More Bush Fires

I called a customer in the course of my work today, wanting to request for some documents and was told that he will be absent from the office till at least Wednesday. Why? Because he was at home fighting fires. The wretched fires... they're back today in the front pages. This time, the fires are occuring closer to home. They're not just confined to the foresty areas like they were, but the latest fires are about 5 train stations from my home, and a mere 20 mins away. This is the suburbs, and the thought that bushfires can happen in 'safe' suburbs is scary.

Of Silver and Gold

During the Christmas Sale two months ago, we bought a set of Robert Welch serving spoon and fork. I loved the sleek and modern design. And what can I say about the glittering silver of the steel... it beckoned me from the shelf and I succumbed to the sparkle of the silver. Gaz should be very worried whenever I pass by a jewellers!

Look at these beauties... sleek, modern elongated designs. Covered by a lifetime warranty.

 

That's two of them caressing the salad greens.

 

Our dinner last night - crumbed snapper fillets (not out of a box, another first!) and salad with avocado, prawns and seafood highligters.

 

We went to a farmer's market during the day and bought a bunch of sunflowers. I purposely chose a bunch of unopened flowers so we get more out of it, and three of the four buds have bloomed overnight. I'm putting the vase of them near the sun to see if they are indeed Clyties following Apollo across the sky

 

The gold of the flowers are beautiful!

You Know What I Mean?

Yes. Yes I do. And if I don't you'll know it because I will tell you. Did you think I'm particularly slow or you particularly superior to me? So stop asking me that at the end of your every sentence. And don't expect me to answer your ridiculous question.

As you can see, I've just had an intensive encounter with a 'youknowwhatimean' person today.

The First Harvest

The hot weather has been really bad for my garden, but the tomato plant endured and yielded a single tomato...

We ate it straightaway. Taste wise, we had one side of the tomato sour while the other side sweet. We'll have to wait till we have a couple more tomatoes to reach a conclusion if the home growns are better than store boughts.

A totally unrelated picture, this is a picture of my lunch today. I just love how prawn dumplings look and taste. A delicate, see through pastry with a burst of prawn juiciness once bitten. Just heavenly!

Valentine's Dinner

Gaz and I went to a Japanese restaurant, Wabi Sabi Garden in St Kilda yesterday for a Valentine's dinner. He knows how much I love my Japanese food! We had dinner in their courtyard garden which were nicely decorated with bamboo trees to hide the starkness of the concrete walls. There were little lanterns and Japanese statues scattered everywhere. The lovely warm day was terrific for our enjoyment of the alfresco dining mode. We had done our homework before reaching the restaurant, wanting to try their wagyu beef and black cod that received very positive reviews from customers who'd been to the place before. Unfortunately they only had a set menu operating for the night.

The courtyard garden where we were seated

Lightly torched ocean trout sashimi topped with grated daikon.

 

We had sparkling wine (aka champagne - only that it wasn't grown in the Champagne area in France)

 

Assorted sushi - salmon and scallops. A bit disappointed that there weren't more variety, was looking forward to having melt in my mouth tuna. Nevertheless, the rice was just right, and the scallops were so sweet and fresh.

 

Tempura prawn in buckwheat flour, atop a creamy apple mayo with black sesame sauce. The prawns were beautifully done, cooked just right encased in the crunchy buckwheat batter.

 

By this course, the lighting was a little dark since it was already evening time. This was probably about 2 1/4 hours into our dinner. Here is the Eye Fillet Steak with Fried Lotus pieces, mashed potatoes and steamed french beans. We wanted the wagyu but it wasn't on our menu that night

Tempura flounder and vegies with side salad with ponzu dressing. This dish wasn't part of the set menu, Gaz used his charms to change one of the mains into something we wanted to try. The flounder fillets were so fresh and sweet, plus I love my deep fried foods, so this dish was my fave.

Now you can see why we wanted this dish so much. The flounder fillets and vegies are cleverly served in the body of the flounder, shaped like a bowl and fried so crispily that even the bones are edible

Combination dessert - black sesame ice cream, green tea cheesecake and chocolate mousse

Overall the dinner was very good, and the service was as good as it can be for a busy Valentine's Day dinner. They had a full house that night, although there were some confusion initially about Gaz's reservation (they couldn't find his name on the list. Eventually after pronouncing it several times - Gerry? Kery?, they found his reservation), we had a speedy and friendly service. Overall, the food was delicious and modern although having dined in their main restaurant in Collingwood, could have been a little more delicate (presentation wise) if it wasn't for the pressure of V-Day. The reviews on the Web showed very positive feedback about the place, and I hope to go back for their wagyu beef and black cod.

Concert under the Stars

What do you get when you combine thousands of people, a big tent, a beautiful warm day and a full orchestra? Bliss...

I went to a classical music concert held at the Sidney Myer Bowl in Melbourne's Botanical Gardens yesterday. The SM Bowl is a large tent erected and maintained by The Arts Centre in the memory of Sidney Myer, a Russian immigrant who also operated the Myer departmental store chain. There is a Myer in almost all big malls around Australia. When I say large, think thousands of people fitting underneath the tent.

Yesterday was the Bowl's 50th year anniversary in existence, therefore the free classical music by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. The program played was the exact one played when the Bowl first opened to public. Among my favourites that night was Bizet's Carmen. Unfortunately, I didn't get to listen to it in the Bowl, I had to go home early, but the music was telecast live over the classical channel so I was still enjoying the music on my way home on the train at 9pm on my mp3 player.

This is why I like Melbourne a lot. This place is so... arty. Surrounded by nature in the gardens, beautiful classical music is such bliss to the soul.

The crowd during a concert at the Sidney Myer Bowl

Sidney Myer Bowl
http://www.theartscentre.com.au/bowl50/

Why I Shouldn't Complain about the Heat

While Gaz and I were shopping in the air conditioned comfort of the shopping mall yesterday, many Victorian towns were fighting fires brought about by the high temperature (peak of 46.5 deg) and strong winds. We woke up this morning to the news on the telly announcing a loss of 25 people in a fast, furious fiery wave that swept through several semi-urban and rural towns. I sat transfixed in front of the telly after cooking lunch and saw the Victorian premier John Brumby unable to control his emotions on national telly. At least 750 homes had been destroyed in the fires, and countless lives were affected. A little boy was captured on the telly crying with fear, his little face smeared with dirt and soot while seeing the destruction around him. A man hosing down the smoldering earth on which his house once stood, was openly crying as he told of how his neighbour had come to help him protect his home, only to lose his.

By 10pm, the toll had risen to 84 people. Those who escaped were lucky to be alive, as many who had tried to escape were overcome with the speed of the fire, or blocked by fallen trees. Those who escaped had nothing left, except the clothes on their backs.

A terrible tragedy for Victoria, and I do hope that the many generous donations already submitted today will continue to help rebuild the lives of those affected by this disaster.

http://www.theage.com.au/national/death-toll-rises-from-bushfires-20090208-80jv.html