Moonlight Cinema

On Friday night I went to see the Lovely Bones at the Moonlight Cinema after dinner at Cantina Bar and Grill.

The cinema is tucked into corner of Centennial Park, the only problem being that we didn't know which corner. Everyone who has visited will know that Centennial Park is pretty big (think Regents Park back in the UK), so after a hike around the park we eventually found where we were supposed to be going.

Arriving late we still managed to get a good spot on the grass, although unfortunately all of the bean bags had been hired out. The movie follows a teenage girl who is killed by one of her neighbours and ends up in an world between heaven and hell looking down on her family and killer. The plot sounds twee and depressing, but the movie is neither of these things. I actually quite enjoyed it.

I got quite chilly by the end of the night, even though it was still 21 degrees when we left at eleven o'clock. Evening temperatures that would be considered balmy in the UK, it shows how much I've acclimatised!

Restaurant Review: Cantina Bar and Grill, Sydney

On Friday night Dave, Kren and I were looking for a quick eat before we went to the Moonlight Cinema.

I quite fancied another visit to the Big Rig Diner and knowing that Dave liked his burgers it was an obvious suggestion. We arrived at one minute to seven; the menus outside said open from six, the windows were open and the door was ajar so we bowled in; only be told quite abruptly to get out because they didn't open until seven! It left a bad taste in the mouth, so rather than hanging around we headed next door to Cantina Bar and Grill.

I wasn't too hopeful from the outside as the word Cantina is written in the same typeset as you usual associate with dodgy Mexican restaurants, however, I was pleasantly surprised.

The tapas menu is designed for sharing. We had the dip plate which came with five different dips and toasted sourdough. My favourite was the pumpkin puree dip followed by the humous.

The star dish came next which was the roast beetroot salad. A large mound of beetroot, sat on a bed of rocket, covered in a goats cheese dressing and scattered with chopped walnuts. The combination of crunch from the walnuts, a richness from the dressing and the beetroot was excellent.

Next up came a bowl of chorizo that was cooked with apples and raisins. I've never had chrizo with fruit before, but it worked well. I was surprised that the slight sweetness from the fruit complimented the chorizo. Our final dish was the chilli tiger prawns. They had sprinkled rock salt on the prawns just before serving them which made the first bite unpleasant with lumps of salt. Having left the prawns for a few minutes, the salt crystals had dissolved and they became much more pleasant. The prawns were big and juicy, but I couldn't detect much chilli.

I couldn't fault Cantina for the atmosphere or friendly service. Overall the food was very good too. My only gripe was that I thought it was a touch, but not excessively, expensive.

Police, Camera, Action!

In Australia when you've passed your driving test you need to have P-plates on display for the first couple of years. These are badges of honour for crazy young drivers who act like lunatics.

This morning I popped down to Pyrmont Park for the official opening (although it has in fact be finished for months). Having snaffled the free smoothie and cup cake I decide to take a wander towards the Harbour Bridge.

A red car came flying round the corner, tyres squealing. The car lost control, spun and ended up wrapped round a tree. The situation got more bizarre when a group of youths nearby raced over, not to help, but to start throwing punches at one of the people who clambered out of the car!

Within ten minutes there were six police cars on the scene in a slightly over the top response. I gave my details to one of the police offers, who seemed to rapidly lose interest when I said I couldn't identify the driver, and then retreated to a safe distance to take the above photo.

I wasn't sure what the etiquette was about taking a picture of a crime scene, but a TV crew arrived as I was leaving so I don't think I should have been too concerned!

The three passengers all walked away from the car and I think will all be ok.

Restaurant Review: Kam Fook, Chatswood

On Sunday I went for yum cha at Kam Fook in Chatswood.

If I'm honest I'm still a bit lost at yum cha and was happy that I was there with people who knew what they were doing! The large room was packed with people enjoying lunch and various trolleys being pushed round the floor from which you could select different treats.

We were all ravenous and the food didn't last very long, hence my photo of empty steamers. The highlights for me were the lovely prawn dim sum that we had first which were full of large pieces of prawn. We also had some lovely moist beef balls.

The bill was $18 a head which I thought was very reasonable considering the amount of food we had.

Do you like the photo? I do.

Restaurant Review: Maroo Charcoal Korean BBQ, Eastwood

On Friday night I headed out to the suburbs and went to the Maroo Korean BBQ in Eastwood. The restaurant looks like it has recently been refurbished, each dark wood table having it's own BBQ and extractor fan so that you didn't get smoked out.

I've only eaten Korean food a few times having first discovered it in New York eighteen months ago. One of the highlights with Korean food are all the little goodies that you get at the start of the meal; pickles, salads, chillies and assorted goodies I don't know the names of. For the main event we chose some beef brisket and Korean spiced pork ribs. The beef brisket wasn't a success proving to be quite tough no matter how long or short a time that you cooked it for. I didn't notice any spice or marinade on the pork ribs, but they were very good nonetheless. Cooked for a decent length of time so that the fat began to go crispy they were tasty.

We also had a small tofu and seafood hotpot for some variety. Lots of tofu, not too much seafood and very spicy it made me a little flushed (aka I broke out in a sweat, nice!).

There were quite a few things about the service that I liked. We were bought a real charcoal BBQ when many restaurant would have fobbed you off with gas, a clean grill half way through the meal and they were always on hand when we wanted something. However, it the service was a little over bearing. The waiters / waitresses were at our table every 30 second adding or turning food on our BBQ. Isn't half the fun that you get to cook for yourself? We were feeling quite rushed as they piled more food onto the BBQ, even our pleas to be left alone didn't bring us peace for long. I'm a tolerant guy, but it got so overbearing that it rather distracted from the meal for me.

I had a good meal, but I'd probably try one of the other Korean restaurants nearby before I returned.

South London Underground

I saw this take on the tube map via the ever excellent Brockley Central. When you see so few lines remaining north of the river it really hits home to you how poorly off South London is in terms of transport.

I think the map is genius, someone obviously put in quite a lot of effort. They haven't just splattered stations anywhere, but thought about some of the best stations to have connections at. I love it.

A larger version of the map can be seen here.

Thai lessons

Last year while I was in Thailand I spent a month studying to learn Thai. I really enjoyed it although I'm not sure I was very good! Deciding that I needed some new activities here in Oz and missing my Thai I've started some night classes at the Sydney Community College.

In Thailand my course focused on vocabulary, pronunciation and basic conversation. I was hoping for more of the same, but I can't have read the syllabus correctly as it is all learning to read an write. There are 44 consonants and 32 vowels which are proving a bit mesmerising to learn.

The teacher at SCC isn't that structured which doesn't help, but then the course is cheap so you can't expect too much. I've also had to spend a bit of time joining up the method my teachers in BKK used with what I'm being taught here. It's beginning to make a bit of sense.....

After the first lesson I thought the course would be dreadful, but after the third lesson it's getting better. I might be able to write the odd one syllable word by the end!