Last week, after Ima's on Friday night, C took G to see DubFX after having booked the tickets on a whim several months before. DubFX beat-boxes his backing track and using foot-pedal technology adds beat-boxed layers of instrumentals and then raps over the top. We arrived at the club at half nine and watched a DJ on stage with his Mac, gradually dancing our way to the front of the audience. By the time DubFX was being chanted for, we were at the very front and had already been introduced to a very crazy fan with a hand-shake. She and DubFX had "conversation" the whole way through his set. He was joined on stage by a sax and piano player, Andy V, who gave D some much needed support by grinning maniacally and jumping up and down with his arms in the air. Apparently it was the 42nd gig in 7 weeks and D's voice was breaking and he looked to be in pain at several high notes, so as a crowd we cheered him on to the end of his set - the poor guy!
The next day, Sunday, we took the bus to Tingting's house to discuss the possibility of a hiking weekend with one of T's friends. Upon arrival we were put to work in the kitchen making dumplings. C turned out to be a natural at this, and so went round instructing everyone else in dumpling-making. Simply take your rolled flour, add some stuffing quite compactly, fold the dough, put water around the edges, press the edges together, and seal in whichever pattern you like. We were kicked out of the kitchen after half an hour because the roommate on cooking duty was grumpy at our "school-girl attitude", but who says you can't have some fun in a kitchen when you're not working for Ramsey?
We went upstairs and waited for dinner, chatting for a while until the gong sounded (in a house of 20 people you need a dinner gong). The dumplings, accompanying vegetable curry, carrot and beetroot salad and sauce were delicious. We took our dinner upstairs and discussed the trip. A four-person tent was then brought down and we quickly put it up only to be hit with the smell of damp, so moved it onto a pile of mattresses in the gigantic living room to dry out. We attached a note indicating it must not be moved, and received some strange looks from other housemates. Following some table-tennis (C) and piano playing (G), T's friend's boyfriend came to pick her up, and they very kindly gave us a lift back into town.
On Tuesday afternoon, we went to Glen Innes to meet the psych professor and he drove us to circus class. There C had her first go on the silks. It was just like the monkey bars: muscle memory kicked in and she was hanging upside down and performing the grade 1 routine in no time- a born circus natural. Looks like Tuesday nights are now silks nights for C!
Wednesday brought Python and ballet! G went to a double ballet session, and C attended a meeting of New Zealand's Python User Group (Auckland branch) and headed to the pub afterwards and had some OK beer. If anyone is au fait with beer in the Auckland area, where can we get a good pint? Not one has yet been consumed. Wine tips also please.
This week, C made spinach and kumara ravioli (from scratch), and used the remaining dough to make mushroom and walnut ravioli. The idea came from her new-found proficiency at dumpling making. G made delicious Tom Yam full of chilli and flavour, and banana, peanut butter and chocolate cookies. Needless to say, most were finished by G... C's sweet-tooth is just not up to that level yet.
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