Life by Antin

The Dude Abides

2012-02-28T14:52:00.000+11:00

One of the very last things I did before flying out was to go bowling with my team. Where'd we go? Thing is, we didn't. We stayed at work.

That's right... in Mountain View we have a bowling lane. Four of them.

We also have soccer fields, basketball courts, putting greens, tennis, bocce ball, and a few other things.

Usually when I bowl, and by usually I mean infrequently, and by infrequently I mean once every five years when I go; I simply throw hard and straight, and average somewhere around 120-140. I'll collect a few strikes, more by luck than anything else, and average 9ish a frame.

This time, I decided what the hell, I'd try this spin thing I'd heard so much about. It's what the pros do, and I may as well learn. And so I did.

My first throw was spectacular, the ball spun fantastically, straight into the gutter! So did my second, third, fourth, and pretty much first half dozen frames. Sitting on a very round score, it was a little late to change tactics, so I kept going.

Finally, my practice paid off, I knocked over a pin! Next frame I managed to knock four over. A few frames later it looked like I was going to get a strike, but I had to settle for nine.

Then, 80% of the way through the game, one of the Americans decided to share a secret with me. I'd been doing it entirely wrong. To spin, you need to release the ball higher, and I kept doing it lower. And so, my next two bowls were fantastic, although spun so much they went into the gutter again. 90% of the way through the game (last bowl) they shared another secret... I was spinning it wrong, I really just need to follow through with my hand than trying to flick my wrist.

And so, secret technique in mind, I released the ball... and scored a strike!

Question is, dare I try spin ever again?

Not Winter

2012-02-27T14:43:00.000+11:00

It was kind of hard to believe it was winter while I was in Mountain View. I flew out of summer, in Sydney, where it was cold and wet; landed in California where it was sunny and warm.

In Mountain View it was warmer than Sydney pretty much every day, although still cold in mornings and evenings, yet even though spring is over a month away, pretty much all the trees had started to blossom. That's the view from my apartment in Mountain View.

A Manly Run

2012-02-27T00:21:00.000+11:00

At a geriatric pace...

I had another of my bright ideas today, as Teon left for Canberra I left for Manly; my plan was to run there, grab an ice-cream, then catch the ferry back. 16 kilometers is a little father than I'd usually run for ice-cream, but it was a hot day.

You may recall that I did this route only two months ago, when I did my marathon. I thought I was doing better this time, but again, as I hit Seaforth I was shattered, the elevation climb on the first 12 kilometers is incredible.

I have no idea how I managed another 30 last time, because I struggled to make the final 4. Worse, I somehow injured my knee - it hasn't bothered me in six months, but now I can barely bend it, I'm limping everywhere I go.

I think I hurt it as I ran down the hill to Seaforth, I was landing very heavily, and it wasn't a good idea.

About the only nice thing was that when I got to Manly I was craving a coconut water, I've really gotten into the habit of them after long runs, and what would you know but someone was selling fresh coconuts right on the street? He took a machette to it while I watched.

Bixby Creek Bridge

2012-02-26T14:40:00.000+11:00

I already posted about Presidents' Day, but here is a short video of the terrific view of Bixby Creek Bridge.

Oh, and me doing my dramatic pose:

Macaroni and Cheese

2012-02-25T14:30:00.001+11:00

For my last night in the US, I went out to dinner with a few friends from work. One of them is an American who has been living in Japan for a few years, and he has remarked before about the thing that he misses most from home being macaroni and cheese. I had thought he was joking, until he visited Australia on a trip overlapping with his birthday, and all he wanted for that special dinner was macaroni and cheese...

So, this time, with both of us in the land of cheesy pasta, we decided to find a place to eat it. His favorite in the Bay area is something involving a T-Rex up in Berkley, but that was a little far to drive. Fortunately there were dozens of places to choose from, and another friend recommended Martins West GP, in Redwood City (only about 15 minutes from work).

The remainder of our colleagues were especially skeptical, a few downright mocking, and one or two passed up the opportunity for such a delicacy. Personally I was a little trepidatious, I was expecting a fairly low quality meal with cheap food and quick service.

Imagine my surprise when not only was Redwood City fairly trendy, with the Main Street feeling more rustic and fairy lights strung in trees; but the cafe we went to was really stylish. It was huge, with many different rooms, sort of dimly lit, with exposed brick interior. The waiters were extremely friendly and charming, and the presentation of all the courses really well done.

All of it, and the good company, placed me in an exceedingly good mood; I couldn't stop smiling, laughing, and having a good time - even if I was still dubious about the pending pasta.

We started with a variety of appetizers (not entreés... remember in the USA those are what they call mains) - tandoori fries, pot 'o' pickles, scotch eggs (which are amazing - tiny little hard boiled quail eggs, wrapped in mince, crumbed and then fried), bone marrow (literally a bone sliced open, with the marrow placed back in, with lightly toasted bread to spread it on) and some servings of mac 'n' cheese for the table.

At the time we ordered, my friends had attempted to just order mac 'n' cheese to share, but I told them I was having my own. The waiter laughed, and when he brought the appetizers, he said that I couldn't have any, mine would come with the main. And so I waited patiently, while they sated themselves. Actually I didn't, I scoffed the bread, which was by 'special request' and absolutely delicious. They were warm little bread rolls and amongst the best bread I have ever eaten (possibly the best bread).

For my entreé I had a bavette; angus beef, medium rare, sliced and garnished with foie gras, and a variety of other things; as with all the food so far it was delicious. However the real focus of my evening was the side of mac 'n' cheese. To be honest, I can only say it was better than I expected. It was nice enough, nothing to rave about, but certainly decent (my friend who loves mac 'n' cheese said it was good, although not the best he'd had). I'd order it again, but I wouldn't go out of my way for it.

Dessert was sticky toffee pudding, which is very much like sticky date pudding, but even sweeter, with a side of honeycomb which I'm sure had enough sugar to kill my brother twice over.

All in all it was a wonderful evening, with fantastic people, at a lovely restaurant.

Presidents' Day

2012-02-21T19:17:00.001+11:00

God bless the United States of America, without whom I would not have had a day off. I usually have terrible timing with travel and miss Australian public holidays, but this time I scored one in return. I don't know which President we were celebrating, but I'm going to go with Andrew Jackson, because who doesn't love cheese?

Today a few of us went down to Monterey for the day, primarily because Alan is enamored with their aquarium, or as he describes it, "the best aquarium in the world". Personally I'm not prepared to go that far; while I think it is a good aquarium, a very good aquarium, and perhaps even one of the better aquariums, best seems a little premature.

We argued about it at length during the course of the day, in the end I was willing to concede that it was the best aquarium along the west coast (of America), and with some prompting I was willing to accept best in the entire west coast (ie including South America). To be nice I also conceded Australia, New Zealand, Antartica, and the Arctic.

So there we have it, Monterey Bay aquarium, the best aquarium along the American west coast, Australia, New Zealand, and polar extremes. I think they should put it on the brochure.

After the aquarium, and a very belated lunch, we continued for a drive along my favorite road (although stretches of New Zealand really do compete for the title). It never ceases to be a crowd pleaser, and we timed it well with the sun starting to, and eventually setting just off the coast.

Home in time for dinner, dessert, and another late night :)

Scouting 101

2012-02-20T20:14:00.002+11:00

Kinda feeling sick right now... I've just drunk half a gallon of milk and eaten an entire box of Girl Scout cookies. My advice is to split this into multiple evenings.

Sunday

2012-02-20T13:21:00.000+11:00

Mike tricksed me. He suggested we catch up on the weekend, maybe for a barbecue, or something like that. Instead, we went running, at 7:30 AM, in the hills behind Cupertino, with a temperature of about 4ºC.

Wow was it cold.

That said, it was also pretty refreshing. It's the first real run I've been on in about a month, and it's in a really pretty area, along nice dirt trails that wind through the hills. Mike goes running there every weekend with two friends, one of whom is extremely fit, and rather fast - he also has the impressive ability to chat the entire run, which when reciprocated makes it a little more challenging.

Apart from the early start, it's was a really nice way to start the day. We followed up with breakfast at Mike and Shannon's new house, which is really lovely; and then lunch in Mountain View, where Mike tricksed me again, this time into buying Girl Scout cookies.

The Girl Scouts have been out in force this last week, setting up stands all over town, they were outside Starbucks the other day dancing and practically doing a cheer to entice people. This time they were just near the Farmers' Market, and as we walked by Mike stopped and said I should buy some. He then told them I would be buying some, which sort of placed me in it, and he further told them I'd buy two boxes, to sample half the available flavors.

I ended up with Thin Mint (Mike's favorite) and Tagalongs (a chocolate and peanut butter variety, one of the scout's favorites). Now to invest in some milk and have a late night snack.

Saturday Shopping

2012-02-19T16:14:00.004+11:00

Today was fun, I spent the morning and early afternoon hiking around the hills of Los Gatos with Lisa - it's a really pretty area, with a lot of great trails; it would also be a nice place to go jogging. The town itself is pretty nice too, with a lot of places to eat, and sort of trendy - we had lunch, and later dinner there.

However the afternoon was dedicated to getting me ready for my next snowboarding trip :) After my first I have pants (thanks to Helen), and a jacket and googles (thanks to her help selecting). Today I completed the set with boots, mittens (Lisa scoffed, and asked if guys wear them, but Robb does, and assures me they make more sense), and socks. I might get a long-sleeve shirt for it at some point, and then once living in an area more amenable to snowboarding I'll pick up bindings and a board.

However I'm a little confused by the boots. I'm an US 11.5 in sneakers... but the guy was adamant that I'm only a 10.5 in snowboots... he was really quiet indignant about it, pointing to the measuring, and assuring everyone around me that I'm really a 10.5. The boots are tight, and I'm still dubious, but he says they are meant to be, that they need to fit like socks, and that sneakers and boots have different fits. He also says they are the tightest they will ever be, with the inner moulding to my feet and getting loser over time. He also rightly pointed out that once I crouch, my toes pull back, and it is only when standing straight that they are tight...

The actual convincing argument was their fit guarantee. If they don't, after 3 days of boarding, they'll replace them, so I guess he must know what he's doing.

Cold Shock

2012-02-19T10:00:00.000+11:00

So, arriving at Eagle Lake was a bit of a surprise. I remembered what it looked like when I was there in June 2010, and this time? Kinda different; for a start, there wasn't any water.

Helen and Kyle:

Now, being an idiot, I thought it would be interesting to go walking on the lake. But being a cautious idiot I decided not to, knowing it really would not be safe. However as a curious idiot, I couldn't resist stepping on the edges a little. Then being a brash idiot I decided if the edges were safe, a little farther would be okay. Brash idiocy transitioned to care-free as Helen joined me on the ice. We walked out a fair way from shore, I'd guess 20 meters, and were idly wondering around, vaguely heading towards the middle.

Then in the space of a heart-beat care-free turned terrified, as Helen and I heard a low 'dum dum dum' sound, which was a little puzzling at first, kind of like some huge fish tapping against the surface, soon followed by a cracking sound and the appearance of a crack racing along the ice just in front of us. In fact there were two cracks, one racing out from shore, and another running somewhat perpendicular.

Helen was a little closer to shore and scrambled back more quickly. I paused for a second, ready to panic, but thinking that sudden moves may be a bad idea; I promptly decided it was a frozen lake and not a dinosaur, and got off as suddenly as I could manage.

Safely on shore, with hearts racing, Helen and I laughed ourselves silly for a bit, then made it back (overland) to where the others were waiting. Anita promptly informed us that we were both grounded, and so ended my day at the lake.

Sunday Hike

2012-02-18T18:23:00.002+11:00

After brunch on Sunday there was discussion of what we should do; I was all for more snowboarding, however as we still had to drive back to San Francisco everyone else wanted a slightly shorter activity... the group split between hot springs and hiking, and my car headed to Emerald Bay for a hike.

I'd remembered how nice the hike was to Eagle Lake when I was in Tahoe in 2010, and while that was summer and there was snow, it seemed like a simple enough idea.

Fairly early into the hike we ran into what looked like an icy wall, which was actually a staircase but mostly iced over; and while lesser groups turned back in defeat, we pushed forward, scaling the side and continuing on to the lake.

We had the walk entirely to ourselves, and a very pleasant one it was. Sneakers and jeans aren't really the best gear for traipsing through the snow, but in the sun it was warm enough, and the view more than made up for it.

I'll cover the lake itself in the next post, suffice to say it was exciting, as was the walk back. Walking on snow is much harder going down... especially the icy parts, and we all fell a few times. Towards the end Helen and Anita decided sliding down the slopes was easier, and tried it every chance they could.

I tried not to... but that didn't stop me falling on my ass a few times. I did so once just as a dog was coming the other way and gave the poor thing a fright. It sat there barking at me in confusion for a little while, before finally deciding I knew what I was doing and followed me back down the hill. It's poor owners had to come chasing after to try and get it back.

It seems dogs in Tahoe liked us. We even had two at our cabin. One would come in the mornings and lie outside on the veranda. It was very well behaved and took a lot of enticing to get inside, but bacon won out in the end. In the evenings a black dog would come around, which while similarly behaved, wasn't as reticent.

No

2012-02-17T16:25:00.000+11:00

"Antin, can you teach us to say no the way you do?"

For some reason, this trip, my use of words and the pronunciation thereof is getting more noticed. As we left dinner tonight I was asked that exact question, very seriously, and until that point I didn't realize such a simple word could be so different. To be honest I still can't hear much of a difference, but I'm told I have many more vowels and syllables in that 'no', but all short and compressed...

/sigh, such is my life.

Snowboarding

2012-02-17T10:00:00.000+11:00

Saturday was a day I've been looking forward to for a long while; years in fact.

I had been skiing precisely once in my life, when I was about 17, and while I really enjoyed it there were a variety of reasons why I never went back. At first it was too expensive, then it was too inconveniently far away, then something I forgot, and more recently something I didn't have time for.

I had been intending to try snowboarding for years, I was hoping to go to NZ for a week last August, but timing just didn't work out.

So imagine how excited I was to finally have a chance to try; well, at least how excited I was prior to all the helpful warnings people gave me leading in... how hard it was, all the ways I would hurt myself, the number of times I'd fall over, etc...

My last few days leading into the weekend were slightly tempered with nervousness, less about hurting myself, and more about potentially having to deal with the American health system.

Fast forward to Saturday. After breakfast we got ready for the snow, Helen had lent me some gear, gloves and snow pants (amusingly enough an older pair of hers that were too large... although they actually fit me rather well, I guess perhaps I should start looking in the women's section to double my range of choices). She didn't realize that I also needed a jacket but we went shopping for one at the slopes and found, what Helen assures me, a rather nice one.

Once appropriately dressed Helen took me over to check in for lessons; I really need to thank her for taking such good care of me, reflecting back it was almost like being walked to school on your first day :)

I got my gear just in time, and met up with Tyson, my snowboarding instructor. As an aside, I'm really going to have to work on my Australian accent because he didn't believe I was one, and when I assured him he wanted to know how long I'd been living in the states... 4 days wasn't what he expected.

We started slowly - learning what our front foot would be. Supposedly it is the one that feels most natural, the one you could balance on for longer, the one you'd land on if you jumped, etc... thing is neither foot felt more natural for me, so Ty gave up and told me to just use my left. It seems that's regular and anyone who uses their right foot forward is in the minority and snowboard goofy. So named (supposedly) after the Disney character, there was a cartoon where Mickey was surfing regularly, and Goofy backwards, and the name stuck.

Anyway, front foot (my left), is to always be the one you have your weight on. If you shift your weight to the back foot you'll swing around and likely fall over. Tyson helpfully pointed the way we should always lean, and always face... forward.

We practiced sliding around a little before strapping both feet in, then practiced skating with just the one foot in. Then strapped both in and practiced going down the hill. That was surprisingly easy, in fact it's trivial to balance while you're shooting straight down.

What's a little harder is using the edges. To turn you lean forward or back a little (balancing the board on the edge, backwards for the heel-edge, or forwards for the toe-edge). To turn you use the edges, and you can change direction by leaning the other way. However lean too far and you fall over...

I think there were some other lessons we were meant to learn, things like the falling leaf, and how to stop, but unfortunately half my group really really sucked so Ty spent most of his time trying to prevent them hurting themselves. He spent what little he had left flirting with one of the cute girls. That left me with getting the odd piece of encouragement but not as much instruction as I could have hoped.

All the same, I felt fairly in control, perhaps I'd like to be better at quickly changing direction, and perhaps a little better at fastly stopping, but I felt comfortable enough getting around.

One interesting thing is that most people feel more comfortable on the heel-edge, so much so that there is a name for people who avoid the toe-edge (heel-edge heroes). I'm the opposite. Toe felt great, completely in control, but heel a little less sound. It's one of the things Ty put on my card to work on, that and standing up straight... bend with the knees, back straight, arms extended out in line with the board, shoulders in a line, in fact no twisting except with your neck as you're always looking forward...

The lesson finished with just enough time to do a a few runs. I jumped on the lift and went scooting down on my own:

The board gets surprisingly heavy after a while... all strapped to just one foot.

My first run down was a lot of fun, although I accidentally took the second easiest slope instead of the easiest because I didn't turn in time (it was a heel-edge turn!). The second run I did take the easier one, got a little too confident, went a little too fast, tried to slow a little too quickly, and fell spectacularly on my face.

That was actually only the second real fall I had all day (well half-day), and the only other, on my ass, wasn't really my fault. Some stupid little kind on skis went racing past me, then fell over, and I had to basically plant it backwards to avoid killing him.

Everyone kept telling me how sore I'd be, and how much I'd fall over, but literally that was it: two proper falls. While just getting started there were a few minor ones, kinda, but I was going so slow that it was more sitting down than falling over.

I'm sure as I snowboard more (and I want to do it a lot) I will fall more. There will likely be a funny progression as I get better, than more self-assured, then fall a bunch as I try too much. My new plan is to go do a full day of just snowboarding, and then maybe take another lesson (a private one) to fix any bad habits I pick up.

At the end of the day I met up in the bar with the rest of my party. My enjoyment of the day must have been showing, I probably had a goofy grin on my face (even though I board regular), because when I got there Anita exclaimed that she's never seen anyone so happy after their first day snowboarding...

But I was, I really was. I loved it. Every minute of it.

And truthfully, it was surprisingly easy. I'm not good at it, not by a long shot, but after just a few hours I feel almost competent. I have a lot to learn, but I never felt out of control on the slopes. Also, having both feet strapped in is strangely liberating; unlike skiing you don't have to worry about them.

My new plan is to move somewhere I can go snowboarding all the time.

Fortnight

2012-02-16T05:30:00.003+11:00

Writing of words, I forget whether I've shared my most recent anachronism with you.

Fortnight.

A perfectly common word, very descriptive, and surprisingly useful. However one that it seems went out of fashion in America along with the King.

Over the last few months I've been called on it in multiple countries, but always by Americans. In Australia a few of my American colleagues said that nobody knows what I mean when I use that word... or rather they do, but it sounds like old-English, and they'd never use it. In Tokyo one of the Americans called me Shakespeare and started theeing and thouing. And this last week in the states it has come up a few more times - supposedly my use of it had been remarked upon.

The thing is... I'm here for a fortnight. Precisely. In fact very frequently when I travel it is for a fortnight. And so, whenever asked how long I am here for, I answer with the most accurate and descriptive word I have.

They all know what it means, or mostly they do. One person said "isn't it about 10 days?" to which I replied "yes, it's exactly 10 days, plus another 4".

The question they always ask is "why not just say two weeks?". But we have words for a reason; days become weeks, become fortnights, become months, become years, become lustrums (okay now I'm messing with you, I only use lustrum infrequently... but the spellchecker is totally down with it), become decades, become centuries, become millennia.

Fortnight is a word I'm not letting go of. It's staying in my vocabulary and I will re-invigorate it, one American at a time.

kitty-corner

2012-02-16T05:19:00.002+11:00

Every so often I get surprised by a new American-ism. This morning's lesson was kitty-corner. What's so remarkable is that the word came up twice in an hour, with two different people.

The first time I heard it I had no idea what it meant, but from the rest of the sentence I worked out what was going on, and had discarded the word from the sentence and my memory.

The second time I had just finished describing something as "diagonally opposite", much to the amusement of who I was speaking to, who burst out laughing and asked if that's really what I say. She said they call it "kitty corner".

When pressed for why, she said that's how they describe it in kindergarden, and when pressed further she said "cats always sit like that?".

It seems it may really come from cater-corner, either from the Germanic word for crooked or angled, or perhaps from the French quatre meaning four (and thus the fourth corner).

Unlike some of the other words I try to incorporate, I don't think I'll be adding kitty-corner to my list.

Tahoetastic

2012-02-15T19:02:00.002+11:00

This weekend just past I was spoilt for choice, and while I wish I was able to catch up with everyone who offered to entertain me, I opted to head to Tahoe, with Helen and her friends, where they had rented a cabin for the weekend and were kind enough to invite me along.

There were nine of us in all, in a huge and luxurious two-story cabin with more beds and bathrooms than you could count, a few fireplaces, and a very well equipped kitchen. We drove up on Friday evening, with me driving the behemoth which proved great for long trips; fitting five people, a few snowboards, and all the gear you could ask for.

Friday night saw the beginning of a lot of great cooking, it seems most of Helen's friends are gifted in the kitchen, and we arrived to a delicious and freshly cooked chili. In the morning there were omelets and bacon, while we enjoyed the view from our cabin.

After a lazy start to Saturday and a lot of fun snowboarding, we returned home to continue the cooking. Boris treated us to his special spaghetti bolognese (delicious) and italian bread, we finished the chili which had continued to improve, a fancy salad, and yummy apple pie.

Sunday saw another brunch, with more bacon and eggs, Helen cooked up some blueberry pancakes and David prepared cinnamon scrolls - from a can! I'm not even kidding, although they did taste nice.

The amazing thing is that for two nights in a fully furnished cabin, including the huge amount of food we bought to eat, and the quantities of beer, wine, and champagne available to drink - much of which was leftover - it cost each of us less than $150 - I'm incredibly impressed with Helen's holiday planning.

I had so much fun I didn't want to leave, and what I most want to do this weekend is go back and do it all again.

It Hertz

2012-02-09T17:14:00.002+11:00

As it looks like I'll be going up to Tahoe for a weekend I asked Hertz if they had any four-wheel drives to rent. The company rate covers mid-size cars, so I was expecting to pay the difference, but I was in luck and had an incredibly friendly and helpful member of staff.

He chatted to me about my flight, commiserated about my layover in Los Angeles, we discussed the weather, Manilla, and a few other things, and then he informed me that even though it is a few classes above he'd still put it in for the some rate...

And so, instead of a mid-size, I ended up with a behemoth - I guess it's a SUV - a Dodge Durango.

The thing is enormous, to be honest I was worried if it would fit in a lane, and you sit halfway above the traffic. However it is very spacious and has a lot of toys inside.

It seats seven, although the rear seats can fold forward. It has a DVD screen and wireless headsets for the rear passengers. It has integrated GPS, voice commands, and the steering wheel raises and lowers itself automatically when you turn off the car. There is a reversing camera, sensors, and the rear hatch automatically opens and closes itself with the press of a button. The thing even has a sunroof!

Some days I just get lucky.

LAX

2012-02-09T02:52:00.002+11:00

Stranded, I mean landed, in LAX.

Unlike most people I know I don't actually have a big problem with LAX. I've never really had a problem with security or customs, and this morning was quick and friendly. Still having a layover first thing in the morning is a little aggravating. I can definitely see why many of my colleagues have started flying different carriers since Qantas dropped the direct SFO flights.

My flight over was as pleasant as flights can be. My cabin was almost empty, in fact I had my entire row to myself. It meant when it came time to sleep I sort of slept curled across two chairs (harder than it sounds as there is the immovable armrest between). Still I managed almost two hours of sleep which is about an hour and a half more than I usually get.

The staff were super friendly this flight, very attentive, and really seemed genuinely happy to be there. I felt a little bad as I timed things so late... I was in the First Class Lounge before boarding and I waited until the very last minute to board. They hadn't quite called my name, but I was the last person on, and once I arrived they said "oh, here he is now" as they took me to my seat.

BTW the First Class lounge is really, really, nice. I mean crazy nice. They have a proper restaurant that cooks real food - for me a breakfast of poached eggs and all the unhealthy things you have with them; a bar; comfy chairs; computers (iMacs dual booting Windows 7 and OSX); conference rooms; and a spa with massages, manicures, and pedicures. Everything complementary. The WiFi is of the delightful free variety that actually works, requires no passwords or click-throughs, and is quick.

They've constructed the lounge in the style of an aircraft wing; or at least I felt like I was inside one, sort of within the struts. It's more obvious when the struts line up, but this other photo lets you see more. It is upstairs and the windows bulge out letting you look down upon the aircraft you are about to board.

Doing the math I realize I haven't been to the USA in just over six months... considering how much time I spent here the year before that seems so long. That may soon change.

Second Vacation

2012-02-06T19:17:00.005+11:00

This is exhausting. I was only back from New Zealand for a day before my entire team, from across five countries, came to Sydney for a conference; while we were very productive, at times it felt like another break. A truly exhausting break, with little sleep, and lots of eating and drinking - but a break all the same.

Let's see, it involved dinner out every night (Sunday through Monday... I'm actually about to head out again, making nine dinners out in a row). A night of pre-conference socializing, two days of conference, two days at a beach resort, followed by another day that was nearly entirely meetings, and then a weekend of socializing.

There have been breakfasts, morning-teas, lunches, afternoon-teas, dinners, cocktails, and drinks. There has been walking, hiking, running, swimming, and even ping-pong. There was karaoke one night, the zoo another morning. Not to mention a night of heated discussion that only ended as we started falling asleep mid-sentence, sometime after 3AM.

I've eaten Thai, Australian, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Greek, Indian, Vietnamese, and Sri Lankan. I've been somewhat less multicultural and mostly drunk Mexican.

Through off of it I've had a pitiful amount of sleep but a tremendous amount of fun. I've made a lot of new friends, and understand other colleagues much better, and I can promise that our team are about to get a whole lot more focused and productive.

As for me... I'm about to follow up with a third-almost-vacation and fly out to America Wednesday morning. I'll be away for at least two weeks, which if you add to my last 18 days of eating out (leading on from New Zealand) will make for over a month of continuous outedness!

End Vacation

2012-01-28T16:23:00.000+11:00

Home, safe and sound!

I had a great time bouncing around New Zealand with Teon; we fit a lot in, so much that it feels impossible to have done it in just a week, and with almost no internet connectivity I had a welcome break from work.

Unfortunately, while I had a break from it, it didn't seem to feel the same. As you can see I'm a little swamped with emails (and I probably read about a hundred or so while there) so it may be a teensy while before I get to updating this blog...

OOO - Vacation!

2012-01-21T08:30:00.000+11:00

Out of the Office - it's vacation time.

I haven't really had one, like, ever. Before I was gainfully employed I holidayed with friends and family. And since being employed there was the odd day here and there. And I'm sure you all think that Disneyland, and Yosemite, and those sort of things count, but they don't really - for starters it was just a day or two, and for seconds I was still working and checking emails and responding to things.

However for the next week I intend not to do anything. I am leaving my computer behind and while I'll have a phone, but I'm turning off work email.

I'm only sort of looking forward to it... I'm sure I'll enjoy it, but right now there is nothing I want to do so much as a certain thing I'm working on, and given the choice, I'd probably be doing it. I guess it is a good think I no longer have a say.

Teon and I are off to New Zealand for a week. We have plane tickets and a convertible booked, but other than that our plans are a little nebulous.

See you in a week, if I'm as diligent with this blog as I always am, I might remember to write something about it come July.

Insouciant

2012-01-21T01:46:00.003+11:00

Today marked the semi-start of my vacation; Teon and I are crossing the Tasman in about six hours to our almost-was-a-state (New Zealand), but started with lunch out today.

We went to Quay, Australia's most awarded restaurant, number 26 on some random list of top in the world, and named the best restaurant in Australasia.

It sounds very presumptuous but I think they may be right. If not the best meal of my life it was very close.

We caught a ferry from near my apartment down to the Circular Quay and were amused to note the queue to get past the cruise liner. At one point four boats were waiting, giving an opportunity to put it in scale. For those who know Sydney the ferries aren't that small, they fit a lot of people, and yet the cruise ship makes it look like a toy.

At Quay we were greeted at the door, welcomed warmly, and ushered to our table. They have probably the most coveted location in Sydney - located high up along the quay, with a lovely view over Sydney Harbour, The Harbour Bridge, and The Opera House. So many landmarks in one little glance.

The restaurant was stylish but a little subdued; with deep purple carpet, olive green velvety couches, and dark red velvety chairs. That probably sounds neither stylish nor subdued, but it was and it worked.

We selected the eight course degustation menu (see top), with matching wines, and were rewarded with almost four hours of extremely fine dining.

The first few courses were all a little fishy, but I'm getting better with those and managed to enjoy them all the same. The crab in particular was very nice; and we also had a funny bonus dish, sort of an oestery thing that we were told you could sip or shot (Teon sipped, I shot).

We moved into the meats, with pig, quail, and then wagyu. Both the wagyu and the quail were medium-rare, which I swear is a mistake, but Teon wouldn't let me tell the chef. Surely birds need to be properly cooked lest they give me salmonella, and wagyu is meant to be cooked long enough so that the fat dissolves.

That said the quail was lovely, and the wagyu while not my favorite, was without a doubt the most tender beef I have had in my entire life. Just looking at it made it melt, it was softer than chicken, almost softer than fish - but for the flavor it was unlike any beef I've had.

Quail (life size, probably for the bird as well):

Six courses down, six glasses of wine. Which reminds me, the wine was really nice as well, and I hate wine. The list contains the details, and the lovely lady explained the qualities - be it oaky, to fruity, to whatever you like. She explained why we had tall glasses or wide ones, why the wine was selected, and how it complemented the food. Thankfully she was anything but pretentious, actually really friendly and engaging.

Which brings us to the dessert, which seems to be all anyone talks about, and all everyone wanted me to eat.

The Snow Egg.

It's seasonal, but the season is always winter, and eggy, but the egg varies with the season. Make sense? I doubt it. The fruit changes. We had a White Nectarine Snow Egg, but other times of the year it may be a different fruit.

It comes served in a glass on a little bed of shaved ice, and the waitress explained that the best way to eat it is a little bit of everything at a time.

It's indescribable yet I'll describe it anyway. It was really remarkable, and very aptly named. Just like an egg it has a thin and brittle shell. You crack it with a spoon, and beneath is a light airy meringue forming the egg white. Within the meringue, as a yoke, is a ball of ice-cream (white nectarine). Underneath that is the shaved ice, which was nectarine flavored as well.

The dessert is a masterpiece of engineering, I think the chef who created and constructed it would be at home within an operating theatre, and yet it tastes even better than it looks. From the sound of it cracking to the better than perfect meringue, to the mix of textures and flavors...

I gather after they demonstrated it on Master Chef their phones ran off the hook, crashing their system. And when they took it off the degustation menu temporarily they were flooded with complaints. It's back and it's staying.

Upon prompting, the waitress explained how they make it. They poach the meringue in cylindrical molds before cutting them into two hemispheres. They use a small scoop to remove a hemisphere from the centers, drop in a ball of ice-cream, and then join the halves together. On top they place a thin sheet of a sugary thing (like toffee?) then lightly apply a blow-torch until it melts and drops to envelope the egg. Dust it with powdered sugar and place it on ice, then serve to the absolute amazement of guests. There is a video of making it, you can likely YouTube for more.

While not needing any more, it was followed by ewe ice-cream, which tasted nice and looked even better.

After dessert came coffee, and wouldn't you know but it was probably the nicest cup of coffee I've had... maybe the eight glasses of wine improved the flavor, but it really was nice.

So, there you have it. Eight courses, 8 wines, each amazing in it's own right. With the exception of the desserts, which are truly the best I've had, none of the individual courses was the best of it's particular thing that I've eaten before. The fishy stuff was nice, but I have had better (sushi in Japan). The meat was nice, but I have had better (Prime, wagyu, in Sydney). However they were all so good, and combined to be better.

What really set it apart was the service. That I have never had better.

Quay has mastered the art of serving, with an army of waiters and waitresses; I think we were served by at least four. There was a bubbly and outgoing waitress who brought our wine. A french waitress who brought most of the meals, and then another waitress a few and some bread. Finally a waiter whose main contribution was a very dramatic presentation of our wagyu.

The key to their service was perfection. You know at some fancy restaurants they are so attentive that they are always at your elbow, you never wait a half second for anything? Well it was nothing like that, thank god. That sort of service quickly gets irritating because they are always interrupting. Then there is the opposite end, where you're never interrupted, but you can never get their attention.

Thankfully this was the perfect balance. They always seemed to be there just when they needed to be. Glasses were never empty, our meals were a steady progression, timed to perfection - as we finished one plate, it disappeared, and once the accompanying glass of wine emptied a new one would appear signaling the arrival of the next course. If you stood from the table then when you returned your napkin was folded. And if you so much as thought that maybe some bread would be nice, it actually did (not kidding) - the bread was great too... freshly baked.

The waitresses were friendly and engaging, chatting for long enough about the meals and the wines to be interesting, but not so long as to be imposing. Honestly the entire staff seemed to have a sixth sense.

Very, very, long story short, it was the best meal I've eaten, the fanciest dessert I've tasted, and the most exceptional service I've experienced. While rather expensive, it is worth it. I suggest you choose a worthy occasion and celebrate in style.

iEvacuate

2012-01-18T07:14:00.002+11:00

When I woke up this morning two things immediately occurred to me. The first was that I was surprisingly tired having slept in; the second was befuddlement over how and why my phone was in the roof.

People have joked about the default alarm sound for the iPhone, suggesting that it sounds like a klaxon or some other catastrophic warning, and this morning I learnt that it is identical to the fire alarm in my building.

Once I was awake enough to realize what was going on I was further confused, having disabled the fire alarm in my apartment... but it seems they had some backup ones more subtly disguised and wired in to the ceilings in each room.

As the alarm transitioned from annoying to evacuate I had a shower and began to get ready for work, timing things neatly so the elevator with people allowed to return to the building arrived at my floor just as I was ready to leave.

And so, my work day begun at 6:30 AM instead of a more civilized 10ish.

Sydney Festival 2012

2012-01-07T15:20:00.000+11:00

It's January which means Sydney is having its annual festival, whatever that means. Every day for the next month or so there will be a variety of things on.

To be honest, I think most would happen festival or no, and many that are listed (such as the Picasso exhibit) predate the event. All the same, there are a variety of things to see and do every day and extras on weekends.

On Saturday, for the start of the festival, things were a little more elaborate. The shut down many of the roads in the middle of the CBD, basically everything around Hyde park, and then down Elizabeth street and towards Martin Place. Then, from early afternoon until early morning, they had a variety of events on. There were live bands in Hyde Park, there was fire twirling in front of St Mary's, and many other interesting displays; including the outrageously priced hot-dog stand charing $10 per hotdog.

The city was packed, almost as busy as New Years Eve, I imagine a few hundred thousand people turned up.

By far the most entertaining part of the evening was the live swing dancing on Elizabeth street. They called it The Trocadero Dance Palace and set up a stage with a live band, singers, and 8 dancers, and for over an hour they sang and swung. They were having so much fun and the crowd was too, many started dancing along in the audience.

Just did it.

2012-01-02T01:39:00.002+11:00

Kinda.

I woke up this morning with a foolish idea in my head. Last year I ran a few half marathons (two official, and another few of my own) and had been intending to run a full marathon, but lack of preparation got in the way. You really need to train for them, and my fitness has been on a steady decline over the last 12 months (through a mixture of injury and apathy - although I like to excuse the second by blaming work).

Anyway, what better way to get my training back on track, and underscore how resolute my resolution was than by running one?

I quickly checked Google Maps and crafted a route with a specific criteria... the halfway point was to be halfway away. That way, I wouldn't be able to wimp out and take a shortcut home.

I foolishly added a few other things, like running over the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and via Manly; however what I neglected to take into account is how mountainous that area is. And it isn't just a single hill... it is up over the bridge, down, then up into Mosman, then down, then up up up into Manly, then down, then "are you kidding?" up to Frenchs Forest, then down down down, then "just kill me now" into Roseville. As a result I climbed over 1000 meters, or to put it in comparison almost halfway to the top of Mount Kosciuszko (Australia's tallest peak).

Worse yet, the mountaineering was all stacked in the first half of the run. By the time I had run 10km (which I do every week without issue, including sick or moderately inebriated) I felt like I should stop. By the time I reached 14km, or the City to Surf distance which I do without issue, I was exhausted (and at the bottom of the tallest climb). By the time I completed the half marathon, which while tough, as I say I've done multiple times in the last 12 months, I was really struggling.

And then, as I hit 23km (on a nice flat stretch), my calf seized up, I felt a stabbing pain, and I literally fell over while biting back a scream. Once again, my calves are my downfall, this time with such extreme muscle cramps I could barely hobble. I stretched and walked for a bit, but it was all over. Every time I tried to run for more than a few hundred meters it would seize up again.

It didn't stop me trying, about once a kilometer I'd start jogging again, make it a hundred meters, then grab my leg in agony. After a dozen kilometers of that I got pretty good at sensing the split second it started happening and could stop in time.

And so, my crowning achievement of the day, was running 23 kilometers, and then walking, jogging, limping (but never crying) a further 18km to complete my first, and hopefully worst, marathon in a time of just over 5 hours.

I'm more than a little embarrassed by that time, I should honestly be able to do it in under 4 hours, and even taking it easy just a little over 4. Anyway it gives me hope that not only will I be able to do it again, I'll be able to do it much, much, faster given some preparation.

Runkeeper informs me it is the farthest I have run (over 42km), the longest I have run (over 5 hours), with the highest elevation climb (1000m), and the highest calorie consumption (3600 - almost twice the daily intake).

During my run I consumed a bottle of coconut water (10km), a red powerade and original weis bar (20km), a blue powerade, another weis bar, and a soda water (30km), and a corona (42km). For the record red tastes better than blue, and one should only consume one weis bar per marathon. Coronas can be drunk in any quantity but preferably upon completion.

I ran over the Harbour Bridge twice, once by intent, once by accident. The second time I stopped to take photos for tourists (my time no longer mattered).

I actually got lost a few times. I was terrified my phone wouldn't survive running the GPS for that long, so turned off WiFi, push, fetch, and 3G and closed every app. I then refused to turn it on all run and jogged my route from memory (and major suburbs). I need not have bothered, my phone had over 40% charge remaining, and what I unfortunately did was take the wrong fork about 30km in and doubled back through Kirribilli instead of completing a loop via Rozelle. You can see my intended and actual routes:

I also made a slightly wrong turn in Manly, but that was more the roads fault than mine. There were multiple places along my run where I couldn't work out where the footpath was, and either took a different route or hugged the left of the freeway. In one somewhat scary section I had to cross the freeway, vault a concrete barrier in the middle, and then scramble across a siderail (don't worry, no Antins were further hurt in doing so). About 5 minutes later a police car pulled over just beside me and I was a little worried someone had reported me... either they hadn't or the cops couldn't identify the only idiot in jogging clothes running along a freeway and didn't so much as smile at me.

You can observe my pace, elevation, and the exact period my traitorous calf betrayed me (the blue line finds a new resting point). You can see likely see the little spikes as I persisted in my futile attempts to keep running, and then the final mess at the end is a mix of me pushing my luck, and one really low place that the GPS messed up for a few hundred meters). There are some early spikes pre-injury when I was just too tired to keep running up that damn hill.

All things considered I'm pretty pleased with myself. Forgetting the injury I feel that it was a tremendous start to the year, and I plan to continue my resolute foolishness.