snaxxworld

Hello NYC

2010-04-13T10:22:00.004+10:00

I'm off to New York City tomorrow night until Sunday. I plan to see Liars play on Thursday night at the Bowery Ballroom, eat at Blossom, snack at Babycakes and Stogo, and hopefully go to Coney Island. Maybe a little shopping too.......

Vegan Danish Bakery

2010-03-24T04:28:00.003+11:00

T discovered this link yesterday to the Vegan Danish Bakery in Thornhill, north of Toronto. It looks like a bit of a trek, but I'm excited to head out there and try some of their rice-krispy squares. Has anyone heard anything about this place or been there?

Valley Girl

2010-03-23T04:09:00.006+11:00

I watched the sweet 1983 film Valley Girl on late night TV last night as I couldn't sleep. I forgot how much I like it, especially Nicholas Cage's character and the song that closes out the film.

Rainy Saturday

2010-03-14T08:31:00.002+11:00

Home brewed ginger tea sweetened with a little agave, and a vegan apricot, walnut and oatmeal cookie. A perfect snack for a rainy Saturday afternoon watching Project Runway and reading this book.

Cooking Catch Up

2010-03-11T10:39:00.003+11:00

I've been enjoying spending lots of time in the kitchen over the last day or so, and with rain forecast for the next few days, I'm sure this will continue. Yesterday I made some vegan banana bread with spelt flour from the recipe in the Vegan Yum Yum cookbook. Dinner was soba noodles, store bought Korean dumplings and a simple soy broth with edamame, carrots, beans and spring onions which were lurking in our veggie crisper.

Today I pickled some radishes after being inspired by the tsukemono/Japanese pickles at our local Korean supermarket yesterday. Finally I made some granola with almonds, pecans and golden flaxseed, as well as dried apricots, figs and pears.

The Break is Over

2010-02-27T13:14:00.003+11:00

It has been a long time since I have posted (almost three months!) due to some difficult times here in Canada. I got a job, but my work permit was denied so there has been much flux in T's and my plans about where to live. T went over to London for a job interview as we thought we would move there instead, and we even discussed returning to Melbourne. But for now I think (it changes minute to minute!) we are staying put here in Toronto. T is going to study as of 10 May, which has the wonderful benefit of giving me an open work permit. So 10 May will also be my first day, as my boss kindly kept my job open for me so I could get a different type of work permit.

Now that that is out of the way and I have moved on from my ongoing battle with the depression demons, I have been trying to figure out how to spend the next few months before starting work. I have many projects in their embryonic stages, but the first is to update this blog, and also my photos on my flickr page. T and I took a short trip to Montreal, Quebec City and Ottawa for my birthday just before Christmas, so they should all be up shortly.

Here are some pics from Montreal - what a place, so wonderful for vegans and just walking around (in -20 degree temperatures!) I am very silly that I didn't take any pictures at our two dinners at Chu Chai - their satay "chicken" and deep fried spinach (drool) was too good for words, so good in fact that I didn't even think to take out my camera before diving in. All I wanted to do was cram it in my mouth as quickly as possible : )

A Great Weekend

2009-11-25T13:27:00.005+11:00

+ Seeing A Serious Man

+ Dinner at Live

+ A visit to Algonquin Provincial Park, where we saw a beaver making his way through the water, wood in mouth, to repair his house just before sunset

+ Discovering White Lotus and their delicious vegan spring rolls and lemongrass "chicken"

+ Continuing reading Bicycle Diaries by David Byrne

Last night I saw Growing and Fuck Buttons at the El Mocambo, and am looking forward to seeing some films at the Canadian Labour International Film Festival (CLiFF) at the Bloor Cinema later this week.

The Return

2009-11-14T11:19:00.004+11:00

I have spent the last two months or so getting used to starting life in a new country (hence my lack of posting). Toronto has been very kind to me so far: I have number of job interviews lined up, T and I are living in a wonderful apartment right where we wanted to be, and it has been so wonderful being able to see old friends, and get to know new ones. I feel really lucky to be here, and am excited about the possibilities of life in Canada.

Corner View - Out the Car Window

2009-09-24T02:47:00.005+10:00

I'm afraid I can't keep strictly within this week's title, as I don't own a car. I thought I would instead post some photos from my recent trip to Belize, in particular Caye Caulker. The only transport on the island were bicycles or golf carts, which also doubled as cabs. The last image is the boat which would take us back to the mainland.

It was a spectacular place. One night T and I watched the moon rise from a hut on the beach while drinking cocktails you had to lift with both hands. Another afternoon, we went snorkelling out near the reef, and swam amongst enormous stingrays.

Other corner viewers looking out their car windows:

jane, ladybug-zen, ian, bonnie, esti, sophie, cele, modsquad, caitlin, joyce, ani, kim, a day that is dessert, natsumi, epe, kaylovesvintage, trinsch, c.t., jeannette, outi, ritva, francesca, state of bliss, jennifer, dana, denise, cabrizette, bohemia girl, isabelle, amber, a girl in the yellow shoes, mister e, janis, kari, jgy, skymring, elizabeth, allison, lise, cate, crescent moon, erin, otli, ida, caroline, lisa, dorte, kimmie, la lune dans le ciel, nicola, malo, vanessa, britta, april, b , kyndale samantha, karen, kristina, goldensunfamily, sophie, janet, mcgillicutty, aimee, sunnymama, jenell, britta, juanita, pamela, inna, daan, myrtille, cris, ibb , susi, jodi , lily , gillian, athena, pienduzz, latisha, clairette, kelleyn, iris, demara, mus, ninja, guusje, di, sammi, theresa, cherry b, victoria, kathryn , lisa, liza, juliette, braja, mulot, anne

The End of Another ATP New York 2009

2009-09-14T16:48:00.004+10:00

I'm skipping ahead because I'm so slack with keeping up to date with blogging while travelling - I shall revisit Central America in posts to come. I just wanted to collect my thoughts about All Tomorrows' Parties that has just finished tonight.

My favourite discoveries this year were Panda Bear and Black Dice, while it was amazing to rediscover The Jesus Lizard and Boss Hog. Other highlights included:

+ Watch Jon Spencer and Bradford Cox being interviewed

+ See Nick Cave play piano with the Dirty Three

+ Seeing Shellac

+ Watch The Boredoms perform their 9 drummer Boadrum

+ See Wayne Coyne zorb over the top of the audience at the beginning of The Flaming Lips set

Tomorrow we head back to New York City, and on Tuesday we will fly to Toronto. I'm nervous about arriving in our new hometown, but excited as well.

Antigua to Tikal

2009-09-06T00:46:00.007+10:00

Antigua is a pretty colonial town, situated at the base of the Volcan de Agua. Our whole time there was spent pounding the cobblestone streets checking out the many churches and church ruins.

A bus then took us to Guatemala City to connect to a surprisingly comfortable overnight bus journey to Flores, the closest settlement to Tikal. I was a little frightened on arriving in Guatemala City, as the bus station consisted of a small office building and a car park, that had locked doors and was guarded by a man with a shotgun. We were then locked into the building, while the guard continued to wait outside with his gun until our bus arrived.

Tikal itself was pretty amazing - we reenacted this scene from Star Wars: Episode IV at the top of Temple IV.

Fear & Loathing in Chichicastenango

2009-08-19T09:23:00.006+10:00

So maybe not loathing, but definitely fear.......

Chichicastenango is a small town in the mountains, about an hour north of Panajachel. My reasoning for suggesting an overnight visit was that on Sundays (and to a lesser extent on Thursdays) the town turns into a huge handicraft market, radiating out from the main church steps. Vendors travel from all over the region to set up their stalls the night before, apparently an event in itself. Sounded good to me.

We stayed at the Hotel Pop Wuj, down the hill from the main action. This is where our problems started, as around the corner was a local chapter office of AA. Normally this wouldn't be a problem at all, but it is when it appears to be a cover for a bar. Drunk men were all over the place when we were heading back after dinner on the Saturday night, including one guy sobbing in the gutter. We stopped and tried to think of how we could help with limited Spanish, but it soon became clear that he was drunk, and wobbled off into the distance. We were then followed for the rest of the short distance back to our hotel (by a different fellow). Speed walking back to the hotel while attempting to look nonchalant on very uneven cobbled roads is really not that easy.

Finally, vegan options in Chichi were non-existent (as we had expected). Our hopes of adapting something at the one place we knew had vegetarian options were quickly dashed, as they had sadly already closed for the night (we had Gallo Pinto there the next day, which was so tasty and fresh). After scouring restaurant menus for over an hour, we finally found vegetable pasta at a small restaurant that was decorated like a Swiss chalet.

It was fascinating to see the Sunday market itself, particularly around the church steps. I did start to feel after a few minutes however that we were intruding on a significant event for local people. We took to the back streets of the market to see if things were different there, but happened to stumble into "meat alley" - chickens being sold (dead or alive), and even kittens for sale, tied up with ropes around their necks.

Next stop: Antigua.

Panajachel/Lago de Atitlan

2009-08-15T03:51:00.006+10:00

I had been a little worried about the border crossing from Mexico into Guatemala on T's behalf, as I had read a recent article by an Australian woman saying that she had been sent back to Mexico City to obtain a visa before being allowed to enter (despite this being contrary to all other sources of information). I needn't have worried though, as apart from having to stand outside the immigration office in the outrageously hot sunshine, everything went smoothly for this Australian and New Zealander, largely due to the help of a very kind American-Mexican couple from San Cristobal, also heading to Lago de Atitlan.

Panajachel is the largest village on the shores of Lake Atitlan, and we stayed at a simple guesthouse named Posada Monte Rosa. We enjoyed several meals at the vegetarian Bombay Cafe (including vegan brownies for dessert!), drinks at the Sunset Cafe overlooking the lake and zipping around by boat to the villages of San Pedro La Laguna, San Marcos La Laguna and Santiago Atitlan.

San Cristobal

2009-08-13T07:49:00.006+10:00

It was a winding and bumpy overnight bus journey to San Cristobal, but it was worth it for the cooler temperature, almost stormy, and beautiful scenery. We walked around an art and craft market, ate chocolate and caramel churros, climbed the hill to the Iglesia de San Cristobal and organised our onward journey to Guatemala.

Oaxaca II

2009-08-07T01:40:00.005+10:00

Some additional Oaxacan highlights:

+ People watching with a Sol from the Cafe del Jardins in the Zocalo. I did this solo for a few hours one afternoon while T was sleeping off his decidedly nasty case of food poisoning.

+ Walking the cobbled streets and eating rose petal ice cream (dairy free of course!)

+ Being directed to a market by William at our bed and breakfast La Casa de Mis Recuerdos to find the best mexican hot chocolate made with water rather than milk.

+ Visiting Mayordomo to watch chocolate being made and sampling some more chocolate caliente con agua.

+ Eating vegan mexican sandwiches on fresh homemade bread at Casa del Angel.

+ Staying our last night in the Paloma room at La Casa de Mis Recuerdos. It is one of the nicest places I have ever stayed. Breakfast was included, and Conchita was able to organise for ours to be vegan, which was fresh fruit, coffee, churros and empanadas with avocade, spinach and squash flowers. If you are in Oaxaca, I would highly recommend staying here.

Oaxaca

2009-08-04T06:28:00.008+10:00

T and I happened to arrived in Oaxaca a few days before the Guelaguetza festival. Everyone seemed to be in great spirits leading up to the festival, with lots of dancing practice happening in parks, parades being held and fireworks being let off at any (and every) opportunity, including at 7 am in the morning. After T recovered from his food poisoning, we also enjoyed the Mezcal festival, where for about US$1 you could enjoy as many mezcal samples as you could drink. It was very merry to say the least.

I'm Still Here!

2009-07-28T09:39:00.011+10:00

Well, not in Melbourne, but in Mexico : )

The house got packed up, cleaned (and our bond fully refunded thankfully), and we made it on to our flight to LA. We are now in San Cristobal de Las Casas, our second stop in Mexico after Mexico City and Oaxaca. Apart from T suffering a terrible bout of food poisoning on our first night in Oaxaca, we have been having a fantastic time. Since it has been so long since I have posted, I think an edited highlights package is in order:

+ Visiting Santa Monica Pier at night

+ Seeing the art of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera in Mexico City

+ Conquering the Pyramid of the Sun at Teotihuacan, just outside of Mexico City

+ Walking around Coyoacan in the south of Mexico City

Tomorrow we are off to Lago de Atitlan in the south of Guatemala.

First Roll

2009-06-16T22:21:00.003+10:00

Some snaps from my weekend in New Zealand a few weeks ago, my first time using a manual SLR.

Packing Up

2009-06-14T18:22:00.004+10:00

T and I have started packing in earnest for our departure from Australia in 4 weeks. I tend to keep things forever, so it has been quite cathartic and freeing to get rid of things that we don't want to store. Do you have regular clean-outs, or do you keep things forever like me?

As a reward for today's hard work, we are going to have Thai takeaway for dinner and watch Gran Torino.

Children's Books

2009-06-08T21:05:00.009+10:00

T and I arrived back tonight from a wonderful long weekend with my family in New Zealand. While my camera is still (!) in Sydney being fixed, I took lots of photos using my Oktomat, and T's Minolta SLR from the 1960's inherited from his grandfather. It was my first time using the Minolta, so hopefully there will be some successes that I will be able to post later this week.

My niece Cara turned one in April, so as part of her present, T and I gave her a copy of one of our favourite childhood books: Where the Wild Things Are. While she is a bit young for it right now, she loves books so much already that I thought it would be a good one for her to grow into.

I'd also like to get Cara some Peter Gossage books as she gets older; they are a series of illustrated children's books about various Maori legends that I also loved as a child. The illustrations are gorgeous, lots of bright, bold colours:

Does anyone have any other recommendations for good children's books?

The Corner View - The Beach

2009-06-03T19:32:00.008+10:00

Back to the Coromandel Peninsula in New Zealand, as I still have no word of my camera coming back from Sydney. This is Hot Water Beach, an amazing place where there are ribbons of hot thermal water running underneath the sand. You can dig a hole and make your own natural spa pool. I've never been anywhere in the world like it.

Check out these other great corner view bloggers:

jane, ladybug-zen, ian, bonnie, esti, sophie, cele, modsquad, caitlin, joyce, ani, couturecoucou, kim, a day that is dessert, natsumi, epe, kaylovesvintage,trinsch, c.t.,jeannette, outi, schanett, ritva, dongdong, francesca, state of bliss, jennifer, dana,denise, cabrizette, bohemia girl, ruth, dianna, isabelle, amber, a girl in the yellow shoes, mister e,janis, kari, jgy, jenna, skymring, elizabeth, audrey, allison, lise, cate, mon, victoria, crescent moon, erin, otli, amy, ida, caroline, lisa, dorte, kimmie, la lune dans le ciel, nicola, malo, vanessa,britta, virgina, april, rebecca, b , kyndale, samantha, karen, kristina, angelina, dorit,

goldensunfamily, sophie, janet, nicki, ruth, mcgillicutty, desiree, di, travelingmama, aimee, sunnymama, amanda,

ali, jenell, guusje, britta, juanita, pamela, inna, daan, myrtille

A Corner View - Cityscapes

2009-05-28T22:02:00.003+10:00

I'm late with my corner view post, and I'm (still) also lacking any photos from Melbourne, as my camera continues its holiday in the Sydney camera hospital. So I thought I'd post about one of my favourite cityscapes, the view of Hong Kong from Victoria Peak. I found it quite magical watching the sun go down, night fall and the lights of the city come one.

Check out these other great corner view bloggers from such great heights:

jane, ladybug-zen, ian, bonnie,esti, sophie, cele, modsquad, caitlin, joyce, ani, kim, a day that is dessert, natsumi, epe, kaylovesvintage, trinsch,c.t.,jeannette, outi, schanett, ritva, dongdong,

francesca, stateofbliss, jennifer, dana, denise,cabrizette, bohemia girl, dianna, isabelle, amber, a girlintheyellowshoes, mistere, janis, kari,jgy, jenna, skymring, elizabeth, audrey, allison, lise,

cate, mon, victoria, crescent moon, erin,otli, ida, caroline, lisa, dorte, kimmie,

lalunedansleciel, nicola, malo, vanessa, britta, virgina,april, rebecca, b, sunnymama, kyndale,

samantha, karen, kristina, angelina dorit, goldensunfamily, sophie, janet, nicki, ruth,

mcgillicutty, desiree, di, t ravelingmama, aimee

A Corner View - Coffee

2009-05-20T20:32:00.009+10:00

My camera is still at the camera hospital in Sydney, so again these are archived photos from my trip to the US late last year where I enjoyed many cups of coffee:

Waiting for coffee at Quiet Storm in Pittsburgh
Coffee, orangina and some potato wedges with a TLT (Tempeh, Lettuce & Tomato) at Grapefruit Moon in Toronto
Coffee at Twede's Cafe (the Double R Diner in Twin Peaks) in North Bend, Washington State

In response to Jane's questions regarding coffee here in Melbourne:

How do you say "two coffees with milk" in your corner?

"Two xxxxx thanks" (depending on what sort of coffee you want), or if it is my usual weekday morning (D'Marcos) "my usual thanks" (soy latte with one sugar).

What are the most popular ways to drink coffee?

Seems to be a latte or flat white.

How do you take your coffee?

With one sugar, and the milk is always soy as I am a vegan.

French press, percolator, espresso, or other?

Caffe latte.

Are you a dunker?

No, I don't like crumbs in my coffee : )

What was the funniest topic of conversation over a recent cup of coffee?

Discussing with a friend which character we wish we were and which character we really would be from Seinfeld. I wish I was Elaine, but really I think I would be George : )

Check out these great corner view bloggers hyped up on caffeine:

jane, ladybug-zen, ian, bonnie, esti, sophie, cele,modsquad, caitlin, joyce, ani, kim, a day that is dessert, natsumi, epe,kaylovesvintage, trinsch, c.t.,jeannette, outi, schanett,ritva, dongdong, francesca, state of bliss, jennifer, dana,denise, cabrizette, bohemia girl, dianna, isabelle, amber,a girl in the yellow shoes, mister e, janis, kari, jgy, jenna,skymring, elizabeth, audrey, allison, lise, cate, mon,victoria, crescent moon, erin, otli, ida, caroline, lisa,dorte, kimmie, la lune dans le ciel, nicola, malo, vanessa,britta, virgina, april, rebecca, b, sunnymama, kyndale,samantha, karen, kristina, angelina, dorit, goldensunfamily, sophie, janet, nicki, ruth,mcgillicutty

Tu

2009-05-18T23:12:00.003+10:00

I am reading Tu by Patricia Grace at the moment. The novel takes place in Italy during World War II, and is about three brothers in the Maori Battalion.

I am really enjoying it, just as I have enjoyed everything else that I have read by Patricia Grace. I love her writing style; sometimes it feels like I am listening to a conversation back home in New Zealand.

Are you reading anything interesting at the moment?

Albums You Can Listen To The Whole Way Through

2009-05-17T21:37:00.010+10:00

I used to find it hard to listen to an album from start to finish, and would often skip around through the track listing. As I get older though, I find it much easier to listen to an album straight through. Some of my current favourites to listen to in their entirety are:

Mirrored - Battles

Young Americans - David Bowie

( ) - Sigur Ros

Cryptograms - Deerhunter

Lazer Guided Melodies - Spiritualized

I'm almost there with this one:

The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust! - Saul Williams

A Corner View - The Great Australian Outdoors

2009-05-13T20:58:00.007+10:00

One of my favourite places in Australia to get into the great outdoors is beautiful Tasmania. The flight from Melbourne to Hobart or Launceston only takes about an hour; usually we fly into one city and out of the other.

I have many precious memories from my two trips to Tasmania, especially seeing a lovely little wombat ambling along the side of the road near Cradle Mountain. He was fine with us being there until my camera shutter clicked, and he ran off. All we could see was a little furry bottom running through the scrub : )

Check out these other corner viewers for their take on the great outdoors:

jane, ladybug-zen, ian, bonnie, esti, sophie, cele, modsquad, caitlin, joyce, ani, couturecoucou, kim, a day that is dessert, natsumi,epe, kaylovesvintage, trinsch, c.t.,jeannette, outi, schanett, ritva,dongdong, francesca, state of bliss, jennifer, dana, denise, cabrizette,bohemia girl, ruth, dianna, isabelle, amber, a girl in the yellow shoes,mister e, janis, kari, jgy, jenna, skymring, elizabeth, audrey, allison,lise, cate, mon, victoria, crescent moon, erin, otli, amy, ida, caroline,lisa, dorte, kimmie, la lune dans le ciel, nicola, malo, vanessa, britta,virgina, april, rebecca, b, sunnymama, kyndale, samantha, karen, kristina, angelina

A Corner View - Shopping in Australia/New Zealand

2009-05-06T09:59:00.005+10:00

I know the purpose of A Corner View is to post photos from your corner of the world, in my case, Melbourne. Due to camera illness however, I have posted some photos from a (relatively) recent trip to my homeland of New Zealand.

T and I were visiting my family in Tauranga, and decided to zip up to the Coromandel Peninsula for a few days. These photos are from the Wilderland Shop, an organic fruit and vegetable store just outside of Whitianga. Those plums were so sweet and delicious.

I love that New Zealand still has a tradition of roadside fruit and vegetable stalls with honesty boxes for payment. My parents swear by tomatoes from a stall just up the road from their house.

Other corner view bloggers:

jane, ladybug-zen, ian, bonnie,esti, sophie, cele, modsquad, caitlin, joyce, ani, couturecoucou, kim, a day that is dessert, natsumi,epe, kaylovesvintage, trinsch, c.t.,jeannette, outi, schanett, ritva,dongdong, francesca, state of bliss, jennifer, dana, denise, cabrizette,bohemia girl, ruth, dianna, isabelle, amber, a girl in the yellow shoes,mister e, janis, kari, jgy, jenna, skymring, elizabeth, audrey, allison,lise, cate, mon, victoria, crescent moon, erin, otli, amy, ida, caroline,lisa, dorte, kimmie, la lune dans le ciel, nicola, malo, vanessa, britta,virgina, april

Macau Flashback

2009-05-05T19:06:00.003+10:00

It turns out that my camera has to go for a short stay at the camera hospital in Sydney. Epe has inspired me to post about some past travels, as in her "One Year Ago" series.

T and I spent a day in Macau a few years back when visiting Hong Kong. I loved the combination of Chinese and Portuguese cultures.

A Corner View - Modes of Transportation

2009-04-29T21:25:00.004+10:00

I have joined in Jane's project "A Corner View", although for my first week I have had to cheat, as my camera has decided it needs to be serviced.

The first photo is getting a tram down Smith Street in Melbourne last week; the second is driving from Sydney to Canberra late last year.

Other corner view bloggers:

jane, ladybug-zen, ian, bonnie,esti, sophie, cele, modsquad, caitlin, joyce, ani, couturecoucou, kim, a day that is dessert, natsumi,epe, kaylovesvintage, trinsch, c.t.,jeannette, outi, schanett, ritva,dongdong, francesca, state of bliss, jennifer, dana, denise, cabrizette,bohemia girl, ruth, dianna, isabelle, amber, a girl in the yellow shoes,mister e, janis, kari, jgy, jenna, skymring, elizabeth, audrey, allison,lise, cate, mon, victoria, crescent moon, erin, otli, amy, ida, caroline,lisa, dorte, kimmie, la lune dans le ciel, nicola, malo, samantha,kyndale, capturereflection

I Cannot Stop.......

2009-04-28T21:42:00.016+10:00

Watching Season 3 of Weeds

Listening to Jane's Addiction

When I was 15, I told my parents I was staying a a friend's house and snuck off with some other friends to Auckland (about 2-3 hours from my hometown) to see them play. It was amazing. They broke up a couple of weeks later.

As my luck would have it, they are playing here in Melbourne on 30 July. We leave on 13 July.

Still, I am very excited about seeing Deerhunter play here on 12 June.

Happy Birthday Cara!

2009-04-26T10:43:00.007+10:00

It was my gorgeous little niece Cara's first birthday on Friday. She lives in New Zealand; I am in Australia, so I didn't get to see her, but we had a lovely time via skype. I am making her a quilt for her birthday gift which T and I will take over when we visit in June.

Among many very cute things she did, Cara had a little walk around (almost unassisted), said "oooooh!" a lot and gave me the biggest wave ever when it came time to say goodbye. It's hard to be in different countries, which I expect will be even more difficult when we go to Canada. But, skype does at least make the distance seem much less.

A Big Decision

2009-04-21T16:58:00.002+10:00

T and I have finally made the big decision to move from Melbourne to Toronto. I'm feeling nervous and a bit scared, but also really excited to be doing this.

We are all set to fly out on July 13, and travel around Central America and Mexico for about two months on the way over. Has anyone travelled around this area and have any recommendations?

Canberra

2009-04-14T21:55:00.008+10:00

T and I managed to pack a lot in to our time in Canberra over the Easter weekend:

Spending time with friends, including some adorable kids:

Visiting the National Gallery of Australia to see the Australian Tonalists and Degas' World exhibitions:

Enjoying a happy picnic with T's family on Easter Sunday:

Visiting the National Portrait Gallery of Australia for the first time:

Combining a coffee and chai at Bookplate with the Ballet Russes exhibition at the National Library of Australia:

I'm now looking forward to a trip to my hometown in New Zealand in June.

Easter

2009-04-09T12:35:00.002+10:00

Tonight T and I fly up to Canberra for Easter. I'm looking forward to:

Visiting here, here and here
Eating some vegan lemongrass "chicken" at the Au Lac restaurant
Visiting friends and spending time with T's family
Enjoying some chocolate from here

Have a happy Easter everyone!

Italian Dinner & Another Parcel

2009-04-08T20:15:00.006+10:00

I find it quite relaxing to cook dinner at the end of a long day at work. Last night I made a huge batch of beanballs and marinara sauce with wholemeal spaghetti from this great book.

Another package was waiting for me when I got home, this time a small pile of pre-cut Liberty fabric squares. I've been very inspired by Valerie's wonderful creations using lovely Liberty fabrics. Not sure what I will do with these yet, any ideas?

The Postal Service

2009-04-07T10:15:00.008+10:00

I've been having a horrendously hard time at work lately, so I have been rewarding myself with a bit of retail therapy on etsy. Yesterday I came home to not just one but two parcels waiting patiently on my doorstep.

Inside the first package was this very cute 70's Gunne Sax jacket from Calico Vintage:

Inside the second package were three blouses from The Vintage Mistress:

I'm wearing the poppy shirt today. So nice and happy on this grey, cold and wet Melbourne day!

Weekend

2009-04-05T12:51:00.006+10:00

It's been a pretty quiet weekend. So far it has included:

Getting a new 'do on Friday - I like it much more than my bang-less predecessor.
A Mexican lunch on Smith Street at Trippy Taco.
Watching Dirty Harry - I had never seen it before, it is fantastic! Great music.
Wearing long socks and warm cardigans to ward off this newly chilly weather.
Putting back the clock for the end of daylight savings.
Finishing off some sewing projects - I'll post some photos when they are done.

A Rainy Day

2009-04-03T14:15:00.009+11:00

It's really coming down outside, with lots of thunder and lightening. Before I bundle up and head out for a haircut, I'm working on a patchwork belt a la Valerie of Dear Birthday. I love the top listed today in her etsy store.

A Secret

2009-03-31T23:09:00.004+11:00

I haven't been working for the last ten days or so with no end in sight, so I have been trying to use that time to be a bit more organised at home. While sorting out the files on my desktop, I came across this photo of T and I at a wedding from a few years back. It was taken without us even realising. I really like how it looks like we are sharing a little secret.

My New Favourite Shows

2009-03-11T08:57:00.004+11:00

Am I the last person on the face of the earth to start watching 30Rock? On the other hand, I'm completely up to date with Eastbound and Down. Love love love them both!

My Own Mini Film Festival

2009-03-10T11:19:00.013+11:00

T and I have been consuming a large number of films over the last few weeks. These are some of my favourites - we saw Frozen River with Dan at the cinema, and all of the others on DVD. Other honourable mentions include Rocknrolla, Body of Lies and Ghost Town. Has anyone else seen any of these? What did you think?

New Skirt

2009-03-08T14:40:00.005+11:00

I made this skirt yesterday using fabric and the Barcelona skirt pattern by Amy Butler. I think this is an ace pattern - easy to follow instructions, and you can have a finished skirt within a matter of hours. I'm sure others would be faster than me, but I'm just getting my sewing shoes back on after a long break.

This is the second skirt I have made from this pattern, photos of the first to come.

Mogwai & Pinky Toes

2009-03-05T23:52:00.003+11:00

Just got home from seeing Mogwai at The Forum. It was ok, but my mind just wasn't blown in the way it used to be by them. I'm thinking it might be partly due to the fact that I have a broken/fractured pinky toe - I wasn't much in the mood for standing up for an evening.

Last Week's Music Round-Up

2009-03-02T11:37:00.015+11:00

Last week, T and I went and saw Nine Inch Nails on Wednesday at Festival Hall, and El-P on Thursday at the Corner Hotel.

NIN was a great show. Seeing them last year in Oakland left a bit of a sour taste as it really seemed like they were just going through the motions, but the band now seem rejuvenated by their change to a four-piece. The highlights for me were The Wretched and Gave Up. Until last year I always thought that Gave Up was far too metal, but finally seeing the clip really turned me around:

It just goes to show the angst has longevity, given that this was released on the Broken EP 17 years ago. And just for the record, I'm not a Marilyn Manson fan in any sense of the word.

I had been hoping for a surprise appearance from Mr Reznor at the El-P show on Thursday. He sang on Flyentology from El-P's most recent album, I'll Sleep When You're Dead, and NIN were having a night off (apparently they went and watched football!) No such luck unless he was lurking in the crowd in heavy disguise and managed to escape T's and my eagle eyes.

I thought the show was a little lacklustre at the time, but in retrospect I think there was much more to it than I was giving him credit for. Listening to Fantastic Damage again over the weekend cemented that.

One Night in Bangkok

2009-03-01T11:04:00.005+11:00

After flying back from Vientiane, we had two days and one night in Bangkok before flying back to Melbourne. We:

Visited the Jim Thompson House
Saw Happy Go Lucky
Ate at Ethos (a few times)
Had a few more massages at Wat Po
Shopped
Walked, walked, walked.

All in all it was a wonderful trip, with just the right balance of activity and relaxation to feel refreshed when we arrived back in Melbourne.

Vientiane II

2009-02-28T16:22:00.007+11:00

Our last day in Vientiane (and Laos) was spent at the Buddha Park about an hour outside of the city before we flew back to Bangkok early the next morning.

Vientiane

2009-02-21T13:49:00.007+11:00

At about 6 pm on New Years' Eve, we packed up and headed to the Luang Prabang airport to fly to Vientiane. Nobody seemed terribly fussed on our drive there that it was NYE - I was totally with them as I have never really understood the pressure to have the best night of the year. There did seem to be an inordinate amount of dogs being washed though.

Our flight left just as it had gotten dark, and we arrived in Vientiane on schedule an hour later. A taxi whisked us to Villa Manoly. We were both a little disappointed, as I had specifically booked a double, but were given a twin. We had to press for a double, which the manager finally begrudgingly gave us.

We then went out for an Indian dinner alongside the Mekong and had a Beer Lao to celebrate. We were back in the hotel room around midnight to continue watching Dexter.

The next morning we checked out as we had walked past a nice looking hotel near our restaurant the night before, and were able to book a "VIP" room for less than our room at the Manoly. The Riverine was sure worth it - huge room, four-poster bed and the bathroom was like something you would find at a spa.

We spent our first day proper in Vientiane cycling around on rented bikes. Again it was a great way to see the city, and our first stop was Patuxai, the victory gate built in the 60's. I climbed up to the top, while T opted to mind our bikes down below and listen to some music.

We made our way through the huge park that Patuxai is set within, with huge crowds of people enjoying a large fountain, music and ice cream in the heat. We rode out to what was my highlight of Vientiane: Pha That Luang, the Great Stupa, which is Laos' national symbol. By this time it was late afternoon, which was the perfect time to see the stupa in all its' glory.

It seemed like a good idea to celebrate New Years' Day with a cold Beer Lao at a Mekong riverside bar and watch the sun go down. This was followed by dinner at a huge beer garden type place that had a tree growing out of the middle, accompanied by more Beer Lao and some night-cap cocktails over the road at a quieter bar. Two Singapore Slings later and T was escorting me back to the guesthouse to sleep one off. Very sensible, that T.

Bel Canto

2009-02-16T09:09:00.013+11:00

Another break from Laos: I am currently midway through reading Bel Canto by Ann Patchett. So far I am loving it - I'm sneaking moments to read an extra page or two when my computer is loading at work in the morning, waiting for T to put his shoes on, whenever I can.

The story centres around a birthday party in a mythical Latin American country for a wealthy Japanese industrialist. The party is overtaken by terrorists and the guests held hostage when it is discovered that the country's President has stayed home to watch his favourite soap opera.

Friendships and bonds have been forged between hostages, and I suspect they will also be with their captors. A few seeds have been planted along the way of some people falling in love, but it is done in such a way that I am continually guessing as to who the couples may turn out to be (from the dust jacket, I can confirm that two couples do in fact fall in love). I'm also looking forward to the three Generals in charge of the situation (or are they?) hopefully being further developed.

Luang Prabang

2009-02-10T20:16:00.009+11:00

From David Byrne back to Laos - T and I flew from Bangkok to Luang Prabang and it is one of the most incredible descents I have ever experienced. We descended over the Mekong amongst the greenest mountains into the tiny city of Luang Prabang in northern Laos. A sign proudly proclaimed the city a Unesco World Heritage site as we walked into the terminal.

After providing our passport, visa fee and application form in one queue, we then queued up for immigration where our passports were handed back with the visa affixed and stamped. Getting your passport back seemed to depend on the order of the line remaining the same, but it was very quick and efficient and we were then able to head out to the outdoor waiting area and organise a tuk tuk to our guesthouse. We stayed at Senesouk guesthouse, which I would highly recommend. Our room was upstairs in the traditional Teak house out back:

Luang Prabang is a very small city, but it is one of the most wonderfully friendly and beautiful places I have ever visited. Highlights of our time in there were:

Watching monks receive their morning Alms

Cycling

I had not been on a bike since I was 14 years old, so was a little nervous and wobbly when we started out but after a block I was racing T and careering down hills. It was such a lovely way to explore a city, so I am going to endeavour to rent a bike to explore places on future travels.

Shopping

There is a craft market every night in Luang Prabang from about 5 - 11 pm. T and I would head down to the two vegetarian and vegan food stalls and get a big bowl of Laos food for about AU$1. It was fun to eat at the table set up behind the stall and watch all the action around us - a young woman selling gorgeous looking cakes, families zooming past on motorbikes and and huge fruit and vegetable stalls. For dessert we shared some banana and coconut type donuts.

We bought lots of little gifts for people, although my favourite thing that we bought was a handmade doona cover and two matching pillow slips. It was the only one I saw that was a vibrant turquoise. I haven't gotten around to taking a photo of it yet, but I will post one when I do.

T had a little trouble with all the low hanging poles holding up the shelters, as due to his height he kept banging his head on them. At one point, he managed to plunge one stall into complete darkness as he tripped over the plug linking them to a power supply. It was all sorted out in a matter of seconds with laughter all round, but T said he felt like Godzilla.

Visiting Tat Kuang Si Waterfall & Moon Bear Rescue Centre

We took the hour long trip out to Tat Kuang Si to see the beautiful clear turquoise waters of the waterfall. T even managed a dip in one of the more secluded pools lower down. At least it was secluded until a tour group came through, which meant he had to stay in the freezing water for a little longer than he would have liked.

There is also a Moon Bear rescue centre at the waterfall. These bears have been rescued as cubs when their mothers had been killed by poachers. T and I already sponsor a Moon Bear named Somerset through Animals Asia, so we were both excited to meet some Moon Bears in person. We watched them forage for food, snooze in their hanging baskets and play together for ages. They all seemed to be happy and well cared for.

Being Massaged

Given the plethora of places offering massages for such a small amount of kip, we continued our streak of daily massages in Luang Prabang. I particularly enjoyed a foot massage we got reclining side by side in a fan-cooled sheltered outdoor alcove. The women who provided the massage giggled and talked (seemingly about us) a lot. I think they were amused by T's height and the size of his feet. His masseuse looked quite incredulous when he took his shoes off.

Wat-Hopping

And then it was on to Vientiane.......

David Byrne is a God

2009-02-10T00:31:00.004+11:00

T and I went to see David Byrne play tonight at Hamer Hall on his Songs of David Byrne & Brian Eno tour. I have been a big fan of David Byrne and Talking Heads since I was about 9 or 10, when I first listened (repeatedly) to my older brothers' Stop Making Sense and Little Creatures tapes on a swimming camp.

The set list was mostly from this years' Everything That Happens Will Happen Today. I like some of this album, especially Strange Overtones, I Feel My Stuff and Poor Boy, and they were great live. Still, I was very excited by the prospect of some Talking Heads numbers, and some from My Life in the Bush of Ghosts. In addition to the songs from Everything That Happens above, highlights for me included:

I Zimbra, Heaven, Air and Life During Wartime (Fear of Music)
Once in a Lifetime (Remain in Light)
Take Me to the River (More Songs About Building and Food)
Help Me Somebody (My Life in the Bush of Ghosts)

Many of the songs were accompanied by dancers that often involved Mr Byrne in the choreography. At first I thought it didn't work, but it grew on me and after a few songs, the movement really started to work for me - especially when the Road to Nowhere run was incorporated.

Thanks David - I also really liked how you matched your white hair with everyone onstage wearing white.

Thailand

2009-02-02T20:13:00.004+11:00

I am a very absent blogger. Things have been so incredibly busy at work that I have been exhausted when I get home from work and on the weekends. Not to mention this heatwave that seems to be neverending.......

Still, I was inspired today to write and try and catch up on everything. First things first, T and I had a wonderful holiday over Christmas and New Year in Thailand and Laos. Our first stop was Bangkok, where we had a great time visiting Wat Po, Wat Arun, Wat Phra Kaew and the Grand Palace. We spent a lot of time getting massages at the Wat Po traditional Thai massage school. Here are some of the highlights:

Wat Po

Street near our hotel, the Lamphu Tree.

Wat Phra Kaew

Wat Arun

Next stop: Luang Prabang, Laos.

The Necks, Spiritualized & Silver Apples

2009-01-08T00:27:00.007+11:00

Before I blog about our Christmas jaunt to Thailand and Laos, I have to write about The Necks. T and I saw them two nights in a row this week at the Corner, and they did not disappoint. Storms brewed, lightening and thunder struck, and hails of bullets rained on corrugated iron roofs. I do wonder if these vaguely violent images have been influenced by my reading this book at the moment. Or perhaps it is to do with having just finished watching season 3 of this.

Tonight we saw Spiritualized. I'm not a fan post 1997 or so, but the songs they did tonight, particularly from Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space were particularly good. Silver Apples did the support slot, and I was blown away. I can't believe that they/he started out 41 years ago. We spoke to Simeon afterwards, and he was a lovely guy.

Tomorrow it is off to ATP at Mt Buller for more of all three of these bands.

Bye to Bangkok

2009-01-04T17:27:00.004+11:00

T and I are sitting in a cafe in Bangkok in the last few hours of our holiday. It is a bittersweet ending - I miss our little house, but I would also love to keep going. It has been a fairly relaxing holiday, mostly because we haven't moved around too much - Bangkok, Luang Prabang and Vientiane. Once I sort out my photos, I'll put up some proper posts of what we got up to for the last 11 days or so.

Hope everyone has had a great Christmas and happy new year!

Sick

2008-12-17T19:32:00.002+11:00

Urghh.......having the flu at this time of year is horrible (actually at any time of year). I need to catch up on blogging about our trip to Edgar's Mission and all sorts of other stuff. Maybe this weekend.......

More Wedding Celebrations...

2008-12-14T11:27:00.004+11:00

We had two family wedding celebrations - the first one was in my hometown of Tauranga, New Zealand. The majority of our time in NZ was taken up with two things. First was cooking for the celebration:

The celebration was great - my Dad made a lovely speech, followed by T, then me. Everyone seemed to have a fun time, I know T and I certainly did!

Our second major activity was spending time with my family, with everything centred around my gorgeous little niece Cara:

We had a night in Sydney before heading down to Canberra. We stayed at The Grace, which was super nice and just around the corner from Peace Harmony, a veggie Thai restaurant. No photos as I wolfed our food (tamarind veggies, tofu and "chicken") down before even thinking to take a picture, but here are some of the hotel:

We had breakfast at a vegan friendly place the next morning before heading down to Canberra. I forget the name of it, but the hot cider with lemon and cloves was so good I had two:

The majority of our time in Canberra was again cooking for the celebration picnic:

We also managed to squeeze in some meals at the Au Lac (I can never get over how delicious their lemongrass "chicken" is).

It was great to catch up with friends and family at the picnic, including Kristy, Toby and Dan who had come up from Melbourne for the occasion. We also managed to sneak in an extended session of Singstar at Evan & Jess' house after the picnic - I got to trot out Disco 2000 and Brass in Pocket.

At the end of the weekend, it was time to fly back to Melbourne. It was very sad for me (and T) to arrive back in some ways, as it meant a return to our everyday lives, ie, going back to work. In other ways it was great to be back - not having to live out of a suitcase and being able to sit still for a minute without thinking we only had limited time in that place. And of course, seeing our friends again was wonderful!

Final Destination

2008-12-06T12:28:00.004+11:00

No, not the film.......San Francisco, the final stop on the US leg of the trip. It was a long drive from Portland to SF, but we got to see some of the autumn colours in full swing:

At one point I overtook a long silver bus which T speculated as to whether it might be Neil Young's tour bus, given it had the licence plate "Zuma". A little bit of research after we arrived in SF hours later confirmed that it was the very same, and that we were going to be in town for the Bridge School Benefit so we snapped up some tickets.

We ended up at an abandoned naval base on Treasure Island on our first day there. I'm a big fan of abandoned buildings:

Sausalito and Golden Gate National Park were next up:

We dined that night at Herbivore, this time at the Divisadero location. This time we even managed dessert, a strawberry & rhubarb pie for me, and a chocolate cupcake with vanilla bean icecream for T. A couple of the ginger-infused vodka cocktails with pineapple and pear juice were a nice (and strong) companion to the meal.

The following day was the Bridge School Benefit in Mountain View, about an hour or so from SF. We were a bit late, but the highlights of the night were Wilco (for T), Norah Jones (!) (for me - she covered War on War by Wilco that I thought was better than Wilco's version) and Neil Young. Jack Johnson played just before him, and after he played, a good third of the crowd up and left. T and I had had a nap during his set, so we were happy to wake up and be able to move much closer to the front. His set was so incredible that it made T cry, and I got pretty close myself, during "Old Man". He brought everyone back on stage for "Comes a Time".

A trip to Alcatraz was scheduled for the following day, following a two-part lunch at Cha-Ya, a vegan Japanese place, and Weird Fish, a semi-vegan fish and chip joint. For some reason they also serve vegan pancakes, so I gave those a go, and T tried the vegan fish and chips. I wasn't a big fan of the "fish", but my pancakes were fantastic.

While it was a bright sunny day in SF, it was cold, grey and damp out at Alcatraz Island. When lining up for the audio tour packs, the guy looking after them said to us "English?" T said "No, I'm Australian, and my wife is a New Zealander." I said "But we do speak English though," as he was trying to find out what language we wanted our guides in. The three of us had a good laugh about that for a while.

It was a fascinating place though, so incredibly bleak, and not just because of the weather.

We had returned our rental car, so the rest of our time in SF was spent walking or getting public transport.

Our last order of business was going to visit the sea lions that live at Pier 39 at Fisherman's Wharf. There were hundreds of them lying on pontoons sleeping, swimming around and trying to get up on the pontoons. They were so entertaining (and noisy) that we watched them for over an hour.

Our last 45 minutes in SF, and the States, was spent by T in the Apple Store, and me buying some jeans. We flew out that night to Auckland for the first leg of the family wedding celebrations.

Our Version of The Shining

2008-11-28T16:58:00.008+11:00

We drove out to Mt Hood close to 10 pm with full tummies from our Los Gorditos extravaganza. The reason for our visit was to stay at the Timberline Lodge. Stanley Kubrick used the Timberline for exteriors in the film The Shining, one of my (and T's) all time favourite films. The lobby in the film was based on the Awahnee Hotel in Yosemite National Park, which we will get to on another trip. Stephen King based the original novel on the Stanley Hotel in Colorado, also for another visit.

The drive up the bendy road to the lodge was particularly creepy given that it started snowing when we were nearing the top. It felt like we were in the film, especially as one of the first things we saw as we pulled into the carpark was the garage where the snowcat was kept in the film, as well as the bathroom window that Danny escaped through (I think).

We were in room 210, just down the hall from room 217 used in the book. Even though the film was not shot inside the Timberline, apparently management requested that Stanley Kubrick not use that number in the film, as they were scared that noone would ever want to stay in that room. 237 (a non-existent room in the Timberline) was used in the film.

We hunkered down with the laptop and watched The Shining, which was one of the more creepy experiences I have ever had. Here is the laptop showing the exterior of the Timberline from within room 210 in the Timberline:

And Jack at his best:

I'm very jealous of everyone who got to attend Come Play With Us, a celebration of The Shining at the Timberline - a 1920's era ball recreating the hallucination Jack Nicholson has when he loses his grip on reality in the film.

The next day (22 October to be exact) was T's 31st birthday. We started the day with a swim in the heated outdoor pool and spa pool surrounded by snow and ice.

We trudged around the outside of the hotel in the snow admiring the curves and angles of the building:

Refreshment time followed, with a birthday beer for T and a hot cider with cloves for me. This was accompanied by one of the most lovely views you could witness whilst refreshing oneself:

We thought we could have taken a wrong (or unfortunate) turn on our way back to Portland given the signage:

Back in Portland, we had a fairly uneventful vegan Vietnamese lunch (I forget the name), T bought some birthday music gadgets (or rather I did as his present!) and we headed back to the Ace hotel. We were in a different room this time, illustrated with pictures of mechanics publications.

A repeat of the Bye and Bye finished off the day, in preparation for our long drive to San Francisco the following day.

The Vegan Utopia of Portland

2008-11-27T17:36:00.008+11:00

We arrived in Portland late at night after a short drive from Seattle. First thing we did was check in at The Ace Hotel. We were in the Night Owl/Early Bird room. I loved the murals:

The following day was a chilly autumn day, so we bundled off and headed over to the Blue Moose Cafe for brunch. The staff were so friendly, and brought over samples of their soups for us to try. The Tunisian chickpea was so tasty it became my order. It came with freshly baked bread crammed full with grains and seeds. T ordered the breakfast burrito, which was also fantastic. Accompanied by strawberry lemonade, it was the perfect way to start the day.

Next - a spin around the city.

We ended up at the vegan strip mall, including Herbivore, Scapegoat Tattoo, Food Fight! vegan grocery, and SweetPea Bakery. We enjoyed a hot chocolate and two varieties of cupcake: lemon buttercream and chocolate oreo.

Our celebration of Portland's plentiful vegan joints was completed by a visit to the Bye and Bye (all vegan!) bar. I had several white russians, while T had one beer as he was driving. We also had some food - a "meatball" sub and seasoned tofu for T (so-so sub, amazing tofu), and I had an amazing grilled "cheese" sandwich, tortilla chips and salsa. It was so refreshing to be able to go up to a bar and order both drinks and food without having to explain anything.

Our second day in Portland was again spent eating, with a little record and clothes shopping thrown in. We started with the most amazing vegan pancakes with blueberries and home fries at the Laurelthirst. We soon moved on to Voodoo Doughnut, which had about six types of vegan donuts.

A large part of our evening was spent perusing the shelves in Powell's Used & New Books. The store covers a whole city block, and the few hours we were there was just not enough time. I loved the little sign in the Banana Yoshimoto section - "Please enjoy a wonderful book by Banana Yoshimoto. She'll make your heart sing."

Here are the books I picked up (apart from the Tape Op and 33 1/3 which belong to T and the Herbivore Travel Guide and Zinester's Guide to Portland which are from Herbivore):

We picked up a delicious mexican diner from the loveliest people ever at Los Gorditos, a caravan that makes both vegan and non-vegan mexican food. Wow! The mexican mango and lime pop we had with it was fantastic too.

Finally it was time to head out to the Timberline Lodge near Mt Hood for a little (scary) nostalgia over this film:

Seattle?

2008-11-22T22:50:00.002+11:00

My first view of Seattle was the skyline at night. I was completely awestruck, as it has one of the coolest skylines I have ever seen. It looked so futuristic, more Bladerunner than Bladerunner. This was mostly thanks to the Space Needle - I am still amazed that it was built in the 1960's.

We were staying at the Ace Hotel, and our room was fantastic. The only thing separating our bed from the shower was a clear glass screen.

We started out the following day in a very healthy way - vegan donuts and coffee at Mighty-O. It was almost too much for me, trying to figure out which donuts we should try, given that every single one was vegan. After a long process of elimination, we narrowed the 26 or so varieties down to 12, and we sat down to enjoy one (or three) with some coffee (for me, as T is not a coffee kinda guy).

We stumbled outside in a donut induced euphoria, only to discover that there was a hot dog joint (aptly named Diggity Dog) across the street. Their vegan dogs were too much to pass up, although this meant that we had to take turns rolling each other back to the car.

It was then time for our self researched and guided Twin Peaks locations tour. T and I have been long time David Lynch fans, and I consider Twin Peaks to be a jewel in his crown. I used to love freaking myself out as a 16 year old in New Zealand, watching it on Sunday nights at 11 pm with all the lights in the house off. Bob.......Wyndham Earle.......in a weak moment, those characters can still make me reconsider a midnight trip to get a glass of water.

Clutching our list of addresses from this website, we headed out into the wilds of Washington State. The big highlights were:

Trestle Bridge - Ronette Pulaski was found wandering along this bridge at the start of Fire Walk With Me.

The "Welcome to Twin Peaks" sign in the opening credits was shot along this road.

Salish Lodge & Spa - The Great Northern Hotel in the series.

Train Carriages where the murder scene takes place in Fire Walk With Me.

Twedes Cafe - The Double R Diner in the series.

All this hunting made us very hungry, so we headed to Pizza Pi Pizzeria in the university district of Seattle before making our way down to Portland. Their pizzas were exceptional, especially the breadstix with white garlic sauce:

And so a fond farewell was bid to Seattle. Next stop: Portland.

Stanley Park

2008-11-22T21:28:00.004+11:00

A hearty breakfast is an excellent way to start the day. A return visit to Naam was on the cards, given our suspicion that their breakfasts would be far superior to their dinner menu. Our suspicion was indeed proven a reality, as evidenced by our tendency to over order (and over indulge):

Vegan pancakes with maple syrup and organic blueberries

Vegan breakfast special (home fries, sausages, scrambled tofu and pancakes)

Breakfast burrito and salsa

A long hike around Stanley Park then ensued to try and work over the enormous amount of food we had consumed. It was a beautiful day, and a lot of people were out and about cycling, running, walking and just taking in the views.

It is quite a spectacular park, particularly for the vivid reds, yellows and oranges of the autumn leaves at this time of year.

I really enjoyed watching the seemingly endless streams of seaplanes taking off and landing. Another treat was enjoying some maple syrup candies in the sun on a grassy bank next to the Totem Park. Best of all though was the huge number of dogs out with their human companions. There was one particularly enthusiastic fellow who would endlessly swim out to fetch his ball that his human friend kept obligingly throwing into the water. There were also large numbers of geese, swans, and even a pair of raccoons checking out the snack situation:

After swinging by Budgies to pick up another burrito each, it was time to cross the border back into the States and head to Seattle. We had a most entertaining border guard who was keen to hear about why we had come to the States, how we met and the like. The best part came when he asked if we had any food items to declare. T declared the maple and blueberry tea that we had bought, to which the response was: "Tea is ok. Do you have any drugs? Drugs are not ok." The three of us had a good laugh after we had said we didn't have any drugs, and he let us be on our way. Who said that American border guards don't have a sense of humour?

Vancouvering

2008-11-20T11:59:00.004+11:00

Despite some peanut butter bagels for breakfast at the airport in Toronto, by the time we got to Vancouver we were both ravenous. None of the snacks on the flight were vegan, although one of the attendants gave us an organic apple and orange from her own lunchbox as she felt sorry for us. Very impressive service Westjet!

We headed straight out to find some food, and we found it at The Foundation. As it turned out, it would be where we were meeting T's friend Jud later that day for dinner. The service wasn't terribly great, and while T's meal was ok, mine was not too good at all. The highlight of the meal was the piece of vegan sugar pie we got to take away.

We (mainly me) were still hungry afterwards, so we sidled over to Budgie's Burritos just a few minutes away. Their vegan burritos were amazingly fresh and tasty, and the staff very friendly. I still think about those burritos.......

We followed up lunch with a drive around the city. I found Hastings incredibly sad, with huge groups of homeless people sitting and standing around in the rain. Many were lining up for shelters to get a bed for the night. It really made me wonder what happens when it gets really cold in Vancouver. I continued to think about this as we checked into our hotel, the Moda, and felt increasingly guilty that we had somewhere safe, clean and warm to sleep for the night. I often feel like this when travelling, as does T, so we try and do something practical about it, like always packaging up any leftovers from a meal out and giving it to someone who needs it. I know however that this is a band aid type of response and is not going to change anything substantively for that person. We also make donations to charities, but does anyone do anything else when travelling (or at home for that matter)?

A few hours later, we headed out to meet Jud at The Foundation. T and Jud worked together at Sonic Boom in Toronto a few years back, so I had heard a lot about him. We had a great time over some good food and beers before heading over to see Wire play. When we arrived though, there was a sign on the door saying that the show had been cancelled due to scheduling conflicts. It was a bit rough that they didn't at least have someone there to explain, rather than locking the doors, turning the lights off and a piece of paper in the window. There were many crushed Vancouverans hanging around outside, including a woman that Jud knew proclaiming that she had been looking forward to this night for over 6 months. I was disappointed too, but given that I had only known that we were going for about 2 days, I can only imagine how she (and others) felt. Still, we had fun drowning our sorrows at a crepe restaurant that serves cheap pitchers of beer.

The following day, T and I decided to take a day trip up to Whistler. It was a cold, rainy, foggy day, which seemed perfect for the drive up there. The scenery was quite spectacular, so I'll let the pictures do the talking:

We didn't get back to Vancouver until about 9 pm, so we headed over to Naam, a vegetarian restaurant in the Kitsilano district. The queue was out the door when we arrived, and we were so hungry and tired that we thought it would be quicker to wait than to find somewhere else. Unfortunately this meant that when we were finally seated, we were right next door to a very loud guitarist who was providing the music for the evening. I think it was our grumpy moods, but the food was not terribly good either. Still, we weren't defeated, and resolved to return for brunch the next day to see if we could turn things round.

The Toronto Social Whirl

2008-11-17T20:19:00.008+11:00

Once we got back from Cuba, we only had a few days to make the most of Toronto before flying across to Vancouver. This involved scheduling everybody in for meal times (or snack times, which I am certainly not adverse to) so we got to see everyone. There were of course some individual snack times, such as a visit to Kensington Market Organic Ice Cream. There happened to be two vegan flavours which were perfect - chocolate made with hemp butter for T (who all but worships the coca bean) and pecan pumpkin, just in time for Thanksgiving for me. Pumpkin being used in sweet dishes is new to me - I had of course heard of it, but never tried anything sweet involving the orange stuff. I'm happy to report that it was spectacular - the owner Brad tried to convince me to get a regular not a kid's cone, saying that when we got back to Australia I would regret not getting the bigger size. Brad, you were so right.

The splodge on T's nose is for my entertainment purposes. He is so obliging.

Prior to the social whirl commencing, we walked off the ice cream in Trinity-Bellwoods park. Luckily for me, TB is a huge dog park, so I got to meet lots of friends while crunching around in the autumn leaves.

And now, let the social whirl begin!

T and his old roomies Tiff and Stan at the house of Tiff, her wonderful partner Paul and their gorgeous wee son Alex. Also whirling with us was Kirsty, the lovely wife of Stan and Rudy, Stan's Dad visiting from Calgary.

Tiff and Paul's little guy Alex.

The next day we visited Mel and her gorgeous little girl Sadie. I also finally got to meet Karol and hear some of the stories involving her that T had told me first hand. I was not disappointed, and we all spent the majority of the afternoon laughing.

T and I had had lunch earlier with Daniela at Live, a raw food restaurant. I never thought that raw nachos would be a good idea, but sun dried corn tortillas, cashew cream, walnut crumble, salsa, avocado and other yummies convinced me otherwise. I also had a tempeh Reuben sandwich which was amazingly tasty and fresh. I inhaled it so fast I completely forgot about photos of it, or any of the rest of the food for that matter. Somewhere in the feeding frenzy, Daniela's lovely sister Claudia came and joined us fresh off the plane from London.

We were lucky enough to meet up with Daniela again with her wonderful partner Andy later on that day for drinks. Pomegranate sangria anyone?

Daniela is a very talented actress, and very recently played an international assassin on The Border. She was absolutely amazing, and in my view deserves every success.

T and I made a visit to Grapefruit Moon for one of their TLT's (Tempeh, Lettuce and Tomato). It wasn't quite as good as I remember it, but the coffee and orangina were fantastic!

Our UN summit at Vegetarian Haven of one Australian, one New Zealander, one Irishman, two Americans and two Canadians (otherwise known as Amelia, Joanne, Brad, Jeff, Daragh, me & T, although this photo has been cut off and I'm not in it! Why does blogger keep squashing/cutting off my photos? Help?). This was followed by a post-summit drink at a Belgian beer bar around the corner.

Staying and hanging out with the lovely Sarah, her very sweet partner Ron, and their animal companions including Gypsy and Charlie see here. It was one of the most wonderful feelings in the world to wake up with the end of our bed covered in animals contentedly purring/snoring.

And then it was time to Westjet it over to Vancouver. The gods were smiling on us for this airport trip, as an old workmate of Tim's was working on the check-in counter and he placed us in fantastic seats for the flight. More on Vancouver tomorrow.......

The Beach & Adios Cuba

2008-11-14T20:28:00.006+11:00

Maybe it was the heat, maybe it was our friend Daragh saying "You have to have some beach time!", but two people who are not normally big beach fans (except in winter) headed out to the beach resort town of Varadero for the day. We were both a little apprehensive about the all-inclusive deal with these places, but what the hey.......we thought we could always try and drink our body weight in pina coladas to try and get our money's worth. Here's the first round:

It turned out to be a very relaxing day - we rotated between three workstations: lying by the pool, lying on the beach, and lying on hammocks between the palm trees. I can think of much worse days than a soft breeze gently swinging your hammock while you look out to an empty golden beach and the jewel blue ocean beyond.

On heading back to Havana, our last highlights included:

Drinking mojitos at La Bodeguita Del Medio, a tiny bar where Ernest Hemingway used to enjoy his - and yes, they were very good.

Visiting the Plaza de Revolucion.

Visiting the Capitolio building - the architectural details were amazing.

Walking around Habana Vieja again and again, my favourite time being early on a Sunday morning - every time I walked around the Old Town, I saw something new.

It was then time to say adios to Cuba and fly back to Toronto. We were lucky enough to fly quite low across the city, which made me feel like we were in an air version of Bladerunner.

Biosphere

2008-11-13T18:56:00.003+11:00

After a few days of the hustle and bustle of Havana, we thought we'd go a little further afield. We decided on Las Terrazas, a tiny village that is a UNESCO-protected biosphere.

There is also a vegetarian/vegan organic restaurant in Las Terrazas called El Romero. El Romero is like going into someone's house, as indeed it is the downstairs section of a house. There were always a bunch of people sitting outside the door with babies crawling around which gave it a really nice homely feel.

The food was quite an oasis in the desert of meat that Cuba offers. We sampled veggie & bean medallions, paella, stuffed seitan in a red wine sauce, fresh hummus, black bean soup and chocolate & pumpkin pudding. I particularly liked that they grow a lot of their own produce, and only use locally grown/made ingredients. We also had this view from our balcony table:

When we weren't at El Romero (which was a lot), we spent our time hanging out on our balcony, reading, playing tennis (I have discovered a love of tennis I never knew I had!), swimming, drinking cocktails and snoozing. We stayed at La Moka, a hotel that is designed around a huge tree that grows out through the roof of the lobby. It was a wonderfully relaxing stay, and I would highly recommend an overnight trip to Las Terrazas to anyone visiting Cuba.