Wine snobs

Since arriving in Sydney, I have learned quite a few new things about my boyfriend. I already knew he liked wine, but it took living in the same country to realize that he's more on the side of wine snobism, than simple a wine amateur would be. And living in the same household as a wine snob, I can't help myself but to slowly become one myself. In our home, we have:

• One tasting chart on the fridge to help us describe what we taste
• Two casks of wine (one white, on red) for evening when it's just the two of us
• Two wine bottle openers and bottle stoppers
• About 20 or so bottles stored in a cupboard so they can either age, or wait for special occasions

We love our wine! And so, in the past week, we've had quite some fun doing wine-related activities.

First up, mulled wine. It is winter here in Australia which is relative considering that the coldest it's been is well above zero, but I do get very cold regardless and so a good cup of warm red wine was on the menu last weekend. We had just been having drinks with friends in Sydney's oldest pub (Lord Nelson) and on the way home we stumbled on the The Rocks Markets by Moonlight. We could not resist.

People warming up next to  a fire in a metal bin. Keep it classy Sydney.

Me and my mulled wine...and yes, a scarf and a coat in the middle of June!

This past weekend, cousins from Brisbane came to visit. They were in town to celebrate their wedding anniversary and shared an evening with my boyfriend and I, once again in the Rocks where we made a new discovery: Wine Odyssey. It's a tasting room/restaurant/permanent wine show.

There, you can get a card that you put in one of the machines closest to the wine you want to taste and you have a choice of selecting a taste, a half-glass or a full glass. There is a wide variety of Australian and international wines to taste that range form $3  to $28 for a taste. The $28 taste is for the Penfold's Grange, one of the most expensive and supposedly delicious wine on the planet. Once you are done with your tasting, you give the cards back and the total amount is tallied up, so for the same cost as 2 glasses in other bars, you can taste about 6 or so if you stick to the lower price range.

My handsome wine snob boyfriend. He's even got a wine tasting grin.

 

I was staring at the Penfold's Grange, amazed by the price for a taste. $28!!!

Life in the land of (F)unemployement

I've rarely ever been unemployed for more than 3 weeks. I've always managed to jump from coop-job, to uni semester, to contract job, to full-time work and so on. And now, I think I know why. It still hasn't been a total of 3 weeks yet, and I already have had enough things on my plate to keep me busy and get me out of the house every day for one reason or another. It's almost as if all this free time just means that it's the perfect opportunity to cram as much as I can into my days with things I day-dream of doing when I work in a cube.

Unemployed or self-employed?

During the last week, my life has changed a bit. What’s happened is that I no longer work at the bakery. I had known for a little while that I would end up wanting a change of work, but it all happened much faster than I thought, without any other seriously good job prospect in sight, and it ended on of sour note.

Walking home that day, I was talking to my boyfriend about how the events of the day turned out and the conversation ended with him telling me something along the lines of “Welcome to your first day of full-time freelancing!"

Time flies by...

I can't believe it's almost been a month since I've last posted anything. And it's not for lack of new things to talk about. I've just been busy so I'll do a quick round-up of the latest activities.

Playing with food

When I left, I only got to bring 3 suitcases with me and I allowed myseld to fill one with random stuff that was not necessary but I knew I'd like to have with me. One of those things is my book "Hello Cupcake!" that I got as a gift a few Christmases ago (Merci Nat!).

Around the world

What do you do with a ping-pong table, one ball and about 10-15 players? You can have a tournament where everyone waits for their turn, or you can play "Around the world" where everyone plays at once.

The rules go as follows:

1. Things have to keep moving, and each person gets one shot at hitting the ball before letting the next person take over.
2. You have three chances to "loose" and then you are O-U-T.
3. The last 2 players duel with a best 2 out of 3.

That's it. Nothing too complicated and heaps more fun than waiting out your turn at a traditional ping-pong tournament.

Happy Easter Bilby Day?

Right when I am starting to feel like Sydney is my second home again (I haven't gotten lost in over a month now) and I'm getting used to being in a different country (I can safely drive on the left side of road with my bike), I learn about new things that remind me I haven't been in the World of Oz for that long.

On Easter morning, as my boyfriend and I were sharing a Lindt chocolate bunny, I asked him if he ever thought it was weird to celebrate a holiday that is so much centered on the whole Jebus thing, and so re-birth, spring, bunnies, chicks, flowers, etc. while here, the days are getting shorter and colder because it's autumn. His answer: "I never really thought about it that way, but I guess that does explain the bunnies. I never really understood the bunny thing but it would make sense. We have Easter bilbies here instead". Me: "An Easter bilby? What's a bilby?"