Signing Off....
18th March 2007
OK, so this is it. I leave tonight to head back to Australia and whilst I am excited to be going back home and will be able to see friends and family, I don't know if my brain is ready to check back into work mode yet or not.
Had a good few days here in LA. Haven't done that much really since getting back from Pebble Beach. Just spent time with the kids and catching up on some last minute shopping before I head back. I got to catch up with my LA buddies, Sean & Carey on Friday night and that was fun and then last night I had a dinner and movie night with Sue & Harry before hitting the town for one last night out before heading back to reality.
Yesterday was fun though as I got to watch my nephew Thomas play baseball and his team won 4-2 and Thomas got scored a run so needless to say he was a happy camper last night! Off to watch Sydney play baseball in an hour or so as well so it is baseball mayhem here!
Tonight we are having a simple dinner with a few friends coming over to say goodbye and then I leave to catch my flight.....not quite ready for going home just yet....I've had too much fun and have too many good memories that are so fresh!
Cya back home.....
:-)
Pebble Beach Beauty
15th March 2007
Ok, well I have played 3 great golf courses in 2 days, taken a million photos and had an unbelievable time.
Got to Monterey around 6pm Monday night and was picked up by the Pebble Beach complementary transfer guy and driven around like I was someone special being given a guided tour of the properties at Pebble Beach, Spyglass Hill and Spanish Point but also taking in the views of Cypruss Point Golf Course and the lovely coastline up there. It is truly a beautiful place. So much so that I quickly forgot just how much money I was actually paying for this experience!!!
Suffice to say we were treated like kings for the 2 days we were there.
Met Pete & Sandra at the 18th hole at Pebble Beach for some sunset beers and couldn't have asked for a better start. Had a lovely dinner and then Tuesday played 2 rounds of golf at Spanish Point and then Spyglass Hill. Both awesome courses and the Spyglass Hill course is the most difficult they use on the PGA tour so as you can imagine I had some troubles with it. Had 21 over at Spanish Point and 23 over at Spyglass Hill so the golf wasn't fabulous but really enjoyed it. The weather was weird though. There are these crazy micro-climates that exist up there so basically both rounds of golf were played in heavy fog - made the site seeing a touch disappointing but I kept reminding myself where I was and what was to come the next day.
So, Wednesday. Played Pebble Beach. Had a clear blue day and shot 15 over even though it could have been so much better. Played well, loved the course and took a million photos. Could not have asked for a better way to experience Pebble Beach. Will be going back that is for sure!
And that brings me back to LA. Got in last night and will focus on family things for the remaining days I am here. Off to Hollywood today to get mum some souveniers and do some last minute shopping....because I haven't done enough all ready!
Back home in 5 days - yuk!
15th March 2007
Ok, well I have played 3 great golf courses in 2 days, taken a million photos and had an unbelievable time.
Got to Monterey around 6pm Monday night and was picked up by the Pebble Beach complementary transfer guy and driven around like I was someone special being given a guided tour of the properties at Pebble Beach, Spyglass Hill and Spanish Point but also taking in the views of Cypruss Point Golf Course and the lovely coastline up there. It is truly a beautiful place. So much so that I quickly forgot just how much money I was actually paying for this experience!!!
Suffice to say we were treated like kings for the 2 days we were there.
Met Pete & Sandra at the 18th hole at Pebble Beach for some sunset beers and couldn't have asked for a better start. Had a lovely dinner and then Tuesday played 2 rounds of golf at Spanish Point and then Spyglass Hill. Both awesome courses and the Spyglass Hill course is the most difficult they use on the PGA tour so as you can imagine I had some troubles with it. Had 21 over at Spanish Point and 23 over at Spyglass Hill so the golf wasn't fabulous but really enjoyed it. The weather was weird though. There are these crazy micro-climates that exist up there so basically both rounds of golf were played in heavy fog - made the site seeing a touch disappointing but I kept reminding myself where I was and what was to come the next day.
So, Wednesday. Played Pebble Beach. Had a clear blue day and shot 15 over even though it could have been so much better. Played well, loved the course and took a million photos. Could not have asked for a better way to experience Pebble Beach. Will be going back that is for sure!
And that brings me back to LA. Got in last night and will focus on family things for the remaining days I am here. Off to Hollywood today to get mum some souveniers and do some last minute shopping....because I haven't done enough all ready!
Back home in 5 days - yuk!
Los Angeles Fun
12th March 2007
OK, well I have been in LA since last Thursday so the past 4 days has been spent going out, having fun, catching up with friends and family and generally having a good time.
Of course I managed to fit in some serious shopping at the Beverly Centre as well as down at Santa Monica. Have also checked out the Santa Monica Pier and Venice Beach - mainly to show Brad as he had never been before.
But LA is mainly about seeing the family and catching up with friends like John & Rich and Vicky Sarro (an official two namer!).
Off to Pebble Beach for a couple days of golf in a couple hours so very excited about that. Will be a great experience.
12th March 2007
OK, well I have been in LA since last Thursday so the past 4 days has been spent going out, having fun, catching up with friends and family and generally having a good time.
Of course I managed to fit in some serious shopping at the Beverly Centre as well as down at Santa Monica. Have also checked out the Santa Monica Pier and Venice Beach - mainly to show Brad as he had never been before.
But LA is mainly about seeing the family and catching up with friends like John & Rich and Vicky Sarro (an official two namer!).
Off to Pebble Beach for a couple days of golf in a couple hours so very excited about that. Will be a great experience.
San Diego
7th March 2007
Signing off from San Diego. This leg of the trip is now over and we have done a lot in 2 days. Got here yesterday and immediately went to the San Diego Zoo to see why it was considered one of the worlds best zoo's and I have to say that it was great. Very hilly which meant I took the easy way back on the cable car but got to see a good overview of the zoo in 3 hours (even though to do it properly you need all day) and saw some animals I had never seen before such as Silver back gorillas and pandas. Not the same as seeing silver backs in the wild in the gongo but good nonetheless.
Went to a great restaurant called Bondi last night for dinner. Was a nice surprise actually and the guy that owns it is an aussie and is planning to open 6 more across the USA. Great food and lots of aussie staff as well made me feel kind of at home. Managed to hit the bars last night and whilst a Tuesday night isn't the busiest night of the week here still managed to have a good time.
Had a very amusing day today. Headed to Tijuana Mexico for the day and was dumbfounded with the amount of pharmacies there selling generic versions of every drug under the sun for next to nothing. God bless America! I can understand how they all cross the border to get their prescription drugs of choice for 10% of what they would pay in the USA. Crazy....
Tijuana was very aumsing though. Lots of locals calling out "Hello friend.....come and see my shop.....I have things you have never seen before" and I guess in some ways they are telling the truth as there were some things I had never seen but not necessarily in a good way.....suffice to say the day was very aumusing and fun....
But that is it from San Diego. Off to LA tomorrow and starting the family wind down time before heading back to Australia in a week and a half.....Pebble Beach before that though which should be great!
Cya
7th March 2007
Signing off from San Diego. This leg of the trip is now over and we have done a lot in 2 days. Got here yesterday and immediately went to the San Diego Zoo to see why it was considered one of the worlds best zoo's and I have to say that it was great. Very hilly which meant I took the easy way back on the cable car but got to see a good overview of the zoo in 3 hours (even though to do it properly you need all day) and saw some animals I had never seen before such as Silver back gorillas and pandas. Not the same as seeing silver backs in the wild in the gongo but good nonetheless.
Went to a great restaurant called Bondi last night for dinner. Was a nice surprise actually and the guy that owns it is an aussie and is planning to open 6 more across the USA. Great food and lots of aussie staff as well made me feel kind of at home. Managed to hit the bars last night and whilst a Tuesday night isn't the busiest night of the week here still managed to have a good time.
Had a very amusing day today. Headed to Tijuana Mexico for the day and was dumbfounded with the amount of pharmacies there selling generic versions of every drug under the sun for next to nothing. God bless America! I can understand how they all cross the border to get their prescription drugs of choice for 10% of what they would pay in the USA. Crazy....
Tijuana was very aumsing though. Lots of locals calling out "Hello friend.....come and see my shop.....I have things you have never seen before" and I guess in some ways they are telling the truth as there were some things I had never seen but not necessarily in a good way.....suffice to say the day was very aumusing and fun....
But that is it from San Diego. Off to LA tomorrow and starting the family wind down time before heading back to Australia in a week and a half.....Pebble Beach before that though which should be great!
Cya
Las Vagas - Sin City.....
5th February 2007
Well, it took 3 very gruelling flights to reach Las Vegas from when I left Sao Paulo. After 24 hours in the air from Sao Paulo > Miami> Dallas > Las Vegas, Brad and I finally made it here Friday night.
Of course with so many changes we had stop-overs in each city but the only place we had enough time or energy to do anything was Dallas. For the 3rd time in my life I saw Dealy Plaza - the site of the JFK assasination and whilst I still haven't solved the case I was still very intriged by it all.
Anyway, Las Vegas. Arrived Friday night and we have been pretty much on the go since getting here. Checked into the very luxurious MGM grand hotel Friday afternoon before doing the quintessential Las Vegas buffet experience Friday night and then hitting the Las Vegas strip to site see and then the clubs. Went to Studio 54 in the hope it would involve lots of disco but hip-hop rather than disco was the order of the night so after an hour I was out of there. Hit another club which had music and scenery more to my liking and stayed till the wee hours.....spending more money on drinks than I did in the whole Brazilian trip I think - I forgot drinks were no longer $1 each like there were in Brazil.....
After a slow start Saturday I wandered the strip checking out many of the Las Vegas hotels marvelling at how over the top they are. Was very enetertaining to say the least and then Saturday night was concert night - the Pussy Cat Dolls & Christina Aguileria. Was great fun although the crowd wasn't really a dancing crowd which was ashame....of course I made up for that by hitting the clubs again after the concert and getting my dancing fix in until the wee hours again....I chatted to the locals and met some guys from LA who became my new best friends for the night so drinks were on them....lots of fun!
Sunday involved another slow start to the day....5 hours sleep will do that too you but I did a bunch of shopping yesterday before checking out the Stratosphere tower yesterday afternoon before going to see the Cirque De Soleii Show - 'O' last night. Was amazing acrobatics, synchronised swimming and theatrics but I have to admit I dozed off for about 10 minutes of the 90 minute show.....I was pretty shattered to be honest after having a very big couple nights...Las Vegas, known as Sin City to the locals will do that to you....
And here I am. Monday morning at the Internet cafe recharging my iPod before heading for a massage on my back at 2pm and then the rest of the afternoon will no doubt involve more of what everyone else does here......wandering and shopping!
Heading to San Diego tomorrow which should be fun. I've never been there before and want to head to Tijuana Mexico for the day.....another stamp in the passport and another adventure....LA Thursday which should finally mean some R&R......need it......
Two weeks to go but who is counting....
5th February 2007
Well, it took 3 very gruelling flights to reach Las Vegas from when I left Sao Paulo. After 24 hours in the air from Sao Paulo > Miami> Dallas > Las Vegas, Brad and I finally made it here Friday night.
Of course with so many changes we had stop-overs in each city but the only place we had enough time or energy to do anything was Dallas. For the 3rd time in my life I saw Dealy Plaza - the site of the JFK assasination and whilst I still haven't solved the case I was still very intriged by it all.
Anyway, Las Vegas. Arrived Friday night and we have been pretty much on the go since getting here. Checked into the very luxurious MGM grand hotel Friday afternoon before doing the quintessential Las Vegas buffet experience Friday night and then hitting the Las Vegas strip to site see and then the clubs. Went to Studio 54 in the hope it would involve lots of disco but hip-hop rather than disco was the order of the night so after an hour I was out of there. Hit another club which had music and scenery more to my liking and stayed till the wee hours.....spending more money on drinks than I did in the whole Brazilian trip I think - I forgot drinks were no longer $1 each like there were in Brazil.....
After a slow start Saturday I wandered the strip checking out many of the Las Vegas hotels marvelling at how over the top they are. Was very enetertaining to say the least and then Saturday night was concert night - the Pussy Cat Dolls & Christina Aguileria. Was great fun although the crowd wasn't really a dancing crowd which was ashame....of course I made up for that by hitting the clubs again after the concert and getting my dancing fix in until the wee hours again....I chatted to the locals and met some guys from LA who became my new best friends for the night so drinks were on them....lots of fun!
Sunday involved another slow start to the day....5 hours sleep will do that too you but I did a bunch of shopping yesterday before checking out the Stratosphere tower yesterday afternoon before going to see the Cirque De Soleii Show - 'O' last night. Was amazing acrobatics, synchronised swimming and theatrics but I have to admit I dozed off for about 10 minutes of the 90 minute show.....I was pretty shattered to be honest after having a very big couple nights...Las Vegas, known as Sin City to the locals will do that to you....
And here I am. Monday morning at the Internet cafe recharging my iPod before heading for a massage on my back at 2pm and then the rest of the afternoon will no doubt involve more of what everyone else does here......wandering and shopping!
Heading to San Diego tomorrow which should be fun. I've never been there before and want to head to Tijuana Mexico for the day.....another stamp in the passport and another adventure....LA Thursday which should finally mean some R&R......need it......
Two weeks to go but who is counting....
Signing off from Brazil......
1st March 2007
Well, I am very sad to write this email on my last day here in Brazil.
Enjoyed the island of Morro De Sao Paulo which was off Salvador. We enjoyed a night out on the beach for an all night beach party to celebrate Hoff's birthday. It was great actually. As the island does not have cars there are many locals who fill wheelbarrows with anything from luggage to fruit and cart it around the island. At night though the same guys that push the wheelbarrows during the day set up cocktail stands at night. It is all very impressive with great fruit dispays and great cocktails that are about 80% alcohol. Very fun indeed. Anyway, suffice to say we drank lots of cocktails and danced the night away. There is nothing quite like a beach party!
It wasn't all fun and games though as we did chill out on the beach the next day and really enjoyed the day. But unfortunately 2 days on the island came to an end too quickly and we had to leave for Sao Paulo.
So that gets me to where I am at the moment - Sao Paulo. It is the 3rd biggest city in the world and it is BIG!!!
Saw Coldplay last night here which was awesome. They were meant to play more of their new album ´trialling´ it on the Latin American audiences but most of the concert was the same as what I saw in Australia last year which was great. With most of the songs recongnisable we all sang along to their music in the middle of a 4000 people strong Brazilian audience who also sang along. It was great. I am sure the Brazilians didn´t really know what they were singing but they were sure getting into it. The Brazilians have so much passion for life and music that it is very addictive. I could see myself fitting in here very well...
Anyway, we have been here 3 days and pretty much just done some walking tours of the city and some shopping before the main event of the concert last night. I have ticked my international concert box for 2007 but as I´ll be seeing Christina Aguliera and the Pussy Cat Dolls in Las Vegas on the weekend I guess I will have that box ticked twice this year. May have to cheat next year and go see a concert in New Zealand or somewhere more local. :-)
With only 3 weeks to go before I head back to Oz I am all ready starting to get that dreaded feeling of the holiday coming to an end but there is so much more to do before that happens that I am going to make the most of it.
All in all though this leg of the trip has been great. Brazil is awesome and I cannot wait to come back. All ready trying to work out when I can go back to Rio for Carnival as that was just one amazing experience.
Ok. Signing off for now....next stop, Las Vegas!
:-)
1st March 2007
Well, I am very sad to write this email on my last day here in Brazil.
Enjoyed the island of Morro De Sao Paulo which was off Salvador. We enjoyed a night out on the beach for an all night beach party to celebrate Hoff's birthday. It was great actually. As the island does not have cars there are many locals who fill wheelbarrows with anything from luggage to fruit and cart it around the island. At night though the same guys that push the wheelbarrows during the day set up cocktail stands at night. It is all very impressive with great fruit dispays and great cocktails that are about 80% alcohol. Very fun indeed. Anyway, suffice to say we drank lots of cocktails and danced the night away. There is nothing quite like a beach party!
It wasn't all fun and games though as we did chill out on the beach the next day and really enjoyed the day. But unfortunately 2 days on the island came to an end too quickly and we had to leave for Sao Paulo.
So that gets me to where I am at the moment - Sao Paulo. It is the 3rd biggest city in the world and it is BIG!!!
Saw Coldplay last night here which was awesome. They were meant to play more of their new album ´trialling´ it on the Latin American audiences but most of the concert was the same as what I saw in Australia last year which was great. With most of the songs recongnisable we all sang along to their music in the middle of a 4000 people strong Brazilian audience who also sang along. It was great. I am sure the Brazilians didn´t really know what they were singing but they were sure getting into it. The Brazilians have so much passion for life and music that it is very addictive. I could see myself fitting in here very well...
Anyway, we have been here 3 days and pretty much just done some walking tours of the city and some shopping before the main event of the concert last night. I have ticked my international concert box for 2007 but as I´ll be seeing Christina Aguliera and the Pussy Cat Dolls in Las Vegas on the weekend I guess I will have that box ticked twice this year. May have to cheat next year and go see a concert in New Zealand or somewhere more local. :-)
With only 3 weeks to go before I head back to Oz I am all ready starting to get that dreaded feeling of the holiday coming to an end but there is so much more to do before that happens that I am going to make the most of it.
All in all though this leg of the trip has been great. Brazil is awesome and I cannot wait to come back. All ready trying to work out when I can go back to Rio for Carnival as that was just one amazing experience.
Ok. Signing off for now....next stop, Las Vegas!
:-)
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