I’m in a very good mood today. I got to tell one of my favourite jokes to someone who hadn’t heard it before and Mrs Romance didn’t roll her eyes at it!
Here’s the joke, but you’ll have to wait till the end of this week’s diary to find out the punch line!
What’s E.T. short for?
Oh mamma! Lunch today is an old favourite of mine: Shanghai wanton soup from Yi’s Kitchen in the Hunter Connection. Yi’s was closed for a while but it’s reopened with a much smaller menu, a cleaner more organised kitchen and a soup that’s even better than it used to be.
The soup’s clear and salty, with a sweet sesame oil edge to it; the nine wanton dumplings are tender and full of pork and spinachy goodness. It’s a great lunch. I’m quite pleased Yi’s is open again!
Things get even better tonight – we’re out with Steph from LipstickAndCake.com at Chur Burger in Surry Hills. This place has quite an impressive story behind it. Kiwi owner Warren Turnbull closed down his hatted restaurant Assiette to open this $10 burger joint.
The burgers are good there – perhaps a bit too much sauce – but the chips and the beer selection couldn’t be better. This is a pic of Mrs Romance’s pulled pork burger. Nice!
If you want a bit more info, here’s Lipstick & Cake’s excellent review of Chur Burger.
We love going to the Biennale when it’s on, which is every two years! The exhibitions on Cockatoo Island are what usually get us out of the house – and not just because it’s a nice ferry ride on the harbour. The art there is usually so interactive, and the setting’s cool too. Very industrial and different to what you usually see in and around Sydney. Even the old disused cranes are like art.
There’s another reason we like Cockatoo Island now though – the food scene is even better than ever before! Bars, cafes, wine bars, dumpling houses, foot trucks… lots to choose from. Anyway, here’s our secrets to surviving this year’s biennale!
It’s been a great day today, and Mrs Romance ties a big bow around it with her awesome mini nachos. This one’s not that mini, but we’ll call it that to make ourselves feel a bit better! A friend of ours was telling us recently that they used to pretend that if they ate food really quickly it wouldn’t count. This is kind of the same thing really, right?
It’s time for a long-awaited lads’ night out. We get cracking in the Trinity Bar – an old favourite and where Mrs Romance and I had our engagement party by the way.
The lads and I are planning on a late night curry a bit later but we’re hungry now. The only thing for it is the classic bar snack: a pint of Guinness!
On site today is my account of the biggest steak I’ve ever eaten. Look at this monster (yes, I mean the steak!) This is the 1.8kg Tomahawk steak available at The Oaks Hotel in Neutral Bay, Sydney. It’s the most incredible piece of meat I’ve ever eaten and it took me just under an hour to devour it.
It’s probably not a good idea to eat more than one of these in your life ever, so I’m glad I did myself proud on my only go at this! Here’s my full review of the Tomahawk steak from The Oaks Hotel. Meat heaven!
This may look like a small glass of wine, but it’s not – I just have very large hands! It is in fact me raising a glass to Sonia from SoniaStyling.com to celebrate her #HappyHourStyling movement on Instagram, where we all get to have a drink together regardless of where we all are.
Not only is it a lot of fun, it’s also a damn fine excuse!
It’s been lovely and warm in Sydney recently. And It’s Friday. And I’m very good at procrastinating. So I’ve decided to make a jug of lemon and lime drink to keep myself refreshed, hydrated and free of scurvy! I may have also added a bit of vodka and a splash of our dishwasher limoncello to the mix.
If you’re interested, I used the juice of half a lime and half a lemon, then the other half of the lime turned inside out and dropped in the jug. Then I topped the jug up with cold water – about 750ml (and stirred in the vodka – ahem).
Then I just 3/4 filled my glass from the jug and topped it up with soda water. very tasty. And lasted a surprisingly long time.
While I’m making alcoholic lemonade at work, Mrs Romance is getting her hair did. What do you think of this before-and-after?! Pretty impressive, isn’t it? It’s not until you see the comparison that you realise how different her hair is now. But I still like it. Love you work, Stevie English!
As we mentioned earlier in the week, one of the best things about going to Cockatoo Island (apart from all the history that’s there and all the culture when the Biennale’s on of course) is this place: The Island Bar on the north-eastern tip of the island. It closes for the winter quite soon and is only open a couple more days, so best get there before it does.
If you’re still not convinced (and why should you be – I haven’t really told you much about it), check out our full review of The Island Bar, Cockatoo Island right here.
We’re up pretty early this morning to get the Museum of Contemporary Art. Mrs Romance is talking at BlogSociety.com.au‘s special event for Vivid – Blog Society Retreat.
It’s a brilliant session with some amazing speakers, including Steph from Lipstick&Cake.com and Cheri from MsCritique.com, and an inspiring revelation of an end keynote from Lorraine Murphy of The Remarkables Group.
After the event, we decide to have a quick drink to settle everyone’s nerves – it was Steph and Cheri’s first speaking gig so they certainly deserve a quick wine.
We’re talking about names for the impending baby of our adorable and talented companion – Sarah Ayoub from Project Sweet Stuff. Conversation soon moves to bad names given to kids. I love these stories. They always make me laugh. My ultimate favourite is one unfortunate Korean guy whose name is Lee Ki Bum. So bad it’s awesome!
We move on to people’s names that eventuate in poorly thought-out initials. It’s at this point I’m able to pull out the joke I told you about at the beginning of this post. So what is E.T. short for?
Well, he’s only got little legs!
Do you know anyone with unfortunately funny name? Do you know any other jokes about E.T? (I do but they’re all rude!) Tell us in the comments!
Steph @ Lipstick & Cake
Haha that ET joke never gets old!
Okay, you told me about the bar on Cockatoo Island but you didn’t show me a photo. It looks AMAZING and it’s so close to home, I could probably swim back. I demand we go here soon for another drinking session… wait, do they have food on this island? 😉
Mr Romance
I’ll have to tell you the rude ones next time I see you, Steph. If you liked the little legs one, you’re sure to like the next one!
I told you that bar was good! Yes, there are wood fired pizzas from that bar and for a little while longer there are a few other places to feed our faces too! Tell me when you’re ready to go there – I’ll race you!
Jxx
Sonia from Sonia Styling
Far out I can be so slow sometimes – it took me a good 30 seconds to get your joke! I clearly need one of those jugs of lemon and lime (and vodka) goodness! Thanks for giving my #happyhourstyling a shout out, much appreciated.
Mr Romance
Ha ha! Perhaps you were looking for a deeper meaning in my puerile joke, Sonia! Not slow, just too much of a thinker! 😉
Love your #happyhourstyling efforts by the way – keeps me motivated!
Jxx