Elsja Down Under

Random Thoughts July 7, 2009

After seeing the preview for “My Sister’s Keeper,” I decided to read the book, so I bought it and could barely put it down. I finished it in a few days and then waited patiently for the movie to come out. I went and saw the movie with my mom and sister and it sucked. Well, I shouldn’t say it sucked- it wasn’t a bad movie, it was just terribly depressing and totally different from the book. People bitched about Twilight being different from the book- but that was a heck of a lot closer than this movie was!! I’m glad I read the book but sad the movie did not live up to it AT ALL.  So… after seeing the preview for “Time Traveler’s Wife” I’m hoping it will be a bit better in it’s movie form. Upon seeing the preview, I ran out and bought this book as well and I’m looking forward to reading it after finishing the one I’m currently reading.

I was watching “60 Minutes” the other night with Andrew. There was a special on about kids with Autism and animal therapy. We watched for about 20 minutes and it had this reoccurring background song that played throughout the whole story. Do you know what that song was? It was Bella’s Lullaby from the Twilight soundtrack. Random right? Andrew thought it was pretty strange that I even recognized it, but it’s a really nice song so how would I NOT recognize it?? I didn’t even really want to watch the special that was on, but I couldn’t change the station because the beautiful song hypnotized me

I haven’t gone to bed later than 8:30pm since I got home. With that said, I also haven’t woken up earlier than 8am. That means I’ve averaged about 11-11.5 hours of sleep the last two nights. How am I still tired? I’m guessing it has something to do with the fact that I’ve woken up each night at 1:30, 3:30, 4:30 and 5:30 to pee and stare at the ceiling for 10 minutes. Luckily I have a great ability to fall back asleep when I wake at odd hours of the night!!

My favorite song of the moment is “Sometime Around Midnight” by The Airborne Toxic Event. I had heard the song a bunch of times but finally decided to actually listen to the words one day and it’s really sad!!  I went and downloaded some other songs by the band and they’re pretty good- but I do have to say that I like their slower/deeper stuff more than the fun happy sounding stuff. Maybe that’s just the type of mood I’m in lately.

I don’t like it when it is 48 degrees outside. It is much too cold. Currently it’s 53 degrees and raining and my nose is frozen. Not fun.

I DO like my new Ugg boots. I totally see why people wear them everywhere even though they look retarded. They are super comfy and warm and when I have to leave the house and put on actual real shoes I get kinda sad that my feet have to be cold for a few moments and I have to go through the effort of putting on socks and tying laces. So today I decided to walk all the way to the bank in my Uggs. I’m sure I looked dreadful but my feet were happy.

Ok… those are my random thoughts for the night- now time to take off my Uggs so I can go sit in a hot bath in hopes of defrosting my nose while reading another book that might be a lot better than the movie (The Kite Runner). I’ll get out just in time to hit the sack at 8:30 on the dot.

Sunday Movie Day May 25, 2009

On Sunday we spent the day at Andrew’s dad’s house watching movies.  Are you looking for some feel good movies to watch this week? Well, these are NOT what you are looking for, but they ARE good!

Movie number 1 was Gran Torino. I knew NOTHING about this movie other than the fact that Clint Eastwood was the star and some friends and family said it was really good. Literally, that’s it. Well, I do agree that this was a very good movie even though I thought the acting was HORRIBLE. Not so much from Clint, but from pretty much every other person in the movie (especially the Asian neighbors). Seriously, where did they find these actors? 

Anyways, Clint is Walt, is a SUPER racist and lonely old man who fought in the Korean war and pretty much hates anyone who isn’t white, but ultimately finds unlikely friends in the Asian kids next door.  I have to admit that  the random racist remarks and stereotypes that came out of Walt’s mouth actually made me laugh because they were SO over the top.  Is that bad?  Overall it had a good storyline and was pretty touching and entertaining. Not the best movie in the world, but definitely good and I would recommend it if you haven’t seen it already.

Movie number 2 was “The Boy in Striped Pyjamas.” All I knew about this movie was that it was about the holocaust. (I’m telling you, I usually know NOTHING about movies before I watch them. Australia has sheltered me from seeing a million movie trailers on TV). This movie is about a family who moves to a house right next to a concentration camp. The father is part of the Nazi party (odd since he was clearly English) and has been relocated there to manage this camp. The 8 year old son Bruno is curious about the “farmers” in the striped pyjamas so he goes exploring and finds a new Jewish friend on the other side of the electric fence.

Wow… here’s a downer movie if you’re ever looking for one. By the end of the movie I actually felt physically sick.  I actually don’t understand why I cry when I watch Grey’s Anatomy but I didn’t during this film because it definitely warranted a few tears. But apart from the disturbing subject matter, the story of the children’s innocence and is actually quite uplifting at times. It had this really great quote at the beginning which was brilliantly depicted throughout the movie and I thought I would share it…

Childhood is measured out by sounds and smells and sights, before the dark hour of reason grows. —John Betjeman

So true isn’t it?

I highly recommend this movie. You may need a tissue or two, but it’s definitely worth it!

A Taste of India May 24, 2009

Andrew and I joined a few of his friends on Friday night at an Indian restaurant in Crows Nest called Cumin. I was very skeptical to try this place since most of my experiences with Indian food had been quite bad. I’d go as far as saying that before I came to this place, I just flat out did not like Indian food. Well, that has changed. This place made me realize that not all Indian HAS to taste the same and be super oily and heavy. In fact, it reminded me more of Radio Cairo, which I blogged about previously. Our table got an array of things from the Beef Vindaloo and Chicken Murg Madrass to the vegetarian Cholay Masala and Palek Paneer.  I only ate the vegetarian dishes, and they were definitely tasty. The Cholay Masala was a typical chickpea curry thing but it was better than some I’ve had because it wasn’t super oily and runny. The Palek Paneer looked gross (think mushy green baby food), but was super delish! If you like spinach, you must try this. If you don’t like spinach, steer clear because it is pretty much made of a pureed spinach sauce with these little “cottage cheese” type squares. Both of these went extremely well with the light, fluffy rice. Oh and the garlic naan bread… you really can never go wrong with that delectable treat! It’s all pretty new to me, but I’m just happy that this restaurant restored my faith in Indian food!

Now for my review on a scale of 1 to 10 stars

Decor: 7 – nothing fancy but it was definitely nice, clean and comfortable. To be honest, the place was PACKED full of people so I really can’t even remember what it looked like other than the billions of people in there. We couldn’t even get a booking until 8:15 because it was so crowded (and a bit loud). I was told that it’s less crowded (and quieter) during the week.

Value: 8 - As always, I base this off of other restaurants in Sydney. We got 6 dishes, 2 things of rice, several orders of naan and pappadums and we all had corkage fees and it probably cost us about $30 bucks each if I remember correctly. While it’s not a super cheap night out, I’d say for what we got, it was good value!

Service: 9 – I really don’t have anything to complain about here. Servers were attentive and quick  and we didn’t have to wait too long for our food. I suppose they could have filled out water more often

Taste: 8- Yum. While I’m still not going to say that Indian is my favorite cuisine, I will say that this food was very enjoyable… to the point where I’ve already started having dilemmas on which vegetarian option I’d order of the two I tried if Andrew and I were to go there on our own.

We’ll definitely be going back.

To continue with the Indian theme, Andrew and I decided to watch Slumdog Millionaire on Saturday. I had heard so much about this movie and how great it was but I had a limited knowledge of the movie (which is the way I like it) so I really only knew it was about a poor Indian guy who goes on “Who wants to be a millionaire” and wins. I didn’t really see how it could be that great based on that plot, but now I understand.

I thought it was a really good movie that I would definitely watch again. The actors were great (I love the little kid above), the script was funny at times and definitely kept my interest, the music was awesome and it was such a touching story which really makes you appreciate living in an advanced country with access to  food, money, good jobs and good governments (and toilets) .  I also thought it was a really interesting idea for a movie in the way that they show how people come to have knowledge based on life experiences, not just from books and education alone.

If you haven’t seen it… see it. If you are in the area and you haven’t been to Cumin…go!

More reviews and the short but funny tale of revenge are coming tomorrow!