So long, Sydney

Sydney has been great. Pauly and I got to experience two great barbeques and met a lot of really cool people. My favorite thing about this great country is the people that I've met. Everyone is very friendly and very interested in what you're saying. They also really like beer and meat and partying, three of my favorite pastimes. The city itself is really gorgeous and unlike anywhere else in the world. The harbor is great and there are some remarkable buildings down here that make for a beautiful skyline. I don't think the metro system is very good but the city, despite being quite hilly, is easily navigated on foot. One of the best things about both Melbourne and Sydney, the two biggest cities in Australia, is that they have a clean, compact downtown area and it's really easy to wander around without plans. Everyone knows how much I hate plans.

Tomorrow I say goodbye to Pauly who has been my travel partner over the last 8 days. We also spent a lot of time together at the casino in Melbourne. I like traveling solo but I like having a great travel partner even more. Pauly and I work well together because we're both relaxed guys who are up for anything. I like flying by the seat of my pants and Pauly doesn't mind doing the same. We've had a good time together down here and I'll be sad to part ways. *sniff* I'm fly to Alice Springs in the morning to see Uluru, formerly Ayers Rock. I'll be there until Thursday when I fly to Melbourne in preparation for the Great Ocean Road, a drive that I'll be doing over the weekend with the lovely and talented Cory-Ann. The next week will be spectacular and I hope to have a lot of pictures.

It was also a lot of fun being here during the Australian Open. I was in France in 2000 during the Tour de France and the Euro Cup and it's really fun to see a whole country consumed by sports. Federer just won the men's side, barely squeaking out a 7-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory over Fernando Gonzalez. Gonzalez played out of his mind and Federer still won in straight sets. We went to the bar the night of the Roddick match, hoping to see some tough tennis and Roger just ruined it for us. He is so unbelievable to watch and I can't get enough. I wish that I could watch Jordan again and Federer has the same sort of aura. The man just refuses to lose.

Here are some pictures from the past few days. 100 cool points to the person who can name the type of flower in the first picture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Gaff

I just spent 15 minutes trying to type up something about last night but nothing will beat Pauly's post. Go here for the details.

It's Australia Day and we're ready to party. I will be partying sans condom despite Dookie's excellent advice. I can't wait to see what Pauly writes about tomorrow so that I can steal it instead of writing something myself.

Speaking of stealing because of laziness, Scott finally has all his India posts up so head over there if you have the time.

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie. Oy, Oy, Oy. Happy Australia Day.

Sydney

Pauly and I got to Sydney this morning at 7 AM. THe overnight train was pretty brutal and neither of us slept very well. The train was a lot worse than the ones in Europe or Japan and about on par with the train that I took in India. Given the option again I think I'd rather fly from the Gold Coast to Sydney. Live and learn.

We got to our hostel around 8 AM but it was too early to check in. We dropped off our bags and went to an Internet cafe. After about 30 minutes I had a wicked deuce brewing so I got up to look for the bathroom. The Internet cafe didn't have a bathroom so I had to scurry across the street before it was too late. I burst into an office building and walked quickly to the back corner where the bathroom was located. There was one guy in front of me and with two urinals and only one stall he took the stall to take his piss! I had to sit there clenching my cheeks while Mr. Deuchebag had the stall locked up. For a second I thought that I would have to use the urinal but he finished just in time and I shot him a dirty look before slamming the stall door and wrecking the toilet.

That was the exciting part of the day. We also hit Bondi Beach in the early afternoon and it reminded me of a miniature Nice with more surfing. Pauly and I walked the beach and got to see one nice pair of boobies flapping in the wind. Sydney is a pretty cool city. It kind of reminds me of Seattle because it has a compact downtown core with cool neighborhoods sprawling out in every direction. At first I thought it was like New York but I've changed my opinion after seeing the outer nieghborhoods.

I got a haircut and now look very sexy. Pauly's roommate in the hostel works at a bar and he told us tonight is ladies night AND that he'd hook us up with free drinks. Sold and sold. There's a chance that I hit on some women tonight but there's a better chance that I get really drunk and sloppy. I will have a full report tomorrow.

Tomorrow is Australia Day and I can't wait. Pauly has a friend here in Sydney and she's throwing a party from 3:30-late. She has advised us to bring a toothbrush and a change of clothes so it might be a pretty good time. I'm probably going to stay in Sydney for one more day, after Australia Day, before flying to Adelaide to catch the train to Alice Springs.

Picture Dump

Here are some pics randomly posted without rhyme or reason. Hopefully this helps you understand better why I'm having so much fun down here. Tomorrow, Pauly and I are catching a late train to Sydney while Schecky is flies back to Melbourne. I'm gonna miss the Scheck but Sydney will be great. Next post will probably come from there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Backstage

The Big Day Out was sold out but Shecky knows Tool's ex-manager and got us hooked up with backstage passes. I was less than 20 feet away from Jet and Muse during their entire sets and the feeling was indescribable. Muse was unreal but I think I enjoyed Jet more. The thing that I love about music is the memories that certain bands can evoke. Standing on the stage with Jet flooded me with memories of giving Renee shit about buying me Strokes tickets instead of Jet and giving Renee shit in general, my road trip to Spring Training and Vegas with my boy Davis and really reminds me of my fraternity days in general. Muse was the better show but Jet really got me going. Anyway, Pauly, being the professional blogger that he is, has already created a short video on YouTube:



The whole time I felt like the kid in Almost Famous. We were backstage before The Killers went on stage and saw the band huddling up, getting pumped to perform in from of 100,000 people. The lead singer was doing some vocal exercises and bouncing around like Tigger. Jet was drinking Becks then went into a sort of huddle and sang a tribute to Elton John before taking the stage. I mentioned to Pauly that all we were missing was Penny Lane and all of a sudden she was there. I think Kate Hudson is dating the lead singer of Jet and she stood next to us for part of Jet and all of Muse. Backstage at The Big Day Out with Penny Lane. Unreal.

We rented a car yesterday and I stepped up to do the driving on the wrong side of the road. It took a lot of concentration but I think I got the hang of it toward the end of the night. My biggest fear is making a right turn into the wrong lane but it shouldn't happen as long as I stay focused. Yesterday was definitely a success despite going mirror-to-mirror with a parked car the first time I drove. Today we are driving down to Byron Bay and I should be alright on the freeways. I'll check in once I get to our hotel so that you know I didn't swerve into the Pacific Ocean.

Don't forget to check out Pauly's blog for better recaps of the trip.

Big Day Out

I'm in the Gold Coast of Australia, in a town called Surfer's Paradise, with Dr. Pauly and John "Shecky" Caldwell. We flew in from Melbourne this afternoon and tomorrow will be attending the Gold Coast's Big Day Out. The concert is headlined by Tool and I'm excited to see Jet, The Killers, Muse, The Streets and various unknown Aussie bands. Pauly's passions are writing and music and writing about music so I'll be attending the concert with a real pro. He also runs two great blogs so keep checking over there if you want to read about what we're doing from a better writer that yours truly.

I had reservations at a hostel here in the Gold Coast but Shecky isn't down with hostels so he planned on finding a hotel room for himself. However, due to the Big Day Out and summer tourism, every single hotel was booked solid and Shecky almost missed the trip. Luckily, on the night before flying out here, Shecky had dinner with some powerful friends. One of these friends has an American Express Titanium Card, the baller version of the Black Card. Each Titanium Card comes with a personal assistant, hired by AmEx, who sits around waiting to help you with things. Shecky's friend called his personal assistant and said, "find a hotel in the Gold Coast for tomorrow night". The end result is the three of us sharing a room at the Palazzo Versace, one of the "World's Top Hotels". The Hermitage in Monte Carlo is the only other hotel I've ever stayed at that is on that Top Hotels list. The craziest part is that Shecky's friend is footing the bill for two nights and that can't be cheap. I'll try to take pictures of this place but it reminds me of the Hermitage. It's really nice but has a kind of classic look. I liked the hotel in Melbourne a lot because it was beautiful and felt really new. It's kind of like the difference between an old Bentley and a BMW M6. Both are really sick but I think I'd take the newer car. Anyway, Bentleys are still damn cool and I like this hotel.

The day after the concert we're driving down to Byron Bay where we'll spend a few days before getting down to Sydney for Australia Day, Australia's version of the 4th of July(kinda), on January 26th. I hope to have some pictures up soon but I wouldn't have my hopes too high if I were a reader of this blog.

BTW, Gobbo came in 2nd in the Aussie Millions and won $1 Million Australian Dollars. He's a real nice kid and I'm really happy for him. My friend, Shane, took a sick beat from Gobbo to go out in 20th place and has a great report up here. I like the post a lot and really wish that I could write as well as Shane.

It's 2 AM and time for bed but both Pauly and Shecky are sawing logs pretty hard. I'm not a bad snorer myself so I'll try to get my revenge tomorrow night.

Goooooooo Gobbo

My friend Jimmy "Gobboboy" Fricke made the final table of the Aussie Millions. There are 7 left and the winner will take home 1.5 million dollars(Australian). Gobbo has the chip lead and looks like he could win it. Gus Hansen is second in chips, Andrew Black is 3rd and Kristi Gazes is somewhere between 4 and 7. Gobbo is a really nice kid and it would be awesome if he won this puppy. He has run pretty hot at the right times but you always need a lot of luck if you're going to beat these big fields. Anyway, play starts in an hour and I'll be downstairs rooting him on. I think the best place to check for updates is PokerNews.

Carl, Nordberg and I went to the Australian Open yesterday and had a blast. We watched Nalbandian, Grosjean and Haas advance and although I promised to stop prop betting, I couldn't help myself. I lost $400 on the Grosjean match but the 5th set was one of the coolest experiences of my life. My horse was this diminutive German guy who made loud grunts even when hitting a slice but he hung in there and almost pulled out the victory. Nordberg felt bad and basically gave money away during the Haas match and I won all my money back, including the Hewitt debacle from the day before. I am now up $100 from tennis prop betting and this time I really am going to quit. Seriously.

It's incredibly cool staying at the same hotel as the tennis players. Andy Roddick was in the poker room a few days before the Open started and I've seen Maria Sharapova and Martina Hingis in the lobby multiple times. Sharapova is really tall and really beautiful and I think I have a bit of a crush on her.

Tonight is the Aussie Millions Players Party and everyone says that it's a lot of fun. Tomorrow I fly up to Brisbane with Pauly and John Caldwell and say goodbye to this beautiful city. I had a great time and I'm going to try really hard to come back next year. The tournament was great and the venue was beyond superlatives. It helps that I'm up about $A4,000 in 8 hours of $5/10 action but I think I'd be stoked even if I was stuck. Tomorrow I get to leave the crazy poker world and enjoy my true addiction: travel. I hope I can find wireless along the way to post updates but if not, I hope you're all loving life as much as I am. Peace.

I love play pokah

I busted from the Main Event yesterday and was upset for about 10 minutes. Once I finished my first beer on the rail I started to get excited to see more of Melbourne and hang out with my friends while they're down here. Nordberg and Carl were already drinking and Michael, a Melbourne native, decided to join the fun. After a few beers at the Casino, we decided to take a cab to St. Kilda, a popular Melbourne beach area. We ate some pizza then made our way down to the water. It was pretty nice but there were tons of flies and there's nothing more annoying than having to incessantly swat flies. We drank some more at a bar on the beach then headed back to the Casino after it got dark. Carl and I had some booze in our room so the four of us headed upstairs to drink and watch tennis. It's pretty cool that the Australian Open is going on at the same time as the poker tournament. Carl and I are going to see a match tomorrow but we aren't sure who we'll see. He qualified for the tournament on Mansion Poker and they're getting tickets for him. It seems like they're doing a great job of taking care of their qualifiers. Anyway, the Leyton Hewitt match was on and he was down 2 sets to none so I bet Michael $100 that the American would beat him. I had to give him 4-1 odds but I felt good. Obviously, Leyton came back to win and I lost $A400. No more tennis betting for me. I think I gave him too good of a price: once Leyton picked up one set, I knew the match was over because the crowd got behind him and the momentum was unstoppable.

After finishing a fifth of Maker's Mark, a bottle of wine and a few James Boag beers, we headed downstairs to eat before playing poker. Nordberg, Michael and I finished eating and headed down to the poker room. Carl was supposed to come down and meet us but I think he was too drunk so he headed back to the room. I sat at a good $5/10 game and won $A2500 in about 2 hours. I got up to the room around 4:30 AM and Carl was passed out with the lights on and TV blaring. It's taking us a while to get going this morning but I'd like to play some more 5/10 and try to pay for my trip down here.

I uploaded some pictures from India to a Google program called Picassa. Enjoy:

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/brandon.schaefer


http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/brandon.schaefer

Bleh

I had 58K at the dinner break and ended the day with 38K. I was at a tough table and found myself down to 45K when I tried to make a move and ended up spewing 17K in chips. I stole on each of the last 4 hands of the day to get back up to 38K. This structure is pretty sick and we start at 500/1000 tomorrow so I still have a bit of room. It's pretty disappointing to have nearly 60K with 3 hours left and go backwards. We start tomorrow at 12:30 PM, check pokernews.com for updates. I've been up since 5 AM and it's time for bed. Love, Brandon.

GG Seahawks

I should have known when I woke up at 5 AM and it was the first cloudy morning in Melbourne. I should have known when Rex converted that miraculous 3rd and 10 on the opening drive. I should have known when the Seahawks couldn't convert ONE single 3rd-and-short all game. I should have known when Robbie Gould lined up from 49 yards out. But I didn't. I really, really, really REALLY thought that the Seahawks were going to pull it off this morning(or yesterday afternoon, depending on where you are) but alas it wasn't to be. There's no doubt that the Bears are a better team but I couldn't ask for anything more. Give Matt the ball with 4 minutes left in regulation in a tie game and I'm a happy camper. Oh well.

I start the Aussie Millions main event today and I'm uber-excited. The structure looks good, we start with 20,000 chips and the field is uber-soft. The bet place for updates is PokerNews where Dr. Pauly and a slew of others are providing live updates. I've gotten drunk with many of the PokerNews crew so I think they'll have updates on my stack periodically. Day 1A was yesterday and my boy Jimmy "gobboboy" Fricke is among the chipleaders with 139,100 chips. My hero, Patrik Antonius, is the chipleader with an obscene 315,400 chips. He is just ridiculous.

I'm starting to hammer out my Australia plans post-tourney and I'm getting excited to see the rest of this amazing continent. Scott, who is infinitely less lazy that I am, has some posts up about India. Check it out for some sweet pics and commentary. I hope to check in tonight with at least 100,000 chips.

Peace.

<3 Australia

Melbourne is a pretty sweet city. Carl and I have gone on a few city walks and I like it a lot. The British know how to erect impressive architecture and downtown Melbourne is filled with interesting buildings. The women here are also magnificent to look at and Carl and I are constantly shaking our heads at the amount of ridiculously hot women roam the streets of Melbourne. I know these statements would be better with pictures but I've been forgetting to carry my camera. I'll get some pics up eventually.

The $A1650 tournament was pretty fun. I came in 47th with 48 getting paid and I feel good about my play in all but one hand. I don't feel like talking about my botched hand but I'll talk about the hands where I won $A2,000. The tournament had 40 or 50 "bounty" players and if you knocked one of them out of the tournament then you won $A1000. I had one of these players directly on my right with blinds at 100/200. He started the hand with about 8000 chips and I had about 9000. He raised on the button to 550 and I looked sown at black Kings in the SB. I reraised to 1700 and he called. The flop came down 844 and I led for 2100. He moved in instantly for about 6000 total and I called almost as quickly. He tabled J6o and my KK held. He was on tilt a bit and decided that he was going to outplay me postflop. The floorman came over and handed me 10 $A100 bills and all of a sudden the tourney only cost me $A650. The next hand occured at a different table with blinds at 300/600. Someone limped in early position, the bounty limped, and the small blind completed. I looked down at Ks7s in the BB and checked my option. The flop came out Js8s3d the SB checked and I bet 1500 into the 2400 chip pot. The first limper folded then the bounty moved all-in for 3200 more. I had a trivially easy call with my spade draw and was delighted to see him turn over 6s4s for a smaller spade draw. The board blanked out and again the floorman came to pay me $A1000 in cash. Now I was on a total freeroll and already profited $A350. I was happiest with my play from 100 down to the bubble. I started the 600/1200 level with 13000 chips and worked my way up to 50K without seeing a flop. I had a pro, Ben Roberts, on my right who tried to steal my blind every single round and I restole on him about 50% of the time. In my ultimate hand, with blinds at 1K/2K and a stack of 42K, I raised from middle position to 6K with JJ. Everyone folded to the big stack who had about 130K and he reraised to 15K total. I felt sick because it just reeked of a big hand but I'm not the guy who folds JJ with 20 BBs. Also, there were only 4 minutes left in the 1K/2K level before blinds would go up to 1500/3000. I think it's a clear shove but obviously the big stack had AA and the door card was another Ace. 47th paid $A2000 so I ended up profiting $A2350 for the tourney. It was a nice way to start the trip and I hope I can keep it up. The cash games look fantastic but I haven't sat down yet. Tomorrow I think I'm going to put in a decent session and try to win my $A10K buy-in for the main event.

That's the news from Melbourne. I'll try to bring a camera with me the next time I go out.

Brandon

Q: What has two thumbs and has been to all seven continents?

A: This guy:

 

It's really great to be in Melbourne. I arrived this morning around 10:30 AM and ran into John Caldwell at the airport. We shared a cab back to the Casino and I found my way up to the room that Mansion Poker booked for Carl. The Crown Towers is probably the nicest hotel that I've ever seen. The Hermitage in Monte Carlo was great for many reasons but the rooms just can't compare to the room that Carl and I are in right now. I have 10 days in the lap of luxury before heading out to Brisbane to live as a poor backpacker again. The games down here look great and are probably pretty profitable despite the suffocating rake. I'll probably play in the A$1500 tourney tomorrow and hopefully will have some good news to report. Carl and I went for a walk today and it was nice to get some sun. The poker room is downstairs from the main casino and, while it's nice, it's easy to get stuck down there and lose track of time. I'm going to make it a goal to leave this place at least once every day. Sounds like an easy task but people often spend every minute on-site since the hotel and casino are in the same building.

I still haven't seen Pauly and I'm not too pleased about it. He's probably coming with me to Brisbane and will be backpacking down the Gold Coast with me so we'll have plenty of time to throw back some beers down under. Anyway, just wanted to check in. Peace.

God Bless the 1st World

Singapore is one of the cleanest big cities that I've ever seen, right up there with Tokyo. The skyline is beautiful and the nightlife is pretty good. It's really nice to be able to come somewhere so clean directly from possibly the dirtiest country in the world. India was awesome but my goodness was there a lot of filth. I planned on updating periodically from India but the internet cafes were slow as molasses and I didn't feel like putting up one-liners like, "I'm in Mumbai, it's hot." I'm working on a full write-up but I probably won't get it up until I can find wireless Internet so that I can upload some pictures at the same time.

One thing that really is starting to irk me is the whirlwind nature with which I'm traveling. In the hostel last night I hung out with a couple from Australia who have been traveling for 6 months and are planning on another year. They have already spent a month in each of Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand as well as planning on six months in India. I just tried to cover India in 2 weeks and I have 3 weeks TOTAL for Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand including a mere 2 DAYS in Cambodia to see Ankor Wat. I'm starting to wish that I had scheduled fewer countries and explored them more in depth rather than postcard-trippin' all over Asia. I keep telling myself that I'll be able to use this time as knowledge building, so that when I want to take another long trip I'll know where I want to spend more time. I think it's a bunch of crap but I'm good at lying to myself.

Anyway, I don't think I posted a Happy New Year greeting yet so, HAPPY NEW YEAR! 2006 was pretty damn awesome, even if I didn't win as much money as in 2005. I went to Antarctica, I went to all 30 MLB stadiums, I saw a no-hitter, I lived in Vegas for over a month and made some great friends and I didn't go busto. If 2007 can be as active, I'll be quite pleased. I already have the Vegas trip planned again and I have a bunch of travel planned from now through July. Supposedly there's a calendar on Google that I'll try to start using. I'll have it linked to the blog so that you crazy stalkers can keep tabs on me.

I fly to Australia late tomorrow night and don't arrive until around 10 or 11 AM(Australia time) on the morning of the 10th. I believe that Australia is 19 hours ahead of Seattle. 19 hours! The India recap will probably come from the hotel at the Casino in Melbourne. I'm staying with Carl because he won a seat and a hotel room and is again letting me mooch. One day I'll figure out how to pay him back for all the love. Peace.