Oooof! Aussie

Party time!

2011-06-08T09:53:00.009+08:00

Sergio & I went to a fancy dress party for a friend's birthday. The theme was movie characters so we went as the Mad Hatter and the Queen of Heart from Tim Burton's 'Alice in Wonderland'
The photo of me was taken by Alessandro Riberti

Our friend Mascha went as Leonidas, the hero-king of Sparta from Zack Snider's '300'

Miss Grace Jones!

2011-04-28T15:22:00.002+08:00

Thank you to Annette for treating me to Grace Jones' amazing concert and giving me the opportunity to meet her. Truly a one off experience.

Happiness :-)

2011-03-14T14:22:00.001+08:00

Jervis Bay (August 2010)

2010-10-06T19:53:00.001+08:00

Some photos from our week-end away to Jervis Bay this past August

Enjoy!

Mid summer/winter news

2010-07-11T19:13:00.024+08:00

Hello Folks,

Long time no speak as they say :)
Lots of fun stuff happened since my last post !! So here are the most important things ...

Aussie Aussie Aussie ... Oy Oy Oy !!! I am now officially an Australian citizen ! I attended a very sweet and intimate ceremony in a Jewish Center end of June, 11 of us were getting our citizenship that day. Also received my passport last week.

Sergio finished working in 'The Legend of the Guardians' click here for the trailer
Movie opens September 23rd in the US ... the rest of the world will have to wait ... as usual

His daughter Lula has been here for a couple of weeks and we took her to Jervis Bay to see the kangaroos and the white sand beaches. We shared breakkie with kookaburras and were lucky enough to also encountered dolphins on Hyams Beach !!

Last week we went up north to Port Douglas and Cape Tribulation for a few days. We also took a boat trip for a day to see the Great Barrier Reef and play with Marvin the Maori Wrasse. We saw whales on the way. Lu did her introductory dive !! Well done Lu :-)

Thanks for reading and see you next time !

2010 update

2010-01-28T08:50:00.010+08:00

It's been a long time since I've posted here ... and a lot has happened in the last 6 months :) but first Happy New Year 2010 to you all !

Bécassine & Bibendum took a few more trips since their time in Europe (they also learn how to surf !)

Beginning of January, I passed my Australian citizenship test and am now waiting for the official ceremony. That should happened within the next 3 to 6 months at the most.

I started a new job at Dr D, still in Sydney working with George Miller and Rob Coleman again :)

Australia Day ... and my birthday. Sergio and I went camping down south, in Ulladulla. On our way, we stopped at Bendalong where we had a very nice encounter with big stingrays. They've been coming there for a few years and are very tame and used to human. They just come up to you for a pat and a feed rubbing their wings onto your legs :D

more photos on Picasa (click here)

Les Voyages de Bécassine

2009-07-12T19:48:00.002+08:00

In Europe for a month, Bécassine is enjoying herself :)

VIVID Sydney

2009-06-08T19:08:00.004+08:00

Lighting the Sails: a few photos of the Opera House

The way you feel

2009-05-21T22:18:00.007+08:00

It is still raining. When will it stop? Il cielo a volte, invece, ha qualche cosa di infernale... it's the perfect weather to fly and I'm definitely going with the wind, running like a mouse on a wheel, such a sweet sensation...

I enjoy the silence, look forward to the unknown, meraviglioso. I'm the leader of a bad girl gang, sounds about right...

Meno distrazioni. Più concentrazione. Mettere a fuoco la meta ed andare...dritto...lì. Enjoying the nature and reminiscing, it's a taste of things to come, wonderful!

It's all about the classics, in the crowd, strani giorni, viviamo strani giorni, it's blurred, for the first time in ages. Burn baby burn!

Missing Hasi... Well THAT didn't take long. 7 weeks and counting, torn and frayed, the earth is moving.

In Love,
Evviva!!!!!!

(these are compiled status quotes from my friends on facebook)

Le Hibou Lajaunie

2009-05-14T19:55:00.001+08:00

Ladies

2009-05-03T22:40:00.004+08:00

Here are a couple of interesting photos taken at the Wine and Food Festival today in Kings Cross

Serra Yılmaz & Jérôme Rigaudias

2009-04-27T20:53:00.002+08:00

During Istanbul Film Festival, this April, my brother accompanied Serra Yılmaz who was reciting a text by Daniel Mermet.

Tonga

2009-04-13T18:43:00.003+08:00

I just came back from a trip to Tonga (Pacific Islands). A group of 10 of us decided to go over there for Easter week-end.

We had a great time, got very lucky with the weather too given that it's the storm season at the moment.

The only down side were the mosquitoes which thought Cinzia and I were some kind of delicacy and also when the rats or mice decided to have a party in our hutt in the middle of the night, sending one of them crawling over my shoulder !

Here're some photos but as usual, you can see more on picasa

Sun Surf & Seal Rocks

2009-03-02T20:49:00.004+09:00

Hello everyone :)

Summer was here and summer is almost gone on my side of the world.
Making the best out of it, last week-end a group of us went to Seal Rocks, 3 hours north of Sydney, to try and learn how to surf.

Click here to see more photos

And as usual ... Enjoy!

Mount Cook - New Zealand

2008-11-23T21:51:00.004+09:00

Week-end to Mount Cook in New Zealand

Back to Sydney

2008-10-20T19:51:00.004+08:00

I got back home on Monday.
I had a fantastic time in South Africa, the talk at Promax went well :)
Thank you to Vanessa and Bron for having me !
For more photos of the safaris click here

Enjoy!

Safaris

2008-10-17T22:59:00.001+08:00

I came back to Joburg yesterday from a 3 day safari and it was just fantastic !! The lodge was beautiful, the staff really lovely, great food and the game drives just amazing !

I will post more photos but here are a couple as a teaser ;)

Off to South Africa

2008-10-13T13:20:00.003+08:00

Hello All,

A few months ago, I was invited to speak to a conference in Johannesburg, South Africa
http://www.promaxanz.tv/

I'm there now and off to Kruger National Park in a few hours to see elephants, lions, giraffes ... :)
I'm staying at the Kwambili Lodge

Will take photos to share with you all
Until next,
Enjoy!

Oooof!

She finally arrived !!!

2008-09-01T07:05:00.005+08:00

Let's see what happened since my last post (warning: it's all about bikes!)

I came back to Sydney after a great 9 week break, ordered a new bike, then had an accident the week after on the Ducati which ended up being a pure write off and kept my foot in a cast for 2 months (that wasn't fun!). Hosted a wild Bastille Day party with mostly Italian friends :) teamed up with Andrea to find him a Black Monster (congratulazioni Pupi!) and rode a Bonneville while waiting for the Street Triple Triumph (I felt vintage on that bike but she was getting soooo much attention !)

So now, after a 3 month wait, my new bike has finally arrived. Please let me introduce you to:

La Mouette !!!

Hong Kong

2008-05-29T19:19:00.000+08:00

If you want to see more photos click here

Random Photos taken in Paris

2008-04-23T23:15:00.010+08:00

Les Colonnes de Buren

To mum :)

Destruction of noxious animals

Opera Garnier

Centre Georges Pompidou

Miscellaneous Photos - Auvergne

2008-04-18T06:39:00.006+08:00

"Coucou" flower from my childhood :)

Le Puy de Dome with some fresh snow on its top

A tagged house in Riom

Big Pink Pots in Lyon

Japanese Cherry Tree

Creatures

2008-04-13T17:37:00.003+08:00

Faucon Crécerelle - Falcon Krestel (quite far and blurrry)

a little lizard living in the house's wall

and "minette" quite comfortable in her home of adoption :)

L'arc en ciel

2008-04-10T01:25:00.003+08:00

Mum's house with a complete rainbow :)

Along the way ...

2008-04-10T01:18:00.003+08:00

I was wandering in Lyon when I met Becassine ! She already had her luggage ready so we'll continue the journey together :)

France

2008-04-09T17:46:00.004+08:00

Yes, I've been in France for over a week now and doing an overdose of good and non pasteurized food :)

Here are a few photos of home made dishes:

Liver Parfait
Morilles Tart

Frozen nougat with raspberry sauce, apple and cinnamon sauce and pineapple and pepper sauce

Quenelles

Canal Plus Interview

2008-02-02T10:13:00.000+09:00

Not much happened since NYE ... oh yes, my last 30 something birthday ;)

On another note, and to get a good laugh, here's an interview some French people from Animal Logic did a while back for Canal Plus

Happy New Year !!!

2008-01-01T01:00:00.000+09:00

Multi Country Christmas :)

2007-12-25T10:00:00.000+09:00

Australia, Italy, Canada, Germany, Turkey and France ! We did it again this year, gathering friends from different countries to celebrate Christmas while away from our family!

Thank you all for coming !

Animal Logic Xmas Party

2007-12-14T21:30:00.000+09:00

Urban Qabila got to perform at Animal Logic Xmas Party. It was a great night at the Slip Inn
Thanks to Brady and Maureen for booking us, thanks to Cem and Mike for helping us with fire!
Here are a few photos: AnimalLogicXmasParty

Sculptures by the Sea

2007-11-19T19:31:00.000+09:00

Hello all :)

It's been a couple of months since my last post .... facebook is overtaking my blog world :(
This week-end I went to see Sculptures by the Sea, from Bondi to Tamarama with a couple of friends. Beautiful day out :)

Click here to see to more photos

Shark Island

2007-10-01T12:01:00.000+08:00

What a fantastic day !! We went to Shark Island kayaking from Rose Bay. So much fun.
To do again ! ... without tipping boats over this time ;)

Total Lunar Eclipse

2007-08-28T23:13:00.000+08:00

I went to Candice and Gael's place in Bondi, on top of their roof to photograph the moon.
From 6:20 until 10:50 we followed the total lunar eclipse.

Orash who just came back joined us with Sarah. It was a great night !

Thank you guys for letting me crash on the roof for 4 hours :)
For more photos click here

Damara

2007-07-23T07:33:00.001+08:00

Our troupe Urban Qabila performed along with other artists on Saturday night for Damara at the Abercrombie Hotel. It was such a great night !

Here's Barb and her fire fans and a few other pictures (more to come)

Friday Night Fever!

2007-06-18T09:42:00.000+08:00

Friday night .... the gang is going out all dressed up .... noice !
More photos on picasa

Jervis Bay

2007-06-09T15:19:00.000+08:00

Kris was visiting from New Zealand and Gael, Candice, Simon, Chris and us all went down to Jervis bay for the long week-end.

More photos of Jervis Bay

Cocktail Party

2007-05-26T20:00:00.000+08:00

Good people, Good Cocktail, Good fun :)
For more photos click here -> Cocktail Party

New Poi Video !!

2007-05-24T14:50:00.000+08:00

After a disastrous attempt to perform at a party on Saturday, Annette, Jeff and I ended up in Waverley park around 2am and had a spin.

Thanks to Jeffaroo for doing this video :)
and as usual .... Enjoy!

Life Drawing (part2)

2007-05-24T07:41:00.000+08:00

We had another session last night. A younger woman, pretty muscular body, very nicely shaped.
But gosh I found her hard to draw !!

Here's a link to see more drawings : http://picasaweb.google.com/magaloof/LifeDrawing

Life Drawing @ Animal !!!

2007-05-17T08:23:00.000+08:00

Graham organized a 10 week Life Drawing session at Animal, great idea, finally

I got talked into going ... I know it's good for me but I guess I was too self conscious about my drawing, looking bad you know ... cuz I can't draw !!
Anyway, I made it and .... enjoyed it a lot. I gotta learn a lot but that's why I'm going :)
Here're a few example of day 1

Peugeot 1935

2007-05-14T14:01:00.000+08:00

My dad rebuilds old Peugeot motorcycles from 1920/1935. They're all beautiful but this one is my favourite. Last night he told me it was very safe to ride and would keep it for me. I was really touched and it makes me happy :-) Wonder how I could get it over here tho ...

Spit Bridge Walk

2007-05-06T16:34:00.000+08:00

I finally did this walk today with Jodie, Chris&Hil, Simone and Elon. It was a really nice day out, and warm too !
9.5 kms, nice first half but I have to say I think the Bondi to Coogee one beats it by far.

Visited Countries

2007-05-01T08:22:00.000+08:00

I found this site on a friend's blog : www.world66.com
Here's my map ....I think I'll need an extra 3 lives to cover the rest :)

Tribal Jam and Photo Shoot

2007-04-15T09:00:00.000+08:00

Tongariro Crossing

2007-04-08T09:00:00.000+08:00

Hil, Chris, Simon and myself went to visit Kris in New Zealand over Easter week-end.
We did the Tongariro Crossing .... 15 kms, 800m going up, 1100m going down, 8 hours of hiking on rocks, sand, through the forest, blasting winds and sulfuric fumes ... a really great hike which we can still feel in our legs few days after !

Our daily menu consisted in scramble eggs and Toblerone .. it was Easter after all :)

And as usual, more photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/magaloof/Tongariro

Happy Easter everyone :)

You Tube ... I Tube .... :)

2007-03-26T16:46:00.000+08:00

Finally managed to put this video on YouTube :)

Poi session at Jon's BBQ

Enjoy!

Apérispice

2007-03-16T20:00:00.000+09:00

Back then already ...

2007-03-12T23:49:00.000+09:00

A few years ago ...

2007-03-12T14:51:00.000+09:00

Since not much is happening at the moment, I thought I'd post some old photos ... well not that old ;)

House Warming Party !!

2007-03-03T23:20:00.000+09:00

With the best director ever !!!

2007-03-02T12:35:00.000+09:00

Photo by Max Liani

Oscar 2007 - Happy Feet - Best Animated Film

2007-02-27T09:47:00.000+09:00

The Daily Telegraph - Tuesday 27, 2007

Happy people .... Animal Logic staff celebrate Happy Feet's Oscar win at Fox Studios yesterday

and an article from News24.com :
http://www.news24.com/News24/Entertainment/Abroad/0,,2-1225-1243_2075125,00.html

Vodka and I are moving in Bellevue Hill

2007-02-21T12:56:00.000+09:00

After 3 insane weeks of house hunting, having visited over 20 flats and 2 deposits later I finally found a new place to live !

It's got everything I was looking for : spacious, timber floor and natural light all throughout, nice big kitchen, good bathroom with bathtub and it even has a sun room as a bonus :)

The photos don't make justice ... it's much brighter in the unit

I made it in the newspaper ... in central France ... ;)

2007-02-15T10:35:00.000+09:00

Back "home"

2007-02-12T13:29:00.000+09:00

Hello all,

Got back in Sydney 2 weeks ago. It's good to be back ... although I need to adjust to a civilized and working life again ...

On a house hunt for the last 2 weeks the market and competition have increased ... tough life

Work is .... dead ... hopefully that'll change soon

Not much more to say, hope everyone is doing great
Be well

Oooof!

India

2007-02-05T17:40:00.000+09:00

My trip to Rajasthan was fantastic, rich and colourful. India is one of the most fascinating places I have been to .... not always easy .... yet always touching.

http://picasaweb.google.com/magaloof/

Enjoy!
Be well

Mumbai

2007-01-16T16:58:00.000+09:00

Hey All

I arrived in Mumbai early this morning, around 2am. Got some cash, a phone card, a prepaid cab as directed by Rahul ... everything went fine

The cab ride to the hotel was maybe 45 minutes ... during which I saw things that I had never seen before. Hundreds of people sleeping outside, on the street, on some kind of beds, underneath the trucks ... lots of people walking up the street too.

Mumbai has a very distinct smell, a mix between saffron, encens, hot rubber and a constant mist it seems.

Got at the hotel and the guy tells me there's no room ... I stay in the waiting room for a bit then he comes back and suggests to put a matress in this same waiting room ... hmmm I do need to shower and insist on getting a proper room, given that I had booked on some time ago.

Around 4:30 I get the room, pretty humid with lots of mould on the walls and little moffs too. Oh well ... I'm here.
Finally fell asleep around 7:30 and got up at 9am this morning.

Gregor isn't in Mumbai, his flight got cancelled last night, they're travelling with Roni and Oleg and will be back tonight.

I call Amita, I'm a bit lost and don't really know what to do. She gives me a few places name to go and have food.

I walked around the harbour, the indian gate. It's a strange city but I like it. It's poor, really poor and beggers are everywhere. Little ones and young women are not asking for money but for rice ... it's hard

I came in this cafe to check my email and I am staying a bit longer in order to do this first post and also get some freshness ... Mumbai is super hot and humid

I'm leaving on the 18th to go to Rajasthan. Not sure when I'll be able to post again.

For now, thanks again to Rahul and Amita who helped me out :)
And thanks for reading this and following my incredible adventure around the world

Be well
Magali

Bye bye Paris

2007-01-15T08:51:00.000+09:00

Rahul came to visit for the week-end and we had a fantastic time !! We saw Paris from the top of the Grand Grasshoper (nickname given by the Brits to the Effeil Tower), went on a cruise on the River Seine and went to the world famous Buddha Bar :)

Merci de m'avoir accueillie et au revoir ma Vignette, j'ai été très contente de te revoir et j'ai passé de super moments en ta compagnie et like Rahul said : "you're a star"

Merci aussi Krimstel d'être venue sur Paris :)

Now the time has come to leave Paris and continue the journey.
I'm off to India tomorrow to see the chaos of Mumbai and the beauty of Rajasthan.

Will log on again once in Sydney
Be well
Magali

De retour à Paris

2007-01-06T09:34:00.000+09:00

I joined Frank for lunch and we went to the Sacré Coeur with his little Diablesses, Méli Mélo
Here are some random pictures ... enjoy!

Turkey

2007-01-03T23:58:00.000+09:00

Mutlu Yillar ! Happy New Year !

I spent 3 weeks in Turkey, mostly in Istanbul where my brother moved a few months ago.
It was great to be with my family (mum was there too !) and Elie this year for Xmas. Guido joined us for New Year's eve and that was quite a treat :) I missed them all so much

Istanbul or Taksim to be more precise is quite something during Bayram (end of the year festivities) !

Mum and I went to Kapadokya for a couple of days. The nature and the rock formation there is incredible. More pictures in this gallery :
http://picasaweb.google.fr/magaloof/Kapadokya

On my last day there, Guido and I took a small cruise on the Bosphorus. The weather wasn't great but the view and the experience was definitely worth it!
http://picasaweb.google.fr/magaloof/Bosphorus

Paris sera toujours Paris

2006-12-06T08:12:00.000+09:00

It's cold, grey, rainy and Paris is still beautiful ...

I arrived on the 6th. I had told everyone I would get there on the 5th .... there was some quite anxious souls that day .... I'm sorry.

A special thought for my uncle who passed away that day ....

Good Bye San Francisco

2006-12-04T08:04:00.000+09:00

On my last night in San Francisco, we went to Ocean Beach with some friends, did a camp fire, had a drink and Nazar and I twirled fire. It was the perfect night, perfect setting. A beautiful way of saying good bye or au revoir to San Francisco and more importantly to my friends

Half Moon Bay

2006-12-02T02:21:00.000+08:00

A few photos from Half Moon Bay where we went on Saturday, Omer went horse bike riding with his friend Nazar.

I'm leaving San Francisco tomorrow ... I've had a very nice time catching up with everyone. Time to continue the journey :)

Random Photos

2006-12-01T03:40:00.000+08:00

taken in San Francisco ...

Hiking in Marin

2006-11-27T05:20:00.000+08:00

Omer and I went hiking from Tenesse Valley to Muir Beach ... I had forgotten how beautiful the coast was ... great day out :)

Open Door Friday at Omer's

2006-11-27T05:05:00.000+08:00

This is a new idea Omer is starting. His home is open on Friday after dinner to gather and do nothing but talk and eat great chocolate cake from Tartine ! So if you're a friend of his, you should stop by sometimes, it's a great evening !

Thanksgiving

2006-11-27T04:35:00.000+08:00

Thanks to Mark and Lesli to host Thanksgiving this year, great food, great company. It was good to catch up with you all and meet the new littles ones :)

AND ... someone asks Daniella to post the recipe of her chocolate cake ... that one was a killer ! I need more !!

Happy Feet

2006-11-21T09:02:00.000+08:00

I went to see Happy Feet with Daniel, Kathryn, Stuart, Les Pop and Günther on Saturday. It was nice to see it with real audience. The Amigos were a bit succes and made everyone laugh ... especially Günther :)

Afterwards we all went to Kathryn and Daniel's party which was great. Once again, Kathryn had thought of every single detail ! She even made an iceberg out of zip lock bags ;)

Happy Feet did really well on the opening week-end. Congrats to all of us :)

San Francisco

2006-11-16T11:11:00.000+08:00

Got back in San Francisco yesterday and went to visit ILM today ... pretty impressive facility ... very clean and corporate but I have to say, the view of the Golden Gate Bridge isn't bad ;)

Tassie

2006-11-12T08:13:00.000+08:00

This is the end of my travels in Australia for now .... I spent a week in Tassie. It's beautiful but quite cold ... we did some amazing hikes, fed the Kangaroos, went canoeing and ate too much chocolate ;)

Enjoy a few pictures. Off to San Francisco on the 14th !
Talk later :)

Queensland

2006-11-02T23:37:00.000+08:00

Just came back from Queensland where Christel and I had a...nother fantastic time !
The highlight being a 20 minute helicopter ride above the reef and the Heart Reef ...

More photos to come I promise. I can't quite manage to go and sort them all ... and I'm off again to Tassie on the 4th ... bare with me ;)

Western Australia

2006-10-18T10:46:00.000+08:00

Amita, Tori and myself just came back from WA. We had a fantastic trip. The Sisterhood .... 18 women travelling with Garry, our wonderful tour guide.

We did some bush camping in Karijini National Park, slept in swags under the stars, baked bread on camp fire. Hiked some gorgeous gorges, swam in crystal clear water of Turquoise bay, saw dolphins in Monkey Mia. Walked around the wonders of the Pinnacles and much much more. Enjoy a selection of photos (wanted to upload more but dial up just won't make it!)

Everything in boxes

2006-10-04T13:05:00.000+08:00

The movers arrived this morning at 9:00 and within 4 hours, the entire flat was fitting in boxes ... impressive

Tomorrow they'll come to pick it up, load the truck and off we go :)

So long Flood Street

See you soon Vodka

2006-10-02T19:05:00.000+08:00

A bit of a sad day today as I brought Vodka to Kim ... the flat feels pretty empty, missing my little furry ball already. I know she's in good hands tho and I can leave without worrying . Thanks Kimmy for being her foster mum for a few months ;)

Urban Turban on you tube !!!

2006-09-27T15:29:00.000+08:00

Check this out : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3W5K41fQzRQ

Happy Feet in Fiji !!

2006-09-26T10:23:00.000+08:00

Amita, Christel and I just came back from Fiji !!
We had a fantastic time, snorkeling, diving, sun burning, bula dancing, eating great food and even playing a stupid paper toilet game in the plane on our way back !

Thanks Gals for the good time :)

Jon's BBQ

2006-09-17T13:19:00.000+08:00

What a great party last night ! Haven't had so much fun in a long time. Thanks Jon & Rebecca for putting this together, it was an awesome way to say good bye. And thanks to the band, that was really good and I enjoyed twirling with you guys.

Fiji !!!!!!!!!

2006-09-15T15:31:00.000+08:00

Christel Amita and I are leaving for Fiji on Tuesday morning !!!! Wooohoooooo :)

2 years later

2006-09-14T10:25:00.000+08:00

Well ... it's been 2 years and we're nearly finished with Happy Feet :) It looks fantastic.

It would take too long to fill this 2 year gap in details but the over all has been fantastic ! I met wonderful people, developped great friendships, explored Australia a bit, jot my Monster joined tribal belly dance troupe Urban Turban and finally learnt how to spin fire !

Starting October, I'll be taking 4 months off to travel and catch up with family and friends. Quite exciting ! The plan so far is to do Western Australia, Queensland, Thailande, San Francisco, Europe, Istanbul and India .... let's see what I end up doing.

Sydney

2005-02-25T21:28:00.000+08:00

Hello All,

My friend Ethan, all the way from Seoul encouraged me to do a blog ! Thanks E !

Let's see, I'm a little behind as I've been here in Sydney already for 6 months. The first impression when I got here was that I wasn't lost. Funny feeling. I wasn't expecting anything in particular since I had never been to Australia but I was really happy to see that the streets, the shops, the people were much more as I remembered them from Europe. Yet it has this US influence ... a good influence ;)

I arrived in Sydney on Friday August 27th (left SF on the 25th!), at 6:30am after a 13 hour flight.
The last week in San Francisco was really intense and the last few days were just hell !!

I got to the hotel around 7:30 8am … nothing fancy but the guy is nice, an older Greek man, from Peloponnesus.
The room is fairly small and simple, pretty ugly decoration. I found out that Philip Reed is here. I met him back in SF, I knew his girlfriend Yvonne from ILM.

After a shower, I go to see the Opera, like the perfect first day of the perfect tourist. I still don’t realize I’m here, it’s strange. The only thing that gives me a clue is people’s accent …

The Opera house is beautiful, smaller than I thought. I wonder around for a while, taking strange shots. Then I see people on the bridge, it’s pretty high and seems quite fun to do. Why not ? I walk around, trying to find my way to the bridge, discover a nice vista point and finally see a sign “bridge climb”… so here am I, at the entrance J What a disillusion when I read on the brochure the mere sum of $155 to climb ! Oh well, I’ll reserve this for later, on a special occasion.

I then go grab something to eat, go in the Botanical Garden, Hyde Park, Chinese Garden (very similar to the Japanese Garden in SF) and walk around there. Close by there’s the hospital with Il Porcellino. Quando si tocca suo naso, porta fortuna … beh, chiaro lo faccio !

Back to the hotel around 4pm, Jessica, from work, had called to tell me to stop by Animal Logic. There’s a little get together (I found out later on that this is a regular thing, every couple of weeks, they treat us to wine and beers and we see work in progress) and she wants to introduce me to the crew. I meet Jon, Alex and Robyn’s friend and he introduces me to a lot of other people. I was not jetlagged but definitely in a strange space. I kept looking around, looking at those new faces, one was familiar but that was it (a gay guy from SF, how ironic !). The more I looked the more guys I'd see ... 1 woman for maybe ... 10/20 guys ???? ouch ...

After the get together, we went for a drink in a pub, The Royal Cricketers Arms in Surry Hills. That was my first introduction to the pubs' life in Sydney ! There I met Niki, an australian woman who's now left to sunny England ... why did you do that Niki ?! Good luck to you. I also met Eoin, whom I probably had met in Rome 5 years ago ...
I go back to the hotel around 1am ... exhausted but happy, that was a very nice introduction to my new life.

Saturday 28th :

Philip and I went to Bondi. Nice beach, a bit too touristy for me but … (he he he, who knew that I would end up living there !)
We stopped by Target !!! at Bondi Junction.

At night, I met up with Eoin and his wife, Alessandra for dinner. There’s also Mike and Massimo. I'm surrounded by italians again ! (don't worry Guido!) After a nice Indian meal on Oxford Street, we all go out for a drink. Massimo and I talk quite a lot. He offers me to come and live with him for a couple of months, until his sister gets here. He has a spare bedroom, that would be really good for me.

Massimo and I decided to go for a last drink at Coogee, where he lives. We talked all night, very nice conversation, very nice guy.

On Sunday, Massimo calls me and I join him around noon for lunch. His flat is nice, big and clean J, with a beautiful view on the beach. He seems definitely ok with me moving in. I’m trying to give him more time to get to know me, in case we don’t get along. We hang out together for quite a long time, at his place after lunch. It’s raining and grey and it’s quite comfortable hanging out with him.

We’ve decide that I’d move on September 11th …
I go back around 4 or 5pm and relax at the hotel.