harbour town

Melbourne has it's own London Eye - it's so weird - GET YOUR OWN IDEA!

but, it's still pretty cool, it's massive! Reid and I went for a wonder around the new Harbour Town today. I don't think the Wheel (or whatever it's called) is open yet. The wheel was going around, but I didn't see any passengers

pics








The think the Docklands are competing with the city of Melbourne for the worlds ugliest Christmas tree!


Docklands


Swanston Street

birthday drinks

had a fantastic night last Friday for my 30th drinks!

We started at the Queensberry, and then kicked onto the Container bar in Tatersalls Lane . Ange and I sneaked out for a bite to eat at a dodgy Chinese restaurant, but when we got back to the bar Duncan and Cath had been kicked out for tripping over (and breaking) a pot plant! So onto the European for some dancing! The European so pretty packed so Reid and I headed home at that point, but great night overall :)

Pics


Ange


Michelle and Ange




Mark


Sophia


Kate


Barry and Sue


Reid


Andrew


Jade


Jade, Michelle, Ange


Daryn


. . . . . not sure


Michelle, Duncan, and Jade


Duncan


on the way to the container bar


Ange, Gen, Kate


Michelle, Kate, Ange, Gen (well past my home time!)

birthday dinner

So a nasty hangover meant Reid and I didn't make it out for dinner for my birthday on Saturday night.

We went out on Sunday night to Cafe La in the Sofitel instead (both Cumulus and Lourinha were closed).

the meal was great - my entree, prawn risotto was HUGE! and I had a pumpkin and spinach gnocchi. Reid asked for a blue steak, but thinks it was more like medium!! D'oh

Instead of an after dinner coffee I had a Baileys - I was pretty surprised to get a shot of Baileys for $8!


Reid and I in the lift on the way back down

also - the toilets have floor to ceiling windows, with a great view AND the dyson airblade^tm hand dryer!

escape

he finally did it!

answers.yahoo.com

ah! the questions people post on answers.yahoo. This is why we love the internet
if you think the post is funny, check out the comments

How can I get my labrador dog to stop urinating and defacating on me while I'm sleeping?

She's 7 years old and in the last few months she has taken to jumping on the bed when I am sleeping and either doing a poo or weeing on me. I don't find out until I wake up in the morning. Why is she doing this and how can I stop her? PS I can't put her outside, I live in a small apartment and it is too cold for her elsewhere.

here are some of my favourite comments:

strazys: $hit on her first.

R -
This is a common problem with the Labrador breed. Never fear, there are several things you can do that might help.
1) Sleep in your bathtub for a couple weeks in order to trick the dog. Once it begins to do its business in the tub reward it with a snack or a gentle pat. Eventually your pup will prefer the tub over your bed.
2) Fit your dog with cloth diapers at night. This is an inexpensive and easy solution.

3) Deep anal massage. (Note, you will require a didgeridoo) You need only massage the anus and inner rectum. But doing so should calm your dog and release any anger that may be instigating this behaviour.

Anonymous Author
You need my book, "How to Get Your Dog to Stop Deficating on You for Dummies!". You can find it on Amazon.

Table of Contents
Credits.................................. v
Introduction............................. 2
1. What's so bad about it?.................................. 5
2. Know when to say no...................................... 10
3. Don't be afraid to say no................................ 17
4. Getting your dog to respect you by respecting yourself... 24
5. Surprise! The foghorn.................................... 42
6. Fight fire with fire....................................... 48
7. Time for pepper spray...................................... 53
8. Enough is enough..................................... 61

Appendix A:
If all else fails, learn to live with it.................... 65

Google

http://letmegooglethatforyou.com/

the eating birthday

so this sure has been the an eating frenzy!

lunch on Tuesday at the corkman with Michelle, Ange, Ben, Jade, Mark, and Catherine - I had my usual BLT :)

then a fabulous dinner on Tuesday night with Reid - there was the platter of goodies, then beautiful steak, and a great wine!!!

then lunch on Wednesday with Joyce and Karen at Stuzzichino on Lygon Street - had a gnocchi with pumpkin and spinach (ZUCCA e SPINACE - roasted pumpkin & spinach tossed in a fresh rosemary). It was very very tastey! and the service is great there - I've been there a couple of times before, and the service and food has always been great!

then dinner with Ange and Michelle at Red Tongue on Brunswick Street - had garlic prawns, yum! Followed by drinks at the Black Pearl - I always like it there too!

Marmite sammie for lunch today tho :p

still to come - lunch tomorrow at Graduate House and dinner on Saturday night . . . . either at Cumulus or Lourinha

woohoo :)

Birthday vino

Here's the wine we had for dinner tonight, it's a Pinot and Reid
actually thought it was good!! Me too! Although it seems that the
decanter can make all wines taste fabulous :-)

It's a Tasmanian wine, not a central Otago wine like it probably
should have been, but great nonetheless ;-)

I don't have a wine rating system, do thumbs up it is for this one

my 30th

so now I'm 30! so far seems much the same as 29 . . .

Ange did a great job of decorating my desk this morning! It looked fantastic :)





and Michelle bought a fantastic cake - I am sure we were close to setting off the smoke alarm with all those candles!!



Reid made a beautiful snack platter - mmmm goats cheese!



and the florist sent another bunch of flowers - on the right day this time!

From 2008 Birthday

My desk!!

Check out how decorated my desk is!!
Not over the top at all :-)

iPhone

wow cool I can update my blog from my iPhone!!

Neat!!

Can't seem to add pictures and of course since I can't select I can't add a link to existing text, but still cool :-)

kung fu panda

while recovering on Sunday after Rox's birthday we watched Kung Fu Panda!

It was shocking!! Out of all the DreamWorks animations this must be the worst - although all their animated movies are pretty bad (eg: shark tail and over the hedge). There wasn't even an attempt to make the plot orignial - I think we could have turned the sound off and we would still have been able to work out what was going on! along with the plot the dialogue was sooo predictable!

AND - Dustin Hoffman's voice did not suit that little character he played!

it certainly did not deserve the 89% rating from Rotten Tomatoes!

anniversary

27 October was our 1 year engagement anniversary! For the first time ever Reid sent me flowers :)





I didn't do a very good job of wrapping the water jug to look like a vase!

birthday

Mum and Dad sent me these great flowers for my birthday - aren't they pretty

Rox Birthday

It was Rox's 30th party on Sat night - theme was Hollywood glamour



it was at bar called Cabinet, just off Swanston street - it was a really cool little place, although the new balcony freaked me out a bit - reminded me of that Cave Creek tragedy

fun night!

happy birthday to me!

well, tomorrow is my 30th birthday - farewell 20' it's been fun :)

having always thought it was no big deal to turn 30, after all isn't the real milestone at 40?
this morning I was surprised to find myself contemplating life (and death) and making pledges to make changes to my life (including writing my blog more often, improving my posture, and drinking less on Friday nights in an attempt to remember the whole night!!).

anyways! 30's here I come :)

and here are some goals for the next 5 years

• buy a car (this is at the top of the list on purpose)
• buy a house
• holiday somewhere cool - like South America or China
• get married (maybe) I'll have to think of a cool theme for a wedding first
  
• get some training on how to be a business analyst
• learn about service delivery - maybe do the ITIL course
• project manage a decent size project
• get really good at yoga
• have a much better posture

I think that'll do for now! lets DO IT!

aucklanders against scientology

we were walking up Queen Street, central Auckland, and came across a group all dressed up in costumes, including masks.

They were protesting against the church of scientology members who were handing out DVDs on the street!

good on them for getting out there and doing something about the crazies!!

I think they were part of Operation Clambake

Here's a copy of the pamphlet they were handing out:

Auckland

had a great time in Auckland, it was so quiet and easy going and made for a very relaxing break :)
I was pretty surprised at how quiet it was, I was expecting big city hustle and bustle, lots of people all racing around with plenty to do! Instead there was no one around - the main street of the CBD was practically empty until about 3pm on Saturday afternoon. We ate brunch at the Viaduct Basin where there were several restaurants and cafe's with only a few customers each.

I was also really surprised at how warm it was - it was definitely warmer than in Melbourne, we didn't need to wear a coat, even at night time. I think the difference between Auckland and Melbourne is the overnight low - in Auckland it didn't get nearly as cold as Melbourne so first thing in the morning it wasn't so cold and it only got warmer during the day!

A couple of other things we noticed:

• everyone pays by EFTPOS for everything! even a $3 coffee or a round of drinks at the bar!
  
• the dairy or corner store is called a superette
• (Reid thought) everywhere smelt like pee
• the harbour bridge was smaller than expected
• giving way to the right is really annoying! It means that there are several phases of lights at every intersection - turning cars, then straight ahead cars, then turning cars, then straight ahead cars on the second road, and somewhere in there pedestrians get to cross. I'm sure if we had been there longer we would have worked out the pattern, but I felt like we spent a LOT of time waiting at the lights!
• Cars don't give way to pedestrians. In Australia if a car is turning into a side street, approaching an intersection, or pulling out of a driveway/car park they give way to pedestrians - in New Zealand if you are on foot WATCH OUT!

Here are some pics


Warning at Auckland Wharf


Beer and Wine at the Occidental Bar Vulcan Lane


Deb @ the Domain


Winter Garden @ the Domain


Reid outside a Marae at the Auckland Museum


Auckland Museum


Reid & Deb at Orbit Restaurant - Sky Tower
The Orbit restaurant rotates at the top of the Auckland Sky tower. We had a really clear night so had a great view!!


Sky Tower Auckland


View from Sky Tower Auckland


View down from Sky Tower lift


Reid & sting ray at Kelly Tarltons
I was a bit disappointed with Kelly Tarltons - the penguins didn't have much room for swimming or wandering about!


Penguins at Kelly Tarltons


More penguins at Kelly Tarltons


Star fist at Kelly Tarltons


star fish at Kelly Tarltons


Funny fish at Kelly Tarltons


Pub in Auckland