BBQ guest Gus

I attended a BBQ this weekend and it was wonderful. Sunshine, great food, wonderful company, plentiful drinks and...well, I fell in love with one of the guests. And that guest was GUS THE CORGI!!!

We were sitting around enjoying our food when all of a sudden there was some rustling in the bushes and then something scampered past our ankles and into Tammy and Caspar's apartment!

I managed to see an orange blur and chubby butt when I realised IT WAS A DOG!!! Gus' owners, then came and introduced him to us.

I seriously then proceeded to chase him to try and get a photo to send to Pooey.

Eventually he obliged me.

After a couple of hours getting to know people, he was pretty friendly. He even came to love me once I fed him some sausage and cherry tomatoes (he catches them if you cut them in half first!). He also shook paws with everyone!

And he didn't use his puppy eyes too much to get food. In fact, he was pretty well behaved given all the food on the low table. The only naughty moment, which was actually kind of funny, was licking some spilled potato salad directly off the table after studiously ignoring it for a couple of hours...then diving for an open bag of chips. The face he gave after being told off for doing that...I was crying with laughter.  

Change has come.

I think I'm pretty social but I know that in a profession that has many, well...special people, this is not always the case. I'm not the only new arrival in my current department and it was decided that a few of us would go out to dinner together and then have some drinks as a welcome and get to know each other kind of deal. However, I was a bit surprised to find out from not one, but two of the guys who came along that in the entire time that they had both been in the department - a duration of about two years, the lab had NEVER gone out socially. Like, what the hell? I mean, it's not necessary to be best friends with everyone at work, but given the amount of time we have to spend together and the number of people who move to Munich to join the group, the least that can be done is to take them out and show them around! I have sworn that these lonely days group days will be no more and that we would continue this new tradition fortnightly if necessary.

Maybe my new boss will grow to hate me for this, but the group will sure appreciate it! ;)

Girls day out!

A few weeks ago, a bunch of us girls decided that it would be nice for us to go to Lake Starnberg/Starnberger See on the outskirts of Munich to enjoy the 'beach' at the side of the lake. Unfortunately the weather didn't agree with out plans but that was okay - we still hung out at the beach club anyway!

Because we could spend the entire day drinking prosecco while sitting around the fireplaces embedded in their tables. 

We were seated at first in this awesome basket but the staff asked if it was okay for us to move to another place on the terrace since they were pretty sure it was going to rain. It didn't during the entire time we were there!

But it was a wonderfully relaxing afternoon catching up with friends, making new ones, gossiping, telling stories, eating food and sharing 6 bottles among the 8 of us over 5 hours :D

On the way back to Munich, we decided we weren't ready to stop eating and drinking yet so we paid a visit to Ver-O-Peso, a Brazilian restaurant that a few of us had been wanting to check out for a while.

COXINHAS!!!! Little balls of chicke, rolled into shape to look like chicken thighs and then deep fried. Yum. 

I think I actually preferred these though - bolinhos de bacalhau (codfish balls).

As soon as I saw this on the menu, it was destined to be my main dish. Moqueca de camarao - prawns in a spicy/coconut sauce with rice. 

Even though it was washed down with a cocktail, I wasn't done for the day! A handmade ice cream shop was next door and I had a chai-flavoured cone that was actually incredibly good. Clearly I need to spend more time around this end of town!

Uniform

As can happen in academic research, there was a bit of a post-doc exodus mid-year. As stated before, I joined a new group. That colleague I hated? His contract was not renewed (SCHADENFREUDE ALERT!). And meanwhile, Dr Piller chose to join...the army. Okay, technically he's just there to fulfill his regular duty quota, but still...lol. On the other hand, I should now refer to him as MAJOR Dr., because that's his official title. Also, his base is just down the road so he can turn up to lunch on campus!

But it meant that he turned up at our campus dressed like this:

Yeah, even he had trouble keeping a straight face. 

Errrrr....

Leaving the gym, I excited to see that someone had parked their awesome vintage Fiat 500 outside. Then I was horrified to see how they had modified it.

WHY OH WHY WOULD SOMEONE WANT TO PUT A LOUIS VUITTON DECAL ON THEIR CAR?!

YOU TOOL.

Perfect colour vision

I have it

Test it for yourself here!

It's that time of the year again...

Dachauer Volksfest! In fact, when I told Pooey that I was going to this on the weekend, she was surprised that it was it was already bierfest season.

But here is the customary photo with my bier and the random guys we were sitting next to

And then things went to another level!

This dog

was adorably chilling outside of the supermarket!

and this one was just hanging out inside my new building!

RIP Robin Williams

It was with much shock that I woke up to various messages, emails, and news reports saying that Robin Williams had died yesterday. He was one of my favourite performers, from his comedic perfomances such as Mrs. Doubtfire to dramatic roles like Good Will Hunting. In my sadness, I chose to celebrate his life and work by watching one of my favourite movies of his, Aladdin.

Rest in peace, Robin. You deserve it.

Crankypants

This past weekend, I ended up working what is considered an extra days' work outside of working hours. How did this happen, do you ask? I was asked on Friday lunch time to complete some powerpoint slides for my new (current) boss...and he wanted them by Tuesday. That doesn't seem like too short a time frame except that I hadn't completed the analysis he wanted for the slides and there was no way I would have been able to do it that day. The only solution was to do as much as possible on Friday night. But I also had to finish a manuscript as quickly as possible and send it to the other authors before the start of the weekend. Better do that after I finish the slides. And then I had to finish a project report for my old group, despite the fact that, you know, I don't work for them anymore. By Sunday afternoon, with the progress report open on my laptop and the sun shining outside...I felt like throwing my computer out the window because I was working on a stupid report while the sun was shining outside!

Luckily for me, a friend was able to answer my call of distress and we went to a biergarten to calm my nerves with alcohol.

But !%$king hell, I've still got to finish that report >.<

Last BBQ of the Summer?

I hope not!

The plan was to go to Flaucher or Thalkirchen for grilling purposes. These were scuttled when it rained. But Susi came to the rescue and volunteered that we could use her small terrace garden to grill.

Maybe it's because I'm an Aussie, but I have somehow become a bit of a go-to-girl for getting fires started. And these coals really live up to the description of being long-burning - they were still going 6 hours later!

Mmmmm, grilled meat...

Dare I call that a perfectly toasted marshmallow? We actually completed an entire bag of them. 

Also, hijinks

Data!!!!

I'm not going to say what it is, only that it is interesting and promising :D

Belly dancing lesson

I could have sworn that Ele told me they were 'Bollywood Dancing' lessons. But no, the programme said 'Bauch Tanz' we that's how we found ourselves shaking it on a Tuesday night.

I've got to say - I've got absolutely no skill in this at all but it was a lot of fun trying to keep my arms elevated and still while trying to move my hips or shoulders or boobs. It's also great for getting over body issues. We were a class full of women of different age and body types and as our instructor demonstrated - you can't shake it if there's nothing to shake!

Elé and I have decided that we will try to continue this as our communal exercise session so watch this space!

Spanish shopping

When planning this trip, a lot of thought was put into who I should fly and how much luggage I should bring. The fact of the matter was, I was going to shop and everyone knew it. In the end, it was decided that I would fly Vueling to San Seb with a backpack that was about half full, and then I would fly Iberia back to Munich because I would then receive baggage allowance!

And I needed it. Here are the clothes I bought!

I found the shop where I bought Pooey's strawberry dress a few years ago, but this time I walked away empty handed. The fact was, the dress that I wanted (elephant print) wasn't in my size :(. But then I tried on this dress a few streets later and...well, I didn't really need it but it's super cute so hey!

A couple of streets later, I bought these wedges at the same shop where I'd purchased these sandals a few years before. They were on sale and damn comfy. CuzJen and Fremma actually encouraged me to buy two pairs but I waved it off with a, "That's crazy - I can only wear these maybe 2 month of the year in Germany." I am regretting being so responsible.

Jacket from Zara. I don't know if you can tell from the photo but the lining is leopard print and it looks totally funky. It was also on super-sale (I think it was only €30) so I took it. I'll admit to being slightly freaked out that this was my first day in Spain and I'd already basically bought an entire new outfit.  

But the next purchase wasn't until pretty much the last full day in Spain when I got this singlet...

And these strappy heels (also on sale!). I had an interesting conversation with the guy at the Camper store about why someone would want to move from Australia to Germany. He basically thought I was mad :D 

And finally, I actually bought this at Zara in Barcelona airport. It will be a good replacement for my Kookai cardi (which I seem to have lost). 

So see? I really did need the baggage allowance :D

Spanish Sojourn Day 5

For our last full day in Spain, we decided to be less about the eating and more about the tourist action.

Except when we went to the Barri Goti (Gothic Quarter), it was still pretty much closed. 

Including this chapel dedicated to St. Christopher

So purdy

Tourists coming out...

Eventually we got hungry and had lunch in a bar at La Boqueria. The foie gras was good but everything else was kinda disappointing.

But we made up for the disappointment by going to Barceloneta to hang out on the beach.

Which was also kinda disappointing because the sand wasn't as fine as the sand at La Concha and wouldn't hold our sandcastles as well.

Having said that, I was pretty impressed with the castles that worked - check out the brickwork detailing! And they were only €2 from Ale-Hop!

As it is a bigger city and a smaller (man-made) beach, it was much more crowded and dirtier than La Concha (I need to stop comparing everything to San Seb). Having said that, it still made me happy and pretty relaxed. I made the rookie error of taking an actual siesta (i.e. I fell asleep) on the beach. The burn line was...interesting.

But then dinner came along again and we headed out the Cerveceria Catalana and got a table after 20-30 minutes.

And a jug of sangria not long after that!

Our mixed platter of jamon, lomo, chorizo and queso manchego 

Word to the wise - while the menu has an English translation, the specials menu is only in Spanish! Luckily for us, I knew that pulpito meant small octopus! These were really good actually. I kinda wished we'd had more.

The scallop wasn't as good as the octopus but still good.

And somewhere along the line, I figured out that pipis in garlic sauce was also a special. These were also pretty awesome!!! It kinda made me miss XO sauce though...

And some token vegetables.

The three of us were having a really good time; the food was excellent, the sangria was amazing, the atmosphere was pretty lively, and our waitress was a load of fun joking with us. I think the staff found a trio of small asian girls who ordered a lot to be quite funny. When it was time for dessert, we asked her opinion as to which was her favourite. She said it was difficult to choose because it would depend on what kind of flavours we liked.

So we decided to get a cake platter that had a coconut cake, an almond cake, lemon tart, and a cake that reminded me of Vietnamese creme caramel.

But it wasn't crema catalana because we also got this!

When dessert arrived, we all went 'woah' at how large the serving was and our waitress laughed at our reaction. She would come over every now and then to check on how we were doing (and maybe if we would be leaving soon - it was pretty busy). But then something happened. Something extraordinary that made us all go, "What is that?!"

Basically some people around us ordered bravas huevos (aka 'fries') and we wanted some! So we ordered some! The staff weren't laughing anymore. I think they were afraid. 

And so here we come to a wonderful end to our Spanish sojourn - terrifying the locals with our Asian endless pit stomachs. 

Spanish Sojourn Day 4

The reason why I wasn't too worried about meals in Barcelona was that when we arrived at the apartment and found out that one of the seventeen 1* Michelin restaurants in Barcelona was a couple of blocks away, we jokingly applied for a lunch reservation for the next day and to our surprised it was granted! This restaurant was Alkimia.

Alkimia has a tasting lunch menu/mini degustation for €40 which we all chose to take. It consisted of 5 courses - starters, courses 1-3, and dessert or cheese, plus a glass of wine. We all chose the red (a rioja) and then the food started coming. 

Macadamia crispbread. To be honest, I could have eaten all three of these!

Salami with tomato water and olive oil. I really liked this as well!

This I liked much less. I cant remember exactly what it was but it was almond soup with pieces of jamon (?) and garlic. The soup itself was cool and light but whenever I had a spoon with the raw garlic in it, it completely overpowered my mouth for the next few moments in a way that was quite unpleasant.

Following the disappointment of the previous dish, I have to say that I LOVED this one! But you know, lightly poached egg with chips and truffle? I was never going to hate it :D

My chosen main - pork belly. Both Fremma and I thought the sauce was a bit too rich for our liking although the meat was very tender. 

My cheese platter. A local sheeps milk, gouda from the Netherlands, and a French blue. 

Little chocolate cake petit fours to go with our tea...

And some white chocolate truffles.

We had a slight discussion about this - I'm not sure exactly who said it, but there was a moment where we agreed that it was 'cheap'. Then it occurred to us - exactly at what point does one consider paying €40 ($US54/$AU58/£32) CHEAP?! Especially since I could argue that I wasn't completely happy with everything. Sure, I could eat that egg dish every day of my life but on the other hand, I have paid more for other lunch meals that could be considered 'lesser' but enjoyed much much more *cough F&M high tea cough*. But what was particularly nice was that while we were definitely full, we didn't walk out feeling heavy and overloaded, and really, you can't put a price on that kind of satisfaction.

We then made it back to La Taqueria...but were late by about 20 minutes. They nearly gave our table away but we got there just in time to claim it!

And we celebrated this by having guava margaritas!

Our appetisers - tortillas with melted cheese and mushrooms (wrap the cheese in a tortilla), guacamole and corn chips. Some sauces on the side that we were supposed to put in our tacos. One of them was actually really spicy and kinda painful.

Taco choice number one - beef tongue. Yum.

And the 'special'. I can't remember what was in it but it was tasty!

Here are some canned seafood we'd bought thinking we'd have a picnic somewhere.