... due to bad weather!
We had planned to go to the Winter Festival in the city on Saturday, but the weather was AWFUL! It bucketed down the whole day... so we had Helen/Chris and Jo/Paul over for pizza and watched the first series of the Inbetweeners!
The rest of the weekend went like this:
Friday - lunch with the girls to welcome Kim back from the UK... and to collect the goodies she so kindly bought us!
Friday night - Ross Noble at the Acer Arena. We had free tickets thanks to Sali and Andy. Noble was soooo random, but very funny. The highlight of the night was shouting Cramlington at him with Julia and Jo. Cramlington is his home town, and also happens to be our Julia's home town!
Saturday - as described above!
Sunday - a complete change in weather! It was lovely and sunny... so we enjoyed a lovely brunch on the beach followed by a big food shop.
This low key weekend will be offset nicely by our trip to Hunter Valley next weekend! There are 10 of us and a dog going. Really looking forward to leaving Sydney for the first time since we have been here! Don't feel too sorry for us - we live on a beach - everyday is a holiday!!
Tuesday 23 June 2009
Thursday 18 June 2009
Food shopping- no room for snobbery
I always had different shops for different food at home -
Asda/ Morrisons for staples like crisps/ baked beans/ detergents/ fruit and veg/ branded stuff (always had offers so good for stocking up!)
Tescos for fresh pasta/ dips/ nice bread etc
Indian shops for masalas/ indian veg and pulses
M&S for treats like Percy pigs/ tea cakes etc
Here, life is a bit more complicated!
There are only 2 main Supermarket chains - Woolworths (I guess Tesco) and Coles (Asda/Morrisons). The main problem is that they pretty much sell the same things, Woolworths is just more expensive!
The added contender here is.... Aldi!
The snob in me would never have dreamt of buying none branded Baked Beans etc in Aldi at home (I wouldn't normally even buy a supermarkets own brand for most food things unless it was Tesco Finest!)
New country, new rules! I figured that most of the brand names here would be new to me anyway, so why not try something different...
The added bonus is that Aldi here often have English imports too - I recently bought Marmite and McVities Digestives (milk chocolate and original!).
We always have to do a top up shop in Coles as you can't get everything in Aldi, but this new attitude has allowed me to not only reduce our shopping bill by about a third, but also led me to the discovery that Aldi Houmous is infact MUCH nicer than anything I have bought from Coles and Woolies!!
Lastly, Sydney has not yet suffered the death of the High Street like London has - there are lots of lovely delis, speciality shops and bakeries to buy yummy stuff - at a price though! I could buy proper Bisto gravy granuales from the Expat shop as long as I don't mind paying the equivalent of £4 for it!
On that note, please can I remind everyone that might be visiting soon to bring us any of the following:
Hula Hoops, Skips, Prawn Cocktail Walkers,Squares, Toffee Crisps, Mini eggs.... oh sod it - any crisps and chocolates!!!
Asda/ Morrisons for staples like crisps/ baked beans/ detergents/ fruit and veg/ branded stuff (always had offers so good for stocking up!)
Tescos for fresh pasta/ dips/ nice bread etc
Indian shops for masalas/ indian veg and pulses
M&S for treats like Percy pigs/ tea cakes etc
Here, life is a bit more complicated!
There are only 2 main Supermarket chains - Woolworths (I guess Tesco) and Coles (Asda/Morrisons). The main problem is that they pretty much sell the same things, Woolworths is just more expensive!
The added contender here is.... Aldi!
The snob in me would never have dreamt of buying none branded Baked Beans etc in Aldi at home (I wouldn't normally even buy a supermarkets own brand for most food things unless it was Tesco Finest!)
New country, new rules! I figured that most of the brand names here would be new to me anyway, so why not try something different...
The added bonus is that Aldi here often have English imports too - I recently bought Marmite and McVities Digestives (milk chocolate and original!).
We always have to do a top up shop in Coles as you can't get everything in Aldi, but this new attitude has allowed me to not only reduce our shopping bill by about a third, but also led me to the discovery that Aldi Houmous is infact MUCH nicer than anything I have bought from Coles and Woolies!!
Lastly, Sydney has not yet suffered the death of the High Street like London has - there are lots of lovely delis, speciality shops and bakeries to buy yummy stuff - at a price though! I could buy proper Bisto gravy granuales from the Expat shop as long as I don't mind paying the equivalent of £4 for it!
On that note, please can I remind everyone that might be visiting soon to bring us any of the following:
Hula Hoops, Skips, Prawn Cocktail Walkers,Squares, Toffee Crisps, Mini eggs.... oh sod it - any crisps and chocolates!!!
Wednesday 17 June 2009
Talking to strangers...
Having grown up in London, my manners end at please and thank you, holding doors open and sometimes not pretending to be asleep and giving up my well earned seat on the Northern Line!
So when we first got here, it was a bit weird that the woman in the bank wanted to know all about what we had planned for the weekend!
Don't worry - I have adapted well... I quite look forward to going to pay the rent on a Thursday now... last week Chris at Commonwealth Bank in Manly told me all about how May-June were the warmest months to go for a swim in the sea (yea, I think I will take your word for it!)
Clothes shopping is still a bit scarey as the shop assistant insists on following you around and taking anything you pick up from you and leaving it in the changing room for you!
The funniest story I heard was from a girl I used to work with who knew the first names of the 3 bus drivers that were on her route to work (one bus, different driver depending on what time she came in, I think!)... she knew their kids names and even bought them Christmas presents! Bless her!
It still freaks me out sometimes though... a few weeks ago, Helen and I were in a bottleshop (an Off Licence to some of you).. this old lady who looked like Pat Butcher at 80, leppard print coat and all, was starring at me. So I apologised for being in her way and got my vodka (what?? it was for sharing, honest!) and moved out of her way. As I walked past, she touched my arm and told me I was "a beautiful colour"!! All I managed to do was say thanks!
So, although I think its lovely that school kids always give up their seats on buses here and everyone thanks the bus driver when they get off, I think it will be a while before I am on first name terms with him!!
I am, after all, British, and we are taught to not talk to strangers!
So when we first got here, it was a bit weird that the woman in the bank wanted to know all about what we had planned for the weekend!
Don't worry - I have adapted well... I quite look forward to going to pay the rent on a Thursday now... last week Chris at Commonwealth Bank in Manly told me all about how May-June were the warmest months to go for a swim in the sea (yea, I think I will take your word for it!)
Clothes shopping is still a bit scarey as the shop assistant insists on following you around and taking anything you pick up from you and leaving it in the changing room for you!
The funniest story I heard was from a girl I used to work with who knew the first names of the 3 bus drivers that were on her route to work (one bus, different driver depending on what time she came in, I think!)... she knew their kids names and even bought them Christmas presents! Bless her!
It still freaks me out sometimes though... a few weeks ago, Helen and I were in a bottleshop (an Off Licence to some of you).. this old lady who looked like Pat Butcher at 80, leppard print coat and all, was starring at me. So I apologised for being in her way and got my vodka (what?? it was for sharing, honest!) and moved out of her way. As I walked past, she touched my arm and told me I was "a beautiful colour"!! All I managed to do was say thanks!
So, although I think its lovely that school kids always give up their seats on buses here and everyone thanks the bus driver when they get off, I think it will be a while before I am on first name terms with him!!
I am, after all, British, and we are taught to not talk to strangers!
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