Sydney, what’s not to like!

Rick and I fell in love with Sydney. It could have been the perfect weather, the crystal clear water, the sailboats, surfboards and visiting our best man Mike. Whatever it was it was magical! We flew in on the red eye & got in at 7:00 a.m. We slept for few quick hours and then took the “fast ferry” over to Manly. We walked to a sailing club, sat at a picnic table, drank a few beers while we waited for Mike and his adorable 6 year old “Tiger”. The sky & water were a beautiful blue, a nice breeze was blowing and the sunshine was warm. It doesn’t get much better than that!

Mike & Tiger were wonderful hosts & tour guides. Mike spent the next 2 days driving us all around the northern beaches with 3 surfboards on the roof of the car. We walked the coastline, walked the beach in front of Mike’s apartment & he “tried to teach” Rick to “paddle surf”. On Sunday we stopped at the world famous Bondi beach and low and behold a major surfing competition was underway. Way cool! We got to see two of the best surfers in the world. Mick Fanning reining world surfing champion and Kelly Slater 9 time world champion!! Talk about a real “hottie” OMG pinch me! We also saw the famous Aussie Hoppo the lifeguard, star of Bondi Rescue. Think real life Baywatch. I forgot to mention that the world famous “Flat Stanley” accompanied us on all our adventures. Little Tiger’s cousin in Florida sent him Flat Stanley. We spent the day taking pictures of “Flat” all over Sydney. That Flat Stanley gets around!

The best and most entertaining part of Sunday was watching Mike, Tiger and sometimes Rick paddle surf. Not sure “why” you would paddle surf but it was cool to watch. That Tiger boy is a natural and put the “old” men to shame! They started out on a nice calm sound and then we went to Freshwater Beach where Mike lives. It was much harder in the waves than on the sound. After several attempts Rick did make it up for a few seconds. He was very good a knee surfing! It wasn’t until the next night that Rick realized he lost his wedding band in the ocean. He’s managed to hang on to it for almost 25 years so I can’t be too mad about it. It’s a good story, anyway.

Monday & Tuesday Rick worked until lunch time and I explored on my own. We’d meet up for lunch and do some sight seeing. We toured the Sydney Opera house, what a fascinating place. We saw a dreadful Shakespeare play set as an Opera. It was a Baz Luhrmann production. Think the movies Australia and Moulin Rouge. Shakespeare should not be made into an Opera. We left after the 2nd intermission, yuck, yuck, yuck! BUT we can say we saw an Opera in the Opera house……



We took an afternoon boat tour of the harbors around Sydney & saw 3 nude beaches. The Aussies like their nude beaches, at least the men do. They were the primary ones letting it all hang out! Spending all that time on and around the water was fuel for our souls. Sydney was a beautiful place and it was made even sweeter by being able to connect with a dear friend. Needless to say we were NOT happy to have to return to Singapore!

NEXT TRIP USA!  IN MAY for Caitlyn's graduation :)

London How I Love Thee

Spent 5 great days in Jolly Ole England. Rick had yet another business trip and I decided to tag along. And get a quick taste of the winter we’ve been missing back home in the states. I was not disappointed, it was COLD! We tried not to complain and kept on laying our clothes and socks. Our journey first brought us to London, Marylebone to be exact. While Rick sat in meetings all day and through dinners all night I went shopping with my good friend Anna. Anna’s hubby actually took over Rick’s last job in the U.S. They live in Sparta, NJ and we had about 10 months overlap so I got to know Anna well before moving. I made her promise that yearly during the “global meetings” in March that she would meet me and we’d hang out together while the guys attended meetings. This is provided the meetings are somewhere fun and exciting!

The first night Anna & I walked to an English Pub for dinner. On the way we passed an old church that had a film crew set up outside. We watched for a while, no one seemed to know what movie they were filming. It turned out to be the new Robert Pattinson (twilight) movie Bel Ami with Uma Thurman, Christina Ricci & Kristin Scott Thomas, WOW! No we didn’t see any stars…….. Having lived in Surry for several years Anna had a shopping agenda. We visited some of her favorite spots; Harrods, Boots & Marks and Spencer. I must say I was VERY good and did little retail therapy.

On our 2nd night Anna was kind enough to humor me and attended Jersey Boys at the Prince Edward Theater. We were seated center and 4 rows from the stage. It was amazing and even dear Anna enjoyed it! I have to say two of my favorite Broadway shows I’ve seen in London. Last time was Wicked and I had “Mack Daddy” seats then too! Prior to the theater we enjoyed the worst & most expensive high tea ever. Very disappointing……..I’ve enjoyed the ones in Singapore so much more.

On Wednesday I dragged Anna to the New Covent Garden Flower Market to buy scissors, knives and other floral arranging items to cart back to the other beginners in my flower arranging class. I’ve been taking flower arranging through the Singapore Flower Club for several weeks. Once they heard I was going to London, the birth place of flower clubs they sent me on a mission. Lucky for Anna we found the market quickly and the first shop I went into had all the sharp objects a florist could want. I bought a bunch of goodies and wondered what I would tell customs if they stopped me at the airport. That night we had dinner at one of Gordon Ramsay’s restaurants, Maze Grill. “Yummoe” is the word! Had our best dinner since leaving the U.S. Great wine, great company and great beef!!!

Thursday Rick was “free” and we met our adorable elderly tour guide in the lobby. Jane was Oxford educated and looked to be in her early 80’s. She drove us around London and give Rick all the “fun facts” to his heart content. If you know Rick you know he loves to fill his head with erroneous facts to pull out and dazzle you with his intellect at odd times of the day/night. Even though Rick works for a UK company he never gets to see any of England but the inside of hotels or Heathrow Airport. He wanted to see Westminster Abbey & Tower of London. Good ole Jane carted our butts around and filled our heads with interesting history facts. As usual when I’m in England the sun was out and the sky was blue. I doubt it does rain in England because all three times I’ve been there I seen blue sky!!! Maybe it’s just good karma?? After wearing us out Jane drove us to Windsor to our B&B. Then ole Jane drove back into London to go to the theater that night. She had more energy then Rick & I together! We took a nap once checking into the B&B. Did I mention it was cold in England; we were freezing while in Windsor because everything we did we had to walk to. Thursday night we walked into Old Windsor and ate at a Greek Restaurant. No Greek food in Singapore so we where very happy.

On Friday we toured Windsor Castle. The oldest and largest inhabited castle in the world & the Queens favorite weekend home. My personal favorite! As luck would have it when we arrived the Queen was not at home but by the time we had lunch and went back to the castle she had arrived. Both times I’ve been to Windsor the Queen has been home!! Way cool! Unfortunately she was there for the funeral of one of her knights. When we toured St. George’s Chapel on the Windsor Castle grounds we were told that they were having a funeral that afternoon and the chapel would be closed at 1:00 p.m. We were invited to attend church services at noon. We went and it was amazing. We were led up a tiny winding staircase up into a balcony room that was built for Catherine of Aragon (1st wife of Henry the VIII, he divorced not beheaded her). In attendance were one guide, 2 very elderly men and 3 very elderly ladies. After the service they all came up to us and thanked us so much for coming. It was so surreal to worship where royalty has worship for 100’s of years.

By 6:00 p.m. our dear friends Jeanne & John had taken the train down from Wales to meet up with us. We first met when we all lived in Guangzhou. It had been 6 years since we had seen them so it was great to catch up! We spent the evening drinking beer in an English Pub. The next day we toured the castle with them and caught a taxi back to the airport for our 10:00 pm flight. Rick in business class and Cassie in “cattle class” I even had a lady next to me that had to apply three different creams onto her face before take-off. What’s up with that? I realize airplane air is dry but come on! That’s like the old Chinese men on the subway in Singapore who pluck their chin hairs for the whole world to see…………Guess what? I don’t want to see EITHER. Don’t think Rick had to see anyone doing “personal hygiene” things up in Business Class!

Next up my tag along trip to Sydney! Yes in cattle class again……………