One big combined affair

September is such a hectic month for our family. There's Father's Day, my Mum's birthday, Dad's birthday, my cousin's birthday, my niece's birthday and my birthday amongst a number of other friends birthdays. Me, my dad and my cousin are born within 5 days of each other. Infact, my little cousin is born on the same day as my dad, both in the Gregorian calendar and Lunar Calendar. Apparently that only happens once every 17 years or something.

Since there are so many birthdays so close together, we generally do a combined birthday party thing to celebrate all 3 of our birthdays. So we decided to try a new Chinese Restaurant in Eastwood. I won't name the place because frankly, they don't deserve any advertisement. (You'll find out why later)

Steamed baby abalone and scallop with ginger and shallots

Peking duck in action

Crispy peking duck

Crab and vermicelli hot pot

Everything was going smoothly until now. The crab was alright, except there was about 3times as much noodles as there were crab. And the noodles were way to dry for my liking.

Salt and pepper squid

Salt and pepper soft shell crab

Salt and pepper pork

Yes I know that's a lot of salt and pepper dishes. But since we don't go out to dinner much anymore, when we do, we tend to order dishes the kids love. Which is anything deep fried, and anything salt and pepper. Not that I'm complaining since I LOVE ANYTHING that is salt and peppered. However, these ones were SALT and peppered. As in salt overload. After having a few pieces, I spent the remainder of the night drinking pots and pots of tea nonstop. I kid you not, I had ATLEAST 2 whole pots of tea to myself within 30mins. Infact, I woke up at 2am that night looking for water, and woke up like I had a massive hangover looking for more water. That's how dehydrated I got from the salt.

Remains of our Peking duck

Stir fried green beans with mince and dried shrimp

The minute I saw this dish, I dived straight in. This is something we loved to cook at home. Except this dish was sweet. Not like Thai sweet. I mean SWEET sweet. Like dessert sweet. I had one bite and left the rest of the dish.

Boneless lemon chicken

Another one of the kids favourite dishes from our restaurant days. This definitely did NOT live up to our expectations. They had used so much lemon essence and colouring, the sauce was actually bitter and gluggy.

Steamed barramundi

Complimentry fruit

Complimentry cookies

At this point, we weren't too thrilled about the food. There were some good dishes, and a few that we would definitely not order again. I mean, that's usually the case with all Restaurants. But that really pissed us off was after dinner, we had brought along 2 birthday cakes/tarts. We had to spend 10mins trying to wave a waiter down to get them to bring the cake. And the restaurant wasn't even busy. Less then 4 tables, and we were the biggest table. With 6 waiters, you'd think we'll get some service.

When the waiter rocks up, he brought one cake only. I don't know how he managed that because both cakes were in the same bag. He lights a candle, dumps the cake onto the table and walks off. Another 5mins before we can get any attention to get the 2nd cake, then trying to get our spare candles from them and then trying to get matches. To make things worse, they didn't even bother giving us plates or forks to eat the cake with. We had to go get it ourselves. Lets just say we didn't leave a tip and we won't be going back ever again. The only reason why I'm even blogging about it is because I love the way my photos are turning out with my new flash.

The best thing about the night was the pear and ricotta tart I got as birthday cakes. The pastry was moist and not too crumbly, there were slices of pears that was covered in creamy ricotta, all topped with a crunchy toffee layer, creme brulee style. Not a single person complained about the cake/tart, which is really rare in my family!

Day 15 - Assisi

6:15am wakeup call. I swear when the tour ends, I'm not waking up until midday!!! To make it worse, breakfast wasn't ready AGAIN. I felt like slapping someone this early in the morning, especially with Ron running around harrassing half the locals. To get to the bus, again we had to lug all our hand luggage through venice, over a hundred bridges before we can dump it with Umberto. A few of the people who had problems walking set off earlier than the rest of us, meaning Good Old was on her own with 50 bags. As we were walking to the bus, I offered to help carry her bags as I didn't want her to trip and fall into the water (I'm not as heartless as some). I kept offering to carry her Prada Bag when she turned and screamed that I just wanted to steal it! How dare she yell that at me!? Even though its true, you don't yell it out loud!!!

Anyway, since she was onto me, we decided to just chat. This is when she reveals that Camera Susan and Ron had a massive fight yesterday. Well, I mean they didn't like each other as it is, but according to Good Old, they had a full on screaming match over religion or something. And now Good Old was threatening not to go to Israel with Ron if he kept behaving like that. I think that must've been the reason why she managed to score herself a 200euro lace top. Thats right, 200 euros for a LACE TOP! It was supposedly "hand made".....omg. Give me 200euros and I'll tie some string together for you and tell you its lace!!

We finally get to the bus and because of the seat rotation thing, we ended up getting the entire backrow of the bus to ourselves! This was great since we had a really really long drive ahead. It was basically shoes off, pillows out and we were out like a light. 3hours later, the bus comes to a stop near this old decrepit looking church in Ravenna. Apparently is the Basilica S Apollinaro, famous for their mosaics. And to be honest, I couldn't be bothered taking many photos either. Of course, there are certain expectations from the rest of the tour group, so I did take a few half hearted shots.

Outside the church

We quickly left the place when Skeletor and her husband decided to come up to me and give me a history lesson on all the churches Europe, and went across the road to the local restaurant. Well, the only restaurant within a few kilometers. Seriously, the only reason we visited this unknown church was so we can have a "pit stop" and no drive for 6hrs straight. The restaurant was having a special offer for us, where for 12euros, you get a salad, main, drinks and coffee. So we sat down at a table with the Scottish Couple, which was our target for the day. (We agreed earlier we need to find out more about these people, and the next on the radar was the Scottish Couple). Apparently the Scottish Woman is a school Principal, and I can soooooo see her in that role! And her hubby works as a television station technician or something. Next thing you know, Skeletor and her husband sits down with us. Don't get me wrong, they seem like nice people, but I can't understand a damn word they're saying! I understand more from the Scottish couple than them! (And I don't understand the Scottish!) Not only do they have an accent, but she speaks so SO softly, I don't even know she's talking half the time.

Anyway, we had a lovely meal and even managed to have a chat to the owners. They gave us a business card that lists their website, which contains a recipe for his mother's lasagne! I gotta try it!!

Typical Italian garden salad

Lasagne and Fettuccine napolitana

Before getting back onto the bus, I stopped by their little gift section and bought a small bottle of strawberry grappa which was about 35% alcohol. Woohoo! Drinks on the bus! We gathered outside the restaurant to wait for everyone else, when I spotted our next victim. The Jocks. The Jocks are Judy's kids and they don't have much to say. Ever. I don't even think the Youngest one is with us most of the time. I tried to make chit chat with the youngest one and managed to get about 3 words out of him. I finally gave up as I would've gotten more response from a brickwall and decided to head back to the bus. It was a scorching 37degrees and I'm about to die of a heat stroke.

Back on the bus, Kath and Spencer sat back down right infront of me. It was then that I noticed that Kath had collected about half a tree's worth of bush, leaves and twigs in her hair!! OMG! I think if I look closely, I can see a birds nest in there!


The next thing you know, we've both passed out for another 3 hours and suddenly we're in Assisi to see the Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi (Church of St Francis), one of the first Gothic style churches built in Italy. Here, we meet Guiseppe who was a delightful local guide. He gave us a history talk on the church, where we also got to visit the Crypt at the upper basilica. The artwork in there was amazing considering how long ago they were done. There's no photos inside, and as its a church, I decided to respect that decision.

Santa Maria Maggiore

Resident of Assisi - Isn't he adorable?

Outside the Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi

Courtyard

As we were walking towards the church, suddenly we spot this dog tied up to a bench in the shade. I assume the owner was in the church. Suddenly Good Old pounces on the dog, whips out her water bottle and lets the dog drink straight from the bottle. God I hope she didn't decide to drink out of it


At the end of the tour, we decided to roam around Assisi where I immediately bought some of the local produce. Truffles. I know its not the $3000/kg type you get at the fancy restaurants, but hey, they're "truffles". Now I just need to use them. Ontop of that, I grabbed myself a bar of truffle chocolate, which basically tasted like dark chocolate. I also tried to get some postcards, but no one had change for a $5 note! Like what the hell? In the end I just gave up. We also bumped into Kath where Moishii spent a good 5mins filming her and taking photos, for no other reason besides the fact that she's Kath.

Assisi side street

Old Seth Green

We wander off after awhile, seeing shade and comfort from the 40degree heat. Whilst we were strolling along, we bumped into Spencer screaming that he lost Kath. We pointed him in some random direction and left him to it. But that little incident sparked a "OMG! WE NEED TO FIND KATH" thing. Half way through running up and down the streets to look for Kath, we stopped into a bar for an ice cold drink. Another famous local produce, especially as we head further and further south, is lemon granita. God this was refreshing!!

When we finished our drinks, we walked back outside only to see Christine!


So we're busily taking photos of Christine, when suddenly Christine looks at us and points to the wall behind us indicating that we should be taking a photo of the beautiful wall instead of the crummy street. She then gave us a look like we're morons....

The wall we should be photoing instead of Christine...

After that incident, we headed back towards the meeting point only to bump into Kath. We started screaming in excitement and ran towards her and almost knocked her over telling her Spencer was looking for her. Moishii then gets into a photo frenzy like he's never seen her before. I just don't understand...


Anyway, we we're heading back to the bus, suddenly Kath reveals that she's a Math teacher. And she kept saying that she would explain things to the kids, if they don't understand, she'll explain it another way, and if they still don't understand, she'll stand on her head to explain to them. Now we know why she has hair like that....cushioning for when she stands on her hair. I mean it is "the style she was going for", or so she says.

We jump back onto the bus only for Cabbage Patch to chuck a fuss that Guiseppe didn't give her microphone back. For crying out loud woman, just sort it out and let me cool down!!

We finally get moving and arrive at our hotel within minutes. Again, the lovely Umberto has gone and dropped off our luggage early, so when we get to the door, our suitcases were there. I noticed that the room right next to us has no suitcases outside it. And since we were one of the first couples to get our room keys, that means we have no tour people next door to us! So what do we do? The minute we get into the room, we throw the window open and scream "SUSANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!" before slamming the window shut.

We relaxed and bit and grabbed a nice shower before heading off to dinner. Now dinner was interesting. Not only did we have a very angry waiter called Guiseppe, the Indian Italians aka the Vomitter joined us for dinner. Before the food even hit the table, the vomiter screamed "IS THERE ANY SALT AND PEPPER?!?!?!?!". I almost choked on my food when she screamed that out. Relax woman!!! She started screaming at the waiter for salt and pepper. And she kept saying "I like extra salt and pepper in my food!!". Well no der. Then her husband saw the look on angry Guiseppe's face and stated that him or the chef is going to come running out with a knife screaming "WHO WANTS SALT AND PEPPER!?!?". Please god let that happen, especially since I had my camera with me. Unfortunately, the angry Guiseppe just stormed over and slammed the salt and pepper on the table.

After dinner, we headed back to our room only to find the bedroom door stuck. The floor immediately inside the door bulges up, meaning you have to throw your entire body weight behind the damn door to open it. After that ordeal, I immediately started hitting the strawberry grappa as Moishii had his Jack Daniels. God there's not a single sober moment in Italy is there? And with alcohol, there is Christine. Again, we throw the window open and scream "CHRISTINEEEEEE" until our heart is content before we pass out for the night.

I'm getting published again!!

I got an email last night from a complete stranger who had been browsing through my photos on Flickr. Basically the email said that they're launching a commercial software package called "Cook it!". The package contains a glossery of cookery related things, some of which, would include a photo. And basically they have asked to use my photo in their software! This is the second time that someone had contacted me in regards to using my Flickr images. When I was in Florence, I checked my email at an internet cafe, and again, there was an email from someone wanting to use my photos in a newspaper article they were writing on organic fruit and veggies. Both of these people wanted to use the same image:


http://www.flickr.com/photos/sormuijai/437451225/

It feels quite good to be recognised! hehehehe Its funny how sometimes the best photos require no effort, and sometimes the photos you spend hours trying to take just turn out bleh. That photo was snapped without any planning whatsoever. I was at the Northside Produce Markets, and not wanting to look like a try hard knob with my tiny little point and shoot, I snapped and ran. Yet this photo is the one chosen to be published!! And before you ask, no I'm not getting paid, but I will be credited in the software.

Ontop of that, I brought the photo book that I got as a birthday present from Moishii, Shirley, Gus and Matt into work. I had told my workmate about it and they were interested in seeing it. As they were flicking through the photos, my Professional Photographer workmate, who I really admire everytime I look at his photos turn to me and said "Hey, you're photos are actually really good!". Then he started pointing out the things he loved in my photo, the way I composed the shots etc etc. I just stood there with my mouth hanging open, since getting a compliment from a Professional, and the fact that he inspires alot of my photography was a great feeling! There was lots of positive comments from all my workmates, saying how the book almost looks like a travel guide! To be honest, I think they were fooled by the book. The photos in the book look SO SO much better and professional than it does on my computer. Either way, I'm happy! Infact, I might go home tonight and process the rest of my photos!!

Day 14 - Venice in depth

It was supposed to be a 7am wakeup call. I was up way before thing due to the STUPID air conditioner that keeps turning itself on and off, so it sounded like someone was in the toilet blow drying their hair. ARGH. And to top it off, the shower COMPLETELY flooded itself again. I was not in a happy mood when I went to breakfast, and was in an even worse mood when I started getting these really dirty looks from 2 asians sitting across the room from us. Even Moishii noticed and asked me whats up with that. I don't know, but if they didn't stop soon, they're going to get a butter knife to the eye. Its too early in the morning to mess with me. Meanwhile, Ron had somehow chatted up a bunch of people from Florida. Ugh.

We finish breakfast and headed back to our room to grab our stuff for the day. We had also planned on giving Good Old and Ron their wedding anniversary present as well. The plan was that I was going to give them the present whilst Moishii discreetly filmed the whole process. So we walk out to meet the rest of the tour group, and spot Ron and Good Old leaving their room. We walked up to them and gave them the present. It was at this stage that Ron suddenly jumps me and starts smooching me all over the face. Moishii, who is ever so discreet, shoved the camera straight into his face. Meanwhile, Good Old is ooohing and aahing over the "Jesus" figurine. When we had explained the TWO people in the figurine was Romeo and Juliet, the two of them went "awwwwww" then they started smooching each other. The best part is, Moishii has the whole thing on tape like we always do.

After this whole incident, we headed outside the hotel to wait for Cabbage Patch. This was when I reminded Good Old of a lovely Glass Figurine we saw in the store yesterday, and she promptly grabbed Ron and took him inside shopping. Before she could buy anything, Cabbage Patch came storming out saying we had to leave soon. Not before me and Moishii spotted a "WANTED" poster outside the hotel. Remember this moment.

We all get bundled into a boat to Piazza San Marco - St. Mark's Square, where we were off to see a glass blowing demonstration. The boat zooms along the "high way" in Venice when all of a sudden, one of the benches starts vibrating. Not the slight tremble you sometimes feel, but this was like a scene out of the exorcist and the bench was possessed. I half expected to the bolts to break off a the bench to go psycho on us. Luckily the ride ends quick and we get off before the bench tries to kill us.




We jump off the boat and suddenly half the people are hit with a slight case of motion sickness. The whole street still feels like it was moving. It took a few minutes for us to get used to walking on land again. From there, we had to walk all the way to the Glass factory. Now let me clarify. It was early, I was hungover and my legs were still unsteady when I half dragged my feet along the with the tour group. Next thing you know, theres a blaze of colour that comes tearing past me. I blink and then double blink. Was that the 81yo that just ran past me? WTF? I GOT OUTRUN BY AN 81YEAR OLD!! Its a disgrace!!! I started yelling at him and all he did was turn back, flashed me a smile and ran off. I went up to his daughter Rene and said "Did you know your dad just outran me?". Her reply? "Yeh, he's pretty fit for an 82yo." 82?!?! 82!!!!! OMG!! An 82yo outran me!! This is disgraceful! Apparently her mum is 81 and her dad is 82 and they're both fitter than me and Moishii put together. Disgraceful I tell you.

We finally get to the Glass Factory where we enter a showroom with a massive kiln in it. We huddle around for the demo which lasted about 10mins. I've always loved watching glass blowing demos on tv, but to see it in person is even more amazing. The highlight for me was to see the guy use his tweezers and made a few pulls and twists at this big red blob. A minute later, there was a prancing horse infront of our eyes! Utterly amazing!



After the demo, we entered the showroom where they gave a little talk and sales pitch as to how their stock is genuine and a complete bargain. 200euros for 4 glasses is a bargain? WTF? Again, its no photo taking, but that's never stopped us has it?


We spotted Good Old and Ron buying something within 5mins of the talk ending. They were purchasing a pair of tulip glasses with their anniversay date engraved on it as a souvenier. All for 100euros! Must be a bargain.

We decided to leave and find our own bargains, something below 10euros. Not before grabbing an espresso to energize us first! As we were standing at a bar, sipping on our espressos, we started a laughing fit when we saw 2 asians order their coffee and sandwiches and then SIT DOWN. I know I should feel sorry for them for getting ripped off, but they were going to get royally screwed! Their "sandwiches" looked like a sandwich being cut into 4 triangles, except they only got ONE triangle! hehehe

So after that, we stumbled out of the bar and spent the next couple of hours shopping for jewellery and other glass ornaments whilst enjoying the view of Venice.




Somewhere inbetween, we stopped to grab a bite to eat. There was a pizza shop selling a slice of Margherita pizza for 2euros. Except one slice is almost 1/4 of a pizza!

We grabbed a slice eat and was thoroughly enjoying it whilst camping out on the front steps of someone's house, when all of a sudden there was a massive screaming match happening over our heads. The couple in the house must be having a domestic with the amount of screaming that was going on. Or maybe it was just typical Italians talking. For all we know, it could've been a leisurely discussion on how much sauce to put on pasta, except it sounded like someone was getting murdered. After 5mins of screaming, we had to leave as I was getting a splitting headache. It didn't help that a random chick burped at us as well!!

We decided to head back towards the hotel and was following all the street signs when Moishii insisted we were going to the wrong way. So we back tracked for 10mins before we realised we were going the right way. I should learn not to listen. Because of this, we had to stop at a bar for more alcohol before going back to the hotel. God were we trashed when we got back. Maybe we shouldn't have stopped at the bottle shop on the way back either. We did go through a fresh fruit and veggie market, and everything just made me drool! I guess I am like my mum. Whenever we're overseas, we love to see the fresh produce at their markets. I mean, who could resist these?

Sunripen cherry tomatoes

Wild mushrooms

Berries and other stone fruit

We had a quick shower and crashed into bed when next thing you know, theres a knock at the door. Its housekeeping and the woman was here to fold down our beds. Except she looked like she wanted to tuck us into bed instead. I took the mats off her and told her not to worry about retucking in the sheets on our bed. Eventually we decided to drag ourselves off to find dinner. We found a place that was serving pizza, and their take away price was the same as the eat in price. So we decided to actually sit down and have a decent meal for a change. These pizzas were HUGE!!

Mushroom and sausage pizza

Mushroom pizza

Of course, we had to have alcohol with our dinner. Somewhere inbetween our wining and dining, Rene came in with her daughters and then ended up standing around us to chat whilst they waited for their pizza. We asked for the bill when we were done, and the 3 of them were still waiting for their pizza. 10mins later, they're still waiting and so are we. Another 10mins later, I got fed up waiting for the bill and stormed to the counter. This took another 10mins to get their attention. By this time, I was about to shove that bitch behind the counter into the oven!! I FINALLY get served and they get my bill, only to mess up the whole bill putting extra items on. After alot of yelling, they went and reduced the bill (where we're charged less than we should've), but by this time I didn't care. I slapped the money down onto the counter and stormed out without even tipping. She's lucky I didn't lunge at her with a knife after the ordeal she put me through.

She's lucky I didn't stab her!

We storm back into our hotel room and immediately hit the alcohol. 20mins later, in a drunken stupor, we started writing the next postcard for Christine. God she's going to love this one:


It took way too much effort than it was worth, just to get the card down to reception. But we did try to make it worthwhile by filming the whole process of us stumbling out of the room, the door getting jammed, me practically ripping the door off its hinges trying to close it before we got to reception.

The rest of the night was a bit of a blurrrrrrrr.