Guac

I'm obsessed with guacamole at the moment. I hated avocado until a couple of months ago, never ordered anything with it, but then I just woke up one day craving guacamole. Since then I've turned into a complete guacamole fiend, I've probably made it about 5 times in the past three weeks. Coles keeps discounting avocados as well, which is giving me a good excuse.


I'm lazy so my guacamole is really simple - for every one avocado, I squeeze the juice of half a lime and use one clove of garlic. This makes it very garlicky though (which I like). If I have some, I also add a tablespoon of sour cream.


Mash it all together with a fork (or masher if you want to get serious).


Boom! All done, under 10 minutes (or under 5 if you're more adept at mincing garlic). I only make one avocado's worth at a time, because it doesn't keep for long (max 2 days in the fridge with very tight cling wrap).

19th Biennale: AGNSW and Artspace

Here are more Biennale photos from last Wednesday (how sluggish am I with posting), when I visited the Art Gallery of NSW and Artspace. You can see the ones from MCA and Cockatoo Island here.




Video of performance by Sasha Huber, about Louis Agassiz, a 19th-century scientist who "researched" and encouraged racial separation/apartheid.



There was going to be a performance artist there at 12, and there was a while to go, so I decided to hop over to Artspace first.



I'd never actually been here in Woolloomooloo before.


It's a small space and there were all these bird sculptures on the floor! 59, apparently.


They're by Ugo Rondinone. Each of the birds had a name, like "the sun" and "the horizon".


I then went back to AGNSW for the performance art. It was too dark to take pictures in the room, so here's the description. It was a dark room you had to stoop through a little door to get into, and there was a winding path through the trees. It was quite eerie.



A well-deserved lunch at Well Connected cafe in Glebe. I got a steak sandwich.


The chips are really good there.

19th Biennale: MCA and Cockatoo Island

I've finally got around to checking out the Biennale. I can't believe two years have passed. For those who don't know, it's an art festival held across multiple venues every two years. On Saturday, I went to the MCA and then Cockatoo Island.


Can't pull into Circular Quay station without taking a photo of the view!


First stop, MCA. I hadn't been in a while.


Colourful floor - Zobop by Jim Lambie.





Ten Liquid Incidents by Roni Horn. Probably my favourite one there. These were glass sculptures, but they looked like jellies! No wonder they had to have an attendant there reminding people not to touch them.


Another one I liked. This was quite a large room, and three of the walls were floor-to-ceiling screens, showing this video. There were cushions all over the floor to sit on.


After meeting up with Wai Lam, we took the ferry to Cockatoo Island. The cold snap a few weeks back was a lie. It's been low-20s warm lately.




Cockatoo Island is an island on our Harbour, it used to be a prison and then a shipyard. It's now a World Heritage site.



This enclosure was familiar from last time, but with a very different piece. It was totally empty, with speakers projecting eerie noises and voices.





Getting my pose on in a little village.


This one was pretty cool. It was an enclosure full of gym equipment that was rigged to make things happen; e.g. when you worked the elliptical it would make the skeleton dance.


The Google train... can't tell you what was in the tunnel because we couldn't get on before the last train.

Overall, I really liked the Biennale at MCA this year, but to be honest Cockatoo Island wasn't as great as last time. We ended the day in Starbucks in Darling Harbour where we totally saw that guy who plays Jaime Lannister in Game of Thrones, haha!

Running High

If you were reading my blog last year, you might remember that I posted about dislocating my kneecap while I was running (and proceeded to complain about it for the next two months). I never really talked about the running part after that, even though I kept meaning to. Recently I did an interview on Charlotte's Frame for Running High, an interesting new series sharing people's experiences with running as exercise.

So go check it out and leave me comments/tell me about your running here!

Shoreline cycling

The weather was nice on Saturday, so, I went for another bike ride down by the beach. Last time, I rode from Ramsgate beach up to Brighton-le-sands; this time, I went in the opposite direction, down to Dolls Point.



I think I like this route better. This part of the shoreline is set further away from the road, so you can actually hear the sound of the water, which is so soothing. It just sort of scratches an itch inside my mind (I did once try and download an app that made wave noises that are supposed to lull you to sleep, but it just sounded like someone was stepping in puddles next to my head).


There are lots of places to sit along here too, so I might bring a book and chill out for longer next time.


I'm still so in love with my bicycle. And I finally worked out that the point of a step-through frame is so that you can step through it... duh.



I wonder how much a waterfront house like these would cost.



The bike path takes you through a reserve, and gradually, the water becomes the Georges River.



Getting a bit overcast on the way back.

Striped sack

And BOOM! All of a sudden, the weather got cold. It's almost impossible to get out of bed in the morning now, and and I have to wear two hoodies/sweatshirts as I sit at the computer at night. In Sydney we're pretty lucky with our mild winter, but our buildings weren't made to retain warmth and indoor heating is not a thing. Not complaining though, because I get to start pulling out all my winter clothes!


Debuting the wool coat I picked up from Zara in London (it's also in Zara Sydney now!) and striped dress from Muji in Hong Kong. Also featuring Chelsea boots from Dune. I've worn this outfit about three times this past week...


I think I'm jumping the gun with the coat, though, because I always take it off in the middle of the day - still a bit too warm for 80% wool. This is the coat with an inside pocket, but I always forget I've slipped my phone in there and have a moment of panic while searching through my bag.


This dress was actually an impulse/desperation buy in Hong Kong, but I have no regrets at all. The shape and the horizontal stripes make this the least "flattering" dress ever, but I have previously made my thoughts known about the concept of "flattering" clothing. It's super comfortable and has pockets (!!!). It's made from a heavy cotton knit so definitely a cooler weather dress, and it'll be easy to slip a thermal on underneath as we go into winter.