Christmas Day on Sunshine Beach

Before I went away for Christmas I intended to post an upbeat Christmas blog to fill you all with Christmas cheer, but it turned out to be more than a little melancholy.

Christmas with the Unwin/Lidster's turned out to be fantastic. It started with an early morning run and swim on the beach with Shakespearemate. Even a short run on the sand under the baking sun (already fierce at 6:30am) is surprisingly difficult. A dip in the sea soon refreshed us.

In contrast to home presents were given out before breakfast, the start time being negotiated upwards from 6am to 7:30am the night before with the very excited Bruce. Unwin tradition dictates that Bruce dons his Santa hat and distributes all of the presents under the tree (of which there were lots!), reading the funny messages on the labels and everyone collecting a little pile without opening them. Once all the presents have been given out, everyone rips open the wrapping paper. The theatre was in the distribution of gifts, not seeing what everyone had got.

Once all the presents were open a glorious day of eating commenced. We dined like kings for the entire week. For Christmas Day breakfast we had ham freshly carved off the bone and eggs. Lunch was a traditional turkey with all the trimmings, minus the brussel sprouts which is an improvement as far as I am concerned. As always I ate far too much.

Once the heat of the day began to subside we headed back down to the beach for an afternoon swim and was where I took the above movie.

A knee jerk reaction when someone mentions Christmas to me is to think of winter and snow. However, being able to go outside in shorts and a t-shirt, and be active on Christmas Day does make a lot of sense.

Van drives into bridge (imaginaton rquired)

Near where I live there is a busy intersection, with a flyover, tunnel entrance and main road all coming together. This has created some awkward side streets with low bridges.

I was walking past on a recent Saturday and did a double taken when I saw that a hire van had driven into the bridge. The most amazing thing was that the slope of the bridge relative to the road meant that the van had been lifted onto two wheels. The left hand side of the vehicle was in the air at an almost 45 degree angle. You can still see a few marks on the Low Clearance sign.

Note to self: must carry camera with me at all times.

Branston Pickle

I only had space in my suitcase on the way back to Australia for one reminder of home. What do I crave most about the UK? What tasty UK treat can you not buy here in Australia?

Branston small chunk pickle of course.

It doesn't feel like Christmas..........

It doesn't feel like Christmas. I'm not trying to be all bah humbug, it's just that the Christmasy feel has hit me yet.

When I think about what defines Christmas for me, in the run up to the big day I think about: winter, short days, Christmas carols, decorating the tree and rubbish Christmas lights on high street to name a few.

Then there are all of the rituals. Christmas Eve drinks with the neighbours and the whole village turning up at the pub for the once a year catch up. It's a family time; opening my stocking with my sister and Christmas lunch round my parent's dining table. It's been the same for the past twenty eight Christmas' in a row.

This year I don't have any of that. It all feels a bit wrong.

Some great friends have invited me to spend Christmas with them and I know in a short time I am going to be thrown into all of the Aussie rituals. I'll have a fantastic time. But right at this moment Christmas fever hasn't hit me yet and if I'm honest I feel a little bit sad.

Restaurant Review: Chinese Noodle Restaurant, Sydney

On Saturday night I was in seventh heaven with the discovery of the Chinese Noodle House. I'd just been to the IMAX cinema to see Avatar in 3D, and was wishing I was back in Bangkok where you could fall out of the cinema and into excellent street stalls like this one.

After being put off by the long queues at another restaurant on my hit list, Mamak, Shakespearemate took us to the Chinese Noodle House. The moment we arrived I knew it was going to be good. There was a real bustle in this out of the way corner of China town and only somewhere with really good food could overcome the fake plastic grape vine hanging from the ceiling and tapestries on the wall.

We ordered far too much food and I'm ashamed to say ate all of it. Above, you can see me tucking into the chicken salad. A big plate of tender shreddred chicken, with a few bits of celery for crunch and a chili sauce. When the plate first arrived at the table I thought it would be very fiery, but the chili was surprisingly mild. The chilled salad had an almost refreshing quality despite the chili.

The restaurant is best known for making their own noodles. There is a small window into the kitchen and during the meal we could see one of the chefs rolling fresh noodles. It was made to look so effortless, but you knew there were years of experience behind each flick of the hand.

We ordered some of the flat noodles stir fried with pork and Chinese cabbage. I'm not sure if it is part of the service for everyone, or because we were incompetent whities with chop sticks, but one of the waitresses came over with a pair of scissors and attacked the plate, chopping the noodles into more manageable lengths. Whatever the reason, I was please she helped out.

In the photos you can also see the sweetcorn and pine nut vegetable dish we ordered. There was a real sweetness to the freshly steamed sweetcorn, again reminding me of the corn you could buy on the streets in Bangkok.

Our final dish was some steamed pork and spring onion dumplings. The pork had a succulent and slightly tangy flavour. There was a very generous twelve dumplings on a split level steamer between the three of us. In the name of research we polished them off.

The service was quick and friendly and when we received the bill it was unbelievably good value. Yes it is a bit rough round the edges, you can't book and I hear can often have long queues. However, on last night's experience I think I've discovered a gem.

Restaurant Review: Kazbah, Balmain

Last Sunday I had breakfast at Kazbah in Balmain with friends, including fellow blogger Shakespearemate. Kasbah has been open for a decade and is one of Sydney's hottest breakfast joints. Kazbah describes itself as a North African, Middle Eastern and Moroccon restaurant. It is difficult place to pin down with mezzes from Greece and Turkey, and tagines from Morocco.

I didn't know what to expect from the breakfast menu. What is a traditional North African / Middle Eastern / Moroccon breakfast? Would they tone the menu down with Western favourites?

At first glance the menu seems uncompromising, with lamb tagines, couscous, foul meddamas and mezze all present. But looking a little closer, French toast and scrambled eggs are also there, wrapped up in southern Mediterranean clothing.

I choose the sweet couscous with mixed nuts, dried fruit, stewed rhubarb and cardoman milk. An interest choice because it is so different and I can't drink milk!

I started without adding any of the milk and it was a little bit dry and bland. When I added some of the cardoman milk the couscous came alive. The taste of cardoman and variety of nuts and dried fruit meant there was interest in every mouthful. I greedily ate the lot and felt stuffed, but satisfied afterwards.

Ali ordered the lamb tagine which I thought would be a bit full on for breakfast. I had a taste; the lamb was tender with a subtle and interesting variety of spices. The eggs, tomato and toasted turkish bread made the dish reassuringly breakfast like.

Penne demolished the feta potato cake with creme fraiche and smoked salmon. I had a quick taste of the feta potato cake which was light and tasty.

My benchmark Sydney breakfast is currently Bills. Does Kazbah knock it off the top spot?

I loved how different Kazbah was, the menu variety, and how all of the food we got looked and tasted fantastic. Everyone enjoyed what they ate. The staff were accommodating when we tried to extend our booking mid week.

On the down side the service was painfully slow and the tables inside are cramped together.

So is Kazbah the new number one? I can't decide. Perhaps another visit is in order to help sort out the quandary.

Climate Change

Since arriving in Australia climate change, and particularly the proposed carbon trading scheme legislation, has constantly been on the public agenda. I've always thought of the Aussie's as quite environmentally responsible. They recylce, pioneered Earth hour, are in tune with the environment due to their outdoor lifestyle and have a large tourism industry based on nature. If passed, Australia will be one of the first countries in the world to introduce a carbon trading scheme into law. Admittedly they have a large mining industry, but it is the Chinese not Aussies burning the coal in dirty old power stations.

However, while I was back in the UK I changed my view. My parents now have five bins on the go:

1. Composting - something my parents do voluntarily with uncooked food waste and small garden items e.g grass clippings.
2. Food waste - a Council run scheme for everyone (my parents don't home compost cooked food)
3. Mixed recycling - Council run collection of paper, glass & plastic
4. Garden waste - Council collection of tree branches, hedge cuttings etc...
5. Waste for landfill - miscellaneous waste. Here there are restrictions, with old electrical items, batteries etc... needing to be taken to a recycling centre.

South Oxfordshire is bit more progressive than other parts of the UK, and not as far ahead as parts of Europe. However, it shows you what can be done.

My first cousin has become a vegetarian on environmental principles (farming is a surprisingly big produce of greenhouse gasses) and was talking of a local initiative to put up a wind turbine where he lives. I heard talk of incinerators (apparently a reasonable way of disposing of waste) and my parent's neighbour has a wind speed monitor up in their garden.

There seemed to be a bit more action in the UK, contrasted with the talk in Australia. I also heard a radio broadcast while in the UK where Australia was described as the most polluting developed nation per capita in the world. It's made made me re-think my previously positive attitude towards Australia's environmental credentials.

The photos is of me in Chile back in 2005, where I was getting in the spirit of the General Election campaign taking place at the time. Climate Change has the potential to be a big electoral issue here in Australia, and even the trigger for an early election under the wonders of Double Dissolution. It has already led to the fall of the Leader of the Opposition. Back in the UK I think the economy will over shadow all else in 2010.

Cheline's Birthday BBQ

Last Sunday, virtually straight off the plane, I went to Cheline's birthday BBQ in Centennial Park. It was a beautiful day, that lucky wasn't too hot. Brad and Chel had arrived at the park at 9:30 in order to secure a picnic bench under the shade for lunch and were only just in time!

It was a great fun relaxing under the trees, eating some lovely BBQ food and the cup cakes made by Brad. We managed a short game of cricket and had fun throwing around Brad's American football.

I made a little video of everyone having fun in the sun. You can tell I was still a bit hazy from the flight, especially when I introduce the toilet block and then am completely unsure of where to go!

Chel's a popular girl, but there was an engagement celebration and a couple of other groups having fun in the sun.

Which is a better airline, Emirates or Virgin?

On my recent trip I flew to the UK with Emirates and then back to Australia with Virgin Atlantic. Quite a few people have asked me for my review of the two airlines, so here goes...

Check In:
I checked in online for both airlines. They offer similar services; available 24hr before the flight, you can choose your seats and print your boarding pass. I found the Emirates site a bit easier to use. The Virgin page was trying a bit too hard to be cool.

At Heathrow the queue for the Virgin bag drop took nearly an hour. They need to do something to sort that out. At Sydney Emirates had dedicated desks for those dropping off bags that had checked in online which was speedier.

Emirates: 1
Virgin: 0

The Seats:
I thought the seats on both planes were good. Both of the planes were pretty modern (which I think has a big impact on seat comfort), with good leg room for economy. I think both airlines do better than average with their seats. There was little to choose between the two, a score draw.

Emirates: 1
Virgin: 1

Food:
One of Virgin's big differentiating factors is that they have a choice of three meals on board, while every other airline only has two choices in cattle class. I'll eat virtually anything these days (and airline meals are designed to be bland / have a broad appeal), so I didn't find this a big benefit.

The two airlines seem to take a different approach to their meals. Emirates go down the more common route of cramming you tray full of food; starter, main course, desert, bread roll, cheese & biscuits and maybe a chocolate to enjoy with your coffee. In reality it is more than you need.

Virgin had a more minimalist approach of starter, main course and desert. The tray almost looked a bit sparse. For breakfast warm bacon and egg rolls were handed out that didn't even warrant a tray. However, it was a perfectly reasonable (and probably more sensible) amount of food.

I didn't notice any difference in the drink choices. My order is always the same, red wine to try and help me sleep and a glass of water.

Airline food is never great. Everything was perfectly edible which is all you can ask. Another score draw.

Emirates: 1
Virgin: 1

Entertainment:
I'm not a big user of the entertainment systems as I prefer to read, listen to my iPod or ideally sleep. From my limited experience they both had good sized seat back TVs, good range of films and TV shows. Everything was on demand and you could pause the movies if you wanted to.

Emirates wins for me on two counts. You can view the cameras in the nose and tail fins of the plane which was pretty cool. Secondly, the Virgin system seemed a little slow to load. It did have a better interface though.

Emirates: 1
Virgin: 0

Customer Service:
Virgin have built a reputation for strong customer service so I was expecting big things. You don't get too much service in economy, so there wasn't a lot to get excited about. On both airlines the staff were courteous and helpful.

Emirates has some nice touches that Virgin didn't offer; hot towels before the meal service and menu cards. A nice touch were the little stickers you could put on your seat saying do not disturb, wake for meals or wake for duty free.

My slight disappointment on Emirates was that the staff didn't didn't seem to have a lot of information about onward connections on board. This was an area of concern as we were 3hrs late taking off from Sydney and many of us had tight connection.

Emirates: 1
Virgin: 0

The verdict:
In conclusion I think both Emirates and Virgin operate two of the better economy services out there. I would happily fly with either of them again and my future decisions will probably be based on the competitiveness of their fares. However, if got the same quote from both airlines I would fly Emirates. They had a few nice touches (hot towels, menus, ability to see the tail camera on take off) and a slightly better entertainment system that clinches it for me.

When I added up the scores I was a little surprised by the margin of victory for Emirates. Virgin certainly weren't bad, but they got narrowly beaten in a number categories above. I'd made a conscious decision not to award half marks which probably exaggerates the difference.

Emirates: 5/5
Virgin: 2/5

Restaurant Review: The Crown, Wetheral

For my grandfather's 96th birthday celebration we had a family dinner at The Crown Hotel in Wetheral. Despite being one of the smart local restaurants I had never been before. A few years ago it was featured in an episode of Rick Stein's cookery show where he incorrectly identified a battery chicken as tasting organic (sadly I couldn't find the clip on YouTube).

While we were looking at the menus in the bar I had a pint of the lovely Tarnmonath Ale from the Geltsdale Brewery. I miss good quality bitters and ales which you don't seem to be able to get here in Australia. It was then through to the conservatory restaurant for dinner.

To start I had the black pudding served on a bed of mash with red wine jus. It was a big piece of black pudding that I feared would be too rich. However, I'm pleased to report that it was more delicate than I expected. It could have done with a bit more red wine jus, but apart from that it was a perfect starter. Around the table people had enormous bowls of the homemade soup and smoked salmon.

For the main course I had breast of pheasant with broad beans and a parsnip puree. The real highlight of the dish for me were the broad beans that came in a great sauce. I never used to like broad beans as a kid, but I think I might be converted. We all agreed that the pheasant hadn't been hung for very long and would have benefited from being stronger in flavour.

I didn't have a desert. Above is a photo of the chocolate torte with pistachio ice-cream that my mum ate. There was also a traditional bread and butter pudding (a bit more creme anglais required) and homemade ice creams.

I thought the service was pretty good from a team of, no doubt, young people from the village of Wetheral. In my opinion the bill was reasonable considering we had a pre-dinner drink, a couple of bottle of wine* and most people had three courses. However, others felt it was a bit on the pricey side.

The above photo is of my grandfather and I. The eagle eyed amongst will spot this wasn't taken at The Crown, but a couple of days later outside a nearby pub.

*It wasn't a very wild party and most of the olds only had half a glass of wine each. This left me to demolish a bottle that had already been corked on my own. Someone had to see the 96th in style.

Restaurant Review: Rules, Covent Garden

I owed my good friend Blue Eyes a thank you for helping me out while I have been in Australia. What better way than I good lunch, enabling me to try somewhere new and have the pleasure of BE's company?

Reading Food and Drink in London's review of Rules, reminded me that it is somewhere that I have been meaning to visit. Decision made. On Ben's suggestion (from Food and Drink in London) after being greeted at the door by a man in a top hat, we started with a drink in the upstairs bar. We were brought our G&T's and menus to peruse while we had a catch up. Completely aside from the food, I loved some of the little ditties on the menu advising customers to select the Free Municipal water; or to let the staff know if your driver outside wanted a complementary soft drink.

As most people will know the menu is traditional British with pheasant, deer, duck and beef coming to the fore. I selected the Roe Deer Terrine to start, while BE had the Crispy Duck (not the pancake variety). The terrine was hearty and served with warm toast and game chips. I am not normally a fan of the texture of liver and pates in general so went out on a bit of a limb, but luckily very much enjoyed it.

For the main course we shared the rib of beef on the bone. I have never before selected anything on the menu that is for a minimum of two people. As you can see from the photo we were served the world's largest Yorkshire puddings, dauphinoise potatoes, the sliced beef and a sauce boat each of gravy and fresh horseradish. Everything was excellent.

They had sliced the beef and served it sitting on top of the bone. This was a great solution for two people sharing as neither one of us had to inelegantly carve. We had so much food that it didn't really matter, but there was quite a bit of beef left on the bone, in such a formal place I wasn't quite sure what the etiquette was. Is one allowed to attack the bone?

The service was formal and excellent throughout, with joined up service between the bar and the restaurant. We spent a leisurely three and a half hours soaking up the atmosphere and enjoying ourselves. A great place, although definitely in the "treat" category as you couldn't afford to go regularly.

Back Home

I've been back for ten days now, my holiday has nearly come to an end. Eek!

There hasn't been time to blog and do you really want to know about my parents new utility room anyway?

I've just got back from four days visiting my grandparents up in Cumbria. The above photo was taken at the beautiful Talkin Tarn on a crisp winter's day. It was fantastic seeing my grandparents and helping my grandfather celebrate his 96th birthday, but there was also a twinge of sadness as time takes it's toll on them.

However, they are still remarkable for their age. Someone recently stole their house sign so my grandfather painted a new one. How many of us can do sign writing? Let alone have a steady enough hand at 96!