Apparently, Kathleen absolutely hates the smell of an old Chinese balm her mum used to swear by. Really, really detests it. It's not Tiger Balm, though.
"Urgh, don't get me started!"
I must find a bottle of this stuff that Kathleen hates so much! Hey, Eva, what was it called again?
Steph and Eva took us to what was, for us, a previously unknown little dining strip in Artarmon. In Wilkes Ave, right next to the train station, is a little Japanese restaurant which is so popular that, if you aren't there and seated by 5.30pm on a Saturday, you'll be waiting half an hour for a table.
Back in the first half of the year, we spent about four Saturdays looking for an apartment, but never even twigged that Wilkes Ave was even there. Had we known, it might even have made a difference to us choosing not to buy there!
Luckily, Ramen Genki has just expanded, so we didn't have to wait. And judging by the packed house, consisting virtually entirely of Japanese people, we knew it was going to be good!
Of course, if Steph and Eva say that the food is good, there really is no room for argument. Fantastic - I think we've found a new place to patronise!
Note to self: do your tax tomorrow. Or else.
So I'm on the computer last night, sitting at my desk, when out of the corner of my eye, I spot a little shape scuttle across the lounge room floor. I look down and barely suppress a shriek as I see a massive huntsman spider making its way towards cover.
I hate spiders with a passion - have done for ever.
So, as quick as I can, I grab a can of insect killer spray, praying that the spider doesn't disappear before I can find him again.
Luckily, he's still there, halfway up the side of the computer desk. I move in, ready to spray him, which is when the little bugger races around the back of the desk, up over the top, under the monitor and down the other side. Frantically, I chase him, waiting for a clear shot.
He never lets me get it, and before I can get him, he's down and under the couch.
He has to die. I know that if I lose him, then I won't be able to sleep for fear he'll make his way eventually to the bed and bite me in my sleep.
So, I move the couch and two armchairs out of the way, petrified that he might dart out at any time and run across my hand.
No sign. He's not under the couch, or either of the chairs. Uh oh.
Suspiciously, I wonder whether he's crawled up the curtains, ready to drop on my head when I'm not looking. Oh, god, what if he falls down my back, and gets in my clothing...
I shake the curtains. He's not there. Move the chairs again. No sign. Desperate, I look around. Where the f*** is he?! And then, finally, I spot him.
He's on the other side of the desk, but he's foolishly left himself exposed, and I creep cautiously up, ready to spray him mercilessly.
And then I stop. What if the spray doesn't kill him instantly? I arm myself with a shoe.
Bring it on, spider, bring it on.
My arm raises - he must know by now - but before he can get away, I've rained the fatal blow upon his beady-eyed head. He falls to the ground, legs tucked in in a spider death pose. He might be faking, though, and I can't take the chance.
So, I spray him until the surrounding carpet turns almost white. And it's only when I'm convinced that he is truly dead that I can approach with a balled up wad of tissues (I'm not touching him with my bare hands!) and consign him to the rubbish bin.
As I sit back down, my pulse racing, I can't calm down.
What if he has a mate?
It took a long time for me to fall asleep that night.
Jon, an old mate of mine from uni, and his girlfriend Jen, are in town on holidays from the UK. He's been working over there for the last six years, which is where he met Jen.
We went to James Squire Brewhouse on King St Wharf after I finished up at work - since the day was so hot, it made for a welcome change to sit by the water at dusk with a few cold, quiet ones.
Sometimes it's hard catching up with friends you haven't seen for a long time - the distance and time can make it hard to find things in common to talk about. Luckily that never seems to be the case with Jon.
Jen's lovely. It's nice to see the calming effect she's had on him. He's definitely a different man than the last time I saw him. In a good way, of course.
Kathleen's brother Dickson owns a pharmacy near Sydney's 'red light' district in the Cross. He and his business partner, Matt, like to joke that they "sell drugs in Kings Cross" for a living.
They've recently had their lease expire on the shop, and have arranged to move a couple of doors up. Yesterday, the move started in earnest, and a whole bunch of their friends turned up to help.
While most of the stock was packed up ready to be moved by removalists, there was a whole bunch of stuff that they needed ready and stocked by first thing Monday, when they re-open in their new location. This was the stuff that we all pitched in to try and get done.
Worst was the Blackmores vitamins. Blackmores have about two hundred different types of vitamins in their product range, each catering for a different type of ailment, and the product branding means that it's actually quite hard to tell them apart. Especially when you're faced with an entire box of the little jars, since the person who packed them didn't actually use a system for packing that was any more sophisticated than "just throw them in to the box". Not only that, but each jar had to go in a specific place in the Blackmore range. It was like trying to do a giant jigsaw puzzle - "I've got Executive Stress, where does that go?" "Has anyone seen where Pregnancy Wort goes?" - but with five people constantly in the way.
Second worst was all the dispensary medicine. Shelves and shelves of prescription medicine, sorted according to - well, actually not sorted at all. We tried to get something going with alphabetical sorting, but apparently Dickson and Matt have another system going, which includes complications such as S2 and S3 medicines which may make that difficult. Also, the new store has about half the shelf space for this stuff than they used to have, which will make things interesting when it comes time to unpack it all.
Carrying all these pharmacy-only medicines through the back streets of Kings Cross was a bit of a nervous stretch, too! The new store is still being fitted out, and we had to work hard to stay out of the way of the electricians and carpenters yesterday, but when it's done it will look great. Dickson's a little stressed, though. They re-open on Monday, and no doubt it will be hectic, with new locations for all their products to remember, stuff to unpack, mess to clean and, of course, customers to serve.
We've invited Dickson and Lucy to dinner tonight, but we reckon they might be too tired after moving!
My poor, tired little wife.
She had to fly to Melbourne on Tuesday, and then to Brisbane on Wednesday for work. She stayed in Melbourne on Tuesday night, at a plush hotel in Collins St. Unfortunately, both her flights were early morning ones, and she didn't get the sleep she normally needs, not being one for early starts at the best of times. She's not what you'd call a morning person, by any stretch of the imagination.It caught up with her this evening, and she ended up napping for an hour on the couch. I woke her up at about 9.30pm, and I thought she'd just wander off to bed for the night. But then she wandered off to the kitchen and started cleaning up some of the food in the fridge from the barbecue on the weekend. The fact that her fridge was full of leftover food had been annoying her since Sunday night. As a result, she's now wide awake and watching RPA.
You watch. She'll be tired again in half an hour.
She knows how much I love Melbourne, and was even going to call from Block Place, my favourite coffee strip, just to rub it in! She got what she wanted out of the trip, though - pho in Victoria Street with Darise, Greta and Tam!
On Sunday, we invited a whole bunch of people to join us for the first BBQ on the summer calender. Unfortunately, a few things conspired against us.
Both the cricket up the road at the SCG and a diabetes benefit walk meant that parking at Centennial Park was at a premium. If that wasn't bad enough, the weather was a chilly, windy day with grey, threatening skies. Not BBQ weather!
Despite this, our friends came along, and we had a great, though chilly, day. The smarter ones huddled around the BBQ, getting lightly coated in a film of barbecue grease. At least they were relatively warm!
Afterwards, we decided to wander up to The Spot in Randwick (another place where parking is notoriously scarce) for a few bracing coffees. All in all, it was a nice way to wind down after Kathleen's Birthday Week.
It's Kathleen's birthday!
We both took the day off work and went to Balmoral Beach for lunch.
On Sunday, we'll have a BBQ at Centennial Park. The weather's looking dicey - hope it stays dry!
Our friend Darise is being evicted while her landlord renovates her place. But she's put an application in on a new place in Fitzroy already. Moving house sucks - at least she's in the same suburb.
After 10 and a half months of waiting, the DVD of our wedding finally arrived!
We're going to settle in tonight and watch it.
Last night after work, Taz, Lucas and I went to the James Squire Brewhouse for a 'Meet the Brewers' event. Unfortunately, the brewers were a little hard to find, and when they did appear, were a little less than forthcoming about what it's like to be a brewer.
We put this down to the simple fact that, when the work day's done, one is hardly likely to want to talk more about work. But it's not like working in a brewery is a real job anyway; it's a hobby that someone pays you for.
Plus, I had no idea what I wanted to ask. I like beer, but I'm not obsessive about it, I'm not interested in doing home brew, I don't need any tips. What's left? "So... is a beer gut an occupational hazard, or a badge of honour?"
Anyway, we took our beers to an outdoor table and enjoyed the balmy evening.
This morning, I woke up this morning feeling absolutely awful. James Squire always has that effect on me, even if I only have a couple. I suspect my body's far more tolerant of the chemicalised, mass-produced stuff than the boutique brew.
Mum and auntie Leanne were down from Queensland over the weekend. We wore them out with a highly coordinated, synchronised-to-the-minute timetable.
On Friday, we took them out to dinner at an Italian restaurant in Crows Nest. Didn't get a chance to sample their famous gelati - we've had three recommendations for it already! - since we were too full!
On Saturday, we took them to the Rocks Market (which invited the expected comparisons with Salamanca Market back home), yum cha and shopping.
Then on Sunday, we wandered down to Smoothey Park for a picnic before they headed off.
It was mum's first stay at the new apartment, and I'm happy that she liked it as much as she did. For her, it was a sight more quiet than Surry Hills, which makes her worry less. Bless.
On Sunday, the 2nd of October, Dickson and Lucy got married!
The wedding was at St Mary's in North Sydney. The bridesmaids wore dark dresses, and Lucy was radiant in a traditional-style dress, her long hair up. Dickson and his groomsmen wore Mao suits.
Lucy's nephew and niece, Jack and Emma, were pageboy and flowergirl. For once, Jack was actually quiet! Maybe he was caught up in the solemnity of the occasion. Emma was endearingly naughty throughout, jumping up and down the steps of the altar, until her mum had to "have a word".
The photographer went nuts over Kathleen and Dickson's cousins, Elaine and Eva. Elaine was a former model in Hong Kong, and both are very striking. The photographer occasionally remembered to take photos of the happy couple, in between snapping away at Cousin Elaine.
The reception was at Zest in Point Piper, and the lights on the bay was a stunning backdrop. The speeches were touching, and Dickson and Lucy brought a tear to our eyes with their beautiful words.
What is it about Oprah that drives the women who attend as the studio audience out of their frickin' minds?!
The first five minutes is just a whole bunch of psychotic chicks going "Woooh!! Woooh-ooh!"
"Welcome to the show!" Whooh!!! Woooh!!!!!!!!
It's a cult, I tell you.
Frustrating - having to come into work on a Saturday to meet a deadline.
More frustrating - Saturday being a beautiful, cloudless, 23C.
Even more frustrating - your security pass expired overnight, leaving you unable to enter the building.
The most frustrating - someone with a pass is at least an hour away; not long enough to say "Ah, stuff it, I'll do it Tuesday", but it means you'll be leaving work an hour later than you planned.
andrewandkathleen was meant to be a place to chuck our photos and diaries of our time in Japan. Since then it's transformed into a way of letting our friends and family know what we've been up to!
We've been together since high school, married since 2005. We've travelled and lived in different cities and different countries and are now trying to work out whether we're settling down or having a rest!
