Running away

Hey - have I mentioned how good it is to be running again? Amazing how an enforced layoff makes one wonder if running will ever happen again let alone when. The hamstring is still very tight at the start of the run but eases with each step - beautifully, any nasty feeling disappears the second I stop. A lot like banging your head against a brick wall......
My runs here in Vietnam have been a wonderful memory 'jog'. Laps of Hoan Kiem Lake are a bit Central Park - seems like the whole city is circulating with you. Central Park becomes Lumphini Park as you run through and around large groups doing exercise routines in both the ancient and modern form. One of the better travel runs.
Onto the ancient town of Hoi An and also some of the best beaches in Vietnam. Clean water and clear white sand - heaven. A morning run here is as exhilarating as it (can be) challenging. We stay this visit on the beach near Cua Dai. On previous visits we have alternated beach/town and with this experience, recommend you choose beach. The town is exquisitely beautiful but stiflingly hot. A couple of hours in town will have you straining to return to the sandy shore! The weather so far has been spectacular in the early morning (clear, still and warm), warmer but pleasantly breezy mid morning developing into a very windy hot afternoon. The evening brings showers but not storms - how good is that!

A tip for running in Vietnam - forget everything you know about running on the road. Also forget footpaths as they are usually extensions of the shops and motorbike parks. Run on the road and run WITH the traffic. Running against the traffic creates angst with all and sundry. Everything flows in a linear fashion (even the cross roads) and so long as you watch forward your back is protected.

I leave you with a pic of a smokey eggplant & pork dish enjoyed at Morning Glory Restaurant in Hoi An. Almost larb like it was sublime and a dish I would cross the world to have again.



Back running (at last...)

Blog #3 - in for the long run

Inspired again - probably because this flight is of nearly 10 hours duration. You know you are headed somewhere else when the time it takes is over 5 hours. I mention this once but you will know throughout that we travel business - a celebration of a milestone in ones life! We currently are somewhere over Borneo en route Sydney/Bangkok. Qantas has been a revelation! The Scot deserves every penny he gets! The service is genuine and the food restaurant quality. The aeroplanes seem to have had money spent on them and the bits and pieces seem scream quality. You just have to wipe your hands (after the loo of course) on CLOTH towels and then apply some truly excellent hand cream to get the picture.
Sydney was sublime -in an Indian summer - the mood matched the temperature. An excellent food selection at Ash St Cellar matched with a pichet of Beaujolais. Does it get much better? A stroll home via Circular Quay completed the scene. In the morning an an early start - I do like a run so a very early run over to the north shore via that bridge! An iconic run and one of my top 5. Just coming back from a major hamstring injury (4months) but with encouragement- ran the entire bridge both ways! Almost in tears with delight!!
Early flight to Bangkok - I am a Qantas tragic but don't often travel o/s with them. This is a special occasion AND we got a GREAT price. Even though I am just about to get gold status with Qantas I am unsure about the free for all that major frequent flyers get - the priority queues for check in, boarding and the business lounges are full of those who fly often but do not actually fly in the sharp end....I may adjust my thoughts when I get gold!!
Food  & drink up front? - Champagne Duval Leroy to greet us.  A refreshing Campari & soda (served separately - important!) before an entree of lemon cured kingfish with nuoc cham dressed carrot & daikon with a Hungerford Hill Tumberumba Chardonnay. There was sourdough bread with a hand churned pat of butter and sea salt on the side- heaven! A fragrant lamb biryani with pickles and mint salad followed. True aged lamb with enough fat & smoke to imagine it was mutton! A lovely Adelaide Hills Shiraz (Pertaringa) matched it but could have had the outstanding Coldstream Hills Pinot. A cheese plate (blue & gruyere) with crackers, fruit slice and the best date finished us with a glass of Lillypilly botrytis. Spoilt!! Oh - there was a devine chocolate from Tain L'Hermitage (near Avignon) that went well with (another) glass of shiraz.
Only bouncing through Bangkok this time on way to Hanoi but relieved to know that we will be spending some quality days here on the way back. Vietnam tonight - not enough time today to get stuck into it but very pleased to have the opportunity to re experience all that is Hanoi. I was really resigned to not returning so this will be a real treat. The next long run will be around Hoan Kiem Lake....
(Reading - The Ripening Sun by Patricia Atkinson & A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway. Both top reads...)

Long run is away

Sorry AA Gill - promise not to use your byline ever again!

I am in Sydney for a work commitment that involves three nights stay in the CBD. I am enjoying the buzz but find the CBD equal cool and frustrating. Frustrating because there is so much good but you have to sift through the 'I'll never see you again' to find the gems.I will get two growls out of my system early - then all good!
1) how come I cannot get a Campari in an Italian restaurant that serves otherwise fine, almost Roman pizza
2) and this is not limited to Sydney- how come hotels think that cleaning your room is ok for the first night but won't be necessary for the second and following nights- I don't get
this one!!
Moving on...
First meal was a late one (takeaway in a small room) and was from Macchiato cnr Liverpool & Pitt. I was not confident of this place given the expressions of some of the restaurant patrons but the pizza was great - thin, crispy base with just enough quality toppings - I like to drink 'local' wine (at least  early on) so the McWilliams Rosehill Shiraz 11 was a treat..

The next morning I tried to have a croissant & coffee morning. I googled 'best Sydney croissant' then proceeded to walk over half of Sydney cbd looking for the recommended places - that were all shut down! So I went to a fave - Ash St Cellars and had a truly wonderful 'croque' truffled gruyere & jamon toastie!

One of my meetings was cancelled so I had a chance to wander the Rocks to see if I could make some different images of some well known sights.

 Dinner that night was a dilemma - I had a choice of Nepalese, Spanish & Greek. All within a block of my digs! The Spanish place was ruled out because 3 tapas alone would have cost nearly $45! I am not sure this is quite within the intent of tapas! The Greek place (Diethenes) won because it was long established (35years) and experience of sub continental food (is this a fair description?) tells me I
would leave the Nepalese place overfull. Diethenes was a blast from yesteryear with design and
service from another century. This is not always a bad thing! I think the waiters were there when the place opened. Old school service. I had a daily special of fava dip (so Santorini!) that was outstanding and the waiters recomendation of baked lamb leg. The lamb shredded! To drink? A pitcher (I love
pitcher option! So Euro and so sensible) of extremely drinkable Retsina. Needless to say I left here
the same way as I would have left the Nepalese place!!
The next 2 days would be work filled with conference food so I will finish this with a memory of a surprisingly good breakfast find - Cafe Tiamo on Pitt. A funky little 2 level cafe with an Italian name run entirely by the most obliging Japanese crew. I had 2 brekkies here - a very cool salmon bruschetta with avocado and a superb salmon benedict. The bruschetta was an inspiring mix and the benedict EXACTLY as it should be. Eggs should be soft and run free.

AND if you do have to have a conference at Rydges World Square don't despair - their catering is as good as it gets!

In this for the longrun

As I sit here absolutely loving the 2010 Yering Station Shiraz Viognier thoughts stray from what we do very very well to what we probably shouldn't bother with. I can think of lots of things but rice, cotton and quinoa will do as a starting point!

 Firstly - I am enjoying this historic vineyard wine with a perfectly cooked leg of lamb with veg roasted in lamb juice and a gravy made with some of that and some of the same wine....soft succulent meat with accompaniments that taste of lamb without the fatiness of years gone by (I have a long memory)

 The wine is soft yet powerful -  a tribute to the lower alcohol level. This is a grandstand  I will return to often!! Alcohol is only a component of a good wine - not the driver! This Shiraz has much of the pepper of of a fine Cote Rotie with the refinement of a touch of Viognier. Serious stuff. VinoMofo included the bottle in a recent mixed case.

Back to rice, cotton and quinoa - rice is better and uses less of Australia's water if it comes from Thailand, cotton uses less of Australia's water if it comes from China, quinoa is best if it is left for those who depend on it (in South American Andes) . We are now being told the people who have this food as a staple can no longer compete for it - what are we thinking!!!

We often tell ourselves to look outside the square - lets get really clever and look more closely inside the square. And see what's there.

Beautiful roast lamb, old vine wine and local produce might be a good start ..