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