True Bok Supporter

There can be no doubt which team my dog is supporting this weekend. Bugger the All Blacks she is a Bok dog through and through!!!!

Durban Curry

NATAL CURRY CONTEST
If you can read this whole story without laughing then there's no hope for you.

I was crying by the end. For those of you who have lived in Natal (South Africa), you know how typical this is. They actually have a Curry Cook-off about June/July. It takes up a major portion of a parking lot at the Royal Show in PMB(Pietermaritzberg).

Judge #3 was an inexperienced food critic named Frank, who was visitingfrom America.

Frank: "Recently, I was honored to be selected as a judge at a Curry
happened to be standing there at the judge's table asking for directions to the Beer Garden when the call came in. I was assured by the other two judges (Natal Indians) that the curry wouldn't be all that spicy and, besides, they told me I could have free beer during the tasting,so I accepted".

Here are the scorecard notes from the event:

CURRY # 1 - SEELAN'S MANIAC MONSTER TOMATO CURRY...

Judge # 1 -- A little too heavy on the tomato. Amusing kick.
Judge # 2 -- Nice smooth tomato flavour. Very mild.
Judge # 3 (Frank) -- Holy shit, what the hell is this stuff? You could remove dried paint from your driveway. Took me two beers to put the flames out. I hope that's the worst one. These people are crazy.

CURRY #2 - PHOENIX BBQ CHICKEN CURRY...

Judge # 1 -- Smoky, with a hint of chicken. Slight chili tang.
Judge # 2 -- Exciting BBQ flavor, needs more peppers to be taken seriously.
Judge # 3 -- Keep this out of the reach of children. I'm not sure what I'm supposed to taste besides pain. I had to wave off two people who wanted to give me the Heimlich maneuver! They had to rush in more beer when they saw the look on my face.

CURRY # 3 - SHAMILA'S FAMOUS "BURN DOWN THE GARAGE" CURRY.

Judge # 1 -- Excellent firehouse curry. Great kick.
Judge # 2 -- A bit salty, good use of chili peppers.
Judge # 3 -- Call 911. I've located a uranium spill. My nose feels like I have been snorting Drain Cleaner. Everyone knows the routine by now.Get me more beer before I ignite. Barmaid pounded me on the back, now my backbone is in the front part of my chest. I'm getting pissed from the beer!

# 4 - BABOO\'S BLACK MAGIC BEAN CURRY...

Judge # 1 -- Black bean curry with almost no spice. Disappointing.
Judge # 2 -- Hint of lime in the black beans. Good side dish for fish or other mild foods, not much of a curry.
Judge # 3 -- I felt something scraping across my tongue, but was unable to taste it. Is it possible to burn out taste buds? Shareen, the beer maid, was standing behind me with fresh refills. That 200kg woman is starting to look HOT..., just like this nuclear waste I'm eating! Is curry an aphrodisiac?

CURRY # 5 LALL\'S LEGAL LIP REMOVER...

Judge # 1 -- Meaty, strong curry. Cayenne peppers freshly ground,adding considerable kick. Very impressive.
Judge # 2 -- Average beef curry, could use more tomato. Must admit the chili peppers make a strong statement.
Judge # 3 -- My ears are ringing, sweat is pouring off my forehead and I can no longer focus my eyes. I farted and four people behind me needed paramedics. The contestant seemed offended when I told her that her curry had given me brain damage. Shareen saved my tongue from bleeding by pouring beer directly on it from the pitcher. I wonder if I'm burning my lips off. It really pisses me off that the other judges asked me to stop screaming. Screw them.

CURRY # 6 - VERISHNEE'S VEGETARIAN VARIETY...

Judge # 1 -- Thin yet bold vegetarian variety curry. Good balance of spices and peppers.
Judge # 2 -- The best yet. Aggressive use of peppers, onions, and garlic. Superb.
Judge # 3 -- My intestines are now a straight pipe filled with gaseous,sulfuric flames. I am definitely going to shit myself if I fart and I'm worried it will eat through the chair. No one seems inclined to stand behind me except that Shareen. Can't feel my lips anymore. I need towipe my ass with a snow cone ice-cream.

CURRY # 7 - SELINA'S "MOTHER-IN-LAW'S-TONGUE" CURRY...

Judge # 1 -- A mediocre curry with too much reliance on canned peppers.
Judge # 2 -- Ho hum, tastes as if the chef literally threw in a can ofchili peppers at the last moment. (I should take note at this stagethat I am worried about Judge # 3. He appears to be in a bit ofdistress as he is cursing uncontrollably).
Judge # 3 -- You could put a grenade in my mouth, pull the pin, and I wouldn't feel a thing. I've lost sight in one eye, and the world soundslike it is made of rushing water. My shirt is covered with curry whichslid unnoticed out of my mouth. My pants are full of lava to match my shirt. At least, during the autopsy, they'll know what killed me. I'vedecided to stop breathing- it's too painful. Screw it; I'm not gettingany oxygen anyway. If I need air I'll just suck it in through the 4-inch hole in my stomach.

CURRY # 8 - NAIDOO'S TOENAIL CURLING CURRY...

Judge # 1 -- The perfect ending. This is a nice blend curry. Not toobold but spicy enough to declare its existence.
Judge # 2 -- This final entry is a good, balanced curry. Neither mildnor hot. Sorry to see that most of it was lost when Judge #3 farted,passed out, fell over and pulled the curry pot down on top of himself.Not sure if he's going to make it. Poor man, wonder how he'd havereacted to really hot curry?
Judge # 3 - No Report.

Weekend Gone

Well at last Sarah and I got our back room finished and painted on Saturday and Sunday morning. This has only taken us since the begginning of April-yes 3 weeks before our wedding. Shocking. Anyway it was done and it is amazing the difference it makes having the correct tools. I borrowed some equipment from work and I reckon it has saved us about half a day at least.

Friday Sar's and I headed out for one of the best curries I have had since we left London. We went into a tiny restaurant on Chevron Island called "The Curry Muncher" and had an absolutely awesome meal. It was a true Indian experience to the extent where I had to put my Durban up bringing to the party and interpret everything the waiter was saying to Sarah. This bloke made Apu sound like the Queen.

Sunday afternoon we wound up at Andrew and Karen's for celebratory drinks as they got engaged on Saturday night. This turned out to be a lovely evening with all the neighbours turning up with Karen's parents, Andrew threw a few snags on the BBQ and we had our fair share of beers. Congratulations to the both of you. It was really good to be in amongst a group of Aussies and actually be able to bring up sport for a change after the boks narrow win on Saturday night over the Aussies. Hopefully I feel the same way next when talking to my Kiwi colleagues.

Queenslander

Well it is great to wake up as a Queenslander after your team has pulled down the cockroaches pants (NSW) and spanked them in their own back yard to take a 2-0 lead in the State of Origin series, ensuring the trophy stays in Queensland for another year. Sure the 10-6 scoreline was close though when you consider that the Maroons have not won in Sydney in 11 attempts we will take it.

Now we prepare to come back to Brisbane in 3 weeks to make it a 3-0 whitewash and send the roaches home for another year to think about what could have been.

Strange how all the people dressed in blue yesterday seem to have disappeared much the same way as their team did last night!

TGIF

I have been waiting all week for this.

TGIF

and it is a long weekend to-HAPPY DAYS

2 Weeks Home

Well we have been home for 2 weeks and are hardly into the routine again. It has probably been the most hectic 2 weeks we have had since our arrival. Apart form the fact that I was sick as a dog for the 1st three days back and jet lagged we flew straight back to the front line. We have not had a day "off" in two weeks. It is all good though and it has been great to catch up with all the new arrivals on our shores along with friends we haven't seen since our wedding in late April.
Thommo and Eve have arrived in Brisbane, so the obvious thing to do was get together with a few bottles of Champagne on our first Saturday back, throw some "Roo" and Shrimp on the Barbie and catch up on their rapid arrival in Oz-they were originally expected in about November. The evening was finished off in the best way possible by watching the Boks put 50 points on the Poms, depleted side or not it was fantastic.
Last Saturday we caught up with Julie and Clayton for a BBQ at their new house, kind of a belated house warming. It really is a lovely open house and it certainly gave Sar's and some ideas for what we want to do with our outside area-yes more projects on the horizon.
Sunday we were off to another welcoming BBQ at Sar's folks place. Sarah's cousin has just arrived from the UK so it was good to catch up with them. Sarah's cousin Mat is a keen rugby player/fan so it was even better as the Boks had put another 50 points against England the night before-Happy Days.
Anyhow we are up to date now and looking forward to this weekend where I am off to the Gabba for my first AFL (aussie rules) experience as a mid year office party. We have hired a box for the game, Lions vs Bulldogs so it should be a good evening. Sunday will see everyone mentioned in this post coming to our house for a potjie then we are going barefoot bowling for the afternoon, it should be a hoot. Thank heavens Monday is a public holiday so we should be able to get an hour or two in the garden which is in serious need of some TLC.