Hey, there's new pictures up! If you haven't seen them already, go check out the features on our Sydney Harbour Cruise (it's only a month late) and our trip to Canberra. Plus, there are some minor corrections and small adjustments to the pages as were recommended by my visiting sister2 Angela, whose visit has generated much, but not all, of the excitement this week. The most notable adjustment is the addition of a "back to the GAA page" link at the bottom of every page, so that you can get back to the index when you're done reading. More feature pages to come in the next few weeks!
What started out last week as a fairly run-of-the-mill week in Sydney was inevitably heading for Chad's birthday celebrations on Friday the 11th. Though D had to go to class that day, we made a reservation that evening for dinner at a very nice, v-e-r-y expensive restaurant. (I should note that, although we were planning to treat ourselves to a nice dinner and were prepared to pay the bill for this one, we chose to use another Christmas present from some good friends, who had chosen a restaurant from afar3 and given us some not-insubstantial sum of money to spend there4.)
Dinner comprised a number of extraordinary dishes-- some we didn't order but which came compliments of the chef-- including a lobster broth with creamy fresh parmesan and whole roasted tomato, a creme brulee fois gras with radish salad and anise powder, roast pork with pumpkin and coffee, and, for dessert, a carmelized tomato5 stuffed with "twelve flavors" (mostly grains, nuts, dried fruits, honey, and possibly a rum or other liqueur) and served with star anise ice cream. One of those dining experiences that is an evening's entertainment, education, and adventure as well as a meal. Our compliments to the chef, Mark Best, and to his cozy classy restaurant, Marque.
In addition to dinner, Chad received a number of appreciated birthday cards from family (on both sides!), all of which are now taped up to our rapidly filling walls. The rest of the weekend passed in a food-induced coma (we treated ourselves to a lovely, though not as expensive, breakfast on Saturday morning as well, reasoning that back at home it was still his birthday), until yesterday morning, when D's sister Angela arrived from the US for an 8 day visit. One of Angela's dear friends from high school6 is working on her Master's degree at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, so Angela is actually staying with her, although the plan is to do many things toether as a group.
Angela came bearing gifts (just as she will inevitably return) of things needing to be replaced7 or unavailable here for which no acceptable substitute has been found.8 She also arrived with a special allowance for each of us from D and Angela's parents "to do something fun." After a whole five minutes of deliberation, we unanimously decided to spend it on tickets to see the Sydney Symphony at the Opera House... last night. So, "Poetic Tchaikovsky" it was, featuring his Piano Concerto No. 1 (with Joaquin Achucarro on piano), and the Pathétique Symphony, which included a gong, though not until the end. Very exciting. Achucarro also graced us with a solo Chopin nocturne which was not on the program, but which was lovely anyway.
Work continues to progress at a slow but kind-of-approaching steady rate... Chad is scheduled to give a talk for his reserach group next week and has been able to log in a few times to start runs on the Michigan supercomputers. D continues to observe classes and got to meet with all the faculty and the other postgrads on Friday-- the opportunities to share her own research and hear about theirs look to be quite fruitful.
Steady on, then-- we have a full week ahead of us, too: wedding dress shopping with Angela for D, another Fulbright reception for D and Chad, and D's birthday on Friday. In the meantime, we are pleased to announce
... and this time, everybody can play. That's right, anyone is eligible to enter this contest, all you have to do is email your best guess to D9 before midnight Sydney time on Monday 4 April. Please note: I will post a hint on Easter Monday, because this one is really hard, but you get extra points for guesses submitted before the hint is posted. If you missed it a few lines ago, the link to the contest is here.
Have fun.
;)
- D
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NOTES
1After all my yakking about Sydney being boring last week, I'm a few days late getting this week's entry posted. *sigh.* I hope you all consoled yourselves with the many photos I managed to get up this week instead.
2Okay, actually she's my only sister, so the adjective "visiting" doesn't actually differentiate her from any other sister of mine.
3They had never been to Sydney, or even to Australia (though they are more than welcome to come and visit us while we're here), which made their keen ability to recommend a restaurant all the more impressive. Kudos, guys-- you picked a definite winner!
4They even gave us Australian currency for Christmas-- that's classy! Although the great amusement of looking through the little windows in Australian bills was maybe not so classy... but darn funny anyway.
5Yes, you read that correctly, dessert was a carmelized tomato, which was explained more than once as evidence of the chef's belief that tomatoes really were a fruit and therefore appropriate for dessert. It sounds strange, but no words can quite express how heavenly this dish actually was.
6Also, incidentally, a friend of D's-- she was one of the friends from the States who accompanied us to the Garden Music last weekend.
7A nalgene water bottle for Chad, who left his at the hostel in St. Kilda (Melbourne).
8D's flouride mouthwash.
9the4thletter@yahoo.com or drossz@umich.edu -- either one will work. The prizes for this contest will be just as exciting as those for the last one!
Back to the GAA page!