Not Your Average Cup Of Joe

I can't believe I haven't blogged about this before, but as our year here comes closer to it's end, I start to think about what my life will be like minus the coffee in Sydney. "Coffee" is actually espresso - nothing like your Starbucks variety. Every cafe has an espresso machine, and you cannot buy a cup of "coffee." It's a latte, cappuccino, or if you want to feel more like a local, order a flat white, short black or a long black. A flat white is in my eyes identical to a latte (although technically it's got more or less foam or something like that as barrista's have explained in the past but everyone seems to make them slightly different anyway) and a long black is similar to an Americano. A short black is espresso.


The currency here has a coin for $1 and a coin for $2, so it's easy to use these for a nice flat white, and not feel guilty. Since I live in Manly, the coffee around here is what I know, and I have searched high and low for the "best" coffee in our area. After seeing the discussion on Mainly Manly (highly recommend if you're thinking of living here or in the Northern Beaches), I tried Troubadour and Barefoot and now it's hard to decide which is better (that was the debate on the forum). I think Troubadour wins it for me and both were better than the other places I was trying around town. And Barefoot has a place next door with killer macaroons. Before these, Bacino was my favorite.

I'm thinking when I return to the states, I will need to either figure out a way to open my own coffee shop, and bring an Aussie barrista with me, OR search high and low for a good coffee place in Orange County. I'll likely be searching for a long, long time.

Check out this photo from Troubadour. We loved how the shot glass (sparkling water served to cleanse the palate! I tell you they are serious about coffee here) was from Barney's Beanery in Hollywood.

I Miss My DVR

I probably spend way too much time on this blog discussing cable and internet or lack thereof, but today, while the rain is pouring down, and many parts of Australia are flooded, I would give anything for a DVR with my favorite shows on it. Instead me and Avery (who has a terrible cold and I am still on the mend) are watching ABC Kids nonstop. Please let this rain stop.

Oh and last night when Jeff went to fire up the BBQ, a mouse was in there taking shelter from the rain! You can't make these things up. They only happen in Oz...

Update On Liebster Award

This post is a bit overdue, but I have so many excuses. My sister was visiting, the internet is crap here, and now I am sick for the millionth time this year - wondering if me getting sick has anything to do with being in Oz? Hmm. So I apparently won this Liebster Award. Everyone who gets nominated is a winner. I have to say I love the premise behind the award because it's very grassroots. It's a way to recognize all the smaller, less-known but still important blogs out there. And in turn, a "winner" must nominate more blogs they like. Now I need to do some research because truth be told I was following a lot of blogs before moving to Oz and having limited internet data usage. Now I really only follow a few that friends have because I have to save my precious data for skyping with family so they can see our daughter grow. So I am tabling the nominations, however, on a side note and in a stream of consciousness flow, I want to tell expats out there that I highly recommend you set up a Google Voice account before you leave your country. It will allow you to call or text people from your home country on their cell phones for free. They can also leave you a voicemail or text that you will get via email. We use this often and it saves on data if you have the issue we have of limited data.