(In my best 12-year old girl voice) Like, up to this point in my trip, this was, like, omg, the greatest day eeeh-vuuuur! (How's that for a story set-up)
Now, let's be honest, we all have our little exentricities. Those little things that make us unique. Special. Perhaps a little different than those around us. Things that are out of character from what people may expect from us. This is mine: I'm a grown man, quite normal in most ways ... however, I am an unapologetic music fan of a former Australian Idol runner-up winner.
...
(Still with me?)
Late one night, I was alerted by a friend to the fact that Shannon Noll (Australian pop rock superstar, and Australian Idol runner-up winner a few years back) was performing live at Sydney's Channel 7 news on their morning show the next day. (Hold on, this is where I really start to lose respect from several of you ...) And since I had all the time in the world on my hands that morning, I got up at 5:30 a.m., got myself down to the Channel 7 studios, and lined up in the cold to watch the show from outside with a growing crowd of 12-year old girls ... and their mothers .... then there was me. 6'1', 220 pound, 28 year old, Mr. Me.
Though the performance was muffled, visually I had a great vantage point (as you can imagine, I could see over top of all the other fans, being 12-years old and all) and I was able to take some great photos. While in-line before the performance, I met a woman who moderates Shannon's on-line fan website.
Naturally, I emailed her several of the better pictures I took that morning.
Naturally, she credited me on the website.
Naturally, my Shannon Problem has only intensified since this experience. (However, my Shannon Anonymous ("S. A.") meetings are going very well ... I hope to kick the habit by the time I return to Canada.)
Of course, all the fans were treated to a post-performance session. Might as well get in there for a picture together, no?
After my Shannon-experience, I sat on a park bench in Hyde Park (large, beautiful park in Sydney's centre), played some guitar, and wondered what it would be like to be famous. Then it occured to me the number of 12-year old girls that would probably hunt me ongoingly for autographs ... hmmm ... better to enjoy my privacy and wallow in obscurity.
Hunger-struck, I headed south to Surry Hills, a quaint neighbourhood a few minutes from Hyde Park, where I successfully found Prastits, a thai restaurant recommended by an Aussie friend. I was assured "They have the freshest thai food in the city". He was right (recipe guesstimate below).
With a full stomach, and still on a high from my Shannon-experience, I took a bus ride home over the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Appropriately, it began to rain lightly, and a rainbow symbolically emerged over the habour.
So right ... So right ....
Ingredients
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
1 cup finely-chopped chicken
1.5 cup bite-size pieces of peeled pumpkin
2 eggs
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup 2 inch length green onion
Fresh coriander
Handful of fresh bean sprouts
Heat the oil in a wok until very hot. Add garlic, stir-fry until golden brown. Add chicken and saute until cooked. Add pumpkin, stock, oyster sauce, soy sauce, seasoning sauce and sugar. Stir together and cover for 3 minutes or until pumpkin is almost done. Break the eggs into the wok and stir, add green onion, remove from heat. Add fresh coriander and bean sprouts, toss, and serve. Serve with white rice.
No comments:
Post a Comment