Royal Easter Show - A Country Fair "Sydney Style"

Yesterday (April 16) Kate invited me to join her and her brother Ian at the Sydney Royal Easter Show which is like a huge country fair that features all things Australian. I had a blast and it was a rich experience of new tastes, smells and up-close-sights.

When we first arrived, I saw this store of "electric T-shirts" that was perfect for my best friend Ana's husband Scott who loves to mix music on his t-shirt. The t-shirt simulates an electric sound mixer.



Then we checked out the Woolworth Food Dome where I was expecting to see really big pumpkins and other large vegetables. Instead the first thing I saw was the National Honey Centre where we saw champion liquid honey, bee wax and creamed honey. Then there was this learning and tasting area where I learned that the state of New South Wales (the state I live in) has a big honey industry. The big learning for me was that much like how what the wine is stored in - whether french oak or American oak (I did a barrel tasting once) - the type of eucalyptus tree a honey bee gets its pollen from also makes a difference to the taste of the honey. After that tasting, I found I liked iron oak the most.



The highlight of the show is a display representing the best produce, herbs, preserves and grains from each of the regions of New South Wales plus Southeast Queensland. You'll see the scoreboard on how the best display was chosen - and I looked up "cucurbit" and they are gourds and melons. I also purchased a custard apple (I have yet to try it as I'm still waiting for it to soften).



Then we moved to the seafood section where I saw a number of prawns swimming fast in their tank only to bump up against a glass tank wall.



And I'm still finding cute differences in what Australian's call things - Fairy Floss for Cotton Candy (do they even have chocolate cotton candy in the US?) and Pluto Pups for Corn Dogs.



Then we headed to the cattle barns where I saw the bulls, studs, heffers and lots and lots of other cows (cattle) of many different breeds, colors and sizes. Here are the Galloway cattle (one is $5,000) - they're solid, white belt and white in color. At the end of this you'll see I get confused when Kate says "they sleep in here" thinking she meant the cows when she really meant the cattle caretakers. The rest of the evening I'm on a mission to find "the men who sleep with the cows".



Here are more different cattle - Murry Gray (yes they're grey).



And here's the Brahman cattle which have a hump on their backs, flat foreheads like cavemen and long floppy ears that are more like dogs than cows.



Then just as we're leaving the cattle section, we see this GIGANTIC cow named Fonzy which is Australia's largest holstein steer and he's 6'7".



Then we went to a cattle judging of a group of cattle (stud, heffer and child).



And from the judging we went to the cattle auctions. Now the cattle auction in my FlipVideo is of heffers that they're looking to breed. But I did learn a new term from Ian (Kate and Ian's dad sold cattle for the Australia Meat Association) which is when cattle is sold for stores - it's "judge them on the hoof, sell them on the hook".



As it was about 7 p.m. it was time for a few drinks in the member club as we watched the rodeo. In this FlipVideo you'll see the Australian Rodeo Champion for 2010 Sean (don't know his last name) ride this bull and he did really, really well. And in a fun coincidence Kate and I met Mr. Australian Rodeo Champion himself at the bar and I got this FlipVideo of meeting my first Australian cowboy (at least part-time, he's also a carpenter and married with 4 kids).



After the rodeo there was a ute racing team that put on a performance. They did a few maneuvers but because it had been raining all day and the conditions were bad they only did a few things.



And while the Sydney New Year's Eve Fireworks are still the best ever - the fireworks last night were fantastic. First, it was the closest I think I'll ever be to the actual fireworks - they were right in the middle of the stadium we were in - and second they had an accompanying laser light show.



After the fireworks we went back into the members bar for several more drinks and while I didn't find "man who sleeps with the cows" I did meet this Australian cowboy - Don - who said he's the "man who sleeps in the hut and takes care of the horses" as "man who sleeps with horses" just didn't sound in any way right.

Melbourne's Smallest Island - Ponyfish

On Sun. April 3 (I said April 4th in the video as I was thinking it was already my cousin Tetsuya's birthday) I checked out the Art Centre's Market and then went for breakfast on Ponyfish Island.

Melbourne's Top Media at the Quill Awards

I was very honored to be seated at ABC's table at Melbourne's Quill Awards where the state's top media were recognised by the Melbourne Press Club. And it was a very winning table as you'll see that Belinda Hawkins won for Best Current Affairs Feature over 10 minutes.

Mission Accomplished - Cisco Live Australia!

The weeks leading up to Cisco Live Australia! were incredibly busy and involved a lot of late nights working but I was very pleased with the final results*. So by March 31 when most of my responsibilities were over, I was really looking forward to the party where the Hoodoo Gurus - an Australian band from the 1980s - was playing.

I didn't know any of the songs but it was clear they're a popular band as the crowd was bouncing!



* For the first time Cisco was featured on ABC Lateline Business TV news - click here. And our customers/partners were featured on ABC Radio AM which you can listen to here.

New South Wales State Elections

A month after I moved to my apartment I got this letter from the Australian government which asked whether I (the new tenant) was an eligible voter (I checked "no" and mailed the letter back). I was quite impressed with the efficiency of the government in quickly tracking down potential voters. It certainly showed that there was "teeth" behind the legal requirement for Australians to vote, I mean how could they fine Australians who didn't vote if they didn't know where to send the bill.

Since I'd checked the "no" box stating I was ineligible to vote, I was surprised to get campaign mail.

Side-note... Speaking of what I get in the mail (or rather what I don't). In the 2 years I've lived here I have not received a single credit card application in the mail (I got tons in the US). I wanted to apply for an Australia MC/Visa card that would get me Qantas airline milage but I can't apply as I'm not a permanent resident. What a crazy rule!



Here are photos of two pieces of the campaign mail I received. Clover Moore is the current representative of Sydney and the second flier looks like a hybrid of a tacky car sales brochure and the front page of the National Enquirer. Could they be more different?

Frocomm New Media Summit

On March 22, I was invited by Glen Frost to speak on a panel at Frocomm New Media Summit on "The Trials and Opportunities of Cyberspace" where I discussed my social media experiences and suggested that PR professionals amplify their communications with video and shift.

The panel that followed ours was very interesting as it was the two PR mavens behind Oprah's Australia Adventure. Here are some of the highlights of their experience.