Hi friends! I split the rest of my trip into two posts. I didn't capture all of the touristy things to do in Melbourne here since I've been there quite a few times, so I linked some of my previous Melbourne posts to help give you a better idea of the city if you don't know very much about it.
I've only been to three of Australia's big cities (Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney). I enjoy them all for different reasons, but Melbourne is the star in my opinion. There is so much to do there, and the streets are always full of people. Unlike Sydney, however, it's very easy to get around. I could see myself living there.
During my time in Melbourne this time around, Al was at work Monday through Friday. He could usually get out of work earlier than 5, but I still had to find ways to entertain myself during the day. My exercise discipline was waning since we went to Port Vincent, but I still did it for a few of those days. I also went out and explored.
Melbourne Royal Botanic Gardens
One of those days, I walked through the Royal Botanic Gardens and could not believe that I was standing in the middle of a city. I felt like I was in a rain forest instead. I also went to the Shrine of Remembrance. I've only ever driven past it, and I always wanted to walk over and get a better view of this magnificent war memorial.
World War II Memorial
This is the astonishing view from Alastair's apartment. From where he lives, it takes about 30 minutes to walk to the city. His apartment is also down the street from a tram stop and also very close to a train stop. Below is the business centre(/center) in his apartment building. I thought these desk/chair things were very interesting! I promised my friend Kate I'd get a picture in one. Here's an educational fact about Australian cities (and something that Australians might find interesting about American cities): In Australian cities, the name of the city only applies to the business district (Australians call it the Central Business District, or the CBD). Imagine, for instance, if Chicago only applied to the Loop. I can't relate it to any other big city, but I'm sure that you get the idea.
Any part of the city that you would consider to be a neighborhood, such as Lincoln Park in Chicago or Chelsea in New York City, is considered to be a separate suburb in Australia.
From the Australian point of view, imagine if South Yarra in Melbourne or Darling Harbour in Sydney were "neighborhoods" of the city and not suburbs. Anybody in those neighborhoods would have a Melbourne address.
It's interesting how it works in other countries, isn't it?
I laugh when I think about how much these Australia posts will contrast with my snow post, but that's usually what happens when you travel to opposite ends of the earth when temperatures are at their most extreme. It's snowing here, and I just battled weather in Adelaide and Victoria that got up to nearly 41 degrees (105.8 degrees Fahrenheit). Let's go back there, shall we? One of my favorite parts about going back to Australia after not being there for a while is that I forget how funny Australians can be. For instance, where in the United States can you find a lingerie shop called The Booby Trap Warehouse? Across the Pacific and down south a bit, you can find one in Adelaide, Australia. I bought several bras from there. True story. When we were driving back and forth between Melbourne and Adelaide (and to our New Years Eve destination), I found another reason why Australians are funny. I saw their country road signs. Do you get it? Don't drive like a W-anchor? Wanker? Isn't that a great way to grab your attention when you're thinking about speeding down the road and tailgating and weaving around the cars like a complete wanker? I sure think so. If you're a super-American like my mom and really don't understand the billboard at all because you've never heard the word "wanker" before (or don't watch enough Hugh Grant movies), then I can tell you that the word basically means "jerk". There are other meanings, so look here if you're in the mood for educating yourself in the art of British slang.
Adelaide
As I mentioned before, we had some very hot days in Adelaide. We spent a lot of time relaxing since that weather can make you pretty lethargic, but we got out of the house too. There were Christmas gifts to exchange, a few friends who were actually in town to meet, bras to buy at the Booby Trap, and beaches far as the eye could see.
I'm not sure if you know this about Adelaide, but they have outstanding beaches. During one of our afternoons, we drove over to Henley Beach. Glenelg is the most popular city beach, but we avoided it since we knew it would be impossible to find parking and space to even walk around on a day like this. We walked over to Henley Square for lunch, and I got a real Greek salad. "Real" Greek salads have all of the essentials of any other Greek salad, but it's not mixed in with lettuce. There are also huge chunks of cheese, which made this girl very happy. Later on, I met my friend Megan (read her blog Story Book Love Affair- it's all about books, and she's a fantastic writer!) at Lemongrass Bistro on Rundle Street (the most fun street in Adelaide). I've always wanted to eat here while I was living in Adelaide, but I never got the chance. The one time that we made reservations, I got sick a few hours before dinner. Lemongrass has outstanding Thai food. You can order all different sorts of noodle dishes, but I was intrigued with the menu option that allows you to pick your combination of sauce, vegetable, and protein. I chose the Lemongrass (bottom left), which included mushrooms, capsicum (red pepper) and other spicy veggies. I chose the tofu as my protein, and I was not disappointed.
Megan ordered the Char-Grilled Chicken (bottom right), which was garlic, herbs, sweet chili sauce, chicken, and vegetables. We both loved what we ordered. Port Vincent We packed up our bags the next day and drove to Port Vincent for New Years Eve. Instead of trying to explain where it is, I drew you a map (below). Port Vincent is the pink bubble, and Adelaide is on the other side of the water. The only way that you can get there is to drive around, so it took us about 2.5 hours to get there.
The land that juts out there and slightly resembles a boot is called the Yorke Peninsula. A lot of people who live in Adelaide also own homes there. It's an ideal place for fishing, snorkeling, diving or surfing. Just for fun, I also "drew" you a map of Australia. The red bubble shows Adelaide, and you can just make out the Yorke Peninsula next to it. Before I recap Port Vincent, I really want to stress the fact that you can't live in Adelaide without knowing several people with a "holiday shack". So many people own homes in the city, but they will also own a house somewhere else, such as Kangaroo Island, the Yorke Peninsula, Hindmarsh Island, the Limestone Coast, the Fleurieu Peninsula, or the Riverlands. People often call them "shacks", because they are never as nice as their homes in the city. They may be in their Adelaide homes for 11 months and one week out of the year, but as soon as Christmas rolls around, the city empties out with everybody going to their holiday homes. These homes also have the capacity to sleep armies of people, because they often have bunk rooms. Those who don't get a bed can still sleep there; they just sleep outside in a tent or a swag. Days are spent on the beach, curled up with a book, or watching ten hours of cricket. Nights are spent with delicious dinners made on the barbie and a few bottles of wine. This is the time to relax and enjoy time with your family and your friends. You may have to share one bathroom with 17 other people and wake up to mosquitoes biting your face, but it doesn't matter. All in all, I really admire this post-Christmas tradition that can never happen in the United States of America.
This was exactly like our time in Port Vincent, except the house our friends rented was a NICE shack.
We spent a lot of time at the beach. Our friend Bonnie rented the house, but she and her sister Cat also have a family home there with a boat. I went on the boat, although I never ended up going water skiing. I definitely should have!
After beach time was beer time and nail-painting time. By the way, you can't see in this picture, but our tent was set up on the deck around the corner. Yes, we slept in a tent for two nights. Boys got their nails painted, too. We had steak on the barbie. Duncan's homemade potato salad. It doesn't get more Australian than this! The next day included more beach, lots of time reading, and watching people jump off the dock (I stole this picture from Lara- thank you!). Then the girls went home to pretty themselves (this house had TWO bathrooms, fortunately), and New Years Eve officially started. Bonnie and Cat's family came by to see the house, and they brought a few appetizers in addition to our own. There was a ton of food. There was plenty of beer, wine, and cocktails. My favorite appetizer was smoked salmon on a baguette with capers. YUM! Oh yes, I also enjoyed the brie very much. I didn't have one of these, but I'm pretty sure these were appetizers of the Asian variety. They brought their dog, too. He got LOTS of attention! Of course, there was more barbecuing. Duncan and Claire! The meat! Sausages and lamb (I think it was lamb). Lara and I were in meatless moods, so we ate lots of potato and salad. We also got a visit from the neighborhood dog. He came up to the house a whole bunch of times and attempted to persuade us in a game of fetch. He usually won at least one of us over. How can you say no to a face like that?
He has owners, but they let him run around during the day and play with the neighbors. Soon, the sun went down and the dancing began. I was up there once they broke out the Backstreet Boys. We had a delicious pavlova for dessert with fresh berries. There were sparklers. We all had a wonderful time. Including the blokes. We drove back to Adelaide the day after that, and then we went back to Melbourne early the following morning. It was an exceptionally warm seven-hour drive, so I was very happy when we made it back to Al's apartment.
I just realized that I have no recollection of mentioning that Alastair moved to Melbourne last year after visiting me in Chicago. I'm sure you would have figured that out by now, but I feel pretty silly for not bringing that up. I have the tendency to just suppose that I already told people things, so I am very sorry if I forgot!
Despite the fact that some parts of Australia had terrible weather (cyclone in the Northern Territory and torrential rain and hail in Melbourne), we had a lovely Christmas in Adelaide.
I started off my day with a three-mile run in a park near Al's mom and dad's home at 8 am. The park was full of walkers and joggers and dogs, and everybody was happy since it was a sunny and warm Christmas morning. Al's mom and dad were also out walking, and Al went there to run (although I never go with him since he runs so much faster than I do).
At 11, Al's brother Nick, his wife Anna, Al's brother Hamish, his girlfriend Ayzsa and her son Nate came over for mimosas and presents. At 12:30, we arrived at Aunt Susie and Uncle Andy's new house in the Adelaide Hills for lunch. As usual, there were drinks and plenty of food! We also had our assigned seats and our Christmas bon bons (they contain the Christmas hats, as you will see in a few pictures). We had passed appetizers before the big meal, such as amazing homemade sushi, spring rolls, and smoked salmon tarts. After that, we had lunch. I filled my plate with roasted potatoes, green beans, incredibly moist and delicious turkey, and tomato pie (sliced tomatoes, onions, and crusty bread). Most of the fam (minus myself) were from Adelaide, but there were also two uncles and one aunt from Melbourne. I sat in between Uncle Tim and Jamie (my future father-in-law). I have fun no matter where I sit on Christmas since we are always a chatty bunch. Soon after we started eating, we cracked open our bon bons and put on our Christmas hats. Festive, eh? Instead of going out and buying presents for everybody there, we did a "Kris Kringle" gift exchange. Each person buys a gift with a $20 limit and wraps it in red paper. We then take turns grabbing presents. We did the same thing last year in Melbourne when there were 30 people there, and it worked out very well. I got a pairing knife and a dish-washing scrubbing bristle gadget that fills up with soap (I really can't think of the name of it right now...if there even is a name for it). I'm pretty stoked about them, but I'll probably trade for Al's Jamie Oliver's 30-Minute Meals cookbook. He got the same thing last year for Christmas, and I really don't see the point of him having two of them. He doesn't, either. We ate our dessert on the patio. There were Haigh's truffles, mini mince pies, brandy butter, Christmas pudding, cream, ice cream, and a saliva-inducing bowl of fresh raspberries. If you don't know what these desserts are, then look 'em up on the 'net! I have zero complaints about the desserts. Everything was just perfect. Soon after dessert, we got a visit from Father Christmas. He drove up the hill on Uncle Andy's jeep. Perhaps Andy let Santa borrow his car, which was very nice. We looked around for Andy during this ordeal, but we couldn't find him. Maybe he ate too much and had to lie down for a power nap. We expected Santa to bring his reindeer, but he instead had his Little Helper named Lolla. As soon as he got to the top, they made a dash for a the house. They had important presents to deliver. We didn't see Santa after that, but we found Andy a little while later. I wonder what he was doing all of that time?
Santa also visited last year, but there were too many children present for Lolla to make an appearance. Alastair's family is just full laughs...yes?
I hope everybody else had a wonderful Christmas! I'll be in Adelaide relaxing until the first or second of January, and then we'll go back to Melbourne until it's time to go back to the States. As of now, I'm enjoying my relaxation and am not looking forward to going back yet!
P.S. Thanks to Penny for letting me steal a few photos off of her camera!
This weekend was one of the most entertaining weekends that I have had in a long time. I started out by shadowing an intensive care dietitian at my dad's hospital on Friday morning. I plan on shadowing a few different types of registered dietitians, but I really enjoyed the experience in intensive care. I think that I can handle the hospital very well. I don't get queasy from seeing blood or very sick people. I think that I got that from my dad! Intensive care may be a field that I will consider pursuing. After the hospital, I spent some time at home before I packed an overnight bag and made my way to the city with Libby. We went to my brother Jon's apartment where I fed her, fed myself, and took a cab to Nicole's apartment before the big event of the evening: the Australian Rules Football Grand Final! If you don't know about Australian Rules Football, then look at the end of this recent post. I posted all of my links from last year that explain a little bit about the sport and the teams. The sold-out event was at the Brownstone Tavern & Grill in Chicago, and it was hosted by the Chicago Australian Football Association. The entire bar was reserved for the game, so you couldn't get in there without a ticket. It cost $20 to get in the door, which also included a raffle ticket for an assortment of wine, cash prizes (up to $500) or a round-trip Qantas ticket to Australia (which I sadly did not win). The crowd was a nice mix of Americans, Aussies and other counties that wanted to get in on the excitement. At times, I really believed that I was back in Australia. It made me so happy. I was even happier at the end of the night, because the Geelong Cats won the game! Nicole and I made a lot of friends on Friday night. We were in the bar from 10 pm (the game started a little after 11) until 2 am, so it was bound to happen. We even made a friend wearing a Collingwood jersey. Shocker. Nicole stayed out the entire night, even though she woke up at 4:40 am to go to work on Friday morning. What a trooper! I was so happy that I ended up buying tickets and going. As long as I'm in Chicago, I'm watching the game with these guys! By the way, I said, "Gooooo the Cats!" in my title for the reason that Australians use that expression. Americans would say, "Go Cats!", but not Australians. They add the "THE" in there. I just adore it. It's always THE footy. Or THE cricket. Of course, I picked it up while I was over there. I don't say it when I'm with Americans these days, but I'm sure that I would if I was talking with Australians. I certainly did it on Friday! On Saturday, I drove to the suburbs in the early part of the afternoon and went to my friend Kate and her boyfriend Dan's new apartment. They moved everything in there in the morning, and they were organizing their things. I helped them all afternoon and then I went home and changed for dinner. I went to Cooper's Hawk with my parents and their friends Patti and Ken (who are just as cool, if not cooler, than people my age). I started out with a spatini, which is (from the menu) cucumber-infused Effen Vodka, coconut water and fresh-squeezed citrus juices.For an appetizer, we all shared the Thai Chicken Flatbread.
Rotisserie chicken, cashew sauce, mozzarella, roasted cashews and chopped cilantro drizzled with peanut vinaigrette. I was not expecting it to be as good as it was. It was spectacular. We also ate pretzel bread with whipped butter. I got the jambalaya for my main dish. I've gotten it before and wished that I had gotten something else, so I'm not sure why I got it again. It's very good, but I don't like big quantities of shrimp or Andouille sausage. They have a huge menu, so I'll make sure to get something different next time. Patti got the crab cakes,which came with mustard sauce, potatoes and sauteed garlic spinach. Their crab cakes are great. She was nice enough to let me try some. My mom got her barbecue chicken salad, which is always good. I ate most of the crunchy onion rings. My dad got sliders. Yum. The only dish I didn't photograph was Ken's! He got chicken and said it was very good. I also drank wine and champagne, so I was surprised that I was holding up okay today. I had a great time last night, but that's to be expected when you hang out with Patti and Ken!
After working on my chemistry homework today, I joined my parents and the pups at the dog park. This dog was so cute. I have a cute picture of him playing with Mickey, but I can't get it to load for some reason. Apparently, it's too big. Wahh. The beautiful and spacious dog park I sat in the back with the puppers on the way home. We had a little photo shoot. Mickey didn't want to participate, so I had to snap a photo when he wasn't expecting it. Perhaps he runs away from the camera because he knows that I'm going to post his pictures on the internet. Riggles and Cody A happy Cody A happy upright Cody For dinner, we had a white Hawaiian fish (sorry, can't remember the name and I don't feel like running downstairs and asking my dad when he's also probably asleep) and a chicken and spinach casserole. Hooray for being creative with leftovers! I'm going to do more chemistry homework and then I'm putting myself to sleep! Have a great night!
Hello friends! I want you to give every Jewish person you know a big hug or a pat on the back and wish them a happy new year. They will know what you are talking about, even if you do not! Did you know that Jews get two new years? We get our "Christian" new year on January 1st, and we get our Jewish new year around this time of year. We call it Rosh Hashanah (which translates to "head of the year"). While many of us bring in the January New Year with a massive hangover from a few too many sherbets, Rosh Hashana is usually a combination of temple, family gatherings and very sweet food. One staple food for the holiday is challah. It's a bread that is sometimes braided and other times looks like a big fat spiral (see below). It's a moderately sweet bread, and it should be ripped apart rather than cut apart with a knife. That's the tradition. Our raisin challah is for our guests tomorrow, so I'm leaving it in the plastic wrap until then. Tonight is Rosh Hashanah Eve. When I was younger, we ate a very early dinner and then went to temple for a few hours. We'd then wake up in the morning, eat breakfast, and go back to temple. Missing school was never an issue for me. There were so many Jewish people at my school that classes were cancelled. The non-Jews LOVED us.
We don't belong to a temple anymore, so we have other options. We can pay an arm and a leg to go to services at a temple where we are not members, or we can observe the eve of the New Year at home. Tonight, we did the latter.
We made spinach cheese casserole and pasta for dinner. The spinach dish is very easy to make. It's some frozen and drained spinach... ...with cottage cheese... ..and shredded cheddar... ...and flour and eggs. Actually, my mom added eggs the other 56783 times that she made this. Tonight, she forgot them. It came out of the over lookin all purdy, but the consistency was more like creamed spinach than a casserole. It still tasted great! It gave Boston Market's creamed spinach a run for its money. Plus, it's not all cream and crap like Boston Market. It won't give you a coronary. My dad cooked up a big batch of cheese ravioli with veggies. Creamed spinach casserole and ravioli! Looks aside, I still could have eaten several plates of the spinach. I got a practical lesson of the importance of eggs in recipes, though. Eggs go into recipes for a reason! Not just to keep the chicken people in business...
Of course, there are vegan alternatives. Somewhere around 8 pm, we cleaned up our dishes and did a mini service at our kitchen table. My dad is a whiz at Hebrew, so he was the "leader" of the service. It was nice. It was over in 25 minutes, and I wore my pajamas. It was the shortest and most comfortable Rosh Hashanah Eve service of my life. FOOTY GRAND FINAL!!! 'Aight mates, just because I'm in America now, it doesn't mean that I can't get all excited about the grand final. This year, Collingwood is playing Geelong in Melbourne. If you want to know more about Australian Rules Football, check out some of my old posts from last year. I also explain (with no feelings held back) how I feel about Collingwood. I do NOT want this team to win again! Go GEELONG!!!! I'm watching the game on Friday night with the Chicago Footy Club. Click on the link for more info! Footy Posts:
Even though I am back in Adelaide safe and sound, I still have a few recaps that I have to do. I would have finished all of them sooner since I have been back for over a week, but our internet has been out the whole time! For a blogger or anybody else who relies heavily on wire-ability, this is very inconvenient. Alastair is able to use his phone as a modem, but it can get expensive if we use too much data. Hence, less blogging! Here is a photo-friendly recap of me out with some of my friends in Chicago. I was lucky to spend time with my girls, although it still wasn't enough time. I also didn't get to see everybody who I wanted to see! One of my Saturday nights home, though, I went to Kirkwood (the same as the Indiana University bar) in the Lakeview area of the city.  Me, Nicole, Goda  Chandra and Irene  Kate, her boyfriend Dan, me, Irene, Dan's friend  Kate, me, Irene  Kisses for me! I found someone's hair extensions of the floor in the bathroom. I guess there are worse things I could have found on the floor.  Kate, me, Nicole  Kate and Dan I missed out on photo ops with some very important people, including my longtime friend Andi who let me stay at her apartment that night. Still, I had such a great time with my girls. Unfortunately, I don't have many girl friends in Adelaide. It's made me appreciate my friends that I have at home even more. They are the best!
Here are some more updates since I left America:
- I got my perfect seat on the flight home. It was an aisle seat in the middle rows, and the seats next to me were empty. I was also the last row before the bathrooms, so I could lean my seat all the way back without feeling guilty or having to bring it upright during meals
- I slept twelve hours during the flight
- When I woke up, I learned that all of the toilets on the plane broke except for one. We were almost diverted to Brisbane, but they managed to fix a few of them.
- The day before my flight, I requested an Oriental vegetarian meal. I told you all last time how I thought the meat was inedible, so I decided to go vego this time. There were so many vegetarian options to choose from, but I finally decided on Oriental. Grains and veggies sounded nice. I ended up getting a tofu and vegetable stir fry for dinner (I was so tired that I didn't eat it) and some strange hot cereal with spices that was sort of okay. All in all, I didn't feel sick at all from eating anything, so I think I will request special meals from now on. Sorry that I didn't take any photos. They would have been helpful!
- I arrived in Australia on the second day of a five-day weekend. There was Good Friday, then Saturday and Sunday, then Anzac Day was Monday and Tuesday was an extra day for Easter. In a normal year, Australia gets a holiday for Easter (Easter Monday), but it was on the same day as Anzac Day this year.
- My bag got lost going from Melbourne to Adelaide. Long story, but it had something do with the fact that some lady working for the domestic terminal at Qantas would not let me get in line to get a new tag on my bag so that somebody would know to put my bag on the plane to Adelaide. Luckily, my bag came to my apartment a few hours later.
- Despite sleeping on the plane for 12 hours (we took off at 11:30 pm Los Angeles time, so my body wanted to go to sleep anyway), I napped when I got home for four hours. I then couldn't stay awake past 8 pm, so I slept for another twelve hours. I have now been in Australia for a week, and this is the first time I have been able to stay awake past the 8:30-9:30 range. Please note that I love sleeping, so perhaps I've subconsciously been thinking of excuses to sleep for ridiculously long amounts of time.
- I am FINALLY driving a manual car! I practiced over the long weekend, and I now drive it to work. Alastair has a work car for an indefinite amount of time, so I drive his car. I have only stalled it once in the past week of driving it. I am a champion.
- I made new discoveries about my leg "injury". I injured my sartorius muscle; not my IT band. My mom took me to her personal trainer, who specializes in injuries, at her gym. She poked and prodded at my leg for a while. When she pressed down on my inner thigh area, it was excruciating. I never felt even half that amount of pain when I went to that physiotherapist in Adelaide. I learned that the irritation on the other side of my leg came from inflammation in my sartorius. My mom's trainer gave me stretches and exercises to strengthen it up, so hopefully it will finally get better!
- I came home from work yesterday and watched the Royal Wedding live from beginning to end. Australia had it good with the time difference.
More recaps to come over the next few days!
Many Americans who live in America are talking all about signs of spring. Oh lah-dee-dah-dee-dah. So while they are all skipping around in their skirts and pigtails while the sun smiles down on them, I want to tell you about the signs of winter in the Southern Hemisphere.
Today, it looked something like this: As I walked from the deli to pick up the newspaper to my office this morning, the rain was nearly horizontal. I had to hold my umbrella in front of me to prevent the rain from going right in my face. It was extremely unpleasant. Other signs of winter include: -the sun comes up later every morning -it is cooling down. Today, it was a high of 20 degrees (68 degrees F). Guys, it was FREEZING. Don't you tell me any differently. I had to turn on the heater in the lunchroom this afternoon. It was 35 degrees in Perth today (95 F). Not fair. These two factors combined, it is much harder to get out of bed in the morning. I'm sleeping more soundly, and it feels like the middle of the night when my alarm goes off. This is making me feel disoriented. I had to have two cups of black tea today (instead of my normal one cup). If those factors weren't enough to convince you that winter is on its way, here is the only proof you will ever need: FOOTY SEASON STARTS TOMORROW!!! Get ready for short shorts and a whole lot of man-on-man pileups. GO CROWS! GO ST KILDA! DON'T GO COLLINGWOOD!
Today, I am proud of myself for a few reasons. First, I only ate HALF of my gnocchi last night. I brought the other half for lunch today, and I packed some broccoli to make it more filling. This is a big accomplishment for me, because I usually polish off a whole packet of gnocchi in one meal. It tastes great, but it's twice as many servings as I need. By immediately spooning half of the cooked dish into tupperware for the next day, I am saving myself a lot of extra calories AND money by turning one huge meal into two. I also did a load of laundry. Actually, we do the washing on most days, but it seemed like a good time for a picture. Like a lot of Aussies, we don't own a dryer. Even if we did own one, we wouldn't use it very much. We save so much money on our electricity bill by hanging our clothes outside. We're fortunate to have a private courtyard in the back, which makes it perfect for a clothing rack. Thirdly, I made HEALTHY mashed potatoes. Actually, they're not mashed potatoes at all. It's mashed cauliflower, but it looks like potatoes. It doesn't taste exactly the same, but it's very similar. They're not quite as starchy. I got my inspiration from April's blog. Exercise-wise, I went on a hill run after work. There is a huge hill behind the Adelaide Oval that looks short, but it is very painful to run up. I was literally gasping for air when I got to the top, but I kept running. Then, I did it again.
On a side note, I'll have to take photos from the top of the hill. There is a beautiful view of the city from up there.
I also planned a circuit workout for tomorrow morning. I first made a list of all of the muscles I want to work, then I made a list of exercises I could do to work them. I then made another list of exercises I plan on doing with a "station" number next to them. Station 1 is for an elastic band, station 2 is for body weight or other exercises such as squats or lunges without weights and station 3 is for hand weights. I'll do each exercise for 90 seconds with quick breaks in between for water or moving in between "stations". It's all set up in my living room for 6 am.
I've never made a list before doing a workout before (I usually just do whatever I feel like), so I hope this motivates me to work harder. We shall see! Those are the reasons that I'm proud!
I also want to say that one of my coworkers was in Japan when the earthquake struck on Friday. I was sure that his plane was going to be delayed, but he ended up coming in at his scheduled time on Sunday. He was on a brewery tour at the time (of all the places), and he was able to get out of the building safely. He told us all about how the ground was trembling nonstop and about the aftershocks for the rest of his time there. It sounded like it was terrifying, but at least he's back here unscathed. Many people were not that lucky.
Time for sleep now! If I stay up too late, then I'll never wake up early for my workout.
Feast your eyes on my iPhone photos from the past few weeks that I have taken but not uploaded! WARNING: These are completely random.
Photo one: This is an iced coffee. Apparently, if you get an iced coffee in Australia and don't elaborate on how you want it, you end up with a cup of coffee with milk and ice cream. It tastes good, but I think it was too heavy to consume when all I wanted was cold black coffee. I should remember that for next time. Photo two: I ordered falafel from the snack shop last week for lunch. It was scrumptious. Photo three: We bought this couch for about $350. It was a bargain, considering it was relatively new and originally cost over $1,000. We found it on Gumtree, and I inspected it with one of my coworkers (the seller lived down the street from my office) before we sealed the deal. We were never able to have a big couch in the shoe box that we left, so we are elated to have something so big and comfortable in our new place. Photo four: There was a full moon on Saturday night. It was picture-perfect until I snapped it with my iPhone camera. Honestly, though, how often do cameras actually do justice? Photo five: This is a Peter Alexander shopping bag. Peter Alexander is an Aussie pajamas store that caters directly to me (execept I can't really afford anything in there). Everything there is pink and decorated with dogs. I especially love this bag, because the dog's face looks like my darling dog Mickey (with a pink bow). I parted with the bag on Sunday, so I said goodbye with a picture. Photo six: I found flowers that I swear I have never seen before. Photo seven: The sky was such a beautiful shade of blue today, that I had to make more than just a mental picture of it while I was on my lunchtime walk. Before I go, here is a link to before and after photos from Christchurch. I've been following the coverage all day. It is an absolute nightmare (at least 75 people are dead), but at least there are many people who have been rescued from the rubble. Have a great day, blog friends!
Sunday BBQ Al was the brains behind dinner last night. In true Aussie fashion, it was almost all done on the barbie. We had grilled potato chips with rosemary, sea salt and thyme.
I honestly didn't like the flavor combinations. A+ for honesty. I grabbed a few green olives (stuffed with red capsicum/pepper) We also threw some chicken and veggie burgers from a local butcher on the barbie. Dessert was fresh peaches from the neighbor's tree mixed with passion fruit and vanilla ice cream. That was a winner. What is this Mystery Meat? After dinner and dessert, I made my lunch for work the next day. I always make my lunch the night before so that I can sleep a little later. I've been making smoked turkey sandwiches since living with the future in-laws, but we were out of turkey yesterday. I didn't want bacon, so I pulled out another protein option: FRITZ! Now , what the heck is fritz? This Australian/New Zealand manufactured meat is called 'fritz' in South Australia, 'polony' in Western Australia, 'luncheon' in Queensland and northern New Zealand, 'rokeby roast' in Tasmania and 'devon' in Victoria, New South Wales and southern New Zealand. Whew. I'm out of breath. I never knew what to think of this stuff. When Al and I were dating but living in different countries, I'd watch him put fritz and tomato sauce/ketchup on his sandwiches on video Skype. I made fun of him all the time, because I thought it looked repulsive. But you can't knock something until you try it, right? I tried a bite when I moved here, and I was pleasantly surprised. I really liked it, actually. It could be turkey or chicken or a hot dog or something else tasty that you put on your sandwiches. I don't think it looks so bad now, but I still see why I made fun of Alastair on Skype. It's meat in a tube. It kind of looks like dog food. Look, Mom! It's manufactured meat (I know that she is so grossed out right now)! My sandwich was great today, though. I put it in the sandwich/panini press at work, and it was so good. I still think it's kinda great, but I have to tell you that I read about the ingredients while researching for this post. I rave about how much I hate pork (Aussie sausages are an exception), but here I am eating it ground up on a sandwich. Ahhh poor piggies. Am I still going to put it on my sandwich for tomorrow as soon as I publish this? You betcha. I still wish I was eating 'mystery meat' instead of ground-up pork. Sorry, Mom!
I also want to say that the bread below is AMAZING and packed with fiber. My favorite breads are the ones that are packed with seeds and have plenty of texture, so this stuff is ideal. I use it every day. I'm so grateful that Penny lets me eat her bread!
Time to make my fritz sandwich.
Update: I published but forgot to say that I watched the Superbowl live while eating my frtiz sandwich. I'm so sad I missed Christina Aguilera mess up the National Anthem. I still love you, though, Christina!
It's still not the same watching a Superbowl game without the commercials.
Good game, Packers! I've never been a fan, but I do love cheese.
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