sent somewhere that I'd be in danger.  So around came the opportunity to roll out some training and to spend time with Juliana (from my team), so off I set to Medellin - a city in the north west and in the middle of a valley.   Think 360 surrounded by mountains, but I guess that's stating the obvious... "Captain Obvious" aren't I?

I come in for landing, the plane rocking side to side and see lush, beautiful mountains.  Though bumpy, it was a safe landing and after getting through customs I was welcomed by a crew of two with my name sign.  I was quickly escorted to my vehicle - a bullet proof Toyota Prada.  How exciting, my first bullet proof car, along with my own personal body guard for the week.  Okay, so with all this security it seems a little bit scarier than what it actually was.  I am told by the locals that 10-15 years ago, the town was very dangerous, popular with the mafia, but the government did a huge amount to clean it up, which has seemingly worked.  In saying that, it's a brave soul that would make the decision to reduce the level of security that is provided to employees.  One thing that Medellin is famous for is fake boobs.  This stems from the mafia days where the men would buy their mistresses fake boobs.  Now, it's embedded in society and is something that is commonly given for 15 or 16th birthday presents. Medellin is also known for having amazing weather - consistently around 28 degrees every day, all year, 1/2 the year wet, the other half dry.  It's now dry season in Medellin, but as luck would have it, there was torrential rain the entire week.   Here's a couple of pics from the top of the factory, the best view in the city (better when it's not so cloudy)!

 With Juli (left) and Monica (right)... and me in the middle in case you forget what I look like.

 

After four days in Medellin, I then took the 45 minute flight to Bogota.  Bogota is the capital of Colombia and is considered a savannah, or a high plateau in the Andes mountains.  It's strange because it is really flat (captain obvious again), but it is at a decent altitude - 2625m (to put in perspective Mt. Kosciuszko is 2228 metres).  I got a mild case of altitude sickness whilst I was there - I was all woozy and my body was all tingly... I guess no climbing everest for me!  I was only there one night, but had arrived late the night before, but my flight out on the Friday night was not until 11pm.  I was told I have to go to this restaurant that "is Bogota" that for the life of me I can't remember the name of.  This place was awesome!  Luckily I went early because of my flight,  because when I left, there was a queue of over 100 waiting to get in.  This restaurant basically had like 5 floors, and a menu with 55 pages!

Here is my delicious meal - prawns with rice and veg, which came out sizzling

... and me with a bib.  

Leaving Colombia, I caught the real red eye flight - it level at 11pm Colombia time (midnight NY time) and it arrived at 5.30am NY time - nasty nasty nasty.  I managed to fall asleep on the runway, but woke up during take off, then fell back asleep about 25 minutes before preparing to land.  I managed to fit in a couple of movies in between - The Vow being one of them... what a tear jerker.  I have a theory that when you are flying that your emotions are heightened, I either seem to find movies extraordinarily sad and end up bawling my eyes out (The Notebook, Soul Surfer etc. etc. etc. etc. etc.), or excrutiatingly funny and end up laughing inappropriately loud, and let out a frequent snort (Death at a Funeral, The Hangover etc. etc. etc. etc.).  When I see them again at normal altitude, although I thoroughly enjoy them again, I certainly don't have the same emotional reaction. 

The following week I went to Rock of Ages (the stage show) and oh my god, it was so awesome.  I must say it would be up there as one of the best shows I've seen, maybe even the best (though being on stage on Priscilla would have to be my fave moment).  It had the best soundtrack for a bogan like me, and I discovered at that show there are many bogans in the city.  That same week, I also caught up twice with Pina, who I work with (and who coincidentally knows my aunty Collette and her husband Dennis, and the family they were travelling with know them as well - very small world).  We went out for dinner, which was really lovely.

Last Sunday I went and saw my friend Lindsay's new show - Triassic Park, which is a parody of Jurassic Park, and really inappropriate and funny.  After the show she was having a get together for the crew working on the show, so I joined them.  It's funny, the acting scene is very different to my own world and it's really intriguing to me, but then on the other hand I am as equally intriguing to them (I don't know how).  One of her other friends Cameron came over with her boyfriend, who coincidentally enough was Stacy Jaxx from Rock of Ages that I had just seen that week.   It was a fun evening and my first exposure to American Ribs and Macaroni and Cheese - delish!

Other than that, the week has been nicely uneventful - I didn't really get up to much (beside work of course) and that suited me just fine.  The weather has been really hot - record breaking temperatures.  Yesterday was 36 degrees and super humid - there was a really loud thunderstorm early yesterday morning; and then today was 35.  There's some major fires burning across the country which is not good.  

Today, I had nothing planned so went to the movies, and for the first time ever, saw two in a row!  I saw Snow White and Huntsman, excellent, and then Rock of Ages.  I hadn't wanted to see the movie until after the show, but I must say I was a little disappointed as they changed the story quite a bit, and quite frankly the actors in the stage show were better singers than the ones in the movies.  

Anyway, I'm now coming home again in August (as long as it gets approved at work), so if you are wanting to order things in the US, nows the time and I can bring them back with me.  Clearly the amount of things I can bring is limited, so it's first in best dressed.  Just drop me an email and I can give you the delivery details.

Signing off for this week (or 3!),

Michele 

"Nice Beaver!"

Hi Everyone,

It sure has been a couple of exciting weeks...
Most exciting and most important - Brett's visa was approved!  After sitting on the desk at the consulate for months and months gathering dust, it finally got looked at two weeks ago and was approved within a couple of days - unbelievable.  Now, that's a classic case of bureaucracy.  So now we're in mode to get Brett here.  He has the task of getting the place rented out and storing all of his cars and getting our little Jack ready to board the plane.  We're thinking it will be around the end of July by the time he gets here, but at least we know now, which is the most important thing.  I've got two weeks travel in July to Miami and Argentina, so it doesn't make sense for Brett to get here when I'm not.

So with more excitement, Friday week ago, I got a last minute invitation to go to Radiohead concert with Lindsay (Broadway friend)  As a lover of live music, I was an instant yes!  I met her after work (unfortunately dressed daggily from work having not planned on going out the night), and after a battle of finding each other at Penn Station, we boarded the train to Prudential Center at Newark, New Jersey.  As we line up to get in, Lindsay explained she got the tix from her husband's cousin, who is the location manager (I think that's the title) for the band.... you know the one that makes sure there are 250 green M&Ms, or a fountain with 10 white swans, or a room of 500 hookers... you get the picture.  Anyway, very excitededly, we make our way to our seats, through the section that has it's own private bar, and then she proceeds to tell me we also have wrist bands for us to go to the after party!  Though, as Lindsay's in rehearsals for a show at the moment, she wasn't sure if we would go.  Onto that later...  Anyway, walking in the stadium there's a huge waft of dope smoke - clearly those on security are not so strict on the anti-smoking laws, let alone anti-drug laws.  It was extraordinary.   Anyway, the concert was excellent - super energy charged and visually awesome.   Hyped up from the show (and possibly the passive smoking!), Lindsay said we have to go to the afterparty - like I needed any convincing!  We made our way back to Manhattan to the Jane Hotel in Meat Packing district, and walk towards the room, and the bouncer at the door says "I'm sorry, this is a private party girls"... smuggly, we raise our wrists and flash our bands and proceed on into the party.  It was pretty cool, but most excitedly Jude Law was there!!!  Obviously not channeling my cultural roots, I didn't build up enough dutch courage to ask for a photo.  Here's the two of us there.

So, then I was in Miami for the past week doing some training and having a meeting with my team - it's always good when we can get together face to face.  I got back late Friday night after having to take off just after one of the most extraordinary storms I had ever been in - the thunder was so, so, so, so loud - I was seriously so close to moving my flight to Saturday, but pushed through and luckily the storm cleared up by the time I took off.

Yesterday afternoon, I went to Teena and Matt's for Matt's sister's 21 birthday.  Teena had been sick all week so I wanted to be an extra set of hands for them.  It was a Mad Hatter's tea party theme and the dress was 'quirky'.   Very sweet

Matt's sister, Chelsea, is living in NYC to go to film and acting school and has made a really nice bunch of friends who are also actors.  One of the girls there was recently on NYPD Blue, another was in a music video, and Chelsea has written a play that is being produced.  Anyway, one of her friends Brian, definitely went full quirky with the theme....

... what can I say, actors are an individual bunch (with Teena on the right and Matt's sister Simone...or should I say Alice...on the left)

We went afterwards to a bar "LeBain".  Matt, Simone and I were on chaperone duty... gee, I'm getting so mature :)  This place was another quite extraordinary one... there was a really nice rooftop bar, but then one floor down was a dance floor with giant jacuzzi (or spa in Aussie) next to it (bizarre)... and people were actually going into it.  I personally wouldn't recommend it unless you want to pick up some sort of mysterious bacteria.  So, after seeing Jude Law the week before, the first celeb after a huge dry patch, I then saw Emma Watson (Hermima from Harry Potter).  She looked completely unassuming and I really had to stare to see if it was her - her hair was really plain and she was wearing quite a daggy outfit.  After being frustrated at myself from the previous week for not asking Jude Law for a photo, I built up the courage eventually and asked her for a photo, but she said no :(  Oh well, at least I tried.

I've been also taking much better care of myself.  I've been walking or jogging nearly every day, either along the boulevard or around the nearby park.  Yesterday, it was really funny, I came across a beaver!

He looked so funny!  He was a decent size, the size of a small dog.

Then on my walk at the park today, I noticed in the lake a whole lot of turtles!  Check these ones out:

So, after a couple of very exciting weeks, tomorrow I'm flying off to Colombia for the week - my first time there.  Don't worry, I'll make sure I leave the boogy board bag at home!

Ciao!
Michele