Mom and Dad were in New York over the weekend, and so at the very last minute (literally: we booked on Monday night to fly on Thursday), Kristy and I decided that we’d go over to see them. After all, we couldn’t let them wander around alone – they’re not trustworthy!

Turns out we weren’t the only ones gate-crashing the party – Mom’s two brothers came up, as did Martyn’s girlfriend Jenni Lopez (yes, really, but not like you’re thinking), and an eccentric old friend of all of theirs, Maria. To be fair, M&D knew that all of those folks would be there – but as a surprise, Natalie, Philip, Sami and Dani came along for the ride as well! That’s 12 people! Aged from 16, to 74!

On reflection, it would have been good to have arranged everyone in age order, but instead, it’s an exercise for the reader to figure it out. And yes, I realise that there’s only 10 people in that photo, but I was behind the camera, and Kristy was out drinking cocktails with Claire.

Anyway – though it was awesome to see Mom’s extended family all in one place, I have to admit it was pretty tough at times trying to come up with activities that would appease the entire crowd. We had some winners though – walking around in Greenwich Village, Dim Sum and ice-cream in Chinatown, the UN and our old neighbourhood, Ray’s Pizza, and of course the absolute, second-to-none highlight of the trip – Chipotle.

There were a few occasions where our group fragmented into sub-groups of similar interests, such that everyone got to do what they wanted to do. On one such occasion, Dad, Philip and I walked from Chinatown to the Brooklyn Bridge, as the bridge was very high on Dad’s list of “things to see in New York”.

We took a slightly wrong turn somewhere and ended up more under the bridge than we wanted to be. A cop directed us down a path which initially took us right next to the bridge, where a bunch of young folks were tricking it up on their bikes and skateboards. Some of them were absolutely sensational! We stopped and admired them for a while, taking a few photos for posterity’s sake.

Figuring that we’d only be in our room to sleep and get changed, we decided to save some money by staying at the YMCA. It’s a good thing we didn’t host any parties there, because the room was very basic – two bunk beds, and very little else!

But, at only USD$306 for four night’s accommodation in midtown east, we were hardly in a position to complain. Also, we got to use the gym for free, and being former members, we knew just how good it was! I really enjoyed waking up each morning and going for a run – all the while watching cable TV!

It was awesome being back in Manhattan, especially so with Mom and Dad and the rest of the troops. Four days was barely enough to give everyone a taste of how great the city is, but I think it was just about the right amount of time to allow such a large group to leave on amicable terms; if there’s another group holiday, I’m going to suggest we all just go and sit on a beach!

On Thursday, after breakfast (Ackee and Saltfish and Johnny Cakes) and a swim at Negril, we checked out of Country Country and drove to Coral Cove – Jenni’s home in Discovery Bay. To cure our driving munchies, we stopped twice for patties – once in downtown Negril, and once in Falmouth, where we felt rather out-of-place for being the only white people in sight. Jamaica has two major patty chains – Tasty Patties, and Juicy Patties – and we were fortunate enough to have one of each. Jason and I both agreed that Juicy was the nicer of the two!

Coral Cove can only be described as “paradise” – a gorgeous three bedroom house, complete with a full complement of staff, a huge outdoor living area, massive backyard, two pools, and a private beach complete with straw bungalows.

Coral Cove

Needless to say, we weren’t going to be doing it too tough whilst we were staying there!

Uncle Martyn and Jenni put on a feast that evening to welcome us all to Jamaica. By this time, heaps of other friends and relatives had arrived, including Uncle Ray (Martyn’s brother), Natalie and Dani (Ray’s daughter and grand-daughter), Neil (Ray’s son), and Margaret Ann and her brother Douglas – who I’d never met before, and I’m not entirely sure how I’m related to; first cousins once removed, I think.

We partied in true Jamaican fashion – with lots of authentic food (ox tail curry, yum!) even more authentic rum. It was a perfect start to Uncle Martyn’s birthday weekend!

Ahh, Amsterdam, the land where practically everything is legal, all the girls sound like Ingrid (our friend, who is Dutch), and you’re statistically more likely to get run over by something than anywhere else in the world. Well, I’m sure that such a statistic doesn’t actually exist, however while we were there we saw a lot of close calls. Take, for example, this lady who was crossing at a little intersection that Jason affectionately called “Carnage Corner”; note how blissfully unaware she is of the tram speeding towards her, from her left.

Look out!

It may not look too serious, but remember that this tram was absolutely cruising along, and old Betsy here on the bicycle – child in tow, as you’ll notice – didn’t give even a cursory glance to her left. Suffice to say she got a wee bit of a fright when the tram tooted at her!

Overall though, I really love how the city promotes bicycles so much, and it’s even better that so many people use the old treadly as their primary means of transport. A little worrying though, when people aren’t giving it their full attention – driving whilst talking on your mobile is bad enough, but riding amongst traffic and trams whilst texting is taking it to a whole new level!

Are you crazy woman?!

Even more interesting are the things that people will transport by bike – it would seem as though anything is fair game. We saw people carrying guitars, surfboards, skiis, and of course children – but probably the most interesting of all would have to be crutches. Go figure!

We decided to partake in this bike riding ritual, grabbing ourselves a Mac Bike each, and riding it through the city, out into the countryside, past windmills and flowers, and around all the cycling tracks we could find in Vondelpark. It really is the best way of seeing the city!

Kristy and Susan showing off their moves

Jason the daredevil

Given that Amsterdam is built around canals, the other best way to see the city is by a canal tour, which we promptly did on our first day. We were very lucky to get a boat that was practically empty, which meant we could hop from seat to seat to get the best vantage point for photos.

Cruising the canals

Amsterdam doesn’t seem to understand the concept of the “public bathroom”. Sure, at the airport, you have countless bathrooms at your disposal, however once you hit the city, don’t bank on relieving yourself without also relieving your pocket of a few coins! I guess they really take the phrase, “to spend a penny”, rather literally – but with inflation, a penny no longer gets you very far; the typical fee was 50 Euro cent. The Magna Plaza shopping centre, just off De Dam, held the title for “cheapest bathroom in Amsterdam” for a while (excluding the hotel, of course); their entry fee of only 40 Euro cent was somewhat of a welcome relief.

Cheap toilets: only ¢0.40!

However, they were outdone in the closing moments of our trip by the unfortunately named department store, V&D – only 25 Euro cent! They also had a sneaky tactic of putting the bathrooms at the very back of the very top floor, so as you were making a hurried dash to the lavs, you couldn’t help but think, “busting… busting… ohh, that shirt would look nice with these jeans!”.

Last time we were in Amsterdam, we didn’t find anywhere that served us bad coffee. Our sample size was significantly larger this time, and once again we weren’t really disappointed anywhere. The only thing that comes close to a bad coffee experience was the little cafe that we chose for our Sunday morning shot; the espresso itself was rather tasty, but the latte had rather too much milk.

But still, no real complaints; the extended time that we sat there finishing off our warm coffee flavoured milk somehow gave rise to me one-upping Susan’s favourite saying of “Yeah no”, into: “Yeah no, maybe”. I’m fairly certain that it won’t catch on though, especially in the face of “Yah ni”, which is the Dutch equivalent of “Yeah no”, and altogether has a much nicer ring to it.

Loving the espresso

Amsterdam is such a wonderful city escape; the sort of place you could go to time after time and always find something new, even if you just do the same things over and over. I just love that it’s so different from London; I’d happily go back there anytime.

We went to a Blubeckers pub for lunch for the first time today. Jason and I felt the decision was practically made for us when we spotted ribs on the menu, and of course we both went for the “Legendary” size over the “Classic” which sounded like more of a girly serving.

Old mate dropped the plates in front of us and scoffed a hearty, “good luck”. Like we needed luck. Those bad boys were so tender, the meat was practically falling off the bone!

Suffice to say that old mate was rather shocked when he came back to clear the plates from the table. “You finished them!” he said; “I can barely even get through the starter serving!”.

Girl.

And in true London fashion, the weather here has turned decidedly Londony – overcast skies, and always with the threat of rain but not usually carrying through. Such a shame, since last week it was so beautiful and blue! Oh, and to top things off, I’ve come down with the worst cold I’ve had for years. What a sucker-punch!

Still, can’t let a little gray sky and sickness get in the way of a good time! And if visitors from Australia isn’t a good enough excuse to go to Borough Market, then surely being low on coffee is! By the time we got out there it was coming up to lunch time, so the market was its usual heaving mass of clueless dweebs.

We picked up what we needed to, as well as a spot of food to keep us going. I opted for the roast pork on a baguette, and – needless to say – absolutely smothered it in apple sauce. This must have amused a number of patrons, as I saw a few people look at my food and then laugh, but none more so than the guy who Jason overhead saying, “heh, that guy over there’s gotta sandwich covered in glue!”. It helps if you imagine him as Cletus.

Climbing up the Monument is apparently the thing to do when you’re flatmates are away so we dutifully complied. It’s 311 spiral steps of towering goodness that affords you some decent views over ye old London town. Standing at 202 feet tall, it was built as a memorial to the Great Fire of London which, ironically, started exactly 202 feet west of the monument – even more ironically, at a bakery on “Pudding lane”!

Monumental!

We had enough energy for one more destination, so we headed to Covent Garden. Jason had a spot of shopping to do, plus it’s always worth a visit to The Porterhouse for a spot of ale. Clumsy Joe on the table next to us almost soaked me with his beer, but my swift reflexes saw me dodge the fallout faster than Neo dodges bullets.

We went home via Leicester square and Chinatown, where we grabbed some wantons to make wonton soup for dinner. Mmmm…. little balls of miscellaneous meat in pastry….

We were extremely pleased to find that Singapore Air complied with our request to tow the sun back from Australia; I’ve never seen London so sunny! In the week since we’ve been back, we’ve only really had one cloudy day, and temperatures have been perfect at around eight to 16 degrees. We’re also on daylight savings time now – leaving work while it’s still light outside makes a huge difference to your mood!

We’ve basically been trying to “catch up on life” since returning – it always feels like there’s way too much to do, and not enough time to do it! But we did managed to escape the house for a few hours on Saturday for a walk through Hyde Park, and a catch-up with Shan.

And now for some extremely exciting news: Jason and Susan, who are currently in Paris, will be arriving in London on Friday! We’ll have about two weeks with them here (including a side-trip to Amsteram), before leaving for Uncle Martyn’s 70th birthday party in Jamaica at the end of the month.

What an exciting time to be alive!!

We couldn’t have been happier to welcome Susan to the Thomas family!

Jason and Susan were married at a beautifully simple wedding ceremony at Mantra, Kingscliff. Both the bride and groom looked fantastic as they practically strutted down the aisle to centre-stage, where they committed themselves to each other in front of a very select group of family and friends.

Some nasty weather changed “drinks on the lawn” into “drinks in Jason and Susan’s suite overlooking the beach” – but not before a few mandatory photos, of course!

We headed next door to Pepper’s resort for a cocktail party reception, where we dined on oysters and canapes (the Phad Thai was awesome!) and drank James Squire ales. Jason made a quick speech to toast his new wife and thank us all for coming, but the pleasure was all ours!

Welcome to the family Susan! We can’t wait to see you both in London!

Our first nephew – Owen – was born shortly after we moved to the USA. Each time we’ve come back to Australia, it’s been awesome to meet him again, and to see how much he’s grown since our last visit. We keep up with his progress on Marc and Meegan’s blog but it’s (obviously) not the same as actually being able to play with him for a few hours.

This visit was extra special because we also got to meet our second nephew – Reuben – for the first time. He’s only a couple of months old! And what a happy little chappy he was; he didn’t even complain when Nick had a hold!

We had morning tea with Reuben, Owen, and of course his Mum and Dad, and it was great to be able to spend time with them all. Hopefully it won’t be long before we get to see them all again; if only we could arrange to all be living in the same place at the same time!

It’s only taken a week, but finally, here’s our trip report from Fort Lauderdale!

Continue reading →

Today is my favourite brother’s 30th birthday. 30! Who’d have imagined he’d make it so far, given his “living on the edge” lifestyle? Not me, that’s for sure!

Jason seems to have scored a decent bounty for his birthday, but no doubt the highlight would be the shiny new iPod nano from his favourite brother and sister-in-law! Then again, it was probably closely contended by a trip to Niagara Falls from his favourite parents…

Further details of birthday activities are yet to be confirmed, but I believe that a meal consisting of pork spare-ribs and beer has already been enjoyed. Rumours suggest that go-karting may also be on the agenda for later in the week.

Happy birthday bro; wish we could be there to celebrate with you!