Wednesday 15 February 2017

Dinner at home

I got up earlyish today and made some coffee then tried to order coffee online from Campos Coffee. Their store in Newtown usually supplies my coffee needs but I wasn't sure about the weather, which in recent times has been a bit erratic, so I didn't want to count on a long walk to get coffee. The website has been upgraded and I discovered that my login details didn't work, so I called Campos's NSW office but the call was ignored. I sent a message using the online form but that didn't get any attention either. So I took the initiative in the afternoon and decided to change my password, which I hadn't wanted to do in the first instance. This step worked, and I was able to clear my shopping basket and order the coffee I need in the mornings.

The girl called me after I had called Campos and wanted to know if I wanted to go to lunch in the city, and I agreed. So I put on my shoes and headed out into Darling Harbour and up Bathurst Street to the restaurant. She hadn't arrived so I asked for a table for two and sat down, and ordered a beer. I was seated next to a elderly couple, and I watched them out of the corner of my eye while I was on Facebook on the mobile. The man was seated opposite me at an angle and he had a long-sleeve shirt on and was drinking a Sapporo out of a glass - my beer came with no glass and they didn't ask me if I wanted one, so I decided to drink out of the bottle - and he was examining the beer offerings on the touch-panel menu they have in the restaurant. It's the kind of menu where you order the food and drinks electronically, and it's remarkably easy to use.

When the girl arrived I ordered another beer, and she ordered some water. We both went for the hokke 'te shoku ryouri'; hokke is a type of fish they regularly eat in Japan and served this way it is of the common type you find normally in Japan, with the fish grilled, and with rice and miso soup. It took a while to arrive but it was worth it. I ordered another beer later on, while eating the meal. I tend to eat quite fast, and today was no different. The elderly couple had moved on by this time and a young Chinese couple were seated next to us instead by now. When we had finished the meal, I used the loo then we left the building and walked down to Dymocks. We walked around the Dymocks stationary shop for a while then headed to Eckersley's, the art shop, which is on York Street. We bought some watercolours, brushes, and watercolour paper because she wanted to do some paintings of her dreams.

We headed back to my place and I lay down and had a nap while she painted. When I came out of the bedroom she had almost finished the head page of the series, showing a woman in bed asleep, with the bedspread and window - with blinds - prominent. There is also a side table and a lamp. Later, we walked to Coles and did some shopping, buying food for dinner, which the girl had offered kindly to cook at my place. We prepared three dishes: a beef dish with chilli, ginger, and garlic; a zucchini dish; and a lettuce dish. I was famished by the time it was ready - we ate at about 8pm - and woofed it down. Halfway through I was lying on the sofa groaning with pleasure because I had been having sardines on toast for the past while for dinner.

She left after a while and I didn't walk with her to the bridge because my ankle was playing up a bit. I came back to the flat and got a drink of water, and lay down to watch the news, then got up and sat down at the computer to use social media instead.

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