Volume III - cafe culture and some good ol' wholesome chocolate

It's 11am on a Sunday and I'm sitting in the sun just looking at the
clouds and trees. It is about 70 today, but looking outside reminds me
of when I was a kid. The trees were a bit bare and the sky looked a tad
bit cold and snowy. The lights would hit the trees in such a way that I
knew it was winter... and quite fitting enough, it's winter here.

I have been here three weeks yesterday and it feels like a blink. I
pass the airport daily which is a constant reminder that if i want to
come home, I can.... but there's just too much here....

Ever heard of KungFU Hustle? Yep. Awesome - I bet it released in the
US over a year ago, but I saw it for the first time in the theatre
yesterday. What an awesome movie. It rocked! Lots of kung fu and even
a dance scene.. oh yeah, don't forget the blood and guts - they were
there too... overall I give the movie a 8.5, but there were some
technical issues - the audio wasn't consistent - it would just break
here and there for when the scene changed and the color grading was a
bit abrupt... but overall, great story....

In a related story, I watched the Matrix - did you know that most of it
was shot here in Sydney? Yep. Remember the scene in the first one of
the lady in the red dress who walks by Neo... I didn't know it, but I've
been walking down there on my shopping sprees in the city... or, in the
beginning when Neo is running from "Mr. Smith" he looks down -
you can see that's Sydney too! The character "Switch" - she's just a
local - she works at a cinema somewhere - she just did the movie and
that's it... now back to real life... man, if it that kind of story here
in the US, she'd be famous only because she was just a normal person
doing a movie... rumor has it, she didn't make much from the movie...

I have found a restaurant that ONLY serves chocolate! Chocolate
souffle... chocolate strawberries, fondu chocolate - it's kinda funny
cause you sit down and almost immediately they slap down glasses of
water. That's when you know that's it's serious chocolate! You feel
fine when you eat it, but bam! You stand up and your tummy is totally
full and a bit painfully! :) But soooo worth it!

I've found a few other Americans around in Australia. A lot of
companies call work looking for software and stuff and I being at work
and all, i answer the phone - this guy had an American Accent! I was
just so excited.... turns out that this guy had his business in
Manhattan and during 9/11 he lost his whole business in one of the
buildings - so he had enough and moved himself and his business to Byron
Bay. Now for some of you that know much about Byron Bay, a lot of
former American Athletes and rich people move there - it's beautiful.
It's about a 2 hour drive south of Brisbane just over the Queensland
border into New South Wales. It's just a sleepy little surf town with a
bunch of burnt out pot heads, but I mean who wouldn't
want to move to Byron Bay and smoke a little weed! Anyway, I guess
my point is, there's a bunch of Americans here and it's not uncommon to
see a few out and about. So, that's a bit comforting to know that I'm
not the only American here!

The supermarkets are a bit more realistic - they're about a quarter the
size of a normal one in the US - they have everything you need.
The essentials - I even found some Peanut butter. It's not Jiff, but it
works just the same. I gross out my Australian friends when I eat it.
But they gross me out just the same by eating Vegemite - what a terrible
product. Nasty smelling brown grossness that you spread on your toast -
well, I'd rather starve. (I just know I'm gonna get a lot of hate mail
from my Aussie friends in this one)

i probably mentioned that there's separate bread and butcher stores - i
guess that's how the US was 50 years ago or so, but it's new to me.
It's really cool to walk down the street to the local bakery and pick
out some awesome just made bread.

A new pastry shop just opened in town too... lol... a bunch of people
were staring at the perfectly cut fruit and sweets on top of the
beautiful cakes - think sushi, but at a pastry shop!

Oh yeah, and another related FOOD story... Cafe culture! People take
the time to just sit outside, order a nice latte and eat something
fabulous like... Turkish bread with ricotta cheese, fresh strawberries
with honey.... OR... pancakes with caramelized bananas powered sugar and
a half an ounce of maple syrup. Hungry yet? It's really really good!!!

I'm signed up for my diving course. I start my lessons on the first
weekend in October. It's just a weekend course. They teach the basics
and then I'll be licensed to see the little fishes in the water! :)
It's really cool because I've seen where they take you out... it's right
by the topless beach! I've seen them bobbing up and down in the water
and the water is crystal clear! I'm not too sure about the big fishes.
I'm gonna have to get used to them...

Alright... that's it for this third volume! more to come!

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