Le Gateau Chocolate

July 24, 2011 Billy and Chiz 3 Comments

This past weekend, Chiz and I decided to treat ourselves to an event that was happening in Melbourne. The second annual Melbourne Caberet Festival was going on and we wanted to be part of it!

We decided to see an amazing performer named Le Gateau Chocolat. It’s hard to describe this diva… but I’m going to try. He is a hefty Nigerian man, who studied law in England and decided instead of practicing law, to dress in sparkly lycra suits and perform operatic and modern classics! Sounds great, right… well he was! This was his Melbourne debut, but he was such a success I’m sure he will be back here again. If he comes to your city, I would highly recommend that you check out his show – it’s well worth it!

I have posted some picts from the evening below, as well as some clips of Le Gateau Chocolat’s performances during the night. He has an amazing voice and a really fun personality on stage! We had so much fun and the evening just flew by very quickly.

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Food Glorious Food 3

July 19, 2011 Billy and Chiz 1 Comment

it seems that most of our posts are food related… well here is another. this is the third installment of food we’ve eaten. there are lots of delicious meals we made and also some from restaurants we’ve gone to as well. my classes will be starting back up soon, so i probably wont be posting much in the next few weeks. i gotta enjoy the remaining time off because it’s about to get busy soon!

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australian tuna

July 7, 2011 Billy and Chiz 7 Comments

australians do canned tuna a bit differently than they do in america and japan. someone here had the great great idea to mix the tuna with different flavors. some of the flavors sound really great, like zesty vinaigrette and lemon and cracked pepper. others sounds a bit odd to me, like mild Indian curry and sweetcorn and mayonnaise! i made a little video where i tried a couple of flavors that i thought sounded interesting. i also took the time to edit it a bit differently that i usually do (since i have some time now). i think it’s more fun to watch this way, but please let me know what you think! enjoy!

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i’m a house husband!

July 5, 2011 Billy and Chiz 2 Comments

the first term of my masters degree is over – only 3 more terms to go! until the next term starts, i have some time off with nothing to do! my intent was to get a job over this period, but who wants to hire someone for such a short amount of time!? so since my multi-talented and beautiful wife is working two jobs to support us, my job is being a house husband!

being a house husband – just like being a house wife – can be a difficult job. since we don’t have any children and live in a one bedroom apartment though, it’s not that tough. i have joined the local YMCA community center where i go to the gym every morning. a house husband’s gotta stay in shape to impress the bread winner with his big biceps! after that, i sometimes take a trip to the market to shop for food or do some random errands/chores. i then prepare for dinner and relax watching tv! sometimes, chiz makes dinner, since she comes home from work quite early and is a much better chef than i am anyway!

today i really felt like a house husband when i spoke with chiz, who was on her way home from work, and told her that i did the laundry, cleaned, and baked a dessert that i saw them make on a morning show! It’s fun, and i have been trying my hand at making some interesting and different meals, since i have the time now. i figured i’d share just a few of the recent, simple and successful recipes:

1. simple quiche – chiz loves quiches, so i got this easy recipe form a website and whipped it up. seriously, it’s so simple and you can use anything as a filling – even things you probably have just sitting around in the fridge anyway. i used bacon and onion and it was scrumptious!

2. honey lemonade – even though it’s winter here, the calendar tells me that it should be summer! as a result i had a hankering for some lemonade. again, it’s really simple to make. i boiled water and mixed in some honey and freshly squeezed lemons. that’s it. chiz likes it hot, while i like is served cold.

3. sweet potato and cabbage slaw – my parents told me about this recipe. not only is it simple, but it’s really tasty too! i didn’t realize that you can eat raw sweet potato. i made it with fish and it was a really tasty meal!

4. cold smores – this is the recipie i saw on the morning show, but i didn’t write it down. chiz and i love smores, so i just winged it! basically, i made a crust by crushing cookies and mixing it with melted butter. i then baked it for a short time to make it hard and poured melted chocolate on top. i then put some marshmallows and more crushed cookie on top. after a bit more oven, i let it cool in the fridge. it’s a lovely little treat!

i’m going to keep enjoying this time off from school, because it will be over before i know it… and i’ll be back with my head in the books!

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jif

July 2, 2011July 7, 2011 Billy and Chiz 5 Comments

unlike living in japan, living in melbourne is more similar to life in america. there are often little things that are different though, and i find them interesting. for example, what do you think of when i say “jif?” americans would think of yummy and creamy peanut butter… while australians would think of a cleaning product! that could get dangerous! as a matter of fact, the same cleaning product is sold in japan under the same name. it is also one of the largest selling cleaning products in the world by unilever, but most places know it as cif. i have no idea if they sell it in america – but i’m glad they don’t call it jif there…

Victoria State Slogans

June 25, 2011 Billy and Chiz 1 Comment

Just as brands have tag lines, states have slogans. These slogans try to sum up aspects that make the place special. In Australia, it’s no different. What I found interesting though was how many different slogans I saw on the license plates here.

We are living in the state of Victoria, and there are three different slogans floating around:

Victoria, Garden State (Just like New Jersey!)
Victoria, On the Move
Victoria, The Place to Be

After research online, I discovered that the state slogan has changed over time. For some reason, people still have license plates with the old slogans – which leads me to believe they change the slogan far too often. As a mater of fact, the state will be changing the slogan again by the end of this year!

Some of the new slogans being suggested include:

Victoria, The sporting capital
Victoria, Four seasons in one day
Victoria, The world’s most livable state

Even though I worked in advertising for many years, I feel like states shouldn’t label themselves with a slogan. It’s like trying to give yourself a nick-name – it just doesn’t work! Over time, people will label the city with a slogan that truly embodies its spirit. I guess the fear is that the state might get a bad slogan attached to it… but that’s why state officials should be working to improve the state, not just trying to re-brand it!

That being said, if I had to choose one of the new slogans from above, I’d choose “Victoria, Four seasons in one day.” I like this because it is how people refer to Melbourne (the state capital of Victoria), so it’s specific and it’s fun. It’s a slogan that was created by the people who live here and not a generic slogan made by state officials.

It doesn’t matter what they choose anyway… I’m sure they’ll create another in a couple of years!

Food Glorious Food 2

June 11, 2011 Billy and Chiz 1 Comment

This is the second installment of food that chiz and I have made and eaten.

Since it’s getting colder here, we have eaten lots of soup. chiz is really good at making many different types of delicious soups! I have also made a bunch of different meals this time as well. We have also explored and tried a few restaurants. We went to a couple on Lygon street, known for Italian cuisine. We went to a really great, and cheap, chinese restaurant in Footscray. We also ate way too much prawns at an all you can eat buffet!!! Chiz honestly doesn’t ever want to hear the word prawn again… so I’ll have to go back to calling them shrimp! We definitely plan to explore more too!

Here are the picts – enjoy!

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Are police pigs or dogs?

June 5, 2011June 5, 2011 Billy and Chiz 7 Comments

I noticed the other day that the logo for the police in Australia seems quite a bit similar to the famous dog company Purina.

And I thought that police were pigs!

Purina is a global company and even has an Australian website. I wonder if Australians also find it odd that police stations look like a place that sells snausages?

Another interesting tid-bit is that in Japan, a dog is the animal that people associate with the police. This is because the police, like dogs, are loyal, serve, and protect.

I’m not sure if that is what they were going for with the logo in Australia though…

Planking

May 22, 2011 Billy and Chiz 2 Comments

Have you heard about the latest internet craze called planking? For those who are not in the know, planking is an exciting game! As quoted from Wikipedia, “Planking is the action of lying face down with arms to the sides of the body, in unusual public spaces and photographing it.” Riveting, right!?

While the term “planking” was coined in Australia, this “craze” supposedly started in Europe and Japan under the name “the lying down game.” Who knew!? I guess there are many other names for it too, with my favorite being “extreme lying down.”

While I had seen pictures of some people in these odd positions on the internet, I only recently learned that it was an internet craze! I guess it is quite popular in Australia at the moment, and is gaining popularity due to being in the news recently.

A little over a week ago, in Queensland Australia, a man was charged with allegedly planking on a police car. Is that even a crime? Then more recently, in Brisbane, a man fell to his death after trying to plank on the railing of a 7th floor balcony… after a night of drinking of course!

If you do a google search for planking, you will find a ton of pictures. There are also a bunch of youtube videos with compilations of photos, like this video.

It’s crazy what becomes viral over the internet and that someone actually died from lying down. Darwin awards anyone?

Funny Australian Signs

April 29, 2011 Billy and Chiz Leave a comment

This will probably be my last blog post for a while. Starting on Monday I head back to the grind of university classes and too much work. I wanted to put up a fun little post before I stop though, and thought this collection of picts might be interesting.

In Japan, I found lots of funny signs written in English. That was expected though, since it’s not their language. I wasn’t expecting to find funny signs in Australia though, but yes… they are here too!

Below are some funny Australian signs that I found during our time here. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

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