Returning to the USA!

It's official -- after almost three years abroad, we're returning to the USA!

Matthew has signed a contract to relocate to the Mountain View, CA office, starting in October.

Our current plan is to leave Sydney at the end of August, and have the month of September for vacation time and moving (probably New Zealand and visiting family in various states). Then, he'll start at Mountain View office on 1 October.

We are, of course, sad that our Australian adventure is coming to an end, and excited and nervous about another big move. We're definitely looking forward being closer to family and friends in the States.

Happy Birthday to Mackenzie!

Happy birthday to Mackenzie - he's now 6 months old, and weighs 47 lbs/21 kg. He's gotten so big!

birthday presents for Mac

He still likes walks and going to the park, mealtimes, rawhides and ice cubes. He still dislikes coming when called, and going outside in the rain! His adult teeth are in, and recently he's destroyed all his stuffed toys. However, I did buy him another of his favourite monkey toy for his birthday; it's his third one. Good luck, Monkey III.

Photos from Wellington Trip

Last weekend we went to Wellington, New Zealand for our friends Angelica and Jono's wedding. It was our first time to NZ! Wellington is a cool little city -- very pretty harbour, lots of coffee and craft beer, etc. We even got a chance to do a little wine tasting in Martinborough, where we visited Palliser Estate, Schubert Wines, Ata Rangi and Coney Wines (Schubert had our favourite Pinot noir of the day). We're looking forward to getting back to NZ for a longer visit sometime.

the happy couple!

Takahe, a rare flightless bird

Gollum sculpture at Wellington airport

Here's the link to our photo album from the trip.

Happy Birthday!

Happy birthday to Matthew and Mackenzie! Yesterday Mackenzie turned 3 months old, and today Matthew turned 30 mumble years old. We took these photos of the birthday bros yesterday.

Mackenzie is growing so fast. We weighed him again today, and he's gained 2 pounds/1 kilo in only 4 days!

Photos from December

Okay, so I took an embarrassing number of photos of Mackenzie last month, and I just now edited and uploaded them all. There are still a huge number of puppy photos in our December photo album, but if you're interested in wading through, here it is! :)

December 2012

Happy New Year!

Wishing you all the best in 2013.

Happy Date-iversary!

Happy Date-iversary to us! Matthew and I started dating 17 years ago today. 

We were so young and stupid (at times). I'm delighted that we've grown up, and we're still happy and laughing after all this time. I'm so lucky and grateful.

Thank you to Michael Schmitt, who took our photo while we were in Portland last month.

Trip to Portland and Houston

Three days after we got home from Tokyo, Matthew and I left again, this time for the U.S. M had to be in California for a business trip, so we flew in early to spend some time in Portland, and afterwards we went down to Houston to spend Thanksgiving with M's family. We had a great time seeing friends and family, and miss everyone already. Photos from the trip are below.

Trip to Portland and Houston

Trip to Melbourne

Last week we went to Melbourne for my birthday and for Matthew to give a talk at the AusNOG conference. We had a great time! We went to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne Zoo, had cocktails at Eau de Vie Melbourne, and dinner at Birdman Eating and Movida Aqui. While M was at the conference, I went to the Melbourne Aquarium and to the National Gallery of Victoria, where I saw the "Napoleon: Revolution to Empire" exhibition.

For my birthday dinner, we went to Cutler & Co, where we had the eight course degustation with matching wines. Everything was fantastic, and it was nicely paced. They were very good on portion and pour size, so we weren't overstuffed. Here's what we enjoyed:
Selection of appetisers, including oysters, marinated octopus, foie gras cigar
Oyster broth with scallop
Mud crab with buttermilk potato
Baked carrots with goats curd and toasted grains
Smoked and fried duck with morcilla
Roasted suckling pig with kohlrabi
Apple sorbet with dill
Earl Grey ice cream, chocolate and Pedro Ximenez prunes.

I didn't take any photos, so here's a couple of the restaurant itself.

Restaurant exterior - photo from Cutler & Co's website.

 

It was another great visit to Melbourne! Here's a link to the album with more pics:

Trip to Melbourne

Happy Anniversary to Us!

We've been living in Sydney for two years now! Our anniversary was about a week and a half ago, and we went to dinner at Bloodwood to celebrate. 

We've eaten there several times before, but this might have been our best meal there yet. We shared cassava and sweetcorn croquettes; smoked trout and kale salad; grilled Greenslade chicken with brussel sprouts and smoked speck; chocolate torte with caramel mousse. So delicious. 

It was too dark, and I didn't feel like taking photos, so this will have to suffice. :)

Anniversary Trip to the Hunter Valley

This past weekend was Matthew and my sixth wedding anniversary. We spent couple of nights in the Hunter Valley, where we tasted heaps of wine, ate some nice meals, and just relaxed. It was a lovely weekend!

The wineries we stopped at: Capercaillie, Madigan Vineyard, Drayton's Family Wines, Adina, Tulloch, Tower Estate, Pepper Tree and Ballabourneen. These were mostly random stops, and were good overall, with only a couple I wouldn't visit again.

Here's the album with a few more of photos from the weekend.

Anniversary Trip to the Hunter

Easter

Happy Easter/Happy Spring/Happy Autumn! Here are two popular Aussie Easter items: a chocolate bilby, and a hot cross bun.

Despite the fact that Easter happens in Autumn here, Aussie Easter still involves spring things like eggs and bunnies. There are plenty of chocolate bunnies in the shops right now. There are also chocolate bilbies! The bilby is a cute Australian marsupial. Feral rabbits are an environmental pest here, so years ago someone introduced the concept of an Easter Bilby.

Hot cross buns aren't really a big deal in American Easter celebrations, but they're quite popular here. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the two main grocery store chains alone (Coles and Woolworths) will sell an estimated 90 million hot cross buns across Australia over Easter.

Photo Booth Animated Gif

Last month we went to our lovely friends Tamara and Andy's wedding, where they had a photo booth at the wedding reception - very cool! I finally got around to scanning our photo booth strips, then I figured, why not turn us into an animated gif? :)

Photos from Portland Trip

We were just in Portand for a week for our friends Tamara and Andy's wedding. It was a lovely wedding, and a great visit overall. It also happened to be my birthday while I was there! Below are some photos from our trip.

Portland Visit - Labor Day/Birthday weekend

Tamara and Andy's Wedding

Six Months in Oz

As of today, we've been in Australia for six months! It's hard for both of us to believe it's been half a year. In some ways, it feels like we've been here so much longer, and then sometimes, it really doesn't feel like it's been that long at all!

Australia Day

January 26 was Australia Day, Australia's national holiday, which commemorates the First Fleet's arrival in Sydney in 1788. We went over to our friends the Swartzes' for a BBQ, then went to the Australia Day festival in The Rocks, where we saw the bands The Hungry Kids of Hungary and Cloud Control.

Here's a short video I took of some famous opera house and the Aussie band Cloud Control.

Birthday Concert and Another Dinner

For Matthew's birthday, I got him tickets to a Philip Glass concert, who was in town as part of the Sydney Festival. The concert was last night, and first we went out to dinner at Est. Restaurant, which is has an elegant dining room.

When we first sat down, they offered us glasses of champagne from a Dom Pérignon-branded trolley(!), but we resisted. As we had to get to the concert, we didn't have time to do the tasting menu, so we ordered à la carte, and had a few wines by the glass. It was an excellent meal -- nothing that was simply amazing, but all quite refined and good overall.

To start, we shared:
Sashimi of tuna and Queensland scallops, lime, dashi, hazelnut, radish and white sesame oil.
Grilled white scallops, pork cheek bacon, king mushroom, tarragon and sweet corn salsa.

Our main dishes were:
Roasted, boned squab pigeon with cherries, almond cream, hazelnut picada and pan juices.
With a glass of 2008 Descendientes de José Palacios Pétalos (Bierzo, Spain; Mencia).
Juniper crusted saddle of venison with black cherries, beetroot, cocoa soil and semolina potato gnocchi.
With a glass of 2007 Pierre Amadieu Gigondas 'Romane Machotte' (Rhône Valley; Grenache/Shiraz/Mourvèdre).

Finally for dessert, we shared:
Valrhona chocolate delice with black cherries, sesame and cocoa nib ice cream.

We finished just in time to walk over to the concert hall and get into our seats without being too rushed. It was pretty exciting seeing Philip Glass again! The concert was about 1.5 hours of his various pieces on solo piano, and it was great.

The last piece was one that he collaborated on with poet Allen Ginsberg, and Glass said he hasn't been able to perform it much since Ginsberg passed away. But luckily, a special guest who was also in town for the Sydney Festival, would help him out, and out came John Malkovich to read the poem while Glass played! It was a wonderful surprise, and a great ending to a brilliant evening.

Birthday Dinner at Restaurant Atelier

The other night we went to dinner at Restaurant Atelier with our friends Lindsay and Grant to celebrate Matthew and Lindsay's January birthdays.

We went for the seven course degustation menu with matching wines. The summer degustation menu wasn't printed, so each course was selected by the chef and was a surprise for us!

We thoroughly enjoyed the evening. Everything was lovely, so it was hard to determine a favorite course. Below is the menu (from my notes!), if you'd like to drool. ;)


2009 Mader Riesling (Alsace)
Flash fried and crumbed Kangaroo Island hen’s egg with white asparagus and goat’s curd.

2010 Ocean Eight Pinot Gris (Mornington Peninsula)
Alaskan king crab spring roll with wasabi aioli, soy beans, pickled daikon and ocean trout roe.

2009 Capercaillie Cuillin Chardonnay (Hunter Valley)
Flash fried and crumbed chicken confit with salt cod brandade, frisée and garlic marmalade.

2009? Bloodwood “Big Men in Tights” Rosé (Orange, NSW; Malbec and Cab Franc)
Or, 2008 Domain Metrat et Fils Chiroubles Cru Beaujolais (Gamay)
Roasted swordfish loin with corn puree, Spanish peppers, eggplant and red capsicum, dusted with fennel pollen.

2007 Chateau Mont-Redon Cotes du Rhone (Grenache/Syrah/Cinsault blend)
Honey braised duck with carrot puree, broad bean salad and a pickled quail egg (pickled in Chardonnay).

2006 Yering Station Late Harvest Riesling (Yarra Valley)
Strawberry sorbet with strawberry salad and basil garnish, and
Poppy custard with fig sorbet and "Pop Rocks."

2007 Grand Maison Monbazillac Botrytis Semillon
Soufflé with mango, paw paw and pineapple, with lime milkshake with a chocolate straw, and coconut ice cream.

P.S. Americans, red capsicum is red bell pepper, and paw paw is papaya!

Photos from New Year's Eve 2010-11

I am belated in posting photos from our first New Year's Eve in Sydney, as I was a bit embarrassed by the volume of dark, blurry photos I downloaded off of the camera! Blurry was the theme of my photography during the evening, but here are a few photos from Pyrmont/Darling Harbour, where we watched the fireworks from the balcony of the Google office building.

Here's the link for the rest of our photos from the evening. We were on the back side of the Harbour Bridge, so not exactly the best spot for watching the light display and all the fireworks displays coming off the bridge, but I'm just grateful we didn't have to queue for hours to get a space at one of the viewing spots at Circular Quay.

Here's a cool time lapse video of the Harbour on NYE. It begins in the early evening, and shows the 9pm and midnight fireworks displays, then the stillness of the harbour the next morning.

Finally, here's the full 12-minute midnight fireworks display from the City of Sydney. Unfortunately there's no sound on the video. Or fortunately, depending on your opinion of the music chosen for the simulcast. ;)

Our First Christmas Down Under

Yesterday we had a lovely first Christmas Down Under. We went to our friends the Swartzes' house for brunch, then took a car-share van to the beach at Nielsen Park, where we went swimming and had a picnic.

The weather cooperated by not raining that day! It was sunny and warm, but not too hot. The water was still a bit chilly - apparently it will be a few more months until it really warms up - but the beach here is quite pretty and the water is really clear.

Afterwards, we went back to Chez Swartz for home-made egg nog and Boggle. What a great day.

Here's the link to the rest of the photos from the day.