Target Tuesday Turns out Christine Jennings isn't a witch

She prefers Wicked Sweetie

Target Tuesday

This Photo was taken on 10/17, I'll say it: Too Soon

Disney Dayz: 2 and 3

The last 2 days in Orlando went pretty quickly. We had the opportunity to sleep late on Friday and took it, allowing for time for lunch at an Ale House and the delicious Zinger Melt contained therein. We got ourselves some tickets to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party, which opened its gates at 4 so we had a little bit of the afternoon to kill first. We knew our dining plans included a reservation at Boma, so we wanted to try to ride the bus over there, and check the place out. The Animal Kingdom lodge is gorgeous, I would definitely consider staying there if I had $200/night just burning a whole in my pocket. We eventually caught another bus to the Magic Kingdom, where the daytime crowd was on it's way to the gate, and the night time crowd was just getting costumed up and in the park. We were Later met by L. and her mom (who is one of my favorite "friend's moms" of all time. If you're dying to go to the magic kingdom and hate waiting in lines, this is the way to go. They kick all the daytimers out, and make you repay to stay, so the number of people in the park is significantly reduced. We rode everything we wanted and never waited more than twenty minutes for anything. My last few years in Florida I'd been to the MK at least once a year for Night of Joy, and it was a completely different experience from that too. The Halloween parade is extremely cool and starts with a ride-through from a headless horseman. The fireworks are great too, we happened to be at the top of the Swiss Family Robinson tree house when they started. The tree house provides a great view for the show but since it's above the water can be a little mosquito-y. There are also trick or treating stations throughout the park, and they have really good candy! 'We shut the place down with a little shopping, then went back for crashy time once again.
On Saturday we got up for the early shift again and went directly to the boardwalk for breakfast with one of W's long lost friends Mark. We Ate at Kat Cora's restaurant Kozzina on the boardwalk. The Yelp reviews are mostly accurate here, the food is really good, but the service is remarkably "un-disney-like". We had a reservation for which we arrived promptly, but were asked to wait with a pager until a table was ready ~5-10 minutes. (We walked past plenty of empties on the way to our table). We got coffee in a carafe (thank goodness) and shortly placed our order. Our server brought our food, and disappeared until unceremoniously dumping the check on our table and saying no hurry on this. That would have been fine, had my french toast actually come with some syrup, or if we didn't need more cream for coffee. To be fair the food was really good, but wow, can bad service really change your perception of a meal. So W goes out to the front table and tells them about our experience, and they kind of just blew her off. Needless to say, I don't reccomend eating there, and it seems many Yelpers agree. I got better service at the barbecue place in animal kingdom, and I bussed my own table! After that we were off to Disney's hollywood studios. We waited in the 70 minute line for the toy story ride (totally worth it; is 10x more fun than the buzz lightyear ride). We took the Back lot tour, and W was an active participant. The 2 best part of our Hollywood Studios tour 1. the San Francisco backdrop, and 2. Drinks and Appetizers at the Brown Derby. Stop whatever you're doing, go there and have the champagne flight. Since the restaurant is built to be a see and be seen type of place, you'll see everybody around you watching your 3 glasses of champagne poured, and the Banfi Rosa Regale Brachetto is worth the price of admission alone. Tasting note here, red sparklers aren't for everyone, but if you like them you'll surely enjoy this. We eventually made it back to Epcot for one more round of Food and Wine this time we visited:
Japan again, the tuna sensation was just too good to pass up and paired it with a Kirin
Australia
Seared Barramundi with Blistered Cherry Tomatoes,Arugula, and Lemon Oil and Grilled Lamb Chop with Roasted Potato Salad and Red Wine Reduction
paired with Rosemount Traminer Riesling and Penfolds Koonunga Hill Shiraz Cabernet
Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup paired with a moosehead beer
and at that point we cut ourselves off, knowing that a buffet for dinner was still on the horizon. We found a quiet place where W grabbed a little cat nap, and a little girl came by and pointed at W, and I could hear her mom say it's ok honey, she's just tired. At about the same time we were joined by a mixed marriage (Husband and oldest son wearing burnt orange and navy, Wife and youngest wearing crimson) and news of Alabama's loss to South Carolina was spreading at the same time. After a brief respite L's mom picked us up on the boardwalk, and off we went to Boma. Our service was a little slow. but not unreasonable, and I didn't meet a single thing on the buffet that wasn't fantastic. Even if you can't afford to stay at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, I recommend that you get yourself a reservation at Boma, it's fantastic. We went back to L's place for a little more wine, and then grabbed a quick nap before our 6 a.m. flight We got to the airport and home without incident. How many countries did we eat at? Tons, I'm glad we finally got that trip in, and we just might have to go back for the Disney Christmas Party.

At last, an Airplane ride

Our travel budget was drastically reduced this year as you can probably tell by all the cob webs
that have gathered here on the blog lately. But last weekend brought us the first chance to get out of town for a while since W had a break from jury duty, and I just needed a break. I called up long time pal and fellow USF Alum Luerne and she graciously invited us to crash at her new place for a couple of days so we could get a temporary travel fix on a budget. We were almost certain that we wouldn't get on the direct flight and had really great plans on the odd chance we still found ourselves sitting around SFO after the Orlando flight. Through some sort of standby miracle we ended up on that very flight and on our way. L. was kind enough to pick us up at the airport, which didn't seem like that big a deal until someplace on I4 we spent 4 hours in a traffic jam. We finally arrived at her house at 2:00 a.m. where we promptly crashed. On the way, we phoned in an order at Chili's that we never actually got to go pick up, so if you work at the Davenport FL chili's, I'm sorry, we're jerks. L. is such a busy hard-working human being that I was afraid we might not actually get to hang out any, instead we had four uninterrupted hours in her car. Important travel note here, I packed up some wine to bring with us, and a certain airline that shall not be named managed not to get it on the flight with us. To be fair, it was likely held up in a TSA inspection, which said airline has no control over.
Disney World Day 1
L. works at animal kingdom, so we just rode into work with her in the morning, and she used a little bit of Disney Magic (c) to get us right into the park. We stopped for a delicious breakfast at the rain forest cafe, which oddly sits just outside the park itself. I had a fantastic cranberry waffle, and they even leave a carafe of coffee on the table (very helpful for a long day of theme parking). Neither W or I had ever been to Animal Kingdom, so it was a fun new adventure for both of us. We went on the safari ride (a little cheesy, but animals are cool). We caught L's Finding Nemo show (Awesome, which is my mostly unbiased opinion). We rode the Everest expedition which was fun, if not just a touch nauseating for both of us. Next, a little lunch at the flame tree barbecue. (Decent barbecue, but comes to you mostly un-sauced so it starts a little bland) They do serve a delicious Safari Amber Ale that when I asked where else I could buy it, I found out it's a re-branded famous label beer, but I wont' spoil the surprise of which one for you. We managed to see or experience almost everything. Must do's include the Lion King show and It's Tough to be a Bug, but you can skip the conservation station and wildlife express train ride.
Ready to move on we headed for Epcot for food and wine time. First stop Mexico, for a midnight blue frozen Margarita. Next, a trip to Japan for a spicy tuna roll, a hatsumago sake, and the simply delicious tuna sensation. (cubed tuna sashimi, avocado, and a splash of soy sauce)
At that point, after a frozen caipirinha, we went into power eating mode, and in no particular order we had
Argentina
Grilled Beef Skewer with Chimichurri Sauce and Boniato Purée
Bodega Norton Reserva Malbec
Greece
Spanakopita and Chicken Souvlaki with Tzatziki
Atlantis White
New Zealand
Seared Sea Scallop with Vegetable Slaw and Lemon Oil and Lamb Slider with Tomato Chutney
Villa Maria Private Bin Hawkes Bay Merlot/Cabernet Sauvignon Villa Maria Private Bin Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc
South Africa
Seared Beef Tenderloin with Sweet Potato Purèe and Mango Barbecue Sauce
paired with # La Capra Pinotage and # La Capra Shiraz
Germany
Spätzle Gratin with Ham and Cheese and Nürnberger Sausage in a Pretzel Roll
paired with a flight of beers that were each more delicious than the last.
Filled up, and thoroughly enjoying ourselves, we caught the fireworks and then made our way to
the boardwalk where we managed to work up just enough hunger for a funnel cake, and then L. came and scooped us up. Since the wine had finally arrived, we figured we better have a glass to thank our hosts.

Australia Take 3, Phase 3

So we managed to find our way back to Sydney, all 4 of us in first class. We made sure to drink enough champagne along the way to make the trip worth the effort. We got ourselves checked into the hotel, and did a little shopping. Today's big plan was to meet one of W's friends from work for dinner. We had a nice take away meal and enjoyed just hanging out with some regular Aussies. It was a nice addition to our experience. The following day was my Birthday. W and I took off for our third ever trip to the Sydney aquarium, because I wanted to check out the dugongs. Of course I went to see snooty a million times, but had never been face to face with a dugong. What's the difference you ask?

1. Cool Dolphin tail



2. Manatees can eat off of the surface, a dugong only eats down

1. Dugongs only live in salt water

1. A name that is far more fun to say

We also paid a visit to the sky tower, something I've been trying to get done since my first visit. and the must do part of a trip to Sydney, a visit to see our old friend Ruby at Bombay Bloomers. We were joined their by Paul and Carol after a little bit of bus riding misfortune (Traveling by bus at rush hour is weird anywhere in the world). As usual the food was amazing and Ruby brought us a pepper wine. It was easily one of the most interesting things I've ever tasted. Sweet with a slow burning heat, served in a small glass with an ice cube, it was a hit. I don't think I'd recommend a whole bottle in one sitting. That pretty much brings this aussie adventure to a close. We flew business on the way back, watched more summer blockbusters and I returned to life in a jobless wonderland. The real lesson here, is don't wait so long to blog, you forget everything, especially if you violated your own policy of writing in a journal during the trip.

Melbourne Day 4

So we learned a few lessons in day 3, the most important being that if we're going to be late for dinner time, we're probably not going to want to chase dinner down. So we started the day by getting some take out Indian food from Nirankar and leaving it in the fridge, so it would just be waiting on us upon our return. What would we be returning late from today? Quite possibly the cutest day of tourism allowable. Our day would be a trip to phillip island for a perfect trio of koalas, seals, and fairy penguins. We started with the Phillip Island koala conservation center, which let's you get really close to koalas in a really natural environment. You walk along a path and on a boardwalk, so you're basically eye level with them, while they do their half dazed daily activities. It turns out they don't move around a whole lot, so they're pretty easy to keep confined to the area without fences or walls or the other ugly stuff you'd associate with a zoo. We spent a lot of time there, just kind of hanging out with the koalas, watching the little ones hang on their mothers, and spending a lot of time just admiring their cuteness. Next we were off to the Nobbies Center to check out the seal colony. It's not exactly the up close seal experience they make it seem like, as the colony is way off shore and only visible with binoculars or the high powered video feed in the center (which requires coins to use) I do recommend stopping in for a coffee though, and the views are very good from there. From there it was off to the main event, the Penguin Parade. Their policy on photography is strict and well enforced, so you'll have to follow the link, but the experience of watching these little guys cautiously waddle up the beach is really more than any still camera is going to bring you. We just went for the general admission ticket and waited around close to the front of the line to get good seats. Of note here is the penguins were late the night we were there, so the tour-bus groups saw a few come in and then left early leaving lots of good seats for those who were patient. In other words, don't panic if you're not in those very front seats, you'll get there eventually. Even cuter are the little babies who come out of the nest at night and greet their parents when they arrive. If I could have gotten a few in my pocket without anyone noticing I would have. We took the drive back into Melbourne, and enjoyed our delicious take out Indian, and got ourselves ready to head back to Sydney the next day.

Melbourne Day 3

Our third day in Melbourne meant it was time to get up early, and go rustle up some wheels. We rented a little something from National via Europecar, so that we could do a little road tripping. It's important to note that we were in town for the weekend of Melbourne cup, so things were marked up a little extra and probably a little busier than they should have been. The upside of Melbourne cup is that all the parties call for 1920's style dress and fancy hats for all. It was really fun to watch. The downside was that they didn't have the GPS I ordered. That of course meant I had to count on 2 back seat and one passenger seat navigator, and a giant stack of maps. So we jump in the car around 9 a.m and head out towards the Great Ocean road. A stick shift convertible two seater is probably what's really called for in these types of situations, but fitting 4 large people and luggage for 2 of them who have been traveling for 2 months doesn't really work in a car that size. Instead we depended on a large 4 seat Nissan with a surprisingly spacious trunk. So we drive, and drive and drive, and there's lively debate about how frequently to stop and take pictures. The good news for me: the guy behind the wheel always gets the deciding vote. We found a great little spot along the road right down by the beach to stop and have lunch. and kept moving toward the best part of the show, the Twelve Apostles. Why cross out twelve? It turns out the ocean is a cruel mistress, and they're not all standing anymre, and you have to take the helicopter tour to see all of them at once. The ones you can see are beautiful, and worth the effort to get half way around the world for. The pictures from the beach below the cliff require one heck of a stair climb, but I won't soon forget the sight of those pillars and the sounds of the waves crashing against the rocks and echoing of the cliff wall. I'ts really a spectacular place. Once we got out to the London Bridge area, we decided to work our way back towards Melbourne. It was almost uneventful, except for the DUI checkpoint we got stopped in. I'm not sure what convinced me to skip beers with lunch, because I always have a drink with a meal while traveling, but you should have seen the look on the officers face when I blew a zero. He looked like the saddest little puppy. He must have figured he'd scored himself a nice batch of tourists to intimidate or charge, and instead had to forlornly wave me through the checkpoint. I knew I'd had nothing to drink, but I won't lie, I was still real nervous. When we got back to melbourne it was late, and we had trouble finding anything good to eat, so we ended up buying up a bunch of food, including some barbecue pork buns, and having dinner at the apartment.

Melbourne Day 2

Day 2 in Melbourne started a little slowly, but to be fair I could start most of the remaining posts about this trip with words that are like those. This was our mess around in the city day, so we wandered around and eventually made it to the Yarra riverfront. We bumped into some boat guys, who recommended taking the ferry out to Williamstown. It's a nice little town with some great little restaurants. We chose one, and enjoyed a nice lunch outside. Nothing spectacular, but an acceptable lunch along the tourist restaurant strip. We stop on the way back to the boat for a refreshing gelato, and grab the ferry back to Melbourne. By this time in the day it was blazing hot. We packed for cool weather, and were just not ready for the kind of warmth we faced in Melbourne. We took an uncomfortable ride on the circle tram around the city, but when it stopped for too long and the airflow stopped we had absolutely had enough. It was hot, stinky and unpleasant the entire way. It was too bad, because you actually get a good solid look at the city that way, along with informative narration. We found ourselves right near Chinatown, so we took a look around for the place we intended to have dinner. We found the restaruant without much trouble, and grabbed a little street snack of samosas to help us get through the journey. We did a little shopping, and a quick shot of internet, and then made our way back to the apartment to rest and clean up before dinner. Cleaned and refreshed, we started with a trip over to the rialto towers for a gorgeous sunset and bottle of wine on the observation deck. Next we walked back down to china town for a really fabulous dinner at Kum den. Yeah, I know what you're thinking, but not only is it a real restaurant, it is awesome. Go in, order the eggplant, and do not miss the Mongolian Lamb, it's spectacular.

Australia Take 3, Phase 2

After a little warm up time in Sydney, it was off to meet the in-laws in Melbourne. Start by taking a look to the left at an A380 sitting next to a 747. That's a BIG bird. Our trip to Melbourne was to be pretty lazy, with the exception of a visit to the 12 apostles and the penguins, other than that, we were pretty flexible. We arrived in Melbourne first, dropped our bags off at the Medina Grand Melbourne Apartments, and were ready to go find some lunch. We went to a little restaurant row near the hotel, but didn't know what we wanted and didn't really want to be stood over while we tried to read our way through the menus. We eventually settled on a little Vietnamese place off the main restaurant area on little Bourke street. Here's a funny thing about Melbourne, there is often a large main street, and then a smaller version of that same street. In this case there's a Bourke and a little Bourke. It's always abbreviated Lt. which I spent most of the first day calling Lieutenant. After lunch we found our way to a Grocery store and picked up some provisions for our stay. Food in Australia is ridiculously expensive, so it only made sense to pick up some breakfast food and some wine to have around the apartment for the rest of our stay. After the in-laws arrived we wandered back down to the main restaurant area for dinner. At dinner time almost all the places were offering a free bottle of wine with dinner, and we settled into a nice little Italian place for what turned out to be a pretty great dinner. Sometimes these places that are all jammed together can be merely average, but we stumbled into something pretty decent. I know we have a card for it somewhere, If I find it I'll update. The rest of what you're looking at here are two views from our apartment balcony. This location is really great.

Australia Take 3 day 1

I'm going to pretend like nothing's changed, that I've been posting regularly all along and that me jumping right into this post is perfectly natural. None of those things are true, but if I keep waiting to post until I can catch you up completely I'll forget all the important details. We'll also pretend like it hasn't been two months since these things happened, and talk about them in fake real time. Now, without further ado.
W's parents were taking this really fabulous cruise from San Francisco to Sydney with lot's of island hopping in between. We thought for a long time about how to join them on the trip, and W planned to meet them in Sydney while I stayed home and worked. Well, I suddenly found myself without meaningful work again, and had the flexibility to ride along too. We jumped into a couple of Business class seats on the Sydney flight, with the plan to stay there for a few days and then meet the in-laws . We hadn't been to the movies all summer long, so a 14 hour flight in early November is filled with summer blockbusters letting you get caught up at a time when you have nothing better to do anyway. On arrival in Sydney we rode in to the city with the flight crew, and hung out around the Hotel they stay in and had some food at harbourside until we met up with new Aussie buddy Paul. Paul is the husband of one of W's flying co-workers, and bent over backwards to make sure we enjoyed our stay. He picked us up downtown and took us back to his place in North Sydney. As you can see Paul and have an incredible view of all the good stuff in town, so our accommodations were pretty spectacular. We just kind of piddled around downtown for a while, and then met Paul so he could take us to a favorite local Pub for dinner. I was hoping I could find the name of it someplace, but alas this is what you get when you wait 3 months to tell a story. As I'm sitting here I'm thinking, maybe I ought to come down to one post here, because the details about this part of the trip are pretty fuzzy for me. Here's what I do know. We had the better part of 2 whole days in Sydney, and on each of the two nights we went to dinner with Paul. The first night was a trip to the North Sydney leagues club with a pilot who works for the same company as W and the third was a local pub where W still talks about the lamb burger she got, with a guest appearence by one more fellow employee . We enjoyed more than our share of wine and beer over the two day stint, and more than our share of local "home style" cuisine. Think of it as Aussie comfort food, with a beer. We found lots of little food courts to have cheap food on the go, and we even made the trip over to Manly one day. We had lunch at one of the many little restaurants in the tourist stip the day we were there, and took an easy walk. W is still suffering from our walk up to the monastery, so our tourism related walks are pretty short these days. we walked around Manly some, checking out the flora and fauna. Check out the parrots that come hang out on Paul's patio too, they practically come in the house looking for the honey he puts in that bowl.