Palm Springs

We are off to Palm Springs , California tomorrow - where the weather for the next few days will be in the mid 70's (23 Celcius) I'm judging Thursday & Friday and then we will enjoy the other shows on Saturday & Sunday as spectators. It will be pleasant enjoying the fine sunny weather.

No news

Its been very quiet here, with mainly doing laundry and catching up on email and paying bills. The snow has all gone and we are back to mild temperatures.

How do you eat this?

While we were in Australia, David saw a fresh Pomegranate and wanted to try one - as he had read of the great health benefits of them. Well we bought one, and then I read online how to prepare it - however it was messy (read stained fingers) and the end result was very bitter. So David thought that he would go back to juice - however they all have too much sugar in them, so he passed. Then today while I was in Costco replenishing the larder I saw this
and so I bought them and you know what, the seeds are pretty nice - in fact we had them, instead of cranberries to go with our belated Christmas dinner. And someone at Costco had done all the hard work.
Driving around today was a bit of a challenge - we had to return our rental car and getting out of the street was the hardest part of all, as a plogh had come through yesterday and scooped a whole lot of snow onto the side of the main road and as only a couple of people live on our road, there was not much of a path out. However we made it and all the rest of the roads were fine, as the traffic had made them clear. It then gently rained all day, melting a lot more of the snow - and with temperatures in the 40's predicted for the next week, all the snow should soon be gone.

Pictures from the trip

Saw these signs on our travels - a speed hump, a pedestrian crossing and not sure about the 3rd one?
David saw this jacket and wondered about it for showing at the Top 20!

This is the photo of the Crown Plaza bathroom in Singapore - taken from the bedroom!

Memories of the weather we left behind in Australia (the view from my parents apartment)
And the reality of the weather we returned home to....

Christmas Day

Its been a very long Christmas day - by the time it is all done, we will have had about 40 hours of Christmas day! (Thats what happens when you fly east) Our day started at 5am in Singapore and then we travelled to Tokyo, San Francisco and then finally home to Portland airport. The reindeer must have been smiling on us, as the airport was working, flights were all on time and despite the large amount of snow on the ground, and heavy snow falling as we drove home, we made it. The dogs were thrilled to see us and everything was in good shape - except for one smoke alarm which wont stop "cheeping" - its now disconnected pending a permanent fix.

Timing is everything

Readers of my blog over the past few weeks will remember we went on the Singapore Flyer (a huge ferris wheel, here in Singapore) well the big news this morning is the rescue of many people from the Flyer yesterday afternoon (see photo above)
A power disruption left more than 100 passengers stranded above ground in the world's biggest observation wheel for about six hours, forcing some to abseil down to safety.
A few lowered themselves in a sling-like device on a rope from one of the observation capsules before the Singapore Flyer eventually began turning again to allow other trapped passengers to get out.

I guess we had a good experience...

Now we are trying to see if the weather in the US will allow us to get home without problems - off to United to get the latest update on plane schedules. Would prefer to spend Christmas here, rather than in the airport somewhere!

Ah...the words you like to hear

While we were waiting for our 7 hour flight on Singapore Air this morning, our names were called to the desk and we were told the flight was overbooked and so we had been upgraded to Business Class!! Yeah! (The benefits of being a top level flyer, when they need someone to upgrade, your name is at the top of the list) Now we were about to experience the world renowned service of Singapore Air (which has won just about every top airline award - for service, food, wine and general hospitality over the years) I have to say that we had flown down to Australia in economy, and their economy product does not differ from any other economy service.
However I can report their business product is magnificent. From the little things like hot towel service (4 times) to real towels in the toilets, very attentive service and wonderful food and drinks. You could get any of 8 different teas or 4 different sorts of coffee at any time, or cappuccino. Then as it was a day time flight, leaving at 10am, our meal was Brunch and we decided to sample Singapore Carrot Cake which was absolutely delicious - a fried rice and radish cake, with shrimp and egg accompanied by a sweet chili dipping sauce. Our final meal was a delicious curried duck, so we are now very well fed. One of the few times I can actually say, the airline food was excellent
Our hotel the Crown Plaza at the airport is just 7 months old and is also very nice - it must have been designed by someone who must actually stay in hotels! It has 2 sitting chairs (its amazing how many hotels only have 1) and it also has room for 2 people to put their suitcases on a rack, instead as so often happens, there is only one rack and the other person has to use the floor. However the bathroom is interesting - with a bit of a lack of privacy - as there is a glass wall between bedroom and bathroom (the wall does have some painting on the glass, but you can still see the person in the tub!)
So now we will spend 36 hours in Singapore where its a humid 95, before returning home.

Our Favorite Things

This picture represents one of the things that we will miss, as we get ready to leave Australia tomorrow - its a bowl of fresh fruit salad that we enjoy every morning. Other things we will miss are the beautiful weather and my parents. Still it will be good to get home again, and I am sure there will be several dogs who will be thrilled to see us!

Hopefully our flight to Singapore will be more enjoyable than our last flight from Melbourne. And we also get to try the brand new Crown Plaza at the airport in Singapore and maybe do some electronics shopping in Singapore.

A day on the beach

While many of my blog readers are battling snow, windstorms and power blackouts - we have been on the beach enjoying beautiful weather. This morning there was a major Surf Lifesaving competition on the beach with teams competing for $200,000, so this is serious business! On the beaches which are patrolled by lifeguards, it is only permissable to swim between the flags and there are lots of signs with interesting instructions to be seen. Then there are lots of healthy looking bodies in the competition (David said the girls expose more skin than the models in the windows of Victoria's Secret!)Many people head to the beach to watch and eat a typical Australian lunch of freshly caught prawns (shrimp) or calamari. Its a hard life but someone has to do it!! We come home soon - hope the snow is all gone and there is not much clean up to do.

Photos from Sydney/Melbourne Trip

Queensland again

We flew from Melbourne on Thursday afternoon back to Queensland. We left Melbourne and it was overcast and about 65 and the forecast for Surfers Paradise was 90 and thunderstorms. After we boarded the plane in Melbourne we had to sit on the plane for a while, at the gate while they refueled - they had not been able to refuel earlier as there were thunderstorms in the area and the union has an agreement that all workers cannot work if there are thunderstorms in the area (it was not raining or anything) so after we sat there for 10 minutes the air hostess came along and told us to all UNDO our seatbelts as it was a rule, nobody could be strapped in during refueling (I can only presume this was to make a quick evacuation if you needed to!) However this is the first time I have ever been asked to do this and I fly 100,000 miles a year. What was even more surprising was that we were never told to fasten the seatbelts before taking off. The 1 1/2 hour flight was O, but extreemly bumpy coming in to land as there were thunderstorms in the area and we had to circle for 30 minutes or so - still it was better than being diverted somewhere else and being bussed back.

Today is HOT and humid, lots of sun - the beach looks gorgeous from the window.

Casino and Theater

When we woke up today it had been raining and was overcast, so we decided to stay inside today. Just across the road from our hotel is the Crown Casino so we decided to try our luck...now we are not exactly "high rollers" and usually play the 1c or 2c slot machines..so off we headed with our $1 each stake and 2 hours later emerged with $64 - which was a very good return - despite all the warning signs above the machines which state "remember the machines always win, eventually".
Then we went to the afternoon matinee of Wicked which was a bit noisy but otherwise enjoyable.

Sightseeing

Today we went to an exhibition of Peter Allen memorabillia and the Racing museum - both very different but great

Melbourne

Well access to computer networks have been almost impossible over the last few days - even though staying at Crown Plaza Hotels, their internet access is either very expensive or patchy or both! So now I have just 1/2 hour free in Melbourne, so will post a synopsis of the weekend. I have some pictures, but no way to upload them until I get back to my parents computer at the end of this week. We met Leanne and Christophe and went out to dinner with them on Friday, then went to dog shows on Saturday and Sunday - thank goodness it had stopped raining by then. Saw some beagles and met lots of friends and a the night show on Saturday, partied with peel and eat prawns (shrimp) and a lovely sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand - thats the way to enjoy a dog show and who cares who wins!
Sunday was another lovely day (weather wise) and we again renewed friendships with many people. Sunday night we found a lovely Italian restaurant near the airport and then this morning flew to Melbourne - where its cool - about 60 degrees (I know this is warmer than the most of the US currently - but this is mid SUMMER in Australia) so about to go shopping for a long sleeved shirt and some socks!

rain, rain and more rain

We left Queensland in rain and arrived in Sydney in rain and that was the pattern for the rest of the day and evening. Fortunately this morning there is sun and a breeze which hopefully will help to dry out the ground before the show starts at 4pm today. There are 22 beagles entered so look forward to seeing more friends.

Sydney

David and I fly to Sydney for the weekend to meet up with Beagle friends Leanne & Christophe - Beagelee and Afghan friends, Stuart & Wendye - Calahorra and going to a dog show, which is an afternoon/night show (a common occurrence in this hotter climate) however showers are predicted...

Sightseeing

As we are in Queensland, where the state slogan is "Beautiful one day, perfect the next" we felt that we should go and see some of the countryside (or Bush, as its called) Today was 85 degrees and sunny, not a cloud in the sky - so we headed off to O'Reilly's Along the way, we saw a lot of the Flame Trees, shown above. We had lunch at the lodge and then went on a walk in the tropical rainforest, saw some pretty birds.

This is a Bower Bird

Then the Lorrikeets were being fed
And one landed on David's hat...

Australia (the movie)

Yesterday we went and saw Baz Luhrman's Australia starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman. Guess what! We enjoyed it. We did agree with most of the negative criticisms though. It runs long. The bombing of Darwin seems tacked on. The sweeping epic quality matched with The Wizard of Oz is a bit silly. But, still, it's a fine film experience. If Luhrman had cut the cattle stampede, I think the film would have been better as a lot of the problems with the film are in that scene, ie Aboriginal magic. However, the landscapes are immense and beautiful. The love story is fine. The villains are just evil enough. Jackman is gorgeous and Kidman is natural and believable. The script is over-reaching, but still interesting story-telling with moments of real humor and tenderness.

Fish

This is the sort that we eat (not the other way around) Above are Moreton Bay Bugs, which are a local crayfish type, a favorite of ours.

then here is a picture of the Pacific ocean not far from my parents apartment (well maybe about 20 miles) there is just miles of beach and sun and its wonderful.

Fruits of the season

One of the advantages of being in Australia at this time of the year, is being able to enjoy all the tropical fruits. Pictured above is a Rambutan, they are sort of like a Lychee, and have a subtle taste. When combined with my other favorite - mango, we have the start of our wonderful daily fruit salad breakfast - also included are passionfruit, local pineapple, peaches and nectarines.

Pictures from Travels

Having finally uploaded the pictures from my phone, I now have them in an album below - and even discovered a couple from our stay in Munich!
In the album are photos of Singapore and our time with the fishes. Then I also have the Christmas tree from the Conrad hotel we stayed at - the whole tree is constructed of Teddy Bears (and I have a close up of a bear) Then Jellyfish from the Aquarium.
From Munich a beer coaster of the pub we went to and a picture of my wine served in a small stein (a first for me!)

Arrival in Australia

After a 7 hour flight we arrived in the middle of a thunderstorm at the Brisbane airport. We touched down with no problems, but apparently the baggage handlers dont work in wet conditions - so everybody had to wait 1 hour for the luggage to be offloaded...just as well thei baggage handlers dont work in the Pacific Northwest - they would never get any work done.

Fish Reflexology

You won't believe how we started today... We went to a spa for a fish reflexology treatment. This is where you immerse your feet in a pool and lots of hungry Turkish Spa fish eat all the dead skin off your feet. It tickles and I was amazed that David enjoyed it, but he did. I have photos but need to get to my parents computer to upload them - after the nibbling was completed we all got a 20 minute foot massage- then we were ready for the rest of the day.
More details in 24 hours or so , as we fly to Brisbane tomorrow on Singapore Airlines

Singapore

After flying for 20+ hours ( through Seattle and Tokyo ) we arrived in Singapore,which is the height of efficiency and although we arrived at 1/4 past midnight within 20 minutes we were through immigration, had collected our luggage and were waiting for a taxi, for the 15 minute ride to the Conrad hotel. Just 1hour after arrival in singapore I was in bed!!
Today we went on the Singapore Flyer a brand new huge ferris wheel (for tourists) followed by a trip to the National Museum - both were fascinating and both had digital headphones which told you what you were looking at - technology is great!
Now we will relax, then have an early dinner and turn in early also as our full day tour leaves early tomorrow
Hopefully it will be drier tomorrow as today was very wet but was 87 degrees so not unpleasant.

Packing complete

Well we are ready to head off tomorrow to Singapore for a few days, then on to Brisbane. I will post while we are away.