We had a wonderful August, split across several cities and catching up with lots of friends. I had written a wishlist before we went to Australia and I think we got to all of them!
Adventures in Darwin...
Saturdays are laksa at the Parap markets, I'm still a big fan of the original Mary's laksa...
Afternoon tea treats (love a vanilla slice!) with members of my original string quartet - both the cellist and violist have family in Darwin so they organised a trip up to visit us. We organised some music sessions as well and got to play some Beethoven string quartets, the Schumann piano quintet and the Mozart clarinet quintet!
A market haul from Rapid Creek markets, my Sunday morning ritual. Lots of fresh veggies, the first mangoes of the season, tiny local bananas that G loved, and fresh rice noodles!
We were given this bottle of wine on the flight up to Darwin by a stewardess who just adored G and our crazy love story. She took it out of business class, wrapped it up in a plastic bag and slipped it to us! Also loved the mangoes in the NT
Spicy charcoal chicken from Laksa House - an old Darwin favourite available only on Friday/Saturday nights. You can smell the chicken as you drive past on the highway!
A dumpling dinner we had, with a side of snake beans and some seaweed salad
We had such a lovely time in Darwin, I just loved the lifestyle there and going to the beach for sunset - we made it for almost every sunset that I wasn't working, which was quite a lot! We finished our Australian trip with 10 days in Sydney/Newcastle visiting family and friends.
Hotpot at my dad's home - what a spread!
Fresh lettuce from my dad's garden
Snow peas from seeds that I saved from my garden several years ago - I quite enjoyed picking them off the vine and feeding them to the baby!
A lovely takeaway lunch I had with a friend - japchae, kimchi, fish tofu, fresh corn and fresh salmon sashimi (the fish fingers and chips were for the kids)
We went to Newcastle for a few days to visit my elderly music friend with whom I used to play piano duets and piano/violin duets often. We kept each other going during COVID when things were tough. She was delighted to meet my son and it was lovely to play together again! Here was a dinner she put on for us, lots of meat and potatoes and a cauliflower gratin.
Fish and chips at the beach!
We also got together with some other music friends to play the Schumann piano quintet, and this was a vegan potluck dinner we had together afterwards - two types of salad, falafel and tabouli, a stirfry and some roasted cauliflower and pumpkin. Music and food go well together!
We finished our Australian trip with a monster 33 hour trip home to Paris - note to self, babies don't travel well! On the first leg to Guangzhou he didn't sleep at all and when he finally fell asleep at the airport, I ducked off to Family Mart to get this sushi "burger". That was the culinary highlight of our trip home... we are still recovering from the jetlag.
Curveball time
Simply, baby discovers mango at the beach. Not sure if he ate more mango or sand! He got his first two teeth in Darwin and started to practise walking - he's growing up fast!
Sending this to Sherry of Sherry's Pickings who hosts the monthly IMK series - thanks Sherry and have a great month everyone!
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What a wonderful month with a growing baby, musical get-togethers, and marvelous food. I would love to hear you play the Mozart clarinet quintet, a piece that I really love. But all the rest also would be fantastic to hear.
ReplyDeletebest, mae at maefood.blogspot.com
thanks for that great photo of baby G!. Wow what a time of it you've had here, and wow what a mammoth trip home to paris. Nothing better than fish and chips on the beach! Have a great month and thanks for being part of iMK. cheers Sherry
ReplyDeleteWhen Is started reading the post, all I could think of is that you did this all with a baby? What a long flight!! But looks like you had a wonderful time and some great food! I would love the vegan potluck dinner!!
ReplyDeleteWow that is a whirlwind month, especially impressive with a baby! Sounds so lovely to take G to meet family and friends and spend time in places you love. He looks like he loves mangoes and sand. I was pleased to see fish and chips on the beach - a great Australian pleasure! So many good meals. Your dad's hotpot looks so amazing and the rapid creek market haul is so beautiful. Good luck with the jetlag - it is so much harder with babies!
ReplyDeleteYour month sounds incredible, and the food, wow! You are correct, food and music do go hand in hand!
ReplyDeleteOh wow look at that amazing produce and oh I'm salivating over those dumplings. They look sooooo good! How lovely of the flight attendant to gift you the wine - that's the sweetest! But now I want to hear the crazy love story too :)
ReplyDeleteG is too cute! One day I will visit my family in Newcastle. And I am so glad you got to meet up with your original string quartet and play! Hope the travel lag goes away soon :)
ReplyDeleteG is adorable, and they do grow up very quickly. Looks like you had a wonderful visit with amazing food. Travel gets very difficult once babies want to walk.
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