Baby it's cold outside...

Well, I know I'm not going to get any sympathy for this comment, but it's been getting cold here.  Sure, by cold I mean 8 or 9 Celsius (46-48 for you in the other hemisphere), but it can be cold (cool might be a better term) early in the morning.  Since it has been getting cooler, I've been looking for restaurants and bars close by my place so I don't freeze travelling across town.  And luckily, there are three bars within spitting distance of my window that seem alright.

I was at one, the Flinders Inn, last week.  This is a new bar that is going for the feeling of a "dive bar like you'd find in the US".  I don't know which dive bars the owners went to in the US to get the decor, but I don't know if they went to the right ones.  Their main dive bar selling point is the ability to carve anything you'd like into their bar.  And while the music is rather eclectic, it was comical to hear "Baby It's Cold Outside" playing in June and seeing everyone put on their wool coats, hats and gloves to go outside for a smoke.

After last weekend's driving adventure I couldn't find any place worth risking my life to drive to this weekend so I'm going to sit tight in Sydney for the long weekend.  I'm planning on taking the ferry up to Manly to check up the beaches up north.  Sydney is also one of 5 or 6 FIFA Party Cities around the world so Darling Harbour is going to have two massive floating TVs in the harbour for all games.  Bear in mind, game times here are 9pm, midnight and 4:30am.  And of course, the Aussie vs Germany and US vs England games scored the coveted 4:30am time slot.  But, there are plenty of bars advertising they'll be open all night for all games.  So I'm debating if it's best to charge through the night or wake up and head to a bar then.

I also signed up for a Run Like Hell training session tomorrow morning.  It's a program helping people prepare for the City2Surf run in August.  Not really sure what it entails, but I'm guessing it will hurt, a lot.  And seeing as through marathon training isn't going so well, having some motivation would probably be a good thing.

Oh, and Happy Queens Birthday everyone.  Make sure to have a spot of tea crumpets on Monday in celebration.  I'll probably be sleeping off one heck of a hangover.