Tuesday, October 30, 2012

New 'residency'

At a friend's wedding, the almost full moon on my last Sydney weekend.
US Customs officer: "You crossed out 'Country of Residency'."
Me: "Well, I didn't understand whether you wanted to know where I've come from or where I'm going."

I don't even know what the answer was, he filled it in for me and then said "good luck with the job" before sending me on my way.  One chicken sandwich and hilarious cab ride later, I've done the groceries, worked out where my shuttle stop is and even cooked my first meal here - assuming you are with me and you consider cous cous and vegetables fried up in a pile a 'meal'.  Been going through photos from my last week before I get stuck into it tomorrow - I can't thank my family and friends enough all the wonderful well wishes and multiple send offs (I'm seeing C this weekend in LA, that farewell hasn't hit me yet so lets save that goodbye for later).

I am very blessed.  Good to know I can always come back if I mess it up over here too  :)

Goodnight, new country of residency.

Sunday, October 21, 2012

The early ride

Flew back into my last week in Sydney this morning, jetlagged as I am I'm going through some of the photos I took while over there.  I totally forgot about this moment, but one morning when I was on the early shuttle this was the view outside my window.  It was so peaceful to be silently rushing along the pale stretches of water; I felt rewarded for my early start.  

I'm capturing this now in the hope that helps fuel a new rhythm of getting up early to get some quiet time in before breakfast.

Here's to getting the early ride.  And with that, I am early to bed.

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Home trip

Some snaps of my 'home trip' in progress.  There was work in there too, but hey you don't want to see pictures of that.
View from my hotel right next to ever touristy Union Square.
Moment of extreme dork - got close to Emily of Cupcakes and Cashmere at her  book signing and took this stalker photo.  This is the kind of person I am.
Obligatory tourist shot at The Embarcadero by the wharf.
Waiting for 'San Francisco's best ramen' at Katana-Ya - it lived up to its reputation, and was conveniently located across from our hotel.
Have finally scrubbed off evidence of Blondie's Bar, which started with dancing and ended with hotdogs, as all good night outs should.
And now, to bed.  Good night new home, and good afternoon Sydney!

Hope the already come Monday is treating you well.

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Feeling vs thinking

I don't know who this woman is but I feel like she'd be a great person to have lunch with:

"Whenever I start thinking too much I say to myself 'stop thinking - this is a very dangerous moment; this will end badly."

Nothing wrong with thinking or thoughts, but don't you ever over-worry or over-think things to the point where it's unhelpful?  Sometimes I do it to the point where my head starts to hurt, almost like getting drunk on thinking and then getting a 'thinking hangover'.

She also makes a good case for going for a walk.

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

So Sydney

Currently fighting the jetlag off in my first few hours SF - am here for what they call a brief 'home trip' (which sounded strange to me as I still consider Sydney my home, but the purpose of this is to scope out your new 'home' before moving out here).  As I haven't ventured beyond my laptop in the hotel and eating these to stay awake (demolished half a box already, someone please stop me), I thought I'd do a roundup of my 'so Sydney' activities of late.

The weekend past has been full of all of my favourite local things, in fact I consider this post the ultimate weekend for anyone thinking of coming to visit Sydney full stop.
Lunch with a view over at The Bucket List, Bondi.
The always stunning Icebergs kicking off the Bondi to Coogee walk.
Noodle markets in Hyde Park with friends from out of town.
Taking the Manly ferry back to the city after lunch at Hugo's and beers at 4 Pines.
A long awaited dinner for two at the newly opened Movida Sydney - we got lucky and just turned up for a table last Saturday,  only had to wait 20 mins over a vino at 121 BC, which we didn't mind at all!
At least the sunshine has followed me here!

Monday, October 1, 2012

'Baby otter' is my favourite

This TED talk found me via a comment on this post on play.  Ironic that I have been too busy to watch it until recently, but as it turns out all of my time at work looking out the window and googling for baby animals has been adding years to my life.
Game designer Jane McGonical talks about how games boost resilience, extend your life and directly have you getting away from having the top five regrets of the dying.  Watch from the ~12 minute mark if you just want to play her 'game'.

A playful finish to the long weekend.