Berra Apartment

I'm back in the nation's capital for work and while my previous stay in a 'serviced apartment' was a bit shite, I will say that this apartment rocked! 

 My open plan lounge and kitchen.

 Yes, I like having a proper kitchen.  

The view from the kitchen. 

Hey why not.  Here's a bedroom shot.

Here's a bathroom shot.  Two doors for easy access and heated tiles! 

Now I kinda wished I took this job for longer than two weeks.  Walking distance to work as well! 

Serviced Apartments

I've stayed at many different serviced apartments in my time of travelling so I think I'm in a good position to tell which ones are good or bad.  Hence, I'm not sure how this place can pass as a serviced apartment when my 'stove' looks like this:

It's a portable hotplate!  On top of that, there is no oven in this apartment. *groan*

At $157-$239 a night, I'm glad I'm not the one paying for my stay.  What a rip off.  I've stayed at another serviced apartment around the corner for $120 a night.  It was waaaay better and equipped with a full kitchen and laundry facilities.  Oh well, I guess staying here for the next two weeks will be marginally better than my previous two weeks in a Canberran hotel whereby I had no cooking or clothes washing facilities.  Breadtop and Sushi Train are also downstairs too!  :D

Missed My Flight...

... so I'm sitting in the airline lounge enjoying some freebies.  I don't normally have lounge access but I had a complimentary pass which I was saving for a most suitable occasion and today was the day.  

The best thing about the lounge?  Free food and alcohol! 

This Hungarian goulash was so-so.  Although I guess I don't know what a good goulash tastes like.   

 Next dish - some antipasto options.  The bonus today was macaroni cheese.  It was surprisingly good! 

More antipasto and cheese.  A glass of shiraz to help all it go down.  

I finally boarded my flight and am now in Canberra.  My employer stupidly booked in a hotel rather than a serviced apartment, so it's going to be a bit of struggle with dinner over the next few nights.  

My home for the next two weeks.  The room is far too big and so much space is wasted.  

Cairns - again!

I thought I'd guarantee myself a bit of a Summer and headed up to Cairns for work once more.  I really liked the vibe of the town last time and was more than happy to return.  As usual, I've been supplied an apartment (a much better one than last time) and also a car.  

Here's a tour of my abode.  

Open plan lounge and kitchen.  

Off we go upstairs.  Upstairs.  I have a two level apartment.  

Main bedroom and second bedroom.  Both had ensuites.  Apartment - too big for little old me.  

My rental car for the next two weeks.  Never driven an Hyundai before and will probably never buy one, but given that it was brand spanking new, it was a pretty sweet, zippy ride.  

Clearly this apartment is too big for one person.  Ma really wanted to come and visit but unfortunately being retired means that her diary is jammed pack with activities such as watching live Viet concerts.  Given that Spu is still a bum and has never been to the Australian tropics, I have forced him to come and visit me :D  Our adventures will follow! 

Being Appreciated

I like my job.  It is definitely not the passion of my life but for what it is, I get a decent income, I never take my work home with me and relatively speaking, it's kinda stress-free.  However my work is heavy on people interaction and if you have a poor bedside manner.. well, you really shouldn't do this job.  That being said, members of the public can be very, very annoying at times and often my tolerance is taken to the limit when I get a bunch of mentally and emotionally draining ones.

Today was my last day of working three weeks at this particular place and upon leaving was given a bunch of flowers.  :D  It sure is nice to be appreciated and the ego boost doesn't hurt either!

They were pretty adamant they didn't want their full-timer to return from holiday.  He sounds pretty shite.

Educational Conference = Eating Time

So I'm back in Oz now and one of the reasons for my return was to attend a work-related conference.  I had a work conference but I'm posting about food.  Yes, this is what happens when I go to tax-deductible lectures.

I do like coffee but I'm not a regular drinker (diuresis people!) and St Ali's is meant to be one of the places that does them well.  I had one of their coffees, it tasted nice but I guess I can't really tell the difference between an average versus an exceptional cup of coffee.

Oh but here's my breakfast - sourdough (I think, I can't remember) with chorizo, spinach and a poached egg.  Stevie's corn fritters, poached egg and fried halloumi cheese.  Num nums! 

I never usually venture down South Melbourne way and let alone down an otherwise unremarkable alley in the inner burbs, but that's where you'll find St. Ali chock full of people.  If you're in the area, try it out.

We also munched on dinner at Portello Rosso, a tapas bar.  I forgot to take photos but the food ....well, it was yummy of course.  There was a pork belly roast on special and it was just so delish, with the crackling (sinful!) cooked to the point of candied.  We were left a little disappointed by dessert and in the end we actually under-ordered and needed to supplement our hunger three hours later at Supper Inn.  I'd definitely try it again but this time give the banquet menu a crack.

My Sydneysider friends wanted to check out Cumulus Inc and I was more than happy to return to lamb shoulder heaven.  Just to prove how popular this dish is, several of the surrounding tables also ordered one.

Yay, a decent photo this time.  Mmm sweet, tender lamb.  *pat pat*

Yeah, believe me.  We didn't skip any lectures.

An Update

I haven't blogged anything lately because well, there has been nothing worth blogging.  My typical day for the past 2 weeks has been pretty much the same:

Wake up,
Run to train station,
Begin 30 minute ride to work,
Observe the change in socio-demographic as the train moves closer to my work destination,
Walk past the methadone clinic,
Do my job for 8 hours,
Take the train back to my accommodation,
Prepare dinner,
Eat dinner in front of TV (currently watching a lot of The Biggest Loser and My Kitchen Rules),
Gym (if I can be bothered),
Shower and finally
Sleep. 

That's pretty much it as I'm working a 6 day schedule (by choice) and on my day off I sleep in and then have a wander around the city.  Yep, that's pretty much it. 

The only other notable things I've done are:

• nurse a bottle of red for the past week, finally polishing it off earlier tonight. 
• not progressed with my shrug knitting.  Too busy snoozing on the train.
• pondered what the big deal is with Pandora jewelery.  I still don't know.
• decided that Shannon Noll's song for the Biggest Loser them is kinda inspirational.  I'm a little embarrassed to admit that but it made me go out and buy a new pair of runners, gym outfit and sports bra.

That's pretty much it!  I'm due for a trip to Sydney in a week and in the usual fashion will see some good ol' friends and eat tonnes.  Yay! 

Cairns

Prior to moving to London, Cairns was on my places-to-visit-but-use-work-to-pay-for-it list.  I didn’t manage to cross it off when I was working for the Big Evil but now, I’ve managed to find my way and here I am in tropical Queensland.  Mmmm… humidity… so good for the eczema prone skin.  I’ve finally looked properly at the map and have just realised ‘Hey!  I’m really far up north!’  I’ve been provided a car for my travels and while that might seem extravagant, public transport doesn’t really exist here and nothing could be more painful than waiting in the heat for a bus to arrive. 

Me and me Holden, mate.  Actually, it’s quite a nice drive and a pretty ice-blue colour too!

I'm a bit annoyed with the accommodation I've been provided for my stay in Cairns.  Sure, it has it's own pool and is a short walk to the beach - don't be stupid, I still drive to the beach.  I have a car to get around, so what's to complain?  Well, this place has no accessible internet.  I could go to any telco and purchase my own personal wireless account but why the fark should I  have to do that?  For times like these when I'm traveling for work, all I ask for is dial-up internet.  That's right.  Dial-up internet.  But....I don't even have a phone line in this stupid apartment!  So, for the rest of December I'm dependent on internet cafes.  *grunt* I hate internet cafes.

Now…. I’m off to the beach!  Not to tan but to exfoliate my feet and then sit in the shade and read trashy mags :D

Mick Jagger

London has been... well London-ish since I've been back. Grey, rainy, cold.... the typical winter. Today was a little exciting because of our work's Christmas lunch at Theo Randall. Having not eaten breakfast, it wasn't a good idea to drink two champagnes and a mixed spirit before sitting down. I was already dizzy, slurring my speech and had to concentrate really hard to read the menu.

But before settling at our table, we stood near the private dining room which was slowly filling up with guests. My judgment was quite cloudy and evidenced by my loud observation and pointing, "Hey, that guy looks a lot like Mick Jagger".

Well duh... cos it was Mick Jagger.

At the conclusion of our lunch while we were waiting for our jackets, he brushed past all of us. Of course, we were all too-cool -for-school and we were all nonchalant.

He's a very small man. Not much taller than me. He looks like his photos, saggy skin and all.

His daughters were supposedly there. Me......too drunk to notice.

Circle Christmas 2007

The Circle celebrated Christmas a bit early this year due to travel commitments of many of the members. Dinner was at Med Kitchen in Coven Garden with the Christmas dinner menu and decorations to boot.

After a 'table on fire' episode as a result of paper hats and streamers making direct contact with a tealight, I ate my ash-peppered bruschetta.

An incident with my digital camera meant that I only took three photographs, of which only one is worth posting. I figure you all can find the other photos somewhere on Facebook.

Kt, Lil Miss J and I with the Christmas cracker. Note Kt and my impersonation of Mrs. Claus.

No gifts were traded this year for KK, opting for an "Act of Service". We're all so freaking original with half of us opting to offer our culinary skills to our recipients. Let me just say, my Oreo cheesecake is making it's long awaited comeback.

Now to make up for the lack of photos, here's a pic of the Christmas Tree I set up at work. Yes, I do get paid to do that.

Work

All has been a bit quiet on the blogging front. Hmmm so I just thought I would post something up for all those who sit there and press refresh on my blog all day :p. Let's see, I started my locum work in the southeast and it's been pretty good! No back to back patients and on the first day I only saw seven!!!!!

Yay, it's such a nice relief from seeing about 15-16 patients per day with only a half hour lunch break by which you lose 10 minutes of it cos you're running over time and then you force yourself to swallow rather than chew your sushi roll.

My only gripe is driving to the southeast, which takes 50 minutes on a good run, and freaking 80 minutes on a bad run. Good thing I start at 10am. Hehe. I now understand why they are building EastLink.

A turn in events...

Well, a big thing happened today...

I RESIGNED!!!!!

I wont bother going into any details of why, who, where and whatever (for fear of someone on the inside reading this), but I will say this - I was absolutely FUMING before finally deciding to give the Big Evil the flick.

Excuse me for blowing my own trumpet, but I'm one hell of a nice f#*king person (a walkover if you like) and it takes a lot to really push me over the edge and make me want to yell and scream profanities with genuine hatred. Lucky for them, I was able to exert self-control despite speaking through gritted teeth.

It's an untimely departure and my resignation was never meant to be so early or on such negative terms. But oh well, shit happens. Shit for the company that is.

Now in Sydney

Yep, that's right. I'm back in Sydney for a month. I've been made to feel as though that the company has done me a huge favour by providing me work here. They say they are overwhelmed with employees and do not have work for me in the CBD. Hence I have to travel 25 km to work every day.

I feel so valued.

Back in Melbourne

I left Adelaide without a spot of a bother. My final night was spent with Tien at dinner on Rundle st, hot chocolate at Chocolate Bean (a Koko Black/Max Brenner-style cafe) and then a round of cocktails at The Botanical Bar. I would post some pics up except that I forgot to take my camera. It's a bit of a shame cos she is gorgeous and a nice person to boot!

It's nice to be at home even though a week of it was spent in Cranbourne. I dont think that I should project a negative image of the general demographic, but I will say this - something must be wrong with the water there. The only advantage in working in the outer outer outer fringe was that it was walking distance to Krispy Kreme. I only permitted myself to eat two donuts though. I haven't been gymming regularly lately and a dozen donuts would really upset the fine balance I have with my pot belly.