Winter in Sydney has been pretty mild and is trucking along nicely - two descriptors of an ideal winter in my books. Mild referring to weather and trucking along referring to going quickly without too many roadblocks.
Perhaps this particular winter in Sydney has been tolerable because I actually have a lot going on. It seems like each weekend, I'm booked with a dinner or a party. Perhaps these are the signs, I'm settled into Sydney. The big question is for how long? That's still up for debate and I'm constantly weighing the pros and cons of staying or going. Either way, while I'm here, I'm definitely making the most of my time loving this city and the lifestyle that comes with it.
Missing Home
An American & Canadian lunch
Wings & Poutine Minus the Cheese
A show I've picked up this winter is Masterchef. When we first moved to Australia, the show was in its first season. We stopped watching after the second season because it was too formulaic; scripted, produced and way too many sponsor adverts. We decided to give it another go this season because we love competitive cooking shows like Top Chef. Needless to say, the formulaic nature of the show plus its identifiable characters have turned me off and I no longer watch it. Two new shows I have picked up and am completely obsessed with is Game of Thrones (oversexed Lord of the Rings) and Suits (mentor/mentee lawyer drama).
Masterchef Fever
Grilled Chicken with Truffle Mash & Steamed Broccoli
One of my favourite things about Sydney is the amazing Thai food. Dare I say better than food in Thailand? But then again, I like dirty Chinese delivery in NYC better than the food I had in mainland China itself. If you're ever in Sydney, the two best Thai restaurants are Home Thai on Sussex St right in the CBD or Opium Den in Potts Point. Best thing about them is that they are reasonably priced or 'cheap and cheerful' as my British friends would say.
To Cleanse Your Palate After All That Thai Chili
Thai Doughnuts with Green Tea & Sweetened Condensed Milk Dipping Sauce
Don't get me wrong about the weather. This past summer has been full of monsoon like weather flooding areas that are used to burn bans. When the sun decides to peek out from the grey skies, the weather actually feels like a nice fall day (winter lows hover around 8 degrees Celsius with highs in the upper teens).
Take advantage of these days and have a walk around Sydney - there's always something free or interesting going on. Currently the 18th annual Biennale of Sydney is taking place (27th June - 16 September). It's a celebration of contemporary art and all venues are free to enter! One Sunday when my soccer game was cancelled due to flood soaked fields, Dave and I went to the NSW Gallery in the Botanical Gardens. We hadn't been to this particular museum and were lucky to find the Biennale exhibiting there too. Tour the museum and grab a roast beef sandwich and a coffee in their dining hall afterwards. Excellent way to spend a few hours on a Sunday afternoon.
Strolling Past the Sydney Tower
Hyde Park Path with a View of St. Mary's Church
Never a Dull Moment of Competition in Hyde Park
One Busy Fountain
Wedding Photos + Musicians + Tourists + Skateboarders
Colourful Wedding Party at St. Mary's Church
First Masterchef Pop-Up Restaurant
One thing that keeps me busy and my mind off the winter weather is playing club soccer. I'm part of the Waverley Old Boys All-Age Women 2 team. I've been playing with these girls since pre-season in early February. I see them every Tuesday for practice and Sunday for games. Although we've been playing together for a few months, it took us until early July to get our rhythm and play as a team. We may not be at the top of the ladder, but we are definitely a solid side with both soccer talent and great personalities. There's even three Americans on the team! We must have made a strong impression because the club hosted a USA themed social party.
WOBFC AAW2 Team
Texas Pride at the USA Soccer Party
With all the wet weather earlier in the season, my games have been cancelled on Sundays due to either rain or unplayable fields. I've exercised my culinary hand to fill those rainy Sundays. A few proud moments came from making homemade eclairs, oatmeal raisin cookies and rice krispies treats. Word of caution when making eclairs: follow the recipe exactly when making custard.
Homemade Eclairs
Last 4th of July, my office surprised me with my desk covered in USA paraphernalia - there were mostly expats in the office and knew how much I missed this holiday. This year, the day snuck past so quickly, so I decided to make one of my favourite cookies: the oatmeal raisin cookie. It doesn't exist in Australia, so I was a bit nervous to introduce them into an office of Aussies. I'm happy to report that it was unanimous... they loved them!
Very Proud to be an American & of my Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
We didn't let the holiday go by without celebrating. We joined the American expat group in Sydney for their big blowout Fourth of July celebration party at City Hotel where hundreds of Americans you don't realise live in Sydney flocked together to show off some serious costumes and pride. We met up with Kyle and Allison, a couple our age from Kansas City. It's refreshing to meet expats our age because most expats hover around 30 years old. People our age don't even consider Australia nor the thought of leaving the US for a few years abroad.
Although the venue was packed, we had a great time. We had chicken and biscuits dinner with Budweiser beers and danced until 1am to Jock Jams - the best US 90s compilation.
Dave Found His American Pride
The next day, we joined Kyle and Allison for a cornhole tournament. You must have blinked twice and re-read that last sentence. I hesitated too when I heard there was a group of Australian's holding a cornhole tournament. Cornhole is a favourite pastime of southern college guys. The name comes from the set up of the game. Two teams have bags of corn that they aim towards a hole in a board a few feet away.
The founder is Australian and back when he was in university, he studied abroad at the University of Tennessee. The guy was so in love with the game that he brought it back to Australia. Because most Aussies don't leave home when they go to college, they tend to stay friends with high school friends. This guy got all of his high school friends into it and so the Australian cornhole group was born - they are officially sanctioned with regulation boards and plan on sending a team of four to the international tournament in January!
The tournament was held at a lawn bowling club, the perfect venue. Lawn bowling is a very similar style game to cornhole.
Waverton Bowling Club
Cornhole is a Social Drinking Game
Regulation Board and Bags
Kyle, the American took the Championship
Dave had gone earlier to play in the Singles tournament. He has never played before and in one game actually got all four throws into the hole! I joined him for doubles play. I hadn't played since high school graduation parties in Lufkin, Texas. After several practice rounds, I found my sweet spot throw and actually got a few on the board. Strangely, my shoulders and back were sore the next day.
Doubles Tournament
To round out the American festivities, we ended the weekend by making one of my favourite southern dishes; broccoli, cheese and rice.
Broccoli + Cheese + Rice
Lunch for the Week
A fun project Dave and I worked on was to create a canvas for our bedroom. Our apartment is newly painted and if we want to hang anything, we would need to ask our landlord and hire someone to come in, find the stud, create the hole and add the hook. Needless to say, we decided to use the existing hole above our bed for new artwork.
Canvasing is pretty trendy right now as seen in all the group buying sights for canvassing services. We bought a groupon coupon for a $50 150cm x 50cm canvas that would normally cost $280!
We have so many pictures from our travels and couldn't choose one. We decided to make it more personal and take one of us.
Because of my terrible track record with cameras (always losing them), we decided to never get a hand held camera again and rely on our mobile phone cameras, which have solid specs and take great photos too. We did one of those self-portrait shots holding the phone in front of our faces hoping everything was aligned. After only a few attempts, the picture turned out great. We turned it to black and white by changing the saturation in Microsoft Office Picture Manager and sent it to the company. In two days, the canvas arrived. The quality was amazing, but the size of our faces...were a bit large. We like it though. It definitely makes us smile when we walk into the room.
Mobile Phone Self-Portrait
New Canvas
And finally, the best advise I can give you for getting through an Aussie winter is buy a hot water bottle. Since Australian homes do not have central heating or insulation, this is the best thing you can get aside from an electric blanket or portable heater. Only $6 at Kmart! Boil water, fill the bottle and lay it under you sheets before you get into bed. I love mine so much I carry it around like a baby doll wherever I am in the apartment.
A Must-Have To Get Through an Aussie Winter
Hot Water Bottle
