melbourne, australia

the sun sets over another cold, sunny winter's day in melbourne

melbourne, australia

what a cold, miserable and wet mother's day.  stay inside and have a glass of red!

ajay

 stop wakings me up!!

rodeo drive, los angeles

ahh rodeo drive, so many expectations, so many expectations left unsatisfied...  and of course, versace would have to be there...

  as would bvlgari, whose "under construction" skin is still creatively printed...

universal studios, hollywood

cue a few more typical tourist photos

santa monica and venice beach, california

the weather wasn't the best for a visit to the beach, but santa monica is still a californian icon.  so many films and tv shows have been based at santa monica pier or its surrounding beaches.  it was great to just slowly walk around and enjoy the scenery for a few hours

i ended up at venice beach, with that famous boardwalk.  on a warm summer's day, i can imagine this place to be bustling with activity, artists and tourists... all wanting to share in the action

flags, california

california has a bear on its flag? ahuh. yep. it actually does.

san francisco, ca

does anyone else think this looks like a pretend police car?

california street, san francisco

this is the view down california street towards ferry plaza, by day and by night. in the background is the bay bridge, which is a double decker bridge.  the top deck is southbound (or citybound) and the bottom down is northbound.  one of san francisco's cable car routes travels along this street

union square, san francisco

union square is in the heart of san francisco's shopping district, which can easily be seen by the saks and tiffanys buildings in the background in the photo above and by the macy's building below.  you can also see that during the day, it has a cafe feel to it.  

fire fire, san francisco

the great 1906 earthquake and fire of san francisco still scars the city.  nearly everywhere you go you will see fire hydrant connections - probably every 10 metres in the city.

unlike melbourne's fire engines with their modern sleek designs, the us's engines have retained their period charm.  this includes this massive ladder designated Truck 2

san francisco, usa

one nifty way of getting around san francisco as a tourist isn't to ride bikes, travel on cable cars, street cars or taxis or even on the muni buses or bay area rapid transit (or bart).  no siree, its to ride one of those motorbike scooter things called gocars

these things yell out tourist information as you drive past them and also give you gps directions between places. the only downside, and its a big one, is that you are screaming "im a tourist" everywhere you're going.  not something i'd wanna do, but there were plenty of these little lawnmower sized engine cars running around the tourist areas of san francisco whilst i was there.  most of them were seen near the golden gate bridge.

broadway, san francisco, usa

what better way to spend a lazy sunny afternoon than to grab two deck chairs and some wine and head up to your rooftop to look out towards the bay bridge.. what a life and what a view

streetcars, san francisco

san francisco, like melbourne, has a system of streetcars (trams) that run around the city.  these are different to the cable cars, which are pulled by an underground cable up and down hills.  streetcars are electrified like those in melbourne.

there are a number of antique street cars running in san francisco, including two W class trams from melbourne.  inside each car is a brief history of the street car and where it used to run.

the street car pictured is from louisville kentucky.  the history of the car can be found here.  this car was travelling along the south end of market st, san francisco and about 10 minutes walk from the famed castro theatre

san francisco, usa

the transamerica building in san francisco

golden gate bridge, san francisco

 

on a brilliant sunny afternoon, i was able to hire a bike at a nearby sports store and cycle around golden gate bridge and the presidio and sea cliff near south bay in san francisco.  

san fran is probably my favourite city outside of melbourne and has beauitful vistas, friendly and polite people and a great vibe.  i rode around for around four hours.  cycling across the golden gate bridge was amazing (once i figured out how the gears worked on the bike).  i'd thoroughly recommend a bike ride around here if you get the chance.

ferry plaza, san francisco

ferry plaza is where the farmer's markets are held - every tuesday, thursday and saturday.  i was down there to have breakfast before heading off to get some bicycles to ride around san francisco.

it was lovely, fresh, still morning and from where i was having breakfast, there was a fantastic view of the bay bridge (see above).

san francisco, california

perhaps san fran's most famous skyscrapper is the transamerica building with its pyramid shape.  this photo doesn't show the actual shape of the building, but gives you a distorted view that makes you think the building is taller than it actually is.  you can find a standard photo of it here.

i arrived in san francisco at around midday.  after going to the office to pick up some work and sort out some logistics of the coming week, i started to go for a walk around san francisco itself.  for whatever reason, san francisco always makes me feel at home and that feeling starts the moment i get to the city.  perhaps its because it is so similar to melbourne in many respects:

•  its weather - today was a cold, but sunny 51F (10.5C).  tomorrow, when i hopefully don't kill myself riding a bike for the first time in 10 years, will be the same.  speaking of which, what on earth do you wear for a half day bike ride around san fran when its both sunny and cold and you're going to get hot riding, then immediately cold when you stop - all without even considering wind shear on the bridge!  but i digress.
• its cable cars (see above) - they're kind of like trams, aren't they?  cable car rides are particularly expensive though.  i have to find a pass so i can ride up and down them at a economical cost!
• its people - nice, friendly, open and accepting
• shops - it has all the shopping you need.  no it doesn't have the same feel as 5th avenue or rodeo drive, but who on earth shops at those places regularly anyway

what it doesn't have is good coffee places, well, not that i've found.  around the corner from where we're staying is a new french bistro that i might try for breakfast tomorrow.

these are two shots of market street, which is probably the main drag of san francisco.  brrr. cold.

lax, california

los angeles didn't give us a nice welcome after we landed.  american airports seem to have difficulty operating the aerobridges.  when we got off the a380, it took about 10 minutes for them to connect the bridge to the plane door.  same with when we got off at san francisco.  as the american airlines lady noted, "it seems we have a learner driver on the bridge today".

los angeles was belting down when we landed.  customs took about 20 minutes and we then walked from tom bradley to t4 and went up to the first lounge.  it's a small lounge, pretty ordinary food, free booze and water (i only had water) and a pretty good view of a working airport.

welcome to la!!!

little byrd and crumbs bakery, ascot vale, victoria, australia

crumbs is an awesome bakery that mostly sells to the hospitality market.  their hcb's are great - they have two varieties, a wheat one and a spelt one... and i've never seen a hbc loaf before.. yum.  a welcome snack after breakfast at little byrd (below)

canberra, australia

what's worse than a cold melbourne day? a cold canberra day... one of my iphone pics from last week in canberra by lake burley griffin at around 7.00am.  tranquil, peaceful with fresh wind to keep you cool whilst jogging around a quiet city.  off in the distance is parliament house with the australian flag flying above the triangular structure

the premises, kensington, victoria, australia

i found this place whilst looking for brunch spots on google.  the age had recently done a review of the cafe as part of its five of a kind summer breakfasts, which opened about 18 months ago with little fanfare. 

the premises is on busy bellair street in kensington.  in other words, its a bitch to park.  it also has two separate entrances in a funny L shape, one on bellair street and one on macaulay road.  the brunch menu is limited compared to the larger brunch places like auction rooms, but it still has a great variety.  it is also serious about its coffee, as can be seen from the coffee blackboard (see below).  that day's beans were sourced from seven seeds and proud mary in collingwood.

for brunch on this lovely mild melbourne sunday, we had panfried sardines with preserved lemon, pinenuts, green olives, poached egg on toast, mine being gluten free toast ($16.50).  the waitress was careful enough to warn me that the sardines would have a light gluten batter, but that was fine with me.  at least she knew her menu - a pleasant surprise given some other reviews have questioned the premises' service mentality at busy weekend brunch times.

the sardines were cooked really well.  the radishes, pine nuts and poached egg worked (i was skeptical).  im not sure about the olives, but they tasted nice on their own... i guess the olives were there for the saltiness factor, but im not one for salty foods.  i rarely have sardines because i dont like the feeling of the bones going down my throat, but im glad i ordered this.

to complement the savoury, we also ordered the special of the day - pancakes with homemade lemon curd, vanilla mascarpone and an almond crumble: 

the pancakes were light and fluffy and the lemon curd was delicious.  i liked the addition of the almond crumble for texture and presentation, but i dont think it really added much by way of flavour.

all up, a fun brunch place that is relatively good value.  will i be back? yep, you betcha.

urban pantry, canberra, australia

i was stuck.  day 2 in canberra.. a sunday.. and lonsdale street roasters was closed.  oh, where to go?  luckily, a friend who frequently visits canberra told me to go to urban pantry in manuka.  manuka is home to many diplomats and their families.  in fact, im told that its not unusual to go to the manuka coles only to see a mum yelling at a kid in french or italian.

back to urban pantry though, what a great little place.  it shows that canberra really is getting its act together.  urban pantry was buzzing with life, hot staff, good coffee and some really interesting breakfast dishes.

now most people wouldn't associate bacon and pancakes, but its a match made in heaven and i've had it numerous times around the traps.  but this was the first time i've seen it on the menu at a good cafe.  i had to try their ricotta pancakes with bacon and maple syrup ($22 on sunday):

the pancakes were fluffy, the bacon crispy on the edges as i like it and all up, a great flavour match.

also on the menu (sorry for the bad pic) was a sweet corn & zucchini fritter ($22 on sunday), which came with rocket, avocado tomato salsa, sour cream and optional smoked salmon.  like many fritters around the traps, it was a bit doughy and could have done withi more corn/zucchini.  i dont think i've found a corn fritter that i've liked anywhere.. maybe its me.

this isn't one of those hipster places.  urban pantry is more about families and well dressed couples.  the staff are attentive, polite and friendly.  i'd love to come back and try their lunch or dinner menu.. maybe next time, but perhaps not on a sunday due to their "sunday surcharge".  for example, the same two dishes there would cost $16 (pancakes) and $20 (fritter) on a saturday.  there are also further price variations for public holidays.  a flat $2 surcharge also exists for all credit card payments.

in any event, it's defintely another one to put in the address book for canberra visits. 

you can find more about urban pantry here:

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beanhunter
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