Davis Cup Tennis Tournament Does Sydney: Australia vs. Switzerland

All week my attempts to acquire tickets to the Davis Cup Tennis Match turned up dead ends;  I stalked Ticketek via phone and website, I called people who might know people, I even showed up at the match on Day 1, stood in line for forty-five minutes with some cranky, snotty old guys dressed up like they were going to high tea--- only to be shut out. 

And my sister said, you'll get tickets.  Don't even say that you won't.  And I was thinking that same thing, but was slowly starting to accept that it might not happen.

So I marched on, and with today being Day 2 of the three day tournament, I conceded that sometimes it doesn't all happen-- and that's okay, as Tony Robbins would say, "There are no failures, there are only results."

Then we went to the seven year old's tennis lesson this morning, during my break from ball-boy duty, I received an eBay message that Davis Cup tickets had just been listed.  Upon reaching the seller (a.k.a. "The Ticket Pimp") he says he's at a restaurant a couple minutes away from us, and he has front row seats with our name on them-- for the match that starts in 90 minutes.

Woooo freaking hoooo!  FRONT ROW, BABY!

So I'm all, "We'll be there in five minutes to get the tickets."  And he's all, "First come, first serve-- I'm sittin' here."  And I'm thinking, is this for real?  I had been willing-it to happen JUST. LIKE. THIS. all week long... and it's really going to?  Really?  YES!  That is, unless we pay, the tickets end up being fake, and we walk away sad losers... hmmm, that sure would be unfortunate.  But I am a truster, and I am willing pay the trust tax if necessary to believe this is the real deal, because I KNEW it was going to happen all along... I just knew it.

I jump into action and shout onto the tennis court to my seven year old, whose coach just told him they were going to play a "real match" for the last 15 minutes of their lesson, "Honey, we need to leave-- I got Davis Cup tickets!! I got the Davis Cup tickets!! We need to go get them before he sells them to someone else... let's go!"  And then he whines (or whinges if you're Aussie), "I can't go right now, we are about to play a real match.  Can't we go afterwards???"

At risk of becoming Crazy-Ameri-Mum in public, I think I threatened him with a week of no-ipod if he didn't, "Get in the car NOW!".

Thankfully, he shut his piehole and we rushed down the street.  As we approached the rendezvous point I saw The Ticket Pimp walking anxiously up and down the footpath (that's Aussie for "sidewalk"), he had that I'm-looking-for-someone, but-I-don't-know-what-they-look-like face on... so I was pretty sure it was him.  And.... just like that... BAM!... we had front row seats to the hottest game in town, Davis Cup Australia vs. Switzerland.

After dashing home and wolfing down some Oporto Chicken Rappas, we were on our way.

I pulled into to my favorite carpark (that's Aussie for "parking lot")-- full.  Damn.  Headed back onto the main road and BAM!  Perfect massive spot to parallel park in, directly across the street from the entrance.  Seriously, it seems obvious that our day has come.  We have arrived.

We were late enough that there was no line to enter the Royal Sydney Golf Club, and before we knew it, we were in.  Roger Federer, Lleyton Hewitt, Stanislas Wawrinka, and Chris Guccione-- alive and in person-- merely feet from us, or metres if you're all metric and whatnot.

And if all of this goodness wasn't enough, we were lucky enough to be seated on the west side which was almost completely shaded from the searing Aussie sun which was as strong as it comes today.  The little sub-climate at our seats was a cool, breezy 20ish degrees Celsius- that's probably about 65 Fahrenheit?

It was absolutely gorgeous and ah-MAZ-ing day, and here's a taste of it...


The temporary seating we'd seen them put up earlier in the week-- I heard it was three or four thousand seats.


Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oy, Oy, Oy!  (FYI- our colors are green and yellow).


The tennis-fanatic seven year old and Roger Federer, who would clearly be unaware he is taking part in such an important photo.


Federer in deeply focused, as he should be :).


The award winners for "Most Enthusiastic Fans".  They kept the match rockin', literally... those temporary stands are pretty darn flimsy.


This was the first professional tennis match I've been to, and was quite intrigued by the umbrella-holding girls during the quick breaks.  Note:  I am totally in support of as much shade as possible.


It was such an exciting match, and the Aussie took it home!


After the match, there were mini-tennis courts set up, which was incredible considering he was harassing me that he wanted to play tennis "RIGHT. NOW."  After four hours at a tennis match, he seriously wanted me to take him to play.  Could this have been any luckier a find???


He was so hot and schweddy after playing tennis with the other kids that we decided the best way to top it all off would be by pouring the remnants of his water bottle on his head for an instant cool-down.

It was a perfect ending to a perfect day.

Oprah Oprahfies Australia Woooo-Hoooo!

Have you heard?  Oprah is coming to Sydney, Australia!  Sydney is about to be Oprahfied, and I am so excited.  And I am so, so on it.   I must get tickets to Oprah at The Sydney Opera House, do you know anyone who can help???  Because if this does not happen, I will be devastated.  I was already not chosen by lottery for Breakfast on the Bridge 2009; and that was a major blow to our mission here at Florida Girl in Sydney.

And now, only 24 hours after hearing the big Oprah-does-Sydney news, the Sydney-Mania begins!

Tonight, TLC's "1000 Places to See Before You Die" is featuring-- guess where??... Sydney, Australia!  And the surreal, reality of the situation, once again, is that I cannot believe we really live here.  This TLC made-for-TV-infomercial-documentary is our reality.  Not to mention that it's very entertaining watching two Americans star on a show about Sydney.

Within driving distance from Sydney you can see cliffs, beaches, mountains, sand dunes, and wine country... it's incredible.  And I can take photos of my kids under the Sydney Harbour Bridge any time I want, does it get much better than that?  Oh yeah it does,  Oprah's coming!!!




Quote of the week:
(Said by my friend's son, then relayed to me in a text message with commentary)

"They had the American accent again."-- as if it's the flu.  

That's seriously hilarious, I love it.  

Winter Festival at Bondi Beach & Good Food and Wine Show

As we pulled up to our house I spotted an industrial, classroom-style whiteboard across the street on the curb; it was a double-sided monstrosity on wheels, complete with a bag full of markers and accessories hanging from its side.  We rang the neighbors' doorbell, and they happily told us to take it-- which we did.  Wooo-hooo-- SCORE!   It was perfect timing,  my boys then spent most of their three and a half week school break playing school with the whiteboard.  BEST. GIFT. EVER!  I would have gladly paid the whiteboard $20/hour (going babysitting rate in Sydney) for all the entertainment it's provided, it was THAT good!  

And we did actually leave the house a few times during winter school break because there were some great things on in July around Sydney and we needed some action.

This past weekend the Winter Festival at Bondi Beach, called Bondi Bergstation began.  They've built an ice skating rink on at the beach along with an entire mini-village including a Max Brenners (famous for their hot chocolates), snacks, skate rentals, and snow, it was actually suds, but I won't tell those poor kids who've never seen snow before and now think it's foamy and smells like soap:. 

People who've never skated (I'm just assuming this by watching them) and people who clearly aspire for skating greatness, joined each other on the ice for 45 minutes sessions in which it was wall-to-wall skaters -- and lots of wiping out on the ice.

Here are some moments captured from this past weekend at the Bondi Beach Winter Festival:



The sea o' skaters.



The "snow". 



The snacks.  $6 for a stick with some spiraled potato cut into thin chips-- I think we went through six of these, probably the single most expensive one potato ever sold.




The rink at the beginning of a new skate session, before it got completely packed.  Note the aspiring skater in the pink tutu.




Hmmm, the Bondi Beach paramedic mobile?  How do they carry the stretcher on that?



Back view of the village perched up on the grassy area at Bondi Beach.

We also went to The Good Food & Wine Show at the Sydney Convention Center.  Normally we would have gotten a babysitter and left the kids at home for something like this, but the four of us are obsessed with a little television show called Masterchef Australia, it's similar to Top Chef in the U.S. (but better), and two of the Masterchef judges (Gary and George) were doing a gig at the Good Food & Wine Show. 

Unfortunately we had seats on the floor and couldn't see much.   There was a ginormous television screen above the stage so at least we had that view, but whatever, I could have stayed home for that-- especially considering that what they made was virtually identical to what they made on the TV show the same evening.    Though we couldn't see the cooking demonstration, we did however have an amazing view of a guy two rows in front of us who was plastered drunk.  He kept turning around like he was going to start acting even more belligerent, but luckily his drunk girlfriend kept him entertained by making out with him.  Family fun at its best.

So all in all, being that we were with our 5 & 6 year old boys and weren't planning on drinking an excessive amount of wine samples, the Good Food and Wine Show was a disappointment.  There were really no places to actually eat any actual Good Food, except for one small restaurant type area featuring five chefs (two of them were the Masterchef judges).  In all there were five dishes you could buy, and five starters-- it was pretty pathetic for a freaking food show.

Well I've just caught myself in a lie, there was one more place to eat, and it was packed (as there were no other options)-- the Sydney Convention Center cafe, hahaha!  It was basically hospital food-- and it was where everyone was eating!  Sorry, but that's sad- really, really sad.

So the Good Food & Wine show was a disappointment for us, and I don't think I've ever said that about any festival or event we've ever gone to in Sydney.  Maybe next time we get the babysitter and go there only for the wine tastings, I am absolutely certain that getting sloshed would have improved my experience.

Here are some of the things we saw at the Good Food and Wine Show 2010:




Welcome.




Photo from our floor seats taken with the camera hoisted in the air, our actual view wasn't this good.



Clearly I needed some of this.








Looks like my six year old thought the show would be better after a stiff drink.  We love limoncello!




The best part for us was the rides we went on in Darling Harbour after the show :).

Fireworks in my Bedroom

Clearly tonight's Australian Idol Finale was a knock-off of last year's epic Adam vs. Chris- American-Idol-Grand-Finale-Palooza. We were laying in bed watching it live from the The Sydney Opera House. The most painfully boring season ev-ah (I turn all Aussie on y'all just like that, yo) finally ending-- hooray (I'm only speaking for myself on that, I know people who were into it, I just wasn't one of them).

And through our thin crank-out windows there's a thunderous grumbling coming from outside. And like so many other times in the last 2.5 years we've been in Sydney, it took about sixty seconds to recognize the sound of muffled fireworks from a couple kilometers (that's about a mile the way the crow flies) away.

We don't call my husband Big Daddy for nothing, he's the only one (well it was just me and him, but whatever) who realizes we're watching the fireworks live on tv as we sit wondering what "that noise" is outside.

We run up to the third story, from which we watch the fireworks spectacular above the treetops. And through the crevice of two trees we can see the The Sydney Harbour Bridge.   And once again I remember-- I live here, I live here and it's still so surreal sometimes.

With views like this from our playroom the reality of our adventure here, our life changing experience, hits us like a ton of bricks-- like in a good way.

Incredibly, only an hour later someone's put it all up on youtube-- what a world, man, what a world.

Sculpture by the Sea 2009

Legend says there's this "Caveman" who lives at Bondi Beach, his home nestled into the cliff is complete with dominoes on a table ready to be played and Winnie the Pooh perched atop a pedestal admiring the views.  During our walk from Bondi Beach to Tamarama we passed by his place.


The Caveman's home as seen from the cliffs above.

Yesterday The Caveman was all over the Sydney news, he's been charged with the sexual assault of a woman he "invited back to his place" after meeting her at Sculpture by the Seas.

Here's the rest of what we saw at Sculpture by the Seas 2009:




















I believe this is a beach house owner's backyard artistic expression.

Here's a look at my trip to Sculpture by the Sea 2008 if you just can't get enough.

Festival of Dangerous Ideas

Warning: If you are easily offended by controversial topics and/or worried that you may burn in hell if you don't love Jesus, you may want to stop reading and check out something a little lighter, like this.

For the rest of you...

The Sydney Opera held its inaugural Festival of Dangerous Ideas this past weekend. The two-day festival of provocative speakers and controversial topics was kicked off Saturday with the Soapbox Public Speaking Competition, a free event in the Opera House Forecourt (the outdoor area below The Opera House steps).

Any person who wished to was given two minutes on an actual soapbox to say whatever they like. Ten ranters went to a final round, and a winner was chosen.

Later that evening the official "Opening Session" began with the CEO of The Opera House Richard Evans, introducing the festival as the inaugural of a new annual event. His introduction concluded with welcoming the winner of the Soapbox Competition to the stage. A thin, older woman dressed in jeans entered the stage and stepped up upon the soapbox. She began with the declaration, "I want the right to die." And though she was not dying, and had no desire to die today, her poignant and eloquent rant made it clear why she had won the competition; it also made me wish I had gone to hear the others earlier that afternoon.

The speaker for this evening's session was Christopher Hitchens, the program titled Religion Poisons Everything.

Often, I refer to myself as a "bad Jew". Jewish law dictates that if you're mother is Jewish you are too-- automatically. But for me, for years, I've believed that organized religion could, and should, be compared to a cult, a cult that got out of control.

If there is a God, would he or she really want you to pray to him every day? Would he or she really send you to the "fiery gates of hell" for sinning? Would a great, mighty God want people to be scared of him or her? Does baptizing children really "save" anyone? Save us from what? And as Hitchens said during his session, if a man on public transport was proclaiming himself as a prophet, would you choose to sit closer to him... or further away?

One thing was certain, Christopher Hitchens was "preaching to the choir". He is an incredible speaker and it was very validating for someone who's always felt like I "didn't believe".

On Sunday, the second day of the festival, Cardinal George Pell presented a session called Without God We Are Nothing. I consider organized religion safe, so I'm not sure how that fit into The Opera House's program besides allowing religious zealots to defend their stance. It seems the only dangerous part of a Without-God-We-Are-Nothing attitude, would be breaking away from it.

A few of the other topics at The Festival of Dangerous Minds included:

• Freedom: The Most Dangerous Idea of All with Germaine Greer
• People With Flat Screen TVs Should Stop Whinging About Capitalism
• Make All Drug Use Legal
• Does Online Networking Harm Children's Brains?
• By 2075 The Aboriginal Genocide Will Be Complete
• Australian Stereotypes Betray Our Cultural Identity
• The Old Should Pay For Themselves
• Polygamy and Other Islamic Values Are Good for Australia
• No Human Cure Justifies Animal Experimentation
• Yes to Child Labor, No to The Minimum Wage
• Policing Our Minds is the Future

As you can see, the topics alone could make almost anyone start feeling a little uncomfortable and anxious. Needless to say, I will be looking forward to see what they line up in 2010.

You can click here for a link to ABC's clips from the festival.

If I Inhale Anymore I'm going to Choke

Three days after the far-reaching red dust storm pummeled across Sydney, a second storm added insult to injury on Saturday. Hope you didn't already wash your car.
Photo of second dust storm by Handles on flickr.


I've never hoped for rain like I have this past week. A couple of hours ago it started, and now I sit here enjoying the sound from my cracked crank-out window... finally. Eagerly awaited rain, quenching the dry, powdery-fine red sand which had baked onto cars and sidewalks and leaves over the last ten days.

In the last couple hours I've begun to breathe a little easier (literally) and the taste of dust has diminished thanks to the fresh moisture in the air. I can feel the humidity slowly seeping back into my throat and lungs.

The rain is letting up now, the sound outside my window has stopped. I'm hoping this wasn't just a light shower that's passed, and that bright skies won't be back tomorrow. They said it's supposed to rain for the next few days; I'm counting on them to be right.

It's time for the burnt orange sand to soak back into the earth where it belongs.
I've never been so relieved to see rain.

Waking Up On Mars

I wish I would have taken a photo of the incredible orange glow shining brilliantly from behind my window shade this morning. It was surreal and scary, as if out of an apocalyptic movie.

As told to me by meteorologists and other various news sources, the intense high winds in New South Wales and South Australia swept dust from the Outback over the city of Sydney. The bizarre occurrence caused airport and public transport chaos. People with respiratory issues were advised to stay indoors and many home smoke detectors set off alarms.

Naturally occurring events often act as a harsh reminder of the fragility of it all. What if this orange dust over Sydney hadn't dissipated by mid-afternoon? What if it had hovered over the city for weeks, its dust potentially lethal to many people? Thoughts that make you consider how powerless we all actually are.

Unfortunately, I was too comfy and cozy to get out of bed this morning and capture the moment, therefore below I'm sharing below the images of other local photographers who didn't sleep in today.


Photo from The New York Times


When we moved here two and a half years ago, we had a babysitter who had just moved here from Brazil. As an aspiring journalist, Rosangela came to Australia to practice her English. Recently she contacted me, she had come across my blog online. These days Rosangela has her own blog, and today she posted an extremely eloquent and poignant article describing the look and feel of this morning.

Big Daddy

You are their world,
their calm and clarity.

Sitting on your lap,
hearing your voice,
your hands bigger than their heads,
keeping them warm and protecting them,
they sit in awe of you,
and you in awe of them.

You are an even more wonderful father than I had imagined you would be.
Happy Fathers Day Big Daddy.

By the way it was really fun watching Zach and Miri Make A Porno with you last night, that was crazy funny.

Five years o' Daddy:

City to Surf 2009

This is how my husband and kids saw me as we watched our third City to Surf Race.

My five year old took this photo.

And this is exactly as I saw them most of the morning...



The previous two years we were able to walk about two blocks from our house to our special spot and watch the runners go by. This year we drove and for fear of being trampled, stayed about an hour longer than our four year old could really handle. Fortunately my children did not expire before I was able to get some photos and video of the event.

People running. People running wearing bunny oufits and superhero costumes, and shirts with messages on them. 70,000 people ran this year, and once again the metal band played upon the balcony of The Golden Sheaf Hotel. The crowd is jamming out and cheering on the runners... and walkers... and people wearing neon leg warmers.

Here's a taste of City to Surf 2009 as seen from the sidelines:


The first pack of people running through with a police escort.


For my four year old it's all about the runners dressed up as superheroes.





This is my favorite photo. Wait, let me translate for the Aussies, this is my favourite photo.


The band at the Golden Sheaf Hotel (did you know "hotel" means "bar" in Australia?).


What ever floats your boats girlfriends.


I'd bet $100 this is what my sister would have worn.


Is that Fidel Castro?


A better perspective of the scene.


The five year old following in my footsteps.

And the day would have been even more pleasant had our four year old not been on teetering between complete meltdown and inappropriate silliness. Times like this make me glad we were surrounded by strangers, but still we bribed him with food.


Banana bread being shoved into cranky, whiny mouth. And don't they all look so ready to leave?

When the runners finally trickled to an end, and we no longer feared being trampled, we headed back to the car. Where we parked there was the cutest little old mailbox, how could I pass this by without putting a cute four year old next to it and snapping away?




See you next year City to Surf. Maybe we'll actually be participants?

Oh wait-- there's one more thing....
How is it possible that this shot randomly showed up on my camera-- not a photo I remember taking at all...


Correct me if I'm mistaken, but this shirt looks like it probably says Delray Beach-- which is close to my hometown and a city I actually lived in for a while. Crazy, crazy I tell ya.


Peace out.