Sri Lankan and Thai Food Festivals

Dangit, we were so close. We had one post left, and we would have been completely caught up. It would have been a new age- an age of pictures from the same month they were taken. Alas, it was not to be. A new level of laziness kicked in, and we stopped posting, and now we are behind again. Argh.

This is from about six weeks ago, the Thai embassy does a giant cultural festival once a year. We missed it last year, as it happened after we had just gotten here and were still settling in. We heard it was great though, so we definitely made a note to make it next time. That time was now. When the announcement came out, we noticed that the Sri Lanken embassy was also having a cultural festival the day before. So we decided to make it an Asian cultural weekend.

Canberra does a really cool thing with its Embassies, that because its such a small, open city with land to spare, it lets countires build their embassies in whatever fashion they want, usually reflecting their cultural heritage. For instance, the US Embassy looks like Williamsburg, and the Japanese embassy has a giant rock garden in front. Its kind of fun. However, not all countries can afford/want to do that, so a lot just buy existing units- Sri Lanka is one of those countries. The embassy, below, is not the most exciting thing to drive by.

Back behind it was where the magic happened. It was a pretty low-key affair with a few food booths and a couple stands where you could buy a few trinkets and Ceylon Tea. We bought a lot of the tea, it was fantastic. But as anyone knows, you go to these things for the food, and the food alone. Part of the fun for us for going to the Sri Lankan food fair, was that we had no idea what Sri Lankan food was. Presumably, it was similar to Indian. 

This is a hopper. Its a kind of crispy rice and coconut milk paddy cooked in a wok with a fried egg at the bottom. It comes with several sides, a chili paste, a chicken curry, and some kind of onion-y salad. Oh my god, it was amazing- hoppers, where have you been all of my life. Bob, Tina- we've since found a Sri Lankan restaurant that does friday night Hoppers. We're totally taking you there.

We also got a mix plate of finger foods. Also very good. The food was similar to Indian, as we expected, but it has an almost Thai-style influence that makes it just a little bit different . . . and delicious. As you can tell from Laurel's coat, we were still coming out of winter at the time.

The Sri Lankan fair was relatively small, I got the impression it was all friends and families of the Embassy and Sri Lankan community. Very quaint, very nice. The Thai Festival, by comparison, was GIGANTIC. Here's the embassy below- they definitely went for local flair in building it.

They also had corporate sponsorship. I think every Thai restaurant in town (and there are a lot) had a booth selling food, and here's a picture of the guy unloading the palette of Singha beer. Since Singha is clearly the best Asian beer, Greg was pretty happy. Also, Greg will hear no arguments on Singha's superiorty? Sapporro? Please.

Like we said, giant. Stands everywhere, shopping, people everywhere. Delcious Thai food too, although we didn't take any pictures of it. we were too busy eating it. That, and, it was really hard to find a place to stand where you weren't in someone's way.

It also featured thai dancers and musicians.

And a samll exhibit!

All in all, a great weekend. We want to find some schedule for when the Embassies do their respective festivals so we can make this a regular thing. Its a ton of fun, and great eating!

Mount Ainslie and the Telstra Tower

About a month ago, we guess, we got our first really perfect spring day. The sun was shining, the wind wasn't too strong, it was warm. We decided to take the oppurtunity to go out to some of the more picturesque spots of Canberra. First, we headed up Mount Ainslie. The term "Mount" is probably an exagerration, but it is a very pretty look-out spot as Canberra spirals out from it. 

This is officially the highest point on Mount Ainslie, and like any good highpoint in an urban area, there's a telecoms tower there.

This is the best spot. They designed the city so the main line of the city goes directly to where we were standing. This is Canberra's equivalent of the Washington Mall. At the bottom of the picture is the War Memorial, then a long Mall with monuments along the sides until you come to Lake Burley-Griffen. Note the giant fountain off to the right side in the lake. Across the lake is Old Parliament building, which was always designed to be a temporary structure. Just past it is New Parliament with its beautiful, ornate flagpole. Quite a view.

After Mount Ainslie we drove over to the Telstra Tower, the main telecoms point for Canberra. Telstra is a phone/internet/television company that is a virtual monopoly across Australia.We're not wild about them, but don't have a lot of choice. Anyway, here is the tower as we were walking up to it.

As any good company does, Telstra has found alternate ways to monetize its infrastructure. The Tower also doubles as a [paid] look-out point, gift shop, coffee shop, and at nights, a very high-end revolving restaurant.

Laurel and Greg are both mildly afraid of heights, but have very different triggers. Greg's is all about feeling secure on where he's standing. For instance, if we are walking over a huge, swaying bridge across a raging river in Tasmania, that is not okay. This, though is fine. Sure, we're a couple hundred meters off the ground, but he's standing on solid concrete with a firm railing. Nothing is going anywhere. We're good.

Laurel on the other hand, has no problems with things swaying or being generally rickety. She just wants very high railings. These railings do not qualify. There is still a chance that someone could trip and accidentally catapult themselves over the side, or a strong wind could blow and knock you off balance, causing you to fall to your doom. Mountain peaks have this exact same problem.

This is kind of fun. In the elevator there was little electronic sign that would mark your altitude as you went up and down the tower.  Fear of heights aside, it was a very nice day.

Wellington surrounds

On the second day of our weekend, we hired a car and took a leisurely drive along the coast. New Zealand, like Australia, is not a big fan of road shoulders.  Fortunately most of the drop-offs were less severe than the cliffs we were basically driving on in Tasmania.  But that's only because most of the cliffs started on the opposite side of the road, say where the houses started. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Laurel's co-worker who used to live in Wellington recommended this place, the Chocolate Fish cafe, for lunch. Man, he did not lead us astray. They specialize in fish sandwiches, but have a whole assortment of diner-style food. Everything is cooked on the outdoor grill next to the patio. According to a plaque by the door the building was originally part of an old military base that was built in the late 1800's by the Brits when there was a very real concern that the Russians were going to invade. I'm sorry, what!? What the heck were the Russians doing that far south, ever? If anyone could shed some light on this, it would be greatly appreciated.

Apparently, the Chocolate Fish is also a noted spot on the Lord of the Rings tour. During filming it was a popular lunch spot, and I think a movie production building was across the street, so it was probably pretty convenient, but not really sure on the details. Greg's nerd is strong, but not in the elf and hobbit categories.

As we mentioned in our last post, the weather in Wellington is noturiosly unpredictable, but we lucked out for lunch. The sun came out shining and it was beautiful, so we sat out on the deck and enjoyed our lunch. They also provided large, floppy hats which Laurel could not resist.

Fake-out! As we were driving we had to stop and take a picture of this guy, because we thought he was a little penguin at first. Turns out, not. He's just some kind of seagull-type waterbird. Still pretty cute though.

As we drove around Wellington's section of the island we just stopped wherever and took pictures. We had been recommended some especially picturesque places, but, seriously, it all was. Every twist and turn just brought more amazing views.

Clearly if there are rocks they must be climbed. It is the first rule of nature.

The second rule of nature is that Laurel is adorable.

So, as you may have noticed Wellington is super-rocky. Most of the coastal land is rocks, a flat strip that's been used for a road, and then very steep incline. Some houses will have a ground level garage and then a kind of ski-lift elevator looking thing to take them up to their house. Or in this case, the longest, steepest walk to check the mailbox ever. That's right, the zig-zagging white fence is the path/steps from the main street to the houses at the top.

There's not much else to say about this next stretch of pictures aside from noting that it's freaking epic, and the sun did not stay out for long.

We came across this place by complete accident. It's called Zealandia, and it has to be a completely unique idea. A large plot of land, on the northern outskirts of Wellington, has been set aside for the next 500 years to try and return nature to its pre-man environment. They call it a natural zoo. You are welcome to visit and walk through the area. It's wild, so there's no guarantee how much wildlife you'll see, but you will see a whole host of birds. We didn't actually take the tour, it was getting late and they were going to be closing soon, but it's a pretty great idea.

Did I mention that it's built directly over the fault line that runs down the center of Wellington? Here's the sign advising what to do in the [inevitable] event of an earthquake.

And, here is the faultline. Please note how the ground on one side of the fence is about 10 feet higher than the other side of the fence. That is nuts.

Your Sport Update

If you don't already know, Australia is sport mad. [Editors note, in a quirk of the Australian language, they don't always follow the same plural rules Americans do. The plural of "sport" is "sport." Conversely, the plural of "math" is "maths"]. While the US has football and baseball as its national pastimes, with basketball and hockey existing as more niche sports, and really that's about it. I guess there is a little bit of golf and tennis, but, eh. Australia is so sport mad it can't decide what its national sport is. In Sydney, its Rugby League, in Melbourne its AFL (Australian Rules Football). Or to some people its Rugby Union. Or soccer (strangely, Australia also doesn't call it football). Cricket is also huge everywhere. NFL and MLB games are televised regularly, cycling is massive, tennis is pretty big. Its kind of unreal. I get the impression Australia might have taken over half the world by now, except there was a game on. What game? Oh, any game.

This past weekend has been an exceptionally big sporting weekend. All three footie codes (NRL, Rugby Union, and AFL) are having premierships. We'll start with Rugby Union, which is the old school Rugby you think of the British as playing. Right now, New Zealand is hosting the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

Never heard of it? Me neither. This is the seventh tournament and like the Soccer World Cup is held every four years. They claim its the third biggest international tournament in the world, but that can only be true if you count the Summer and Winter Olympics as one event. Which they aren't. Anyway, its an awesome tournament and an awesome game, but it has some problems to overcome for it to really become a world senstation. The first problem is that there are only about 6-10 really good nations, and then another 4 or 5 that are all right. And well, they still need to fill out a 20 team torunament, so they let a few other teams play, too. Sadly, the US falls into this category.

Wait? The US has an internationl rugby team? I had no idea either. We're the Eagles, and we have a 3-27 record in the World Cup I believe. We're no good, but at least we're not Namibia (who lost every game this year by at least 60). The problem comes when the great teams play the not -so-good teams. You get 87-0 scores. That's not exciting sport for anyone. So, who are the good teams? First and foremost are New Zealand, the feared All-Blacks. You probably know them from the movie Invictus.

New Zealand may be small, but they are the Brazil of International Rugby. They're the default pick for champion every time they step on the field. All-Blacks support is practically a religion in NZL, the above logo might as well be the flag of the country. Except there is one crucial difference between Brazil and New Zealand. New Zealand also has the choking ability of England. While they won the inaugural tournament in 1987, and have been the favorites every single time since, they haven't won it again. Australia has won it twice since then, which tweaks the Kiwis to no end. So while everyone agrees that New Zealand SHOULD win, no one really believes they will. As a good faux-Aussie, I support the Wallabies (you never say root in Australia, its really, really dirty).

Sadly, the Wallabies have not had the best first round experience. They have made it to the second round, but lost to Ireland in pool play, and now to get to the Finals will have to get past South Africa and New Zealand (#1 and #2 in the world), instead of relatively easier matches against Wales and England or France. Sigh.

Moving on, both AFL and NRL schedule their championship games for the same weekend. AFL is on Saturday. AFL is a giant, freewheeling mess of a game played on a cricket field, where goals are kicked on the run, and the primary means of passing is kicking it forward. If a player catches it (called a mark), he gets a free kick, so the other team has an incentive to make sure he does't catch it. As near as I can tell as long as you don't punch someone, its a legal hit. It makes for some spectacular marks. [Laurel says the no punching rule is another example of why this sport, like all sport, is inferior to hockey]

Now, this season has been pretty clear-cut from the start- the two previous Premiers, Collingwood and Geelong, have been on a collision course all season. And that is what happened. Collingwood, a suburb of Melbourne, won last year and has looked dominant all year. They are the Magpies and have perhaps the best logo in all of sport.

Now, I said Collingwood has been dominant, and they have. Except for two games. And both those games were against Geelong, which is a city an hour west of Melbourne. Wait? Who is Collingwood playing? Geelong? . . . Crap.

Geelong Cats. I find this hilarious. Not Wildcats. Not Panthers. Not Pumas. Not even a Catosaurus. Just plain old housecats. Regardless of their less than intimidating mascot, Geelong played Collingwood close all game until it was time for the fourth quarter and then they decided that they had played with their prey long enough, and dropped the hammer on Collingwood. They won by 38. Great game. Unless your a Magpie supporter.

Lastly, NRL. We've told you about NRL previously, as Canberra has a local team, the Canberra Raiders, Laurel's beloved Green Machine.

Sadly, after the first epic win of the season that we were at, they pretty much didn't win again all year. They finished 15 of 16. Curses. Now, the NRL fanbase seems pretty comparable to NASCAR if that tells you anything. A lot of Australians lift their noses at NRL. NRL was created to be a dumbed down, straightline version of Rugby Union, that could be played professionally (at the time Union was an amateur only thing). Its supporters say its more high-octane and exciting, but I'm unconvinced of that. This year's championship game featured a favorite, the Manly Sea Eagles, against the surprise of the year, the Auckland Warriors. The warriors were supposed to lose in the first round of the play-offs but just kept winning. Think the Arizona Cardinals from a couple years ago. The Warriors gave it a hell of a shot, but in the end the Sea Eagles were just too good.

Downtown Wellington

In June, Greg got the oppurtunity to go to Wellington, New Zealand to visit the new office that had just been set up there. The date changed about twelve times, but ended up working out so he had to stay the weekend. Bonus! Taking advantage of the situation, Laurel decided to tag along, for a semi-free mini-vacation. Here's a street view of Wellington, a main shopping artery. Stay tuned tomorrow (well it was for us, it'll probably be two weeks from now in blog-post time) for the fabled natural beauty of New Zealand.

After Greg's day at work he met Laurel, who had suffered through shopping all day, at a Belgian bar/restarurant named Leuwan's. One of Greg's co-workers recommended it to us. Unbeknowst to us, Wellington has a reputation around New Zealand as being a great food city. It lives up to the hype.

Fresh mussels + chips with house-made aioli + belgian beer = happy Greg.

The next day, Greg and Laurel set out for a fun day exploring the city. Here is a view looking towards the harbor.

There was also a roadrace winding around the harbor area, so crossing certain parts of the street was a touch tricky. Apparently, it was the Wellington leg of the New Zealand running championship. Greg thought about joining in, but didn't want to get embarrassed by the professionals.

This is the downtown public market. It's underground since the wind is always blowing so hard. It was pretty cute, with some nice little things here and there. On Saturday it's a craft show, and on Sundays it's a food market.

Note the difference in the sky in these next two pictures of the downtown city-scape. They were taken maybe twenty minutes apart, and yet in the second one you can see the clouds parting to let the sun in, and turn into (briefly) a beaufitul day. They say that Wellington is the only city in the world that can have all four seasons in one day. Holy crap are they not kidding. It would be freezing one minute, then the sun would come out and it would warm up nicely. Just as you were shrugging off your coat to bask in the sunlight, a freak rainstorm would blow in. Pretty incredible.

This was our first destination, the Te Papa Museum, the National Musuem of New Zealand.

Oops. Greg dented the sculpture. Sometimes he does not know his own strength. Sorry Wellington.

This is in the Te Papa museum, which is one of the best museums we've ever been to. This is a giant Maori wood carving of the god of earthquakes.

The entire museum is bi-lingual with all displays in both English and Maori. New Zealand seems to have a much different relationship with its indigenious population than America and Australia do. Where both of those countries for all intents and purposes did their best to exterminate them, New Zealand has embraced the Maori traditions and cultures. This is probably not entirely due to New Zealanders being more magnanimous, but that from the little we know, it sounds like the Maori were far more effective at fighting the colonialists. Regardless of the reason, it's kind of cool to see the native culture on display.

This was a really neat ampi-theatre. It played the Maori world-creation story on a continuous loop using narration and lights. All around were statues of the various Maori gods. The world was created when the earth and sky gods were forcably seperated from each other by their children. The god of wind and water, however, was opposed to this plan and lashed out with all his power, creating the mountains, cliffs, and natural beauty New Zealand is known for.

This is the sign for Cuba Street which comprises the main shopping district of Wellington. It's a couple miles long of uninterrupted shopping, restaurants, bars, and coffee shops. There were tons of street performers and just activity every way you looked. Definitely a fun way to spend an afternoon.

There was a lot of cool sculptures and art peppered along the street. This was one particularly funky fountain. It consisted of a series of tubs that as they filled up they would tip over and pour water into the next level of tubs below. It was also a little unstable and would occasionally splash unprepared passers-by.

This is where we ended up for dinner, using the time-honored method of just picking a random direction from the hotel and walking until we found something we liked. Man, did we pick the right direction. 3C was delicious, delicious eating. Laurel had a duck confit with beetroot, and Greg had roast lamb with sweetbreads, washed down with a couple amazing gin martinis. And we don't even really like gin.