Friday 27 June 2014

100 Days of Awesome: Days 32 & 33 - Strawberries and Turtles and Pho, Oh My!

You know it's a good day when someone cooks dinner for you.
 
Actually, Wednesdays are usually my favourite day anyway, dinner or not, because, despite having to get out of bed at a time that starts with a 5 (ugh), Wednesday is the day that I get to say a few words at the site Toolbox meeting. Effectively it's my weekly opportunity to communicate with the entire workforce in one hit and educate them on environmental issues, which is pretty awesome.
 
And you know what else? If you'd told 12- or 22-Year-Old Vanessa that she would, at some point in the future, relish standing up in front of anywhere between 20 and 200 people and speaking to them, she would have thought you'd gone soft in the head. But I actually do enjoy it, which is an awesome progression from those years of painfully awkward public speaking. Go figure!
 
It was a long day, but I headed to the gym after work, which I was pretty proud of, and worked out for about an hour. It felt pretty awesome afterwards, too. Mmm, endorphins...
 
And then I headed to The Kiwi's house, where a simple but awesome dinner was waiting for me. Bowtie pasta with mint, peas, mushrooms, cherry tomato, garlic and lemon juice. Boy can cook! And then of course he upped the ante and served dessert - strawberries marinated in icing sugar and balsamic vinegar, served with vanilla bean ice cream *lapses into a food coma*
 
It sounds like an odd combination, but it's actually really awesome. I suspect that what it does is simply enhance the existing flavours, but whether or not that is why it works as a flavour combination, it's certainly very nice!
 
Directly after dinner I got all shivvery and developed a really sore chest, and at first I thought it was the ice cream, but when I didn't warm up I realised that I was probably actually coming down with something. So The Kiwi drugged me up and gave me a hot water bottle to warm myself up until the shivvering subsided. And I have to say it was pretty awesome being looked after, because even when I had my surgery, I pretty much looked after myself afterwards. Even in hospital. It definitely made a nice change.
 
Thursday, I was still feeling the effects of the bug that had made me all shivvery on Wednesday, so, after putting in a fairly successful day at work, I headed out with The Kiwi for the closest thing I could get to chicken soup - the universal cure-all. We went to this little Vietnamese place in Richmond which had a couple of cute little turtles in a tank (presumably not destined for eating, like crayfish and the such frolicking around in tanks in Chinese restaurants generally are...), and I loaded up on a chicken broth smothered in chilli oil and lemon juice. It was pretty awesome in its own right, even more so because it seemed to improve my symptoms, which had begun to feel suspiciously like that time I had pneumonia. Whew!
 
After the Pho we watched How To Train Your Dragon, which is a pretty awesome movie. My choice, by the way. I'd seen it before and I really like it, and the new one is out at cinemas now, so I figured I should do a bit of prep work. That's my maturity shining through, right there - doing homework to prepare myself for a children's movie ;-)
 
So what awesome things have you guys been up to? Any turtles or yummy food or awesome children's movies?

2 comments:

  1. No turtles here, but that dessert looks yum! I've never even had pho (the shame, the shame), but my sister Vietnamegan has promised she will cook me some in August when she visits.

    I'm glad you like speaking at the Toolbox meetings! I've been running them most days lately, because both the construction manager and safety manager have been sick/busy. I love it too, as it's a great opportunity to build rapport with the non-office-based team.

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    Replies
    1. It's okay, Kat, I had my very first pho last year! Although I have to admit I feel a bit better having finally done it. If it's any consolation it's a lot like wonton noodle soup, just with a lighter, spicier broth and much nicer noodles.

      Agreed re. the rapport. It definitely helps if they know your face!

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