Planking?

Image From Brisbane Times

I can’t help but write about it. It has been in the news consistently for the past few weeks but is a bit of a controversial subject. “Planking”, the action of lying face down with arms to the sides of the body, in unusual public spaces and photographing it, has become a phenomenon in Australia. As Wikipedia informs, Australian National Rugby League player David Williams planked after a game on March 27^th, 2011 and went on to talk about it, describing it as "pretty much, active lying down.” Since, this silly stunt has attracted national attention, causing both injuries and deaths, yet continuing to spread globally.

From left: Image from triplem.com and mix.com

In case you are interested in participating in this fad here are some helpful tips from a Newcomer's Guide to Planking, written in a Brisbane Times article:

-Be creative. ''It's not creative to plank on a sign”.
-Do it overseas. ''People are doing it on monuments and landmarks”.

-Don't plank on private property or somewhere unsafe.

-Give it a name - office plank, group plank, international plank.

-Be a proper plank. ''You've got to be a good straight plank, head straight, arms straight, legs down.''

Image from the dailytelegraph.com

Image from Australia's Today Show

But even with all of the hype apparently “planking is so last week.” An even newer internet craze is “Teapotting.” Teapotting is similar to planking, but instead of lying face down in interesting places, the subject holds a teapot pose. The Facebook page (currently with 4,655 likes, as opposed to the 155,773 likes that the Planking Facebook page has) is apparently “run by teachers so it's safe, it's fun and it's ethically and digitally responsible.” Who would have thought? Worth sharing…

Teapotting demonstrated on Sunrise

Din Tai Fung

Having a good dumpling house (here it’s called yum cha as opposed to dim sum) in your city of residence is a must. There's nothing better than sitting down at the table and immediately being confronted with food speeding past, carts crashing into your seats and, every once in a while, the charm of being purposely ignored. This was our typical experience when visiting our favorite NYC spots.

Since living in Sydney, I had visited a few yum cha restaurants but had yet to find a favorite until last week when Josh and Russell introduced us to Din Tai Fung, an offshoot of a "legendary Taiwanese chain" (which apparently has several locations throughout the world, including LA). Since, a new relationship has flourished. 

While they are lacking the carts, the personality, charm and flavor are there in full force. You can watch an almost factory like group of workers in their white hats and their surgical masks prepare your food through a large glass window as you wait for your table number to be called. This definitely spurs the appetite. 

"This is state-of-the-art dumpling production. The skill in creating firm, elastic, transparent dough skins of the exact same size and thickness, which don't tear or unravel, requires discipline and extreme quality control." You can almost taste the steam that muddles the kitchen space as you mark your order on the menu (which gets served almost immediately after being seated = love that).

I can't stop thinking about the pork soup dumplings, the garlic string beans and the sesame and red bean ice cream. I will definitely be paying many more visits. It is a high recommendation for those Sydney yum cha lovers...

New York State of Mind

Photo by Kipp Wettstein with Emily Wettstein

In addition to missing friends and family, I cannot help but daydream about the view out of our NYC apartment’s window. For those of you that visited the apartment we spent our last year in NYC in, you know what I am talking about. Because we lived on Tenth Avenue and most of the buildings between Eighth and Tenth are low rise tenement buildings, we basically looked at New York’s skyline in elevation. It was spectacular.  Even though we were only twelve floors above the street, it felt like we were floating above the city. I took hundreds of photos of the view. It never really got old.

I had a very hard time emotionally separating myself from the window. Before leaving I would spend hours staring out the window, with Jay Z and Alicia Keys’ Empire State of Mind blasting in the background. I knew that some way, somehow I had to capture this snapshot and take it with me to the other side of the planet. So last summer, only days before our furniture was to be picked up to head Down Under, one of my extremely talented former students (who has a background in photography) and her cousin, who is a professional photographer, came over to capture the moment.

Almost six months later the view has returned, only this time virtually, a printed canvas 50 inches wide by 40 inches tall on our wall just opposite our Sydney view. The crazy thing about it is that the image resolution is so high that you can actually see things that you could not see with the naked eye.

We can come home from a hard day’s work, sit on the same couch we sat on in NYC and look out the same window to the glittering city. It keeps NYC on our minds…

Autumn Road Trip

We have had a car since moving to Sydney but with a New Yorker’s mentality we tend to revert mostly to walking and public transportation. We have seriously only filled up our gas tank (or petrol tank, as it is referred to here) four times, which is a little embarrassing. So with a five day national holiday weekend for Easter and Anzac Day (Australia's Memorial Day), Kate and I decided it was time to take the "beast", the name of our car, for a road trip (my first real road trip on the left side of the road).

With Kate’s family in Bright, just south of the New South Wales boarder, a bit inland in the state if Victoria, we thought it a perfect place and time to visit. This charming town/ski village in the “Victorian Alps” is only about an eight hour drive from Sydney through towns with names such as Mittagong, Belangalo, Gundagai, Woomargama, Yackandandah, Porepunkah (Kate gave me a lesson in correct pronunciation along the way). The Australian landscape is definitely unique, not to mention the array of road kill we were confronted with, ranging from kangaroos (we counted about 10; so sad) to wombats (which I have never seen before) to foxes. Very authentic…

It is now “Autumn” here in Australia (my psyche thinks it Spring; very confusing). They don’t call it Fall because no leaves actually fall from the native trees! However, the area surrounding Bright has a very different landscape. It felt like driving through New England in Fall. The trees were turning the brightest shades of yellow and red and the crisp air smelt like Pine Trees. The stars at night were like nothing I have ever seen before. I could see the entire Milky Way.

It was great to see Kate’s family. Our first day in Bright we all went to a local country Australian Rules Football (AFL) game. Kate’s cousin, Regan, plays on the team so we had a bit of an in. I have watched Aussie Rules before and actually really enjoy it (those of you that know me are aware that I am not a sports aficionado). Unlike American football, the players wear absolutely no protection and the clock never stops. It's intense! I had never seen a game in person before. While the players were being rough and physical in the oval (aka the field), I was sipping a beer and eating a meat pie (the Australian equivalent of hot dogs at the ball game) on the sidelines. I felt like a true Aussie.

Amidst a wonderful time with family, Kate and I stole away for the day to drive to a Food and Wine Festival in Milawa, about an hour away. The festival was held at the Brown Brothers vineyard, which is one of our favorite wineries. We tasted wine, took a tour, bought local produce (cheese, mustards, olive oil) and ate good food, my choice a cuttlefish hamburger with roquette (which is actually arugala) and lemon aioli- yum.

The best part of all was that I had no connection on my phone for long parts of the weekend. We were in the country! Good excuse to have a real break (which I have not done for a while). Thanks to the Alexanders for a great time!

Queue

This week, the clothing store, Zara, opened in Sydney. Let's just say that it was a bit out of control. It was the buzz all through the city (a bit strange) and there were barricades set up to control the ridiculous crowds. People "queued" for hours to get into the store. They say Banana Republic and H&M are coming next. The trend began with the first Gap opening a couple of months ago. I feel right at home...

Security Question

Account security questions tend to range from your mother's maiden name, the city you were born, your high school, your favorite pet's name, etc. I find it fitting that when recently setting up a bank account in Oz one of the security question options was "My favourite drink is". Only in Australia...

15 Seconds of Fame

Last year, en route to Australia to validate my visa (I had no idea what I was getting myself into then), I had a couple of days layover in LA. My wonderful friend, Annette, invited me to the filming of America's Next Great Restaurant, which only Annette would have an in to. 

I am not one to deny that I am a bit of a fan of reality television. Let me support this statement by saying, there are those that are good (e.g. Top Chef, Project Runway...) and those that are ridiculous (e.g. Jerseylicious, Teen Mom…). Sorry if I have offended anyone. I am not quite sure which side of the scale America’s Next Great Restaurant will fall but at least I can say that Annette and I played a role in selecting a new restaurant chain that will be opening in three weeks in three cities throughout the USA (although I am not sure if it is actually the one we voted for).

I have always been jealous of the people who actually get to eat the food on these cooking shows and this was my opportunity. The food was all around good (Annette and I both voted for the episode’s winning team- Grill’Billies) but more importantly, almost one year later, the episode has finally aired. As I watched the show in Oz, there was Annette and I making a dashing debut. OK so we don’t have any lines or anything and it’s a bit like “Where’s Waldo” (which strangely is called “Where’s Wally” in Oz) but I took some photos of my TV to share our 15 seconds of fame with you all (NOTE: in some photos we are highlighted with a pink circle). 

Tim Tam

I cannot believe I have lived in Australia for six months (time flies) and I have not done a post on one of my favorite Australian treats, the Tim Tam. Those that spend time with me in Australia frequently hear me complain about the lack of a good chocolate chip cookie in Australia (I am in search) but the Tim Tam almost makes up for that (although they call it a biscuit or a bicky, not a cookie). As the statistic on the Tim Tam official website reads, "1 in every 2 households contains a packet of Tim Tams and around 35 million packs are sold each year – that’s nearly 400 million biscuits."

All I can say is two layers of chocolate malted biscuit, separated by a light chocolate cream filling and coated in a thin layer of chocolate. Need I say more? It is truly heaven. And they even come in varieties, like 20 different flavors including White, Double Coat,  Chewy Caramel, Tim Tam Classic Dark, Crush Honeycomb, Choc Hazelnut Flavored Mousse, Black Forest Delight and Creme Caramel, to name a few…

To be honest, I cannot be bothered with all these options. I always seem to go straight for the original (I have a hard time with change + I am a purist). It may not be a chocolate chip cookie but it is a chocolate wrapped in chocolate wrapped in chocolate cookie (even better when refrigerated). Oh, and those of you in the USA you are very lucky as Pepperidge Farms has brought “Australia’s favorite Cookie” (or biscuit) directly to your turf. You can even order it online and track its shipment from Australia (where they are still made) straight to your front door. Now if only I could get the reverse service for a chocolate chip cookie…

Josh + Marni

This past weekend our friends Josh and Marni were married (congrats!). A perfect day- great atmosphere + great friends + great food + great music + lots to drink... What more can one really ask for? It was truly a “Sydney” wedding. Just as the dress code on the invitation read “elegantly casual” the wedding matched the attire. As Josh put it best, “think Hamptons cocktail party,” or even better, “think an afternoon cocktail party at the Trump’s Hamptons estate,” a perfect description, with the addition of the breathtaking Sydney Harbour and the city as a backdrop.

The wedding was a precise display of Josh and Marni’s unique and quirky personalities. It was all about the details, from the location at The Gap Bluff, at south head (the ends of the world) where the harbour meets the sea, to the ever so appropriate nautical theme. That’s just the beginning, there were custom made pinwheels and other hand crafted decorations, hand sewed napkins for every guest (referred to as serviettes in Oz, which I am still trying to understand), a borrowed ship’s bell, Tabasco sauce name cards (which some of us sprinkled on our meal- genius), specially ordered striped straws, Corona with a lime (which is not as typical in Oz as it is in the US) and did I mention Mexican food? The perfect ingredients…

The evening drew to an end with more drinks at the Watson Bay Hotel. As the sun set over Sydney, I got a bit nostalgic, which was obviously exacerbated by an excess of cocktails. While I am sad that the wedding marks their move back to NYC, I cannot imagine a better planned event that celebrates Josh and Marni, their friends, and this upside-down city…

Crazy Sunset

Looks like Armageddon....

Phytophthora Cinnamomi

Last week I was introduced to cinnamon fungus.  Cinnamon Fungus (Phytophthora cinnamomi) is a microscopic, soil borne pathogen (disease causing organism) that attacks and destroys plant root systems causing plants to die through lack of water and nutrients. It can be spread through footwear.

Who knew that going on a bush walk (as it is referred to here) required passing through a “Cinnamon Fungus Hygiene Station?” It was a bit strange and a bit out of context. Just picture it... You park the car, start walking towards the trees and then suddenly are confronted with basically a turnstile to enter the national park. Sure, one can just jump over the turnstile, no one is watching, but that would be disrespectful to nature.

Instead, each person that enters the park has to go through an almost ritualistic sequence.

Step 1: Use the brittle brush to remove organic material from footwear.

Step 2: Depress spring-loaded footpad to immerse the soles of your shoes into chemical solution

You learn something new every day…

Greenhouse

I am a bit obsessed with planter walls. At some point I hope to build one (anyone interested?).  So when I saw that a pop up café called Greenhouse (literally a constructed “green house”) had come to Sydney’s Harbor, I was there!

I am definitely a fan of the oh-so-trendy new global phenomenon, the “pop up” store/café/etc.  I have stumbled upon several interesting ones since I have been in Sydney: a club, only open in the evening, transformed into an art market during the day; a designer selling handmade objects ranging from clocks to lights and other cool homewares, renting a vacant commercial space for a week. I love that they just "pop up" and disappear when you least expect it. It makes things interesting.

Back to Greenhouse, this "pop up" café has landed on some prime real estate sitting adjacent to Sydney’s scenic Harbour, just east of the Harbour Bridge in Circular Quay (pronounced key not kway), Dawes Point to be exact . I had seen the architect’s work (Joost Bakker) published before but it was great to get up close. 

On the outside, a cube constructed out of an external cladding system made of rebar and steel mesh serves as a pedestal for terracotta planter pots that grow and change with the weather (living and dying). A series of orange shipping containers provide additional space for services, the basic design strategy allowing for quick assembly and dismantling. On the inside, a sustainable and waste free café with a menu that features chef, Matt Stone’s simple cooking. The menu, black painted words on the walls and ceilings adds another dimension to the space and reads vibrantly from the outside (may hurt your neck to read but worth it).

I read somewhere that it might remain permanently in Sydney. I am pretty sure that if this is true, the location will change. Who knows where it will be next? Maybe it will be coming to a city near you? That’s the mystery of the “pop up.”

Blackmail

This past weekend I had my first NYC visitor! We have been here for five-and-a-half months (just crazy) and with the piles on my desk rising (stress), I cannot really say that I have had the time to enjoy being in a new environment. So when Jeremy told me he was coming to town, I knew I had to show him some of my favorite places and spaces that make Sydney unique. It was a perfect weekend. Beautiful weather, lots of walking (blisters included), exploring, r and r, eating and drinking. What more can you ask for, really? Here are some shots of a couple of spotlights. Hopefully the following imagery will entice (hint, hint). Start planning those trips already!

A walk around Mrs. Macquarie’s Chair and into the Royal Botanical Gardens where bats hang above you, sleeping the day away…

 The Sydney Opera House, up close and personal...

 In all its glory...

Breakfast at Bills (the best sweet corn fritters), some potato wedges as an afternoon snack (one of Australia's best inventions), Dinner at Phamish (excellent and extremely popular Vietnamese food), Yum! All are highly recommended...

A quick drive across the bridge to Blues Point for some lunch and a different perspective of the city…

An afternoon visit to Manly and  North Head, truly the end of the world, where Sydney's Harbour meets the Tasman Sea...

And some wildlife (probably deadly)…

Mardi Gras

Last weekend Sydney hosted its world renowned Mardi Gras. I have heard about Sydney's Mardi Gras celebrations for many years and always thought it was the equivalent of New Orleans Mardi Gras but in actuality it is really the gay pride parade.

It was a stressful night, as I had a work deadline but Kate and I decided to take a break and head up to Oxford Street, just a block from our apartment, to participate in the festivities. It was the perfect break. Drag queens, chaps and Dykes on Bikes. We even got to see Lilly Tomlin, who was the Master of Ceremonies (a bit random). What more can you ask for on a Saturday night?

A Vegemite Sandwich

Back in the 80’s when I was rocking out to Men at Work’s song Down Under; I did not realize that one day I would actually “come from a land down under”. Well, fast forward a few decades (holy moly) and here I am, smiling and eating Vegemite sandwiches daily. Who would have thought? I don’t think I even knew what Vegemite was. I would have probably assumed it was some processed mixture of vegetables, as the name suggests but I was obviously missing some of the key ingredients.

Vegemite, a great source of vitamin B, is actually a by-product of beer manufacturing, which makes a lot of sense seeing as it is Australia’s most iconic national breakfast item. You’ve got to start the day off right with some beer extract! And that’s what everyone does, beginning at childhood. I can pretty much guarantee that every household in Australia has a jar of Vegemite in their pantry. They even just launched a new variety called Cheesybite, a mix of vegemite and cream cheese (not for me).

Vegemite (with butter or cheese) to an Australian is like Peanut Butter and Jelly to an American, which Australians think is an even stranger concoction (jelly here is actually what we would call Jell-O in the US. They would refer to Jelly as Jam, so maybe the language differences make it sound stranger than it is). An almost black paste that has an incredibly salty taste, Vegemite can be compared to the British equivalent Marmite, which I have never tried (nor really have the desire to) but have heard it is more of an intense flavor, less sweet.

They say if you try something eight times, you are bound to like it and I have to say at first, the look and smell of Vegemite was a true turn off (note, when first attempting do not smell, just eat). But as they say, don’t judge a book by its cover; I made the plunge years ago when I took my first taste of this truly strange concoction. I have to say; surprisingly it did not take too much convincing. It was love at first bite and our relationship has flourished ever since. I truly love Vegemite (apparently Obama thinks it's horrible). It is best served on hot toast with butter and just a light layer of Vegemite. Despite being owned by a US company, Kraft (who knew), this trend has not caught on in the States. I am slowly evolving into a well rounded Aussie…