Friday, September 9, 2011

Friday Fotos – East River Views

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During my two month stay in New York City in 2010, one of my favorite places to hang out on Friday evenings was Pier 17, one of the last remnants of the extensive pier system that jutted into the waters of the Hudson and East Rivers.

As the sun set in the west, a beautiful golden glow would light up the buildings along the Brooklyn side of the East River.

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As an added bonus, Friday evenings at 6pm also saw a weekly roster of great indie bands from New York and elsewhere playing free gigs from the small stage set up on the pier. Pier 17 was always packed with office workers winding down at the end of the working week, and visitors enjoying the vibe and the stunning views of the Brooklyn Bridge.
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As I have written elsewhere on this site (Brooklyn Hidden Harbor Tour,  and Up A Lazy River to Bear Mountain), I have a particular fascination – some might call it a fetish – with rivers and water borne activities, and another of the pleasures of sitting at the end of Pier 17 was watching the constant too-ing and fro-ing of pleasure boats, working boats and other marine activity on the East River.

Below: a river barge (out of view) is being pushed up the East River by the tugboat Calusa Coast. From whence have they come, and to where are they going? And what are they transporting?
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Below: I never did take this Friday evening river cruise, but next time I think I will add it to my list of ‘things to do in New York City on a Friday night’ – or indeed any evening the vessels heads out for a cruise up the East River.
Note: Click on images to view full size

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Eating Vegetarian or Vegan in Adelaide


Renae Melnyk from London, England has generously provided a bunch of vegetarian and vegan eating spots around Adelaide for those visitors and locals who have made the commitment to this type of fare.

Renae writes: I find that the best places are usually the places that aren’t listed on Happy Cow – the places that aren’t vegetarian/vegan but have options. Here is my locals guide to being vegan in Adelaide!

Thanks to Renae for posting this information to the Adelaide Couchsurfers forum. I’m sure it will be much appreciated. Here are her recommendations.
Breakfast/Brunch
Hawker Street Café
- 22 Hawker Street, Bowden: beautiful café with a great community vibe and cute outside setting out the back. Wonderful coffee with option of organic soy milk. Do a wonderful vegan or vegetarian big breakfast, plus the crew working there are wonderful/total babes. Warning though, kitchen closes at 1:30pm on weekends, so don’t sleep in too late! Make sure you try the house made baked beans on the weekend!

Queen Street Café
– Elizabeth Street, Croydon: gorgeous, bustling café in a cool little suburb. Great coffee, good vegetarian options. Vegans, ask for the ‘Lewis special’ or go the clay pot beans sans egg. A tad pricey. Soy pot of chai is a definite winner.

Brown Dog Café
– Goodwood Road, Goodwood: The BEST little courtyard out the back to laze in on a Sunday morning! Vegetarian breaky that can be made vegan on request – yum!

Nano to go
– Ebenezer place, CBD: bust, trendy café just off Rundle Street. Good vego options, good coffee, vegans go for the mixed bruschetta made vegan.

Bliss Organic Garden Café
– 7 Compton Street, City: Good food and a nice setting, however the owners are not very nice to their staff and have some whack ideals, so I tend to avoid this place. If going for breaky try the tofu scramble, pancakes or the Bliss Big Breakfast. Pretty pricey though and service can be very slow. All vegan.

Lunch
Thea
– Gawler Place, CBD: A wonderful haven to escape the city rush! Mostly vegan menu. Make sure you try a flavoured iced tea – my favourites are grape or grapefruit. Best dishes are Thea cold noodles (vegan, but not specified so on the menu as the noodles used state “may contain traces of egg”), crispy Hainan rice (get a side of peanut sauce to go with) and sweet and sour thing. Get a side of yam samosas too, yum!! Open Mon-Fri., 11-4 and Friday nights.

Vego n Lovin’ It
–Rundle Street, CBD: The BEST burgers! My favourite is the Mexican with added cucumber and avocado. Make sure you try the smoothies too! Apricot mixed with chocolate is AMAZING! Can be hard to find, it is upstairs through a small yellow doorway, look up for the mosaic sign. Can be busy. All vegan. Only open Mon-Fri., 11-3.

Zen House
– Bent Street, CBD (Just off Rundle st): Mock meat dishes and a wide variety of teas. Favourites are vegan SFC burger with satay sauce, mee goreng and cold salad noodles. Open for lunch and dinner most days.

Burp Burritos
– Hindley Street, CBD: Vegan and vego burritos or tacos. I love the el vegan burrito with mango and corn salsa. Mmm!

Also
Vegetarian Garden, Renaissance Arcade, just off Rundle Mall: You MUST try the Laksa here! Cheap and tasty!

Bent Street, CBD (Just off Rundle St): Mock meat dishes and a wide variety of teas. Favourites are vegan SFC burger with satay sauce, mee goreng and cold salad noodles. Open for lunch and dinner most days.
The Complete Italian Vegetarian Cookbook: 350 Essential Recipes for Inspired Everyday Eating Vegetarian 5-Ingredient Gourmet The Meat Lover's Meatless Cookbook: Vegetarian Recipes Carnivores Will Devour
Click images to purchase directly via Amazon.Com

Dinner
Wah Hing
– Gouger Street, CBD: Asian restaurant with vegetarian /vegan options. Best dishes are salt and pepper eggplant (a MUST try), salt and pepper tofu and BBC (bean curd, broad bean and Chinese chutney). Good for a cheap dinner with friends!

Goodlife Organic Pizza
– various locations, Glenelg, Hutt Street CBD and O’Connell St., Nth Adelaide: Two vegan options; a roast veg pizza and a mushroom pizza, ask for it made vegan. The garlic bread is sooo yummy and also vegan. A tad pricey, but worth it.

Falafel House
– Hindley St, CBD: good for take away quick snack/dinner. The falafel burger is only 5 bucks and tasty as!

Café Michael 2
– Rundle St, CBD: The best Thai food in Adelaide. Ask the waiting staff and they’ll be happy to let you know what can be made vegan. The Tom Yum soup is really, really good.

Also
Burger It: O’Connell St, North Adelaide has several vegetarian burgers with vegan options. Chips are vegan. Try with the relish or satay sauce.

Dessert
Eggless
– Goodwood Road, Goodwood: Open Weds-Sun from 8pm. Make sure you get here early or else you’ll have to wait for a table as it gets quite busy! Menu changes every month and generally half of the menu is vegan or can be made vegan. Good selection of drinks and a few savouries as well.

Chocolate Bean
– Union St, CBD (just off Rundle St): Great selection of hot and cold chocolate drinks with a wonderful variety of flavours (e.g. gingerbread, coconut, caramel) which can all be made vegan. Often have vegan chocolate truffles. Good selection of vegan cupcakes, a vegan peanut butter cheesecake, and my favourite – choc hazelnut praline mousse cake. Yumm!

Dragonfly Bar
–Victoria Square, CBD: Not a dessert place as such, but a gorgeous little cocktail bar with clearly labelled vegan bar snacks like edamame!

Coffee
Bar 9
– Glen Osmond Road: a ten minute bus ride from town, but well worth it! The coffee here is just amazing!

– Coffee Branch
Leigh St, CBD (just off Hindley Street). Amazing, amazing, amazing, amazing, amazing.

Also: Hawker Street Café/Queen St Café (see Breakfast/Brunch above).

-o0o-

Here is a small selection of Vegetarian cookbooks if you want to explore this type of cooking - and eating further.
Quick-Fix Vegetarian: Healthy Home-Cooked Meals in 30 Minutes or Less How to Cook Everything Vegetarian: Simple Meatless Recipes for Great Food Student's Vegetarian Cookbook, Revised: Quick, Easy, Cheap, and Tasty Vegetarian Recipes
Click images to purchase directly via Amazon.Com

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Tribute In Light

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Tribute In Light. September 6, 2011. © Kirsten Shiller.

Just days out from the 10th anniversary of September 11, 2001 attacks and preparations for commemoration ceremonies are reaching fever pitch across the United States, and in New York in particular.

I love this image by Kristen Shiller, who maintains On The Street as “…a place for me to share some of my favorite photos from around town.” In Kristen’s case, ‘town’ is New York City where Kristen is “…an urban planner and amateur photographer.”

Check out Kristen's sites:
http://wtcrising.tumblr.com/
http://web.me.com/kmshill/OntheStreet/

Follow her on social media:
http://twitter.com/kmshill
http://flickr.com/kmshill 
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