Lazy Sunday

OK I think I am going to stick with this layout. Just going to incorporate a picture in the header. 

So it is 3 pm and I have done nothing today. We are trying to clean the house now and then catching up with Jompa at some stage. It is my nameday today btw. Happy nameday to me! 

OMG

OMG the frustration! I'm trying to change the look of my blog. It's extremely frustrating. But I think I'm on to something good. Just bear with me...

Spit to Manly

Another fabulous Saturday in Sydney and B and I went for a long walk from the Spit to Manly. We always do this walk on a slightly too hot day, but at least we waited until the afternoon this time.

Just as you think you are almost in Manly, the track just keeps going and going. But it is a beautiful walk though.

Almost there! Umm.. actually two hours away.

Before we went home I had a swim at Fairlight beach. The water temperature was perfect. Going back for a snorkel tomorrow.

No we're back home, chilling on the couch and I'm totally spent.

And oh, we went to Gazebo in Manly last night. Loooove it. Awesome food and nice atmosphere. I'm too exhausted to write anything else right now. Time for a snooze before dinner.

Gazebo, Thai and gossip

Back at Gazebo last night after work with a big group of friends. I really like it there, it's got such a nice feel to it. LMC's super cute flat mates were there, and even though I've met R and C plenty of times she still introduced me to them. And then she was surprised when we told her we had met. Hahaha, she's so funny.

After a couple of glasses of wine LMC, PB and I went to some Thai joint on Crown st that I can't remember the name of, but it was something ingenious like most Thai restaurants - like "Thaitanic" or "Thairiffic". You get the point. Good food but it just wasn't Spice I am. Afterwards LMC and I ended up at Gloria Jeans!? and were chatting about everything and nothing for a few hours until I had to leave to catch my ferry. But since two buses refused to stop for me I missed the ferry and ended up going back to the 'funhouse' with LMC and we kept gossiping for another couple of hours. I hadn't seen her for ages since I've been to Singapore and Sweden so we really had a lot of catching up to do. I felt so guilty about leaving the cat alone another night this week though. She was purring like crazy when I got home - but at least she had plenty of food and water.

So, I just realised that it's Mardi Gras this weekend. B and I were planning on having our valentines day/anniversary dinner in the city Saturday night but I guess we can forget about that now. So where to go instead? Garfish? We always end up there. I want to try something different. I guess the new Gazebo will be packed on a Saturday night too. fan. I'll have to discuss it with my jetsetting fiance when he gets back from his water skiing trip tonight.

Vino and old friends

Wohoo! I've slept all night. My jet lag is pretty much defeated. 

Monday night after work I met up with ML and an old friend from Sweden who's visiting Sydney for a couple of days. We went to Gazebo and had far too many bottles of wine and some yummy mussels. Since I missed my last ferry I ended up staying at Lemona's house. But instead of going to bed around 1am when we got home we thought it was a great idea to have another bottle of wine on the balcony. It was hard getting out of bed the next morning. Very hard. But how often do I get to catch up with friends from Sweden? Like never.. So it was worth it!

    

My Sunday

Yesterday was such an amazing day. I was woken up by Brett and Shirin at midday. They thought it was about time I woke up. Then we went to Bench for brunch, and I had the most deliscious sandwich with rare roast beef and aioli. Brett had a sausage.

Then we went for a long walk to Shelley beach and got so inspired by all the people snorkling so we decided to go home and get our snorkling gear. Then we went back to shelley again.

The visibility was awful but I still saw heaps of fish. A big parrot fish, a groper and a bunch of tiny fish that looked like black and white Nemos. I didn't get to do the shark sign though. Disappointing. No, actually I'm pretty happy I didn't see any sharks since I probably would have freaked out. But it would have been fun to do the shark sign.

The best thing about the snorkling was, however, the water temp. It must have been 24 degrees. I LOVE the end of summer. I usually don't go swimming in Sydney (even though I live at the beach) since I can't stand the cold water. But now I will go for a swim everyday after work for the next month or so.

After our snorkling mission we went to Miss Lemona and Poker hero's for dinner. They had cooked Indian. Yum! We spent all night drinking beer and playing with a new iPhone app. It was hilarious.

Then we went home and had another drink on the balcony.

I love summer!

I hate being jetlagged!!!

I'm wide awake. And totally bored. Even Shirin is asleep. Well, she probably sleeps 20 hours a day so it's not really that surprising. But still. I must have read every single article in Smh, Dn and Aftonbladet. What makes it even more frustrating is that Brett is sleeping so peacefully beside me. Did I mention that I hate being jetlagged. I. Hate. Being. Jetlagged.

Must stay awake...

I'm struggling so much right now. Struggling to stay awake. Got home last night at 10 pm after getting the cat from ML and PH. She seemed pretty happy to see us but was crying all the way home in the car. She even put her little paws through the cage door and looked so sad that it broke my heart.

I slept all the way from Singapore to Sydney and didn't think I would sleep at all last night, but I slept for 11 hours! And now I just want to sleep mooore. So hard. If we're still awake tonight we're going out for dinner with some friends, which would be great since I haven't seen them for ages.

 Right now all I can manage to do is to sit on the couch and make Spotify playlists and read trashy Swedish newspapers. Just read that a Swedish artist, Carola, visited Haiti and a child that she's sponsoring and brought him a Hugo Boss fragrance as a present. Hahaha what was she thinking?? He doesn't have any food or money and couldn't afford to stay in school but now he's got a $100 Hugo Boss fragrance. Yay!

Almost home..

At Starbucks at Changi Airport. So close now. I'm ridiculously tired and can't wait to snuggle up in my skybed and sleep all the way to Sydney..

See you soon!

Summer style

Winter Wonderland

We have now been in Sweden for two days and it looks soo different from what I´m used to. It´s freezing cold and there´s snow everywhere - like it should be in winter! So beautiful. Yesterday Brett, my brother and I went for a long walk on the water just in front of my parents´ house.

 

This is where we went windsurfing and swimming six months ago. Hard to believe now.. 

  

 

Brett acted like a little kid who had never seen snow before. He was touching everything and managed to cut his finger on some ice. Then he kicked some ice and hurt his foot. But look how happy he is anyway.

 

Today we went toboggan  riding. Soo much fun. But the toboggan was made for kids and hence far too small for us.

We´ve also done some shopping. There was a huge sale on at Cheap Monday and we´ve bought $8 jeans and a heap of other stuff. I´m happy becasue Brett came shopping with me and Brett is happy because he won´t have to do any shopping for another year. We´ll probably have to buy another suitcase tho.

Sweden here we come

Brett and I are off to Sweden for a week. Shirin is back with her favourite auntie Miss Lemona. And I will soon be back on a plane to Singapore. I'm so happy that ML and her bf Poker hero can look after Shirinski. I HATE putting her in a cattery, and she hates being there even more. So thanks guys for letting her invade and fur up your house! And let me know if you want anything from the motherland.

My food addictions - the countdown.

Since I moved to Sydney I have had some the best eating experiences of my life. Particularly in terms of Asian food (which is crap in Sweden). So I thought I would give you the list of my various food addictions since I moved here in 2005.

2010 - KOREAN BBQ. Had an amazing Korean BBQ at Jompas place about a week ago. Jompa and his parents had been up cooking until 2am! the previous morning and delivered a feast! It was soo yummy and I'm ashamed that I haven't had have Korean BBQ until 2010. Why haven't I? Everything is cooked in garlic and chili. My favourite spices - so it really doesn't make any sense. Anyhow, 2010 will be the year of Korean BBQ. I can feel it.

2009 - YUM CHA and SVEN'S VIKING PIZZA. In mid 2009 I developed an unhealthy obsession with Yum Cha, which I'm not over yet (and probably never will be). Luckily there is an awesome yum cha restaurant 2 minutes away from my house - although Jompa will probably be upset when I say that. He's taught me everything I know about Yum Cha. And for some reason he doesn't rate Manly Phoenix. But I do.

And Sven's Viking Pizza, well, it's just delicious. Best pizza in Sydney. Without a doubt. And I'm not just saying that because I know the owner.



2008 - SUSHI TRAINS. In 2008 I fell in love with sushi and had to go to my favourite sushi train restaurant, Makoto (at World Square), for lunch at least 3 times a week. Now I probably feast there once a week.



2007 - SPICE I AM. The only Thai I eat since I had my first dinner there three years ago. What else needs saying. Thank you LMC for taking me there.



2006 - JAPANESE (NOT SUSHI). I fell in love with Japanese food after a skiing trip to Japan in 2006. Before that trip I pretty much thought that Japanese food was just Sushi. Embarrassing, I know. And I didn't even like Sushi at this stage. However, we brought a bunch of Japanese sauces (and other weird stuff) back to Sydney and tried to cook Okonomiyaki, Yakitori and Teppanyaki at home a few times. Now we only make Okonomiyaki once every few months.

2005 - AFRICAN AND SWEDISH MEATBALLS. One of my first nights in Sydney, Brett took me out for African food. My previous experience of "African" food was a Swedish dish called "Africana", which consists of pork, cream, bananas and coconut. Hahahahahah. No I'm not kidding. (Don't get me wrong, there's some absolutely delicious food in Sweden, but mostly from the European cuisines. But that might have changed by now anyway. I'm not sure) So I had a very pleasant surprise when I had 'real' African food for the first time.

And finally, Swedish meatballs. Or just Swedish food in general. Since I craved anything Swedish and we lived 2 hours from the closest IKEA, I couldn't buy frozen meatballs and Pytt i Panna etc. So I started cooking Swedish food from scratch and suddenly realised how awesome it is. I never really had any proper home cooked Swedish husmanskost growing up, because you simply buy it frozen and reheat it for a quick lunch. But It's unbelievably good.  



2004 - I fell in love with BRETT.

Summer evening

Conversation with Singaporean taxi driver, Saturday, 8.20 am

TD: Is this your first time in Singapore?
Me: Yeah, I arrived last night
Me: Where can you get the best food in Singapore?
TD: Best food is in Lau Pau Sat. But be very careful. Always ask for the price first. Or it will get very expensive. Since you are foreigner everyone will try to cheat you.
Me: OK thanks,  I'll remember that.

Then he accidentally "missed" the exit to my hotel and insisted that he couldn't just stop on the side of the road to drop me off but had to go around the block to the front of the hotel lobby. And 10 minutes later when we finally arrived at the hotel, he pushed a button on the taximeter that doubled the fare and said:
 "OK, that's $20. Sorry for extra long way".

I thought it seemed a bit expensive but didn't feel like starting a fight about it. Later I found out that the ride shouldn't have cost anymore than $5. Max. I guess he wasn't lying when he said that everyone would try to cheat me.
B.a.s.t.a.r.d.

Singas

Had a great day on Saturday. Started the morning at Starbucks where they make really good coffee (compared to the disgusting milk with coffee you get at Starbucks in Sydney). Then we went out to a beach resort called Sentosa, which was super weird. The water was disgusting so there was noo way we were going for a swim. Brett declared that it would be awesome if there was a luge in Sentosa, and I agreed. And guess what we found when we walked around the corner?? A little too convenient for my liking...

It was funfunfun but not as much fun as the one in Queenstown. But since Singapore is totally flat, what can you expect.

After a few hours of relaxing at the hotel room we went to a Night Safari at the Singapore Zoo. It was really cool. Unfortunately you weren't allowed to use camera flashes, so I only have really really dark pictures.

We didn't go back to Fatty's for dinner on Saturday night, but went there again for lunch on Sunday and had some really delicious chicken dish - chicken hot pot. And I also met Skinny - Fatty's brother (or some other relative..? Brett maybe you can clear this up??). He was really grumpy, but brought me delicious spring rolls.
After lunch Brett went back to the hotel to have a snooze before his flight and I went shoe shopping. Will take pictures and show you later.

I don't know...

I don't know where I am. The UK? Australia? China? No, Singapore. Strange place. But very nice at the same time. I arrived last night and and checked in to a hotel in the city that Brett had booked for me. (He's been on a trip to London and didn't arrive here until this morning.) The room was nice but had the hardest bed I've ever slept on. It seems to be standard here though. The next morning I cabbed it to the Fairmont hotel, where Brett is staying when he comes here. Brett had a nap for two hours so I went shopping...

After Brett woke up we went out to get some lunch and ended up at a restaurant called Fatty's that Brett has been talking about for six years. I consequently had very high expectations. The spring rolls were, just like Brett said, the best I've ever had. But I still don't see how he can be so amazed by the place. It has no charm. Or maybe its lack of charm makes it charming. Whatever. The spring rolls were awesome. Brett however assured me that it's totally different at night, so apparently we're going back there for dinner tomorrow night. I'll report back later.

    
Then we went for a long walk around the city.

Chinese new year is coming up and people were going crazy buying flowers and other decorations.

We went to Little Sweden and had a fika.

In the afternoon we went to Raffles hotel for the most expensive high tea I'll ever have. Unless I become an expat housewife.Which is extremely unlikely. There were plenty of those wives around.  

 But it was goooooood. And the hotel is just amazing.

Now we're back at the hotel and will soon meet up with Brett's captain and S/O for some drinks.

I found my wedding dress!!

Yesterday after work LMC, Jompa and I went shopping for my wedding dress. First we went to Helen English in Paddington and I tried on a few dresses that were very beautiful but still pretty boring. And too expensive for what they were. Afterwards we were going to a cafe on Oxford st for a fika and happened to walk past Adam Dixons store. I tried on one of his dresses about a month ago and loved it, but I had decided to try on a few more dresses before I made up my mind. HOWEVER, the store was open and Adam's cute little dog Kevin, (that he rescued from the pound 7 hours before he was due for a lethal injection) greeted us at the front door and clearly wanted us to come inside, so we decided  to have another look at the dress. And when I tried it on a second time I loved it even more. Jompa and LMC were also convinced it was the right choice. So now I'm booked in for a fitting and have to loose 5 kg in one week. Too bad I'm off to Singapore for a weekend of nonstop eating... 



 

Sweden

A friend of mine wrote on facebook that it was -19 degrees in Stockhom yesterday. -19 degrees!!!! That is absolutely ridiculous. It's just wrong. Why do people live there? It must be because of the beautiful Swedish summers. Anyone who has ever been to Sweden in summer knows that there is no better place on earth. The Australian beaches can't compete. Picking wild strawberries and raspberries by the side of the road, sailing up the west coast, swimming in all the small lakes and the never ending daylight. How I miss it. Sweden in summer IS more beautiful than anything else. That's just the way it is.

But I still don't understand why people put up with -19?? Can someone please explain?

Brett, this is what..

...the jacket looks like.