We’re back

Back from holidays and back into the swing or regular life. We flew in on Monday morning 21st September from Hong Kong and we were back to work on Tuesday.

I’m a bit crook – picked up something in Rome and I have been coughing ever since. Have been to the doctor though and I’m all medicated up.

Lots of photos to go through and upload to facebook, but here is a taste…

Rome

Florence

Cinque Terre – Monterosso Al Mare

Ummm….

Villa Saraceno

Prague

Ummm…

Tate Modern – London

Hong Kong

 

Last day of work

Today is my last day in the office for 5 weeks. I’ve gotta say – that feels pretty sweet!

Adri and I are off to Europe for a loooong holiday. We have been planning this for ages and are really excited.

For those interested, itinerary looks something like this:

Rome, Florence, Pisa, Cinque Terre, Venice, the Veneto, Prague, Paris, London and Hong Kong on the way home.

Parts of the trip will be visiting or meeting up with family, but for most of it it will be just Adri and I.

Only 2 and a bit hours of work to go! 🙂

3.5 years at the 3 weeds

Adri and I had been married for 3.5 years last Wednesday. Had is only in the past tense because it happened last Wednesday. We’re still married, but for slightly longer than 3.5 years now.

Now I know that 3.5 years isn’t a traditionally significant milestone. But I think it still justified our trip to dinner at the 3 Weeds in Rozelle.

I love the 3 Weeds, and it really comes into its own in winter, with its dark timber and leather furniture and its huge fireplace. We both had the chicken pie and enjoyed some of their fine beverages. Adri had the Bulmers Cider on tap (where else can you find good cider on tap in Sydney?) and I had the Old Speckled Hen on tap.

The beverage highlights were after dinner though. I had the Sinha Stout which surprised me. Having had the lager I didn’t hold a great deal of hope for the Stout, but it was thick, chocolatey and delicious. Everything I hoped for in a warming after-dinner ale. Adri had the cocktail of the week – a Hot Toddy = brandy, lemon, cloves, cinnamon, hot water. It was so tasty and warming we made some at home over the weekend!

Can strongly recommend the 3 weeds. It’s fantastic.
Can also strongly recommend 3.5 years of marriage!

(Speaking of hot drinks and ciders – where do you reckon you can you get a hot cider in Sydney?)

Sunday Roast – Lamb!

I have taken delivery this week of:

1. 250g threebeansroasters Ethioian Yirgacheffe
2. 250g threebeansroasters El Salvador ‘Santa Teresa’ Organic RFA
3. a small sample of the threebeansroasters decaf

I have only just cracked open the Yirg and it was still a bit early methinks ( a few bubbles in the crema). Having said that, it tasted alright. But I have a headcold so everything tastes alright at the moment! I wouldn’t be doing it justice to try and describe it here and now.

So in lieu of coffee talk, let me tell you about my delicious Sunday Roast lamb! Adri worked wonders tonight with a Coles mini leg of lamb, some roast potatoes, green beans and gravy. This was delightfully accompanied by a Victorian Cab Merlot, part of a recent purchase from the Wine Society.

If you’re not a member of the wine society, and you are a responsible adult who enjoys a responsible amount of wine, check them out! There are bargains to be had. When I joined up, they gave me a free bottle of this. I have struggled to spend the value of that one bottle in almost a year!

Congratulations…

… to my darling wife.

She just got a promotion!

Well done Adri!

Unproductive

I have had a terribly unproductive study day today.

I’ve only been able to complete a fraction of a past paper!

I couldn’t even come up with a decent blog post!

I’m a little distracted because it is Adri’s birthday tomorrow. Happy Birthday Adri!

Vote for my talented wife

Follow the link below:

Re: Melbourne

As mentioned already, Adri and I spent the weekend in Melbourne. We had a fantastic time.

The highlight was either breakfast at St Ali’s coffee roasters or lunch at the Local Taphouse Pub. Line ball.

The lowlight was undoubtedly the 8 hour door to door trip home. Top work Qantas.

On Shopping…

We didn’t go absolutely mental, but we did pick up some good purchases. Adri was a little disappointed that I came home with more purchases than she did.

Chapel street was superb. We clocked up a lot of kms walking up and down it. You could easily spend a week on it as there are hundreds of shops.

Best shop was American Apparel where we picked up 3 items. Apparently there is one coming to Paddington soon.

On Coffee…

Our first Melbourne coffee experience was not a good one. The cafe across the road from our hotel got 4.5 beans in the Melbourne coffee guide and was packed with people on Saturday morning. However, when we got inside and ordered our 2 lattes, they promptly forgot about us! I had to reorder after a good 20 mins. When it did finally arrive, it wasn’t too bad.

St Ali was another story altogether. Almost the ideal cafe in my opinion. The roasters were pumping out the delicious when we arrived at the converted warehouse. Our 2 lattes were perfectly made with a very well defined rosetta. Tap water was served in old VB bottles and tthe breakfast was he most delicious cafe food I’ve had in a long time. Labna, poached pears, muesli and mixed nuts/seeds and bacon and eggs on hashbrowns. Yum!

We bought 250g of the St Ali’s Espresso blend home. I haven’t quite mastered the grind yet, but it was pretty tasty this morning.

On Beer…

I don’t think the Victorians fully realise how good they have it in the beer stakes. It seems Victoria has far more boutique breweries than NSW. In the pubs we visited, I didn’t see VB or New on tap once – how good is that!

The beer highlight was the Local Taphouse on Chapel St, St Kilda. They boasted 40 beers on tap and had a beer menu that stretched to dozens of pages. I had the Otway Estate Otway Ale which was a tasty, full-bodies, subtly hoppy ale. Adri had the Hargreaves Hill ESB which I would say surpassed, or at least equalled, the Knappstein in the tasty lager department.

We also had le Coq Blond at the Lucky Coq in Prahran. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t as good as their $4 pizzas!

All in all, we had a great time. I can’t wait to go back and see more of Melbourne. It really is a great town.’

PS – Thanks for everyones tips! Photos to come

Melbourne

The artificial long weekend up in Forster seems a long time ago now. I long for another….

Thankfully, we have one! This weekend, to celebrate the birth of a Queen of some description, Adri and I will be heading off for a long weekend in Melbourne!

We are planning on enjoying:

1. Shopping
2. Coffee
3. Boutique Victorian Beers

We fly out on Saturday morning and come back Monday lunchtime. We are staying in a little hotel in St Kilda.

Should be fantastic!

Any tips, tricks, suggestions or warnings for where to go, what to drink, etc in Melbourne? I am thinking especially of coffee and beer!

the Oasis

Adri’s new job offered up its first ‘perk for her partner’ last night when we went to view a screening of The Oasis.

The film aims to raise awareness of the problem of youth homelessness in Australia and will be screened next Thursday night at 8:30pm on the ABC as a part of National Youth Week.

The Oasis is an outreach to homeless youth run by the Salvation Army in Sydney. See more here.

The guy who runs it, (Salvo’s Captain) Paul Moulds was an inspiring Christian man. He was portrayed in the film as the epitome of “other-person-centredness”, if that’s a word. Whilst there are lots of things I will remember about the film, two things Paul said have stuck in my brain:

1. We can look at people like these drug-addicted, homeless kids and throw our hands up in moral outrage saying “It shouldn’t be like this”. Or, we can accept that it is like this, that these people do exist, and we can get alongside them and show them the love and support that they need to break out of the cycle.
2. It costs $70,000 a year to keep a young kid locked up in gaol. If Paul had access to that kind of resource, he could build a life-changing package of support for any one of them, that would see them out of prison for a lifetime. What a frustrating thought!

Tops film. Highly recommend you watch it.

Next Thursday. 8:30pm. ABC.