Happy Holidays!

So it's been ages since my last post, I apologise. I've generally been just burnt out from working so much. There was the great rush toward the end of the year. I was so glad to see the last day - we did a half day; people were still ringing to come see us that afternoon! For lunch that day my 2 staff members and I went to try the new buffet at Penrith RSL.

The buffet was quite nice! There was a chocolate fountain, a sushi train and lots of seafood - which the girls and I went straight for! We had to be quick - what I disliked about the buffet was their closing time of 1:30!!!! We finished work at 12:30, exchanged gifts then rushed over to the RSL and got there at 1:05. Oh, and their soft serve is fantastic! I was quite satisfied. I gave the girls some spa pamper days at Hopewood Health Retreat in Wallacia.

For Christmas Paul told me to open one of my presents early because I "might want to use it before Christmas". He was right, because I was baking lots of treats for my relatives. He got me a pink KitchenAid mixer!!! I was so over the moon! I've always wanted one but didn't see the point of spending the money - especially knowing that it's only $150 (YES $150) in Canada!

I baked my heart out on Christmas Eve - and it was a 40 degree day in Western Sydney :S I was home alone with just my Teddy and I noticed he was missing - I found him lying on the floor in front of the toilet! I was sweating so much but my labours paid off.

Wanted it to look like an assorted chocolate box menu hehehe

They were a big hit with the family and I didn't make TOO much of a mess! But you start to run out of bench space pretty quickly! I thank the person who invented disposable piping bags!!!! Paul also got me some cast-iron cookware... I kinda get the feeling he wanted to benefit from the gifts he got me...???

So I ate, drank (including Tasmanian sheep's whey liqueur - what the???) and was merry! I have a few cleaning out days planned before we bring on the New Year!!

So from our family to all of yours, we wish you have the happiest holidays and a prosperous 2013!

Slowly We Unfurl as Lotus Flowers

Ahh.... I am still on a high after last Tuesday night when I got to see RADIOHEAD!!

I don't know where the time has gone; it was back in February that I was on my way to work and Tom & Alex on Triple J announced that Radiohead would be touring in 2012 with a Sydney visit included. On March 1st tickets were to go on sale at 9AM - I gave Paul the task of the purchase since I had a 9:00 patient that day and would have been unable to do it (not to mention his internet abilities far surpass my own). At 8:55 he was pulled over to the side of the road, laptop open with wireless broadband stick in. He succeeded in getting us Row V to the side of the stage but it was better than no tickets! That day, tickets for both November 12 and 13 sold out within 4 minutes.

So last Tuesday I left work an hour early and hopped on a train to Central - first time on a train in ages! Paul met me at his favourite sushi restaurant, Yumei at Capitol Square. We originally tried to book Wagaya which is across the road from Sydney Entertainment Centre but I figured all the other fans attending had the same idea, cause they were booked out. When we were heading toward the entertainment centre Paul realised that he had lost the tickets!!!!!! He had folded them and put them in his back pocket and when he checked they were no longer there. My heart stopped for a moment then went into overdrive. We told the ticketek girl so she did an ID check on Paul then we had to wait a while to confirm that no one had found our tickets and tried to get in with them!! She then had to wait a few minutes to change the code of our lost tickets to prevent them being used. Finally she told us everything was OK and I breathed a sigh of relief.

Our replacement tickets!

I probably should have brought binoculars because we were really high up! At first I was wondering why the place was so empty for a supposedly "sold out" show. I then discovered why - the supporting act "Connan Mockasin" weren't very good. The lead singer had an accent ringing of Kiwi and he even thanked us all for our patience with them! They had experimental, psychedelic type music but it didn't seem to have any structure or harmony. I still don't know why Thom Yorke himself (apparently) picked them. If anything it made Radiohead that much better!

There was about a half hour break before Radiohead came on. By this time the centre was filled to the brim.

I also had a couple in their 40's come sit next to me and I tried all night to ignore their constant making out and fondling in my peripheral vision. The woman was drunk to begin with when she arrived and at one point she spilled her beer down my leg. It ALMOST ruined my evening but Thom Yorke made up for it and then some.

Lotus Flower is such a fantastic song to start with, especially with the vocal loops that play during darkness in the lead up to the introduction. It just got everyone more and more riled up with every passing moment. The introduction was just like in this YouTube video from a Radiohead show earlier this year:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1f7trBwlDE

The best my Samsung Galaxy S3 could capture from Row V
I love, LOVE the way Thom Yorke moves!

What I didn't understand was the standing ovation they received following Paranoid Android. It's a good song I guess, and I absolutely loved it when I was a 12 or 13 year old, but Radiohead has evolved into so much more between then and now. I actually prefer their experimental electronic music of more recent years. It just goes to show how significant this song was to everyone there that night - as well as being pivotal in Radiohead's international success as a band.

Street Spirit

Some stand-out songs for me other than Lotus Flower were Bloom (a song I love to pieces anyway), The Daily Mail (which Thom Yorke dedicated to Rupert Murdoch) and How to Disappear Completely - this made me want to just shut my eyes and absorb Thom's haunting voice. I couldn't see very well but could count 3 or 4 drums set up for There There. The music was just so powerful. The beer-spilling, canoodling couple next to me left when there were still two more encores. They mustn't have been true Radiohead fans!

The third and final encore was Idioteque - Paul's favourite song. Judging by the response earlier, I think Paranoid Android would have been a better song to end with. It seemed to be the climactic point of the evening.

This was definitely an evening I will remember for the rest of my life! I really, really hope there will be more Radiohead experiences in the future.

Hooray!!!!

A big step in the new chapter of my life began this afternoon at about 3PM when my lawyer settled the purchase of my very first own dental practice! It is scary. But exciting! Paul has been absolutely wonderful to me by doing all the nitty-gritty paperwork. I've delegated him to be practice manager! I absolutely HAAATE paperwork!!!!!! I'm still scared. Aaargh. Hooray!

A Glitzy Weekend

We had a stay in Saturday this weekend. My cousin and her fiancé came over for lunch. Paul made his famous "sleepy burgers" - you seriously need to take a nap afterwards and many have done so on our couch. It's just a nice fat, juicy patty with beef mince, onion, garlic, breadcrumbs and some concoction of flavours that Paul fashioned by instinct! This time we also experimented with onion rings - the deep fry was on for freshly cut fries (Fry's Fries) so we figured, why not? I think I can feel a triple bypass coming on earlier than I expected.

As for me, I stuck with where I shine best - beaters, sugar, oven. I created glitzy chocolate puddings. Golden Glitzy! Cadbury Crunchie Glitzy :)

Teddy is usually fine with having company
over. Although he'll want to jump up into
your lap - hewon't touch your food, he just
wants to be part of the table conversation!

No this is not a spring roll - it is a battered and
deep-fried Snickers bar. Yes, Snickers.

Steph's Wedding

What a beautiful day it was. So happy that the rain held out for the ceremony and reception. A lovely patient of mine (a retired hairdresser) did my hair for the day! Stephany was absolutely stunning and when she got emotional I felt a little teary-eyed myself! We met at the bridal preparation house for a pre-ceremony "hossah" - food and dancing until the groom's family come meet the bride... we then went as a big group to the church. I was actually glad for the overcast weather because it was better for my photos!

Steph with her special bridal "yalekhta"
A traditional Assyrian decorated dancing cloth

Steph's gown modelled after an Elie Saab creation

Me with one of the dental nurses
and her lovely sister

Saying goodbye at the reception

Happy Long Weekend!

I am extremely sleepy right now. It's my fault though! We invited a lady from church to our house for lunch today (we invited a few weeks ago) and I left it to the last minute to prepare food and clean! Yesterday first thing in the morning we went to the city so I could find a dress for Steph's wedding next weekend (also, left to the last minute). I did however, choose and purchase a dress within 20 minutes. Then Paul asked me if he could "quickly look at the Ted Baker shirts". 1.5 hours and about 7 shirts later we had lunch then went home.

I had about 3 hours to start cleaning (house was a huge mess) then it was time to race over to a dinner date with my good friend Anna I did dentistry with. Two pizzas, deep fried seafood, eye fillet, salted caramel and snickers gelato and a bottle of shiraz - I'll be honest, I consumed the bottle minus 2 glasses (boys were driving, Anna didn't want any, I didn't want to waste it!)... basically we had a good ol' time and it was suddenly 11PM!

Lucky for me there's a 24 hour Coles not far from home. I decided to prepare French-Canadian comfort food (mainly for Paul) and attempted two of his favourite dishes - tourtière and sugar pie. So my night (12:30am at this point) was spent massaging shortcrust dough, stirring, vacuuming, stirring, chopping, peeling... I finally got to nap from 4:30-6am (with Teddy curled up against me of course). Then it was time to roll out my rested pastry. And bake my risen bread dough.

Anyhow, lunch was a success! I am proud to say that no gagging occurred at the dining table :)

I almost forgot about my baguette so it's a tad darker than normal

Trying to get creative with excess pastry on the tourtière

I roasted the veggies whole then Paul
chopped them up for me

Sugar pie with walnuts

I felt all warm and fuzzy when Paul took a slow bite and
said he felt like he was back in Tadoussac :)
(the city where we got married - northeast of Montréal)

Cairns

I love Cairns! I wasn't really there for a holiday this time around though... The 6th annual aesthetic dentistry symposium (sponsored by Ivoclar) was on. We arrived just before the first conference began and left immediately following the last lecture! I went to Cairns in March 2011 and did touristy stuff then... perhaps I should make a post about that too! Anyhow, I enjoyed Cairns with early morning walks before the conferences began, and dining out with Paul afterwards! I was happy Paul came along with me. We stayed at the Shangri-La and he continued to work from our hotel room while I was at lectures.

Tamarind Restaurant - at the casino
across the road from the Sebel hotel
where the dental conference was held

Miso & Ginger Japanese Scallops

Fried Chicken with Eight Flavoured Sauce
Szechuan & Rosemary battered lotus root crisps

Early morning walk around the marina

Low tide at sunrise

M Yogo Restaurant - located at the marina

Steamed Mud Crab & Scallop Mousse
Wrapped in Wild Barramundi with Tiger Prawn,
Hollandaise & Cream Sauce

Hot Orange Custard Crepe with Grand Marnier Ice Cream
& Orange Sauce

The Lagoon

Coffee & Dark Chocolate Gelato

C'est bon French Restaurant behind the Sebel Hotel

Creamy Garlic Soup with pastry crust

A tiny macaron!

Cappuccino soufflé

Final Cairns Meal - Breakfast at
Perrotta's at the Gallery Cafe

The best coffee in Cairns

Apple & Cinnamon Crepes with Lemon & Ricotta

French Toast with Pears