The world has survived Melbourne Cup week

even though it did not have too much of an effect in this part of the world  :-)  There was plenty of partying going on in Oz and now the Christmas silly season is officially underway.

We have a cool weekend in front of us and I am about to buy myself some new sweaters and a warm jacket to get me through the coming winter. Off to the pool again shortly and I hope that the improvement can continue!

Happy Birthday Gary

hope that you have a great day. We will certainly try to give you a call a little later. Enjoy mate!

Sorry to hear that our nephew and God-son Campbell

has had an argument with his skateboard and will be nursing some plaster on his arm for a little while. What the heck were you trying to do, buddy?

Somehow today has a very different feel to yesterday....

quite apart from the miserable weather, the change of clocks early this morning has made a huge difference! I am sitting here at 5 in the afternoon and it is looking very murky and starting to get dark outside already  :-( Luckily I was out early and went for a swim and another visit to the gym which helps to keep my comeback on the rails- I have my fingers crossed that I can continue with the training this week.

Thursday night at Oktoberfest was loads of fun

and everybody enjoyed themselves immensely. Friday was a little slow in the office but at least we managed to get a few things on the pad.....
I have just returned from town after going for a swim and doing a little shopping. This afternoon might be a good opportunity to head out and take a few photos- we do change the clocks tonight and that means that it will be dark even earlier in the evenings from now on. Not exactly great news for photographers  :-(

Had a most enjoyable dinner with Enzo and Cornelia last night

and this morning headed into town and went for a swim. It was tough but I know that after a couple of months things will get easier. If I can keep up my other training in the meantime, this will help by working a different group of muscles and giving me another good cardio workout. Still a lot more to do before getting out on the snowshoes again......

I guess that I was inspired by my Australian trip

and I headed off this morning and went for a swim in the pool. It was a lot harder than I remembered, but hopefully after a couple of months things will become somewhat easier. Along with riding a bike and doing some strength training, this should help me to get ready to get out and about on my snow-shoes when winter proper arrives.

Is anyone having fun in Tasmania?

Thanks for the e-mail and the pictures, gang. It was a shame to hear that you weren't enjoying yourselves  :-)

Thanks Noel and Tiffany- dinner was fun

it was nice to meet some more of your family and friends. Today has been successful too- a visit to the gym, a nice sleep in and we will go for a little walk later to enjoy the beautiful afternoon.
Going to a concert this coming Friday- Raphael Saadiq is playing at the Kaufleuten on Friday night and it will be lots of fun. Otherwise, I will try to keep the training up and get myself to the stage where I can spend a tough hour in a spinning class as soon as possible again.

Have a good week

I know that you can serve less time for murder, however

tomorrow I will be celebrating 15 years with the company here in Switzerland. The really scary part is that one of my buddies on the desk is going to celebrate 35 years tomorrow. Good enough reason for a drink in my book  :-)

The sun is shining and hopefully I can get out for a bike ride

tomorrow is back to the office, so I need to keep training and getting my weight down after a massive holiday attack on the food and drink  :-) Fingers crossed that Catherine will come along with me- I think that it will do both of us the world of good.

BTW- dinner last night was good....... many thanks to Stevie and Nigella Lawson for the recipe/idea!

Leaving on a jet plane.......

after a great trip, I am preparing to fly out of Singapore at lunchtime on Thursday and head back to Zürich. It has been lots of fun catching up with family and friends and I have eaten and drunk far too much  :-)  Now comes the gym sessions and hopefully some bike riding too.

Fingers crossed that it is dry and not too cold in Zürich so that I can get out and about to burn some excess calories......... I will need to fit into some of my clothing again soon.

Anyone lose their keys between Pontresina and Niederglatt?

At least it is not -12° and snowing.......    :-)

If you are in Lindfield and looking for a restaurant,

don't go past Maureen Chan's. We went with the whole family last night for a fun reunion dinner- the food was great, it was good to catch up with Maureen again after many years and the children all enjoyed themselves. One of the things that I do miss about being here is the terrific variety of Asian food- a great advantage when you live in a large city....

Aaaarrrgghh!

It be that time of the year again..... aaarrrgghh! Today is International Talk Like A Pirate Day... aaaarrrrggh!

Happy Birthday Catherine

I know that you have to go to the office and I am not there to celebrate with you...... however, I am sure that you will manage to have a great day. Happy Birthday!  xxx
EDIT; some of us are not going to the office today!? :-)

Happy Birthday Stevie

I am really looking forward to your little gathering this evening- it should be lots of fun. Have a great day!