Sunday, October 25, 2009

My Parents Swim at the North Sydney Olympic Pool

Thank You Mom for the Massage!

Mud House Winery

Waipara Springs Winery

We combined lunch with the wine tastings at Waipara Springs.

Most Beautiful Winery: Pegasus Bay Winery

Of all the wineries, this was the most beautiful with a Japanese garden in the back. This would be a great winery to visit when it's Summer and you either have time for a picnic or want a 4 course meal in their upscale restaurant.

Marble Point Winery

It's Wed. Oct. 21 and we've got a driver to shuttle us around to 4 wineries in the Waipara Wine Valley.

Challenge to Scott and Ana: Please ID this New Zealand Bird

Ana and Scott love to bird watch from their patio at their home in San Diego. They have a bird feeder, binoculars and a bird book to help them in this favorite past time.

So, of course when I saw this beautiful bird, I thought "I have to ask Scott and Ana to identify it for me".

Not much of a bird watcher, it was intriguing to me that the bird hung around and even ate up the left over cheese we sprinkled on the ground.

Shakuhachi in Hanmer Springs

A Kiwi Thing: Banana and Bacon Pancakes

When I was about 15 years old, my parents went to a wedding or some event and stayed over the night which meant I was responsible for my younger brother.

I took this responsibility very seriously and even took the initiative to make a proper pancake breakfast for us Sunday morning. But I accidently made pancakes for four people instead of just the two of us. And worried that my Dad was going to scold me for being wasteful with food I made my brother eat all the pancakes. To this day, my brother cringes when he has to eat pancakes.

With that background aside, you'll understand why I have this weird fascination with pointing out anything having to do about pancakes to my brother so that even after all these years he has this "I can't bear the sight of pancakes" moment. I'm so ashamed, I need help.

I did try the Banana and Bacon (which in New Zealand is actually Canadian ham) Pancakes with whipped cream and it did taste nice together.

Cherry Blossoms at Hanmer Springs

Stunning Views from the Hanmer Springs Thermal Pools

The Hanmer Springs thermal pools of Hanmer Springs, New Zealand have attracted visitors since 1859 and are one of New Zealand’s most popular visitor attractions.

About 90 minutes drive North from Christchurch, the thermal pools include 9 open air thermal pools and 3 sulphur pools. There's a big variety of pools including sulphur and rock pools with temperatures ranging from 36 - 42ÂșC

Loved Staying at the Heritage Hanmer Springs Hotel

There's a New Zealand Leaf in my Latte!

TranzAlpine Train Ride

Noted as one of the top 6 global train rides, it made me curious what the other 5 train rides were...yet even after a Google search I couldn't find the list of the top 6. Yet top 6 or not, it certainly was a great and scenic ride.

The journey is 223 kilometers and has 19 tunnels.

When Papa and I made our way down to the cafe train for some wine we met Paul the "narrator guy" (he pops up in the middle of the Flip Video) who provided all of tourists with these juicy train factoids.

Jet Boating and 360 Degree Turns

Jet boating was like riding a hovercraft, levitating over the water as we cruised at breakneck speeds along the Waipara River. It was exhilarating!



On the way back from jet boating, we drove by some mean looking cows.

Riding Shot Gun

This 4 x Wheel Drive adventure excursion was even more exciting as I got to sit shotgun in the front seat!



While we were driven around Torlesse Sheep Ranch, the 6 x Wheel Drive jeep got stuck...



There were two kinds of sheep on the ranch - Suffolk and Romney. The Suffolk Sheep have brown legs and are largely breeded for their wool. Romney Sheep are breeded and exported to the UK who love lamb!

Torlesse Sheep Ranch

Life is tough for this bull at the Torlesse Sheep Ranch... all these sheep and a majestic view of the Canterbury Plains.

Do You Take Xylophone with Your Latte!

Best Pub in Christchurch: Dux de Lux

Wayne the tram driver recommended Dux de Lux for their Nor'western beer (although in this Flip Video I keep referring to it as wine, it is beer).

Christchurch Cathedral

The bells toll at Christchurch Cathedral.

Akaroa Harbour Cruise

It was about a 1.5 hour shuttle ride to Akaroa Bay where we did a bit of shopping, enjoyed Akaroa salmon and took a cruise to see Hector Dolphins.




These Hector Dolphins are very playful and must eat a lot of fish to stay warm in these cold waters (New Zealand's South Island is one of the closest land masses to Antarctica).





Barry's Bay Cheese (near Christchurch)

We tasted several cheeses and purchased two:

1. Premium aged cheddar which was smooth and creamy, with intense flavor

2. Mom's fave was Maasdama which once we declared it at customs we were able to bring back into Australia (as long as the cheese is commercially wrapped, from a country that does not have foot and mouth disease and is declared, you're allowed to bring it into Australia).

Visions of Lord of the Rings

From this panoramic view at The HIlltop Restaurant, you can see why the Lord of the Rings Trilogy was filmed in the South Island of New Zealand.

Since the first movie came out in 2001, travel has become the #1 industry in New Zealand (previously farming/dairy was #1).

New Zealand Beer: Wobbly Boot and Low Carb Beer

I love the saying the name of this New Zealand beer - "Wobbly Boot"!

Super Fiery Red Tree for Tomu!

Tomu, now every time I see an unusual tree, I think - gotta show Tomu!

What's ironic is that the leaves on this tree are fire engine red but it's called a "Purple Beech Tree". A misnomer if I ever heard one.



And in the same Botanical Garden, here's a truly radical tree. Very knarley!

Christchurch Botanic Garden

My best friend Michelle, who I've known since 3rd grade, knitted me this beautiful blanket years ago with my favorite colors - pink, blue, burgundy and white (which I still have and in fact it travelled via boat all the way to Sydney).

Shell, while at the Christchurch Botanic Gardens, I saw this exact color palette!

Christchurch Tram Ride

In Australia and New Zealand, shopping carts are "trolleys" and trolleys are "trams". I learned this a few weeks ago while shopping at Woolworths (there are hardly any still in the US, but they're one of the most popular grocery stories in Australia) where I was rather rudely informed of the difference.

In any event, on our first day in Christchurch which is on the South Island of New Zealand (my only other trip to New Zealand was to the Cisco Auckland office which is on the North Island) we took a tram ride through Christchurch.

And Wayne, our driver and tour guide, was great at explaining the sights (which is probably why he's featured on their brochures). In this Flip Video you can find out:

* What $47M feels like
* The site of Peter Jackson's movie Heavenly Creatures which is the first feature film with Kate Winslet.
* How Captain James Cook named the "cabbage tree"

Celebrity at "Sushi Making" Night

There was even a celebrity in our midst at "Sushi Making Night"!

For the past two weeks or so, the World Masters Games have been taking place in Sydney. More than just swimming, the World Masters Games involves every sport imaginable from sailing, to swimming to running and cycling.

The week before my party, Robyn swam in several swimming competitions and took home two medals!

I was so pleased that especially after the very busy week she'd just had, Robyn and her husband Kevin joined us!

Flight to Chistchurch

The morning after "Gyoza and Make Your Own Sushi Night" we took an Emirates Flight for a week in Christchurch. Never having flown Emirates before, I was impressed with its service and personal entertainment system.

Later in the Evening: Sushi Making Continues

Peter arrived at "sushi making night" eager to wipe-away a past sushi-making experience. Back when he was 14 years old, he was in a game show and the challenge was to make a sushi roll and sadly the judges gave him a 1 out of 10.

But this evening was a different story! Peter made a sushi roll that was just tops - a 10 out of 10! Check it out for yourself.



I'm also happy to report that even those that aren't a fan of fish, got in the spirit and made non-fish sushi (we had egg, avocado, cucumber). Here's "I was named before the movie Nemo came out" Dori from North Sydney Masters making her sushi roll:



And of course, as the host I was persuaded to also demonstrate my sushi making skills, which as you can see from this Flip Video needs some improvement.



The master sushi chef maker of the evening was Paul and he shows here that "make your own sushi" can be a team effort as well. Here he is advising my neighbor Andrew in the art of sushi ...



Since a few guests had arrived late, Papa played his shakuhachi for a second time this evening.

Sushi Making Party!

While my new Australian friends don't know this, my friends and family back in the US know that cooking is not my forte. I do know how to cook, in fact I've taken a few cooking classes and I have my "specialties" of dishes and desserts that I can make quite well when I have friends over for lunch/dinner.

Yet I'll also fess up to hosting my share of fondu and "make your own sushi" parties to camouflage the fact that cooking's not my #1 favorite thing to do. But I do love to entertain and have friends over, so what's a girl to do?!

So, I am incredibly thrilled that my new friends got in the spirit of "make your own sushi"!

Here's the "man of many talents" Captain Pat having a go at making sushi.



And here's his wife Emma making a very beautiful sushi roll.



Annette's done an excellent job making her sushi.



Taking a break in making gyoza, my Dad is teaching how to fold paper (origami) to make a Japanese crane.



A few hours into the dinner party, Papa played his shakuhachi which is a Japanese bamboo flute with 8 finger holes for everyone's entertainment.

Horiuchi Secret Gyoza Recipe

My Dad's gyoza is famous and secret! I don't even know all of the ingredients. When my Dad's in town, I always ask him to make me his famous gyoza!

Here's my friend Paul showing us his "gyoza treatment"...

Very Early Morning at the Sydney Fish Market

We arrived at the Sydney Fish Market at 6:30 a.m. for the start of our tour! I know I'll never go into that business because, the fish auctioners had been there since 4:30 a.m. Why even bother going to sleep?

The coolest thing for me was seeing the yellow fin tuna and the sushi auction of the most expensive fish. Particularly since we were buying our fish for sushi night later that evening!

Saturday, October 24, 2009

One Year Later - My Parents' Second Trip Down Under

A year ago (Oct. 3, 2008 to be specific) I travelled with my parents for the very first time to Australia. As an avid scuba diver, it had always been my dream to dive the Great Barrier Reef. With global warming, I was very keen to dive the GBR before the coral bleached and the fish life disappeared.

I spent 3 weeks traveling around Australia (2 weeks with my parents, the last week I dived my heart out in the GBR) and LOVED it! That's why, when I got back to work and heard about the Cisco ANZ PR Manager position I thought it was fate! And a chance of a lifetime to come back to Australia!

It was a bit of a "flashback" to then meet my parents at the Sydney International Terminal on Oct. 10, 2009 and bring them back to my place where they'd stay for a week and sight-see the places they missed last year and then we all headed out for the second week to Christchurch, New Zealand a place we were all visiting for the first time.

On their first day, we "Island Hopped" to some of the islands in the Sydney Harbour that are not always open and accessible to the public. Our first stop was to Fort Denison Island which used to be where convicts were confined, then it was used in the 19th century as a fort to protect Sydney Harbour until the time when the cannons on Fort Denison were no match for the steel-enforced battle ships that were coming into the Harbour. Now it's a great place for tourists to enjoy lunch at the cafe seven days a week. Note: For $1,000 a person, you can also welcome in the New Year from Fort Denison over a lovely dinner and champagne toast with a front row seat view of the fireworks over the Sydney Harbour Bridge at midnight.



After Fort Denison, we "hopped" to Shark Island where the National Park staff created a "Jurassic Park"-like atmosphere for us Island Hoppers.



On Sunday, Oct. 11 it was rainy and we took a chance that by heading to the Northern beaches we could find some sunshine. And it worked - we headed to Palm Beach and while early on it sprinkled and was overcast, by lunch time it was beautiful and sunny.



On Tuesday, Oct. 13, we enjoyed dinner at Cafe Sydney which has a spectacular view of both the Sydney Harbour Bridge but also Circular Quay and the Sydney Opera House. Since Mom's birthday was just a few weeks ago (Sept. 29), we had a belated birthday cake celebration.

Cool Breezes at Manly Jazz Festival

More guests come and visit me! Clare and her sister Stella came to visit from New Zealand and on Monday, Oct. 5 we headed to the Manly Jazz Festival. I had the day off because it was Labour Day - but strangely unlike in the US when the whole country has the day off - in Australia only the states of New South Wales and the Australian Capitol Territory had Labour Day as a public holiday in celebration of workers' role in contributing towards the nation's economy.



The last night of their visit, we went to Mad Pizza in Darlinghurst and there was only street parking. It's been about 3 months since I got the car and I've been managing to either park in a garage or find very wide spaces on the street to pull into. My luck ran out and my only option was to parallel park.

Now, the disclaimer is that in the US when the steering wheel was on the left-hand side, I was an excellent parallel parker. From experience i can confirm that by simply having the steering wheel on the right-hand side makes a huge difference in your perspective and your feel for distance from the curb and when to start turning the wheel to fit into a parking spot.

Although I don't want to jinx myself, I did successfully park parallel in my first attempt.

Walkabout in Noosa

After Cisco Networkers, I decided to head up to Noosa, Queensland for some R&R. About a two-hour shuttle bus ride from Brisbane, Noosa's well known for it's beautiful beaches, Noosa National Park and a great downtown full of pubs, restaurants and boutiques.



On Sunday, Oct. 4 I was set to fly back to Sydney and it also happened to be the change over to Day Light Savings Time.

When I woke up Sunday morning to the alarm on my mobile, I thought I was right on time. Then in a flash of enlightenment I remembered it was Day Light Savings and that I had forgotten to advance the clock on my mobile ahead one hour and I was actually late. Then I turned on CNN and was totally confused because it said it was actually two hours early.

I was totally confused!



So I woke up and went in search of a latte and some informed person who could help me figure out what time it actually was. I ran into a fellow who was also from Sydney who let me in on the fact that while the state of New South Wales (Sydney) acknowledged Day Light Savings Time, Queensland (Brisbane, Noosa) did not as it was very sunny throughout the year. Like me, he too woke up confused yet he figured it out by virtue of the fact that all the Noosa Pubs were advertising the National Rugby League (NRL) Final Games with a start time of 3 p.m. when he knew it was 4 p.m. in Sydney.

Which brings me to a commentary on the names of Australian rugby teams. In the NRL finals, the Melbourne Storm were playing the Parramatta Eels. When I hear "eels" all I can think of is one of my favorite sushi (unagi) and wonder how an NRL team feels about playing for a team named after a green, snake-like eel? Or how about the Rabbitohs or the Roosters? Not very intimidating or fierce in my book.

Since I was up so incredibly early, I headed to Noosa Beach to watch a few brave and dedicated men and women enjoying an early morning swim. The water was incredible smooth and calm and I was reminded of that time I joined my swimming friends from the Decathlon Club for a swim in Carmel, California. Totally opposite from Noosa, it was FREEZING!

Cisco Networkers Party!

After all the work is done, Cisco hosts a party on the final evening for all the Networkers attendees. Here are a few videos from that evening.

The party theme was "Agent 007 himself James Bond". While at the party I had a chance to catch up one of my San Jose-based colleagues Fred Weiller who's now heading up Learning@Cisco.



In true James Bond fashion, there were several daring and adventure-themed activities - everything from rock climbing, laser tag, and fencing at the party (there was also tattooing which I'm not sure how it fits the 007-theme, probably more for the general IT crowd). Disappointingly, I didn't see any "shaken not stirred" martinis but there were some yummy sweet cocktails.

Getting swept up in the spirit of the party, I decided to give the fencing a try and challenged one of the journalists, Liam, to a duel. As you can see, Liam's a natural and looked far more debonair than I, but I did get a few jabs in (I'm fairly sure it was only because he was being a sporting gentleman).



To top off the evening, this indie/alternative rock band from New Zealand - Evermore - performed. I'd never heard of them before but it's a band of three brothers and they've released three platinum-selling albums and won two New Zealand Music Awards. The band's music was very hip and had a fun beat.



On the last day of Networkers, intelligent Australian comedian Shaun Micallef's satirical humour entertained the audience although I'll admit that while the crowd laughed aloud more than a few times I felt like there were some private jokes everyone except me had the inside track on. Here are some clips of the jokes I actually got...

First Cisco Networkers Australia Under My Belt

While this blog is intended to share my adventures outside of work with family and friends, Cisco is the reason I'm here in the first place so here's a quick glimpse of some of the media activities I was in charge of at Cisco Networkers in Brisbane, Australia (Sept. 28-Oct. 1, 2009).



Brisbane's in the state of Queensland which is the Northeastern state of Australia. It's about an hour's flight from Sydney (which is in the state of New South Wales).