I hate gas ovens!

Dave had a late-night call this evening so I set about making some peanut butter and chocolate chip muffins in my new oven. I turned it on to preheat and set about making my muffin batter, only to find that by the time I’d put the batter in the muffin tray, the oven had actually turned itself off. It took me another 10 minutes to get it working again – it lights and then when you turn it to the right temperature, it switches itself off. I don’t understand it – it’s like it has a mind of it’s own. Anyway, my muffins were meant to take 10-15 minutes to bake, they took 40 minutes….40 minutes to bake muffins??? Ridiculous. I’ve no idea how to use a gas oven, clearly. They look a little anaemic too as they didn’t seem to want to brown on top BUT they taste delicious, so it’s okay. The oven then took an absolute age to cool down, even the handle on it was boiling hot for a while afterwards – I’m sure this can’t be right, I’m worried we’re either going to end up gassed in the night, or blowing the house up…hmmm.

My first attempt at sushi

Since I’ve been in Sydney, I’ve developed a mild obsession with sushi. It’s brilliant here, not like the crap you get in Marks and Sparks, it’s so fresh and delicious – I don’t know what I’m going to do when I get back to the UK and there are no good Japanese-owned sushi trains about! Anyway, I decided I would try my hand at making it in order to save some money. I bought all the ingredients – the nori (seaweed), sushi rice, rice wine vinegar, a bamboo rolling mat and some simple fillings to begin with (avocado, cucumber, and red pepper cut into fine strips and tuna with a teriyaki sauce).

The preparation of the rice is by far the hardest and most time consuming bit. You have to rinse it until the water runs clear, then boil it, let it rest, add the sushi vinegar mixture, fold it in, leave it to cool blah blah blah. Then the fun bit: rolling the sushi. I was pleasantly surprised with how my rolls turned out actually – I was expecting them to look quite messy but they were beautiful little things; I was like a proud mother. Granted they didn’t taste as great as the real stuff and my rice was a bit stodgy, but they made a very pleasant lunch today. I’m not sure I saved myself much money though, and I definitely wouldn’t if I bought sushi-grade fish, so, unless I’m desperate, I think I’ll probably stick to buying it from the professionals!

And yes, the photo on the left at the top is my homemade sushi :)

Moving in day

Our moving in day was, luckily, fairly stress free. So stress free in fact that before we’d even started unpacking we decided to have a wander around our new area to find somewhere to eat. We ended up at a little café called Piccolo Bar, which is definitely worthy of a post. It’s a family-owned place, and very, very kooky! We ordered our food – Dave had meatballs and I had roast beef and roasted vegetables (delicious) – and whilst waiting for it to arrive, watched the world go by. Various interesting characters passed through the café, all clearly locals. The couple sitting behind us were particularly suspicious – the guy got up half way through his meal to do what I can only imagine was selling drugs to the local pisshead – he clearly put a bag of weed in his pocket after their conversation!

It was only after we had been to Piccolo bar that I realised what a Kings Cross institution it is – I googled it. Apparently lots of famous people have passed through its doors and it features in many books about old Sydney. The man who first opened it – an immigrant Italian – still sits and vets every person who walks through the door; luckily, he wasn’t there the night we were!

Such an amazing little place and quite a lucky find. I think we’ll definitely be returning and hopefully we’ll become locals there too eventually.

63 Elizabeth Bay Road, Elizabeth Bay (and a very long post)

It was time for a change of scenery! We’ve moved from the city centre out to the eastern ‘burbs (suburbs here not being what they are at home – we’re still only a half hour walk from the CBD – although Dave thinks that’s too long, I think he’s just become lazy). Our new flat is beautiful, it’s a little bigger than the last place and far more homely and cosy, it doesn’t feel like a hotel. I’ll give you a little guided tour…

Firstly, the building itself is very different to the last place: it’s an old art deco building with lots of original features. We’re on the second floor and, unfortunately, there is no lift, so we’re getting a little more exercise having to climb the stairs. We’re at the end of the corridor and as you walk in, off the right of the (tiny) hallway is our spacious lounge. It has lovely wooden flooring throughout, matching cream leather sofa and arm-chair, and a big flat screen TV with surround sound.

Off the lounge is the kitchen, which has marble work surfaces and lots of storage space. The only problem is that the oven is gas – it’s very old school and a nightmare to light because sometimes the ignition doesn’t work. There is a dining room (or second bedroom) off the lounge, again with beautiful wooden flooring. It also has gorgeous white shutters, which give the house a very Mediterranean feel! Our bedroom is accessible either by the hallway or through the dining room. It has a massive leather bed with matching bedside tables and wardrobe.

The last room – the bathroom – comes off our bedroom, and also has marble surfaces and a big walk-in shower. I’m absolutely in love with the new flat, it’s just beautiful, and I’m very happy here.

It’s made even better by the fact that the area we love in is awesome. There is a definite residential and “local” feel to it. Even walking round over the weekend, you tend to see the same faces. There are lots of little cafes and everyone seems so much friendlier than in the city. Elizabeth Bay is sandwiched between Kings Cross, which is the clubbing (and prostitute) area of Sydney and Potts Point, which is like a little New York. It’s an amazing juxtaposition because within the distance of 100m you go from bars, drunken people, strip clubs, prostitutes and the homeless (I’m really selling this!) to classy and kooky cafes, restaurants, patisseries and delis. So many new places to go and explore, it’s very exciting!

Our new house

We are the proud new tenants of a beautiful 1.5 bedroom flat in an art deco building in Elizabeth Bay, which is about 2km from Sydney city. Isn't it beautiful?? We're moving in tomorrow so everything here is very busy at the moment, and a little bit stressful. As soon as we're moved in and our internet is sorted, I'll write a longer post about our lovely new place, and put some pictures of the inside up too!

House hunting Sydney style

Our tenancy at Shelley Street runs out on Thursday so today we spent the day looking at apartments. It's a funny system here - estate agents hold open inspections for houses where everyone bundles in to have a look and then whoever says yes first, gets the flat. It's as stressful as it sounds. We managed to get to 6 different apartments today, 2 of which we've decided we like. Both, however, are slightly over budget so we've spent the day trying to barter them down...only to discover that their offices shut at 4pm on Saturdays so we have to wait until Monday to find out the decisionr! I hate being in limbo like this; I've fallen in love with both of the apartments and would be equally happy living in either...I just want a nice new place to look forward to moving into on Thursday! I hope on Monday I'll have some good news to write about. Keep your fingers crossed for us please!

I'm employed!!

Today I received the BRILLIANT news that, after two weeks of unemployment, I have been offered a job! I'll be working for a company called Pollak Learning Alliance, which organises and hosts training centres for various companies. Again, I'm a receptionist, but it sounds like a much busier role than my last one in Surry Hills. There are 11 training rooms, each holding 10 people, all of whom may come in at the same time at 9am, so I could be dealing with 110 people all at once. Stressful but it's SO much better than sitting around doing nothing all day. Plus the money! I'm already planning to book a hair appointment...and possibly buy the Marc Jacobs purse in DJ's which I have been lusting after for the past few weeks...

To celebrate my great news, Dave and I are going out tonight to a kooky little restaurant in Darlinghurst called Govinda's. You start with a vegetarian Indian buffet followed by a film in their boutique cinema, which has beds rather than seats as per the picture below!

Tonight they're showing Twilight New Moon. I've only recently seen the first Twilight movie and I loved it - I think I'm Team Edward, but I might change my mind after this evening... Either way I know I'm probably going to spend the whole of the film feeling really sick - buffets + Dave and I = alot of greediness!