Sydney Pool Crawl: Harbour Bridge Walk

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Part II of the Sydney Pool crawl was walking the Sydney Harbour Bridge. From North Sydney Pool I thought it would be a good idea to walk all the way to my next pool – the Andrew “Boy” Charlton (ABC) Pool. I did not realise how far that was!

From North Sydney train station, you can walk along the entire length of Sydney Harbour Bridge. Blessed with blue skies and sunshine, it was the perfect day to tale in the sights of Sydney’s main attractions – namely the harbour, the Bridge, Opera House and Circular Quay.

Near North Sydney Pool – Under the Bridge:

From Walking the Harbour Bridge
From Walking the Harbour Bridge
From Walking the Harbour Bridge

Luna Park:

From Walking the Harbour Bridge

Circular Quay:

From Walking the Harbour Bridge
From Walking the Harbour Bridge
From Walking the Harbour Bridge

Start of the Bridge walk:

From Walking the Harbour Bridge

Sydney’s harbour bridge has a pedestrian walking path on one side – open to walkers, joggers and the occasional person with a bicycle, and train tracks on the other where the North Sydney train line runs.

Over and across the Bridge:

From Walking the Harbour Bridge
From Walking the Harbour Bridge
From Walking the Harbour Bridge
From Walking the Harbour Bridge

Great views of the harbour from the bridge:

From Walking the Harbour Bridge
From Walking the Harbour Bridge
From Walking the Harbour Bridge
From Walking the Harbour Bridge
From Walking the Harbour Bridge
From Walking the Harbour Bridge
From Walking the Harbour Bridge

I love harbour cities!

From Walking the Harbour Bridge
From Walking the Harbour Bridge
From Walking the Harbour Bridge
From Walking the Harbour Bridge
From Walking the Harbour Bridge
From Walking the Harbour Bridge
From Walking the Harbour Bridge

Not only can you walk, train, drive, cycle across the bridge, you can also climb on the Bridge – if you do the Bridge Climb Experience (definitely worth doing!).

Here are some bridge climbers:

From Walking the Harbour Bridge

You can also walk up to the Bridge lookout pylons (an $11 entry fee to walk up 200 steps).

From Walking the Harbour Bridge
From Walking the Harbour Bridge
From Walking the Harbour Bridge

A typical Sydney summer’s day:

From Walking the Harbour Bridge

Circular Quay:

From Walking the Harbour Bridge

From The Rocks:

From Walking the Harbour Bridge
From Walking the Harbour Bridge
From Walking the Harbour Bridge
From Walking the Harbour Bridge
From Walking the Harbour Bridge

Walking route from North Sydney Pool, across the Sydney Harbour Bridge, around Circular Quay, around the Royal Botanical Gardens and to the next pool (approx 5.3km – 1.5hours at a leisurely pace):

From Walking the Harbour Bridge

Sydney Pool Crawl: Part I

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During my summer Sydney visit, I thought it would be an awesome idea to do a Sydney Pool Crawl (as opposed to a bar crawl). Like most good plans, it never quite turns out the way that you plan it. I had planned on visiting 4 swimming pools around Sydney City and swimming 1km at each pool. The reality – – I only did two pools. Hence I satisfied the “Sydney Pool” part of my idea. The “Crawl” came into it, because I ended up walking about 10km all over town! I did sooo much walking that I didn’t get to do the four pools. Did I mention that I had planned on walking from one pool to the next pool?! Hence all that walking around, meant that I didn’t get to quite fit in as much swimming as I would have liked. The day started off with a train ride into the city all the way to North Sydney station. From there I walked to North Sydney Pool – a wonderful pool (and probably one of my favourites). It’s situated right under the “Coathanger” aka the Sydney Habour Bridge. Can’t complain with a harbour-side pool. It’s also quite an historic pool and the water more saltwater than chlorine. Part 1: North Sydney Pool. Prime piece of real estate, that.

From North Sydney Pool

The “Coathanger”:

From North Sydney Pool

Lovely 50m outdoor pool. A whole 7 laps dedicated to lap swimmers!

From North Sydney Pool
From North Sydney Pool
From North Sydney Pool

Enjoying the Sydney sunshine, blue skies and a refreshing swim:

From North Sydney Pool

Dedicated lap swimmers:

From North Sydney Pool
From North Sydney Pool
From North Sydney Pool

Harbourside:

From North Sydney Pool

Luna Park amusement park right next door.

From North Sydney Pool

Swam 1km here and enjoyed a quick bask in the sun. One pool down. Sydney Pool Crawl to be continued…. 5193381 2013-02-12 22:43:33 2013-02-12 13:43:33 open closed sydney-pool-crawl-part-i publish 0 0 post 0 Australia down under : oz Fitness passing time photography Random Swimming Swimming Travel travel _edit_last 253158 _encloseme 1 _encloseme 1 Sydney Pool Crawl: Harbour Bridge Walk http://memoirsofaleisha.blog.com/2013/02/15/sydney-pool-crawl-harbour-bridge-walk/ Fri, 15 Feb 2013 04:35:56 +0000 aleishariboldi@gmail.com http://memoirsofaleisha.blog.com/?p=5193383 Part II of the Sydney Pool crawl was walking the Sydney Harbour Bridge. From North Sydney Pool I thought it would be a good idea to walk all the way to my next pool – the Andrew “Boy” Charlton (ABC) Pool. I did not realise how far that was! From North Sydney train station, you can walk along the entire length of Sydney Harbour Bridge. Blessed with blue skies and sunshine, it was the perfect day to tale in the sights of Sydney’s main attractions – namely the harbour, the Bridge, Opera House and Circular Quay. Near North Sydney Pool – Under the Bridge:

From Walking the Harbour Bridge
From Walking the Harbour Bridge
From Walking the Harbour Bridge

Luna Park:

From Walking the Harbour Bridge

Circular Quay:

From Walking the Harbour Bridge
From Walking the Harbour Bridge
From Walking the Harbour Bridge

Start of the Bridge walk:

From Walking the Harbour Bridge

Sydney’s harbour bridge has a pedestrian walking path on one side – open to walkers, joggers and the occasional person with a bicycle, and train tracks on the other where the North Sydney train line runs. Over and across the Bridge:

From Walking the Harbour Bridge
From Walking the Harbour Bridge
From Walking the Harbour Bridge
From Walking the Harbour Bridge

Great views of the harbour from the bridge:

From Walking the Harbour Bridge
From Walking the Harbour Bridge
From Walking the Harbour Bridge
From Walking the Harbour Bridge
From Walking the Harbour Bridge
From Walking the Harbour Bridge
From Walking the Harbour Bridge

I love harbour cities!

From Walking the Harbour Bridge
From Walking the Harbour Bridge
From Walking the Harbour Bridge
From Walking the Harbour Bridge
From Walking the Harbour Bridge
From Walking the Harbour Bridge
From Walking the Harbour Bridge

Not only can you walk, train, drive, cycle across the bridge, you can also climb on the Bridge – if you do the Bridge Climb Experience (definitely worth doing!). Here are some bridge climbers:

From Walking the Harbour Bridge

You can also walk up to the Bridge lookout pylons (an $11 entry fee to walk up 200 steps).

From Walking the Harbour Bridge
From Walking the Harbour Bridge
From Walking the Harbour Bridge

A typical Sydney summer’s day:

From Walking the Harbour Bridge

Circular Quay:

From Walking the Harbour Bridge

From The Rocks:

From Walking the Harbour Bridge
From Walking the Harbour Bridge
From Walking the Harbour Bridge
From Walking the Harbour Bridge
From Walking the Harbour Bridge

Walking route from North Sydney Pool, across the Sydney Harbour Bridge, around Circular Quay, around the Royal Botanical Gardens and to the next pool (approx 5.3km – 1.5hours at a leisurely pace):

From Walking the Harbour Bridge

 

Afternoon tea – Hotel Seiyo Ginza

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Occasionally, I get people emailing me who have contacted me though my blog. To date, I have even met some people – total strangers, at that, through my blog. There was a Spanish guy who would write to me asking about open water swimming in Japan. I met up with him twice over the course of my three years in Tokyo.

I then met a girl who lived in Australia and was visiting Tokyo. She was a fellow foodie and we exchange a few emails about recommended eats in Tokyo, and I agreed to meet her for lunch. I haven’t written a blog post about that lunch…yet. I can’t remember if I mentioned it here or not, but the day I met this girl – we ran into Hugh Jackman’s wife – Deborah Lee-Furness. I just missed out on seeing Hugh Jackman. He was in Tokyo filming the new Wolverine movie. It was sooo exciting just to meet his wife! For the record, we had lunch at the Park Hyatt hotel. I still need to write up about that lunch… that was months ago now.

About 2 weeks ago, I got to meet another blog-reader. We had afternoon tea together. She is such a cool girl. We had so much in common. I’m sure in another lifetime we would be best friends, were it not for the fact that she lives in Ecuador! I am totally going to have to go there! We made arrangements to meet at the Hotel Seiyo Ginza. I had chosen it purely on the fact that the hotel is closing down as of May this year, so I had wanted to go there before they close down. We rocked up without a reservation and were given a table immediately. Two afternoon sets were ordered and we chatted the next couple of hours away. Basically trying to tell our whole life stories in a matter of a couple of hours. Carolina is such a cool person – positive energy and vibe with a lot going for. We’re both foodies and fans of afternoon tea and travel. This was only her second afternoon tea experience ever. The afternoon tea here was very classic, traditional – very tame. Not bad, not terrible either. The hotel isn’t going to be around much longer so I figured I’d give it a try. The Seiyo Hotel in Ginza:

From Hotel Seiyo Ginza afternoon tea
From Hotel Seiyo Ginza afternoon tea

The savoury plate’s saving grace was the mini hamburger.

From Hotel Seiyo Ginza afternoon tea
From Hotel Seiyo Ginza afternoon tea

Sweets and cakes:

From Hotel Seiyo Ginza afternoon tea

Scones – plain and choc chip

From Hotel Seiyo Ginza afternoon tea
From Hotel Seiyo Ginza afternoon tea

The afternoon set here comes with a glass of sparkling wine (or juice) plus four beverages of your choice – tea is served by the cup, not by the pot. So I tried four different cups of tea (original blend tea, assam tea, houji cha milk tea, and a mint tea). All in all, not too bad – 5 drinks plus afternoon tea set comes to 5000yen. Maybe not one of the best options for high tea in Tokyo though.

From Hotel Seiyo Ginza afternoon tea
From Hotel Seiyo Ginza afternoon tea
From Hotel Seiyo Ginza afternoon tea

Is it a little bit uncanny, but do we kinda look alike? (Apart from the fact that I wear glasses.)

From Hotel Seiyo Ginza afternoon tea

 

The Sink

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You like ice-cream, you say? Have I got a challenge for you! Back in Sydney, I went up to the Coast and spent some time with a few besties. And good ol’ Jess delivered, with an ice-cream-eating challenge.

From The Sink
From The Sink

The Terrigal Ice Creamery offers a dish called The Sink! And it’s actually served in a sink. Oh, the novelty of it all. How awesome is that! It’s 15 scoops of dairy bliss. We enlisted a group of 5 (including 2 guys) to wade through 15 scoops of ice-cream. The first and only dilemma in such a fun eating challenge is what 15 flavours of ice cream to choose! The wall of flavours:

From The Sink

Me thinks someone wanted the “Strawberry Summer”

From The Sink

My friends anxiously wait for The Sink:

From The Sink

I present The Sink:

From The Sink
From The Sink
From The Sink
From The Sink

And if 15 scoops of ice-cream wasn’t enough calories – they threw in flake bars, waffles, topping and sprinkles!

From The Sink
From The Sink
From The Sink
From The Sink

So much fun to eat all this! We all dug in like it was our job. It was a hot summer’s day so we had to eat it pretty fast before it all melted. And with there being 15 different flavours we all jostled to try each one. The Sink slowly, slowly, vanishes as we all tuck in.

From The Sink
From The Sink

Halfway through….

From The Sink

Going, going…

From The Sink

Gone.

From The Sink

Mission accomplished!

From The Sink

If we had straws, we probably would have have drunk all the melted ice cream! We actually ate all this, seriously, in a space of 20 minutes! Everyone who orders The Sink at this ice-creamery gets their photo taken with it. If you ever happen to go there, you’ll see a photo of us stuck up on their wall. The Sink is pretty good value too. Only 30 bucks for 15 scoops, so between the five of us, it was only 6 bucks each. If you were wondering what 15 flavours we chose, here’s what we went with (we each chose 3 flavours each): 1. Chocolate gelato 2. Vanilla 3. Rainbow 4. Coffee 5. Hokey Pokey 6. Hazelnut 7. Cookies and cream 8. Watermelon 9. Mint choc chip 10. Old English toffee 11. Choc chip 12. Rocky Road 13. Mango 14. Banana 15. Ginger (!!!) That was just random. Trust Nell to pick that flavour 😉

Taxirobics

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Move over Zumba, Taxirobics is in. I was walking around the streets of Ginza yesterday armed with my camera (as I was on my way to an afternoon tea), and lo and behold, I saw a taxi driver who was obviously taking a break and thought he’d get in a bit of aerobics. He was doing a variety of aerobics moves – side kicks, jogging on the spot etc. He was pretty intense about it. Totally oblivious to everything around him, I managed to capture a few discreet shots. I would have loved to have watched him for longer and taken more photos, but instead of him being the weird one, I started looking like the crazy person taking photos of him! I love that he’s wearing his taxi driver uniform complete with vest and everything. Although, I see he did take off his white driving gloves.

From Taxirobics
From Taxirobics
From Taxirobics
From Taxirobics
From Taxirobics

He’s in pretty good shape, so it’s definitely working for him. Taxirobics – the next big thing. You heard it here first!

Swimming at Wylie’s Baths

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My trip back to Sydney alternated between eating and swimming. It was actually really cool to explore and swim in new waters. Another swimming venture was to Wylie’s Baths – another first. This is ocean water pool. Conditions will really depend on the tides. At high tides the waves wash over and lap into the pool making it a real proper wave pool.

From Wylies’ Baths
From Wylies’ Baths

It’s located at Coogee. Nice views indeed.

From Wylies’ Baths
From Wylies’ Baths
From Wylies’ Baths

I know a couple that got married here and had their reception on the pool deck/terrace. Very cool. I’d never have thought about a wedding reception at a pool, overlooking the ocean. Very idyllic.

From Wylies’ Baths

The “bath” is actually an ocean pool. It was a bit wild on the day we went.

From Wylies’ Baths

The surface floor is all rocky and barnacle-y and there happened to be lots of bluebottles in the water on the day we were there. My dad actually ended up getting stung as did some other pool-goers…needless to say we didn’t manage to do a lot of swimming there. No lanes either, just free swimming, but it was super wavey.

From Wylies’ Baths

Definitely a very cool place to swim…but much preferred the “tame-ness” of Bondi Icebergs.

From Wylies’ Baths
From Wylies’ Baths
From Wylies’ Baths

Considering I wasn’t able to do many laps here, I took advantage of taking photos instead.

From Wylies’ Baths
From Wylies’ Baths
From Wylies’ Baths
From Wylies’ Baths
From Wylies’ Baths
From Wylies’ Baths

I had never been before so it was great to actually check out this ocean pool.

From Wylies’ Baths

You can see Coogee beach in the background. From the baths, you can go down a direct walking track to reach the beach.

From Wylies’ Baths
From Wylies’ Baths
From Wylies’ Baths

Coogee Beach:

From Wylies’ Baths

One of the open water swim races that’s on my bucketlist when I go back to Oz, is the “Wedding cake island” swim. It’s an open water swim race from Coogee Beach out to Wedding Cake island and back. It’s about a 3km swim. This, my friends, is Wedding Cake island. It’s high tide here, so it’s not that visible. Perhaps some better images here?

From Wylies’ Baths
From Wylies’ Baths

Had me a good ol’ sausage roll here, with tomato sauce, of course. Yummo.

From Wylies’ Baths
From Wylies’ Baths

 

A dip at Bondi Icebergs

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One of the things on my Sydney to-do list, was to swim at Bondi Icebergs – an iconic swimming pool right by Bondi Beach. Hard to believe I’ve never swum there before. What started out as an overcast morning:

From Bondi Icebergs

ended up turning into clear blue skies later….

From Bondi Icebergs

Bondi Icebergs is a 50m saltwater swimming pool at the edge of Bondi Beach open ALL year round. (Entry fee $5.50)

From Bondi Icebergs
From Bondi Icebergs

At high tide, the waves lap over the walls. Yeah, it gets kinda wavy and rocky when you’re swimming laps in this pool. It’s good open water swimming practice in a contained environment. (Stay clear of lane 8 if possible).

From Bondi Icebergs
From Bondi Icebergs

A real Aussie beach:

From Bondi Icebergs
From Bondi Icebergs
From Bondi Icebergs
From Bondi Icebergs

I ended up swimming up 2.5km here. It was a nice refreshing swim. So nice to be able to swim outdoors and in a 50m pool and a saltwater one at that – all of which are a rarity in Japan. And exclusively all swimming lanes. Gotta love a pool that dedicates all 8 lanes to lap swimmers! A great pool to swim in. Very invigorating.

From Bondi Icebergs

After swimming a couple of k’s, it was time to EAT. The Icebergs Club has both an RSL and a fancy dining restaurant. The RSL is the way to go. Balcony terrace with stunning views, good hearty Aussie food and super reasonable prices given its location (it is an RSL after all). We just missed out on the brunch menu (it ends around 11-11:30am) so had to dine from the lunch menu. I definitely wanna go back there again when next in Sydney for brunch. If you’re in Sydney, I would totally recommend a swim here followed by brunch. And then a walk from Bondi to Coogee following the coastal walk. Are you listening, Lonely Planet Australia? Nothing like a swim and then a hearty big Aussie brekky. Lunch didn’t disappoint though. Got me a schnitzel with gravy, salad and fries. Does it get any better? We managed to score ourselves a balcony table. Check out the views!

From Bondi Icebergs
From Bondi Icebergs
From Bondi Icebergs

A glass of wine, basking in the Sydney summer.

From Bondi Icebergs
From Bondi Icebergs

Tucking into lunch:

From Bondi Icebergs
From Bondi Icebergs
From Bondi Icebergs

It’s fun to people-watch here and watch all the lap swimmers.

From Bondi Icebergs
From Bondi Icebergs

I love it when the water is this colour!

From Bondi Icebergs

And then dessert – lemon tart. Hell yeah!

From Bondi Icebergs

Talk about an ideal day in Sydney – morning swim at Bondi Icebergs pool, good meal, lemon tart and a cup of tea, enjoying the sunshine Down Under.

From Bondi Icebergs

Hello, Sydney!

From Bondi Icebergs
From Bondi Icebergs
From Bondi Icebergs
From Bondi Icebergs
From Bondi Icebergs
From Bondi Icebergs

The Bondi to Coogee walking route:

From Bondi Icebergs

I’m looking forward to next time I get to swim (and eat) there! Happy Australia Day for tomorrow!

The life of Pie

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Got to eat a meat pie when I was back in Oz. Not any ordinary meat pie, mind you, but a Harry’s Cafe de Wheels pie. They call it the “Tiger” (a pie floater) – meat pie topped with mashed potato, mashed peas and filled with gravy in the middle. Mmm yum. That’s what I’m talking about.

From Harry’s cafe de wheels
From Harry’s cafe de wheels
From Harry’s cafe de wheels
From Harry’s cafe de wheels
From Harry’s cafe de wheels

 

Aria, Sydney

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Brace yourself for an overload of Sydney photos. Was back home over the Christmas and New Year break and did a hell of a lot of eating. Top of my go-to list was Aria. Actually, I had wanted to go to Quay – Australia’s number 1 restaurant and ranks in the world’s top 50 restaurants. Bookings are near impossible. We tried to book 2-3 months in advance, to no avail. Aria was my second choice. Did you know that Australia has no Michelin star restaurants? (It’s because they don’t cover Australia). Aria is up there on Australia’s culinary scene, having garnered a lot of publicity from Masterchef’s (TV show) Matt Moran. Located at Opera Quays it offers both views of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House.

From Aria

We were able to get a booking here under the pre-theatre dinner option, that is dine early and be out early (in at 6pm and out at 7:30pm). It was also a somewhat cheaper option (although the meal will set you back some bucks). One of my best friends appreciates food, much like yours truly and it’s a tradition of ours that when I’m back home for visits that we do a fancy expensive restaurant. Prior to our reservation we thought we’d have a pre-dinner cocktail but alas they weren’t open until 6pm on a Sunday, so we headed to Opera Bar instead for a cocktail.

From Aria

Enjoying Sydney sunshine:

From Aria

My memory is a little rusty, so here’s what can I remember. Upon arrival, we were given the best seats in the house, right by the window with views of the Sydney Harbour and the bridge (mind the barricades – they were set up for impending New Year’s Eve celebrations. Our reservation was for December 30).

From Aria
From Aria

We splurged on a bottle of wine to share (I’ll admit the wine list was pricey!)

From Aria

There was an amuse bouche/appetiser. I cannot recall what it was, but it was tasty.

From Aria

Some bread to boot:

From Aria
From Aria

For entrees, I opted for the scallops and was not disappointed by the generous portion – 4 scallops (for an entree! Maybe I’ve been in Japan too long. Am used to much smaller portions). I love meaty scallops!

From Aria
From Aria

Jess opted for the wonton consomme – lots of mushroomy goodness in there. Again, very flavoursome.

From Aria

For mains, we both opted for the lamb dish:

From Aria
From Aria

Now, I swear Australia is the only country I know of where when you order a meat dish, you have to order the sides separately. I’m not a fan of this. If you’re ordering a main dish, if should be a complete dish. Mind you, this only happens at upper scale restaurants in Australia. Most other countries you get the meat/protein plus vegetable accompaniments etc. So anyway, we have to order sides separately. We got a salad to share and the truffle oil mashed potatoes. Was really disappointed with the salad. Overpriced for 4 cos lettuce leaves and some ricotta/feta (can’t remember which) cheese.

From Aria

The truffle oil mashed potatoes on the other hand, I would highly recommend. Portion was incredibly generous (4 person serving) and it was incredibly creamy and indulgent.

From Aria
From Aria

Because we were on the time-limit dinner, they unfortunately couldn’t offer us dessert as they needed us to vacate the table. If you eat fast enough, there would have been time for dessert…but I would argue that the service was a tad on the slow side. It did take a little long for our main dish to be brought out. At any rate, complimentary petit fours were included to end the meal on a sweet note.

From Aria
From Aria
From Aria

The overall experience – whilst it was fun to do, I don’t think I would go back there again. I was also somewhat horrified by two minor mishaps that didn’t escape my attention. I’m usually not that picky but when you spend a fair bit of money at a reputable restaurant, I have higher standards. The first was that when we arrived, the table wasn’t properly ready. By properly ready, I mean that it was a table that was set for four people, when there was only two of us. Considering we had a reservation 2 months in advance, and they knew we were coming, I would have liked to have seen that they were prepared for a party of 2 rather than a table set for four and then take away the additional place settings in front of us. I just looks unprepared. A reserved table should be ready and waiting for you. The second incident was that a waitress knocked over my cutlery which fell on the floor. She then picked up the cutlery and proceeded to put it back on the table for me to use. I think she noticed my split second expression of absolute horror and did a double take and said she’d get me new cutlery. I’m all for the 5-second rule if something falls, but at a top-notch dining establishment I expect them to bring me out new cutlery. I’m really not that fussy a person, but you have certain expectations when you dine at certain places. Nevertheless, it was still cool to dine there. And the food and wine was pretty good. Been there, done that!

From Aria
From Aria

5

Happy NEW year: 2013

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Excuse the hiatus. Have been super busy since the end of last year. In a nutshell: finished up old job, went back home to Australia for two weeks, ate way too much, caught up with family and friends, busy, busy, busy, flew back to Japan, started new job and new firm the next day, getting familiar with new job, and have been away the last two weekends that I’ve been in Japan since coming back this year. So it’s that time of year again – – New year. New word. And the word for 2013 is…

From January 21, 2013

I’m going to focus on NEW things this year. The new year has started off with a NEW job. New work environment etc. Am also planning on moving apartments this year, so hopefully a NEW residence. I plan on trying NEW things, gaining new skills, new confidence etc. Maybe somewhat a bit of make-over year in terms of lifestyle. Nothing drastic. But sometimes change is good. Out with the old, and in with the new. Also need to lose me a few KGs. I’m at my highest weight ever. I ate all sorts of good stuff back in Oz, and have not found any time to exercise in the last couple of months! So I’ve got to do something about that. Time to focus on a new mindset and let go of the past. So here’s to a Happy NEW year for me…fingers crossed. Will have lots of posts forthcoming. Took way too many photos as usual during my trip back home.