Category Archives: Location: Australia

Sydney Stories

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I wasn’t planning on visiting Sydney this year.  Last year, I intimated to him that I wanted to celebrate my 10th year wedding anniversary in South Africa where we honeymooned in 2000.  I hadn’t been reading the news then, or I’d have known that the World Cup was taking place in South Africa this year, and knowing my husband, he’d find a way of getting there way before our wedding anniversary, without me.  What I also didn’t know was that he was planning on being in Sydney two days after our anniversary (in November 2010) to watch Metallica (the heavy metal band from 1981) perform.  When I did find out about his plans, I calmly told him that he was on his own because I wanted to go to South Africa or Egypt or somewhere exotic.  For months, I refused to budge, but he had other tricks up his sleeve to get me to go to Sydney.  About a couple of months back, he gave me a “belated birthday gift” – tickets to Sydney for our anniversary.  Bugger.  I thought I was the one with the brains in the family.

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There’s absolutely nothing wrong with going to Sydney, of course.   It is one of my favourite cities in the world; two years back, we celebrated New Year’s eve there.  We perched ourselves on a slope at Bradley’s Head at the Sydney Harbour National Park, a little bit inebriated after the numerous bottles of wine and good food which we had consumed earlier at Ripples (an amazing Australian fusion restaurant) and watched the fireworks go.  It’s a feeling that I can’t quite describe.  It felt like all of Sydney was out there, some at the Opera House, some in the anchored yachts near the harbour, some at the various lookout points, some at home…all watching and cheering together.  Hugs and kisses all around.  Best feeling ever.

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What about my memories this time around?  Of course, I remember our wedding anniversary celebration.  We had checked ourselves in at the Sydney Hilton and when we went downstairs to the Zeta Bar for pre-dinner drinks, our dear friends Aly and Michael surprised me with their presence.  Bald Eagle had planned with them all along to meet up for a couple of days in Sydney, and it felt so good to be there with fellow KL-ites.  Michael presented us with a precious anniversary gift, his new cookbook – Cooking with Michael Elfwing, filled with Modern Australian and Malaysian inspired recipes from his years of experience in the industry. (The book is available for sale at Senses, KL Hilton, and will be hitting the bookstores in mid January 2011.)  After some fabulous deconstructed cocktails at Zeta Bar, we proceeded to Quay, which was voted No.27 on the San Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants list, 11 spots above Tetsuya’s.  Expectations were high; Peter Gilmore’s tasting menu wowed us in many aspects but, being acquainted with some pretty amazing Asian cuisine already, we weren’t as impressed with some of his Asian inspired dishes.  However, we loved the freshness of the ingredients, and his acclaimed snow egg dessert was out of this world.  The entire experience was enjoyable – we had a table overlooking the Sydney Opera House, and as the skies cleared after the spring showers, the stars came out.

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The next day, we took a wine tour to several boutique wineries in the Hunter Valley.  We sampled 41 different wines – semillon, shiraz, voignier, chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, merlot, etc – and what holds true is this – when we drink the wines that we have brought home with us, we shall remember that radiant sunny day spent out in the country, admiring the fields of shimmering green vines, getting intoxicated on wines and laughing in each other’s company.  We shall remember our friends from Brazil and UK and Australia, and we shall remember doing the samba with them.

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Holiday memories are not all about destinations and taking great photos.  The most poignant memories are not always captured on film.  Our brief encounter with 90-year-old Vera at church in Manly is one that I want to remember because it reminds me that life has to be lived to the fullest.  She talked about climbing down the wharf to spy on fairy penguins – this 90-year-old woman, and her eyes lit up with mischief, her exuberance masking her million wrinkles.

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A day trip to Cabramatta and Bankstown, southwest of Sydney, exposed me to some of the best Vietnamese food I had ever tasted.  I loved the pho at An, a restaurant in Bankstown, because the thinly sliced beef cooking in the boiling broth was just so fresh and flavourful.  We had dinner with Bald Eagle’s friend, Peter, and his family who brought us to their favourite Vietnamese restaurant in Cabramatta – Quan an Bau Truong, where we had delicious spring rolls, salads, noodles topped with coconut cream, banh xeo (stuffed pancake) and crispy fried quail.  It was such a satisfying meal, and more importantly, it gave me the chance to get to know Peter and his wife better, and to be thankful for the solid, uneventful middle-class upbringing that I had.  Peter’s story is one for the movies – boy grows up in Kajang, girl grows up in Saigon, girl escapes Saigon with her family and lands in the refugee camps in Malaysia, boy drives past refugee camp everyday and sees children playing, girl looks out of window and sees boy, girl goes to Australia, boy and girl grow up, boy goes to Australia to study, boy meets girl, girl meets boy, boy and girl fall in love.

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Everybody has a story to tell.  And they’re all equally fascinating.

Happy 10th anniversary, my darling husband.

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Addresses:

Quay
The Rocks, Sydney
Tel: (61 2) 9251 5600

An Restaurant
27 Greenfield Parade
Bankstown
Tel: (02) 9796 7826

Quan an Bau Truong
42 John St
Cabramatta
Tel: (02) 9727 4492

Momiji’s Amazing Australian Adventure (Part 2 of 2)

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Momiji in Calalla Beach

“We all have our time machines. Some take us back, they’re called memories. Some take us forward, they’re called dreams.”

-Jeremy Irons-

Part 1 of Momiji’s Amazing Australian Adventure was published on this blog on January 30, 2009.  My husband, who knows me best, is reluctantly aware of my “Last In, First Out” policy when it comes to blogging, and I suppose this explains why Part 2 is only appearing eleven months after the first blog post, and exactly a year after our visit to Australia.

As much as my memory fails me in my old(er) age, I’m thankful for the bits that remain.  Recently, thanks to Facebook, I was reunited with a handful of old classmates from 20 years back, and amazingly, I was still able to remember many of the names.   Like word association, one name brought about another, and before I knew it, I was spewing out names faster than a person speaking in tongues.

Yes, I’d like to think that I am able to retain the good stuff.   Which brings me to the continuation of Momiji’s Amazing Australian Adventure…..

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On their road trip from Gold Coast to Sydney, after enjoying a delicious breakfast of eggs benedict at Byron Bay, Silly Billy’s tummy began to rumble.  “I’m hungry,” she whimpered.  And then she saw a glittering sight, like jewels in a background of emerald green.   “It must be a mirage,” she thought, “my hunger’s gone to my big resin head.”   But it wasn’t an illusion, as she approached the shimmering ocean at Coff’s Harbour, glistening like a blanket of tiny little diamonds.

“Wake up!” she kicked Twinkle in her belly.  Twinkle grunted, “I’ll have a bacon sandwich, hold the lettuce.”   “You’re dreaming, Twinkle,” said a disgusted Silly Billy.   Silly Billy continued driving until she saw a club full of energetic little old people playing lawn bowling.  Silly Billy squealed and came to a halt.   She loved energetic little old people, but Twinkle pulled her aside and reminded her of her priorities.  “Food first,” Twinkle said, “then lawn bowl with energetic little old people.”

Cafe Aqua, located at 57 Ocean Parade, directly across the club, seemed to be a nice welcoming place for a quick bite.  It also meant that Silly Billy could spy on her new friends while enjoying her delicious scallop and bacon salad with asparagus, roasted capsicum and butternut with a saffron dressing that immediately quelled her hunger pangs.   It almost felt like the scallops came from the sea beyond, and the bacon came from a pig in the backyard.  Twinkle skipped mains and went straight to desserts.   Twinkled swam into her glass of chocolate milk shake and licked the chocolate off her body.  “I’m revived,” she declared, “let’s move on and play with the energetic little old people!”   And so they did.

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They reached Sydney in one piece and without any traffic summons.   On New Year’s Eve, Twinkle and Silly Billy decided to celebrate it at Ripples at Milsons Point, an amazing outdoor location near the Olympic Pool at the shadow of the Sydney Harbour Bridge that would be imprinted on their minds forever.   Serving excellent fusion food, they were gasping sighs of happiness as they wolfed down their oysters with a zesty Japanese rice wine dressing, pan seared ocean trout with coriander rice and chilli jam and…and….(momijis are known to have terrible memory thanks to their pea-sized brains)…chocolate cake with….*gasp*…fairy floss!   “Fairies died for me,” thought Silly Billy, that silly little thing.

They were a little inebriated thanks to the two bottles of wine which they had with their meals, and after their meal, they stumbled their way to the wharf, making funny faces at Luna Park along the way, to get on a ferry to the Taronga Zoo.

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On the ferry ride to Taronga Zoo, they noticed throngs of humans gathering along the Sydney Opera House and the coastline beyond, awaiting the New Year’s Eve fireworks display later that night.   Silly Billy was filled with trepidation as she anticipated being stampeded on, just like her harrowing experience twenty years earlier in Stadium Merdeka where FRU officers literally fished her out from a crowd of enthusiastic Selangor football supporters.   Twinkle held her hand and said, “I’ll protect you, Silly Billy.”  Silly Billy felt safe when she was with Twinkle.   As the ferry docked at the wharf at Taronga, they skipped, hand in hand, all the way up to Bradley’s Head at the Sydney Harbour National Park, a lovely site in a natural bushland setting.   There, they met other momijis and humans, all equally friendly with each other, as they partook of a refreshing Thai salad made by Twinkle’s aunt while waiting for the sun to set.   Families played on the grass, a plane whirred by, skywriting beautiful words in the clear blue sky…a general feeling of warmth pervaded and the momijis smiled at each other.   As the fireworks display began, the humans and momijis clapped and cheered, and a tear trickled down Silly Billy’s face.

“Happy New Year, Twinkle.”

“Happy New Year, Silly Billy.”

It has been a good year.

An amazing year.

A wonderful year.

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Other pictures from Momiji’s Amazing Australian Adventure below:

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Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, 25km north of Sydney, set on the southern branch of the Hawkesbury River, the park is well known for aboriginal rock engravings

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Delicious, tender, pork ribs at Hurricane’s Grill and Bar at Darling Harbour

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Champagne breakfast with the family in warm balmy weather

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Momiji’s Amazing Australian Adventure (Part 1 of 2)

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Cherries

It may be almost the end of January 2009, but I am still in 2008.  Perhaps it is the flurry of activities that has me gasping for air, but it could also be age that’s slowing me down.  Anyhow, I am, as always,  too lazy to comprehend the meaning of life, so if my mind says that I’m still wearing last season’s fashion, then I say hallelujah, bring out the char siu and celebrate.

The good news is, I FINALLY finished going through my 1,000+ photographs from our recent trip to Australia.  Bald Eagle played a big part in this accomplishment.

6/1/2009,  Bald Eagle, in an excited tone:  “You gonna blog about Oz?” *bounce bounce*  Me: “Yeah, definitely, dude!” *bounce bounce*

9/1/2009,  Bald Eagle, not so bouncy:  “I see you blogged about Pan Heong.”  Me:  “Sowwwy sweetie, I haven’t compiled my pictures.”  *bulging puppy eyes, brimming with tears* “Next post, k!”

The whole of the next week,  Bald Eagle:  “Not working on a new post?”  Me:  “Busy, busy!!”  *trying to avoid eye contact*

20/1/2009,  Bald Eagle:  “You blogged about Extra Super Tanker?!”  Me:  “It’s almost Chinese New Year, mah….gotta show picture of yue sang!”  *still avoiding eye contact*

23/1/2009,  Me:  “Before you yell I have a valid reason it’s Kenny Mah’s birthday but the next post will definitely be Oz!!!!!”  *taking deep breath*

This week,  Bald Eagle:  “I’m gonna stop reading your blog until you update it!”

Yikes.  Every reader is valuable.  And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the unsubtle way of ensuring that Lyrical Lemongrass updates her blog with a very overdue post.  So if you see pictures of fireworks from 2008, don’t scold me ar.  Scold Bald Eagle.

Where to begin, where to begin?

A long time ago……ok, in the not too distant past……fine, LAST MONTH, there lived a tiny creature known to the world as a Momiji.  Unlike other babies, the stork didn’t bring her to the world.  Nay, she came packaged in a brown noodle box with a label at the bottom announcing her name as Silly Billy.  Oh dear, with a name like that, she was teased mercilessly despite having silky-looking white resin hair with purple baubles and laughing eyes.   People can be quite unforgiving sometimes.  So she jumped into a medicine box together with her friend, Twinkle (a little girl who wanted to see the world), and ran away to the land down-under where stranger looking creatures existed.

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“I want to see the sea!” exclaimed Silly Billy.   “I want to press my ear to a seashell and listen to the ocean’s lullaby.   I want to bury myself in the sand and feel the waves wash over me.   I want to sip champagne and eat oysters.”  Yes, this little Momiji wanted to do so much, and can you blame her?  So she lazed by the beach for two whole days, and at night, she slept soundly, tucked in her tiny blue bed, and dreamed of Barossa Valley bacon and smoked salmon sandwiches and spicy prawn pasta and cheeses and oysters and cherries, all washed down with bubbly that made her head light.  And best of all, waking up from her slumber brought her back to a reality that wasn’t very different from that rainbow in her mind.  “I could do this forever, Twinkle!” she declared to her friend.

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The ever fidgety Twinkle replied, “I want to see the world, Silly Billy.  I like it here, but don’t you want to do other things too?  Like go-karting and clay-pigeon shooting?”   Silly Billy thought for a bit.   Twinkle was right, of course.   Silly Billy loved Callala Beach, but the reality is that time stands still for no Momiji.  Life has a way of moving on and taking everyone with it, which isn’t a bad thing considering that most Momijis don’t get to experience much beyond their brown noodle boxes.  So they packed up their bags and boarded a train that travelled a thousand kilometres north of Sydney to the Gold Coast where they got to try go-karting and clay-pigeon shooting.

“I haven’t seen any strange creatures yet, Twinkle,” said Silly Billy.  “Let’s go to the Australia Zoo….perhaps we may see some humans there?”  So they trekked further north towards the Sunshine Coast where they finally arrived at the Australia Zoo, home of the Crocodile Hunter.  “Crikey!” said Twinkle, “look at that human feeding the crocodile!”  They saw elephants and tigers and crocodiles and wombats and kangaroos and koalas and lots and lots of humans.  But they soon got tired and yearned for some hearty food.  The Ettamogah Pub looked friendly enough to a couple of tiny Momijis, even if some of the patrons looked a little scary with their very big motorcyles.  The beef, bacon and cheese burger was humongous, twice Silly Billy’s height, but she ate it with relish because it tasted so good.  Twinkle was terribly hungry and ate a 350gram succulent pork cutlet which she enjoyed oh so much because it was juicy and tasty, and washed it all down with a cold beer, just like the hairy patrons of Ettamogah Pub.

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Silly Billy and Twinkle were sad to leave their friends in Gold Coast, but they were excited about their road trip back to Sydney.   “We can see The Big Banana and The Big Prawn along the way!” squealed Silly Billy even though she knew that they were kitschy and pointless.   She didn’t care, because she liked being silly.  She liked being silly!  That’s right! She didn’t care what the the other Momijis thought of her because she was having fun while the other Momijis were stuck in their boring little boxes.  So she yelled hello to the pink flamingos as she whizzed by (within speed limits, of course, for it wouldn’t do for a Momiji to get a speeding ticket) and waved to the man in the lighthouse.  She ate delicious eggs benedict in a cafe in Byron Bay called Spoon. It was a most exhilarating road trip indeed.

Thus ends Part 1.

Note:
I don’t normally do multi-part posts. In this case, for the sake of marital bliss, I am compelled to put up this post as soon as possible (otherwise, it’s off with my head), and to be honest, there is so much more I’d like to share with all of you. The second part of the Momijis’ adventure is even more exciting with loads of good food featured. Addresses for all restaurants featured will be included in Part 2 as well.

Hope you’re having a good Chinese New Year break!