Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Meat Pies Never Tasted So Good
One of the quick inexpensive meals around here are meat pies. You can basically find anything in a meat pie from your standard chicken pot pie to lamb and mushroom meat pie (which is the one in the picture below). We get them at Quay (pronounced key) Deli before heading out for a picnic in the Royal Botanical Gardens or Jason will pick one up for lunch for $5 at Pie Face. Or, on this particular day there was a meat pie and schooner of Coopers Pale Ale special for $20 at pubs all over Sydney as part of the Crave Sydney Food Festival. Note: A schooner is 425ml or 15 oz. This meat pie was the best one I've had yet. I'm not sure if it was just that good or the playboy bunny really added something!
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Roos
A quick video of some of the kangaroos when we were camping last weekend. Abby loved to chase them away from our tent.
Friday, October 15, 2010
Is that all you got...you DOGS!?
The night before we left for our Jervis Bay trip we were in our bedroom packing and doing last minute preparations when we heard a scuffle outside of our window. For those of you that know the voyer that I am, I quickly turned off the light, opened the window and craned my neck out to see and hear what was going down. Being that we don't have screens in the windows here we could really get a good look.
The scene:
On the sidewalk of the restaurant across the street
The players:
Hairy back drunk guy with an umbrella who keeps taking his shirt off (HBDG)
Relatively sober guy with a SAAB (SGWS)
Sober guy's worthless friend
Random shouldn't be involved Asian chick
Little boy cops
Woman in power suit
The story:
Hairy back drunk guy (HBDG) is continually throwing down his broken umbrella screaming at the sober guy with SAAB (SGWS) "I'm going to fuck up your SAAB, you DOG!" SGWS picks up HBDG by the throat, slams him down on the hood of the SAAB and is seemingly ready to deliver the death blow. HBDG is continually screaming, "Is that all you got...you DOG?!" Inexplicable, SGWS does nothing and releases the HBDG. HBDG now kicks the windows of the restaurant, the door of the SAAB and is screaming, "I'm an animal...is that all you got?!" It's at this point that random Asian chick walking by with her boyfriend decides to get involved to calm down the situation. You wouldn't see that in the States! She does seem to calm HBDG down a bit and they hug. Do they know each other? Then HBDG kisses her on the lips and she freaks out yelling at him and running off. They don't know each other that well I guess! This is the last that we see of random Asian chick that shouldn't have been involved in the first place.
About 20 minutes of scuffling continues with the shirt being put back on and then off again, and no real action. Finally, a cop car pulls up in no apparent rush and two guys in cargo shorts and t-shirts jump out. The questions here are, "were these cops off-duty at the bar partying with their buddies when they got the call?" or "Is there really no police uniform?" They look like teenagers but one has a billy club (which he probably has no idea how to use) and they have handcuffs so they must be for real. They get HBDG on the ground and it takes awhile to get him cuffed. All the while HBDG screams, "Is that all you got...you DOGS?!"
Next, an unmarked car pulls up and a middle aged woman in a serious power suit jumps out (I question if she is the Queen herself) and looks like she is going to handle the situation. She proceeds to hold down one of HBDG ankles until the paddy-wagon shows up. It's phrases like that, paddy-wagon, that just don't make sense here. It takes two more cops (in shorts and t-shirts) to get him in the wagon. It actually looked more like a car pulling a small u-haul.
Now, I'm sorry if you have invested time in reading this which should end with some crazy climax but alas, we are in Australia and that just doesn't happen here. No threat of anyone pulling a gun and 14 yr old cops that don't know how to use a billy club=boring ending to a great start.
The scene:
On the sidewalk of the restaurant across the street
The players:
Hairy back drunk guy with an umbrella who keeps taking his shirt off (HBDG)
Relatively sober guy with a SAAB (SGWS)
Sober guy's worthless friend
Random shouldn't be involved Asian chick
Little boy cops
Woman in power suit
The story:
Hairy back drunk guy (HBDG) is continually throwing down his broken umbrella screaming at the sober guy with SAAB (SGWS) "I'm going to fuck up your SAAB, you DOG!" SGWS picks up HBDG by the throat, slams him down on the hood of the SAAB and is seemingly ready to deliver the death blow. HBDG is continually screaming, "Is that all you got...you DOG?!" Inexplicable, SGWS does nothing and releases the HBDG. HBDG now kicks the windows of the restaurant, the door of the SAAB and is screaming, "I'm an animal...is that all you got?!" It's at this point that random Asian chick walking by with her boyfriend decides to get involved to calm down the situation. You wouldn't see that in the States! She does seem to calm HBDG down a bit and they hug. Do they know each other? Then HBDG kisses her on the lips and she freaks out yelling at him and running off. They don't know each other that well I guess! This is the last that we see of random Asian chick that shouldn't have been involved in the first place.
About 20 minutes of scuffling continues with the shirt being put back on and then off again, and no real action. Finally, a cop car pulls up in no apparent rush and two guys in cargo shorts and t-shirts jump out. The questions here are, "were these cops off-duty at the bar partying with their buddies when they got the call?" or "Is there really no police uniform?" They look like teenagers but one has a billy club (which he probably has no idea how to use) and they have handcuffs so they must be for real. They get HBDG on the ground and it takes awhile to get him cuffed. All the while HBDG screams, "Is that all you got...you DOGS?!"
Next, an unmarked car pulls up and a middle aged woman in a serious power suit jumps out (I question if she is the Queen herself) and looks like she is going to handle the situation. She proceeds to hold down one of HBDG ankles until the paddy-wagon shows up. It's phrases like that, paddy-wagon, that just don't make sense here. It takes two more cops (in shorts and t-shirts) to get him in the wagon. It actually looked more like a car pulling a small u-haul.
Now, I'm sorry if you have invested time in reading this which should end with some crazy climax but alas, we are in Australia and that just doesn't happen here. No threat of anyone pulling a gun and 14 yr old cops that don't know how to use a billy club=boring ending to a great start.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Things I miss...
I can't believe we have been here for over two months which means that our adventure is 1/6th of the way over. Have we seen 1/6th of everything we want or plan to see? This is a BIG country! Back to things I miss.
I miss being able to get from the front door to the street in 5 seconds. To get to the street from our apartment we go down a long hallway to the elevator where Abby has to get out of the pram to push the down button. Down eight levels, through our lobby, out a door and down a step (not easy with a stroller) into the courtyard. Then through the courtyard, swipe the key card to get in the door to the main lobby. This also involves going up a step. Then through the lobby and out onto the street. To get back to our apartment it's the same routine but add in three additional key card swipes and unlocking the door. Just to give you the full picture, imagine me having just gone food shopping so the pram is loaded with groceries, I have two bags on my arms, Abby is holding 3 litres of milk, and I need to find the key card and go up and down the steps.
I miss the quiet plumbing and appliances. There is a drain on the floor of each bathroom. When you flush the toilet or drain the tub which are loud by themselves, the drain on the floor then gargles for a couple minutes. The dryer is insanly loud. Forget about trying to watch tv or talk on the phone when that thing is running. And the kitchen sink drowns out any conversation. It works great during an argument but that's about it. Turn it on and..."what? I can't hear you!" End of argument.
I miss shopping carts that travel in the direction that you push them. All shopping carts here have four wheels all of which can move in any direction. You would think that would be like all-wheel drive giving you ultimate control but in fact it is quite the opposite to the point where I almost run into other people on a regular basis. It does however make for fun 360's for Abby once you get into the wide aisles!
I miss autumn. It's suppossed to be getting cool in October. Green pumpkins aren't the same.
I miss our friends and family. Lots of acquaintances here but no close friends or family that already know your whole life story. I miss not having to start from scratch. Skype is great but it's just not the same as being able to give and get a good hug.
I miss being able to get from the front door to the street in 5 seconds. To get to the street from our apartment we go down a long hallway to the elevator where Abby has to get out of the pram to push the down button. Down eight levels, through our lobby, out a door and down a step (not easy with a stroller) into the courtyard. Then through the courtyard, swipe the key card to get in the door to the main lobby. This also involves going up a step. Then through the lobby and out onto the street. To get back to our apartment it's the same routine but add in three additional key card swipes and unlocking the door. Just to give you the full picture, imagine me having just gone food shopping so the pram is loaded with groceries, I have two bags on my arms, Abby is holding 3 litres of milk, and I need to find the key card and go up and down the steps.
I miss the quiet plumbing and appliances. There is a drain on the floor of each bathroom. When you flush the toilet or drain the tub which are loud by themselves, the drain on the floor then gargles for a couple minutes. The dryer is insanly loud. Forget about trying to watch tv or talk on the phone when that thing is running. And the kitchen sink drowns out any conversation. It works great during an argument but that's about it. Turn it on and..."what? I can't hear you!" End of argument.
I miss shopping carts that travel in the direction that you push them. All shopping carts here have four wheels all of which can move in any direction. You would think that would be like all-wheel drive giving you ultimate control but in fact it is quite the opposite to the point where I almost run into other people on a regular basis. It does however make for fun 360's for Abby once you get into the wide aisles!
I miss autumn. It's suppossed to be getting cool in October. Green pumpkins aren't the same.
I miss our friends and family. Lots of acquaintances here but no close friends or family that already know your whole life story. I miss not having to start from scratch. Skype is great but it's just not the same as being able to give and get a good hug.
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