....all good things end at some point - so does this valuable institution....
Diggs has had enough of our company - prefers to drink with sheep and camels and is moving to Urumqi.
So last night...for the last time and in good-boyz manner, we ....
1) had tasty Indian Food
2) enjoyed expensive Cigars
3) finished off both bottles of our delicious Scotch
4) determined who's the good, the bad and the ugly
5) .....and passed out on my couch
...so all I wanted to do is spend a nice quiet relaxed evening and finally get a decent amount of sleep. But NO, people who considered my friends, concerned about my wellbeing, decided to abduct me, poison me (with over three bottles of cheap clear-colored russian liquid and other stuff), intrude into my home and deprive me of my sleep......making sure I feel really old today!
It is actually very nice to now and again just spend a weekend 'at home', just chilling and relaxing with friends.
...austria meets austr*A*L*ia ...
two weeks in Australia, including an awesome day and a half in Melbourne - as well as Mich's scolding;), definitely make it worthwhile to another few lines to this extremely busy page:)
As an Austrian, I often enough get mistaken for an Australian when I tell people where I am from - typically they tend to automatically add the AL in their minds....not even considering the tiny, but yet beautiful country in the heart of Europe (okay, this is before they hear more of my weird English - a mix of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Queen Mum, and some additional Chicago influence). Anyways, this AL does make a difference.... summer vs winter, driving on the right side vs the left side, 'sound of music' vs 'crocodile dundee', kangaroos vs no kangaroos - hence Austrians' need for clarification, wearing T-Shirts emphasizing the latter....
No Kangaroos in Austria
So finally I got the chance to see for myself what this AustrALia is all about, when my company decided to send me down to Toongabbie for a two week project. Despite the fact that this trip was work-related, I did get the chance to see a bit of Sydney - and even Melbourne. The exciting town of Toongabbie is just another boring suburb, but at two weekends i got to explore Sydney, taking the ferry to the city, relaxing at a cafe by the opera house (with awesome view to the bride, city, opera and harbor), having a pint (or two (or three)) around The Rocks, trying to play the didjeridoo, heading down George Street and on to Darling Harbor for an excellent dinner, taking the ferry to Manly Beach with it's surfers and pretty people , etc. The whole experience was topped by the 'bridge-climb', walking up the arch of the bridge in daylight with the opera house just to our right, stopping at the peak watching the sun set and heading back down again with an awesome view of the city at night....
Sitting here in hot&humid shanghai again and thinking back...the best part of the trip might have actually been the weather....mild 22 C degrees, the clearest & bluest sky ever....wonderful - and that's what they call 'winter' (it's better than any UK summer).
Well, not true, 'cause the real fun part of the trip had to wait until the final couple of days....in Melbourne. Even though, I got stuck in a half-sized shoe box, the weekend was great..... Melbourne's diverse bar scene is a lot of fun - ate the best souvlaki since Greece, discovered that Australian's actually do have other beer than Foster's, got my ass grabbed by some random guy in 'Comme', joined a couple of random blokes in laying out grass on the road...and in general had an awesome time.
What better to follow after a long night out than a BBQ lunch.... a real relaxed Aussie BBQ afternoon at Simon & Mich's:)
Simon&Mich, thanks for the best BBQ ever - with extra-special Roo....
Pei, thanks for organizing, driving & showing me around.....as well as your weak attempt to eating meat (not even sure, if you can consider chicken real meat though;)
Nick, Mr. UBS Invest...was great to get to see you 2 days in a row - despite your new work/work balanced life
Alfy, as always, it was good to see you again, buddy!...... it had been way too long....
Thanks a lot guys, for taking care of me!....making those 36hrs in Melbourne the best part of this Australia trip:)
....so, here we go...
