Melbourne 2014

Andrew and I are currently in Melbourne enjoying the good food, refreshing cold weather and unfortunate footy.

After a delicious breakfast of poached eggs on toast at The Quarter, an awesome takeaway coffee from Degraves Espresso and a mighty struggle with the Myki machine (we gave up and went to a deli to get one) we caught the tram to the the Queen Victoria Markets. Perth really needs some markets like these! I love doing my fruit shopping at Malaga markets but my god the selection at QVM was huge. Although we were a bit grossed out that there were pigeons flying around pooping on the produce in the outdoor area of the fruit section… eww.



We had a quick pick me up at the Lindt cafe, then headed to Movida for a lengthly 2h dinner and drinks session before the game. We asked for some pimentos de padron (off menu) and were so excited when they said they had some! They were just as good if not better than the ones we had in Madrid.



We also tried the anchovy and tomato sorbet (I braved the anchovy and made it half way, I can see why people like it but I was also reminded why I don't), the Iberico jamon (50gm for $30 but so delicious and worth it), the patatas bravas (again Madrid quality), the beef cheek on cauliflower puree (I am definitely going to attempt the puree at home), and the field mushrooms in sherry sauce (the winning dish in my opinion). We had a couple of Moritz beers, Andrew had a dry sherry, and we also got a bottle of rioja tempranillo. I really really liked Movida, the food and setup made us really nostalgic of our time in Spain.

The game was sad, let's move on.



We had a quick drink at Cookie rooftop bar which I meh-ed - it was OK, but maybe I'd had it hyped up so much that I was disappointed. The bar was too small and awkwardly positioned to service the number of people up there, and there was a garbagey smell about the place. I can see why it would be an awesome outdoor cinema place but as a rooftop bar it was meh and The Garden in Perth is better. My favourite part was the stairs to the top... earn that drink slackers!

Then I got a mega craving for laksa which could not be quenched because the Malaysian part of China town was closed at 11pm. More like Ma-lazy-an! I'm just sore because I really wanted that laksa especially after I got vomited on by some random guy (well my foot got vomit splashed) that didn't even apologise. I think I took it pretty well, and Andrew did a great job of pulling me out of the way before the second torrent of vomit. Then we saw some guy pissing in a lane and some people sculling a goon bag and it wasn't even midnight yet! We've decided that Melbourne city friday night people are much grosser than the Perth city equivalents, even if they have better street art.

We sought refuge in a restaurant called Shark Fin Inn where we caught up with Greg but spent most of the time in amazement at the massive crayfish in the tank next to us, and also wondering if the thing in my vegetarian hot pot was a) a thumb guard, b) a whale foreskin or c) a mushroom. We asked, and after the staff discussed the best english translation they decided on bamboo mandible, which we decided it probably meant option a). I kid, but the food was actually really good, and I had my first black and white snow ear funguses which I really enjoyed.

Today we went to the Melbourne Zoo! We got kissed by a seal on the cheek, landed on by butterflies, watched some monkeys rape/fight each other (our zoo visits are never complete with some form of butt fingering, raping, or my personal favourite, flehmen and urine drinking). It's so much fun seeing different zoos, their different ideas for enclosures and unique animals. Our favourite was the butterfly house which we thought could have done with some classical music or something because it was just magical.





We then caught the tram into the Brunswick and Fitzroy area and took a walk around the suburbs (which were filled with places that looked straight from The Last Of Us) before ending up on Brunswick Street. We had a drink at Bimbo Deluxe (Melbourne you definitely win at rooftop bars), then a perfectly crafted cocktail at Black Pearl, then after some quick shopping at Dangerfield (where I bought 3 x animal related things) we finished off with an early dinner at Brother Burger.









We just came back from a swim at the Hyatt pool and are relaxing before our last day tomorrow. We're planning to run the tan, I am nervous!

Kazakhstan, Hong Kong, and Mel and Brendan's Wedding

A week ago I spent a week in Kazakhstan for work gathering some information about some machines and processes used at a few of the underground mine sites around the country. It was an amazing trip and a great opportunity - I think very few people can say they've been in an underground mine site, let alone one in Kazakhstan!

For anyone wondering what an underground mine site is like, it's an extremely physically demanding environment to be in. I came prepared with notes, drawings, and documents expecting that I could whip out my pen and paper and take notes down there, but that was SO not possible. My video camera was the only thing I could use as a tool, and even that was difficult because you always had to have your hands free when moving for safety.

It wasn't at all claustrophobic, but it was very uncomfortable in almost every other way. The temperature varied from very hot (around machines) to very cold (due to air being pumped in from above ground), and it was wet (sometimes almost to the top of our gumboots), dusty (we had to wear dust masks which were absolutely filthy when we finished our shift), extremely loud (a jumbo drill operating is fucking terrifying), and our mining outfit (is it called an outfit?) was heavy, hot and constrictive. Before we went I was worried that there wouldn't be any access to bathrooms down there (I drink a lot of water…), which there weren't, but it was so not an issue, peeing was definitely the last thing on my body's agenda! What an experience!

I even have a little souvenir of copper ore: the Perth customs officer thought it was an awesome bit of potential contraband, but luckily I got to keep it :)



On the way back we had two 7h stopovers; one in Almaty and one in Hong Kong. In Almaty we took a dodgy taxi ride into town (500 tenge became 500 tenge/km, the ropes decorating the taxi seats should have been a warning sign…) to go see the beautiful Zenkov Cathedral - one of the only wooden cathedrals in the world, and it's made entirely without the use of nails! Scott insisted there's no way anyone would be able to know, so it's probably not true… he has a point.

We stayed a while and enjoyed the beautiful Russian Orthodox service out of the cold, it was so beautiful I didn't even mind I had to wear a head scarf (tolerance disclaimer - the bit that bothered me wasn't the head scarf, it was that I had to borrow one from a communal box and I'm a germaphobe).





After a terrible sleep on the flight to Hong Kong we sucked it up (along with a Berrocca) and went into town to go see The Peak. It was a really busy Sunday, so that's pretty much the only thing we got to do before we had to go back to the airport, but we took a detour through some markets on the way where I bought some awesome chopsticks with little ducks as the chopstick rests.





Our trip was really successful, but man o man it was exhausting. I took Friday off and spent the weekend relaxing and celebrating Mel and Brendan's wedding down south at Laurence's winery and Pullman resort in Bunker Bay. Congratulations Mel and Brendan!



The wedding was beautiful, Mel looked stunning and Brendan looked very handsome, the speeches and videos were touching and witty, and the reception was really really fun! Maybe a little bit too fun (my head is still hurting a bit today).





Down south is a beautiful place for a wedding. Andrew and I enjoyed the most of our rare time off by having lunch at Knee Deep winery on the drive down on Friday (the butternut medley was amazing), and lunch at Bootleg Brewery on the drive back, which I would have appreciated much more on a less fuzzy brain/tummy.

Congratulations again to Mel and Brendan!

Kazakhstan

I'm currently in Kazakhstan on a work trip, somewhere I never thought I'd be traveling to! We're waiting at the Almaty airport to travel to Ust-Kamenogorsk and thought I'd take the opportunity to do a quick post.

Almaty is a beautiful city. It was snowing and -12 degrees when we arrived, an absolute contrast to Perth which we left in the mid 30's. We arrived in the afternoon and stayed at a lovely hotel with Persian rugs and beautiful old furniture for the night.


After a swim in the indoor pool and an intense session in the steam room (we had a local show us the best way - 10min in the 50 degree steam then plunge into a cold shower, and repeat until your plane kankles disappear!) we ventured out into the cold and the snow to visit the new republic square and grab some dinner.


The walk to the square was really fun with frequent stops to take photos of the postcardy scenes and crazy looking icicles. Dinner at Olivka was soup (delicious dish-of-the-day lentil soup and brocoli and leak soup) followed by a shared horse steak (tastes exactly like beef) and lamb curry. We were so tempted to just go back to the warmth of the hotel but we were proud that we took a chance with our 4 Russian/Kazakh words at a local place.


This morning we had breakfast in the hotel and tried some chal, a fermented drink made from camel's milk. It smelt absolutely awful, but tasted OK, sort of like fizzy yoghurt with an alcoholic aftertaste. I only risked a small sip.



I haven't had a chance to try the local beer yet, I'm looking forward to it!

Sacrilege at Perth Festival

A massive bouncy castle in the form of Stonehenge, how much fun!

Emma, Joey, Andrew and I decided to go on the last day of Sacrilege which was here for the Perth Festival at the Supreme Court Gardens.  It closed at 7pm so we decided to go at around 5pm - we figured that would be enough bouncing and then we could go grab dinner and a drink afterwards.


Turns out there were timed sessions of 10 minutes which… THANK GOD for because we were all about to die when the whistle for our session blew.


Andrew and Emma went barefoot, Joey wore socks, and I took things a little bit too seriously with my Nike studio wrap shoes.


We definitely didn't pace ourselves! Because the bouncy castle wasn't super bouncy (and there were no flips allowed, but I did manage to sneak in a handstand) the funnest thing was running, which felt like you were running super fast in space. I think it was the final lap around the outside that killed me the most!


I can't believe how tired we were after 10 minutes! How embarrassing. Also, we have a 2 hour session booked at BOUCEinc at the end of March, probably should have gone for the 1 hour session, whoops. After 5 classes this morning (3 fitness, 2 pole) I am feeling pretty sorry for myself this morning, but totally worth it!

Skydiving for Andrew's 30th Birthday!

We just got home from skydiving in Pinjarra!

I bought Andrew a tandem skydive (14,000ft) for his 30th birthday, and I decided to do it with him. It was incredible, like nothing I've ever experienced and completely not what I expected. I can't recommend it enough!

The drop zone was way more ad hoc than I had expected, but all of the staff were really lovely and immediately put us at ease. They all had a dry sense of humour and made a lot of jokes about memory loss, it being their first jump/week, running out of fuel, using black and gold batteries for the auto-reserve system… at least I hope they were all jokes!

After having a briefing about what to expect and where to put our arms/legs at what point during the experience we suited up in our awesome (but quite smelly) jumpsuits and met our tandem partners (Sheldon and Antonio, both awesome guys). There were 7 of us (including the pilot) on a very small plane, Andrew and I were jumping together with a lovely lady who's kids had bought the same jump for her 60th birthday. It was all very intimate, we were sitting on our tandem partners' laps! 

It took a lot longer than I thought to get up to 14,000ft, probably about 10minutes. It was a beautiful view and I was lucky enough to be right up next to the cockpit so I got a good look of all the controls. At one point Antonio told me to tap the pilot's arm and tell him "you're a good man!", which was obviously code for "please do some crazy shit" because after asking me if I was sure (to which I confusedly nodded yes) he did a big dip down then pulled up with the plane, my poor brain didn't know what to think!

At 14,000ft a light started blinking, an alarm sounded, and then the door opened up to let in a rush of loud and very cold wind. Andrew was first out of the the plane, and it actually blew my mind see him go out, it was very surreal! The lady went next and I was last out. Dangling my feet over the edge was not as scary as I thought it would be, I felt more alert and completely focused rather than scared. After Antonio told me to scream "fuck yeah!" we tumbled out, and I managed to get a view of the plane in the first tumble. 

After a few seconds I got the thumbs up meaning I could let my arms out, and for the next 60 seconds I experienced free fall and reached terminal velocity of about 200km/hr. It felt very fast, the wind whipping past gave me a very distinct sense of the speed, but I didn't feel that feeling in my stomach you get from roller coasters or drop rides. It was just exhilarating, and I didn't feel scared at all. 

The parachute opened and pulled us back a bit more roughly than I expected, and then we started our glide down. I was allowed to steer for a bit, and I took to opportunity to spin as much as possible, that was an amazing feeling! There are two ropes, one for each hand, and you pull down harder to turn faster. At one point we were completely horizontal, the parachute was next to us! Well that's what it felt/looked like, I wonder what it was actually like. 

The landing was really smooth, we landed on our feet then fell down on our bums. I was so sad it was over so quickly, but my got it was an amazing experience!

DO IT!

Disney and Circus

Any excuse to dress up as a rabbit, even better when it's socially acceptable! Cara's (well Jasmine's) Disney themed birthday party was awesome.

I felt right.

Last night Krystal, Georgia and I went to see Splash Circus (Kinetica) as part of the Summerset Arts Festival. As usual Kinetica did not disappoint! Our favourite was the lira.

It all looks like so much fun, I wish I was in the circus!

Triple J Hottest 100 of 2013

My votes:

• Phoenix - Chloroform
• Phoenix - Entertainment
• Phoenix - S.O.S. In Bel Air
• Polica - Chain My Name
• Polica - Tiff {Ft. Justin Vernon}
• The National - Graceless
• The National - I Need My Girl (my #1)
• The National - I Should Live in Salt
• Lana Del Rey - Young And Beautiful
• Violent Soho - Covered In Chrome

Would have loved to fit in:

• Arcade Fire - Afterlife
• Pond - Xanman
• Major Lazer - Jessica

I pretty much had to restrain from my list being just Phoenix, The National and Polica (which it mostly is anyway), and chucked in the last two based on the songs that have most made me sing out loud in the car. Also my #1 song wasn't actually in the list (the other two The National songs were), but it really was the best song of 2013 for me.

I think voting in the hottest 100 is a great way to find out about new stuff to listen to and also remind yourself about stuff you used to like but don't anymore (or have forgotten about). I realised that there's a lot of bands I've lost touch with including The Knife, Arcade Fire, Vampire Weekend, Royksopp, and I was surprised (and excited) to see a Postal Service song in there.

An early and inevitable congratulations to Daft Punk!

Lunch for the week in less than an hour

The last few months I've been trying to eat really healthy at work. I've found that preparing lunch on Sunday for the whole week means that you don't have to think about what you're having every day and you don't have the chance to make bad lunch decisions.

The habit I've gotten in to is to make boxes of steamed veggies, eggs and fruit to last me the whole week, and if you don't mind the repetition (I don't, I always look forward to lunch!) it's a really convenient way to stay on top of your 2 fruit and 5 veg a day.

A few people have asked me about it so here it is :)

Ingredients
When I started doing this I tried a bunch of different vegetables but a lot of them didn't keep very well for 5 days or didn't reheat well in the microwave (e.g. don't use squash or asparagus). This is the list I've whittled it down to along with how much time they need to steam (I like them fairly firm):

• 5 carrots (4mins)
• 1/2 cauliflower (4mins)
• 5 brussel sprouts (3mins)
• 1 broccoli (3mins)
• 1 zucchini (2mins)
• 3 bok choy (1.5mins)
• 5 eggs

Method
I've managed to get this whole process down to under an hour including preparation and cleanup. Set up 5 lunch boxes ready to transfer the vegetables in to as they're finished steaming.

Wash all the veggies (I do the bok choy separately because it's really sandy):


Chop up the cauliflower and carrot:


Steam the cauliflower and carrot in a stove top steamer (pan with a steamer top attachment) with the lid on. If you have room you can do both at the same time since they're both 4 minutes:


While that's steaming, cut up the broccoli, zucchini, brussel sprouts and wash the bok choy.


When the carrot and cauliflower are done, move them to the boxes and then steam the broccoli and brussel sprouts together for 3 minutes, then steam the zucchini on it's own for 2 minutes. Here's the boxes before the boy choy:


Last thing is the bok choy for 1.5mins on it's own. This oversteams very quickly so keep an eye on it:


When you get a chance (or at the end) boil 5 eggs. I use the Burton Timer, I love that thing (thanks Andrew!).:


Each box reheats in about 3 minutes in the microwave.

For the fruit salad I always use whatever fruits look good. I usually make two big boxes of fruit salad (one for myself and one for Andrew) which is nice because you get a better variety of fruit that way.


And here's all my lunch for the week!


Calorie Breakdown
This is approximate and will vary based on which fruits you choose and also the size of the egg. Also I only season the vegetables with salt and pepper, so add more if you're using anything else.

• Mixed steamed vegetables: 125
• Boiled egg: 70
• Fruit salad: 80
• Total: 275 calories

This lunch keeps me full most days and I usually don't need a snack, but if I do I have some Pura Veda (a kind of museli but made with seeds instead of grains) and yoghurt or some peanut butter on it's own or with celery. You can also add some grilled chicken breast if you're finding the calorie intake isn't enough for your diet.

I haven't gotten bored of this yet, and it's been really convenient. Hope this inspires someone to start steaming their way to a healthier lunch!

Misadventures with Rocky Road

Amy and I had a great idea today - why hasn't anyone tried to make Christmas trees out of rocky road? It's crazy that no one has thought of this before, it's so obvious! We are geniuses.

We got straight in the car and went to the shops and bought enough lollies to make the nice young man at the checkout say "wow that's a lot of lollies" very suspiciously - I don't think he believed us when we said we were going to make rocky road. If there was a diabetes police he would have called them. After telling him not to judge us we were on our way home for our rocky road (mis)adventure.

Amy's first crazy idea was that we could just spoon it on top of itself and it would make a cone shape, but we decided that probably wouldn't work and it would probably just fall over straight away. My crazy idea was that we could pour it into cones made out of cardboard lined with baking paper, but that was way too fiddly.

Our flash of genius was to line some kind-of-conical wine glasses with glad wrap and fill those with the rocky road. I'll let you decide if we succeeded or not.









I felt like I was 5 years old decorating some weird plaster space ship. I think Amy's looks like something you'd see in a sex shop and wonder in which orifice it belongs. I imagined what Mina would think if she saw what we'd made and decided she'd be ashamed of us.

On the plus side, if we ever need to make rocky road space ships we have perfected the technique!

Halloween and George

This year on Halloween night I went to Rigby's for a "variety show" with the girls. It was a fun night, kind of despite the show, where we were shocked and very confused by the... well variety of shows.



The first act was a guy with handcuff surface piercings in his back who stuck needles in his face then squirted water out of his face-holes onto the audience. He then went around wielding a multi-purpose spoon which he used to a) eat a can of baked beans, b) stick up his nose, and c) eat people's food off their plates, all to a soundtrack of heavy metal music. I actually kind of enjoyed it, mostly because of how horrified Alissa and George were.



The other shows were a bit hit and miss; but we really enjoyed the burlesque lady who had a snake as a boa, and the fire guy who came on just at the right time because all his fire heated up room which was getting quite cold towards the end of the night.

We ended up having a fight with the waitress because we missing our glass of wine that was supposed to come out with dinner. I hope Krystal ended up writing that strongly worded letter (we were so outraged!). I don't know if I'd recommend it; I guess Halloween is a very specific night, but it was definitely interesting.

On the weekend we went to a Halloween/house warning party at Ruth and Stuart's place. It was the most extravagantly decorated party I have ever been to, I was so impressed at the attention to detail. There were webs with spiders everywhere, blood transfusions, jelly shots with fingers in them, a graveyard, and decorations in every corner of the place.







Andrew and I went as prisoner (Spotlight) and police woman (Bras n Things). It's the first time in 6 years that I haven't worn my nurse outfit, which I deemed to inappropriate given the list of managers from work that were going to be there.



I made some Halloween cupcakes including eyeballs, severed ears, spiders, and alligators eating Tiny Teddies. I was really proud of them before I saw the other amazing cakes on the table! Seriously... so impressed.



Also, this week I have had George! He is awesome.