To Melbourne and Beyond!

Bad title?  Too much of a play on Buzz Lightyears saying?  Too bad, my blog.  ;)

Okay, so I need to add a little to yesterdays entry to fill in what I missed.  Typing this from a plane on my phone so forgive any typos; I'll correct them tomorrow....or not.

First, I left out some of my conversation with Ali the Iraqi taxi driver in Sydney.  Ali was joking about how that typically when people hear he's from Iraq they worry and act nervous.  He even joked as he held up the transponder to pay a toll "it is only a transponder, not a nuclear weapon; I promise" as he winked.  I have to say, Ali is a character and he made me laugh.

Now the flight to Melbourne!  So we're all flying to Melbourne.  The "we" consists of four other coworkers representing different business partners.  You might say, why is Paul telling us about a boring one and a half hour flight???  Well, I was entertaining from what I'm told.  Now keep in mind, no alcohol; just some headphones and Big Bang Theory on the little screen.  It was very funny!  I was rolling laughing and, as I'm told, entertained the people with me quite well.  So yeah, I enjoyed the flight!  I'm not sure the other people around us liked it, but the flight attendants did.  

Enter Melbourne.   What a beautiful city.  Not as nice as Sydney, but really nice!  Did you know there is a huge Chinatown in Melbourne?!?!  Well, now you do!  Lunch was extraordinary and authentic.  This place was straight out of Shanghai.  I had some chicken in a peanut curry sauce.  The duck one of my coworkers had looked great too.  The cracklin on it was perfect and made in a open oven visible when you walk in.  The tanks around the room were packed with fish and crabs.  Every now and then a cook would come out and grab one and head back in the kitchen.  Talk about fresh ingredients - this takes it to a whole new level.        

After lunch we were all done for the day and it was off to the hotel for a relaxing evening.  Usually I run around and explore, but this time I stayed in and enjoyed a relaxing night before getting up this morning to get on this plane. 

BORING! Yes, very perhaps.  But I had a blast!