Australian junk food (Part 1)

Overall, we've been eating a lot of healthy food since getting here. A big factor are the big $1 bags of produce that get sold at market stands when they're about to close. Having those means that a lot of dinner plans start with questions like "so, how can we use up a kilo of broccoli?"

But then...

These flavors ('flavours') are all excellent, though the Rum Raisin and Black Forrest are suspiciously similar.

There is also (at least one) generic brand version of the Tim Tam. It looks like this:

A natural thought would be that 'Choc' is just slang for 'Chocolate.' Not so. See how the word 'Choc' is less than half of the word 'Chocolate'? Pretty much the same thing applies to the taste.

Here is a Triple Choc cookie, next to the picture on the packaging. Chalky...

Also, they're made in Fiji (huh??). There are worse ways of getting a sugar rush, though, and they more or less work for the 'Tim Tam Slam' (slurping coffee or tea through them).

Then there's candy. Some kinds are familiar:


Others are somewhat different:

This had a cherry/coconut/chocolate thing going all at once. Think of a cherry-infused Mounds bar. It was tasty.

We've done less exploring of the savory junk food, but so far, so good. These are roast chicken-flavored chips:

They contain no actual chicken. Nor do they really taste like chicken. But they're good.

(Alright. We're going to go brush our teeth.)

Colin is the next [occupant of] Peter Singer ['s former office]

After some shifting around, Colin now has a proper office.

Earlier this week, the door looked like this:


And now it looks like this:


Kind of a cheap thrill, but still.

Also, two pictures were left sitting on a shelf in the office. It's not clear if they were Peter Singer's, but they're now hanging on the wall. I think they're both of poisonous sea creatures:



The proud occupant himself:

Biking craze (interspersed with more dessert photos)

Biking and desserts seem to be a major theme in our lives these days. This past week involved checking out some new areas and doing some more biking. Both last weekend and this weekend, we went on a bike ride along the shore (going south from our area). This weekend we went a bit further than last, although it wasn't that sunny. Even with the clouds, it was pretty, and there were stretches of the path lined with plants that smelled wonderful, especially combined with the smell of sea air (Naomi thought the plants smelled sort of like pepper). This is a picture from last weekend to prove our new-found past-time.

During this past week, we met a couple (friends of a friend) who also just moved to Melbourne from the US, in an area called Elsternwick. It seemed like a nice area and had delicious Italian hot chocolate (it was very thick, almost like pudding!) and cake. These next two photos are part of our burgeoning series of 'close-up photos of food' taken by Colin.


Now back to the world of biking. Apparently, we're not the only ones in Melbourne who like biking. For those of you who follow sports, you may be aware of Australia's recent excitement that one of their own won the Tour de France. (He was apparently only the 3rd non-European to have won the race). They held a welcome home parade for him in Melbourne (he was born in the Northern Territory - a state in the north - but now owns a home near Melbourne). Naomi went to see what all the hub-bub was about on Friday. There were a lot of people packed in the big main square and lining the street he rode down. The parade really just involved him riding a short-ish distance from the main art museum to Federation Square (during which he went very slowly, shaking everyone's hands). I (Naomi) couldn't see much past all the people, but had a pretty good view of one of the screens. Lots of people were wearing yellow and arrived on bikes. The below photo shows the Premier of Victoria (the state Melbourne is in) handing something to Cadel Evans (there were also lots of cute banners saying "Yell for Cadel").
Here you can sort of see the crowd. After a speech by the Premier (I believe he's like the state governor), they showed a pre-taped message from the Prime Minister congratulating Cadel, and a statement from the 'opposition leader' was read by a presenter (interesting...). There was a lot of pride in the air - at least by all the official people. They also were very excited to present Cadel a giant banner with a picture of a yellow jersey saying "Australia Congratulates Cadel."
Our biking adventures will continue...but for now, wishing you all a great week, wherever in the world you are!

Up-close pictures of food, and a sunset

Work, tutes, kidneys and coffee

We've had a busy week, but a nice one. While lecturing started last week, the tutorials (or 'tutes,' as everyone calls them) started this week. So it was really only now that Colin got to meet his students.

The students are good! Colin's 'Ethical Dilemmas' class, in particular, had really excellent discussions about whether there should be organ markets. Not only were the students good at capturing the relevant issues (addressing the need for organs vs. concerns about exploitation, the consequences of seeing organs as property, etc.), but they brought up a lot of useful legal/political facts. One student who had studied in China said that there, the government provides personal incentive for giving blood, in that it increases a student's academic competitiveness in certain applications.

Colin is still in a temporary office. But it's really nice. There's room for furniture:


And the view is much better than the tar-paper roof of his office in NY:


The coffee on campus is quite good, too... dangerously good. Colin had about a week and a half of regularly buying $3.50 'flat whites' (apparently, the 'hip' coffee drink now - it's like a latte, but with more espresso). But since that's not sustainable, Colin went to the opposite extreme: for $4, he bought a large container of instant coffee at Woolworth's. Not at all tasty (though there is worse instant coffee), but it wakes him up mid-afternoon, and it will make real coffee all more satisfying.

This was a Colin-heavy update. Naomi's doing well. Details to appear later, but the main news is that she has a bike! (It's on loan from one of Colin's colleagues.)