The Harry cake story

I finally touched down at RDU tonight after about 30-hrs of travel. It's 3am and I can't sleep. Just had a hot chocolate binge. :)

Here's the Harry story: Earlier in the week I went to a Harry Connick Jr. concert at the Sydney Opera House. We had 2nd-row seats and it was a great, entertaining show. Towards the end of the show, HC jr. recognized his trombone player's birthday - the audience sang "Happy Birthday" while a stage hand brought out b-day cake. All of the band members put down their instruments and went to the piano, on top of which HC jr. was cutting slices of cake and handing them out. He asked if anyone from the audience wanted cake, so I raised my hand, and he came over and handed me a plate. It was very good.

When Harry met Garrett

Top 4 most bizarre things from the past week.

4. I've eaten anchovies on three separate occasions on this trip. It's been at least 15 years since I last had anchovies.

3. On the double-decker tour bus in Sydney I sat next to newly-weds from the U.S. - both attended Wake Forest Rolesville High School. Small world.

2. One of Kim's friends is dating an old college (App State) buddy of my best friend, Deaver. He coaches football at Sanderson - my former H.S. Small world.

1. Harry Connick Jr. gave me a piece of chocolate cake. For real. I'll explain later.

Today we went to a popular beach called "Manly" beach. Great time. Pictures will be posted later.

Sharks!

Got up and did another run - this time a little longer - 4 miles. Ran past the Opera House and into the Royal Botanical Gardens. Then I ventured into downtown, passed a few museums, ended up on George St, ran back through the rocks and down to the hotel. Along the way there was a giant cruise ship (Sapphire Princess) - parked in the harbor, which stayed there all day while passengers boarded.

Later in the day we went to Darling Harbor and visited the Sydney Wildlife World and The Sydney Aquarium. Braden will be excited to know that I saw up close the Inland Taipan - the world's most venomous snake!! It's a good thing he warned me about it (see Braden's Travel Tips), otherwise I would have tried to pet it or something. Here's a pic I took:

I was also able to see the world's most dangerous spider, and the larges cockroach in the world! Avery would have loved the Koala bears. They were very cute. They sleep 20-hrs a day - lazy bums! Avery would also love the tiny little penguins - they were adorable. I took some video of them swimming, which I'll post later.

But without a doubt the highlight of the day was the shark display at the aquarium. They had these under water glass tunnels you could walk through, and the sharks swam right over us....I'm mean if the glass weren't there I could touch them, but then I would be wet and probably get bit, so I'm glad the glass was there. I'll post video later (I'm tired and need to go to bed), but here's one of the pics I took:

Stunning Sydney

(my favorite picture that I took today)

I've visited a lot of cities in my life, none of which has struck me like Sydney. Warm, clean, and absolutely stunning. It's beautiful! Oh, and the people are nice. Sorry Paris, you'll never have that going for you. You neither, NYC.

I woke up and took a 2-mile jog around the Opera House and back to the hotel. The entire run was along the harbor. It was very warm and already lots of people. After lunch I took a cab across the bridge into North Sydney and went to the Cisco office. Great views from the 13th floor looking back acroos the harbor at Sydney. Later in the day, we walked around a trendy area called "the Rocks". Lots of restaurants and art stores. We ate at this little italian restaurant...I had the "mexican" - a pizza with anchovies, hot salami, and chili sauce. Mmmmmmmm. :)

I took some pictures & video today. Check 'em out:

The instrument the guy is playing in the video is a didgeridoo: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Didgeridoo

I'm tempted to buy one and use it in Layer 7's next gig.

Bye Bye Kuala Lumpur!

Had a great time. Good food, met great people, and the weather was extremely warm (and muggy). I'm up at 3:30 AM - and I have to catch a cab to the airport at 6:30. I'm going to try to squeeze in 2 hrs of sleep.

Mind the Gap, part II

Back on the tube. Hopefully I'll actually get on a plane today! :) What an ordeal....when I land I will have been travelling for over 48-hrs.

Mind the gap, please!

I'm connected to the internet on the London tube system.

Braden's Travel Tips

Yesterday before I left, Braden kept asking me to download a video from our digital camera to the computer. I wasn't sure what he was talking about until I watched the video. I laughed out loud when I watched it. I've posted it for your enjoyment (it's a bit shaky, but worth watching). I'm glad my little guy is looking after me. :)

(I added a few pictures to illustrate some of the "dangers" of which Braden is warning me.)

Nanny Dad

Brigette is in NYC the next two days with her girlfriends Toni & Michele. I'm home with the kids. She doesn't think I can handle it. Little does she know.