Sunday 26 December
OMG & STC....you really know that you exist when you have a hangover and an infected ear all in the one night/morning. We ended up going up to the house wing (this is what everyone around us calls the bbq pool area so I have decided to get with the flow) for a christmas party dinner. Way too much food and definately way too much wine. There were a heap of people there that we hadn't met before and it was great. One fellow is the owner of Big Rooster and also is introducing Donut King and Brumbies Bread into Vision City next year. I asked him if they could make gluten free bread. He said yes, but we'll see. I had another attempt at bread today and it was ok. The best so far. Anyway, it was a great party and we had a heap of fun, until I woke up at 3am feeling very ordinary. YOu know when you have had too much to drink, and McDonalds breakfast is the way to
go. Well we don't have that here. So I pulled some bacon out of the freezer and got some bread (yes, cheating but I was very hungover) and made bacon sandwiches. And drank heaps of water. At about 6am, I took some panadol and went back to bed for a couple of hours. When I emerged from the darkened cocoon, Steve was watching movies and Moniquewas playing SIM again on her computer. I'm starting to see a pattern here and will have to put some sort of stop to it soon. I went up to the house wing and cleaned it up - someone had already washed up so I just put everything away and tidied up a bit. Then we went to Harbour City store for some junk food and juice to try and combat feeling like s#%t. We spent the afternoon just chilling which was so what was needed. It started raining on Christmas day and hasn't stopped much except for here and there. So it's lovely and almost cool. I can't say completely cool because its not. It's still very humid. Good for leaving dough outside for rising though. Steve is flying to Lahir tomorrow morning very early, so I did a load of washing and made sure that he had some uniforms ironed, ready to go. He will only be away for 1 night before flying back. It will be our first night up here with Steve away so we'll see how we go. I must say that it is really safe in our compound and there is heaps of security on the doors and windows of the house, so it should be ok. I'll let you know.
Monday 27 December
By the time I woke up this morning, Steve had left for Lahir. It was a public holiday here but I'd forgotten that, so I was surprised to see Ian up at the pool with his two little ones. It was lovely to see him interacting with his kids. I got all my little seed holders and seeds that I had bought last week and planted a heap of veges and herbs in them. I am planning to plant them into the housewing gardens when they are bigger. It will be fantastic to have all sorts of herbs, tomatoes and lettuce right beside where we have our bbq's. It was a very quiet day as there wasn't anyone about. I think I am starting to feel isolated in here. I know I have said before that we have a lovely compound but when you don't see anyone for days, its very confining. So just to get out of the house, I took my book and some beads up to the housewing and started making a necklace. Robyn and the kids were up
there so we had a good chat. I think I was starting to get a bit depressed about not knowing too many people. Robyn has been very good and introduced us to a heap of lovely people but I haven't really clicked with anyone yet. I guess it takes time. Also it's just that time of the year when everyone has flown home or new people have come in, so it's hard to meet at the moment. Robyn was feeling a bit depressed herself as she is waiting to leave and it seems to take forever when you are just waiting. It's like when we were living out of our suitcases
for months waiting for the visas to be approved, so I was able to sympathise. I'm so glad that Robyn hasn't left yet though as she has been so incredible about showing us things and spending time with us and I really like her humour. I'll really miss her when she does go. We ended up having dinner at the housewing with Robyn, Ian and family and Steve lock n load. It was a great evening and a nice way to spend our first night with Steve away.
Steve told us all about his family in USA and boy have they had a rough trot. No matter how daunting life is sometimes, we are so very fortunate to be mostly healthy and walking on our own two feet. It really makes you aware of how lucky we really are and thankful to wake up each day. And it opens your eyes about not being so depressed about being in the compound. Just go out there and get on with it. So here goes.
Tuesday 28 December
I finished making the necklace this morning and have decided to give it to Robyn. It turned out really nice. My head is feeling really fuzzy today and my ear is still blocked up. It is not the best. I stayed at home all day and just chilled. I don't remember watching this much tv ever. It's got to stop. I went outside a bit to water all of Steve's orchids and my seed pots. I can't remember if I told you about the orchids. Monique and I got one for Steve for christmas which he didn't find until we showed him on Christmas day, and Robyn gave us three from her verandah that were a bit dead looking through lack of water, so I put them in the back verandah and have been watering them twice a day. They are really looking great. I also went up to the housewing for a bit on my own and just sat there reading. It's so peaceful. A really nice place to relax and mellow out. Other than that, I did nothing else all day. So lazy, but well needed. I wish this head cold would go away. I think I really need some drugs to combat it. Or maybe a couple of bottles of wine to pickle it out of my system. I tried to make some bread again today. Not very nice again. I am considering writing to Jamie Oliver to get him to come to PNG and teach me. Does anyone know his email address? Or maybe pay for a really good pastry chef to come up and spend a week with me. Anything. I have even considered going out and buying a freezer and bringing some
back with me from Australia. But I don't know if they will get through customs. It's not good. I have all sorts of mad ideas running through my head trying to get some good gluten free bread.
Wednesday 29 December
Well, I cheated on bread again. I couldn't help it. I had two pieces for breakfast and two for lunch. It's becoming a bit of an obsession. I think when we are back in Aus for holidays I'll be having bread at every meal. I wonder if there is a bread group that I can go to for sympathy like AA. It's almost as bad as trying to give up smoking or drinking. It's just not going to happen or be easy. Robyn took us to the yacht club this morning as she wanted to get the kids out and about for the morning. They have a little kids play area and a big cement area
underneath for the kids to ride their bikes. It was lovely and cool, although I was starting to feel really bad again because of my head. Monique and I went to the Crown Plaza to get some money out of their ATM and to check out the restaurant while we were there. It's an italian one and supposed to be good. We will try it out one day. They had a cute little jewellery store there also and Monique and I both fell in love with these gorgeous bird of paradise rings. We have decided to go back soon and get one each if they fit. After that we went to Vision city to get some strong drugs (Panafen and sudafed) so that I can knock myself out for the afternoon and try and kill this bug. We also got a heap of food as we were almost out. Steve was at home for lunch by the time we got back. He is feeling a little overwhelmed with the work load and what has to be done, so is a little stressed. I am trying to make home life as easy as possible for him so that he doesn't have to think about anything at home. I cooked prawns for Steve and Monique last night and made a seafood cocktail sauce (thank goodness for google - I found 3 recipes) which Steve said was ok but could I try another recipe next time as it wasn't the best. After they had eaten the prawns, I boiled the shells in the water until it had reduced as I have plans to do a seafood risotto with the stock. It's at an experimental stage so I'll let you know how that goes. I do know that it's not a good idea to cook down prawn shells in an aircon house that has no ventilation. The whole place stunk of prawns and it wasn't pretty. I had to open all the doors and windows and light up the oil burner for a couple of hours to get rid of the smell. I have no idea what I am going to cook for dinner tonight as I haven't thought about it. I think there is only mince left so it may be a quick savoury rice or something. Actually, I just remembered that I don't need to cook. We are going out. Wednesday night at the Yachty. Yeah!! Hey, guess what???
My seedlings have started coming up already. So exciting to see these little tiny bits of green pushing the soil away to come out and say hello. So very cool. Monique wasn't as excited as me but she doesn't have my good taste in things worth getting excited about. I took 2 panafen and 2 sudafed a couple of hours ago and I'm feeling very good right about now. It probably didn't help that I also went and had a beer in the housewing with Robyn. So funny. Goodness knows how I'll be floating when I've had a few wines at the Yacht club tonight. But here's hoping that my yucky throat and sore ear will be all gone tomorrow. Is that wishful thinking? We went to Theodist this afternoon to get some coloured paper to do a bit of quilling. I have so many books on so many things, that I can do what I want, when I want. Love that. It also keeps me busy which is a good thing. I am in the process of making a little finger puppet out of paper. Very cute, but my first time at quilling so we'll see. Hopefully I'll remember to take a photo of the end result to post on here. Well, must go as we are heading out to the Yacht club now. Wonder what's on the menu tonight. Stay tuned.
Thursday 30 December
I was woken at 5.20am this morning by Steve as I had a date with Robyn to go walking around the yacht club. So I got up to get dressed and promptly fell through the floor. I mean there is now this big hole in the floor and I can see the ground. Scary and painful but hey, isn't that one of those experiences we are here for. Ok, maybe not to fall through floors but it was pretty funny (after Steve pulled me back out). For the next hour or so, Steve and I giggled everytime we looked at each other. So now I have a bruised hip and legs, a fuzzy head and sore ear; and a huge hole in the bedroom floor. I knew there were dips in the floor right from the time we moved in but I thought there was solid timber underneath. Nope. Just a really thin piece of pineboard which to be frank, isn't going to hold my not so tiny body up for long. So in actual fact, I'm utterly amazed and flabagasted that it lasted as long as it did, because I tripped into that particular dip three or four times a day for most of a month. The other sobering fact is that there are a heap of other dips in the bedroom and the lounge, so we really need to get that dealt with asap. Anyway, enough of that. The walk we went on was stunning. On either side of the yacht club building, the ground has been built up to create long walks out into the harbour. It's very peaceful and very beautiful to look at the calm water, all the huge ships in the harbour, the little fish swimming everywhere, the mountains that are lovely and green at the moment, the little houses that are perched over the water etc. So very nice. It took about half an hour to walk both sides at my slowish pace, but i think that I will endeavour to walk there regularly to get a bit of exercise. Afterwards, we went back home to have breakfast. Steve had shown the boss the photo of me with my legs in the hole in the bedroom floor and it has been decided that we are moving into the house next door while they redo the whole floor of our house. We were given the option of moving next door permanently, but we really like out back verandah so we will move back when it is done. Hopefully it won't take forever. Monique and I went to the Crown Plaza for lunch to check out what the food was like there. The views from the cafe area are spectacular and the pasta that Monique had was really good, but my salad was very disappointing. The actual salad, except for the olives,was very fresh and should have been great, but the dressing was dismal. So my conclusion about eating out up here is not to have Thai anything and no salads unless I make them myself. I spent the rest of the afternoon trying to get Steve's yacht club membership paid. First he hadn't filled out the form completely so i came back. Then I had forgotten to take the Visa card to pay for it, so I gave up and decided to try again tomorrow. PS. I had vegetable lasagne last night and it was really good.
Friday 31 December
Monique and I went to the grocery stores today to get all the stuff for the weekend. We have plans to go to a beach on Saturday and out of the boss's boat on Sunday, so we had to organise meals that are easy to take in the esky. After we got back, Robyn asked if i wanted to go out with her to get some bits and pieces. Since I still needed to get some more beer for Steve and a couple of bottles of wine (the bottle shops hadn't opened while we were out earlier) I went out with her. Monique stayed at home. She is really hating going out to the shops. They don't feel safe to her and she always rushes me, which I struggle with as I like to dawdle and look at everything. She does like Vision City as it is new and modern and has heaps of guards everywhere so she feels safe. So we often go there. But they don't have everything we want/need. Maggie, our cleaner, had been sick earlier in the week so had turned up today to do the house. So it was all good for Monique to stay on her own here. Actually, she has stayed before on her own with the doors locked and she stays inside and she is happy to do that. Anyhoo, Robyn is a whirlwind. She almost runs everywhere. I lost her a couple of times in the supermarket but eventually caught up. She was cooking for the new years eve party on her verandah. Lobster tails, prawns, chicken, rib eye steak and pork ribs. Yum. So for about a hour and a half, we raced all over town getting what she needed and then came home just after noon. Steve was waiting for me, as we had planned to go to lunch at Daikoku Japanese restaurant to have some sushi. But as I still needed to get to the yacht club to pay the membership, we decided to go there for lunch. We had the buffet which was soup (ok but not great), salad bar (fantastic) and hot food bar (Steve had some and it was really nice. Monique and I were too full to have more). It was a great lunch. So many people have told me that the meals at the yacht club aren't that great but we have been lucky so far and had great luck. When we got back, Robyn took me to the doctor to get my ear checked out. As it was New Years Eve, most of them were closed due to not having a doctor in the clinic but one of the private hospitals had one, so we went there. Really interesting process. We went in and kept walking for quite a bit before getting to the reception. We asked if there was a doctor available and were told there was. So I filled out a form, was given a card and told to go to the cashier to pay for the consult first. Then I took the card back to the reception who took the card, checked the receipt (the cashier is right beside the reception and they knew we had paid, but still checked the receipt) and then placed the card on the counter in front of the doctors name. We were told to take a seat. Three minutes passed and the receptionist called out that the doctor was ready, could I get my card and go to the door around the corner. So I did. The doctor went to check my ears with her ear machine and the batteries were dead, so she had to call to get some more batteries. Once she had them, she checked and confirmed that I had a build up of hardened wax in my ears and I have to continue putting ear drops in for a couple of days and then go back on Tuesday if I still can't hear. The ear drops soften the wax. So we'll see. I didn't have to get any medication so there were no additional fees. If I needed medicine, the doctor writes on the card, you go and pay for it, then take the receipt and card to the pharmacy. It was very quick seeing the doctor today as there was no one else waiting. Normally, there would be a much longer wait. And it is expensive. So all is good. And you have to remember your patient number for next time. They don't fine alphabically by surname, they file by number.
I remember when we came up for a look see, Karen took me to that hospital with her and she had her number wrong and it took half an hour for them to find her card. And without your card, you can't see the doctor. When we got back, I made some prawn risotto out of the prawn stock I made on Wednesday. I had Monique taste it and she said it was good. Excellent. I also made some scones with a recipe that Rhonda (Dad's partner) gave me out of flour, lemonade and cream. They turned out really good and Monique and I had a couple to test them with strawberry jam and cream. Yum. I had to put some white wine in the risotto and as it was a pity to have a half empty bottle sitting in the fridge, I finished the bottle off and then had a nanny nap. Steve came home at 5pm to find me asleep on the couch. We were to be up at Robyn's place after 6.30pm for dinner so we chilled for a bit before heading up for a feast. There was 9 of
us for the feast. Robyn, Ian & Tyler, Clayton and Jourdana, Steve, Monique and myself, and Steve lock n load. The food was magnificent and the conversation was sparkling. Clayton who is bringing Brumbies and Donut King to PNG grew up in Port Moresby so he had some fantastic stories to tell. Jourdana told us about her two brothers who are trying to start a company up in India and how hard it was for them there. And of course everyone else had stories to tell and jokes to make. It was such a great evening. Jourdana disappeared about 11pm to have a sleep on the couch and we left at 11.30pm to come home feeling very merry and a little drunk. We watched a bit of tv while having some water to ward off hangover, and then went to bed. We could hear the fireworks going off after midnight but couldn't see them.
Saturday 1 Januray 2011
Happy New Year. I spent most of the early morning hours sitting in the loungechair snoozing. I had to take some panadol and water to get rid of a headache, but woke at about 7am feeling great. Steve and I wandered outside and had a cup of tea on the verandah, watered the orchids and my seedlings, and found a ripe pawpaw on the tree outside our front door which we had for breakfast. So very good. It brought back memories of my childhood and having mum cut huge bowls of fresh pawpaws with a squeeze of orange juice or passionfruit on it. Yum, yum, yum. If you ever get a chance to have a pawpaw that has ripened on the tree, go for it because it is one of the best tastes in the world. Completely different from the ones you get from the shops. Monique popped her head out of the bedroom and went to the toilet at about 8am but then went promptly back to bed for hours. Steve lock n load came over about 9.30am to spend heaps of time with Steve looking at all his stones that he plans to cut into lovely sparkles (yeah. more bling. lovely). Robyn phoned to say the beach trip was off due to cranky kids and the fact that the beach would be packed. So we are going to spend time around the pool and sleeping and relaxing etc. We wandered out for a drive after lunch to get some meat for dinner. I had somehow volunteered my services into cooking dinner that night for everyone, so I decided a stew would be the way to go. I spent the afternoon cooking the stew, a quiche and some potato salad ready for our boat trip tomorrow and then went up to the housewing for some quiet with a book. Not going to happen. Robyn, Ian and the kids came up, so we ended up having a great time chatting and drinking a bottle of Moet & Chandon Champagne (which let me say now is pretty average, so I'm not sure why anyone would pay $125AUD for one bottle when you can get something similar for about $8AUD) that Robyn and Ian had been given for Christmas. The afternoon progressed into the night with the stew and rice, and then scones, jam and cream. Monique had made some mini apple pies, so she brought them up and we all had to try them. I have been cheating on wheat so much over the last couple of days and I really have to stop. I'm thinking rice paper rolls may be the way to go. On a last note for today, after a day and a bit of being very vigilent in putting ear drops in, the wax has given out and I can hear in the right ear for the first time in about 2 weeks. Yahoo buckaroo. Thanks goodness. I can go swimming tomorrow now when we are out and about the lovely Port Moresby harbour and surrounds in the boss's boat. Bring it on.
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