US Open: Day 2

For the second day of my visit to the US Open this year, I took a gamble and grabbed seats to Arthur Ashe Stadium. Katie agreed to come along with me for the day, and she did well with a day of tennis, as a non-sports fan!

When we got there we took in the sights from the walk into the Flushing Meadow complex from the South Gate, before checking out some play on the bigger Court 17, as we kept our eye on the scores on the big stadium. Once the first match looked like wrapping up, we made our way into the infamous bowl of seating, to catch Andy Roddick.

During the warm-up I climbed to the top of the Promenade section so I could take in the full view - you can see Manhattan from those seats! It must look amazing at night!

The A-Rod, who later that week announced his retirement and that this would be his last tournament, played young American Rhyne Williams, and won in comfortable 3 sets.

With the end of this match, we took a much needed shade break within the South Plaza area, before managing to time our shift perfectly to score front row seats in the shade for Marcos Baghdatis' game.

Struggling to a set all, Katie and I then left this court, had some silly and fun photos taken with the Fan Wall, before scoring seats at the mini-grandstand at Court 13.

Aussie Bernard Tomic started his US Open out here by dropping the first set, and then clawing his way back to a 4-set win well into the evening and under the lights of night. As we cheered him on, we could not help but be captivated by the sight of Pat Rafter courtside. Getting a photo with him at the end of the match may well have been the highlight of my trip away! Ha!

I loved the excitement of being at the event that I have watched from home for so many years, and be able to soak it all in across these two days, while comparing the ways and differences to the other 3 Grand Slams.

Bully and I Am Eleven

Continuing to construct my own movie festival, given that I missed MIFF whilst I was away in Toronto, I managed to see one that was listed for this year that I would definitely have seen, on the flight home!

Bully is a documentary which follows the plight of five children bullied at school, on the bus to and from school, and after school. It's harrowing, emotional, and everyone should see this.

Several children tell us about the taunts and acts they receive relentlessly at school. They tell us of how they suffer, and how they contemplate ways out, including wanting to die. One family tell us how their son did just that. Hung himself as a result of the pain he experienced from bullying. His best mate tells of the pain of watching his mate struggle, and then his loss.

The very real fact that kids are taking their own lives as a result of this treatment by other kids at school, and after school, is here to take in and process. The flight of parents to have schools do something about it is heartbreaking and devastating.

A powerful film.

Along with my recently returned status, I am unemployed, which means I am free after my classes on a Wednesday, which is bliss! No hurrying back to work. So, after spending some time in the library I hit Nova Cinema for a movie.

I Am Eleven is by a Melbourne documentarian, and a MIFF movie that I missed on my schedule last year.

The narrator starts the film by telling us about her life at the time she started making the film, which was after learning about the devastating tsunami in Asia, and the loss of her father. She tells us that she set off travelling for a year, and wanted to film some of the meetings with people she had. But then she wanted to capture people at the age she herself was most happiest, which was when she was 11.

Being 11, as she and many of her subjects state, is that middle ground between being a child and being teenager. That awkward time, but as each young person share their thoughts, it is clear that this is an age of innocence and naivety, and yet wisdom and humanity.

Children from France to India, Morocco to Bulgaria, America to Japan, Australia to Thailand share their thoughts on love, war, their experiences of bullying, family, and their hopes and dreams for the future. They share their status as students, workers, carers and kids.

Quite like the 7 Up series, Genevieve returns to film many of the children a couple of years later, to check in with their progress towards their dreams and goals.

This film is beautiful, leveling and a carrier of hope about the next generation!

US Open: Day 1

The US Open was the last of the Grand Slam tournaments for me to get along to, and last week I completed the dream of going to Flushing Meadows. Getting tickets was easy as booking online, and after lining up at will call to pick them up on the morning of Day 1, I was there.

I went straight to Louis Armstrong, being the second biggest court, and grabbed to seat to see James Blake play some convincing tennis as part of his recent return from injury.

Whilst the American got to work on court, Talia and I found each other in the stands, and we got to catch up on the last few (four!) years since I was in town last. We chatted between points, as we saw the rain clouds start rolling in...

Blake took the 2nd set as the rain started very lightly and stopped play, before it bucketed down as we started making a dash for it with the rest of the crowd. Getting completely soaked in the stairwells of the stands, there was really nothing we could do about it but laugh!

When the rain subsided to less than torrential, we made a dash for the Food Village, and found the Grey Goose Bar for the signature cocktail of the US Open, the Honey Deuce.

Served in a souvenir cup with all past Men's and Women's US Open winners listed, this drink was perfect to while away the rain delay - very refreshing! The green honeydew balls were a cute touch!

As we caught up on each other's lives properly, huddled under a canopy in the Food Village, we did not fully realise, but this ended up being a 2.5 hour rain delay!

Once the sun was out again, and the courts had been dried, we made our way to the Grandstand court, which sits in the shadow of the Louis Armstrong, to watch a young US hopeful. Jack Sock played a pretty impressive brand of tennis for the 2 and a half sets he was winning against the German Mayer, before the seeded played retired hurt, giving the American the match.

In total contrast to the belting rain earlier, the NY sun packed some heat while we took this game in, and then decided on the next match to watch. We made our way to Court 4 to watch American Ginepri for a bit.

Keeping my eye on the progress of the match on Court 14, however, I then made the switch to watch Aussie Matt Ebden take the first 2 sets of this 3 set win. I then joined Talia back at Louis Armstrong to see Mardy Fish start his campaign, before we called it a day and headed back into the city.

That night, after meeting up with Katie in Times Square, the 3 of us met up with Rich for dinner and drinks, and a little mini-Medley Hall reunion. It was so good to see these guys again!

10 Years Ago Today - Cambodia

Today marks 10 years ago since 18 of us embarked on our time in Cambodia as volunteer Youth Ambassadors for Development. We set off to work and live in Cambodia, with the notion of helping a developing nation and it's people, to share the skills we had as educated young professionals in the array of assignment roles we had.

Actually, for Evie and I we were actually bumped from the original flight from Melbourne, due to a bomb scare in Sydney, and so we were put up in the airport Hilton for the night courtesy of the airline. We had quite the day getting to Phnom Penh the following day, before catching up with the group at the hotel we were all staying for that first orientation week in the country.

During our pre-departure training in Canberra, I remember one of the speakers telling us that this adventure we were all about to embark on would be life changing. To the point that we would forever then mark our lives with the experience we had ahead of us - being life before we went to Cambodia, and life after.

I worked in a shelter for girls, "rescued" from abusive situations, extreme poverty, torture, the sex trade, trafficking circumstances. It was my first professional foray into working with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and working directly with children from trauma backgrounds. I set up support groups within the home, and also worked with the staff to work more effectively with the children. But it was just six months.

This time was both one of the most amazing, and one of the toughest, things I have ever done. Living as an expat in Phnom Penh was one of the best times in my life so far. The work was hard, challenging, confronting, and often frustrating - a real glimpse into some of the good and bad aspects of international development efforts and ideas. It was my first experience with workplace bullying, and feeling let down by a lack of due process. I also experienced some of the toughest weeks of illness I have ever experienced.

As we countdown to a return trip to PP for some of us to mark this anniversary in January, I am keen to share with you some of the photos and stories from that amazing time.

Marcos And My Grand Slam

As Katie and I sat in the front row of Court 7 of Day 2 of this US Open, I was telling her how I thought that I had seen Marcos Baghdatis play at every Slam around the world, upon completing my very own visit to all 4 tournaments.

Last week I attended Day 1 and Day 2 of the US Open at Flushing Meadows, out in Queens in New York, completing the lap of Grand Slams around the world. This has been a dream of mine for some time, on a travel and sports fan level, and I was so excited to be walking around the complex and sitting watching matches at the courts I have watched on tv for years and years.


It occurred to me that I have very much being watching the same set of players around the world for the last few years. Baghdatis being one of them. Marcos is the exact type of player that I love watching play - he plays with such grit and determination, the never-say-die, heart on his sleeve manner, and the fight in him that so often gets him out of being 2 sets down and into a tie-break in the third, and then win in a thrilling 5 set match!

Upon reviewing my photos, and posts from the years however, I see that I didn't see him play on the two days I went to Wimbledon after all! Oops! He reached the semi-final in 2006 when I was there, but I didn't see a match of his out on the smaller courts that year, nor the year before.

I remember him vividly from the French, as I snapped this photo of his flashing his belly! Ha!

As I sat in the top section of the Authur Ashe Stadium watching Andy Roddick, who's career ended with retirement overnight, and had memories of the electricity of this stadium as it beamed out to me from the tv in the wee hours of many mornings during the Men's Singles Final, I think I developed a new wanderlust goal. I think I really want to try and complete the circuit of Men's Finals in a year - like Grand Slam Girl has done this year, but save up a gazillion dollars, and do all 4 finals. Would be amazing - a new tennis fan dream!

Seeing NYC Again For The First Time

New York City is one of my favourite cities in the world, and even since that wondrous first visit back in 1999, and my subsequent (five now!!! Ekk!) pop ins, I have always wanted to experience again that excitement of taking it all in for the first time. With Katie coming from Australia to visit me for my last 2 weeks of my trip, I got to do just that, whilst showing her all the things I love about the amazing city!

We stayed out in Brooklyn, in a room in an apartment found on AirBnB, and Kylie spent the first night and couple of days with us also.




Through Katie's eye, I got to walk through the bustle and the neon of Times Square, and take in the full view of the city from the oberservation deck of the Rockefeller Centre.

Pointing out the iconic buildings like the Empire State Building and the Chrysler, and discussing how different the skyline looked with the Twin Towers at the end of the island on my first trips to the city.

Whilst in Times Square we lined up at the TKTS booth for discounted show tickets, and finally decided on seeing Chicago that night. So many to choose from! Seeing a Broadway show was something Katie wanted to do, and it took me back to memories of my first trip, and seeing Beauty And The Beast with Talia.

I took the girls to Grand Central Station, and we eat breakfast and drank coffee sitting on the floor near the doors to the train platforms, taking in the light and the rush of people. One of my favourite places! Such a pretty interior!!

A walk down 5th Avenue, complete with a visit to FAO Schwarz toy world, before exploring Central Park. The girls jumped on bicycles so they could get around to all the places to see, such as the Bethesda Fountain, the Alice In Wonderland sculpture, Strawberry Fields, and the views of the lake and Sheeps Meadow with the city as the backdrop.

This was the first time I had been to NYC in the Summer months, with other visits being bang in the middle of an icey or snowy North American Winter, or around Halloween and the Fall colours. It was hot and humid, sunny and glorious!

There is just so much to see, and so much to do, in New York, and we did not stop for the whole five days we were there. I am certain that I managed to instill my love of NYC in my little sister, although, let's face it, that city will do that to anyone!

Dinner At 114 Stories Above Toronto

The CN Tower in the skyline of Toronto was one of my favourite features of the city.

Going up the tower was something we had saved for when my little sister came to visit, and in that week we booked to have dinner up in the sky.

60 seconds it takes to be whisked up in the elevator from the ground to the 114th floor where the 360 Restaurant is. With a glass front door and side looking out, we got a view of the Islands getting smaller as we got higher.

Before we were seated, we ducked down a flight of stairs so we could check out the glass floor. Which to be honest, was not as exciting as we had imagined. And the view straight down in the section of the floor chosen to be glassed was pretty dull. Shame.

Once seated at our table by the window overlooking the city as darkness quickly fell, we took in the view properly, before we studied the menu. The dining section of the restaurant is on a lazy-susan type floor, which completes a full circle of the tower in just over an hour, allowing you a full view of Toronto below.

We each chose our combinations from the prix fixe menu for our 3 course dinner, which was expensive but had also included the ride up to this level of the Tower, so we could justify the cost. I had the duck entree, complete with fushia decoration, then the salmon which was delicious, and then the butter tart. I took some photos of our meal, but alas, I am no foodie! The food was very good, and well worth the booking.

Once our plates were empty, and we finished off the bottle of Ontario wine we had selected, we got off the revolving floor and took the stairs down two flights to the outside caged area to take in the city of lights below.

Picking out the landmarks, and having funny discussions about different opinons on our orientation at times, we also got to experience the light show of the Tower up close!

I totally wish I had gone up during a clear day now, to get the view in the sunshine. But I had totally thought seeing Toronto without the Tower in the view, by being in the Tower, would be missing something. But it was actually pretty awesome. Oh well, next time!

Having this bird's eye view of the city I called home for 3.5 months was such a nice finish, as I was able to see all the landmarks that I had managed to visit or take in in different ways during my time here.