Summit Restaurant Review
In accordance with our tradition, the Snook and I headed out last night for a fancy dinner to celebrate our anniversary. We’d booked a table at the Summit, which is the revolving restaurant on the 47th floor of the Australia Square building. We were lured in by this review: “Very James Bond, circa Diamonds Are Forever. But after a few drinks it turns very Austin Powers, circa The Spy Who Shagged Me. Groovy, baby.” Who could resist that? So we got all cleaned up and headed out.

The decor is very retro with deep red carpet and molded white space chairs. The view was fantastic. We were there at 7:30 so it was dark and we had the whole lit-up city to look at. It did take a while to adjust to the “outer-half-of-the-room-is-spinning” thing. (It reminded me of the White Water Landing platform at Cedar Point, actually.) The rotation was very slow – it took us over two hours to go all the way around – but it was still very noticeable. I can’t imagine how annoying it must be for the waiters to constantly have their tables moving in relation to the kitchen. As is apparently the custom at revolving restaurants, a lady came around with a camera and took several pictures of us. Later on in the meal she brought back the proofs so we could check them out. My favorite was the photo above. Pretty nice, huh? I may get some copies made for our parents. (We also bought another one of the Snook by himself in which he looks like the sleaziest lounge lizard in the history of the world. I burst out laughing when I saw it. It’s hilarious. I’ll post it sometime soon.)

The food was really good. My starter was veal fillet on angelhair pasta with pesto and basil, and for the main I had venison wrapped in pastry. Both were incredibly yummy. The Snook had the “game trio” to start (venison, quail, and ‘roo) and then the seafood risotto. For dessert he had sorbet and I had the almond and amaretto parfait. I’m still drooling. Oh! And I finally had a mojito! I liked it a lot. I’m not a wine connoisseur myself but the Snook felt that the list was very good and the wines we bought by the glass were excellent. Overall the food cannot be faulted. It wasn’t as orgasmically over-the-top as Rockpool but it was better than Wildfire. Service was good but they didn’t seem to have enough staff on and we often had to catch a waiter’s attention when we needed something.

Final rating: 8.5/10. Excellent food, okay service, great view. Of the Sydney restaurants we’ve visited, I’d only rate Rockpool and Bennelong higher.

Bush’s term as President has seen more American jobs lost than any other President since Herbert Hoover. Check the chart. Pretty damning stuff. I still don’t get why anybody would vote for him. (Pssst, Sis, show this to that Republican fiance of yours.)

Sydney City Council has just passed new regulations requiring driver’s licenses for yum-cha cart operators. I had yum-cha for the first time a few months ago and was unimpressed. It’s basically “dim sum”, as I understand it, where they wheel around carts full of little stuffed pork buns and chicken wings and spring rolls. Apparently there have been a rash of yum-cha cart accidents so now wait staff will have to undergo training and carry “L plates” for the first six months. Hee!

Note for Non-Aussies: Here’s the process for getting a driver’s license in this country (as I understand it). First you have to pass a Learner’s Test, after which you get your “L plates” to put on the car. It’s just a little sign with a red L on it. You have to log a certain number of hours driving and then you get to take your Provisional Test, which is a driving test with an instructor. When you pass that, you get your “red P’s”. Then later you have to take a Hazard Perception Test, after which you get your “green P’s”. And after that, there’s one final test before you get your real license. Pretty insane, huh? The L and P plates mark you out as a new driver, which means you have to drive slower and you get higher penalties for being pulled over. It’s a pretty thorough system!

Addendum, many hours later: I started to tell Snookums about the story tonight at dinner when he mentioned he’d already seen it. “Pretty good,” he said. “I bet a lot of people fell for it.” Me: “Uh… D’oh!” Consider me April Fooled. I can’t believe I’m that dumb.

Worst. Job. Ever! Check out this Slashdot thread of the worst web development job stories. Is it any wonder I want to leave this industry?

Happy anniversary to my sweet Snookums…

Four years down and lots to go!

Note: The picture was taken by my sister when we visited the States last June. Just in case you’re wondering when the Snook’s facial hair spontaneously reappeared… It hasn’t.

I’ve got yet another knitting project in the works! This one is the “Janetta Dexter Sampler Sweater” from the back of Jacqueline Fee’s The Sweater Workshop. The wool is a really soft chunky cotton/acrylic that my Mom sent me for my birthday. It’s knitting up really fast and I’m enjoying the fairisle practice. So far I’ve done the zig-zag pattern and now I’m working on the houndstooth. It’s gonna be big, bulky, and fun…

The L Word debuts on Australian TV tonight. Anybody watched it? Is it good?

The Snook forwarded me a link to this news story about a rash of iPod muggings in the UK. Apparently Bad People are identifying their victims by the distinctive white headphones. I say, “Bugger them.” It took me ages to get the comfy “in-ear” headphones and I’m not going to give them up. What’s the point of being in a trendy clique if nobody knows you’re in it? 🙂

Addendum: Apparently this crime spree might be more fiction than reality.

Wow, a bright yellow shark! That’s not somethin’ you see every day.

I am a slave to marketing. After two days of being home sick, I got it into my head that the only thing that would cheer me up was a beautiful, soft new Bonds hoodie. It’s those damn commercials! After a quick trip to Kmart, I’m sitting here in fluffy pink comfort. Ahhhh… (And if anybody else is wondering, that awesome “Little Red Riding Hood” song is by Sam the Sham and the Pharoahs.)