Is it Friday?

Ed. note: Dad and I wrote our own versions of the past two days in Port Douglas, Queensland. Below is his version, the previous post is mine. 

One of the real advantages of taking a long vacation in a foreign country is that I do not have a watch, my cell phone doesn't function as a phone or a clock (just a camera), my tablet is good only for reading pre downloaded books, not surfing the internet and best of all, I have Michelle to take care of knowing anything that might be necessary like time, directions and date.  If you do not need to be anywhere then you can never be late.  I have become so laid back that earlier today I asked Michelle, “Is it Friday?”

Meetings

I'm currently laying in an extremely fluffy bed in Melbourne, so if this post ends in a trail of zzzzzzzzzzs, it's because I've fallen asleep.

On Sunday Katrina and I flew in together. I so rarely take plane rides with other people these days that it was a treat to have a buddy on the ride. We flew Virgin, and entered through the back door up the steps, which is not strange. What I did find strange, though, was that passengers entering through the front door accessed the door through the jetway, rather than the tarmac/stairs combo. I'd never seen one entrance through the jetway and one on the tarmac before.

Sunday night part of the team went out to dinner at Tax, a restaurant overlooking the train station. I had some delicious rabbit and then headed to bed - I have pictures of both the rabbit and the view out over the city but I am too lazy to upload them right now.

This morning I went for a run. I forgot my sneakers in Sydney, but luckily the Westin offers shoes to guests through a partnership with New Balance. I left my camera at the hotel, but I took a beautiful route along the water. The bridges all had sculptures and the architecture here is just beautiful, so I will probably have to do it again with my camera before I return the shoes.

For dinner tonight we took a taxi out to a beach suburb and ate dinner at this beautiful oceanfront restaurant. For some reasons the bathrooms in Australia don't make sense to me - I walked into the men's toilet tonight and have done that multiple times since being here. They just don't seem to be clearly marked. For example, tonight's bathroom didn't have any words or pictures depicting men or women. The men's was blue and the women's was pink, I found out. Thankfully nothing embarrassing has happened yet, although one guy did say to me, "um, this is the men's." If that's the case, where's the sign?

The Weekend

It's officially Tuesday night, which means I have time to write about the weekend! It absolutely poured here which was been great for my productivity - I didn't left the house, or want to, at all. Today the sun came out again so I went out to run a few errands (read: get a smoothie. And then run some errands. Sample errand: buy tape)

The Jewish day of atonement, Yom Kippur, occurred on Friday night and Saturday, so I had a relatively low key weekend. I'd been introduced to some extended family friends who graciously hosted me for services on Saturday and the break fast that evening, and I ended up spending quite a bit of time with them over the weekend.

Breakfast

Being here four days (it already seems like forever) means I have many, many updates, since I could write on and on about the smell of the water and the color of the sky just because they're so new. Unfortunately, I don't currently have time to do that, so this will have to suffice.

I'm currently living in a hotel until my coworker moves out on Friday and I take over his apartment for a while. This is lovely because someone makes my bed and picks up my clothes and folds them. I am excited to actually unpack, but that will come soon enough. 

One of the other great things about the hotel (I have a cool view over Darling Harbour for the sunset, so that's nice) is that I get breakfast in the hotel restaurant. Since this is Sydney, the clientele comes from all over - Oz, Europe, America, Asia. As a consequence, the buffet has to cater to all types. There's always yogurt, some kind of hot egg dish, pancakes or waffles, and fruit. Then there are also what Americans think of as "lunch meat" - salami, turkey, etc. - that's eaten in the morning in many parts of Europe, along with bread products. In Oz apparently everyone eats mushrooms and tomatoes at all times, so those are available along with potatoes and has browns, and cold cereal. Finally, there is miso soup and congee, along with rice and assorted toppings. 

My typical breakfast has evolved to something like this:

• coffee
• orange juice
• kiwi fruit
• melon
• croissant or mini muffin
• eggs or bacon (somehow I never get these at the same time)
• hash browns
• a few slices of salami
• miso soup
• pickled ginger

I'm not really sure how this happened, but I'm a big fan of the "soup for breakfast" option and want something like that in the States. I think it's because when I wake up I want to eat something but I'm not really awake enough to chew yet. That's the soup theory and I'm standing by it (and potentially making it happen after I move out of this hotel). 

Dinner!

Mom and I are on vacation from our vacation and eating fresh fish and drinking beer out of horse mugs (aka mugs with pictures of horses on them, not mugs the size of horses). We both stuck our toes in the Arabian Sea, so I have now touched the waters on both sides of India.

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What part of the chicken looks like a ziti and has a hole in it?

It's still unclear. Mom wants you to know she came up with that title all by herself.

Lunch was good, despite the fact that we have no idea what that was. In mint sauce it was great. As Bex would say, it's all about the sauce.

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One pot wonder

Liz and I are going to be great cooks when we get back to the states, if only because the knife I use will not fall apart in my hand and because we will have more than one pot to use. However, we persevered and concocted some delicious fried rice. Bonus: the peppers I picked out did not double as a home for worms!

Also, in case you're interested in an explanation of how worms get inside peppers, apparently worms lay eggs on the flowers that eventually become peppers. Both grow at the same time, so the worms reach maturity around the time you pick the peppers. Thanks, Bev!

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Kidding, this is really dinner

No worms, we think. Anyway, curry take two came out a lot better than the first time. We used flour to thicken up the sauce (as Bex would say, it's all about the sauce). I also rolled out the chapati with a cup, so they cooked more easily since they were much thinner. You can see the bucket of rice on the right. We really do use buckets for everything. Cooking with only bowls, spoons, one pot, and one burner has lead to lots of improvisation. The bucket with a plate as a lid served as a strainer for the rice, while another plate is the griddle for the chapati. And of course the cup is the rolling pin. I'm so excited to cook with real utensils!

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Dinner!

I found a worm whilst cutting open a pepper for dinner. You can just see him hanging out in the middle. Needless to say, that pepper didn't make the pot. I don't even know how they get inside.

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Yum

Doesn't dinner look great? It smells great. And it's so colorful! We're making curry and rice.

Guess how much they cost? 30 rupees. Also known as 75 cents. I know produce is cheap, but really.

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Chocolate momos

Nellie is holding up a chocolate filled momo in this photo. The dough was also had chocolate in it, but that part wasn't very good. We also had chocolate peanut butter momos for dessert at, of all places, a Korean restaurant. Random. The dough made them taste weird, but if you stick with the normal dough it should be fine.

Momos are easy to make...in theory, because they take a lot of work. But I'm sure my brother won't mind helping with this since chocolate is involved. See, Derek, you might like some Tibetan food! Kathryn, I'll bring these to the Losar party next year.

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Happy birthday part 2

Elizabeth and I had meat for dinner in an air conditioned restaurant with silverware and waiters and modern chairs. We both had forgotten how to sit up straight and put napkins on our laps and eat with forks. We also felt underdressed. What does this tell you about our normal lifestyle?

All that food was less than 15 dollars. Thanks mom!

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My family is seriously nerdy

My parents took me and my brother out to dinner tonight to celebrate (?) my impending departure. We went to The Charthouse, a restaurant on the Hudson that overlooks the New York skyline. We sat at a table right across from the Empire State Building (which was lit up green and white to wish the Jets good luck - gross).

I sat facing midtown

The view was absolutely gorgeous and it seems fitting to have my last real dinner while staring at New York. We also pretended it exceedingly fancy and got dressed in business casual, which allowed me to transition smoothly from DC to NJ to India (clearly needs a two letter abbreviation).

The food was really good too:

During dinner, my parents presented me with a going away card, since Hallmark now makes these. Both my mother and my father quoted Star Trek in their notes to me. They did not allow my brother in on the fun beforehand, so he stole the card, flipped it, and wrote "I have no Star Trek analogy to give you, so here's a Toy Story one: To India, and beyond!"

My brother is super witty. And thus named my blog.

The pile of clothing below is now entirely in the bag on the right, thanks to my mom. Thanks, Mom! I started packing, but left the sleeping bag out, so we redid it. 

Tomorrow I get to pack my carry on, eat a bagel, get some traveler's checks, and peace out.