Ferries, trains, and flip flops

Today I travelled over 15 km by foot. I checked off three Brisbane neighbourhoods on my ‘to-see’ list: Kangaroo Point, Fortitude Valley and New Farm. I got blisters from walking in my Reef flip-flop sandals, but what doesn’t kill you calluses over.

Through the Botanical Gardens, over the pedestrian bridge and out of the city I ran. On the Riverside trail in Kangaroo Point, you can walk, run and cycle. If that’s not enough, you can climb the cliffs beneath the highway and have a company retreat in an open-air, sea-side park. I ran until I was sweaty and red in the face, my only gauge of the quality/length of my workout since I left my watch and iPod back at the hotel. To get back,  I hopped on the City Ferry, sitting on the bench at the back of the boat in the sun. An excellent way to begin the day.

I walked to Central Station with the pre-work crowd, stopping at Sam’s Cafe for a Flat White, my new favourite espresso beverage. Taking the train to Fortitude Valley was both easy and exciting. The train had a live conductor, unlike the remotely controlled Skytrains of Vancouver. I regretfully only rode to one station; I would have enjoyed a journey out to the coast on the comfortable and spacious seats.

My first stop in Fortitude Valley was Chinatown. Although smaller than Vancouver’s Chinatown, Brisbane’s Chinatown had a wide variety of Asian restaurants and two sizeable markets where I saw some familiar products, such as Nim Jom cough syrup and frozen pork buns. Although Fortitude Valley is known for the nightlife, it also has an established art scene, especially when it comes to hand-made wares. Two of my favourite shops were Gallery Artisan, which featured a show of 100 brooches, each made by a jewellery artist in response to International Women’s Day, and In.cube8r, a boutique that featured works by local crafters.

Brunswick Street, much like Broadway Street in Vancouver, runs through two large communities. Once Fortitude Valley ended, I was in New Farm. The eclectic mix of shops and restaurants in New Farm serve a sprawling suburb of young families and the elderly, from what I could tell by smiling at passersby. I browsed Black and Spiro, a home-wares boutique with loud prints, and wrote down a number of establishments to return to, including Ortiga, a cafe featuring Spanish cuisine. I walked to the tip of New Farm, where I found the Brisbane Powerhouse, which was recently renovated/converted into an Arts venue.  The exposed brickwork and steel beams gave the Powerhouse an avant-garde  feel. I hope that we can take in a show at the Powerhouse before we depart for Mackay.

When Chris returned from work, we made quesilldas and developed a beer score card to evaluate all the new brews we’ve been trying. Each category is worth 10 points, to make the grand total score out of 50. Here’s the first draft of the score card:

1. Deliciousness a.k.a the taste of the beer
2. Price vs. pleasure, a.k.a. value of the beer
3. Drinkability a.k.a. how easy the beer goes down
4. Drunkability a.k.a. the percent alcohol content
5. Findability a.k.a. the quality of the packaging and accessibility

On the docket for tonight: Strongbow Clear. Although it’s cider and not beer, we feel that the score card can scale to fit your beverage of choice. After sampling Strongbow Clear, I give it 45/50, bonus points for being low in sugar, points lost for price and findability.

A good end came to a good day. During our post-dinner walkabout town, I enjoyed one of the best gelato flavours I have ever had the pleasure of eating: Macadamia nut and caramel. Brisbane continues to delight us.

Enlightened entertainment

The happiest corn at the Brisbane Chinatown grocery

Double-take signage outside the Powerhouse

Reading, eating, drinking

It was my first solo day in Brisbane, during which I was alone for 8+ hours. Chris started safety training in the outlying Brisbane suburb of Salisbury, leaving me to my own devices.

I rowed on a Concept 2 machine in the hotel gym and watched the local morning news show. I Skyped with two dear friends and my parents. I drank mint chocolate roiboos tea and read ‘The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet’ by David Mitchell on the balcony. I mailed parcels and postcards. I attempted to get a Queensland driver’s license, only to be turned away because of insufficient identification; it turns out that my CareCard isn’t recognized as identification internationally. I drank a flat white at Sam’s Cafe in the IBM building and read Vogue Australia. I bought a massage bar from Lush and belts from ‘Scissors Paper’ clothing store in Queen St. mall. Whenever I use the word ‘mall’ to describe any area, I think of London’s ‘Pall Mall’ and subsequently think of Eighteenth Century British dramatists John Dryden and Aphra Behn. I browsed the library, which had great seating for patrons.

After work hours, we ate at vegetarian restaurant Govindas, scoring a huge meal for a mere $12. I wish Vancouver had such a delicious and inexpensive buffet when I was studying at UBC. We drank from massive goblets at the Belgian Beer Cafe, enjoying Hoegaarden and Leffe. We kissed on street corners while waiting for the walk sign light up and safely guide us home.

Edward St. hosts an eclectic mix of bars, high end retail and offices.

Stairs named ‘Jacob’s ladder’

Books take you places; in this case, the moon.

Treehouse meeting space: what every library needs

Who reads at the library? Watching movies is en vogue these days.

One of the three covers I’ve seen for ‘The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet’. Are different countries attracted to different designs?

Cheap, tasty, healthy: what more could you ask for?

They saved thousands of dollars when the expeditor was canned.

Leffe: beer that tastes like a Jolly Rancher

500mL of Hoegaarden could be deadly

Banks, Rugby and Beer

On our third day in Brisbane, we fell in love with the Australian service industry, sporting culture and beer.

The day was meant to be about business. First on our list was getting personal and joint bank accounts. After extensive online research, we decided to go with National Australia Bank (NAB). Walking into their branch on Albert St. we knew we would be happy with them. They offered in-house computers for internet banking, a terminal for depositing loose change in exchange for cash or credit, a terminal to make change from bills, and multiple ATMs. To top it off, NAB had a great in-house soundtrack and a ping pong table under the stair case. Our teller Sunny was immensely helpful and patient as we worked through the available options to find the best fit. I can’t wait for my hot pink Visa Debit Card to come in the mail next week.

Second on our list was checking out mobile providers. From what I gathered Telstra is the Australian equivalent of Telus. Telstra has the most extensive coverage in Oz; when they privatized, Telstra was mandated by the government to provide service to country side towns. Given our upcoming move to Mackay, they’re our preferred carrier. Today they launched the iPhone 4S; our names are on the wait-list.

Pie Face Coffee Bar asks patrons 'how do you wake up?', serving up 'soft' or 'hard' blend depending on your response.

In between errands we dined at Pie Face, a meat pie cafe. It was everything I dreamed it could be. They serve coffee of varying strength and a plethora of pies. I choose two mini vegetarian pies and Chris went with the Thai chicken pie and a macchiato. Could you imagine munching on a breakfy pie during your morning commute? Or enjoying a beef pie during a cold, rainy day? Yes please. Did I mention that they also serve cheese sticks and croissants? Too delicious.

After our errands we sat down for a pint in one of the open-air restaurants on Queen St.  A re-run of a match between  the Australia Wallabies and New Zealand All Blacks was playing. I like to think of rugby a meld of soccer, football and pain/blood. I was immediately thankful that Dad took me aside before the move and explained the difference between Rugby League and Rugby Union. From Dad’s YouTube clips and improvised drawings I surmised the following:

• Union: When players tackle each other the play keeps going until a foul is called or a try is scored.
• League: When players tackle each other, the play stops and possession changes. Potentially more aggressive/dangerous.

We’re stoked for the Rugby World Cup semi-final between the Wallabies and the All Blacks on Sunday night.

Now, on Australian beer. The love of hops, barley, water and yeast was one of the first thing I learned about the land down under. Chris sampled XXXX Gold, which he called “Wholly unremarkable. Like water.” It’s only 3.5 % alcohol, perfect for drinking all day. I tried Victoria Bitter (VB) and then Beez Neez Honey Wheat Beer by Matilda Bay Brewing Company, the latter more suited to my normal palate. VB seems to be the Aussie version of Molson Canadian; classic but a bit lack lustre. Still to try: White Rabbit White Ale, Monteith’s Doppelbock Winter Ale, and Coopers Brewery Dark Ale. Any recommendations?

We’re spending the rest of the day watching the original Iron Chef and reading on the couch. The jet leg strikes us through-out the day with general fatigue and stomach pains. Hopefully I’ll be able to sleep through the night.