Put whipped cream on Jake's eyes and nose and he'll be The Amazing, Disappearing, Invisible Pooch!
Hi Kids!
Chloë: Just wondering if you passed along addresses and $5,000 Australian to Sarge? If not, please give to Flamin'! As well, please send along the black cord used for downloading from camera chip reader. Should be under the desktop, plugged in to a multi-USB fixture. It is the one with a USB connection on one end, and a small trapezoidal plug on the other. Again, no big deal if you can't find it. How is Mom?
Sarge: Onion's home phone is XXXX-XXXX. You don't need an area code calling from the airport.
Flamin': Did you receive/understand directions about taking a bus from airport to Spencer Street Train Station and then catching free shuttle service to downtown hotels? If not, let me know and I'll try to explain. However, it is pretty straightforward, according to Marysia, Ania's sister. Just ask for directions at airport and I'm sure you will be directed to right bus stop. Think fare is about $10.
Safe and comfortable flights to you both. Fondestos and Cheers, Patrizzio!
There is a $4,970 charge for bringing the goods. W
nice!!! lol
nice!!! lol
Getting ready to leave and trying to figure out if I need a jacket. W
Hi Sarge!
You probably won't receive this in time but I would bring a light jacket/rain shell of some sort. It might be coolish at times. Get Flamin' to bring something if you haven't already done so. Otherwise, you should be able to buy something quite fancy with the $4,000 + for muleage! Cheers, Patrizzio
10 hours to departure. Maltage any suggestions.
Hi again, Sarge!
I'm not sure if you will be able to buy any malt as I wasn't able to do so when we left Hong Kong! I had a GlenGrant, I think, that I'd never seen before and was waiting at the counter when clerk informed me that flights going to Australia disallowed liquor purchases! Whether this will be the same from YVR, I don't know. I would think so, however. That being said, you should be able to buy at Duty Free once you land, (You walk through shops en route to Baggage Claim and Customs/Immigration), although I was not overly impressed with the selection I found in Sydney. I had a bottle of Edradour, (no difficulty from YVR to HK), which we'd only had a few snorts from so I wasn't overly fussed about picking anything up. With your Millionaires Muleage, of course, you could buy the most expensive malt available and still pay for drinks for your section at the Grand Prix! Can't really go wrong with some higher end Glenmorangie, Lasanta or Nectar d'Or, Macallan Select Oak, Cask Strength or something from Highland Park. Not sure that any of those are available as I only did a quick scan of shelves. On the other hand , The Sisterhood might fancy a tipple of rum or vodka so perhaps that might be the way to go.
Did Chloë pass along the camera cord? If not and you still have time it should be in our bedroom tucked below desktop computer, plugged into a USB docking port. I can always buy another one here. I brought along what I thought was right adapter, power connection for new keypad. I simply assumed that it would work for camera chip reader but it has a different device end! I can download directly to my iPad but I have found that there are somethings I cannot do on it, or as easily, relative to my blogs, so I prefer a laptop or desktop when available. I'm using Ania's MacBook now, for example, as I want to update Kowloon Diaries. Perhaps Flamin' will be able to give me an iPad tutorial in Melbourne!
Could you let me know about cord as I'll pop by a store in Bondi Junction later today if you can't find it. Thanks. Cheers, Patrizzio!
I will pick the cord up. See you in Melbourne.
Thanks Sarge! Bon Voyage!
dad, gave envelope to Wayne with cash inside.
as for Penny and her friend i think they will have to stay in your room, as Brian's parents will be here i think at the same time and G&G said they could stay in their place. xx
Patrick James Dunn
Hi Sarge!
You probably won't receive this in time but I would bring a light jacket/rain shell of some sort. It might be coolish at times. Get Flamin' to bring something if you haven't already done so. Otherwise, you should be able to buy something quite fancy with the $4,000 + for muleage! Cheers, Patrizzio
10 hours to departure. Maltage any suggestions.
Hi again, Sarge!
I'm not sure if you will be able to buy any malt as I wasn't able to do so when we left Hong Kong! I had a GlenGrant, I think, that I'd never seen before and was waiting at the counter when clerk informed me that flights going to Australia disallowed liquor purchases! Whether this will be the same from YVR, I don't know. I would think so, however. That being said, you should be able to buy at Duty Free once you land, (You walk through shops en route to Baggage Claim and Customs/Immigration), although I was not overly impressed with the selection I found in Sydney. I had a bottle of Edradour, (no difficulty from YVR to HK), which we'd only had a few snorts from so I wasn't overly fussed about picking anything up. With your Millionaires Muleage, of course, you could buy the most expensive malt available and still pay for drinks for your section at the Grand Prix! Can't really go wrong with some higher end Glenmorangie, Lasanta or Nectar d'Or, Macallan Select Oak, Cask Strength or something from Highland Park. Not sure that any of those are available as I only did a quick scan of shelves. On the other hand , The Sisterhood might fancy a tipple of rum or vodka so perhaps that might be the way to go.
Did Chloë pass along the camera cord? If not and you still have time it should be in our bedroom tucked below desktop computer, plugged into a USB docking port. I can always buy another one here. I brought along what I thought was right adapter, power connection for new keypad. I simply assumed that it would work for camera chip reader but it has a different device end! I can download directly to my iPad but I have found that there are somethings I cannot do on it, or as easily, relative to my blogs, so I prefer a laptop or desktop when available. I'm using Ania's MacBook now, for example, as I want to update Kowloon Diaries. Perhaps Flamin' will be able to give me an iPad tutorial in Melbourne!
Could you let me know about cord as I'll pop by a store in Bondi Junction later today if you can't find it. Thanks. Cheers, Patrizzio!
Thanks Sarge! Bon Voyage!
as for Penny and her friend i think they will have to stay in your room, as Brian's parents will be here i think at the same time and G&G said they could stay in their place. xx
Patrick James Dunn
Not
to be contrary or overlook humour intended, but the Japanese, per
esempio, found that social media became inordinately powerful tools
during and in the aftermath of the most recent earthquake/tsunami which
devastated the country. It allowed
individuals to communicate and react in ways that conventional means of
communication did not allow, either because they were not functioning or
were not as flexible or dynamic. In fact, Tweeting about a fire might
help individuals caught in the conflagration.
Hi Tiptoe!
I've been calling all evening and your line has been busy! Give us a shout at Ania's: XXXX-XXXX. You can call until 10:30pm. I'll be up after that but Onion might be in bed after that. If you don't call tonight give us a shout after about 10:00am as Ania likes to sleep in!
Went back to Victoria Park Pool today and dis 2.5 miles so was pleased. Coriandre had spent the afternoon at Bondi Junction at Westfield. When I returned, just before 8:00pm, she had a delicious dinner of vermicelli rice noodles, (She is allergic to gluten!), topped with cherry tomatoes and thinly sliced breast of chicken. Went extremely well with the bottle of El Guardado 2008 Malbec, 14.5%, we'd brought from Hong Kong as we didn't have occasion or time to drink it there. Deep, deep ruby in colour, big and smooth and deliciously rich with a long dry finish.
Hope we chat soon. We are wondering if you are free tomorrow for lunch or dinner. Cheers, Patrice!
Hi Donna Florida and Cactoosian!
Trust you are well! Fondestos and Cheers, Patrizzio!
Hi Patrick:
Just wondering when you will be wandering this way?
Cheers, Kathleen
Hi Kathleen and Stefano!
Trust you are both well! Cora Lee managed to buy appropriate books for all five of Ania's grandchildren. We will be cooking for everyone on Friday evening as it isn't a school night. Nevertheless, it won't be late in any case as kids will need to be home around 9:00pm and we have to catch our flight to Melbourne the following afternoon. Chat soon and looking forward to seeing everyone. Fondestos and Cheers, Patrizzio!
It was forwarded to me by a customer, very neat, dusk is the best view in my opinion!!!!
xx chloe
This is amazing, click on the link below. I
know we have all seen this from the Riots, etc... but this is a
spectacular shot of Vancouver. You can zoom in as well and see
people in their apartments.
So if you live in a highrise... after seeing
this beautiful shot, you may want to consider closing your blinds!!!
LOL.
Have a great day,
Read the
caption on top and check out how far you can zoom in! Scroll
in and out and move around - quite amazing!
Hi Bob!
Trust you are well! Have been telling many people, (fellow travellers we've met on trains/buses, in airports, per esempio, who have been to some of the fascinating places you've visited, had cooking classes, etc.), about your exotic junket! Sorry I have not replied sooner but Il Conduttore has finally surfaced! (Whether this is viewed with delight or displeasure remains to be seen!), after more than a week of email/blog silence. (We were in Hong Kong from March 6th to 11th.) Life on the road has been exciting, hectic, extremely full and, not surprisingly, this has necessarily meant that I have had very little time to submerge myself in Vacuum-land. As a direct result, the Kowloon Diaries have suffered and the unfinished entries, Harpy-like, plead for scrupulous attention, weighing heavily on my guilt ridden shoulders. (Not even to mention The Down Under Diaries!) I hope to rectify this scandalous oversight, (Friends and family members assumed Cora Lee had finally had enough and had had, (Dear Reader, is four "hads" in one sentence too, too much?), me dispatched, for a mere pittance, in a darkened alleyway somewhere in Tsim Sha Tsui, the vibrant neighbourhood where our hotel, The YMCA Salisbury Hotel, thrust its mere fourteen Lilliputian dwarf stories into the Brobdingnagian Kowloon skyline!
Arrived in Sydney on March 12th and will be enjoying another "hardship posting", here in the Eastern Suburbs, but a most pleasant 20 minute stroll, downhill, to Bondi Beach. Whether I swim at the ocean pool, Icebergs, there, remains to be determined. I was able to buy a twenty visit pass at Victoria Park Pool, (I swam there regularly when visiting in both 2003 and 2006), close to the U of Sydney, on Monday, very inexpensively, (less than half the price of a regular adult visit), as young lad at ticket counter gave me the Senior Concession Rate, 60 here in Australia, although I didn't have a Seniors' Card from Canada! (Had an email from Chloë informing Cora Lee that her application for Old Age Pension had gone through. Maybe we won't have to come back now!) Managed just over a mile, (2.33K!), to help overcome jetlag. Only a 9 hour overnight flight from HK, (left at 7:00pm and arrived at 7:40am), so we wanted to fit into local time as find that works best in terms of adapting to new chronological zone. That night Ania, our host, prepared a wonderful lamb shank for dinner. We sipped a Knappstein 2010 Riesling, Clare Valley, 12.5% before meal and graduated to a Kirrihill 2008 Shiraz, again from Clare, 15%, perfect gangbuster with dynamite lamb dish!!!
Unfortunately, Corinne has had to deal with a recurrence of the allergic rash on her right foot, (Started back in Vancouver about three weeks before we left, a complication from her corrective surgery.), some on the lower leg of her left foot as well. This latest episode started a week ago, yesterday, in HK, and I convinced her that she should seek medical attention. She resisted until Thursday morning when there was not much improvement overnight. Fortunately for us, friend, Daniel "Ting" Chen, (We met back in early 80's when he was doing an MA in Architecture at UBC, along with Max. He has lived in HK ever since. We'd seen him for dinner the evening before and he mentioned that he could probably arrange an appointment with a dermatologist friend, Dr. Francis Yu.), was able to obtain a last minute consultation and Cora Lee saw dottore later that morning. He prescribed antibiotics as he was concerned about infection as well, antihistamines and ointment. He said prescription for latter, made in Vancouver, was far too weak to be effective. Last few days were still uncomfortable for much walking but we paced ourselves and Corinne soldiered on. We will basically be taking a rest and relaxation vacation from our travel vacation for rest of week and then we fly to Melbourne on Saturday to meet Flamin' and Sarge.
Happy to report that on Tuesday morning, Coriandre was working in Ania's back garden. Ania is a wonderful individual but she needs a full-time gardener so Corinne was weeding and raking. Last visit she transplanted a number of potted plants and generally tidied up so Ania was very pleased. Around 10:00am she went for her daily walk around Bondi and Bronte, next beach south, but Corinne wasn't up to that yet. Too bad as it was a simply glorious day, right from the start. When we arived on Monday it was quite cloudy, with a few drops of rain, until late afternoon and then it was hot enough that I walked in the shade when I could! First real sunshine we'd seen since leaving Vancouver as weather in HK was very foggy, some drizzle and a few bouts of heavy rain. Fortunately we were either on the Big Bus Tour or in a museum when it was pelting down so weather didn't actually matter. Of course, it would have been more enjoyable if it had been warmer and sunnier but believe conditions were true to historical patterns, according to Daniel.
After a full morning of trying to catch up with email, I was back at Victoria Park Pool for a glorious late afternoon dip. Started at 4:00pm and finished just after 6:00pm. Did a lazy two miles but would have liked to have done three, if only to watch the more than colourful undersea life: shoals of buxom co-eds, from neighbouring U of Sydney, in itsy-bitsy, teeny-weeny bikinis zipped by me, as I plodded along in the Slow Lane! However, Cora Lee was waiting for me to return wth dinner fixings so I had to make my way back, via bus to Town Hall and then by subway to Bondi Junction. After a bit of shopping for groceries at Coles at the huge Westfield Mall there, I took another bus to the top of Bellevue Road, or should have. I was reading my book and missed my stop! Had to walk about an extra half mile, uphill all the way. Fortunately I was familiar with route as I used to traverse it whenever I walked to Icebergs, an ocean fed pool, at Bondi Beach, on earlier visits. Evening was simply delightful, still very pleasantly warm, the sound of cicadas music to my ears as I made my way home. Can see some of the cityscape from top of Bellevue Hill but I was quite surprised at how much less impressive it looked, compared to that of Hong Kong's skyscraperscape. In the past, I have always been taken with Sydney's skyline. Nevertheless, it is still impressive.
Once back where I should have alighted from bus I walked the seven or so blocks to #17 Fairweather Street. Coriandre had finished the dregs of the last night's Knappenstein Riesling and was working on the bottle of Bimbadgen, Hunter Valley, 2009 Shiraz, 13%, that Marysia, Ania's sister, had brought yesterday evening but which we hadn't opened, so she was not overly fussed that I walked in the door at 8:00pm! I probably would have made it by 7:30pm but for my inattention.
Enjoyed a simple cherry tomatoe/bocconcini salad with grilled chicken breast, brushed with sweet chili sauce. I did the few dishes and Coriandre repaired to bed to read. As you can appreciate, she is still fighting her allergic reaction and the various medications, (She has to take about 12 pills a day!), take a bit of starch out of her. She feels the rash is slowly receding but not as quickly as we would both hope. Nonetheless, she is feeling better and has plans to go shopping at the above mentioned Westfield Mall at Bondi Junction in next few days today. This, of course, means she is definitely on the mend! For my part I plan to buy a snorkel, the better to view, without gasping for air, the indigenous fish, Australiana Voloptuana, which populate Victoria Park Pool!
Yesterday Ania took Cora Lee to Bondi Junction in the early afternoon so that she could shop at all the high-end stores there! Later on she was to pick her up as they planned to go for a walk along the ocean cliffs at Bondi Beach with another friend. If Coriandre's foot is too sore/tired she will just loll on the beach and read in the sun, topless! (I knew there was a reason I liked going to Icebergs!) For my part, I left for VPP around 3:00pm so that I wouldn't get too much sun. Managed 2.5 miles so was pleased.
When I returned, just before 8:00pm, Cora Lee had a delicious dinner of vermicelli rice noodles, topped with cherry tomatoes and thinly sliced breast of chicken. Went extremely well with the bottle of El Guardado 2008 Malbec, 14.5%, (Deep, deep ruby in colour, big and smooth and very rich with a long, pleasing dry finish.), we'd brought from Hong Kong as we didn't have occasion or time to consume. Her shopping spree went extremely well, (Turned out that she never made it to Bondi Beach!), and she managed to buy appropriate books for all five of Ania's grandchildren. We will be cooking for everyone on Friday evening as it isn't a school night. Nevertheless, it won't be late in any case as kids will need to be home around 9:00pm and we have to catch our flight to Melbourne the following afternoon. You'll be back in New West by the time our weekend there is over!
Will post some photos to my various blogs once I've managed to figure out how to do so from my iPad. I tried to send this message from my iPad but that didn't work. Has something to do with Mail Server settings. Cora Lee used my iPad for email, initially, when we were first travelling in Europe in 2010 and her Gmail server address seems to be default setting for mailing photos from Photos on IPad. I have about eight messages which are sitting, twiddling their respective thumbs, in the Outbox attached to my UBC account! (Need a tutorial from kids at Mac Store in Bondi Junction!) So far have not been very successful so will be using Ania's laptop much of the time before we leave. Cora Lee sends Fondestos. Cheers, Patrizzio!
PS: Until I learn how or figure out how to change settings I think I know how to send messages with a photo. Do you know if you can attach more than one from iPad? Photo, (from HK Museum of Art), attached to this message came from my iPad to me as a CC but without text!
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will call from the airport
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Jason beat Noble for third
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Conversation history
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I
arrive Friday morning in Sydney. We lost to Steve Wier 5 to 4 in the
final tonight. Had a draw to the four foot with last rook that wrecked
on a guard.
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Good
effort! Congratulations to Stevalimo! Better to lose to him than Jason!
If you have a minute, give us a call at Ania's to say hello and chat
about Melbourne. I'll send you her home phone number via email as Ania
doesn't want it posted on Facebook. Did you happen to get my envelope
with addresses from Chloe? Not a big deal if not. Did you
receive/understand message about taking bus to Spencer Street train
Station and then free shuttle to hotels downtown? Goils are watching TV.
Have a safe flight. Cheers, Patrizzio!
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I move in Saturday, April 14th!!
Will have to pay rent for both places the last half of the month due to my lease in Northridge but it’s worth it. The place felt like home to me upon entry.
Very excited, please send fridge! LOL!
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