mom in oz...sunday brunch, derby market, didgeridoo music, and brownies!

after a restful friday (full of cooking, baking, reading, napping, and resting) we had an insanely busy saturday. up early for garage sales (where we got our first jaffle iron!), sunday brunch with friends, sampling my prune brownies, then to the derby markets for fun, food, crafts, and (lucky us!) didgeridoo playing. the guy playing the didgeridoo was incredible. my favorite so far.  then we took photos outside derby or bust, a tradition now with visitors.  walked home and rested before heading off to the derby rodeo!  see photos here in the Mom's visit in derby 2011 album

ubud and southern bali

ubud was another major highlight of the trip for me. i could live there without a problem. the food, fruit, vistas, people, culture, events, and shopping were the best.  we stayed at honeymoon guesthouse which was incredibly luxurious and decadent. we explored rice terraces outside the city, saw museums, visited galleries, went shopping, tried new and unusual fruit, visited the monkey forest, had incredible meals, met up with mj, bob, caitlin, and joey, visited some temples around the area, oh yeah did i mention we went shopping?  the market was fascinating and the whole culture around bartering is pretty fun.  we went to a fire dance (kecak) and cuban dinner with the whole crew too! i can't wait to go back someday!  we also visited a few nice sites (rocky temple, batuan temple, and the epic tanah lot) on our way to seminyak to meet mj, bob, and caitlin at their incredible villa.  went out to another fabulous dinner with them at naughty nuri's and then explored southern bali a bit. can't say i really enjoyed myself. we got something for miski and then decided to head back to ubud for the few days we had left in bali. such a good decision.  relaxed at our favorite hotel before heading back to darwin and back to reality!  more photos in this album

street arts festival, markets and beer in fremantle

another fantastic day in beautiful, sunny perth! we grabbed muffins in leederville then caught the train at 10am to freo. wandered down the beautiful, old streets towards the markets, shopping all the way.  i loved the markets, they were full of wonderful things from handmade jewelry, wall decals, produce, cupcakes, food, wood and other crafts, etc. we shopped a little bit in there and jose got some japanese soup.  we also got miski a cute little raincoat and some peanut butter doggy cookies. can't wait to give them to her.  we then found a nice painting outside that we got and wandered around to various street art acts. we watched breakdancers from the USA...not that good though..., chalk art, acrobats, stilt artists, etc.  it was very fun but it was also extremely hot. we walked across the park to little creatures, a local (huge) brewery with legendary beer.  we sat outside overlooking the port and sampled most of their beer. my favorite was their bright ale - jose's too. i also liked the white rabbit dark ale.  we had bruchetta and then pork chops with apple chutney and potatoes and a beet, pumpkin, feta, walnut salad. it was SO good!  we wandered about a bit after, got cupcakes, and then headed on home. we were exhausted by the time we got back and pretty much just vegged out watching movies and documentaries. more photos in this album

happy easter!

happy easter everyone in the us...a day ahead anyway.  today was more of a day of rest for us which was nice. got up and had a stroll at lake monger across from where we're staying. it is a beautiful lake with lots of wild birds and a lovely walking track. only 3.5k but still a nice walk.  then emmett came by and we walked into leederville and saw some of the shops (very quaint) and had coffee, tea and milkshakes at a place called green & co...although the picture shows what some inspired artist turned the name into :)  see photos here  then i went across the street and had my first frozen yogurt in about 10 months!  it was an american company and it was so nice to have my favorite treat after so long. then we went into subiaco (another suburb) and walked the mostly closed shops there.  but it is a very cute area, much larger than leederville with more cafes, etc.  we went to the markets there again and looked around and ate vietnamese food again (jose's choice).  very yummy but not as good as the day before.  jose found a clothing store he really liked and bought his first hoody ever! looks great on him. then we headed home, relaxed, watched documentaries online, had another lake walk, ate fabulous open faced sandwiches with wine and watched punch drunk love.  a nice day :)

central perth shopping spree

today we took the very nice train to the city centre in search of some fun things to buy.  we walked around the several malls all within a few blocks, found a few good purchases and enjoyed seeing the big buildings.  lots of the stores were too fancy but there were some really nice ones.  after doing a bit of shopping we walked away from the river a ways to go to a very fancy cake/sweet shop...sadly it was closed.  instead we happened upon a crime scene with police everywhere and the street blocked off. apparently there was a man with a gun wandering around. we went around it and ended up eating at a vietnamese place called lodi i think.  this was jose's first experience with vietnamese food and he loved it! we got amazing spring rolls, veal and fried rice and i had an incredible beef dish with vermicelli noodles. it was heavenly.  walked by the police barrier again (they apparently ended up shooting the guy in the leg to get him out) and back into the city centre.  i bought some chocolates at a really nice grocery store (akin to gelsons) and then we continued to shop for a bit.  then we went to a little picadilly movie theatre and caught the 4pm show of Rango!  loved it. took the train back home where we ate left overs and watched social networking with emmett's brother's fiance.  many more photos in the Perth 2011 album.

a snapshot of broome (with sarah!)

so broome was amazing.  sarah and i got to really experience some serious luxury while we were there. got in very early on wednesday. sadly 12 mile was closed that day but that meant we got to eat at ra ra's which was spectacular and had a bali theme...how appropriate.  our food was delicious and the atmosphere amazing.  we then did some shopping around town. i got jose two great shirts and nothing for myself.  how unusual!  though i did put in an order for a fab dress (shhhh).  and i found what i want for my birthday...which i am telling jose about of course :)  then we went to our hotel a bit early (bali hai) and were treated to the lap of luxury. we had a free upgrade to a two bedroom deluxe villa.  it was amazing.  we then went to the spa and got two for one deals on massages. i had a 90 min deep tissue massage that i fell asleep during.  sarah had a pearl paradise package.  heaven. when done we cleaned up and went out to see the sunset at gantheume point.  beautiful as always, it was swarming with dragon flies.  freaked sarah out, but i can't say anything since she defended me the spiders as i squealed in fright on the joonjoo trail.  anyway had a lovely time there and then went to azuki for the best asian meal i've had in ages! we got tazmanian salmon sushi, prawn and corn gyozas with citrus dipping sauce and pumpkin and tofu tempura soup.  for dessert it was flourless chocolate cake with black sesame seed ice cream and i was in total heaven.  good thing i do not live here - i would be completely broke.  went back to the hotel and watched my kitchen rules, and passed out early!  next day we ate at kool spot which was awesome. then showed her cable beach where there were lots of tiny jelly fish out and about.  nothing scary or anything. just cute!  then i dropped her at the airport. she was going to melbourne and then back home after that. what an amazing couple of days with her!  so sad to see her go. it was such a treat to see a bit of home out here in the kimberley.  see many many more photos here Derby 2011

Palermo Hollywood!!!!

Wow! All I have to say is I love this neighborhood. It has chic stores, boutiques, tons of clothes and shoes and delicious cafes on every corner. We went shopping all day and then ate at the BEST place ever called B.Blue where we had filet miñon in oyster sauce, spinach quiche, salad, and roasted potatoes and squash with grapefruit-ade and a little cappuccino to top it all off. I actually found frozen yogurt after at a little shop and had my first taste in over four months! Then we shared a bottle of wine and had a great conversation. I could totally live here...if i never had to work again and could eat as much as I wanted without gaining weight. Tomorrow off to Sydney on our 16 hour flight.