JenLeoLIVE!

Hello Sydney...G'Day Australia!

After saying good bye to my luxe L.A. sick bed at the Hotel Angeleno, we stocked up on Kleenex and Halls lozenges before boarding Qantas flight 12, non-stop to Sydney, Australia. I was thrilled to be on Qantas instead of United, but John didn't see the difference in value over price. Shame on him.  I will say it is regrettable that they've stopped handing out the baggies of socks, eye masks, and travel tooth brush kits. I slept through dinner and the hand towels, but managed to stay awake to watch Invasion, Rogue and a little bit of a bad Ben Stiller romantic comedy. The coughing was manageable and thankfully I had an empty seat next to me.

Sydney is gorgeous. Blue skies and puffy white clouds with a temperature just right for sun dresses.

John's napping at the incredibly unimpressive  Menzies Hotel  in Sydney's CBD. Good location, but not worth $500/night let alone $250 even on a holiday. I'm browsing my copy of TimeOut Sydney and trying to figure out if we should have lunch by the Rocks, take the ferry to Manly or do some window shopping on The Strand. Oh yeah, and though I haven't had a meat pie yet, we did stock up on Tim Tam's and ice coffee.

I still don't know what tonight's NYE surprise is.  He won't budge for a minute to tell me. I'm trying to get it out of him, but nada.

Happy New Year's everybody! I'll post frequently. I'm already having Twitter by text withdrawal.

CURRENT: Sydney, Australia
TOMORROW: Pambula, Sapphire Coast, Australia

Breakfast poker with Eric Assadourian

Gambling alert RED (and hunky).

It is absolutely OK for me to gamble if 1) I'm winning, and 2) I'm chatting with a hunky Australian.

With no internet access this morning I left the room headed for the cafe. I had about $40 in red leftover from yesterday's Loss of the Mohicans episode at a $4-$8 table in the Amazon room. There were some people at the table games and I eyed the Texas Holdem table game. I figured I could play a hand and be off to breakky.  But I started winning, and then star Aussie tournament player Eric Assadourian sat down on my left.

We started talking about Oz and he made some great suggestions for our honeymoon including a trip to Hamilton Island and a helicopter tour of Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef. I boldly asked if he would take me to a bbq when I came out for the Aussie Millions and he said yes, but that was early on. He might feel more comfortable with that if I say hi to him a few more times during the WSOP.

We was a humble gentleman, said good luck on about every hand, and gave me advice on the math, too. I turned $140 into $390 and left after he did. You might ask what a pro was doing at a measly lame table game, but he was just  killing some time while he waited to have breakfast with his cousin.

He's definitely someone to keep your eye on this tournament. Watch Eric's tournament history on the Hendon Mob database groooooow. And if you see this, good luck, Eric! That was fun.

John, Pauly, and Brandon at the Big Day Out

Pauly and Brandon have been posting about their excursions. So, since I know that John's friends come here to check up on him, I'll continue to post what I know about his adventures. They had a blast at the Big Day Out, and left yesterday for the famed Byron Bay. John was concerned about the internet, so I'll just make a public reminder that Global Gossip is the place to go in Oz if you need internet. They've got computers, they've got cheap intl phone booths, and as of my last trip, they even had WiFi where you could bring your own laptop. But, if John is reading this, he has Internet. Next...
Anyway John fans, here's a video from The Big Day Out. Lets hope they're having a blast at the beach. I was thrilled to hear how much John loved the Gold Coast and how relaxed he felt there. Now he knows what I'm talking about! He's headed back to Melbourne on his Wednesday and then he and another colleague will be taking a drive on the Great Ocean Road. I'm so jealous.

John, Pauly, and Brandon at Versace Hotel

I read on Brandon's blog that the boys are staying at the Versace hotel in Southport. Here are some pictures of the hotel. I walked through there a few months ago.

 

They also have a pianist on a grand piano playing in the lobby with fresh orchids all around.

 

The guys are going to have such a good time at the concert. I'm so happy John and Pauly get a few days off to have some fun. It's been a long and grueling tournament. And of course, I'm terribly jealous they get to see the Killers. That's who I'd be most excited about.

I Almost Went to Australia

We had an excited phone call yesterday in which the BBE suggested I use his miles to get as close to Melbourne as I could - say Auckland, New Zealand - and then he'd fly me in the rest of the way. I love the last minute rabbit pull, but you'll be shocked to hear that I turned it down. Now, I've walked miles in snow on cobblestone streets in the middle of the night carrying nearly 50 pounds of Belgian beer to get to Australia.So, don't think for a second that spending 3 days on four flights via Kuala Lumpur or Bali were beyond me. Piece of piss.

Nope, I'm actually trying to do the right thing. Stay here and work. I have three clients that need my attention right now. Um, wait, four. Two after this Tuesday. And go figure, I kinda know that if I left tonight or Monday on a plane I'd have a heap load of fun and the work would sit idle. Am I insane? This is Australia we're talking about! Showing the BBE Brisbane and the Gold Coast! My favorite thing in the world. I don't know, I'm pretty sure I'm doing the right thing. Maybe we can use those 60,000 ffp and go back to Brissy together when he's less wiped and I can have fun in good conscience. Dammit. I'm really going to suffer for this on the 20th when they start traveling.

CURRENT: PASADENA, CA
NEXT: SAN DIEGO - prob sometime late next week.

Full Tilt Arrives at the Aussie Millions!

This is the best Poker News/Aussie Millions Video yet. It is brilliant. We get to see the Full Tilt pros arrive in the airport - Phil Ivey, Howard Lederer, Gaving Smith, Erick Lindgren, John Juanda, and more. Was that Clonie? Is she a brunette now? You tell me.

Full Tilt ran an amazing promotion - the Poker Trip of a Lifetime, in which several winners got to fly to Australia in a private jet with the Full Tilt pros. They will also get seminars and some travel trips with the pros in addition to their entry into the main event of the Aussie Millions. I think this is the coolest thing ever. I can't wait to see what Jay Greenspan writes about it!!!

John Caldwell and Sarah Bilney at the Aussie Millions

John interviews the lovely Aussie Sarah. They talk about her back ground, living and studying ( or not studying as much as she could've) in London, and a bunch of poker stuff.

In Pauly's article about Day 4, "$1,150 NL Hold'em with $1,000 re-buys" - he reports that Sarah had to re buy on the very first hand, a first for her.

I Heart Australia: Davidson's Arnhemland

Just a quick note to let you know that I'm in the Outback with Davidson's Arnhemland Safaris.
I was shocked and thrilled to find I had WiFi in my tent. Max Davidson is a legend. He and Charlie have dedicated their lives to preserving the land owned by Charlie's family here in Mount Borradaile.
I have just been called to go on our day trip - stay tuned so I can tell you, and show you more...

I Heart Australia: Kakadu Swimnming Hole

Here is part of our group at the last swimming hole we went to. They call them Plunge Pools. Absolutely spectacular. Each one was different and hopefully I can identify them later with instructions on how to get there.  I know it doesn't look much like work, but hey. Visit Kakadu, it was fantastic!

Here I am at the same plunge pool getting a really really good massage.

Now I'm off to the next trip. Arnhemland. It is a permit restricted Aborriginal area that few people get to see. I'm going with a tour group called Davidson's. On this trip, we'll have an hour flight to the location and then we'll get to choose what we want to do. I'm very excited to go Barramundi fishing.

This is the last stint on the trip. It is supposed to be the best leg of the three safaris. I'll be gone two nights and have a pile of work to dig into when I get back to both Darwin and Brisbane.

Have a great weekend everybody.

Current: Darwin
Next: Arnhemland (Oct 21 - 23)
Brisbane: Oct 24-27

I Heart Australia: Florence Falls

Florence Falls in Litchfield National Park is one of the more popular spots in the park.

Say hello to my new Panasonic Lumix camera! This is a closer shot of the one above.

The first picture in this series was taken from the Florence Falls Lookout. Then we hiked down to the bottom where we found these funseekers soaking up a good time. I think there should be some kind of Google Image tool that measures who has more fun based on two pictues. Kind of like Kitten War! -- but for travelers. Now that would be cool.

Litchfield is easy to get to and only an hour and a half from Darwin. Heres a map.