Yes they are.
Blainie and Steve do good barbeques. E came, it was good to see her - I think she and I look more like girls now than we ever have in the past. Weird. Pete was there too, and it's always good to hang out with a Yuncken. Nicole proved elusive at first, but apparently EVERYONE had a huge night beforehand at American Jen's Halloween/birthday party. She made jack'o'lanterns out of watermelons, which was quite culturally relevant.
Anyway, good bbq, best bean salad ever. We sat in the back yard, for a while we were under the tree that pelts you with berries all day long. We decided first to get hit was the winner. Sadly, it only aimed for empty chairs.
Must bug B for that salad recipe ...
Showing posts with label Friends. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Friends. Show all posts
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Saturday Big Day
Not much sleep as Mum and I got to bed at about 3 am, so I thought I'd have a quiet Saturday:
8-11: Archery with Dad and Uncle Harry (highlights: not crap, and I got to do clout; lowlight: sunburnt sternum from badly applied sunscreen)
11-2: Beach picnic with highschool friend Alana and her three kids (haven't seen Alana since year 11?)
3-6: Afternoon tea at Luigi and Fiona's to meet 4 week old Thomas (he was grumpy/gassy, but spewing a lot on me seemed to help)
6 - 11: Dinner at Grant and Mel's, who are still looking after Nardia and Lindsay's offdog Charlotte. Charlotte liked the mostly-rinsed-out-baby-vomit on my skirt. Dinner was good.
Some photos:
8-11: Archery with Dad and Uncle Harry (highlights: not crap, and I got to do clout; lowlight: sunburnt sternum from badly applied sunscreen)
11-2: Beach picnic with highschool friend Alana and her three kids (haven't seen Alana since year 11?)
3-6: Afternoon tea at Luigi and Fiona's to meet 4 week old Thomas (he was grumpy/gassy, but spewing a lot on me seemed to help)
6 - 11: Dinner at Grant and Mel's, who are still looking after Nardia and Lindsay's offdog Charlotte. Charlotte liked the mostly-rinsed-out-baby-vomit on my skirt. Dinner was good.
Some photos:
Friday, October 17, 2008
Friday night three kids night
I'm backtracking now, as I had some busy days there and got out of habit of sitting at a computer. Well, sitting at a computer actively. Just didn't feel like typing stuff, really.
Anyway - Friday day time, Mum and I became 90 years old, and took the train into town, disembarking at the new Esplanade station (very similar to any other train station built in the last few years)and took the ferry over to South Perth.
Yeah - like that juxtaposition? Fake sawns - real swans. I'm VERY arty.
Mum grew up in South Perht - close enough to the zoo that you could hear the lions roaring at night. How cool is that? So we had a good wander around, marvelled at how some old buildings keep a bit of class while some don't:
Yeah baby. Some things never change.
Anyway, lovely wander in the sunshine, ferry back across the river, train back to Duincraig, then I went on to Mark and Angie's for dinner - a very pleasant evening at a three-kid household. Mark is looking into the microbrewing courses offered at ECU, which I think is outstanding, and Angie is expanding her nursing by specialising in diabetes. With three kids under 6. Some people don't know how to switch off, I think.
After that, Mum and I stayed up and watched Chicago on dvd, then solved the problems of the world until about 3 am. Woot! Late night ragers!
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Thursday night - No kids night
Thursday night was a no kids night (but back to three kids on Friday night).
The plan was to meet at Blainie and Steve's, with Pete and Nicole as well then we would all pile into one car and head to 2 Fat Indians, the new restaurant on Beaufort Street, Mt Lawley. Blainie and Steve are still mourning the closure of Little India, which was by far the best Indian restaurant in Perth ever - we worked out it must actually be about 5 years since it closed, so it really is time to move on. They're still looking for a good substitute. 2 Fat Indians may well be it! A bit more expensive ($15 ish for veggie dishes, $20 - $25 for omnis). Service was pretty good, venue funky, etc. well worth a look if you find yourself int he neighbourhood. Blainie got her camera out, but I haven't seen the pic/s yet - I'll ask her for some copies.
Then we walked up Beaufort a bit to get to the Flying Scotsman. Now, this is simply a pub on a street corner. You can drink and eat inside, you can drink and smoke outside. I don't believe you can eat and smoke outside though, I think that may be illegal.
Anyway - The Scotsman has the weirdest quirk that none of us can make sense of. You order and pay for things at the bar (reasonably standard in Perth) - but you aren't allowed to carry the drinks to an outside table. Really. Start heading towards the door with a beverage and staff swoop on you from all angles and grab it off you, put it on their tray and walk it to your table. Bearing in mind this is not a tipping culture, it seems to be some sort of legal requirement. It can be quite a fun game though - see how clsoe you can get to the door before you're stopped. Well, it's Perth, there's not much else to do ...
After a while, we decided to find our way to the upstairs room, as we could see people on the balcony. Man - was that swish! Very gothic, cocktail bar. Leather studded lounges, bookshelves covered with "old" books, Smooth DJ dude in the corner, gothic flock wallpaper ... We give it two weeks before it is completely overrun by tossers.
I love that guy in the background.
Back at Blainie and Steve's, I bonded with Yuki, their ragdoll cat. She is loved like a firstborn, that one. I plan to have many photos of her on Sunday, when I return to Mabel Street for a barbeque.
The plan was to meet at Blainie and Steve's, with Pete and Nicole as well then we would all pile into one car and head to 2 Fat Indians, the new restaurant on Beaufort Street, Mt Lawley. Blainie and Steve are still mourning the closure of Little India, which was by far the best Indian restaurant in Perth ever - we worked out it must actually be about 5 years since it closed, so it really is time to move on. They're still looking for a good substitute. 2 Fat Indians may well be it! A bit more expensive ($15 ish for veggie dishes, $20 - $25 for omnis). Service was pretty good, venue funky, etc. well worth a look if you find yourself int he neighbourhood. Blainie got her camera out, but I haven't seen the pic/s yet - I'll ask her for some copies.
Then we walked up Beaufort a bit to get to the Flying Scotsman. Now, this is simply a pub on a street corner. You can drink and eat inside, you can drink and smoke outside. I don't believe you can eat and smoke outside though, I think that may be illegal.
Anyway - The Scotsman has the weirdest quirk that none of us can make sense of. You order and pay for things at the bar (reasonably standard in Perth) - but you aren't allowed to carry the drinks to an outside table. Really. Start heading towards the door with a beverage and staff swoop on you from all angles and grab it off you, put it on their tray and walk it to your table. Bearing in mind this is not a tipping culture, it seems to be some sort of legal requirement. It can be quite a fun game though - see how clsoe you can get to the door before you're stopped. Well, it's Perth, there's not much else to do ...
After a while, we decided to find our way to the upstairs room, as we could see people on the balcony. Man - was that swish! Very gothic, cocktail bar. Leather studded lounges, bookshelves covered with "old" books, Smooth DJ dude in the corner, gothic flock wallpaper ... We give it two weeks before it is completely overrun by tossers.
I love that guy in the background.
Back at Blainie and Steve's, I bonded with Yuki, their ragdoll cat. She is loved like a firstborn, that one. I plan to have many photos of her on Sunday, when I return to Mabel Street for a barbeque.
Lunch with the bro and his girl
Grant has a girlfriend. This is not a new development, they have been together for over a year, but I hadn't mentioned it yet here. I got to meet them for lunch today, which was good. They both work downtown (opposite ends), so we met centrally and went to the Carillion Food Court. Busy at lunchtime, strangely enough.
I worked the salad bar pretty hard, eight dollars got me a mix of three salads with either meat or avocado on top - I went the avo, strangely enough. It was fresh and pleasant. And because I am me, I had brought my water bottle from home, so didn't even need to resort to store bought soft drinks. Mel had a Passiona. I didn't even know they still made that. The colour remains offputting: It really is passionfruit pulp colour. Mmm.
Anyway, it was nice to get to hang out with Grant and Mel on their own turf a bit (even though it was a food court) as we quickly fall into the trap of only having contact in a full family setting: either they come over to Mum and Dad's for dinner, or reply-all emails. It's not like we all just sat there and swore or anything, it's just a different vibe.
I walked with Grant back to his office, and he showed me his cubicle (I sense a recurring theme). Once again - very low walls, they feel about a metre high, but I guess they are 130cm or so. He doesn't have *any* guest chairs, but I think he thinks that's a good thing. He appears to be working on the "if I cover every surface with crud, nobody will bother me with more work" concept, I don't know if it's working or not.
Please note I always take it to the other extreme, on any given day it would be hard to tell if I was in the office. Very sparse, my workstation. Must remember to get some plants.
I worked the salad bar pretty hard, eight dollars got me a mix of three salads with either meat or avocado on top - I went the avo, strangely enough. It was fresh and pleasant. And because I am me, I had brought my water bottle from home, so didn't even need to resort to store bought soft drinks. Mel had a Passiona. I didn't even know they still made that. The colour remains offputting: It really is passionfruit pulp colour. Mmm.
Anyway, it was nice to get to hang out with Grant and Mel on their own turf a bit (even though it was a food court) as we quickly fall into the trap of only having contact in a full family setting: either they come over to Mum and Dad's for dinner, or reply-all emails. It's not like we all just sat there and swore or anything, it's just a different vibe.
I walked with Grant back to his office, and he showed me his cubicle (I sense a recurring theme). Once again - very low walls, they feel about a metre high, but I guess they are 130cm or so. He doesn't have *any* guest chairs, but I think he thinks that's a good thing. He appears to be working on the "if I cover every surface with crud, nobody will bother me with more work" concept, I don't know if it's working or not.
Please note I always take it to the other extreme, on any given day it would be hard to tell if I was in the office. Very sparse, my workstation. Must remember to get some plants.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Three kids
I have noticed that in this city, my friends fall into two categories: those with no kids, and those with three kids. Both are good, although three-kids units are faster at responding to "shall we catch up" requests.
As part of said Three-Kids Regime, I just had dinner with three kids (well, their parents were there too). One of the kids is very new. Like, three weeks old, maybe four. I held her and while she did cry, it wasn't constant, and seemed to be more the baffled "you're not mum or dad" rather than "get me away from this creature" - and she didn't throw up on me, not even once. Yeah, I'm good with kids.
Actually, the four year old kicks arse, and you can tell his Dad is an engineer. Out of all the random toys he could have showed me he was most excited to show me the "power cell". The power cell is a collection of toilet rolls, stickytaped together in threes then stuck end to end with other sets-of-three toilet rolls. That's a power cell, my friend. He also has a remarkable affinity with Annakin Skywalker: not kid Annakin, but not-yet-Darth Annakin. That's pretty cool.
His little sister who is two is a very good and loud singer. She was most pumped to show me the frog in a box they had made with Grandma that day, and it was very impressive. Green popsticks for legs, big drawn on goggly eyes, boxes covered in green paper - the frog was even sitting on drawn lily pads, and his box had flies drawn on the walls so he wouldn't get hungry.
Four year old explained that frogs are mostly nocturnal, so we had to close the box for frog to do stuff. Cool.
These are the cutest kids I have seen in a very long while - and it was a completely lovely evening to catch up with longstanding buddies. Rock on.
I got to drive home up the coast as well, with the windows down. It felt like it was still about 20 degrees.
Thursday is no kids day, Friday is three kids day. Saturday breaks the mould, and shall be discussed closer to the time.
As part of said Three-Kids Regime, I just had dinner with three kids (well, their parents were there too). One of the kids is very new. Like, three weeks old, maybe four. I held her and while she did cry, it wasn't constant, and seemed to be more the baffled "you're not mum or dad" rather than "get me away from this creature" - and she didn't throw up on me, not even once. Yeah, I'm good with kids.
Actually, the four year old kicks arse, and you can tell his Dad is an engineer. Out of all the random toys he could have showed me he was most excited to show me the "power cell". The power cell is a collection of toilet rolls, stickytaped together in threes then stuck end to end with other sets-of-three toilet rolls. That's a power cell, my friend. He also has a remarkable affinity with Annakin Skywalker: not kid Annakin, but not-yet-Darth Annakin. That's pretty cool.
His little sister who is two is a very good and loud singer. She was most pumped to show me the frog in a box they had made with Grandma that day, and it was very impressive. Green popsticks for legs, big drawn on goggly eyes, boxes covered in green paper - the frog was even sitting on drawn lily pads, and his box had flies drawn on the walls so he wouldn't get hungry.
Four year old explained that frogs are mostly nocturnal, so we had to close the box for frog to do stuff. Cool.
These are the cutest kids I have seen in a very long while - and it was a completely lovely evening to catch up with longstanding buddies. Rock on.
I got to drive home up the coast as well, with the windows down. It felt like it was still about 20 degrees.
Thursday is no kids day, Friday is three kids day. Saturday breaks the mould, and shall be discussed closer to the time.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Two deep fryers in one day
Yeah baby. I have reached the pinnacle of vacationary laziness.
Today rocked. It was 29.5 degrees, blue skies, I bought a bucket-hat and 30+ sunscreen, packed my water bottle and my ipod and met Dan for lunch in town. Mmm, vegetable tempura. And Sapporo beer at lunch. Yeah. It wasn't as good value as the Denman Street Akira tofu teriyaki bento box, but Dan was buying and he chose the venue.
We had arranged to meet under the red statue, so I filled in time by appearing to be a tourist:
I think every town should have paper thin statues of kangaroos with briefcases. And that they should always be set up at an intersection so that it is impossible to get a good angle photo without getting run over a second afterwards. Anyway, back to lunch with Dan:
We discussed the existential angst of cubicle life versus "living the dream" which seemed elusive but not completely off the radar. Bearing in mind Dan thinks professional poker is a good career move. Anyway, I got to tour his cubicle (mine's bigger, has higher walls, and I have three guest chairs while he only has one. However Dan has his own windows with blinds that work and a view of trees as well as piles of paper on the floor to stop people putting anything extra in his workspace).
Then tonight, I got to tick another verb off my list: fish and chips in Cottesloe. Mum, Dad and I drove to Cott nice and early (about 5 ish, I guess) and had a good wander around the beach. It was quite full for a Tuesday night: fishers on the groyne (yes, I've heard whatever joke you're thinking of), volleyball playes using the free nets on the sand, kayakers, surfers on the other side of the groyne (oh, ha ha), and lots of people eating takeaway on the grassed terrace bit. Now, when I say "fish and chips", I mean that conceptually. Out of all the food I have on the long list of "things I don't eat", anything oceanic has always been at the very top - since day one on this planet. But how's this for Perth gastronomy:
I get chips, a pineapple fritter and a banana fritter. What are they, I hear you ask. Well interenet - open a can of pineapple rings. Drain the juice off said rings. Batter rings and chuck into the deep fryer. Oh yeah. Imagine the banana version. Peel banana ...
I can't explain to you how good these are. Hotfattygreasysweetgood.
But man, do your teeth feel furry afterwards.
So that's it: two deep fried meals in one day. Tomorrow, not only will I try to go to the gym, I think I shall also eat a salad. I remember vegetables. They were in the tempura.
Today rocked. It was 29.5 degrees, blue skies, I bought a bucket-hat and 30+ sunscreen, packed my water bottle and my ipod and met Dan for lunch in town. Mmm, vegetable tempura. And Sapporo beer at lunch. Yeah. It wasn't as good value as the Denman Street Akira tofu teriyaki bento box, but Dan was buying and he chose the venue.
We had arranged to meet under the red statue, so I filled in time by appearing to be a tourist:
I think every town should have paper thin statues of kangaroos with briefcases. And that they should always be set up at an intersection so that it is impossible to get a good angle photo without getting run over a second afterwards. Anyway, back to lunch with Dan:
We discussed the existential angst of cubicle life versus "living the dream" which seemed elusive but not completely off the radar. Bearing in mind Dan thinks professional poker is a good career move. Anyway, I got to tour his cubicle (mine's bigger, has higher walls, and I have three guest chairs while he only has one. However Dan has his own windows with blinds that work and a view of trees as well as piles of paper on the floor to stop people putting anything extra in his workspace).
Then tonight, I got to tick another verb off my list: fish and chips in Cottesloe. Mum, Dad and I drove to Cott nice and early (about 5 ish, I guess) and had a good wander around the beach. It was quite full for a Tuesday night: fishers on the groyne (yes, I've heard whatever joke you're thinking of), volleyball playes using the free nets on the sand, kayakers, surfers on the other side of the groyne (oh, ha ha), and lots of people eating takeaway on the grassed terrace bit. Now, when I say "fish and chips", I mean that conceptually. Out of all the food I have on the long list of "things I don't eat", anything oceanic has always been at the very top - since day one on this planet. But how's this for Perth gastronomy:
I get chips, a pineapple fritter and a banana fritter. What are they, I hear you ask. Well interenet - open a can of pineapple rings. Drain the juice off said rings. Batter rings and chuck into the deep fryer. Oh yeah. Imagine the banana version. Peel banana ...
I can't explain to you how good these are. Hotfattygreasysweetgood.
But man, do your teeth feel furry afterwards.
So that's it: two deep fried meals in one day. Tomorrow, not only will I try to go to the gym, I think I shall also eat a salad. I remember vegetables. They were in the tempura.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
First Contact
So, one of the hardest parts about returning to somewhere you used to live is it helps you find out where you stand with people.
I have emailed about 10 separate units of friends (some singles, some couples, some family groups) about catching up while I am here.
Three replies were uber-enthusiastic - hurrah, can't wait, is NOW good for you? Made me feel wonderful!
Another three were "Cool - how does about two weeks from now sound?"
The rest are awaiting any reply at all. Which could easily mean I do not have up to date email addresses. But they didn't bounce ...
It's a little bit humbling. It's not like the complete world revolves around me, of course I know that (although sometimes I wonder WHY NOT?) but these were people who I really have clocked up a lot of time with in the past. I would have thought there was a bit more enthusiasm. Sigh. poor me, not as popular as I think I am ...
;)
I have emailed about 10 separate units of friends (some singles, some couples, some family groups) about catching up while I am here.
Three replies were uber-enthusiastic - hurrah, can't wait, is NOW good for you? Made me feel wonderful!
Another three were "Cool - how does about two weeks from now sound?"
The rest are awaiting any reply at all. Which could easily mean I do not have up to date email addresses. But they didn't bounce ...
It's a little bit humbling. It's not like the complete world revolves around me, of course I know that (although sometimes I wonder WHY NOT?) but these were people who I really have clocked up a lot of time with in the past. I would have thought there was a bit more enthusiasm. Sigh. poor me, not as popular as I think I am ...
;)
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Melody
I had the most excellent day today. I have stayed in quite close contact with two University friends. When I say "quite close", I mean they forgive me for never really emailing them. Any time I am in Perth (or they are in Vancouver), we always catch up and have a lovely natter.
One of them is a Mum, two-point-six-times over. That makes it doubly exciting each time I see them, as the kids have exploded beyond recognition. I've met T three times now, and she's five. FIVE. ALREADY. That freaked me out a little bit.
But that was what made it completely ace: T had made me a drawing. She wrote my name on it and everything: "aLLy". (My uni buddies all called me Ally) Here is the picture, I think you'll agree it's lovely.
The only weird thing was that once I got there, T insisted on calling me "Melody". No one has any idea where this has come from, but she prettymuch stuck to her guns.
I'm cool with that.
Random small child I hung out with a while ago called me "Girl" until I set him straight and told him to call me Al. He spent the rest of the evening calling me "Alvin and the Chipmunks".
One of them is a Mum, two-point-six-times over. That makes it doubly exciting each time I see them, as the kids have exploded beyond recognition. I've met T three times now, and she's five. FIVE. ALREADY. That freaked me out a little bit.
But that was what made it completely ace: T had made me a drawing. She wrote my name on it and everything: "aLLy". (My uni buddies all called me Ally) Here is the picture, I think you'll agree it's lovely.
The only weird thing was that once I got there, T insisted on calling me "Melody". No one has any idea where this has come from, but she prettymuch stuck to her guns.
I'm cool with that.
Random small child I hung out with a while ago called me "Girl" until I set him straight and told him to call me Al. He spent the rest of the evening calling me "Alvin and the Chipmunks".
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