Too much of a good thing

Posted on December 30, 2009

Like most people, I absolutely love mangoes. I go weak at the knees for mangoes. I could eat them every day for the rest of my life – or so I thought.

With mangoes now in season, I went and bought a whole box of them from Harris Farm, which I’ve been devouring ever since like some sort of crazed addict. Moderation, you see, isn’t a word in my vocabulary. And damn it I overdid it yet again.

This morning, the mere sight of the remaining mangoes made my stomach churn. I had gone from craving them to loathing them sometime after Mango #6. And because mangoes ripen so quickly I had to make a choice; force them down or throw them out, neither of which I wanted to do. Instead we chopped them all up and made a commercial quantity of mango sago, so you know what I’ll be bringing to this weekend’s bbqs!

Beneath the surface

Posted on December 28, 2009

Dodgy repairs like this explain why Sydney’s roads keep falling apart!

Boxing Day parties

Posted on December 26, 2009

Today was a busy day with three parties on at the same time. First up was lunch at Julia’s new apartment, followed by Nathan’s birthday dinner and then kicking on at Papz’s 25th in the city.

Julia’s brother is a DJ, so there were hundreds of records in the lounge room.

Gotta love the 80s!

The forgotten (crappy) phone pics

Posted on December 25, 2009

While mucking around with my phone I came across the folder containing the photos I had taken with it. There were hundreds of pics, most of which were of the inside of my pocket (I think I’ve been activating the camera whenever I sat down). However in amongst all these accidental shots of nothing were some I had taken when I didn’t have the LX3 handy.

Left: Single car accident near Anzac Pde. Looked like the driver pirouetted in the wet and up onto the footpath. Right: Taken in Singapore earlier this year from the back of a taxi. This 360 was lining up the GT3 in front of us. Soon after this shot, three identically modified R35s flew past.

Spotted in Chinatown. At first I thought the foil was a ghetto heat-shielding attempt. Then I realised it’s on all the wrong parts. Even the kickstand is covered in foil. Hmm…

Worst replica of an F1 car I’ve seen in my entire life. Looked like it was shaped with a spatula.

Left: I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw this Ariel Atom pull into the carpark. Right: Not sure if this dude owns both spots or something, but he’s certainly asking for trouble. Either some granny is going to try to squeeze in or a road rager is going to key him.

Merry Christmas!

Posted on December 24, 2009

Received some pretty cool Xmas pressies from work-related companies, which was a nice change from the gimmicky PR trinkets we usually get sent. Thanks to Papz for the Arsenal mug too!

Have a safe and wonderful Christmas! Condolences to those who, like me, have to keep working through the break…

Gifts from Noriyaro

Posted on December 23, 2009

Alexi’s back from Japan for a couple of weeks to spend Christmas with his family. I’m sure many of you would be familiar with his Noriyaro blog, as he’s doing every car nut’s dream of living – and drifting – in Japan. Whenever Alexi comes back to Sydney he’s always nice enough to bring gifts for the ASM editorial team. I received this giant box of oversized Pocky sticks, which is practically four times bigger!

Each chocolate-dipped stick was as thick as a pen and the length of my forearm.

Garth received this gadget. I think it creates pixel animations.

Kula’s gift was for his son Conrad. I think this is a Japanese pirate rendition of a jack-in-the-box; you jab the barrel with a sword and an armless pirate comes flying out. I have a fiver on it scaring the living shit out of little Conrad.

Alexi also brought us some of the Royal Milk Tea Kit Kats he had mentioned in one of my previous posts. They drew a mixed response around the office, but I give them two thumbs up. I love these quirky Kit Kats!

A sore winner

Posted on December 22, 2009

Playing the Cranium board game at our Xmas gathering has been a tradition since, well, last year. As my old university friends and I make for a rowdy bunch, there was certainly some heated rivalry between the boys vs. girls teams. Last Xmas it was us boys that won. By a hundred miles. I think the girls only made it to the third square when we began our victory lap.

This year I should’ve known they were out for blood the moment I saw not one, but two Cranium sets sitting on Jasmine’s dining table (who along with Jake kindly offered their apartment for the festivities). I should’ve known something was up when they herded everyone together, making it compulsory to play. I should’ve known there was something fishy when they started winking at each other.

After playing for an hour, us boys had reached the half-way point with the girls languishing behind. We were on a streak – six in a row – and the game was in our pocket. But the pivotal moment came when we drew a ‘Club Cranium’ question, which allows both teams to compete. One member of each team had to draw pictures (no symbols or words) while the rest had to guess what it was. The object was ‘MOSH PIT’, which the girls guessed correctly. This was their drawing. Now even if you ignore the illegal use of symbols at the top of the page, how did they honestly get that answer by seeing two cars and a lightning bolt? In spite of our protestations, the game went on.

Suddenly they started naming answers before the ‘I’ve been in…’ sentence had even been finished. We were schooled on rules we didn’t know existed. We were told that the whispering we heard was in our imaginations, and that we should stop watching so much Lost. The clincher was when Julie’s task was to sculpt a nominated object. Before she had even squashed the playdough Rachel yelped ‘Pie! Apple Pie!’ She was right.

With our arms up in defeat we witnessed the girls move into the penultimate square. We had hardly moved forward. None of the boys were looking forward to the double shots that awaited the losing team; mainly because as the designated drivers, it meant everyone would be sleeping over. This particular point was lost on the girls, who were determined to even up the Cranium score.

Now according to the girls, our amazing comeback to snatch victory from their fingertips was down to pure luck. I think it’s due to our supreme skill, wit, good looks and charm. However if there was some outside help, I think it was karma rather than luck.

Just teasing of course!

Down south

Posted on December 21, 2009

Amongst all the Xmas gatherings I found some time on Saturday to continue my property hunt. This time I headed south to see what the suburbs were like down there. Along the way I popped by this property on the fringe of the CBD. Nice looking place but not really the ideal location (nestled in a busy alley).

Courtyard was a decent size although the neighbour’s juliet balcony deletes your privacy.

Popped by Paul’s Famous Hamburgers while I was in Sylvania. We weren’t overly impressed the first time we ate here, but this time around it was much, much better.

Those who prefer Aussie-style burgers will rave about the ones at Paul’s.

Spend that surplus!

Posted on December 20, 2009

Some of Sydney’s roads really boggle the mind. I’m guessing peanut-shaped roundabouts, unnecessary speed humps and painting new lanes are the first on the ‘to do’ list when a council needs to blow a budget surplus. Alexandria’s Bourke Road is the latest victim. At least they’ll thwart that speeding motorist trying to park his car.

Through the cracks

Posted on December 16, 2009

Been getting used to the new Onyx for the past week, and so far so good. Its an improvement over the Bold in every area; its smaller, faster, more intuitive. Even the battery life has doubled. Then today I came across a glitch in Blackberry’s browser. After using Google Quick Search, the ‘Go to’ option disappears from the browser’s menu. And with it nowhere to be found you can’t enter in a new URL. You can still jump around the net by typing the URL into Google, but that’s a bit silly. Perhaps the next step in Google’s plans for net domination is to be the middle man between my favourite sites. Or maybe I’m just missing something really, really obvious.

The fast-food burger

Posted on December 15, 2009

Americans - at least those on the west coast - have In-N-Out. The Japanese have MOS Burger. But in Australia what is our great fast-food burger joint? In my opinion we don’t have one. Yes we have countless ‘gourmet’ burger outlets, but sometimes you crave the evil, junk variety. Although I hate everything else that Hungry Jack’s have on their menu, for me the best fast-food burger is their Bacon Deluxe. It’s a damn shame that such a small burger gobbles up your recommended daily fat intake in one swoop, else I’d probably eat one every week!

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