i ♥ bondi

beach day. yay! sydney's pride - bondi beach. beautiful.

had to go there ahead because when i phoned harvey when we were supposed to meet up he told me he was still in bed and very much hung over.  i made the mistake of taking the slow way (bus, went through several residential districts, was good to see them tho) so i wasn't there long before he showed up. we had lunch at "north bondi italian food". good food, good ambience. and the staff - beautiful.


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fratelli paradiso

© Joselito Briones

lady (in blue and black dress, above) as she was approaching the restaurant, to a staff: "can we sit on that table?" - *lifts baby girl out of trolley*
friendly staff: "sure. let's just put this trolley here. a bit windy today. use it to stop the door from banging"
lady: "oh, here. use the girl instead"

as per marco's suggestion, i tried their calamari salad - was a little too salty and too much anchovy (i assume that's what's in it) on the sauce/dressing, but was just perfect with a basket of bread and 2 glasses of white wine (can't remember what it was, just remember that it was local, and good)


Fratelli Paradiso
12-16 Challis Avenue
Potts Point, Australia

(not to be confused with Fratelli Fresh)

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qvb

 

just posting random stuff - queen victoria building in sdyney - high-end mall - very pretty inside.

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manly beach on a cloudy day

just in case you're wondering, the photos i've been posting are not current (taken a few weeks ago) and not in order. i just post them as i see them while organizing my files. this one's taken in manly beach in sydney.

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drinks by the opera

what's a trip to sydney without checking out the opera house, right? harvey and i went to opera bar for drinks (great view, very noisy tho) before going to longrain (super yummy food, but no pics, sorry. was too busy eating).  we were gonna go to quay restaurant but they were all fully booked already so we made a reservation for the next night instead. 

above is sydney's skyline as seen from the opera.

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g'day for a walkabout

am still sunburnt from this trip - mainly because i spent most of my time just walking around (the sun was almost always out) - and eating, basically following marco's restaurant recommendations. i didn't get to try the food from this (supposedly) historic pie stall. am just showing it here because it looks pretty.

harry's cafe de wheels
sydney, australia

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coming to an airport near you

© Joselito Briones
spent the past week planning trips.  carmona for christmas (booked).  sydney (booked) and wellington (booked) during the chinese new year holiday.  san francisco in spring (was gonna be the baltics, but the schedule with the euro divas proved not too ideal), somewhere else in summer, then autumn in new york. and no, i don't have that much time off from work, i usually end up getting no-pay leave.

as for the maya thingy, it proved to be not too different from other 3d apps. it's more advanced, of course, and there's a lot more buttons to learn, buttons that spawn windows with lots more option buttons.  i still have half a month left of software trial but i'm sick of buttons already.  so no more maya for me, at least for the next few months, or until i get a new computer and i can download the software trial again.

hmn. what to do now?

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ann and chris in hardwick

© Joselito Briones

more of the loving, camera-friendly couple. this one was taken in hardwick hall.


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ann and chris in dovedale

© Joselito Briones

more from dovedale, this time ann and chris again. was such a lovely day.


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david in print

© Joselito Briones

On a recent Air Berlin flight I saw this magazine advertising a man's bracelet using a photo I took of David. Always nice to discover my work used in such a way. Oddly though, I cannot find any web presence for the company advertised - "Rhino".


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wil in dovedale

© Joselito Briones

i took several photos of wil with the ice cream, the things he did with it tho, this was the only one publishable. Also taken in Dovedale.


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death by beauty

© Joselito Briones

i wasn't sure at first if this was wil or marco, but as soon as typed in the title, i knew it had to be the latter. Also taken in Dovedale.


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ronnie in dovedale

© Joselito Briones

This photo of Ronnie was taken in Dovedale river.


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classic english landscape

© Joselito Briones

this picture's taken in dove dale. i thought i'd try to make it look like an old english painting.


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Gau in Bakewell

© Joselito Briones

This photo of Gau was taken in Bakewell in front of the snotty cafe.


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Back to London

© Joselito Briones

Today we drove back to London. On the way back, we went to Haddon Hall and Hardwick Park ("Lady Spencer's Walk" and the grounds full of cows and cow shit>. As it was when we went to the Peak District, Ronnie and Jerome (photo above) were kind enough to give us a ride. They dropped us by Wil's, then after some time to take a quick rest we met up again in their flat in Baker Street and from there, dinner. Indian.


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lovely dinner

© Joselito Briones

After Dovedale, we all went back to the house for the dinner that Ann's group prepared. It was most excellent. Salmon and vegies on bread and olive-filled mini pastries for starters, perfectly done roast leg and shoulder of lamb and potatoes for main, and Eton mess for dessert. This is what holidays should always be like.

Photo above is Jerome carving one of the two big pieces of roast. We finished all of it.





© Joselito Briones

Chow time!





© Joselito Briones

Ann and Chris making the dessert.


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Dovedale

© Joselito Briones

Today's outing is in Dovedale, to enjoy the beautiful landscape of the Peak District. It was all about leisure walks and setting up a picnic to eat and soak up the sun.

© Joselito Briones

It turned out to be a popular thing to do among locals and tourists alike as there were quite a lot of people there. Enough to give a very lively cheerful atmosphere but not too much to ruin the place.

© Joselito Briones

Another group photo. I'm sure there's a video version somewhere in my files. I've snapped too many photos to keep track.


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group photo

© Joselito Briones

After Chatsworth, we all went back to the cottage for dinner. The system was that the guests (everyone but the two birthday celebrants - Marco and Wil) were divided into two groups who would take care of food in the house. Today's group in charge is lead by Ronnie. For dinner we had pork stew with potatoes. I'm excempt from doing any of the cooking and serving duties as I was the token photographer.

After dinner, I asked everyone to put on the best clothes that they brought for a group photo in the living room, to commemorate the gathering. Left to right: me, Mati, Chris A., Michael, Ann, Marco, Ronnie, Wil, Gau, Chris O., and Jerome.

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Chatsworth House

© Joselito Briones

This was taken yesterday, with Ann and Chris, in Chatsworth, where we spent most of the day. The site was used for such films as "Pride and Prejudice", "The Duchess", and "Wolfman".


Next: Dovedale

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