Wimbledon 2009

They say Wimbledon is probably the last major sporting event on the calender year where you can get grandstand seats at the door. It is recommended to camp overnight if you want to get your chance of Centre Court tickets. I did try and persuade Trent to go at 2am but he refused because he needed his beauty sleep! We heard all the stories about people lining up for hours so we decided to get up early @ 7.30am (early enough for a Saturday morning) and made our way to the courts. By the time we got there, we got our queue card, our number was ... 12637 and 12638, which equates to waiting in line for 7 whole hours!!!! Not to mention we both sizzled like a sauage...

By the time we got to the door it was 5.45pm and we made another dash for the re-sale ticket line (yes, more lining up) and we got ourselves Court 1 tickets for £5 each, not bad when it cost £55 at the door. We just made the start of Gonzalez vs Ferrero match, very entertaining and fantastic atmosphere. Unfortunetly missed out on strawberries & cream..boohooo

Taste of London

On a warm Saturday afternoon, we headed to Regents Park for the Taste of London. As we walked closer to the festival, and with a grumble in our tummys, we were ready to dig into the sumptuous food on offer from the London restaurant scene. It was great to rub shoulders with the Michelin starred chefs and indulge great food at a portion of the restaurant price. Bargain! Trent and Marisa's personal tasting menu comprised of the following:

Hereford Rd - Eton mess (yumyum)
Pied a Terre - Kingfish with carrot, passionfruit and avo salad
Pied a Terre - Raspberries with fromage frais mousse

Joel Robuchon - Foie gras burger

La Gavroche - Striking a pose with 2* Michelin chef Michel Roux Jr

L'Anima - Fettuccine with wild mushroom and summer truffle

Rhodes 24 - Lemon tart

Croque Gascon - Classic duck burger topped with foie gras
The Grill @ Dorchester - Seared scallop with sardine pie

Alain Ducasse - Chilled pea veloute

La Gavroche - Boeuf with gratin dauphinois

Benares - Tandoor smoked lamb with 1* Michelin chef Atol Kocher

The Waterside Inn - Book signing with 3* Michelin chef Michel Roux Snr

Pied a Terre - 2* Michelin chef checkin out his fish

Whole Mackerel, Jamie's style

Since I have started working, havent really had the chance to cookup anything fancy. However, we do try to cook something different for our Sunday night in.

Tonight, we baked whole mackerel Jamie's style with fresh rosemary, garlic and lemon. It was quick, simple and very yum yum. Downside was the fish had too many fine bones. I do prefer it sashimi style.

It is pretty much berry season over here and with lots of left over blackberry, I decided to make some blackberry and lavender muffins. MmMMmm...

Summer's Day in London

While our Aussie mates brave the Sydney winter, we wanted to seize the small opportunities we have to make them jealous of our London weather! 26 degrees and bright sunshine! Let the London summer festivals begin.

Gordon Ramsay - Maze

Nothing much has happened since our biggish trip of the Cote D'Azur. London town had really nice summery weather last weekend. Now it seems like summer is over with overcast, windy and cold days.

Anyhow, last night we tried our first Ramsay restaurant, Maze. With 1* is was pretty much on par. However, some dishes were slightly overseasoned with salt and the lamb was so tough I couldn't cut through it, even though it was medium rare!

I dont usually carry my dslr camera in London, so please excuse me for the terrible photos!

French Riviera - Part 6 (Gourdon, Eze, Menton, Villefrance-Su-Mur)

Some of the smaller places and also the places that we spent less time were Gourdon, Eze, Menton and Villefrance-Sur-Mer.

Gourdon was a town with less than 30 shops based within the mountains. Very scenic with spectacular views all round. It was very much an idyllic town with little shops selling parfums, old style lollies, dolls, and dried lavender from Provence.

Eze was another historical village on that we had a stopover at. Being pressed for time to catch our flight, we made a quick splash and dash at Eze. Similar to St Paul, it was perched right on top of a hill and this time overlooking the riviera. Eze was a bit more touristy, but definitely wanted to spend more time here.

Menton is situated 3km from the Italian border while Villefranche-Sur-Mer is a small seaside town tucked away from a majority of the tourists. Due to our time restrictions, we were only able to only take a glimpse of what the towns had to offer.

French Riviera - Part 5 (Nice)

Our last 2 nights was spent in the Boscolo Exedra Nice. We discovered the old part of Nice which felt more like a maze than anything. Each corner you peered around was either a square with restaurants and musicians, an alley way of bars, or a set of steps leading you on to more surprises. The other memorable experience was strolling along the coast while watching the sunset falling behind the Mediterranean sea. Can we stay for a few more days please?