Hangin' with the Locals

Tonight, Alan and I went to Scruffy Murphy's, an Irish bar here in downtown Sydney, to watch the revered Australian Wallabies trounce South Africa's rugby team on the big screen with a host of rugby shirt-clad Aussies. It was a lot of fun but the meal that I was served by Ol' Scruffy is the reason for this blog. First, let me say that I believe that Alan and I have truly embraced the Australian / New Zealand culture wholeheartedly and without hesitation. Tonight alone, we readily cheered at every "scrum," "ruck and maul" and at every sap that got sent to the "sin bin" even though we had absolutely no idea what in the hell was going on. Moreover, we've accepted without question the fact that fries are "chips," trash is "rubbish" and "cheers" apparently means both "hello" and "you're welcome". However, I personally have some issue with the Aussie / Kiwi version of the "Burger." Here Burgers are not served with cheese, lettuce and tomato. No sir. Even at the most basic diners, beets and carrots -- yes beets and carrots -- are most commonly served on burgers. Now, although it is a little shocking the first time you take a bite, this is not as bad as it sounds. It is actually not half bad, but still, in a country where they have McDonalds everywhere, they should know that this is not even close to a "burger." Tonight, the burger I got was especially noteworthy. It was dressed with carrots, lettuce, ham and fried eggs. Go figure.