Greek Fest '09 Yassou!!!

It was meant to be a typical Saturday today... Bryan and I planned to go to the markets to buy some groceries and have a nice breakfast... On the way there, we saw a banner which said "Greek Festival 2009, Musgrave Park".. It caught our eye and then it was our next destination... Had a great breakfast of bacon and poached eggs (although the eggs turned out to be hard boiled T_T). I'm so gonna miss breakfast in Brisbane. Next, we headed home first to put down our stuff and change. On the way home, we saw a plane in the sky writing "MARRY ME LEELOO" It was romantic... but before the pilot could finish writing "ME" in the air, "MARRY" was already disappearing lol.. Freaking hilarious!!

So we put down our groceries, changed and made our way down to Paniyiry, Greek Festival 2009. While heading there, we thought it was going to be a small event. Imagine how amazed we were at the magnitude of the festival...






Loads of people were there eating, drinking, dancing... just making merry with one another... Brisbane has once again amazed me with its cultural diversity.. And who said Brisbane City was boring..

As usual, Bryan and I would head towards the tents looking at what food the festival had to offer... An almost endless line of tents served one of the most unique and delicious food we've ever seen.. Haha we might not have been to Greece... But boy did we get to taste their food...







The first thing we had to try was the honey puffs... So many people were eating them that we just had to try it out...



Oh yeah... don't they look delicious!! Those puffs were crispy on the outside yet so soft and puffy within. Together with the honey.. OMG... heaven...haha got a little sugar rush too!!



Next we had moussakka.. Its kinda like a greek style lasagne, but using mashed potatoes, eggplant, cheese and loads of other stuff.. I'm not really a big fan of eggplant but one bite into it... I'm a believer!!!




The moussakka was great... soft and creamy... not too rich too... hahah damn I'm hungry again... We were about 3/4 full by now.. haha but still we fought on and tried more.... What we had next were some Greek meatballs and a few pieces of Haloumi cheese.. The Greek meatballs were not bad... could taste the spices they added (reminded me of ngo hiang)... but it was a tad too starchy... The Haloumi cheese however was one of the best cheeses I've ever tasted.. It was so chewy and tasty... Adding some lemon juice on it.. and it became much sweeter hahah.. Man this is really called enjoying life!!




While walking around.. we saw some of the people barbecuing stuff at the back... THIS... WAS... WAT... WE... FOUND....





Racks of meat were being roasted.... Man if only I could have sink my teeth into those racks of meat... We walked around for a while more, and before long the emcee of the festival announced the Hellenic Dancers' performances..







Its interesting to see them dance the Zorba.. kinda like a folk dance in Greece... Its even more interesting to see people pulled up on stage to dance with them... Even the little kids joined in... I even saw a pregnant woman trying to strut her stuff even with that big belly of hers.... I swear!! After the dance ended we walked up the slope towards the honey puffs eating competition and watched a couple of rounds... Haha each round four people would compete to see how many honey puffs they can eat in a minute.. The catch? NO HANDS!! Its so damn funny to see them gnawing away... One of them even tried tilting back so that the puff will fall into his mouth.




As we ventured through the rows upon rows of tents, waddling through the endless mobs of hungry people... Peering over the horizon.... a glint of shining metal... We saw....





SPARTANS!!! Although not as fit as those we saw in "300"... oh well... Damn so cool to get a picture with those spartan warriors.... After that... pretty much covered most of what was there to see and we were about to head home... and i got a SURPRISE PRESENT!!!



Freaking sun was shining at our direction and i was so blinded, i did not see the hole and the tree roots... Missed a step and bam!!! Got that.... Thank goodness i did not twist my ankle... And so... that's it... a wonderful seemingly normal Saturday became such an experience... Right now... all that's on my mind is my trip to Tasmania which begins come the morrow... So looking forward to this!!!

Brisbane Forest Park and 32km Hike

Right now... I'm freaking exhausted writing this post.. Reason's pretty obvious eh.. Well about a month plus ago, Bryan and I came up with this idea to go on food hunts. Basically we hunt for nice restaurants around Brisbane which serves great breakfasts, and instead of taking public transport, we walk there regardless the distance. Part exploring, part exercise, part food. Perfecto!!! Today's hike was truly the climax, first being the longest distance we ever walked, (hell... we probably hold the record of longest distance hiked by Singaporeans in Brisbane), and the objective was not food, but to get in touch with nature. Oh and did i mention we carried weights in our back packs?

This morning, I woke up at about 6.30am, packed my bag and got ready.. Set off at around 7.30am towards Coles supermarket to stock up on food and have some light breakfast. For some time now, we have been following the Primal Diet (http://www.marksdailyapple.com/definitive-guide-primal-blueprint/). Basically we follow the eating habits of our primal ancestors. Meat, loads of vegetables and little or no grains. How effective is it? Just follow the link to the website and you can see a picture of the founder Mark Sisson. Oh and he's almost 60 btw. But i digress.... With our packs well stocked its off for the 32KM Hike!!!

Its amazing what you encounter along such hikes. One of which is the crazy as hell steep slopes ever so present in Brisbane.




The slopes above are just one of the many fiendishly steep slopes we had to conquer... But conquer we did... While we walk, Bryan and I chat about anything under the sun literally... Helps keep the fatigue away too. You talk about how c**k the streets here are, how nice the view is... Even the houses. Boy... there sure are a lot of variety of house along our journey.




Some are so clean and new looking, others look abandoned. But our favourites are those houses you see on a hilltop. Imagine overlooking all... Wat a sight!!! We also came across the Gap Tavern. Seems like it was famous for its food and ambiance, just that we were not fated to try it out today... ah well...



Oh and on the way, we saw this jogger running with his two dogs, so garang sia.. run across the street acting so tough. The moment he crossed, the leash got entangled and he tripped.... Lol not that i'm evil but its freakin hilarious!!! So much for looking so tough eh... Best of all the roads were all clear and no one would have seen it.... Just so happen we were there hahaha.. On and on we continued along waterworks road (aka f**king long road) we finally reached our destination. Distance travelled so far? 13km, which is the furthest we have hiked previously, and this was not even half way!!



After a short break its off to the trail!!! 5km long... T_T but the view was amazing.. The trail led us around the reservior and then on a loop.. It was pretty amazing and we got some pretty nice shots.. The river shadow one being the masterpiece XD....






Walking around the reservior, we cannot help but wonder... what if there are crocodiles... Lol.. the thought of being pulled into the water and having to fight for my life flashed through my mind... Not exactly something I intend to experience.... I'm no crocodile dundee.... Some way through the trail, we met up with a teacher and a group of kids.. As we walked passed them, we suddenly heard "Hey boys where are you going!!!" We turned around, and saw some of the boys following us... haha so cute.... human reflex i suppose... The trail was easy, considering the hills we had travelled thus far... Total distance travelled? 18km... Boy our legs screamed.. haha but the feeling was great... Had our lunch, and started our way back home...

Along the way towards the nature reserve, we spotted a ice cream parlour called IceMeister (too bad their site's not up yet or i would have placed the link) It was closed and will open at 2pm when we first passed it by. It then became a target we MUST visit on the return trip... Low and behold, when we arrived, it was opened and was beckoning us to enter... Enter we did... Seems its an award winning ice cream joint which serves European ice cream.. They even have ice cream spaghetti and steak ice cream (imagine that..)!!



The one on the right was mine... BLACK FOREST SUNDAE!!!! Pure heaven... Chocolate ice cream with REAL forest berries topped with whipped cream.. The bottom? Berry juice!!! Mmmm...mmmmm it was de..... wait for it... licious!!! Best ice cream i've ever tasted.... Now comes the funny part. The owner came over and had a chat with us. "So which suburb you guys from?", "Oh St Lucia"... "Wow!! That's very far.. You took the bus?" "Hahaha no we walked.... part of training.." lol.. "Whoa!!! what do you carry in your bag?" (pointing at my backpack) "Oh some weights.... part of training".. haha actually i said weights... but in actual fact? Its a freaking MAHJONG SET!!! Yes... and no im not crazy... its the only thing that was heavy enough and not bulky enough... and i was lugging it the entire journey... Imagine the surprise on the show owners face... Ice Meister makes ice cream cakes too... I'm so intending to get one for my mom when my parents come over to Brisbane for my graduation.. After devouring our sundaes, its on with the journey.. I'm not sure if it was the ice cream providing us with the energy, or was it a fact that the return journey had more down slopes, but it seemed like we walked way faster than in the morning... We even managed to reach home around 5+pm... Boy was it an achievement...



The moment we saw the stairs leading home... I ran towards it and splat!!! Lay flat on the floor... Hahah I felt like i won the amazing race!! Lol man were my feet sore.. Its been a while since i walked this distance... Gosh will i remember this for life!!! Total distance travelled?? 32km...