In the beginning of July, my friend Angela and I made a "fitness resolution" to find a personal trainer to help us loose weight, get fit and eat healthier. We found this great trainer named John Donaghey who we work out with two mornings a week (yes can you actually believe I get up at 6 a.m. for a 7 a.m. training session), has helped us build a nutrition plan and on top of this we also take a boxing class at Mcmahon's Point which offers this amazing view of the bridge.
We also said we wanted to train to run the 9K Sydney Harbour Bridge Race (that's 5.6 miles). And that's exactly what we did this past Sunday.
I did it in 1:03 (which means a 11:25 mile which isn't so great, but certainly gives me room to improve next year) and Angela beat me by at least 10 minutes. Amazingly after the race I felt really good - so I definitely think the training's helped!
What I enjoyed about the race was the run across the Sydney Harbour Bridge (it's longer running across it than it is commuting across it each day) and the scenic route it took us through the Royal Botanical Garden and Sydney's CBD.
Check out this FlipVideo:
After our race, we went to breakfast in The Rocks and my friends Matt and Thomas joined us. Earlier that morning, Thomas completed the half-marathon! Here's his take on it:
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Sociable Birds at the NSW Art Museum
There seems to be a common theme of "things that fly" in my outings with Lisa (check out my last blog when we helped an injured bat).
While having afternoon tea at the New South Wales Art Museum these "Australian Parrots" came to visit. And they were very friendly and the most colorful birds you've ever seen - emerald green, lemon yellow, orange, lime green and Monet blue.
If I've identified them correctly (Ana and Scott will double check me I'm sure) I believe they are Rainbow Lorikeets. And they are arboreal, which means they like trees, and can be very noisy, active, gregarious (sociable) and as you'll see in this FlipVideo they like the company of other birds.
While having afternoon tea at the New South Wales Art Museum these "Australian Parrots" came to visit. And they were very friendly and the most colorful birds you've ever seen - emerald green, lemon yellow, orange, lime green and Monet blue.
If I've identified them correctly (Ana and Scott will double check me I'm sure) I believe they are Rainbow Lorikeets. And they are arboreal, which means they like trees, and can be very noisy, active, gregarious (sociable) and as you'll see in this FlipVideo they like the company of other birds.
ARN Awards and Australia's Got Talent's Justice Crew
Last week Thursday (Sept. 16) ARN - an Australian publication focused on IT channel resellers - hosted an awards dinner at the Sydney Hilton Hotel. Here's some of us at the cocktail party - you'd think we coordinated our colors.
The Ladies in Red:
After the awards dinner there was a performance by Justice Crew. And until I Googled them just now, I didn't realise that they were local celebrities. So what is their claim to fame?
Justice Crew are an all-male hip-hop dance and musical group from Sydney who won Australia's Got Talent in 2010. And more recently they released their single "And Then We Dance", which is at No. 46 on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart.
And my super hip chic friend Emma joined Justice Crew up on stage and really rocked it out! Check out the FlipVideo:
The Ladies in Red:
After the awards dinner there was a performance by Justice Crew. And until I Googled them just now, I didn't realise that they were local celebrities. So what is their claim to fame?
Justice Crew are an all-male hip-hop dance and musical group from Sydney who won Australia's Got Talent in 2010. And more recently they released their single "And Then We Dance", which is at No. 46 on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart.
And my super hip chic friend Emma joined Justice Crew up on stage and really rocked it out! Check out the FlipVideo:
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Don't Count out the All Blacks
At the half time break of last night's Australia's Wallabies vs. New Zealand's All Blacks, I was hopeful that the Wallabies were going to break their 9 game losing streak as they were winning 14-6. But Peter Ryan wisely said "never count out the All Blacks" and wouldn't you know it - in the last 15 minutes the All Blacks got two trys and won 22-23!
The All Blacks were impressive as they showed their strength in pushing the ball inch by inch closer to the goal line in the ruck to the point where (as I was looking through binoculars) it didn't look like they were moving at all. After multiple attempts they finally managed to get the "try" (over the goal line). And the fact that they did it twice in the last 15 minutes of the game showed their "never back down" push to 'til the very end.
In the last 15 minutes I was also happy to see that Luke Burgess of the Wallabies was substituted onto the field (I met him in my first few months in Sydney at a seafood BBQ class) so I got to see him play.
I also learned a new Australian phrase - "Dead rubber". There's this "Bledisloe Cup" match that's contested between New Zealand and Australia and before last night's game New Zealand had already racked up enough matches to win the cup. So to use it in a sentence, last night's game was "dead rubber" but a good opportunity for the Wallabies to show a strong competitive spirit and that they weren't going to give the game away.
In this Flip you'll hear Peter Witts (with a call out to our colleague Gareth Pettigrew in Vancouver) predicting the All Blacks win while his father Phillip optimistically cheers for the Wallabies.
The All Blacks were impressive as they showed their strength in pushing the ball inch by inch closer to the goal line in the ruck to the point where (as I was looking through binoculars) it didn't look like they were moving at all. After multiple attempts they finally managed to get the "try" (over the goal line). And the fact that they did it twice in the last 15 minutes of the game showed their "never back down" push to 'til the very end.
In the last 15 minutes I was also happy to see that Luke Burgess of the Wallabies was substituted onto the field (I met him in my first few months in Sydney at a seafood BBQ class) so I got to see him play.
I also learned a new Australian phrase - "Dead rubber". There's this "Bledisloe Cup" match that's contested between New Zealand and Australia and before last night's game New Zealand had already racked up enough matches to win the cup. So to use it in a sentence, last night's game was "dead rubber" but a good opportunity for the Wallabies to show a strong competitive spirit and that they weren't going to give the game away.
In this Flip you'll hear Peter Witts (with a call out to our colleague Gareth Pettigrew in Vancouver) predicting the All Blacks win while his father Phillip optimistically cheers for the Wallabies.
Monday, September 6, 2010
Planning for Boxing Day...
My friends Venecia and Sam are coming to visit me for Christmas and so I've begun thinking about things to do while they're here. Plus as this'll be my first Christmas/New Year's here in Australia I'm really looking forward to the experience myself!
One of the things I've been told is a great thing to do on Boxing Day (Dec. 26) is to check out the Sydney-to-Hobart Sailing Race that starts at 1 p.m. near the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Then the sail boats leave between North and South Head and then all the way down to Hobart, Tasmania. Watson's Bay is on the top of what's referred to as "South Head".
Evidently a great view can be had if you take the ferry to an island close to the race start and alternatively at Watson's Bay which is right where the sail boats pass before they start to sail South. After swimming yesterday (Sept. 5) where we did a 3.8k swim and lunch, I had some free time so I thought I'd check out Watson's Bay (see map below - on the far right in the middle).
Watson's Bay is really a beautiful and quaint town with amazing views of Sydney Harbour and the ocean. There's a nice national park which has very easy walking paths that lead you to these magestic views. There's also Doyle's on Watson's Bay and it's right on the beach, with a perfect view of the harbour so I booked us a table for lunch on the outdoor patio so we can enjoy the sail boats and the ambiance of a day at the races on Boxing Day.
While Boxing Day is sure to be beautiful as we'll be right in the middle of summer, when I visited yesterday it was quite windy. In fact it was so windy the birds hovered instead of truly flying. Check out this FlipVideo:
One of the things I've been told is a great thing to do on Boxing Day (Dec. 26) is to check out the Sydney-to-Hobart Sailing Race that starts at 1 p.m. near the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Then the sail boats leave between North and South Head and then all the way down to Hobart, Tasmania. Watson's Bay is on the top of what's referred to as "South Head".
Evidently a great view can be had if you take the ferry to an island close to the race start and alternatively at Watson's Bay which is right where the sail boats pass before they start to sail South. After swimming yesterday (Sept. 5) where we did a 3.8k swim and lunch, I had some free time so I thought I'd check out Watson's Bay (see map below - on the far right in the middle).
Watson's Bay is really a beautiful and quaint town with amazing views of Sydney Harbour and the ocean. There's a nice national park which has very easy walking paths that lead you to these magestic views. There's also Doyle's on Watson's Bay and it's right on the beach, with a perfect view of the harbour so I booked us a table for lunch on the outdoor patio so we can enjoy the sail boats and the ambiance of a day at the races on Boxing Day.
While Boxing Day is sure to be beautiful as we'll be right in the middle of summer, when I visited yesterday it was quite windy. In fact it was so windy the birds hovered instead of truly flying. Check out this FlipVideo:
So Excited to Finally Connect with Louise!
Louise is my first Australian friend. We met at Cunningham Communications a high tech PR firm in Silicon Valley and we were both on the HP account.
Louise moved back to Australia 6 years ago with her family to Perth which is on the West Coast (a 5 hour flight) of Australia. She happened to be in Sydney and we had a wonderful time catching up!
With the 9th anniversary of 9/11 coming up, we both remembered that the last time either of us were in the World Trade Center was when we were in NY to support an HP press event around 1998. We arrived a few days early - Louise to sightsee and me to visit my brother and family. It was a work day and my cousin Yasushi used to work in the World Trade Center (on 9/11 he was thank goodness working at another accounting firm somewhere else) so I went to meet him for coffee while Louise took the elevator to the top to check out the view.
On a more cheerful note, we also laughed about how much we both hated doing time sheets and were glad to finally go "in house" to do PR.
I have yet to visit Perth - but the plan now is to head there in Easter 2011. Can't wait to meet Louise's second son and to see the rest of the family again ... and check out the Margaret River which is world renowned for its shiraz wine.
Louise moved back to Australia 6 years ago with her family to Perth which is on the West Coast (a 5 hour flight) of Australia. She happened to be in Sydney and we had a wonderful time catching up!
With the 9th anniversary of 9/11 coming up, we both remembered that the last time either of us were in the World Trade Center was when we were in NY to support an HP press event around 1998. We arrived a few days early - Louise to sightsee and me to visit my brother and family. It was a work day and my cousin Yasushi used to work in the World Trade Center (on 9/11 he was thank goodness working at another accounting firm somewhere else) so I went to meet him for coffee while Louise took the elevator to the top to check out the view.
On a more cheerful note, we also laughed about how much we both hated doing time sheets and were glad to finally go "in house" to do PR.
I have yet to visit Perth - but the plan now is to head there in Easter 2011. Can't wait to meet Louise's second son and to see the rest of the family again ... and check out the Margaret River which is world renowned for its shiraz wine.
Moto - Check out Izakaya Den
An "Izakaya" restaurant is a type of restaurant that is primarily a Japanese sake bar but it also serves the type of food that typically goes with sake. My cousin Moto has an izakaya-type restaurant in New York and it's called "Izakaya Ten". If you're ever in New York you should check it out - it's in Chelsea at 207 10th Ave. at 23rd St.
I was in Melbourne on business and on Aug. 25 on the recommendation of my hotel concierge, I went to check out "Izakaya Den" (I assume it's called a "den" because it's located in the basement) and I LOVED it. It had great ambiance, a great selection of sake and really tasty dishes.
It's tricky to find as it's down this non-descript stairwell next to a cafe on Little Collins/Russell Streets and when you peak down the stairs you see a clothing shop which leads you to believe it couldn't possibly be down there, but if you persevere you'll find this great izakaya:
I was in Melbourne on business and on Aug. 25 on the recommendation of my hotel concierge, I went to check out "Izakaya Den" (I assume it's called a "den" because it's located in the basement) and I LOVED it. It had great ambiance, a great selection of sake and really tasty dishes.
It's tricky to find as it's down this non-descript stairwell next to a cafe on Little Collins/Russell Streets and when you peak down the stairs you see a clothing shop which leads you to believe it couldn't possibly be down there, but if you persevere you'll find this great izakaya:
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