and that was another year...

I thought I’d post this today, nine days shy of the new year, because tomorrow we are off on holidays and will be back just in time to bid 2008 goodbye.

It almost goes without saying that this year has been the most adventurous that I have lived, thus far. I’ve probably moved and migrated more than the average person in their 20’s. It started with the first migration from Australia to Malaysia, and then back again. Then I moved from Brisbane to Perth and Perth to Sydney… but nothing compares to the most recently migration, to London.

If you’d told me two years ago that this year I would be living in the United Kingdom and travelling Europe, I would not have believed you. I was more than satisfied with my Sydney existence, and more than happy with the travel (or there lack of) that I had done. But this year, I have imprinted my child-sized shoe print on not only England, but France, Belgium, Finland, Scotland, Spain, America (!) and before the year is out, I will add Morocco and Italy to this list. It’s crazy. It is actually insane. And the craziest thing is that I’m doing it all with my absolute favourite person in the world… and as much as I whine about London, I wouldn’t trade this experience for anything in the world.

my foodie mate

i clearly remember the day i officially met Melissa C. she'd moved to London for work and not knowing anyone, a mutual friend who was here on holidays organised for us to meet up for lunch, because she had an inkling that maybe, just maybe, we would hit it off. Even before I met Mel C, i already knew she was a foodie just like me thanks to her blog (which she needs to re-start again!) and booked us in to a three course lunch to kick start our budding friendship!

from there i would say our friendship more than flourished. it's only been nine months since we met but i can truly say that that girl is a special one. Despite our obvious moral differences (i can openly say fuck and penis, but Mel would rather loofah her tongue than utter those words), our mutual adoration for all things yummy bonded us. We revived the breakunch, squeezed in lunches where we could, and above all else, spent way more than our allocated time at Hummingbird.

mmm.... red velvet and vanilla cake. who will i share them with now?

Man that girl can eat.

Anyway, without dwelling too much on Mel C (or cake)... i guess some times you realise it's not the people who you've known all your life that are your closest friends by default. Sometimes if you let them, special people come into you life. For a day, a week, a year or forever.

Mel is one of the special ones for me. I miss her a lot, though it's only been a week, but with any luck I'll see her again in March next year. We are planning a rendezvous in Sydney... and a visit to none other than Tetsuyas for a true foodie reunion... *wheee*

junkfood

Panu would argue that more often than not, I wear my food. He claims he can't take me out in public because I end up with food on my lap, my chest, my face and my hair. I dont know how, to be honest, because believe me when I say I really wanted that food in my mouth!

And so when I stumbled across JunkFood in NYC, I knew it was a match made in heaven!


These guys design the funkiest tees, and the website really does no justice to the available range. I loved them instantly and bought three, and right now wishing I had bought at least 3 more. Better still, they are non-iron! And this is a big call, coming from me, the woman who irons everything.

While JunkFood is also available in the UK at Urban Outfitters, they cost about twice as much here, so stock up while in the States guys!

i'm alive!

holy crap, i didnt realise it had been over a week since my last post! where did the time go?! i can usually blame a lapse this long on an exciting vacation, however this time, i have been here all along, in this misty little freeze pot we call London.

it has been a hectic couple of weeks with beer guzzling visitors from Germany, a familiar face from Newtown, a birthday celebration, a christmas house party and not one but two people close to my heart leaving for Oz...

and amongst the social tizziness brought on by the impending silly season, work has also been tremendously busy, because pre-December, it seemed completely viable to promise deliverables "before Christmas"!

anyway, i was going to blog about Mel C going home, and we've already had three farewell shindigs (involving much food and cake!) but you know what, I think we might just squeeze one more in tomorrow night ~ some Mexican lovin' ~ before she leaves on Wednesday, so i'll divulge details afterwards!

In other news, 8 sleeps til Morocco... and better still 15 sleeps til I see my most favourite Sydney-siders again!

not quite que sera

sometimes the world baffles me. the random acts of terrorism seem so far removed from my life that it's just another piece of news. when the jewish couple were killed in mumbai - again to me, it was another piece of news...

... but then when I read about their baby, who was saved by its nanny, who doesn't realise what's happened... and at its parents funeral, it started crying out for its mummy...

... i actually shed some tears.

Que sera sera

the grapevine in perth is absolutely fabulous and terrifyingly evil at the same time. it's not so much a grapevine, but rather one singular grape, hanging on the end of a lonely vine.

so today, the said grapevine told me that an ex of mine is engaged. This ex is the one who broke my heart into itty itty bite-sized pieces, and consequently turned me into ice queen bitch for many years. anyway, back in the day, i totally wanted to marry this guy and have his many babies.

he now has a gorgeous girlfriend, sorry fiancee, they own a place together, they renovated, they even have an adorable puppy. Goddamn, was that meant to be my life??

que sera. no matter... i am going home now to my man for some warm cuddles. and he's even cooking dinner tonight. guess i dont have it so bad...

i left my heart in NYC

we're back, we arrived to the gloom (I almost wrote "doom and gloom" which isn't too far from the truth!) of London early yesterday morning and I am officially, clinically, depressed. I cannot believe how much I loved NYC, i mean i knew i was going to have an awesome time - everyone does - but that city, its energy, people, life, colours... i just loved it.

it's no secret that i've never been a huge fan of London, and now, comparing it to NYC doesn't help. Most people love London - they love the history and character and old cobble-stoned streets... but what they love about London is precisely what I dont love about it. I'm not into the old ~ just give me the modern dammit! NYC, marry me.

anyway, enough of the sad. What did I love most about NYC? I loved Time Square by night. If it wasn't so darn cold (one morning it was 21°F, which guys, is -6°C!) I would have been content to sit out there all day... and what else did I love? Diner breakfasts and their "home fries", which is basically mash potatoes, fried. I loved so many other things too, far too many to name... and geez did we fit a lot into one week, from Madison Square Garden (basketball and ice hockey - Rangers!) to shopping (Macy's, Barneys, Bloomingdales, 5th Avenue... everywhere!). A 3hr cruise around Manhattan Island, Empire State Building, Central Park... China town and Little Italy... Ground Zero, SoHo, Greenwhich Village and Tribeca and wandered around midtown a number of times...

we ate, and ate... and ate til I actually puked one time. Shame.

oh, and our hotel was just unbelievable.

Our one week was up way too quickly and when we were leaving I felt quite like a child, teary-eyed and almost about to throw a tantrum. Why can't I stay just one day longer???

We took about 600 photos, but I've managed to upload an album of just 60 here.

Now i'm going to sulk, and somehow dig myself out of this funk.