Can you imagine the horror?? I woke up to that headline on the front page of the Vancouver Sun this morning. Over twenty four hours of travelling, and the possibility of not being able to have my lip balm, moisturiser (day, night, hand and eye), no clean or comfortable clothes to get changed into, or several books and magazines to entertain. Plus the likelihood of massive delays thanks to extra security measures put in place after a foiled terror attack. It was all bad news from the day before - lining up for seven hours for a frisking, flights cancelled, not being able to go to the bathroom for the last hour and a half of a flight, computer systems failing and tempers frayed. There were so many things that could have gone wrong, but getting through into the US was remarkably quiet. It still took an hour and there were tears (we'll get to that), but my frisker was very nice, and told me she liked my necklace, so it wasn't too bad. The girls at the check in counter also told me they liked my (new) travel wallet, so that was also ace.
I didn't think it was possible to ban EVERYTHING from coming on board, and the exceptions were "small purses" diaper bags and medical equipment. I wouldn't call my handbag small (nor would I call it a purse, but that's another matter), so I took as much out of my handbag as possible, compartmentalised everything in smaller bags, and thought I'd just be charming to get it through. So far so good. Then as we approached the entry to the security screening, the pre-security security man told me my bag was too big and I'd have to check it in. Bap bow. I could see he wasn't a proper immigration person (who you don't argue with), so I pled my case - we are flying to Australia after flying to LA, my bag isn't really that big, it just looks it - "see, if I hold it like this, and you see what's in here it's really very small". Fail. I was already feeling fragile and emotional after just saying bye to my parents and then a lady with a clearly bigger bag than me got through - WTF??? So I pointed this out to him and he was all "she is travelling with an infant". Whatever. So I asked him how big my bag could be and he was just all "yours is too big", there wasn't even a guideline, it was just his arbitrary decision with no avenue of appeal. Talk about injustice.
So, getting teary, we walked back to check it in, and I dumped everything out on a chair to see what I could fit in a smaller cotton bag I had. One of the baggage staff saw I was upset and came over and suggested folding up my bag and sticking it in the smaller bag - brilliant. It totally worked. Everything compressed very nicely, but then the same asshole was all "did you just put your other bag in this one" and then I got all annoyed being all "you told me I had to check it so I just did, are you kidding me?" so then he left me alone and let me through. Ah ha. I won. So once I cleared the security check and finished muttering about security wankers, the handbag came back out and the goods were reconverted, and all was well in the world again.
I'm now sitting in the Qantas lounge, having stuffed myself with noodles and just had a long hot shower. We have five or so hours to kill here, and I think we only have like two more to go. But there are only so many times you can get up to see if they have changed the food, and there is only so much soda water a girl can drink. Sigh. We got an upgrade on the way over - excellent, but have been denied that luxury on the way home. I'm sure it's nothing sleeping pills and booze can't get me through though.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Monday, December 28, 2009
So who is my mum declaring she loves more than her children?
Pebbles and Tootsie, of course. Pebbles is the tan one - she's a Chiweenie - a cross between a sausage dog and a chiuaua, and Tootsie is the white one with black spots, she's a rat terrier.
Kitchen - pre reno
These photos are actually from Christmas 2007 - I took pics once we'd emptied out the kitchen on the day before we left, but it looks so boring with nothing in it, and I think these capture more of the vibe of the old kitchen.
Food glorious food
Here's a pic of the fam taken some time this week, earlier into the binge eating festivities. My camera has died and I cleverly didn't bring my charger, so you'll all have to wait for the good pics.
So Jamie went crabbing with Pauline and her partner Dave on Christmas eve, and good lord did they come back with some great loot. They endured the cold and caught 20 crabs - serious sized crab - and we cooked them all up on Christmas eve. And when I say we, I had nothing to do with it, I was too entertained playing Dave's buck hunting game on the TV. It's great to have that much crab in front of you that you can become complacent about it and decide the little legs are too much hard work and that you are just going for bodies and claws. The leftovers were turned into crab cakes and eaten the next day. So good, so fresh and so totally nommy.
Christmas day we had scrambled truffled eggs with fresh smoked salmon and caviar, all made by moi. Unfortunately the truffle was a dud - I think it was too old, and didn't really do much to the eggs, let alone the chicken skin we shoved it under later on. Bummer, but I'm in no way deterred from the truffle, it was just a bad one, and our own fault for being impulsive about it.
So christmas dinner was the chicken, and also a bunny (made from a Stephanie Alexander recipe) with fennell and pork sausages. I wisely skipped over the chook, realising early that the bunny was where it was at.
But the pinacle of our gluttony was yesterday, boxing day, when Frank roasted a whole suckling pig. In fact, it was bigger than a suckling pig, because a sucking pig is supposed to weigh between 4 and 8 kilos, and ours weighed 15 kg. Mum and Frank have a monster BBQ (with rotisserie, natch), but this not so little piggie was too big for it, so while I went out conveniently boxing day shopping, Frank and Jamie hacked the piggie up into three, roasted two bits in the oven and one bit on the BBQ. It was out of control good. So moist and full of flavour. This was defintiely a happy pig when it was alive. It even looked happy lying on the kitchen bench awaiting dismemberment. And snaps for Phil's girlfriend, who was totally unfazed eating her breakfast next to a pig carcus.
When it came time to carve the beast, I was very keen, so Dave and I hopped in with knives and cut the beast up. We also volunteered to get all the meat off the bones after dinner and nearly filled up a STOCK POT with delicious pork, some of which is being baked into pies now.
It's so nice just chillaxing and being part of the family - listening to everyone talk, mum coo at the dogs, Frank blast us all away with his opera, incessant sport on the TV, someone putting the kettle on in the morning, fridge chockers with food, Jamie fitting right in with everyone and topping up wine glasses. It makes me feel really sad and aware that we don't have this whenever we want. Sure, it's not perfect, no family is, but we've been having such a great time. Tomorrow is our last full day before we fly home, and while I'm trying not to think about it, it's definitely in the back of my mind. At least we've got an exciting new kitchen to go home to!
Friday, December 25, 2009
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas everyone! I've just woken up in Vancouver and it's 2am in Sydney on Christmas day, so everyone will be celebrating very soon. Today we go and do all the food shopping (exciting!) - including a black truffle, a suckling pig, caviar and salmon smoked from fillets someone caught fresh. uummm, yeah, so it's going to be a good christmas. I keep offering and trying to cook, but I keep getting relegated to side dishes. No problem there, because Frank really is a fantastic cook. We have eaten so well.
J-Mo is off crabbing today, I didn't even act like I was interested in going out on a boat and getting wet and dirty in -1 temperatures. But I hope they come home with crabs!
So I see Sydney is going to be cool and rainy, while Perth is going to be hot and dry. We don't have snow forecast, but we do have sun in the prediction, so that will make a nice change.
I hope everyone is with people they love, be it friends or family, and everyone has a great Christmas!! Thinking of you all so far away. Have a great day!!! Love. xx
J-Mo is off crabbing today, I didn't even act like I was interested in going out on a boat and getting wet and dirty in -1 temperatures. But I hope they come home with crabs!
So I see Sydney is going to be cool and rainy, while Perth is going to be hot and dry. We don't have snow forecast, but we do have sun in the prediction, so that will make a nice change.
I hope everyone is with people they love, be it friends or family, and everyone has a great Christmas!! Thinking of you all so far away. Have a great day!!! Love. xx
Monday, December 21, 2009
One year in
Ola peeps! It's been a while, as we have been on the road in the US. Having a great trip so far, and we are now in Vancouver, hanging out with my ma and pa.
We spent four days in San Fran, which we still loved. It seemed a lot quieter than last time, I don't know if that's because there has been some post GFC quietening down or because we now come from Sydney and that kind of changes your point of view on how busy things are. We stayed at the Mandarin Oriental, and got an upgrade after I complained about noise from the elevator. The new room was on the 41st floor and had three massive windows overlooking the city. We couldn't bear to sleep with the curtains closed because the view was so ace... so we didn't. It helps that it's been really grey and rainy and the sun rises at like eight, so you aren't brutalised into being awake at an obscene hour by sunlight.
Of course, we ate really well. I had the best steak of my life (prime rib the size of my head) and also the best sandie of my life in SF (from an awesome Italian deli - the guide book says it makes the kind of sandwiches the pope would get in heaven, I don't think they were far from wrong - I've possibly talked as much about this sandie as I have about any other meal I've ever had. It was freshly sliced paper thin proscuitto - like $10 worth, fresh buffalo mozarella, onions, roasted capsicum and lettuce, all toasted in an onion foccacia. And it was massive, and I wanted it to never end.)
We hit the road and spent a night at the most beautiful resort in Sanoma (which is the valley parallel to Napa). Most of the drive was grey and misty and rainy, which I love in wine country, and this resort was just amazing - big arm chairs, fire place in our room, huge bath and shower, lovely shutter windows, all a bit Spanish influenced, but not in an obvious way.
Then we hit small town America. Spent a night on top of a cliff overlooking the ocean and then the next night in a suicide inducing fishing come industrial town. We couldn't spend money there if we tried - stoped at a few places to get rates and look at rooms, but we couldn't find anything decent, so the "Lighthouse Inn" (which had nothing to do with a lighthouse) it was.
Two nights in Portland, which seemed a bit down and out to us. It's also the home of all waterproof clothing. Brand labels there are Columbia and Kathmandu, and nerdy bookworm types with attitude (and matching waterproof pants and jackets) seem to have taken over the city. People looked at me strange because I was wearing a dress (and my hot new biker boots), but whatever. Again, raining, so naturally we went shopping at Saks Fifth Ave (I bought a hot dress, Jamie a Hugo Boss jacket).
Then two nights in Seattle at a really cute Scandanavian themed hotel (yes!!!). We really liked Seattle. They have the most amazing farmers market, which is really old and obviously functional and cheap, not just pandering to the organic trendy types. Also not as sanitised as the markets in SF (which were also awesome - I actually like them better, but I'm probably more in the trendy organic category rather than the bargain hunting get your hands dirty category).
Most of the drive we did on the 101 rather than the I5 - the 101 takes a lot longer, but is right on the coast and goes through all the old redwood forests. It was really so pretty. A lot of the time it was misty, drizzly and low visiability, but that didn't really take away from it, it was still very mantic and the forest is all so dense and impenetrable. The road wound out along the coast and through the forests - really just spectacular
We did the drive south from San Fran three years ago, and I think I like the drive north more.
It doubled the cost of the hire car to take it across the border into Canada, so we dumped it in Seattle and caught the train up yesterday. Which is civilised in theory, but with my two rather large suitcases it becomes reasonably painful. Mum was waiting for us, et two very famous dogs, and Frank flew in last night. It's lovely to see them, and right now I'm in the study, and I can see mum preparing dinner, while Frank and Jamie sit at the Island bench in the kitchen having a drink and talking about shares or something equally riveting.
And really, the whole point of this post was to note that it's our first wedding anniversary today! We aren't doing anything special - the last week and a bit has been special enough, and we've eaten out every meal and been packing our bags in different hotels enough to make us both want to stay at home and have a low key night. With french champagne and bunny for dinner of course... So, I wish we could toast to today with our special peeps, but toasting with family who we rarely see is also pretty good. Thanks everyone for being a really special part of our lives for the last year and more. And thanks to my lovely hubby for making the last year so great. Marriage is so much more than I thought it would be, and I love what we have. xx
p.s. photos to come when we get home.
p.p.s. as I write this our new kitchen is all but complete!!! OMG - best ever motivation to want a holiday to end - a BRAND new kitchen. It's surreal to sit here and try to imagine what it looks like. I can't wait to see it. Needless to say, I will post about it asap after I've finished touching everything and panting.
We spent four days in San Fran, which we still loved. It seemed a lot quieter than last time, I don't know if that's because there has been some post GFC quietening down or because we now come from Sydney and that kind of changes your point of view on how busy things are. We stayed at the Mandarin Oriental, and got an upgrade after I complained about noise from the elevator. The new room was on the 41st floor and had three massive windows overlooking the city. We couldn't bear to sleep with the curtains closed because the view was so ace... so we didn't. It helps that it's been really grey and rainy and the sun rises at like eight, so you aren't brutalised into being awake at an obscene hour by sunlight.
Of course, we ate really well. I had the best steak of my life (prime rib the size of my head) and also the best sandie of my life in SF (from an awesome Italian deli - the guide book says it makes the kind of sandwiches the pope would get in heaven, I don't think they were far from wrong - I've possibly talked as much about this sandie as I have about any other meal I've ever had. It was freshly sliced paper thin proscuitto - like $10 worth, fresh buffalo mozarella, onions, roasted capsicum and lettuce, all toasted in an onion foccacia. And it was massive, and I wanted it to never end.)
We hit the road and spent a night at the most beautiful resort in Sanoma (which is the valley parallel to Napa). Most of the drive was grey and misty and rainy, which I love in wine country, and this resort was just amazing - big arm chairs, fire place in our room, huge bath and shower, lovely shutter windows, all a bit Spanish influenced, but not in an obvious way.
Then we hit small town America. Spent a night on top of a cliff overlooking the ocean and then the next night in a suicide inducing fishing come industrial town. We couldn't spend money there if we tried - stoped at a few places to get rates and look at rooms, but we couldn't find anything decent, so the "Lighthouse Inn" (which had nothing to do with a lighthouse) it was.
Two nights in Portland, which seemed a bit down and out to us. It's also the home of all waterproof clothing. Brand labels there are Columbia and Kathmandu, and nerdy bookworm types with attitude (and matching waterproof pants and jackets) seem to have taken over the city. People looked at me strange because I was wearing a dress (and my hot new biker boots), but whatever. Again, raining, so naturally we went shopping at Saks Fifth Ave (I bought a hot dress, Jamie a Hugo Boss jacket).
Then two nights in Seattle at a really cute Scandanavian themed hotel (yes!!!). We really liked Seattle. They have the most amazing farmers market, which is really old and obviously functional and cheap, not just pandering to the organic trendy types. Also not as sanitised as the markets in SF (which were also awesome - I actually like them better, but I'm probably more in the trendy organic category rather than the bargain hunting get your hands dirty category).
Most of the drive we did on the 101 rather than the I5 - the 101 takes a lot longer, but is right on the coast and goes through all the old redwood forests. It was really so pretty. A lot of the time it was misty, drizzly and low visiability, but that didn't really take away from it, it was still very mantic and the forest is all so dense and impenetrable. The road wound out along the coast and through the forests - really just spectacular
We did the drive south from San Fran three years ago, and I think I like the drive north more.
It doubled the cost of the hire car to take it across the border into Canada, so we dumped it in Seattle and caught the train up yesterday. Which is civilised in theory, but with my two rather large suitcases it becomes reasonably painful. Mum was waiting for us, et two very famous dogs, and Frank flew in last night. It's lovely to see them, and right now I'm in the study, and I can see mum preparing dinner, while Frank and Jamie sit at the Island bench in the kitchen having a drink and talking about shares or something equally riveting.
And really, the whole point of this post was to note that it's our first wedding anniversary today! We aren't doing anything special - the last week and a bit has been special enough, and we've eaten out every meal and been packing our bags in different hotels enough to make us both want to stay at home and have a low key night. With french champagne and bunny for dinner of course... So, I wish we could toast to today with our special peeps, but toasting with family who we rarely see is also pretty good. Thanks everyone for being a really special part of our lives for the last year and more. And thanks to my lovely hubby for making the last year so great. Marriage is so much more than I thought it would be, and I love what we have. xx
p.s. photos to come when we get home.
p.p.s. as I write this our new kitchen is all but complete!!! OMG - best ever motivation to want a holiday to end - a BRAND new kitchen. It's surreal to sit here and try to imagine what it looks like. I can't wait to see it. Needless to say, I will post about it asap after I've finished touching everything and panting.
Monday, December 7, 2009
That's the way we roll
We were very lucky to be invited out on a 75 foot boat on Sunday evening, and cruised around the harbour, soaking up the very different vantage point you get on Sydney from the harbour. It was a beautiful night, and we had such a lovely time. I so didn't want to get off the boat - I totally want that to be my life.
The boat was TWICE a big as our house. And has four times as many bathrooms - that is to say it has four bathroms and we have one.
The boat was TWICE a big as our house. And has four times as many bathrooms - that is to say it has four bathroms and we have one.
Whole fish
The whole fish is something I'm trying to embrace more over summer. Mum and Frank used to make this dish all the time whe we were growing up, and it was one of those dishes that was always shrouded in adult mystery, because it was one they just made for them and didn't feed to us. Probably not for any particular reason other than getting kids to eat something when you can still see its face, something that is full of bones, and something that has chilli and tofu sauce is an uphill battle.
I'd forgotten about it until mum made it when I was recently in Jakarta, and it was really good. The fish stays so lovely and moist, and it's all very light and healthy. Two thumbs up.
I'd forgotten about it until mum made it when I was recently in Jakarta, and it was really good. The fish stays so lovely and moist, and it's all very light and healthy. Two thumbs up.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
The night Liam ruined Christmas
This weekend I had a quick trip to Perth. I'm still recovering - ugh. A great time was had though. Flew in Friday morning, had a spot of lunch at Il Lido with Em and Drew, nom, nom.
After a quick nap, it was off to Drew's to catch up with Liam, Benno, Sasha, Matt and Annie. Somehow six hours passed and many, many bottles of wine were drunk. It was great to see everyone, and I'm pretty sure I ranted and raved and caried on (I definitely know I writhed around on the floor to a Mariah Carey song with Drew), but that was nothing compared to what Liam did... After we (I) put some christmas carols on someone (Drew) decided to pull out his christmas decorations (and a drill to hang them). The drill was prohibited by someone (Liam) but that didn't stop the ornaments coming out (and did they keep coming...). After being roughly set up on every flat surface, more merriment ensued. The night wound to its inevitable end, and as Liam got up to say bye to Benno he RUINED CHRISTMAS and knocked over a family of homeless carollers. Legs, bits of christmas tree, heads - everywhere. So now no one will have a merry Christmas.
On the upside though, the apartment is totally cute. Here's some pics.
Team bubbles.
Nigella wares...
Sorry, who??
After a quick nap, it was off to Drew's to catch up with Liam, Benno, Sasha, Matt and Annie. Somehow six hours passed and many, many bottles of wine were drunk. It was great to see everyone, and I'm pretty sure I ranted and raved and caried on (I definitely know I writhed around on the floor to a Mariah Carey song with Drew), but that was nothing compared to what Liam did... After we (I) put some christmas carols on someone (Drew) decided to pull out his christmas decorations (and a drill to hang them). The drill was prohibited by someone (Liam) but that didn't stop the ornaments coming out (and did they keep coming...). After being roughly set up on every flat surface, more merriment ensued. The night wound to its inevitable end, and as Liam got up to say bye to Benno he RUINED CHRISTMAS and knocked over a family of homeless carollers. Legs, bits of christmas tree, heads - everywhere. So now no one will have a merry Christmas.
On the upside though, the apartment is totally cute. Here's some pics.
Team bubbles.
Nigella wares...
Sorry, who??
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