Christmas Cracker Jokes

Merry Christmas ETD Readers!


Just a quick post to give you a couple of light hearted cracker jokes...
Cracker Jokes make Christmas for me.  They are silly, they're usually terrible but after a couple of yule time beverages it will make even the coldest of bah humbuggers melt into laughter...
So here's a couple of ours:

".. What do spacemen do in their spare time? ... Astronauts & Crosses!! .."

".. How do you stop a skunk smelling? ... Hold its nose!! .."

".. What did the grape say when the elephant stepped on it? ... Nothing. It just let out a little wine!! .." 

".. What did the fish say when it swam into a wall? ... 'Dam'!! .."

Now, I said they were bad, but I'd be happy to hear all about your Cracker Jokes...

Ho! Ho! Ho! 

(Now, get back to your loved ones and have good time!) 

Simple Scones

Ho Ho Ho!! Merry Christmas! (Almost)

Hope everyone has finished work and are enjoying the start of their well deserved holiday break!

I thought I'd show you a simple scone recipe that I learnt from Jamie's Ministry of Food - since his philosophy is to teach people to cook and pass it on - I'm passing this onto you all! And on the plus side, the ingredients are cheap to buy, it's easy to make and great for that afternoon snack with a nice cup of tea. Whether you pronounce it scone, rhyming with 'on', or the posh English way, rhyming with 'bone'; get your hands dirty and give this recipe a go!

Versatile Cooking - Sensational Stew

Welcome, Eat Travel Dive Readers!
I hope you had fun trying my Pumpkin Soup Recipe, and today I have a treat in store!  Today, I will be using our core ingredients (Onion, Garlic, Celery and Carrot) to make a super-easy heart healthy stew.  In my opinion, this stew should be within the arsenal of anyone who hates spending time preparing meals at the end of a hectic day at work etc.  Having my sensational stew up your sleeve will impress dinner guests, fill up your family at low expense to you, and more importantly, will be a tasty way to load you up with vitamins and minerals....which can only be a good thing.

So, thanks for coming back today to pick up where we left off.  After a short trip around our local supermarket, scouring the shelves for special offers and low budget ingredients I am happy to say I kept today's exciting meal under 15 Quid (15GBP) - which is a result considering the ingredients.

Same Ingredients, Different Dish...

Versatile Cooking - Pumpkin Soup

BURRRR! ETD-ers..  


It's been a cold couple of weeks here in the northern hemisphere, and I'm using this chill-out as a perfect inspiration to make some classic winter warmers for my Versatile Cooking Series.  In brief, I'm attempting to use the same ingredients to make multiple dishes.  During this time of festive austerity, I want to show the non-believers that good home cooking can be simple and easy on the bank balance.  Simply stock your cupboards with some core ingredients and get stuck into my recipes!   


Having selected garlic, onions, carrots and celery to be the heart and soul of this blog, I've decided to kick it all off with a classic - Pumpkin Soup.  The way I make this uses very simple ingredients, and is a great way to get those all important vitamins and minerals into a healthy meal that's effortless to prepare and has heaps of options for garnishing...Let's get started!

Pumpkin Soup =)

Versatile Cooking

THREE MORE SLEEPS...
....until Christmas, ETD Readers!

Winnie and I have had such a busy 2011; all of our travelling, the numerous trains, buses, planes (and camels), the amazing people we've met along the way... delicious, interesting and honestly terrible food we've eaten on our way... It all humbles me to my core.  

Cooking on the roadside!

Living as we have done, on a lean budget is a slight overstatement... on a shoestring still doesn't cut it.  This has been a year of WinGaz living on a tiny thread!  We've pruned away our overindulgences and we've learnt what really matters to us is friendship, family and community.

As this year's Christmas period draws ever closer I have started to see the over commercialism of what the "festive season" has started to become for so many: Overeating, Greed, Overspending and money, money, money.

Last night I was watching a television show, "2011, The Year the Earth went Wild", a documentary that was highlighting the various natural disasters that have afflicted the world this year...so far.  There's been the terrible floods and cyclones in Australia, the snows, floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, volcano eruptions, lightening storms and how can we ever forget the tsunamis, and earthquakes in New Zealand, Japan and Turkey.  Through it all what has constantly surprised me has been the spirit of humans, pulling together to find light at the end of the tunnel.  All this disaster and destruction has left me thinking.  Being back in the UK for Christmas, returning from Egypt early due to the civil unrest and lack of tourism -  not to mention a family funeral, has allowed me to direct my energies to the things that are important to me.

Cooking for family is important to me

As I mentioned earlier, Winnie and I are living on the tightest budget, watching everyone overspend has probably been more obvious to us - when you have nothing you cannot spend it, but you know how to make what you've got go a lot further.  It's this, plus my recent re-inspiration to get back in the kitchen that has inspired me to put together a festive series of posts that are aimed at wasting less and making what we've got go further - my version of "Versatile Cooking".

What is Versatile Cooking?

To me, versatile cooking is being able to use a set of core ingredients to make multiple dishes, its using leftovers to create exciting new dishes and of course it is about saving money and stretching every pound (or dollar).

So I have decided to talk about a set of core ingredients, then put together a series of recipes that I have come up with, thanks to my two favourite chefs (Jamie Oliver and Nigella Lawson).... 

Inspired by Jamie & Nigella, Perfected by Gaffa!

So, here's what I'll be using as my "Core Ingredients":

1. Onions
2. Carrots
3. Celery
4. Garlic

Simple, Core Ingredients

Garlic, Onion, Celery & Carrot

Next I'll rummage the aisles of my local supermarket, and take the usual ingredients we normally stack our cupboard shelves with (tinned tomatoes, stock cubes, veggies that are in season, some fresh herbs, some jars of spices and booze), then, I'll try to create multiple meals using my versatile cooking ideas.

So, Stay Tuned...

Christmas Cooking Fun!

Inspiration: the Pursuit of Happiness

G’Day ETDers!

It’s been a very hectic couple of weeks for Team WinGaz and today we’re taking a well-earned rest to recover our aching bodies from long-distance hiking in the Scottish Highlands, Snowboarding lessons, and the various other activities we’ve been blogging about (this was written while we were in Glasgow). I have decided to take the ETD baton and let Winnie (who is currently sleeping) recuperate in peace.

So today, whilst we are at peace and relaxing, I hope that you can all find some time to take a few minutes to sit back and find peace in your own way. On that note, I would like to share some of my thoughts on another Lululemon derived inspirational quote:

“The pursuit of happiness is the source of all unhappiness”

Snowboarding at Sno!Zone

WHAAAAAAAAAA!

That my Eat Travel Diver’s is the sound a scuba diver makes when hurtling down the slopes on a snowboard. You might even hear the “OHHH CRAP… BOOM SHHHHHH! Burrrr…ha ha ha!!!” as the same scuba diver crash lands on his butt, slides down the slope and sprays freezing cold icy snow in his face, for the millionth time. Well imagine two of said scuba divers spending an entire day doing the same…

On our bums...a regular position!

Well, It is a lot like taking a fish out of water and pushing it down a hill. The poor fish slaps about whilst twisting and turning all over the hillside…total carnage. Put two fishes into the mix and it gets messier.

In our infinite wisdom, and in an attempt to get “cooler than we already are”, Winnie and I decided to book up a series of lessons in snowboarding. The first lesson was a 3hr fast track for beginners. The second session was a 3hr fast track taking beginners to intermediate/recreational (and therefore safe) level. Having this signed off means getting slope time in various SNO!Zone locations, and the possibility of having a winter pursuit that we can develop together as we travel, and when we return to Australia…bring on the snow!

Happy Birthday GAFFA!

To my dearest sugar plum,
Happy Twenty Eleven Birthday!
Hope it is all you want it to be and more!
Love from your darling sweet pea.
xxxxxxxxxx
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Edinburgh, Scotland

Further north we go! Across the English border and into Scotland - first stop, Edinburgh. We were here for 4 days. Edinburgh is a very cool city - I think Gaffa found Edinburgh to be much better than he had accounted for!!!  Edinburgh has heaps of history, and is proud of that.  The Scottish people were really helpful, and very welcoming to us.  Edinburgh is part of the Lowlands region of Scotland, basically there's 4 main areas: Lowlands, Highlands, Speyside and Isla - all based around the Whisky Distilleries!!

On day 1 we walked up what we thought was Arthur's Seat, basically a very large mountain in the city. But later we found out it was actually the cragg infront of Arthur's Seat. It had great views over Edinburgh.

The mountain that we climbed

Hadrian's Wall and Newcastle, England

We arrived fairly late to our accomodation, and thankfully the Greenhead Hotel was still serving up dinner. After a nice hot meal, we rested in our camping barn accommodation.

Leeds and York, England

Markets in Leeds

We spent two nights in Leeds. First day was just Gaffa and I. We walked around the numerous shops and visited the indoor and outdoor markets and Art Gallery. The outdoor markets were quite dodgy. People were selling old junk, like random cords, old computers, phones, old chargers...

The first night Gaffa and I met up with one of Gaffa's long time friends - Ms. Tall, from when they holidayed together in Spain, as teenagers. Her parents and Australian boyfriend (who didn't sound Australian at all!!), took us to an Indian Restaurant called Akbar. I tried another biryani, hoping to have a better experience than in London. This one came out with a little too much rice and a small curry sauce. But was still really tasty. The naan bread was massive, and came out on a big stake - lucky there was 6 of us!

Massive naan!!

Nottingham, England

A pin in Nyngan at the Hostel we stayed at in Nottingham

Just a quick one on Nottingham. We got there after 2 buses and 1 train from Hartington. Following the directions to the hostel we got abit lost, but we finally found it. The bed had a memory foam mattress!!

We met up with Gaffa's good friend, Fag and wandered around the streets of Nottingham. Had Wagamama for lunch. Apprently the Australian Wagamama sells hot chips??

Chiquitos in Nottingham

Peak District, England

Hartington Hall

Next stop was the Peak District. This area is called the Peak District because there are lots of... peaks of course!

After a train from Oxford to Matlock, a bus from Matlock to Buxton and another bus from Buxton to Hartington, we finally arrived at our YHA Hostel - Hartington Hall. We took a leisurely stroll in the Peaks in the afternoon. And saw the amazing English countryside, and lots of sheep!! The sun was out, but the air was still abit "fresh". After our walk we had a beer and crisps in the local pub. This is where I discovered... Scampi Fries!!! Dinner was cooked from tins and frozen stuff from the local grocery store....

Winchester and Oxford, England

Winchester Catherdral

First day of our trip around the UK, we stopped off at Winchester before heading to Oxford.

Winchester is the old capital of England, so there were old cobbled streets and lots of old buildings to see.

We saw Winchester Catherdral, but didn't get to see King Arthur's Round Table as it wasn't open til the arvo, and we were leaving at lunch time.

Winchester is also where Gaffa and I had our first Wetherspoons experience. The food is CHEAP and fairly good. Big Breakfast for the both of us!

How To Pack Your Luggage: Part 3 - Dive Bags

Well Hello Again to our fellow Eat Travel Dive readers!

I have a treat in store for the divers amongst us. This is part 3 of our blog series on how to pack your luggage. As we all know the most important part of any diver's luggage is not their clothes, shoes, make-up or even undies....it's our dive gear - without which we never travel!!

So, how does one fit all of their clothes etc and their dive gear into one bag? Well unless you're flying with "Shithouse Airlines" you'll probably find written in the small print that you can either pay for, or in some amazing cases, have a free baggage allowance for Sports or Scuba Diving Equipment. Now, At this point it is important to tell you that each airline has their own ideas on this, so be prudent and read the T's & C's of your chosen airline. That said, Team WinGaz are flying long haul with Malaysian from Sydney to Heathrow (London), and then later we fly from Gatwick (London) to Sharm el Sheikh (Sinai, Egypt) with Easy Jet (AKA Cheezy Jet!!! lol I'm just joking Easy Jet people....)

Brighton, England

When we arrived at Brighton train station, we got another taxi to our hotel. Carrying 66kg of luggage plus hand luggage is not fun! When we got to the from door of the Hilton, we had to squeeze through the revolving door of the hotel with our backpacks on our back, our Padi bags on our front, and a dive bag in our hand. It was a tough squeeze! The bell boy took our bags straight away for us! What service at the Hilton hotel!!

The Hilton Hotel , Brighton

We relaxed in our room at the Hilton, watching tv, enjoying the comfy bed, and the nice, clean bathroom. Then we ventured down to Brighton Beach. Not much of a beach, since there’s no sand, just pebbles. The weather was abit gloomy aswell :(

The Remainder of London

Look what we found at Kings Cross Station!

Day 3 consisted of a Monopoly Tour to all the places on the Monopoly board. It was a fairly big task, and we got our monies worth using the Underground Day Pass for 6.60GBP each. While we were at Pall Mall we visited the Stephen Wiltshire Gallery. Stephen is a very talented artist with an exceptional memory. He has flown over London in 20 minutes and then can draw the entire skyline from memory, remembering details such as the number of floors in the buildings. It was amazing!  We did some shopping while we were down Oxford St. First stop was Primark. OMG this place was crazy busy and everything was so cheap. I bought a pair of flats for 6GBP, some stockings for 1.50GBP and Gaffa bought some Superman and TMNT socks for a few ponds. We went to all the other typical English stores like New Look, Zara, Top Shop, etc… Afternoon snacks consisted of 99p cheeseburger from Macca’s and some small sushi treats from Wasabi. For dinner we just ordered delivered Pizza from a local place near our hostel.

London - Day 2

Hello from the south of England! Hope you are all well and not missing us :P

Day 2 in London we did a lot of sightseeing, to take advantage of our London pass.

Gaffa practicing being a Guitar Hero

First stop was the Design Museum. It was quite small but there were some pretty cool exhibits. Reminded me of Art Express exhibit that they do in Sydney. Gaffa got carried away with the PRO guitar hero….

at the top of St. Paul's Cathedral

Next we went to St. Paul’s Cathedral. This was the first cathedral/church we visited and it was amazing! There was about 500+ stairs to the top viewing area, but it was well worth it. The architecture inside was just spectacular. We sat down and just looked up and stared….

London - Day 1

All our luggage for 2 years....

Hi there everyone!! Hope you don't miss us too much!! Sorry about the delay in posting but Gaffa and I have been busy flying to the otherside of the world and walking around the streets of ol' London town. hehe =D

Gaffa relaxing in the Premier Plaza Lounge in KL Airport

Yay we made it to London 24 hours later

How To Pack Your Luggage: Part 2 - Backpacks

Yo Yo Yo ETD-ers!!!

It's now less than 48hrs until take-off on the WinGaz European Adventure.... tick tock...

Moving on from the previous post (Part 1 - Packing List), I would like to show how to pack a backpack for long haul, multi-season travelling. If you've yet to read the post regarding the generation of a packing list, please take the time to read it. It can be found by clicking on the following here

SO, this image represents MY packing list in it's full completeness.... (Before Organising):

Discover Scuba Dive

Hey fellow ETD readers. Sorry we've been lacking in posts recently, we've got alot going on, towards the lead up to heading overseas.

Gaffa and I had our last day at our engineering jobs. Gaffa's was a little less eventful than mine. He got Domino's Pizza, and a farewell gift of an Australian flag and a pack of Sydney playing cards. Whereas I had a 3 course italian lunch - including a delicious dessert called 'three minutes of pleasure'... and my colleagues bought me a necklace, matching scarf, beret and gloves set, perfect for the UK summer!

"Put Another "Shrimp" On the Barbie...."

So ETD Readers, today I want to talk about something very special to me:

Friendship. Friendship and what it means to me. In my world, friendship is more than just hangin' out with the lads or going shopping with the girls. To me it is a mutual equilibrium that knows no distance or time. There is no expiry date on friends.

Over the past few years I have moved around somewhat (to put it mildly), and during this time I have maintained as many friendships as I can, and I have made some very special friends - which has been the saving grace for me! My time overseas wouldn't have been anywhere near as fun, interesting or memorable without each and every one of you and what we have shared together. It truely makes me sad to say goodbye, but rest assured the GAFFAtron will return.

"..Cos, I've had the time of my life, and I owe it all to you..."

And just like the song says, my time has been exactly what I needed and you've all made it special....even all of you annoying, smelly friends! ;-)

There is something I need to tell all of my new friends, and something I'd like to remind all of my old friends. I Love You ALL. I just needed to share that with you.

How To Pack Your Luggage: Part 1 - The Packing List

HELLO!

Welcome back to Eat Travel Dive, to all of our loyal blog followers. With the ever nearing date of mine and Winnie’s departure to travel overseas, I thought now would be a good time to start a blog series related to that woeful task of Packing!

Is this your Family Car on the way to the airport?

Is this you on your last trekking holiday?

I’m not sure I know anybody who actually enjoys this process, but needless to say it is an essential part of any traveller’s itinerary. Boo! I hear you all screaming, but fear not, I am about to try and make life easy for everyone.

Mindil Beach Sunset Markets - Darwin

Hey hey! Gaffa and I are in our last week of work! YAY!!! Only 3 days, 7hrs, 13 mins to go... haha I'm not counting down the time, I swear!

Anyway, Gaffa is working on his packing posts, so I thought I'd sneak one in about the markets in Darwin. We were told about these markets by close friends of Shrimp Dog and Shrimpette who use to live in NT. While we were travelling up through the National Parks and working out our itinerary for the last week, we found out that they were on Sunday and Thursday nights. So we had to rearrange our visits to Litchfield and Kakadu so we could visit the markets. Lucky enough, Kakadu was a quick visit and we made it to Litchfield and to Darwin in time for the markets on a Sunday night - yipeee! I love markets!!

Mindil Beach sunset

WINGAZ 01/05 2011

Product Review - Lululemon Run: Speed Skirt

Hey hey there! Sorry haven't posted for past few days, Blogger was down yesterday...
As you can see above, I love to do jumping photos, and I'm wearing a funky skirt/short/skort....

My first product review of a Lululemon item - the Run: Speed Skirt. If you read my previous post about Lululemon, you would have known that I got given this skirt as a gift from the lovely educators that were working that day at the Ivy George St. store =D

Walking in Outback Australia - Part 1: Uluru

G-Day!

For today’s post, following on from yesterday’s inspired post I have decided to talk about something totally different. I would like to start over a series of blog posts to talk about the various walks, hikes and treks that Winnie and I did whilst we were on our Road Trip from Adelaide to Darwin. I will only cover the walks that we actually did, and give an honest appraisal of them. To do them justice I will cover one walk each time I post on this subject – so stay tuned for the other walks!

No discussion of the Red Centre of Australia would be complete without a mention for that big old red rock that millions flock to see each year – Uluru, or as it is also known Ayers Rock.

Keep Breathing

Howdy Peeps!
To all of our fellow Eat Travel Divers!

I'll start with what I found to be an inspiring photo, and YES I took it, but with Yummy Mummy's camera during her PADI Advanced Open Water Night dive... The following photo was taken in the worst possible conditions and during a night dive, with poor visibility - why bother some would say (in most cases I would have agreed). BUT, with no editing at all, the image came out like this; which just goes to show that something beautiful can come from the worst of conditions....

Welcome Back!

Sunset at Mindil Beach, Darwin, NT

HELLO THERE! :)

Gaffa and I are back from our 2 week Outback Adventure! After 13 days on the road, 5224 kilometres of driving, over 4,000 photos, only 2 or 3 days without showers, a lot of sweat, about 50km of walking/hiking, a million flies and mozzie bites and sleeping in an airport... we are back to work for 12 days and then off on our travels again. Yipee yi yo!

Australian Outback Adventure Itinerary

Happy Friday Peeps! :-)

It's been a busy week, trying to get my visa for the UK sorted out. It dawned on us that we would have to plan our overseas travels in blocks of 3 months because the Schengen Visa only allows Australians to travel through the majority of the European countries for 90 days, then you can't return for another 90 days. Basically 90/180 days you can travel within the Schengen region freely. So what were we going to do for 3 months at a time? The solution was to get a UK Youth Mobility Visa (working holiday visa) and work in the UK to save some money for the next 3 months, or travel to other non-Schengen countries like Egypt, Russia, Ireland, Morocco, Turkey... or even USA! So I filled in the online application, went to the British Consulate to have my fingerprints taken, got some ugly passport photos taken, and then sent off my passport and forms to get processed. I also had to prove that I had 1600GBP to my name. How does one expect to live in UK for 2 years on 1600GBP? God only knows, but that's the amount you need to be eligible for the visa.

Introducing GAFFA

Who is Gaffa? He's the Pommy that entered into my life back in 2008 and my life has never been the same since! He is also going to be a co-writer with me on this blog. Since we're heading off together on 6 June 2011 for our world travels, we'll be using this platform as a way of people keeping up with what we're doing, and also a way of documenting our exciting journey, so maybe one day we can look back and laugh at all the fond memories we shared...

To learn more about Gaffa, have a look at the About Gaffa page.

To learn more about the Gaffa and Win story (or WinGaz as we like to call ourselves), read below:

Kazbah Breakfast Banquet

If you haven't been to Kazbah, you're missing out. This place has to be one of the most blogged about restaurants in Sydney, and their breakfast banquet being the main star attraction.

A Moroccan, Middle Eastern theme, the breakfast banquet is available to groups of 8 or more. Their first location on Darling St. in Balmain was such a hit that they recently opened up at Top Ryde City in January and then in February in Darling Harbour.

We're really not this pale, I swear! 

It was my birthday weekend and the only thing I wanted to do was EAT! So I invited a bunch of my diving buddies, some family and family friends along to have breakfast with me to celebrate my quarter century milestone.

Happy Birthday to ME!

this is actually a cake I baked for my mum for her birthday last year

Howdy Peeps! Yes today is my 25th Birthday. Horrah horrah! I've been celebrating all weekend!!

Firstly with a nice relaxing night dive on Friday night. Then on Saturday morning, a HUGE breakfast banquet with my close diving buddies and some family & family friends. Then some more eating with Gaffa Saturday night. Then Sunday, a 10km walk from the Spit Bridge to Manly. The kayaking got cancelled because of the weather, so we went to see a movie instead - and the nice lady gave us the tickets for free! =) Then a 4 course Thai dinner to finish the night off. I was so tired that I fell alseep in the car during the drive home, and it was only 9.30pm. (not surprising since people that know me will know that I call fall asleep anywhere, mostly while watching movies...)

Today, I'm at work. I finally got the courage to resign. And it didn't go too well. But it's done. In 8 weeks Gaffa and I will be waiting at the airport to get on a plane to London, woop woop! Tonight I'll be going to yoga of course - wouldn't be a birthday without a date with myself hehehe.

Happy Monday! The sun is shining bright - go out and SMILE! =)  

Dae Jang Kum Korean BBQ Restaurant

This restaurant was discovered purely by accident. Gaffa and I were wanting to dine at Mamak one night, but as usual there was a long line - and we were hungry! So we ventured away from Mamak and noticed this Korean Restaurant. We thought, 'what the heck', lets try it.

Nom, nom, nom, I'm glad we did because it's been a life saver at times when it's late and there's nothing else open - this place shuts at 4am Mon-Thur, at 6am Fr-Sat, and 2am on Sun. It's also great for a cheap bibimbab/bibimbap - which every way you like to say/spell it.

Jurassic Lounge

Where does one go to see dinosaurs, drink alcohol, and dance at a silent disco? Jurassic Lounge of course! At the Australian Museum every Tuesday night (until 19th April) they open up their doors at night, and let adults only in. There are live bands, DJs, reptiles, competitions, a tattoo artist and a magician plus you are free to roam around the museum without any security guards telling you off!

I'd seen this event on a couple of other blogs, and when Gaffa's friend from the UK suggested we go as well, I was excited as I hadn't been to the museum since those good old primary school excursion days. Tickets are $15 and include entry and a free drink. They can be purchased online here or at the door. Doors open at 5.30pm and the event finishes at 9.30pm.

Rescue Diver Course

The PADI Rescue Diver Course is one of the most rewarding courses you could ever do as a diver. Ask any recreational diver which course they enjoyed the most, and the majority with say it was Rescue. PADI call the Rescue Diver Course: SERIOUS FUN. And it is just that, it is a serious topic and you do learn some serious and challenging stuff, but it is loads of fun.

Lululemon - Early Birthday Presents

Woop woop! Yesterday when I arrived home, there was a parcel waiting for me - my Lululemon order! Shipping from USA was quick, only taking 5 working days to get here. I was rushing to get to yoga, so had to wait until after class to open my package. I was so excited, like a little kid on Christmas morning, waiting to open their presents under the tree!! You couldn't wipe the smile off my face when I left the house for yoga. I even said to Gaffa, "Hurry, the faster we get to yoga the faster the class will finish and then I get to open my Lululemon stuff!" Obsessed much? After yoga I sat on my bed like the little kid ready to open my present. It was a an early birthday present to myself for my 25th birthday on this coming Monday. Every item was wrapped nicely in plastic and smelt so brand new!!

Ayam Goreng 99 & Pappa Roti

One place where you can always expect a decent meal at a great price, every single time: no it's not McDonald's, but Ayam Goreng 99. There's no wonder that whenever you go past this place along Anzac Parade in Kingsford, there are people lining up outside to get a table. You always know a restaurant is good when it's full or when there's people lining up outside.

I was introduced to this place by my bro Rave and his girlfriend Ms. Tjark (who is Indonesian) who dine here atleast once a week. You know it's a good Indo restaurant when Indo's themselves eat there! On our first visit we ordered the same as them, and ever since, we always order the same thing - why change when you know it's good? Plus, I always have bad luck when choosing things outside my norm, it always ends badly so I try to avoid it whenever I can. 

Lyne Park Cafe

What do you do when you get to meet the inspiration of your inspiration? Well, in the world of Eat.Travel.Dive, we go for breakfast! Saturday was a very important day for Gaffa. His mentor in scuba, and long time friend from the UK came to Australia for a few hours (on a stop-over en route from New Zealand to England). They were holidaying in New Zealand, and for Jen to do an 85km run! In true ETD style we took Steve and his partner Jen to breakfast and on an express tour of Sydney.

First Step in Diving

Well, it's about time that I did a post about diving, seeing as it should technically be a third of what I talk about here. Lately it's more like eat, yoga, lululemon (btw, my order has already shipped, should receive it by Monday) LOL sorry :S I haven't done much travelling lately either, but look out in May when Gaffa and I get back from our two week Outback Adventure!!

I received my OWSI (Open Water Scuba Instructor) card and certificate in the mail yesterday! Exciting =) So thought it was a good place to start, since the PADI Open Water Diver Course is the first one that you do, to become a certified diver!

Cafe Giulia

In my Kiki-K diary that I purchase every year, I never use the address book section. But this year I decided I would. Instead of filling it with contacts of people's addresses and numbers I have started filling it with restaurants that I want to eat at. I'm always on the lookout for good breakfast spots and had noticed Cafe Giulia on a few food blogs around Sydney - so in the address book it went.  

My First Lululemon Order

The amount of times I walked past Lululemon when it was located opposite Fitness First in Westfield Bondi Junction, and didn't walk in. I kick myself that it took me so long to discover this great store. Since it moved to the Myer side of Westfield, I have spent many hours in there, trying on almost everything and wanting to buy everything in all the different colours.

Lululemon is a store for both women and men, selling athletic gear, mainly for yoga, but also for running and general gym wear. Originally from Cananda, there are also stores in USA, China and NZ. Lululemon has generated a culture of not only living a healthy lifestyle but also empowering people to achieve their goals through endless possibilities. Fellow yogi's, runners and gym junkies can sweat, bend and stretch in top quality versatile gear, for all different shapes and sizes. The various fabrics that Lululemon use are great for wicking moisture away from the body, quick drying, anti-stink, light weight, pre-shrunk and breathable.