Aussie animals

On my last Aussie weekend before heading home for Chrissy, I hung out with more work friends on Friday and did some touristy activities on Saturday. Beer Friday at work turned into heading to a nearby pub with a group of people from work and a good time was had by all! It was a beautiful night and was fun to sit outside to share drinks and lots of laughs!

Several people from various other teams in Cerner are here on business trips right now and a girl that I have met a few times from the Marketing/PR team invited me to be touristy with her on Saturday! She did a few things that I have already done in the morning, but I took a ferry over to meet her in Darling Harbour for the afternoon and we went to Wildlife World and the Sydney Aquarium! We had a blast seeing all of the animals and fish that Australia has to offer.

Australia is actually home to something crazy like 10 out of the 12 most deadly animals in the world. Quite a few of them were featured in the Wildlife World...and we probably would have spent much more time in there, except that we were hurrying through some of the creepy areas with the spiders, snakes, bats, etc. Of course, we loved seeing the koalas and kangaroos though and I think my favorite was the enormous crocodile, named Rex. We did actually get to see him swim around some and then we caught the keeper talk about him...he had a fascinating story. Here are some fun pics from the Wildlife World!

The Sydney Aquarium was beautiful too and was kind of mesmerizing to watch all of the fish in the beautiful displays! Saw some very unique fish and of course, lots of sharks too!

We had a lovely early evening dinner in Darling Harbour and sat outside where we got in some good people watching. Was a fun day out as a tourist...too bad we didn't see the Oprah crew though!

I can't believe that I only have one day in the office and them am heading back to Kansas for Christmas...my time over here since my October trip home has just flown by! I am super excited to get back to see all of my family and friends and to celebrate Christmas and then will be equally excited to head back to this side of the world...because my parents will be coming back with me! I am so so so excited to have them here and show them all of these amazing things! We will have the best time and then it will be a short time before my adventure here comes to an end...

If I don't blog again before Christmas, I wish you all a very Happy Chrissy!!

Happy Chrissy!

Had another great Sydney weekend...and am still finding this balance between Christmas and Summer a little odd!

I was somewhat excited to come back to my apartment after Beer Friday at the office and have a relaxing night in...and I was going to watch 'Elf' on tv! I only ended up watching the last few minutes though because I went out to dinner with my friends, Luke and Lisa. We went to an awesome Thai restaurant that I hadn't tried yet and had a great time...it was worth missing 'Elf' on tv to go out and have a fun, social night!

On Saturday morning, I headed into the city on the train to meet my work friend, Sarah, for a day of shopping! We started at the beautiful Queen Victoria Building again and made our way through the city down to my favorite part of town, The Rocks. It was a kind of gloomy day and was raining on and off...but it was really fun to walk through town and see all of the different Christmas decorations on the buildings, the streets and in the stores. One difference I noticed a lot is that all of the signs here don't say Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays...but Happy Christmas! I think that is a fairly British saying, so to make it a little more Aussie, a lot of the locals say Happy Chrissy...so funny!

Sarah and I had a great time shopping and got to enjoy a lovely lunch and some wine at a darling Italian restaurant right in the heart of The Rocks. Even though it was raining a little, we still got to sit outside at some tables that were covered by umbrellas, so we got to enjoy the surroundings too. We both had quite a bit of success shopping and managed to check several items off our Christmas gift lists.

Speaking of my Christmas gift list...I keep this little book of all of the Christmas gifts that I buy for everyone each year and how much I spend. It really helps me to look back at previous years and what I have bought so far each particular year...really helps me stick to a budget. Umm, so this year, I am having some trouble with that...and next year, when I try to look back at the previous year to see how much I have spent, it will be nearly impossible! You see, usually I know exactly how much I am spending because I am only dealing with one currency. This year, I am dealing with this...

Yes, four different currencies...Australian Dollar, US Dollar, Malaysia Ringgit and Singapore Dollar. So, my organized budget in my little book is pretty much shot...oh well, Happy Chrissy!

And today, some things remind me that it is Christmas, while some remind me that it is Summer...after getting some sun outside this afternoon, I came in to listen to my Glee Christmas CD (thanks to my sister for sending me that!) while making dinner. While most of you are probably making chili and taco soup these days, I made taco salad! And now I am watching an oldie Christmas movie, but a goodie, on tv...Scrooged! In just a little over a week, I will be heading back to the other side of the world where I won't be confused between Christmas and Summer any longer!

Thanksgiving

It is really amazing to me that Thanksgiving can be pretty much the same, no matter where you are in the world and who you are celebrating with. Although on the actual 4th Thursday of the month, I was in Kuala Lumpur for work and the only somewhat holiday-ish thing I did was sit in a Starbucks in the airport to enjoy a peppermint mocha and listen to the Christmas songs that they were playing, I was still able to enjoy a Thanksgiving in a different, but surprisingly comfortable way.

On Saturday afternoon, I went over to the apartment of my work friends, Sarah and Jeremy. Another American in the office, Yvelle, joined us. I took over my few cute Fall decorations that my mom had mailed to me and Sarah had a few Fall-ish candles, so the apartment looked the part. Most people know that my mom is an absolutely amazing cook, so I certainly missed her Thanksgiving meal...and all of the fun that we always share during the prep of the big meal! However, I must admit...we were able to pull off a really awesome Thanksgiving meal here in Sydney! We didn't actually have turkey, we had roast chickens instead...we did have almost everything else...mashed potatoes, corn bread stuffing, green bean casserole, collard greens, candied yams, corn, deviled eggs. The only thing that was really different was that we didn't have a pie or anything pumpkin flavored for dessert...but we did have a red velvet cake, which is one of my favorites, so was ok by me!

Again, it was just amazing to me that we can make the same kinds of food, fill our plates to the brim like normal, get stuffed with all the great food and wine, have great conversation...all while being half-way around the world from America. I was truly thankful this year for all of my friends and family, and for my amazing job that has given me this opportunity to live in Australia for 6 months! Happy Thanksgiving...and here are some pictures of my fun night!

Worlds away...

Well, hello friends and family! Long time, no blog! Sorry that it has been so long, but I have been busy on this side of the world! And I am sure you all haven't had anything going on and have just been waiting patiently for my next post...ha ha!

As I had mentioned, I got a once in a lifetime opportunity last week to go on a business trip to Singapore and Malaysia! Wow, definitely an opportunity I didn't want to pass up! And just to clear up any confusion...Singapore and Malaysia are two different places. Singapore is actually what is called a city state...basically its own city, state, country all on its own. It is located on the same island as part of Malaysia...Malaysia is actually split between two different pieces of land. Confused yet? I was!

The unfortunate part about this trip is that it was very quick and very busy with work. And the really unfortunate part is that I don't have many pictures and really no very good pictures. I may be able to swing another trip to introduce the new HR Partner once I get her hired, but I am not going to bank on that. So, my few stories and few bad pictures will have to do!

I went on this business trip with the head executive in the Australia office, Rick. I am very thankful that I got to travel with him, as he has been to these places several times and I would have been lost without him. So, we headed to Singapore on Monday...about an 8 hour flight. It was still day-light when we arrived, so I immensely enjoyed the car ride from the airport to the hotel. The first thing I noticed about Singapore is how absolutely beautiful it is...extremely clean, some different and unique architecture, very lush and full of trees, bushes and flowers everywhere I looked! I later found out just how much Singapore prides itself on being clean...chewing gum is actually banned from Singapore because they don't want it to get on the streets or sidewalks. I think I chewed some guy while I was there...oops! Our hotel was on one of the main streets in Singapore and was definitely surrounded by lots of shopping and restaurants. After settling in at the hotel, Rick and I walked down the street to grab a quick dinner. To my delight, Singapore was ready for Christmas...there were so many Christmas decorations everywhere, so it was very fun to walk around and look!

We went into the (very small) office on Tuesday and had a day full of meetings. We literally didn't get to go outside for lunch and I wanted to take a few pictures from the office before I left, but was being rushed out to the cab to get to the airport. Sad. Rick had a meeting at the airport once we got there, so I had some time to walk around the airport for a while...and also did a little shopping there! Again, the airport was very decorated for Christmas and even had live performers that would put on little Christmas scenes and sing! There were also gorgeous gardens all over the airport, so I had fun looking at those.

I loved loved loved Singapore and cherished the cab rides, so that I could look all around. I would love to go back there, whether for business again or on vacation, so that I could actually explore a little more.

On Tuesday night, we headed to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia...also known as the 'KL'. It was less than an hour flight, but was dark when we got there. As soon as we landed, I could tell...this was the first time in my adventure over here on the other side of the world that I TRULY felt like I was in a completely foreign country. Malaysia has the largest Muslim population in the world, so that makes for a different culture right there. The airport was huge and crazy and felt like we walked forever and took buses...again, I would have been lost without Rick. We then took a 40 minute train ride into the city. I kind of felt like I was on The Amazing Race...trying to navigate in a foreign country, all of the signs were in multiple languages, etc...was kinda fun!

Another busy day of meetings on Wednesday and a team dinner that night for the whole team. We went to a buffet type of place that had lots of different cuisines...Japanese, Chinese (which is pretty different than the Chinese we all know), Indian, etc. I tried to be a little adventurous and everything I tried was pretty good! The team dinner ended pretty quickly...it isn't a part of the Muslim culture to have long dinners and enjoy drinks...in fact, they don't even drink at all! Rick had been telling me about a place he wanted me to see and experience, so we headed to Chinatown after the dinner. Oh my, we had fun! Chinatown is basically a long block or two crammed with lots of stalls of Asians selling knock-offs of all sorts of stuff! Definitely the kind of atmosphere where they yell out at you as you walk by to try to get you to come to their stall and they expect you to bargain with them. Rick had told me of some of the good items and some things to steer clear of. Some of his favorites were movies, jewelry/watches, ties, purses/bags, perfumes/colognes, etc and some of the ones to steer clear of were clothes and shoes. I did make several purchases, including some Christmas gifts...we'll see if you all can tell the knock-off gifts from real gifts!! Every once in a while, we would pass a little food spot or alleyway that had some food. There was one that we passed that was the most foul smell I have ever smelled. Rick turned to me and asked if I was hungry, ugh. I couldn't even look, but he said there was a women that was stirring a large pot and it was probably some type of fish soup, where they put the whole fish in. I don't know what it was, but it was disgusting. We had a great time there, although it was so hot and humid, it got a little uncomfortable after a while...

Rick and I just worked at the hotel on Thursday morning and had a nice lunch outside by the pool area. Our hotel was gorgeous and had very nice views. I took some pictures from my room to try to show the surroundings...there are low, pretty mountains in the distance and again, quite a bit of foliage around. KL was nice and it was fun to experience Chinatown...but I don't think I will be rushing to make any vacation plans to head back there any time soon!

Rick and I had a quick flight back to Singapore and then flew overnight back to Sydney. In fact, I was probably close to the end of my overnight flight when most of you were eating your Thanksgiving meals! I certainly did feel worlds away this Thanksgiving, but am very thankful to have had the opportunity to visit 2 new countries in Southeast Asia! And I was also very thankful for Rick...and I know him on a whole different level now...after sitting right next to him on all of the flights except the first one...eating every meal with him for 3 days...working in the hotel together...and walking around Chinatown where one of the stall workers said "Stop and buy your girlfriend a necklace and I guarantee she will kiss you!" We got a good laugh out of that one, ha ha! This was definitely a different Thanksgiving week, but one I will remember forever!

It's beginning to look a lot like...

Christmas! No, wait...Summer...no, wait...I'm confused! Sydney has definitely started decorating for the Christmas season and it is very fun to see the decorations around town. However, today was also the hottest day since I have been here and that means that Summer is almost here. So confusing!

I started off my Saturday morning with what I thought would be a nice jog around the bay. It was nice, but was very warm and took probably 30 minutes after I got back to my apartment for my beet red face to cool down! At one point after I had showered, I looked at the temp on my computer...90 degrees, yikes.

Since my shopping adventure last weekend was so bad, I really wanted to do some shopping this weekend, so I hopped on the train into the city to head to the gorgeous Queen Victoria Building. It is an ornate Romanesque building that was initially built in 1898 as one of Sydney's first produce markets. It is now a gorgeous, city-block long shopping mall, with a chrome dome in the center and vaulted glass ceilings on the interior and gorgeous tile floors.

There was a gorgeous Swarovski crystal decorated Christmas tree that was in the domed center that started on the lowest level and went all the way to the top of the 4th level. It was beautiful! Here is the bottom...

And these gorgeous flowers were right outside the center dome on the lowest level...seriously, Christmas or Summer...so confusing!

And here is the top of the tree...and see the beautiful and ornate walls and dome? So pretty!

I was totally planning on getting a lot of Christmas shopping done...but, unfortunately, I only left the QVB with one gift for someone else...and about 4 gifts for me! Oops, ha ha! Oh well, I really haven't bought myself anything here so far and I was in the mood to go shopping...so it was fun!

When I got back to my apartment, I sat outside on my balcony with my book and a glass of wine. The weather can change on a dime here and it was down to about 78 and a storm was blowing in. It was very relaxing...until I heard the noisest birds ever. They were seriously so loud, so I knew they had to be close. I walked out to the edge of my balcony and saw these on my neighbors balcony...

They were so beautiful and I was glad that I had just happened to have my camera out there with me! Still amazes me that they just fly around town...

Anyway, great day, but will be a little strange to experience the holiday season in such warm weather. More shopping in my future, since I didn't really get any Christmas shopping done today!

Care packages, new friends and upcoming business trip...

It has been a good week in Sydney...well, despite a few more days of rain. I have to say a big THANK YOU to friends and family for the cards and care packages that I have been getting!!! You all have no idea what it means to get sweet notes, funny cards and comforts from home...

Right before Halloween, I got a hilarious card, some cute pictures and some candy corn from my dear friend, Katie! It has been fun to have that Fall staple candy to enjoy at work! Last week, my sister sent a care package with Grace's birth announcement, a cute pumpkin that Luke made at school, some other cards and my FAVORITE holiday lotions and hand sanitizers from Bath and Body. I have loved decorating my work area with the cards and now the holiday season can truly begin since I have my favorite lotions! This week, Katie really surprised me again and sent me two of my favorite things from the Junior League Holiday Mart...flavored coffee and chocolate covered cherries! I always love shopping and volunteering at Holiday Mart, so I was sad to miss it this year...was so fun to get a little taste of it!

I also got a cute and sweet card from my wonderful Aunt Peggy last week, but it made me a little sad. Peggy and Carl are getting married this weekend and I will be very sad to miss this special day in Peggy and Carl's life and I will miss celebrating with my whole family. I will be sending my best wishes to them from Sydney to Lawrence this weekend and will be so excited to see pictures and hear all about it at Christmas!

Thank you again so much for all of the cards, notes and care packages...I am so lucky! Here is a picture of my little shrine to Luke and Grace and some of my goodies and cards at work...

I have also had a great week because I finally feel somewhat back to normal and like I have a social life! Like I mentioned in my last post, several other Americans have started working in the Sydney office recently and it is so wonderful to have other fun people to hang out with! All of the locals in the office are very nice and fun to talk with at work, but they have their normal lives here and don't really want to do the touristy things.

Last Sunday, I hung out with a dating couple that just started over here and we met up with a girl who is here on a 2 week business trip, but is coming here for good in January. We headed across the bridge and shopped around at the Rocks market again. We also went to an awesome place for a late breakfast called Pancakes at the Rocks. This was a concept I had never heard of, but must admit, it was delicious...pancakes with ice cream on them!! I got one called bananarama...2 pancakes, grilled bananas, butterscotch sauce and vanilla ice cream...WOW! Not exactly a healthy meal, but we did lots of walking that day too! On Monday night, I went to dinner with the same girl who is here on the 2 week business trip. She is feeling lots of the same emotions that I felt when I first decided to do this, so we had lots to talk about. I think I helped calm her nerves and I can't wait for her to be here for good in January! For those of you who know Angie Lucas, good friend of the McBride family...her brother works at Cerner and he and his wife just moved over here for his work. I went out to dinner last night with his wife, Lisa and we had a blast! We have a lot in common and I know that we will hang out a ton! So, it has been a busy social week and I am just so happy to have new friends here to do all of the fun things that Sydney has to offer!

I also got some crazy and fun news at work this week. Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays and I have been pretty worried about how I will handle that week emotionally. While I know I will still get a little sad and will miss being with my family...I think my mind will be spinning and trying to take in everything because I will be going on a business trip that week to...Singapore and Malaysia!!! Wow, 2 places that I never thought I would go in my life, but I am so excited about it! So, more new and exciting adventures to come...

Rain, rain, go away...

This entire week has been a chilly, rainy week and I am starting to get a little sick of the rain. Now, when it quickly turns to the 80's and humid, I may wish for another one of these rainy, chilly days...but for now, I am sick of it!

I ended the week at work by going to Beer Friday, as usual. At one point, those of us that were left looked around and laughed...it was only Americans left! We were saying that everyone else had their families and friends to get home to, but the 9 or so of us Americans obviously had nothing better to do, ha! Several of us headed out to a fun dinner after we closed Beer Friday down. We hopped on the train and headed North...I hadn't been farther north than our office yet, so was fun to see a different area. And, I am starting to become much more comfortable with the public transportation here!

Today it pretty much rained on and off all day. I really wanted to get out though and have really been wanting to explore an area here called Darling Harbour. I headed out mid-afternoon and caught the ferry over to Darling Harbour and I have to admit...this was the first time that I was a bit let down by something here. I feel like I have heard and read so many great things about Darling Harbour, so was really excited to go there. I'm sure the dreary weather had something to do with it, but I just wasn't very impressed. Looks like there are lots of great restaurants there, but again, not the kind of day that you want to grab a table outside for a drink and a nibblie!

Darling Harbour does have some big Sydney attractions, but I wasn't planning on doing those today, as they have parts that are outdoors. Instead, I was mostly excited to go here...

because it is all shops in that lower, front building. And the thing in the middle is one of the most iconic spots of Darling Harbour. I was kind of in the mood for some shopping, but it was all just crappy mall stores in there. So disappointing. Oh well, at least that means I only spent $11.20 on the ferry ride over and back!

There were some cool fountains... (see, I was trying to find the positives!)

Oh well, I suppose everything in Sydney can't be like 'the most amazing thing I have ever done'! I am still very excited to head back to Darling Harbour sometime soon to go to these 2 major attractions, the Sydney Aquarium and the Sydney Wildlife World...but otherwise, I don't think you will find me hanging out in Darling Harbour much!

The race that stops a nation...

Today was Melbourne Cup Day! The Melbourne Cup is a horse race...similar to the Kentucky Derby...and it is literally called 'the race that stops a nation'. The race is held in Melbourne, Victoria and the whole state of Victoria has the first Tuesday of November as a public holiday every year. The rest of the country doesn't get an actual holiday, but everyone does stop what they are doing to watch the race.

It has been fun to watch all of the hype leading up to the race and the sweeps (betting on the race) began at the office around 10 this morning. At 2:30, everyone stopped working and gathered by our big tv's to enjoy some champagne and 'nibblies' (one of my favorite Aussie words).

Just like the Kentucky Derby, the race was over in just a few minutes...but it was fun to see everyone cheering on the horses they had bet on. None of my horses won, but I had a great time drinking champagne and participating in one of Australia's biggest sporting events with my colleagues!

Sanctuary by the Sea...

So, today I took a 6 km (little less than 4 mile) coastal/cliff walk from Bondi Beach to Coogee Beach. There are 2 executives here right now from the US and they mentioned earlier this week that they were thinking about doing this walk this weekend. I have been wanting to do one of these, but was a little hesitant to do one on my own, so I basically invited myself along with them. We then had someone in the office ask us if we were interested in doing something called 'Sculpture by the Sea'. We eventually found out that we were talking about the same thing...the coast walk that we were planning on doing anyway was also playing host to the first weekend of an art fesitval where over 100 sculptures were displayed along the first piece of this walk. So, we joined forces with another few people from the office and we set out for an amazing day out in the Australian sun!

We met for an awesome yum cha (dim sum in the US) lunch and then headed to the starting point...the famous Bondi Beach!

Starting to head up higher and away from the beach...

An example of the sculptures along the way...

Me along the walk...check out all the people! And, it was a bit windy up on these cool cliffs!

I think this was my favorite sculpture along the way...so cute and creative!

Me sitting along a cute little rock wall along the walk...

Stunning view of the eastern beaches of Australia...

This is a shot of Tamarama Beach...smaller than Bondi, but better waves!

These were the types of views we had on the other side...the wildflowers reminded me of Colorado!

Me along the walk as we got to Bronte Beach...

On the other side of Bronte Beach...and this picture shows these cool bath things that each of the beaches had...basically just pools where people could go swim laps and the waves came right up into the pools...so cool!

The cliffs that we were walking along were just amazing!

A picture of Waverley Cemetery coming up...

Looking back at Bondi Beach way off in the distance...we have come a long way...but not done yet!

The cemetery up close...it was beautiful...

This is Gordon's Bay...it was one of the most beautiful parts. It was more just pretty and scenic than an actual swimming beach. This was also towards the end of the walk and there were some absolute killer hills during this part. We were up pretty high when I took this picture, but went all the way down to sea level and then back up to where those houses are on the other side...we were pretty tired after this part!

This last picture isn't great...it was the end of the walk, late in the day, I was tired...but this was our stopping point, Coogee Beach.

I call this post 'Sanctuary by the Sea' because those of you who know me well, know that I don't go to church often...or really, at all. I think I have decided that mountains (like in Colorado) and oceans are some of the things that make me feel closest to God. Seeing the intense power and the expansive beauty of oceans like this just amaze me and always make me think of religion and God. He must be a pretty awesome God to have created these amazing things!

All in all, we saw 5 beaches, 1 beautiful bay, tons of amazing art, lots of different types of stairs to get us up and down the cliffs, an old cemetery, some crabs, lots of cute dogs (including a cute Westie named Stanley), 2 weddings, an airplane writing a marriage proposal in the sky, lots of surfers and a few sunbathers with not enough clothes on, ha! It was an absolutely amazing day and I am so glad that I got to see more of the beauty of Australia!

PS...I also have my first Australian sunburn! You could see the type of shirt I was wearing from the pictures...I basically look like I have a red bib necklace on now, ha ha! I think I will actually have to break down and buy some sunscreen if I want to have a real day on the beach...this Australian sun is strong!