Krazy Krystal's Laboratory

There and back again. And then over there and back again, again.

It's been such a novelty spending an entire week in the same time zone, so to celebrate my return to sanity I'm having a quiet Friday night to myself. But of course, I'm doing it with some sense of style; I've just set up my cheese platter, complete with olives and hommus, and am about to crack into a nice bottle of Rioja. Cheers to the weekend!

It's been a crazy month, and everytime I think about it I seem get the lyrics from "Temptation" stuck in my head - "Up, down, turn around, please don't let me hit the ground". I've been on 6 different planes, through 7 different airports and 8 security checks. I've racked up a total flying time around 58 hours and have had to eat approximately 12 in flight meals *shudder* I've still got 3 different types of currency in my wallet, and while I have pretty much sorted out what day it is, I'm am still unfamiliar with the concept of it being May. Confused doesn't begin to describe it.

I can hardly do justice to my travels all in one post, but here's a few brief notes on what I got up to whilst I was away.

Eating
From yum cha overlooking the Yarra in Melbourne, to picnicing on the shores of Lake Burley-Griffin in Canberra, to oysters overlooking the Harbour in Sydney, I felt like I ate my way around Australia. Going out for breakfast was essential, there's not really anywhere to go here in York. I had my favourite omelette at my favourite cafe in my favourite suburb for old times sake (Fetta, spinach and dukkah at Mule in Brunswick that is) My wonderful mum baked lots of my favourite goodies when i went to visit, it was terrible, everywhere I looked there was caramel slice, chocolate mousse and lemon meringue pie! And my K from Canberra made me delicious spinach and ricotta gnocchi made from her Tuscany cooking school recipe . Then there was Birthday Brunch with my sister - which was ace - and served with a glass of wine of course! Which brings me to the next topic which is...

Drinking
Coffee, coffee, coffee! I thrilled to order a flat white or a macchiato and recieve a perfectly prepared coffee everytime. I almost overdosed on caffiene the first day, coffee in the UK isn't very strong, so my receptors had a shock when my first Melbourne coffee kicked in. I also drank my fair share of cocktails, including a few at Ginger, my favourite bar on Brunswick St. Though I have to say, I sampled a couple of gin martinis while i was home and even though I did stipulate "extra dry" they all seemed to have too much vermouth in them. It was fantastic to drink Australian wines that I haven't been able to get a hold of over here, including nostalgic favourites "Four Sisters" and "Fifth Leg".

Shopping
See previous. I bought so much that I almost couldn't get my suitcase shut on the way home. Luckily I had some expert help with that.

Parties
I had a fantastic time catching up with friends en masse at various parties. Thanks to Super Sus and Dr. K the third for hosting an awesome night, and congrats on your recent announcement of another big party to come! The night wasn't without a memorable incident, what would a party be without a few broken bones - sorry Shortie! And we all learned the moral of the story, which is "If you try to pick up two lesbians on the dance floor you'll end up in casulty". I played bartender for a while at my sister's cocktail party, and I now know how to make a killer cosmopolitan. It was a great night, though I have to say I was glad I was tucked up in bed by the time the tequila shots started. I blame jet lag for my early exit from the evening, not the aforementioned killer cosmopolitans, though i didn't miss out on all the cubby house antics (damning photographic evidence omitted). Thanks to the wonderful, capable (and quite cute) maia for organising a really great Last Saturday Night in Town at Lambsgo Bar, it's an awesome venue and it was heaps of fun. I was thrilled at the number of people who turned up, including some surprise visits from people I haven't heard from in a long time.

Beacuse of course the most important thing about going home was the people. I was so lucky to be able to catch up with so many people I love and I want to say thank you to everyone for making time to see me, especially in the face of my hectic schedule. Even if it was brief, it was so wonderful to know that everyone is still there and doing well, and well...

Conferencing
My initial return to the UK was but a brief stopover as I had four days at home before flying out again to a conference in the States. However this was a great way of getting my head back into work mode and it provided the motivation and direction I needed to avoid a post-holiday work slump. Also the conference was at the MBL in Woods Hole, where I spent the summer of 2003 doing an intense parasitology course. It was great to be back in "The Hole", reliving old times, rubbing shoulders with the parasitology stars and catching up with colleagues from afar. However I have to say I was unimpressed with some of the lab heads there - do they mean to be sexist or are they just so socially inept that they don't realise how inappropriate their comments are? Maybe i'm a little sensitive, but in my mind conferences are still the workplace, and frankly, I don't expect to be asked about my sex life or blantantly checked out at work. And as for communication skills, when I'm hungry and want breakfast I don't expect to be given a palindrome. It's a biot of a long story, and welll, all I can say is that the phrase "A man, a plan, a canal, panama" is now burnt onto my brain forever.

posted by Dr Krystal @ 8:53 pm