Right on the water in Pyrmont, there's this beautiful restaurant called Sugaroom where Peter Taylor from Telstra and I enjoyed lunch out on the patio.
Over lunch I learned that Peter not only works out at the same health club - Fitness First - but he's also the technology gadget guy for Fitness First's print magazine. He kept raving about this amazing "Body Attack" fitness class at the Kings Cross Fitness First so I decided to check it out.
It was the most intense fitness class ever! The best way to describe it is like a scene from Flashdance where the whole dance troupe is leaping, running and sashaying every which way around this gigantic room in pretty good coordination. Which is pretty amazing considering there were about 50 people in the class (I kid you not). Then you have me, trying not to get run over or crash into all of these super fit club members who clearly know the routine by heart (for my Decathlon Club friends, when I say it's like going to Lori's class for the first time, you'll know exactly what I mean).
Totally exhausted half-way through the class, I tried to have a zen moment by focusing on the beautiful view of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House which I could see from the class room window, but quickly realized that was putting myself in further jeopardy of getting trampled on...
After "Body Attack" class, I had a banana and Nutella crepe at Potts Point Farmers Market (yes, I know, not the healthiest choice after a work out but I felt I deserved it). It was made by this French lady and it tasted just like the crepes I remember from Paris!
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Christmas in July with North Sydney Masters
June-July-August are winter months here in Sydney but hailing from Chicago the winters don't even compare! It's actually quite similar to "winter" in San Jose, cold in the evenings, some rain but happily some beautiful sunny days that make you forget it's supposed to be winter!
A popular celebratory occasion in Australia is "Christmas in July" and North Sydney Masters combined this with a lovely curry night pot luck dinner (no I did not make curry, instead I ordered curry take out) and a Secret Santa gift exchange (with some very unusual gifts).
And of course, what is Christmas without Santa and his elf -- Ho! Ho! Ho!
A popular celebratory occasion in Australia is "Christmas in July" and North Sydney Masters combined this with a lovely curry night pot luck dinner (no I did not make curry, instead I ordered curry take out) and a Secret Santa gift exchange (with some very unusual gifts).
And of course, what is Christmas without Santa and his elf -- Ho! Ho! Ho!
Friday, July 17, 2009
More visitors!
My friend Andre and his friend Clara visited me the weekend of July 4 and were also the first to ride in my "new" used car and stay over at my Surry Hills apartment!
While I would have loved a convertible to drive around sunny Sydney, with the wise advice from my brother who said I was better off getting a car that had fewer miles and more "life" left in it, I am the proud new owner of a very reliable silver Toyota Corolla.
And with this more "cost effective" purchase, I'll have that much more to spend on travelling around Australia and New Zealand (oh and Fiji, Thailand, China and Hong Kong are also on the list).
Back to these brave souls who let me drive them around the city to check out the sights! Of course no visit is complete without the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House but we also checked out Manly Beach and the Sydney Fish Market too!
While I would have loved a convertible to drive around sunny Sydney, with the wise advice from my brother who said I was better off getting a car that had fewer miles and more "life" left in it, I am the proud new owner of a very reliable silver Toyota Corolla.
And with this more "cost effective" purchase, I'll have that much more to spend on travelling around Australia and New Zealand (oh and Fiji, Thailand, China and Hong Kong are also on the list).
Back to these brave souls who let me drive them around the city to check out the sights! Of course no visit is complete without the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House but we also checked out Manly Beach and the Sydney Fish Market too!
Beautiful Sunset!
Yesterday, my Cisco colleague George came by my cube and pointed out this beautiful sunset from the window of our North Sydney office! I grabbed my FlipVideo and captured it for you all!
Thorpe Took Home 5 Medals in 2000 from This Pool
Ian "Thorpedo" Thorpe took home five medals in the 2000 Summer Olympics from swimming in the famous Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Center pool and after participating in the New South Wales Relay Championships I can attest that it is a very "fast" pool!
On June 21, along with 34 other swimmers from North Sydney Masters, I swam in 5 relay events as part of a relay carnival with all the Master Swim Clubs from across New South Wales:
1. 400 Freestyle (100x4 females - Linda 1:33.69)
2. 100 Freestyle (25x4 mixed male/female, Linda 35:25)
3. 100 Medley Relay (25 of each stroke x4 mixed male/female - I swam breast 40:51)
4. 200 Freestyle (50x4 mixed male/female - I swam the first leg with a time of 40.86)
5. 100 Medley Relay (25 of each stroke x 4 female, I swam breast 41:12)
Note: I'm not sure if all these times are correct as being a relay I don't think they provide splits so I may be reading the Website with the results incorrectly.
This being the very first time I swam where there were time keepers, touchpads, judges and RULES (e.g., not leaving starting block until the swimmer touches, no movement at all once the whistle blows and the official says "swimmers take your mark") I was very nervous!
Now looking back, I realize it was the best way to start "indoor competive" swimming . All the races were relays so it was very team oriented and everyone was very supportive. And everyone had a great attitude about just trying your best and having fun. I had a terrific time!
The North Sydney Masters team took a very respectable 3rd place and of particular note - Gillian achieved a new national record in the 50 freestyle (women 30-34) with 27.86 seconds. And Melissa Beames broke the state record in the 25 backstroke (women 25-29).
Melissa's record breaking 25 backstroke was the first leg of my fifth relay event which means that I had the honor of jumping in the pool to swim 25 breast right after her. And with such a great start our team took first place for the 100 Medley relay for women 120+.
First Place (20 points, 1:11.87)
Team North Sydney
Melissa Beames
Linda Horiuchi (41.12)
Rachel Fox
Ann Austin
Second Place - Team Cook & Phillip (1:13.17)
Third Place - Team Blacktown City (1:19.94)
Thanks to James, a fellow swimmer, for taking some pictures of me competing in my first (of many more I hope) North Sydney Masters swimming events.
On June 21, along with 34 other swimmers from North Sydney Masters, I swam in 5 relay events as part of a relay carnival with all the Master Swim Clubs from across New South Wales:
1. 400 Freestyle (100x4 females - Linda 1:33.69)
2. 100 Freestyle (25x4 mixed male/female, Linda 35:25)
3. 100 Medley Relay (25 of each stroke x4 mixed male/female - I swam breast 40:51)
4. 200 Freestyle (50x4 mixed male/female - I swam the first leg with a time of 40.86)
5. 100 Medley Relay (25 of each stroke x 4 female, I swam breast 41:12)
Note: I'm not sure if all these times are correct as being a relay I don't think they provide splits so I may be reading the Website with the results incorrectly.
This being the very first time I swam where there were time keepers, touchpads, judges and RULES (e.g., not leaving starting block until the swimmer touches, no movement at all once the whistle blows and the official says "swimmers take your mark") I was very nervous!
Now looking back, I realize it was the best way to start "indoor competive" swimming . All the races were relays so it was very team oriented and everyone was very supportive. And everyone had a great attitude about just trying your best and having fun. I had a terrific time!
The North Sydney Masters team took a very respectable 3rd place and of particular note - Gillian achieved a new national record in the 50 freestyle (women 30-34) with 27.86 seconds. And Melissa Beames broke the state record in the 25 backstroke (women 25-29).
Melissa's record breaking 25 backstroke was the first leg of my fifth relay event which means that I had the honor of jumping in the pool to swim 25 breast right after her. And with such a great start our team took first place for the 100 Medley relay for women 120+.
First Place (20 points, 1:11.87)
Team North Sydney
Melissa Beames
Linda Horiuchi (41.12)
Rachel Fox
Ann Austin
Second Place - Team Cook & Phillip (1:13.17)
Third Place - Team Blacktown City (1:19.94)
Thanks to James, a fellow swimmer, for taking some pictures of me competing in my first (of many more I hope) North Sydney Masters swimming events.
Sydney is 29th Safest City in the World
How is it that I'm in the 29th safest city in the world (no US cities are even in the top 50) according to Mercer's 2008 survey and my purse gets snatched!
Well, this is the reason why you haven't seen many posts for a while. In early June my purse was stolen - including my FlipVideo - while I was at a Text 100 networking function.
While it was a huge pain to cancel all my credit cards, I was thankfully able to get everything back in order fairly quickly. It's thanks to the kindness and caring of the wonderful folks at Text 100 who helped me out that evening that I'm still very happy I moved here to Sydney. No second thoughts at all!
Well, this is the reason why you haven't seen many posts for a while. In early June my purse was stolen - including my FlipVideo - while I was at a Text 100 networking function.
While it was a huge pain to cancel all my credit cards, I was thankfully able to get everything back in order fairly quickly. It's thanks to the kindness and caring of the wonderful folks at Text 100 who helped me out that evening that I'm still very happy I moved here to Sydney. No second thoughts at all!
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Aussie Shrimp on a Barbie!
Now that I've found an apartment, I can actually start to enjoy my weekends!
This past weekend, I took at Seafood BBQ cooking class at the Sydney Fish Market. I know it's cheesy to want to make "Shrimp on a Barbie" but I figured I could still get by doing a few touristy things.
The class was a wonderful experience and considering I'm not the most adept at cooking it was very well suited for me. The first part of the class was the chef demonstrating how to make the five dishes, then there was the hands-on portion and finally the part where we enjoy the fruits of our labor (or in this case the catch of our labor).
Our menu was:
* Thai-style squid salad
* Butterflied Garfish fried in a crisp coating
* Blue mussels in butter sauce
* Yellowtail Kingfish in Ginger and Soy
* Marinated Shrimp Skewers
News Flash! I met my first famous Australian and didn't even realize it. At our cooking-table, there was five women and one brave bloke and it turns out his name is Luke Burgess and he's the scrum half of the Rugby Union Quantas Wallabies.
I didn't really get a chance to chat with him but he's AOK in my book because he gave two thumbs up to my "Shrimp on a Barbie" (check out the video - about 2 minutes in).
And while I've been reading my "Rugby for Dummies" book from Auntie Vivian and Uncle Yori, I don't know anything about the rugby teams here, so I think I may just go check out a Wallabies match and cheer for Luke!
This past weekend, I took at Seafood BBQ cooking class at the Sydney Fish Market. I know it's cheesy to want to make "Shrimp on a Barbie" but I figured I could still get by doing a few touristy things.
The class was a wonderful experience and considering I'm not the most adept at cooking it was very well suited for me. The first part of the class was the chef demonstrating how to make the five dishes, then there was the hands-on portion and finally the part where we enjoy the fruits of our labor (or in this case the catch of our labor).
Our menu was:
* Thai-style squid salad
* Butterflied Garfish fried in a crisp coating
* Blue mussels in butter sauce
* Yellowtail Kingfish in Ginger and Soy
* Marinated Shrimp Skewers
News Flash! I met my first famous Australian and didn't even realize it. At our cooking-table, there was five women and one brave bloke and it turns out his name is Luke Burgess and he's the scrum half of the Rugby Union Quantas Wallabies.
I didn't really get a chance to chat with him but he's AOK in my book because he gave two thumbs up to my "Shrimp on a Barbie" (check out the video - about 2 minutes in).
And while I've been reading my "Rugby for Dummies" book from Auntie Vivian and Uncle Yori, I don't know anything about the rugby teams here, so I think I may just go check out a Wallabies match and cheer for Luke!
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