Australian Digest Volume 03

There's no prolonging it any longer, here in the southern hemisphere spring is over and the summer fun has arrived. Sydney is known for its extravagant Darling Harbour boat cruises, Bondi beach parties, rooftop pool sunbathing, bottle service nightclubs, delicious Hyde park BBQ and picnics, and amazing outdoor festivals attracting world famous artists. I'm so excited to get involved in all the activities, and enjoying the good vibe with good people.

It's not all fun times, I've found a good mix of work and play hard. On Friday 26th October I got an interesting opportunity to work with El' Circo Rouge show help set up the stage, which involved a road trip around two hours south west of Sydney. Giving me the chance to see some nice little villages Mittagong, Bowral, and Moss Vale. I had a great weekend working with Jerome Dubois (Stage Manager) and for my trouble I got reasonably well paid, complimentary accommodation and meals, watch the show without charge, and time to sight-see.

In my downtime I started to watch Prison Break again, I seen it when it was originally aired (circa 2005) and found it fascinating. I rarely watch TV shows or movies twice, so that in itself is quite a compliment to a brilliant program. I've also managed to watch all of the Inbetweeners series one through to three, this was first class laugh out loud British comedy. So many situations you can relate to from back in school, on that note it's been over ten years since I left compulsory education. HOW TIME FLIES

I mentioned in ADV02 I was frustrated about neglecting my training and diet, so I've been proactive in recent weeks and bought a set of digital bathroom scales. On Thursday 25th October I weighed in at 80.9kg, which if you think back to TDV15 and Sunday 29th July is a considerable improvement on my then weight 91.5kg. That said though, I spoke with my personal trainer who explained;

Gary Sidney "Weight loss when eating and drinking is what I call an unhealthy weight loss usually it's not fat that you lose it's muscles so yes the scales look better but you don't generally feel or look better."

Which is for sure what happened in my case, as I did no exercise and had an unhealthy diet for over a month. But I'm back running and making sure when I go food shopping my cupboards are full of fruit and vegetables, I'm not expecting to look better immediately but hoping to feel physically more active. See below a quick rundown of my weight, since I started training;

Sunday 29th July: 91.5kg
Sunday 5th August: 86kg
Saturday 18th August: 84.2kg
Saturday 1st September: 83.7kg
Saturday 15th September: 82.5kg
Saturday 6th October: 83.1kg
Thursday 25th October: 80.9kg
Saturday 3rd November: 81.8kg
Saturday 10th November: 82.4kg
Sunday 17th November: 81.2kg

But like Gary said above during the back-end of September and opening of October, I was neither training or eating healthily. So although my weight kind of remained the same throughout, I didn't feel good for it and I wasn't in very good shape. Overall, I'm satisfied losing 10.3kg in a little over three month. EAT CLEAN GET LEAN

I've signed up to Groupon Australia and registered with the Sydney area, so as to receive e-mails on any special offers and promotions around the city. I used groupon often to book excursions over in Las Vegas, many of which I wouldn't have even thought of without their prompt. Hoping I can get the same benefits here in Sydney, which I've started with already as I bought;

Leisure: Harbour Cruise, Island Tour and Open Bar

For two which cost $A115 (less than $A60 each), and the RRP is $A318. This is an afternoon activity, which includes open champagne bar cruise, tour of Goat Island, and buffet lunch. GREAT VALUE

November saw the return of the "In The Tank" series to FTP, and I introduced Marc Mulhern as my fifteenth guest to the hot seat. This was a great interview, with a very interesting and intelligent guy. I know it's a popular section with you followers, so hoping not to neglect it any longer and have more regular guests throughout 2013.

Marc Mulhern

After experiencing a bit of UKIPT success, I made the decision to really work hard and focus my energies on staying on top of my game. I was rewarded by winning both side events over at Canberra in the national poker championships, this gave me even more determination to keep pushing value and improving my poker resume. In addition, I love the social aspect and have made so many great friends from all corners of globe through the green felt. With that said, my weekly schedule is Monday and Wednesday evenings. On Monday I play the $A200 turbo over at The Star, and on a Wednesday I play the APL sponsored $A50 tournament over at the Mountbatten Hotel. As mentioned in ADV02 I'm playing a heavy Star Poker Summer Series, I sold 50% of my action and retained 50% for myself. Big thanks to the guys over the NPF who have shown support;

Danutz: 12.5% (£289)
Dom: 10% (£231)
mag1895: 5% (£115.50)
scoop: 5% (£115.50)
mulhuzz: 5% (£115.50)
Fatpants: 5% (£115.50)
teamdobb: 5% (£115.50)
lecpet: 2.5% (£58)

Check out my thread below over the NPF, for progress and tournament reports;

The Star Summer Series Staking

Meanwhile away from the tables I've been making regular trips to the cinema, the IMAX on darling harbour is the worlds biggest theatre screen. But it's ridiculously expensive, I went to watch Batman: The Dark Night Rises and tickets cost $A31. So I usually just head to Event Cinemas, here with Optus Rewards (my mobile network) I get $A10 feature film tickets any night of the week. Since I've been in Sydney I've seen Taken 2, Paranormal Activity 4, Looper, and Argo with friends, and plan on going to see James Bond: Skyfall when it's released here next week.

Finally, for those night's I'm not either at the poker tables, partying with friends, watching a movie, or chilling at home. I've been to a few different nice restaurants and eateries with friends, these include but not limited to Hard Rock Cafe, Hurricane's Grill, Star Bar, Garden Buffet at The Star, and the more high end establishments include Sepia Restaurant and Altitude Bar at Shangri La Hotel.

Until Next Time