Saturday, December 02, 2006

Malay seafood noodles

THE bad news is that I have lost my St George Cross flag. The good news was that that it cost me 10 dollars (about 3 pounds) on our departure from Brisbane. Typical me, left it in a pub and couldn't be arsed to go back and get it. Never mind.
I had painted the flag with our names in permanent black marker - Rips and Glen - so that I could see it from the hill, and my Dad told me last night that he had actually seen a flag among the Barmy Army masses with that on it, but didn't realise it was me. Some of the Aussies actually think it means Rest In Peace, Glen McGrath, and by his bowling out here I can understand why.
The Kitchen Designer and I have finally got a hold on Adelaide after spending a Saturday night here watching the Arsenal v Tottenham game in a crowded sports bar. We've decided that it's actually the Blackpool of Australia, albeit with good weather.
Having said that it has been pretty cool over the last couple of days and when the wind gets up it can actually be quite cold.
We went to see the Adelaide Utd v Melbourne Victory game on Friday night so that we could get a glimpse of the 43-year-old former-World Cup winning Brazilian Romario. The game was a sell out, not brilliant, but the atmosphere was terrific. We sat right near the Melbourne fans, who were letting off firecrackers and chanting throughout the game. They had travelled around 13,000 km to see the game as their team are top of the league. Soccer is certainly taking off since the Aussies did so well in the World Cup.
On a bad note, I think they are about to encounter football-style hooliganism. There was no segregation at the ground and everyone was allowed to drink alcohol. In front of us two Aussie-Poles from Melbourne were getting on everyone's nerves and some Greek-looking bloke built like a Brick Outhouse was ready to thump them both before a steward stepped in.
On the hill, the Aussies are terrible in their attempt to bait the good-humoured Barmy Army. I am also encountering a bad current of racism, which may be down to naivety or perhaps just their prime minister's immigration policy. It's not nice.
Still, I have met some very good Aussies too, including Ryan and Craig, who we had a drink with in the Cathedral Inn at lunch yesterday. They followed their football team to Germany and were good company.
Meanwhile, we have finally got a foothold in the Ashes, thanks to Colly's brilliant double ton yesterday.
Oh yeah, by the way, I had Malay seafood noodles for my supper. Not brilliant.
I did see a bloke in the restaurant with a brilliant Sopranos Bada Bing T-shirt though. I'm going to search for one when I get back.

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