I won’t go into the personal side of this, but I’m tossing up moving back to Sydney in the next couple of months. It’s the town I grew up in, but a town I left at the age of 21. For those of you outside of Australia, Sydney is as close as we get in Australia to New York, it’s a big city, indeed massive in size, it’s area is bigger (so I one heard) than great London, and from other reports its in the biggest cities on the planet, can’t remember whether it’s top 10 of top 20, but I often see it in the top 10. Population is something like 4.5 million people, and if you go out a little further still, add at least 1 million to that..but being an Australian city a lot of it is suburban sprawl, kilometers upon kms of houses as far as the eye can see really, as a now outsider I still find it amazing that Sydneysiders live in places like Camden and Richmond, when I was a kid these were country towns! but having said that I can remember when I worked in the CBD at Bankers Trust (or wankers trust as many employees use to call it) and I can remember being shocked (as were others) that some of my work colleagues commuted from places such as Wollongong and the Central Coast! And some people thought my Shire trip was long!

The interesting thing for me, is that I was raised a Shire boy. Spent 18 of my 21 years growing up in the Sutherland Shire. I can still remember it well, it was a wonderful place to grow up… but do I want to live there again? when I was still in Sydney, I spent a little time staying with friends in places such as Lane Cove, which was cool, and other places on the North Shore, as well as some inner West places. Question is, where to move to if I move back to Sydney? I’m thinking CBD/ Redfern/ Newtown and that sort of area, just so I’m close to everything (and of course so I can finally set up a blog meetup in Sydney!). Any Sydneysiders care to share their thoughts?

7am: a stumble outside in my pyjamas, my overcoat and my slippon Colorado shoes to wash ice of she who must be obeyed’s car…thank god no one had a camera handy….and yes, it’s that cold again…global warming my you know what, in the 8 years I’ve lived in Western Australia I’ve only seen ice on a car maybe 1 or 2 times prior to this year, this year I’ve seen it maybe a dozen times. Global Ice Age commeth.

I’ve decided I need one of those Homeland security style alert boxes for my inbox….I’m so far behind on email at the moment Im responding to stuff from weeks ago, and still got a pile of stuff I should have read back then and missed…so the code alert would be red: high risk of inbox meltdown 🙂

5 minutes to sale time….grrrr, going to keeping having to hit refresh until I get on….

Tags: Wiggles

This from the official Bunbury weather station yesterday (Saturday), which is actually closer to the sea than I am!

the first column after the time is the official temp (in celcius) the next is the dewpoint temp. A record apparently for the coldest ever day!

If the day should come, that I’d needed to live elsewhere, I’ve been wondering where I should go. Aside from living in WA, this is my short list. Overseas really isn’t a consideration, besides the fact I still don’t hold a current passport, I still can’t see my self living in another country, unless some one pays me a sh*t load of money. So the picks:

1. Byron Bay
2. Gold Coast
3. Sydney

Byron is at the top because despite the fact that it’s been 10 years since I’ve been there, it’s still the only time in my entire life that I found harmony. Harmony in terms of relaxation, if only for a short time. Byron is amazing, but it would be an expensive town to buy into. Maybe Nimbin or somewhere close by? who knows.

I was never a big fan of the Gold Coast until I went there on my recent holdiay. Sure, I love the fact that the shops are open till 9pm…but it had a nice vibe, and I know people there.

Sydney, my home town, and I know a pile of people there. The question of course with Sydney is where to live in Sydney, a city of some 4 million + (maybe more) people. I’m a Shire boy, and would I return to the Shire, who knows. I spent some time many years ago with a friend who was living on the North Shore, Lane Cove to be precise, and the proximety to town was very, very nice. Maybe….

Tags: Byton Bay, Gold Coast, Sydney, The Shire, Lane Cove

At the forecast top: 12.

I need some help!

I need to go on some holidays. I need a rest. Totally.

But there is another reason. My mother in law is coming to stay. Suffice to say since she hung around after the birth of my son for 7 weeks and wouldn’t go home we haven’t got on so well. Which is ashame really, because I use to love her. But now…well, she interferes.

She who must be obeyed has agreed that it’s better that I’m not at home when the mother in law visits. 12-20 May. The question is where to go. North America and Europe is to far. I can probably get a new passport in a week or so. So Asia is in the mix. Oddly enough I can get a package with Airfares and accommodation to Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan cheaper than I can do similar to Sydney. I can get cheaper again to Bali, but I’m not going to Indonesia….no self respecting Australian would.

So here’s the question.

I’m tempted to go to my old home town Sydney. I’m also looking at Cairns. Nice and warm. But there is a pile of places in Asia that sound good.

Can anyone tell me what’s good?

One of the things we purchased recently was a Scanpan Saut?É?í?Ǭ© Pan. Titanium cookware. Swiss Made. Lifetime Warrantee. They cost a lot of money. I mean a lot. We’d always replaced frypans every 6 months as they wore out, you’d know the type: $30-$50 models. They’d get scratched to buggery and would end up impossible to clean.

So we tried the Scanpan.

One word: WOW!

We’ve never cooked better on a fry pan in our lives. And I’m not joking. Bacon and Eggs for Breakfast (on the weekend). The best Bacon and Eggs I’ve EVER cooked or eaten, and I’m not joking.

To clean them: a bit of water and a wipe: that easy. No scrubbing, no heavy cleaning chemicals, nothing.

I’m amazed! Maybe Arieanna might even give this post a plug at Cooking Gadgets!