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Snow, in Oz. Plus a brewery visit.

At the start of the week I bottled my latest home brew, a clone of Stone & Wood’s Pacific Ale. In about two weeks time it should be ready to drink and judged by the home brew club again. I got a good few bottles this time thanks to it not pissing all over the floor… I also made burgers.

Death never tasted so good
Check Ronnie’s jumper!

Tuesday I cycled down the creek and along to the Palace hotel pub in South Melbourne to use one of my vouchers, buy one pint get another free. I ended up getting a free pot too as the tap had run out, bonus. I wasn’t down here just for the pub though (honest) but for tight arse Tuesday at Crown cinema (where I also got free popcorn, which would have been good if it wasn’t for the crappy salty sh*te you get here). I watched Tom Cruise’s latest sci-fi flick Edge of Tomorrow where he constantly dies, over and over again. Aliens, guns, robot suits, explosions and lots of CGI meant it was never going to be an epic in my book but feeling merry thanks to the beers it was enjoyable enough to watch. After that it was the pub again but up at the Great Northern. Met my Irish recruitment agent John and Sam here for a chat, steaks and beer.

BEER

BEER

Next day I had to go out to Clayton and literally turn something off then back on again. Living the IT Crowd stereotype there. Nat’s dad Alex was looking to get some RAM for Robyn’s laptop so I roped him into giving me a lift then we’d pop past a computer shop. We also had lunch at St Kilda beach which was really nice along with the weather, 18C that day!

Up early on Thursday for a 3 hour road trip with Nat and Alana to Mt Buller. I was quite excited about this as I’d get to hike up a big ass mountain covered in snow! 😀 The girls would be boarding but I hiked to save some pennies. The trip there was fecking foggy but thankfully once we arrived at the mountain it cleared into beautiful sunny skies. I’ve got to be honest here but before coming to Oz I assumed snow was very much a foreign thing so it was a bit of a shocker considering how much bloody snow there was on this hill. I got a map at the tourist office and headed to the summit. I appeared to be the only edjit walking about, it did feel strange navigating the slopes in the wrong direction with skiers & boarders whizzing past me. There wasn’t much indication of a path so I navigated to the summit the best I could. It was pretty sketchy at the top as it was a very narrow path up with death looming on either side, the views up here were completely worth it though. I couldn’t believe it when a skier sauntered up the path and told me he was going down from here. Nutter. After the summit I met the girls at the pub then went wandering again whilst they threw themselves down the hill. It was a bloody great day that, the hills reminded me a wee bit of home. 🙂

Gear up girls
Chalet slope
A wee bit to go till the top
Plaque for the path (path?)
Check me! 1805m up!
Summit weather station
Yup, I’m still in Oz
Summit slopes
Look at the view!

On Friday I went down to Nat’s house and helped with weeding silicon prints for a whole bunch of tee’s she’s selling for Rose St market that weekend. One print of Flinders St (a very cool print so it is) took me at least an hour to do. WTF. Afterwards I met up with Robyn, Kath and Alana for round 2 of Ethiopian food, this time in Moonee Ponds. Food was probably better here than the restaurant in Footscray, we still ate with our hands and I left feeling like a pregnant whale.

Weeding like a pro

Weeding like a pro

Saturday morning I cycled down to Rose St market to see how the stall was doing whilst chilling out before meeting Luke (home brew mate) at Moon Dog Brewery. It’s located in Abbotsford literally in the lions den of Carlton United Breweries, they make Carlton Draught (think Tennents) and export Fosters, nuff said. Housed in a small warehouse with a few sofa’s sprawled about the place and a few long tables, the second hand dairy equipment brewery is in the back behind the bar. Me and Luke went on the brewery tour which is fairly short and sweet much like the brewery, Mattias (one of the brewers) showed me the bottling line and some of the chiraz barrels they have. Anyway, we had a good few drinks here then I left to hangout with Rose and Jezza at her house.

Come on in
Nice wee place this
Free pickles AND popcorn!

I got a message from Nat the next morning that I’d made her business partner (Rose) turn up late to the market and she’d setup the stall herself. Oops! I wasn’t feeling too fly myself so got my bake on and made a peach & almond tart. Brought it down to Nat’s folks house where it got a big thumbs up. Nat popped by and we all stuffed our faces at a local Chinese restaurant. The Bombers also won their game yesterday against Port Adelaide so pretty good Sunday all in all.

Such a tart

Such a tart

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. 😀

Who you calling a fanny?

Today I went for a wee wander. The weather was supposed to be another scorcher but thankfully was overcast so wasn’t that bad (I would have died otherwise). I’m going to a homebrew club meetup tomorrow so decided to scope the place out beforehand. The walk was a little over an hour from the house to Brunswick East.

Where do you live?

Where do you live?

Railway cycle path

Railway cycle path

I left before lunchtime but didn’t see many people walking about (car culture) but there are loads of cycle paths about that people use. I followed a few on my journey, one going along a railway line, they are shared with pedestrians too. Oh and I revert my previous statement that Melbourne is flat, it is not.

Got to Thunder Road brewery and was unsure if I could just walk in, it is a fully operational brewery after all, but a member of staff waved me in and I soon realised this wasn’t an issue as there was a full bar setup slap bang in the middle of the brewery. Sweet. You can’t drink here though (no licence) but you can buy bottles, merch, top up your growler and have a few samples (which I did of course). Chatted to one of the workers and eventually the second in command, good blokes but unfortunately no jobs.

Samples finished I headed back home but detouring up Sydney Street, past Moonee Ponds Creek and Prince bottle shop for two crafty beers. For tea I made a big thing of mince and tatties, oh – hellz – yeah. 😀

Oh I also had a Gaytime…

Golden Gaytime... fecking nom

Golden Gaytime… fecking nom

Beihai Park and my replacement

A week today and I’ll be setting off for Oz. Wowzers. Printed my boarding pass and stuff whilst watching over Benjamin and his mate as they apparently fight a lot. Was funny hearing that one being translated by Benjamin for Goa A Yi. After lunch I stuck to my promise of getting out today (especially as the weather was good) and set off for Beihai Park.

Stuck my head into the National Library

Stuck my head into the National Library

This place is one of the most iconic locations in Beijing and I don’t know why it’s taken me so long to get there. A stones throw from ‘The Forbidden City‘ it’s in quite a tourist hot spot, it being winter though meant it wasn’t that crowded. The park is in a horse shoe shape and I entered from the South-East side (5RMB/50p) walking all the way around and exiting almost exactly where I came in. The Dagoba is the main focus point of the park, on a small hill surrounded by the lake, this hand bell / milk churner shaped object overlooks everything. The park itself is quite thin with the (frozen) lake taking up most of the space, you get a good walk and there are the odd temple, etc to see on the way. Dancing Grannies were here as usual, this particular group had only two jiving away too it’s audience with what sounded like Chinese dance music. They were loving it.

After spending nearly two hours here I left for Great Leap’s No.6, yes to grab a pint but also chat on Skype with my good mate Maxwell (Gav). Catching up with him was really good, hearing the latest haps and what’s going on back in the ‘Deen. Was chatting to Hose (like the Spanish name, not the garden accessory) the manager for a good bit too before heading home. I hadn’t had any tea but wasn’t hungry from the big lunch.

Got in the door with Benjamin watching TV and some Ferrero Rocher on the floor, me nabbing one as it would be rude not too. Ben came down and wished me a happy New Year then laid a wee shock on me, they were just away to talk on Skype with my successor. :-O I didn’t even know I was being replaced! I joined in on the chat and he seems like a totally sound dude, I advised giving my email so he can ask any questions about the experience. I must say though it does feel strange being replaced…

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.

Firing from the hip?!

Took Benjamin back to school after lunch then went for a wee walk. Weather was nice. Nothing too special I just headed South and did a lap of one of the frozen rivers/canals. I did notice some sort of a barmy/fight going, between road repair guys and plane clothed dudes, on at the opposite side of the water, shovels and bits of metal were being wielded as weapons! When I got over there though it had all died down, admittedly I was a bit disappointed.

Benjamin had his Chinese test today (which he said went well but that could mean anything) and had after school class in preparation for his maths test tomorrow. I’m not sure of the significance of these test other than they are significant! We chomped on some fat veg filled dumplings for tea, mmmm. We also collectively watched a terrible modern war soap drama on the TV, it really was bad and contained English speaking actors for this particular episode. Felt like Coronation Street on an island with guns. Sounds quite good actually…

Tomorrow should be my usual walk to the pub (I’m skipping taking Benjamin at lunch, I need a good walk) and hopefully chat to my mate Nat on the Skype. 🙂

“How did you get in?” “Fishing?”

I seemed to be up before everyone today, which is not normal, perhaps it had something to do with Yu not being home so it was lie in day. Benjamin blasted through his EF homework without me saying a word, fantastic. I chilled with him until 11AM then set off to meet Randy.

We met at a transfer station on route to the ‘International Garden Expo Centre‘, a large bit of land worth exploring I was told. The weather today was bu hao (no good) which was a shame and annoying as yesterdays was great. Undetermined, but ultimately not wanting to spend all day in this shit, we “entered” the Garden Expo Park. I say “entered” as it was technically closed, but we found part of the fence and barbed wire flattened so just walked through there.

This is where we got in then under that bridge

This is where we got in then under that bridge

The park is huge, the entire site is huge really, quite bare though possibly because it’s winter, the lakes were frozen and two guys were happily fishing in the middle of one of them. Heading up the slope we ventured further into the true Expo area. Over the crest was what looked like frozen padi fields dotted around them were various buildings each with unique architecture and design. There were also a bunch of space rockets here, yeah I don’t know why either. Many little specially designed gardens lay spread over the vast site, really it was much, much bigger than I initially thought it would be.

There were staff clearing bins and leaves but they paid us no attention, remember we are not supposed to be here no-one else was! The second security guard we met (the first simply drove by us) quizzed us as to how we got in, playing the “Stupid Tourist” card we spoke very basic Chinese and Randy did actions for fishing. He laughed we said goodbye and walked away. Ha, simples! We would encounter many other security guards during our “visit” who quite simply didn’t give a shit about us. Would not be doing this back home.

We continued our exploration up a hill to some temples and a big pagoda, then back down into a fake village eventually squeezing through a gate to freedom. We had spent a few hours there and it was real good fun, if only the weather was clearer. Our escape vehicle (a bus) took us to the subway station where we got off near a mall for some hot pot. This restaurant was quite swish, you each get a bubbling pot of broth (we both chose spicy) and to stew we ordered meat, lotus roots, fried bean curd and noodles. Along with this you get access to unlimited different kinds of sauces and salad bar. It was nom and not bad for 70RMB/7GBP each. 🙂

My new mate!

My new mate!

I was still feeling crappy and Randy was in the early stages so we called it a night. I didn’t drink a drop of beer! No-one was home when I arrived so I just chilled. When Benjamin did get back with Goa A Yi he just watched some TV before bed. The day was done really.

Where the dogs roam free

I’m still feeling kind of crappy so I attempted to rest up today. This only lasted until lunchtime however when I got bored and the nice weather looked too good to miss. I walked North to ‘Haidian Park’ which was nice and quiet, peaceful, frozen. Had a good walk round but really I wanted to scout an area to the West of the park, an area I was told left to ruin, and just across the street.

It didn’t get off to the best of starts when I stumbled across a pack of wild dogs. Now I think dogs are great but pack mentality is a different breed all together, so I simply turned my back on their barks and walked away (occasionally looking back to stare down their little leader, haha!). I was lead to a dirt covered road that seemed to lead nowhere except further into the post-war looking landscape. Most of this place was covered in dead grass, shrubs, piles of mud, rubbish and the odd shanty looking house. I could hear more dogs barking in my direction and as I got to a junction I could see at least 3 of them milling about. Not really wanting to get rabies or mauled to death I decided I’d seen enough and headed home. (It’s not uncommon by the way to see wild dogs and cats here in Beijing)

We had a slightly later tea as Benjamin was home earlier from after school class, he usually has food there. I’d forgotten that he’d got Playdoh so mentioned that we should play with that, make robots or something. We made food instead. It was good fun though and we even experimented making new colours. Why do they make it smell so good though, seriously?

Playdoh food, mine is the burger meal

Playdoh food, mine is the burger meal

Not my usual Sunday

I think because of that bloody mocha I couldn’t get to sleep last night, being ill and the fact my body hasn’t consumed semi-decent coffee in a while doesn’t help.

Almost beyond my will Goa A Yi told me to play with Benjamin and Kathy (stayed over) outside. I took a football, Benjamin took some tennis balls and a set of small gardening tools (Sounds like something Kenan would ask Kel to get at the end of an episode). So we played outside for two hours kicking and throwing balls about, carrying out dinosaur excavations and testing out the fitness park equipment.

People be sliding on the lake

People be sliding on the lake

After a pork filled lunch I bailed to Great Leap’s No.6 to grab a few pints and chat with good ol’ Nat on the Skype. Turns out she was watching Part II of The Hobbit so we didn’t get to have our alcohol induced chat (Replacing me with hairy feet midgets Nat? How dare you). On the plus side the new renovations of the pub are great and all the beers were on special, 25RMB/2.50GBP each! Yas. 🙂 Got chatting to an English dude, swapping stories of run-down urban haunted house explorations and he was telling me how prostitutes sell their wares via WeChat. I also got a text from my Mandarin teacher saying I’m getting a test on Friday and that will also be the last class. Awww, all wrapping up now.

Looking good no.6

Looking good no.6

After finishing my one to many pints I took the subway (from a newly opened and even closer station) home. Once in the door I had a really good chat with my Dad and Carol on Skype, great to catch up with everybody this weekend (bar you Nat :-P). My Nana has been in hospital recently but she is out now and on the mend. Wolfed down some pork and dumplings after my Skype chat then Benjamin came home and we attempted to rehearse some magic for a small show he is doing at school on Tuesday.

Before bed I watched ‘State of Play‘, what a shit film that was.

Eating out, Korean style

I was up and washed reasonably early this morning, especially for a Sunday. Suzy had mentioned skiing today a few days ago, I’m glad I didn’t go purely for the 5.30am wake up. Benjamin had received a magic set from one of his friends yesterday so we spent a little time looking at that. He and his parents went off for a few hours to do their annual photo shoot.

When they came back I was asked to take Benjamin to Subway (or wherever we wanted to go) for lunch whilst they went to a different restaurant in the mall. We ended up going to McDonald’s, the pull of a McFlurry was too strong for us both. Afterwards his friend Kathy came over to the house and not long after that he was off to EF class.

Maybe I'll go here instead of Happy Valley...

Maybe I’ll go here instead of Happy Valley…

I went for a short walk (just over an hour) around the hood, but the smog started rolling in and it wasn’t much fun walking around in it. A little after arriving back home Yu phoned me and said they would pick me up outside as we were eating out. Getting in the car I was told by Ben that it was a Korean restaurant we would be eating at.

Holy shit this place was fancy. Slightly hidden away and housed in it’s own building, we entered the front door to be greeted by waiting staff. We were lead upstairs, over looking the outdoor Korean country themed room, to our own private booth beside the violinists. Wow. The food was excellent, lots of little dishes to from, like many variations of kimchi, salad, noodles, meat that gets BBQ’d at your table, omelette style dish, fried rice, fish, etc. NOM. Ben showed me how you take one of the salad leaves, fill it with meat, add some sauce/seasoning, fold up and then shove in your mouth. It finished with a big bowl of slush ice and red bean on top, shared out amongst everyone. The taste of the bean reminded me of custard and kidney beans. Fudge knows what this cost but it couldn’t be cheap, worth every penny though, I was a happy chappy. 😀

(Apologies for the shite picture quality, what do you expect from a phone that’s 4+ years old)