Australian Hotel

You wanna try some crocodile, emu, and kangaroo pizza? Check out the Australian Hotel at 100 Cumberland St, at the Rocks.

My boss in San Francisco from almost 10yrs ago contacted me and told me his colleagues are moving to Sydney. So I met up with this Brazilian couple and took them to the Australian Hotel so they can try some authentic food (as in the toppings, not the pizza). Unfortunately, Vinny was vegetarian and Patricia was not too interested in exotic foods. Oh well...I still ordered the crocodile, emu, and kangaroo pizza.

Thredbo - Snowy Mountains

Australia's highest peaks are located in the Snowy Mountains. Not surprisingly, they are known for its ski resorts. During this APEC weekend, we drove down south for a ski trip. The last time I went skiing was about 10yrs ago in Lake Tahoe, Nevada. This time around, I wanted to try snowboarding.

We had an early start on Friday morning leaving Sydney, a quick drive around Canberra, one stop shop at Jindabyne for our ski gears and snow tires, and off to Thredbo. We stayed in the little town of Thredbo which was pretty cute, narrow streets, cabins and lodges by the side of the mountain overlooking the ski resort and the snowy mountains. Our house was just next to the resort and my room, waking up in the morning with a view of the snowy mountains.

Saturday was all-day snowboarding!!! I joined a group of people for the lessons and when the instructor asked, "who here is from Sydney trying to get away from the APEC weekend?" Everybody pretty much raised their hands. Yep, everyone I talked to was from Sydney.

First run down the slope was scary. But the second, third, fourth, and fifth was exhilarating. I was liking it more and more, better than skiing! The thing I hated the most was getting on the lift. The first one I got on, I couldn't get on the seat properly and fell. I quickly fell flat on the snow to avoid the lift hitting my head and they had to stop the whole thing to get me up. When I finally got on and got to the top of the slopes, I prepared myself getting off my seat. With my luck, I fell again and had to duck my head to avoid getting hit. Good god!

Sunday, we drove back to Sydney and passed by the Pauline Fathers Monastery (Hanging Rocks) at Penrose for lunch at the park. The monastery had chapels representing different countries and little chapels for different saints. If we only had more time, I could have gotten a 'Saints 101' education from these chapels. We were hurrying back to return the car by 6pm and we just made it on time.

Walking back home, we passed by Kings Cross and entered a pub to watch the Women's finals of the US Tennis Open.

...I'm tired!!!

APEC Summit

21 Leaders coming to Sydney for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation. Thanks to President Bush (or the 'Shrub'), we get a holiday on Friday, Sep 7th. Yipeeee!!! Sydney was a ghost town. Of course, I had my alternatives. We planned a ski trip to the Snowy Mountains (the highest peak in Australia) by Thredbo.

Its been the buzz all year, the city preparing for a big event since the 2000 Olympics. Presidents such as Bush, Putin, and Hu (China) were all coming down under. For security reasons, during the week of APEC, there were road closures, public transport timetable changes, additional cameras installed, and fences all around the city. I had a chance to see all this when I took the train around Circular Quay passing by the Intercontinental Hotel where Bush was staying (and possibly the 699 people he brought along with him). Fences and security guards everywhere! Notwithstanding, pranksters from the TV show 'Crashers', pretended to form a motorcade and got through security at the hotel with police escorts. And coming out of the car was no other than Osama Bin Laden. Of course, that was the whole joke! But it wasn't funny to the police. They could have shot someone!

One of the highlights of APEC meetings is the traditional group photo of the leaders wearing the host country's national costume. Australia doesn't really have a national costume and we were all guessing as to what it would be: speedos, bushman outfit (as in Steve Irwin), cowboy outfit (Crocodile Dundee). But it ended up with those lame Driza-bone coats. I don't even know what it is. It looks to me like an ordinary raincoat. That's Australia???

And you can't end APEC without a Bush blunder. Here goes: Pres Bush thanking John Howard, our Prime Minister:

"Thank you for being such a fine host for the OPEC summit."

I wish we had more of these APEC meetings in Sydney. Til 21 years from now, I guess!

Salsa Class

I've missed my last four salsa classes due to my US holidays. So this week, I made up two of those. Luckily, the dance instructor for these two classes is no other than the World Champion of Salsa - Oliver Pineda. I got to dance with him and he said I was good and I dance smooth...nice!

He owns the Salsa Latin Motion class that I've been going to. Its also the same teaching school that was featured on "Dancing with the Stars" - Aussie version.

Look him up on Youtube!

Star City Casino

We went to Star City Casino for some free lessons. In all of the month of August, you can get free lessons in BlackJack, Baccarat, and Roulette. I sat at the BlackJack table as it was the only available seat. $100 worth of funny money to start off...and my money never went up! Just another confirmation why I'm not much of a gambler coz I know I'll so regret losing my money when I'd rather spend it on the food! Anyway, it felt like the dealer was telling us tricks on how to lose your $$. I'm so risk averse so I like to play safe...and I should have followed my instincts. Thank goodness it was fake money!

After I lost all of my money, I let the next person sit. And guess what, he wins $300 bucks! Gad damnit!!! To give myself some "consolation", I think I was the lucky charm...o, ano? di ba? loko lang!!!

"Live Free or Die Hard"

Whew!!! What an action-packed movie. The best action movie I've seen in a long time. You can't go wrong with Bruce Willis (at age 52), aka John McClane.

The fourth Die Hard movie comes out 12yrs after the last one (Die Hard with a Vengeance) and its so much better than his Planet Hollywood co-owner's sequels (Arnold Schwarzenegger's "T3" and Sylvester Stallone's "Rocky Balboa").

This is a must see!!!

Celestine Coming to America

9 days after Posh's coming to America, it was my turn. July 21st, the day "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" arrived...9:01am in Sydney. My departure time was 11:45am and had to be at the airport at least 3hrs beforehand. I got to the airport at about 9am, checked-in, and the first thing I did was look for a newsagent and buy the last of the 7-series book. Thank goodness, I found one. I would have ended up reading the so-far boring Bram Stoker's "Dracula" while on the plane.

I got to the terminal and started reading the book. Next time I looked up, I saw people around me reading Harry Potter. I arrived in New Zealand for my stopover, looked around the terminal and people were reading Harry Potter. I arrive in LAX and kids were walking around holding the Harry Potter book. What a phenomenom! Of the 16hour flight from Sydney to California, I was only half way through the book. My cousin finished it in 20 hours over the weekend.

Shhh...don't tell me how the story ends.

So what now? What now after HP? There's nothing else to look forward to. Any books you'd recommend?

7-7-07

Did you realize that each year for twelve years, starting from 2001 up to 2012, we will be having a triple same number date (or however you call it?)

1/1/2001
2/2/2002
3/3/2003
4/4/2004
5/5/2005
6/6/2006
7/7/2007
8/8/2008
9/9/2009
10/10/2010
11/11/2011
12/12/2012

Each year seem to represent something:

6/6/06 - the antichrist was supposed to come (did it?)
7/7/07 - supposed to be a very good wedding date (goodluck to Eva Longoria and Tony Parker!)

Live Earth - 07.07.07

Live Earth - the concert to bring awareness about global warming and encouraging people to be "greener" due partly to Al Gore's involvement (he also said he invented the internet???).

It is a 24 hour concert event spanning 7 countries all over the world starting in Sydney (I WAS THERE!!!), Tokyo, Shanghai, London, Hamburg, New York, Johannesburg, and Rio (not in that order - I don't know time zones. And yes, that was 8 countries, not 7. And maybe Washington, DC participated, too. Oops! I actually meant, 7 continents). Rio was almost cancelled (think Mardi Gras craziness!!!).

This must have been the longest concert I've been to, if not BFD4 ("Big Freaking Deal 4" sponsored by Live 105 in the bay area). The Sydney lineup included:

Blue King Brown
Toni Collette & the Finish
Sneaky Sound System
Ghostwriters
Paul Kelly
Eskimo Joe
Missy Higgins
The John Butler Trio
Wolfmother
Jack Johnson
Crowded House

The lineup wasn't too bad. Although I think the best lineup would be at Wembley Stadium in London (from Snow Patrol, Keane, Duran Duran, Beastie Boys, Madonna, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Genesis, James Blunt, Foo Fighters, John Legend, Black Eyed Peas, etc...and how can you forget the Pussycat Dolls!!!)

WYD08 - Cross & Icon

Back in 2005, before I moved to Australia, I found out that the next World Youth Day will be happening in Sydney in 2008. And I thought, I have to partake in this momentous and religious event of the Catholic Church.

The World Youth Day was started in 1984 with Pope John Paul II. On the cross, it says:

My dear young people, at the conclusion of the Holy Year, I entrust to you the sign of this Jubilee Year: the Cross of Christ! Carry it throughout the world as a symbol of Christ's love for humanity, and announce to everyone that only in the death and resurrection of Christ can we find salvation and redemption. (His Holiness Pope John Paul II, Rome, 22 April 1984).

The icon was then added in 2003 as a second symbol of faith. Both the cross and icon has travelled and carried by various groups of people all over the world. Last week, I had the honor to carry the cross and the icon on its journey through Australia.

Pinoy Mass

I attended, for the first time in Australia, a filipino mass all the way in Blacktown (St Michael's which holds a filipino mass every 4th Sunday of the month). Its the second biggest gathering of filipinos I've seen since the Manny Paquiao boxing match back in November. Most of the mass was told in Tagalog and made me realize that growing up, I rarely went to Filipino masses. That's why I could hardly respond in Tagalog during the mass.

After the mass, we went to a Filipino buffet restaurant where they served pancit, tinola, adobo, we had some crispy pata on the side...as usual, the food was greasy!!! And they served some fries (pinoy??? more of a filler). To supplement that, we bought some puto and pandesal (all for just $4 - cheap, huh?). I don't know when I'll be back in Blacktown but I always end up buying some cheap filipino food over there.

Rock Climbing

To do on a rainy day.

Big a** view!

Anyone want to be a social climber? (joke only, ha!)

Lake Macquarie

Don't ask me or LJ how to get to Lake Macquarie next time. We got lost for about 1hr getting there. Haha! Its all part of the adventure, huh, LJ?

One sunday morning, I showed up at the rental car shop, asked them if they had a rental car available, got one, picked up LJ, and drove off to Lake Macquarie. It was Mother's day and everyone was out by the lake. LJ and I did some kayaking (oi! iitim na naman ako!!!) at Warners Bay, cruising around to see some big houses, a stroll on Blacksmiths beach overlooking another beach (which was called Nine Mile Beach!?!?!?!?). LJ has decided he wants to have a place overlooking the lake.

This blog is boring! No great pictures either. I'm out!

Harry's Cafe De Wheels

Something I used to do back home - latenight drives to 'In & Out Burger' for their yummy burgers and fries.

In Sydney, latenight drive to Woolloomooloo for some hotdogs and hot pies at the original, iconic Harry's Cafe. Celebrities from Frank Sinatra to Brooke Shields have visited the place. Russell Crowe lives by the wharf where this caravan cafe now stands.

I had a rental car this weekend so I made that trip Sunday night and sat by the wharf possibly overlooking Russell Crowe's digs eating my hotdog!!!

Read more about Harry's

Luna Park Pool

I tried practicing my hopeless swimming skills at Luna Park this weekend. Needless to say I wasn't any good at it but also the view from Luna Park's swimming pool was distracting.

Try swimming next to a view that is the Sydney skyline, Harbour Bridge, Opera House, and the Sydney Harbour on a nice sunny day.

Salsa - Coldplay Style

Did you ever think you could salsa a Coldplay tune? "Clocks" in particular? Go on! Pull out that Coldplay CD of yours or search it on your iTunes collection. Listen and see if you could imagine yourself doing salsa with it.

I've taken up salsa dancing the past couple of weeks and will go on for another five weeks. I haven't given up on swing! I'll give that a rest for now. But I'm not guaranteeing I'll be doing any of these dances on any weddings any time soon (hint, hint).

I'd be really surprised next week if they started playing Keane's "This is the Last Time" for salsa.

Sydney Royal Easter Show

Its the must see and do over the Easter weekend - the Royal Easter Show at the Olympic Park. My adventures in Oz land continues.

On the website, it says its the largest annual event staged in Australia. It highlights the country's rural heritage featuring livestock and domestic animals you can pet (sheep, cows, goats, pigs), clydesdale horses, woodchopping competitions, floral arts, alpaca competitions, cooking demonstrations to carnival rides, live music, motorcross action, female cannonball, daredevil aquatic divers, to the all time favorite - showbags (I had three Twix showbags - full of chocolates).

Let me tell you, I think I'm getting too old for these rides. After a rollercoaster, we had to tame it down to the classic ferry's wheel. We gambled a little bit on carnival games but we all ended up empty handed. We did have some privileges at the member's lounge...cheap food!

It was all good fun! Reminds me of those fiestas and carnivals we had in the Philippines when we were little kids. But as they say, once you've done the Easter Show, you've done the Easter Show. That's all folks!!!

Skywalk - AMP Sydney Tower

March 31st - 'Earth Hour' starting at 730pm. Its Sydney's way of participating in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions (Kyoto Protocol - Australia hasn't actually ratified the protocol. So is the US!!!). Turning off your lights at 730pm for just one hour. Sydney is the first city in the world to do this initiative hoping other countries will follow in the next years.

Of course I'll be participating! I won't be home to use any electrical devices. I'll be walking on top of the tallest tower in Sydney. And it just so happens that our booking is set at 715pm. But only lucky enough to see the lights turn on (well, we had to change to this blue and yellow suit before going up there).

It was still a fantastic view, although I was a little disappointed as they were still a lot of lights turned on. You could see the bridge on the top left but not the hanger itself. Right next to it is Australia Square (the round bldg) just turning on its lights. North Sydney CBD was blacked out...great job...including our bldg.

It was pretty exciting that Channel 10 got to interview us! I thought being interviewed on National TV was more nerve racking than actually doing the walk. I checked the news - I think we ended up on the cutting room floor.

We ended the night with dinner at the 360 degree restaurant just below the Skywalk.

Newcastle

I didn't think I was going back to Newcastle so soon after I blogged about it not having too many things to do. But so be it. I actually went there for a babyshower...surprisingly, babyshower with lots of booze served. That's how babies are made in the first place, right? Oh, don't you worry. I've got nothing to do with all that. Just a few sips is enough for me.

On the paper, they mentioned about the finals of a surfing competition. So we checked out the Toyota Maitland International Surfest Competition by Merewether Beach. I guess its pretty big coz Kelly Slater was the champion a couple of years ago (he's pretty much the only surfer I know coz he was on the TV show 'Baywatch'). Sort of disappointed...waves were too small. It was cold. No Kelly Slater.

I've got this video, though. This one's for you, Brad Pitt!!! Surf's UP!




P.S. FYI - Sydneysiders is to Sydney as Novocastrians is to Newcastle

March Madness - 2007

Here it comes! My 3rd year participating in the so called "March Madness" in the world of College Basketball (NCAA). It has always been exciting for me even before I won 3rd place out of 40 something in my first year...and to almost last place in the second year. We'll see how I do this time around. I hope the amateurs I'm competing with this year will have as much fun as I always do.

Here are my picks for the Final 4:

Midwest: Florida Gators
West: Kansas Jayhawks
East: North Carolina Tar Heels
South: Ohio St Buckeyes

Its all a guessing game!!! If you remembered last year, none of the #1 seeds got into the Final 4 - and nobody expected that!!! If you want to follow or copy my bracket (not that I can guarantee you its gonna win), click on the picture below:




There's about $50 in the pot, I think.

Here's brother Mike's picks