BBQ Fest day 3

BBQ Fest day 3 was a success. My team competed in the sauce and exotic categories yesterday. 

I spent tons of time roaming the park with old friends and new. It was another day filled with miles of walking. 

And, I played what I think may be my first ever full game of corn hole. For those not from Tennessee, corn hole is a game where you toss beanbags onto a board that has a hole cut in it for points. I did pretty well!  

I also saw Man V Food taping again. Below is a photo of their shoot. 

I think all of the walking, the heat, and the bourbon finally caught up to me though. 

I'm writing this post from bed. After being  in bed for 13 hours, I finally feel rested and ready to conquer BBQ Fest day 4.

Today is the judging for our ribs, so we have to lay low until 2 PM or so when it's over. Then, it will be time for our annual crawfish boil. It comes just in time because I think I was about to turn into a piece of barbecue. I've had BBQ every day all day since Monday (thanks to a few visits to the BBQ Shop and BBQ Fest). 

Tomorrow is load out and the Grizzlies first game in the finals. 

BBQ Fest - Day 2

BBQ Fest day 2 was also a success. As expected, it was far more social than day 1. 

I woke up around 10 am and made it to the festival around noon. Lunch was served around the time I arrived. It was BBQ and nachos. 

After lunch, a friend made me a manhattan, so the bourbon drinking started a bit early. We took a long walk around the park and met many different trams including BBQ Republic, Moody Ques, and Voodoo Que. 

Around 5 PM, I ran home to change into jeans. When I returned, it was time for another delicious BBQ meal. 

After dinner, my friend Jennifer and I made a huge lap around the park. We saw old friends and made new ones. It was very fun. While we were walking, we stopped by the Seed Hatchery graduation party. Pitch day was yesterday and all of the teams were celebrating. 

We eventually made it back to my team's tent. The team had cleared away the tables to turn the tent into a dance floor. A number of my friends stopped by just as we arrived which was great! 

The entire day was a lot of fun and very social. I would guess that I walked about 5 miles or so yesterday. My hurting feet would agree. 

I will be heading back down in an hour or so for more fun. But definitely in more comfortable shoes. 

BBQ Fest day 1 is a huge success. Go Grizzlies!

The first day of BBQ Fest was a huge success. Wednesday night is friends and family nights for the teams. 

I spent time with my team at our Born in the Q S A tent. My friend Angie joined me for dinner. We had grilled chicken, greens, lots of sides, and desserts. As expected, we had Ghost River beer on tap in the tent. 

I brought the strawberry cupcakes with cream cheese frosting that I made. When I left last night, all 24 of the cupcakes were eaten, so I will declare that they were a success. I made them with all natural ingredients, so they were less bright looking and less strawberry tasting than what you typically see with strawberry cupcakes. Makes me think I should steer clear of bright red cupcakes in the future.  Weird to think of how many additives they usually have. 

Anyway.... After dinner, we took a walk and ran into Freddie and Prasad. In total, we checked out quite a few teams, including Moody Ques, Voodoo Que, and the Danish National Team. 

We eventually made it back to my tent for the Grizzlies Game. It was a nail biter. Thank goodness we didn't end up in overtime again. As you probably know, we won the game. This means that we will now be competing in the Western Conference Finals. Go Grizzlies!!

Just after the game finished at around midnight, we were promptly ushered out of the park. I came home to rest up for the remaining days of the festival. It's going to be a fun one! 

BBQ time is here

Memphis in May produces one of my favorite events in Memphis: Barbecue Fest.  The Memphis in May World Championship BBQ Cooking Contest is like the Super Bowl of barbecue.  It brings people from around the glove to Memphis to celebrate what we do best in Memphis: barbecue.

Memphis barbecue is made using pork, and we are known for using a special seasoning called dry rub.  Our ribs are often called "dry ribs."

Starting last weekend, barbecue teams started to setup shop along the Mississippi River right next to where I live.  There are hundreds of teams and each team sets up a tent that's just for their team.  The park opens tonight for friends and family night and the event will go on through Saturday.

There is judging that happens during certain times, but all week is like a big party.  And, each tent or team is its own private party.  I'm a part of the Born in the Q.S.A. team.  I've been on the team around 4 years and our specialty is ribs.  Last year, we were around 14th place for ribs (which is pretty good!).

I really love the team.  They are fun, but also organized and relatively low key.  It's the perfect home base at an event like BBQ Fest.

Every year, Memphis also honors a country during Memphis in May.  This year, the country is Sweden, so there will hopefully be a number of Swedes in town to enjoy the barbecue.  Every year, there are multiple teams that come from Scandinavia to compete, including a Danish team and a Norwegian team.  Last year, the Norwegian team was helping to shoot a BBQ commercial for a grocery story in Norway.  As a random side note, I believe the team captain of the Norwegian team is actually from Oklahoma, but lives in Norway with his Norwegian wife.  Here's the commercial from last summer that's currently airing on TV in Norway. (Thanks Freddie for sharing!)

I'm in the middle of making strawberry cupcakes for friends and family night, so that will be my first priority after this post.  When I started to make the cake part last night, I realized that I didn't have any eggs.  After tweeting about my egg dilemma, a friend actually dropped eggs by my front door an hour or so later!  I was able to complete the cupcakes late last night, and today I will just make the icing.  I hope they come out okay - it's my first stab at strawberry cupcakes from scratch.

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One other exciting BBQ thing happened this week that I haven't mentioned yet.  My friend Eric from The BBQ Shop invited me to be in a commercial yesterday morning.  It was by far my most fun and tasty TV appearance to date.  I sat at a table with a number of other Memphians, and together we chowed down on delicious ribs, nachos, barbecue spaghetti, and more.  I look forward to seeing the commercial on TV and big thanks to Eric for inviting me!  Below is a photo of me and Eric after the shoot.

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That's all for now!  I will try to keep you posted on the BBQ Fest as the week goes along.

Grizzlies Update

If you live in the US, you know that the Memphis Grizzlies basketball team is in the play-offs against the Oklahoma City Thunder right now.  In order to win the series, we need just need to win one more of the final two remaining games.  If we win the next game tonight in Oklahoma City, we won't even need to play the final game.

As you may or may not know, Oklahoma City is my hometown, so I typically dread these games.  It's like my Facebook news updates are on fire, with friends in both cities writing about it and posting photos non-stop. 

The question I'm often asked (and you may be thinking) is which team I root for.  Let me put it this way - I've now lived in Memphis for about 10 years.  I moved away from Oklahoma in the late 90's. The Thunder relocated to OKC about 5 years ago.  As much as I love Oklahoma, Grizzlies have just been my team for longer than OKC has had a team.  In fact, they moved to Memphis the year I did, in 2001, and a number of the players have live in my neighborhood.  In fact, I believe Shane Battier lived in my building at one time, years ago.

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Anyway, now that we have that out of the way, on to the story...

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Sunday night, I went to workout at my gym downtown.  On the way home, I passed by the Westin and thought about how much I've been wanting to have the mac & cheese at Bleu.  It's one of my favorites in Memphis, and I hadn't had it for about 2 months.  I pulled up to the Westin and asked the valet if the restaurant was closed.  To my surprise, it was open!  I went inside and pulled up a seat at the bar where I ate a mac & cheese and drank a Ghost River beer (our local beer here in Memphis, brewed just a few blocks from my house).

A very energetic New Yorker sat down next to me.  He was in Memphis for work, and had heard only bad things from the locals.  Everyone had told him that the city was boring and that there was just nothing to do, so he hadn't ventured out.

To make matters worse, he works for the NBA.  He was here for the play-off game.  I felt bad that all of the locals had given him such a negative impression.  I talked to him for a while, and ended up taking him for a mini Memphis tour on Monday before the big game.

I picked him up at the Westin around lunch time on Monday.  We drove down Madison to see many downtown shops and the medical district on our way to The BBQ Shop.  My friend Eric met us there.  The BBQ Shop is his family's business, and he gave us the VIP treatment.  He sat down with us to tell us all about the menu, and give us some history (and positive things to say) about the city.  Thanks Eric for your help, and for always being so positive.

After lunch, I drove my new friend back downtown to check out the view from the top of the Madison Hotel.  The Madison is a boutique hotel in Memphis.  They recently renovated their rooftop bar.  The new roof looks amazing, and of course has a wonderful view of the Mississippi River. 

I had to take my new friend back in time for the game, but I think that he may have changed his mind about the city in just a few hours.  As a reminder to everyone-- every city has its faults.  When you're traveling on business or on vacation, you're looking for a few bright spots.  It doesn't do them any good to hear about the long list of things you don't like.  As someone who lives in the city, take the opportunity to share those bright spots with the visitors you meet. These details are the ones that are really helpful to someone who's traveling.

Special thanks to everyone who helped out with ideas on things to do, including Eric Vernon, Paul Morris, Eric Mathews,  Devin D., and Krista E. 

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After dropping off my friend, I headed home.  An hour later, I was hosting friends on my roof for pre-playoff-game mojitos using the fresh mint from my garden.  About 10 people or so came up.  The weather was perfect, and the drinks were good too.  It was really nice to see everyone and to reconnect.  We should definitely do it more often, and use as much mint as the garden will produce!

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The next stop was the FedEx Forum.  I had planned to watch the game from a bar downtown, but a very thoughtful friend had given me two free tickets just a few hours before.  August and I went for what was one of the best and hardest games of the season. 

We were down by quite a bit at first. Then we recovered and the score went back and fourth for quite a while.  We would be up by one and then they would.  Eventually, we won in overtime. 

August and I were both so happy to go to the game in person.  It was also nice to be there with friends.  A number of friends were all over the arena including Cindy who was 3 rows back from us, a high school friend, Jamie, who had driven in from Oklahoma City to cheer on the Thunder, and my friend from Singapore (it was his first NBA game ever!).

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After the game, we headed to a local pub called Bardog where I destroyed (quite literally) a club sandwich and a beer.  We saw many of the folks who are going through the current Seed Hatchery incubator, my friend from Singapore, Freddie, and Prasad.  Freddie had just landed in the Memphis airport from Norway.  He's such a good sport that he came right out to meet us.

It was great to see everyone.  It was definitely a successful day for Memphis!

Currency

I thought a lot about currency on my trip.  In almost every country, I got new money from the ATM at the airport.  It took a lot of focus to shift the conversion rate in my head every few days.  Below are the different kinds of currency that I had in my purse by the end of the trip.

1. US dollars
2. British pounds
3. Euros
4. Swedish kroner
5. Singapore dollars
6. Australian dollars
7. Hong Kong dollars
8. Thai baht

Since it was a bit of a pain to exchange money back and fourth, I kept any change I had from each place.  I spent part of Sunday sorting out the money and counting how much I have from each country.  Not counting the US dollars, I had over $300 in "change."  Change included both bills and coins from each place.

The places that I had the most money from were Singapore and Thailand, so I may try to exchange that money this week with foreign friends while they're in town.  I'm not sure if the currency exchange places in Memphis are looking for so many random kinds of money.

I will also keep some as a souvenir.  I'm pretty against buying souvenirs, but different coins are pretty interesting.

Below is a photo of the money all sorted out.  The coins are sitting in stacks by type.  Pretty cool, right?

Catchup

Wow, it's been an entire week since I've written a post.  Sitting here typing everything on my laptop makes me feel amazed that I wrote my trip posts with my tiny cell phone.  I guess that means that I should pick up the pace with my posts now that I'm back.

A lot has happened in the last 8 days...

Wednesday and Thursday of last week, I flew to Philadelphia (and back) to see a few friends.  While I was there, I stopped by Macy's to pick up a dress.  When the cashier ran my credit card, that's when the fun began.

My credit card gave a message saying to call them.  So, the Macy's employee called them.  They asked her to read out my credit card # over the phone and then after getting a few other personal details about me, they asked that I call them directly.

I stepped out of line and picked up the phone to call Visa.  First, Visa asked that I read out my credit card # - 4 times.  They weren't able to hear me the first time, the second time their computer crashed, they couldn't quite hear the third time, and the fourth they got it.  Then, I had to provide my home phone number, my home address, the last four of my SSN, and my mother's maiden name.  If anyone at Macy's ever wanted to open a Visa card in my name, this was definitely the time to listen in.

At first, the rep said he wasn't able to help me because another rep was calling me at the same time and was also accessing my data in the computer at the same time.  I had to wait for a few minutes for him to ask the other rep to give him access to my account.

After verifying all of my information and getting access to my account, the Visa rep (who sounded like he was an excited detective who had just solved his first case) said, "You will never believe this! A charge just came through to your card from someone at a Macy's in Philadelphia!"  Below is the conversation that followed (modified slightly for the sake of storytelling):
Me: Yes, I'm in Philadelphia.  I'm trying to buy a dress.
Visa: But, this charge is from Philadelphia!
Me: Yes, I'm in Philadelphia. I'm at Macy's.
Visa: But, there's also a charge from NORTH CAROLINA!
Me: Yes, that was my lunch.  I had a layover in Charlotte.  Is it about $12?
Visa: Well, yes. But, North Carolina?
Me: Yes, I had a layover on my way to Philadelphia.
Visa: Well, how long will you be there?
Me: Until tomorrow. I'm flying back through North Carolina again on the way.
Visa: Well, there's also a charge from 1-800-flowers!  And it's only for $0.99!  That must be something.
Me: Those are Mother's Day flowers.  I don't know why I was only charged $0.99 so far, but I placed an order before I left for the aiport.
Visa: And there's a payment for another website!
Me: Listen, I'm at Macy's. I'm at the cashier and I'm trying to buy this dress.  Could you please just remove the hold on the account? It's me.
Visa: Oh, yes.  Okay, the charge should go through now.

So the cashier ran the card again and it worked.  Then, I walked to another section of the store to pick up a camisole and the cashier there received the same message.  I tried a different credit card and it worked.  The first ordeal took about 45 minutes and I just didn't have time to go through it again.  Luckily, the card has been working just fine since then.  Ironically, Visa never tried to shut down my card during my trip around the world.  They knew that I was traveling then (and not to Philly), but I would think that my big trip was much more suspicious than a little one within the US.

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Anyway, I made it back safely to Memphis on Thursday night.  I sat next to one of those people on the flight (who are inevitably male I hate to say) that tries to dominate the seat area by spreading their legs wide to allow their feet into your space.  They also hang their arms over the armrest to allow them to be inside your chair's space.  I'm very good at staying within my space, but this behavior from another passenger really makes my blood boil.  I think these men are often trying to make a point that the seats are too small for them.  But I've got news.  My legs are longer than any man I've ever met.  Even a man who is 6'4" will typically have shorter legs than me.  I'm cramped too.  So keep them inside your own area.  It's rude and disrespectful.

Off my soap box...

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Friday, I spent recovering from the day before. I took the day slow and casuel.  Around 7 PM, I drove to Bridges (a local Memphis non-profit) to check out their climbing wall.  A handful of friends went to go climbing, and despite my exhaustion, I was willing to give it a shot.  Luckily for me, I was able to see folks without climb.  They had just finished when I arrived.  I was able to hug AnnMarie and then head home for a relaxing night on the couch.

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Saturday was much more exciting.  There were so many different choices of things to do that I almost didn't do anything. It was just too hard to decide!  In the morning, I stopped by the Memphis Farmer's Market.  I had eaten up all of my meat before I left town, so I restocked on different meats from West Wind Farms.  I also got some strawberries, wheat bread, coconut popsicles, and a few other things.  Later in the day, I made the strawberries into ice cream and the bread into BLTs (along with lettuce from my garden and bacon from another local farm).

Saturday night, I received a text from a friend who is visiting from Singapore.  He had an extra ticket to a wine auction at the Brooks Museum.  I immediately agreed to go and quickly switched from my sweats to a nice dress.  When I arrived at the Brooks, I met my friend and two of his friends.  They were two Norwegians who own a vodka company.  They are taking a road trip around the US to promote their vodka brand, Heavy Water.  Here's their website: http://www.heavywater.no/. 

The wine auction was really fun, although a little different than most fundraisers I've been to in Memphis.  When we walked in, there were brownies and tiny pieces of duck to nibble on.  At our table, there was a big picnic basket of food.  It included cheeses, bread, crackers, salami, olives, and more.  But, everything was still in the package, so it was like a group project to get everything out and on plates.  We only had 5 people at our 10 person table, so the basket of food was enough to fill everyone up.  Just when I started to get full, a giant plate of hamburgers and hotdogs arrived.  It was probably enough to serve 20 hungry people, and we were just 5 pretty full people.  But, being a team player, I ate a hot dog.  Then two baskets of fries showed up.  I ate all these and felt very full.  About 20 minutes later, the staff brought us new plates.  Then, more food.  First, it was collard greens, then potatoes, and then a giant meatloaf.  By this time, we started to refuse the food.  It was just too much and a bit overwhelming.  For dessert, we had what appeared to be Muddy's cupcakes and more brownies.

And did I mention that there were about 5 or 6 bottles of unopened wine on the table for us to try?  We tried quite a few of the wines and they were all tasty.  A winemaker from Oregon sat next to me, and during the dinner, he would occasionally bring back other glasses of wine to try.  I think that in all, he probably brought back 4 different kinds.  The highlight for me was a wine that was bottled in my birth year.  I don't think I've ever had a wine that was bottled in my own birth year.  It was pretty cool!  All in all, the event was a lot of fun and a very good use of my Saturday night.

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To keep things interesting, I'm going to continue this update on another post.

Cupcakes, nails, and my garden

Most of today was spent trying to get caught up on tasks.  I have a feeling that I will be getting caught up for a few more weeks at least.  It's amazing how much can pile up over such a short time.

I'm preparing for another little trip out of town tomorrow.  In preparation, I got my nails done.  This was a huge relief as I haven't had them painted since Singapore.  Normally, it wouldn't be an issue, but since I was walking for miles and miles each day during my trip, my feet are pretty worn out.  After getting them fixed up this afternoon, I was completely relieved.  I took great care in wearing flip flops to the nail salon this time, so as not to mess up my toes.  Unfortunately, I was a little too ambitious with socks a few hours later.  It is amazing just how long it takes nail polish to dry!  At the end of the day, I'm just happy that my feet are in good shape again... but the texture on my toenails wasn't exactly the look that I was going for.

For dinner, I met my friend Betsy at a new place on South Main in Memphis called Corked Carrot.  They serve all foods that can be baked inside of a muffin tin.  For dinner, I had two muffin shaped treats: a corn dog muffin and a BBQ muffin.  They came along with small salad and Betsy brought wine.  For dessert, I ordered a carrot cake cupcake, but when it arrived I could clearly see that the strategy is to get more than one, so we also ordered a few Elvis cupcakes (banana bread cupcake with peanut butter icing). Overall, the place was nice.  The atmosphere was good and the food was interesting.  If I could change anything, I might make the dessert cupcakes bigger-- and consider evaluating the price points for a few things. 

I stopped by the garden after dinner to check out the new vegetables that I planted last Thursday.  I had been afraid that the rain completely flooded over the weekend.  To my surprise, the plants seem to be fine.  And, the lettuce that I had picked last week for sandwiches is back.  But instead of being a small lettuce patch, it has turned into a lettuce tree that's growing straight up.  I guess that the plants are enjoying the weather after all.

Below are a few photos from Corked Carrot.  You will see what I mean about the size of the dessert cupcakes.

Settling into Memphis

The past few days have been a whirlwind.  I landed on Monday night and spent the day Tuesday searching for my luggage, and buying groceries and plants for my garden.  On Wednesday, I did laundry, planted my garden, caught up on 2 months of mail, and prepared to have a few friends over on Thursday.

Thursday was great!  A few friends came by to say hello and ask questions about my trip.  I stayed up late and went to the Blue Monkey afterward.  It was a lot of fun.

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday were Music Fest.  For those who may not know, we have a festival here that goes on all month called Memphis in May.  It kicks off with Music Fest.

As expected, it rained, but surprisingly it was incredibly cold.  At times, it was less than 40 degrees F. The rain and the freezing temperatures, paired up with the river flood warning, made this Music Fest one of the strangest and most memorable.

Music Fest takes place on the banks of the Mississippi River, very near where I live.  This year, I could tell that the festival had improved their sound system.  I could hear every word the performers were saying from the stage (nearest to me - there were 3 or so stages).  This was my main motivation to get out and stand in water and mud for hours.

Luckily, I was able to find shelter in the Memphis Flyer tent.  It's a comfortable and private spot that's set up for downtown locals.  They serve free drinks and food, and have private "bathrooms."

Saturday was also the Memphis Farmers Market.  I went down to refill my supply of locally raised organic meats, homemade popsicles, and fresh fruits and vegetables. It was incredibly nice to be back to my local produce.

So far, I'm made homemade strawberry ice cream, chicken tacos, guacamole, BLTs, among other things.  It's been great, and I think I missed bacon.  I have eaten almost a pound of it since I got home.

Now that I'm back, I will do my best to keep posting - and keep having adventures.  Stay tuned for more excitement!

Goodbye Australia, Hello US!

My flight to come back to the US left Sydney at 1:30 PM on Monday.  It was a 16 hour flight to Dallas.  It landed in Dallas at around 1:30 PM - also on Monday.  (How strange is it to depart and land at the same time, on the same day - after 16 hours have passed?) I then had a 3 hour layover in Dallas before getting on a 1 hour flight to Memphis that arrived at 5:30 PM on Monday.

I was very nervous about the 16 hour flight.  The longest flight I've ever taken was one to India a few years ago.  That flight was long, but not that long.  I had no idea how exactly that I would survive such a long flight. 

Since I only brought a backpack on my trip, I had about 50 pounds of extra luggage I could bring back.  Shane and Laura jumped on the opportunity to send a few things back with me.  Luckily, this meant that Laura accompanied me to the airport.  I was happy that we went together, because I was so nervous about the long flight.

Luckily, I was seated in a bulkhead row and there were no children in my section.  Unluckily, the person directly behind me rested their feet on the back of my chair the entire flight.  I didn't figure out that was going on until we were landing.  But, the man next to me was very nice and nobody was seated between us.

Also, they gave us food non stop.  That made things much easier for me.  This was the food I remember.  There was probably more, but it seemed like every hour or so, something was available. 
Lunch
Pizza
Ice cream
A granola bar
Cheese and crackers
Breakfast

When we got off the plane in Dallas, I was relieved.  I survived the flight and didn't feel too bad.  Qantas did a great job.  The flight was on time and the staff was friendly and helpful. 

Everything that happened between getting off the Qantus flight and getting home with American Airlines was pretty disappointing.  I've saved the details of that portion of the journey and may share them with you at a later time.

For now, I'm just happy to be home!

Wrapping up my trip with a bow

Sunday was my last full day in Sydney.  I spent the morning washing my clothes, packing, and preparing to go home.

Around noon, I had tea at an outdoor cafe in Kiribilli, the neighborhood where Shane and Laura live.  It was a very warm day, so for the first time, I found myself feeling a little too warm.  It was a nice change from so many of the cold days I had during my trip. 

Afterward, I went to another nice part of Sydney to attend an event called an appathon.  I got there a bit early and found a beautiful sandy beach that's very close to where the event was held.  I also spotted a chocolate school.  The school teaches students how to cook with chocolate.  I wish I had found it before my last night!

The 48 Hour Challenge Appathon gathers digital technologists together for a weekend (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday) to work on a common cause.  The 50 or so computer programmers and mobile marketers focused on 6 non-profits in Sydney.  Everyone donated their time to help the non-profits come up with new mobile apps.

The Appathon was hosted by a cutting edge mobile app development agency in Sydney called Alive Mobile.  I was impressed with the entire setup.  The executives and employees were all smart, down to earth, and very happy.  The location was amazing - you can see the water from their offices.  And they were incredibly welcoming to me, offering me chocolate (from the school next door) and wine along with great conversation. 

I went to watch the Appathon presentations to learn about what the teams built over the weekend. The apps had various purposes from fund raising to helping the a homeless person find an empty bed in a shelter.  The energy at the event was wonderful. The appathoners were excited to help the non-profits and the non-profits were bursting with appreciation for the free help. 

Here's a link to more information about the 48-hour Appathon.  After attending the presentations, I think this event is one that Memphis should consider.  We have many great non-profits here and a tech community that's rich with talent. But anyway, that's a discussion for another post...

After the presentations, there was an unexpected twist.  I thought there would be networking and then everyone would go home.  Instead, there was networking and then a guest speaker.

The guest speaker is named Sebastian and he has a website called 100 Things.   He started by telling a story about being 27 years old, sailing through life with no real purpose, and suddenly having a close friend die.  It was completely unexpected and it made him question whether or not he was doing what would make himself happy.  If he were to die tomorrow, would he feel like he had lived a full life?

Sebastian is 31 now and since that incident, he has stopped working in a traditional job and has started pursuing things that are on his list of 100 thing to do before he dies.  He told stories about a few of the things he has done to date, including delivering a baby and marrying a stranger in Las Vegas.

As he has gone along, he's been blogging about each experience.  He has developed quite a following online and in turn, has been in the media quite a bit.  He was also approached to write a book and so he did that too.  Now, he's started to raise money for a non-profit called Camp Quality.  At the end of his presentation, he confirmed that he's now happy and could officially look back with no regrets.

After Sebastian's presentation, I immediately went to meet him.  I explained that I've been traveling for almost two months and given that it was the last night of the trip, the timing of the presentation was perfect.  He gave me one piece of advice.  It was to make choices about your job very carefully.  It is often so easy to get pulled into something that leads us down a path that does not provide happiness.

He asked that we stay in touch and I hope that Memphis might find a reason to draw him in.  Barbecue, perhaps?  I'm certain Memphians would find his story to be inspiring. 

Afterward, I headed back to Kirribilli to meet Shane and Laura for dinner.  We went to a little Thai place near their house called Stir Crazy.  We reflected on my entire trip and on the way everything was wrapped up so perfectly on my last day.  And, it only made sense that my last meal of the trip would be Thai food!

Bubble wrapped laughs with a side of pizza

Saturday ended up as one of the most exciting days that I had in Sydney. I left in the early afternoon to do some shopping. The top item on my list: wine skins. If you haven't use these before, and you're a wine drinker, them you should try them. They are bubble wrap that's cut into the shape of a wine bottle with adhesive tape at the bottom. After visiting around 5 clueless wine stores who had never heard of them, I found a place with a huge supply. The guy working the counter was overly casual about them, as if they were a common item everywhere. 

During my quest, I stopped for a cupcake and hot chocolate. Almost every country had them, and I wanted to try at least one before I went home. I got a carrot cake cupcake with cream cheese icing and a plain hot chocolate. The cupcake alone was almost $5. I think this may be a similar cost to Muddy's in Memphis, but I suspect it's a bit more. The hot chocolate was surprisingly bitter, so I found myself adding multiple packages of sugar to it. 

I also stopped for a few other items including a grey tank and a few necklaces. While shopping, I visited the bottom floor of the department store Myers. They had a nice food court where I got an oddly tasting lemonade and another uncut sushi roll. I was able to stroll through the mall munching away on the roll. Australia is the only country where I saw these rolls. After trying them, I think that very country should adopt them. They're so easy and healthy. If I had not had the sushi option, I would have probably tried a cookie or an ice cream. The sushi was just as easy, but I felt so much better after eating it. (Oh, and they had an American food section in the store.  Check out the photo below.)

Once I had found everything I was looking for, I headed to the O Bar. Its located on the top floor of a tall building in the middle of the city. It has a full 360 degree view and it rotates. Although it was decorated to look very hip, the staff was extremely welcoming to the less than stylish tourists. One of the hostesses actually sat down with me to ask why I was alone. When I told her about my trip, she told me about a cross country road trip that she took in the US. She also recommended other local bars. O Bar was hands down my favorite in Sydney. If you have the chance to check it out, you should go for at least a drink. 

I received a text from Laura and Shane around this time that they were around the corner at another great bar, Frankie's. I walked over to meet them and Shane and I split my new favorite pizza. It was made with sausage, mushrooms, and most important- truffle oil. I want to try to make this in Memphis.  It was heavenly.

After inhaling the pizza, we went into the main section of the bar where a country band was setting up. The band was made up of four men in their 60s and 70s. They were singing songs by Johnny Cash, George Jones, and other old country artists. As with most singers, you can't tell where they might be from when they're singing.  For the most part, they sing with the accent of the country the music is from. But, their clothes looked very authentic and not the imitation of American culture like I'd seen in other places. I found out later that they were in fact Americans!  After I left, they befriended Shane and Laura.  They moved to Australia years ago and raised their children there.  Apparently, they speak with southern accents while their children have Australian accents.  

I headed out around 8 PM to go to the Sydney Comedy Festival again.  Eddie Ifft was performing and I had heard that he was very good.  It took two trains and a mile walk to make it to the theatre.  Little did I know, it was located inside a warehouse district.  That mile was one of the more uncomfortable ones of my entire trip.  But in the end, I made it and Eddie Ifft was great.  He's an American comedian who performs internationally quite a bit.

After the show, I visited a new bar called the Soda Factory.  It had a long line outside to get in, so you knew it had to be fun.  At the door, they had a woman wearing a poodle skirt and roller skates who was working.  She reminded me a bit of Sonic in the 50s.  To go into the bar, you had to walk through a big red door that I suspect used to be a door to a Coca-Cola fridge.  Inside, the bar was packed and everyone danced the night away to 80s music.

I didn't get back home until almost 2 AM.  By then, Shane and Laura were sleeping, so I did my best to tiptoe in.  I fell asleep quickly, excited about what my last full day in Sydney might bring.

Grandma's Irish Kangaroo

As you can see, I'm quite behind. The last few days in Australia have been a real whirlwind. I hope to catch you up over the coming days on just what happened. I would like to also expand more on other stories and reflections from the trip.

I spent Friday spending quality time with Laura. As I've mentioned in previous posts, Laura is Shane's girlfriend. She was an incredible host and friend to me while I was in Australia. She's been following my blog for my entire journey, so I'd like to say a big thank you to Laura!

We started off the day by heading into downtown Sydney for a little shopping. I tend to be opposed to tourist shops, so I was looking for a few items that I could use in everyday life that would remind me of my trip. I found a cute ice cream scoop and finger nail brush. Neither item is glamorous, but I was in need of both. We also scoured pajama shops, but I couldn't find anything that I couldn't live without.

While in the pajama shop, Laura's friend Joan called us. She was down the street at the train station. We met her and together we walked to a local bar called Grandma's. The bar is located the basement of a building and is complete with doilies (instead of coasters) to set your drink on. We pulled up three stools to the bar where the friendly bartender started to make our drinks. I ordered a bison grass vodka with ice and a slice of lime. If you haven't tried this flavor of spiced vodka, you definitely should. The interesting thing though was the ice. I asked for a "little" ice. Ice in Australia comes in little blocks, so the bartender put my block of ice on a cutting board and proceeded to cut it down to a reasonable size with a knife.

A side note on the bars in Sydney: I quickly learned that Sydney and Melbourne are rival cities in every way. One of those ways in particular is the bar scene. Melbourne is known to be a foodie town, with tiny unique local bars that can be found in dark alleyways. In response, this style of bar is popping up in a big way all over Sydney. In my 10 days in Sydney, I went to at least 6 bars made in this style.

After a few drinks, Shane and Joan's husband Lindsey arrived and we headed to dinner at a local steak place. Every person got a different cut of meat for dinner. At Shane's recommendation, I tried the kangaroo. I was expecting something along the lines of the reindeer that I tried in Norway. Unfortunately, I think the kangaroo wasn't cooked quite right as it tasted off to everyone at the table. Luckily, this meant that everyone else at the table gave me a piece of their meat. In the end, I got to try 6 different cuts (5 of which were beef).

We ended the evening at an Irish pub. The pub had live music. It was reasonably decent as compared to just about every other live music I heard in Australia. Julie warned me in Melbourne that musicians in Australia sing both terribly and way, way too loud. I had hoped that she'd be wrong but by all accounts she was mostly right.

As a side note, Joan and Lindsey are Irish. Thinking back on my journey and my extended time in Ireland, I believe they are the first Irish people I spent time with. It was very nice to meet them and to learn more about their home.

ANZAC Day at Manly Beach

Thursday was fairly low key. It was a holiday here, ANZAC Day. The holiday celebrates those who served in the military for Australia. Although it sounds like Memorial Day, it's celebrated a little bit like Thanksgiving is in the US (in terms of excitement level).

I slept in late. For dinner, Laura, Shane, and I took two ferries to Manly Beach. Their friends Joan and Lindsey made us chicken tacos for dinner and we watched the ocean from their balcony.

Used Justin's and techie meet-up

Wednesday was an adventure. I started off by visiting the Museum of Contemporary Art. Like many other galleries, admission was free. To my surprise, there was an entire exhibit by Memphis photographer William Eggleston. It included photos from all over the South, but I didn't spot any photos from Memphis. The museum had a beautiful view of the water. It seems that almost everything does here.

Next, I headed down to Shady Pines Saloon. I had to take a bus there. Bus riding is far more complicated for me, since you have to know when to push the button to ask the driver to stop. Luckily, I found the stop on the first try. Finding Shady Pines however was a different story. The address for the bar is on one street while the entrance is on the alley of another street. It has no sign, and just a random door that you must walk through to get inside. The only marking on the door is a white sheet of paper with "Shady Pines" printed on it. Inside, I found a small bar filled with lots of whiskey, taxidermidy animals, and very old country music. They served peanuts in the shell at the old looking bar. The reviews said that this is a place you'd find in Texas. I picture it more as a place you might image Texas was like if you'd never been there.

On the way to my next stop, I went into a store called Route 66. I found USED Justin boots for $460 and new Wranglers for $150. These were along side rockabilly outfits.

Last, I walked to the meet-up group. It promised to be tech directors in Sydney. The group was fairly late, so I had left when I got a message that the group had arrived. I headed back to the nice Italian wine bar to find 3 other techies. I learned quite a lot about the digital culture here and the shortage for developers.

Afterward, I took a train home. Fortunately for me, Laura had made chicken tacos and had some left over. The day ended just as well as it started.

Beach and ballet

Tuesday was fun. Laura and I visited my friend Lea on Bondi Beach.

On the way, we stopped by a big mall. Similar to other countries, the bottom floor of the mall is dedicated to food. They had a grocery store and many restaurants. We ate at a Japanese restaurant. I tried these giant sushi rolls I've seen everywhere here. They're like an uncut sushi roll, and everyone eats them as a big piece. After two, I was stuffed.

We took a bus from the mall to Lea's house on Bondi Beach. She lives there with her husband and two adorable children. Lea treated us to banana bread, tea, wine, and other snacks. We also took a long walk along the beach. It was really nice to see Lea and to meet her children.

After Bondi, I headed to the Sydney Opera House. I saw Don Quixote performed by the Australian Ballet company and accompanied by the Australian Opera Orchestra. Needless to say, it was pretty amazing. There were two intermissions where you could drink champagne and look out into the harbor. Below is a photo of the space.

Last, I headed to a bar that's at the top of the Shangri-la Hotel. It had a very nice view of the city. I asked for a recommended local beer and was given another German Kölsch beer. This time it was from a brewery called 4 Pines.

All in all, it was a very successful day!

Art, Pizza, and Scotch

Monday exceeded my expectations. I saw and did many different things within just a few hours.

I slept in late, and when I got up, Laura and I walked to the Art Gallery of NSW. Shane and Laura live right on the water, so our choices to get there were to take a cab, take a train, take a ferry, or walk. We opted for walking and got the opportunity to walk across the Sydney bridge. Although it was only about a mile to get there, it took much longer than expected. Google Maps has a hard time locating your exact position in a big city. It takes some time to get the hang of ignoring the little dot that indicates where you are.

We walked through a beautiful park on the way. When we made it to the museum, we sailed right in. Like many other museums on my trip, the Art Gallery of NSW is free. The art was from many areas of the world and spanned a large range of time, but had more Australian art, as you can imagine. Australian art looks very similar to American art to me. As I learn more about the history of Australia, this makes sense to me. The gallery also had a few works by Picasso, Monet, and Giacometti.

After the gallery, we tried to check out a bar that's located on a top floor of a hotel. It's know for the view, but wasn't yet open for the night. Instead, we went to a bar called Frankie's where we drank local beer and had wonderful pizza.

After about an hour, my friend Matt met us. I went to high school with Matt in Oklahoma. He's living in Australia with his wife and baby, and working for a university in Sydney. It was nice to connect with someone from high school in such a random location.

After another hour or so, Shane and one of his colleagues showed up. We tried more different kinds of beer and ate three more pizzas. My favorite was a sausage pizza that had truffle oil on it. Yumm.

Monday night is live music night at Frankie's and this week was no exception. The band was okay, but they were so loud that most people in the audience were wearing earplugs. Luckily, Matt gave me his only pair to protect my ears.

After a lot of yelling over the band, we decided to go on to another bar owned by the same management as Frankie's. It's called The Baxter Inn and it specializes in bourbon, whiskey, and scotch. They are located in an alley and down some random stairs. It reminds me a lot of a library as they have rows and rows of bottles and a rolling ladder to reach them. This place was amazing. Definitely my favorite in Sydney so far. It was a great end to a great night.

Hunter Valley Wine

Yesterday, we all woke up at the crack of dawn. At 7:45 AM, a tour driver picked us up for a private wine tour. Shane, Laura, 3 of their friends, and I went together on a private day long tour. The drive to the Hunter Valley took two hours.

Our first stop was a small vineyard that only has three employees. The vineyard's power was out, so we sat outside for our tasting. The wine maker was very direct and gave us the inside scoop on all things Australian wine.

Next, we went to another vineyard for a cheese tasting. We tried five or six kinds of cheeses with a small explanation by the staff.

The third stop was another vineyard. It was a larger production winery with a bar that we stood along to taste. They were quite old and family run for about six generations. The highlight was their ports. They had quite a few different ones of different ages.

Lunch was next. We ate at a casual little place. I had the chicken schnitzel. It's a lot like chicken fried steak in the US, or a German schnitzel made with chicken.

The last vineyard was just a year old. It was a vineyard previously that had gone down hill. Four wine makers came from a more established vineyard to start this one. Their tasting room was very nice, but the wine left a little to be desired. I didn't care for the whites at all, but the reds were fairly good.

After finishing at the last vineyard, the driver whisked us away to a local brewery. We had a brief tour and tried a few of their beers, including one made with oysters. The biggest surprise was that they had Kölsch beer. I've never seen this type of beer outside of its native home in Cologne, Germany. After talking to the tour guide, I learned that one of the brewers had spent a significant amount of time in Cologne and had brought the style back to Australia with them.

We left around 5 and made it back around 7 PM. We had dinner at a Thai place and I headed straight to bed. A day of drinking can certainly make you sleepy.

Comedy in Sydney

My second day in Sydney was very relaxed. Shane and Laura knew that I was quite tired from traveling and let me sleep in.

When I woke up. Laura made me a tasty breakfast and I did my laundry.

In the evening, we went to a comedy show. First though, we stopped at a bar for a beer. The bar had the word "hotel" in the name, but Laura explained that's normal here-- especially when a place is not a bar. Next, we stopped for pizza at a place appropriately named, " Eat, Love, Pizza."

When we finally made it to the comedy venue, we realized it was a huge space. The Sydney Comedy Festival just started. It seems to be all of the same comedians as those in Melbourne. Just relocated. We saw a comedian from the UK named Ross. He was a random comedian that stayed away from political issues, but was fairly funny.

Afterward, we caught a cab home and I fell right to sleep.

Quantus sucks

The Quantus flight from Melbourne to Sydney was nothing short of a small disaster. The flight was packed full, so I ended up in a middle seat in the back of the plane. Things were relatively okay until the plane started to shake and dropped down quite a bit. I held onto the seat in front of me just to keep from hitting the passengers next to me. In the US, the flight attendant would come over the speaker to apologize and reassure the passengers. In this case, the flight attendant came over the speaker laughing and apologized for ending the in flight entertainment. No explanation. At all.

Shane and Laura were both at the baggage claim to greet me. It was very exciting because although they have been dating for years, we have never met.

We took the train from the airport to their new apartment. They've only been in Sydney for six months and moved to a new apartment less than a week ago. It has an incredible view. Incredible. Really. It overlooks the water and bridge. There's a picture below.

After soaking in the amazing view, we walked to dinner. On the way, we stopped by their old apartment. The old one was equally beautiful only bigger, but with no view.

For dinner, we went to a local restaurant called "Your Place." It's Thai food, owned by an Australian and Thai couple. The food was probably the best Thai I've ever had. To make things better, the owners love Laura and Shane and gave us lots of attention.

After dinner, I fell asleep quickly. I think I'm growing very tired of public transportation.