Rags to Riches

Union Hotel

Movin' on up!  My living situation took a turn for the better this past week.  I was originally at the Union Hotel which to say the least was a dump.  Take a look at this picture.  What you are seeing is all there was to the room.  One hanging light, one outlet with 2 plugs, a queen sized bed, a tube tv with 4 channels and a bathroom.  I was lucky to have the bathroom because the other American's room didnt have one.  He had to use the community bathroom similar to what you would find at a major college or university.  After letting the front office and coaching staff know that our accommodations were less than satisfactory they went to work on finding us a new place to hold down for the season.  A few days later a member of the coaching staff informed us that he had a mate who use to play for the Aces back in the day and was a huge baseball fan.  He had a house, no a mansion, with a few extra rooms.  Fellow American Nic Ungs and I were happy to be moving out of the Union and into this new place.  We had to stay the rest of the weekend at the Union until the house was ready for our arrival but on Monday afternoon we gave a ring to Tony Cornish, the owner, and he came to pick us up.  We loaded our bags and headed on a 10 minute car ride to his

Entry Way

house.  We pulled in front of this brick home with a large iron swinging gate in front of the shed (read: garage) and heavily landscaped front yard.  We were home.

We stepped through the entry gate and made our way to the front door.  On the front porch resides Yu Yi (SP? Im not sure its chinese) dragon-like dog looking creature with chinese writing covering its back.  Yu Yi is said to bring luck to those who feed it coins and pet its head.  Tony told us to make sure and give him a pet before leave for games as a sign of good luck and well being.  After petting Yu Yi we entered through the double doors into the home.  The first thing you are struck by is the swinging staircase and chandelier in the entry way.

Next your eyes go directly to the intricate wooden floor.  This is something my dad would definitely be proud of.  All the different pieces of wood were delicately inlayed to form one solid pieces.  Beautiful.  Tony gave a grand tour of the home and where we would be staying.  First we headed straight past the stairs and into the main living area.  To our left was a bar stocked with all different kinds of alcohol from Johnny Black to Jameson.  The main living area had 2 leather couches, 2 recliners and a long dining table where dinners would be eaten.  There was a flat screen tv with Foxtel (Like DirectTV) which got NFL games so I could watch on Monday's (Sunday back in the States).  The kitchen sat directly behind the living room.  It was your standard kitchen; refrigerator, stove, ovens, coffee machine etc.  Elizabeth, Tony's wife, said she would cook us dinner every night unless we weren't going to be home until late.  She said we had full access to all the food in the fridge and pantry to use at our disposal.  That was music to my ears since I love to cook.  I even offered to cook dinner on nights we weren't playing.  Next Tony showed us the backyard.  He had a full sized tennis court, NBA style basketball hoop, swimming pool and bbq.  We had hit the jackpot.  We went back into the living room and then downstairs to the "mancave".

Living Room

Inside Tony's mancave was a bigger flat screen tv with a premium bose sound system hooked up to it.  An oversized pool table, bar and memorabilia decorating the walls.  Through a door to the right we entered into the hot tub room.  A massive hot tub Tony says takes 2 hours to heat up but we had free reign to use it.  Nic and I both looked at each other and smiled because we knew for sure we would put it to good use.  We made our way back up to the main floor then curled our way up the entryway staircase to where all the bedrooms were located.  Nic and I would be in Jack and Jill style rooms.  I got the room on the right and he had the room on the left and we shared a bathroom in the middle.

 Our rooms were decorated for the girls that once lived in them but I didnt mind.  It was 100% better than where I had been at the Union.  The bed was comfortable, the sheets clean and they even had heating pads on them in case it got too cold at night.  Tony and Elizabeth seemed happy to have us as guests in their home and we were eternally grateful.

Kitchen

There are also two children living in the house with us.  William is a pre-teen boy with an absurd amount of energy and Zoey, also pre-teen, is the much more mellow girl who sings like an angel and knows how to play several instruments including the guitar, piano and clarinet.  Willy, as he is affectionately know, and I get along pretty well.  He enjoys playing basketball and baseball as well as xbox and video games.  We have already set a date for some modern warfare action and I plan to show him no mercy.

Needless to say we were both extremely happy to be in the situation we were in.  We are visiting in a foreign country, living in style and playing the game we love.  Now we can just concentrate on what we need to do on the field and not have to worry about what we are going home to.  An enormous weight lifted from our shoulders.

Floor Inlay

Den

Backyard

Spa/

ManCave