Birthdays, Food and a Chair

Something tells me that 2011 is going to be a pretty interesting year in the Chua household. We were sitting around the table on New Year's Day enumerating all the great things that we have to look forward to and took great pleasure in discovering that our activity calendar has something of note for each month all the way through, with a keenly awaited arrival coming in April. By which I mean the rumoured successor to the iPad of course... with a nod to the birth of our first child. Seems fitting then that we start a year that heralds new birthdays to remember with an old birthday that has been celebrated for the past 29 years.

Alsie suggested that I didn't have to buy her a present as we had pre-booked tickets to see Wicked next week. Being a smart and loving husband I refused to succumb to this gambit and searched for something suitable for my darling wife. Jewellery and books were out of the question this year so I opted for an activity instead, one that would suitably calm my daughter's present domicile and perhaps even enhance our own. Satisfied that I found the ideal gift, I purchased two beginner's classes for us to learn the soothing meditative art of Bonsai.



The beginner's course will take us through a day of preparing our own tree to take home and keep for many years of attendance and appreciation. Unfortunately they don't run them in the month of January due to the weather, which is too hot to allow for the root pruning required when working on a new plant. Thus the two of us are booked in for a Saturday in February so we wait with eager anticipation.

A birthday would not be proper without some immediate celebration however, so it was fortunate that we had plans to have dinner at Aria that night with friends. Admittedly the function was organised as a send off for Nat, who will be starting officer training in Duntroon shortly, but I was happy to claim the occasion for Alison's benefit. The degustation menu certainly seemed promising enough when we sat down and the view of the Brisbane river by night was inspiring.



While the staff and venue were extraordinary I must confess that the quality of the food, while admittedly very good, wasn't as impressive as we thought it would be given the reputation of the place. My favourites were the Iberico ham (which I've been looking to try for some time) and the seared tuna to start. I would have rated the scallops with that divine nero sauce above everything else if the scallops weren't a fraction overcooked. Lacking anything else to soak up that beautiful squid ink reduction I resorted to swiping the plate clean with my finger, not my finest moment but thoroughly satisfying.



The consomme which was supposed to be the signature dish was underwhelming, with far too many salty notes and very little balance. Alison didn't even finish her plate which was completely out of character for either of us. Beef fillet was the other dish that was served with an accompaniment of lavish promises of gastronomic delight from the waiter also failed to deliver to my palate. Medium rare and tasty meat but sadly a far cry from any claims of melting like butter. Alison, who was offered an alternative to rare beef on account of her condition, trumped the table in my book with a very nicely cooked piece of cod. Even with a few disappointments we had a wonderful night with great company and conversation.

John and Sheena stayed down in Brisbane with us over the weekend to see some friends and watch the tennis, so we all went out for breakfast on Saturday to continue Alison's birthday festivities. I uncovered online what I hoped would be a charming cafe in Teneriffe called the London Club. As with most restaurants and apartments in the area, the place was built into a renovated wool store with high windows, period design and a healthy serving of charm. By coincidence, John also realised that the building that housed the London Club was also the same building that his father Jim worked in as a wool valuer years ago. Touching bit of history that we reflected on while waiting to be served. Luckily they also happen to serve a fantastic spread for breakfast and I devoured my corn pancake and haloumi stack in record time.



Before returning home, the four of us stopped by a fabric shop to browse their catalogue in search of a pattern for Alison's nursing chair. While we had identified a comfortable chair in the furniture shop, our choice of fabric there was somewhat limited so we scoured the racks at Warwick hoping to find a textile that communicated that elusive blend of playfulness for the kids and bold funk should we require a future focus piece in the living room. It's hard to visualise until it's upholstered, but I think we found something that just might do. The chair has been ordered and should be delivered in the next few months.



With just four months left on the clock we are now starting to prepare the nursery in earnest. A short trip to Ikea today had us returning with more drawers for impending baby goods so we expect that assembling this and rearranging the back room will be a job for an upcoming weekend. Photos will of course follow once the nursery has been adorned with an appropriate level of "sugar and spice and everything nice" sentiment.