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Wednesday 1 July 1998 | |||||
| Got up at 5am to watch England v Argentina World Cup match. Glad I caught the first half, but disappointed with the outcome (ref!!). That evening, played the second knockout round of squash at Willoughby against Forest. Revenge again as I beat their number one 3-2 (from 2-0 down) who I lost to in the first match of the season. The team went on to win 3-1 and we're in the finals! | |||||
Thursday 2 July 1998 | |||||
| Quiet day recovering from the lack of sleep the day before. | |||||
Friday 3 July 1998 | |||||
| Went to the BST for drinks after work, didn't fancy a late one as I was still pretty bushed so went home for a quiet night after a few hours. Found a message on the answering machine from Greg and ended up meeting him (and the usual mob) at The Hampshire on Parramatta road. Played some pool (although form much deteriorated in comparison to earlier) and drank too many bourbon and cokes - so much for a quiet night. | |||||
Saturday 4 July 1998 | |||||
| Had a big sleep in, spending all day (literally) in bed. Kim and I went over to Balmain and had drinks with Scott and Rachel in (in order of appearance) The Exchange, The Monkey Bar, Lime Bar. Impressed with all these venues (apart from the fact The Monkey Bar close at midnight) - Balmain is a good place to have a few drinks. Turns out I've been to the Lime Bar before (the unknown bar from 25 April) as it's the only place for miles that's open late (well, was still packed at 1:30 when we left). Got home in time to catch the second half of a World Cup match (Holland v Argentina) and had a few beers (err... forgot to mention I'd been driving round all night). Kim had a phone frenzy, calling a few people in the UK. I made a some calls too, and watched some music show before considering the second match of the night... and then thinking better of it. | |||||
Sunday 5 July 1998 | |||||
Kim was pretty ill today and couldn't be persuaded to do much. I went to Mosman for a short squash practice, preparation for Wednesday.
Tried the Shenhai's Bombay Beef. for dinner, as recommended in the Sun Herald the previous week. Apparently this is a favourite of the Aussie PM's (who lives down the road in Kirribilli House and orders from there too). Not bad... but I prefer the Butter Chicken. | |||||
Monday 6 -Tuesday 7 July 1998 | |||||
| Tell my why?... | |||||
Wednesday 8 July 1998 | |||||
Squash season climaxes (well, C12 grade does anyhow) with finals at Willoughby. The outcome isn't really in doubt given the points total amassed by the table leaders, North Shore. I loose 3-1. It's all over in the third match as the team looses 3-0, and we don't even play the fourth, pah! Just as well for North Shore, as it was apparently their last man's birthday and he'd been in the pub since lunchtime, shame we didn't know this earlier and put him on.
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Thursday 9 July 1998 | |||||
Headed off to Darling Harbour, and One World Sport for a few drinks, complements of Sybase. Had a World Cup theme (them being one of the three major technology sponsors - along with HP and EDS!) and hence the venue. Ate and drank our fill (obviously) and admired the scenery - three girls from Inside Sport magazine. Don't know if there were there for the same function or not, who cares?
Kurt had to get back to North Sydney to meet his girlie, so a few of us grabbed a cab there and ended up in the BST. More drinks and a few games of pool later decided it was time to stagger on home. | |||||
Friday 10 July 1998 | |||||
| Today was a bit of a struggle (surprisingly). Spero came over to our place with a friend from the US. Had a few drinks at home before dinner at The Kirribilli. Glad everyone else was hungry as I had a relapse and could only manage a (huge) bowl of wedges. Wondered down to the harbour to check out the night time city view for our guests. | |||||
Saturday 11 July 1998 | |||||
| Lazed around most of the day before making our way over to the Ivanhoe, Manly to meet the poms from work and watch the Bledisloe Cup (Aus v NZ). Great bar with Hahn Premium on draught, which I have decided by now is the best local beer. Visited the excellent pie shop just down the road on the way home. | |||||
Sunday 12 July 1998 | |||||
| Woke up to a sunny morning and considered a walk into the Rocks. The sun had disappeared by the time I got dressed though so did the usual boring old Sunday stuff (shopping, sports on TV, etc). Started an exercise in sleep depravation by watching the British GP (good job it turned out to be a decent race) and... | |||||
Monday 13 July 1998 | |||||
| ...got up at 5am to catch the World Cup final. How did the French manage it? | |||||
Tuesday 14 - Thursday 16 July 1998 | |||||
| Lifeless midweek section, ho hum... | |||||
Friday 17 July 1998 | |||||
| Had a pretty big night at the BST with lots of beer & too many cocktails being consumed. Must... resist... $5 cocktails between... 6 & 11pm. Had what tasted like the best burger in the world on the way home. Obviously it wasn't (came from Burger King) but I think they put chemicals in the burgers to make them taste better when combined with the aftertaste of beer and Japanese Slippers, and Toblerones, and... | |||||
Saturday 18 July 1998 | |||||
| Did nothing all day, just lazed around and watched TV. Considered a trip over to the City Hotel for their Greek night, after watching another the second game of Tri-nations rugby (SA defeat Aus). Didn't make the 10pm meet though as the weather was so dodgy (wind and rain) and couldn't really face it after Friday night. | |||||
Sunday 19 July 1998 | |||||
| The iffy weather from the last few days finally cleared so walked over to the Rocks. Totally by accident met Scott & Rachel out filming their Aussie sightseeing video. Took them to a great pie shop and encouraged lorikeets to join us (well, sit on the Westrooks to be included in the home movie) with sugar. On the way home dropped by the Australian Hotel to sit in the sun for a while and enjoy a couple of beers. | |||||
Monday 20 July 1998 | |||||
| ... I don't like Mondays? | |||||
Tuesday 21 July 1998 | |||||
| Went to Balmain after work to have dinner with Scott & Rachel in The Royal Oak (sort of farewell for them going back to the UK for a bit the next day). Was very quiet compared to the last visit, so relaxed and enjoyed the Stella on tap. Tried the kangaroo (well, you have to try it at least once, don't you), here's my critic of the dish: I found the 'roo didn't have as strong a flavour as more usual steaks (beef), perhaps why it was marinated (well, looked like it had been) before cooking. The fibres of the flesh seamed to be more tightly packed, which some people think can make it tough. I liked the texture though, and found it easier to palate than beef, you might even say it almost melted in the mouth. | |||||
Wednesday 22 - Thursday 23 July 1998 | |||||
| Another midweek lull in activities. | |||||
Friday 24 July 1998 | |||||
| Didn't manage to resist (see last week) and ended up staying at the BST until midnight. Hit the dance floor and jumped around like an idiot for a while with a couple of the guys who'd joined us 7 hours earlier for, "just a quick one". Oops! As if you can't guess... had BK on the way home. | |||||
Saturday 25 July 1998 | |||||
| Had a mostly quiet night round at Phil and Jono's. Went round simply to laze about and hang out. Played a couple board games (!) where Jono's dubious tactics caused a bit of controversy. Watched some TV and sat about talking rubbish until Kim and I left the lads (Greg, Jono, Phil and Pete) to it at 2am. | |||||
Sunday 26 July 1998 | |||||
| What a surprise, Kim was feeling a little ill after her fine attempt at finishing off a bottle of Chateau Yaldara ($5.99 port for those who don't know). Given how I felt the day before I was feeling very sympathetic... so did nothing much today. | |||||
Monday 27 July 1998 | |||||
| I don't like, I don't like, I don't like Mondays! | |||||
Tuesday 28 July 1998 | |||||
| Nothing unusual, but I think I should mention the great curry (thanks to Pataks Tikka Masalla sauce) I prepared. Washed down with a bottle of wine and a bit of Baileys. Well, I couldn't resist as the wine and Baileys were on special when I went go get the chicken (for the curry). | |||||
Wednesday 29 - Thursday 30 July 1998 | |||||
| Same old midweek story. | |||||
Friday 31 July 1998 | |||||
| Very much like last Friday, which in turn was very much like the one before. However, didn't end up staying that late, and managed to hold on to some dignity by avoiding the dance floor. Actually, was such an early night (11ish?) that I managed to beat Kim home, who was seeing friends in Balmain on her way home. | |||||
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