I'm it, I was tagged, now I need to answer some questions

1. Were you named after anyone?
Not that i know, but my middle name is the same as my dad's middle name....my brother's first and middle names are named after two of my dad's friends!

2. When was the last time you cried?
Fully....at Hayman, couple of nights before Jess left i think

3. Do you like your handwriting?
Sometimes

4. What is your favourite lunch meat?
I like so many foods...but recently it has become beef paties (ie. burgers...not sure why...) i should change that though..not every day...:p

5. Do you have kids?
No

6. If you were another person would you be friends with you?
Yes! :p

7. Do you use sarcasm alot?
Yes, when i'm joking about...

8. Do you still have your tonsils?
Yes

9. Would you bungee jump?
No

10. What is your favourite cereal?
um...well coco popps or frosties or cris pix (or however you spell them) probably...but for everyday...something like just right or nutri-gran and i like sustain as well.

11. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off?
yes...always i think!

12. Do you think you are strong?
well....i used to go to the gym...so i was then...probably not as much now..but i'm a porter so that has to count for something...all those heavy bags!!!

13. What is your favourite icecream?
Vanilla or cookies and cream...then everything else!

14. What is the first thing you notice about people?
Um....their face!!!! bu i guess in a first meeting, their personality

15. Red or pink?
probably red :p

16. What is the thing that you like least about yourself?
I take the good with the bad.....it all evens out i think

17. Who do you miss the most?
at this moment...Jess!

19. What colour pants and shoes are you wearing?
Arctic grey shorts :p and barefoot

20. Have you ever re-gifted?
Don't think so

21. What are you listening to right now?
The low hum of the air conditioner....its so hot in sydney!!!!

22. If you were a crayon what colour would you be?
Blue

23. Favourite smells?
I think chlorene....like in the fountain of a hotel...that constitutes a hotel smell for me...appart from that...i don't know!

24. Who was the last person you talked to on the phone?
Well, i tried the commonwealth bank to give them my tax file number but they wern't there! but the last person would be....my dad calling from work...then jess :p

25. Do you like the person who sent this to you?
Of course i do!

26. Favourite sports to watch?
i prefer to play sports i think...not big on watching them!

27. Hair colour?
Brown

28. Eye colour?
Blue

29. Do you wear contacts?
No

30. Favourite food?
I like most food

31. Scary movies or happy endings?
Happy endings! not one for scary movies...don't see the point of scaring yourself crazy!

32. Last movie you watched?
National Treasure 2...a great movie!!!! go and see it!! as good as the first, go and see that one too!!!!!

33. What colour shirt are you wearing?
dark blue country road

34. Summer or winter?
Both! i love going to the beach in summer, but i also love the cold weather and skiing of winter.....all seasons are great

35. Hugs or kisses?
Both

36. Favourite dessert?
All these food questions...i like most food...and desert :p although not really keen on terrimasu...but sure i will in time :p

39. What book are you reading now?
Well i am reading: 'So you want to be like christ' by charles swindoll, 'Enjoying were you are on the way to were you are going' by joyce meyer...i'm looking at simplifying my life at the moment...reading the bits in those books about it....and reading the bible and the prayer book in prep for leading sunday church......

40. What is on your mousepad?
um...laptop......no mouse pad

41. What did you watch on tv last night?
a comedy central stand up comedian...it was funny!

42. Favourite sound?
I love music...but can't think of a specific sound!

43. Rolling stones or Beatles?
Beatles, never really herd much stones...and the stuff i have...not as good as the beatles

44. What is the furthest you have been from home?
i think that would be america...or france...you tell me which is further

45. Do you have a special talent?
I''m sure i could pull something out :p

46. Where were you born?
Some hospital near fairfield that doesn't exist anymore..... Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

Sydney from the Sky

the cherry on top

Well, if you read that last post then it has all changed!

I walked into the Park Hyatt one day, and walked away dissapointed! i was hoping to find class, service that was great, people that we asking us if they could help us...

but

what i got...and granted it might not be the same for every person was.... the loby was smaller and not as grand and impressive as i had thought, the staff didn't seem as friendly and professinal as i had hoped, we were sitting in the loby for a while and no one really smilled at us when we made eye contact or asked us if we needed help...the front office was busy moving boxes of files or something....as nice as it was and as nice as i find the park hyatt branding providing A picture of class....

so i walked away a bit dissapointed because i was willing to make the extra commute of a bit further if it was going to be worth it..

so ...oh well.

BUT>>>>>>>>>>>

i went for a walk to the Westin Hotel...thought...this is a nice hotel...nicely furnished...nicely laid out, lots of room in the lobby, lots of shops and restaurants underneath and when i talked to the people and staff there....they were nice, there was lots of them, and friendly and interested in me...i mean the second time i went with my resume, the doormand introduced himself, had a chat, helped me with handing my resume, said that he hoped to see me around...so i put my resume in ...

THE VERY NEXT DAY!!!
the westin called me and asked me to come in for an interview and it was made for a couple of days later...

i went in to the interview...when i arrived i meet someone from my hotel school and we chatted for a sec...then a porter took me around and was nice, then the guy on the drive as we walked past yelled out, hey are you the new porter interview...i said yes...he smiled and said good luck... then i went in and had the interview

Today...(after 4 days)
i got a call from HR offering me a job ...i took it on the spot...and they said they will be in contact about my starting date

So i am very happy, after a big day of drving around....and i have a whole new set of clothes for uni which i had some help with from someone special and we got some great clothes and great deals from DFO and a new job and things are going well...i really hope that doesn't turn them downwards...cause everytime i say, gee i have a great life...i worry that that will be the last thing i say before something bad happens..

but i know God loves me and he is providing for me and he has done the best job imaginable...and i can't write that enough!!!! He has provided me with a great life, health, a beautiful amazing girlfriend-and thats a whole other set of amazing positives- a new job, the experience from hayman, a church to worship in, growth from last year (and throughout my life), great friends, a great career and life path, and the list would go on if i had the time....but i'd rather just enjoy it instead of writing it down!!!

So thank you God!!!!!

God Bless

Park Hyatt...High Class Descisions

Well, back from church on a sunday, like i used to do before i left....tired! morning service, morning tea, music practise early, service, supper, home....it can take it out of me....

Sermon was from joshua 10...two things i grabbed....this passage shows another side of God, and like a person when we marry them (example used in the sermon) we take their good points and also their bad points and love them and we can work out that they exist together....and....like joshua was trained by moses...i need to find a moses for myself...so that i, like joshua can learn from them and continue with God's work...

on another note...work...

i have luckily had a lovely long holiday because i am between jobs. so i have had a lovely holiday indeed and now i am back into that rather stressfull time (whether it is stressful or not...just the anticipation and work) of trying to find a new job, the interviews, the resume, the waiting while they descide to tell you your in...i had forgot that bit of when i was going for Hayman.

I am rather sure i want to go for the "Park Hyatt" in Sydney in the rocks...it is a bit further than say the hilton or even the shangri-la (two other options) but it is that old style service and care and as someone put it for me, it is the type of place that people want to experience and the service not just a place to spend the night off the street. Thanks! that is exactly what i want.... a place that is about the service, a concierge who stands behind the desk or walks around, helping people....old school traditional thorough severice that people appreciate...not just overnighters that are inbetween planes...(of course it probably gets those too)

But compared to the shangri-la which comprises mostly in asia...hyatt and its associates (anything with the name hyatt in it..) comprise of hotels all over the world, and lots of them...this process always brings me back to the time before hayman, how i got the idea in church one sunday and then i had pictures all over my computer trying to work out what it looked like, looking up videos on u-tube etc...i was really excited....

now i have stayed in a hyatt (not a park hyatt). i have stayed in the one in caberra...i think i ended up staying in the menzie's suite which was lovely!!!! and from memory it was nice people...just hope they don't wear the little hats at Park Hyatt!!

so i will head to Park hyatt to check it out and then probably send off my resume and play the "Waiting Game" again.

-----------------------
Pictures....looking at the internet..google with pictures of park hyatt....there are so many beautiful locations, and so many beautiful hotels...of course with this hotel, unlike hayman, i am thinking about the hotels also with reference to transfering and traveling the globe and staying at them....maybe even canada in 2010 for the winter olympics :p :p

Top: Park Hyatt Sydney
Middle: Park Hyatt Kathmandu (who wouldn't want to stay there
Bottom: Park Hyatt Philadelphia (bears resemblance to the Waldorf Astoria :p

Well that is all for the moment...

In Christ

On the topics of favourites

This is one of my favourite hymns....


Brother, sister, let me serve you,
let me be as Christ to you;
pray that I may have the grace to
let you be my servant too.

We are pilgrims on a journey
and companions on the road;
we are hear to help each other
walk the mile and bear the load.

I will hold the Christ-light for you
In the night-time of your fear;
I will hold my hand out to you,
speak the peace you long to hear.

I will weep when you are weeping;
when you laugh I’ll laugh with you;
I will share your joy and sorrow
till we’ve seen this journey through.

When we sing to God in heaven
we shall find such harmony,
born of all we’ve known together
of Christ’s love and agony.

Brother, sister, let me serve you,
let me be as Christ to you;
pray that I may have the grace to
let you be my servant too.

Back to the old, with a bit of the new

Well, i have noticed that the tendancy is when you change your blog page, to go straight back to the old one....there is something strange about that new page and the older one looks better. Well, i decided to go one step better and make it a little new with fragments of the classic. Hope you like it....

Anyway, enough rambling....:p

Well, i'm finally back from good. i had the best time at Hayman. I learnt so much, meet lots of people, learnt to survive a little on my own and matched up portering to my personality (like i had done before i went, only this time in realy life) and worked out that concierge is somewhere i want to go.

It was good going up there cause it meant that i was in a place where i just worked (and pretty much slept and ate) but it gave me a chance to put my full time into work. If your wondering why I'm not still there till Jan 17th, I was offered early release because there were enough porters and i had finished my internship time. So i finished training the new porters and headed home.

One thing that i now wonder is how many photo albums i will be in.... :p

However, i am glad to be home for Christmas, with family and friends and someone very special :p in a way, i think that if i was still there i wouldn't probably realise and be as bothered by not being home, but now that i am home, i see what i would have missed so i am very glad that i am home for Christmas.

So now that i am home, hopefully, the updates may happen more often, as i had timed internet that i had to pay a rather step fee for. But now, i have free flowing internet flowing from the mountains so it should be easier....its also great to have my own room...my own space and a desk where i can do things on and write!.

Well, thats it for the moment

Merry Christmas....

(PS. My favourite painting up top there)

Update....finally i know!

Well, here is a small update, can't be too long cuase of the internet but otherwise i won't do it. Things are still going well, still loving the job as a porter and loving helping people. i think that i am growing in my skills of helping people and how i do my job and what i can say to people as i enter in the room. I had a good day yesterday, where i walked in and engaged in a conversation that to me sounded to just so....grown up and respected...not sure why but it did. other than that, not too much is happening, saving lots of money, making friends who, when answering the question "so how long are you planning to stay here" with a simple "oh, i'm leaving next week" ...hmmm, this happens a lot, very transitory people work here, couple of months then move on. But there are people here for as long as i am. but i still love it but at times...hmm, lots of them, want to go home.

Anyway, i have a day off and going to do...um...what i usually do,,,play my guitar for a while then rest from playing ...

Hope to see you soon.

A Quick Update

Well, I can't stay too long cause the internet is timeed (lucky i can type rather quickly!) I have arrived safely at Hayman, and have so far worked three days this week (i have today and tomorrow off) i am thouroughly (whatever!) enjoying the work and love being a porter here on the island/ I am constantly working amongst amazing souroungings (can't spell, typing to fast!!!) I load bags and unlaod them of the ferry things and also deliver them to the rooms, it may sound boring but i love it!!! (and i have a cool walkie talkie to communicate to my team which is also really cool :p - cause its a huge island (which i walk everywhere around it all day!) and i need some way of communicating. i did manage to attend a church service today in the chappel on the island and it was rather good, not too many people but enough and some guests and staff as well. That serivce is run every fortnight apparently!!!!!! good!!! i have some friends from my uni here as well, so we are all trying to get the hang of the place. i am starting to feel a bit more relaxed living and working here but there is not too much to do around. i feel like i know all the people i work with, in my department and others (my team is the best too, very supportive, looking after me)as a porter i pass heaps of staff (and Guests) all day and get to know them, oh, and i get to drive the 6 seater golf buggy, the buggy train with heaps of seats and the 'tug' which carries the bag container and i get to drive them all with amazing views and beautiful scenery.

I think i will leave it there for now and try at some times to put updates up, but because of the nature of the timed internet here, they may not be as recent as before and comments might not be put moderated straight away.

Lastly, thank you all for your prayers and support. I hope that all is well!!!!


God Bless!!!!!!!!!!


Michael

Hotels...again : )

Well...here is to looking like a hotelier again....after seeing the new "Ocean's 13" recently (twice actually) i realised that i do rather like hotels....caue the story line is about a hotel and i liked the things to do with hotels....i like most things to do with hotels...hope this stays when i am actully working in them :p

I should really put something up!

I am busy in the final two weeks preparing and seeing friends before i go of for the 6 months at Hayman. Hence why i havn't put up a new, flashy post to make the boring dreary page seem new and tended to.

: )

Instead i will leave you with a picture of what i have been doing last week : )

Enjoy.

I Passed My "P"s Test!!!!!!!!!

Thank goodness!!! (well thank God and all those behind me sooooooooo much!!!!!! God Bless!!)

Conflicting

I am conflicted inside at the moment.....the stuff i'm studying is really stuff that i am interested in but i am having trouble useing that to help me study it....i am interested but when it is "formalised" study, it just makes me not want to do it as much...even thought i want to at some time sit down and read through the stuff and learn it for practical use....i just don't feel there is enough time now....

Crazy Socks (i should really stop posting about my feet!)

While waiting for the floor to dry just before i go and have lunch in between study times.....its not that bad at the moment. I thought that i would take a pic of my socks! My mum commented this morning that she didn't remember buying them (which she did) niether of us realised that they had the big stripe, they are the really short sports socks (all aliteration aside :p)....i still think they are cool though and they are rather warm....and i need to be wearing socks with the cold here in sydney........raining, cold...and i'm sick so don't want to risk it!

Go Mum!!!!!

Driving to pick up my brother this arvo, we were talking about the driving test. One thing that my mum said really made things better:

"You know that if you passed you wouldn't be driving now"

This is because of the insurance stuff and it is too ridiculous to change it over to me being a "P" plater from "L" cause according to the insurance company, i'm a very dangerous driver! (they have never meet me though). Therefore if i was now a "P" plater, i wouldn't be able to drive cause i wouldn't be insured! So i am still able to drive and pick my brother up from soccer!

Way to go mum for helping to find my silver ligining in this storm of grey rain clouds.

Damn It!!!!

Today, i had my driving test fo Red P's. I did everything very very well (i am rather sure) parked well, three point turned well, drove well. I got a 90+ score on my test, suggesting that i would have passed....however at one time, i went over the speed limit for a couple of secs, instructor told me and said can you lower your speed because i wsa over, and i said thanks. That right there was an 'imediate fail' item which means that although i did really well, i failed! So because of that and that i have a cold (a really great weekend though!!!) i have felt absolutly terrible all day. Thanks to those who made me feel better : ) i did pass a personal communications assesment...thank goodness i passed something today!!

Tomorrow is another day