Monday, 28 May 2012
Burlesque, Cannoli and shoes in NYC (May 2012)
Well that was fun … exhausting but fun! May 2012, New York city - tick.
So what did we get up to? Here’s the top 10 of our time in NYC …
At 10 - Walking. The best way to truly get to know a city is to pound the pavement and we certainly put in the leg work. From Upper East to the Financial District there can’t have been much of Manhattan we didn’t walk up, down or around.
At 9 - A super relaxing afternoon in the “Water Lounge” of Great Jones Street Spa in the East Village before we flew out of the city. Miranda, if you’re reading this it could be something to look at for when you’re in the city later in the year. .
Number 8 - A doctors to remember. For our rabies jabs for Indonesia we needed 3 separate jabs, each one week apart. Due to "planning issues" we ended up needing the 2nd jab whilst in NYC. We booked in at a doctors on the Upper East side, a building that used to be a private residence before being converted into a doctors surgery. We were privileged enough to get to see how some New Yorkers live - 6 floors of marble spiral staircase anyone? (see photo below).
Number 7 - Sights. Walking across the Broklyn Bridge and seeing the new World Trade Centre come out of the ashes (on our last visit the Ground Zero sight was just a hole in the ground) were amazing. 1 WTC is as at May 2012 70 floors in height and will be hitting 105 (above surface floors) before completion.
In at 6 (note this could well be higher on Janine‘s list but I‘m writing so ….) - Consignment stores, lots and lots of consignment stores with (more) shiny yet inexpensive shoes!
At Number 5 - The High Line Walkway. What a superb idea - convert an old / derelict raised railway line into a public walkway / garden. 10 blocks of the highline has been developed / regenerated so far and there’s another 20+ to come. This comes with a Smith seal of recommendation for anyone visiting the city.
Number 4 - Amazing bar staff - thanks especially to Aussie Tim at Belfry bar and Sarah at Bowery Electric for making us feel so welcome -
Sarah @ Bowery Electric music favourites …
Johnny Cash & June Carter - Jackson
Queen - bohemian Rhapsody
Janis Joplin - Bobby McGee
David Bowie - Fame
Elvis Costello - Either is of the same town
Fave LP - Rent (original cast recording)
Tim @ Belfry music favourites ...
Radiohead - fake Plastic Trees
Jeff Buckley - Lover you should have come over
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Ship Song
Pink Floyd - Us and them
Led Zeppelin - Rain song
Fave LP - Abattoir Blues Nick Cave
Number 3 - Great restaurants recommended by Zagat. From one end of the spectrum (The Old Homestead Steak House) to the other (Sacred Chow vegan café) this city really does offer the very best. Lets not even get started on the cannoli served by Marinellas (see “Number 1”)
Number 2 - New York City pizza - favourite place was once again Ben’s on McDougal Street, Greenwich Village. Nom.
At Number One - Meeting up with David and Collette (ex-Goldman/Spherion colleagues.) A night of superb food (how had we never eaten cannoli before - oh my god), laughter, speak-easy crawling (Angels Share and Backroom) and accidental burlesque at Nurse Betties. It was just amazing to see you both - lets not wait 12 years until the next time!
Thursday, 24 May 2012
Tuesday, 22 May 2012
Wellington Weather In The Big Aple
After a rather long and cramped flight (insert rant re people that put their seats back for the entire duration of an 11 hour fligt) we arrived safely in LA for our one night stop over. Jet lag kicked in resulting in a 1.30am trip to the gym! We both may look like zombies but at least we'll be in shape.
If you think going on holiday is about sunshine and beaches then ours to date would be a far cry from ideal. We've now arrived safely in New York and it looks like we've brought a batch of Wellington weather with us - it's not stopped raining since we arrived and today's forecast is thunderstorms! J's over the moon with the news and is using the excuse of poor weather to execute "operation thrift store", what looks to be a plan with military precision (there's actually a route map and everything!).
Last night (our first night here) J managed to score free tickets to a gig. We spent our evening in the Hard Rock Cafe underground garage on Time Square, listening to a selection of New Yorks finest. Jesse Malin was super impressive (if your reading this and going "who?", firstly shame on you and secondly, check YouTube it's what it's there for).
Off now to brave the rain and abuse the credit card.
Monday, 4 January 2010
Christmas, The Wedding Of The Year & A White New Year In The Big Apple
Well, looking back over the last three weeks it seems we’ve crammed an awful lot in. Christmas, Packing boxes for shipping, The Wedding of the Year, New York for New Year and San Fran. All in 17 days. Needless to say that although we’ve quite literally stopped in San Fran we’re both pretty shattered.
Anyone reading this will know how much we enjoyed Christmas – it was amazing to see you all. Feel free to start planning the return fixture to New Zealand. We’d love to see you.
The highlight of the trip back was no doubt the wedding of Lucy and Matthew. An amazing day and we were truly privileged to be a part of. Aside from the wedding itself the highlights were as follows:
- Matt and Lucy’s beautiful first dance- Silky moves people!
- J being referred to as “Jasmine” in the father of the brides speech
- Beaker’s sambuca induced dancing
- Seeing that Paul from Uni hasn’t changed an ounce
- Surviving the Best Man’s speech tumbleweed.
- Everyone being constantly confused between Matt and his doppelganger
- Having time with our best friends to catch up and talk rubbish.
For New Year we hit New York – here are some of the highlights:
To explore a city there is no better way than a bar crawl, that’s my stance and I’m sticking to it! Rather the standard research and crawl approach we decided to try something a bit different. The concept was simple – Pick the first bar and a general direction and then ask the server in each bar where they’d recommend we hit next on the crawl (within a reasonable walking distance). Now, the idea was a good one – by asking “randoms” for recommendations we should find some bars we’d never have found on our own. The crawl began well but was abandoned after the fourth bar. it failed due to the lack of creativity of our servers. Each server in turn recommended generic Irish themed rubbish; mock wood, mock Guinness, mock Irishmen and tons of second hand crap from the ceiling. The crawl was abandoned although the concept has not been - Mr Green / Mr Hopkins we will be trying this when I see you next in NZ!
Johnnies Bar was an exceptional find on our crawl (note – only found by accident and not via recommendation). A tiny place probably only 20 foot by 7 foot but with one of the best juke boxes ever (known by Zac the bar tender as the “crack-box” as all of his wages went into the thing). We sat at the bar and I was invited by Zac to a game of chess – If I won the round was on him. Promptly beating Zac and boasting to the assembled few that I was trained in India (note - alcohol induced garbage) I was asked by a regular at the bar if I’d mind playing him. He looked like a cross between Rocky Balboa (see Rocky III where he really gets a hammering) and the black chap out of From Dusk Til Dawn (post vamp turning). Confidence high it was fine to bet a couple of rounds on the game. It was only when he started name dropping people like Hikaru Nakamura, Ray Robson and Yuri Shulman that I got worried. No ..... I didn’t know the names either – that was what concerned me. I do now – they’re USA chess masters and it turns out they’re his friends. Apparently, my new buddy is a chess pro and competes /wins in nationwide competitions. All very well humoured entertainment and he even let me off buying the drinks!
As always when we’re in NYC it’s hard to keep Janine out of the Consignment Shops. Thanks to Mum (Anne), Nicola & Dave, John & Gill, Mum (Brenda) & Dad, Al and Jean for the Christmas dollars you gave us. They were “invested” as follows:
Me – A Paul Smith Suit and an Armani coat
J – 3, yes that’s right .... 3 pairs of Manolo Blanik Shoes, a Banana Republic raincoat, Marc Jacobs skirt and a Vera Wang dress.
On New Years and in a white NYC we went for a nice meal (note – J is never allowed to order the house special again – apparently “black truffle pasta” is extortionately expensive!!!). After the meal we went to our new favourite NYC bar – Nurse Betty. Again a small bar and considering it was New Years Eve it was dead – probably not great for the owner but excellent news for us. We got to meet some lovely people and have befriended a lovely New Yorker, Jen. Jen if you’re reading this we hope to see you at some point in Auckland!
A trip to NYC wouldn’t be the same without watching some English Football in Nevada Smiths. We met some fantastic people – Jack & John thanks for a very enjoyable morning! We also had the fortune to meet a guy called Jerry – Jerry has Attention Deficit Disorder & Tourettes but even with this manages to hold down a pretty senior job at one of the New York investment banks (perhaps these conditions are advantageous for such employment?). The Football was very frustrating (see Boro loss and Pool playing like they belong in the Championship) but people wise we’ve added a few more to our “must see next time we’re back” list. John / Jack – please do keep in touch.
We’re now in San Fran awaiting our flight back to Auckland. What a holiday – thanks to everyone for making Christmas 09 & New Year 09-10 so special.
Anyone reading this will know how much we enjoyed Christmas – it was amazing to see you all. Feel free to start planning the return fixture to New Zealand. We’d love to see you.
The highlight of the trip back was no doubt the wedding of Lucy and Matthew. An amazing day and we were truly privileged to be a part of. Aside from the wedding itself the highlights were as follows:
- Matt and Lucy’s beautiful first dance- Silky moves people!
- J being referred to as “Jasmine” in the father of the brides speech
- Beaker’s sambuca induced dancing
- Seeing that Paul from Uni hasn’t changed an ounce
- Surviving the Best Man’s speech tumbleweed.
- Everyone being constantly confused between Matt and his doppelganger
- Having time with our best friends to catch up and talk rubbish.
For New Year we hit New York – here are some of the highlights:
To explore a city there is no better way than a bar crawl, that’s my stance and I’m sticking to it! Rather the standard research and crawl approach we decided to try something a bit different. The concept was simple – Pick the first bar and a general direction and then ask the server in each bar where they’d recommend we hit next on the crawl (within a reasonable walking distance). Now, the idea was a good one – by asking “randoms” for recommendations we should find some bars we’d never have found on our own. The crawl began well but was abandoned after the fourth bar. it failed due to the lack of creativity of our servers. Each server in turn recommended generic Irish themed rubbish; mock wood, mock Guinness, mock Irishmen and tons of second hand crap from the ceiling. The crawl was abandoned although the concept has not been - Mr Green / Mr Hopkins we will be trying this when I see you next in NZ!
Johnnies Bar was an exceptional find on our crawl (note – only found by accident and not via recommendation). A tiny place probably only 20 foot by 7 foot but with one of the best juke boxes ever (known by Zac the bar tender as the “crack-box” as all of his wages went into the thing). We sat at the bar and I was invited by Zac to a game of chess – If I won the round was on him. Promptly beating Zac and boasting to the assembled few that I was trained in India (note - alcohol induced garbage) I was asked by a regular at the bar if I’d mind playing him. He looked like a cross between Rocky Balboa (see Rocky III where he really gets a hammering) and the black chap out of From Dusk Til Dawn (post vamp turning). Confidence high it was fine to bet a couple of rounds on the game. It was only when he started name dropping people like Hikaru Nakamura, Ray Robson and Yuri Shulman that I got worried. No ..... I didn’t know the names either – that was what concerned me. I do now – they’re USA chess masters and it turns out they’re his friends. Apparently, my new buddy is a chess pro and competes /wins in nationwide competitions. All very well humoured entertainment and he even let me off buying the drinks!
As always when we’re in NYC it’s hard to keep Janine out of the Consignment Shops. Thanks to Mum (Anne), Nicola & Dave, John & Gill, Mum (Brenda) & Dad, Al and Jean for the Christmas dollars you gave us. They were “invested” as follows:
Me – A Paul Smith Suit and an Armani coat
J – 3, yes that’s right .... 3 pairs of Manolo Blanik Shoes, a Banana Republic raincoat, Marc Jacobs skirt and a Vera Wang dress.
On New Years and in a white NYC we went for a nice meal (note – J is never allowed to order the house special again – apparently “black truffle pasta” is extortionately expensive!!!). After the meal we went to our new favourite NYC bar – Nurse Betty. Again a small bar and considering it was New Years Eve it was dead – probably not great for the owner but excellent news for us. We got to meet some lovely people and have befriended a lovely New Yorker, Jen. Jen if you’re reading this we hope to see you at some point in Auckland!
A trip to NYC wouldn’t be the same without watching some English Football in Nevada Smiths. We met some fantastic people – Jack & John thanks for a very enjoyable morning! We also had the fortune to meet a guy called Jerry – Jerry has Attention Deficit Disorder & Tourettes but even with this manages to hold down a pretty senior job at one of the New York investment banks (perhaps these conditions are advantageous for such employment?). The Football was very frustrating (see Boro loss and Pool playing like they belong in the Championship) but people wise we’ve added a few more to our “must see next time we’re back” list. John / Jack – please do keep in touch.
We’re now in San Fran awaiting our flight back to Auckland. What a holiday – thanks to everyone for making Christmas 09 & New Year 09-10 so special.
Sunday, 14 June 2009
Poker, Prohibition & Pain
We recently hosted our first poker game, attendees were as follows:
- James Bond
- The Oracle (from the Matrix)
- Amy Winehouse
- Andy Two Guns
(see photo below)
The result was a 3am victory for Andy Two Guns and a mental note that blinds must be increased at more regular intervals!
Continuing the gangster theme, on Saturday night we made it to a restaurant we’ve been meaning to get to since we arrived in Auckland – “Prohibition”. A fantastic place themed as a 1920’s speakeasy, gangsters, molls and everything from glassware to the toilets (copper – no less) in true New York speakeasy style (see photo below).
www.prohibition.co.nz
As Kiwi winter has kicked in running along the coast is no longer such an attractive proposition, so squash is the new exercise of choice. Having not played for over a year the only thing that has been achieved so far is a paralysed status akin to Paul Sheldon in “Misery” – post hobbling.
- James Bond
- The Oracle (from the Matrix)
- Amy Winehouse
- Andy Two Guns
(see photo below)
The result was a 3am victory for Andy Two Guns and a mental note that blinds must be increased at more regular intervals!
Continuing the gangster theme, on Saturday night we made it to a restaurant we’ve been meaning to get to since we arrived in Auckland – “Prohibition”. A fantastic place themed as a 1920’s speakeasy, gangsters, molls and everything from glassware to the toilets (copper – no less) in true New York speakeasy style (see photo below).
www.prohibition.co.nz
As Kiwi winter has kicked in running along the coast is no longer such an attractive proposition, so squash is the new exercise of choice. Having not played for over a year the only thing that has been achieved so far is a paralysed status akin to Paul Sheldon in “Misery” – post hobbling.
Saturday, 16 May 2009
Time Flys ..
It’s been quite a while since the last update so if anyone still is reading, sorry for the lack of news. For the latest installment here’s what’s happened over the last 6 months –
• We were visited by Rob & Bernie Lanaway on their round the world honeymoon and did a road trip to Bay of Islands together for J’s 30th.
• Thanks to / courtesy of Matt Green I was thrown out of a plane at 30,000 ft. Please can no-one ever ask me why we call him the Bad-Man!
• We’re both still working – Me at Bank Of New Zealand in HR and J at AIG. We continue to live near Mission Bay and plan on staying here for another 12 months.
• We’ve started to make friends. Beaker, don’t get worried they’re not “proper” friends – we’ve yet to go to a scream pub at mid-day on Saturday, watch the football all afternoon and stagger home only to return the following day for the cycle to begin again.
• We had our first wedding anniversary on April 18th 2009. Neither of us can believe an entire year has passed since our big day. To celebrate we spent the weekend in a vineyard North of Auckland (at a B&B – not just hiding out amongst vines).
• We’ve had a couple of trips down to Christchurch to see Hoppy and Michelle and their new arrival Oliver. It still feels odd that a friend from the UK that I met for the first time in NYC has ended up on the same small island on the wrong side of the world.
• I’ve learnt to drive! Note that I’m not saying I’ve passed any kind of practical test – But due to somewhat dubious legal loophole I can drive over here on my Cook Islands driving license. Anyway, legal technicalities aside we’ve bought a little sports car (see pic).
• The car has meant we’ve been able to really get out and explore NZ (rather than being restricted to central Auckland). One of the highlights has to be something of a kiwi hidden gem – The Kai Iwi lakes in Northland (about 3 hours north of Auckland). The lakes are set amongst natural forest and the sandstone geology means they’re all surrounded by beautiful golden sand beach. See pic below.
• After nearly a year here in New Zealand we have still yet to find a consistently good curry house. It seems no matter where you go the premise is simple – use the same base for all curries (everything from Korma – Madras) and then simply add chili as applicable. Poor show NZ.
• After an amazing summer in the sun, winter is now arriving (June) and the weather in Auckland ranges from tropical storm to clear sky to mist to hail, and that’s just in one morning.
• Writing this we’ve just watched Man U win the premiership. I’ve already put a bet on for Pool to win next year.
• As The Bad Man has somehow charmed / convinced or possibly drugged a lovely young lady into agreeing to marry him, we’ll be back in the UK for the wedding on December 26th 2009. We’re back from December 19th to December 30th 2009. It’s only a taxi ride, a flight to Hong Kong, a flight to London, a train to central London, a train to Doncaster and then one final taxi ride …… it’s nothing really.
• Finally, and this is probably our biggest news – We’ve secured 5 year visas for NZ and have also been invited to apply for residency. It’s looking like we’ll be here for some time to come. Get planning your visits – all are welcome!
We both still miss you all!
• We were visited by Rob & Bernie Lanaway on their round the world honeymoon and did a road trip to Bay of Islands together for J’s 30th.
• Thanks to / courtesy of Matt Green I was thrown out of a plane at 30,000 ft. Please can no-one ever ask me why we call him the Bad-Man!
• We’re both still working – Me at Bank Of New Zealand in HR and J at AIG. We continue to live near Mission Bay and plan on staying here for another 12 months.
• We’ve started to make friends. Beaker, don’t get worried they’re not “proper” friends – we’ve yet to go to a scream pub at mid-day on Saturday, watch the football all afternoon and stagger home only to return the following day for the cycle to begin again.
• We had our first wedding anniversary on April 18th 2009. Neither of us can believe an entire year has passed since our big day. To celebrate we spent the weekend in a vineyard North of Auckland (at a B&B – not just hiding out amongst vines).
• We’ve had a couple of trips down to Christchurch to see Hoppy and Michelle and their new arrival Oliver. It still feels odd that a friend from the UK that I met for the first time in NYC has ended up on the same small island on the wrong side of the world.
• I’ve learnt to drive! Note that I’m not saying I’ve passed any kind of practical test – But due to somewhat dubious legal loophole I can drive over here on my Cook Islands driving license. Anyway, legal technicalities aside we’ve bought a little sports car (see pic).
• The car has meant we’ve been able to really get out and explore NZ (rather than being restricted to central Auckland). One of the highlights has to be something of a kiwi hidden gem – The Kai Iwi lakes in Northland (about 3 hours north of Auckland). The lakes are set amongst natural forest and the sandstone geology means they’re all surrounded by beautiful golden sand beach. See pic below.
• After nearly a year here in New Zealand we have still yet to find a consistently good curry house. It seems no matter where you go the premise is simple – use the same base for all curries (everything from Korma – Madras) and then simply add chili as applicable. Poor show NZ.
• After an amazing summer in the sun, winter is now arriving (June) and the weather in Auckland ranges from tropical storm to clear sky to mist to hail, and that’s just in one morning.
• Writing this we’ve just watched Man U win the premiership. I’ve already put a bet on for Pool to win next year.
• As The Bad Man has somehow charmed / convinced or possibly drugged a lovely young lady into agreeing to marry him, we’ll be back in the UK for the wedding on December 26th 2009. We’re back from December 19th to December 30th 2009. It’s only a taxi ride, a flight to Hong Kong, a flight to London, a train to central London, a train to Doncaster and then one final taxi ride …… it’s nothing really.
• Finally, and this is probably our biggest news – We’ve secured 5 year visas for NZ and have also been invited to apply for residency. It’s looking like we’ll be here for some time to come. Get planning your visits – all are welcome!
We both still miss you all!
Saturday, 8 November 2008
A Trip Back In Time With Jazz & Wine
For our first public holiday over here we took the quick (40 mins) ferry to Waiheke Island. Essentially it’s a microcosm of New Zealand – green lush landscape, rolling hills and gorgeous bays.
We stayed in a nice hotel/B&B named “Breakfast On The Beach”. Being the only guests staying that weekend and being in their house, it was like staying with your really rich auntie and uncle. The owners were like the 80’s version of Margo and Jerry Ledbetter in “The Good Life”!
Examples of their 80’s opulence -
- Being picked up by one of owners in his Miami Vice style – Left hand drive convertible.
- Smoked Salmon and caviar canapés
- Ferrero Rocher
- After Eight mints
- Mo-Hair bed covers (mmmmm soft and warm)
- The owner’s wife wearing an electric blue oversize jumper and matching ear-rings.
- The denim place mats and matching napkins.
- A small decanter of port and appropriate glassware left in our bedroom each evening.
We were told by everyone in the build to our holiday that Waiheke Island has “its own separate micro-climate”. It does – it rained just about constantly from the moment we arrived! Despite the rain we spent a lovely Sunday travelling by bus to various vineyards who were hosting the Islands annual Jazz Festival, culminating at the StoneyRidge vineyard – and to continue in the 80s theme they played the entire Sade album (“Diamond Life” for those who wanted specifics). Wine and Jazz = nice (although slightly marred by Sade)!
We also managed to find Irish bar in Waiheke. As you’ll know Irish bar’s the world over are famed for their warm welcome and chatty / friendly staff. There seems to be an exception to the rule – Waiheke Island! We arrived to a grunt of disapproval from the woman behind the bar and even the offer of a drink (surly a winner in any Irish bar!?) simply encouraged a response of “………….no”. In the bar there was a juke-box not only that but a free juke-box! Again you think, surely a winner- There was however one catch, someone (most likely our disenchanted Irish host) had but on roughly 3 hours of Gaelic music, some of which I’m pretty sure contained some strong anti-English sentiment.
We actually really enjoyed our time in Waiheke and we’ll defiantly head back, possibly not to the Irish Bar and probably not until summer!
Over the past month we’ve led a pretty quiet life. Weekends have been spent locally, around Mission Bay or St Heliers sitting out in the sunshine, walking and exploring. We do however have an event in the calendar … J’s 30th birthday is on Wednesday November 12th!
We’re also waiting for the arrival of Rob and Bernie Lanaway who are travelling around the world on their honeymoon. Copycats.
We stayed in a nice hotel/B&B named “Breakfast On The Beach”. Being the only guests staying that weekend and being in their house, it was like staying with your really rich auntie and uncle. The owners were like the 80’s version of Margo and Jerry Ledbetter in “The Good Life”!
Examples of their 80’s opulence -
- Being picked up by one of owners in his Miami Vice style – Left hand drive convertible.
- Smoked Salmon and caviar canapés
- Ferrero Rocher
- After Eight mints
- Mo-Hair bed covers (mmmmm soft and warm)
- The owner’s wife wearing an electric blue oversize jumper and matching ear-rings.
- The denim place mats and matching napkins.
- A small decanter of port and appropriate glassware left in our bedroom each evening.
We were told by everyone in the build to our holiday that Waiheke Island has “its own separate micro-climate”. It does – it rained just about constantly from the moment we arrived! Despite the rain we spent a lovely Sunday travelling by bus to various vineyards who were hosting the Islands annual Jazz Festival, culminating at the StoneyRidge vineyard – and to continue in the 80s theme they played the entire Sade album (“Diamond Life” for those who wanted specifics). Wine and Jazz = nice (although slightly marred by Sade)!
We also managed to find Irish bar in Waiheke. As you’ll know Irish bar’s the world over are famed for their warm welcome and chatty / friendly staff. There seems to be an exception to the rule – Waiheke Island! We arrived to a grunt of disapproval from the woman behind the bar and even the offer of a drink (surly a winner in any Irish bar!?) simply encouraged a response of “………….no”. In the bar there was a juke-box not only that but a free juke-box! Again you think, surely a winner- There was however one catch, someone (most likely our disenchanted Irish host) had but on roughly 3 hours of Gaelic music, some of which I’m pretty sure contained some strong anti-English sentiment.
We actually really enjoyed our time in Waiheke and we’ll defiantly head back, possibly not to the Irish Bar and probably not until summer!
Over the past month we’ve led a pretty quiet life. Weekends have been spent locally, around Mission Bay or St Heliers sitting out in the sunshine, walking and exploring. We do however have an event in the calendar … J’s 30th birthday is on Wednesday November 12th!
We’re also waiting for the arrival of Rob and Bernie Lanaway who are travelling around the world on their honeymoon. Copycats.
Friday, 10 October 2008
A Fat Russell Crowe & Some Places To Avoid
In May 2008 we wrote a quick top 5 places we'd like to live, perhaps influenced by recency - hence lots of USA placements. The list was -
New York
Chicago
Athens GA
Sydney
Christchurch
Continuing in High Fidelity style, here are October 2008 top 5 places we'd like to live ...(in no particular order!):
New York
San Francisco
Auckland
Athens GA
Rarotonga
Note: We really are loving living in New Zealand!!!
Also, here are our top 5 places not to live - (October 08)
1)Iraq - Pretty obvious, insurgents shooting at USA troops, USA troops shooting at anyone, no facilities, a government that doesn't work and screwed infrastructure. Mission accomplished!
2) Iran - Oh come on, we all know what's coming.
3) In any home with an Icelandic Bank mortgage.
4) Zimbabwe - Inflation running at 231000000% and 90%+ unemployment. Oh, and no particular love of "the white man".
5) Eastbourne - So full of old people it looks like a scene from Cocoon (possibly a bit harsh on Eastbourne but I've made the font small so it's unlikely anyone there will be able to read the blog)
A few more bit and pieces to report:
We watched "Body of Lies" last night which we both agreed was superb (not often that happens!). It ticked all the right boxes - political, spy-orientated thriller, with a hint of underplayed romance, cultural incompatibility and extremely good acting. And if you ever wondered what Russell Crowe would look like if he morphed into the fat Marlon Brando, see this film!
The honeymoon continues - We've booked our first New Zealand trip, to Waiheke Island for Labour day (a public holiday at the end of October.) Sun, sand and vineyards - what more could you ask for from a holiday?
New York
Chicago
Athens GA
Sydney
Christchurch
Continuing in High Fidelity style, here are October 2008 top 5 places we'd like to live ...(in no particular order!):
New York
San Francisco
Auckland
Athens GA
Rarotonga
Note: We really are loving living in New Zealand!!!
Also, here are our top 5 places not to live - (October 08)
1)Iraq - Pretty obvious, insurgents shooting at USA troops, USA troops shooting at anyone, no facilities, a government that doesn't work and screwed infrastructure. Mission accomplished!
2) Iran - Oh come on, we all know what's coming.
3) In any home with an Icelandic Bank mortgage.
4) Zimbabwe - Inflation running at 231000000% and 90%+ unemployment. Oh, and no particular love of "the white man".
5) Eastbourne - So full of old people it looks like a scene from Cocoon (possibly a bit harsh on Eastbourne but I've made the font small so it's unlikely anyone there will be able to read the blog)
A few more bit and pieces to report:
We watched "Body of Lies" last night which we both agreed was superb (not often that happens!). It ticked all the right boxes - political, spy-orientated thriller, with a hint of underplayed romance, cultural incompatibility and extremely good acting. And if you ever wondered what Russell Crowe would look like if he morphed into the fat Marlon Brando, see this film!
The honeymoon continues - We've booked our first New Zealand trip, to Waiheke Island for Labour day (a public holiday at the end of October.) Sun, sand and vineyards - what more could you ask for from a holiday?
Saturday, 4 October 2008
A Missing Stair-Gate & A Country With No Talent
The biggest news from our last couple of weeks has been saying goodbye to "The Hird Of Hirds" (Mark & Jen + Euan & Callum). They departed these shores last Sunday to move their life back to to the UK. Having had them live with us for two weeks it felt very strange to walk up-stairs to our lounge and not have to negotiate the child safety stair-gate. Hirds - We still miss you all!
Our routine continues pretty much as normal, work M-F, drinks on Friday night and then watching pre-recorded Premiership football on Sunday mornings. It'd be great if I could just manage to correct that M-F bit.
In regards to work - J has settled into her office job. She's a "Policy Administrator", she has her own desk / own e-mail and at this point AIG is still afloat - it's all good!
My work is somewhat up in the air - major changes in the HR department mean I'm saying goodbye to my "Solutions Consultant" job title - and hello to my new job title of "HR Consultant". It's a sad day - I was quite proud of such a meaningless title - It was only second to Gav Nunns who once presented me with his business card noting him as a "Knowledge Engineer". Nice.
Terrestrial TV over here is currently showing "New Zealand's Got Talent" This may be a shock to you but - FYI: New Zealand has NO talent. The acts range from a bartender pouring cocktails to a poor mans Gaelic jig band who note they are inspired by Scottish Gaelic bands - eh - isn't it the Irish jig?
The other thing that's running on TV over here is a series of anti-drink driving tv adverts. I've linked one to the blog - They do call it as they see it over here! Note: they did have one featuring a female drink driving, obviously it ended badly and was capped by the phrase - "if you drink and drive - your a stupid bit@h". They drew the line at this one, it never made the airwaves.
We think our favourite local barman is in fact an alcoholic! Last Friday we were feeling a Little antisocial and decided to go to a different bar after work (not our local - Tabac). Sitting down and enjoying a Corona we were surprised to see our barman friend stroll up to the bar in his work attire, order a vodka shot - hammer it in one and then walk out the door. Being inquisitive we decided to follow him - guess where he went - Tabac. He was at the start of a 8 hour shift. Hardcore (and possibly in need of help)!! Perhaps finding friends outside of bars/pubs is the way
forward!
We'll soon have visitors - We'll be saying hello to Emma (a friend of J's) in October shortly followed by a visit from Rob & Bernie in November. It'll be great to see some friendly faces. We've got plenty of room so if your reading this how about NZ as your next holiday destination - free accommodation!!!
Finally, we're planning to learn to drive early in the new year. That's right folks at the age of 30 I've decided it's time to get mobile!
Our routine continues pretty much as normal, work M-F, drinks on Friday night and then watching pre-recorded Premiership football on Sunday mornings. It'd be great if I could just manage to correct that M-F bit.
In regards to work - J has settled into her office job. She's a "Policy Administrator", she has her own desk / own e-mail and at this point AIG is still afloat - it's all good!
My work is somewhat up in the air - major changes in the HR department mean I'm saying goodbye to my "Solutions Consultant" job title - and hello to my new job title of "HR Consultant". It's a sad day - I was quite proud of such a meaningless title - It was only second to Gav Nunns who once presented me with his business card noting him as a "Knowledge Engineer". Nice.
Terrestrial TV over here is currently showing "New Zealand's Got Talent" This may be a shock to you but - FYI: New Zealand has NO talent. The acts range from a bartender pouring cocktails to a poor mans Gaelic jig band who note they are inspired by Scottish Gaelic bands - eh - isn't it the Irish jig?
The other thing that's running on TV over here is a series of anti-drink driving tv adverts. I've linked one to the blog - They do call it as they see it over here! Note: they did have one featuring a female drink driving, obviously it ended badly and was capped by the phrase - "if you drink and drive - your a stupid bit@h". They drew the line at this one, it never made the airwaves.
We think our favourite local barman is in fact an alcoholic! Last Friday we were feeling a Little antisocial and decided to go to a different bar after work (not our local - Tabac). Sitting down and enjoying a Corona we were surprised to see our barman friend stroll up to the bar in his work attire, order a vodka shot - hammer it in one and then walk out the door. Being inquisitive we decided to follow him - guess where he went - Tabac. He was at the start of a 8 hour shift. Hardcore (and possibly in need of help)!! Perhaps finding friends outside of bars/pubs is the way
forward!
We'll soon have visitors - We'll be saying hello to Emma (a friend of J's) in October shortly followed by a visit from Rob & Bernie in November. It'll be great to see some friendly faces. We've got plenty of room so if your reading this how about NZ as your next holiday destination - free accommodation!!!
Finally, we're planning to learn to drive early in the new year. That's right folks at the age of 30 I've decided it's time to get mobile!
Wednesday, 24 September 2008
Domestic Mayhem & AIG
Well it's been quite a month.
I guess anyone that knows myself or Janine will know that we flew back to the UK on the sad news that Malcolm had passed away. We'll never forget the support from our friends & family - Thank you all, we couldn't have got through it without you.
You may be interested to know that J has now got a permanent job in the CBD. She's working for American Insurance Group (AIG). Heard of them? .... If you've watched the news over the past month you should have ...
What a choice of company - on the plus side, an office job that means a 9-5, no weekends & a daily opportunity to wear nice shoes .... there are however a few downsides:
- William Hill have stopped offering odds on the company going bust.
- They are currently being investigated by the FBI
- This one concerns me the most ................. They sponsor .... I'm struggling with this ................ they sponsor... Manchester United FC!
Anyway, J has just survived day three and they've even paid her in advance - considering they're potentially going bust, quite a nice gesture!
We also have some housemates .....
Jennifer & Mark Hird, 2.5 children and two fish have moved in with us! Going from a quiet life with zero children to happy mayhem has been an unexpected pleasure! There is also the added bonus of a full pantry and someone as competitive as The Bad Man who enjoys playing on the Wii (note this is Mark not one of the kids).
As an example of Mark's competitive streak ... Whist writing this Mark has just confessed to once being challenged to fit 5 Cadbury's cream eggs into his mouth at one time (note - not by me), accepting the challenge he reaching a grand total of 4. Anyone care to challenge? Bad Man?
On popular request we've added on some video clips of where we live - feel free to browse from the menu on the left hand side of this page. Note the weather on the video clips - It's Winter and we hit 20 degree C!
Anyway, we will endeavour to keep the blog updated - please keep voting on the polls - it tells us people are reading!
I guess anyone that knows myself or Janine will know that we flew back to the UK on the sad news that Malcolm had passed away. We'll never forget the support from our friends & family - Thank you all, we couldn't have got through it without you.
You may be interested to know that J has now got a permanent job in the CBD. She's working for American Insurance Group (AIG). Heard of them? .... If you've watched the news over the past month you should have ...
What a choice of company - on the plus side, an office job that means a 9-5, no weekends & a daily opportunity to wear nice shoes .... there are however a few downsides:
- William Hill have stopped offering odds on the company going bust.
- They are currently being investigated by the FBI
- This one concerns me the most ................. They sponsor .... I'm struggling with this ................ they sponsor... Manchester United FC!
Anyway, J has just survived day three and they've even paid her in advance - considering they're potentially going bust, quite a nice gesture!
We also have some housemates .....
Jennifer & Mark Hird, 2.5 children and two fish have moved in with us! Going from a quiet life with zero children to happy mayhem has been an unexpected pleasure! There is also the added bonus of a full pantry and someone as competitive as The Bad Man who enjoys playing on the Wii (note this is Mark not one of the kids).
As an example of Mark's competitive streak ... Whist writing this Mark has just confessed to once being challenged to fit 5 Cadbury's cream eggs into his mouth at one time (note - not by me), accepting the challenge he reaching a grand total of 4. Anyone care to challenge? Bad Man?
On popular request we've added on some video clips of where we live - feel free to browse from the menu on the left hand side of this page. Note the weather on the video clips - It's Winter and we hit 20 degree C!
Anyway, we will endeavour to keep the blog updated - please keep voting on the polls - it tells us people are reading!
Wednesday, 20 August 2008
We live in Hobbiton
It's true - we have moved to what can only be described as "Hobbiton"! No, it's not due to being surrounded by small people with hairy feet (although there are a few) more that ...
- Everyone is super friendly - Bus stop conversations actually happen.
- The biggest news is "Cat Up Tree" type stuff, see (from the main NZ paper):
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10528004
- They just don't care - Eg: "Boobs on Bikes", see:
http://www.livenews.com.au/Articles/2008/08/20/Boobs_on_Bikes_draws_a_mixed_crowd
- At the Olympics New Zealand being slightly more successful than Tonga is a major success.
- The commute from home to work is 25 mins and does not include any of the following:
1) Waiting for a late train or buses
2) Having to stand on said late train or bus.
3) Having to stand on said late train or bus and being forced into a randoms armpit.
4) Having to stand on said late train or bus, being forced into a random's armpit and being subjected to beggars / druggies.
- The Kiwi's stay away from global politics. Seriously try and find something recent on the BBC regarding New Zealand that isn't something to do with a) the Olympics b) Rugby or c) Storms. Go on try, there's nothing!
Other big news - At least for myself and Mrs Smith is .... Lazy (our local bar in London) has closed! Now for many of you this will mean nothing, but for us it's really sad news! For those of you that know what life for us was like in London (noisy neighbours etc) you'll appreciate that for over a year Lazy was like a 2nd home! We're not really sure what happened - Personally I'm going for it closing down due to the fact that a major revenue stream moved to New Zealand. Actually, if the rumour mill is correct, the landowner put up the ground rent to such a point they couldn't operate a business and make a profit. The person who owns the land will demolish the building and put up flats - therefore making a tidy penny I'm sure. God bless you Lazy - gone but not forgotten.
Aside from getting into the work routine there's probably little else to tell you. Only that we went Kayaking in the sea last weekend. Note to self: The sea in winter is very, very cold - Do not repeat.
Christmas is now certain - Obviously not "Christmas" which is always certain, but rather us coming back to the UK for Christmas. December 22nd until early Jan. Be warned - presents will be pretty standard this year - Fake hobbit feet for one and all!
Oh ... a couple of new photo's have also been added, scroll down to view.
- Everyone is super friendly - Bus stop conversations actually happen.
- The biggest news is "Cat Up Tree" type stuff, see (from the main NZ paper):
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10528004
- They just don't care - Eg: "Boobs on Bikes", see:
http://www.livenews.com.au/Articles/2008/08/20/Boobs_on_Bikes_draws_a_mixed_crowd
- At the Olympics New Zealand being slightly more successful than Tonga is a major success.
- The commute from home to work is 25 mins and does not include any of the following:
1) Waiting for a late train or buses
2) Having to stand on said late train or bus.
3) Having to stand on said late train or bus and being forced into a randoms armpit.
4) Having to stand on said late train or bus, being forced into a random's armpit and being subjected to beggars / druggies.
- The Kiwi's stay away from global politics. Seriously try and find something recent on the BBC regarding New Zealand that isn't something to do with a) the Olympics b) Rugby or c) Storms. Go on try, there's nothing!
Other big news - At least for myself and Mrs Smith is .... Lazy (our local bar in London) has closed! Now for many of you this will mean nothing, but for us it's really sad news! For those of you that know what life for us was like in London (noisy neighbours etc) you'll appreciate that for over a year Lazy was like a 2nd home! We're not really sure what happened - Personally I'm going for it closing down due to the fact that a major revenue stream moved to New Zealand. Actually, if the rumour mill is correct, the landowner put up the ground rent to such a point they couldn't operate a business and make a profit. The person who owns the land will demolish the building and put up flats - therefore making a tidy penny I'm sure. God bless you Lazy - gone but not forgotten.
Aside from getting into the work routine there's probably little else to tell you. Only that we went Kayaking in the sea last weekend. Note to self: The sea in winter is very, very cold - Do not repeat.
Christmas is now certain - Obviously not "Christmas" which is always certain, but rather us coming back to the UK for Christmas. December 22nd until early Jan. Be warned - presents will be pretty standard this year - Fake hobbit feet for one and all!
Oh ... a couple of new photo's have also been added, scroll down to view.
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