Food of the Gods

I probably should have jumped right into exploring the art, and culture, and parks of this wonderful city, but I like to settle in to a place so instead, yesterday afternoon, I explored the supermarket.

New Zealand purportedly has the best dairy products in the world. Having been to Switzerland I am dubious but definitely excited to try so I went to the supermarket in search of yogurt and I found a wonderland of delicious and facinating items.

For starters there are unsurprisingly a number of similarities to British supermarkets. Most notably the Kiwis seem to share the Brits (and my) love of rhubarb. I don't think rhubarb yogurt was an option in Switzerland, but I'll try to be objective about the yogurt quality and not focus on the rhubarb.

The multitude of varieties of cheese definitely speaks to a national appreciation of dairy as well and, along with the inexpensive and plentiful paté options makes me want to spend my entire trip picnicking in parks and on beaches (both of which also abound around here).

My brother would certainly be pleased with the variety of smoked tiny fishes available (not just sardines and oysters for this lot), and with the variety of Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese foods available.

I suppose I'll have to bring home some smoked fishes for him. I'll also for sure be bringing back some Manuka honey which is another point of great culinary pride here.

One of my favorite things is the coffee bags. Like tea bags, they're individual serving bags of ground coffee that enable you to brew a single cup of coffee without need of any special equipment. Having been born in 1978 in the greater Seattle area, and having lived there my whole life, and having worked for an organic coffee company briefly, and being a huge Alton Brown fan, I'm aware of drop in quality that comes with not grinding your coffee beans immediately prior to brewing, but I love the convenience. And the quality of the coffee's doesn't suffer to badly.

The cream situation is a bit confusing I'll admit. There is double cream and single cream both of which seem thicker than the half and half I'd normally put in coffee (if I normally drank coffee). I went with single cream which is pretty good in the coffee but definitely too thick for tea. I suppose they must do milk in there teas here (like the Brits again), but it seems odd to me to need two separate things. Also, I couldn't find milk in a small enough bottle for only using it in my tea so I'm sticking with cream for both.

I definitely need to address the pickle situation. When I asked one of my hosts what I could bring from home she said, "dill pickles", because you can't get them here. When I came through customs and had to declare any food items I was carrying the customs agents all gave a nod as if to say, "of course" when I said I had pickles. It must be a common request.

The supermarket I went to had gherkins in a myriad of sizes, but no dill pickles.  I find it odd that they don't have them. My only guess would be that there's no dill here because they are so particular about not bringing in non-native plants. Maybe they just aren't allowed to grow dill. If that's true I'll be interested to see how they prepare salmon because that they have a lot of.

As I've been writing this I've been eating breakfast (I know, I don't usually do that,  but my internal clock is still 5 hours ahead...or 19 hours behind I guess). My breakfast included coffee with cream, bagel and cream cheese, and yogurt. I have to say New Zealand definitely gives Switzerland a run for its money in the dairy department. I suppose a side by side blind taste test is impossible, since the transporting of dairy products from New Zealand to Switzerland (or vice versa) would impact on their quality, but it's definitely too close to call without one.

My last stop at the supermarket was the bakery section and while I didn't buy anything there I was extremely tempted by the carrot cake. It didn't have raisins. None of it. Not a single raisin in any of the carrot cakes.

If it seems from the title (or the contents) of this post like I'm getting attached to New Zealand and might not want to return home...well, that would not be inaccurate. Although, if you didn't catch the Almighty Johnsons reference in the title you really should run, not walk, to your nearest Netflix streaming device and start watching immediately.

Travel tips (New Zealand and in general)

Tip #1 - You will forget things. Hopefully not the most important things, the most expensive things, or things that cannot be obtained at your destination.

Prescription medications, for example, you should try your best to remember as they can be difficult and/or expensive to obtain overseas. You may even need to pay for a doctors visit to get a new prescription. Luckily for me the worst thing that will happen if I go without my prescription is pregnancy or a ruptured ovarian cyst. I've had a ruptured cyst before though and while it would definitely put a damper on my holiday, I'd be fine fairly quickly (within about 4 hours if memory serves).

Feminine hygiene products are another thing you should try not to forget. Especially if you are picky about them as they likely won't have the same brands you are used to overseas. In fact, toiletries in general are likely to all be different than what your used to. Don't even get me started on floss. I'm very particular about my floss.

Tip #2 - the word "Universal" doesn't always mean what you think it will or would like it to. Double check your power adapter before you leave your home county.  Not a costly thing to have to purchase when you get there, but potentially time consuming to find. Unless you get lucky like I did and there are three shops selling them within a short walk from where you are staying.

Tip #3 - read the instructions carefully when paying for parking, or purchasing public transport cards, or anything that you are paying for through a machine rather than a person. You could end up with way more or way less parking time/bus rides/whatever than you need.

Tip #4 - people in New Zealand are extremely friendly. It's the easiest place in the world to go to without any itinerary and find things to do because everyone you meet will be more than willing to tell you all of their favorite places,  and ask you what kind of things you enjoy and tell you the good places for those things. Kiwis are perhaps the nicest people I've ever encountered.

Other than forgetting a few things and a tire blow out on my rental car within 5 minutes of picking it up (which has only served to heighten my anxiety about driving here)...day one of my adventure has been excellent. New Zealand is beautiful. While it is winter here still, I'm in Auckland right now which seems to be a bit like winter in Los Angeles. It's not hot, but it's definitely not what this PNW girl would call cold either. It's kind of perfect.

Airport fun

This is kind of an experiment. I'm stuck at the Auckland airport for 3 hours until I can pick up my rental car and I want to see what publishing via app is like.

I'm reopening this blog to document my two week adventure in New Zealand. I decided on a whim to come to New Zealand, mostly to see a play. I know it seems kind of crazy to some people, flying to the other side of the globe alone to see a play. I think it's in keeping with the theme of this blog though, for the thrill of it.

I'm excited to see Between Two Waves and to see some of this amazing country.  I mostly like traveling alone, though I am a little apprehensive about driving on the left side of the road for the first time. If this app publishing experiment works you can expect regular updates about theater, and zorbing, and glow worn caves, and Middle Earth. You know, for the thrill of it.

Live music, Live theater, Live musical theater

When I started this blog it was to chronicle my experiences doing all the things I'd always wanted to do but, for whatever reason, had not done as much as I'd have liked. The main things that fall into that category are live music, live theater and travelling.

It occurs to me right now that I was able to combine all three last April. I went to Dublin with a friend of mine and we went to see Sweeny Todd (live musical theater). It was a really fantastic show and it was the first time I'd ever seen it, and I got to see the first ever Irish professional production of it.

This past weekend I saw the latest film version of it too and it's an interesting comparison. I think ultimately I preferred the stage version. I've finally come to the realization that I don't much care for Tim Burton's directorial style. Not that I even think it's bad, I can see the good things about it, I just don't personally like them.

Tim Burton films are very stylized and the style is, as my friend likes to say, very animated. The translation of that politeness is that his films are like cartoons and the characters are really caricatures. Johnny Depp, who, in non Tim Burton films, often exhibits an amazing range as an actor plays a fairly one dimensional Sweeny Todd. As I've seen Johnny Depp in a lot of films and am often impressed by his nuanced acting I can only assume this one dimensional characterization is a result of direction more than anything.

However, Helena Bohnam Carter and Ed Sanders give surprisingly layered performances given the style of the film. The kid is one of the few clearly sympathetic characters in the source material regardless of the skill of the actor or the choices of the director. He's been rescued from the work house only to be indentured to an abusive boss who is then murdered at which point he's taken in by kind hearted woman who bakes human meat into her meat pies and, well, you get the idea, he's had a hard life.

The character of Mrs Lovett though, is not so clearly sympathetic. In fact, in the stage version I saw she seemed pure evil and any horrible thing that befell her I felt was deserved. In that stage production Sweeny Todd was the sympathetic character. No mater how many eveil deeds he did I still felt sorry for him, felt like he'd been driven to his madness. In this film version I felt exactly the opposite. Helena Bonham Carter takes the role of Mrs Lovett and makes her into someone of great feeling. She's really quite spectacular in this role.

Could be another directorial choice, to portray Mrs Lovett as more sympathetic than Sweeny Todd, but I wonder. I wonder if she just went her own way with it. Her performance seems so out of place in the picture. The hair, and makeup, and set design, etc, all combine to create a certain feel that her emotional and layered performance doesn't seem to fit. Johnny Depp's single layered portrayal of Sweeny Todd is much more in line with the tone set by Burton and indicative of what I've now decided I don't like about Tim Burton movies.

Incidentally, on my crusade to see more live theater, I also saw Jersey Boys this past weekend which was brilliant, though as largely expositional as you'd expect a play with the tag line "ask four guys, you get four different answers" to be, and I've also been enjoying the new season at the Seattle Rep. On the live music front, the Dropkick Murphys are coming to town next month. And as for the travelling, I'm planning a trip back to Europe in May this year. Perhaps I should call those things my New Year resolutions. I don't generally make New Year Resolutions but for trying to keep in touch with my friends and family better (and I'm generally not even successful at that one). At least these promises to myself are ones that I know I can keep.

Culture Shocks

Lest you think I've gone into hibernation since returning from Europe you should know that in the last week and a half I've been to two plays and a Pogues show. The latter was pretty much the highlight.

I'll admit that going to the Pogues show seemed like more of a novelty in the beginning. Not that I don't love the Pogues, I'm a big fan, and I wouldn't spend fifty bucks on a ticket to their show just for the opportunity to possibly get puked on by Shane MacGowan. I do love the Pogues, but with everything you hear about Shane MacGowan's...um...stage presence, I wouldn't expect a lot from a live Pogues show. I'd expect it to be amazing just because it's always amazing to see one of your favorite bands live even if they don't put on the best show anymore.

The show, and MacGowan in particular, exceeded my expectations. At first, MacGowan lived down to his reputation. He came out on stage and seemed pretty out of it, kind of incoherent. He would sing a couple songs and then leave the stage for a song or two. About half way through the show though, he got a hold on it and he sang the remainder of the show almost coherently.

They did two encores and ended the show with Fiesta which is, I think, my favorite Pogues' song, and by that point MacGowan really shined. I have to say he did pretty good with Dirty Old Town too which is another of my favorites, but Fiesta was the show stopper in more ways than one.

While the Pogues show was the clear highlight I've also been enjoying the new season at the Seattle Repertory Theater as well. Last year I bought season tickets as part of my renewed interest in...life. I'd decided to see more concerts and plays and to travel more and that's what this blog has been all about. It's about my doing things I love ("for the thrill of it").

So, Twelfe Night was the first show of the season this year and I went to see it last weekend. While I love Shakespear and this production was great, that was last weekend and this weekend I saw Murderers (also at the Rep). Murderers is one of the funniest plays I've seen (and I've seen a lot of plays).

Murderers is staged in the Rep's Leo K Theater which is a bit smaller than the Rep's "main" stage, the Bagley Wright Theater. I definitely prefer seeing shows in smaller theaters (except for musicals) because there's a better audience energy. There's more of a give and take between the actors and audience in a smaller theater and this show especially relies on that because it is all monologue so the only people the actors can play off of are the audience members.

The show is still playing through November 4th so, if you live in Seattle, or are planning to visit this week, you should see this play, you won't be sorry.

Delayed reaction

I don't know why it's taken me this long to write something about the Supersuckers show at the Tractor Tavern. It was almost two weeks ago. Maybe because I'd seen them, and written about it, less than a week prior, or maybe because my attentions have been diverted to other creative endeavors the past couple weeks and I've now hit a giant snag there in the form of writers block that I can't seem to shake. Whatever the reason I didn't write about it before, I'm ready to write about it now.

You might think it odd that I'd go see the same band twice in a week. Die hard fans won't. People who saw both Pearl Jam shows at the Gorge, or all three Dave Matthews shows, or Dead Heads, but other people might. The Supersuckers put on almost the exact same set at the Tractor that they'd done a week before. So, what's the big attraction? Well, there's the charisma I talked about before of course. Even when the set is almost identical, it's still brilliant, and funny, and it still rocks more than most shows. Also, seeing the Supersuckers at the Tractor is like seeing Death Cab for Cutie at the Showbox or, I imagine, like seeing the Cubs play at Wrigley (and with all the times I've been to Chicago, and my feelings about baseball, you'd think I'd know first hand about that, but I don't); It's the home stage advantage. At least that's the feeling you get watching them there, like they've come home and they're really enjoying it.

Finally, the Tractor Tavern is simply a great place. I'd only been there one other time. It's an odd place. You walk in there and you think there's no way you'll be able to see the stage unless you push your way to the front of the crowd. I'm am most certainly not a push my way to the front of the crowd kind of girl. I like to find a seat, somewhere where I can actually see the stage. I know, it's not very rock and roll of me to want to sit down while I watch live music, but I am the way I am. The initial impression though, that you won't be able to see from anywhere other than right next to the stage, couldn't be more wrong. You can see the stage from everywhere.

You can't beat a great band at a great venue (with the home stage advantage). Viel Spaß!

Cheese toast: The meaning of life.

I finally graduated from college yesterday. An event which, while thrilling, fills me with abject terror because it leaves me without a goal. So, instead of examining that I'm going to focus on the one thing I've really learned in the last 10 years.

Toaster ovens are far better than toasters. For some people it may seem obvious but others may be thinking, how big can the difference really be? It's just toast. Those people could not be more wrong.

Sure toast is just toast. That's all a regular toaster can make though. Your toaster oven, however, can make all sorts of things. Most things that you can bake in a regular oven you can also cook in a toaster oven, just in smaller quantities.

The two best things about the toaster over though are cheese toast and s'mores. I bet you didn't know that you could toast marshmallows in a toaster oven. All you need is parchment paper which will allow the marshmallows to toast on both sides while also keeping them from melting through the grate.

Cheese toast is self explanatory. I like to put mustard on mine. Sure, you can make toast in a regular toaster and put mustard and cheese on it after it's done, but the cheese won't get all melty and what's cheese toast that isn't melty.

Okay, maybe I've learned a few more things, both in college and in life, but the most important thing is the toaster oven principle.