Holiday Inn Somerset-Bridgewater

... GPS because you know where you are and where you are going.

19. Seeing the same faces everyday. Even if you don't like your boss - at least you see his face.

20. People. Mostly what I think we take advantage of when we have it and miss when it's gone
is fellowship. A friend to go have coffee with and just talk about the day. A group to go to dinner with. People to share life with us. You all are deeply missed.

... to eat!! It was a cute teahouse with a little glassed in garden out the back with a glass roof and ivy growing over the buildings and a waterfall feature. They had a gazillion teas to choose from so I finally got a great loose leaf chia tea on soy. We also had an amazing chocolate moose cake and a blueberry crumble. We had the best laughing fit I have had in a long time when dad got stuck in his chair and when Mom tried to get up to help ...

... not being there, some might say, why go? It puts a human scale onto the vision we all saw that fateful night in 12.30am...ish AEST, 11th September 2001. I remember it like it was yesterday, loitering in the Tavern and Uni back at CSU Wagga Wagga. The lights came on to help the manager, Paul pick up glasses and the big **** off rear projection TV turned on the first plane crashing. It looked to real, so clear. I remember thinking the movie this is a ...

... tube and an Aussie V line train. In some respects people get on the subway and ignore you, each just wanting to get to work or home with as little interaction as possible, in the same way you'd expect in London. However unlike London, where is someone bumps into you both apologies or pretend it didn't happen, in New York everything is more confrontational. Jules unknowingly knocked some bloke with her bag, only for him to tell to 'get out of ...

... We stopped in at the massive post office right down the street from the hostel and just sat there absorbing everything...When we got back to the hostel we did some research and asked th guy at the front desk about a quiet place to have a drink. He recommended this cake shop/ bar so we tried it out. It was very nice...Good music, interesting atmosphere..candle lit....Nice.  After that, we came back home and passed out from exhaustion.

... the IMAGINE place. We went to Times Square and did a HEROES inspired Yatta. We also went to a delicious looking supermarket called Zabars. I wanted to buy everything. After Japan, it all looked so good. Starbucks was a disappointment. In Japan, Starbucks is a nice relaxing place where it feels comfortable and easy to stay for an hour or two. In New York, it was like a regular coffee shop, and not all that nice. And then we left.

... and Maya mom and I headed off to UN headquarters. We took a tour of the building and got to see all sorts of really interesting things. The gifts and murals given to the UN by member countries might be my favorite things there. The ivory carving given as a gift by the Chinese in 1977 was really really cool and so was the tile rendering of Norman Rockwell's Golden Rule. I was very impressed ...

... Christmas!) but was a success eventually. We had lunch and then some of Tom's friends came over for desert (the cupcakes were successful thankfully) and in the evening we kept with tradition and went to the Eight Mile Pub which was showing the first day of the Boxing Day test from Melbourne!!! Arrived in the pub as the Aussie National Anthem was playing, and the place was full of Aussies and Indians so we were ready for a great game! It was a great night, we met a girl ...

... long. It was a sobering place to visit, but I had always promised myself that I would visit it and pay my silent respects to the dead. I still remember clearly watching the event on television that September morning, and to see the gigantic hole in the ground was just surreal and so, so sad. The kids were very anxious to get back to the Times Square/Broadway area - you see that had spotted the 'Toys 'r' us' humongous toy store - they spotted the huge indoor ferris wheel earlier ...