Kisholi’s posterous

Have managed to hit the apartment gym once since Monday which is pathetic. Frankly the gym is a bit useless - no free weights, not even a single pink dumbell so have been forced to make do with the stupid machines and yoga. Of course I have not used any kind of transport since getting off the taxi from the airport on the second of this month, so that adds up to a lot of fast (cold with occasional rain) walking.

Cooked dinner for three nights running now and am feeling quite accomplished. It's easy when all the equipment is at arms length and easy to use (did I mention the fully furnished apartment?) and the ingredients are simple (meat, vegetables, lard and few seasonings). Dinner tonight: beef, pork, garlic, onion, snow peas, purple cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, bell pepper and salt/pepper/paprika/chillie. I've been trying to stick to stuff I don't usually get to eat at home because they are either expensive or plain unavailable.

Work is still crazy. My phone card has run out and I don't even have time to go looking for a post office. Overslept today and had to run to make it to office at a respectable time. Have permanent dark circles under my eyes. I have never looked forward to a weekend this much.

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Work is starting to get a bit crazy so posts are likely to be very sparse and hurried.

Sunday night was dinner and drinks at a pub in Glenelg where a friend was playing a gig. Good music, yummy food, great people and too much red wine resulted in quite a pleasant Sunday night overall.

In other heartening news, I have moved into the most awesome apartments  - I'd take pictures but don't have the time. Anyway, the pictures on the site are exactly what it looks like. Mine doesn't have a view though because it was a last minute arrangement but I'm not complaining.

Had steak and salad for dinner at the restaurant downstairs though I should really go shopping and start cooking. There's a gym/pool/sauna etc which if I don't have to work too late tonight I will be checking out first thing tomorrow morning.

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Was going to attend a guided tour of St Peter's Cathedral yesterday but walked in the wrong direction, got lost and ended up at Victoria Square and was struck dumb by the awesomeness of it all. The bloody architecture in this town just renders me speechless. Who needs Italy when you've got Adelaide?
 
So while sitting on a bench in Victoria Park and trying to get my bearings I heard some lovely church bells and ended up crossing the road to The Cathedral of St Xavier. One thing led to another and I ended up attending Solemn Mass. Yep, half of it was in Latin too. Bloody brilliant. I've always been a classicist when it comes to these things anyway.
 
Why don't I let the pictures speak for themselves?

                         

Click here to download:

Lost_but_whos_complaining.zip (6277 KB)

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As promised, a picture of the grilled Emu sausages on a bed of roast pumpkin mash, rocket and sticky balsamic that I had for Sunday lunch with a glass of red wine at the Ambassador on King William. Awesomeness.

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Having got out of bed eventually, I spent most of the afternoon/evening walking around eating/drinking and buying stuff.

Found a 1TB desktop external drive in the AUD220-240 range for brands like western digital and maxtor and am seriously pondering getting one though I need someone to check those prices and let me know if it is worth it. The 1TB would be for both me and R so even if we decide not to get that right now, I'm sorely tempted to get a smaller one just for me. I think there was a portable 300GB for about AUD150-160. Hrmmm...

There's a Nike sports cap I'm in love with - made of some material that doesn't hold sweat and thus doesn't smell etc. - but it is AUD25 or something. I remember seeing it at ODEL just before I left for aroud the same price. Sigh. Seems like a lot for a mere cap but it is so pretty. I'll defer the decision for now I suppose.


Lunch was a tomato and bacon soup sans the wholegrain toast at Billy Baxters -  the place is quiet and good for a read and the soup was ohmygod very tasty.


Will certainly be going there again. They have something called the Big Brekky with double eggs/bacon/sausages/tomatoes/mushrooms <drool>. What a way to start the day huh? Of course it will have to be on a weekend because I don't do breakfast on weekdays. Actually, I don't do lunch most weekdays either, heh. Work is usually too interesting and I don't have the time to spare (read: workaholic).

Got great deals on both jeans and sunglasses. No fancy brands here but the jeans are classic bootcut (slightly exaggerated flare at the bottom) and the sunglasses fit me like a mask and block out every last tendril of sunshine just the way I like it. Also, two pairs of tomboy shoes - I know, but I just couldn't help it.

These days I'm  feeling less and less inclined to please anyone by wearing skirts and girlie heels even occasionally. Besides taking public transport gives me a rock-solid excuse to go to office in jeans/shirts/boots/cap (ooh Nike?!?) every single day. You have to love this getting older thing - I just don't care what people think about what I wear anymore. I never did care much anyway but it used to bother me sometimes. The nonconformity worries are much rarer now and anyway, considering my clubbing days are mostly over, why would I ever need to wear skirts/heels again?

Hit Borders again to check on the availability of some books R wanted but everything on his list was out of stock except the Brett Easton Ellis one. Had a decaf Cappuccino at Gloria Jeans Coffee (inside Borders itself) and was offered one of those punch cards where if I have x number of coffees I get one free or something <rolls eyes> I doubt I'd be drinking that much coffee from outside when I have no regcat to drink it with. Besides, it's so much cheaper to make your own damn coffee.

Found something called The Reject Shop which has some great deals on various odds and ends - everything is new by the way - I suppose they think the name just sounds cool or something. Bought a black faux leather collar studded with little silver bones for Caleb. It's got a little silver bone medallion thing hanging off the front center too. Plus a very tough ball that can hold a treat inside. Hopefuly it can withstand the infamous Rottweiler teeth that have destroyed so many toys before.


Came across Scotch Whiskey flavoured cappuccino (sachet pack) and got one though it doesn't have any actual alcohol in it - pooh. Will probably get my mother the chocolate flavoured one.

This place also has lots of branded personal care items going very cheap in bulk packs (Dettol, Nivea, Cussons, Palmolive, Oil of Olay, Garnier, Dove etc.). Also bulk packs of things like Nescafe. Itching to buy up half the shop but will restrain myself for now.

Chatted up a storm with a little Indian guy running the restaurant where I got yet another takeout dinner from - lamb vindaloo and palak paneer. When I said "make  both very, very hot" I didn't have much hope that it would meet my lofty standards but my god, they made my eyes water. And I instantly felt better than I had in days. So yes, I believe my current bout of depression is not just due to the lack of hot food but more the lack of spicy food. It was totally overpriced and greasy too but who cares? If I have it for dinner at least twice a week I'm sure it will keep the blues at bay.

Oh and today is laundry day. Bleurgh.

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It's a wonder I can see at all...

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Starting to feel a bit miserable now. I think a warm and possibly spicy meal would help - been eating everything cold/bland recently and it's not doing much for my general grumpiness. Might be switching to an apartment starting Monday which I'm really looking forward to because it means I can cook, which in turn means hot food. Yay! Also, the close confines of this hotel room is really starting to get to me.

Thursday night's meal was 1/2 a supermarket roast chicken (read: cold) with salad comprising both baby spinach and baby rocket leaves plus sticks of carrot, celery and cucumber smothered in, yes, you guessed it, winsauce. Am starting to get a bit sick of that winsauce now too.


Had more strawberries with the last of the coconut cream and a nice big decaf just for warmth sake.

Woke up feeling even more miserable, although a hot coffee does do wonders. The coffee culture here is a sight to behold. Every other shop seems to be a coffee shop and there are hardly any big chains. Lot's of little places and every coffee tastes different. Good but different. If I keep this up I'll have to start taking laxatives because we all know what havoc a coffee overdose wreaks on my system.

Found a little "health food" place and bought a salad for lunch with some trepidation because, well, the name did not inspire much confidence in their ability to satisfy MY appetite. However, was pleasantly surprised to find a very hearty salad comprising quite a bit of chicken (white meat though - gah), roast pumpkin, rocket, feta and red bell pepper. I got them to dump a hefty dose of avocado on top as an extra which made it that much better, heh. Who said health food had to be rabbit food? This was awesome. It was something like 12 degrees out but I sat on a park bench and ate my cold salad with just a light jacket on and my hair warming my ears. Have I mentioned how much I thrive in this weather? Even my skin looks awesome. I was SO born in the wrong country.

Had a drink with some work folk last night and went to Borders afterwards. The selection obviously rocks but the prices are ridiculous. Adelaide booksellers (a really nice second hand place) is possibly where I'll be spending most of my money. Again I have to be careful not to go hogwild because, although they are cheap by local standards, they work out to almost the same price as SL. Only books which I can't find back home or on Bookmooch will be purchased, she stated with absolute confidence in her self-control, NOT.

Dinner tonight was steak, sausage, fried egg and salad coupled with leftover rocket/spinach. Strawberries, nuts and dark chocolate for dessert. Read late into the night and plan to oversleep in thoroughly indecent fashion tomorrow.

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Hit the Steakhouse two doors away from my hotel last night but was dissapointed to find that a simple steak and salad was not directly on the menu. All the set meals came with bloody pancakes. Of course, they do call themselves a Steak and Pancake House but sheesh.


Anyway, I still managed to combine seperate side orders of ham steak, kranski sausage, grilled tomato and salad into the kind of meal I wanted and the result was pretty damn good. Also threw in some of those leftover champignons.


Later, I polished off the rest of the strawberries with coconut cream and nuts and slept like a baby.

Did some runnning along the river in the morning as planned and nearly ran down some of those gorgeus black swans that populate the area. Even with a light jacket on I had to end up carrying my phone, wallet and hotel keys which meant a lot of bumping and rattling. This was obviously not conducive to any hard sprinting but we made do. Tried pushups on the back of some park benches but it was too damn cold and wet and my hands kept slipping off. Did race up and down the steps of the Convention Centre though and nearly died of asphyxiation.

Dinner at a place called Pokies (no, don't ask) was good though volleyball certainly could have been better.

This free hotel coffee that I faithfully drink every morning reminds me of our in-joke re Douwe.

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Walked down King William Street around 6:30am in the bloody freezing cold and the sunrise was just starting. I was pretty well bundled up in a heavy jacket, gloves and woollen cap but soon lost sensation on my face, especially my nose. It was awesome!

Found a lovely running path near the Adelaide bridge (going alongside the River Torrens) and hope to schedule some sprints tomorrow morning. Of course one cannot run in a heavy jacket so must brave the cold in one of my lighter ones.

The path leading up to St. Peter's Cathedral was stunning. The photos probably don't do it justice but take my word for it. As you can see, I also passed the Adelaide Festival Centre and a statue of Bradman.

                 

Click here to download:

Freezing_my_extremities_off.zip (4087 KB)

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