The combination of a visit to the Sydney Fish Market + yum cha was quite a treat. First, we window shopped for fish Then we had an appetizer of Pacific oysters. So different from Atlantic! They were really meaty, and one type we had was quite briny, and the other being more fishy. Miles even tried one and liked it!      

Getting back to Australia (virtually, I just wish it were in person!), we left off right in the middle of our trip to the Blue Mountains. On Day 2, we started the day with some flat white coffee, long black coffee, hot chocolate and a really good breakfast in Katoomba. Then we visited the Koomurri Aboriginal Centre in Katoomba. I’d like to point out that John and Colman have found coffee companionship in each other. Every time they were out of sight of Colette and me, they’d somehow stop for another coffee (and waste no time doing this). At Katoomba,…

A couple of months ago I got to go to New Orleans as part of my company’s sponsorship of a charity called ux4good (user experience for good – a group that takes web designers and gets them to work on social problems). Last week they sent all the participants a 20 minute documentary of our visit, which has some great shots of New Orleans and all the things we got up too. [vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/47133631 w=500&h=281]

  Its been twenty years!!!  Time flies when you’re having fun and that’s what its been, lots of fun!!

Liam’s friends zita and Julia baked Liam a cake. Yum!

I love how the reflection in the glass shows that the brick buildings on either side of us mirror each other.

The celebrations for Liam’ birthday started when Liam’s friends Sebi and Sofie, with thanks to Sebi’s mom Gladys! stole him away from camp this afternoon to go play laser tag. Then a few hours later, phase 2 of the birthday celebrations began: dinner at the grill at diversey (by the lakefront, see the lovely view of the skyline) and 18 holes of miniature golf at the golf course right there. Liam’s friends Haden and Austin were done with camp by then and were with us too. All very nice kids! After golf, which for me was the lowest scoring game…

Many gardeners at the community garden grew eggplant (aka aubergine) quite successfully last year, and I was wishing I had planted some too. There’s so many nice combinations of tomatoes and eggplant, and wouldn’t it be nice to have an abundance of both at the same time? So early this summer, I planted 3 eggplants (eggplant plants?) of the purple, Japanese variety (long and thin, rather than the larger, rounder Italian type), and one eggplant called Gretel. Gretel eggplant fruits are white and long, but are smaller overall. I planted 2 of these plants in our home garden, and the…

The Sunday we were in Sydney, we went on an overnight trip to the Blue Mountains with Colette and Colman. Here are some pics from day one. This scenic viewpoint shows a good overview of the Blue Mountains, with famous formation the Three Sisters in the foreground. The mountains don’t really rise up as mountains usually do, but they are sort of carved into the land like canyons. We took the trail (not from the point shown above, but another starting point Colette and Colman knew of) down to the bottom, across, and had a little rest and refreshment by…

Sydney is a really an amazing city. Here are some great things we had a chance to experience. 1. It’s all about the water (indirect quote from Colette and Colman). This aerial photo taken on our way out of Sydney shows the harbor, which the city is built around. To the top right are the “Eastern Suburbs” where we stayed, including Bondi, Randwick and Maroubra. BTW I hear Maroubra is very quickly becoming the place to be 🙂 The green land at the far right, by the ocean, is Botany Bay. 2. Again, the water. People are very into walking…