Time seems to be slipping away from me lately. I haven't posted in awhile, but we've been livin' life. While much of it has been spent living out the familiar routines of "teaching season", there have been intermittent, small-scale adventures as well. These are the highlights upon which I like to reflect. A couple weeks ago, we headed back out to Newtown, one of our favorite little recently discovered neighborhoods, just to see what else we might stumble across. We'd intended to go to the new markets at The Grounds of Alexandria, but when we pulled up, the place was packed, parking was nowhere to be found, and we decided we were too hungry and impatient for the wait, so we Yelped a local cafe that turned out to be a big win. The place was called the 5th Earl. It had a nice atmosphere and the food was inventive and fresh. We started with tea - I believe I had some sort of orange blossom white tea and Pickle opted for his go-to Earl Grey. We split the zucchini and corn fritters with asparagus, shaved Spanish ham, roasted tomatoes, poached eggs and pomegranate molasses and a lick-the-bowl-clean-delicious black rice salad with warm black rice, butternut pumpkin, labneh, parsley, red onion, pepitas, cranberries, olive oil and pomegranate molasses. It was amazing, but we both wished we'd had our own bowl (or two).
It was a sunny day in Newtown, and we spent it strolling through the local shops and checking out the street art that gives the neighborhood its fun and funky character...
The week before last (maybe - or maybe the week before?), we took a day off from work to catch our breath, unplug, and explore the city on a Thursday. It was just the little escape we needed! We tried Yachiyo for lunch, which was Pickle's new favorite place for sashimi. We didn't realize how large the portions would be and both ended up eating a boatload of sushi (literally)...
We finally had a chance to check out White Rabbit Gallery, a privately owned collection of Chinese contemporary art. Apparently, it's one of the most significant collections of 21st Century Chinese art in the world, as it includes around 2000 pieces from over 500 artists. The gallery closes twice a year to do a complete rehanging between exhibits. In fact, I'd wanted to visit twice before and each time it was during a rehanging. This week, we managed to make it one week prior to the gallery close. It was a really fascinating exhibit. The gallery had just three floors, but I couldn't help staring for long periods in awe of several of the pieces/installations, and we stayed so long gawking that the tea room closed before we had a chance to visit. We'll definitely back.
We followed up with a getaway that weekend...well, 30 minutes away, but it felt like a whole world! Pickle and I decided for a change of pace, we'd pack up a picnic and head to Royal National Park for lunch with a view.
It was another sunshiny day, and we took full advantage. We even saw some whales from our private spot at the edge of the sea (I'd just spotted them as I turned the camera on my mobile)...
While work life's been a bit full on lately, we've had some pretty fantastic little moments as well. :)