Strange Brew

Last night a group of us from work went on a tour of the XXXX Brewery. The brewery’s been around since the 1880s and has been serving Queensland beer every since. A little factoid: the brewery’s original name was XXX (ThreeEx) because of the quality of the beer. Back in the day, monks use to mark the wooden casks with an “X” to show the quality of beer. So the original beer produced back in the 19th century had XXX quality, whereas now they produced XXXX quality beer. The picture to the right is Mr. FourEx – the brewery’s logo. Click here for some pictures of the night.

Men at Work

For those of you interested in what I'm actually working on down here, click on the link to open a pdf of a newsletter that got sent out across the US to all DMJM Harris (our sister company) offices.

DMJM Harris Newsletter

No Quirky Title for this Post

Last night the contractor that we’re teaming with up on my project hosted an International Housewarming Party on the roof of our office building. There’s so many different countries represented on this project (US, Australia, Austria, Japan, New Zealand, UK, Hong Kong and there still could be more than this) that a get-together was held with finger foods from each country to eat. The original choice for the US was hotdogs but a couple of people thought that hotdogs weren’t the easiest of finger foods, so we were represented by Buffalo wings w/blue cheese dressing and chorizos. Yes, a Spanish/Mexican dish was used to represent the US. Oh well … at least they were tasty. The entire shindig was catered and done quite nicely with the food and drinks being passed out by a wait staff.

I befriended a couple of other blokes from the office and we were one of the last ones to leave the party at 11:15ish, with a tub full of drinks still on ice. The contractor definitely didn’t skimp out on the party and it’s nice to be appreciated, even though as the head guy said, “there’s no such thing as a free lunch.” There might not be, but I definitely got my money’s worth of food & drinks out of them last night.

You Spin Me Right Round, Baby. Right Round Like A Record, Baby

It's disappointing to report that the toilets in Australia don't flush in the opposite direction as the ones in the U.S. They actually flush straight down ... so maybe the title is a little incorrect. All toilets in Australia (at least the ones I've come across) have two buttons you push to flush it ... the smaller one will flush the toilet for the length of time that you push it down and the larger of the two will only flush the toilet once, regardless of how long you push it. I'll try to post a picture tonight to help show what I'm trying to explain.

There's No Place Like Home

I've posted my address to the right in case anybody wants it.

Good Directions and Turnip Greens

Thought I would post some odds & ends that I've experienced or noticed during my stay in Australia ...

• Within my first hour walking around downtown Sydney, an Aussie asked me for directions and I was actually able to give her correct ones.
• Australian hamburger meat tastes somewhat different than American hamburger ... guess they just grow the cattle different down here.
• There are directions painted on the crosswalk in Sydney telling you which way to look for oncoming traffic ... saved my head a couple of times.
• The cost of living is higher in Brisbane than in Chicago ... an 18-pack of soft drinks (not soda, not pop) costs about $12 ... a 24-pack of bottled water costs about $10 ... however, the produce is fresh and cheaper than Chicago - so let's see if I actually start to eat healthier here.
• A "good" Australian bitter beer tastes like Keystone Light ... I haven't found anything up to standard drinking yet, but at least it doesn't cost that much (sorry Mom).
• As of now, I have limited use of the internet at work and I have to sit out in the courtyard in order to jump onto someone else's wireless signal, so please be patient if I don't immediately respond back. You will get a quicker response if you use my work email (I changed the email link on the blog).
• The people over here are really friendly and funny ... if you ever have to chance to visit (either now while you have a free couch to sleep on) or later, you must do it. Until next time, cheers!

Sydney Walkabout

I spent all day Thursday exploring Sydney. The city is absolutely gorgeous and I can see how it is consistently rated one of the top 5 cities to visit in the world. I just wish it wasn’t half-way around the world or I would definitely consider moving there for a short time.
The first 1½ hours I aimlessly wandered around downtown … going in and out of buildings just checking things out. My first touristy thing I did that morning was to head to the observation deck of the Sydney Tower – 250 meters above the ground. Let’s just say that being over 800 feet above the ground provides an amazing view of the city.
After looking at Sydney from a bird’s eye view, I checked out the city using my feet. I walked through Martin Place towards the Royal Botanical Gardens. The Royal Gardens are breathtakingly beautiful and provide some amazing views of the Harbour, the Opera House and the city. I know that there’s a ton of different species of trees and plants in Australia compared to what we have in the U.S., but I was surprised how cool some of the trees looked.
After the Gardens I headed over to the Opera House for a look and a lunch. I had a little time after lunch and before my bridge climb started, so I took in a street performer. Let’s just say he juggled a torch, a sword & an apple standing on a bicycle 25 feet up in the air … not to shabby. I'm going to try and post the video I took of him once I figure it out.
My appointment for the Harbour Bridge climb was at 2pm. After filling out some documents, taking a breathalyzer test and making sure the equipment worked, we headed up to the bridge to climb it. There were 12 of us on the climb plus the two climb leaders – Jeff & Olivia. From check-in to check-out the climb took 3 hours and we covered approximately 1500 steps. We started by walking up the east side of the bridge, crossed over at the summit, and walked down the west side of the bridge. When we were heading down the bridge, the sun was starting to set which cast a lovely light over the bay.
The remainder of the night was spent having a 10oz steak at a bar – surprisingly tasty – and catching the latest Harry Potter movie at the cinema (beat you too it Jess!). I thought it cost an arm & a leg to see a movie in Chicago, but in Sydney it costs an arm, two legs, a kidney and a gall bladder … A$15.5 for a single ticket. Overall it was one the best days I can remember in a long time … the cancelled flight, the 14.5 hour flight, the lost luggage … the wait was definitely worth it.
I know my words can’t do the city justice, so check out the photos I took throughout the day.