26 January 2007
Australia Day and more
 
Happy Australia Day (if such a thing is said, but we were saying it anyway)! Today was the day to break out the Wallabies jersey and wear it proudly under my scarf and leather jacket (because it is sooooooo cold!) We even managed to see some cricket...indoor cricket. A few Aussie pubs in Manhattan organised an indoor cricket comp over on Chelsea Piers indoor sports arena (right on the water which made things twice as cold when outside).
 
The afternoon was spent running errands for the conference and some shopping at Century 21 (massive brand name discount shopping store in NY) but didn't buy anything for me (yet). Another Aussie spotted my Aussie jersey and called out, "Happy Australia Day" which was pretty cool. All the cab drivers were a bit amused with us calling out, "Happy Australia Day" and the best we could explain it to them was Australia's 4th July which isn't strictly true, but close enough.
 
After a quick taxi ride through peak hour traffic back to the hotel, we readied ourselves for the ultimate paradox - the Australia Day BBQ in an Aussie pub (the Sun Burnt Cow http://www.thesunburntcow.com/cow/index.html - how cool is that!) in NY. And yes, the Wallabies jersey was being worn proudly again until it was too cold and I had to re-scarf and jacket myself. Nanette also brought out the Aussie Flag fake tattoos which were great. Being an Aussie, $10 got me a free first drink plus BBQ which was pretty good - lamb skewers, calamari, macaroni and cheese, greek salad, lasagne, beef ribs and more. So it was sort of Australian but not really, but still good food which counts most.

BTW, we found out that Paulien was awarded an Australia Day award for, according to her, being a FGS - f****** good sheila - (She actually got it for service to QLD Justice Dept); and all this from a woman packing a stubbie holder in her handbag! 
 
Again, I left the others early but this time I detoured to a Ballroom dance class at www.dancemanhattan.com , party and instructor showcase of styles. It was good fun to break out the dance shoes and try them halfway across the world. We had a quick lesson in Ballroom Tango (my favourite style at the moment although we only covered a couple of steps) and Salsa, for something a bit quicker and Latin. The party was fun and good experience and I discovered the American styles of dancing can be quite different to the styles I'm learning at the moment. This studio seems to be one of the larger ones with lots of classes in a huge variety of styles, so it's probably worth checking out again. They have a swing workshop on Sunday I hope to get to. I think we may end up doing 8-step, Lindy Hop, West Coast and/or Hustle but I guess I'll find out if I get there.
 
So it was a very Australian Australia Day for us in NY, even though we're celebrating it 15 hours later than all of you and a long way away.
 
25 January 2007
 
I slept pretty deeply which was good considering the late hour I crashed into bed and rose at 9 for a 10am breakfast meeting with the team. For various reasons, we are taking a larger team this year. For the New York conference in January last year, it was Jo (my boss), myself and David Bowie (our client). This year, it is myself, Jo (+friend Paulien), Adam (+Zita and Patrick), Michael (+Nanette) and our US East Cost Sales guy (+ wife) is joining us also, so it is a much larger team which must be showing growth in the company which is great.
 
I spent most of the day doing prep for the conference in various forms, so not much to report today.
 
We did see snow for the first time this trip, during the day, which shows just how cold it is. You may recall news reports a couple of weeks ago of temps in NY in mid 20oC, but definitely not now!
 
I had a quiet dinner in my hotel room to finish the not so exciting first full day in NY.
 
Long Flights
24 January 2007
 
13 hours to LA, 2 hour transfer and then 5 hours to New York...ugh. (Double ugh on the NY flight - that extra leg always really wastes me).
 
Fortunately, the good news is that I checked in early (3 hours early for a change) and managed to get emergency aisle seats on both flights which helps me relax during the flight. Having zero leg space for someone as tall as I is not a good recipe for travelling on long flights well.
 
I was pleasantly surprised at the change of attitude in the Customs and Border Protection staff at LAX. Not only were we only the second of two flights to arrive at customs open (7am local), but I was first to disembark the plane because of the seat I had (yes!). I must admit it was a good feeling to be the first off the plane and blaze the trail down the tunnel to customs. The officer processing my entry was laughing, smiling and joking with another officer and even made the 'joke' to introduce his first Aussie of the day to his passing supervisor, of which we shook hands. So that was a good start to USA.
 
Vietnamese Dinner @ Saigon Taste - good, but not great, Chicken Pad Thai. It was a very Aussie moment though when Paulien pulled out her own stubbie holder from handbag to put around her Saigon beer! Apparently she has been packing a stubbie holder for 20 years!
 
David Bowie (not the rock star, but a client!) joined us after dinner for good times at a Blues and Funk bar called Groove Bar. www.clubgroovenyc.com which was FANTASTIC! It was the first improv night the host had organised and it was swingin' and groove'in with all sorts of artists playing a mean bass/drums/keys/harmonica/sax/trumpet/vocals. One of the performers who dropped in was from Rolling Stone magazine. I remembered most clubs get going from midnight but by 1 I was pretty tired and left the others (who left at 3.30am) for the hotel. We're staying at the Hotel Gershwin again www.gershwinhotel.com which is clean, nicely located, arty and trendy so pretty good.
 
And, yes, it is cold, very cold with high temps around 20-25oF (which is below zero oC) + wind chill.  Brrrrrrr!

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