claypot

It just occured to me that it will be my birthday in about 1 month! Unfortunately I will be working the night of my birthday 10th March, but I get a week off after that. And then on 18th March it will be Christine's birthday, but I go back onto nights that night! I should start planning or something. I've always wanted to do a birthday party but maybe I should wait for a much more significant birthday. Like when I'm over the hill.

Perhaps I could start thinking of a wishlist!

I really should name this "Things Dr. M says".

Dr. M gave a presentation entitled "Journey with Lupus" today.

Dr. M: There are two parts to my presentation. The journey, and the lupus.


Dr. M halfway through his presentation about a patient with lupus, and leaving his old practice.

Dr. M: She was my first patient, so I made her my last patient. We invited her [to my practice] for morning tea. And she brought chocolate cake. (He shows a powerpoint slide of a chocolate cake) It's not this cake, but she did bring chocolate cake. You don't get that too often these days. So why don't we spend some moments looking at this one.

Took my parents & sister to a strawberry farm, and it was fun! Last year we went cherry picking, but it was unfortunately drizzling and we got a little muddy. This year it was stinking hot, the strawberries were red & ripe, and I said goodbye to my long-serving Havaianas! It was a long 1.5 hour drive though, nearly 2 hours - at Sunny Ridge down Mornington Peninsula. I didn't even get to drive the scenic route down by the bay! Stupid GPS. We did return with about 2kg of strawberries however, and they were so preciously ripe and sweet it was fantastic!

After that we went to the Ashcombe Maze which I must say was a bit disappointing - I expected it to be a lot larger. The map they gave us was misleading! I suppose it was not that it was to scale or whatever, but the way they drew it made the place look a lot larger. My parents both adore plants big and small, so I think overall they still quite enjoyed the place. They were supposedly famous for their hedge maze, and I'm glad we found our way out eventually, because I never want to be stuck there again! I think I'm claustrophobic!

( Strawberry farm )

( Hedge maze )

My parents both love and work with plants (to put it generally), so today Mother requested to go to a plant nursery. I didn't know of many except Chris & Marie's at Hello Hello. Those of you who live in Victoria will definitely have heard of the highly annoying radio & TV ads that they do. But hey, it worked. I went to Hello Hello. The best part was having Chris say "Hello hello!" to me in person! I didn't even know I was going to see him there. I didn't even know he was there, until suddenly I heard the very, very familiar jingle. He seemed very busy though. He was dressed in his dusty workclothes, and the place was full of people watering plants, moving plants etc.

( Plants for my mini garden. )

At last I'm at the end of my Vienna posts. Boy, they take forever because I'm not always around, and because pictures take a long time to get from camera to LJ! My last night was spent at the State Opera and then drinks at the bar in the Do & Co Hotel, the name of which escapes me. Onyx Bar, I think it was. It normally offers a great view of the Stephansdom but they've decided to pretty up the place by hanging lights off the windows, so now all you see is a blur of the Dom.

My general thoughts on Vienna? I would visit it again, possibly. Mostly because of Tom's family etc. Otherwise, the Viennese smoke WAY too much and have absolutely NO sense of not smoking indoors. Tom and I both do not smoke, and I absolutely detest cigarettes.

Vienna is beautiful and I'm sure a lot more fun on bicycle when the weather isn't so cold. It has a lot to offer, but fails when it comes to getting my Asian food fix. Totally, totally rocks when it comes to schnitzels and cakes. So much music and culture to soak up, and I met some wonderful people - Tom's friends & family, that French couple in Cafe Demel, and the little blonde girl at the ice-skating rink in Salzburg.

Thanks Tom & family for having me!

( Do & Co )

Sometimes it gets so cold that I can't be bothered taking pictures. Of course when I return to a warmer weather I regret not taking enough pictures. So here are some pictures that I can't put into any particular category other than .. "other". Maybe it's more fun because the pictures are random.

( Remember to take pictures, guys. )

The Reisenrad in Prater, Tom tells me, was once upon a time the biggest Ferris wheel in Europe. And once upon a time, the largest thing he'd ever seen in his life. I'm never one to find any fascination in heights and viewing a city from atop the mountains .. or a Ferris wheel .. but I understand that it can be romantic. I don't know. I guess I'd just much rather see and do things from the ground level where I think it's all happening!

To me the Reisenrad was only known for being the Ferris wheel in Before Sunrise. You know the movie set in Vienna where they do nothing but talk. It was an incredibly boring movie to me. That, and Invictus.

The Schloss Belvedere ... I guess apart from museums, I should cross castles off my future list of places-to-visit. It's just a giant place full of pretty things that nobody lives in anymore. At least I got to see some Gustav Klimt pictures, including The Kiss, but otherwise I don't think I would necessarily recommend it. Vienna is beautiful with plenty of old buildings but I think I'm kind of done with just sightseeing.

( The wheel & the castle. )

Just watched Mao's Last Dancer. More for the benefit of my parents (who are presently in Melbourne) really, because I know they like stuff like that. And sure enough they did. Thanks Palace Cinema Como for still screening it!

I ate quite a few schnitzels during my time in Vienna. My regret though is not having tried marillenknodel or apricot cheese dumplings. They sound amazing, but I guess apricots weren't quite in season. What we did try to do however, was to make our own blueberry cheese dumplings. To be fair, all I really did was roll the dough into little balls, and sticking blueberries into them. Tom did most of the actual 'cooking' part. :) And the schnitzels were crumbed by me, but otherwise mostly made by Tom's mum.

Home cooking is fun when you do it with someone you love!

( Door bells and sleigh bells and schnitzels with noodles. )

Also I was viewing my LJ from a different computer, and it seemed like my pictures were cut off. Any of you having trouble with my (very large) pictures from your computer?

Dr. M often interrupts me in the middle of my case presentation, but often comes up with funny gems.

Me: Mrs Miller is a 73 year old Welsh ...
Dr. M: Welsh is she?
Me: Yes. From Wales.
Dr. M: Does she know that railway station with 26 letters?
Me: ... ???
Dr. M: Do you know that railway station with 26 letters?
Me: No??
Dr. M: Whenever someone is from Wales, you have to ask them about the railway station with 26 letters. It's really long and the only part I remember is the end. It goes "blah blah blah blah go-go-go".

Goes to meet the patient.

Dr. M: Hello and you are from Wales are you?
Patient: Yes ...
Dr. M: And do you know the railway station?
Patient: Yes ... I grew up near it.
Dr. M: These people have never heard of it! So you have to say it for them. Alright, off you go.
Patient: Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysilio- (consultant takes a step back) -gogogoch.
Dr. M: There it is!

It's a bit hard to update when one is working nights. Especially with Facebook and Twitter around, nobody seems to come on LJ anymore. I guess LJ is more if you have something to say, or lots of pictures to show. Facebook is blocked at work, and Twitter is confusing when people use it to blog (multiple tweets in one go).

The State Opera in Vienna seemed like something of a must-see, though I left it rather late. I didn't have a lot of interest in museums, but since my radio is switched to the classical music station .. plus I was in Vienna, I figured I may as well visit the State Opera also.

I wasn't sure initially whether to do the tour, or to actually watch a show. Thankfully standing tickets were available that night for 3 Euros. The view was of course terrible, but at least I got to see the performance hall in all its glory. So you can say I caught half of the Nutcracker ballet (because I could mostly only see 3/4 of the stage).

( State Opera )

I would do go again in a heartbeat. The performance was spectacular, everything was decked out beautifully. Definite must-go.

Dr. M: I'm only a locum here.
Me: Where are you from?
Dr. M: Tasmania.
Andrew: How long are you here for?
Dr. M: For the rest of my natural life! I will die in Victoria.

Dr. M: How many children do you have?
Patient: Six.
Dr. M: Six! Women these days can't produce that many.
Patient: No.
Dr. M: (to intern) Can you imagine having six children?
Intern: No.
Dr. M: (to patient) See. They spend too much time on Facebook when they should be making babies. But don't tell them I said that.

Dr. M is around 60 years old.

----

Dr. M: What's this? T-waves not tented. I would've said peaked.
Me: Isn't it "tall tented t-waves"?
Dr. M: What was that?
Me: Tall tented t-waves.
Dr. M: Really? Tall, tented, t-waves ... ta!
Me: *laughs*

----

Dr. M: Let's go through long-stay patients. Mr. X, let's see, 50 days! What's wrong with Mr. X? Hypoglycemia. Why don't you give him some sugar?

----

Andrew: Well, you're the expert.
Dr. M: X marks the spot, and a spurt is a drop of water under pressure.

----

In the middle of my case presentation ...

Dr. M: Do you have Facebook?
Me: I do.
Dr. M: How many friends have you got?
Me: I keep it pretty small .. 50?
Dr. M: How much time do you spend on it? Wait, 30 minutes, 30 to 60 minutes, or over 60 minutes?

----

Dr. M: Are you from Italy?
Patient: Yes.
Dr. M: Which part of Italy?
Patient: Palermo.
Dr. M: Sicily! Do you watch Inspector Montalbano?
Patient: ....??
Dr. M: Inspector Montalbano! It's on SBS!
Patient: ...??
Dr. M: It's about a policeman in Sicily.
Patient: I was a policeman in Sicily.
Dr. M: You were! Then you HAVE to watch Inspector Montalbano.

Back at work and very busy. :( My first night back on was easy, thank goodness, but it's been downhill since. Now I'm sore-throaty.

Sighhhhhhh.

But my whole family is in Melbourne, in my apartment, I am erring on the side of 'yes it's a good thing'. Because it's hard to sleep during the day otherwise.

Much like how Hollywood celebrities have their own star walk, Vienna commemorated its composers with a "music mile" around Karlsplatz. At least these people had real talent. I came upon them by chance as no guidebook mentioned it, and Tom certainly hadn't noticed them. I only took pictures of the names I recognised.

( Some of these names are so famous you'd have to know them too. )

Hello. Missing in action I have been, for a week. I've left Vienna by now, and have been travelling to Miri (where I went to primary school). And then otherwise spending the rest of my holidays with family in Kuching. I'm trying to finish posting my Vienna pictures. It's from the last week there anyway.

A heurigen, and correct me if I'm wrong, is a tavern or a restaurant whereby they make their own wine. Vienna is probably the only city in the world that has its own winery within the city. We had driven past Grinzing when we went up to Kahlenberg, but because it was winter, most heurigens were closed. They're more popular in summer because people then sit outdoors, enjoy wine, and home-cooked food.

Tom's family is good friends with Mike, who lived near a heurigen. I never caught the name of it, but off we went on the Monday night. It was supposed to be my thank-you-for-having-me dinner with Tom's family, but everyone came along and Mike ended up footing the bill because it was his "district". I ended up making dinner for them another night.

( Heurigen rigen rigen )

Tom and I had so many glasses of waldbeerenpunsch in Salzburg and Vienna that we decided to make our own. It had to be cheaper that way! Except of course, it didn't turn out as nicely as we'd hoped, probably because we didn't have all the ingredients ... and couldn't agree on how much sugar to put in. :P I think his parents politely drank it and politely said it tasted good enough. I thought it was okay. I don't think Tom was happy with it though!

( Lots of berries is always a good start. )

Joined the Twitter bandwagon. Actually I joined many years ago, but I've only jumped back in when more people were on it.

http://www.twitter.com/huiness

I NEED PEOPLE TO HEAR ME COMPLAIN!

Visiting the Stadtpark ended us up watching a concert instead, which was a lovely unexpected change in plans. By then, it was nearing the end of my stay in Vienna, and I STILL hadn't yet seen a concert! It was a cold dark day, and since we had nothing planned for the evening, it seemed like a good idea to watch one that evening. Coincedentally we bought it from a man who looked like Beethoven!

I mentioned it to him, too. "Did anyone ever say to you, that you look like Beethoven?" I asked.

I think he said no, but what he really meant was yes. "But that is not a compliment to me, you know?"

"Why not!"

"Ja, but because Beethoven is (makes gesture) round, you know!"

"No, I didn't mean it like that! I meant your hair! You have hair like Beethoven!"

"Ja but that is not compliment to me!"

I bet he gets that a lot. He really did have Beethoven hair.

I posed by the statue of Johann Strauss of gold. I guess it would be since he composed the Blue Danube which is something like Vienna's unofficial anthem now. Much like the Waltzing Matilda to Australia. :)

( Concert time. )

Raided through Mother's jewellery box, for some reason she gave my sister & I free access and so I trawled through years upon years of collection. There were earrings of all sorts, though I mostly chose short dangles as I think they look best on me. They were mostly handmade and were obtained from different parts of the world, though I think they have more significance to her than to me. They'll just be "the earrings I got from Mother" to me!

( Earrings. )