Happy 2009

May all your dreams and wishes come true in 2009. Thanks for making this a gr8 night :)



www.888dag.com

Greetings from Sydney - playing Tour Guide

Yesterday I had a friend visiting. Debbie and I used to work together in Toronto 17 years ago at the Royal York Hotel and haven't seen each other ever since. Thanks to facebook we touched base again just a few months ago.
Debbie was on her away from Vancouver to Wellington, NZ and had about 7 hours spare in Sydney. So what do you do if you have only 7 hours in Sydney.
We started off at Mr Ts City Pat in Potts Point and Debbie was blown away by the view :) We then went along Victoria St, took the stairs down to Woolloomooloo, passed Harrys Cafe de Wheel, which is a Must Stop and famous for its Hot Dogs and Pies, mmmh and continued towards the Royal Botanic Gardens. I Love the RBG for its spectacular view of the City and Harbour, its diversity of plants and trees and the fruit bats hanging of trees - such interesting creatures. Once passed through the RBG, there it was, the Opera House, world famous and surely one of the most photograhed structures in the world - we took at least 10 pix! Debbie then took the ferry from Circular Quay to Manly, which is another Must Do and a great way to explore the beautiful Sydney Harbour. She went to see her 80 year old Aunt for lunch and it turned out that her Aunt has not been to the City side for 24 years - bless. I picked Debbie up from Circular Quay 3 1/2 later and drove her to the airport where she caught her connecting flight to Wellington. I hope next time Debbie visits I will have more time to show her around.

www.888dag.com

Who's in the doghouse?

Me, Me, Me, Me!

Why am I in the doghouse?
Well, I don't really know, but I sort of have my suspicion. It has to do with me and Mr.T being 888DAGgers.

Who put me in the doghouse?
A very good friend!

What am I going to do about being in the doghouse?
I'm not to sure what to do next. All my calls and sms have been unanswered.

What is it I would like to say to my friend?
I would like to explain to my friend that 888 really just means giving Safety to all the World's people, Access to the basic necessities of life and supporting a culture of Inclusion. That is what 888 is all about and as an 888DAGger I strongly believe that we can make it happen.

Will I change my behavior because people don't understand the 888 philosophy?
No, but I will try to find different avenues that hopefully will make people understand.

www.888dag.com

DutchieKiwiAussie's Australian Story

Check out Daniel Meadows youtube profile and here is his Story.







www.888dag.com

Hide and Seek: Who the hell is Cassy????

The First Lady of Contortion!

Also known as Cassy K.

Do not try this at home....

http://www.888dag.com/

The Winner is.... Sally McLellan

Sally McLellan won Silver today in the hurdels. What a great chick.
She's a 888DAGger in the making.

www.888dag.com

The Winner is.... K9

Please put your hands up for K9 who won the Blacktown - Batemans Bay Variety Bash with his groovy Austin.

Well done K9, your blog makes some interesting reading - lots of drama, lots of fun- I love it!!!

www.888dag.com

Email from LA

The other day I saw a very interesting clip on Feelion's Blog about a sustainable home in LA. It reminded me of my friends Mark and Mike, who started growing their own veggies and fruit at their home in the middle of LA. That is their garden in the pic. Apparently they have lots of tomatoes to share. Lucky guys!

www.888dag.com

Greetings from Manila

I just got back today from Manila this morning. I had 25 hours there and enjoyed it. My first impression was mixed and I think I have to go back again to get a better understanding of the place - there is only that much you can expierence in such a short time.
You see everything in Manila, from people washing themselves in the street gutter to a Imelda look alike, being chauffeured around in a big 'n fat Bentley.
The people are very friendly, always having a smile on their faces. The local food was delicious - I did indulged myself with some crispy pig knuckles - mmmh Kat liked verly much. And the Sofitel Philippine Plaza Hotel, where I stayed, is also known for it's excellent Buffet. Food, Food, Food - I love it.
I had a great time with my colleague Pen who is from Manila and showed me around the place. She me took for a fantastic massage - no, not the one you are thinking off. In our cab rides from one place to another Pen entertained me with some fantastic stories about life, love and the universe - you rock girlfriend.

Btw the picture above is of a Jeepney. There are hundreds of them in Manila and they all look different.

http://www.888dag.com/

Meditation

FEELION: Meditation

www.888DAG.com

Shopping it in The Hood - Bondi Road

The other day I had a conversation with my friend Megan about shopping. Call me a mall-rat, but I usually do all my shopping at Westfield Bondi Junction, which is only 10 minutes walk from my place.
Megan however does her shopping in 'The Hood' on Bondi Road, which is 5 minutes walk from my place, and she tries to avoid WBJ at all cost. Megan prefers the local feel of Bondi Road and likes the idea that she is supporting local businesses.
Inspired by this thought I decided to give it a try and I have been shopping in The Hood for the last couple of weeks and I have to admit that 'I like it', preferring the village-feel to the mall-feel.
The local butcher next to the Post Office has a great range of organic meats, poultry and eggs as well as superb sausages (verly important).
Next door is the Russian Deli with a vast range of European delicacies, and the sales assistants Russian accent only adds to the charm of the place.
Then there is Kemeny's with a great selection of wine and groceries.
Accross the road is a fantastic Fruit and Veg shop and further down the road you will find a brilliant fish shop called The One That Got Away. And I don't want to forget to mention the beautiful flower shop next to the chicken place.....
To sum it all up, I'm hooked - I love the feel of it, the slower pace, the fact that you bump into people you know and of course the personal service you receive.

Digital Art Gallery

DJMissUniv3rs3 Rocks!!

***888***

A Call von Papa

Papa hat angerufen und wollte meine Anschrift wissen. Meine Weihnachts- und Geburtstagskarte, die er mir geschickt hat und die ich nie erhalten habe, sind 8 Monate und 8 Tage nach Weihnachten wieder bei Papa angekommen - Return to Sender!

888DAG

Schlampis best EVER Winter Soup/Suppe

Ingredients:

Roasted Vegetables, which must be leftovers from the Roast Dinner the night before, including

• Purpel Sweet Potatoe
  
• Red Sweet Potatoe
  
• Beetroot
• Carrot
• Swede
• Parsnip
• Garlic
  
• Caramelized Leek
• Corn
• Fungi

Vegetable are scrubbed, not peeled. Then tossed and roasted in the following mix of

• Lemon Juice
  
• Pure Sesame Oil
• Chilly Oil
• Olive Oil
• Left over wine
• Almonds
• Rosemary
• Salt & Pepper
  

the next day add Chilli and then blast Roasted Vegetables in a Pressure Cooker twice! until Pressure Cooker whistles.

Blend

Add some Continental Veal Frankfurters - LeeOpards favorite

Add some green Veg such as Snap peas

Springle with Maggie Beer Vino Cotto

Voilà, the best Winter Soup EVER made by Schlampi!

Email von Papa - Smileys

In his quest of conquering the internet, Papa has discovered Smileys :)


Hey Ihr lieben,



Will mahl sehen,ob ich richtig die Adresse aufgeschrieben hab.

Ich habe grade Markus geschrieben und zum Manfred gesendet.Ist ja kein Problem,Markus eMail Adresse neu

eingeben und ab geht die Post.

Es grüßt Euch Horst 2 Ich hab mir schon gedacht,das was verkehrt ist.

Greetings from Beijing

888

Safety First - found in the wardrobe of my hotel room

The Nest

The Cube

???


And while you are in town have some peaches, they are in season - so juicy, so delicious, so yummy...

A day in the life of Feelion

Feelion and LeeOpard have so much in common.....

The Winner is.... Spain again!!!!

This time the hot Spaniels won the Tour de France. To be precise Carlos Sastre won, beating Aussie Cadel Evans by a minute in the overall Tour de France. I wonder what will be next for Spain. I'll keep you posted.....

Florence is touched by....

Florence is touched by Eric Clapton 'Change the world'

Shopping in... Bangkok, Siam Square

Bangkok is a shoppers heaven. Your shopping experience will stretch from local outdoor markets to big air conditioned shopping malls. If you only have 24 hours in town I would recommend that you base yourself at Siam Square. You will find quite a few shopping expierences such as Paragon, Gaysorn (Gay what?), MBK, Siam Center, Discovery Center, Zen and Underground Market to name a few.

Paragon, Discovery and Gaysorn are the more upmarket malls, catered to the "Label Queen" amongst us, who can't do Bangkok without Gucci or Prada. However on the two top floor of Gaysorn are a few fabulous Home Decorating Stores and a great selection of Top Thai Designers which are worth a visit (if your figure is more on the petite side of life).

Next door to Gaysorn is the Underground Markets, ideal if you are after cheap souvenirs or copy items such as handbags, shirts, DVD's and watches. MBK however is 'the place' for copy items, all 8 floors of it. Make sure you familiarize yourself with the location of UR NEAREST EMERGENCY EXIT, it's a maze!!! And don't forget to bargain hard!!

Siam Center and Siam Square is the place where young shoppers meet. You will find a lot of shops and stalls with locally designed fashion. They have very groovy and trendy stuff on offer. Personally I'm a bit to old for most of it - or maybe not :)

In between shopping you definitely should try some of the local cuisine. There are lots of places to eat, but my recommendation would be the 'Intra'(diagonal of the Novotel Siam Square). As far as I am concerned, Thai food doesn't get better than that. It's tasty, it's cheap, it's cheerful.

And to finish off a hard day of shopping, spoil yourself at the lavish THANN Spa at Gaysorn or have a relaxing foot massage at Lek, which personally is my favorite.

Happy Shopping viz ze LeeOpard 888