I rode my bike last weekend to Mount Coot-tha to visit the Botanical Gardens. The great thing about this time of year, in addition to the clear skies, is that a lot of succulents flower in winter. I really like the aloes in flower at the moment, and the garden was full of wildlife feasting on the aloe flowers, including some rainbow lorikeets I managed to get fairly close to.
I went for a crazy 17 kilometer walk around Brisbane on Saturday. My favourite part was getting to explore the Roma Street Parklands. I had never really spent much time there, and I was delighted to discover the World Aridland Gardens: a collection of succulents from around the world! I couldn’t believe that they had flowering crassula gollum/hobbit (coral shaped jade plants). Wow. I have never seen one flower before. Amazing.
There was an amazing fog in Brisbane this morning. It was really spectacular crossing the bridge as I walked to work: enough to warrant a temporary stop to take a quick snap with my phone. I think the photo came out well.
Bleak
Pretty
Strange
After much encouragement from Kitty, some regular readers and friends, I have decided to let Juiced Pixels live a bit longer.
I thought I would resurrect it by writing about our current places we regularly eat. Our criteria is pretty straightforward: fresh, reasonably priced simple yet tasty food with no fuss.
1) Makanan Indonesia @ West End: a authentic Indonesian restaurant located in the strip of restaurants in Hardgrave Road. I love the Satay Set, and Kitty loves the Nasi Goreng and Fish pieces.
2) My Thai Kitchen in Milton: this is the more casual sister outlet of the popular My Thai Restaurant. Fast, fresh Thai food with excellent flavours. We usually get takeaway as they only have a few tables with paper plates.
3) Guzman Y Gomez in the Valley: it’s become our Sunday afternoon tradition to go to GYG in the Emporium for fresh tasting Mexican food. I usually have a steak burrito, Junior Pixels has a ‘little guy burrito’ of his own, and Kitty usually has a vegetarian Nachos. Yum!
4) Swamp Dog @ South Brisbane: just down the road recently opened a new fish n chips store with a difference. They only sell sustainably sourced seafood, and offer free homemade lemonade. We usually go for whatever fish is fresh and tasty, with an Asian salad.
5) Brown Dog Cafe @ The Gabba: Not where you’d expect to find a great breakfast, but we often frequent here on weekends for brekkie. Despite being located directly opposite a brothel, it’s a great little place for scrambled eggs on toast and tea. Kitty loves the pineapple and mint frappes.
We went to see Fat Freddy’s Drop tonight at the Tivoli in Brisbane. It was one of two Australian shows this month, so we felt pretty special to see them live again. We had choice spot on the upper right balcony which meant the view was especially awesome.
Their new material was especially enjoyable, I look forward to their new album later this year.
I went to see a public question and answer session with Michael Connelly tonight at QUT Kelvin Grove campus. He’s the author of many crime novels including the Lincoln Lawyer which was recently made into a feature film, and the Harry Bosch series featuring an eccentric LA detective I have gotten to know and love.
I really enjoyed his latest Mickey Haller novel: ‘The Fifth Witness’, and find it especially interesting that he writes courtroom fiction so well having never been a lawyer.
We were lucky enough to get our hands on some great tickets to see the Gotan Project at the Brisbane Powerhouse last Saturday night. Wow; what a show. We didn’t really know what to expect, but it was a mish-mash of beats, a large video screen, various instrumentals and superb Argentinian vocals. Absolutely amazing, absolutely spectacular. Wow.
