2011 YouTube Symphony Orchestra

Two weeks ago we attended one of the most spectacular performances I have ever experienced in my life: the 2011 YouTube Symphony Orchestra performed at the Sydney Opera House and streamed live across the globe. The two and a half hour visual and musical extravaganza took your breath away. Musicians from 33 countries were brought together for the performance. The program showcased unique instruments and talents (such as Ksenia Simonova's sand painting).

I hope that this program continues and graces music halls across the world.

For highlights of the performance, check out the YouTube Symphony Channel here.

Falling into Autumn

It's Autumn in Sydney and what a busy end of summer it has been! As the temperature dropped two degrees, I've had the startling realization that Australia (contrary to what we are led to believe) actually does have a winter (it even snows in Melbourne sometimes...). When packing for my trip, I was in complete denial of the fact that it actually, GASP, might get chilly. Thank goodness for mothers with great taste (and a willingness to send international packages). I am now a proud owner of 5 jumpers, which I am hoping will last me through Aussie Winter.

Here is my list of Top 10 favorite adventures (in no particular order) from the last days of summer...

1. Seeing the opera Carmen at the Sydney Opera house.

2. Amazing dinners...this has been quite the foodie month. My TOP 3 restaurants this month: Spice I Am, FishFace, and Baroque (our ALL time favorite French Bistro).

New fall menu tasting @ Baroque

3. Perfect Saturday celebrating on the Island. (photos courtesy of Emily)

3. Friday Twilight sails and my adventure up the mast.

4. Wine tasting at the New South Wales Wine Festival in Hyde Park, followed by rooftop wine and cheese.

5. Green drinks and dinner at the Greenhouse restaurant by Joost (a NO WASTE restaurant in town until the end of March before heading off to Europe--beautiful views, incredible concept, reasonably priced menu and vibrant atmosphere)

6. Bike ride around Canberra (the very bizarre Australian capital city--completely planned, very sterile feeling, but at the same time quite beautiful)

7. Annie Leibovitz exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art. Sydneysiders: A must do--it has been extended until March 27th. And don't let the line intimidate you, it actually moves right along. Also, if you have the time, I highly recommend staying for the documentary. More info here.

8. One Day Cricket Test Match-England vs. Australia. (members seats--Thanks Chris!)

9. Outdoor movies: Centennial Park Moonlight Cinema and Bondi Open Air Cinema.

Andrew, Steph, Scott and Winnie with our French-inspired picnic.

10. Rocks Markets by Moonlight.

Looking forward to upcoming Fall adventures...

Attack of the Celebrity Blog Post!

In the spirit of the great American pastime for college students the world over, Beer Pong, I'm taking a celebrity shot* and hosting the latest blog post for Anya's internationally recognised blog: 'the year down under'!

This post is an homage to said American pastime. We thought it fitting that an aussie would report on the latest edition of life down under as this post is dedicated to the American viewers in the audience (switching it up a little).

As I was saying. The topic of the day is pong, Beer Pong. And for a little background, I now direct the audience to wikipedia's words on the subject:

Beer pong, also known as Beirut, is a drinking game in which players throw a ping pong ball across a table with the intent of landing the ball in a cup of beer/water on the other end. The game typically consists of two two-to-four-player teams and multiple cups set up, in triangle formation, on each side.^[1] There are no official rules, so rules may vary widely, though usually there are six or ten plastic cups arranged in a triangle on each side. The order of play varies—both players on one team shoot followed by both players on the other team, or players on opposite teams can alternate back and forth. Typically, players abide by a uniform set of "house rules", which are often consistent within one university or region of the country (e.g., "Ivy League rules" or "West Coast rules"), or may vary on a "house-by-house" basis.^[26] Number of cups, bouncing, amount of alcohol, the distance shots must be taken from, etc., may all vary. All house rules must be either posted or verbally stated and understood by both teams before the game starts.

Below is a picture of the various shots that can be attempted

In essence: Players attempt to land the ping pong ball in a cup and if they are successful, a member of the opposing team must consume the contents of the cup. Play alternates back and forth until one side's cups are eliminated.

The name of the game is HAND EYE COORDINATION and distraction tactics. These are the skills you must possess to stand up to the grueling task of landing those tricky little balls in your opponents cups. You're going to need to to have a little of both in order to win this game. Quite remarkably, there is a phenomenon documented by many players of the game that in fact the consumption of beer throughout the course of an evening can have a surprisingly positive effect on the quality of one's game. On the last Saturday of January 2011, our friend Russell hosted another of his famous House Party's. Forgoing grass skirts and rum for beer and Red Cups, the theme was a classic Kegger and therefore Beer Pong was on the menu... As all self-respecting sorority girls can attest, we were determined to dominate the sport (and as the three American and/or U.S. educated members of the crowd, anything less would have been an abomination/lame).

The team.

The Table.

Our opponents.

And the notorious DJ Kelvin Briscall

In the end we won 6 games in a row... We were pretty pleased :)

Thanks for reading,

xo

Glass

* Celebrity shot refers to when a spectator is selected to take one shot in place of a team member.

Happy Australia Day!!!

Yesterday we celebrated Australia Day... since this is my first time celebrating this incredible country we decided to make it a 100% Aussie day. Complete with all the all-Australian activities we could think of (could squeeze into one day)... here are the highlights.


Our day started at 8:00 a.m., we woke up early to hit Bondi Beach to try to beat the crowds... however, there were already hundreds of people with their blow up Havaianas preparing for the Havaiana 2011 Thong Challenge (most blow up Havaiana flip flops in one place...) by the time we arrived. We somehow managed to find a 2x2 square of sand to park our bags and eat an all-Aussie sausage (don't think I can ever go back to an American hot-dog) and had a lovely swim in the ocean.

We left the beach just as the heat wave hit...Stephanie and I changed into our race attire and we drove down to Warwick Race course, to watch our friend's horse (Togha) race. We had a lovely buffet lunch, lots of champagne and learned about race betting. We had a fantastic day despite loosing $50 :-( we unfortunately only had one win that day...

Togha walking pre-race

Watching the race close up from the owner's enclosure

(the power of the horses racing by is incredible... the ground literally vibrates)

After the races ended around 5:30, we headed back to Sydney and to Seven Shillings Beach (next to Redleafe)...a quiet bay beach offering spectacular views of the city. We had a late evening swim and made new friends playing Bocce.

After the sun set, I headed to The Golden Sheafe to check out Daryl Braithwaite (a legendary Australian performer). Check out this video... probably his most famous song... the crowd went CRAZY. The energy was incredible!

Daryl Braithwaite

I could not have imagined a more perfect day to celebrate this incredible country which (for the time being) I proudly call HOME :-)

Bikram Yoga

I couldn't help but share my new discovery...Bikram Yoga (a.k.a. hot yoga).

I have been practicing (however irregularly) for the past month and half, however today I finally had a breakthrough. I was able to get through the entire series of poses and breathing exercises and had that amazing...AHA! moment those devoted to the practice always talk about....so I thought I'd do a little prophesying...try it. Seriously...it's incredibly demanding physically and is one of the best ways to clear your mind and actually RELAX.

For those living in Sydney, I recommend trying Bikram Yoga in Darlinghurst. You can find their schedule and other helpful first timer tips here...http://www.bikramyoga.net.au/. They have two spacious studios, great teachers (I've practiced with a few of them and so far...no complaints) and a bargain 10 day trial pass (only $17).

Rolex Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race

Boxing Day was spent out on the harbour sending off the yachts racing down to Hobart in the famous Rolex Sydney to Hobart Yacht race...one of the most famous and difficult yacht races in the world.

Pre-race...boats demonstrating their storm sails

The morning was wet and overcast but hundreds of boats still gathered in the harbour to cheer on the sailors. It was pretty spectacular to watch the 87 boats race out of the harbour and all of the spectators cheering on.

Our crew took our sailboat out past the heads and sailed down with the fleet out a few miles.

Boats sailing off towards Tasmania

The majesty and speed of the super maxi's amazed me. I had only a few seconds to snap shots of the Wild Thing (the 98-foot yacht our friend Rusty is racing...you can see him hanging of the bow in the photo below) before she sped past us (and at this point we were still under motor; because of restrictions spectator boats were not allowed to put up sails until they were clear out of the harbour).

Wild Thing

Wild Thing racing into the horizon...you can make out Wild Oats XI on the right

GO WILD THING!!!

Bono in Sydney

December 14, 2010--Steph and I saw U2 live at ANZ Stadium.

It was a spectacular performance. Their 360 stage is truly amazing--and allows the band to get closer to their fans. We were probably within 50 meters of Bono at one point :-)

Here is what they played...

Main Set: Return of the Stingray Guitar, Beautiful Day - Sgt. Pepper's, New Year's Day, Get on Your Boots, Magnificent, Mysterious Ways, Elevation, Until the End of the World, All I want Is You - Need You Tonight - Never Tear Us Apart - Slide Away, Love Rescue Me, Pride, In A Little While, Miss Sarajevo, City of Blinding LIghts, Vertigo, I'll Go Crazy (remix) -Two Tribes, Sunday Bloody Sunday, Scarlet, Walk On- You'll Never Walk Alone

Encores: One, Amazing Grace - Where the Streets Have No Name, Ultraviolet, With or Without You, Moment of Surrender