Spoonful Of Loh: Queen's Birthday in Canberra

It was a fabulous drive down to Canberra over the recent Queen's Birthday weekend; the sun was cheery, the wind was chilly and the company was chirpy.

We arrived at the Diamant Hotel a little past one in the arvo and immediately hit the hotel's Du Jour Restaurant for a brekkie-kind of lunch after tossing our bags into our room. I gorged on sinful pancakes laden with crispy, savoury bacon drowned in a sea of gluey maple syrup. Yummy.

Our friends finally arrived from Batlow and the five of us made our way to the National Portrait Gallery. Needless to say, parking was a chore. Everyone has the same idea. It was chilly and the best activities are therefore indoors. There were some seriously interesting stuff hanging in the NPG. Many caught my attention but the one of Robert Menzies done by William Dobell strikes a particularly resonant note with me. The watercolour sits on a wall close to a window, very calm, cool and collected and I sang softly "turn around . . . .right now" to the music of Total Eclipse of the Heart by Bonnie Tyler. Don't ask me why because I don't know why.

That evening we were third time lucky when we went to E.U. Cafe for dinner with our Canberran friends, right after we failed to get into The Ginger Room and The Chairman and Yip. The food at E.U. Cafe is honest and non-fuss, and the service attentive. Apart from the occasional Q'sB fireworks, there is nothing outside to look at so your attention is naturally drawn inwards into the cafe. We ordered some tapas to start and then a paella and ratatouille to share, thinking we might each have our own dessert to round up the evening. So, not going to happen. We were so satiated by the time we were through with the paella that we couldn't even lift the dessert menu, and I saw my dream of Crema Catalana dissipated into thin air, not without a tinge of gratitude mind you because there just ain't no room in my belly at that time.

The next morning we all had a sleep in of sorts; it is difficult to get out of a nice warm bed when it is 7 degrees celsius outside. But, National Gallery of Australia beckons and so off we went. This is my fourth visit to the NGA and it is never the same each time. This time, we spent a little more time in the Sculpture Garden and revisited Sydney Nolan's 1946-47 Ned Kelly series. Our fiasco at the NGA cafe only highlighted the much needed update for the aging NGA which is looking decidedly aunty-like compared to the younger and more hip NPG across the road. In all fairness, I can still see glimpses of architectural marvels woven by Colin Madigan into the NGA but an update certainly wouldn't hurt either.

And perhaps in punishment for such sacrilegious musings, I was to with great dismay and distress, discover the brass zipper pull had fallen off my Prada bag when I arrived back at the hotel. I won't go into the details of how dark my mood turned, so much so our friend excused himself to return to his room; ditto John, while I returned to the NGA and retraced my steps. Boy, did I prayed hard and lo behold, there it was, the brass tag lying snug and safe on the grass verge a stone's throw away from the NPG. Not only that, the pin which was holding the zipper pull to the zip was also found a good 12 cm away. It was like finding the proverbial needle in the haystack. Can you believe it? YOU better believe it! I was so happy lo! John later confessed he drew a deep sigh of relief, a real, real deep sigh. *LOL*

Anyway, the rest of Sunday was spent in a most laid back manner and we rounded off the day with dinner at a Thai eatery in Manuka called Thai Cornar (yes, I think the misspelling is intentional). The food is traditional Thai and the flavours were authentic enough although I did find the laksa a trifle lacking in coconut milk. Excellent for a quick-fix.

On our way home Monday, John took me to Berrimar for lunch at Australia's oldest continuously licenced inn, the Surveyor General Inn. When I entered the inn, it brought on a sense of deja vu. I know this place, I have eaten here before, at the Bushrangers Bistro of course, and then I remembered why I have forgotten this bistro, the food were quite ordinary. None of the nouveau cuisine Sydney's bistros are guilty of, just good honest bush tucker. Well, it was a bit too honest if you asked me. Can do with an update. Anyway, from the looks of the hungry hordes, no one seems to mind so I won't be expecting an update soon if I were you.