PAD SEE ME

many of you know that we love thai food. and many of you know that we love pad see ew. well, no more take out for us.

i "discovered" chinatown today. well actually, i just walked about two blocks from our apartment to a place i always knew existed but to which i had never ventured. and i found sydney's asian IGA (grocery store) and thus all the ingredients - fresh wide rice noodles, fresh tofu, sweet soy sauce, sesame oil, and kai-lan (aka, chinese broccoli) - to make my own version of pad see ew.

i know - these aren't exactly the most exotic ingredients but it took going to chinatown to inspire me. and damn were they some good noodles. see...

VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISED

being prudish americans, we were amazed and amused by this ad we saw on tv last night. it really is funny. but apparently aussies aren't as open-minded as we thought...

"Viewers damn Kotex beaver ad"

DANGER DANGER

apparently there are many precarious situations you can get yourself into while spending time in australia and new zealand. before we arrived we were constantly reminded by friends and family about poisonous snakes and spiders and how something like the ten deadliest of both live in australia (which is true). but it seems there are heaps of other things to look out for as well. thankfully, warning is almost always given.

LOVELY MAGGIE

last weekend we spent 4 glorious days on magnetic island - maggie as the locals call it - off queensland's northern tropical coast. it was our first venture into queensland and with all the flack it gets from the southern states, we weren't quite sure what to expect...something out of "deliverance" maybe? in any event, maggie was a beautiful island and its people were extremely unscary and nice. half of the island is a national park so it's very quiet and unspoilt. and apparently it has one of australia's largest koala populations. we were only able to spot 2 during our weekend but that's ok.

the main purpose of our trip was to take a boat out to the great barrier reef, brave the killer jellyfish, and snorkel. unfortunately the water was too rough and murky from the past week of storms so we couldn't go. nonetheless, maggie provided us with much alternative entertainment. we tooled around the island in our cabriolet convertible (which came with our accommodation), hiked the 'death adder' snake ridden trails through eucalyptus and gum trees, spotted birds, wallabies, and the aforementioned koalas, and finally swam in our very own infinity pool which overlooked the green waters of the coral sea. it was just the relaxing and adventurous weekend we needed to set us off on the second half of our time in australia.

SHANANANANANANANANA

although yesterday was a sad day, with the departure of my sister and brother-in-law after a fun-filled ten days in sydney and beyond (more about that later), it was also an exciting day as i think i experienced the first inklings of australian autumn. it happened on my walk home from work - and j experienced it too - when the air felt a little bit cool in spite of the warm sun and the light was a bit lower, bouncing off buildings, trickling through trees, hiding and reappearing. the changing of seasons is imminent. we are excited to witness this in the southern hemisphere...in case you didn't get that we like fall.

oh, and it's official that we will be staying a bit longer than expected. so now we can call this blog "six more months in sydney" although it will probably more like four. i'll have to think on that one.