Christmas is not the same without family

I spent Christmas at the Gold Coast with Matt’s auntie and partner.
Nice gourmet lunch and good wine but I still felt out of place. Mum and Dad had a gathering with close friends, wished I was there.
Moving on, Christmas is now over and New Years is only around the corner.
New Years in Brisbane is going to be quieter than usual this year as most people tend to move away from the city toward the coast. None the less, it will still be over crowded with drunken individuals.
Does anyone remember the white rapper Vanilla Ice with hit song “Ice Ice Baby”? Well he’s going to be playing at the New Years Eve party at the Gold Coast. He was my idol when growing up and according to his website he’s still touring. I don’t know whether to be excited or hang my head in shame.

My last day at work was a blur. 1st drink at 12pm, 8th drink by 2pm. A lot of photos were taken but I don’t recall any of them. But I had fun, I think.
I’m having a mind blank right now so I’ll just post pics instead.

Have a great New Years

Sam





Having a nap at a bar







Christmas lunch at a pimp palace








Scotch scotch scotch, I love scotch

Perth, a giant mud pool

That is what the city looked like as the plane was descending. Due to all the mining and development, there are building sites everywhere.
Perth is a quiet and peaceful city. Walking outside the hotel reminded me of a Clint Eastwood movie in the desert.
The population of Perth is comparable to Brisbane 10 years ago but look at Brisbane now! There isn’t much going on in Perth CBD, all the restaurants are out in Fremantle or Northbridge. I didn’t get time to go out but I ate the best Fish & Chips since being in Australia.
My last day at Cardno is on 21st December so I will have a nice break.
I also start my new role at Smart Service Queensland on 2nd of January 2008.
Government departments are all very confusing in Queensland but I think Smart Service is the front end to other Government departments.

Party on

Sam

Back in Melbourne, this city is so much fun!

So much to tell but not enough time. In the events leading up to Sunday, I stayed at a five star hotel, ate good food, drunk a lot of alcohol, called the Victorian police “Rent-a-cops” and nearly got arrested.
I got Sunday off work and decided to be a tourist and ride the trams around Melbourne. Moments later, I found out that a Canadian couple that I knew from Brisbane were also in Melbourne so we decided to rendezvous and tour the city together. First stop was the St. Patrick's Cathedral. The gothic architecture was overwhelming. There was also an airy presence in the Cathedral, spooky eh? In 1986 Pope John Paul II paid a visit to this Cathedral.

Next was the Melbourne Gaol (Jail). We went on a re-enactment tour of the watch house of how humans were treated back in the days. Built in 1908, it remained operational until 1994. So the tour consists of being yelled at, locked up, obeying rules and responding with “Yes Sergeant”.
Drunks, murderers and those charged with minor offences were all housed here together to await their day in court. Next door was the actual cells. The infamous Ned Kelly spent his last days in this Gaol and was also hanged here. His body dangled for 30mins before guards decided to remove him.
The cells had stories of criminals along with their death mask. It was an eye opener. Obviously the day cannot end without alcohol so off to the pub we went. Drinks, dinner, drinks, sight seeing, drinks, drinks, sight seeing, drinks, snack, drinks, drinks, drinks, bed.
We finished off the night by the Yarra river with wine and a spectacular flame show. Picture eight 10 metre tall Bunsen burners spread out 10 metres apart and expelling gas. You can feel the heat from below.
At 3am, it was time to call it a night as I had to be awake at 6am for work.
Sunday’s are fantastic in Melbourne and I recommend it for all that loves to party.
I took so many photos that my camera went flat. Melbourne photos can be viewed here.

Sam





St. Patrick's Cathedral










Kristie sitting on the dunny in lock up










Mug shot









Deathmask of Ned Kelly

Canadian couple Kristie and Jess

Party Party Party

My agenda for this weekend was to get loose. With 3 parties to attend, I was in for a night of liver destruction.
The day started off at 3pm at Matt Cresswell’s place with a lot of drinking games. At 8pm, I said goodbye and made my way to the work function. I was unable to walk a straight line and my speech was incoherent. The work function was very typical, people standing around in their group of work colleagues.
So Olger (He’s Dutch) and I decided to liven up the party by getting on the dance floor in front of 250 people. Although it seemed like a good idea at that time, I am slowly regretting it now. I hope no one recognises me at work tomorrow. We left the work function at 11pm to attend the cocktail party. Everything was thrown down my throat; there was basically a party in my belly. They should have called it a Rocket Fuel Party, the drinks were all very potent! I decided to call it a night at 2am, my liver was unable to handle anymore alcohol.
I spent today at Cresswell’s place hung over watching Ocean’s Thirteen and eating pods and watermelon. Mmmmm……….watermelon

All and all, a great weekend. I’m off to Melbourne this week and Perth the week after. Hopefully I will have time to provide an update.

Merry Christmas

Sam




I don't know what Cresswell was doing, looked like the funky chicken






Lisa the Kiwi









Olger the Dutchman

Go Kevin 07!!

As you all may know by now, Kevin Rudd has won the election and Labor is now in Government. It will be interesting to see how everything pans out from here.
I wasn't going to update the blog tonight but Lynch, Cresswell and I went out to dinner at a Turkish restaurant. The whole place had a turkish theme (obviously) so it was nicely decked out with weird benches with cushions and low tables. I think this is the only time being short is an advantage as my legs fit quite comfortably under the table. It would be a total bitch if you were built like a tree. After dinner, we fluffed around as usual and Lynch decided to deep throat a kebab. He is also a part time G porn star. I'm not sure if anyone was paying attention but we were pretty loud in the restaurant.
2.5Mb clip can be viewed Here





Lynchy and Cresswell








Cresswells dirty Mo

Home Sweet Home

As I walked outside the terminal at Wellington airport, my first thought was “I miss the cold” but after a few minutes, I was thinking “Man Wellington is cold!”
The main reason for my trip back to Wellington was to attend a wedding but I also managed to catch up with most people and partied throughout the night.
Dinner with the lads on Friday night was great. Lots of food, wine and a lot of tourist action with the camera. I caught up with Gav and Will around midnight. I was fully mashed by this stage. What better way to carry on the night than to smash Jager bombs at Basement, memories. The night ended with more liver destruction and I had to call it quits at 3am as the groom wanted me to be at his place by 9am.

Saturday morning started at 8am with a raging hangover and stinking of wine, vodka and jager. I basically had speech impairment till about 2pm. During this time, the tea ceremony begun. It is very traditional and symbolises respect. This was all very new to me so it was kind of exciting. The banquet dinner was held at the Duxton Hotel with 140 guest, 3 course meal and lots of alcohol mmmm….Hennessy……..
Basically, the trip home was fun; I got to catch up with everyone and at the same time got very drunk.

On Monday morning, I flew to Melbourne for work. I was totally shatted by 10am due to the early flight and slight jet lag. We left work at 9pm and went straight to the bar at the Hotel. I worked out that I have been awake for nearly 24 hours and only slept for 19 hours during my 4 nights in Wellington. The next morning, I missed breakfast again and got to work at 10:30am. This is starting to become a regular occurrence, not a good sign.
I went for a walk one night to take some pictures and of course try to win some money at the famous crown casino. The casino was huge! I almost got a cramp walking from one end to the other. It has its own food court and plenty of fine dining restaurants. Outside the casino, more cafes and restaurants were stacked side by side and runs for about 500 metres. Tremendous sight.

Melbourne is an awesome city; it is basically a larger Wellington with better weather. Although there are also more to see and do in Melbourne but you would expect that for a population of 3.8 million people compared to Wellington’s 450,000.
Its late, I’m tired and cranky.

Night

Sam




Everyone having a blast at dinner








oh snap......









Pimping it at the wedding










4am on Mike's couch eating Burger King

Speed Dating is hilarious

Where do I start, the boys here decided to sign up for speed dating. After 2 weeks of peer pressure, I gave in and decided to join them. The night started off at the lads apartment (Cresswell, Lynchy and Jimmy) with a few beers then every got into their number 1’s. Everyone looked pretty good, and there I was in jeans and a t-shirt. At this point, I’m still very skeptical about all this, it just seems weird having to judge someone in 6 minutes.

Anyway, we made an entrance at the venue as we were the last to arrive. The email did state “Be there early”, ah well.
After getting some 42 below vodka, we were straight into it. Everyone sitting around with their name tags with a number assigned to each name. After each 6 minute date, we had to tick whether we wanted to be friends, go on a date or simply “no”. It was quite hard to judge someone when they are sitting right in front of you. But everyone had to do it so it was equal feelings all around.
After 17 dates, it was time to hand in my card and head on home.
The organisers will then put all the values into a program and see if there are any matches. Should be some funny results coming out.
The whole event took 3 hours as we had 2 intermissions.

The funniest part of the night was the debriefing session back at the apartment. We sat around and discussed all 17 dates including the Friends, Date or No option that we chose. We sounded like little girls.

Conclusion: Speed dating is fun. Everyone is having a good time and in the same shoes as you are. Although there are some people out there looking for girlfriends/boyfriends. The majority are there to meet new people and see how it evolves.

Anyway, its 1am, I’m off to bed as I’m flying back to NZ tomorrow. WOOHOO!

Rating: 8

Sam





Debrief Session








Jimmy, Lynch and Cresswell identifying a UFO

Darling Harbour Rocks!

Sydney is totally awesome. Everyone says it’s fast paced, but that’s what makes it so exciting. I guess my opinion doesn’t really count as I only spent 1 day in the CBD. For me, first impression counts and Sydney gets the 2 thumbs up.
I managed to catch up with Blair, Colin and Glenis (ex-colleagues from Grosvenor in Wellington) and a mate from Brisbane. We went for a few cheeky beers at Darling Harbour. Although it does look poshy at first glance, it is actually pretty laid back.
Everyone started fading at around 10pm but Glenis was out with us till after 1am. She’s a party animal.

When Glenis left, Rob and I jumped into a cab to our next destination. We made a detour to a random pie store on the side of the road. It was possibly the best curry pie I’ve had in my life. As the driver stopped the meter, I asked where we were. His reply was “Kings Cross”. The prostitution and crime district of Sydney. Due to the fact that it was early Wednesday morning, the place was pretty dead. Since I’m at the Cross, I had to go into a strip bar. As I ordered a drink at the bar, I could hear different conversations going on with lines like:

“Kia ora cuz”
“Oh true aye”
“Giss a smoke ow”

All with the strong kiwiana/maori accent. Was hilarious.
Anyway, there were 1 dancer and 1 guy seated in the corner. Probably wacking off or something. Felt sorry for the poor girl so Rob brought out his cell phone and took a photo of her. She came screaming over and snatch the phone off him and deleted the picture. What a funny way to end the night.
I woke up with a ragging hangover, missed breakfast with work colleagues and did not get to work till after 10am. Everyone knew I was in a bad way and they kinda left me alone to deal with the self inflicted pain.

Bed time

Sam

Skydiving is not for the faint-hearted

So I basically got peer pressured into taking an Advanced Freefall course (AFF) and I’m afraid of heights!
The solo course consists of 9 stages (9 jumps) with criteria’s you have to pass to move on to the next stage. For the first 3 stages, 2 jumpmasters would leap off the plane with you while they critique you on your posture and make sure you are checking your altimeter at regular intervals, after that, its all on you.
We did 8 hours of classroom training yesterday and jumped out of the plane today.
The adrenaline rush is amazing. Cold air rushing past you at 10,500ft with your life hanging off a few pieces of rope. The view is indescribable. The hardest part for first time skydivers is learning to control the canopy (parachute).
We all know how to jump of diving boards at a pool and we can learn how to arc our backs on the floor but learning to fly the canopy would be a first. We can only be verbally taught how to fly the canopy but the rest is based on experience and completing more jumps. Practise makes perfect.
Once I pass this course and sit a few tests, I will be able to leap off the plane anywhere in the world.
On my return to NZ, I will definitely be getting friends to join in, so look out and make sure you have a spare pair of underwear. Will take better pics next time.

Airbourne Sam

Gosford – Back in 10 mins

Well where do I start? Spent 3 days in Gosford last week and it was another interesting sight.
Gosford is about 90mins drive from Newcastle. Locals from Sydney/Newcastle would migrate to Gosford in the summer to take advantage of the beautiful beaches.
It was 1pm on a Friday afternoon, was warm as usual. I wanted to have lunch in an air conditioned environment. Across the road was a plaza, probably one of the main plazas in Gosford. As I approached the food court, there were 10 eateries but only 2 were open. I mean come on……..Friday afternoon, 1pm, hungry, food. Due to the over whelming selection of food, I had to settle for burger and fries.

Do you remember watching movies where the retailers would put signs out like
“Out to lunch, back in 20 mins”

Well this is a common thing in Gosford, without exaggerating; there were about 8 stores with those signs on the window. Was very amusing to me, I don’t think the locals manage to figure out why I was staring at the closed shop laughing.

Anywho, it’s only been 3 hours since I arrived back to my apartment from 4 days in Mackay. Mackay is on the Eastern Coast of Queensland, roughly half way between Cairns and Brisbane. Mining generates around AU$1.5Billion of Mackay’s annual gross product. Cash Cow?
We finished work early one night and decided to check out the night life. I think it is illegal to use the phrase “night life” in Mackay because it was a ghost town. Ended the night with dinner at hogs breath which I have to say is 10 times better tasting than any hogs breath in NZ. We jumped into a cab and my conversation with the lady went like this.

Sam: So……….Mackay is an interesting place.
Old Lady: There’s not too much to do here, although we do have nice pubs.
Sam: Really? We’ve been walking around and couldn’t find anything.
Old Lady: Well there’s the platinum which is a nice club with dancers, there’s the [Cannot remember] Hotel which turns into a strip bar at night, there’s [Cannot remember] on the corner which have girls dancing Monday, Wednesday and Friday which they fly up from Sydney and the [Cannot remember] with a pub and upstairs lounge with dancers.

So maybe Mackay can be an interesting place to be, although I did not experience it first hand. My conclusion of Mackay is every pub turns into a strip bar with dancers who fly up from Sydney.

Wow, this blog has taken me 30mins to write.

Bed time

Sam

AB’s are a disappointment

What more can I say. We all felt that this could be the year for the AB's to pull off the 20 year drought. But deep down inside, we sense that they could choke and choke they did on a cockerel bone. I was excited when England beat Australia and was looking forward to sleeping for 3 hours and waking up for the ABs vs. France (4am). But it turns out, I was robbed of my sleep. People with tickets to the Semi/Final must be quite gutted they don't get to watch the All Blacks play.
Ahh well, NZ 2011 here we come.

The sole purpose of my update tonight was because we had a cool thunderstorm. Apparently it's a regular appearance due to the tropical weather.
So it got to 32 degrees today. After 2 mins of leaving an air conditioned room, I was sweating profusely. Not a very nice feeling turning up to work all sticky.
I manage to take a short video clip of the thunderstorm along with some images. Was very rewarding. You can watch the 3.2Mb clip Here.

Sam

It is WARM!!!

Bon Soir,

Spent a few days in Cairns this week. It was extremely warm. 30 degrees heat at around 90% humidity, 23 degrees in the evenings and its not even summer. Was great with the air conditioner cranked up on high.
There are loads of Japanese tourists in Cairns as it is now an international airport with direct flights from Japan. The Great Barrier Reef is the biggest attraction there.

I have also been peer pressured into taking a sky diving course which commences in 3 weeks. The course consists of 9 jumps and the final jump will be solo. I am honestly shit scared. The adrenaline rush will be amazing but I’m getting butterflies just thinking bout it. Will definitely update everyone with my progress.
Too lazy to write about anything as I am quite hung over.

Ca va

Sam

Hervey Bay, the Kaikoura of New Zealand

Sorry all, I am getting more and more useless with updates.
I am turning into a lazy Aussie slob. I am probably generalising a bit too much. I should have said lazy Brisbane slob. My theory is that it is so hot and humid outside that people either lay around and drink or sit in the pub and drink. I have experienced this first hand as I am now 5 kg fatter. My shorts don’t fit and jeans cuts off blood circulation to the you know where. Time to go for runs or I’ll just be another statistic.

I just got back from 3 days in Hervey Bay. Hervey Bay is best known for its Whale watching and off road 4WD on Fraser Island. People come from all around the World and even Australia to partake in these activities. Unfortunately I didn’t do either for the following reasons:

a) We have bigger whales in NZ
b) No time (shit excuse I know but fat people have less energy)
c) We have bigger whales in NZ

My impression of Hervey Bay was that it was a nice laid back town so I didn’t mind when a cup of Flat White took 20mins. I just presumed they flew to Brazil to collect the beans themselves.
We finished work early and decided to have a few drinks at the local pub. I was by far the youngest there, although I am only 19. So as I stood at the bar waiting to get served, I noticed that the Bar tender was pregnant. As she turned toward me, my jaws dropped, she was honestly 13 years old. Shocking!
A few more drinks later, we saw the bartenders sprint out the door. Being the nosey drunk kiwi, I decided to take a look and saw the following:

1) 15 year old, 58kg male (drunk) pinned against the wall.
2) 15 year old female (drunk) trying to fight off the guys holding the male subject.
3) Liquor store within 10 meters of the tussle
4) Case of beer (24 pack) on the floor.
5) No sign of getaway car.

If you haven’t figured it out, the couples were trying to take off with a case of beers on foot. It was the funniest thing I’ve ever seen. It was hilarious. The girlfriend knew I was laughing at them so she verbally abused me, I laughed louder, she replied with more heated words, I laughed even louder, she was trying to fight off guys to get to me, I reach for my mobile phone and took a photo then laughed some more. Too bad the quality came out crap. Cops turned up 2 hours later (must have been too busy whale watching) and took the culprit away.

That’s all for now, It’s late and I need my sleep. Apparently the more sleep I get the skinnier I get says Australian media, go figure.
Off to Cairns next and will return with more updates.

Sam
P.S. It was 31 degrees today!

Beer o'clock

Hi all,

Just a quick update.
Work is going very well. Now that I've got so much free time, I'm actually running out of things to do.
So I thought, what better way to kill time than to drink myself silly.
Only managed to get mashed 5 out of 7 days. Good times..........

Spent last weekend down at Gold Coast, didn't get to the beach as it was raining cats and dogs.
The surf got to 10 foot. In surfing terms, that is a lot! Basically suicidal material to us newbie’s. Anyway, after drinking for a few hours we went to the casino. It was 3:30am!! The taxi ride was 30mins, I didn't realise we were so far away. So we ended up walking out at 6:30am. That same night, we went to Suncorp Stadium to watch Queensland Roar vs. Adelaide United (football). It ended up being 2-2. But boy were these supporters keen. This is their chant:

Drums: boom boom boom
Crowd: Queensland
Drums: boom boom boom
Crowd: Queensland

I thought that was the lamest chant of all times. Another thing that cracked me up was the name of the football team; Queensland Roar......and the mascot was a lion. Go figure. They might as well have called it Queensland Meow or Queensland Woof.
None the less, more alcohol abuse to end the night.

Oh there was a total lunar eclipse tonight, was pretty cool. Tried to take a photo but my 7.1MP did not make the cut. Ah well, time for another beer.

Take care all

Sam




Beer bongs rock!

England school boys vs. Australia High School

New Job - Cardno Group

Bonjour mes amis,

After 3 weeks of unemployment and chilling out, I managed to secure a 5 month contract with the Cardno Group.
Cardno is a civil engineering firm with numerous subsidiaries all around the world. I will be involved with the migration project to consolidate all their sites onto the WAN. Hopefully I will get to travel to places like Dubai or even UK.
Another interesting and challenging role. Fingers crossed that it won’t be another 80hr week job.
Since it’s a 5 month contract instead of 3 months, I will only be in New Zealand for 3 days in early November. Hopefully I will be able to catch up with most of you.

Ca va

Sam

Cape Byron, Byron Bay and Nimbin

Since I am a tourist in Brisbane, I decided to sign up for one of their day tours. We first checked out a lighthouse at Cape Byron, it is also Australia's most powerful Lighthouse.

Next was Byron Bay, where I spent 2 hours laying in the sun.

Last but not least, Nimbin. Nimbin is a hippy town which hosted the Aquarius Music Festival in 1973. A hippy town is not complete without God's natural herb. So as I stepped out of the mini-van and walked 10 metres toward the town, a local stopped me and said "Weed?". I was stunned! I am not the kind to fall into temptation so I said "$20 bag please" and away I went with my Marijuana. Then its off to the pub for a beer and herbal entertainment. I was baked on the way home so there's nothing much I can say.

My photo Gallery got closed down so I have created a new one. I hate taking pictures, so theres a couple there of all the Town's I have visited so far. The new link is http://picasaweb.google.com/touristsam

Trip to Gold Coast

Matt and I took a little trip to the Gold Coast last weekend.It was about 26 degrees and the water temperature was amazing. Matt brought along his surfboard and I decided to buy some flippers to do some body surfing. So I thought to myself "How hard could body surfing be? Wait for a wave then swim with it." After 20mins of pounding from the waves and drinking 3 litres of sea water, I gave up and layed on the beach for the rest of the afternoon.

The resort we were staying at was a family resort. So as we walked in, there were kids everywhere yelling and screaming. Picture 2 guys checking into a place with about 200 kids......wrong, very wrong. Just to make matters worse, we decided to take a short cut when leaving the room and we ended up in the main swimming area. So there we were, 2 lost male predators looking around for an exit......very wrong.

The night started out at Jupiter's Casino of course (Asians love to gamble). After a bit of blackjack and 10 vodkas, we decided to hit town. From here on in, it was all downhill for me. I think the term is "BLOWOUT".None the less, it was very cool to get away from the city.I didn't take many pictures as I was totally hungover. Oh and the weather was pretty crap on Sunday.

Officially Unemployed

Greetings old friends,

I am now officially unemployed.
I ended up toughing out my contract with Dell. The last 6 weeks has been hell. Working 80 hours a week takes a huge toll on your body and social life. Since I have not been hitting the gym, I have gained 3 kgs from eating crap microwaved meals and 2 minute noodles. All I have been doing the past 3 days is drinking and sleeping.
I’m taking a few weeks off to re-energize and possibly make a few trips around Brisbane to see the sights. If you have any recommendations, feel free to drop me a line.

Work sent me to Cairns for the day, it was about 16 degrees but oh boy the humidity was high. Even in the air-conditioned office, I was finding it hard to breath.
Since it was only a day tip, I didn’t get a chance to check out the local scenery……..and talent.

Sorry boys, still no pictures. Well none that you will be interested in anyway.
It’s 11pm now and I am going to hibernate for 11 hours.
Hope everyone is enjoying the cold weather in Wellington.

Sam

Resignation

Hi Fellow Wellingtonians,

It's been less than 4 weeks and I have already resigned from DELL.
Work was totally killing me. I have been getting home at 12am every night. I didn't move to Australia to work like a dog.

So I have 2 more weeks of 60hr weeks then I'm going to take a few weeks off and spend some time in the Gold Coast. Haven't really thought about accommodation, maybe I'll just crash at a hostel.
Anywho, that's the only interesting update I can provide. Aussie is not what I had pictured in my mind. Guess I just have to give it time.

Sam

Room in an Apartment

Greetings all,

I finally moved into an apartment last week. Dell have kept me very busy. I'm averaging 60hrs a week and last week I ended up working 70hrs. Due to having no spare time to buy a bed, I have been sleeping on the floor. But Christmas came early and my bed arrived this morning.
The apartment is 5mins walk from CBD located in Spring Hill. Although it does not have river views, the sights from level 10 (top level) is sufficient enough. Now that I have a Job and an apartment, its time to Party!

Fact: Brisbane is not aways warm.
Yes I know its getting to winter, but it does slighty feel like I'm in Wellington as its quite gustly outside. Oh and it rained for 2 days straight this week. More pics of my apartment is available in the Photo Gallery

We went to a pub to watch the AB's play France last week. They even had a section available just for that game. So as we walked toward the screen, we could hear the crowd roar and what do you expect.........40 Kiwis cheering for the AB's. Was very amusing. Its 3:00pm now so I'm going to roam the City and sink some piss.

Take care all

SS

New Camera and Suburbia Sux!

Well I finally picked up my Digital Camera. Ended up going for the Canon IXUS 75. Pretty nice camera with 7.1MP but only 3.0 x Optical Zoom.
It’s Sunday today; Matt and I decided to go into South Bank for Lunch.
We ended up missing the bus as it came early. Decided to flag it as the next bus is in 2 hours and the walk to the main station is about 40mins.

Tip for all coming to Brisbane, Suburbia sux!
Live in the City, if you have friends or family in the Suburbs; get them to pick you up.
Keep away from the suburbs by all means. Don’t say I didn’t warn ya.

Sam
P.S Did I say Suburbia Sux! See below

Dell Services Solutions

After 9 long days, I now have a job for the next 2 months.
I will be working for Dell as their Lead Systems Engineer on a project for Laing O'Rourke.
These guys are huge players in the Construction Industry. In 2006, Laing O'Rourke bought out Barclay Mowlem so the project involves migrating and combining both companies into 1 single entity.
I really do not know what I got myself into. I have about 38 sites in Australia to plan, migrate and support within 8 weeks. None the less, this will definitely be a good experience.
Time to look for an apartment now.

Hope all is well back home in Windy Wellington

Sam
P.S. It's very warm.........................

1 week and still jobless...........

Sorry, I've been pretty slack lately. I am currently living in Rochedale, its about 1 hour from the City on the bus. Its a small suburb so everything is pretty low key here. Everything closes at 8:30pm!! Was annoyed at first but after my 6th vodka, I was over it.

My Daily routine has been surfing on seek.com.au, meet & greets with recruiter's and the occasional interviews. I worked last Saturday (12th May), just a 1 day contract but at least it will keep be going for a few more days.

Some weird and annoying things about Brisbane:
1) Only flush on a 2 - Dunno about you all but having to take a piss after someone else is pretty grotty.
2) 3 min showers - I think it takes me 3 minutes just to undress.
3) NO SMOKING - Ok maybe I am exaggerating a bit but when I have a beer or coffee outside, I like to light up a ciggie. No no says the Bartender "You have to smoke outside the barrier". So this involves me standing on the outside of the barrier and with my drink on the inside within reaching distance. Doesn't make sense at all.
But thats not all, there are NO SMOKING zones everywhere you go, this is possibly a good thing because I am currently at boiling point to stop.
4) No footpath - You are either walking on the road inches from getting run over or walking in someones front yard.

I don't see what all the fuss is about with smoking and water ban laws when the people of Brisbane DO NOT RECYCLE! Yip that is correct. They have these partitions in the bins for your recycling to go into, but when the big ole truck comes around, it just dumps all the thrash into one area. Total waste of time.

Better stop now, I am starting to sound like a little school girl that lost her lollipop and this internet cafe has a weird smell.

Will update again soon

Sam
P.S. I went to Church on Sunday and it was a scary experience

The eagle has landed!

Well I am finally here! It was overcast yesterday but still very humid.
Had to be at an Interview yesterday so I chucked on my suit...........very bad idea.
Lets just say I will not be wearing my suit in Brisbane ever again.

Still job hunting, have to meet a few recruiters today in CBD and so does Matt.
After that, its straight to the bar for a few refreshments.
Oh I also managed to get a sim card if anyone wants to make contact +61 41 504 7838
Sorry, still no pictures available. Have to buy a digital camera. I am looking at a Canon IXUS 65.

Sam

Words of Wisdom

Only 3 more days of work and a weekend left to pack then its off to Sunny Brisbane we go. Very exciting.

Lately I've been coming up with random Words of Wisdom and statements. My mate Gav decided to call it Sohs'dom (Soh Wisdom). We had a cackle as it was lame but after a while, the name started to grow on us. From then on, I've been trying to throw a few 'Words of Wisdom' when we are out on the piss. I'm not sure where it all comes from. Maybe I heard it from someone or somewhere, not too sure really. Some of them tends to be quite offensive but ah well, shit happens.

Sohs'dom: Going to church does not make you a Christian, its like going to the garage, it does not make you a mechanic.

Palmy Weekend

So we spent the weekend up in Palmerston North catching up with Justin. Friday night was low key but Saturday night was out of control. The night started out at Justin's place with drinking games and shots. Everyone was basically half dead by the time we left the house and it was only 11pm. We did a lot of club hopping, I think we went to about 7 clubs in total.

At 2:15am we were all partied out. Popped into Subway to grab a dirty chicken fillet and caught a cab back to Justin's. When we arrived at Justin's, Nicole (Justin's GF) pulls up with someone passed out in the passenger seat and covered in spew. Surprise surprise, it was the big man himself. Now Justin is not a small chap. Hes about 6' 5" and 120kgs.
We tried to tempt him with Subway but nothing was going to make him move so we left him outside with the girls and went inside to enjoy our Subway. mmmmmm.........chicken fillet.
At 3am, we decided to call it a night and found Matt passed out in the double bed. Thats what happens when you eat a branch of Ganja.
The room had a single/double bunk. Will Belushi eagerly jumped in and spooned with Matt, Gav took the top bunk (bastard!) and I crashed on the floor.

The next morning, Matt was the first to rise and straight to the toilet he goes for a spew.
The toilet was next to the room and we could hear him gaging and coughing. Since we are such good friends, we stayed in bed and laughed.
On our way home from Breakfast, we stopped in at Mobil for the best hangover cure - Lucozade.
Matt opens his door, casually walked toward the bushes then decided to regurgitate early all over the pavement. Again, because we are such good friends, we ran to his attention and took photos of him.



I will get the Palmy Photos up but I didn't take many as I was preoccupied with my Whiskey.

Matt, You got OWNED!

S

Christchurch and Palmy Weekend

I went down to christchurch last weekend with the olds to catch up with some family friends.
Its been 13 years since I last saw them. Kids have all grown up now, ain't kids no more.

Matt and I are heading up to Palmerston North tonight to catch up with our mate Justin and also to get on the chops.
Will, Gav, Nath and Owen will be heading up Saturday Evening.
Hopefully I will remember to take my Camera. Should be an interesting night of drunken antics.

Remember people:

"Its not how you are drinking, its who you are drinking with"

Proudly sponsored by Alcoholic Anonymous - Wellington Chapter

Sam

Gallery is all go!

The gallery is finally up and running. It took about 6 hours.

I first had to find a site that gave me free hosting, no banners, good storage (2GB) and support for PHP, MySQL databases then it was testing numerous PHP galleries and uploading it onto my website. The end solution was using Coppermine Photo Gallery with hosting from 110mb.

I later found out that google's Picasa Web gave users 1GB of storage without all the fuss with configuration and maintenance.

Nice work google, I now feel like a spoon

Sam

4 more weeks to go

Its been a while since I've updated this.
Mainly becuase nothing interesting has happened.
My family took Esther and her daughter Phoenix out for lunch today. Its been a while since we last saw her and the baby.
Heres a picture of the gorgeous little critter.



I'm still working on a photo gallery, that will be up by the time I get to Brisbane.
Thats all for now.

Hope everyone is having a great Easter.

Sam

Too much spare time

Well I have been getting really bored lately.
Since finishing my studies, I seem to have a lot of spare time.
I get home from work everynight and watch DVDs (which I am not complaining).
Just feels weird as I have always been hitting the books.

My mate Mike Bell just bought a house in Newtown. It needs a total revamp so I guess I could help him out. Other than that, nothing much has been happening.
Coffee's everyday and chilling out in the weekend.

My Grandma in Singapore is getting old so I will need to visit her in July 07.
Flights from Brisbane to Malaysia are reasonably cheap. It'll be a nice little getaway getaway.
May even get a connecting to Bangkok depending on funds.

Thats all for now

Sam

First NZ Capital

More good news. I managed to secure a job at First NZ Capital.
It's only a 2 month contract but at least I can pay my bills now and save for Brizzy.
Start on Monday 29th January.
Desktop Support is a breeze but since it's a contract role, I have to pay insurance and will not get paid for Public Holidays, meh.

Sam: 1
Dole: 0

Boom............

Sam

MCSE 2003 Certified

Woohoo, I managed to pass my last exam yesterday. Its taken me 2 years to sit 7 exams (slack, I know).
So now its time to learn to speak French fluently.
Still no sign of a Job with 1 more week at Titan, looks like I'll be eating bread and butter everynight.
For the non-IT geeks out there, MCSE stands for Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer.

"All your base are belong to us" - Zero Wing

Sam

Australia here I come!

Hi all,

Well this is the beginning of my web blog, mainly because of:
a) It's a build up for my travel to France in 2008 (via Australia)
b) I got made redundant yesterday.

Long story short, My last day at Titan will be 2nd February 2007.
I'm currently still looking for contracting roles and hopefully it will not be too hard to secure one.
Went around to Matt's and Gav's place last night to concrete a date for our Brisbane trip. The date is currently set for 8th ofMay 2007. Very eager to get out of Wellington but the clock is ticking slowly.

Thats all for now, will update of my progress

Sam