BWB Sydney - The Sojourn of SJohn

[The Winged Shadow]

Thanks to everyone for an awesome Friday night. It's been a while since I drank that much! But I felt pretty refreshed on saturday afternoon after a good sleep. No hangover symptoms at all! Woot! Spent the rest of the saturday with my 1 year old cousin celebreating his 1st birthday, otherwise I would've joined you fine folks for some more shenanigans.

It was great meeting SJohn, Brady, Stubby and Laoise! I've really enjoyed chatting to you guys over the course of the night. At this point its hard to keep track of all the things we talked about, but some highlights include:

- Watching Stubby pile some hate on Phil Hughes. It was so much awesomer in person than on the cricket thread! :bowdown:

- Totally nailing the timing on Paxter's speech. I just finished telling Stubby and Laoise about how Paxter will start giving a speech when he is a bit drunk. And like 30 seconds later, Paxter gets up, bangs the table and tries to give a speech! :cheers:

- Talking to SJohn about American politics and culture of competitiveness. It was a good insight into some of the difference that exist between our political and business cultures. I love American politics, but as SJohn pointed out, its because I don't live there! :lol:

Some other highlights include:

- Off-his-face Ski being a pest. More than usual, I mean :P. But a particular highlight: He finally gets his precious kebab, takes a bite and burns his tongue because its too hot, whinges about how its too hot and how it burned his tongue, then takes another bite without letting it cool down! How did he survive this long?! :blink: (either way, he will be England's problem soon! :P)

- SJohn: "See you in Chat, Motherfucker!" :lol:

It was good seeing Neil and Ithanos again. You guys deserve massive credit for making so much effort to come to these Sydney meets. :cheers:

It was really great seeing the rest of the Sydney gang again. Thanks to Stormborne and Beetrix for helping organising alot of it, it was a great night. You ladies rock.

It was also nice meeting Ryan, Screaming Turkey's friend, hopefully he enjoyed his time with us and comes back to the next meet, with the rest of the Gregor Fanboys :ack:.

Thank you all for a great night out. :cheers:

[S John]

hey guys, am keen to tag - not sure if will be able to do drinks and dinner or just a drinks due to our furniture finally coming home and thus some assemballing and many books, dvd's and other shit to be put back in its place.

shall we be meeting at Marble bar?

Marble Bar is neat and extremely convenient for me because it is in the basement of my hotel, however - as the Australia n00b I'm not at all confident picking food or drink establishments. I'm not sure if Marble bar has food in any case. I defer to the locals as you all have done a great job of picking food/drink places and I'd hate to ruin the streak. :)

I might turn up to - my fridge is scarily empty.

Was thinking I could possibly drive my car in and take the out-of-towners on a night drive after dinner if they are keen and the weather clears. There is some really nice night views from Lady Macquarie's Chair & Kirribili.

That would definitely be cool if that works for you and the weather cooperates. That said, I am completely unaware of the level of hassle it is for you to bring your car down here... so please don't inconvenience yourself too much if it is a big pain to drive in.

- SJohn: "See you in Chat, Motherfucker!" :lol:

Wow, a term of endearment from me and we've only just met. You must have made a good impression, man!

[sh_wulff]

We had a lovely time- thanks for the organizers again...

Not sure I can make it tonight- training at 630 am tomorrow

baby_wulff has asked to come to the next one.. she needs to work on her stamina ;)

( out late night before watching a wonderful eclipse by a river in the wonderful outdoors after staying out late the night before- she's a wannabe party animal )

[Stubby]

All those interested in tonight - we are down here near the bridge. JR is further up the main drag but not by much. Just strolling around shortly after we checked in we found a couple of likely pubs - the Brooklyn, Harts, etc.

Also, given we were going to have a crack at it on Friday, anyone still like the sound of the Tilbury?

Bee - will PM u my number and we can all do a Melbourne-style text chat to get it organised. Others that have expressed interest (paging Jeor) have my number.

[Ski the Swift]

- Off-his-face Ski being a pest. More than usual, I mean :P. But a particular highlight: He finally gets his precious kebab, takes a bite and burns his tongue because its too hot, whinges about how its too hot and how it burned his tongue, then takes another bite without letting it cool down! How did he survive this long?! :blink: (either way, he will be England's problem soon! :P)

Someone spiked my drink with alcohol!

[ithanos]

Great renewing acquaintances (Stubby and Laoise, and the rest of the Aussie BWB who made it along) and making new ones (Brady, SJohn). For those out in Sydney town tonight enjoy the evening.

Stormborne and Beetrix: you are awesome for organising places to meet and dine.

B, What was the white sliced vegetable thingy in the salad at Mamaks? Brady wanted to know & i'm also curious.

[Ski the Swift]

Also changed my picture in the spirit of the meet.

[delete this account pls]

I gotta say, I was equal parts proud and embarrassed when I went to the bar for my round of shots and they told me they'd run out of shot glasses and I had to point at our table and say "Oh, they're over there..."

[Horza]

Also, given we were going to have a crack at it on Friday, anyone still like the sound of the Tilbury?

If you guys want something a little more cosy the East Sydney Hotel is right next door and while it doesn't have the booze selection or food it is quiet and reasonable.

[Ski the Swift]

I gotta say, I was equal parts proud and embarrassed when I went to the bar for my round of shots and they told me they'd run out of shot glasses and I had to point at our table and say "Oh, they're over there..."

Like.

[TheIceManCometh]

It was also nice meeting Ryan, Screaming Turkey's friend, hopefully he enjoyed his time with us and comes back to the next meet, with the rest of the Gregor Fanboys :ack:.

Oh Gregor Fanboy will be coming next time, i made sure of it.

[theMountainGoat]

either way, he will be England's problem soon!

Hang on a minute - what have we done to deserve this? :uhoh:

[arantius]

Hang on a minute - what have we done to deserve this? :uhoh:

You cannot send all your unwashed dregs of society to the colonies and not expect some kind of payback. Ski is being sent to the motherland for you to teach him discipline and respect. Good luck.

...

It was so cool to meet up with Stubs and Lou again last night, and to meet SJohn, and hang with the others, it was a great night. Ser Cam even managed to gatecrash the party. Can't wait for the family portrait to be posted :)

[The Winged Shadow]

Hang on a minute - what have we done to deserve this? :uhoh:

Payback for the Ashes. :P

[BeeTrix]

B, What was the white sliced vegetable thingy in the salad at Mamaks? Brady wanted to know & i'm also curious.

Hey ithanos, sorry I almost missed this.

Its called jicama or yam bean. It can also be found in the filling of spring rolls, wontons & popiah.

Also, I'm very impressed by your ability to identify and taste spices - you're a kindred foodie spirit for sure!

[ithanos]

thanks for that BeeTrix, will look out for yam beans when I'm next at the market.

you're a kindred foodie spirit for sure!

then i'm in good company, thank you.

[Stubby]

Home safe but knackered.

The BwB motto was well evident over the last 5 days - good stuff. :thumbsup:

Will post a more detailed effort tomorrow sometime. Sleep beckons.

[delete this account pls]

If anyone took photos, I'd be interested in seeing them. Specifically, the vomiting cowboy one I know horza grabbed.

[Horza]

I caught the results, not the act. And no one saw fit to document this guy so causality eludes us.

[Stubby]

So here is the more detailed report...

This was a hectic but rewarding trip. We had the great companionship of hanging with old friends and new in the BwB, we had the gorgeous Blue Mountains and we had the enjoyment of some time away from work and study.

S John, Brady, Screaming Turkey (with Age of Empires loving mate), Winged Shadow, Jeor, James and sh_wulff (with sw jr) - great to meet you guys and to discover that you are all very cool. Catching up with the others was (as always) a great way to while away some hours. Stormy, morningsword, Pax, BeeTrix, Horza, Neal, ithanos and Ski - really good to see everyone again and to relive some Melbourne adventures and participate in some new ones.

Some observations on the BwB component of the trip:

- Both laoise and I enjoyed hanging with S John, who fulfills all the criteria of a 'good bloke'. Comparing the technical aspects of cricket v baseball, debating the merits of lamb as a menu item, and getting all deep about cultural norms were among the topics covered. Having explained the whole concept to S John on Monday night, perhaps the BwB could try out a chook raffle or two to raise some funds?

- Finding out that Brady was not only entirely real, but also a good bloke into the mix was a bonus. :P Spending Thursday night and the vast majority of Friday with Braids was very cool. On that, I have some pics that I will post or PM as you wish, mate.

- As he already posted, having some real discussions of Hughes' inability to bat cricket with WS was good stuff.

- Meeting Jeor and discovering that he was not, in fact, Richie Benaud was quite a surprise. :)

- Having two absent bros join the party by phone - GS and Ser Cam - was good stuff. We played pass the mobile phone when Cam was on the line and dutifully berated him for not even knowing the meet was on.

- Thanks to Stormy, both laoise and I are converts to Cider. In fact Stormy deserves a hearty round of applause for much more than that - her willing ness to put herself out there to organise the fun made the various nights even better.

- BeeTrix's contributions to the organising should not be overlooked either. Aside from playing guide and taxi driver for some of the locals, if it were not for her wheeling and dealing with her local knowledge of the rocks the Monday night coffee on the steps of the harbour would not have happened. Cheers Bee!

- sh-wulff and jr-wulff: meeting you after all this time (we nearly managed a meet about 6 years ago) was cool! Shame you were at the other end of the table at dinner but we still got some time in. :)

Overall, a great extended meet. As usual, coming home is the hardest bit. Post-con emo and it wasn't even a con. :(

Thanks Sydney. :cheers: