Xcaped from reality

2007 !

2007-01-07T17:13:00.000+11:00

Its now 2007 and I'm pondering whether I should restart this blog.

The above picture was taken at the midnight fireworks from Mr Pratts penthouse right at Circular Quay. For the first time in many years, I spent NYE without my regular mob of friends. Instead I was up at the penthouse with Simon, Janine, Rachel and Sam and we ended up spending the night/following day in the city. It was pretty tame with just me and Simon drinking - but it was different and maybe it shows that I have accepted changes in my own life and maybe 2007 will be the year that I do make some lifestyle changes!

Soccer Fever

2006-06-24T10:00:00.000+10:00

It is official - Australia has (finally) been gripped by soccer mania. And we have the wonderfully performing Socceroos to thank for that! For the first time in history, Australia has made it to the second round of the World Cup after a nervous showdown with the rough Croations! The entire country was on edge early Friday morning as the game swung both ways before ending up in a draw which was enough to see the Socceroos advance. The money and promotion of Australian soccer will do wonders for the game here in this country as I can imagine many more kids will want to play soccer and grow up to be the next Harry Kewell.

The soccer has also wrecked havoc on my sleeping patterns so its gonna be a long few weeks. There are just some games that you look forward to watching, even when they start at 2am which will be the case when Australia plays Italy early next week. I imagine there will be a few zombies walking around the following day at work.

Last night, we took a few of the Warwick Farm afternoon shift crews out to dinner and at $680 per table + alcohol, it was quite an expensive night for the company. But then again, its a small price to pay to keep encouraging them to perform better and break more production records. A happy worker is a productive worker.

Long weekend

2006-06-12T12:37:00.000+10:00

Listening to 'Staind - Right Here'

It feels good to have a 3 day weekend every now and then. It just gives me the chance to do whatever I need to do and still have an extra day to just relax before getting back to work on the Tuesday. And I guess the added bonus is only having a 4 day work week!

The weekend started off in a relaxing fashion, we were at Kim and Rin's again until the wee hours of the morning. There is seriously not much else I really want to do during the winter besides hanging out somewhere warm. Saturday night was Simon's birthday at his place and he invited myself and a few others from work. I guess its hard for him being from Adelaide to have many friends outside of work up here. I mean he has Samantha's group but they are her friends and not his. In typical Simon style, he invited us over for a BBQ and the gas runs out half way! It was a good feed and I was drinking the bottle of Chivas with Simon which I had brought over. After a few big glasses I started to feel my stomach burn and decided to back off, I think it was the stomach lining being eaten through by the alcohol! Eventually Simon, polished off the rest of that bottle which is no mean feat considering he was still standing and co-ordinated enough to play the drums.

Halfway through the night, 'the' girl from work rocked up after she called to see if I was there. It kinda got the tongues wagging as people didnt know we actually talked away from work. Anyway we just had polite conversation as it probably wasnt the time or place for me to try any moves. She was happy to hear that I would be spending the following 2 weeks at Warwick Farm which will hopefully give us a chance to talk a little more and for me to work up the courage to ask her out after work.

I am actually reading up on getting an ABN and setting up a small business as a means to maximise my taxable deductions and potentially make some extra money on the side.

Another Week Goes By

2006-05-27T13:36:00.000+10:00

Yup, another week has flown past. It really is just amazing how time can just go by when you are constantly busy. The danger is that you let too much time go past without making the changes that you really crave as you are constantly busy and then realise one day that it is too late. I really do need to take a few steps back from what I am currently doing after budget time in July, and access whether I am doing the right thing with my career.

The reason for this line of thought came about last night as we met up for To's little graduation dinner. Congratulations on the guy for getting through uni and he has now gotten a start in his desired career. I really have to consider if I want to go back to uni and complete my one last remaining subject (which I have already failed 4 times) and finish up my course. However, I still wont be able to graduate as part of the requirements is the work experience training which I must do for 6 months in a development role. That would basically mean I would need to leave my current job but there is no guarantee that I will find somebody willing to hire me to do work in my engineering field. Unless somebody already knows me, I doubt I will find an engineering job with my lack of experience in that field and my not so flash university grades. A decision definately needs to be made sooner rather later about this.

Anyway, dinner last night was at Figos which is down the business end of Parramatta. I have got to say that it was best rack of ribs I have eaten for a while. The marinate was pretty good and so were the hand cut fries. Now if only ribs werent so messy to eat!

Zoom Zoom

2006-05-21T12:02:00.000+10:00

Listening to 'Red Hot Chili Peppers - Snow'

The highlight of my weekend so far has been go-karting last night down at Minto. I went with the usual suspects and it was a good night. By the time everybody came around to Kimmo's place, it was already like 7pm. We drove out to Minto which aint as far as I once remembered it to be. Fastlane GoKarting is what the place is called and when we got there it was still pretty quiet so we all signed up for licenses and paid for one 7 minute race. We pretty much got a go right away and I was out on the track with the 1st of our groups, the only problem was that my kart had engine problems, wouldnt start and then when it finally did, I made it halfway through the lap before I had to abandon it and walk back to pit lane to get into the replacement kart. By that time, I was out of the race as I was just doing my sighter lap whilst everybody else had probably gotten 5 laps under their belt. But it was hella fun and a real test of endurance and you really do start getting an appreciation of what it takes to race a motor car professionally.

By this time, many more people had arrived so we had to wait another 40 minutes for our next go. Luckily this time I had a kart that worked well enough, I clocked the 4th quickest time in the group and thats with having a nasty accident after two people in front of me had spun around and left me nowhere to go. It that bruising second race where we were all pushing real hard, we got out of the karts with very sore bodies. Imagine racing for 100 laps at much faster speeds! Now you know why F1 drivers get paid ridiculous sums of money.

After karting, we went back to Kimmo's place and chilled there for the rest of the night. We ended up playing some multiplayer warcraft 2 which was a classic game of yester-years. Today I've got an engagement bbq to attend this arvo, should be a pretty tame affair.

Simple Things

2006-05-07T17:48:00.000+10:00

Had a very enjoyable night last night and the funny thing was, I was back home by 11pm. All we did was eat dinner at a local joint then watched a movie at the local cinema. Very simple and basic but yet it was a good night.

There was about 15 of us who met up to go eat dinner at Savannah's and we just had some wood fired pizza with a few salads. The pizza wasn't anything spectacular but I love homemade pizza dough. There was quite a young crowd at the restaurent and the place was really buzzing even at the early hour. After dinner, the whole lot of us migrated to Hoyts to watch Mission Impossible 3, which is the first movie I have watched at the cinema for quite a long time. After the thrills of the first two instalments, number 3 was quite pedestrian and disappointing. The plot was all over the shop (like a typical action flick), the characters never really made an impression and the action sequences were not anything new. I guess Tom Cruise's ridiculous off screen antics during the past 18 months has meant I am getting prejudiced against any flick that has him starring in it! If I was forced to give MI3 a rating, I'd give it 3 out of 5.

I didn't get a chance to make an entry during the week as it was so busy at work as I was covering for Tom so I'm basically learning something new whilst still keeping Warwick Farm going. And to top it all off, it was one of those weeks where the politics were threatening to blow up big time.

In Front Of My Face

2006-04-29T17:14:00.000+10:00

Listening to 'Nick Lachey - What's Left Of Me'

It has become clear to me in the past two weeks that I have working with one of most attractive girls I know for the past two years and not even made an effort to get to know her better. She used to date one of our other work colleagues a while back and I guess thats always meant she was off limits to me. Anyway we've gradually starting talking more and more this year and things are comfortable between us. Yet I've always got that lingering hesitation because of her ex as I have to work with him constantly on a day to day basis. For some unknown reason, she called my phone late one night last weekend when she out with her girl friends somewhere and left a 15 minute voicemail message. Anyway we had a joke about it at work during the week and yesterday as the week was winding down, I was at her desk talking with her for about 20 minutes. I guess for me, I'll take it as it comes and see where it goes. The worst that could happen is that I'll have another friend at work which definately doesnt hurt.

NCIS

2006-04-23T16:11:00.000+10:00

Naval Criminal Investigative Service. For the past few weeks I've been watching episode after episode of this show and now I am up to date to the current season currently screening weekly over in America. The show is about a team of investigators who look at any suspicious crimes involving navy personnel or property. Not only are the stories intriguing and original, the character interaction is probably the show's biggest selling point. The dialogue is extremely quick witted and humourous considering the serious subject matter of each episode. The banter between the characters and also their reactions are extremely hilarious and you have to give credit to the actors and writers for the scripts.

The above image shows the main cast as it is during the third (current) season. Missing from that picture is actress Sasha Alexander who played Special Agent Caitlyn Todd who was killed in the second season finale. Throughout the first two seasons, I think everybody who watched the show fell in love with 'Kate' and was quite sad when she died. The relationship that Kate had with Tony DiNozzo was an integral part of the show's initial popularity. They were like a constant bickering married couple, very humourous but you could feel the special bond that existed between the two.

The third season now sees Mossad agent Ziva David replace Kate on the team, who likes to bait Tony unlike Kate who was always being baited by Tony. So the dynamics of the team has now changed as Ziva is a professional spook which makes her a dangerous proposition in itself. Tony can now just concentrate on solving cases and using his excellent intuition instead of worrying about his team members as Agent Tim McGee is now also more experienced and can take better care of himself in the field. The constant across the 3 seasons, is the Special Agent Jethro Gibbs, boss of the NCIS team, a hard nosed former marine and spy who relies on his gut instead of protocol to solve and accomplish his missions. It is made clear that Gibbs knows everything about his team and the number of times he overhears Dinozzo making snide comments or bludging on the job is just uncanny but it makes humourous viewing.

There are only 4 more episodes remaining to be screened for the third season and one waits with anticipation as what the season finale will bring. My prediction is that it will involve the director and also Ziva David.

Pratt's Penthouse

2006-04-23T10:21:00.000+10:00

Listening to 'Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Dani California'

After deliberating for most of the week, I finally decided on Friday afternoon that I would be going with the rest of the services department up to Pratt's penthouse at Circular Quay for a night of booze and debauchery. I left my car at Simon's place and we caught a taxi in with Brad and we were the first ones there. Standing on the balcony and just admiring the view was a feature of the night. You know you have made it in the world when you can afford something like this.

The next few hours were filled with booze, laughter and talking away from the work environment. These outings are good for one major thing, it gives people the chance to know each other away from the cut throat environment in which we all work in on a daily basis. When we finally got kicked out of the penthouse for the night, we ended up at Jacksons for more drinks and then made our way to Establishment which was pretty quiet compared to normal. Stayed there to about 3am before going back to Simons place where he, his girlfriend, Krystle and Peta ended up in his heated spa. I chilled for a bit before going home.

Easter Weekend

2006-04-16T10:59:00.000+10:00

Listening to 'Poets Of The Fall - Carnival Of Rust'

The Easter weekend has come at timely point in time for me personal as I could do with the few extra days off work as I was started to feel a little jaded. It's not so much the work load but more so all the politics and games that exist within the company thats starting to get on my nerves. My position puts me smack bang in the middle of all the crap and it obviously doesnt make my job any easier. Hopefully next week I'll be able to get another 4 day weekend as Monday before Anzac Day has been designated as the union picnic day which means the factories wont be working and what better time for me to take a day off?

Last night went with Phil to the city to basically make an appearance for Julie's birthday. I think quite a few of us were there solely for that reason. We ended up at Martin Place Bar for the Bamboo party thats there every Saturday. That place is a hole, its so small and narrow (reminds me of Republic Bar), that its a plain chore just to push your way to the bar and get a drink. By the time you make your way back to where you were standing, you've either finished your drink OR spilt half of it through bumping into people. We left pretty early as it was just plain crap really.

I've been scimming the above book lately which is supposed to be non-fictional account regarding mysteries surrounding Jesus' descendents and other mysteries dating back to the Knights Templar during the Crusade eras. It reads more like a story and the authors make many assumptions and form conclusions on evidence that they have dug up. They present evidence of secret orders and how there exists a French bloodline which dates back to the Jesus' descendents and how they have changed and hid throughout history to avoid detection from the Vatican and other powerful institutions that have tried to eliminate their existence because they carry an explosive secret that could unsurp the church's authority and influence. It is a sensationalised account and shouldnt be taken too seriously I dont think. The book is one of the inspirations for Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code.

24

2006-04-09T18:13:00.000+10:00

I'm currently hooked on the latest series of 24 starring Kiefer Sutherland as the all american super agent, Jack Bauer. This current series is two thirds complete and like the previous 4 series, the twists and turns make engrossing viewing. The only problem is that I have to wait a week for each new episode to screen in the US.

The other show that I'm currently watching is NCIS, I am only halfway through the first season whilst they are almost finished with season 3 in America. So hopefully by the time I finish the second season, season 3 will be avaiable as a complete pack to download.

The weekend has almost finished again, the weather hasnt been great to do anything at night. Had a real late one on Friday night as we were up all night playing texas poker for money. I ended the night even, a couple of the boys lost quite a bit.

Another Week Has Passed

2006-03-31T20:46:00.000+11:00

Listening to 'The Fold - We've Been At This'

This week has flown by again, I really dont know where the time is going. It's like everything seems to be happening on fast forward. I can still remember finishing last week and now its the weekend again!

The work week passed extremely quickly and was extremely mentally tiring as it was month end and trying to meet budgets with absolutely no work in the system to play with. Meeting a budget set 12 months ago when the economy forecast was different is extremely difficult when customers themselves are all suffering from a market downturn. But anyway, I safely navigated the month of March quite well I believe given the circumstances.

Went to eat dinner with Teza, Dennis, Louis and Clement at the Four Points Hotel's Seafood buffet on Tuesday night and it was actually a good night. Good feed + good company equals a good evening out with the boys. It was probably a perfect way to spend a weeknite, nothing too hectic.

Relaxation

2006-03-26T11:10:00.000+11:00

Listening to 'Franz Ferdinand - Walk Away'

After last weekend, I was after a quiet one this weekend and so far it has been quite relaxing. Drove around and did a little shopping on Saturday morning before playing cricket at the nets again in the arvo for a couple of hours. Last night we went over to Teza's to hang out again and it was what I was after. Relaxing, talking shit and just passing time. We watched this comedy thing from America where they 'roast' celebrities to raise money for charity. This particular episode was centred on Pamela Anderson and how she is doing it to raise money for protection of animals and let me tell you, these comedians dont hold back. Nothing was sacred, from her silicon breasts, to the guys she has been involved with, to her sexual exploits with Tommy Lee. I must applaud her for opening herself up like that in order to raise money for charity. Courtney Love was also present and she looked like a cheap skanky crack whore and she wasnt spared by the comics either. I would'nt mind getting my hands on more of those roast episodes.

Aussie Women Swimmers Rock !

2006-03-21T20:02:00.000+11:00

Tonight is the last night of the swimming at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games and the Australian girls have dominated the pool. The men have not won a single gold medal (at this stage) while the girls have won about 15, with a few clean sweeps thrown in. Names that instantly spring out to mind are Libby Lenton, Leisal Jones, Stephanie Rice, Jessica Shipper, Jodie Henry and Joanna Fargus. They are really a professional bunch of athletes but the energy, confidence and happiness that they radiate just adds that extra appeal to an already popular sport here in Australia.

Hectic Weekend

2006-03-19T17:19:00.000+11:00

Listening to 'Tunnel Trance Force Vol 36'

Yesterday was definately hectic as was predicted. Woke up at 5am and made it to Meng's house for a ride to Adams. We get there to find them already drinking, which was a sign of things to come. After waiting for everyone to get there we got to skirmish where we divided up into 2 groups mixed in with about 50 other people. That skirmish place is definately a money making machine, there was probably 150-200 people there on Saturday. I played alright, took out quite a few opponents and lasted each game for a substantial amount of time. Ended up spending an extra $60 on bullets and couldve easily spent more! It was definately a hard work out and Adam looked buggered, poor guy was everybody's target on this day (including his own team mates). I copped a few wounds, and have some nasty looking bruises to show for it today. I also think I'm gonna hurt even more tomorrow as my thighs already ache today.

As we were tired and out of bullets, skirmish for us ended about 2 hours earlier than the time booked so we had to drag our poor bus driver back out early to pick us up. In the meantime, lunch arrived which was a whole dominoes pizza each! That has got to be a good contract for that local dominoes, 150-200 pizzas at least twice a week. Everybody was pretty subdued on the bus, although the beers in the esky were being consumed again. We picked up Simon from his house and made it into the city nice and early. First time I've been out in the city during the day for ages. Checked into the hotel room and I ended up sharing with Simon and Meng after Simon pulled a dodgy to get away from Adam's friend Craig who Simon cant stand. Which worked out alright as me and Simon could smoke some gear without anybody else noticing. After refreshing up, we went to Paddy's across the road from the hotel and started drinking. Dieter also met up with us after missing skirmish as his son had been sick the night before. After a while we decided to head off to MG's to let Adam get his traditional buck's entertainment and we stayed there a while drinking and admiring the scenery. At about 10, Simon, Jason and myself left as the other two wanted to check out a few clubs in town. We ended up at Star Bar, drank some more whilst getting on the dancing floor. Then Jason and Simon wanted to check out Gas which I didnt recommend as it was trance night and we were too over dressed for it but they persisted so ended up there. I ended up staying there until 3am before I staggered back to the hotel. Simon had left and wandered around all over the city before getting back to the hotel before I did while we didnt find out what happened to everybody else until the morning.

In the morning, I had breakfast with Simon, Jason and Meng before Meng and myself caught the train home as it was much more convenient for us to do that instead of waiting a few hours for the mini-bus to take us back to Adam's place. Got home, showered and pretty much slept for 5 hours. Hopefully I can go back to sleep tonight and get more refreshed for another week of working starting in 12 hours time!

Like The Old Days....

2006-03-12T10:57:00.000+11:00

Well last night was definately like the old days when we would head out to the city and end up just hanging out and not doing all that much. Terry actually called me up and said 'Yo, do you want to come out to the city and hang out like in the old days?'. And since I wasnt doing anything else, decided to head out and see if anything's changed. We met up at Teza's and took Clements BMW which aint a bad little car, smooth but a little to middle-age for me. We actually got turned away from Sharkies because Dennis was wearing sneakers so we ended up at Maloney's on George St and ended up getting a few drinks there. Saw some other people hanging around there so I guess its not just us that have nothing to do on a Saturday night. The guys played some pool while I was just enjoying my drink and soaking up the atmosphere. Louis, Paulie and Winson met up with us and we decided to move along to another old hangout - Pavillion. Now this is a place which has changed (maybe for the better) from the late 90's and early 2000. It's no longer a thuggish Asian hangout, just a quiet club with a mix of people from different walks of life. We had some more drinks there before the guys started playing pokies. Dennis and Clement ended up winning a few hundred bucks which was alright. It was now about 1am which is still early but there wasnt much else to do besides moving onto another bar so we decided to call it a night. So it was another night hanging out without much of a purpose.

Listening to 'Hoobastank - If I Were You'

Lowenbrau

2006-03-11T11:42:00.000+11:00

Listening to 'Franz Ferdinand - Well That Was Easy'

As planned, went to dinner at Lowenbrau last night. There were 15 of us, some of the boys plus Terry's missus' group. The place is exactly as I remember it, nothing much has changed in the last 2 odd years. Louis was out to get drunk and he was sculling half litre beers about every 2 minutes. I tell you though, the big fella can handle his beer pretty well, gets rowdy but definately can hold his grog. I ordered the pork belly dish and I gotta say its pricey and definately not anything special. If anything it was extremely salty, I'd rather eat chinese bbq pork which has more flavour and is less salty. After that we went to karoake at K-world after I spent about 20 minutes driving around Hyde Park looking for parking. Karoake was a fun tame affair with nobody getting trashed like in the good old days. So all in all it was an okay night, nothing too exciting but then enjoyable enough.

I actually had a pretty easy week at work. Got my routine of scheduling the 2 plants down pat and it helps when all the machines are running smoothly. The only difficulty is that we don't have much work which makes it that little harder to have efficient schedules.

Sore Calf

2006-03-08T21:54:00.000+11:00

Just got home from another session of cricket with the boys down at the Cheso nets. Once again my batting was much better than my bowling which I am still unable to maintain an accurate line and length. I think its got to do with the bowling action, I don't think I have one consistent action, its just run in and bowl without much thought to the action. For some reason, my calf muscle decided to cramp up whilst I was throwing the ball across the field and now its still tender and sore. Maybe because we didnt have any water and I was getting dehydrated?

Going to Lowenbrau Keller this Friday night, I havnt been there for a couple of years. Cool place to have dinner and drinks with the whole German atmosphere happening.

Listening to 'Franz Ferndinand - You're The Reason I'm Leaving'

Restless

2006-03-05T19:13:00.000+11:00

Listening to 'Evermore - This Unavoidable Thing Between Us'

Spent today relaxing and doing some reflective thinking and I really think that the whole quarter life crisis thing has taken hold of me. I feel like there are things I want to do to get more out of life from a career prospective and also a personal perspective. Maybe I need to get out of my comfort zone and take some risks but then again I've always been a responsible thinker and this stops me from taking such risks.

Last night at David's birthday, I actually went home early because I was pretty bored. I mean I probably could've gotten completely drunk and stayed longer but that would be rather depressing. It's really time to expand my social circle as seeing the same faces every week is starting to wear real thin with me. Maybe I'll do the loner thing, and cruise to different bars and hangouts in the city and see I can make new friends aye?

And also to hold a little hope about a girl who probably isn't interested doesn't help my cause either. It's like we cant cut each off completely but I just get confused every time I hear from her or see her. Maybe its punishment or karma for all the years I turned away from commitment and relationships.

$100 for a bracket

2006-03-01T20:25:00.000+11:00

Listening 'Hoobastank - If I Were You'

Got charged $100 by Holden today to refit my front bar as it had become jarred loose when I bottomed out reversing slowly out of Rin's and Kimmo's place on Sunday night. The driveway didnt even look that steep but for some reason the car didnt come down too smoothly off the gutter and BANG! The whole right side was hanging loosely and the bar was basically being held up from the left so for the last few days I had been nursing the car through bumps and humps incase I ended up stranded in the middle of the road with no front bar.

The reason I was at Rin and Kimmo's was that Kimmo came home with the baby that day from the hospital. Their daughter has Rin's wide asian eyes but funnily enough isnt very dark considering we call Rin 'Abo'. All us boys were there as we had played 3 hours of cricket before that. This weekend, we got David's birthday on Saturday which will be another bbq/drinkfest at his place.

Uneventfulness

2006-02-26T10:04:00.001+11:00

Listening to 'Shanice - Forever Like A Rose'

The last week passed pretty much without too much excitement and incident. It seemed like a quick week but nothing too much out of the ordinary happened. Played some more cricket with the boys and yeah we are getting a little better but theres still much work to be done if we are actually going to get serious about joining an indoor competition.

Transferred money to Adam Covington for his bucks nights celebration in mid March It's going to be a good weekend I think. Starting with Paintball skirmish, then getting driven into the city and checking into a hotel before heading out for dinner and mischief. The Sunday will have go-kart racing (for anyone who is still fit to drive) before being dropped off back at our starting location. The only problem is that we all have to go back to work the following day, going to be many sore heads over at Smithfield that Monday.

Ideas

2006-02-19T10:58:00.000+11:00

Listening to 'Coldplay - Talk'

I'm actually looking for the polyphonic ringtone for that song as its got a catchy tune and is rather relevent for a ringtone.

Sitting here on a Sunday morning trying to think of some ideas on how to fix Smithfield. Pratt is questioning why we can run Warwick Farm so smoothly with work in progress and despatch under control and yet its a mess at Smithfield. He doesnt like excuses and the pressue is on Lymberis and myself as we both came from Warwick Farm. Obviously the Robert factor plays a part but essentially we need to take the ideas that we learnt at the farm and start applying them here at Smithfield. From my point of view, Smithfield needs to change its culture and the way it does things in order to make any of this possible. I've also got a project to do for Ardolino and warwick farm that I havnt even started looking at yet. Work is now even starting to invade my weekends!

On Friday night we went to Winson's birthday which he did at his house. There was a small group of us guys, the indo group + winson's chinese friends. All night there was some serious segregation going on despite plenty of food and alcohol. We wanted to play poker but there were 2 little dickheads that thought they were top shit and knew everything and yeah they killed the mood.. I walked away before the temptation to smash their faces in got too overpowering.

Last night I took the family to eat at Yutaka in the city, a Japanese buffet with excellent fresh seafood. There was all your usual Japanese sashimi/sushi, plenty of tempura, salads and heaps of fresh oysters, prawns and mussels. $32 a head sounds like a lot but I think its not bad value considering.

Spaced Out

2006-02-16T20:24:00.000+11:00

Listening to 'Madonna - Sorry'

People would probably laugh and cringe to hear that I enjoy listening to Madonna, especially her last two songs, 'Hung Up' and 'Sorry'. I think they are quite catchy and enjoyable with good beats.

Today went by in a blur, my lack of sleep last night combined with all the issues at work meant I am now sitting here at 8:30pm completely knackered. I am finding Smithfield to be a tough proposition to schedule because of other management decisions, the lack of work combined with identified weaknesses. I have come to the realisation that the experience of the bosses at Warwick Farm is far superior to those at Smithfield.

The reason that I am so tired is that last evening I went to play cricket at the Cheso nets with Dennis, Lou, Tez, Dave, Tony, Winson and Paulie. We were playing with real balls and even had pads! We played until it was too dark to see the ball which meant there was quite a big chance of injury. After that went and hung out and didnt end up getting to bed till about 2am and I was awake again at 6am to go to work.

At least tomorrow is Friday and I'm hoping for a quiet day. Winson is having a house party at his place tomorrow night and apparently theres going to be like 60 people.

Boofs Bday

2006-02-12T11:44:00.000+11:00

Listening to 'James Blunt - Wiseman'

Twas Phil's bday last night and he invited us all over to his house for a party. His old man has done heaps of work in the backyard and it looks like a european backyard with columns and outdoor furniture. Its a nice place to sit and enjoy a clear night. He laid on heaps of food and everyone had plenty to eat and drink. We polished a few bottles of courvoisier and remy plus probably another 10 bottles of standard wine (which I refused to touch). After the courvoisier, the remy actually tasted quite foul.

Once again, Julie got drunk and started talking crap hehe its actually been awhile that I've drunk with her. Her friend Ebs hustled a couple of the guys and easily outdrank them, it was going down like water and after a few hours, she was still acting/looking sober! Karen was there with some Indian dude who apparently is just a friend, I havnt seen her for over a year when things didnt work out for us but I can still say she is pretty as ever. It was funny though, it was like we were perfect strangers, mustve exchanged 10 words all evening.

Hong Minh the cutie was also drunk (Julie does tend to do that to people), and the poor girl was starting to feel really sick and yeah she got a little retrospective about the way life has panned out and if she has made the right career moves etc. Everybody was pretty much out of there by about 2:30am and I really think that there were a number of drink driving cases to be found had the cops placed an RBT around where Phil lives.

Fresh Challange

2006-02-09T21:18:00.000+11:00

This is the first chance I've had to actually blog this week. It feels like things are in motion at work which once again dictates my life. Adam has officially resigned and left the company as he cannot handle the job and was evidently not the right person and the business was suffering because of it. As gleaned from the last 6 months, training somebody to schedule warwick farm is harder than most people realise. The job itself is demanding but to also handle the strong personalities makes it three times as difficult. In the end, Adam was just not mentally tough enough to handle the job and deal with the pressure that the position entails.

Warwick Farm is now going to rely on me and I will be responsible for both plants and I will use my fellow team members to help me achieve this goal. So basically, we will all put in a little extra to make it all possible. Other people will be my eyes, arms and legs as I call the shots at either plant. The promise of a little extra $$$ plus salary renegotiation come the end of the financial year (if we can get it to work) has swayed me to stay aboard and give this a crack. I outlined what I think I needed in order to get the plan to work and hopefully the managers will deliver what I need to make it easier for not just myself but all my team members.

We Believe

2006-01-31T20:57:00.000+11:00

Been reading an interesting article in the latest New Scientist Magazine (Dated 28 January 2006) regarding the origin of religion and what makes people believe in religion.

'Religious belief is a conundrum. In our everyday lives, most of us make at least some effort to check the truth of claims for ourselves. Yet when it comes to religion, studies show that we are most persuaded by stories that contradict the known laws of physics.... Why are we humans so willing to commit to religious beliefs we can never hope to verify?'

This is the kind of thing that has always astounded me, how do people believe in mythical religions when in their everyday lives, they are presented with conflicting and proven scientific data regarding almost everything they know in life. I agree that religion had a part to play in the past, in more primitive times when people attributed things to religion if they could not explain it. For example, claiming that the gods were angry whenever there was lightning and thunderstorms which we now know to be the result of differing pressure zones in the atmosphere. I agree that religion serves a purpose in society, and that is to provide the guidelines to which we live our lives. No matter what diety, prophecy or unwritten code you follow, it is pretty conventional across the board to be against murder, to detest stealing and causing general havoc. What that does is provide a framework for a maintainable society, preventing chaos and anarchy. The thing that disturbs me most about religion is the fact that certain groups and people use it as a guise to brainwash the masses to achieve their own agendas. Some religions are fanatical, some are corporate businesses and the others fall somewhere in between. I could probably write pages upon pages about the way I feel about religion and the role it plays in society but I would really be on a personal ramble which nobody will read.

Tomorrow I go back to work and I wonder what dramas await after my week and a half away from it. It has actually gone by real quick and it has felt pretty good and I feel a lot less jaded. Lets see how long it lasts...

Chinese New Year

2006-01-29T17:07:00.000+11:00

Chuc Mung Nam Moi ! Its now the year of the dog in the Lunar calender. I realise as I get older that chinese new year holds less and less excitement for me and for the younger generation. I was at my grandma's place this morning and saw how the little nephews and nieces were starting to lose some of the tradition associated with the event. It will be interesting to see how the tradition holds up after another 20 odd years here in Australia.

Last night went with Dave, Dennis, Teza, Louis and Winson to the Chinese temple in Glebe. First time I've been to a chinese temple on new years, I would say that the Vietnamese temple at Wetherill Park still remains the most crowded and boisterous. The problem there is that trouble always breaks out, shootings, stabbing, bashings. Rather disgraceful considering it is a temple event and it is new years eve.

Might actually stay home tonight, getting sick of staying out every night lately and not doing all that much.

Listening to '12 Stones - Let Go'

Mid North Coast

2006-01-24T11:07:00.000+11:00

Listening to 'Beyonce - Check On It'

Went up the coast yesterday with the family for a day trip. The initial destination was Forster and after about 4 hours on the road we made it there. The scenic road from the Pacific Highway into Forster is a tad rough and did my suspension no good and was lucky not to crack a rim from the potholes. My first impression of Forster was that the water was very clean. Even the water on the inlet side was heaps clean, kind of a cleaner version of Windang. It would be a great place to take kids or have a group outing where you can hire canoes and go for a swim and even do some fishing. Tuncurry on the other side of the bridge is a disappointment, very small and not really worth talking about. Forster is also famous for its oyster farms and we bought some from Barclays who has the biggest operation in these parts and we sampled some straight away and boy were they tasty. Bought another 2 dozen to put in the esky and take home!

Since there wasnt much else to see in Forster we decided to head towards the Port Stephens area. There was supposed to be a famous oyster farm off the beaten track but after travelling down a single lane road and through another gravel track, we got there and it was closed and looked pretty run down. So that was a waste of effort and my car probably has the scars to show for it. Anyways, it was then off to the popular Nelson Bay which was quite a busy little coastal town. Relaxed a little there before heading back to warm old Sydney Town.

The picture below was taken at the marina at Nelson Bay.

Back Baby Shower...

2006-01-22T22:00:00.000+11:00

Just got back from baby shower... it was a very tame affair, no booze and us guys were just outside playing cricket in the industrial estate for most of the arvo. It got pretty tiring as it was 35 degrees outside and I think I batted quite well (although the quality of bowling wasnt great). If we are serious about playing some indoor cricket, we really need to make some improvement on all aspects of the game.

The girls were inside just chatting and eating and opening the presents for Kimmo's and Rin's approaching baby. I have got to say, baby showers are definately a chick thing and not for the boys.

Tomorrow going up the coast with the family, probably to Forster-Tuncurry and hopefully be back tomorrow night.

Sunburnt !

2006-01-22T12:39:00.000+11:00

Listening to 'Shannon Noll - Lift'

I should really get out into the sun more often to build up a little more tolerance to UV rays. Went to North Sydney oval yesterday for the domestic 20/20 cricket final between NSW and Victoria. Victoria thrashed the locals and all I achieved on the day was to get burnt. It was remarkable how quickly pale skin gets burnt and red after only a few minutes in the sun and this is with suncreen piled on! There was 12 of us that went and this time I didnt have to drive as Kimmy drove Ier and I. The game itself was rather disappointing as NSW were never in the hunt to chase down Victoria's huge total with Brad Hodge scoring a century. We ended up leaving when the Blues were 7 down with just over a 100 on the board.

Just got home from eating Yum Cha with the family in Cabra this morning and will be off to Abo's and Kimmo's baby shower thing in a couple of hours. For us guys, it will just be an excuse to eat/drink and play some backyard cricket. All week we were debating what the point of a baby shower was and in the end we concluded that it was just an excuse to buy gifts for the coming child and get together. For us asians, we normally do this 1 month after the baby is born but yeah apparently this western baby shower custom comes before the birth.

Chilling With The Boys

2006-01-15T11:10:00.000+11:00

Listening to 'The Veronicas - When It All Falls Apart'

Had an enjoyable night with some of the boys last night even though we didnt particularly do very much. Met up at Terry's apartment and was basically just chilling out. Headed into Strathfield to grab something to eat and we ended up at this little Korean (what else would it be in Strathfield?) restaurant where this cute Korean girl was all over us trying to gain our patronage. The food was alright, but rather pricy for pretty small portions. We decided to try some Korean liquor thing called Soju, its a clear spirit thing that tastes rather nasty despite its low alcohol content. I would rather drink straight vodka or tequila than Soju! 2 shots each and I don't think any of us will ever drink it again.

Then it was back to Terry's where we watched some British comedy called Little Britain, it was funny in a crude kind of way. They got some UGLY people over there is all I'm going to say. We ended up sitting outside in Terry's patio area and actually talked crap and joked around until about 3:30am. You can officially call us bored I believe but it actually was quite enjoyable for us. I guess thats what happen when you spend time with good friends who can all joke around and speak their minds without nobody getting offended.

What a week ......

2006-01-13T19:52:00.000+11:00

Listening to 'N Sync - Selfish'

What a hectic week it has been! Doing too many hours at work with the additional responsibilities of being stand-in production supervisor with Glenn being on holiday for the week. Attending meetings, being the contact point for everything to do with production on top of keeping on top of production and overall ontime deliveries. I was told to leave Adam alone at Warwick Farm this week as that is how he will learn, only problem with that is, if I leave him alone, he'll be at work for 20 hours a day just to make 2 shifts worth of schedules. One more week then I'll be off for 7 working days which will make it real interesting for all involved.

There was an internal job advertised today within Visy for a production scheduler for Visy Plastics down in suburban Melbourne. Tempted to follow this up and find out more details next week to see if its worthwhile...

20-20 Cricket Draws The Crowds

2006-01-08T21:49:00.000+11:00

I saw first hand today that the whole 20-20 cricket concept draws the crowds. Went to see NSW play QLD at North Sydney Oval and when I left home I expected there would be a smallish crowd but was I in for a surprise when we got there. It was packed and we couldnt even find a proper seat, ended up sitting on the footpath underneath the big tree. It was a pretty good atmosphere and there was plenty of beer flowing so the crowd was quite boisterous. There was a poor NSW fielder who made a mistake near the boundary and for the rest of the QLD innings he was copping flack from the entire crowd. Queensland being bowled out for 162 after some strong early hitting but the tail failed them and they didnt even bat out their 20 overs. NSW responded with a well paced chase and controlled big hitting and they reached the target with 3 overs to spare. We ended up going back to Campsie Hotel and having dinner at the bistro there, cheap but not great.

Going to the cricket was the highlight of my weekend as it is something different from what we normally do and I quite enjoyed it. Relaxing but yet exciting enough for it to be a good afternoon.

Definately Mellow ....

2006-01-05T19:46:00.000+11:00

Listening to 'Lindsay Lohan - Confessions Of a Broken Heart'

Heh definately feeling mellow if im listening to a song like that. Actually got a mellow playlist going on my winamp as I type this. Already its Thursday evening, the week has flown by again. Last night, I was sitting in a city bar drinking Hahn Light and just listening to music and enjoying the scenary. Actually not a bad way to wind down and relax after a long stressing day, something different from sitting at home in front of the tv or computer.

Once again, work is taking up most of my time and mental energy. I'm still running both plants despite Adam now being given an ultimatum - learn how to schedule warwick farm or be shown the door. After 4 months, he doesnt even comprehend the basics and has no attention to detail which is critical to the job. And I guess he knows that he has me working behind the scenes to keep warwick farm going. The problem with this is that he will never learn the job properly and I am going to be perpetually tied up trying to keep warwick farm running everyday along with smithfield which is no good for the business. He needs to be able to do most things and have me supervising warwick farm instead of doing the whole lot by myself. Smithfield is getting hammered with KPI's and for me to help fix ontimes, productivity and waste, I need to be freed up from warwick farm to dedicate my entire day to smithfield.

It's 2006 !

2006-01-02T10:18:00.000+11:00

Listening to 'Kate DeAraugo - Faded'

Well its official, the new year is upon us. Hopefully its going to be a good year for everybody and from a personal prospective, may 2006 bring some good and exciting times.

New Years Eve was probably the quietest new years I've had for about 10 years and its probably a sign that we are getting older and settling down. A bunch of us were at Louis' place, eating, having a few beers and basically just relaxing. After midnight, people started going home while Louis, Dennis and myself went to Louis' friends place in North Ryde where it was also a pretty quiet house party. On the way home, Dennis and me were reflecting on how settled down we had become. The two of us used to go out causing mischief with the rest of the group that we were in few years back and we'd have hectic times, and more often than not end up in some sort of trouble. How times have changed ! Think the single ones amongst us are starting to go through quarter life crisis', too old for wild times but not yet ready for the whole settling down family type thing.

We actually went to the Sydney Fish Markets in the morning to buy seafood for our dinner that night. The place was buzzing, not as crowded as it would be Christmas Eve but busy nevertheless. We picked up a few kilos of local prawns for $24.90 a kilo which is expensive but at least it was guaranteed to be fresh. The oysters were great too at $13.50 per dozen. And we bought the freshest looking salmon sashimi, that was $41 a kilo and we bought an entire fillet which was only $18 ... on hindsight, shouldve bought some more. If only I lived closer to the fish markets!

Oh yeah, on Friday night we went to eat at Big John's at San Souci and I understand why its called BIG John's. The servings are huge, I ordered a T-Bone steak and it mustve been close to a kilo. The salads are also gigantic as are the seafood platters, the only problem with the platters is that there was too much fried stuff on it. The quality of the food itself was average, but then I guess people come here more for the size of the servings! I probably wouldnt go back unless it was to share the experience with somebody who hadnt been there before. Additionally, after 25 years, that was first time that I had set foot in San Souci as well so yeah for me it was an interesting night.

Got myself the Aldi $50 DVD/DivX player other day too, Louis grabbed me one from Aldi North Sydney as they were already sold out down here in the west. Thats great value for $50, now I can watch my downloaded stuff downstairs on the big tv which I took advantage of yesterday when it was like 45 degrees and our air con cant cope up here in my room. The Chinese import market as made electrical goods to much affordable and with such cheap prices who cares about warranty and long term reliability which has been pros of much more expensive Japanese electrical products.

Food, food and more food

2005-12-29T18:03:00.000+11:00

Must've gained a few kilos through the 4 day Christmas weekend... Eat, drink and eat some more. Good food mixed in with more junk food and yeah definately piling on the kilos. Been doing a bit of thinking in between as well and I think I really do need a change, and then Diana tells me she's off to London in few months because she needs a change. That definately got me thinking, I probably wouldnt go to London but a different state probably wouldnt hurt. Who knows, maybe it'll be my new years resolution ....

Christmas Eve

2005-12-24T09:57:00.000+11:00

Listening to 'The Veronicas - Heavily Broken'

What a week ! From the madness that is the pre-Christmas rush at work to the general mayhem that is normal for the lead up to Christmas.

Feeling a bit buggered this morning and quite dehydrated. Was at David's Christmas get together where there was plenty of good food, alcohol and excellent company. David managed to get a whole range of people together, some who I have not seen for like 2 years. Quynh, Le and Lorris were there and it felt like old times when we would all hang out together with those girls and then there was Lisa and Mimi, and that brang back memories of yet another time in my life. Its good to see everybody is doing well. All night I was sticking to the vodka drinks, vodka double black and other smirnoff pre-mixes. I can tell you I was a bit drunk by about 8pm. Phil finally brang his girlfriend out and yeah she's a fun girl and easy to joke around with. There was a scare halfway through the night when David just fainted/collapsed in front of everyone, probably just a combination of too much beer, not enough air.

At about 1:30am some of us decided to go check out Westfields Parra as it was opened for like 32 hours straight. It was packed, mainly with young people and quite a few juveniles of all ethnic groups. There were Lebs with their macho appearance and stupid hair cuts, Asians with their tattoos and long hair and probably about 50 cops spread out around the complex along with a high contingent of security. Didnt buy anything but yeah just walked around with everyone else. Got home about 4am and only slept about 4 hours. Its gonna be a stinker today, they predicting 40 degrees and already outside it feels like mid thirties. Gonna have a relaxing day at home today with our traditional family Christmas Eve dinner late tonight.

One of the news headlines during the week was the ACCC alledging that Richard Pratt and his Visy group was involved in price fixing and cartel behaviour within the cardboard packaging industry. Basically the claims involve people from Amcor making a deal with the ACCC regarding agreements between them and Visy regarding customers and monopolising the market. I cant comment on any of the issues but I can say it is a bit suspicious that Amcor is participating with the ACCC in return for immunity against charges themselves. It was kinda strange, Pratt was in Sydney on Wednesday and he came by Smithfield and I was there minding my own business when he walks up behind me, I almost jumped out of my skin. He shook my hand, wished me a safe merry christmas before asking a few questions and congratulating me for a good year. That little interaction made my day for a few minutes as not many people besides the big bosses get a personal Christmas blessing from him. Later that day, the whole ACCC story hit the media and the following day Pratt was playing up the media, making deliberate attempts to deny the charges and appear open to public scrutiny. There will definately be a lot more of this story as more details are revealed !

The Silly Season

2005-12-18T19:13:00.000+11:00

Getting close to Christmas and its the usual mad rush. Made it to Parramatta Westfields early on Saturday morning at 9am and it was already packed with people. Thats just plain madness, normally people dont make it to the shopping centres till after 10am. By the time I left there at roughly 11am, it was completely crowded. Despite the number of evident people, retailers are reporting that there has been a slump in sales, only a 2-3% increase from last year where the annual figure is up over 5-6%. I wonder if the lower prices has impacted this figure and not the fact that people arent spending. There are more and more cheap imports which now cost a fraction of the price of local products from previous years. Normal clothing is now generally cheaper thanks to a greater range of brands and cheap asian imports.

The reason that I did make it to Westfields so early was that I was actually at work at 6am for the December paper reel stocktake. That started at 6am and we were done by about 7am. I was teamed up with Jun and we motored through one end and probably ended up doing more than any other group. Jun is a very funny guy, an older asian guy with a great sense of humour. After that, Jason and a couple of the reps cooked us a aussie bbq breakfast which we all enjoyed. I hung around, did a little extra work before leaving to do my Christmas shopping.

Phil came over a little earlier today to give me the next season of the Sopranos and to show me his new car. He bought a 2000 VXII Commodore S Supercharged for $17,000 at the auctions. Its got a sunroof & leather trim which makes it a good deal considering its got 78,000 km on the clock and has been fully serviced. He seems very happy with it and good on him, he been putting up with driving a bomb for the last 5 years so he is really enjoying driving at the moment.

Race Riots in Sydney

2005-12-13T20:17:00.000+11:00

The dominating headline in Sydney (and undoubtedly throughout Australia) has been the racial inspired riots over the last week. It began when 2 volunteer surf life guards were alledgedly bashed on North Cronulla beach by men of Middle Eastern background. Now in my book that is a pretty low act, beating up people who are out there looking to help and save people from the dangers of the beach. Not to be racist, but it is the kind of behaviour that brings all the stigma upon the Lebanese community here in Australia. Random, stupid acts of violence and bravado that serve no purpose. As a result more brawls occured during the week and the tension of local 'aussie' youths were inflamed which came to a head on Sunday when a crowd of 10,000 'aussies' came to North Cronulla to reclaim their territory and to beat up Lebs and wogs. This disgraceful message was spread through media and also SMS.

What resulted was a disgusting sight, alcohol induced hatred targeted at migrants. Any Lebanese or anyone resembling Lebs were set upon by a mob and the police that were there to keep the peace became the unfortunate victims as they were pelted with projectiles and anything else the mob could find their hands on. The police and ambulance did a great job to get Lebs out of area and they wore the full brunt of the violence. Amongst the angry locals, there were undoubtedly some hard nose racists or neo-nazis who used the unrest to fuel their own white supremist agenda.

Obviously, retatiation was predicted on the part of the Lebanese community but what followed over the last 2 nights was also disgraceful and really made the Lebanese community look worse than they did before this whole mess began. Gangs of Lebanese men began raiding areas such as Cronulla, Caringbah, Brighton and Maroubra and all that they achieved was making more of the general population hate them even more. They smashed cars, beat innocent people walking along the road and destroyed numerous shops and property. They further alienated themselves from the rest of the Australian community and the ugly thing is that if they continue on this path, they will start involving other ethnic groups such as the Asians or even other European migrant groups. There is already enough bad blood between the Lebanese and these other ethnic groups without them stirring up further trouble.

I wonder what headlines I will wake up to tomorrow morning.....

Xmas Party

2005-12-10T20:29:00.000+11:00

Last night was the annual Visyboard Christmas party and this year it was a harbour cruise aboard the Morpheus. It's a nice boat able to hold over a 100 people but that wasnt a concern as we only had about 60 people between the two plants. There werent that many factory people, just a few supervisors from both plants. I came up with Junior, Dizz and Duro from warwick farm and we were running pretty late but actually got there in time as the boat was 15 minutes late.

The cruise was 4 hours of drinking, eating, talking crap and general mingling with people from work in an informal manner. Some of the big bosses are quite funny after a few drinks including Lymberis, Whybrow and Pobjoy. The food was alrite, a lot of finger food and a small buffet with oysters, prawns and selected cold cuts. Everyone was pretty well behaved despite a lot of alcohol being consumed, just a bit of rowdiness and laughter.

After the boat docked, people who wanted to kick on made their way into the city. I got a lift from Karolina who was meeting her friends in the city hence she was one of the few people who drove. Myself and Jess walked over to Bungalow 8 before meeting everyone else at Cargo where they had been refused entry. They then all decided to go back to Bungalow 8 and thats where I left them. I headed up to Equilibrium which is the new bar in the World Square complex. David was there with Terry and a few other friends. Teza is a funny drunk, childish but sufferable. After a little while we went over to Superbowl and had a big feed, and after an evening of drinking, theres nothing like some congee to settle the stomach. We went by Sharkies after that before heading up at about 3am.

Earlier in the day, I had to go to lunch with Richard Pratt and his son Anthony who runs the company over in the United States. I was there with Tim, Robert, John and other various head honchos so was I really batting out of my division. Pratt asked me a few questions and I gave a few answers. It was pretty nerve wracking sitting there eating with him and the others, me the junior worker eating lunch with billionaire business man and his top bosses in New South Wales. Lets just say it was different experience.

Officially Hot !

2005-12-07T20:02:00.000+11:00

Listening to 'So Beautiful' by Darren Hayes

Today was definately a scorcher, 39 Degrees all over Sydney. It was so hot that the trains were delayed because the rail lines were starting to buckle under the strain and heat. It was even hotter inside the 2 tin roof factories, especially close to the machinary it mustve been closer to 50 degrees!

Its now officially, Adam is no longer a scheduler, he wasnt up to the job and he also no longer wants to do the job. That kind of leaves him in a lurch, as there are no available positions to slot him into. He was too laid back, slow and generally not dedicated enough to be a good scheduler, not a typical Visy employee at all when you come to think of it. I seriously believe he would go home and stop the factory instead of staying back and ensuring everything was okay. So in the meantime, they want him to be my eyes and legs at Warwick Farm whilst I attempt to keep both places running. All I can say is that the bosses are not impressed with Adam at all and I can honestly say he has shafted any chance of getting anywhere within Visy. They are hoping that being my eyes and legs will bore him and that he will voluntarily resign. Now the search is on again for another warwick farm scheduler.

On a brighter note, I went along to have dinner with Brett Sander who is the national Visy Paper boss. After 2 years of calling him and working with him with regard to paper, it was finally good to meet him in person. Peter Nguyen & Andy from CCP also came along as well as Merveille. Notably, Brett Sander brang along Conrad who is now the Operations Manager at Visy Paper Smithfield. It was a good chance for me to network and also with meeting John Goutzoulas last year, I now have the right contacts within Visy Paper in case a job becomes available. Speaking of career moves, I spent about half an hour talking to Bryan Ellison & Tim Pobjoy about where I want to go with a career in Visy. With Tim moving to Melbourne to be a part of Visy Specialties, thats another chance I have of moving into a different division. Bryan had some sound advise which included me knowing where I wanted to be headed, then making sure I did everything possible to give myself every chance of getting there. This included making sure that somebody was coming up behind me who could step into my position as the bosses will be reluctant to allow me to move on if it would hurt the business. All I gotta do now is find someone who will and can program warwick farm...

Unbelievable.....

2005-12-03T10:42:00.000+11:00

Just as I thought things couldnt be anymore confusing at work, Adam no longer wants to do the scheduling job at Warwick Farm. The problem with this is, he has now been forced back into the job by a manipulative Robert and a blind Brad. Now Daniella wants to throw him in the deep end without help from Merveille or myself and see what happens. He will either float or more likely drown like a tonne of bricks and then it will really hit the roof. The problem with this is, I will probably be expected to fix the problem. And if Adam throws the towel in, it means we will have to start again from scratch training another scheduler. At least they've given me a little bonus and also a dinner tab to keep me satisfied for the time being.

Not sure what I'm doing this weekend, nothing planned so whatever comes up I guess. In the meantime, been watching more House and Sopranos.

To The Gallows.....

2005-11-28T19:35:00.000+11:00

The news story that is still dominating the headlines is the impeding hanging of convicted heroin smuggler Nguyen Tuong Van in Singapore. In actual fact, it has turned into a media circus and also a political football. The fact of the matter is that Singapore is a country that enforces the death penalty and unfortunately if you get arrested for drug smuggling in that country you must face the consequences. There have been calls for Australia to place economical sanctions on Singapore if they do execute Nguyen and other kinds of ludicrous retaliations. The Labor party has even gone far enough to use this case to present opposition to the actions of the present government, making all kinds of promises and criticising the actions of Prime Minister Howard. They are sadly milking this unfortunate case for all its worth and frankly, its quite embarassing. It would be naive for anyone to say that Nguyen did not know the risks or the consequences of his actions when he decided to smuggle heroin from Asia into Australia. Even though it is claimed that he made the trip to pay off his twin brothers gambling debts, there is no excuse for what he did. At the end of the day, he attempted to smuggle illegal drugs into the country and had he succeeded, those drugs couldve killed and ruined the lives of many more people. Honestly, although I am a fellow Vietnamese Australian, I do not have a problem with the punishment that Nguyen is facing and the only person I have any sympathy for is his mother.

Listening to 'Bow Wow ft Ciara - Like You'

Reflection

2005-11-25T20:03:00.000+11:00

Been rather contemplative today, decided to take a day off because I felt like I needed a break. Did absolutely nothing, maybe a little bit of reflective thinking. Read a blog where the author was contemplating life, on how things felt a little stale and do you let it go and patiently wait for something to happen OR do you go out there and make something happen? Then today, somebody else asks why do we work? why do we do things for our bosses when we know its wrong?

Its wierd though, I think its because I'm not really sure of what I want and that career wise I'm lacking a bit of clear direction right now. Likewise on a relationship level, I'm also not sure of what I want. I dont think im ready to settle down but at the same time, I feel like I'm over the whole short term casual relationship thing. Maybe I do need to get out of Sydney, start from scratch and see where things lead me.

Looks like a quiet weekend, got a BBQ at Tony's tomorrow arvo and apparently the girls want to go clubbing afterwards for Hong's Birthday. Im definately going to the BBQ but havnt decided about going clubbing yet, I actually think I will go.

Australian Idol Over Again....

2005-11-22T19:45:00.000+11:00

The third season of Australian Idol concluded last night with Kate DeAraugo pronounced the winner by a customary close margin over Emily Williams. Both finalists had strong voices and definately suited the winner's single 'Maybe Tonight'. I actually prefer Emily's version of the single however I guess thats up to personal taste and also performances throughout the idol competition. Emily has a strong voice that reminds you of Whitney Houston. I didnt really follow the competition but I did particularly fancy Anne and I think many other people were disappointed when she was eliminated. Watch this space, I think she will get herself a record deal and be quite successful.

Its only the end of Tuesday and I feel rather tired, both mentally and physically. It actually should be easier this week since Merveille is back at Warwick Farm which has released me to concentrate on Smithfield. I can feel Robert about to spit the dummy and like usual I'll be the meat in the sandwich. Brad Hines is reluctant to actually call Rob and tell him that he wants me at Smithfield. Once again Robert's status and relationship with Richard Pratt dictates what everybody else does.

Think i'll continue watching The Sopranos now, borrowed the first 3 season of Boof and burnt them all. Just need to get a hold of seasons 4 and 5 now as the final season will be screening early in 2006.

Listening to Amber Savage

2005-11-20T10:13:00.000+11:00

Currently listening to some Central Energy CD mixed by Amber Savage. She used to be one of my favourite trance DJ's a few years ago and we would really look forward to her doing her sets. This was back in the days when we would hit the trance clubs on a regular basis. Sublime on Friday nights, Gas on Saturday nights, even Pavillion sometimes as she played there. Her sets used to go right off, a good combination of tracks with high energy. Listening to this cd now, looks like nothing has changed, still a legend I reckon and it got me into the mood to hit a trance club again. Not likely to happen though, havent been to one for like 3 months! Definately getting too old or something.

Last night had a quiet one at Boofs chilling with some old school mates, drinking cognac, eating good food and talking shit. It was a good chance to catch up with these guys in a more relaxed environment instead of at a club or restaurant. Played some poker in between it all, with Boof the clown changing a few hundred bucks worth of one dollar coins to use as chips.

Like old times.....

2005-11-17T22:48:00.000+11:00

After talking to Linh before going to sleep last nite, I decided to call her today and see if she was free for dinner and yup she was. We met up after work in Parra where she is doing a temporary job in telephone sales. Since she had to meet a friend at Roxy later in the night we decided to go have dinner on Church street. After strolling up and down a few times and basically just catching up, we settled on a european restaurant and ordered a meat platter with a garden salad. Food was quite good, plenty of good quality meats. Throughout dinner and the rest of the evening we talked and talked and it was like the old times. It was the first real conversation we've had in about 6 months. So basically it was a lot of catching up and us sharing views on certain topics. Despite drifting apart and a few things getting between us, tonight showed how well the two of us get along. We walked from Church street to Westfields and walked around for a while and we run into Adam. The poor guy cant avoid me it seems. The poor guy has been suffering last few days as Tom Lyons hasnt been at work and therefore im scheduling ALL of Smithfield and Warwick Farm and consequently, I havnt been able to spend any time teaching Adam.

Anyhows, Linh and I continued our stroll around Westfields and kept chatting away and its days like this that I wonder why I dont attempt to take our friendship to another level but I guess her bad habits still deter me. People ask me what am I waiting for as she is such a smart and pretty girl and that if I dont make a move, someone else surely will. If thats the case, then I am willing to accept that... who knows maybe in the next few months I can sort out the confusion that resides in my mind when it comes to Linh.

Wedding Celebration

2005-11-13T11:02:00.000+11:00

Yesterday was Tony's wedding and it was an enjoyable day for all involved. Due to other commitments I was unable to attend the morning celebration. The reception at night was at Monte Carlo, not a bad looking place as far as westie Asian restaurents are concerned. There were probably 40 tables but only 3 tables were set aside for our group so there were a lot of relatives and family friends. Tony and Anna looked really good and the pics they took out on Anzac bridge that were on display looked heaps great. Apparently it was done by some professional who took them out for the day to take heaps of scenic pictures.

The bottle above was the only alcohol I drank all night, definately good stuff and it goes down quite well. Maybe thats why it costs a heap more than your standard spirit. That extra refinement means that it doesnt hit you as harshly and you can keep drinking it. We went through a few bottles and I had to buy another one off the restaurent bar to get us through the night. That was in addition to the endless VB and white wine that was already getting served. Nobody got really trashed, besides Louis who as the best man had to help Tony do the rounds or else the poor groom would not make it through the night. It was quite amusing watching the reactions of some people who have not been to a Vietnamese style wedding before, it was a bit of culture shock for them I think. From the loud Vietnamse live music to the rowdiness of drunk Vietnamse guys, its not something other people see all that often. Hoc's girlfriend who is of white Australian descent found it very interesting and she had a good time. While Cindy who is of Hong Kong Chinese descent thought it was really funny and lame at times. For somebody like me, it was just another run of the mill wedding.

The food was good, not the top notch menu but not the cheapskate menu either. There was crab, prawns and other seafood bits and pieces. I enjoyed the deep fried fish in tamarind sauce which is better than the usual steamed fish with soy sauce.

So all in all it was a good night spent with friends celebrating a special day.

Hmmm probably go get a hair cut today, getting a bit scruffy and starting to get hounded by people to get a hair cut.

Reality Bites

2005-11-10T21:30:00.000+11:00

People often get frustrated, angry or depressed about the things that happen during the course of each day yet some things happen that make it all seem so petty and irrelevent. I came over to Warwick Farm today as per normal and after a while, Janine comes over and motions me to come over to the costings department. I come over and there was Arvind, back from a few weeks off with some lymphatic disorder. The poor fella was alrite, but he sounded tired and lost rather gaunt. Apparently they had to cut out one of his lymph nodes in his neck and that the disease could take a year to fully flush out of his system and in the meantime, he could have sporadic sickness which initially put him into hospital. Here was a guy in his mid thirties, married with a couple of kids who seemed at the top of his game and to see him struck down like that really makes you step back and think about things.

Juicey Confusion

2005-11-06T10:47:00.000+11:00

Sunday morning listening to Taking Back Sunday - The Union and definately in a reflective mood. Last night was a strange affair, a tad frustrating and lacking purpose. It all started when Phil called me and told me were going to dinner in the city with some of the boys and Julie. He also told me Linh was coming, apparently she was coming up from Adelaide to live her for a while. That was news to me, as I havnt spoken to her in a long time... Anyway, I picked up To and went to Phil's place. Julie was running late and so were her friends so we sat around watching The Sopranos Season 2 DVD. Some of the lines from that show are hilarious, the dryness of the humour just cracks me up. Anyway, this went on for like 2 and a half hours before Julie shows up with her friends and Linh. I swear it felt like we were strangers now and I dont even know why we drifted apart. Anyway, they wanted to go clubbing but To wasnt up for it so drove him home then headed up to the city. Everyone else wanted to go straight to the club so me and Phil went had a quick meal at Hanabi across the road from Space. Gia Han and his chick dropped by to say hello. The line outside Space was massive, we jumped in with the others as they had been lining up for a while. The party was Juicey @ Space and it looked like your run of the mill asian R&B party.

Inside there were plenty of chicks and we all hit the grog, me drinking my now traditional JD and Red Bull. I was content to just float around, saying hello to people and just surveying the scene. Ran into some familiar faces, but overall there were a lot of different faces but that could be due to the fact that I havnt hit a club for a few months. Anyway, Julie and Linh were getting tanked quickly, Linh on her lethal red wine. Sometime in the night she grabs me, puts her arms around me and tells me she thought I had a gf now, and that her sister told her that I was involved with some girl. And that apparently was her reason for losing contact with me. I told her I just thought she was just being a snob. Anyway we spent a lot of time thru the night dancing closely and talking in between hugs. It was all a bit confusing, even more so when she was getting real close to Petrias towards the end of the night. I could never tell with her, especially when she drinks as she gets very touchy feely. But yeah, seeing her getting drunk reminded me of some of the reservation I had about her earlier this year before we started drifting apart. Anyway, its going to be strange having her stay here for at least the next 6 months.... maybe I should really push for a work transfer to Queensland and get away from it all.

The night ended up with me driving them back to Phils place where Petrias left his car. All I can say is, Julie is a bloody nuisance when she drinks. Every single time it happens, I end up getting the shits with her. Its like a split personality thing, completely different under the influence. The drive back couldnt finish quick enough and I was quite relieved when we got back to Phils place and I had the car back to myself for the rest of the drive home.

The OC

2005-11-05T09:44:00.000+11:00

After weeks of being hounded by Karolina and Janine about when the next episode of The OC will be available, I'll be able to bring a smile to their faces on Monday. The 3rd season started with 4 episodes before taking a 1 month hiatus, obviously something more important on that channel on American television. I wouldnt say that I was as fanatical about the show as some other people (maybe because I'm old and male) but there is something about it that makes you want to watch. Maybe its to perve on the chicks, or its the witty humour, or maybe its the drama (heh). Season 3 sees many changes involving our 4 main characters, the fallout from Marissa shooting Trey at the end of the 3rd season. This means that she has been expelled from private school and now finds herself at the local public school. Ryan was also expelled for punching the new Dean who has now been exposed of consorting with a female student at the end of the fifth episode.

On the parent front, Kirsten has returned from her alcohol induced rehab and seems to have escaped an attempted con, Charlotte Morgan, whom she met at the clinic. Charlotte has now turned her attention to Julie Cooper, vulnerable, broke with only the cash she made selling her old wedding ring. This will be an interesting subplot.

A highlight so far of the 4th season is the increased role of Summer. Besides being the resident bimbo with hilariously shallow lines, this season has seen Summer scheme and connive with Seth's help to defeat her enemies and help out Ryan and Marissa.

On a personal note, will be going out to dinner with some friends tonight and apparently Julie wants to go to Space nightclub for some reason. Not too sure if I want to at this stage, but we shall see. The car is in for its 6 months service and its going to cost me $240. Damn those car dealers know who to make money, service with us or you lose your 5 year warranty...

Where has this week gone?

2005-11-03T21:06:00.000+11:00

Time really does fly when you are busy and occupied. This week has really gone by quickly, tomorrow is already Friday!

Watched 2 episodes of the newest Grey Anatomy season last night and it was pretty reflective viewing. It appears the show is getting more dramatic, with relationships becoming the primary focus with some slapstick comedy being thrown in. I think its getting more 'girly' this season and definately aimed at a female audience. Despite this, it is still decent viewing as the storylines are well written and the characters are diverse and interesting. In the last episode it is finally revealed that Dr Derek 'McDreamy' Shepherd is getting back with his ex wife Addison which leaves Meredith shattered. It is funny watching Meredith hit the alcohol whilst waiting (in vain) for Derek to choose her. As this is happening, a train crash brings numerous trauma patients to the hospital and Meredith is barred from treating anybody until she sobers up. An interesting moral question is presented in the case where 2 people have been impaled on a metal pole as a result of the accident. Is it morally correct to sacrifice the life of one person in order to save the other? It is this question that a distraught Meredith battles with as the surgeons decide to make the sacrifice and rescue the less critical of the two. Definately a reflective moment and luckily a decision I would probably never need to make in real life!

The proposed government Industrial Reforms have been front page news lately, with the coalition looking to pass through their new laws whilst the opposition, unions and other factions look to block the inevitable. Two states, Queensland and NSW are looking to take the government to the High Court in an attempt to stop them imposing national laws throughout the states. From a workers pespective, the new laws look to push people away from award agreements and take away the power of the unions. Individual contracts could possibly forced upon each employee which gives companies greater powers and opens the door for potential dismissal cases. In all fairness, the new laws look to promote growth and efficiency. If a worker is a superstar, then they can be rewarded and on the same token, a company would not have to put up with lazy or useless employees. Personally I think the laws will get passed but it will be interesting to see what kind of fight is put up by all parties involved. Already, a national rally is planned on the 15th on this month to protest against the changes.

Viva Diva

2005-11-01T20:16:00.000+11:00

Makybe Diva has entered the horse racing hall of fame after winning her 3rd consecutive Melbourne Cup. The sentimental favourite came down the home stretch, roaring past the field finishing a few lengths ahead of her rivals. It was a superb race from jockey Glen Boss, and the great horse showed her remarkable acceleration down the straight.

It was the usual warwick farm madness at 3pm with snacks and booze in the boardroom as everyone watched the race. It truly is the race that stops a nation when even workaholic Robert meanders upstairs to socialise. My immediate future between smithfield and warwick farm seems even murkier today despite reaching a decision yesterday that smithfield needed me to do my job and that warwick farm would find somebody else to fill in until Adam gets trained. And thats what I pretty much wanted, Smithfield needs my full attention whereas warwick farm will survive as long as Robert is around. Robert working in tandem with myself is a pretty good combination but Robert's overbearing personality will ensure whoever attempts to plan warwick farm will have to do so his way. So after figuring that this was going to happen, Robert tells me today he spent an hour with Richard Pratt in the morning promoting me and once again putting me on a pedestal to try and keep me at warwick farm. He reckons he has secured my future with the company and that I will go a long way and I dont doubt that his opinion carries much weight with Richard. Robert was the one that Richard turned to when he picked Simon to fill the factory manager roll at Smithfield. So this puts me in a pretty pickle, and once again its all up in the air.

Geez, for turning 25 and getting out of the young and dangerous driver age bracket, I get to save $21 a month on my car insurance. Granted it is a high powered sports car and thief magnet, $2300 odd dollars a year is still a large sum of money. But then again, who is brave enough not to carry insurance these days? People with cheaper cars can get away with 3rd party cover but with a $50,000 car the risk is way too high (even for a punter like me) to take.

How To Back A Winner ?

2005-10-30T12:55:00.000+11:00

Well, its 1pm Sunday and I can say I've made it through the weekend unscathed. Only got a family dinner tonight which will be good, nice and relaxing. Tony's bucks was good but as I predicted, nowhere near has hectic or crazy as some of the others I've been to.

The day started out at Rosehill racecourse, its not often we got out before midday but most people managed to get to the racecourse before 11am. We had a pretty good spot with seats and umbrellas which was a godsend as it was very sunny and warm. It was quite an experience for me as it was the first time that I've been to the races, in fact, it was the first time for many of us. I was very impressed with the atmosphere and it is true, the races is an opportunity for the ladies to frock up and drink champagne! All the girls there were in nice outfits while the blokes were a mixed bag, some were very formal, some were there in shorts and t-shirts. I also came to the realisation how easy it is for people to get drunk and behave badly at race meetings. Like you read about it happening in the gossip magazines but being there in the flesh, you can just about predict it happening for a high percentage of people. Champagne was flowing for the ladies, while beer was guzzled up by the gents. Add that to the sunny weather and there would be quite a few people nursing sore heads this morning.

The only downside to the race meet was that we didnt back a single winner. Like if you only betting small like us, you cant really bet on the favourite because it would not pay much if it wins. But betting on a horse with slightly higher odds means theres everychance you are just throwing money away. Maybe I need to study the form guide or something before the next time we go to the races...

Dinner was a quick and of no fan fair at Tingha palace in Parramatta. Whoever ordered was being conservative I think because there wasnt much seafood nor pricey stuff. I was a bit disappointed because it was Tones bucks, I would've been willing to pay that little more to ensure he had a proper feast to remember. After dinner we went up to the city to continue the festivals, this time without any of the girls. As promised, what happens at a bucks nite, stays at the bucks nite so I cant go into too much detail but I can say that it was a pretty decent night. And most importantly, Tony had a good time so we can't ask for anything more!

Been listening to a song called Drive by Funeral For A Friend this morning. Highly recommended.

Something In The Air

2005-10-27T20:52:00.000+10:00

Definately something not right with the air at warwick farm. The amount of people sick is rather disturbing. First with Merveille getting complications with her pregnancy, then Jackie getting pregnant and having a miscarriage yesterday. Then today, learnt that Arvind has some kind of rare cancer. It has taken the doctors about 10 days to diagnose him since he was admitted to hospital one night in a very poor state. Had Larry off yesterday suffering from severe asthma and to top it off I've got a mild cold from the crazy weather changes. All very uncanny and rather ominous, people are already suggesting I wear a gas mask each day that I venture to warwick farm. I think Daniella would break down if I was to take days off work. Smithfield would probably get by but warwick farm would definately struggle especially with nobody else capable of working with Robert.

1 more day until the weekend, probably stay home tomorrow night and save energy for a big one on Saturday. It is Tony's bucks day/night, apparently we are going to the races during the day, out for dinner and then the boys will go out and cause some mischief at night. Don't think it'll be as hectic as Richie's bucks night but then again, this is by far a much tamer crowd.

Yes, its only Tuesday

2005-10-25T20:31:00.000+10:00

Another draining day, Smithfield is really struggling to meet budget targets this month whilst warwick farm is cruising along nicely, we'll meet budget and probably nudge record production figures at the same time and we're not even operating at maximum capacity. Feel a little helpless that I'm not spending enough time looking at Smithfield and doing my best to get us over the line. Glenn and Tom combined are pretty good but they arent willing to take risks in order to increase productivity and now that Glenn is temporarily supervising the design department as well, he can't spend as much time scheduling which in turn hurts us even more. There is only so much I can do in the 3 hours I spend there each morning and the limited amount of time I spend remotely logged in from warwick farm.

On a more relaxing note, got a stack of new albums to listen to at the moment. Some not bad punk stuff mixed in with mainstream pop.

Taking Back Sunday - Where You Want To Be

This is actually not as 'loud' as their other album and some of the songs are more slow rock than punk.

Fall Out Boy - From Under The Cork Tree

A well rounded album with good guitar sounds and beats.

The Veronicas - The Secret Life Of

The rest of this album is more mellow and probably not us energetic as their first single 4ever. It is more easy, unobtrusive listening than a standout album.

Rogue Traders - Here Come The Drums

None of the songs are as catchy as the immensely popular Voodoo Child. This album presents Neighbours star Natatlie Bassingthwaighte as the lead vocalist for the group and she does quite a good job. Seems like she is a lady of many talents, soap star, stage actress and now lead vocalist (albeit for a dance group).

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Its only 9pm and feeling sleepy... well drained. Maybe I'll watch next episode of Grey's Anatomy or just listen to music and fall asleep. The problem with sleeping early is that I wake up too early and just lie in bed and the cycle starts again because I only need 5-6 hours sleep, so the next night I'll be sleepy again at an early hour.

Monday Again

2005-10-24T20:59:00.000+10:00

The start of another week... its going to be another hectic working week. Going to be dividing my time between Smithfield and Warwick Farm again.... 3 hours at smithfield then rest of the day at warwick farm. As expected Robert was trying to get me over to the farm nice and early, granted that they did have problems this morning. At the moment, I feel like a part time smithfield employee and a full time warwick farm employee which is the scenario I wanted to get away from when I took the offer to go over to smithfield. With Merveille getting pregnant and Adam just starting out in production, Im basically the only one who can run warwick farm and work with Robert which limit my options at the moment. Going to give this another few weeks before sitting down with the head honchos and deciding where they want to go with this centralised scheduling plan.

The weekend news has been dominated by two stories, the threat of bird flu and the accident involving former Wallaby captain Phil Kearns. It is alleged that Kearns ran over his 20 month old baby in the driveway of his home accidently whilst at the wheel of his 4WD vechicle. Don't get me wrong, it is a tragic and sad occurrence and my sympathy goes out to the Kearns family and best wishes for little Angie. However, it is the coverage given to this particular case which kind of disappoints me. These type of accidents have happened numerous times before but since this time it involves a national sporting icon, the media have decided to flog it to death. What about all those other children and their families who have been involved in such tragic accidents ?????

Commander In Chief

2005-10-23T12:03:00.000+10:00

Was at home last nite and watched the 4th episode of new series on American television - Commander In Chief. After 4 episodes I gotta say I'm quite impressed. It stars Geena Davis playing Mackenzie Allen as the first ever woman president, however it is the manner in how she attains the position which has made the first few episodes very interesting. The previous president suffered a stroke and as his vice president, Mac is next in line. However, everyone is calling for her to step aside, including the president. Everyone is of the point of view that Mac was only made vice president to gain the feminist vote and that the top job was not within her reach. Donald Sutherland stars as Nathan Templeton, Speaker of the House who also harbours his own ambitions for the top job. After a curt meeting with Templeton, Mac gains the resolve to take on the job and does so when the current president passes away.

One of the main things that make Commander in Chief such compulsive viewing is all the political maneuvering and deals that occur behind the scenes in the American government (in fact, any world government for that matter). The characters all seem very real, each with their own ambitions, fears and unique personalities. Mac juggles her new job whilst still trying to be a wife and mother to her 3 kids. Nathan Templeton is a hateable antagonist, scheming, fake and very arrogant. There is no denying that he wishes Mac to fail and that he wants the top job for himself and you can believe that he would stop at nothing to see that happen.

I hope that this show continues and eventually makes it to Australia and that the networks here give it a fair go. The West Wing is a great show but it has been lost in Australia due to inconsistent late night programming. There are far worse shows that screen during prime time here in Australia.

First Post

2005-10-22T09:56:00.000+10:00

Hmmmm a re-entry into the world of blogging. It has probably been 2 years since my last blog, that last effort was a crude html page hosted by my old dialup ISP. This blogging service looks alright for a freebie. So far its been easy to use so maybe this blog will actually last ....

Went to the motorshow on Thursday night. Some of the boys were supposed to come but the crap weather and a clash with a surprise bday dinner meant on the 2 car enthusiasts ended up going, Dave and myself! Drove up straight from work, still wearing my metal capped work boots and all. Got to Chinatown, lost $30 bucks on pokies, met up with Dave, had a quick dinner at market city and it was the walk in the drizzle to darling harbour.

The show is now $17 for entry, easy money for the organisers! The main highlight of the show was the massive Maybach and ofcourse the ferraris. However, it was mitsubishi who stole the show, not because of their snazzy new 380 series or even the pocket rocket EVO... it was the ladies they had promoting their cars. We are talking about model types wearing not all that much strutting around the cars! It all made sense as to why the mitsubishi stand had so many people hanging around!

Anyway after the motorshow, Dave went to meet up with the others, i just wasnt bothered so went home. Made a stop on the way home, but thats a story for another time when I decide what I want to publish on this blog.