Let's eat again, like we did last summer...

There's a segment on my Zumba dvd that centres on Chubby Checker's "The Twist". We (me and the dancers on the dvd) all twist and swivel, jiving and developing the move as we bend our knees lower and lower, until our bums almost kiss the floor. It's an incredibly satisfying section of the dvd because a) everyone can do the twist and b) the music makes you feel like you've been transported back to the time of Kennedy when jukeboxes reigned supreme and a night out meant a night on the dance floor.

Carrying on with the "twist" theme, this weekend was a time for more twisting and flexing-- but of the digestive kind.

Miss EBae and I kicked it off on Friday with a spontaneous meal at Maccas. I say "spontaneous" because the plan may have been to go somewhere with a little more pizazz-- i.e. not fast food. But it was our meeting place, and as we waited for my sister to turn up before we went to the Not-Sure-Where, -But-Somewhere-With-A-Bit-More-Pizazz eatery, the smell of burgers and french paper, I mean fries, became all too much and we succumbed. It was cheap, it was easy, it was awesome.

Saturday was spent with Mrs Rocke and as we trotted in after only providing a couple of hours notice, Mrs Rocke reprimanded us with: "We'll have to make do with leftovers in the fridge because tomorrow is my shopping day!" Leftovers? More like the best antipasto platter that could rival any restaurant and a grand pear tart to end! We left her place rotund and sleepy, satisfied from a good day of eating effort.

By the way, it's Mrs Rocke's 87th birthday tomorrow:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MRS ROCKE!!!! WE LOVE YOU AND FRANK A LOT!!

And so regrettably, today marked the end of our eating weekend. We finished it with a Tiger Pie from Harry's. My parents rocked their sun visors and boat hats while they were at it:

Enjoy the last days of January!

Phillip Island and those birds in dinner suits...

I really can't concentrate because we're at the prickly end of the semi-final between the Roger FedEx and the Novak Djoker at the Aussie Open.

In any case, enjoy these photos from my 5 day stay in Melbourne, then Phillip Island, and then back to Melbourne again.

Saturday night was spent at the A-Chef's place, where the BudCycler brought his very own Ice Kachang machine and it took more than the appropriate number of boys to get the requisite amount of ice shaved.

[The end result? A refreshing and colourful Ice Kachang:]

[So many arms:]

The next morning, we headed off for the drive across the bridge and into Phillip Island. We stayed at a charming Bed and Breakfast called the Holmwood Guesthouse. Talk about comfy, we woke up at 9 am, indulged in some continental breakfast and loitered out the door to see the sights of Phillip Island.

On Saturday night we saw the Penguin Parade, but we weren't allowed to take any photos because it stresses the plucky penguins out and they run back into the sea (apparently crossing the beach after night has fallen is the most stressful part of a little penguin's day). But the next day at the Nobbies, we spied some tiny baby penguins holding the fort while their parents searched for food:

Here we are at Seal Rocks:

Then the next day we hung out at Panny's Phillip Island Chocolate Factory and broke all the rules:

Meanwhile Man from Mars met his match with Chocolate Adonis:

This Dame Edna is made entirely of CHOCOLATES!

And... freshly tempered and perfectly snappy, this chocolate is right ready to be wrapped and shipped off:

Next stop was the Koala Conservation Centre. We saw real snuggly koalas and bearhugged some fake giant ones too:

[A koala and her baby:]

[Boing!!! Wallaby spots us from 200 metres away:]

[Delicate butterfly with striking wings:]

Great Aussie bird builds his humble abode:

[On the beach:]

... And to end, Aussie flowers!

And homebound again... giant tumbleweed (or so I thought)- bales of hay, in actual fact:

And the trip came to an end soon after! Highly recommended if you're looking out for a quick trip that won't cost the earth and take your mind far far away from the city and work.

Cloud Boulevard.

This weekend I went to Melbourne and Man from Mars and I went on an epic voyage to Phillip Island. I'll fill you in on that tomorrow because in the spirit of Australia Day, it isn't fair to do a half baked recount given all the penguins, Australian birds, wallabies and flora we saw.

For now, I'll follow on from Ms Calmfarm's appreciation of all things cloudy, dreamy and dramatic and let you bask in the flight that was Friday night, Sydney to Melbourne- when blue skies turned to dusk as the plane leapt off the edge of the clouds and into the city.

[Some serious cumulonimbus:]

[Dusk falls:]

[Off Cloud 9 and back to Real Life:]

[And the sunset as we hit the tarmac:]

Meanwhile, it was Miss DB's birthday yesterday:

HAPPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU MISS DB! Me love you long time!

When catching up with old friends is an easy, breezy chat in Hyde Park...

Today I had lunch with Snedhead. It's the first time I've seen him pretty much since he got married way back in 2008. At uni, Snedhead was known by all and sundry as a "really good guy" who smiled far less often than me, but when he did, you knew it was because it was either super funny or he was very very happy (unlike me who laughs at everything and anything and sometimes accidentally smiles at dodgy strangers).

We had a grand catch up and concurred on one thing: catching up with people you haven't seen for a while can either be very strange, awkward and a wistful shame of a friendship that's reached its use-by date, or, you can pick up right where you left off and have a good old yarn.

Ours was the latter and I took a photo for new time's sake.


And, just because it's summer and cockatoos are so quirky and cute, here's one that squawked it's head off all evening:

Zumba, Zumba, Zumba-umba eh!

http://zumbainthehills.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/images/beto_pointing.190114931.jpg

You'll have to forgive me for my lack of posts since the start of the year. I've accidentally become a little Zumba-obsessed you see, and it's taking up the time I would ordinarily devote to updating my stories.

The Zumba pack which my sister got me for Christmas is phucking phenomenal. Four different CDs with work-outs dedicated to cardio/abs/express workouts/tone and sculpt, has made enjoying the sweat and flex a whole lot easier. During the week, I keep it to the small stuff, with the 20 minute express workout being huff-puff-y enough to get my forehead glistening with a fine sheen of sweat. On weekends, I bust out the 50 minute workout and I won't tell you how sweaty I get, because I don't think you'd really wanna know. It suffices to say that post 50 minute workout, a swim and two giant cups of water later, there is no urge to pee. That's right, none whatsoever.

My only concern is, that with all this calf concentrated exertion, am I developing cankles?? My legs feel much stronger and although my muffin top's receding, my calves and ankles may be on the road to becoming One and the Same.

In addition to this, every time my mind strays at work or during a commercial break, I find myself humming Zumba music to myself. And I also find myself pointing at any willing recipient and declaring: You got it! in that fine Brazillian drawl that Beto, the Zumba instructor imparts at the end of each routine (picture above- that's exactly how he points when he says "You got it!").

I even got Miss K Kaif onto it and on Friday as we exited the deserted car park, she started busting out this move where you pump your knees and while you do that, you zoom one arm around in a circle while the other one stays horizonal. She was doing the move perfectly but her long limbs combined with the joyful grin and her legs pumping much higher than mine would ever go, made us both collapse into a giant Zumba impersonating mess of laughter. After we went our separate ways, I had to keep smothering my laugh as I walked to the station- we've promised to compare Samba notes on Monday, because neither of us can get our heads around that dance.

Man alive, is Zumba fun.

Mozzies alive!

Last week, Man from Mars' mum moved up to Sydney for her sparkly new role as Associate Professor at UNSW.

Man from Mars, his mum, her friend and his son all shuffled bum and bicep up to Sydney, first driving a truckful of her belongings and her car to Yass, and then making the remainder of the trip on Monday. There was a lot of pushing, grunting, bad body odour, lifting, internet connecting, tasty Japanese and of course, in amongst all of this, the intense Sydney humidity and ravenous blood thirsty mozzies. What a stellar combination. Such are the joys of moving.

[Wall Art in a Surry Hills park:]



[Man from Mars and his lovely mum:]




[Man from Mars' mum's friend and his son and us:]




[The view from her balcony as the sun goes down:]

As a new week starts and Man from Mars and I count our mozzie bites (Him: at least 10 Me: 9, including one below my fingernail on my pinkie and one on the underside of my index finger (?!!?)), it's the start of a new Career Era for his mum who hereafter shall be called "Her Associate Professorness" (like "Her Royal Highness" except much more academically inclined, geddit?)

Good luck, Her Associate Professorness!!!

And a magnificent week to you all.

Day 1

Happy New Year, everybody! Hope you've had a truly silly Silly Season!

The last week has been festively marked with impressive, large scale feasts coordinated by my sister (hereafter "the Ridiculously Royal Food Rendezvous Series"). She cooked her little hiney off and in amongst all her Fitness! sessions and cooking workouts, our family and her friends ate like kings.

Ridiculously Royal Food Rendezvous #1: Christmas dinner was a 4kg leg of ham, poached pear and cranberry accompaniment, roast vegetables (pumpkin, sweet potato, corn), potato galette, seafood salad, 5 roast quails and a mango pie to end. You said it- maybe a little on the excessive side for our family of 4, and probably more fit for an army of 20, but what can we say? Her ten hour cooking marathon left us smacking our lips together and equipped with complete meals for the next 4 days.

In the days after Christmas, I hung out with Miss Ebae and went to the sales in Chatswood. I went a little crazy for the costume jewellery at Lovisa and scored 9 things for $45. I also got 2 tops for $20 and a cool sailor bag for $40. Admittedly, with all my purchases in tow, I felt a tiny twinge of buyer's regret because I don't exactly need all that stuff, but then again, it is the Silly Season, so I suppose I can plead the defence of momentary shopping insanity on account of all the food I ate.

Ridiculously Royal Food Rendezvous #2: My sister hosted a brunch for two of her high school friends, Dr RainbowScrubs and Miss Loksee. The theme was breezy and simple with the food reflecting the mood- light puff pastry tarts, prawns, thai chicken salad and bruschetta. We sipped wine, gulped down blood orange agrum and ended with Lindt delights and Italian sweets.

For Christmas, my sister got me a Zumba pack which includes a variety of work outs, music CD, maracas and a special watch that monitors my work outs. For someone who shuns gyms, thrives on hyperactive dancing and isn't strong in the coordination department, Zumba in my lounge room rocks my aerobics socks and I'm stoked. In time, I might even hold the passionate pizzazz of the giant bull, (roses in tow) in World Square.

As Day 1 draws to a close, I'm sitting in the living room watching To Catch a Thief. Only in the silly season, when the tv stations are on programming hiatus, would you be lucky enough to catch old school films at prime evening viewing times. Love it.

Have a phucking phenomenal year.