ORANGE COUNTY BUFFET BRUNCH - MAY 2008
The best thing about getting together with other Aussies, is that most of us travel back to Australia each year, bringing back goodies for the rest of us who have a craving for Aussie food or drinks that just can't be sourced from any store either online or locally.
Today was one such day where mild mannered David seemed to have a craving for BUNDY RUM! I wouldnt have picked him for a Bundy bloke, but after Australia Day's Jam session where the boys rocked it out, I shouldnt be surprised. Seems Dave has a wild side. Yup he was as full as a goog that day. So was everyone. But not on Bundy.
The food at Orange Hill Buffet is delish and could almost make an expat forget about any food craving thy may have had before they walked in. Situated high on Orange Hill, our Aussie and British guests soaked up the view of the Southland and Pacific Ocean while dining on endless food and desserts. As always, we have new members come along and everyone enjoys laughing about our experiences on our travels. More often than not, we've all put our foot in our mouths on more than one occasion and made some cultural faux pas. Thankfully they are all funny ... now.
Have you got a hankering for something that only Australia can provide? Bundy? Crunchie? Chicken Twisties? If you come along to an event, one of our mates may just pick it up for you.
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Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Full as a goog
A day to Remember - Anzac Day - Los Angeles 2008
April 2008 - it should be spring, but Los Angeles gave us a scorcher. Hundreds of Australians and Kiwis headed the Los Angeles National Cemetery for the Anzac Memorial Service hosted by the New Zealand Consulate, for an early ceremony. Many guests wore their finest, but visibly regretted it later as the sun burned into our backs. The crispness of starched shirts and jackets soon faded as they were tossed away or used as shields from the sun.
An arc of perfectly arranged chairs soon rearranged themselves into spots of shade as people migrated into the cool provided by the surrounding trees. The program's were used as fans, but could offer little relief. We looked on with sympathy as the uniformed cadets stood unflinching in the fierce heat.
I've never really been comfortable coming here. Tiptoeing through graves appologetically. But my discomfort pales compared with those we are here to remember. I have no idea how to even imagine what it was they went through for us, so instead I am grateful for them. Grateful for this peaceful day. Grateful for our peaceful home we as expats are lucky enough to enjoy.
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A Squirrel Up a Gum Tree?
Huntington Gardens - March 2008
"The things I miss most about Australia are the smells and the sounds of Aussie bushland", says each expat after they've been here for a few months and the memory of Australia echos in their brain like a long lost coo-ee.
There aren't too many songbirds around this part of town, and most disappear for the winter, so it was a pure delight to visit the Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens this March and take a stroll through the Aussie bush with birds chirping merrily and the odd gum leaf floating down in the breeze.
The Americans in our party giggled that our "Aussie Garden" was less like a garden and more like a mess of bark, leaves, and a mosh posh of bushes and shrubs plonked all over the shop. Yet we felt most at home. Though it was most odd to find a squirrel up a gum tree instead of the usual koala or two.
We fawned over the fiery bottle brush, and the sunny wattle blooms, until our eyes welled up ... not so much from nostalgia, but allergies. Hmm, perhaps we didn't miss the wattle all that much after all.
After Australia, we were headed home to the USA, via China and Japan, and some other beautiful gardens too.
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Tracky Dacks Day out
Dig out the trakky daks, the Broadmeadow stilletto's, and chew on a bit of gum ala Kylie Mole, and we might just let you come along to our daggy lunch.
We were a bit tired of frocking up, and considering we're all really 'family' we figured we didn't need to dress up for this one. Not to mention that it was an all you can eat buffet with unlimited crab legs and jumbo prawns (shrimp for our American mates). I think most of use left with a few morsels on our shirts (saving it for later).
Now you'd think after the feed we had that shopping for aussie food afterwards would curb our appetites a little.
HAH!
We headed next door to Cost Plus World Market to stock up on Tim Tams, Vegemite, REAL CADBURY'S CHOCKY!
This bloke cleaned out the shelves, and was already half way through a block of cadbury's by the time he got to the checkout.
If you've got your trakky's handy, we'll let you come to the next one!
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Australia Day 2008 ~ Los Angeles / Orange County
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Wednesday, January 2, 2008
The Royal Treatment
We're off to have tea with the Queen! She's an old gal alright, with a wide berth too! Regal and stoic, she sits there entertaining hundreds of guests at her Sunday morning tea party in the Grand Salon, and we were included on that exclusive guest list.We feasted like royalty, gnashing our teeth into a variety of delicacies spread before us whilst we enjoyed the heavenly sounds of a strumming harp.
Wandering pirates from a nearby party filled the role of the Court Jester, much to our delight. Cajolling and "argh hargh-ing" at each other. There was one pirate in particular who caught our eye. We marvelled at his commitment to his character. Such a realistic limp(implying wooden leg, we thought), and an authentic eye patch (implying missing eye, we thought). In fact, it was too authentic. It was at this point, we suddenly realised, this was no costume, he was no pirate and we just made a huge mistake! We assume the Queen was not amused.
As our glasses of champagne and tea were refilled by and endless steam of attentive waiters, we were told tales of many ghosts who like to haunt the salon, and specifically our table, posing for photos, frightening guests and giving them unexepected chills.
We exchanged gifts, stole them from each other, then bargained to get them back again, before heading off to explore the Queen Mary ship further.
Dripping in Art Deco, the halls and boutiques still shined with glamourous beauty, allowing us to imagine what life would have been like cruising aboard this ship with the likes of Charlie Chaplin and old Hollywood. We stopped for some more snacks and drinks in the Obseravation Art Deco lounge at the bow of the ship, while others headed down to the Russian Scorpian submarine for another tour.We all met up again at the Observation bar again for cocktails before being blown of our chairs by both the ship's horn blasting unexpectedly and our hysterical laughter that followed.
