Carolina Fun and Key West Living

Key West, July 31

Ah, life in the Keys.....

I arrived here yesterday after a very fun two days, first in and around Greenville with Reinold's family.   Sunday night I took Reinold's mom, Suzy, his sister, Jennifer and her husband, Ray to Devereaux's, a great southern fusion restaurant in downtown Greenville.   Greenville is undergoing a renaissance, accompanied by a burgeoning food scene.   We had an awesome meal, I was particularly pleased by my mother in-law's appetite, starting with a foie gras appetizer (you can still eat that legally in South Carolina) - really fun night.   Monday Suzy and I had breakfast together, then I drove south to Pendleton, and had a great time visiting Reinold's dad, Dick.  We had a great conversation, and he shared some very good photos of young Reinold with me, that I include here for your viewing pleasure...(sorry RT, couldn't resist, you were a cute kid!).

 

Yes, that's my leg in the top, I was holding the photo album on my lap

 

Aw shucks....

After lunch with Dick, I drove back to the Charlotte area, and had  a very fun Monday night and great bbq at my good friends Todd and Kerry Stanelle's home in Waxhaw, NC, just south of Charlotte.   Todd and I met in the late 90's when we both worked at Qwest (now called Centurylink) - Todd was based in Columbus, Ohio, and I managed to work in three different cities for Qwest during my tenure there (Arlington, Houston and Denver) - we were great colleagues, became very good friends, and both of us ended up being laid off after Qwest acquired US West in one of the most ugly corporate mergers I've ever seen.    That fork in the road led Todd (and Kerry, along with their sons Ben and Zachary) to a new job in Charlotte, where they have lived ever since.   It was that same event that resulted in Reinold and I moving to Alameda, where we have happily resided for almost 11 years.

 

Monday night on the deck - Kelly, Melissa, Zachary, Kerry and Todd (Ben was at work making burritos and nachos)

 

 

Todd modeling his Oktoberfest hat

Tuesday I had an easy trip south, and arrived in Key West to spend the final week of this journey hanging out with Claire, the sister I never had.

Little history on Claire/Tom.   Both of us have a common friend, Dan Heminger, whose family was a client of Claire (Claire is a travel professional).    When Dan started his own travel and convention business, he hired Claire to manage the travel side of the enterprise, and thus was born Biscayne Conventions and Events, and the affiliated BCE Travel.   It was based in Ft. Lauderdale, and on a trip down to Florida on or about 1989 to see Dan, I met Claire.   We hit it off instantly, and what ensued was a tremendous friendship that prospers right up to this moment in time.   When BCE closed, Claire started her own travel business.   Several years later I found myself affiliated with eTrade, introduced Claire to them, and she for many years did most of their corporate travel.   This account also yielded an introduction to Tim Heard, who is now Claire's husband, and it is their Key West hideaway that I scribe this latest blog entry from.

 

Claire and Tim's Key West House

To say life here is laid back would be a gross understatement.   No one drives in Key West - you either walk or ride a bike.   This time of year it gets very warm and is humid, but around 4pm breezes kick up off the ocean, the occasional thunderstorm floats through, and it becomes delightfully tropical and soothing.   There are lots of feral chickens running around the whole town, and lots of cats, some domestic, some feral.   Walking down Ashe street last night on our way to dinner, Claire manifested her cat whispering abilities, and suddenly 5 or 6 cats came out, they know her from her frequent walks down the street, and came up to say hello - kind of like a scene out of Dr. Doolittle!   Claire and Tim have a big network of very kind, funny friends here, and several of them appeared at the restaurant last night as we were eating, and ratcheted up the fun.   We left there and went to a wine bar, and then I made Claire walk home (they do have cabs here, but we needed the walk...), we both were sound asleep by midnight.   

Tim unfortunately is not here - he's based out of St. Louis, and is working this week.   Claire is able to work remotely, and the living room here is also her Key West office, in fact as I type she is seated on the couch likely issuing another airplane ticket.

 

Claire, Siah (under table) and Katie (on the couch) hard at work in Key West

Today I slept late, had a phone screen with a headhunter (more on that shortly), we went for a walk, I went out and got us lunch (amazing Cuban sandwich for me today from Sandy's - likely will need to repeat that experience at least once more during my time here), I had a nap, then walked down to the local gym to workout.    As an example of the pace here, this nice little gym had no one at the front desk, so I just worked out, then found the manager, and paid my day fee - no hassle, total trust, no worries.   You wouldn't be able to do that in a gym in San Francisco, nor even the venerable Alameda Athletic Club.   Tonight we are headed out to a great Italian restaurant, Antonia's, tomorrow we are staying in and I think I am cooking - poor Claire!

On the work front, I talked to a headhunter today about a job in SF - it ended up not being at my level, but I made a great connection, got a referral to another job opportunity, and what I think was a genuine statement that I should have lots of opportunities to consider based on my background.  Very encouraging, I don't think it was headhunter BS either.    When I started this trip, I was having a hard time summoning enthusiasm around another corporate HR job.   As the days have passed, and I've had time to think about the past year at Blue Shield, I've gained some perspective only distance and time can provide.  It was really tough there at the end of last year, but as my wise career coach Pat pointed out to me earlier this year, I got through that, reinforcing the old adage about what doesn't kill us makes us stronger.   I'm grateful for the transitional support I received from Blue Shield, and while no job gig is ever perfect, there are lots of amazing things going on in the business world that I would love to contribute to.   Tomorrow I'm going to apply for a couple jobs on LinkedIn, and am going to follow up on the opportunity the headhunter told me about today.   I'm also going to be certified in two organizational diagnostic methods next month, and am actually excited about the learning experience involved in both.    It's nice to again feel good about my profession.

That's it for now, on a side note Mom your Walker's Crisps are still in good shape, I look forward to passing them off to you next week!   Stay tuned.

Have a Candy and Crape Myrtles

Raleigh, July 28



It's Sunday morning, I'm sitting in my hotel room overlooking the city of Raleigh, North Carolina.   After an uneventful flight to DC, that included a 2 hour stopover in Munich (and a pretzel and beer in the Lufthansa lounge), I arrived Thursday evening at Dulles airport, zipped through customs (you have to love Global Entry), and was picked up by my good friend Will Long.   I have known Will since 1989, when he decided to move to Washington, DC after being laid off from a banking job in North Carolina (for those that don't know, I lived in DC from 1988 until 1995, and then again in 1999).   Will's family has its roots in North Carolina, Will's dad Bill was a Presbyterian minister, and they lived in Mocksville, half way between Winston-Salem and Charlotte.   Will went to Davidson for college, and then UNC for graduate school - his whole life up until 1989 was NC centric, and then he was laid off.   He used that fork in the road to move north, and in the 20+ years since built a great life in Washington initially for himself, and later with his partner Ray, that included a spectacular turn of the century row house in Adams Morgan, complete with a killer roof deck.  Over the years, Reinold and I have had a lot of good times with Will and Ray, they are two of our dearest friends.




My good buddy Will at Union Station in DC on Friday

I share all of this for context, because Will and Ray are in the process of leaving DC and moving to San Francisco - the beautiful house is sold, a swanky SF apartment is rented, Ray is already living there, and soon Will will have a California driver's license.    As this was his last summer in DC, he and I decided to retrace our steps of 20 years ago and come down to Raleigh to attend a fund raising event called the Crape Myrtle Festival, that raises money for HIV/AIDS support organizations in and around Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill.   20 years ago there was still significant social stigma about this health crisis in North Carolina, and very limited funding and public interest for support organizations.  The event was held outside in a field near Chapel Hill, we had a great time then, so we decided to retrace our steps (Ray and Reinold declined to join us...).   It is a testament to the evolution of our society that this modest organization has in two decades become a highly sophisticated, well supported institution - the event last night was held in the lobby of the Raleigh civic auditorium, a long way from the field of 20 years ago.

We had lots of fun at the party, had dinner Friday night with some old friends, and Will and I got to have some good catch up time over the past couple days.  On a sad note, a very good family friend of the Longs, Hugh, passed away last Monday, and Will had to make a day trip over to Winston-Salem for Hugh's funeral yesterday.   While he was gone, I entertained myself by walking around Raleigh and finding a new suit case (mine busted, and was not going to survive another airplane flight), Will was back in Raleigh around 7:30pm last night, and we headed to the event which was just down the street from the hotel.



Tom, Will and Will's friend Brooks at the Crape Myrtle party Saturday night



Tom and Brooks in the photo booth....

To get here,  rather than drive we elected to take the train down, and had a very funny trip Friday on a somewhat tired, packed Amtrak train called the Carolinian.   Seated behind us was a woman and her 3 year old son, who very early on into the trip started screaming.  When Will got up to see what was going on, his mother took offense, and began telling the little twerp he could cry and scream all he wanted to, because she had bought him his own ticket.   Will had the good sense to grovel and apologize to the woman, however that child babbled on incessantly for five hours, frequently saying "Have a candy" and repeating everything his mother was saying in her phone conversations.  "Have a candy" became a running joke line for the weekend.   Mom had frequent cell phone conversations with various suitors, family members, etc. - I felt as if I knew her personally by the time we got off in Raleigh (candy boy and mom continued on to Greensboro).

The view from the train was fascinating, we went through beautiful farm country, tobacco fields, old towns in various states of decline - very different from California.   Later this morning I continue the journey south to Charlotte on the train, and then rent a car and drive over to Greenville, South Carolina, where I am having dinner tonight with my in-laws.



View from back of the train on Friday                             Tobacco fields

On a botanical side note, the crape myrtle, for which the event last night is named after, is a beautiful bush/tree that grows all over the Southeast, thrives in the warmth and humidity, and in late July/early August blooms in shades of red, white, and purple.   I wish we could grow them in our yard in Alameda, alas I don't think a crape myrtle would enjoy the foggy summer mornings of the Bay Area.   One of many dividends of being down here this time of year is seeing these wonderful plants in full bloom.



The Crape Myrtle....

I just came back from the lobby, and said goodbye to Will, his train is at 10:20, mine is at 11:45, and the journey continues....   It has been 31 days since I wrapped up at Blue Shield, feels more like six months!   More on that subject later, stay tuned.

  Old Railway HQ building in Raleigh

 

 

North Carolina State Capitol with Polk/Jackson/Johnson statue

 

America Bound,via Deutschland

Birmingham Airport, July 25

Sitting comfortably in the Servisair lounge at Birmingham airport, off to Munich in an hour and 45 minutes, then on to Washington, DC.    The last three weeks have gone by very quickly, what an amazing 21 days, especially the adjacency to little George VII's arrival.   Had a great evening on Tuesday in London with Rob, Juliet and Carmen, at a cabaret/burlesque venue called Volupte.   The evening starts upstairs at the bar, you are then escorted downstairs to the dining area/stage.   The MC then comes out, along with a very talented and unconventional piano player, who entertain between burlesque acts and cabaret songs.   Dinner was very good, afterwards we hit a couple pubs, that were adorned with blue balloons for GVII, I then parted ways with them a bit after midnight and headed back to the hotel.

Apparently they continued to have fun, too much fun as it turns out based on the email conversation I had with Carmen yesterday morning (something about a headache, couldn't remember what time they got back to their hotel, etc., etc......).   I did another walk around the perimeter of Hyde Park, packed up, and was on an 11:43 train out of Euston for Birmingham.  Had a quiet afternoon, then went into the center of town, and walked over to Phil's office on George Street.  Birmingham is an interesting city - prior to world war II there was a lot of money in this town, based on manufacturing and trade, apparently there were some amazing examples of Georgian brick architecture  in offices, factories, etc.  Sadly, the Germans made waste of Birmingham, and nearby Coventry, during the war, and many of the old buildings in the city center were destroyed.   As a result, parts of Birmingham are a curious mix of post war/socialist/1950's blocks, and more recently very modern architecture.    New Street train station is undergoing a transformative renovation that will yield a beautiful transportation hub.  Phil's office is in an area that was spared in the bombing, and still has a fair number of old buildings.  We walked from there to a very good Italian restaurant (he had been their property agent in locating the space), and we sat outside and had a great dinner and long talk/catch up.   Afterwards he dropped me back at New Street Station, and I was back in my fancy (not really...) Novotel airport hotel room and asleep at 10pm.

On a side note, yesterday afternoon I watched an episode of a very clever BBC show, A Taste of my Life, where the BBC chef Nigel Slater interviews famous people about their lives, but uses food they remember from their past to create a story line in the interview.   In this episode, he was talking to Alan Bennett, who is the author of the play the History Boys, and Bennett recollected the post war period in the UK when food supplies were still rationed, things his mother prepared (lamb pie using scraps, simple custard pie with nutmeg on the top, etc.) - Slater then cooks the dish, and the two continue the interview eating the food.   The food acts as to bring forward more memories, and the conversation progresses from there.   Really cool show, will have to get the DVD's when I'm home in two weeks.

In any event, as promised,  here's the UK top 10:

#10:  The assorted characters I talked to in their canal barges near Foxton
#9:    Watching the Jackson boys consume vast platters of grilled sausages and burgers
#8:    Juliet's fascination with my pronunciation of aluminum (in the UK, they mispronounce it as alewmineeum...)
#7:    Playing ping pong with Louise at Western Farm
#6:    Picking up Pip at cricket in Great Bowden, and having a very engaging conversation with him on the way home about many various topics, including sexism (not bad for a fellow who is only 12...)
#5:    Christening of the great dining hall at Western Farm on Saturday night
#4:    Sunday lunch at Fox's Den
#3:    Canal walks and sunsets from the deck in Foxton
#2:    Godson and Godfather banter
#1:    George VII arrival and the masses of crazy people, including me, assembled at St. Mary's Hospital

No pics today, will post some more UK photos from either DC or Raleigh in the next day or so.   Special kudos to Caroline and Phil, who over the years have provided wonderful hospitality to me and my family (Caroline, we need you to declare your US travel date...) during many memorable and enjoyable trips.   Off to Munich for two hours, then a hop across the pond where Will will be waiting for me at Dulles Airport.   Stay tuned.

Oh, and Sandra fear not, three bags of Walkers Crisps are on the chair next to me, with your name written all over them. :)

Out of the Country, Into the City, Royal Baby

London, July 23

It is the day after the royal birth, what a scene....

But more on that later.   My Midland's country retreat sadly ended yesterday.   Saturday was spent with the Jacksons, Greg, Louise, and the Jackson's neighbors formally blessing the new addition of the Jackson home in Peatling Magna.   When I say new, it is kind of new, in that it is a gradual construction project that will double the size of their home on Western Farm.   This has been Caroline's project for over two years, and it is getting close to finished, she believes it will be fully functional by December, in time for Christmas dinner.   Dinner was a combo of grilled tuna/sword fish, sausages and burgers, accompanied by some great vegetable dishes, and some awesome European wines Phil acquired earlier in the day from his wine merchant in Birmingham.   George Jackson has just wrapped up the English equivalent of high school, and is taking a gap year, during which he hopes to land a cooking job at a ski resort in France or Italy.   In preparation for that, he has taken an interest in cooking, and it seems as if he may have a natural culinary skill - he prepped the fish and helped grill, the marinade on both fish were outstanding.    We had lots of laughs and fun.  George then kindly offered to drive Louise, Greg and me back to Foxton, where the evening ended around midnight.



Louise, Tom, Caroline in the emerging kitchen....

Sunday I hosted lunch, which in the UK is essentially a big end of week meal, more like a dinner event but at 2pm.   In addition to the five Jacksons and Greg/Louise, Caroline's brother Rob, his girl friend Juliet and their friend Carmen from Romania joined us, last guests left around 8pm.   I then proceeded to clean up the cottage, do a load of laundry, and finally hit the hay around 10pm.




Juliet, Tom and Carmen at Foxton Locks





Sunday Lunch Crowd, from left to right:  Rob, Juliet, Louise, Greg, Phil, George, Caroline, Carmen




Cottage on the last day....

The weather here has been highly variable.   All last week it was hot and humid during the day, but cool and pleasant, almost chilly, at night.    Saturday and Sunday were cloudy and cool, I woke up yesterday to a very foggy scene that looked more like October than July.   By the time I got down to London, it was 93F or 34C, very humid, felt like I was in Washington DC!    Last night there were big thunder storms, today it is much cooler.

I packed up and rolled out of Foxton around 9:30, dropped off the borrowed pots and utensils at the Jacksons, and was on the train from Birmingham to London by about 11:45.   As I assume all of you know, the royal baby emerged yesterday at 4:24pm approximately, although that wasn't confirmed until later in the evening, however I am pleased to boast that I was standing at St. Mary's hospital at 4:24pm yesterday with the masses and press, enjoying what could only be described as setting for a Fellini style movie.   There was one fellow who had been camped out there for a week, determined to be adjacent to the hospital when the child arrived.   Another woman had baked a cake, and held noble aspirations of delivering it to the royal couple as a gift (the cake by 5pm in the heat looked kind of pathetic, but her spirit was infectious).   Most of you know that I tend to disdain these kind of things, however I really enjoyed hanging out there yesterday, watching the journalists from all over the world try and occupy their time waiting, talking to an Italian reporter about why an American would be interested in this (he was from Milan, if you get that paper, I may be quoted...), and helping two young Australian guys on holiday position themselves strategically in front of the ABC (that's Australian Broadcasting Company) crew and cameras in hopes their parents would see them on the evening news.

They say it may be a week before we know the young fellow's name, I was hoping for Thomas, but I think that wish may be in the same category as that wonderful woman's cake!

Bench where the fellow who had camped out for a week (also pictured, he's wearing the Union Jack themed outfit) slept....

NBC news cameras, and board where they had a football type pool betting on birth date, time and names...and the masses gathered to await the blessed event outside of St. Mary's hospital

I'm staying near Marble Arch, off of Oxford street, with some great shopping opportunities (Reinold please note that I have applied restraint, sort of....you'll see when I get home), and just down the street a really good Indian restaurant that is based on the food cart scene in Delhi and Mumbai, had an amazing meal last night, then walked around in steamy London before calling it a night.    The Doubletree Marble Arch, where I am staying, is recently renovated, with amazing central A/C, it would otherwise be fairly miserable sleeping here.

Today I had a lazy morning, went down for breakfast, exchanged something I bought at Marks and Spencer, and will likely head over to Hyde Park this afternoon.   Tonight, Rob, Juliet and Carmen are coming into London, and have invited me to join them at a cabaret/burlesque dinner venue called Volupte, should be lots of fun.   Tomorrow its back up to Birmingham and dinner with Phil, then Thursday I head out to Washington, DC to meet up with Will.

On a closing note, some have asked me if I have disengaged from the various emotions associated with my wrap up at Blue Shield, and if I am fretting/worried about what's next, etc.   As far as disengaging, it got started in Australia, however I think that moment completely arrived on a canal walk Friday morning, and I have been blissfully enjoying it ever since.   As far as what comes next, I am curiously not concerned, and am kind of excited about the possibilities, while enjoying an extended break.   I find inspiration in my Dad, who in the mid 1970's had the courage to get out of a job he didn't like, and find a situation that he enjoyed professionally, and gave him the time he wanted with his family.  He landed well, I intend to mimic his navigation!

That's it for now, next entry the UK Top 10, stay tuned....

UK Country Living

Foxton, July 20

It's been a great few days since making the big hop from Adelaide to the UK.   After six hours in Singapore, I flew from there nonstop to Zurich.  I know some reading this are airline enthusiasts, so I thought I'd hum a few bars about the flight experience.

While I'm sure there are days this doesn't happen, Singapore Airlines and Swiss Air were fantastic.  Every flight was on time, the food in business was really good (Asian fish dish with noodles going up to Singapore, beef filet from Singapore to Zurich), and they feed you continually if you are so inclined.  Wines were also terrific, I had an amazing Swiss Riesling on the flight to Zurich, great Bordeauxs, etc..   My bag had to change flights twice, it arrived in Birmingham punctually, I was off the plane and getting into my rental car in less than 30 minutes Tuesday morning.   From Zurich to Birmingham, I was the only passenger in business, I assumed on an hour flight I'd get a cup of copy (just like any hour flight in first in the United States), but no, another copious platter was placed in front of me, containing a wonderful omelet, fresh fruit, croissant, roll, really good apricot jam, excellent coffee, fresh squeezed orange juice, etc.   Since I had just had a similar breakfast experience flying into Zurich, I wasn't able to eat much of it, but it is really fun to experience this level of service, and sadly points out how miserable things have become with flying in the US.

In any event, after arriving, I found myself in the Midlands an hour before I was suppose to get the key to the cottage, so I did a bit of grocery shopping at Waitrose in Lutterworth, and then met Laura, the proprietress of Foxton Locks Lodges, at the cottage I'm currently staying in, Fox's Den.   It is a very comfortable, almost luxurious log cabin, with two bedrooms, two full baths, and fully appointed kitchen (will full size American style fridge), nice living room, private outdoor hot tub and a great deck off the back that overlooks the countryside, with a gas bbq.   I am about a quarter mile walk from the canal, near the Foxton Locks, which is a still functioning lock junction on the old canal system.

England at one time had a massive system of inland waterways, the canal that runs through Foxton, down to Market Harborough, is a remnant of that.   Today, there is no commerce on these canals, instead people own long, narrow barges that are appointed with kitchens, sitting areas, bedrooms, etc. and cruise up and down the canals.   Some of the barges are quite elaborate, some not so much, and their occupants range from very kind interesting people (yes, I've become a tow path lurker, and have struck up all sorts of conversations), to some scary people (one guy had a black plastic skull sitting on the bow of his barge, another couple who look like they had bathed in the canal invited me to smoke something with them, I declined....).   Barge occupants aside, the canals are beautiful, and I have spent many hours out walking along the tow path.

Tuesday night when I got in my very good friends the Jacksons, who live about 8 miles from here, had me over for dinner, which with three young teenagers amounted to meat fest, complete with salad and potatoes, and some good wine.    For those that don't know the story, Philip Jackson and I have been friends for over 30 years.  My high school in Marin, Redwood, and his Upper School in Blandford Forum, Dorset had a student exchange program.  Both Phil and I applied to go, and we were both rejected, but smart enough to stay connected to the program, and he ended up visiting a Redwood student, Jill Husen, the summer after she came back from her year in the UK.  I knew Jill, she introduced me to Phil, and the rest was history.   On ensuing trips back, Phil stayed with us, and was spoiled rotten by my Mom who packed him lunches every day when he went out sightseeing, and did his laundry -he essentially endeared himself to the Giles family.   I was treated equally as well by Phil's parent, John and June, on several trips to the UK.    Life has presented many changes and adventures since, but we have remained friends to this day.   Phil is married to Caroline, they moved up to Leicestershire approximately 15 years ago so that Caroline could take over managing her family business, Palmers Garden Centre, three fantastic sons have emerged, George, Jack and Pip, and I have the honor of being Jack's godfather.   On Wednesday night, the Jackson boys came over for dinner at the cottage, and broke in the hot tub.

George is showing off in the back, Jack is sitting to the side trying not to get his hair wet, Pip is enjoying the bubbles.

Sunset that night as viewed from the deck Wednesday night was amazing:

The UK is currently experiencing one of the hottest summers in recent times, however hot here is about 88 degrees Fahrenheit, or 30 degrees Celsius - I'm sure my Aussie fans are laughing at this, however humidity is involved, and the afternoons are kind of tough.   Nights however are cool, unlike the US east (Andrew I noted your weather posting on FB the other night with the 10pm reading in Central Park), and good for sleeping, you don't really need a/c.  Thursday, I went up to Leicester to have dinner with Roger and Rosy Dickinson, the brother and sister in-law of my good friend Simon.    They have a wonderful row house in an older Leicester neighborhood, we enjoyed some nice Italian wine and Rosy cooked a fantastic salmon and shrimp dinner.  We had too much fun, however, and I missed the last train to Market Harborough, so I had to take a cab from Leicester to MH, and had a very funny, enjoyable conversation with the driver, Hesh, who was from Mumbai, and had been a VP of HR there for a tech outsourcing company.    Not sure if that was a sign about my future, but he seemed very grateful to be in the UK, and the fact that he was driving a cab was not of great significance to him, relative to what being here would eventually offer his children.    Kind of puts a lot of things in perspective when you think about what he and his wife were willing to do/sacrifice.

Friday the Jackson took me to a country living association or CLA annual fair event at Rangle Hall - lots of fun, but very warm.   Caroline told me to dress distinctively, so I wore an Indonesian batik shirt I bought in Singapore for the occasion....I stood out like a sore thumb, but still had a great time.

Last night we did another bbq at the Jacksons, Caroline's brother Rob, his girl friend Juliette, and her friend from Romania, Karman, joined us, lots of fun.   Today my friends Louise and Greg from London join us for the weekend, and the British summer country living continues.   Had another great walk this morning, I will miss the access to this when I head down to London Monday, it has been great for clearing my head and thinking about what's coming next in life.  

That's it for now, stay tuned for more.

1 down, 2 to go....

Singapore, July 15

Short entry today, I'm currently sitting in the Gold Kris Lounge at the Singapore airport, after a very pleasant and uneventful first flight today from Adelaide to Singapore.    Last night Tom, James, Kitty and I played a very good game of Monopoly.   Last time we did this, in January, Tom creamed us with vast utility, transportation  and real estate holdings, forcing Reinold, me and his cherished girl friend Kitty into shaming bankruptcy and ruin - and he gloated about it.    I'm please to report that the rematch of last night saw James killing all of us with his significant hotel holdings on the dark green and blue streets (don't remember the names, they were unique to Australia).   I told Tom karma was hell.  We agreed another match would be played in January 2014...

This morning went out for a nice predawn walk with Fiona and Duke, then finished packing and Fiona took me to the airport - she was meeting coworkers flying in from Sydney and Melbourne, so we had a quick coffee before she was off, and I headed onto the 7 hour flight up here.

It is 88 degrees, or 31 degrees depending which system you are on, and very humid and rainy.  Reinold encouraged me to go into to town for dinner (I have a six hour layover), and I did actually fill out the immigration form for Singapore, but it looked really miserable outside, and I am looking at almost another 20 hours in these clothes, so I'm parked for now in the airline club.

Today's flight took us pretty much north across the center of Australia - the pilot actually made an announcement that ATC gave him a routing deviation, and he was going to fly past Ayers Rock/Uluru for everyone to see, it was beautifully clear:

From 38,000 feet it looks pretty small, but I had the fortune of seeing it on my first trip to Australia in the early 1990's, it was astounding.   It is also the spiritual center of the Aboriginal society, and is nowadays known more by the name of Uluru, versus Ayers Rock.    Of course I was sitting on the wrong side of the plane, but a very nice Australian couple on their way to Italy for vacation let me stand in front of them to snap this - thank you Audrey and Howard (who both simply replied "pleasure").

I arrive Zurich at 6:10 tomorrow morning, then finally get to Birmingham around 8:15 BST, apparently the UK is having spectacular summer weather, I'm looking forward to getting back into shorts and sandals!   Next entry from the Midlands, stay tuned.

Aussie Pics

Adelaide, Sunday, July 14

Last day down under, amazing trip, lots of good walks/hikes, meals and excellent Australian wines.  Had a blowout dinner last night with Fiona, Andrew and Annette at a restaurant called Auge, today we took my buddy Duke back to the beach for a great walk, followed by breakfast at a café called Doof Doof (that's food spelled backwards twice...not sure how they got that one, maybe they used the same brand consultant as the Fish Tail winery near Perth, but the breakfast was outstanding) with Peter, Anita, Andrew, Annette and Fiona (Duke stayed home and had a nap).   Later today Sharon and her son James will join Fiona, Tom (Fiona's son), Kitty (Tom's girl friend) and me for a lamb roast Sunday dinner followed by a revenge game of monopoly with Tom (he creamed us in true slum lord fashion last December, now it's my turn for revenge...).

I'd be sad and bittersweet today, however Fiona and Sharon will be up visiting us in about a month, and Reinold and I have already booked mileage tickets to come back down for New Years Eve, so it will only be see ya later at the airport tomorrow.

As promised, pictures are attached of various things below, top 10 from the past ten days:

#10:  Mandoon Winery near Perth, for their copious signs scattered about the Swan Valley proclaiming opening hours, only to find them closed and quiet....lots of laughs with Annette on this one.

#9:  Belinda the Qantas flight attendant, and her facial expression critique when asked if the chicken salad was hot or cold....we had the sausages instead as a result of her grimace.   Thank you Belinda.

#8:  Fiona's discovery on Wednesday that Sharon had placed our share of the January Barossa rental payment (handed to Sharon and Michael in Washington, DC in May by Reinold, for safe transport to Fiona) in Fiona's suit case, where it had sat since Fiona got her suit case back from Sharon upon her return to Adelaide in May...

#7:  Pickled octopus, a new found delicacy in Tom Giles' book - seriously.

#6:  The Mt. Lofty ascent with the Australian bionic woman.

#5:   Amazing massage from Anita on Monday, along with exercise tips, massage ball, and feline astrology guides.

#4:   Tom Booker's bedroom, which he graciously gave up for 10 days so that Reinold and I could have a cozy, comfortable place to crash each night.

#3:   Monday afternoon in the Adelaide Hills, great lunch, three great wineries, awesome time with Annette and Andrew

#2:   Multiple blow out dinners/snacks at Cantina Social, Panacea, Auge, Doof Doof, P'tite Ardoise Bistro in Perth, and the fantastic July 4th on July 5th party, with many wonderful, generous, kind and fun people

#1:   46 St. Lawrence Avenue and it's owner, Fiona, for providing Reinold and me with a home away from home 8000 miles away - thank God for Vietnamese junks is all I'm going to say!

10:40 flight tomorrow morning to Singapore, then on to Zurich and Birmingham, and summer returns. Stay tuned for more...

 

100% Purebred Dingo - I named him Doug after my brother...

 

First Saturday hike in search of Koalas and Roos

 

Success - one of 24 Koalas seen on Saturday, I named him Greg after my other brother

 

 

Adelaide beach walk Sunday, July 14

 

Tom  in Perth

 

Sunset, Adelaide Hills, Monday July 8

 

 

Start of Mt. Lofty Hike, looking down at waterfall, pool and parking lot

 

War Memorial in Perth

 

Roos on the hike

 

Waterfall, start of Mt Lofty Hike

 

 

4th of July, July 5th...Australian Style

 

Fiona & Annette & their interpretation of American hamburgers, 5th of July party

Peaceful Saturday in Adelaide

July 13 - Adelaide

It's a warm, cloudy quiet Saturday afternoon in Adelaide, following a night of heavy rain.   Many homes in Australia, including Fiona's, have tin or metal roofs, a practice originally started because of the need to collect and store rain water, which continues to this day (drought is a frequent occurrence down under) - in terms of last night, there was a comforting sound of heavy downpours hitting the roof, kind of a glorious form of white noise that puts you to sleep, that a tile/composite/wood shingle roof lacks back home.

Trip back from Perth was uneventful - Annette and I had breakfast in Freemantle, and then headed to the airport - true to form, the Qantas lounge was filled with miners headed to the mines, or on their way home on a break, not the typical airline lounge experience!   I then had to help Annette carry her  wheelie bag onto the plane via a hike across the ramp and up some stairs - unlike the US, you can still carry unlimited quantities of wine on to domestic flights in Australia, my buddy Annette had taken a liking to a Tempranillo she tasted the day before, and had six of them stuffed in her bag - getting that one into and out of the overhead bin (or locker as they call them here) was tricky...but her bounty made it back in one piece.   My right shoulder is sore, but it will heal.....

Yesterday, Sharon Hogben, Fiona's next door neighbor of 20+ years, and I hiked up Mt. Lofty.   Adelaide sits on a coastal plain, at the back of which rises steep hills/low mountains, Mt. Lofty being the tallest.  It was a very steep climb of 3.2 miles, which clearly exposed a gap between my level of fitness and Sharon's bionic woman tendencies - we made the hike in about an hour, you can see from the photo below my elation at reaching the summit.....

Behind me in the picture, if the weather had been better, you would see the city, and behind that the ocean.   On our descent, we walked by an animal reserve and saw 6 authentic dingoes, one of whom came up to fence and stared us down.   Dingoes are a threatened species in Australia, in that they are regarded as threats to livestock, and like coyotes and wolves have been hunted, they also have bred with other domesticated types of dogs in Australia, diluting the breed to the point that a real, pure dingo is a rarity these days.   The ones we saw were fantastic, beautiful orange color, and were silent - dingoes don't bark much, but apparently howl occasionally.

Last night we had a great dinner at Panacea in Adelaide, today we have been chilling out, did laundry, went to the grocery store and obtained a beautiful leg of lamb for Sunday lunch tomorrow, I then completed my pre-work for my MBTI certification course next month, I'm sure if Lisa Nunes is reading this blog, she'll be pleased to know that I remain a highly dominant ESTJ....    My new best friend Duke is having a snooze on his bed to my left, Fiona is watching her nephew Rory play Australia's version of football at a match in Melbourne, later this afternoon some friends are coming over for a glass of wine, and then we are off to dinner at Auge with Andrew and Annette.    Tomorrow, Sharon and I are going to again climb Mt. Lofty, beats running on a treadmill.

I can't believe how fast the first week or so has gone by, Monday will soon be here and I'll be headed towards Singapore and the UK.   I'll post some more pictures tomorrow now that I have this figured out, stay tuned.

Tom, Top of Mt. Lofty

 



 

Tom  and Duke at the Beach 

 

Swan City

Perth, Western Australia, July 10

Wednesday evening on the edge of the Indian Ocean.   Flew here yesterday with Annette, a friend from Adelaide, who offered to come along on my western diversion.   We landed as the rain began, and found our way downtown to our hotel.  After checking in, we wandered around downtown, did a bit of shopping, but then turned our attention to finding a place for dinner.

We discovered a bit of Normandy, France in Perth....   P'tite Andoise Bistro rocked, we were able to walk there from our hotel, had a great bottle of Cotes de Bourg 2007, and some great food, followed by very decadent desserts.   Place was packed, clearly the locals are into French food.   We walked back to the hotel, and both hit the hay.

Perth is literally due south of major Asian cities such as Singapore, Bangkok, etc., and as a result the city is full of Asian expats and tourists, our hotel is the overnight spot for Malaysian and Singapore Airlines' crews.   It is also 9 hours behind (but one day ahead...) of San Francisco, which I have been trying very hard to not pay attention to in an attempt to shed my final bits of jet lag.   The city has benefited from Australia's mining boom to the north - lots of new construction, tall buildings, etc. - but it is still sleepy compared to Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide.    The mining boom is waning as Asia slows down and growth opportunities decline, what impact that will have on Perth remains to be seen.   It is a beautiful place, situated on a bay with wonderful parks and walking trails.   It is also warmer here than Adelaide, got up to 20 celsius this afternoon.

This morning on a walk Annette spotted a great breakfast place, called Tom's Kitchen, and we had a good breakfast, followed by a walk around the parks, then we drove north to the Swan River area where we sampled a few wines (some good, some not so good, not as notable as the Barossa, Clare, or Adelaide Hills wineries), ate a fantastic lunch at a microbrewery, and ended our day having a great conversation with the proprietress of the Fish Tail winery (not sure who gave her marketing and brand guidance..) who was in her final week of operation, having sold the estate to a larger neighbor, and was quite happy to tell us about her retirement plans (which included moving into a caravan/trailer with her husband on her daughter's property) - sadly her remaining inventory was pretty poor.....but her enthusiasm for the next stage in life resonated with me right now, particularly her apparent confidence in the future sorting itself out.

Overall a great day, we are in search of a good seafood place for dinner, tomorrow we intend to go out to Freemantle so I can stick my foot in the Indian Ocean, and then we fly back to Adelaide around 12:30.   Fiona is making us coq au vin for dinner tomorrow night, the French theme continues....

My next entry will be from my lap top, versus iPad, so hopefully I can figure out how to post some pictures.   I'm very grateful that my buddy Annette was along for the ride, I would likely have not seen or done as many things here without her willingness to drive us about.   It's 5:28pm, meaning it is 2:28am in SF, at least we're all briefly all on the same day!   Stay tuned, more to come.

Koalas and Roos

Adelaide, July 6

Rainy Saturday in Adelaide - Reinold and I arrived here uneventfully after transiting Sydney and Melbourne.   Our friends Sharon and Fiona met us at the Adelaide airport, and promptly took us to a pub for a glass of wine by a great fireplace, very cozy on a cool Friday afternoon..   Note that pubs here are not like pubs in the UK - they are more like restaurant lounges in the US.    When asked about dinner plans, they were both very cryptic - turned out they took pity on us missing July 4th, and along with our other friends here planned a 4th of July dinner party that evening, that included hamburgers, hot dogs, pizza, ribs and mac/cheese.   We arrived at Fiona's to a scene of American flags hanging over the doorways, and a general red/white/blue motif on the table.   Food was very authentic, lots of good Australian wine, and tolerance for me playing the Star Spangled Banner on my ipad (sadly, the tolerance was short lived - no one wanted to hear Yankee Doodle Dandy...).   Lots of fun, I faded at 10pm, Reinold followed at 11pm, and we slept soundly until 8:30 this morning.

On a side note, one of my 51 year old assumptions was put to rest last night, when I was told Waltzing Matilda is not the official national anthem of Australia - it is Advance Australia Fair.   Who knew.....

It is mid winter here in South Australia, weather is very similar to what we experience during Winter in Northern California - high's around 56F, rainy, very green.    After a nice breakfast, we headed out with Sharon (who lives next door to Fiona) for a hike in the Adelaide Hills, hoping to see one or two koalas in the trees.....

We actually saw 24 koalas sleeping, eating, pooping and in some cases staring at us through a eucalyptus oil induced haze, complimented by kangaroos hopping around as well - outstanding experience.    All of the koalas were sitting in, or hanging from, gum trees (aka eucalyptus).  As soon as I figure out how to post pics to this blog, I will share a couple from our hike.

We are having a quiet afternoon, listening to the gentle sound of rain on the tin roof of Fiona's place, dinner tonight is Italian with Fiona, Sharon, and Sharon's husband Michael.    In case you are wondering how we came to have this amazing Adelaide connection - we met Fiona, and her son Tom, in Vietnam during a trip in 2007/8 - we stayed up late on a junk in Halong Bay playing scrabble with them.   The following year Fiona and Tom came to stay with us in SF, and then Fiona joined us in France last year for my 50th birthday bash.   At the end of last year, Fiona hosted Reinold and me for Christmas and New Years, and during that trip we gained an amazing group of friends in this very beautiful city.   Fiona and Sharon are headed our way at the end of August, hopefully many of you will get to meet them then, if you haven't already.

Reinold heads back early tomorrow for SF, probably time for a cozy nap on this fine winter day in July.   Fiona's yellow lab, Duke, is sleeping on his mat behind me, he was treated to authentic American milk bone dog biscuits yesterday, probably too many, but how often does an Aussie dog get to sample American canine delicacies?  Occasional indulgence makes life interesting!  Stay tuned for more.

ATW Eve

July 2, 2013 in Alameda.

It is the eve of the start of my 35 day adventure around this big planet, here's the itinerary:

• July 3 - Depart San Francisco
• July 4 - Lost day of 2013;
• July 5 - 15 - Adelaide and Perth, Australia;
• July 15 - In transit, Singapore, Zurich
• July 16 - 25 - Leicestershire and London, UK
• July 26 - 28 - Raleigh, North Carolina
• July 29 - Greenville, South Carolina
• July 30 - August 6 - Key West, Florida
• August 6 - Return to San Francisco

As most of you know, last week I wrapped up a 5+ year career experience with Blue Shield of California. Because of their kind support for my transition, and the fact that the job market slows down in July and August, I decided I would pursue a check mark against one of my bucket list items, that being to circle the earth at least once in my life. In the process I will get to spend extended time with dear friends in two of my favorite places on earth, Australia and the UK, retrace a fun party event with my good pal Will, connect with my in laws (Suzy and Dick) in South Carolina, and finish it off hanging with another friend Claire, aka the sister I never had, in Key West.

Over the next 35 days, I will get to experience winter in July down under, sub tropical summer heat in Singapore and Key West, while transiting places like Zurich, London, Washington DC, Charlotte and Miami. Packing for this will be interesting! I will be using this blog to share experiences and photos of my trip with you all.

My beloved spouse Reinold is going along for the first part, we fly out tomorrow night at 10:45 nonstop to Sydney. Only bittersweet sacrifice in all of this is that we will not have a July 4 to live through in 2013, given our westbound crossing of the international dateline.

So, family and friends, stay tuned.... Tom