It’s over a week since I last posted. I would have posted earlier, except I’ve been procrastinating, unsure of what to write about. I wrote some interesting posts about some films at the Sydney Film Festival, and I haven’t really had all that much I’ve wanted to say since, or so I thought…
In an otherwise bureaucratic week at work, one of the real highlights was a visit to the Petersham Bowling Club. One of the oldest bowling clubs in Australia, the club is now under threat from developers and in scenes reminiscent of the Australian film, “Crackerjack”, the local community has banded together with volunteers now staffing the restaurant and bar. With a terrific “community” feel about the place, it’s something we’ve discussed this week as a possible venue for our work Christmas Party. Yes, Christmas plans already.
Aside from work there have been a couple of social occasions, though I’ve mostly spent my free time at home listening to either music or watching television. I’ve become a bit of an iTunes junkie, actually, downloading some new music, but also some older favourites that I’ve never either had, or never had in good quality. Downloaded tracks include “Crazy” by Gnarls Barkley, “Crazy, Crazy, Crazy” by Michael Franti and Spearhead and “Sandstorm” by Darude. Television viewing, of course, has consisted mostly of “The Simpsons”, “Will & Grace” and “Big Brother”. I hate Jamie, by the way. And I HAVEN’T been watching “The World Cup”, though I may try to stay up tonight to watch the Italy vs Australia match.
But I haven’t just been bumming around at home. On Friday night, a friend and I went out to dinner, along with a friend of a friend of hers who has recently moved to Australia. Anxious to show the sophisticated American that we have good food and wine in Australia, we discussed a range of options, all of them extremely busy. And then I said, “come with me to Benzin, it’s new but trust me on this one”. Their faith in me was rewarded with another excellent meal. I’d been there a couple of weeks earlier and was pleased to discover the meal was just as good as the time before. It’s my favourite new restaurant in Sydney.
The only unfortunate thing about Friday night is that, wandering home, I tripped on some leaf litter (the streets of Surry Hills are pretty slippery at the moment) and almost went arse over tit. Thankfully, I was able to reach behind with my left hand to stop the fall. Unfortunately, in reaching behind I injured my left hand, resulting in a swollen finger and significant bruising. It looks very sad.
In other gourmet news, on Saturday afternoon I wandered along to the Bourke Street Bakery, located at the site of the former La Passion du Fruit, a cafe where Bill Grainger got his start all those years ago.
Famous for their fruit frappes, the Bourke Street Bakery has also become famous for a range of very tasty breads. Anxious for something fairly small to go with dinner, I asked simply for a sourdough baguette. As a bonus, I was given an apple-flavoured sourdough loaf which was also very nice and which has lasted me a couple of days. It’s a terrific spot and it’s great to see it so well patronised. I wonder, however, how long it will remain popular before the fickle tastes of local people find something new and hot. The woman who served me, who gave me the extra loaf, jokingly said, “write a review on our website”. Little did she know…
In other news, I had intended to go to Newcastle for a birthday party, but not feeling well, I stayed at home. I did, however, catch up on Sunday with Sydney Blogger, Mark who will soon return to Perth. It was really nice to catch up, to exchange some stories and to share some some of life’s wisdoms, including the bits that are still too hard to comprehend.
I don’t have all that much planned for the week, aside from going to the State Theatre tomorrow night where Clive James will deliver the annual National Trust Heritage Lecture. I’ve been a long-term fan of James’ work and I’m looking forward to it.