Ali's Birthday

Tonight was my friend Ali's birthday party. Just drinks at a pub near his work, but an excellent chance to get together.

Ali and I were lovers way back in the day, so long ago now that I can barely recall it. Yet I'd been thinking recently about what makes people attractive to us, and looking at Ali, I still can't quite explain it. Objectively, Ali is balding, slightly pudgy, incredibly pale, and has a skin condition, excema, that makes his skin red and scabby all the time. Yet, as the night wore on and the drinks were poured, he wrapped an arm around my waist and drew me into him, and all of a sudden I remembered why I'd first fallen into bed with him. The chemistry of physical attraction is an alchemy that makes no sense to me.

I arrived when there were only two other people there, so we made a happy little foursome as more people from Ali's work arrived. Eventually the table was absolutely filled with young consultants, although when I tried to talk to them, they really couldn't seem to talk about anything besides work. Eventually I just got tired of it, and spoke to the few older folks there, who seemed to actually have lives outside of work.

Ali asked me about my own romantic life, and I had to admit that I was going through an incredible dry spell, as there just don't seem to be any guys catching my interest, or me theirs. Ali suggested I talk to some of the guys there, but then admitted that most of them were in relationships anyway. I ended up chatting to a guy for a bit whose father was the head of MI-6, and he was a rather nice chap, although when he didn't seem interested in pursuing anything, I just let it go.

I spent most of my time talking to a married guy from Cambridge who was in the process of moving to LA. Turns out he'd been to Downing and knew my friend Zhan, but I couldn't remember his name. I think I was distracted by the fact that this guy seemed to be the most flamingly gay guy I'd ever met, but yet apparently he was married? I'd be really interested to see where that one is at in 10 years...

As the evening wore on, I have to admit it was a bit funny as all of the boys started drinking whiskey, and I was surrounded by the lovely fumes of Laphroig whilst I was stuck drinking white wine. {Sigh!} Although I guess I should be glad that they left me off the hard stuff, as Ali was probably having some difficulty after all of the drinks people were buying him!

I hadn't been wearing a watch all evening, so you can't believe my shock when they started turning on all of the lights in the bar...would you believe it was after midnight? The Tubes were all already gone, so it was time to take a cab home.

Ali, the gay-seeming married guy, and I all agreed to share a cab, but it was funny because you could tell that Ali just wanted to share a cab with me and only me. I think we were enjoying this time for just the two of us to be alone, connect and catch-up, in a way we hadn't been able to in a long time. Still, we were going to drop that guy off first, so we went with it. But first we had to stop into Ali's office so he could pick up some things.

So we went into the darkened office, and Ali used his pass to get me in, and then I had fun bouncing around the office, which....looked exactly like mine. I guess there must be something about consulting firms! Only bonus was that they had free Diet Coke, so Ali very graciously gave me a can to take home. I guess showing how much white wine I'd had, I was VERY excited by this!

We then caught a cab, and dropped off the first guy, and then made my way on to my place. And here's the thing: Ali and I love each other dearly, and as I kissed him good-bye, we both knew the same thing: We'd never do anything together, because Ali is engaged, and we're both actually incredible romantics at heart who hide it well. I adore Ali's fiancee, and I think she's a very lucky girl, engaged to a guy who will always value their relationship above all things.

And yet, there is that wonderful sense of connection that we have I think precisely because we once were lovers, as I don't experience anything like it with any of my other male friends, no matter how close we are. As soon as I'm near Ali, it's like the whole universe goes warm and fuzzy.

So we kissed and hugged, said goodnight, and before I was even at my door there was a text from him saying, "Next time, drinks are on me!" I'm so lucky to know a guy like that. What a lovely night.

A Day in the Office

I came into the office yesterday for a "Women's Networking Breakfast". When it comes to the boys, they always do these things as drinks after work, but when it's women they always have to happen at the crack of dawn, as all of the women have to dash out of the office after work to go home to their kids.

It was annoying to have to get up at the crack of dawn and get dressed up to go into the office, but it was a decent enough hour-and-a-half, and it reminded me that I was long overdue for a chat with my mentor. The breakfast wasn't much to speak of (some danishes, yogurt and granola), but at least it got me going for the morning.

It was nice too that they had name badges for everyone, but I was surprised when I sat down and the girl next to me greeted me with the enthusasm of someone who obviously knows me, and I couldn't see her name badge! I greeted her with the same enthusiasm, whilst frantically trying to think, "How on earth do I know this girl?" Luckily she pretty quickly picked up on my confusion and said, "Tom's wife."

I was embarassed, but with relief exclaimed, "Suzy! Of course!!" Given that I'd never seen her in the office before, perhaps I can be forgiven for the lack of context, but it was still a real slip-up, given that I'd been to dinner with this girl before and knew her reasonably well. Oh well, must try harder in the future.

The talks were okay, although I did note that once again one of the senior manager women there was an unmarried, childless woman. She talked about how she'd never intended to rise so high in the organization, because she'd intended to be home with babies. She of course (as most people do) argued that she had no regrets, but I wonder if my company realises how scary it is to see these women, and know what kind of lifestyle creates a future where you're unmarried with no kids. People always say to me, "Oh don't worry, of course a girl like you will get married!" but it's hard to keep the faith when you see so much evidence to the contrary all around you.

After the breakfast was finally over (at 1.5 hours, it had gone on for at least a half-hour too long), I thought about going back to Old Bailey to work, but since I was in Fenchurch Street anyway, why not find a desk there? So I asked Suzy to direct me to a desk booking terminal, found a desk on the 7th floor, and went up there to find Camille working there, so it was nice to see another familiar face. Then IM'd my friend Nat (who usually works on the 7th floor of Fenchurch Street) to let her know I was around, and was surprised when not 2 minutes later, she popped up by my desk!

We made plans to get lunch, which was a welcome break at that point in the day. She hasn't been running lately due to her horticulture class, and so it was nice to just have a chance to talk and catch up. An hour passed way too quickly.

Finally I got through the day (even managed to make a file download that I needed!) and headed out. I was surprised to get a text as I was walking out of the office, from ER, asking me if I was coming to Putney. Turned out she wanted me to come to the West London hash, but I never go to that, so it was on homeward for me!

Just spent the evening watching the final UK leaders debate with Emily. David Cameron's policies on immigration make me nervous, but I have to admit, aside from that one issue that would affect me, he makes a lot of sense. So, I guess I just have to hope that he won't manage to move too fast on immigration policy, and I'll have enough time to become a citizen before the rules change!

Emily was also telling me about how she and her boyfriend, Will, had their first real serious conversation about "the future", where they started talking about plans a year out, rather than just next month. It's kind of exciting, although I have to admit scary for me, who feels a bit left behind by the whole thing. Oh well, it's really wonderful to see two people falling in love around me, so I just have to stomp down any feelings of schauenfreude (it's so unattractive anyway), and just be happy for Emily. There's not enough love in the world, so it's so wonderful to see it around me!

Dinner with ER or the Importance of Immigration

I got up at the crack of dawn to go out shopping for a new ADSL converter box, in the hopes that it would fix our internet problems. For having to go into the office all of the time was pretty quickly driving me crazy.

It was kind of interesting to be out and about at that early hour, and also surprising to see how many shops were open. I was surprised when I had to go all of the way to Hammersmith to find the right thing, but eventually I got it, thank goodness!

This of course did not immediately fix all problems, so I had to buy a connection to a BT hotspot, but this is where living in a densely populated city comes in handy: There's always internet access somewhere nearby!

In the midst of all of my technical juggling, I was surprised to get a call from Neighbour Guy. I'd texted him whilst I was in Australia with the contact info of a friend who worked in CR consuling, at which point he told me that he was moving out and going to surf in Indonesia for a while. I'd texted him again when I got back from Australia, but didn't hear anything in reply, so I didn't think much of it.

Now, here was a call out of the blue to ask a favour: Apparently his flight to Indonesia was that afternoon, and he was packing up and moving out, and had forgotten to print his boardng pass. Could he come over and use my printer? Well sure, except that my printer only prints in red at the moment, I still need to buy some more ink. In the end, he called back to say he thought he could figure something else out, but I just had to laugh at the whole thing: He's really a nice chap, but boy does he need to get his head on straight! Still, I wish him well in Indonesia and hope he "finds himself" or whatever he's trying to do...

In the evening, I met up with ER at my club for dinner, which was nice just to get to my club and relax for a bit. Although I have to admit, although I'd only had a bit of salmon for lunch, I just wasn't hungry at all. So dinner was actually somewhat painful, as I sat through two courses of food I didn't really feel like eating. What a relief when ER said she'd like to pass on dessert!

Still, it was nice to catch up and chat, although much of the conversation was about her recent immigration troubles. She's now facing the prospect of potentially being kicked out of the UK over a minor paperwork error, but I guess it shows once again the importance of paying attention to these things. I've been reading so much about how women will bury their heads in the sand when it comes to their finances, hoping that their husbands (or someone else) will take care of it, and in this case it was a similar thing. She didn't pay attention, assuming her employers were handling it, and everything got screwed up. Made me think once again about what I will do about my own immigration status once my work permit expires...seems like I should be talking to a lawyer sooner rather than later, and burying my head in the sand is NOT an option. She seemed shaky at even discussing the prospect of having to leave the UK, and I have to admit that would make my stomach turn over too. The idea of being banned from the UK would just be too awful to contemplate.

We dashed through the library so I could pick up a book, and then eventually made our way out of the club. It was a lovely dinner and a lovely time, although my fingers are crossed that things work out well for her!

Running in Green Park

As usual, it was time for the weekly Tuesday run...

I arrived a bit late, but still managed to collect money from some people before it was time to head out on the run. I was surprised to see the Giant Australian there, as I hadn't seen him in at least six months, since Lex's leaving party. I greeted him warmly, trying to at least set the tone that despite whatever weirdness may have happened that last night we'd seen each other, I was still happy to see him. Maybe he didn't even remember, but it was such a surprise, after six months with no word, to just see him pop up out of nowhere.

The run itself was okay, a lovely day to be out for a run, a warm summer's evening running through Hyde Park just as the sun was setting. It was one of those glorious runs that reminds you of how beautiful London really is.

We arrived back at the pub, where at the bar I felt horribly embarrassed to order a lime and soda water, pay for it with a £20 note, and from the change I got back I realised that the drink had cost less than 20p. As I was standing there at the bar, Princess shouted out to me, "Adi! Meet Joe!" and pointed to another chap at the opposite end of the bar. Just as I was wondering why on earth he wanted me to meet this guy, he said, "You're both Cambridge losers!"

It took me a while to make it over to the Cambridge man, where I found that not only did we both go to Cambridge, we went to the same college! So of course, we got into an excited discussion about Magdalene, although it sounds like I'm much more of a Cambridge enthusiast than he is.

Of course, after he said he was there from 1996-2000, I realised he must be right about my age, perhaps a year or two older. And so of course, with these fundamentals in common, one thinks, "Could I go for this guy?" I mean, on the basics he had it, from the education to the age...but....well....no, not quite. I think it was mostly a self-confidence thing, as it was obvious that I was just way more self-confident than he was, having to approach him first, keep the conversation going, and all of that. I talked to him a bit about the O&C and Magdalene in the City events, and so I guess I'll have to try and do my best to introduce him to things and get him involved a bit.

We then survived the evening circle, where I talked to the Cambridge man for a bit, before realising he could well talk to others, so I went and chatted with the Giant Australian for a bit. Just once again good to connect and catch-up, and I guess reaffirm that we're cool....even though it's still a bit confusing to me what the heck happened when we last met.

Finally, ER indicated that she'd like to head out, so I figured I should use the opportunity to get home too. Gave Princess a kiss because it was his birthday, and then escaped to get home for the night!

London Marathon

My friend Zhan was running in the London Marathon this weekend, and came down to stay with me on Saturday. Luckily, I'd escaped the worst of a hangover, so I managed to make it to the gym and to the post office, and even got home again and showered, before he arrived to drop off his stuff and head out again to the pre-marathon expo. We had a pretty chilled evening, as he wanted to expend as little energy as possible before the marathon. So I cooked dinner and we did nothing much, before heading in for an early bedtime.

In the morning Zhan headed out before I was even up, so I made my way to Tower Hill, where the course looped back on itself at the 13 and 22 mile markers. There I found the hash beer table, where they were handing out beer to the marathon runners at the 22-mile mark. (Yes, the hash has different ideas about serious running than other people do).

I was quite pleased with myself when amidst all of the pack of runners constantly whipping by, I managed to spot my friend Zhan. Even more amazing, I managed to whip out my camera and even fire off a few shots as he went by, although it was pretty obvious that he hadn't seen me.

I stayed around for a bit longer, before it became pretty clear that there wasn't anyone I wanted to see there, and the hashers were all just the annoying old guys. So I left and made my way to the finish line, although it took ages to fight my way through all of the crowds! At least I got a few dorky photos for a work contest we're having, taking a photo of my team lead in front of Buckingham Palace.

I finally managed to make it to the meet-up area, where we all took a photo of our group with Zhan, and then went on to get something to eat. We ended up at a Nando's, which was actually pretty good, and then Zhan bought me lunch. It was a long lunch with everyone talking about this and that, but mostly giving Zhan an opportunity to revel in his victory.

Finally, we headed out, and I took Zhan home, stopping on the way at my gym to pick out a movie. (Who knew that my gym rented movies for free? Although how cool is that?) So we came home, I cooked dinner, and we did nothing much. A great way to finish off a marathon day!

Casino Night

Friday night was a James Bond-themed "Casino Night" at the Royal Automobile Club, which I had been looking forward to for some time. I wore my mother's cape that I'd brought back over from my last visit to the US, and it was absolutely the perfect thing, I wish I'd gotten a picture of myself in it!

I thought I'd left my house just in time to arrive perfectly on time, but found I was running 10 minutes early, so I stopped in at my own club, the O&C, next door. It turned out that I wasn't the only one who had that idea, and I ran into Elana as I was in the bathroom checking my make-up, and then found Doro and her friend Katie at the bar. It's so nice going somewhere that's right next to your club, as it makes things so convenient!

We arrived at the club and immediately I greeted tons of people I knew, including the Inter-Club president and the Social Scottish Guy. I spotted the Italian guy and Tristain talking with another shorter guy, and when I came over to greet them they somehow got themselves involved in conversation with each other, while I got stuck talking to the shorter guy. This wouldn't be so bad except for the fact that the more I stood near the short guy, the more apparent it became that he smoked. The smell was absolutely killing me after a while, and I'm sure I was slightly rude when I made my excuses that I'd spotted some other friends I needed to go talk to, but I just couldn't stand the smell!

I went back to talking to Doro and her boyfriend for a bit, and introduced Doro to Social Scottish Guy, pointing out that he was someone she should know. Social Scottish Guy then took some pictures of all of us, including quite a few of just me alone. Doro whispered to me later that she thought Social Scottish Guy fancied me, but I just laughed it off. I mean, he's a lovely chap and all, but well, just not my type...

I spotted Fiona and went over to chat to her for a bit, but didn't get to talk long before we were called in for dinner. When I got to the table, I found that my usual plan of sitting with strangers had obviously back-fired, as I found myself sitting next to the really annoying girl from the O&C who I'd been horribly rude to at the Farmer's Club dinner in February, and another girl, and American who barely talked to me.

At least it was almost a relief to realise that things were so lacking in potential from the outset, as then I just steeled myself to be relentlessly charming, because what else can you do? Given that there were no cute boys there and the dinner was proving to be a painful slog, I figured that perhaps I might be not quite so strict about my usual "no getting drunk" rule. I hadn't had more than a glass or two of wine in ages, perhaps getting a bit tipsy to survive the dull conversation wouldn't be the worst thing ever?


Usual plan of sitting with strangers has obviously back-fired. Sitting next to annoying girl from O&C, and another girl. Oh well, be relentlessly charming, because what else can you do? Survive dinner. Focus on drinking loads of wine, given that it's obvious no cute boys are there and dinner is painful.

After dinner, I escaped my table (where I had to admit, things had turned out to be mildly amusing as people had more wine), and joined Doro and her boyfriend's table. I have to admit, I hadn't usually given Doro's boyfriend much regard, but she pretty much left us talking whilst she went on and did her own thing, and I had to admit that he was a swell guy. I can see why she likes him.

I went over to the tables to try and do some fake gambling, but I couldn't find a spot at the tables, so I found myself just talking to random people instead. It was definitely a night where "the usual crowd" was there, so there were plenty of people I knew to talk to.

I found myself talking to Doro a bit, where we discovered that we also both don't have pierced ears (she was admiring my clip-on earrings), and we ended up talking about what "my type" is when it comes to boys, and I had to confess that it's frequently British public schoolboys, yet they're all so incompetent when it comes to talking to girls!

I then got myself involved in conversation with the same fascinating young Scottish chap I'd been talking to at drinks a few weeks ago, and he was just as fascinating as ever, yet he also seemed just as oblivious as ever to my interest. Annoying.

I then found myself in conversation with Italian Guy, who I'd met at the Burns Night supper in January. I was surprised to learn then, as we were talking, that at the age of 32, he was actually divorced with two children! Married at 25, and divorced already by 32, I was absolutely stunned. And so we spent some time talking about how he felt some of the girls there were just too young (indeed, some are only 25), who would want to do the whole marriage and kids thing again, whereas he was really looking for someone who was hopefully divorced with their own kids as well, as he didn't want to have any more. It was kind of scary to realise that at such a tender age, one could have done the marriage and kids thing and already be failed and out the other side. Yet it was a wonderful conversation, almost like we'd reached a truce, having determined that we're not suited for one another, and now we're the best of friends. I don't think I've ever enjoyed a conversation with him more.

I chatted to Fiona a bit as well and was surprised to discover that she's 36 and has never been married, as she seems like such a lovely girl. Eventually we all headed over to the dance floor, where I spotted the girl who had given me travel advice for Australia, and I took the opportunity to thank her for it and talk about my wonderful trip.

Eventually the dance floor upstairs closed, and the Inter-Club president ushered us all downstairs to the Long Bar for drinks. As we walked down the stairs, in our drunken conversation, Social Scottish Guy was referring to me as his favourite auntie, but I insisted on "cousin" as it seemed more same-age like. Social Scottish Guy protested and declared that he was too old age age 30, but I smiled and told him that I was 30 as well. He seemed genuinely shocked, saying he had me only pegged as being 25. Perhaps it's childish, but I was flattered.

Social Scottish Guy then bought me a drink, and as we stood there talking to people, I suddenly realised I'd had too much to drink. This is, of course, the danger of not keeping a careful eye on how much you're drinking, because by the time you realise it, you're often too far gone. I desperately tried to drink all of the water I could get my hands on, but it was astonishing how hard it was to sober up. I then found myself just sitting there with the world spinning, just feeling very annoyed with myself and hating the feeling of being drunk. I just couldn't seem to find enough water to get rid of the miserable spinning feeling.

I shared a cab home with Social Scottish Guy, and when we got to the Caledonian, he invited me in for a night-cap, but in my intoxicated state I didn't even recongize it for the come-on it probably was, but just protested that whilst I might be tempted, I'd better head home. In truth, it was just that the thought of more alcohol was making me ill.

In the morning, I was actually surprised to find I'd avoided the worst of a hangover, and the only noticeable effects were that I'd gone to bed without undoing my hair, and that I'd missed the 9 AM Body Pump Class. Yet since I made it to the 11 AM class, how bad is that really?

Still, even if it wasn't a technical violation of the "No Hangover Rule", it definitely was a reminder of the virtues of drinking in moderation and sobriety. So back on the wagon I go!

Syndey with Nyrie

I've travelled a lot all over the world, but there was one continent left on my list: Australia! With so many friends suddenly there, and cheap tickets on offer from Cathay Pacific, I booked my flight, and was ready to at last see the land Down Under.

My trip nearly ended before it began however, when I got to the airport and made it through check-in, security, and was at the final gate check before boarding when the attendant said, "I'm sorry, but we have you on a DO NOT BOARD list. When did you apply for your visa?"

Visa? What visa? Australia is part of the visa waver programme, so I should be able to just show up at the airport and get a tourist visa, right?

Apparently not. So there was some panicked scurrying around, where the woman took £25 from me and cash and dissappeared, and then with just minutes before the flight was due to board, scanned my passport, and I was cleared to board. Hurrah!

But let that be a lesson to everyone: ALWAYS check the visa requirements for any country you are visiting BEFORE you buy the ticket!

The flight was fine, as I watched "Quantum of Solace" and "New York, I Love You", and actually managed to get some sleep. I had a bit of a hiccup in Hong Kong when I had to go through security again, and the tweezers that had been fine to come from London (and had been on many flights before) were suddenly deemed "too sharp."

Because I was tired and annoyed, I insisted on being allowed to check my bag (I didn't want to give those greedy thieves my tweezers), but was told that I would have to formally enter Hong Kong through immigration. I wonder if they were a bit surprised that I actually did, although I wish I could have had a time stamp on my entrance and exit stamps, as I was in Hong Kong for only 15 minutes!

I finally made it to Sydney, where the immigration officer actually greeted me by saying "G'Day!" That just made me giggle with excitement, that I was finally in Australia!

I managed to get a green stamp that allowed me to skip customs (no idea why, this random guy just approached me and stamped my customs form), and my old friend from Oxford, Nyrie, met me at the airport with no problems. After quickly showering and changing at her flat, we spent our first day wandering around Sydney, seeing the big sights like the Opera House, Hyde Park (they have one here too!) the Queen Victoria Building, and just getting to know the city.

On Saturday we drove down to Nyrie's parents' house, who are lovely people. We went on a hike in the Royal National Park, along some spectacular cliffs with incredibly cool rock formations, and hiked down to this beach cove where we were the only people there. Went for a swim, although kept a careful eye out for sharks the entire time! (It's crazy, along the public beaches they have helicopters that patrol, and if they spot sharks from above, an alarm sounds and it's everybody out of the water. When I first saw the helicopters at a public beach this morning, asked about it, now think that Aussie's are nuts for swimming with sharks!)

Then on Sunday we went to a park where we got to feed kangaroos, pet koalas, and see lots more of Australia's native animals. Had some brightly coloured birds taking apart my hair. There are these white parrots with gold crests that look like they belong in an exotic pet store, and they just hang out on the electrical wires like pigeons. (People seem to hate them like pigeons too, because they are smart enough to talk, so you hear randon "Hello!"s on the street, and they know how to open zipper backpacks to get to the food. Nyrie's mother was telling me about how they only eat the seeds from their lemons on their lemon tree, pretty much just destroying the fruit, which is annoying.

There were also magpies that would come to the back door and sing a kind of funny song, and then Nyrie's mother would give them little bits of meat that she had saved in the freezer for them. I find people's relationship with nature a bit bizarre here, as people don't step on spiders, but instead give them names. And they save meat in the freezer for the birds.

As our final activity before we drove back to Sydney, we went to Nyrie's mum's lawn bowling club, which was SURREAL. Tons of old ladies playing slot machines, and we actually won a tray full of meat in a "meat raffle". $10 buys you a bunch of chances, and we were so excited when we won. And then we got to pick out a giant tray of meat. I guess it's true what they say about Australians and their love of BBQ.

We then drove home along along this beautiful stretch of ocean road on a bridge built out from the side of the mountain, because after too many rockslides killed people, they decided it wasn't the best idea to have the road at the base of a mountain with tons of rock slides. Australians and their absolute imperviousness to danger is totally bizarre to me.

On Monday, Nyrie and I went out to Manly, a peninsula at the end of Sydney Harbour. (You have to realise, Sydney Harbour is not a perfectly round harbour, but more like a river-mouth. Sydney is actually about half-way up the river). It was fun as we got to take a ferry out there, and then we stopped for coffee, where I got a "flat white", apparently a classic Sydney experience. Having gone to the best coffee shop Nyrie knows of, I figured if I were ever going to life coffee, this would be it. Alas, after grimacing through a third of a cup, Nyrie took pity on me, bought me a Diet Coke, and drank the rest of the Flat White herself.

We then did some hiking around Manly, and then went snorkelling. It was a bit disorienting at first, as we were really out there, but then cool as we saw a parrot fish, bunches of fish in all colours, shapes, and sizes, and a grouper which was HUGE! Knowing that we were swimming in water with sharks freaked me out a bit, by Nyrie pointed out that they'd be likely to eat the surfers further out first. Still, every time we encountered a larger fish, I freaked at first!

When we went for lunch, our outdoor seating area backed up on a dress shop, and after looking at all of the dresses whilst we ate, we finally decided to go in and see what they had. Then, just to be silly, Nyrie found a lovely dress for me, and so I tried it on. And horribly, it looked fantastic on me. Like I need to spend $100 AUD on a dress, but I could actually see wearing it to club events, and it was just so nice to have something that wasn't boring black. Plus, the salesgirl was obviously bored, and so was showering attention on me, picking out the right shoes and earrings to go with the dress. (Although when she came at me with earrings obviously made for pierced ears, I just about yelped, "I don't have pierced ears!" before she could try to stick them in me. Which led to the interesting revelation that Nyrie doesn't have pierced ears either. How funny, that my friends would be just like me).

Then in the evening we went to the Shangri La hotel and had an over-priced drink, but it was totally worth it, as we were seated at a table with a gorgeous view of the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House all lit up at night. Then we went to dinner, and then to Orbit, this round building where the bar spins, and so you get to see all of the city that way. I think it's ,more cost-effective to buy over-priced drinks than pay admission to some observation deck!

On Tuesday it rained all day, thankfully the only day that it did the entire time I was in Australia. In the end I just walked through Chinatown, down through Darling Harbour, and then met up with Nyrie's brother-in-law who works at the Opera House. He gave me a private tour of the place which was really neat, although funny how much it forcused on the lighting challenges of the Opera House, given that he's the lighting manager there. So perhaps a bit different than the "official" tour, but really neat all the same!

On Wednesday the weather still wasn't great, but I managed to do bits of the Bondi to Cogee coastal walk, before going back on Thursday to see Bondi properly on a gorgeous sunny day. Bondi really was as lovely as everyone claims it to be, although I found that constantly fighting the surf out there was exhausting!

Still, the trip was great for another reason, as I passed a swimsuit shop that was selling 1950's-style suits, like I've always wanted to have. So I went in, and found an absolutely fantastic halter-neck one-piece that was almost exactly what I'd been mentally wanting for ages. So although it seemed bizarre to buy a swimsuit when I already had one, I bought it, knowing I would regret it if I didn't. Just another great souvenier from my time in Australia!