What have you been up to...?
Archive - Mar 2001 - Jul 2001
Friday 16th March - Flew to Noosa for the weekend with Simon, Mark and Donald. Well, actually, we flew to Brisbane, and drove the rest of the way. We had
Saturday 17th March - Got sunburnt. So did the others. We had sun block with us, but we didn't use it. How dumb is that!?
Sunday 18th March - We all had a great weekend, but it wasn't long enough. We flew back to Sydney in the evening. The Ansett flight back was another matter - the food on the plane was AWFUL (really!!!), and we ended up in Sydney about 2 hours late on our 90 minute flight! As we were going up the aisle to exit the aircraft, all the lights went out and all of us stood there in complete darkness. Needless to say, we won't be flying THAT airline again.
Thursday 22nd March - Dropped my watch while taking it off in the bathroom, and when it hit the ground, the glass cracked. :( It's still usable, but it doesn't look nearly as nice.
Friday 23rd March - Went to Zipp Restaurant on Oxford Street with Andy and Clint. The restaurant was very new, and it showed. I can honestly say, I've never had worse service at any restaurant anywhere else. Normally, I don't care if the service is bad, but there are some things that are below the baseline of what is expected. I'm sure they'll improve, but I'm not taking the risk.
Saturday 24th March - Went out to La Toque Restaurant, and had a nice dinner with Simon. The food and wine was wonderful, and the service was amazing. I thoroughly recommend this restaurant.
Sunday 25th March - After 7 months of Daylight Saving Time, New South Wales finally reverted back to Eastern Australia Standard Time today. The early start was due to the Olympics. Dragged Simon out shopping, and bought some new CDs, a birthday present for Simon's dad (a bit belated), and we both bought funky new Storm watches. The face of mine changes color depending on how the light is reflecting. Cool. Cody came around briefly with Luke, and then Warren came over to say goodbye (leaving for New Zealand on the way back to London).
Friday 30th March - Went with Simon and Anne to Mudgee (a bigger, but less touristy version of the Hunter Valley), where we met up with Melissa and Michelle, and got to know Roz (who looks scarily like Madonna) and Craig. Went out to dinner on the way at some restaurant called "The Red Heifer". The steaks were about three inches thick. Yum. I've officially graduated from well-done, through a short phase at medium-well, to medium. Arrived at the Mudgee Homestead, and had a very relaxing night's sleep. It may sound unusual when I say that I was surprised at how dark it got at night, but I've spent the last five years or so living in cities.
Saturday 31st March - Went on a tour of about 8 wineries, buying lots of wine along the way. Got back to the Homestead and had one of the nicest dinners I've ever had. The nice couple that own the place do everything themselves. We were waited on hand and foot by the man, and the lady is an amazing chef. I thoroughly recommend staying there. They can be emailed here.
Sunday 1st April - Back in Sydney with our wine.
Friday 6th April - Went out to dinner (BBono) with Simon and Andy.
Saturday 7th April - Spent the day fixing my computer - swapped out the memory, reinstalled Windows 2000 and Millennium; upgraded the BIOS and AGP drivers. It works now, and hasn't crashed at all since. Before, I'd get a random blue screen every few hours (how annoying). Went out to dinner (BBono) with Simon and Michael. Went to work at about 11:45pm to help with an Exchange server upgrade.
Sunday 8th April - Still at work at until about 11am. Didn't get to bed until about 2:30pm - slept for (only) a couple of hours, so that I'd still be able to sleep that night. When I woke up at about 5pm, it felt like Sunday. What a weird feeling! While we were at work waiting for the restore to finish, I demoed Microsoft Flight Simulator 2000. I landed a 737 three times (out of three attempts) without crashing. In one of them, I cut the engines over Chicago and plummeted, landing successfully on Meigs Field.
Tuesday 10th April - Dad's birthday.
Sunday 15th April - The dates for the "Drowned World" Madonna tour were announced. Madonna's not coming to Australia, so I'll have to go see her. Went to Ben and Luca's and saw "The 6th Day". Good movie. Very futuristic.
Monday 16th April - Went with Simon, Andy and Clint to see "The Gift" - quite a scary movie. Then, it was out to dinner and then to the Kylie concert at the Sydney Entertainment Centre with Simon and Josh. It was amazing!
Wednesday 18th April - On a course for work until Friday - Systems Management Server (SMS) 2.0. Yay!
Thursday 19th April - Simon had an interview with an agent. Had coffee with Leonard Nel (a Kylie fan) from South Africa.
Friday 20th April - Last day of the SMS 2.0 course. Went out to dinner with Simon and Bronwyn (neighbour) at BBono.
Monday 23rd April - Upgraded my PC to 392MB RAM. Runs heaps faster now.
Wednesday 25th April - Anzac Day holiday - no work! Had lunch with Cody and Luke. Wandered down to HMV and bought the new Madonna single - working in Surry Hills means I hardly ever get the time to wander down to Pitt St Mall anymore. Today felt strange - it felt like a Saturday, but I know I've got work tomorrow, so I feel like I've been robbed of a day off.
Thursday 26th April - Dinner at Époque - a Belgian restaurant. I had the garlic mussels, and there were no after-effects the next day (not!).
Friday 27th April - Dinner at BBono.
Saturday 28th April - Went for a haircut and a sunbed after a bit of a stressful week at work. Made me feel sooo much better.
Sunday 29th April - Had a very late lunch, and wandered down to Paddy's Markets with Simon, Donald, Mark and Anna. Then we all had dinner at Trovata. It started pissing down as we left the restaurant and we couldn't find a taxi, so we got soaked.
Monday 30th April - Simon and I had a big discussion, and it was decided that he's going to try and get a job in Germany as soon as possible so that we're all established well in advance of the next European ski season. We're moving to Munich, by the look of things, and he may even be there within three weeks. I'll follow, once I've got a visa and a job. If I can't get a work permit by Jan/Feb 2002, I'll go anyway, and use the time to study.
Saturday 5th May - We're had an "Absolutely Fabulous" day at Mark and Donald's. We watched every episode made (on DVD) and drank bubbles the whole day. There was, of course, nibbly bits!
Wednesday 9th May - Went to another Kylie concert.
Friday 11th May - Went to my last Kylie concert - 3rd row! It was SO much better than any of the others, because I was so close, and also because they were filming it to release on DVD and show on TV. It will be shown on Channel Nine at 7:30pm on the 22nd of May. Simon sent me an SMS during the concert to say that he had accepted a job in Munich (Germany) and will be moving there.
Saturday 12th May - Flew to Brisbane to stay with Simon's aunt. A great weekend was had by all. The flight was really nice. We flew Virgin Blue, and went on a one week old plane (737-700). The service was amazing. The seats were leather. Say no more. It's cooling down now in Sydney, but the weather in Brisbane was great (hot, even). Simon booked his flight to Germany.
Sunday 13th May - Caught up with Grant for coffee and a bit of sitting around by the pool. Then, flew back to Sydney.
Monday 14th May - My leave was finally approved, so that I can fly over and see Madonna perform.
Tuesday 15th May - Went to a restaurant in Balmain called The Balmain Bug. I had the Kangaroo, and it was simply the best salad I've had for a long time!
Wednesday 16th May - Booked my flights to Los Angeles return (all on points). Lucky me.
Thursday 17th May - Went to BBono for dinner with Josh and Simon.
Friday 18th May - Went to La Premiere to see The Mummy Returns, with Simon, Donald and Mark, and Kevin (from work). Good movie... better than the original.
Saturday 19th May - Had dinner at BBono (that's three times this week.. must be my favorite restaurant), with Tracy and Melissa from work, the went to see a stage show called "Cookin'" - we were fortunate enough to get front row seats. Simon and Anne got pulled up on stage and had to make Dim Sims. It was a good night.
Tuesday 22nd May - Had a great day at work. Solved a problem that had been pissing me off for about a week. Went to Clint's to watch Kylie. I saw Anthony and his sister on TV, and even I could be seen twice. Yay! The DVD is due out by the end of the year.
Friday 25th May - Simon left for Germany this morning (via Tokyo). Had the morning off from work to see him off.
Saturday 26th May - Went to La Premiere in Chatswood to see Moulin Rouge with Donald, Mark and Rob. A bit off-beat, but if you liked the style of Romeo and Juliet, you'll love this. Simon phoned from the plane (!) after having taken off from Tokyo.
Sunday 27th May - Went to the premiere of Head Over Heels, starring Freddie Prinze Jr, and Sara O'Hare (Lachlan Murdoch's wife). A very funny movie! Got an email from Simon, who is now in Frankfurt.
Monday 28th May - Simon is now in Munich (Bavaria) ready to start his job.
Wednesday 30th May - Had Kevin (from work) over for a wine night. Have to use it up!
Tuesday 5th June - Madonna would have started her world tour in Cologne tonight, but she cancelled.
Thursday 7th June - A friend of mine from Perth (Lauren) came to stay with me. She's here until Tuesday.
Saturday 9th June - Madonna started her Drowned World tour in Barcelona, Spain. Went to the zoo with Lauren.
Friday 22nd June - Went to Melissa's for a lovely dinner. Ended up staying in the spare room because going home seemed all too hard.
Saturday 23rd June - Decided to see Tomb Raider with Melissa. The day started off well, but we almost died. We hired a taxi, but the guy (from Greece) was an absolute fuckwit who went the wrong way around a busy (and fast) roundabout. Not good. We had cars coming at us from all directions (well, one direction - the right one). Got to the movie (don't bother - it wasn't that great) and then it was off for a haircut. Then we decided to go to HMV, but on the way, we saw heaps of smoke, and there was a huge fire involving two parked cars. We watched from a safe distance, and then the petrol tank exploded (loudly). Finished off our perfect day with dinner at La Toque (SUCH a good restaurant).
Sunday 1st July - Went to see the premiere of Bridget Jones's Diary. Very funny movie!
Thursday 5th July - Moved out of the apartment and moved in with Donald and Mark in Chatswood. Sold all the furniture to the landlady, so that will make it easier to move to Germany.
Tuesday 10th July - Went with Mark to see Shrek.
Wednesday 11th July - Resigned from work, and booked my flights to Germany.
Thursday 12th July - Went to The Dolphin Hotel on Crown (http://www.dolphinoncrown.com.au) for dinner with Josh and Justin. It's a tad expensive, but the service is great and food is exquisite.
Friday 13th July - Drinks with heaps of people from work to celebrate Kevin's last day before 9 (!) weeks of vacation in Europe.
Tuesday 17th July - Tickets for Europe arrived in the mail. Flight Centre don't stuff around!
Wednesday 18th July - Went to see Evolution with Donald and Mark.
Friday 20th July - Started to get a cold. Hope it doesn't turn into that nasty, nasty flu that is going around.
Saturday 21st July - Went to have lunch with Ben, Luca and Jared, then saw Heartbreakers (Sigourney Weaver). Not a bad movie. Then, off to dinner at Melissa's place, and lively debate about whether the Germans that are alive today are responsible for the suffering of the Jews during the war!
Wednesday 25th July - Went to see a preview of Final Fantasy - go see this movie!!!
Thursday 26th July - My cold didn't turn out to be such a baddie.. just a sore throat and a runny nose.
Saturday 28th July - Having a nice quiet weekend - probably just as well.. The weather is nasty. Not cold, but very very windy.
Monday 30th July - Nice fine weather again. Supposed to reach 20 C tomorrow again - not bad for the middle of winter!
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