Trivia Night and Laser Tag

Three weeks from today I head home! Crazy. It seems like I both have been here forever and time has flown by.

I figured as I wait for my laundry to finish I should post about the last couple of days. On Tuesday night 7 of us met at Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville for trivia night. But before that I met up with a co-worker at King St Brewhouse to try another one of their beers (and to grab dinner). As I've mentioned before, Tuesday is when many restaurants have specials, so our entrees were 2 for 1. Woo hoo. And guess what? I got to see (not hear) some sports highlights and Around the Horn.

I miss ESPN...

Anyway, we then went to Margaritaville and dominated as team The Internationals (we had 2 Americans, an Aussie (well, technically he was born in the US, moved when he was 1 to Bangladesh, then to Sydney), a Ukrainian (an Ukrainian?), a Scot, a Northern Irish, and a South African. Dang. Talk about diversity. Our prize was a $50 bar tab (which doesn't go nearly that far in Sydney).

On Wednesday we went to Kingpin Bowling. For $30 each we got unlimited bowling and laser tag. We bowled 4 games (me sucking but enjoying trying to bowl like the pros and give my ball a spin).

Cool place. Although it often struggled setting up pins...

I made up for struggling in bowling with a dominating laser tag round.

My gun was called "Ewok"

Currently wrapping up 2 jobs and starting my final one while I'm out here. However, that client hasn't been ready for us yet. Hopefully that doesn't delay us too much. After all, I'm gone soon.

Black Mamba IPA

After work I hit up the gym. After eating and showering, I decided to go for a walk with the intention of visiting a wine bar a block or so from my place. However, I guess it closes by 9pm on a Monday. So, I did an audible and walked down to the harbor. I was looking for a place I could grab a drink and work on my laptop. And then I saw it. Australian brewed beer. On site. King Street Brewhouse. I ordered the Black Mamba IPA.

Interesting IPA. Looked almost like a Guinness. Really creamy looking and ended up being quite smooth and creamy tasting. Just a hint of bitterness. A confusing IPA, but not a bad beer. I might have to venture back here and try another craft beer on tap.

While at this brewhouse I was able to get a few personal things done and do a bit of planning for my upcoming trip to the Great Barrier Reef (my last trip outside of Sydney). Time is flying by. I come home in 24 days!

Casino Night, Dog Racing, and Brunch

On Friday night the social committee hosted a Casino Night at the office. It cost $20 and included drinks and food (canapes). It was a blast. The three games were roulette, blackjack, and Texas hold 'em. I mostly played blackjack. Everyone got $1,000 to start the night off with (we played with fake money). The person who had the most chips at the end won a trophy. I racked up about $7,500 at one point but heard someone else had over $10,000. It was getting towards the end of the night, so I started betting bigger, which basically led to me losing all my money. Oh well. The competition for the trophy ended up coming down to two people. They had close to the same amount of money, so instead of counting it, I encouraged them to decided it at the roulette table. The guy bet on black; she bet on red. We all watched the ball go 'round and land on black. Pretty solid way to end a casino night.

Interesting note: blackjack is played a little differently. The dealer deals himself one card face up then deals to all of us (rather than dealing himself one card face up and one card face down). It's basically the same concept, but just a little Aussie twist.

Saturday was a hot day (hit over 80 degrees) so I decided to head over to the Bondi Beach.

It was the first really hot day since the start of winter, but it wasn't that busy at the beach. Maybe crowds were down because it was election day?

Here's a nice cliche photo of me relaxing at the beach. Good to catch some rays.

This belongs on Instagram...

And for those of you who are wondering, yes, apparently topless sunbathing is allowed. There was a little of that. But don't worry, Michelle. It's not really the women you want to see who are sunbathing topless. I mean, not that I want to see it, it just wasn't the hot ones. Er, um, I'm going to go ahead and end this paragraph...

I met up with a buddy from work and we grabbed a burger and a beer. We then headed back to the beach before heading home. Saw this guy. He's getting married and it looks like he's on his bachelor party (or stag party as they call it here. I believe they call it a buck party in the UK. Or maybe that's vice versa).

I'm assuming you can guess the bachelor

He had a sign that said he had to kiss 20 butt cheeks. From what I overhead, he had 6 more to go.

There was also some kite flying society out, and they were hardcore. Check out these cool kites. They were massive.

Overall, it was a great time at the beach. I want to head back next weekend. The area around the beach (Bondi Junction) is cool, too. Cafes, a big shopping center, etc.

After the beach a group of us met up around 7pm to hit up a greyhound track (yep, weekend of gambling).

I've never been to one before and this was actually a lot of fun. Minimum bets were $1, so each race we'd all pick two dogs (to either place or win outright). It was cheap, but still added that little extra incentive to cheer on the dogs. Got really into it. Over ten races, I ended up down $11. Not too bad for spending three hours at the race track.

We used a LivingSocial coupon to get in. Normally it costs $6 to get in, but the coupon was $6 which included entrance, one drink, and a packet (as pictured above). The packet normally costs $4 and has information on all the dogs (the experts' take, latest race results, etc). That made it a lot of fun. Before each race, we'd all pour over the info (not that we had a very good idea on how best to use the information contained in the packet...).

On Sunday morning I woke up and attended mass at the St. Mary's Cathedral. That was nice. I then met up with some co-workers in the suburb called Newtown. We had brunch at Martini Cafe. It was a tasty outing. Newtown was also unique to walk around. It has a lot of cafes and trendy/hipster shops (retro dress stores, antique shops, etc).

That pretty much summarizes my weekend. My Huskers won convincingly today, a nice change from last week. Hope we can pull off the W against UCLA next weekend. Now I have to make sure my fantasy football lineups are set. By the time I wake up, most games will already be over.

Foxtel

Happy Friday! Last day riding the bus to my current client. We'll see where my client is next week. Hopefully a bit closer to the CBD. But these past two weeks have gone pretty well.

The main cable provider here is Foxtel (from what I've gathered). They have this one ad that talks about not having to wait weeks or even days for the hottest shows from the US. Yep, you can get shows like Breaking Bad, Boardwalk Empire, Sons of Anarchy, etc "express from the US" in just 48 hours. Um... 48 hours = 2 days. Which, by definition, means you are waiting "days" for the hottest shows from the US. You can't just convert it to hours to make it seem shorter.

Tonight is Casino Night at the office (playing with fake money). That should be fun. A lot of the co-workers I know will be going to that. No set plans yet for the weekend, but it should be nice weather. Looks like it should get up to 88 degrees (31 degrees Celsius) tomorrow. Thinking I should hit up the beach. I haven't really done that yet since I've been here.

Election over soon

Less than 30 days until I make my way home. And another milestone hit: more than 1,000 views on my blog. Woo hoo! I suppose it's probably not THAT many views for 50+ posts, but it's not like I'm in some competition here.

Also, it's just a few days until the Australian election. It's looking like the Liberal party and their leader Tony Abbott are going to win if you believe all the latest polls. I've been able to pick up some things while watching TV, but not that in tune with the politics here. Also, with the two main parties being called Liberal and Labour, plus the main "secondary" party called the Greens, I have no idea who I would vote for. Thankfully, there's a handy Vote Compass sponsored by the Australian Broadcasting Company. Apparently I'm closest to the Liberal party. Interesting.

One last thing, I was reading through the board minutes of my one client and this was at the beginning:

"The Board acknowledged the traditional owners of the land where this meeting is held and their elders past and present."

I thought that was kind of funny or peculiar. I asked one of my co-workers and she said that yeah, all/most board minutes start out that way. And I guess in school, almost like our Pledge of Allegiance, they start off the day saying something similar. It's a way to acknowledge the Aborigines who were here first.

Catching the bus

I'm writing this on the bus on my way to work. Lately, I've had to take the bus to my current client. It's definitely a little more stressful and difficult than just hoping on the train. The buses don't quite come when they're scheduled to (either earlier, making you rush to catch it as your approach the stop, or later and making you sweat that you missed it).

Another thing, because I live in the central business district (CBD), there's a lot (heaps) of traffic and buses (as I previously mentioned in another post). And you have to signal your driver. So you need to keep a look out and peer around the 10,000 other buses that are passing by or stopping to pick up riders.

So, every time I see my bus approach and I successful signal it, it's like a mini victory. Such a relief. Whew.

And a bachelor update (and no, not the Aussie Bachelor which debuts tomorrow at 7:30pm AND has the most annoying ads of all time. Agh, why do I know all of that?), I found the Sydney version of Romen Noodles at Coles. Mmmm... Tasty.

Kings Cross and Dodge Ball - 50th post

And welcome to my 50th post post! Last night was a success in two ways. First, people had a great time at the American party I hosted. Afterwards, we ventured out to Kings Cross (district in the city. I'll mention more later). The bar we went to was called Santa Barbara: The Californian.

Although, I did learn today that last night, to make a long and currently incomplete story to me short, two co-workers were hit by a motorcycle as they left the bar. However, it sounds like they're ok, so that's good.

The other good part about last night: it was the first time in over a week I didn't wake up in a cold sweat. Woo hoo!

Anyway, today I went back to Kings Cross to have a look around during the day. It has a reputation for being the party part of the city. It's also where Darlinghurst Road is. It's a slightly seedy couple of blocks with strip clubs and other adult stores. Apparently there are brothels around there, too. Prostitution is legal here.

But apart from the dirty section, it has some fun looking bars, restaurants, and architecture. Lots of Victorian, Georgian, and Romanesque-style buildings (and no, I don't really know the differences between those, but that's what my guide book says).

And a fountain

 

And checkout what else I saw:

 

This still exists?? I guess Aussies like to "hire" videos


All said, it was a fun time walking around this area. Really cool. And gorgeous weather. It got up to 79 degrees.

 

I did walk by this rental car store. I have no idea why it is called what it is. It must be some sort of Aussie reference to... something?

 

No birds? what the heck?

And I just got back from playing some dodge ball with about 15 co-workers. It was awesome and a good workout. It was at a place that hosts these events and tournaments. We got to see two teams play before our scheduled time, and it brought back memories of the movie Dodge Ball.

 

 

Now, apparently, because I'm an American everyone assumed I was really good at this game. I mean, I don't think I've ever actually played "dodge" ball. In gym/PE we'd play variations of it with 30 kids (dungeon ball comes to mind), so I guess I have some experience. But, whoa, that's a lot of pressure. Thankfully, I impressed enough, so I didn't let my country/American stereotype down.

 

And today marked the start of college football! I think I will have a better chance of catching some college games while I'm here rather than NFL games (NFL games are on Monday afternoon Sydney time). Thankfully, my Huskers won (although not as convincingly as I'd like).

Before I wrap this post up, I'd like to wish all the dads out there happy Father's Day. September 1st is Father's Day in Australia.

I'll end with the latest sign I found in the elevator:

Come on, guys...