The rest of the week featured more eating and less excursions (except for places to eat) but it was still pretty memorable.

Wednesday, June 10:

• Ash had to go back to work, so Tom and wandered the city together. We had to try the McDonald’s here, and I opted for the Sweet Chili Chicken wrap. Observations:
  • Patrons have the ability to order while in line and are given a reference number to retrieve their order
  • Meals come in small, medium and large. I’m pretty sure this refers to the size of the accompanying drink and fries and not the sandwich itself. I wonder if it means that sandwiches cannot be ordered individually?
  • Most places we went to called ketchup “tomato sauce”. Here I asked for tomato sauce and was returned with “Oh, tomato ketchup?”
• Visited Koko Black and had a few chocolates. While the offering here was larger (and a bit more expensive), I still prefer Bernard Callebaut.
• I had a craving for pho or ramen (it was chilly and I wanted to warm up) but was incredibly pleased with Grill’d. The decor and variety of gourmet burgers brought me to a level of contentedness and forgot about my desire for soup.
• After a satisfying meal, our inner child urged us to visit Max Brenner afterwards.  No chocolate was left uneaten.
• Walking home we saw more possums in the park, this time with a baby on a parent’s back which looked like something else at first.

Thursday, June 11:

• Tom and I visited the Royal Botanical Gardens. Highlights include seeing black swan cygnets, discovering a plant that smelled like Kellogg’s Froot Loops, and having the joys of our usual outdoor excursions in new surroundings.
• Dinner that night was Indian with some new and familiar faces from ThoughtWorks. This was probably the only meal this week where I didn’t eat more than I was capable of, just because someone else ordered for the entire table and we shared everything.
• Afterwards, we saw a local band playing, and indie rock group called The Weekend People. I’m waiting to see more of their stuff on their site and/or iTunes. I liked what I heard, but it was sometimes difficult to hear because of the sound mixing quality.

Friday, June 12:

• Our last day in Australia was made sad with Tom’s observation and reminder that we wouldn’t be spending Thanksgiving and Christmas and New Year with Ash. Then Ash mentioned he might be home for Christmas and I felt a bit better.
• Today I also discovered that the almond croissants from my favorite stall in the Queen Victoria Market are not only topped with almonds and icing sugar, but have a delicious filling inside. Do I regret those other chocolate croissants that I chose over the almond? Not at all.
• One of the things we had to do in Australia was eat kangaroo. We picked up a roast from the local supermarket and Tom cooked it up with garlic mashed potatoes with proscuitto and Aussie parm from the market. Tom also tried to recreate the jalapeño sauce from Nobu but the result was a close but chunkier version, as we didn’t have a food mill.
• I didn’t want to go to bed that night, I wanted to stay up and keep talking or watching tv or something, just because it was our last day and I didn’t want to go home yet.

Saturday, June 13:

• I’m glad I actually got a bit of sleep the night before, because 5:00 came with a fierce earliness that hurt my tired eyes and barraged my sleepy limbs. “Who wakes up at 5am?” I would ask, to be replied with, “Rose, you wake up at 5:15 to go for a run at home.” I guess that’s an indication that I was able to get into vacation mode.
• We got to Southern Cross and the shuttle was already ready to go, meaning our goodbyes had to be brief. I had no problem staying awake at this point, but to be sure I picked up a savoury muffin and my last strong flat white at the airport. I grabbed an apricot danish for a snack, and as it went through a few x-rays in Sydney I wondered if eating it afterwards would give me super powers.
• Maybe my only superpower was not getting motion sickness on the flights back, but I was glad for it anyways. Qantas dinner was beef bourguignon with polenta, and while I fell asleep when they were handing out ice cream, I asked politely and got one when I woke up.
• The toughest part was waiting in LAX for our last flight going home. We were there between 11am -3pm local time, which was something like being awake for a long time at 4am in Melbourne time. It was brutal, and all the while I was looking forward to the 3 hours flying where I could finally get back to sleep.

I had no problems waking up after our trip, so jet lag didn’t affect me that way at all. It’s just that I would get extremely sleepy as early as 4pm at work, and I don’t think I was able to stay up past 9pm last week at all. Luckily, it meant that waking up at 5 for my exercise routine wasn’t difficult at all, but it meant that I couldn’t do anything in the evenings, such as finishing up this last blog post.

While I miss a few things in Melbourne, I’m glad to be home.

• Went to the Melbourne Aquarium. Freaking penguins in the first exhibit! Sharks, rays, lots of fun stuff. Have pics coming soon.
• Tom’s birthday. Saw a freaking platypus! Walked to Melbourne zoo, had samosa and fried rice for breakfast with coffee, saw as much wildlife begging for food near the eateries as behind bars. Saw wild parrots in the trees, beautiful!
• Tom’s birthday dinner at Nobu at Crown casino and entertainment complex. Delicious drinks, friendly bartender. First drink had ume shu and a rare spiny mountain peach as garnish. Second drink had an apple liqueur and cinnamon with lime. Dinner was amazing, don’t know if I can eat sushi anywhere else ever again. Okay, that’s a lie, I’ll continue to eat sushi but this place is definitely a favorite. Other highlights: jalapeno sauce on roasted cauliflower, flaky and melty cod, soft shell crab tempura rolls. Dessert: sampler platter including sake sorbet, green tea parfait type thing, Japanese doughnut, chocolate bento box with green tea ice cream.
• Day after Tom’s birthday, found out that Gordon Ramsay is in town and is going to eat at Nobu as well, to be joined by Robert DeNiro, part owner of the place.
• Went out for drinks with some ThoughtWorkers at Double Happiness. Liquid vice: “Great leap forward” – lychee vodka with ginger, lime and muddled mint leaves. Crazy and fun night.
• Hangover day. Slept in, so did Ash (even though it was Friday and he had to go to work). Tom and I had breakfast/lunch at Nando’s (there’s one in Calgary we haven’t been to before). Delicious. Took it easy that night, watched How I Met Your Mother and probably almost peed myself laughing.
• Saturday. Packed and the guys picked up the rental car for our trip to Great Ocean Road. Beautiful scenery, windy roads made me wish I had my motion sickness medication too. Saw two groups of wild kangaroo. Saw a flock of wild sulfur-crested cockatoos. Internet booking went wonky and got upgraded to an apartment. Had an amazing calamari meal at Room Six. Watched a game of footy. Kept waking up in the middle of the night because I was switching the heating pad from 0 to maxiumum when I thought I was just setting it to 1.
• Woke up before sunrise, went to see the Twelve Apostles. Beautiful sky, chilly air. Went to other places (pictures will better describe their beauty) then had a fantastic breakfast at Room Six. Started to rain, so headed back to Melbourne. Ordered pizza, my favorite was one with anchovies and olives. Salty deliciousness. Tried to make plans for the rest of the long weekend, finding that lots of places were close due to snow or wildfire earlier this year.
• Slept in, went to the mall. I ate a ton again, proclaiming my love for passionfruit yogurt and tiramisu and salad and coffee all while eating. Bought a couple of things, including burgundy hair extensions and some souveniers for my brothers. Went to the grocery store, where I found a custard apple. (When I was younger I planted some seeds for this plant, anticipating the creamy apple taste of the rainforest fruit. I killed the plants, and haven’t found a custard apple since.) Ash made lamb curry, super delicious. Also, I am beginning to run out of adjectives for food. Watched more How I Met Your Mother followed by Stardust.
• Returned the rental car, and had a double adventure looking for a gas station and having the GPS system take us to an adjacent town instead of back to the Budget car rental place. Starving. Went to Stalactites for greek food, again ate a ton. Pigged out on a lamb and chicken giro plate with fries and salad, for dessert had baklava with ice cream and some creme caramel. Went next door (oh yes) for more dessert. Sparrows snuck in and were eating off some of the plates. Went to the Metropolitan hotel for a drink (but wait, there’s more) and had a good ginger ale + vanilla vodka + lime drink. A new favorite. On the way walking home, saw a possum in the dark. It approached me, but Ash said it was looking for food. Tom snapped a few photos of it. Also saw a rat in the park, ew.

As suspected, I don’t fly very well. After the first flight from YYC to LAX I felt ill (complete with chills and nausea) and needed to get motion sickness medication. I popped a few and waited to board our flight to Sydney. 11:50 local time, past my bed time at home time.

Tom and I couldn’t sit together for the 14 hour flight, and instead I sat between two friendly Aussies, one of which was a military surgeon who specialized in the bowel and was very nice to talk to. Dr. John Payne and I talked about the flight, yogurt, things to see in Australia, human physiology, our respective theories about sleep, and he told stories about his work and what he had done with his life. We had an extended opportunity to chat as our plane had to land in Brisbane for an hour to refuel, extending travel and requiring a reschedule of our last flight from Sydney to Melbourne. The other gentleman I sat beside had arrived from Calgary and the Rockies and mentioned some observances about taxes and service in the hospitality industry. It was interesting that some of the things I had taken for granted (added hospitality taxes, slight inconveniences when booking a hotel) were foreign to him, and when we were able to effortlessly and cheerfully rebook our flight to Melbourne I understood why he felt this way.

We flew for one hour more via Virgin Blue, landing in Melbourne, taking a shuttle to Southern Cross, and then we were home. Temporary home, but when you stay with a good friend it feels like home already.

Dinner that night was poached eggs on toasted turkish bread and proscuitto, garnished with roquette and balsamic from The Poppy Café. That meal featured an introduction to my current favorite, “strong flat white” which is a latté with less milk and more coffee. The evening was finished off with a refreshing shower, a few episodes of Buffy and a couple of movies and glasses of gin.

—

Day 2: May 31, 2009

As I was first to wake up, I quietly did some yoga stretches by the morning light to start, then curled up on the couch to read more of Choke. Six chimes from the nearby church was a pleasant mark for my Sunday morning. Thirty minutes of continuous chiming from the same church in short intervals started to get annoying and I retreated back into the bedroom.

We had breakfast and coffee at The Poppy Café again (strong flat white and Europa for me: two poached eggs, tomato topped with fresh pesto, toasted turkish bread, some kind of lamb or beef patties and a saucy salad whose name evades me currently.

After that we were off to the Queen Victoria Market which Ash is very fortunate to be living near. The energy of the market and the fresh produce, meats and seafood were inspiring, and we returned home with a few bags of each. Oysters for $9.50/dozen? Yes please!

I devoured my fresh pain du chocolat for a snack, layed around for a bit, then ventured off to St. Kilda beach. Stepping off the tram I was greeted with the fresh smell of the ocean, and walked along the promenade with Ash and Tom. There was a rocky section where I was fortunate enough to see a couple of little penguins (charming) and Australia’s endangered water rat (alarming, but I was honored to see it). On the walk back we were fortunate to also see a seal swimming away. A stop at a local pub for beer for the boys and local wine for me was in order before heading home again. Dinner that night was all of the delights of the market: fresh raw oysters with a chili lime sauce, broiled herbed lamb chops, and roasted vegetables.

—

Day 3: June 1, 2009

Ash was off to work and Tom and I spent the day wandering around the neighborhood. We are so fortunate to be near Flagstaff park and the downtown area. We meandered through the commercial areas and visited the grocery store to purchase more items for dinner. It’s strange, we were looking for whipping cream for butter chicken but could only find thickened cream of the same milk fat percentage, but thickened with gelatine. Tomato sauce is usually a key ingredient, but we opted for diced tomatoes as we thought their version of tomato sauce was more like ketchup. Eggs are sold on shelves and not refrigerated (some things are backwards down under) but plastic bags are very rare to see as everyone carries resuable bags (un-backwards; forward thinking in fact).

The evening ended with garlic butter chicken on penne and marscapone stuffed figs and apricots for dessert. With more gin. Delicious.

I dug up an old recipe from grade eight for a german fruit flan, knowing that even though the procedure was simple (airy cake base, cream cheese filling), I could really have some fun with the fresh fruit topping.

I have three regrets about making this. One, I wish I searched for blueberries, as the color would have really taken the presentation to another level (I currently have peach, mango, strawberry and kiwi on it). Two, I should have remembered my grade eight science classes where we discussed that gelatin plus kiwi equals unset gelatin because of enzymes in the kiwi. Regret number three is a selfish one. I should have filled a ramekin with the batter and made myself a mini flan. Waiting until tomorrow’s dinner is going to be torture.

—

Edit: April 6, 1:14pm

Overnight, the quinoa was able to soak up the rest of the tomato juice and the roasted garlic and onions made the sour taste of the tomatoes mellow out. I tossed in some chopped deli turkey breast into the mix and the saltiness provided a nice contrast in flavor. So this wasn’t a disaster after all.

Sitting on the couch, enjoying my morning bowl of oatmeal and coffee, I wondered what to do with the 2lbs of campari tomatoes I greedily bought from Costco. I decided I could make something for lunch, then it dawned on me that I could make a roasted tomato salad with red quinoa, acorn squash, and baby greens.

(No picture, since I haven’t made this yet. I’ll let you know how it goes.)

1lb campari tomatoes
approximately 10 pearl onions
5 or more cloves of garlic
1/2 acorn squash
1 cup quinoa
2 cups water or stock
5 leaves fresh basil
1 tablespoon dried oregano
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
Baby greens
Roasted nuts for garnish (walnuts or pine nuts)

Wash and stem the tomatoes, then place on a shallow baking pan. Score the bottoms of each tomato with an X. Halve the pearl onions and place on the same pan. Peeled garlic cloves can also go on the same pan.
Drizzle with a tiny bit of olive oil, season with salt and pepper.

Halve the acorn squash, and place in another baking pan sliced side down. Add about a 1/4″ of water to the pan. Place both pans in the oven at 400ºF for about half an hour. Remove tomatoes/onion/garlic pan from oven and let rest. Remove squash from oven, drain water, turn cut side up, add butter, salt and pepper, and broil for 15 more minutes.

Prepare quinoa by rinsing with water, then placing in saucepan of boiling water or stock. Reduce heat and let simmer for 15 minutes.  When cooked and still hot, dump into large bowl and add oregano and basil. Pick out garlic and onions, slice finely, and toss in the same bowl.

When squash is cooked, peel and cut into 1/2″ cubes. Toss into quinoa bowl and stir. Gently add tomatoes and oils and juices from the roasting pan and stir to combine. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar.
Let cool. Toss with baby greens, sprinkle with nuts and serve.

Optional: drizzle with olive oil.

Now, this will make a lot of salad, but I had 2lbs of tomatoes to start with. This could probably be my lunch for an entire week, but I’ll most likely also serve this as a side dish to roasted or BBQed meat.

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
50g of wine salami (originally I wanted proscuitto, but they didn’t have any so I went with another salty meat)
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
Pesto (I get mine ready made from a jar)
1 cup grape tomatoes
2 fat cloves of garlic
1/4 cup shredded italian cheese of your choice (optional)
Chopped romaine, or your choice of greens

Score the grape tomatoes with a vertical slit and place on shallow baking pan big enough to also fit chicken. Drizzle with a tiny bit of olive oil.

Thinly slice garlic cloves. Remove the chicken tenders from each breast and set aside. Butterfly each breast and lay flat on cutting board. For each chicken breast, smear a tablespoon of pesto, add a couple of slices of garlic, a sprinkling of pine nuts, and slices of wine salami. Roll up and place on pan, opening side down. Add another tablespoon of pesto and smear on outside of chicken. Coat the chicken tenders with pesto and add on the same pan.
Place in 475ºF oven and roast until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches at least 165ºF. Add shredded cheese and broil until cheese is melty and brown. Remove chicken and slice. Place atop washed greens. Pick out tomatoes and tip juices onto everything. Garnish with more pine nuts, and a splash of balsamic vinegar, and serve.

When I brought this in for lunch, I put the sliced chicken and tomatoes in a small container, and brought the romaine in a separate one. I warmed up the chicken in the microwave until warm, threw the leaves into a pretty bowl, and topped with the chicken and tomatoes. As I was eating it I was reflecting, “I love this diet of mine”.

Nutrition Report

It brings me back to my school days when I’d look forward to report card days. Additionally, as the food log tracks calories as well as quantities, I can tell if I’m eating too little or too much. I didn’t suspect that I was eating too little (after all, I find that I’m quite disciplined when dieting), but the numbers don’t lie. Keeping track of numbers this way also reminds me of my love of RPGs. When adding a food item, it’s like creating a character with a certain amount of character creation points available to me. When looking at my intake so far, it’s like seeing how many more experience points I need to gain a level.

Today's Intake

I’m supposed to eat between 1500-1900 calories otherwise I gain weight or go into starvation mode. Good thing I’m not tempted by cupcakes to fill in the gap for today.

This is what it’s supposed to look like.

So far it’s a dilapidated delicious mess on a cake plate from my grandmother.