2Dec05

Yesterday was lovely. We needed to go to the city to pick up another piece of the Immigration paperwork puzzle, so we decided to make a day of it. We went to Glebe and hit the organic grocery store, then we picked up that paper in Surry, then we had oodles of fun walking around in Newtown on King Street. Where Glebe reminds me a bit of a cross between Haight Street in San Fran and the French Quarter in New Orleans, this area of King Street reminds me of the Geary Street area of San Fran. There were an amazing amount of delicious restaurants... many of them vegetarian and vegan friendly. We even passed an Italian restaurant that offered gluten-free crusts for their pizza. Afterward, we went to Coogee beach, walked about, spent some romantic time on the rocks facing the Pacific, then had a lovely supper before returning to Koaladu.

Two of my favourite treats that I can only find in areas with a high concentration of Asian people are black sesame and green tea ice cream. I occasionally will find green tea ice cream in tubs in local stores back home, but they pale in comparison to the genuine article. I can't explain why I love them so much, but I do. I'd gladly turn down chocolate for these flavours. *waits for the gasps from the reading audience to subside* Yes, yes, I know. Shocking, isn't it. Well, since I no longer eat dairy, I've had to pass all these ice cream and gelato shops without even so much as a taste. Even when G walks beside me eating a big cup full of those very flavours I love and offers me some. I have remained strong. Yesterday, I found a little Asian grocery shop that specializes in vegan fare. Right in front of the shop is a small ice cream freezer. Contained therein are several flavours of vegan ice cream that they make right on the premises. Two of those flavours happen to be green tea and black sesame. *swoon* I bought a cup with half a scoop of each. The green tea one was made from sencha and actually had some of the green tea leaves in it. I walked down the street in absolute orgasmic bliss. Orgasmic. I think G was a bit jealous that I don't moan like that for him. *blush* But, my favourite flavours of forbidden ice cream in a non-forbidden form! Come on! I was nearly overcome with the absolute bliss of it all.

I'll likely be returning there some time in the future. Ya think? *giggle*

28 Novemeber 2005

Today we went to see the Invitro Fertilization (IVF) specialist. He was very nice and extremely motivated to help us. There are things they are doing here to help couples become pregnant that they aren't doing in the US. Positive things. We left the office with a bevy of appointments, people to call, medical coverage to organize and minus a few vials of blood. It's all a bit overwhelming, but I think this man isn't going to waste our time. If he can't help us, we'll know in short order. This is very encouraging.

We then went to Cabramatta so G could buy Vietnamese snacks. He loves them. I, too, indulged in a coconut milk concoction. Very yummy. Then we stopped by the Family's place and they loaded us up with fruits and veggies. His Mum is quite the frugal shopper. She goes to the farmer markets and buys incredibly large boxes of food for small change. Then she separates them into care packages and hands them out to all the cousins, sisters, etc. in town. We are now on that list. The humorous part of this lies in the fact that I have all this food, I spend hours creating meals from it, then we spend so much time away from the house and eating at their place that the food at home goes bad before I eat it. I've taken to packing little lunches with me so I can at least eat some of it on the road instead of buying at restaurants.

G's family has been very good about my odd eating disorders this time. They've tried to be accommodating and they are pleased when I bring salads and other contributions to the table. That way, they can make their meat dishes and not worry that I have nothing to do but watch them. Have I mentioned how grateful I am to have my own kitchen? If not, I am VERY grateful. It gives me nutritional independence. This is very important to me. Still, I appreciate that they are willing to accept my limitations with grace. I expect nothing from them and am enthusiastically thankful when they do prepare things I might share. Still, I've noticed they don't ever try the food I bring to share. I think I shall start making smaller portions. I simply have no one else to feed. G is always full from his Mum's cooking, so he has no stomach for my meals. Back home, I'd be showing up on everyone's doorsteps with large bowls of stuff begging my friends to eat it. I need to make some vegetarian/vegan friends here. Maybe I'll cruise the Internet for vegan potlucks in Sydney. Goodness knows I haven't ever made it to the one in Eugene because it falls on my D&D night. *blush*

We returned to Koaladu (the new name for our Australian pad) early this afternoon so I could continue to work on immigration paperwork and make a phone call to my Mom. It's really hard to coordinate phone call times because of the time difference. I've updated my LJ and read all my email. I think we'll just relax the rest of the evening.

Oh, a super cool thing that's happened in Sydney since I was here last is that the stores and restaurants are open later every day. It used to be that everything, including the grocery stores, closed a 5pm sharp. The only days working folk could shop were Thursday nights and Saturdays. Sometimes, I love globalization.

More about Friday.

Today we ran errands in the morning and then went to the Family's place to do laundry. I really miss having laundry at home. It's highly inconvenient. Plus, their machine is tearing apart my clothes. Everything is linty and my sweaters are starting to pill. I may just start hand washing my good clothes and only wash G's stuff and towels there. I already have to be careful where I dry my clothes. The sun here is merciless. It dries them quickly, but I return home and they are two shades or more lighter. I've been hanging all my stuff inside.

Interesting cultural note: In the US, we break our seasons at the equinox and solstice times. Winter doesn't officially start until solstice around the twenty-whatever of December. Here, they break their seasons on the first of the quarter. Summer season officially started on December 1st.