A very tiny part of me egged me on to the unexplored. FX & P were around to help me out the first few days in Sydney with lemon grass flavored prawns, not spicy crab meat, minced beef, mussels, clams, octopus, & veg. ravioli. This was now serious business. For the next 4 weeks I was going to turn a blind eye to the aromas of Indian spices on foreign lands.
Week 1, Sydney:
My first night in Sydney started with a regular wrap from a regular McD sorta place so I am not even going to bother writing more about it. Thursday night we geared up for some really good Thai food at 'Spice I am.' Now this place is tiny, the size of the old Gokul Chat at Abids, but is so well known that it is busy through out and we waited for almost an hour for our turn. For those who'd like a drink to go with the food. Its a BYOB place! I let P do the honours of ordering some scrumptious sea food which I knew I wouldn't have any problem hogging so technically I don't get a lot of points for experimenting but hey all that mattered was that it wasn't Indian!
The next two days as well went by with Italian, Mussels, Clams, Octopus, & Kangaroo meat. Fortunately my trip to Sydney this time was brilliant not just because of the food but also the fact that I got to go to an amazing YouTube Symphony concert in the Opera house. It was a Strings Ensemble, and I had goosebumps to the end of it!
Lap 2, New Zealand:
Sunday was pretty much grab a pizza day. I'd just landed in Auckland, then my bed and then at Dominos. Monday is when it all began! Here is something I had consistently for my breakfast a slice of banana bread and a bottle of orange juice. Trust me its never that healthy back here so it is a big deal!
One thing I have always believed in: If you can't get Indian, get something Asian! This trip weirdly enough changed that. For convenience sake I did dig into the regulars, such as Honey Chicken and Rice, Phad Thai, & Nasi Goreng. The ones out of ordinary were the Raw Bluff Oysters.
I thought he was joking when he said he was going to order some raw Oysters for me to have so I can claim to have had a taste of Kiwi food. I swore I was ok not having a chance to brag but Dilli pretty much forced me into having them. Here is how it feels .......... YUCK!
Oysters I am pretty sure are an acquired taste. It was the first time I ever dug my teeth into something that raw and smelly. One bite and I was thankful it was slimy enough for me to just swallow it down my throat. Now that I'd done it, I can indeed brag about trying something Kiwi.
By now, I did figure out how to go about picking my meals through the day. If it was ingredients I like then I experimented; If it was ingredients I didn't like or wasn't sure of, I made sure it's done the way I usually like my food to be done. For instance, Pumpkin! I am just not a veggies' person but who knew Pumpkin soups & puree could be that delicious that I forgot the meat on my plate for a while and devoured it.
Lamb shanks, Pan fried Terahikis', Akaroa Salmon fillets were a few of the things that made it easy to make it the entire month without desi khaana.
Before I could dig into more steamed fish, it was time to leave. I did come back soon enough 6 months later with a vengeance to enjoy more of the kiwi styled Oysters, White Bait Omlette & Venison pies. What made my second trip better was Danny Doolans, O'Hagans, and the zillion other things I did that most happy backpackers would do in a breathtaking country like NZ.
Mauri Ora!
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