Farmers Market, Shopping, The Mission (sort of)

Hey, glad you enjoyed my first San Francisco blog post! Tonight I type to you from our nook in the Downtown YHA, there is no TV here so computer time rules. I need to confess now I made a pretty terrible mistake today... we cheerfully checked out of our rather lovely hotel to slum it for a few days, and we weren't too concerned because I had managed to book a private room and all... and then we turned up to check in... and it IS a private bedroom... just with a BUNKBED! Not to mention it's our first wedding anniversary tomorrow, so umm, it's not exactly the most romantic situation you could find yourself in! At the moment Mark is wedged in opposite me between the wall and the bunkbed ladder... not quite what we were imagining, but we will just have to make the best of it for a few days! Sort of hilarious really, and nostalgic for Mark, apparently he has stayed at this very hostel in his younger years :)

San Francisco Farmers Market.

Mark at the Farmers Market.

This morning we woke up and headed down to the famous San Francisco Farmers Market in the Ferry Building, as this is apparently what local people do on Saturdays. I'd like to say it would be a very enjoyable thing for somebody who enjoys waiting in lines, I actually found very little pleasure in the whole experience and would prefer a trip to Bangalow anytime, now that's a relaxing and memorable Farmers Market experience!

First I need to point out that despite hearing to the contrary, good coffee is still a major problem in the USA, this unfortunately includes San Francisco. Even more disappointing is that tea here as we know it is virtually non existent! So there is this one brand of coffee called Bluebottle that everyone goes crazy about. I have been holding off for days because I have heard the lines are frustrating, and is only served in a handful of cafes in San Fran, but today I could no longer wait. I joined the queue down at the Farmers Market and it took me 25 minutes to get my first decent (but not the best I've tasted) USA coffee. I'm sort of confused that this is happening and if I ever have to do anything entrepreneurial in the USA I would be setting up a damn coffee cart every two blocks, it's obvious this place is more than ready for it!

The produce itself at the Farmers Market looked wonderful and if I were a local person I'd surely come down for a weekly fill, we bought a nice tourist photo off an artist and had a good walk around on the pier. All of the produce was very cheap compared to Australia ($1.50 for 3 bananas!), its just a shame we currently have no use for fresh food. So after taking in the sights we walked back up the hill past an anti-corporate demonstration stopping for lunch at La Boulange. Although the USA is full of food to eat I do recommend this place if you're at least making some effort at eating healthy, the salad is actually fresh and crisp and there is a fairly wide range to choose from. Let's face it, America is carbohydrate central, it seems lunch basically translates as 'a trip to the bakery.' But La Boulange, although a bakery, offers some other satisfying stuff as well.

La Boulange.

Anti-corporate demonstration.

After heading back to discover our new 'bunkhouse style' living situation we headed back to the shops for some retail therapy. Wont bore you too much other to say I bought a year's worth of Victoria's Secret bras for about A$120 (unheard of) and Mark bought a new lime green swatch watch :) I pretty much bought a bag full from my (almost) favourite store Anthropologie and will probably make another hack at the credit card in their LA premises. For the Sydney ladies I'll also let you know I saw stock in Zara that is currently sitting on the racks in their Sydney store so they are staying true to their word about distributing their current range widely.

Mexican is Mark's favourite so we headed back into town for dinner at a 'nice' Mexican restaurant called 'Tropisueno' ($8 margheritas!) where i can't seem to get enough of the enchiladas. After that we decided to take the BART to 'The Mission' for some ice cream at the famous Humphry Slocombe ice cream parlour. This is a must do trip! If I were younger, I may like to say, frequent a few of the bars in the area! And the food smells yummy and authentic, murals painted all over the street, everything a little edgy, I'd go as far as saying this is a 'must do' in San Francisco. I had pumpkin 5-spice ice cream (Halloween is coming!) and Mark had milk chocolate malt, YUM!

Humphry Slocombe Ice Cream.

So what about the little day to day differences in San Francisco? What do I see here?
- You definitely need to stand to the right on escalators, and just in general. There are however, many people that just take up the whole escalator :)
- When you hear funny whistles in the street (sort of like a recorder) it's just a hotel concierge trying to call out for a cab.
- If you are riding a bike and would like to take it on a bus, there is a bike rack on the FRONT of the bus where you can store it! The whole bus has to wait for you to get it up there and locked in, I could just never imagine that going down in Sydney.
- Women here love wearing makeup, it seems everyone has a full face on!
- Ladies love to wear the skirt and boot combo, I feel like I am in a mid 1990s video clip, floral skirts (even CULOTTES!) with boots BOOTS!

Store your bike on the front of the bus!

And before I go, some fashion forecasts for the ladies! (All Winter stock is coming in here now...)
- Cardigans Cardigans, knit only, waterfall style or open at the front. These are EVERYWHERE and it's tiring to see!
- Cropped navy military style jackets with brass buttons, cute, I wouldn't mind one of these
- 'Shrunken' knits (sometimes cabled and consisting of a few different colours) which are sort of fun but I'll have to hit the gym hard to feel completely comfy in this one
- Wedge boots, more of a 'lace up at the front' style in a beige or light grey, suede
- Leggings (still) but they are looking increasingly less appropriate and more suburban, I wouldnt say the legging has much further to go
- Jeans are getting wider, or are staying skinny but are getting colourful (yay, something new!)
- Heavy rim glasses (well I dont have bad eyes so I have nothing to say about this!)

So that's my day in San Francisco, my bunkmate is saying he wants to switch off the light shortly so I'd better do the right thing! Tomorrow we are off to walk the Golden Gate Bridge to celebrate our first wedding anniversary, so special!! x

Heart in San Francisco

Hello from San Francisco!

I've been here 2 days already and the time has just flown, mainly due to the mixture of familiarity, discovery and jet lag! The flight was long, and changing planes in the last 2 hours in LA left me almost delirious.. the jet lag has bitten me pretty hard this time and I was awake for a good part of last night, as well as 'napping' today during the Australian night time.

So... what is San Francisco like? What is going on here?
Hotel Rex

Mark and I are staying at the Hotel Rex which is just a block and a half walk from Union Square (the equivalent of Pitt Street Mall.) It's just enough to be in the heart of things, but also a little away from it all. Hotels here are surprisingly expensive... and also pretty rickety and old. So we are staying here for 3 nights, then we are heading tomorrow for the Downtown YHA (a bargain private room) for another 3 days to save a few dollars. I would honestly recommend The Rex to anybody thinking about coming to San Francisco, the whole hotel has a 'book theme' and I'm currently drinking my free daily glass of red wine from their library bar. It's lovely coming back each afternoon to a freshly made up room and the staff here are warm and friendly.

So far, I sort of feel like I'm sort of in Sydney and sort of in Brisbane! Driving in from the airport it felt like Brisbane... but it's obviously not! San Fran certainly lacks the intensity (and self importance) of Sydney and is much more laid back and less self conscious. Clothing is very casual and people are generally more chatty (hard for someone like me who is used to generally ignoring anybody's attempt at eye contact after 4 years in the Eastern suburbs!)

Of course San Fran is a shopping mecca for Australians and Aussie accents can be heard everywhere. It's nice shopping in a Zara store that doesn't look like it's been completely ransacked and customer service, like in New York a few years back, is excellent. I wouldn't say San Fran is entirely as efficient as New York in this sense but it certainly is easier work having help in changerooms and at registers, it makes it all easier spending my hard earned dollars!

Maiden Lane.

I would recommend a walk down Maiden Lane once you are jaded by Westfield and big brand surrounds, sure alot of it is very expensive, but it certainly has a nice feel and is a bit outside of the ordinary. I'm thinking about buying some ballet flats from London Sole in the next few days because they are virtually half the price as they are in Australia.

The Bourbon and Branch.

Food? Well I'm pretty difficult to please because we are lucky to have best of the best in our part of Sydney. We have eaten some good food, sure, but nothing completely stand out. I attempted to get Mark drinking last night at The Bourbon and Branch without much success, but I'd definitely recommend this bar to anyone attempting to impress. It's basically themed around a speak easy and you can't get in without a booking and 'password' at the door. It's dark and rather seductive inside, and the quality of cocktails is second to none, and apparently 'expensive' at $11 (HELLO Sydney prices!) so I had a rather lovely time drinking my cocktail and most of Marks before hitting the pavement again at 7pm.

We are going to the famous Farmer's Market tomorrow and also a 'recommended restaurant' on Sunday so I'll see how we go with the food... one thing for sure is the Mexican is a standout and I can't wait to enjoy more of it!

The Haight - famous for it's 'painted lady' houses.

The row of houses from TV Show 'Full House' - Where's Uncle Joey & Uncle Jesse?

Today we went for a massive walk through The Haight and Golden Gate Park. We were gone for most of the day and had lovely weather to walk around in. We ate breakfast in Kate's Kitchen and I have to say this was the most 'normal' tasting meal I've had so far, even though they served fries with breakfast. My stomach was very thankful about that!

We walked up Haight Street (which is pretty much a hybrid of King Street Newtown and Byron Bay) and Mark took me to the Grateful Dead House. It was a nice walk with lots of colourful things along the way (sometimes a little tense feeling around Fillmore St) and it's something I'd certainly recommend doing.

Japanese Tea Garden.

We ended up in Golden Gate Park, which is basically a bigger and greener version of Sydney's Centennial Park, I could certainly imagine being a regular here if I lived nearby. We visited the Japanese Tea Garden where we found an excellent tea house which was tranquil and calm with a few squirrels hopping about, at least until I had my sunglasses stolen! Despite this frustration, I'd definitely recommend it to any visitor, besides, my lenses were very scratched so their karma has already come back upon them as far as I'm concerned!

So overall, we are really pleased to be in San Francisco. It also makes me feel very fortunate to be living in Sydney, where there are far fewer homeless people, and things are generally newer, cleaner and hip, I guess. Sydney HAS arrived. Don't worry I'm not going to take out my flag and start waving it around yet, but we certainly have it good!

Hello Honeymoon Bali!

After a wedding day that flew right by, we flew out to Bali as husband and wife for what was supposed to be a 'mini honeymoon,' except I'm not sure that mini is exactly the right way to describe it so far!

With months of planning behind us I was almost reluctant to set out on this trip - I wasn't sure if Mark would like Bali, I didn't know if we would get good value for money, or if the weather would be any good. As it turns out, we have have come at an excellent time (just outside of the high season), it has been sunny and thirty degrees every day and our villa has been well, beyond luxurious belief.

Arriving at Denpasar airport was a bit of a shock to the system, but provides excellent material for a film set. People herd themselves every which way beneath hopeless ceiling fans slicing thick air, families sweat in long queues and argue over money exchange and 'being ripped off.' A gamelan (a sort of Indonesian xylophone) plucks away in the background, grating and jangling tired and uncertain nerves.

All of the 'new airport security equipment' (eye and fingerprint devices) were on display but were not being used, and our immigration official bopped away to music coming from his mobile phone while he moved at a snails pace processing passports. Mark diligently attempted to declare goods at customs but the line was so long and disorganised that people were just being waved through in any which line by security; my suitcase went through an x-ray machine that was seemingly being watched by nobody. But then we were through and our honeymoon could begin!

Our driver was waiting to take us to 'Villa Air,' where we had booked a one-bedroom villa for three nights. We had our own private pool and gardens, a 4 poster bed with chiffon curtains, a spa bath, double basins and a waterfall in our (outdoor) bathroom as well as an outdoor kitchen and lounge, all covered by a big bali hut. I tell you, it's going to hurt leaving! (Which we are doing, today.) Every day we have had a 90 minute spa treatment, as well as afternoon tea and breakfast served to us in our villa. Spoiled!

Our villa living area (yes, that's our pool in the background!)

Our bedroom (with outdoor bathroom through the doors.)

Our beautiful outdoor bathroom (oh how I hope to have double basins in real life one day!)

The next day we went on a 6 hour tour with a driver and unfortunately I was pretty carsick for a lot of the time. We went to a monkey park where they climbed all over us and we got photos, a beautiful temple (still dont really understand temples) and a big rice paddy field - the Tegallalang Rice Terrace? (which was absolutely gorgeous but I was pretty much vomiting by this stage so couldn't really enjoy it). Then we visited the Agro Wisata Coffee Farm where I got to try the famous 'luwak?' coffee (you know, the one where the beans pass through the animal first.) Needless to say, Mark was disgusted.

Part of me really wanted to 'get into town' to see everything however I'm glad we let our driver take us to these different places because once we did go into the shopping district I was pretty confronted and disappointed.

That night we ate at 'Sarong' restaurant, apparently one of the best in Bali, and I laughed once I read the chef is ex-Jimmy Liks and Longrain in Sydney. So yes, it tasted very familiar to us and the food was great, for say a 30% cheaper price than Sydney. I particularly enjoyed eating one of my favourite dishes, 'murtabak,' which I have not been able to find in Sydney, and have not eaten since about 2005! So yes, I was very excited about that.

The beautiful Sarong Restaurant.

I have been thinking about the shopping thing alot; yesterday we walked down the main street of Seminyak where there are a whole row of shops selling all sorts of 'trendy' fashion but it wasn't nearly as sophisticated as I was expecting (oops, snob me.) Sure, items were cheaper and I think that this is perhaps the main reason why people go shopping crazy in Bali. I'm pleased to say I don't really need much right now, and once I really thought about it I realised I didn't need to buy anything! That said, if I was decorating a large house and had a huge suitcase (or shipping container) I wouldn't hesitate in combing over the shops.

I suppose I would need more time (and probably a good shopping mate) to enjoy the shopping a little more. Mark and I walked around but did I really need another flowing jersey top or beaded pair of sandals? It was very hot so we though we should at least take a walk down by the beach, but we had much trouble finding access as we bravely walked around the gangs (backstreets) of Legian looking for a spot to walk down the beach.

So we found the beach, and the beach was... ugly. I closed my eyes and thanked the stars that I hadn't dragged poor Mark to one of these 'resorts' that line the beach. It would be good for some, but represented everything we are not. People drinking down on the beach, piles of rubbish, dirty looking water and the sun beating down. People were touting for anything and everything, and there was also a few beggars about (lucky I have lots of practice doing the 'Eastern Suburbs stare, where I can look straight past people) and loud, pasty, overweight Australian families lying on rows and rows of sunlounges.

So we ate some satay and a burger and quickly jumped back into a cab to head back to our own little piece of paradise - our villa. And I think this is what makes the ideal Bali Holiday - getting some books and reading material together, packing a bag with next to nothing, and enjoying the comfort, relaxation and hospitality of a villa. Last night we had our own 'celebration dinner' in a little hut, 4 courses all included in our villa price. 80s power love-ballads played and candles were lit, it was just so lovely relaxing together and thinking about the future, without the madness and traffic of the town.

Our little dining area.

Some things you might need to know about visiting Bali:
- Don't pack anything too fancy - it's simply too hot. You barely need more than a swimming costume and a few cotton dresses. That said, the Balinese prefer a little modesty (i.e. sleeves) and it's been awful seeing some of the Aussies move about town in next to nothing.
- Same goes for makeup - just forget it.

- Tipping isn't expected which is refreshing, but people are paid so poorly it doesn't hurt to give a tip here and there (we gave our driver a $20 tip for a 6 hour tour and we are now seemingly friends for life.)

- It is cheap here. Apparently not as cheap as in the past, but Mark and I have barely spent $500 in 4 days, and this includes alcohol and eating in fancy restaurants. It has been terrible watching people haggle over such little prices (I saw an English teenager rudely haggle over a $12 pair of sandals, ugly) and I think it's nice to show some restraint here. People are constantly talking about money and what things cost, when at the end of the day...

- I think the ideal Bali trip would be to travel around Bali without doing Kuta / Legian etc. at all. It seems to bring out the worst in people and left me cringeing and wondering what the hell Australia has done to Bali and its culture. The loud drunk Bogan thing was definitely going on and I think it's fair to say that I would stay away from these people at home so I am best staying away from them on holiday!

Today we head to our next destination - 4 nights in Ubud. I'll let you know how it goes!

Resolutions

Who likes that word, resolution?

Remo sent me an email yesterday, and I very much enjoyed this poem they attached.
Happy New Year!

2009 into 2010

I had an email (well, a Facebook message) the other day saying 'Do you still do your blog?' Uhh, not really. Here I am on New Years Eve, pumpkin roasting in the oven (no, that's not a metaphor!) with some time to spare so I thought I'd write a little about 2009, what happened to me, and what I hope for in 2010.

I started my new job, and it has been (mostly) good.
You know, I think a lot of teachers feel like they're faking it most of the time, myself included. I mean, you do the study, you stand up in front of the class, and sometimes the magic happens. Well, the magic happened with my Year 6 class of '09. It was the first class of people I have actually missed during my holidays and most of the year was nothing short of fabulous. I was really lucky to fall on to my feet in a school that I immediately felt familiar with; and even after a difficult selection process, I was welcomed by my new colleagues with open arms.
Most of all, I appreciate being a permanent teacher (finally)! After years of holding out for an Art job (and never seemingly, teaching art), I finally have found a job where we can study Basquiat and Arcimboldo amongst the other subjects, and then go forth and create... at this age the kids enjoy the theory as well as the practice, and for me, that's a little piece of heaven!
I do however, miss my freedom. My school can come across as being too much of a 'tight ship' and sometimes this can be translated as being mistrustful of teachers. Well I'm happy to report I'm at a school where everyone works damn hard, and this is evident in the happy, well balanced students we are helping.

I started my Masters degree, and it was sort of a shock!
I applied to commence my Masters degree in Education in 2009 (well, the first 'part') when I wasn't sure if I would ever get a permanent teaching position. I figured it would help my prospects and keep me busy if I found myself out of work. Well, as it turned out, I got the job AND started the Masters degree in 2009.
It has been hard, I have kicked and screamed and whinged all along the way. I started off getting really bad marks and lost my confidence. I quickly improved but found attending lectures with other teachers annoying, most of all I hated feeling like I had to be competitive. Completing assignments meant locking myself up at night and on weekends for weeks, and this also meant an increased presence on the net ;)
However, good things have come out of it, including some extra paid teaching work at the uni, and it's good to feel like I know what I'm talking about when I'm asked to contribute to professional conversations at work. I will probably take a year's break from half way in 2010, mainly because I am getting married!


In 2009 I got engaged to the one I love!
This is by far the most pleasing and exciting thing that happened to me in 2009! On the 24th of July Mark and I went away for the weekend to Kangaroo Valley. We stayed at a beautiful little cottage called the dairy@cavan and something special happened when we were walking across the Hampden Suspension Bridge, the oldest suspension bridge in Australia, built in 1898 (neat!) It was lovely to see how genuinely happy everybody is for us, and we are very excited about our wedding in Sydney, October 2010!


So, we had an engagement party.
We didn't necessarily want to have an engagement party, but it seemed like an opportune time with new babies recently born, Dad returning from Portugal, and elderly family members wanting to get together. So one Saturday early in November, at approximately 37 degrees celcius, we held a Mexican Barbeque (of course!) for our families.
One of the best things was that my Nana Colgate eventually came along after all, after threatening not to come for about a month (giving very confusing reasons and making me upset). I was also pleased to see my Pop Richards, as the week before he was in hospital having quite a serious operation, so it was a big effort for him to come along and sit in the heat.
We received some wonderful presents! Such as an authentic Norman Lindsay print (a lady with her boobs out!) and expensive kitchenware (my favourite). Engagement presents to start with seem a bit extravagant, so we were touched to receive so much quality stuff!
Besides the bbq, I cooked some awesome enchiladas after poring over cookbooks for months and asking my friend Michelle in the USA what she thought of the recipes. The family couldn't get enough, I could have got away just with having an enchilada party!
We had an adorable cake, this lady up the street from my Dad's place in Menai truly makes the freshest, most delicious buttercake with second-to-none buttercream icing. We had a heart shaped cake studded with smarties, which we ate with ice cream, it definitely was a highlight of my day - and just $40!


This is not me! (I'm pretty sure it's my teacher Caroline.)
I (then we) discovered yoga.
Yes, we have all heard about how yoga is a life changing experience. Well, I'm so pleased I found the Kings Cross Yoga Centre this year, and have become very disciplined about attending classes (unusual, I know)! I couldn't even touch my toes at the beginning of the year, and now (after stretching) I can rest my hands on the floor. After I had been attending for about 6 months Mark started as well, it has been great for both of us. The best thing is knowing that I will keep going to yoga, it's no longer something I have to force myself to do. I generally have always disliked team sports and fitness, preferring incidental exercise, so it has been wonderful to find something we both enjoy and can commit to wholeheartedly as well.

We both very much feel like adults these days.
It seems I don't mind talking real estate, I worry about my car and think about when I should organise salary sacrifice. I cook the dinner, I turn up on time, get a little buzz from feeling organised, and wake up without hangovers. It's great to support my friends and (try) to be there for my family. We still live in our little flat with great views in Potts Point and often consider sacrificing our house deposit for an overseas trip.
Most of our close friends no longer live in Sydney, and we continually wonder how we'll do it - even though on paper we do pretty well, it seems to buy a place, have children and afford Sydney you must cling to the fringes of the city. We wont be moving anywhere in the near future though, we have a very quiet and pleasant life and our jobs keep us firmly planted right here!

My favourite places to be in 2009...
- Walking down Macleay Street in the afternoon, when the breeze carries the smell of the harbour up the street
- Andrew Boy Charlton Pool
- My lounge, staring out the window out towards the Art Gallery of NSW!
- City of Sydney library at Customs House
- Yoga
- Fratelli Paradiso or Yellow for coffee, if I have a visitor (otherwise it's the plunger at home)
- A Tavola restaurant for something special
- Jimmy Liks for cocktails!
- Newtown or Glebe, largely for reasons of misplaced nostalgia
- Melbourne (only wish I could go more often)
- jezebel.com to feel normal
- passiveaggressivenotes.com or lamebook.com for laughs
- jcrew.com sale page for beautiful clothes (thanks for sending them out Michi!)
- oncewed.com for my type of dream weddings!


My favourite other things of the year...
Well it seems that most of my watching is done on the net these days, how can one possibly wait for a weekly show on free to air television? It got even better towards the end of the year when we hooked up our macbook to the big tv.
2009 was definitely a year for watching the entire (available) series of Mad Men and The Wire, which I enjoyed very much. I'm also watching Seasons 1-3 of Big Love looking forward to Season 4 with gusto! Those who know me well also know I enjoy watching the news and this year I found I was watching SBS world news more often, as well as the 7:30 report and Q&A on the ABC. I'm also a sucker for most cooking shows and design shows such as (anything!) Nigella and Grand Designs.
I'm adoring Ben and Jerrys ice cream's arrival in Australia, along with cooking Pastabilities frozen pumpkin and goats cheese ravioli on the nights we can't be bothered to cook!
I loved the new album from The Crayon Fields this year as well as Monsters of Folk. We don't go to too many gigs at the moment but really enjoyed Joanna Newsom, Rufus Wainright and Sufjan Stevens (all seperately!) at the beginning of '09, rock on!
We are constantly watching films and the main three that come to mind this year were The Savages (but then again, was that 2008?!), Bright Star and Elegy.
Books? I'm constantly reading but it's better that you ask Mark.

And now I am all out of puff. That is all for now, it has been quite a self-indulgent experience, this blog post!

We have had a great year, wishing you all the best for 2010! (another exciting year for us!)

xx

New look

So, I'm not sure if I have been neglecting my blog or if it's just because I'm getting all grown up and I don't feel that I have to broadcast every thought I have!

This blog has largely become more of a place for dumping things I want to look at again and has definitely moved from something of an attempt at being public, to something that I use more simply to please myself.

If you happen to find yourself here, enjoy. I have changed templates this morning and it feels much cleaner to be here. A newly cleaned room with the window open and the curtain fluttering in the sunlight.

Killer Recipe: Cardamom Cake

I made this cake to celebrate my last yoga class of 2009. It was a smashing success! I have only begun baking again recently, but this cake is encouragement enough to keep it up!

Ingredients
* 40g butter, chilled, cubed
* 1/4 cup plain flour
* 1/4 cup demerara sugar (or combination of brown / raw sugar)
* 1 lemon, rind finely grated
* Handful of shredded coconut

Base
* 3 eggs
* 1 cup caster sugar
* 2 1/2 teaspoons ground cardamom
* 125g butter, softened
* 300ml carton cream
* 2 1/2 cups self-raising flour
* 1/2 cup flaked almonds

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease and line a 7cm deep, 10cm x 21cm (base) loaf pan, allowing a 5cm paper overhang.
2. Rub butter into flour to resemble fine breadcrumbs. Add sugar and lemon rind. Mix well. Set aside.
3. Make base: Beat eggs, sugar and cardamom until combined. Add butter. Process until smooth. Add cream and flour. Mix until combined. Spoon into pan.
4. Sprinkle almonds over cake, pressing in with your fingertips. Sprinkle with lemon rind mixture. Bake for 1 hour or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Stand for 5 minutes in pan. Use baking paper overhang to lift cake onto a wire rack to cool. Slice and serve

Syrup
* 1 1/4 cups water
* 1 cup caster sugar
* Juice of one lemon
* 1 tsp ground cardamom

- Bring water, sugar, cardamom to the boil
- Simmer for 10-20min
- Cool