A really early celebratory lunch...

My sister and I had lunch today at Bacio in the QVB. Talk about fresh, tasty Italian food- it was the real deal, complete with authentic Italian stallion waiters conversing in Italian and grazia-ing everything and everyone in sight.

My sister said it was a super early lunch for my birthday (which is more than a month away). Early schmearly, we ate every other patron in the cafe under the table and it was really super delicious. Do you reckon it's too early to have a super early lunch for my sister's birthday in September? Or my mum's birthday in October? Or my dad's birthday in November?

Is it ever too early to celebrate? Now there's food for thought-- because theoretically, everyday should be a celebration, right? So why not enjoy it with an outing and good dosh.

[My sister in her cool cat hat:]

[Bruschetta bella! Plumpest cherry tomatos ever: ]

[Grr is very happy with our food selection, which included spaghetti and comforting cauliflower soup:]

[Dusk falls appropriately-- I was so tired from all that food:]

Thanks GRR! It was a tremendous meal.

Friday, Funny Funday Friday...

Happy Red Nose Day for yesterday!

Funny quote of the week courtesy of Miss DB:

"I was leaving a voicemail for (insert name of man she regularly liaises with in her role at work) and I wasn't concentrating, so I accidentally ended it like this: "if you could please send that to me, that would be great. Thanks. Dona."

Miss DB pauses while we all digest.

You signed off your voicemail, like an email? I comprehendo.

Yeah I know!! I don't even know what I was thinking!! How embarrassing!

Miss Tiny and I laugh heartily. Easy enough mistake to make. Confuse two modes of communication and voila, you sound a bit funny, but it's not like it doesn't make sense, I reassure Miss DB. After all, maybe he just thought you were reiterating your name!

Miss DB looks back at me doubtfully, but concedes that "He called me back and didn't act like I'd said anything weird."

I nod as if to say "See, don't worry!" and we link arms, pounding the pavement in unison amongst the peak hour pedestrian traffic.

Glebe Marketeers...

This weekend, the weather gratefully shuffled out from its grey, unhappy drizzle (above) and pumped out awesome wintry blue skies and sunshine (below). Birds trilled, I skipped and these tiny purple flowers triumphed against the Great Wall of Green to announce the start of a lovely weekend.

[The Great Wall of Green at my train station- it goes for almost the entire station fence- can you spot the tiny purple flowers?]

[Triumphant purple flowers up close:]


Miss EBae and I made the most of it, scouring Glebe Markets.

We admired jewellery stands, ate turkish flatbread with fetta cheese and spinach slotted in between, and scoped out the scenery through our Hungarian Vegan Desserts.

Here's a glimpse of what we spied:

[Swinging hearts:]

[Gorgeous fabrics:]


[Dappled sunlight and lots and lots of clothes:]

Throughout the day, we experienced the full gamut of stall owners. From the husband whose wife was absent, and as a result readily handed out discounts and cheerfully admitted that "she'd get so mad if she knew I was selling these at such low prices!" to the Korean lady who scowled when I fumbled one of her watches made out of Lego and could only gasp as it rolled off the table and onto the concrete:

"She dropped it-- that girl. She was playing with it and it totally looked like it was unstable and then it fell on the ground. Move the watches away from the corner! People just touch the stuff too much!"

she said all stroppily in Korean to her benign husband. Unluckily for her, both Miss EBae and I understand Korean and we both ambled (slightly petulantly) away with our arms linked and whispering about how stormy she was. I felt bad, okay? But honestly, complaining about people touching your stock at Glebe Markets is like a restaurateur getting annoyed at his customers because they can't decide what they want from the menu. It's bound to happen.

Miss EBae got defensive on my behalf and said she'd come this close to telling the lady off- in Korean. I guess we shouldn't have been so surprised-- it's pretty normal for Koreans to get annoyed when you pick things up, leave giant cloudy finger prints on pretty items and then pop things down again, even in department stores.

Despite the minor confrontation that could have, but didn't happen, it was a relaxing afternoon. Miss EBae and I are so excited because not only is Miss EBae going to be in Paris when I am (in August!!!) but she's going to be there for SIX MONTHS!

Mon Dieu, such exciting times!!

The cliffhanger ending ends...

So a while back, I told you about Ms CalmFarm's and my rendevous at Colour Me Mine where we created masterpieces from a bit of plaster, paint and a nice big oven. You were left on the edge of your seat as I bestowed upon you, this blog's very first cliff hanger ending-- bum-bum-baaaaah!

The weeks have passed and our masterpieces have presented themselves nicely. Ms CalmFarm's was a Rolls Royce and mine was a Qantas A380 complete with a musical and flowerbed emblazoned rudder to end. Because Ms CalmFarm picked them up, I didn't get to see her special car in the flesh, and as a result, have no photos of how it turned out. However, I did see an Iphone picture and it was teal and shiny, and so very very classy.

For now you'll have to make do with too many photos of my plane. I gave it to Man from Mars last Friday in honour of our upcoming European Adventure. I think he thought it was pretty awesome. But in typical "I wanna be the pilot!" fashion (he's an aviation lover, for those of you who don't know) he was mildly disappointed that I had painted myself in the pilot's seat:

I didn't know that was where the pilot sat! I protested half-heartedly.

That part was actually true-- I didn't know that's where the pilot sits ... but secretly, I was kind of chuffed. All I could think was: I'm a pilot!! And Man from Mars is my Assistant Pilot!! Even though he knows how to fly a plane and I don't!!!!!! Wheeeeeee!

[Before the baking started:]


[My sister and the jumbo jet:]


[Man from Mars with his new toy:]

[Taxiing down the runway:]

There's a circus and a jungle in my garden...

My sister came to visit this weekend and we had fun as always. She tends to come on Friday, we hang on Saturday and she heads back on Sunday to go to work. This weekend we had lunch with Mrs Rocke- gourmet pizza, crustini with pesto, and fizzy drink, followed by Piper Lane purchases, heinously expensive tea from DJs and a sleepy girltalk session in Mrs Rocke's room . Age difference aside, it rivalled the best of the best of the best girly days out.

Whenever she leaves, and if I don't have any plans, I'm left to my own devices to daydream and imagine. Today, while I was sitting in the backyard drinking my heinously expensive peppermint tea and indulging in a triple choc brownie, I discovered that there's a jungle in my garden. And a circus. And some marine life. And an important looking fossil.

No, that's quite impossible- a bunch of poppycock I hear you say. Unless you live in Taronga Zoo, a backyard is a place for unmown grass, some flowers and lots of lizards and insects! you proclaim.

Wrong, says I. And, eat my shorts, I proclaim. Because as with all grand discoveries, I recorded it all. There's a jungle, and a circus, a star fish and an archaeological site in my backyard. The proof is in the pictures.

[My expensive tea and triple choc brownie:]

[Cos I'm Asian:]

[The tightrope walkers from the circus:]

[An ancient archaeological relic:]


[The pirouetting prima ballerina waiting in the wings. For the record, the performance was the Nutcracker:]

[The prima ballerina takes centre stage:]


[The starfish under da sea:]

[Hairy apes swinging from vine to vine:]


[Colourful coral under da sea:]

So you see? It's all there.

Koda, the plucky little horse...

http://izismile.com/tags/Koda/

Koda is the tiniest horse in Australia. Dr Chris Brown, aka Bondi Vet, aka Chesty Bonds Guy lookalike, says that there are Labradors that are bigger than he is.

Last night, he was on the show because in that minature head of his, Koda had a set of adult teeth that were digging into his sinuses. They operated on him and wrenched out 4 massive teeth that were each about 5 cm long.

Not only did plucky little Koda survive the massive operation, but he was snuffling around for food an hour after the ordeal.

What a little super trooper. Everyone at work couldn't stop cooing, because seriously how cute is he.

http://cryptozoologynews.blogspot.com/2009/08/dwarf-miniature-horse-is-australias.html