Kaleidescope

This weekend I am off to Brisbane and environs. HR is working. There will not be a brunch date.
We did, however, have dinner last night (Thursday 23 June).
We went to a nifty place called Schnitz. Schnitz is a franchise restaurant bordering on fast food but by golly they know how to do schnitzel!!
We were unsure about meal sizes so we ordered a schnitzel each.  HR went the beef Schnitzel, chips and coleslaw. I went for the chicken, chips and salad.
These are some big meals and in future we will just share!! The chickens Scnitzel was tender and moist and the crumbs were perfect. I tasted HR's beef and it was tender as well. The chips were AMAZING!!! Homestyle chips with a seasoning that just hinted of chicken salt. I tasted the coleslaw ( I LOATHE coleslaw) it wasn't drowned in dressing and was healthy sized shreds of cabbage and carrot etc. I could actually eat this coleslaw. The garden salad was crisp and fresh and not even a HINT of ice berg lettuce!! We had a dipping sauce of Honey Mustard for the chips as well. Tasty.

There has been a few days hiatus in writing this blog. I have been to Brisbane and back.
It was a quick trip and I managed to catch up with The Mini Brat, the Normal Autistic Kid, Mother and even had interaction with the Boy Child and the Consort (brief electronic contact with the latter two).
The trip from Brisbane to the top of the Range and beyond never ceases to drive me insane.
I do enjoy staying at The Hotel Grand Chancellor though. The rooms are clean and modern, off street parking, nice views, the room service is great and the location is perfect.

The football team got beat – again. My brother in law will be annoying me tomorrow. Last week he predicted a St Kilda win (he's a Saints fan) and I told him he was delusional- they won (only by 3 points and he said 22 so I figure he was still delusional). The bloody filth won, Freo is officially off the tip list. Tipping is a mugs game.

I read a book over the weekend; Scattered Pearls by Sohila Zanjani. What a fascinating, engaging read. The story of three generations of Iranian women spanning over a hundred years. It reminded me of when I went to university (as a mature age student – my mid life crisis). I studied History, International Relations and Asian Studies. One of the last pieces of work I produced was a 9000 word mini thesis and I chose to write about women in Afghanistan pre and post Talliban. I was most fortunate in that I had a real life study in my classes and this beautiful woman agreed to be interviewed by me for this paper. Over a period of 6 weeks I was invited to join her in her home and ask any questions, what a wonderful experience. Outside her home she embraced the Australian culture and laws. Within her home she kept certain traditions of her culture alive and I was privileged to partake of her hospitality. We ate traditional foods seated in the traditional manner. We talked for hours and I still have the tapes I made of those conversations. The stories she told me of being a woman in Afghanistan are similar to those Sohila Zanjani in Iran.
I have also read Jung Chang's Wild Swans, another fascinating insight into three generations of Chinese women. Reading of how other women live/lived during the period I have been alive, trying to understand their cultures and how those cultures have evolved, regressed/progressed, is totally fascinating to me. One day I may get my uni papers out and blog about them – one day.

 Ah well, back to work tomorrow.