In The Words of Cole Porter...

... It's too darn hot!

The weather bureau was touting 37C here in Brisbane today. I reckon it got that and more. It was 36C in my living room at about lunch time, and I am sure it would have been hotter out in the sun. I hope people looked after themselves with lots of water, sunscreen, shade and sunglasses in this very harsh heat.

I was going to go to a movie, but nothing really appealed to me. Wasn't sure what else I could do to get out of the heat. The local swimming pool would have been chaos, it's New Years Day so no shops are open, and I'm quite sure my friends with air conditioning are getting sick of me already.

What do you do when it gets unbearably hot (and you don't have air-con yourself)? Is there somewhere you escape to? What do you do to entertain yourself and keep yourself cool?

Christmas in Brisbane

It's here already! Yes, it's December again and Christmas has hit Brisbane in a big way. The decorations are up, the sales are on, the Queen Street Mall is chock-a-block and it's storming all the time.

I spent last Christmas in the US, so I kind of have to re-acquaint myself with a Brisbane Christmas. Last year I had a white Christmas, and did all that warm fuzzy American stuff you see on the TV specials. It was lovely.

On my way to work the other morning, the sky was beautiful and as I came up to Reddacliff Place, I snapped a couple of shots of the Christmas tree and Treasury Casino. Here you go:





Purty isn't it? I am told that last year they had advertising all around it. Yuck, I'm glad that isn't the case this year. Instead, just Santa's mailbox at the bottom, which I posted my Christmas cards into on Wednesday and the Aussie ones were delivered the following day. Not bad Australia Post! Er... I mean... SANTA.

If only we could have Christmas in winter. I am truly not fond of summer and find it hard to be cheerful and merry when I'm sweating.

One little thing though fellow Brisbane-ites. In the words of Abraham Lincoln (or Bill and Ted), please, be excellent to each other. The Queen Street Mall and Myer Centre are INSANE at the moment, and popping out at lunch time to pick something up requires a firm girding of ones loins to brave the insanity. Be gentle, no bargain is really worth pushing someone over or getting aggressive. It's too hot to be cranky at one another, really.

In case I don't mention it again, Merry Christmas Brisbane, and Merry Christmas friends of Brisbane.

Brunch - It's Not Quite Breakfast, Not Quite Lunch and Comes with a Slice of Melon at the End

I've been to brunch twice in two days.

Yesterday was planned, I met my lovely friend Jim at Ned's Cafe in Yeronga. It was so sticky and hot (that's one thing I do not "heart" about Brisbane!) that I grabbed a little table in the back near the refrigerators, which was a wise choice. Much cooler and more comfortable there than anywhere else.

I had the French toast and a skim latte (two in fact) and both were delicious. Jim had the gourmet eggs which I am determined to have next time I go there - scrambled eggs with various add ins like mushrooms and onion and stuff. We sat in our little corner of Neds and talked for a good few hours.

Today my friend Rosie called me up on the spur of the moment to ask me if I wanted to go to brunch with her at the Melbourne Hotel at West End. I hadn't been there since they have refurbed, and had heard they'd done a great job, and I love brunch, so of course I said yes.

I'm well impressed! It's funky without being too cheesy modern, very comfortable and the food and service are excellent, as are the prices. Being hot still, we sat inside in one of their amazing booth tables. It's kind of like sitting in a muffin tin. You're cupped into the booth and you can't really feel or hear any of the tables or anything around.

We both had the Melbourne Big Breakfast, of steak, chipolata sausage, bacon, eggs your style, toast, mushrooms, tomato and a tiny lamb cutlet for a bargain price of $9.90 and a huge coffee for about $4.50. It was delicious and plentiful and arrived promptly. I wouldn't mind trying a dinner there sometime.

If you have a favourite place for breakfast/brunch, leave me a comment and I'll add it to my list of places to try.