Petey gets a bath and Jac gets noodles!

It's 11pm, 28 degrees, and there's a cricket or cicada or something in the tree outside my window making a terrible racket - inconsiderate arthropod.

I spent today (Saturday) on my own, but I did manage to leave the house! In fact, it gave me the opportunity to do (attempt) some things that had been on my list for quite a while, which required me to be brave and navigate the back streets of this crazy town!

I'd made a list of a few Asian grocers that I wanted to try to find, a Japanese supermarket in particular, so I got out the Rand McNally (street atlas - Tori Amos sings about it so it must be the cool one), fired up google earth, and worked out a plan. Turns out they weren't that hard to find- only problem was I didn't know which side of the road they'd be on and they were all buried within small 'strip malls' (a group of shops in a strip, usually with only one entrance to the small car park) so they were hard to spot from the road. My strategy was to turn into the first driveway I can across that looked close to the right spot. I was foiled once by a bus and confused once by a fireman holding a boot above his head (I now think he was collecting donations).

The Japanese supermarket was excellent and they not only stocked everything I needed for perfect soups, including gorgeous white miso paste, they also had the best frozen udon, just like the ones Toshi used to use (for all you lucky people who remember). Soft but chewy, perfect for tying knots and grossing out your tablemates (ok, so I never had outstanding table manners and everyone has to have at least one party trick!)

The other big Asian market was on the wrong side of the road and by the time I realised where it was I'd hit a nasty looking intersection in totally the wrong lane for going back, so I've filed that away for an after work visit where I'll be on the right side of the road! Last one was Tim's oriental seafood market where they had boxes of live crabs that looked like blue swimmers but without the spidery legs, a Chinese bbq section (whole duck only $10!!!) and TONNES of other yummy stuff. It was chef Jac heaven! I finally found a bamboo steaming basket, although nowhere near as good as the ones at Wing and Co back home. It'll do though. Found tom yum and laksa paste (not sure why I'm craving soups here when it's so hot but I am) and a bunch of other yummy stuff. I was conscious of the frozen udon in the car (40 degrees out) so I didn't stay too long, but Tim's is pretty easy to get to so I'm happy ^_^

After going home and unpacking the tasty treats I decided some washing was in order, both the car and my clothes. Car was a little scary. You pay for it with the fuel (at the bowser itself, no people involved!) then drive around the 'gas' station complex for a while until you finally stop in desperation and wave your receipt at someone sitting in a tent asking them what it was you bought and where you go to redeem in. Tent dude sends you behind a building to another tent, where dude with spanner comes out and removes your aerial (and tells you to return to the other tent later if you want it back...OF COURSE I WANT IT BACK!) then you drive one wheel of your car onto a tiny blue target and suddenly your being dragged into the total perspective vortex where neon signs tell you exactly what is being done to you and at which time. My favorite was the "tri-color wax" sign (written in way more than three lurid neon colours) just before pink, blue and yellow goo is sprayed all over your car! Anyhow, after retrieving the aerial (and having one of those terrible 'should I be tipping you for putting that back on even though I didn't ask your buddy to take it off' moments, parting with cash and getting the shock look of 'you didn't need to tip me' in return I made my escape in a very clean Petey. Phew!

Now you too can share a completely uncaptivating moment from "Petey gets a bath and Jac goes quietly loopy"



Aside from all that excitement and high adventure I also went to the normal, boring old supermarket, had noodles for both lunch and dinner (cold soba noodles for lunch, hot udon noodle soup for dinner) and watched Earthsea which stayed consistently lame throughout the whole film. Oh, and I did my laundry, sitting on a table singing my lungs out the whole time. Did I say I was going quietly loopy?

As always, all emails, blog comments, medical advice and visitors are welcome and appreciated. I miss you all. Perhaps a little too much at times, but I'm coping in my own ways ^_^