Restaurant Review - Ravesis

Corner of Campbell Parade and Hall Street - Bondi Beach

Ravesis is the cornerstone of Bondi Beach social life. Ideally located facing Bondi Beach and in the most popular spot in Bondi Beach it attracts the beautiful people from all over the Sydney. It boasts a trendy bar, restaurant and hotel.

Ravesis is generally packed everynight of the summer and every Sunday all year round. It has a repuatation for being uptight, pretentious and expensive. I would generally have to agree with this supposition.

We decided to try out the restaurant having drank in the bar before. It was a rainy and windy evening and the restaurant was empty and there was a Christmas party taking place in the lounge. When we arrived at the empty restaurant we were told 'we have only two tables left' which was slightly surprising since the place was dead.

My wife ordered a 'spanish pizza' and I ordered a prawn and chilli ravioli. The food arrived relatively quickly and it was absolutely horrbile.

The pizza was cooked on a frozen pizza base and the toppings were cheap store-bought meats with some flimsy rockey thrown on it. My wife (a pizza lover easily satisfied) said 'it was the most disgusting pizza she ever had in her life'. The pasta was no better - the ravioli was obviously cooked from frozen and for some reason they threw in some sun dried tomatoes (not on the menu) and a heap of butter and a couple of cooked prawns which were well cooked. The ravioli had no taste and was no better than something you would receive at a school cafeteria.

Total cost $25 for the pizza, $28 for the ravioli. Biggest rip off in my life. Problem is that they have the best location and view in the area and people believe it is the spot - so that is why they get away with it.

Whatever you do - never, ever, even consider eating there.

Rating: 0.5/5

Thai protests

Recent news has been dominated by the atrocities that have taken place in Mumbai and one has been present in the background of recent news. I am referring to the protest and uprising that has occurred in Thailand.

Essentially the reasons behind the protest are predicated on the fact that the new government is essentially the puppet of their predecessor who was peacefully ousted in 2006 (the current PM is the brother in law of the corrupt Thaskin). The thing that bothers me the most is what is reported in the west. Most headlines read:

Protesters lift Bangkok Airport Siege - Hopes raised for the thousands of travellers stranded in Thailand as seige ends (The Guardian);

Thai flights resume after weeks of protest (CNN);

Mind you these two reports are two days after the government resolved to abolish the current government and remove the PM from power, however, throughout the protests the thing that dominated the airwaves was the plight of the western tourist. Should we not be commending the willingness of the Thai people to peacefully protest and bring about change to a corrupt government. This is a true case where the power of the people has wrought change in a country that has dealt with corruption on a wide scale. This is a true case where a peaceful protest will never find commenserate headline space as that of the violent outbreaks.

As for the 'stranded' travellers - this is in itself a true misnomer. It is true that some passengers were in limbo for approximately 13 hours, however, after the initial take over of the airport they were free to leave the airport without any hassle from the protestors. It seems that the majority of people were happy to stay put and moan and complain about how their governments would not help them. Here is a simple idea: you are in Thailand - enjoy yourself a bit longer and feel relieved that the protestors did not turn to violence. Or take a train ride to KL, Singapore, Phucket, Koh Samui and find yourself a way home another way. Surely, the airlines would be more than happy to offload you from another destination.

The inconveniece imposed on western tourists absorbed the headlines for this event rather than the peaceful protestors who have done something not seen often these days: effect change without resorting to violence.

Numbers Game

Call me old school but I liked the good old days when position hockey players used to wear numbers 2-30 and the goalies wore 1 or 31. The 'strange' numbers were left to the truly special players like Gretzky and Lemieux. Through the years there were a few that dared to wear a 'special' number - Wilf Paiment of Leafs fame wore 99 for a season and there were a few that adopted similarly large numbers.

The year the Sens came into existence is when it all went haywire. Sylvan Turgeon, a mid level player decided to wear '67' for some awful reason (no it was not 1867 Canada's independence) and that opened the floodgates of idiotic numbers for the Sens. Only when the coach was fired and a new one was brought in did he bring the jersey numbers into check.

Hockey seems to be leading the charge in these out of control numbers - Eric Lindros (the self-deposed 'Next One') wore 88 as it was the only non-same double digit not taken at that point in time. Now all the new comers have silly numbers like 87, 71, 91, 85 and so on. I am glad that footballers and even basketballers haven't embraced this way of 'marketing' oneself.

The NFL has rules on what numbers players can wear. If a player wants to wear a number that does not meet the criteria - they need to make a formal application and get league approval to do so. I must admit I LOVE the Rugby method - players are assigned their numbers by position.

Why is socialism a bad word?

This is my first foray into US politics but I feel I need to comment. Recently, people have been accusing Obama of being a socialist - making out like its a bad thing. Call it what you want but the government's 700 bln intervention is completely in line with socialist ideologies. To be honest, the citizens in the US could have done with a little socialism, it would have prevented the crisis they are facing now.

I have lived in a socialist country in Scandinavia and semi-socialist in Canada, and if any person who believes that socialism is a bad thing please consider the below -- as an everyday citizen. These are some of things that socialism brings to the average citizen.

- Taxes are much higher -- yes, its brutal in Denmark (62%) and Canada (50%), but here are some fringe benefits:

- free healthcare - spend weeks in the ICU, have a transplant, get an artificial leg and pay nothing.

- maternity leave AND paternity leave of one year each and only part of it can be taken concurrently. So in essence the baby has parents at home for at least 18 months.

- guaranteed job security post pregnancy for 2 years (yes, people do take advantage of this - I know a story of a woman who had worked 12 months in a 9 year period!)

- free childcare - parents are not burdened by extremely expensive daycare for their children.

- free education - undergrad degrees are paid for by the state. You can also go abroad and go to school and they pay for that as well. Therefore, 'school debt' does not exisit.

- go abroad with a loved one and learn a language and the government pays you a stipend to learn that language and they pay for all schooling

- 25 days paid holiday, as a minimum

- tighter regulations around banking - they cannot make as much money as in the US but I think we all know the benefits of this

- premium elderly care. Old age homes are well run, clean and absolutley an amazing place for the elderly to spend their last days. One thing (and this is totally messed) is that the government in Denmark pays for hookers to satisfy elderly men. Now, I admit that is a little much (but funny nonetheless)

- strong and robust welfare system - again people take advantage of it, but it is fairly well run

- overfunded pensions so citizens are guaranteed a healthy income when they retire.

These are few of the things that 'socialism' brings. I am not saying that socialist countries are not fraught with problems, they obviously are, but the idea that socialism is something to be wary of is completely misguided and i feel its been used as political fodder.

Fast food medicine

When I first started in the job force my friends and I used to joke that our actual jobs were GDEC's (Glorified Data Entry Clerks). This was based on the premise that we were told we worked in finance but in reality we were just re-keying instructions from another party. I have found recently that the family doctor in Australia is no better and should have a sign reading Dr. Joe Blow, GDEC, MD.

I recently had to visit the doctor for a couple small things and found that in the 40 minutes I spent in there she spent no more than 5 minutes actually examining the maladies which brought me there. Most of the time was spent punching away on her computer. If she had been a touch typer I am sure I would have been out in 5 minutes. She sat there with her 'peck and hunt' keyboard skills typing away my family history and the issues I came to see her about. Upon my departure I was treated to a $75 bill for a class 'B' examination (ie >30 mins). My wife had the same thing - she spent an hour (charged a double rate) to see the doctor only to have her spend 40 minutes typing and tell her to shush up so she could type. I don't think this is the doctors fault by any means, I am sure when they took their hypocratic oath, administration was the last thing on their mind.

What happened to the days where they would write everything in their notes and have someone else punch them into the computer afterwards? I have been to the family doctor in the most socialist of countries (Denmark) and the most severe two-tiered medical systems (Australia) and sadly the level of 'bed side manner' is directly proportional to the systems in which they operate. Obviously, a two-tiered system is all about the billing - get as many people in and as many people out as quick as possible in order to bill the most and live the highlife. In Denmark, doctors get paid daily and not by patient - they are incentivised to 'see' to the patient and understand their condition. On the flip side, doctors in Denmark make slightly above average wages.

It is worriesome that the state of the medical system has come to churning out patients and spending the majority of their time taking care of the administration. In the meantime, we just have to grin and bear it.

Babycino - what have we become!

Today at the local coffee shop downstairs I heard the order go out from a thirty-something man accompanied by his wife and young child "one skinny babycino please'. I thought to myself what the f$%k is a babycino and what self respecting parents would subject their young child to the pretentious coffee culture that runs rife through Sydney.

I for one have never been a coffee person and I know there are others out there who literally cannot start their day with out their caffeine fix. I made a conscious effort never to become an addict to anything and coffee is the one that never really appealed to me. I used to work with a guy who would start his day with a quad-expresso then two hours later he would follow up with another quad-expresso. So within 2 hours he would have had 8 hits of coffee - more than most normal coffee drinkers have in a week. He was totally wired and someone had to speak to him about his coffee drinking habits as he was becoming extremely aggressive.

I think something as addictive as coffee should really be left to the individual to decide (most likey at university) and not for young parents to impose on their designer-clad babies. These parents are already breeding a sense of pretentiousness and 'worth' at too young an age merely for their own sake and not the happiness of the child. Give the child a glass of orange juice and call it an 'organic orange fruit extract' if the term "juice" is too low-brow.

Movie Recommendation - 'Cashback'

I don't write film reviews but I recommend that people watch this UK produced film that originally was a 2006 Oscar nominated short.

Its an amazing film, well acted, well directed and with believable dialogue.

I trust you will not be disappointed.