Tuesday, April 16, 2013

I'm Winter!

Thanks to my very generous friend Kate, I received a gift certificate for a "Head to Toe" colour consultation, remodeling of my wardrobe and personal shopping experience with my friend and former neighbor Nina Smith who's a personal stylist.

The first thing Nina did was a colour consultation which involved sitting in front of a mirror and seeing how different swatches of colour reflected on my face. It was absolutely amazing how some colors (brown, gold) made be look totally washed out, pale and really just tired looking!  And then how colors like black, bright hot pink and royal blue made me look fresh, defined (vs. puffy), no tired lines around the eyes/mouth and glowing.  The final verdict - my colour palette is "Winter"!

Next Nina took a very thorough look at the clothes in my wardrobe.  Decimated seems like a harsh word, but it's fairly accurate in that about 2/3 of my wardrobe was deemed either dated (not modern, think sweater twin sets from the 1980s), not the right colour palette and when I tried some of my clothes on for Nina they didn't silhouette my figure in a flattering manner (all my jeans were deemed too baggy, some dresses just hung on me).

There weren't any real surprises as many of the clothes in my closet were from 5+ years ago (meaning I brought them with me from the US) and I hadn't worn in a long while so it really was time to let them go - I just needed that extra push.

The one surprise was "brown". I've often been told that I always wear black, so I tried to mix it up with brown.  After my colour consultation I now know that there are many other colors for me to choose from other than black that are better such as hot pink, navy blue, white, red (purple/blue red, not a tomato-red) and purple.

On the personal shopping trip, I had what I called my "Pretty Woman" moment (remember that scene where Julia Roberts had all the shop keepers helping her out). Nina was pulling several different pieces and having me try them on (things I wouldn't have thought to try on my own, such as fake leather pants) and then styling how to pull the whole outfit together (as well as how to mix and match it to make more than one outfit).

It was a fantastic experience and I was able to put my new knowledge to work on a weekend in Melbourne (March 21-24) where I caught up with friends and enjoyed the Melbourne Fashion Weekend.

Valentina and I had a lovely breakfast on March 23 then we headed to see a fashion show on High Street in Armadale which is at the cross-roads of Toorak Road, Malvern Road and Glenferrie Road which has a number of small boutiques.  I'd shopped Melbourne's famous Chapel Street Precinct before so it was a lot of fun to check out another area famous for its boutique shopping.

We had dinner at Miss Chu in South Yarra which was FANTASTIC!  It had the BEST slushy of frozen young coconut juice with mint. And the BBQ pork buns, salad and rice paper rolls were all yummy too!

The next day (Sunday) I went back to Chapel Street and purchased a beautiful black and white textured dress with black panels that are very figure flattering from Arthur Galan a Melbourne designer.  That morning I'd visited the Queen Victoria Market which was not all that impressive.  It was a lot like Paddy's Market and mostly made up of local fruits/vegetables and meat/dairy which was plentiful and if  I lived locally would have great but on the non-food side the market was mostly over-runs, Costco-like large quantity generic clothes and other random stuff.



Monday, April 15, 2013

Cisco Live Melbourne: The Potbelleez

As you can read about what I do professionally for Cisco on our official Cisco blog, here I'll focus on the fun Cisco Live Melbourne customer appreciation party (March 7, 2013).

An Australian band called The Potbelleez performed and while at first blush I didn't recognise the name of the band, I have heard their #1 single "Don't Hold Back".  It was exciting to have yet another leading Australian band perform live at Cisco Live.

And we got right up front as we danced along to the music along with the rest of our Cisco Live customers and partners.





Sydney's Mardi Gras Parade

Every year since I arrived in Australia, I've missed Sydney's Mardi Gras Parade.  Usually it's because the North Sydney Masters Swim Club hosts its Mollymook Swim Weekend at the same time.

But this year, as Cisco Live! Conference was earlier than usual (first week in March) I had to head to Melbourne on the Sunday so was able to check out the Mardi Gras Parade on Saturday night, March 2.

The parade route ends not far from where I live so I was able to amble over at around 7:30 p.m.  The parade starts at 7:45 p.m. and I was headed towards the end of the route so I was surprised at how crowded it was when I arrived.  

It was great to see so many, many different groups marching in the parade - ranging from all the police, fire, religious organisations, military, schools, corporates, sports teams as well as those that support the gay and lesbian community - and the parade went on well past 9:30 p.m. It was a very spirited parade with incredible support from the crowd.  




Thought of You Tets: Local Gelateria has Gelato Named after You!

Even though it was Winter when I visited Italy this past January, the cold weather didn't stop me from enjoying Italian gelato.

And lucky me, Gelato Messina (Australia's best gelato as voted by the Good Food Guide) opened a new shop right down the street from me.  It's my favorite gelateria because it has so many unique flavors.  There's always a line out the door so it's not just me either - Monday night or Saturday night - there's always a line!

So, as I'm waiting in line on this rather inconspicuous Feb. 20, I check out the chalkboard for their special daily flavours and I see this flavor called - Tets!

I have a cousin named Tetsuya who lives in San Francisco and we always call him "Tets" for short. He's a real foodie (when I lived in the San Francisco Bay Area, I'd always get him something cooking related for Christmas so I'd be the beneficiary when he cooked it for me) so I wonder what he'd think about this gelato.  

I wasn't curious enough to actually try this flavour but I imagine it'd be a twist between a green apple hard candy and a mojito.

Hope you're doing well Tets, thinking about you and your family! 

Note to Tets: I don't know what's behind naming it "Tets" but one guess is that it's named after this very famous restaurant called "Tetsuya's" here in Sydney.  I've never eaten there but if you do come to visit me someday, I'll definitely take you there!  

North Sydney Masters Hosts Swim Carnival

I was worried heading into the North Sydney Masters Swim Carnival on Feb. 16.  I wasn't swimming as often or as consistently as in the past due to just having come back from a month's vacation over Christmas and New Year's and being super busy at work getting ready for Cisco Live which was a few weeks earlier this year.

So imagine my surprise when I realise I got a personal best for my 50 meter freestyle.  How did that happen? Imagine if I showed up for squad more often, how much faster I could swim! 

MeetsSwimmers / Linda Horiuchi / EventRecords
DateWhereAge groupTimePlace 
14/11/2009North Sydney35-3940.759 
26/9/2010Club Day35-3942.97  
12/2/2011North Sydney40-4440.736 
25/9/2011Club Day40-4441.25  
11/2/2012North Sydney40-4440.757 
16/2/2013North Sydney40-4440.578 
Graph of event swims.

What I was really worried about that night, however, was whether I'd even finish the 50 m Butterfly.  Well, I did finish but not in very good form as I got my worst time ... As I seek motivation to get back into the pool more often and really improve my swim times, this poor showing will do it.  Upwards and onwards! 
MeetsSwimmers / Linda Horiuchi / EventRecords
DateWhereAge groupTimePlace 
14/11/2009North Sydney35-3953.324 
26/9/2010Club Day35-3953.78  
12/2/2011North Sydney40-4452.934 
25/9/2011Club Day40-4454.51  
16/2/2013North Sydney40-4455.015 
Graph of event swims.
Surprisingly, just by finishing my 50 m Butterfly (came in 5th in my age category), I scored the North Sydney team points towards our overall team score which helped to contribute to our winning the meet. So, points just for jumping in the pool and touching the wall at the other end. 

Friday, April 12, 2013

In a Galaxy Not So Far Away . . . I saw Jar Jar Binks (aka My 1st Weedy Sea Dragon)!

Everyone that grew up in the 1980s must have seen Star Wars and the two sequels that followed at least a zillion times as it always seemed to be on reruns.

But what do I know about about the pre-quels Phantom Menance and the two that followed? I saw each episode only once and frankly all the new characters were a bit of a blur to me.

So, why is it that when I see my first Weedy Sea Dragon, my first thought is "Wow, that looks like Jar Jar Binks!" Where did that come from?

While my friend Michelle would be a pro at Trivia Night in the TV, Movies and Entertainment category, I'm the total opposite.  Recalling the character "Jar Jar Binks" is quite an amazing feat for me and now that I think more about it . . . this can only be due to the influence of my nephews who are big fans of the Star Wars movies and Star Wars Legos.

But I digress.

On Feb. 10, 2013, I was buddied up again with one of my favorite dive buddies Jackie when we went along with Pro Dive on a Sunday morning dive.

Dive # 173 on Feb. 10, 2013
Dee Why near Manly, maximum depth 29.3 meters (96 feet) for 31 minutes in 17 C (62.6 F)

Check out this video of this cuttle fish that's the size of a dog!



Dive #174 on Feb. 10, 2013
Old Man's Hat, maximum depth 22.9 meters (75 feet) for 38 minutes in 18 C (64.4 F)

When I relook at the video/photos of the weedy sea dragon, my first thought should have been, "Wow that looks like floating sea weed".



These are photos of a Weedy Sea Dragon, can you see it in the sea weed? Pretty stealth camouflage!





Can you see the cuttle fish's size in comparison to the divers in the photo? It was HUGE!



 A ray of some sort...


Nudibranchs—soft, seagoing slugs






 Blue grouper fish with a few friends . . .