australia

The World Cup starts and I sort of care about it

After the weekends camping adventures I was glad that I wasn’t working on Tuesday, Monday night I basically passed out. I spent the time wisely, mostly doing nothing, then prepping Rowies for baking (oh how I miss thee so!), baking a big pasta bake and meeting Ben, Sam and Basha at the pub for usual steak and beers. The night was very civilised with us all leaving at a reasonable time. Been awhile.

Wednesday I was back on-site with the lads then off to Clayton with Sam in the evening for IT shizz. Also that day was my Dad’s birthday so HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO HIM. 😀 Me and Sam popped past the pub on the way home. Actually we went to a bottleshop first as the trains weren’t running and the replacement bus was 20mins away. Young & Jacksons is one of Melbourne’s oldest pubs located right next to Flinders St station, been meaning to go there for awhile so I decided that’s where we’d go. They serve craft beer in an almost British style pub environment.

The next day I got to bake those Rowies which were left proving for 2 days. They turned out good but not good enough, I know what I need to adjust for next time (less lard + longer second prove). I also did more IT work that day.

Rowie and jam = FINE

Rowie and jam = FINE

On Friday I was back helping install kitchens, move stuff, clean things, banter, etc. As we move up the floors in the building it’s getting a tad scarier receiving deliveries as they are dropped into a room with no exterior wall via a glorified forklift. I’m not a fan of heights. After work I bought a bunch of beers and had a good Skype session with my Dad, Carol and youngest sister Kirsty. 😀 Oh and it was also one of my mates birthdays on that day too, June is packed with bloody birthdays, so HAPPY BIRTHDAY JEFNER. 🙂

Oh yeah the World Cup is on. Now I’m not a MASSIVE fan of foozball but I do enjoy watching it (especially in the stadium) and the World Cup I always find entertaining even though Scotland aren’t in it. Here in Oz though it’s a lot more difficult to put the effort into watching it as most matches start at 2am, 5am or 8am. I’m not THAT interested in watching it. However, 8am I can deal with and I wanted to see the Socceroo’s play their first match against Chile live. Not only that but watch in style with a slap up breakfast of pancakes, bacon, maple syrup and cream washed down with a beer. Even MORE crazy I attempted to make a weaved bacon basket to eat the pancakes out of. This failed. Next time… Anyway the Roo’s lost so my mates Maritza and Chris’s dad will be chuffed, he’s Chilean. Once the ball had stopped being kicked about I bottled my Dark Island clone. I can’t wait for this to be ready so I can taste it’s glory, patience though at least a week or two’s wait. 🙂

Most of the weekend I massively vegged, I didn’t shower or leave the house yesterday, I’ve been chilling watching re-run matches of the football at reasonable times. Weather has been a bit pish too, you Aberdonians are getting it better than us! Pfft. Today I went for a walk to the Terminus pub using a voucher to get a schooner of beer alongside two Vietnamese style pulled pork buns for $10. WIN. Then I headed to Blackhearts & Sparrows beer and wine shop in North Fitzroy to use another voucher which got me a free glass growler plus $5 off my first fill of beer (which was over 3 pints of Little Creatures Red Ale). Another WIN. I spent the rest of the day drinking that and watching AFL with a splash of Trailer Park Boys. Very relaxed weekend.

Adventure Camping Times!

At the start of last week I got told that my days on the work-site would be reduced, slow production of the kitchens at the factory meant my workload fell. Not what I wanted to hear but thankfully my IT work was still ongoing.

Tight arse Tuesday I wandered over to the Northcote cinema and watched ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel‘. I really enjoy Wes Anderson’s stuff, his style is so recognisable and showcases many talented actors. This film is definitely more adult themed than the others he has done, a bit of sexy there and violence here, but also still bloody funny. Dan gives this film a Thumbs Up. Afterwards I met up with Sam at the usual, to eat the usual and have a few jugs of the usual.

We drank a fair selection of beers that night, enough to give me a bit of a mind blank… Did I pay before leaving?! My bank card and ID in my wallet would assure me that I did. On that Wednesday I headed out to Clayton and worked 9-6pm without a single blooming break. On the way home a nasty drunk was terrorising the tram I was on but a few stops later was wrestled off by about 5 cops. A few beers were needed that night, Punk IPA tinnies sorted me out.

Talking about beer (is he joking?) Thursday morning I cycled down to my local homebrew store to pick-up some grains and hops, today I would be brewing a ‘Dark Island’ clone. Well at least it should be roughly the same, as long as it’s dark and tastes fecking scrummy I’ll be a happy chappy. I brewed the same day and was being mucked around by my boiler, it was cutting out and just being a general pain in the ass. Reluctantly I was forced to become an electrician for about 5 minutes as I tore out a fuse, bypassed it then turned on the boiler again praising Jebus I wouldn’t be zapped. It all worked out fine though and the boiler kicked back into life. 3rd brew here, I’m feeling optimistic about this one… 🙂

Friday was an early start being back on-site with the boys. I’d brought my backpack with me as the plan that weekend was to go camping. I wasn’t sure where but I’d received a text from Rose just a day or two before about it, saying that Nat and some others would be going. I just said Yes. After work I got the train into the city, briefly looked about for a sleeping bag but gave up then headed to Rose’s hoose, the meet up point. Not too long after arriving Fayez and his girlfriend Annie turned up then Jeremy (Jezza). The plan of camping that night all ready crumbling at my feet with Nat pulling out, Jezza too then Rose. Fayez and Annie were determined to go that night so they did. The remaining three ended up drinking and visiting Nat & Kath’s house but we were all in agreement that an early start was needed to rejoin our comrades.

Surprisingly we were up before 8am the next day, feeling slightly zombie-like with less of a hunger for brains but more water and an egg & bacon roll. It took a few hours for us to get sorted, buy extra food, wait for Jezza to get up and finally hit the road. The journey there shouldn’t actually take that long (90mins) but we managed to double the time needed, to be fair though we were in no rush and it was a lovely drive. I also got to see Roo’s in the wild for the first time! 😀 The camping spot was located at O’Briens Crossing in Lerderderg Forest (think of Team America when you say that name) which is part of the Wombat State Forest. Once we entered the forest it was still a good few km’s of dirt road to the site which, thankfully, wasn’t a proper camp-site but a lovely spot right next to the creek. Fayez and Annie were here from the night before so the spot was sorted all we needed to do was setup the tarp and our tent. Fire on the go and beers cracked open, ahhhh this is what it’s all about, get away from the city, this is what I want to do more of. Nat turned up about an hour after us then the night really kicked off with tunes, toasted marshmallows, booze, chat, baked tatties and other stuff I can’t remember.

Fairly pimpin' setup right there

Fairly pimpin’ setup right there

The next day was tough for everyone, especially Jezza who attempted to pitch his tent on the other side of the creek whilst having polished off a bottle of Laphroaig whisky. He was the last to wake. At least we had proper coffee (in the cafetiere’s) and I cooked up a bunch of sausages. The Sunday would be a very relaxed and subdued one, weather was great and there was no need to do anything. I did attempt to chop up a felled tree with no major success, Woodsman Dan I’m clearly not (I think it’s because I didn’t have a lumberjack shirt on). Dinner that night was fantastic, Fayez and Annie cooked up a storm with spicy beef bolognese and pasta followed by baked peanut butter chocolate banana’s. Oh NOM. I love camp-fire cooking it just feels so much more rewarding. We worked through the last of our booze and had a very civilised last night in the woods.

Thanks to the Queen being born a while back Monday was a public holiday for all. I was awoken by a Kookaburra screaming out his monkey noises just a few metres from the tent. First up so I got the fire going in preparation for morning coffee and food. It’s a great feeling waking up in the wilderness. Once everyone else was up and the fire set in it’s ways I got breakfast under way, with Rose chopping up the rest of the veg it was chucked in a pan with about 10 eggs then left to bubble away. The group agreed it was rather tasty. The camp was then packed up with a high degree of efficiency and we stopped off at the pub, The Pig and Whistle, just outside the entrance to the forest for a pint. As soon as we’d left the Wombat State Forest Jezza had the car stopped and backed up. Road kill, just like home, is fairly common here but instead of rabbits and the odd deer it’s wombat’s and roo’s. Tagged by a ranger and lying next to the road was a female wombat and her child resting on top of her. First time I’ve seen these animals in the wild, very grim circumstances. After the pub we headed back to Melbourne and into another pub, Town Hall, in North Melbourne. I destroyed a cheese and bacon smothered parma, Jebus was a stuffed after that. Got a lift home, chucked clothes in the wash (I hadn’t changed for 3 days), chucked myself in for a wash then KO’d once my head hit the pillow.

I bloody loved this weekend, one of the best times I’ve had in Oz so far. 😀

They’re louder than on the telly

Woke up a bit dehydrated but was determined to get out for a walk (note: not cycle) to scope out Albert Park where the F1 was being held. All in all this walk would be over 30km so my legs were a bit deed afterwards and my face a little pink.

On the way to the park I stopped past the set of a popular show here in Australia, The Block. Basically it’s an apartment renovation show where each team has to do up an apartment then sell it at the end to make cash, clearly the shows filming has been wrapped up (even though it’s still on air) as nothing was going on and for sale signs were up. Anyway, I followed the stationary helicopter and tyre screeching noises to the park.

The Block

The Block

Got my free ticket into the grounds (only today is free) then wandered the entire track which goes all the way around the lake. I seen David Coulthard driving by in an F1 car, Charley Boorman chatting away (part of a celebrity race), Tony Hawks STAGE (he was there but I just missed him), a tightrope motorbike trapeze show from a crane and lots of cars both on and off the circuit. For being free this was pretty sweet and would enjoy it more if I was really into cars etc, BUT in saying that I may still get a ticket for the main event on Sunday. 🙂

Doing the splits and stuff so she was

Doing the splits and stuff so she was

Walked home, showered, ate loads of pesto pasta then got my head down as it was an early rise for work tomorrow. 🙂

BONUS CONTENT

I forgot about a skyline picture of Melbourne taken at the recruitment agency and also the Great Wall video I took in Chinaland, I’ve mashed it up a little… ;-0

Working in an office ain't all bad

Working in an office ain’t all bad

It’s beer makin’ time!

Today I mostly spent indoors BUT for good reason as I was getting my brew awwwwwwn! 😀

I’m not going to do a write up as it would generally bore the pants off of the handful of readers, essentially it’s my first brew in Oz and first using a Brew-In-A-Bag (BIAB) method (which apparently originated in Australia). I’ve done a clone of BrewDog’s Punk IPA so fingers crossed in just under a months time it will be tasty as fook.

Beer Glorious Beer

Beer Glorious Beer

Doing the dishes, a new blood sport

Today was Labour Day, a public holiday for Australians (this one only for Victoria and Tasmania) and was supposed to be wakeboarding day for us. However me and Nat both woke up feeling a bit crap, two days of late night drinking seems to have finally caught up with us and her leg is still giving her jip.

I was aiming to go for a cycle until I decided to do the dishes and split my head open. Haha, who knew it could be such a dangerous task? Basically I slid the top of my head across the corner of a cupboard which in turn cut me open, it didn’t bleed for too long though but I decided to chill for a bit afterwards.

So another bloody (hoho) lazy day. Moomba parade was on in Melbourne, luckily for us it was also televised. I did go out for an hours walk in the evening along Moonee Creek as I had to get out, then caught up with Top Gear’s Christmas special and the latest episode of The Walking Dead. Should be Brew Day tomorrow. 🙂

I like my hippies well done

Well just back from an epic 6 day hippy festival (Rainbow Serpent) and Jebus we are all glad to be home. I haven’t exactly noted everything down as I’m writing this post-fest so my memory isn’t great. Let’s start from the beginning…

We packed Erik’s Hilux to the brim, and on the roof, full of kit for the stall and the stall itself. Weather was great, not too hot, and the site was near the community of Lexton about 2 hours drive from Melbourne. We bought beer (6 slabs = 144 tins. Yes this all got drunk also need to check out all the bottle shops here, feels more and more like America) and food on the way (fish seems cheap here). We left a little later than expected and arrived at the back of 5PM.

Fook me this place is dry, just a sea of yellow in the fields of bone dry grass no wonder bush fires are common as muck (you see warning signs on the road including one’s for Kuala’s and roo’s). It didn’t take too long to get the stall and tent’s setup, the stall area’s are called island’s and that’s what it’s like with the private campsites in the middle. We were right next to the chillout stage complete with sofa’s and occasionally chest reverberating bass (as days went by this became quite annoying, it’s a 24hr festival FYI).

Can’t remember entirely what we did on the first day, or any after for that matter. We arrived a day early because we had the stall to setup so it was quite cool walking around the empty site (it was still getting setup too). There was 5 main stages (Chillout, Market, The Playground, Main Stage and Sunset) with The Playground being my favourite complete with huge circus tent and live stage shared with DJ’s and live bands, jived mostly here I must say. There was loads of food stalls too offering all different kinds of food from veggie, meat, Turkish, pizza, frozen yogurt and Baby Burgers. An area called The Village was right next to us too and this had various tents usually doing workshops (legs crossed hooing and humming) and galleries. The stars were really out the first night so it was great just lying back and taking in the view.

So to avoid sounding like a stuck record essentially each day consisted of consuming large quantities of beer (then whatever other alcohol was available), eating lots of different food, watching the sights of the festival (some bloody trippy get-ups and also a Festi-Couch) and jiving my ass off at various stages. There was a magician called Max and his Dad is one of the guys in this video, that was great to meet him. As each day went by sleep decreased, temperature increased and it slowly became punishment, and I didn’t even need to man the stall. The experience was great though, full of hippies and people off their trolley (just seems to be an excuse for people to take lots of drugs this festival).

Packing up today was fecking tough going (the heat and lack of sleep made me feel delusional also I’d drunk quite a bit of wine the night before and found my tent flat as a pancake when going to bed) but it didn’t take too long thankfully. The trip back home was a sticky smelly one and having a shower was AMAZING (not showering for the entire time and only changing a tee every other, yup JUST a tee, think about that…) the amount of dirt that came off (“Oh I’ve tanned well…. ah bugger”). It’s been six days folks and the temp has crept up to just under 40C today, jebus.

Ordered a lamb and ricotta pizza (very nom) and just chilled. Tomorrow will be my birthday but I want to get a few boring things out the way first like bank account, tax file number, etc first. Oh and belated Birthday messages to Rachel and Joanna hope you both had great one’s! 🙂 I got a card from my Dad today too complete with Nana bruck inside, that was nice. Anyway I’m done here, signing out. (More pictures will follow once Jean has posted them)

Time fly’s in China

I woke up at 4AM this morning and couldn’t get back to sleep for another hour, that was horrible. When I did get up, at the back of 9AM, everyone seemed to be gone… Eventually Goa A Yi turned up and Benjamin not long after, by himself, said he was at the zoo. We had lunch which included bing (yas!) and he set off again but this time to watch a film, I took this opportunity to wash clothes and pack.

Wow packing feels weird. Has it been 6 months all ready?! I’m not even going home! This has been my home whilst in China and I’m excited for new adventures but a wee bit sad to see it go.

When Benjamin came back from the cinema we built the other Lego kit he’d got from his Dad, a hovercraft. His Dad and Mum arrived home just before tea and handed over a brand new iPhone 5 to Benjamin. A 7 year old has a better phone than me, jebus. To be fair he is off to Taiwan tomorrow and this means they can always be in touch, I got his number as well so we can WeChat. 🙂 Talk over food was fairly standard, they are quite preoccupied with travel plans for tomorrow (they are off to Japan on a business trip), I will be joining them to the airport. My flight isn’t technically until Monday (2AM) so I’ll have a long wait at the airport, I would stay at the house but no-one will be there so I can’t.

After food it wasn’t long until Benjamin needed a shower and I finalised my packing. He’s been OK today, definitely acting sad but overall fine, kids get over stuff quite quickly really. Randy and Suzy were out and obviously wanted me to join them for some last drinks but with Benjamin leaving so early in the morning and me feeling knackered I couldn’t go out. Glad I got to see them yesterday though, that was good. 🙂

So an FYI my blog will have some delayed updates whilst I’m travelling but I’ll make sure and update it when I arrive in Oz. Tomorrow will be my ‘Goodbye China’ post.

How to block your eBay account: Step 1.

Bloody hell so much for him being back to school! It would seem holidays have kicked in (which would explain why Linda was home too) but it felt like the school had been brought here as four of his mates turned up along with some A Yi’s. Jebus. I would have been out the door and to the pub but the air was shite today. 😦 Everyone buggered off after lunch so I was able to really chill then, until I tried to buy something on eBay…

At least this made me smile a bit

At least this made me smile a bit

I was all set to buy some brewing equipment (shock horror) on Aussie eBay when my account was blocked. Fair enough, I’m in Beijing buying something in Melbourne, it looks kinda suspect. I couldn’t do the verification process as it had an old telephone number and their online chat directed me to a customer service call centre. I was on the phone for 30mins trying to get the block removed but ended with me having to send a photocopy of my driving licence to prove who I am. This process can take 7-10 days. WTF. Slightly pee’d off I resigned to the fact I could do no more and joined Randy and Benjamin for a game of Scrabble. (Mum tell Andy this is for his own good… 😉 )

I'm so proud...

I’m so proud…

Benjamin’s Dad didn’t arrive today (he’d left by-the-by but was coming back) and Yu was off to Hong Kong. I got my certificate in the mail, yaaaay. At least one thing today fairly perked me up from the eBay nightmare, Nat had emailed saying a group of us would be staying in a pimpin’ beach holiday home after the festival! HELLZ YEAH. 😀 I’m loving Oz all ready.

Street barber’s and stupid board games

I left the house a good bit earlier than I normally would, the back of 8AM, as I was keen to arrive at the pub earlier (for my Skype chat with Nat, honest that’s the true…) and get a jidan guan bing for breakfast. 🙂 This breakfast street food favourite of mine usually stops selling around 10AM and today I got mine with meat in it (possibly pork or chicken) which made it extra tasty! This may also increase the likelihood of having a case of the shits tomorrow, time will tell. I was also offered the services of a street barber (yup on the street, somewhat common here) to shave my beard. Haha! I told him I liked my beard, he said something, I laughed then continued walking. (I realise I need to take more pictures but it’s hard to remember sometimes when everything seems fairly ‘normal’)

Got to the pub early enough that it wasn’t even open, they kindly opened up for me though and I had a pint in my hand before noon, probably a bad thing. Was soon on Skype having a good ol’ blether to my mate Nat (she and a mate were making tee’s and stuff for the festival) this will most likely be the last chat with her until we meet again in the flesh in a little over a week. The excitement is building. 🙂 Enda wasn’t working today so no chat from him, I ate a salad (Yup! A salad. Had blue cheese in it though), surfed the net then bailed.

Much like in the morning I left earlier than usual so decided to skip a few stations and walk instead. Navigating a few hutong’s and popping out next to Yong He Gong Lama Temple I nipped into a wee import shop in Wudaoying hutong and bought a bottle of Punk IPA (it’s cheap here at 28RMB/2.80GBP) then hit the streets like a slightly upper class hobo (definitely something I’ll miss doing). Got on the subway at Guloudajie and headed home.

Opened the door to a bunch of people, some other A Yi’s and Benjamin’s mates, I left them too it and chilled in my room. Randy turned up to tutor Benjamin and over tea I found out the wee one had scored 90.5% in his Chinese test. Top job! I honestly thought it would be a chunk worse than that… After tea we played a game of ‘Weiqi‘ which was my first (get the excuses in) and he subsequently kicked my ass. Always a wee bit demoralising getting beaten by a 7 year old. He had his maths test today and tomorrow is a day off (news to me!) so if the weather is good we will be playing outside. Fooshiz.

NOW I start helping with school runs?

I didn’t go for my usual long walk today, not because of the weather but the fact I had to take Benjamin back to school after lunch. Goa A Yi is ill and it’s not a hardship to do but it does mess up half the day. Nevermind soon won’t need to worry about any of that!

I took to the subway after dropping Benjamin off and ordered some food as soon as I got into the pub (not getting any at home rubbed the salt in further). Enda gave me a sample of their 100th Brew Barley Wine, this is the first time I have had a barely wine I think, tastes good, quite strong with a surprising amount of bitter. See what it’s like next week as it’s still maturing. Also my Oz/South-African friend popped in for a quick drink (his driver was outside) he’d not long came back from Oz so we chatted about that, Christmas, New Year, etc. Thankfully he couldn’t stay long so we wouldn’t be downing the stouts like last time...

Got home expecting Goa A Yi to be cooking and Randy tutoring Benjamin. No-one was in. Benjamin has a big test tomorrow so he stayed later at school today, he came back not long after me so there had been a little mix up. Played a wee bit of Lego after tea then he was off to bed. I’m preparing more for Oz and by this I mean looking into buying a bicycle on Gumtree and the possibility of getting some homebrew kit. What? 😉