Babycakes by Renee
October 28, 2008
This is for you, bubble&squeak!
Thad was heading back to the office on Saturday, and I decided to walk him there and soak in a bit of the sunshine. It was really quite a gorgeous day, after the depressing coldfront last week.
Blue skies over Darling Harbour
Having done my research earlier, I found out that ‘Babycakes by Renee’ has a Saturday Special – A dozen Babycakes for $10 – and decided it was actually a good day to pick up some sweet treats!
Was wandering around a little bit and thinking that I was never going to find the store, when…
Voila!
Danks Street Festival 2008
October 26, 2008
Whee! Another festival! And this one’s great too, because it is just outside our church!
So we arrived slightly earlier before service started, and took a quick tour of the festival. Danks Street has these arty-farty garages/lounges, with a very indie vibe. There are also a couple of cool cafes, such as Danks Street Depot and Wah Wah Lounge, alongside organic grocers and bakeries.
Flyaway to Fiji…
October 23, 2008
… for a dream wedding, in a little white chapel, by the seaside, on a cliff, at sunset.
Barefooted.
*swoon*
Manly Beach
October 22, 2008
Yep, you read that right, it’s MANLY Beach. I think we hear it so often here that it doesn’t sound as funny as it actually is anymore. When Dan and QY were here, we rented a car to explore Sydney a little bit. We debated on whether to head to Bondi Beach or Manly Beach, and decided on Manly eventually because it’s so much further we probably wouldn’t go there again. Heh.
The drive there was beautiful! It was a bright sunny day, and we crossed the Harbour Bridge, had a smooth drive on Military Road through Neutral Bay, Cremorne and Mosmon. The roads were a bit hilly, and we caught glimpses of various harbours. The waters were never far wherever we drove. And it was especially beautiful along the little stretch known as The Spit. It’s a narrow stretch of road, no more than 500m I think, and it is clear sparkly waters full of yatchs on both sides. We heard it’s a pain in the morning, because as the only road that links the area around Manly to the rest of the city, it’s always jammed up. But driving on a gorgeous weekend, I thought it was just the most beautiful stretch of road. I wish I had taken pictures! Too bad I was busy enjoying the ride 
Lindt Chocolate Cafe, Cockle Bay Wharf
October 20, 2008
On Dan’s last day, we decided to take it easy and just spend the rest of the lazy afternoon chilling by the wharf, at the Lindt’s Chocolate Cafe.
Little Chocolate Party
Hey look!
October 20, 2008
Ironmen Dick and Rick Hoyt
October 19, 2008
It is the second time at a church service that a speaker has mentioned father and son Dick and Rick Hoyt, and even though I already knew what it was about, tears were rolling from my eyes anyway, as were many others in the hall today.
Dick and Rick Hoyt are a father-and-son team from Massachusetts who together have competed in 984 events, including 229 Triathlons, 6 Ironman distances and 6 Half Ironman. They have also biked and ran across the USA in 1992 – 3,735 miles in 45 consecutive days. That is probably more than what any of us will run in our lifetime.
What makes their story even more amazing, is that Rick suffers from cerebral palsy, and can neither walk nor talk. But didn’t you say they competed together, you ask.
They did. Eighty-five times Dick has pushed his disabled son, Rick, 26.2 miles in marathons. Eight times he’s not only pushed him 26.2 miles in a wheelchair but also towed him 2.4 miles in a dinghy while swimming and pedaled him 112 miles in a seat on the handlebars – all in the same day.
And Rick repaid the favour by saving his Dad’s life. Dick, who had never learned how to swim and had not ridden a bike since he was six, went on to haul his 110-pound son through traithlons and more. Due to all the fitness he was getting, when he suffered a mild heart attack during a race, the doctor told him, “If you hadn’t been in such great shape, you probably would’ve died 15 years ago.”
And don’t think that they come in second to last in all these competitions either. During the 24th Boston Marathon, Dick and Rick finished in 5,083rd place out of more than 20,000 starters. Their best time is two hours, 40 minutes in 1992 — only 35 minutes off the world record.
Take just 6 minutes to watch this video, and you will be so inspired and witness how amazing the power of love can be.
The official Team Hoyt Website
A wonderful article from Sports Illustrated (I know!)
Get Fresh with Fish!
October 17, 2008
I know these days, it seems like I’m cooking 24/7… well, that’s because I am. It’s real great to have someone at home who’s willing to eat up whatever nonsense you serve up! I have to say, cooking is pretty addictive and in some odd sense, therapeautic. The slicing and dicing on the chopping board, the smooth stirring in the saucepan, squatting infront of the oven as you watch your loaf rise… it’s all very relaxing!
October in Sydney is really when the city comes alive. There are festivals and street markets and exhibitions and GOOD FOOD MONTH. All these famous restaurants in the city rally together to celebrate food, coming up with special lunch sets, dinner degustations and dessert specials to entice people into their restaurants. There’s also Night Noodle Market at the park, a talk conducted by Ferran Adria of El Bulli and cooking demonstrations all across the city.
So the week that QY and Dan were here, there was a free cooking demo held at the Sydney Fish Markets. The two were hemming and hawing because, well, 11am is just waaaay too early to learn how to cook, but they dragged their feet and came along anyway
Cooking class at the Sydney Fish Market
Recipe: Chicken Cordon Bleu
October 17, 2008
I had a piece of chicken breast fillet lying in the fridge and I had no idea what to do with it. As healthy as it is, everyone knows that chicken breast fillets do not have the best texture, and if overcooked, can be really dry and rubbery. I cooked it in curry the other day, and because Thad came home late, it got overcooked and well… most of it ended up in the dumpster.
I looked around on the internet for some cool and interesting recipe and decided to try and make the Chicken Cordon Bleu. It always sounds cool on a menu, and I have discovered that it is actually a really simple dish! And to think they charge $15-20 for it at restaurants… tsktsk!
Chicken Cordon Bleu
Review: Hurricane’s Grill & Bar
October 15, 2008
Thad is as close to a carnivore as a human can get, so we’re on a constant lookout for good steaks. They are fairly cheap here, and a lot of restaurants and cafes actually offer lunch or dinner specials for around $10 for a 250-350g steak. And they are pretty good too!
But for a steak that is as good as The Keg in Canada, well, that’s just been an impossible task.
I think we might have come close with Hurricane’s Grill here in Sydney! I have been craving for some good ribs myself, and we have a couple more carnivores joining us from Singapore, and the grilling aroma floating around Darling Harbour has always got us salivating. We actually tried to get seats at the restaurant when Mel and Gerald came to visit last month, but we were put on a two-hour wait-list at 8pm!
We called the day before to make a booking this time, but there was a lot of hemming and hawing on the phone and eventually, they told us to show up early to gurantee seats. That is fine with me, but I have a pickle with WHY then, do they put their numbers on the website and indicate “Phone Bookings”?! So anyway we were all hungry, so we went down as early as 6.30pm and was advised that we’ll get our table in 20-minutes. Hurrah! Oh another peeve, they have no PROPER waiting line to put your name down! There’s just this huge swarm of hungry customers looming around the booking staff, and because no one knows who arrived first, everyone is giving dirty stares to everybody else for “cutting their line”. The point is, they need a decent wait-line to prevent mayhem.
