Ave Ceasar!

To be honest I was a little apprehensive about driving down to Mundaring to check out the pizza. It is a fair distance from home after all! But in the spirit of adventure and finding a decent feed, Char and I made the trek up to the hills with her folks to see what all the fuss was about.

Having a little spare time, we did the touristy thing and went to the visitor centre to have a quick browse through before heading to Mundaring Weir to see the dam... and predictably it rained on us a couple minutes after stepping out of the car. I swear, some days it feels like I'm living in England with all this intermittent blustery days and shrieking rain.

And then naturally when we got back to Mundaring town, the rain stopped. Bloody weather!

Now to be entirely honest, I wasn't sure what to expect at Little Ceasars. Hearing stories about the great pizza and reading the news clippings about the awards the pizzas' won is one thing, but actually eating it is a whole different kettle of fish. Maybe I'm a little cynical about the whole 'best in wherever' tag because you see it around so much, but this really lives up to its reputation. The pizza is awesome!



We ordered the Oyster Kilpatrick (Char's Dad's choice) and Jane's Addiction (my choice) pizzas, and damn were they good!



The Oyster Kilpatrick is a truly interesting blend of bacon, smoked oyster, onion, parsley, worchestershire sauce and cheese. It's a very interesting flavour, almost a little tangy and sweet, then you bite into these little smoked oyster or bacon pockets of savoury goodness and you're inundated with a flavour explosion I can only call 'big'!

I admit that I was a little confused over the use of worchestershire sauce, but it blended in perfectly, and the onions just added enough of a counterbalance to the bacon and smoked oyster flavour that it wasn't overwhelming.



I love how they've named a good number of pizzas after bands. There's the Smashing Pumpkin, Eskimo Joe and White Stripe pizzas. Then there's what we tried, Jane's Addiction... and yes I am addicted!

I must say, I'm not a huge fan of the band, but damnit that's good pizza! Marinated prawns, prosciutto, garlic cream, rocket pesto and cheese? Sign me up! I've had a couple of garlic prawn pizzas in my time, but this one takes the cake, the cream, and the cherry on top too. It's that good. The combination of flavours is truly sublime. My sole complaint is that the prawns are just a shade this side of salty, but otherwise, it's as close to prawn pizza heaven as I've ever been.

When I next make the trek up to Mundaring, I'm definitely having another one of them Jane's Addictions! (Light on the Dave Navarro if you please.)



And then there's dessert. A pecan pie pizza. Lord knows I'm not the world's biggest fan of the sweet stuff, but this wasn't too bad. Little slivers of pecan and caramel dusted with sugar over a butterscotch pudding mix. Sounds interesting, no? Thankfully it wasn't too sweet, although after the really big flavours of the savory pizzas, I was expecting something with a little more zing, which this really didn't deliver. (Then again my taste buds might have been fried by flavour overload at that point!)

Overall I must say that I'm very impressed with the pizza. It's really worth making the trip and waiting and fighting the crowd for. Thankfully we where there early so we missed the bulk of the rush, but it was still pretty jam packed with people. Lots of Asian fellows there too. Guess we all subscribe to the 'don't care how far it is as long as it's good/cheap' ethic, eh?



If anyone wants to head up Mundaring way for a pizza any time soon, let me know! (Hi Robin! This means you! :)

Look! Up in the sky!

One of the many oddities I've noticed is that for all our supposed complexity and intelligence, the human species displays remarkably herd-like tendancies. We queue wherever there's a line (regardless of whether we're British or not), we gather where others gather and we walk wherever the mass is walking. It's a curious and occasionally humourous phenonmeon.

I recall once when a friend pointed up into a clear blue sky and yelled 'Hey look! A dead bird!'; predictably, everyone looked heavenwards even though there was no logical way that a dead bird would be found suspended overhead.

So imagine to my surprise when I looked through a my photos and found a whole plethora of people looking upwards! Now, being somewhat of a herd creature myself (aren't we all?) I'm fairly sure that there was nothing suitably momentous suspended overhead along Hay Street mall. Well, except maybe the canopy of the cafe I was camping under...

Here's a trio of pictures from that day.

Something in my eye.

Reach for the sky.

What's there?

Things to eat.

Like many others, I love food. Often I find it hard to discern the line between 'eat to live' and 'live to eat'; I fear that I lean towards the latter more strongly than I do the former! In our abundance, it is easy to forget those who have little to eat, especially when we never encounter them. It's a sobering thought.

Still, food is the great human leveller. We all need to eat, and invariably we all socialise while eating. I'm sure there's someone out there much wiser than I who will be able to discuss the social psychology of food with you; but today my mission is simply to present you with a few random things I've eaten over the past few months.

I think my doctor will probably cringe.

Seafood Ravioli.

This is probably the best ravioli I've ever had. It packed so much sheer flavour in every bite. It's a literal explosion of flavours and textures with all the different fish, prawns and other crustaceans packed into each little pasta dumpling. Admittedly it was pricey though!

Bacon and Egg Roll.

Seriously, that's what I call a greasy breakfast on the go. Seriously, who needs knives and forks? Get stuck in with your fingers is what I say! There's a visceral pleasure in physically touching and manhandling your food.

Sticky Pork Belly and Scallops.

The sticky pork belly and scallops is one of our favourite tapas at Mad Monks in Fremantle. The blend of sweet, hot and savory is quite well balanced in this dish.

Mad Monks is probably our favourite place to go at the moment. There's a good solid variety of food and the quality is always excellent. Plus they brew their own beers too. I'm partial to the Rogue beer, which is a lighter zesty style of beer; plus there's a whole bunch of others too. Among the beers, the Rauchbier really stands out in my opinion; it's seriously the first beer I've ever had that I can safely say reminds me of bacon and sausages. I kid you not. Its definitely something off the beaten track for me!

Sicilian Pizza.

Char loves her anchovies... In small doses! There's a good number of places here that do a pretty mean pizza; for which I am very grateful. I've had one too many poor quality pizzas from back in Singapore. I have to say I do find that I enjoy a nice glass of white with my pizza much more than I do the beer these days. Beer and pizza have become too filling for me. Or perhaps I'm just getting older.

Anyone up for supper?

Critters.

As most of you already know, we own two little bundles of adorable fur named Leia and Eowyn. Yes they're both girls and they're both named after strong female characters in two of my favourite science fiction franchises. I think the geekiness shows through eh?

By the way, they're guinea pigs, not hamsters!!!

Peek-a-boo!

Leia pokes her head out.

Mine!

Eowyn gets possessive over carrot.

Who? Me?

Leia gives the innocent look a workout.

Sorry, she's camera shy.

Aren't they adorable?

moments in monochrome.

A few more shots from the Dongara/Geraldton trip, coverted to black and white. I really enjoy black and white photography. There's a certain gravity and character about it that gets lost sometimes when shooting in colour. The tones and shadows are emphasised, the character is somehow enhanced... that's something I never tire of seeing.

Black and white conversion also can help 'save' a photograph. Especially when the colour's a little off or the picture's a little over exposed. I admit that I do convert some shots to black and white simply because I'm trying to 'save' the shot. Most of the time though, it's an artistic decision based on the very simple 'it'll just look better' argument!

I don't really subscribe too much to the overly artistic school of thought. A good photograph just has to look good. It doesn't necessarily need to have a deeper meaning or have superb technical quality. Or maybe I'm subconsciously making excuses because I'm not very good at the technical aspects of photography! Who knows?

Someone to lean on.

One of many leaning trees, Geraldton

I'm amazed at how many leaning trees there were in the area. I just can't get my head around how the prevailing winds stunt a tree's growth so much that the tree literally grows leaning over. It's just amazing in it's own way.

Towering above.

Tower at the HMAS Sydney memorial, Geraldton

I can't claim any credit for the picture. It was taken by Char using my camera and I am so taken by the framing and placement of the break in the clouds just nicely silouetting the flag that I just had to post it.

Whipped away in the wind.

Windmill, somewhere in between Geralton and Dongara

Snapped this one in the car on the way back from trying to find some pool whose name suddenly escapes me. There's literally miles of open plain, dotted every so often by a herd of sheep and by one of these giant windmills. When you think about the trees getting blown over by the wind, it makes perfect sense to build a wind farm out that way. This was probably the most dynamic of all the windmill shots I took. Shame you can see the window reflection in the picture though.

Somewhat pensive?

Char, in Mabeline's car

Admittedly I am horrible at taking portraits. This shot didn't turn out too badly though. I'm actually quite surprised that even though I was cooped in a car for hours on stretch, I didn't take as many images of my fellow car-mates as I could have. I really should try and utilise the opportunity to work on my portraiture, hey? Maybe next time.

As they say, carpe diem, hey?

happy national day!

Oh my goodness, I just reviewed the last post and realised what day it is! I'm so blur sometimes.

HAPPY NATIONAL DAY!!!

Have an awesome day all you guys back home!

apologies. weekend getaway.

My apologies for the absurdly long absence! I have no excuses other than (1) I have been fairly busy with work, and (2) I'm really good at procrastinating. More of the latter than the former to be honest. Then again most of you know exactly how much of a sloth the good Chris can be when it comes to getting things done, much to the girlfriend's chagrin.

We went up to Dongara with Mabeline and Calvin about two weekends back for a quick getaway. It's a fairly sleepy picturesque town approximately four hours by car north of Perth with a growing rock lobster fishing industry. Hell, they've even got a large metal lobster along the main highway! (Note to self: upload lobster pic)

We drove up on Friday night after work and came back Sunday afternoon by way of New Norcia. Spent most of Saturday in Geraldton, which is the major population centre approximately 30 minutes drive away. Sad to say, most of Saturday was horrible for pictures, although I think I managed a couple good ones. And yes, we did have lobster (among other things) for dinner.

I'd say it was a pretty good trip. Lord knows that Char and I both needed a break from the daily monotony. In fact, I'm pretty sure we need another break fairly soon! Maybe it's time for another drive down south...

A poem in stone.

Saint Francis Xavier Cathedral, Geraldton

I felt an indescribable sense of 'coming home' when I stepped into the cathedral. The history and tradition literally seeps through the very architecture, at once both different and yet reassuringly familiar. The interior of the nave and the dome have a strangely mosque-like air, almost like the Byzantian-style architecture or one of the great Spanish mosques. I wish I had better pictures of the interior to show you.

For me, the most heartachingly beautiful thing in the cathedral are the stained-glass windows. I was most struck by one window dedicated to the memory of a son who fought and died in the first World War. The anguish of loss was palpably present in that stained glass, as was a quiet and reassuring hope. I spent a good while just drinking that window in. Tragic and beautiful. They rarely make art like that these days.

Lighthouse by moving car.

Moore Point Lighthouse, Geraldton

The lighting was poor when we first passed by the lighthouse; which is the first all-steel lighthouse built on the mainland and the oldest lighthouse still under federal government ownership. Thankfully I managed to sneak in this shot on the way back.

King of my castle.

Seagull on a trash can. Back Beach, Geraldton

For some reason this seagull just refused to move and actually chased off another bird who tried to land on 'his' trash can. I'm reminded of the seagulls in Finding Nemo yelling out 'Mine! Mine! Mine!'

Lunch.

Chicken salad with bacon and sundried tomato. Skeetas Restaurant and Cafe, Geraldton.

Lunch at Skeetas Restaurant and Cafe in Geraldton, overlooking the foreshore. Salad was excellent and the deep fried calamari were one of the better ones I've had in a while. Had a very interesting strawberry yoghurt dip with bread as part of the appetisers too.

Did I mention I really enjoyed the chicken salad? Mmm. Chicken salad...

Sharing a moment.

Sunset, Dongara

After all the dreary skies and washed-out colour of the day, we're suddenly greeted with a awesome display of magnificent wonder. Seriously, it made all the bad shots I've taken over the course of the day almost worth it to experience and capture another one of those glorious sunsets we so rarely have the time to contemplate.

And that's all I have for you at the moment. More pictures to come soon! I promise!