A day to commemorate a
failed exercise from the First World War between Australian and New
Zealand forces against the Ottomans in Turkey. The whole thing and
the armed forces of both Aussie's and Kiwi's is known as ANZAC. This
year happens to the be the 100th anniversary of the
landing at Gallipoli. I haven't bothered to look up the history
behind the annual event that takes place on ANZAC day, 25th
April. It's known as 'Two-Up' and involves a coin being tossed.
Maybe the soldiers
played it in the trenches, I don't know.
After watching the
highlights of the 'Dawn Service', a remembrance service that happens
to be held at dawn, most probably when the soldiers landed on the
beaches, it was time to head out. I didn't get up at 5am or whatever
to watch it but watched some of it on TV and the beginning of the
through the city. It was about the time that the bag pipes started
that we left, I can't stand the sound of bag pipes. They're even
worse when combined with the clickety drum sound. I know or at least
I don't think 'clickety' is a word but it describes the rolling
tapping drum noise the marching drummers seem to play. Not the big
old bash on the huge horizontal drums but the persistent almost rain
like sound on the smaller snare style drum. Any way, we walked to the
fish markets to get some Yum Cha for brunch in the upstairs
restaurant. I'd been to the fish markets numerous times but had never
ventured upstairs, to be honest I hadn't even realised there was a
set of stairs. Not that I didn't notice them but because I'd never
used them, my conscious never thought to remind my unconscious of
their existence.
The restaurant is
massive. I feel that the fuller it got, the larger it became. The
tables must have been modular or laid out in such a way that they fit
together creating one gigantic sized table for a family who's belief
says nothing about contraception. It was my first experience at yum
cha so I did feel like a younger version of myself. It wasn't quite
like the moments before you open your presents on Christmas day but
was a bit more than opening what are usually disappointing gifts on
your birthday.
These little old Asian
ladies were walking around, navigating their way through the masses
of tables pushing these carts that they were not much bigger than. It
wasn't that busy, maybe about five or so groups of between say three
to six people. I had been warned that it does get very very busy come
the lunch rush. For now we were relaxing. I was taking in this
completely alien (to me) experience and enjoying some fine quality
dumplings and dim sums. Like a kiddie in a candy store, Nina and
myself wanted to grab everything that passed us by. It took an awful
lot of restraint and maybe we did end up getting too much but it was
all so tasty. We started on calamari and scallop dumplings. Then some
spring rolls and these bbq pork cannelloni. We had some soup
dumplings and then some steamed choi sum, after it took about ten
minutes to come out. We finished the whole sitting on mango pancakes.
Eggy pancakes filled with mango pieces and whipped cream. The whole
meal was amazing, I could have eaten a lot more but was comfortably
full and didn't want to sacrifice my comfort and stomach just to
satisfy some mental block about never feeling full until I'm
bursting.
It was all washed down
with Chinese tea which did nothing to quench my thirst. I think it
made it all a lot worse as when I left I had a banging headache and
had a craving for the lychee flavoured aloe drink.
I failed to find that
so settled on a not so refreshing or thirst quenching 'root beer'. I
did want a coffee but would not have been able to handle it as my
brain was throbbing behind my eyes already. Any more precious water
being used up elsewhere in my body would have tipped me over the edge
and I would have collapsed. Actually that is a bit of an exaggeration
but I was thirsty and did have a bit of a headache.
Not sure of where to go
for Two-Up and what to do for the rest of the afternoon, we settled
on the idea of going to The Rocks. Maybe The Rocks would have
something in store for us. We walked there via the waterfront all the
way around Pyrmont and Darling Harbour until we got onto George St
and walked through the city catching a final glimpse of any remaining
parade. Luckily we got there just as some bag pipe band had finished.
We didn't hang around to wait for them to start up again. There was
something quite exhilarating about walking down George St when there
are no cars on it, usually it would be packed full of cars, taxis,
buses and even motorcycles.
I don't think I'd ever
seen so many people in The Rocks. It was packed, every single bit of
outdoor seating or standing was taken. Men and women wearing uniforms
or smart jackets, decorated with medals were intermingling with
locals, westies (people who live out in Western Sydney) and tourists.
It was a big melting pot of absolutely everybody and anybody, of all
ages too. The regular Rocks market was on. It was okay but the only
thing that took our attention was a candle stall. The kind of smell
that you could see, if it were an animation there would be that mist
that goes on for ages. Not the green kind but the white foggy looking
one that sits just under the characters noses. The smell was
intensely of caramel or toffee. A thick, sweet and sticky aroma. It
got caught in the cilia in the nose and remained for some time. All
the candles smelled amazing. We decided that if we won anything on
Two-Up, the winnings would go towards getting some of those candles.
We ended up in a
pub/bar called 'The Argyle' for Two-Up. There was a red carpet laid
out in front with a few big angry looking door men. If there was
going to be any trouble, those guys looked like they could handle it.
The Rocks is great but a vast majority of the pubs and bars are full
of tourists and are commonly know as 'tourist traps'. The Argyle is a
mix of one of those and the kind of bar where it wouldn't look out of
place to see young women with so much cleavage on display they might
as well not be wearing any clothes, or guys so pumped and roided that
their brains have shrunken to the size of a pea and they haven't seen
their manhood in years. An oddly entertaining place, not one I think
I'd ever go to again though.
It took a while and a
lot of pushing and squeezing to make out way through to the bar. A
small selection of beer but a wheat beer that would have been and was
refreshing on a hot autumn day. The forecast was for rain but that
had been held at bay by the strong and bright sun. The bars beer
garden was where all the action was taking place. A very legit and
officiated event with a guy from some gambling thingy majig and other
guys helping to make the event run as smooth as possible. People were
selected out of the crowd to toss the coins.
So, from what I gather
of Two-Up, the rules are very simple. There is a short time period
where participants are able to place bets on either heads or tails.
There are two of the same coins on a small wooden paddle. The coins
are tossed into the air and allowed to come to the ground naturally.
To win, or lose, there needs to be two of the same. The betting goes,
someone bets on heads and somebody wanting tails bets against
him/her. Said person holds the money, if it's heads, they win, tails
they hand all the money back. Probably the most simple form of
gambling with the least amount of variables and most amount of luck.
If however one tails and one heads come up, then it is know as
'onesies' meaning the tosser has to toss some more. If they get three
onesies in a row, the often incur a forfeit. In the case of The
Argyle, the forfeit was to drop and give me ten, ten push ups. When
we arrived we took note of the tosses. Before we'd even placed our
first bet, 6 heads had already come up, no tails yet. The guy in
front of us was on a roll, he won every single time, but one when he
decided to deviate from his heads and go for tails, although he went
tails the next time and did win again. Thirteen heads and one tails
in the time we were there. This one tosser managed to get two lots of
three onesies in a row.
Having only a $20 note
in my pocket, I took a big gamble on tails. It was about the time
there had been five heads in a row. I thought, there must be a tails
soon, the laws of probability depend on it, I depend on it. If I win
I can keep betting the winnings until I lose, if I win more I can
keep going. I lost. Bloody heads again, it was the sixth in a row.
Dom and Nina didn't fair to well either, we all left the Argyle on a
loss. A bit of a waste of time but it was fun to see such a primitive
and barbaric bunch of people, behaving like monkeys fighting over
scraps of food. It was hilarious.
Even thought the
forecast said rain, it was hot and sunny and wearing jeans and a
flannel shirt was a grave mistake. When one is not used to sweating
or smelling then suddenly gets a whiff of their own not too pleasant
scent, one knows something is wrong. I was fine, the smell was not
coming from under my pits, I had sweat on my brow but other than that
all was well in my scent department. By the time we'd walked back
from the Rocks to Surry Hills, the temperature had dropped somewhat,
enough to decide that actually jeans did make sense and to change
into something shorter was ill advised.
A couple of Dom's work
mates were having some pre-game drinks at a pub formerly famed for
being one of the better underground music venues in Sydney, The
Excselsior. It had a few years ago been transformed into a Mexican
themed 'Taqueria'. Or to you and me, a pub that had a Mexican themed
kitchen serving a variety of tacos. On the menu is a 'secret taco'
the main ingredient changes regularly and is sometimes 'sweetbreads'
thyroid glands or testicles or brain or whatever one decides
sweetbreads are at that very moment in time. I wanted to try some
sweetbreads but never got round to it last time or this time.
A light drizzle
started, slowly picking up into light pouring. What is often the case
in Sydney, these light pours soon become torrential rain lasting for
short periods but enough water comes down to that would easily wash
away entire villages in Africa. The rain came down, light, then
heavier and heavier until we took shelter inside the pub. It was then
that it got really heavy. You could no longer see further than a
metre out of the window, it was a solid wall of water. The only time
I have ever water obscuring the view so much was the time I visited
Niagra Falls and went to the lower level viewing hole thing. The
people who run that little section know how wet it gets and you are
given a disposable poncho to protect yourself for the wall of water
and any mist or splashes that are projected from it. Even with the
protection of a flimsy plastic sheet with holes for your arms and
head, you do still get wet.
You'd need more than a
poncho to protect you from this current downpour. The water is
everywhere. The roads have become fast flowing rivers, faster than
the Amazon which is said to be so fast that it deposits the most
amount of water into the ocean out of any other river in the world, I
believe the second is a river in the Congo or somewhere like that.
The Amazon was temporarily leapfrogged by the Foveaux St River in
Surry Hills, Sydney. At that moment exactly it was depositing more
water than any of the worlds fastest flowing rivers put together.
Even taxis had briefly
stopped moving. Not a single pedestrian braving it. Luckily it was
only short lived and within half an hour the rain had subsided and
was back to a gentle pour. In the time since the rain had started a
lot had happened. I'd managed to consume two pints of an IPA by
'Little Creatures', one of the biggest and best brewers producing
great beers such as their Pale. The IPA was better than the Pale on
all counts. I was very impressed and it was a good distraction to the
rain and recent kitchen closure and water leak problem the pub seemed
to be suffering from.
My mate Dan arrived
with a friend of his who only lasted two sips of his pint before he
was called off to an emergency. His sisters apartment was flooding,
with such heavy rain it wasn't surprising. The only places safe were
either at the tops of hills or in high rise buildings. Dom's mates
left and went on their way to watch a rugby game at some big stadium
out west, where apparently there had been golf ball sized hail
stones. We left soon after and escorted Dan to the station via some
really big and horrible pub full of local drunks and smelling like
the stale smell of spilt ketchup and rancid and sweet spirits. You
could even detect failure and disappointment in the air, it was an
awful place that thankfully we only stayed for one beer. Dan was on
his way to a lovely sounding roast dinner cooked by his housemates.
Me and Dom were off on our way to seek more beer and fast, I needed
something amazing to make up for that last place and I was famished.
If only we were in North Sydney, I would have definitely ordered a
steak. There was a little bit of positivity to gain as on the way to
that horrible pub, we passed another. The KB Hotel, which was really
busy and full of the drunken dregs who were still out and about from
a day of gambling and heavy drinking. We didn't stay long enough to
order a drink. On the way out I saw a crumpled up thing on the floor.
It looked like money but could have quite easily have been a
discarded betting slip or receipt or something useless. It was a $20
note. Things started to look up, the lord had shone his light on the
exact spot where the note was, I was gifted what I'd lost because I'm
such a good boy.
We sought sustenance by
the way of the $12.50 mains at The Shakespeare. We both had burgers,
mine with cheese, Dom's without. All was well apart from a group of
really annoying people who had 'reserved' a whole room. When reading
this, the sarcastic quotation marks must be made when reading
'reserved'. There may have been say ten to twelve of them, the room
had more than enough space to seat us two. Nope. A rude little bitch
said to us as we walked in looking around and scouting out seats,
“sorry dear, this area is 'reserved'”. Oh my, I was furious, we
were both furious. I needed beer and food, food, beer, I needed some
kind of distraction.
The atmosphere was
lacking and we didn't feel to stick around for another. The
downstairs bar was full of redneck hicks and upstairs c***s.
We walked to work off
the burgers we'd eaten, thinking how quickly the weather had turned
bad and then good again. Up to Crown St, along it until we chanced
upon this vegan restaurant that just so happened to be operated by
one of Australia's finest Breweries, 'Yulli's'. It seems like such a
long time ago now since I arrived in Australia. When we tried the
Yulli's 'Norman Aussie Ale' over two weeks ago felt like a lifetime
ago. It was certainly a good enough beer to remember and wish to
sample once again. In fact I wanted to try what else they had on
offer.
It was quite late at
this point, sometime after 10pm. The kitchen had closed but we were
not interested in food. We wanted beer and good beer at that. The
kind lady behind the counter allowed us to sit at the bar and order a
beer. She obliged and joked in the usual Aussie way, I don't quite
get the humour but I entertained it any way. Even though the kitchen
had closed I almost felt like I should order some food. With a full
belly and not being able to I didn't but I did want to. A piece of
fried tofu with some kind of fancy dressing or a vegan dumpling. Beer
what we were after and that is what we had. I went for a Vanilla
Stout or Porter, it was one of the Seasonal beers on tap. Dom had a
Brown Ale or some kind. Both were Yuilli's brews and both had
wonderful names which I cannot remember. In the dim light is was
almost impossible to distinguish between the two. However, with a
light being shone behind the glasses, one was jet black and almost
opaque and the other was a slightly lighter shade of a murky dark
brown.
They were both
fantastic beers but the vanilla one was altogether unreal. Never have
I had a vanilla flavoured beer working so well, sweet, almost spicy,
hints of coffee and burnt toast yet at the same time being well
balanced and flavoursome. A little party going off in my mind and my
mouth, a party that there had been no invitation for and I was the
only guest.
I think due to the
spacing between drinks and the time and how early we'd risen, I was
getting tired and I gathered that so to was Dom. We decided to walk
home along Oxford street to see it one last time at night before I
left back for England. Like always, we spent the walk swerving
between drunkards, homeless vagrants, transvestites, seedy homosexual
men with dribble in the corner of their mouths and then there were
the piles of vomit and puddles of piss on the floor. Not painting a
great picture of Oxford St but that is the only thing I've ever
experienced on the Surry Hills end of the road. The other end in
Paddington and beyond is a completely different story, it couldn't be
further from what we saw here.
Somewhere between Crown
St and where Dom live is a newish craft beer establishment. Tucked
away up a flight of stairs with a barely noticeable sign hanging out
the front. 'Bitter Phew', a place I wished to visit and Dom hadn't
yet. Going boldly where we'd never been before, we braved the steep
steps leading up to a dimly lit hall and turned the corner into what
was the bar and seating area. We had tried once before to enter but
left it too late and the place was closed. This time it was open and
sounded quite busy.
It wasn't busy but
comfortably full. There were places to sit and so we sat. a long
communal style tables, seated opposite a couple who were happy enough
to not be disturbed by our arrival and continued their conversation
as if were non entities. The tap beer list was small but varied, some
beers from all over the world and some great home grown beers from
down under. Quite a few beers from the USA, some of which I'd not
even seen in some of the best craft beer establishments across
London. I had a Saison by 'LaSirene'. I'd fallen in love with their
'Florette' and the Saison didn't disappoint. Everything a Saison
should be and perfect after a heavy and sweet vanilla stout or porter
that I'd had at Yulli's. I think Dom went for the Founders 'Breakfast
Stout' regarded as being one of the best Breakfast Stouts in the
world and after having it previously, it was clear why. He enjoyed it
as much as I'd bigged it up which I was happy about. Hyping something
up is dangerous as it opens up and greatly increases the probability
of being disappointed. Luckily this was not the case and he loved it.
Two amazing beers in what really felt like a cool and quirky craft
beer establishment that would fit in perfectly in London or The USA.
It was a shame that I wasn't to be around any longer as they had some
beers coming in from what is reputedly the best brewery in the world,
'Hills Farmstead' out of Vermont, USA. I'm still to try any of their
beers.
A great end to a day of
mixed emotions, some brilliant beers in a variety of locales.
The best mains for $12.50
One of the original Aussie Pales and makers of a lovely IPA
If only I didn't love meat so much.. or was an hour earlier then I could have had some delicious vegan food to go with the tasty beers
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