Picnic

End of May. Brilliant weather.Botanical Gardens. A decent gang turned up. Love to do this a couple of times a year. Often the same spot. Get together, everyone brings a bite to eat. All turn up with a bottle of wine or some beers. Soak up the rays, catch up on what we're all up to and just generally appreciate the surroundings......beaudiful. The gorgeous little thing in Pic 2 is Ava. This was her first picnic with the extended family. I think she loved the attention.

Guillaume at Bennelong

This evening rates up there as one of the most decadent things I may have done. An evening at Bennelong Resturant at the Opera House. When Mand first booked her trip over I asked her where she had always wanted to go to dinner when she lived here but never had the chance to. She came back with a list of 3 places and the Opera House was one of them. Since she had paid all that money to fly over to see me I wanted to treat her to something really special. It took some persuading but she eventually agreed to go with the degustation menu. 8 (count em....8) courses of the most amazing tasting food I have ever eaten. And 8 different wines to go with them. Fuck. As an added bonus my friend Jon is the sommelier there so we got looked after with slight deviations and extras from the list. He gave us a brilliant night. We sat down at 8 to the best table in the place and finished our banquets around midnight. Not the kind of thing you could do too often (or afford to) but so pleased we did it. OMG ask me one day about the Passion Fruit souffle.

Phamish - the old gang back together

Tuesday night and another catch up. This time with Anne, Joe, Mark and Dylan. A few drinks at the Green Park then dinner at Phamish....again......seems to be a regular occurance now but the food is just so damn good. Had been Dylan's birthday a week earlier hence the eye mask.

The yellow thing in Anne's hand is a banana holder......apparently......she insists. I think we need to find her a man.

If Mark looks pissed it's because he is. The lush knocked off work early and was in the pub for 4.

Salt and Pepper squid was as good as ever.

SMH Half Marathon

It should have been me. But I wasn't fit enough (too fat) to get round in under 2 hours so I'm going to wait until September. So sat on the side lines with preggers Kel with a coffee. The runners left to right are Alan, Gwen and Ian. Gwen's first half and well under 2 hours putting me to shame. Both Al and Ian got personal bests. Have to admit it was hard watching it and not being in it. Who'd have thought I'd be saying things like this a few years back. Was nice to get up extra early on a Sunday morning and cycle into the city when so quiet. Circular Quay looked great from this angle so took a couple of extra snaps. I love living here. Well done guys.

Dylan's birthday so went to the Bank Hotel. Big gang out today. Helen, the sensible one, suggested shots. In shock at the suggestion so couldn't refuse. Stubled home around 10. Great day.

The Missus

I have my wife back temporarily. I've borrowed her from the cheeky manc lad for 12 days. It's really nice to have her back and I already know I'm going to miss her when she goes back to the UK. It's very comfortable having her here, like she was never away. I have no idea how we manage to find so much crap to talk about, and how comfortable we are with each other's moods and silence and thought processes. It's nice to know that there is someone like that who is always going to be a part of your life.

Good god, get me a bucket!!! Anyways, we've planned lots of good stuff. Dinners, drinks, parties, picnics, sightseeing, but the main plan is for her to catch up with friends. It's gonna be good.

Volta - the verdict

7/10...It's been out a while now. It's been on repeat. So the verdict is pretty good. Unfortunately I can't say amazing. But that's the way I felt about Vespertine when I first heard it and now I doubt that album can ever be surpassed. She does a couple of duets with Anthony from Anthony and the Johnsons. Not a huge fan of his falsetto voice. The second duet for me is a throw away. But the first one, "Dull Flame of Desire" works perfectly. It's pretty damn gorgeous. Not going to do a full review and to pick out just one section of one song is going to sound like clutching at straws to her detractors (many of my friends included) but the 2 minute mark of Innocence is sublime. Vintage Bjork. I still love her and praying like mad she is going to bring the tour to Australia. Even Japan would do. That was on my list anyway for this year.

Oh, and here's another reminder of how much I admire her. A teensy bit of body art never hurt no-one.

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Insomnia

Not only the title of one of the seminal dance tracks of the 90's but also what I seem to be suffering from lately. I was that shagged after a nightless sleep last night that I had to call work and say I couldn't come in until 11am today. If I hadn't had an important meeting to attend I may well have done a sickie. And I don't say things like that lightly considering I am now only paid by the day.

I seem to have some sort of jet lag from Saturday night maybe, or some kind of virus. Strange because I am tired getting into bed and by 3am am wide awake again. 2 pills of Dozile muscle relaxant should do the trick tonight.

Had a full on week last week but work is now settled a bit. Weekend was a lot of fun. Had Friday night out with the boys and Sat night went to Helen and Nathan's for dinner. Gorgeous food. Very good company. A testement to this was waking up on their couch at 2pm Sunday afternoon. Good effort I think. It's not every Saturday night that your dinner hosts dress up in a) a wedding dress, and b) a wrestling leotardy thing. I didn't so much keep my dignity but at least I kept my clothes on this time.

Caught up with Joe last night and shouted him a Wagamamas for his birthday. (Yes, I know not so special but we're at that age now where birthday gifts aren't really done.......unless it's my birthday of course). Was good to see him. Don't spend enough time together. He's not really a pub / bar kind of person. Whereas I have been known to pop into one now and again. He's promised to come out and play once in a while. (He's a clubber. I'm can't do 'em anymore)

Should really call my Dad tonight. Haven't spoken to him in ages. New plan for this week. Keep up contact with home.

Lost interest

I knew this would happen. Started off pretty well with a fair few postings. Then life gets a little busy and blog gets forgotten.

So what have I been up to?

Work - SAP UAT. Project off. Project On. The future is a little uncertain but I have almost decided on a back up plan. If they no longer require my services or I get fed up I think I might go and learn Spanish finally. It's been on the list of things to do for a while. A few months in South America could be fun.

Health and Fitness - The knee is fine now. I did a personal best in the 10k. Gym attendance is on the up. Am lifting the same as people twice my size now and yet the flabby bits are still there and there is no noticeable sign of buffness. This is very unfair. Very displeased with my DNA. Giving it two more months. If no improvement will be investing my time somewhere else. Maybe music.

Entertainment - Had a nice dinner 2 Saturdays ago at Kel and Ian's. Kel is pregnant. Great news. Another one of my play mates out of action though.
Thursday had dinner with the old gang at Twelve on King Street. Can never go wrong here.
Last friday did Longrain in Surry Hills. Heard mixed things. For me it goes near the top of the list. Great flavours. Very generous portions.
Saturday, Ockie flew in from Hong Kong for a night out (as you do) so hit the bars again. Brilliant weekend but expensive.

Love life - Same. Maybe I have really bad breathe.

Anyway, UAT almost done. Pressure is lifting as I type. More time for play and blog.