Dinner Party, Ukulele and More Gifts

Not one, but THREE super nice, single guys at my dinner party... anyone up for a visit to Melbourne??

The dinner party was a hit! Ten guests (all friends from my meditation group) arrived at 7pm and didn't leave until after midnight.

It was a potluck, Indian, vegetarian dinner where people cooked the recipes that I distributed (courtesy of my friend Shruti). Everything was yum (as they say here). One of the guests was from the south of India and he brought dough to make poori. So, at one point there were five people in the kitchen, rolling dough on the heavily floured counter then dropping the little thin pancakes in to hot oil.

One of the guys brought his American girlfriend, Mel, whom I hadn't met previously (she is not in the meditation group) so now I have a new friend in the neighborhood. Yea! I had asked if she could bring a beverage to the party and she brought lemonade. Yes! Remember that here if you ask for lemonade you get a Sprite? Well, Mel brought real lemonade and called it... lemonade! I was chuffed (translation: pleased/psyched).

Brendan recently taught himself to play the ukulele and has taken to serenading me. Yes, really. The other day he sang "Brown Eyed Girl" to me. I am sooo liking this relationship thing.

Oh, and he went away for a business trip and surprised me with a gift when he returned! A beautiful pair of tea cups from an awesome store--wrapped gorgeously (which we know that I LOVE)!

And yes, another sunny and 70F day here in Melbourne. How grateful am I??!!

Business News and Surprise Gift

Princes Park, 10 minute walk from my apartment. Yes, those are palm trees! And hotties jogging!

News on the work front...

I co-wrote a marketing piece that is delivering qualified leads! I've made follow-up calls and have a half-dozen demos scheduled for this week. I'll be doing the demos via phone, so let's pray that my landline actually gets installed on Monday (it was scheduled to be completed last Monday and didn't happen-- no explanation from the phone company). These will be my first demos and I'm nervous and excited. Still selling software, as I have done in the past, but am now selling in a new industry to a different target audience: Learning and Development Managers in HR or Organizational Development Departments. The software itself is online learning produced by Harvard Business Publishing (a Division of Harvard Business School) to help organizations develop their Managers and Leaders. The software is the best in the industry and the Harvard brand helps make it easier to get in front of people initially. We'll see how I go (as they say here).
On the social front, I'm planning an Indian, Vegetarian, Pot Luck dinner at my apartment this Friday night for the people with whom I meditate each week. Will be nice to actually talk to them socially for a change! Each person will be preparing a recipe provided by my lovely friend and cooking teacher in Boston, Shruti. Thank you, Shruti!

And I received a gift this week...

Brendan surprised me with a gorgeous Frangipani tree for my deck!

Here is what it will look like when it flowers.

I love it! Hawaiian Lei flowers come from this tree and they smell sweet and delicious.

Melbourne City Baths. 81F and sunny again today...

Yup, another gorgeous Melbourne day! Very grateful.

Last week I started a regular exercise routine. Yea! Tuesdays and Saturdays I go to an Iyengar yoga class about a 15 minute walk from my house. Frank, the teacher is quite good and quite serious. The other day he told me that I needed to lift my pubis, then he proceeded to grab it and lift it for me. Oh my. What made it less shocking was that I was doing the pose with a partner (a girl named Amy) and she was holding my leg at the same time. Sounds like the game of Twister and yes, it felt like it too.
Friday and Monday I swim at Melbourne City Baths. I know, "city baths" sounds a bit questionable to the American ear--public baths?? eeew! Actually, the "City Baths" are simply government-funded sports facilities. And actually, the Melbourne City Bath is gorgeous outside and inside (just renovated).
Although I wasn't that confident about getting back in the water again after being a slug for so long, at least I would be familiar with one thing...the metric measurement of the pool length since that is what I knew in the States. Not so fast. This building is so old that it is measured using the Imperial system, Feet! Go figure. Anyway, one of the life guards told me it is a 30 metre pool. No wonder my old routine had me huffing and puffing, I was swimming an 5 extra metres each way!
Here is a pic of the building.

Check out this interesting history...

The Melbourne City Baths was first opened in 1860 and has continued to provide health and fitness services to the community for more than 140 years, an achievement that distinguishes the baths from any other health and fitness facility in Victoria.

In Melbourne’s founding years, a bathroom in the home was a luxury only the wealthy could afford. For most, a weekly wash or dip in Port Phillip Bay or the Yarra River sufficed.

By the 1850s the Yarra had become quite polluted and an epidemic of typhoid fever hit the city causing many deaths. However, people continued to swim and drink the water.

One of the Melbourne City Councillors, Sizar Elliott, initiated moves to build public baths and urinals in the city. A triangular piece of land on the corner of Swanston and Franklin streets was chosen and the City Baths was opened on 9 January 1860. People flocked to the baths and it was reported that 79,096 men and 2,950 women enjoyed the facilities in the first year.

For financial reasons the council decided to lease the baths but lack of maintenance resulted in such deterioration of the building that it was closed down in 1899.

In 1901 the corporation of the City of Melbourne advertised a national competition for the design of new public baths on the same site as the previous baths. The winning entry was from a well-known architect J J Clark, who also designed Melbourne’s Treasury Building.

The Lord Mayor, Councillor Sir Malcolm D McEacharn, officially opened the new Melbourne City Baths on 23 March 1904 in the presence of the Premier, the right honourable Thomas Bent, and other guests.

The design reflected all the social conventions of the turn of the century. There was segregation of the sexes for all facilities, right down to separate street entrances. Class distinctions were also apparent with second class baths in the basement and first class baths on the main floor.

Facilities consisted of two swimming pools, 16 slipper baths and six spray baths each for the men and women.

There were also Turkish and vapour baths, a Jewish ceremonial bath (Mikvah bath) and a laundry.

Mixed bathing was introduced into the City Baths in 1947 and the popularity of the swimming pool began to increase.

The success of the Australian swimmers in the Melbourne Olympic Games in 1956 further contributed to the popularity of the swimming pools, after which attendance rocketed to over 300,000 per year. In fact the baths had been considered as a possible venue for the Olympic swimming events but were disregarded due to the state of the facilities.

Melbourne City Baths is now a leading health, fitness and wellness centre with innovative programs and modern equipment, as well as being a significant historical icon that is visited by thousands of national and international tourists.

The uniqueness of the building and the significance it holds for so many Victorians has also prompted theatre groups, television programs and fashion magazines to use the baths as the setting for their productions, films and photographic shoots.

Awesome Labour Day Weekend! Great Ocean Road

Last Friday Brendan and I took off for our four-day weekend drive along the Great Ocean Road-- west along the coast from Melbourne. The forecast called for heavy rain the entire time, but we decided to go anyway since the weather here is so changeable. As it turns out, we did have some sun in between overcast days and light rain. But back in Melbourne, they had a massive rainstorm with buckets of hail. Check out these gorgeous pics! We stopped and hiked along the way, rainforest and waterfalls. Spent two nights in Apollo Bay at Beacon Point Villas, set on 13 acres of Eucalptus trees in the mountains above the Great Ocean Road. From the deck (surrounded by amazing smelling trees), the view was of the ocean. We could hear the waves crashing. At night the sound was crickets and in the morning, the crazy Australian bird calls.

In the town of Lorne (which Brendan pronounces as "lawn") we had a yummy lunch of ginormous lentil burgers with to-die-for chips (french fries) and then we window-shopped. Ketchup here is called "tomahto sauce" and it comes in a container similar to the ones found in the US, but instead of peeling off the top (which I tried to do, to Brendan's amusement), you simply fold the container in half and a small hole in the top opens. Aim and squirt and you're good to go.
I found the signs to be very humorous. "Two-fa's" are two for ones and, like the UK, people in Australia also seem to be "afraid" (the sign on the register proves my point). So, for example, if you call to speak with someone and a receptionist answers, she may be "afraid that so-an-so is not available to take the call.

For me, one of the coolest parts of the trip was seeing cockatoos in the trees. I kept asking Brendan what kind of bird makes such a horrible screeching sound and he told me cockatoos. So after a fabulous yoga class on the deck overlooking the water, when I heard the horrific screeching, I looked up and saw this little fellow perched in the tree! So cool! Later, when we were in town, there were eight of them perched on the roof of one of the buildings.
Brendan was an awesome driver along the super windy roads and a really chill partner for the journey. Everything was relaxed and enjoyable, go with the flow. Fabulous! I couldn't help making fun of his New Zealand accent over the weekend. He said things like "we have to chick-in now" , "we have another fufteen munits", "i think we turn lift here" and "do you want to sit on the dick?"
Stay tuned for more pics!

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Plans for the holiday weekend--Labour Day

Next weekend is Labor Day weekend here, a public holiday. It's always the first Monday in March. I'm taking off this Friday as well and Brendan and I are driving the Great Ocean Road-- basically the coast of Australia heading west from Melbourne. We were going to go camping, but the place we were planning on staying had a sudden cricket infestation...

So now I've booked us in to a 4-star hotel in Torquay (the only option left at the last minute holiday weekend) Yippee!

In food news, I had an awesome veggie quiche for lunch today with a heaping side of roasted veg, 10 minutes from my house (in the Italian shopping strip) and only $8! Of course it was loaded with pumpkin. Fridge arrives tomorrow, so dining out will subside-- a little.

In Sydney, they're going nuts at the Opera House (pun intended!)http://au.tv.yahoo.com/sunrise/factsheets/article/-/article/6868806/nude-art-gets-grant-excited/

Morning After and Brunch w/Expats in Prahran

Here is a good article on interval training (shorter workouts at the gym for better results!)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35581793/ns/health-fitness/
Speaking of working out, I can hardly move my arms today after yesterday's yoga class. Upper back is on high alert at well, but a good kind of sore.

The Greek church across the street woke me up with bells at 9am. Just in time for me to jump in to the shower and whack some clothes on to catch the 9:20am tram to the American Expat brunch. People here say "whack" for everything. (Whack some fish on the grill, whack some knickers on, etc.)

Two tram rides and an hour later I was at the brunch. Big place called Amici in a neighborhood called Prahran . Nice space, hardwood floors, leather chairs, very open. Typical brunch food--pancakes, eggs, salmon, pastries. One thing that cracks me up is the "fruit bread". I've ordered it before out of curiosity. For about $8 you get raisin toast. That's it. This time I knew better and had some fab salmon with dill creme fraiche, always a good choice here. Anyway, about ten girls showed up, all very nice, all young professionals and only one with a kid. Will definitely connect with them again, though none live in my hood. Seven of them were here because they had hooked up with Australian guys and were engaged, married or living with the guys. The rest, including me, were here because of work and cultural curiosity.

The flies in my apartment are driving me mad!! I mention this because I've been waving my arms like a lunatic trying to keep them off of me the whole time I'm writing this post. Very distracting. Typically, I run around chasing them with a plastic cup fitted with ventilated top so that I can catpure and re-deposit them safely outside. Great mental picture, huh?! Not sure how long I'm going to have patience for that. The bizarre thing is that if I do nothing, they buzz around in a panic whacking in to walls (trying to find their way out, I assume) and eventually I find them dead on the floor.

My horoscope: A high impact love affair ignites dormant feelings. What starts out as light flirtation reveals hidden depths and you learn truths about your relationship needs. Throw yourself in to creativity and you will do extraordinary things in the arts. A charitable cause will also provide you with a warm inner glow. It all sounds very exciting!! Yea!

And, to end the day, a link to Australia's hottest Tradies. Tradies (short for tradespeople) are what blue collar guys are called here. http://www.theage.com.au/photogallery/lifestyle/people/whos-australias-hottest-tradie/20100225-p5it.html
Notice what the girls are wearing. Now you see why I'm confused about fashion here. 1980's?

Junk and Titanic Asanas

Woo hoo! Looks like Australians like girls with a little junk! And that is good news for me!
Australian model Jessica Gomes is capitalising on a trend towards healthy classic beauties as she follows in the footsteps of Elle Macpherson.The curvaceous 24-year-old stunner - who is half Singaporean and half Portuguese - has just had her third shoot for the famed Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.

And in other body-related news, I went to yoga for the first time since arriving in Melbourne. Really nice Iyengar style class about a 15 minute walk from my house. Frank, the teacher, had us do something he has named The Titanic Asana (pose). This is not a typical Iyengar pose. Basically, standing with straight legs, heels against the wall, grab the wall ropes behind you, one in each and, with straight arms, let your chest and body come forward, completely letting your arms hold your weight--as if you are leaning out over the bow of the Titanic. Talk about a shoulder opener. Wow! Also did a supported head stand with two partners: one person sat facing me with her feet woven over my arms so that her shins supported my shoulders and the other guy held my legs up. Talk about an intimate class! Anyway, great to be moving again and in touch with the ole bod.

Found a little Italian village (retail strip, really), where everyone spoke Italian, about 10 minutes from my apartment: caffes (italian spelling), enoteca, groceries, pastries, etc. Very cool. I will buy my veggies and bread from there. Oh, and a teeny-tiny salvation army shop--woo-hoo!

Brunch tomorrow with some Americans I met through meetup.com, the Melbourne expat group.

Another gorgeous day in Melbourne.