I left Brisbane today after a little over a week of joy and happiness. I’ve had a fantastic time visiting my parents and my daughters.
This morning Dad made us breakfast sausages and bacon.
Looks odd but it was tasty.
For morning tea we had pavlova
It’s always better the day after when the cream goes a little more stiff.
My parents had to attend a matinee session of South Pacific this afternoon and I had to deliver the girls home. I had a couple of hours to kill so I got to the airport a couple of hours early. I checked in my bag using a QANTAS QTAG. A simple and convenient method to avoid paper based luggage tags. The process seemed to work okay.
I boarded my flight after getting an upgrade thanks to Qantas. For an afternoon snack, I had a cheese plate.
It was delicious.
Then on arriving in Canberra I discovered my bag was not put on flight QF961. This is the second time in two months that this has happened with Qantas.
I caught a cab home after being told my bag would be delivered when it’s found. The cab driver of TX73 was not the driver on the dashboard card which was for A2278. He didn’t indicate to change lanes or turn corners and he was speaking on his mobile telephone throughout the drive from the airport to my place (this is now illegal in the ACT unless he has a proper handsfree set up which he didn’t). He didn’t know the directions to my place so I had to direct him. When I asked about his authority card it was in his pocket. I called the taxi company and they didn’t want to do anything. I would have to put the complaint in writing.
At 2055 AEDT I called QANTAS but they had closed their baggage service area despite their brochure saying it is open until 2100 AEST (which is 2200 AEDT). I called the Canberra baggage claim area and was told I should avoid using the Qantas QTAG system in future and there was still no trace of my bag. I am so annoyed. This has made me feel quite upset after what has been a wonderful break from work seeing my parents and daughters. I have stuff in that bag that I need to use not least of all the value of the contents.
I try not to rant too much on this blog but tonight I’ve ranted all over twitter and I felt the need to ventilate here.
I hope my bag shows up soon. Word to the wise, avoid the use of the QANTAS QTAG system.
Today is 2013/01/01 (YYYY/MM/DD this is the way I shorthand dates), the first day of 2013. It was also the last day we spent on the Gold Coast. I promised Miss11 and Miss15 a shopping trip in the tourist shopping centre, viz., Pacific Fair.
This was done on a Turkish bread which was very nice.
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Having spent more than a week away from home, I planned my 3G data usage to perfection.
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Okay Pacific Fair with Miss11 and Miss15 meant lots and lots and lots of dress and shoe shops. It also meant looking at some novelties.
I never knew you could buy Plants v Zombies plush toys
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I haven’t posted pictures of everything they looked at. I am fortunate that my daughters like looking and are careful when choosing to spend money, even my money. In the end everyone came away happy.
For morning tea, you guessed it, it had to be another vanilla slice.
This one I shared with Miss15 who reminded me that when we lived in Darwin every Saturday or Sunday morning I’d walk to the local pastry shop and buy them caramel tartlets and buy myself a vanilla slice or bee sting.
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After more than half a day of shopping we needed some food before the drive back to Brisbane. We opted for a mall Chinese takeaway. This was a $10 plate of self service. It was awful. Truly disgusting. The worst I’ve ever had. The place is called Cathay Oriental at Pacific Fair shopping centre. Don’t do it is my advice. McDonald’s or KFC would be better.
It looks nasty. Tasted worse.
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Miss15 and Miss17 needed new wrist watches. I bought them some very nice looking watches.
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As we were driving home Mum and Dad were cooking dinner. Basically it was wonton soup without the wonton wrappers. Instead it was served with noodles.
For my last night in Brisbane with my parents and two of my daughters, Mum made her “world famous” pavlova. One of the greatest Australian inventions ever (I write this to deliberately stir up my friends and family from New Zealand*).
This one had passion fruit, pitted cherries, banana and mango topping.
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Okay, tomorrow, I return to Canberra. I have had a great little break in Brisbane and the Gold Coast.
*For all I care, New Zealand can keep Russel Crowe and Richard Wilkins as their own. Pavlova is ALL AUSTRALIAN.
It’s the last day of 2012 and the second last day of my holiday with my daughters. Today we went to Wet’n'Wild Water World on the Gold Coast. There aren’t many images because I was dressed in a pair of speedos, boardies and a rashy. No pockets and for the major rides you can’t carry things like cameras or smart telephones. Besides, at a water park, it’s all about the fun in the water. Today the weather was perfect. It was mostly around 29 °C and overcast with occasional sun bursts. That meant it was warm and not hot. It also meant that with four applications of sun screen throughout the day none of us got sun burnt.
Breakfast this morning was at McDonald’s because we were in a hurry.
After a day of water activity we enjoyed ice cream at the ice cream parlour.
You can buy small medium and bucket sized sundaes.
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I had a small caramel sundae. It’s all self serve through a series of dispensers. I chose mango and sprinkles plus caramel sauce.
The sprinkles came out in a rush. There was more on the floor than in the cup.
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Goodbye Wet’n'Wild Water World.
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As the sun was setting
Jupiter’s casino was lighting up for New Year’s Eve.
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It was nice to extend the water theme and have a bath. Sadly the spa didn’t work.
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Tonight it was Miss15′s turn to choose a meal.
She chose Chicken Kiev and Caesar salad.
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After dinner we walked the streets of Broadbeach watching people. Today I pondered that the Gold Coast, especially around places like Broadbeach is for the “beautiful people” while places like Wet’n'Wild Water World is for everyone in all their shapes and sizes, colours and backgrounds. What is great about a water park is that everyone is just in their togs. You see almost everything, especially the tattoos and body art, plus the fat and obesity that is plaguing our nation. You also see the wonderfully crafted and honed bodies of the fit and healthy. I know I’m using strong words, I appreciate all the diversity and I’m not meaning to offend. At a water park, everybody is there to have some fun and get some Vitamin D. The streets of the Gold Coast though are about being seen and looking good to be seen. That is, except for blokes like me. Middle aged Australians with kids in tow. Tonight I chose a daggy T-shirt, King Gee work shorts and thongs. I reckon I got stared at as much as the tall leggy women and the muscle men. It made me laugh on the inside.
The best thing about walking the streets tonight was the lovely gesture from Miss15 to shout me and Miss11 a gelato. Miss17 had already left for a party with her BF so it’s just me and my two youngest daughters.
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Of the rides at Wet’n'Wild Water World, only a few have cameras that worked.
I put my hand up to hide my fugly face lol This was on the Kamikaze ride.
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This is from the Mammoth Falls ride.
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We went on a heap of other rides. It’s hard to pick the best. I loved them all. The faster and higher the better. It’s probably best to visit the website if you’re interested.
Today we went to Movieworld on the Gold Coast. I woke up early as usual and while we don’t have a water view we do have a full on view of the local casino.
In Australia whenever gambling is mentioned on the news it’s followed by a statement, “Problem gambling call lifeline 131114.”
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It is Sunday so we went out for breakfast.
Coffee which I really needed.
Poached eggs and hollandaise which was pretty good.
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Unlike Dreamworld a lot of the rides aren’t outdoor, and the crowds are insanely long. For a couple of rides today we queued for more than an hour. Our favourite ride is Scooby-Doo. It’s an indoor roller coaster with lots and lots of twists and turns, the sideways forces are pretty strong and there’s a constant feeling you’ll be flung out the side of the cart.
The Arkham Asylum ride replaced Lethal Weapon. The old Lethal Weapon had a head restraint system which meant as your head jostled from side to side your ears were bashed against the restraint. It wouldn’t surprise me if a few customers got cauliflower ears. I know people would remove their ear rings prior to getting onto the Lethal Weapon. The Arkham Asylum doesn’t have the head restraint but it has more upside down spiral twists which is great.
Part of the Arkham Asylum ride.
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Like the Log Ride at Dreamworld yesterday, there is a water ride. This is the Wild West Falls. It’s a better ride than the Log Ride in many ways and you still get wet.
The Justice League is a new ride and is more laser simulator than ride. You get to sit in a cart and shoot aliens with a laser. The guns have feedback so if you’re successful you feel a vibration in the gun.
Wonder Woman seems to be unrealistic in her proportions.
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After yesterday’s exorbitant prices for a less than appetising lunch at Dreamworld, we elected for a cheap alternative. We went to Baker’s Delight this morning and bought a caramelised onion and cheese loaf for $5 which fed all four of us.
My bag now has a smell of bread every time I open it. Not a bad thing I suppose.
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The Superman escape ride is pretty cool. The first section is a straight that goes up at about 45° at about four positive G force.
You can see superman pushing the riders along. That’s all part of the story you receive as you emerge from the entry.
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The Batwing is sort of like the Giant Drop from Dreamworld except you go up really fast and then you bounce.
Some randoms I captured about to go up really fast
There is a kids section at Movieworld with some more sedate rides like this Road Runner roller coaster. Miss11 is still not 140 cm and she cannot ride on things like the Superman Escape and the Arkham Asylum rides.
This is still fun.
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I reckon bumper cars are always fun. Miss11 and I teamed up to get Miss15.
Love the colours inside the bumper car arena.
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As well as rides there are also shows. A new on is Ice Age Christmas in 4D. That’s right, 4D. The extra dimension is movement plus special effects like wind in your face and sprays of water when appropriate. It’s a lot of fun.
Sadly you cannot film inside due to copyright laws. This was captured in the entry room.
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It’s still Christmas at Movieworld.
The tree looks extended because of the Batwing ride.
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This afternoon’s treat was a churros.
Greasy sugary goodness to end a day.
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This is the Superman escape ride as it comes out of the building again.
It’s a blur of speed.
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Tonight the girls wanted something cheap and simple so we went to the supermarket and bought meat pies and potato gems.
Friday of my holiday started slowly. Mum and Dad slept in and I watched a couple of episodes of The walking Dead series 3 on my iPad. We went grocery shopping for dinner and other things. The girls would be arriving that afternoon and I was cooking dinner. It’s been such a long time since I’ve cooked them dinner. They each love salmon so that was a natural choice. Bro41 was coming over with his three kids too so I had ten to feed.
At lunch time Mum and Dad introduced me to one of their staples, Knackwurst on toast. Given recent snag stand adventures, a snag on a Friday seemed to make sense.
Knackwurst with barbecue sauce on toast.
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Friday afternoon grew dark with rain clouds.
Dark rain clouds.
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It didn’t take long for it to rain.
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Between Mum and me, we made coleslaw, a simple lettuce and tomato salad, sausages, salmon, eggs and prawns. The sausages were mainly for my nephew and nieces who can be a little particular.
My plate. The girls loved dinner and having Dad cook for them. They loved the salmon.
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There is not much better than an old fashioned bowl of vanilla ice cream with chocmint ice cream magic and a chocolate wafer.
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Saturday morning arrived and we made ready for a day at Dreamworld in Coomera in the Gold Coast.
We had a left over baguette from Friday night and I made the girls vegemite bites.
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We got to Dreamworld and the first ride we wanted to ride was the Buzz saw.
The tigers at Dreamworld are a great attraction. Here is a short clip of two of them having a little fun with each other.
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The gates closed at Dreamworld at 1700 AEST. We went and had another go of the Tower of Terror II.
After Dreamworld we checked into the Mantra Broadbeach on the Park. We reserved a two bedroom apartment. It is a well set out apartment and we’re very comfortable.
It’s coming close to the end of 2012. It’s been an interesting and tumultuous year in some respects. I’m still not sure if this will be my last post of the year. Somehow I think I have more to give especially if I continue to eat like I am while in Brisbane.
Christmas day was a very different one for me. This is the first time I’ve spent Christmas day with Mum and Dad and no one else. I’ll get to see my daughters on Friday. My brothers were doing things with their own immediate families and there were no visitors and no visits to aunts, uncles and cousins places. We’ve all grown up and this year I spent the day with Mum and Dad.
The Christmas day post outlined the majority of the food images from breakfast and lunch.
In the afternoon we went for a short stroll. Dad now walks with a stick so we’re limited to pavement and roads.
The afternoon was glorious. It was warm and it was humid enough to not be uncomfortably dry.
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We ventured around the retirement village and aged care facility on site. It’s ominous when an ambulance arrives with sirens and leaves slowly in silence.
The village has its own swimming pool and lawn bowls area.
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Dinner was a simple affair. Mum decided we didn’t need pudding or cake or anything too sickly sweet after a big lunch. I agreed on a spread of cheese and fruit.
This was a delicious way to end the day. We had fresh mangoes, cherries, seedless water melon and cheeses.
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Boxing Day morning I woke up feeling good in my skin. It was warm and it was raining. I had a bead of sweat on my forehead and my skin didn’t feel dry and cracked.
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Boxing Day in Australia (like many countries) means that large department stores and malls have significant sales on. Department stores like David Jones and Myer do a brisk trade as do most other stores. In Sydney the David Jones stores open at 0500 AEDT. In Melbourne it’s 0600 AEDT. Brisbane is more civilised and the stores tend to open at 0900 AEST. I’d bought the girls their present in Canberra and brought it up with me. I also intended to buy them some things that were going to be on sale. With steely determination I ventured to Westfield Chermside. I arrived at 0845 AEST and car park was full.
This sort of parking is what elicits car park rage. I witnessed another person write something rude on a piece of paper and attach it to the driver’s side window.
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Rather than wake up Mum and Dad I elected to have breakfast at the mall.
The eggs were pretty good. The Hollandaise wasn’t that good. There was hardly enough to pour on both eggs. I had breakfast at Cafe Siena in Westfield Chermside. I wrote a Google+ review.
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I ended up getting my girls some extra stuff for their new Wii U plus some games and external hard drives for their photographs and other data.
On getting back to Mum and Dad’s I noticed the flowers I got for Mum’s birthday which was last week. These are Australian natives. They’ll last for weeks if not months.
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One of the nice things about an abundance of Christmas food is left overs.
Today’s lunch was fresh white bread filled with chicken, duck, mayonnaise and lettuce.
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Another feature of Boxing Day in Australia is a cricket test match played in Melbourne. When I was a boy I happily spent hours watching cricket relieved during breaks when we’d go outside and play cricket in the back yard. Today was the first time I’ve sat and watched cricket with Dad for decades. In the late afternoon though I discovered (to some horror) that Mum and Dad enjoy the television soap opera, viz., The Bold and the Beautiful. I elected to go for a walk rather than endure that.
I walked past a Jenny Craig franchise and thought after all I’ve eaten I may need to visit.
That said there is a legal history between Jenny Craig and my father so I never will.
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This is where I bought my first Ford Falcon. Not a V8, they were to come later when I lived in Darwin when I owned three V8 Falcons and Fairmonts.
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This is a place we used to frequent in the 1980s and get takeaway Chinese food from. As an IG friend quipped, not exactly new anymore.
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Boxing day dinner was a simple affair of left over chicken and duck plus some potato bake and a salad. It was delicious with lots of avocado.
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This morning I woke to the tragic news that Gerry Anderson had died after a battle with dementia. Gerry was the creator of SUPERMARIONATION and the developer and producer of television programs like Thunderbirds are GO, Fireball XL5 and Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. As a kid and even now I love the Thunderbirds. The whole concept of International Rescue and the story behind Jeff Tracy and his sons each named after a Mercury astronaut was so compelling. Now that I work in emergency management there are days I wish we had The Thunderbirds on-call. Virgil was my favourite character. Virgil piloted TB2. I was also very fond of Gordon who piloted TB4.
Breakfast was sombre and simple. Vegemite and jam on toast with a strong coffee.
The day itself looked good.
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Today Mum and Dad asked me to take them on a long drive. They don’t get out much from the retirement village except in bus trips with other residents. So we spent the day driving with no plan.
This is the car I hired. It’s a Toyota Camry. It is quite good. The remote key entry and ignition is cool. I like how it connects easily with my iPhone through Bluetooth.
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I suggested Caloundra and Mum said why not Noosa, in the end I decided not to turn off and we ended up in Gympie in time for morning tea. Gympie has a long history in Queensland, some of it not so positive. I think you have to be a local to share those tales so I won’t go on. I had many friends from Gympie in my university and early years as a medical practitioner. I remember one gorgeous nurse from my intern year…
Morning tea was at the Little Brown Jug cafe in Gympie. I had a pot of tea and a vanilla slice. Regular readers know my fondness for vanilla slice and my dream of one day doing a vanilla slice crawl around Australia. Vanilla slice search of Yummy Lummy.
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After Gympie we hit the road and headed to Noosa. In the 1970s and 1980s we would spend Easter holidays at Noosa and occasionally some Summer holidays too. As we got older, we ended buying a place at Caloundra and I remember weekends and holidays in my later years of high school on the beach every chance I could get.
In Noosa we used to stay at a place called Paramount Towers on Hastings Street. Mum said it was reasonable in the day at $50 a night. I can’t imagine how much it would cost now that Noosa is one of the most expensive tourist places in South East Queensland.
It’s now called the Settler’s Cove.
This is the famous Noosa beach. I used to love this beach. So many good boyhood memories. In the late 1970s and early 1980s the beach was crowded with locals and tourists. It was kind of exotic and there would be lots of foreign tourists. For a young fella, what I remember most was that most young women on the beach had no desire to wear much and many would lay in the sun and enter the water topless. There was a clothes-free beach a short walk away but no one seemed to care. Anyway, enough of those thoughts…naughty Gaz.
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Rather than eat lunch at an over priced place in Noosa, Mum suggested Buderim. Buderim is a sleepy town in the Sunshine Coast hinterland. It has a significant number of senior Australians (aka self funded retirees) and is a favourite place of art and craft lovers. Dad was feeling a little tired so rather than look too far we stopped at a cafe and enjoyed a toasted sandwich.
I had a chicken, mayonnaise and avocado toasted sandwich.
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For dinner tonight we enjoyed a crumbed steak and salad.
I will confess I ended up eating two large pieces of scotch rib fillet steak that was covered in fresh bread crumbs. They are irresistible.
I hope I have one more post for 2012 to close out the year. This post however, will focus on the lead up and execution of Christmas 2012.
The last weekend was another quiet one. I didn’t have much to do besides wash clothes and clean the apartment. I’d completed all my Christmas shopping and so I enjoyed a weekend of lounging and watching DVDs. I ended up seeing the end of series three of Breaking Bad and watching what in the US is the first series of Strike Back. Apparently in the UK, there were six episodes shown before the US saw the seventh episode which it calls the first episode. I don’t understand the reasoning. The story can be found at IMDB and Wikipedia.
Because I was travelling for Christmas and New Year I needed to go through the contents of my refrigerator. Toasted sandwiches are always a good weekend lunch option.
Tomato, tinned red salmon and pumpkin seed bread.
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For dinner I had a scotch fillet steak.
I served it with a mango salad that also had salad leaves, cherry tomatoes and lots of Australian feta cheese. I made a light gravy from the marinade which was sherry, oil and soy plus some honey and mixed herbs and some minced garlic. I thickened it with some corn flour and used a little red wine to deglase my fry pan. I like my steak rare so this got about 90 seconds on each side and was rested for 10 minutes.
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On Saturday night a storm brewed but we didn’t see any rain. The clouds though were very pretty. I captured this image from my balcony but there were some much better ones from other IGers.
I like watching Jamie Oliver on television and if you search this blog for Jamie Oliver you’ll see a number of references. http://garydavidlum.com/?s=Jamie+Oliver&submit=Search I’ve heard though with Jamie Oliver’s recipes that sometimes they’re wrong, that is, quantities can be significantly off. This doesn’t always get corrected. If you know enough to know that’s fine but if you’re pretty ignorant like me, that can spell disaster.
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WARNING Sad Image
One of the saddest images I’ve captured is this one. Last week I posted this image of a friendly blue tongued skink. Sadly it was run over in my apartment car park.
From last week
What I came across on Sunday morning.
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I love pistachios
Snack time.
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Another toasted sandwich for lunch.
This time with blue cheese because like bacon and butter, everything tastes better with blue cheese.
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On Sunday night I cleaned out the refrigerator.
Salmon with mango salad and blue cheese.
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Normally when I’m walking back from the post office you can see heaps of people at work.
Barren on Christmas eve.
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There are no calories for the next two weeks.
Caramel doughnut.
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I was tempted, but this was for a work friend.
Jam filled doughnut.
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Because a work mate was ill last week when we went to the snag stand, we went back with her on Monday.
Spicy cheese kransky on brioche. This was delicious. Our plan is to eat through the entire menu.
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I finished work early on Christmas eve and I went to the airport as soon as I could.
A White Christmas snack at the Qantas lounge.
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I also had a couple of chilli beef pastizzi in the lounge
They were a little hot.
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I managed to secure an upgrade on flight QF960. The flight was meant to leave a little after 1745 however a couple of storm cells hit Canberra and to keep the ground crew safe they were evacuated from the tarmac and we stayed in the aeroplane for more than an hour connected to the aerobridge. If you follow me on Twitter you’ll see were we able to use our telephones.
For dinner I had the crumbed beef. The crumb also contained feta cheese. While the beef was well done and tough, everything else was very nice.
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When I got to my parent’s place I put out presents for them and my girls (who I’ll see later this week).
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It’s Christmas Day. I had a poor night’s sleep, not through Christmas excitement, but because I’m sleeping on my childhood bed. Dad woke up early and we sat together for a couple of hours while he told me stories.
I had a light breakfast in anticipation of a big lunch. The breakfast of champions, vegemite on toast with a couple of coffees.
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And so lunch preparation begins…
This is chicken after we’d tightened the skin with boiling water.
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Mum made a 1000 islands dressing for our lunch time prawns. If you click on the image you can work out the ingredients in a chat with Hilah from hilahcooking.com
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The poultry preparation continued with a duck drying and draining.
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The bowl may not look elegant but that mattered nought.
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I love prawns.
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I could not help capture an after image.
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The duck had a reasonable neck attached. You can tell my intent by the strategically placed Chinese meat cleaver.
With the duck added. I like to cut the breast off and slice it. It makes it easier to eat because you bite end on into the grain of the meat. Do you see the size of the duck’s neck and cloaca? I’d already bagsed (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=bagsed) them.
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Because of the small size of Mum’s kitchen and oven, rather than roasted vegetables, Mum made a potato bake yesterday and we heated it up in a small toaster oven at lunch time. We also had broccoli, asparagus and peas.
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This is my plate. Mum made a nice orange flavoured sauce too. It was sublime.
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The neck has such nicely flavoured meat. I also managed to dissect out the trachea too. This started a nice little chat on twitter and instagram.
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So that’s it for now. Mum decided against making a pudding or a pavlova. This evening we’ll have fruit and some cheese. I’m pretty grateful. I don’t really want to blow out. I can fit into a pair of shorts I like to wear at Christmas time so I’m happy holding back a little.
I hope everyone reading this blog had a wonderful time if you celebrate Christmas. I hope your day was full of happiness and peace and good food.
Over the last couple of posts I’ve mentioned some public art being erected near where I work. I’ve posted updates to instagram and many instagram friends have pondered the nature of the art. The hashtag #publicart and #igerscanberra will help with any search. There were many who felt it may be a Flying Spaghetti Monster. Most of my work friends speculated widely.
I happened to see a crowd of people from my office window on Friday and given it was lunch time wandered out to see what the commotion was. On Friday ArtsACT director David Whitney officially launched a large work in copper, Culture Fragment, by Murrumbateman artist David Jensz, among the office blocks of the Woden town centre. Jensz, latest piece in Woden is a comment on the social fabric and connectedness of communities.
My head cold from flying back from the US was worsening. It was playing havoc with my CPAP so much so that I felt groggy all day. I expected at the time this week would just be one of those bad weeks. I wasn’t far off.
I felt okay enough on Tuesday night to use a mango for dinner. Tropical fruits always make me feel better.
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Wednesday 12 December 2012
The base of the Culture Fragment (no name yet) was taking shape.
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I missed a meeting with my bosses and some of my work mates made them feel better with this.
Regular readers will know the story of vanilla slice and my love of a good vanilla slice. Search link for vanilla slice.
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Dinner had lots of feta and avocado along with the chicken thigh.
After lunch we opened our Secret Santa gifts. This is what I got.
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After dinner I didn’t feel hungry so I had a chicken thigh (or two) and some potato gems (tater tots).
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Friday 14 December 2012
This week my work friend who recently got married returned from her honeymoon (Thailand) so we had Friday Fries in my new office.
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On Friday evening we had a work function with a few friends and a work mate’s place.
Beautiful view. We have a standing joke in the branch that the North side of Canberra where I live is Mordor, while I contend it is the South side. As a joke I established Mordor as a place on the South side in Foursquare.
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Would you believe that I forgot to capture images of food? we had dips and pâté and breads and crackers and cheese and an amazing chilli jam.
I did however, remember long enough to capture images of sweets, viz., salted caramel macarons and chocolate sticks. The maker of the macarons was Nat from kecozaphotography.
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Saturday 15 December 2012
I got up early because I have a party to attend tonight. I had to get some bread rolls and dips.
Got a coffee too.
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I was also replacing my refrigerator today.
The old unit had been making loud gurgling noises for more than a year and for the last few weeks it had been leaking water. Harvey Norman had a sale on Thursday so I got a new smaller unit which included delivery and removal of the old refrigerator. The old one was pretty big and really for a family. Given I’m solo I really only need a small unit and this will consume far less electricity.
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While waiting for my new refrigerator to arrive, I had a couple of macarons that I got as a gift last night.
The other night on twitter I came across this link. I thought it was hilarious. Given I’m “guilty” of many of the examples used in the parody I could see a lot of myself in it, especially the food images. I expect if I owned a cat or a dog I’d post a picture of them every day too.
On Wednesday I went to dinner with my colleagues to the Lightfoot Restaurant in Leesburg. It is a renovated bank and the men’s room has the vault door as a feature wall opposite the urinals and stalls.
For an entrée (or starter for my American friends) I asked for “The Plank”. This is a dish served on a plank of wood. It contains a small cube of salmon, a seared scallop and a couple of pieces of chorizo on a skewer. These lovely meats are served alongside a plentiful amount of bacon. As far as entrées goes, it was good but too much.
Sorry it was a room with very poor lighting. My iPhone 4 doesn’t capture images well in low light.
For my main dish I was excited that gumbo was a special. I’ve never had gumbo and I’ve always wanted to try it. This one was extra special because it contained hush puppies, fried oysters, prawns and a fillet of catfish. A few months ago I watched a video from Hilah about hush puppies and I thought then I’d like to try it. I’m also sure I’ve seen Hilah cook catfish too. The gumbo was good. It was heavier than I thought it would be but then I did eat a very large entrée.
Remarkably I did not ask for a dessert. I’ve been eating enough dessert on aeroplanes and at the National Conference Center.
The bank vault as seen in the men’s rest room.
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The meeting I have been participating in has gone well and on Thursday afternoon as soon as we broke up I began the journey home.
To recap though, on Wednesday for breakfast I asked the egg cooking lady for a cheese and mushroom omelet. I also asked for some bacon pieces but she didn’t understand what I was saying. I said bacon three times but to no avail. I then put on what I thought was an American accent and she understood me. This is not the first time, quite often flight attendants don’t have a clue what I’m saying.
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I discovered on Wednesday that the NCC also does hamburgers for lunch. I found some beetroot from the salad bar and shared with my colleagues from the US, Canada and the UK that a hamburger should have beetroot. It would have been improved with a pineapple ring and a fried egg but they weren’t available.
The NCC also has soft serve ice cream with various flavoured sauces and cherries and nuts.
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For Thursday morning, I seriously contemplated an egg white omelet however, I discovered the waffle maker How could I pass up a waffle with some bacon and sausage plus some sugared strawberries, cream and this thing called breakfast syrup.
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Thursday lunch had to be another hamburger plus some flank steak and scallops.
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When the meeting finished on Thursday afternoon I caught the shuttle to Dulles (IAD) as soon as I could. I didn’t want to miss my flight UA647 to San Francisco (SFO).
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The dinner on UA647 was a choice between chicken and pasta. Given my experience on flight UA525 from SFO to IAD I chose pasta. It was okay. I wouldn’t want it again. The passenger next to me had the chicken. It was a plain looking piece of breast. It looked dry. My neighbour didn’t finish it. Enough said.
The flight from IAD to SFO took six hours. When we landed in SFO I had enough time to access wifi in the United Club to send through the meeting report I wrote on the flight UA647. I also had a biscuit.
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I boarded UA863 and soon after takeoff we had dinner.
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I was again facing backwards.
This is the menu choice. I asked for the short rib of beef and if that wasn’t available the salmon and crab.
Fortunately the short rib of beef was available and it was one of the nicest airline meals I’ve enjoyed. Almost on a par with the Red wine braised beef with soft polenta roasted shallots and salsa verde I enjoyed when I travelled on Virgin Australia to Mexico in 2011. http://garydavidlum.com/2011/11/20/lax-to-syd-dinner-on-vaustralia/
For en entrée we were served a salad and a salmon wrapped prawn.
The main had the short rib of beef with mash, beans and baby carrots.
This was followed with the ubiquitous ice cream sundae with walnuts, caramel sauce, cream and cherries.
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While asleep I had this nightmare that the aeroplane lost power and we plummeted to our deaths. I woke up with a start as well as a sore throat. I think I’m developing a head cold.
Breakfast was an omelet
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It was a relief to get into Sydney and prepare for the last flight of the day.
On the flight between Sydney and Canberra, Qantas mishandled my bag so it didn’t arrive with me. The good thing was I ended up sitting next to a friend who used to work in the department. She’s just returned from a work trip to Samoa.
My bag arrived in the afternoon. It gave me enough time to buy some groceries.
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I’ve been watching series 2 of The Walking Dead this afternoon.
For dinner I made a salad from leaves, red onion, celery and some Australian feta along with a little balsamic vinegar and olive oil. I also cooked a piece of salmon and a piece of bread.
This week I’m attending a meeting in Leesburg, VA. I’m writing this post as I go, if I was in the mood I’d add a timestamp with each entry but given the different time zones I’m going to be in that is a little too anal retentive even for me and my obsessive compulsive personality.
Since my last post I’ve been spending time going over my meeting briefing notes and watching DVDs. I picked up the first series of The Walking Dead and I’m hooked.
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A local Gourmet Deli Belconnen does good coffee
This deli is full of good stuff from an amazing range of chocolate to other sweets to large containers of beans and cheeses and cold meats. There are all sorts of oils and spreads and spices to choose from. The staff are pretty friendly and always happy to assist.
The shop is opposite Coles so if your heading to Westfield Shoppingtown in Belconnen for your grocery shopping, the Gourmet Deli Belconnen is a good place to relax and have a coffee.
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After some early morning shopping I made myself some scrambled eggs for breakfast. I like to make thick and rich scrambled eggs. I usually use a couple of free range eggs that I’ve warmed up to room temperature plus an almost equal volume of pouring cream. I whisk vigorously (now using my Magic Bullet®) along with a pinch of sugar, salt and pepper. I melt real butter in a small heavy fry pan until the butter foams and starts to brown, then I add the egg and cream mixture. I wait a minute before touching the mixture. I slowly pull away from one side the mixture and watch the liquid replace the solid fluffy curds. I repeat this slowly until most of the mixture has has formed soft shiny curds. I removed the pan from the heat and scoop the scrambled eggs onto freshly toasted bread. If you like you can garnish with parsley and if it feels right a little freshly grated cheese (Mersey Valley or Coon) can be added.
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Avocado and tomato on toasted light rye sourdough bread
Avocados have been expensive lately. It’s been a while but I wanted some so I bought a Hass avocado for $2. This makes a great lunch.
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Fruit and the Magic Bullet®
I have been enjoying the warm days and there’s nothing more refreshing than crushing some ice with mint, adding a little fruit and some cordial. These are the fruits I used today.
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Mango coleslaw with a little salmon and a crushed ice minted lemon lime and bitters
This is the last coleslaw I make for a week. I think all my Instagram followers are happy not to see any more red cabbage spam
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The start of my journey in the Qantas Business Lounge at CBR
Even though I made myself a caramel coffee banana smoothie for breakfast, it’s hard to pass up some yoghurt while in the lounge along with a nicely made flat white.
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The snack served on QF704
This biscuit was a little too sweet. I should have chosen water instead of juice. Too much sugar at the start of a long day.
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An awful cup of coffee at The Terrace near the check-in aisles at SYD (T1)
This was disgusting. Too milky and the coffee wasn’t strong enough. It was also tepid rather than the right temperature for frothing milk.
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After checking in I made it to the code share lounge for United Airlines, viz., the Koruclub which belongs to Air New Zealand
The Koruclub is well appointed and always has fresh supplies. It’s not in the same class as the Qantas lounges, but with the best fare of the day policy, I cannot complain. I am grateful that I get to travel for work and work with international colleagues.
They also have a hot dog stand.
This is a chilli dog with onions and cheese. I really should stop this senseless eating.
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So the flight to San Francisco was delayed by about an hour which in my mind at the time made my connection with Dulles just that little more tight than what it already was.
This is the view from my seat. I was facing backwards.
It’s nice to see the engines intact
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This is the menu for the main meal. The question was steak or salmon. Given the amount of salmon I’ve eaten lately I chose steak.
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To start we always get some nuts, usually almonds and peanuts that have been warmed up. That’s always a nice touch. The entrée was a nice salad plus some smoked salmon so I wasn’t missing out on salmon altogether.
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The fillet mignon was okay. The flavour was pleasant but the meat had been cooked too long for my liking and it was a little dry. The mashed potato was okay with it plus the little fried onions as part of the gravy.
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What I like about United Airlines is the dessert is always a sundae of some sort. For some reason the flight from Sydney didn’t have much choice. There was either strawberry or chocolate sauce. I chose strawberry.
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I spent most of the flight reading for this meeting but I did watch one movie, viz., The Expendables 2. A great action flick with the classic modern day action actors.
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For breakfast rather than the poached eggs I went for the deli plate. The plate consisted of ham, cheese and some smoked salmon. The passenger next to me chose the eggs and the yolks looked like yellow squash balls. I’ve had poached eggs on many airlines and it’s uncommon for them to serve the yolk soft let alone runny.
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Scenes coming into San Francisco.
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On getting into San Francisco International Airport (SFO), I had a mad dash to get my connection, UA525 to Washington DC Dulles (IAD). The lines at Customs and Border Protection were really long, fortunately as a government employee I carry an Official Passport and along with a Visa and the correct forms I don’t need to spend time with finger prints and photographs. The usual questions are usually asking about the meeting I’m attending and that’s it. I picked up my checked-in bag and moved quickly to the domestic terminal area to drop off my bag and dash to the departure gates. About half the time I travel to North America the airline or connecting airport (usually LAX) doesn’t get my bag on my flight so I have to wait another day for it. That means I attend a meeting in crushed clothes I’ve carried as carry-on luggage.
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On UA525 to Dulles we had a choice of cannelloni or chicken caciatori. I chose the chicken because I didn’t want the pasta and the cheese. I should have had the pasta and cheese. It looked very appetising while the chicken didn’t and it tasted blergh. It was a breast and it was dry.
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That said United Airlines made up for the main course failure with a nice ice cream sundae. I had vanilla bean ice cream with caramel sauce, nuts, glacé cherries and whipped cream.
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I got to Dulles at about 2200 and waited for the shuttle to the National Conference Center in Leesburg. The bus arrived and started to back up and despite the bus behind it honking its horn and flashing its headlights the bus driver didn’t stop and connected with the bus behind causing some minor damage. This little bingle caused a 45 minute delay so I didn’t check into the National Conference Center until after 2300.
It didn’t take long to get to sleep. I ended up sleeping 5 hours without my CPAP machine which is pretty good. I still felt a little tired.
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The Center has a good dining room. I had eggs prepared by an egg chef. I like fried eggs sunny side up.
The Center is pretty cool. The closest thing we have in Australia is the Australian Emergency Management Institute (AEMI). The NCC used to be owned by Xerox. It has accommodation for nearly 1000 guests and 250 meeting rooms. The better thing about the rooms compared to AEMI is that the en suite is private and not shared. The rooms are very small but there is enough room for a double bed and television. There is no refrigerator in the room but there is a drip filter coffee maker. The best thing is free high speed broadband in each room and free high speed wifi across the entire site.
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The same dining room is used for lunch. I had snapper, beef and pumpkin.
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The snack machine options were mostly these very sweet granola bars.
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For dinner we went to the Black Olive Sports Bar. We ordered a few pizzas. I tried pepperoni and a super deeper deluxe.
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Okay that’s enough for this post. I’ll continue blogging about my travels in another post when I get back to Australia. Catch you later.
Gaz
