Bali High?

No, Lord Howe. Lord Who? An hour's plane ride off Australia's east coast, in the South Pacific, is an almost untouched, pristine, paradise island, which is unbelievably still part of New South Wales (the same state that Sydney is in). With no passport needed, no mobile phone networks, very limited internet and landlines, it is the perfect place to relax and take a break. Nana and I went for 10 days this April for our birthdays (we both turned 21 again...), and of course to do some much needed research on my latest AMS production, "South Pacific": it's the prettiest place I've ever seen. Nana had been several times already with grandpa, and it was a very special place for them, so she was very happy to go and reminisce, and I was very happy to see it for the first time! The view when you land is amazing-- the island is so small you can't miss the two towering mountains on the south end.


Lots of bushwalking trails with fantastic views at the end, not least of which the 3000ft Mt. Gower climb, which has to be done with a guide, and takes an entire day to walk to the summit and back. We left at 7 am, while nana waited anxiously at the bottom, and it involved a lot of climbing and walking along cliff edges, etc. These were all fine for me of course, and it wasn't until the way down when we reached a lake that I decided to fall in, and I have a lovely scar on my knee to prove I did the climb:) At the top of Mt. Gower, you can call the birds down by making any loud noise (in my case, I sang "Amazing Grace") and they will land at your feet. Once there, hey can't really get back up again without climbing a tree, so they don't mind being held and launched back into the air by humans! They were called "providence petrol" birds because they were such an easy lunch for hungry humans back in the day...In the pictures, Mt. Gower is the one on the right.

We also went out on a glass-bottomed boat and saw some sea turtles, and I took an around-the-island boat trip, and snorkeled around Ned's beach, where the fish are so tame they will eat from your hand. Lord Howe apparently has the southernmost reef in the world. The permanent population of the island is about 300 people, so it does get a bit inbred, with a limit of 400 tourists at a time, usually about 50 years old and up (it's an expensive place to be, as most food has to be flown in). The speed limit is 20 kph on the entire island, so you'll get around faster on a hired bike:) We saw the rare wood hen birds, brought back from the edge of distinction by the Lord Howe residents, and lots of other stupidly tame birds and marine wildlife.

The most exciting thing we did (thanks to nana) was go up in a small airplane for aerial views of the island. It's something you have to ask for because they don't offer it on brochures. It's just a stunning view, and much less scary than going in a commercial airplane! It afforded us amazing views of Ball's Pyramid, a triangular rock formation near the island, where only birds and a once-thought-to-be-extinct type of insect lives. Nana said our front-seat pilot was very good and the weather was perfect that day. Even though it was coming up on winter, and the weather could be very tempestuous and tropical-- it had its stunning moments and I got a tan:)

Definitely must go back.

Abu Dhabi & Dubai

Wow, what can I say about the UAE? It is absolutely unreal. Imagine it, and they can make it happen: hotels made completely of gold, ski resorts in the desert, women in traditional Islamic dress running corporations, investing in real estate, and speaking English with perfect American accents. Thanks to my dear Zayed, my accomodation in Abu Dhabi was a palace known as the "Emirates Palace Hotel", which I got lost trying to find my way out of. Just to give you an idea of the caliber of hotels here, I had a jacuzzi, roses, chocolate with gold-leaf in it and tons of fruit in my room (suite?), a butler, laundry service, flat screen TV/DVD, and the view from my balcony was a palm-dotted clear-blue beach with white sand imported from Algeria.

I got to meet some really kind-hearted members of Zayed's family, and check out the poet section of one of the local bookstore's dedicated to Zayed's dad. We took an abra (small boat, like a gondola) down the river and enjoyed yummy Lebanese food, and of course, room service! The local dress is actually pretty similar for men and women here, just completely different colors, with men in white night-dress type clothing and red-checkered head-scarves, and women in black, often with designer diamonte, feathered or embroidered head-scarves (I got myself an embroidered one:).

Jetting in Zayed's 4-wheel drive Porsch to Dubai, we next checked into the beach resort, Madinat Jumeirah. Our butler there was absolutely bursting to tell us that Tiger Woods currently occupied the upstairs section of our private villa. We left him alone, which I'm sure is why he won the Dubai Desert Classic while he was there. I loved this hotel though-- it mixed up its opulence with pretty colors, beach themes, and cool oragami towels, man-made canals, abras, pools, palm trees, restaurants, markets, and of course, the beach. We checked out the famous Talisse Spa, the Jumeirah Souqs (Markets), and the Jumeirah Mosque (the biggest Mosque in Dubai, which unfortunately does not admit non-believers outside of certain tour hours, so I only got to see the outside). The other mosques do not admit non-believers at all. Zayed took me to the Virgin Megastore and gave recommendations on the local music, had a beautiful sea-breeze quiet high-tea at the Ritz Carlton, an oasis among the taller than NYC's skyscrapers, and an all-you-can-imagine brunch at the GHP Hotel (yes, the theme here is hotels). But best of all was the desert safari. We "dune-bashed" in 4-wheel-drives (no whip-lash at all!), watched a desert sunset, rode camels (I made good friends with one), visited with a falcon, ate local food, danced with a belly dancer, smoked sheesha-- well, I held it while Zayed took pictures, anyway, got temporary henna tattoos and watched the stars of the desert sky. The weather was perfect when I arrived and I enjoyed a couple of lovely beach walks up to the Burj Al Arab, the tallest hotel in Dubai, shaped like a sailboat and set on a tiny man-made peninsula, so it looks like it's floating in the sea. It's hard to remember that outside your hotel or car, it's just desert:)

Goettingen, Germany

Next we travelled via Mallorca (and wished we had a longer stop there!) to Dorthmund, from which we trained it to Goettingen, the HQ of the Speyer family, arriving just after midnight. As we dragged our luggage through the pretty university town I suddenly felt a a calming sense of familiarity wash over me; everything here was known to me in an almost unconscious way, even though I had only been to Goettingen once before, it was still the Germany I grew up with.

We got to spend time with Raph's youngest sister Noemi, and hear of her travels to Chile. Andrea and Ken made us feel at home (thank you!), and as per usual, we stayed up late on long talks and long walks with Ken. We also got to have a lovely dinner at Raph's brother Matthew's place, catching up with Anna and their son Nick as well. Despite all the lovely fresh, organic meals cooked at home, I managed to sneak in a real Bavarian Bratwurst when nobody was looking (unfortunately, no Black Forest cake this far north). And no visit to Goettingen would be complete without a gander at the Gaenseliesel, a statue in the centre of town dedicated to a rather feminist fairy-tale heroine, Liesel, who dressed up as a boy to get a job tending the King's geese, so that her family could have enough money (of course, the king finds out she's a girl, falls in love with her, and marries her-- hey, it is a fairy tale!).

London, Brussels & Barcelona

Next, I flew on to London, where the famed weather did not disappoint, and I was very glad to have brought my rain boots with me from Australia (it seems short retro dresses, tights & rainboots are the combination to sport in London this winter). We stayed with my friend Christina (picture left), who was far too kind and gave us her bedroom for the week (Thank you Stina!), which I thoroughly slept in (recovering from NY food poisoning, which delayed my trip by a day). Raph worked with his company in London, while I skipped the tourist sites for a look at Hackney Life (the part of London where we were staying): I caught up with Stina and another high school friend, Esther at Gossip and Foyle's, had breakfast at Hackney Farm (with real live filthy and happy animals, in the middle of the city), went grocery shopping in markets large and small, and helped cook for the fabulous "Murder Mystery Party" Christina's roomates threw (role play and 'whodunit' combined with dinner, see Raph as the murderous French cook, right). In the evenings, I caved into some tourism and went to see "History Boys" (interesting if unrealistic) and "Stomp" (fun and creative) in the West End, and joined Raph in some pub crawls with his friends and workmates. Most importantly, we had a lovely visit with Raph's brother Johnny, and his two children in Notting Hill.

Early to rise for our flight to Brussels, with Raph's sister Sara, and her partner Jos waiting on the other end. I immediately immersed myself in the chocolate spirit of Belgium, and even went as decadent as a belgian waffle with powdered sugar and pommes frites with mayonnaise at one point. Jos made us wonderful, healthy, from-scratch-meals to make it up to my stomach, and Sarah ensured a luxurious, aesthetic, comfortable and calming environment (Thank you Sara & Jos!). Sara, Jos, Raph and I (left) caught up on the last 2 years, talked meaning of marriage and wedding schedules (with both couples having planned to get married in 2009), and listened to world music in the evenings, adding our own drumming and movement styles. Brussels also gave us the chance to catch up with Marie (who now lives in Luxembourg, picture right), Andre (who now lives in the Netherlands) and Jenny (who was on a business trip from Prague, both picture right), with the five of us up to no good in the Grand Place, the Mannequin Pis, a chocolate cafe, and (of course) a belgian beer bar, after an amazing brunch with Sara & Jos at an out of the way place called "Bla Bla".

OK, Barcelona is so cool!! We were only there one day and two nights, and didn't see but a glimpse of it, but all the Gaudi buildings and influence gives it a character and color where other European cities have only gray. We stayed at a nice hostal called "Hostal Avinyo" which was literally across the street from where Raphael's sister, Tamar, lived (picture left). In the mornings, they would talk to each other from their balconies! Tamar's roommate cooked us authentic Spanish "tortilla patata" and luckily, we got along fine with Spanish, and no one made us speak in Catalan:) Although we had breakfasts and dinners in Barcelona, and even made a night visit to "Sagrada Familla" (sacred family gothic church), most of our one day in Barcelona was spent at Monserrat, a stunning natural wonder of unique rock formations and man-made cloisters about an hour away from Barcelona-- it was breathtaking, and we all wanted to become monks after that (pictures above and below).

New York (home;)

Raph's workmate Paul (pictured with Raph, left) kindly lent us his beautiful flat in the West Village (on location in Greenwich!) while he was away in Calgary (thank you, Paul!)... and the short breaths continue: saw "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" (fantastic) and "The Young Frankenstein" (awful) on Broadway, saw an amateur Burlesque contest in Brooklyn (Raph tried to photograph the emcee, who promptly dragged him onstage for a better photo, see picture right, whilst I was dragged onstage for an amateur air-guitar contest), went ice-skating in Central Park, flamencoed it up with my fabulous teacher Vittorio and his pink stage lights, feasted at Sardis (pictured left), Cosi, Cafe Lalo, Alice's Tea Cup, Tea & Sympathy (pictured right) & Magnolia Bakery, late nights at The Parlour, The Place, Benny's Burritos and The Blind Tiger, visited with my precious lovelies, Aditi, Anna, Daita, Dani, Joseph, Tania & Zayed (missed you Kaiti & Mor!) and even squeezed in a shopping trip to Macys and a spa visit-- how? Nothing ever closes-- I miss New York!!

Washington, DC

and Happy New Year!!

New Year's Eve was spent at Habana Village, a Cuban restaurant & Salsa Club in DC-- my legs are still sore!

Merry Christmas...

After travelling for 24 hours, we finally arrived in Washington, DC, just after midnight on Boxing Day. Next morning, we open presents and cooked Christmas dinner, and Chris arrived from San Francisco (Kendra got here before us). Next, visit from Mike & Susanna, trip to the Kennedy Centre to see the West End Company in "My Fair Lady", and Mum and Dad's 31st anniversary (with some other Carattinis).

Melbourne-- Dec 07

In one breath: Central City Shopping, Dandenongs, Grace, Greek Quarter Dinner, Brunch, Rain, Victoria Markets, Italian Quarter Dessert, Picnic, Australian Ballet School Graduation Performance of Coppelia at Meyer Music Bowl, Mornington Penninsula, Arthur's Seat, Strawberry Picking and Ashcombe Lavender Gardens & Maze-- in one weekend!! (Thank you, Grace!)

New Arrival!

Little Pascha was abandoned with her 3 brothers on the doorstep of my work. They were 2 weeks old and tied up in a rice bag. I could tell immediately she had a beautiful sweet personality-- she was the only one who didn't hiss as me! The other three were adopted, so Pascha came home with me, and Raph had a surprise waiting for him... Raph wasn't "sure about this" at first, but now it's "R + Pascha, sitting on the lounge, K-I-S-S-I-N-G"... after the flea bath, of course. A friend of ours who's a vet checked her out last night, and she's very healthy and doing very well:)
Lots of action this month, with 7 Brides for 7 Brothers performances, exams/essays due, and mum, Kendra and Chris visiting from the US! More info and pictures of that stuff to come...Dad kept well in touch, and sent mum these gorgeous roses for her birthday.
Raph and I are just about to finish our degrees...any second now. Then off around the world-- mum and dad for christmas, new york, london, brussels, frankfurt, and dubai for me and hong kong for raph- phew! Raph starts the new job and the training in India not long after in March 2008.