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.
I’m quite enjoying featuring my Instagram images in my blog. It’s such a versatile way of sharing images. If you have an iPhone or Android device I highly recommend it. Coupled with the Evernote Food it’s a great way of keeping track of my food likes and dislikes.
Before we get to the food images I just wanted to write about Schoolies week. Schoolies began when I was at high school. I attended Brisbane Grammar School between 1978 and 1982. I remember as a junior, the senior boys in fifth and sixth form talking about spending a week down the Gold Coast (Wikipedia article) for a long “never ending” drinking and sex session. I remember when it first started it was basically for the GPS group of schools, i.e., the Great Public Schools in Brisbane. It also included the corresponding girls schools like Brisbane Girls Grammar School.
So yes I was one of “those” private school boys. That said, I wasn’t a drinker and didn’t really mix with others except for sport. I represented the school in swimming and still water life saving. Academically I won the Biology prize in fifth and sixth form. Hence my desire that if I couldn’t study medicine I would have studied zöology (although I knew I’d never be any good because I couldn’t grow a bushy beard. You see at the time all the famous zöologists were bearded men of great stature.) Somehow I managed to be popular enough amongst my peers and teachers to be elected a school prefect. Okay enough showing off. When I was in sixth form my friends were all talking about going to schoolies week, getting drunk, having lots of sex and just carousing. I had other plans. I finished school on the Friday, attended the valedictory dinner and then the following Monday started work at Queensland Medical Laboratory as a technical aid. I cleaned benches, faeces sieves and kept stocks of stuff up for the technicians and scientists. I also worked in the media kitchen making media for bacteriology. I heard about the “good time” my mates were having but I was having a better time making money and learning the skills needed to become a pathologist.
I’ve been conscious of not being an annoying father, so I waited until Tuesday morning to send my first text message just to see that Miss17 was okay. After that we had a short Kik chat each morning. It’s certainly reassured me to maintain just some contact without imposing myself on Miss17.
Some friends have asked why I would be supportive of my daughter attending schoolies. I know Miss17. She’s a mature young woman. I know she’ll look after herself and she’ll look after her friends. I have faith in Miss17′s ability to do the best thing in any situation. Schoolies has now become a huge event as a rite of passage with school leavers spending a week in major tourist spots like the Gold Coast, Bali, Byron Bay and Airlie Beach. It’s also created a by-product, viz., toolies. Toolies are older men who prey on vulnerable girls for sex.
As for Miss11 and Miss15 they’ve been in Geelong this week for the National Club Championships. Their team, Delta Brisbane was again named best club and Miss11′s WAGL5 came first while Miss15′s WAGL10 came second. Miss15 didn’t compete with the team because of an ankle injury so she competed as an individual on the uneven bars and beam. She seems pretty happy. She’ll be back to school on Monday and completing examinations.
Before we get to the food images, I wanted to share a YouTube clip that has taken off here in Australia as a safety message. Dumb ways to die
To see the images more clearly and to read the comments from Instagram users please click on the image.
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On Monday I had a nice quiche from the Urban Bean Espresso Bar. This is a Camembert, onion and sun dried tomato quiche. I had it with a mug of Earl Grey tea.
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That evening I roasted a chicken thigh on top of a piece of Multigrain Vienna loaf and served it on top of some freshly made coleslaw. I also added a dollop of Buderim ginger lemon and lime marmalade.
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For breakfasts I’ve gone back to a smoothie for ease, convenience and as an attempt to control my weight.
Iced coffee banana smoothie with an egg white.
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That piece of public art near my office that I wrote about last week is taking shape.
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On Tuesday one of our work mates had her last day before her wedding this weekend. The relevant section put on a curry lunch. Here are the slow cookers doing their thing.
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The curry was really good. On my plate are three types, lamb, beef and chicken. There is also some yoghurt, bread and rice.
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That evening I only needed a small dinner. I “poached” some salmon by placing it skin side down in a hot fry pan and adding a lid. I turned the heat down and then waited five minutes to turn the heat off. In the pan I also had a piece of sourdough bread that had some blue cheese on it. I grew a little addicted to the cheese and bread this week. I need to stop this now.
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The piece of public art had more work done on it Wednesday morning.
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When I got to the post office there was a parcel waiting for me.
It’s nice they had Christmas wrapping on the parcel.
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After last week’s Friday Fries (that actually sounds better than Friday Chips) with the Cascade Lime Quench, I wanted another Lime Quench. This time with a house made sausage roll from the Urban Bean Espresso Bar.
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When I got home I unpacked my parcel. It is a Magic Bullet®. I had one of these when I lived in Darwin. I’ve been feeling a little down lately so I thought I’d buy a kitchen appliance to make me feel happier, especially with Summer coming. The Magic Bullet® is great for crushed ice drinks and for smoothies. While I’ve been making by breakfast banana smoothies with my trusty Bamix® wand and a jug, the Magic Bullet® is quicker and easier. It is also fantastic for making small quantities of things like whipped cream.
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Dinner Wednesday night. Roast chicken thighs on sourdough with blue cheese served with asparagus and broccolini.
This tasted really good. I roasted at a low heat for an hour. The bread became really crispy and cheesy. It was delicious with the chicken skin and the tender moist thigh meat. I prepared the chicken with salt, pepper, chilli flakes and Tabasco sauce.
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On Thursday morning I pulled all the bits and pieces out of the dishwater and tried my new Magic Bullet®. Breakfast caramel coffee banana smoothie made with my new Magic Bullet®
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When I got to work and went to get my mail, I saw men on the piece of public art. I still don’t know what it is. There’s lots of speculation in the office.
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This is what I tweeted through Instagram for lunch. “Cheesy bacon pie. For store bought this was a really good pie. Chunky tender beef and visible bacon. #winner”
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Extreme naughtiness. Chicken thighs roasted on blue cheesy sourdough with potato gems and washed down with Agrum and minted ice #MagicBullet
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On Friday morning I tweeted No work on new #publicart today. #igerscanberra
I did see men the afternoon before pouring a lot of concrete into the tubing.
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You may be aware the Tasmanian devil is currently endangered because of the Devil facial tumour disease. This is a pretty sad image of a poor little devil who is suffering from the disease
Anyway, the connection with me is my love of Ginger beer, especially Bundaberg Ginger beer.
For lunch, the Urban Bean Espresso Bar does not stock Bundaberg brewed drinks but it does stock Cascade beverages.
So I had a Cascade Ginger beer and a toasted cheese and tomato sandwich.
These were pretty good and it really helped the briefing.
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Last night I cooked a pork cutlet. I put a piece of sourdough in a square pyrex container and soaked it in XXXX Gold beer. I laid the cutlet over the top and cooked in a slow oven for an hour. I served it with potato gems. The pork was surprisingly tender and not dry.
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So today I had my plans disrupted because of the loss of my landline on Thursday. I’ve blogged about that here. The technician (Grant Munro) was very helpful and found a loose wire at the exchange. Once fixed I was back on-line but it was still too late to do the things I wanted to do this morning.
This afternoon I went to a wedding of a work mate. She’s the one who we had lunch for on Tuesday. She looked great and it was a beautiful ceremony at Lanyon Homestead. I got lost because that’s how I roll. I am really very poor with directions and I should have spent much more time looking at a map. What I didn’t realise was that Tharwa Drive forks and remains Tharwa Drive. Friends at work joke that the North side is Mordor yet all I could mumble as I was driving lost was “this must be Mordor”. When I arrived my friends laughed.
I know I could have captured images of the bride and the wedding party but my friend Nat was there with her camera and I figured I could get a nice photograph from her later. Nat is also a photographer. Check out her site at http://www.kecozaphotography.com.au/
I was more interested in the car Nat and Ursula arrived in. It’s a Corvette which Ursula’s husband recently imported from the US.
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When I got home this afternoon I had to complete a Twitter challenge from Thursday. In March this year I posted an image to satisfy the same challenge from TheBernieBrand and PeskyPippi
Tonight I had a pork cutlet. I served it with coleslaw that I made this afternoon. It tasted pretty good.
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So that’s it for another week. A long post I know. I could have split it up and next week I might do that.
Mentioned places and products
Bundaberg is where my mother and her parents spent many years owning and working on sugar cane farms. There’s even a street named after them, viz., Que Hee Street. Google map http://goo.gl/maps/32wOb
XXXX Gold is the beer my grand parents drank and it’s the only beer I’ve ever tried. It is also a sponsor of the greatest rugby league (representative) team in the universe. http://www.xxxx.com.au/
We don’t celebrate Thanksgiving in Australia but I did learn how to carve a turkey from a Thanksgiving site.
5 Turkey Carving Tips – From Armand, The Butcher
