Posted in Uncategorized, tagged California, Los Angeles, Manhattan Beach, Pier 39, San Francisco, sea lions, Sun, sunset, Travel on May 16, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
San Francisco’s famous sea lions at Pier 39
Sunset over Manhattan Beach, California
One of life’s simplest pleasures, watching the sun set. Beautiful anywhere in the world. The first photo was taken on our first day in San Francisco at the famous Pier 39.
The second was taken while racing the clock at Manhattan Beach south of Los Angeles.
I had visited in January and spent a day on a sound stage nowhere near the beach so getting to see the sun set in April was a bonus.
Posted in Food, Travel, tagged Bellagio, blog, cake, California, Food, holiday, iPhone, Jean-Philippe Maury, Las Vegas, Las Vegas Nevada, macaron, pastry, Recreation, Travel, TripAdvisor, Venice Beach on May 7, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
On Friday I developed a bad case of Friday-itis. Post holiday blues. A reality check.
We had been home for a week after a month on vacation in the US. The bags were unpacked. The washing was done. The credit card bills had arrived. I was back at work.
So where was I going to find time to download and organise my photos? Print the photos? Scrap book all the receipts, menus and flyers? Post reviews on Trip Advisor? All the things I still haven’t done from our 2009 trip (or any small trip since!?!?)
Aarrrrrrgggghhhhhh…
Life’s a beach
So here is my first step, which, embarrassingly, is also my first post for the year. Lucky I didn’t make a public new year’s resolution to post more often!
I’m going to post a couple of photos a week (that’s the aim) and a few snippets. And I am going to make a conscious effort to post reviews of all the hotels we stayed at on TripAdvisor - a site to whose members I shall forever be indebted, having used their reviews to choose pretty all the hotels we have stayed in since 2007.
Of course it wouldn’t be a post without the obligatory food photo. This one is of some of the delectable sweets at the pastry shop of Jean-Philippe Maury at the Bellagio in Las Vegas – home to the world’s biggest chocolate fountain. Somehow, if I can work out what I ate over 28 days (by looking at my iPhone) and document it all, a sort of travel diary may write itself!? I take my hat off to all the food and lifestyle bloggers who hold down day jobs and manage to post regularly. Most nights I slip into the familiar family dinner and TV groove and time disappears. However I am determined not to let all my photos, observations and notes go to waste. I also owe some reviews to Urban Spoon, Yelp! and OpenTable – all sites (and apps as the case may be).So between, here, there and everywhere (let’s not forget Instagram and Pinterest) – I look like being quite busy…hope I have enough words to go around!
Posted in Travel, Uncategorized, tagged Australia, business, hotels, Melbourne, Sydney, Travel on November 5, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Sometimes when travelling for work this is close as I get to the city I’m in;
the view from the hotel window…
Posted in Travel, tagged beach, Bondi, Chinese New Year, holiday, Opera House, Qantas, Syndey, Travel on February 19, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Spent the last week of January in Sydney.
Some colleagues couldn’t figure out why I’d go on holidays to Sydney when I spent a fair amount of time there for work in December and January.
Easy – when you’re working there’s no time for markets, the beach, exploring Chinatown.
A Qantas fly by on Australia Day, as seen from Circular Quay
Here’s a couple of quick snaps unil I get time to do a proper post.
Bondi Beach on a Sunny Sunday
Posted in Food, Travel, tagged bagels, Broadway, Crumbs Bakeshop, cupcakes, FAO Schwarz, Magnolia Bakery, Manhattan, New York, Staten Island Ferry, Statue of Liberty, Tiffany, Times Square, Toys R Us, Travel, Yellow Cab on November 18, 2009 | 1 Comment »
What’s not to love about New York, the Big Apple, the City that Never Sleeps?
View of Manhattan from Staten Island Ferry
Is it possible to miss a city you’ve only recently been acquainted with? I think so. And I’m already saving to go back.
For reasons unknown I never had any real desire to visit New York and after September 11, assumed I’d never get there.
Then sometime in the last year or so (maybe after the Sex and the City movie?), I was determined I’d get there for my 40th, if not the actual event, then sometime that year.
Yet even as I started planning the trip in February, the itinerary consisted of Los Angeles, San Francisco and Las Vegas.
As fate would have it the original trip needed to be postponed and in re-booking the flights, it cost no extra to add New York – just an extra six hours of flying.
Statue of Liberty
People thought we were mad flying from Perth to New York non-stop with two kids in tow (as non-stop as you can get flying via Sydney and Los Angeles) but we made it, all 30-odd hours, and felt it was better to get the worst flights out of the way first.
New York is one of those cities that like Paris, instantly leaves its mark. We had to catch a Yellow Cab from the airport, despite some dude in a mini van insisting we’d never fit in one and should go with him.
Other things we had to do – eat bagels, visit Tiffany, hang out in Central Park, get dazzled in Times Square.
Times Square
We didn’t make it across the Brooklyn Bridge or get to a Broadway show but we had a great meal and picked up bargain souvenirs in Chinatown.
I ate cupcakes at Magnolia Bakery and Crumbs Bakeshop. One night I ate cupcakes for dinner.
World famous cupcakes from Magnolia Bakery
We shopped at the world’s biggest department store, Macy’s and two of the three biggest toy stores – Toys R Us and FAO Schwarz
In short, we fell in love with New York and were sad to leave after six days – even though we had two weeks in California to look forward to.
In coming posts I will report on my search for the perfect cupcake (a search that continues no matter what city I am in) and upload photos of the food and places that made an impression…
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