Weekend content

I think I just had a weekend with all the components ever needed for a weekend: sleep (and plenty of it), shopping, visiting friends, dinner with family, drinks at a hideaway bar, art gallery, drinks by the harbour in the sunshine, dinner with friends. And throw in a few holiday plans. Yeah, life is alright.

It feels like Christmas is on its way, judging by the amount of people shopping this weekend - not quite the hustle and bustle of previous years but hectic enough anyway. And I'm having enormous trouble buying gifts this year. And I'm still not feeling very Christmas-sy.

Anyway, the sunny weekend beckoned and I certainly had my fair share of SPF30 protected sunshine the last couple of days. Some indoor activity was had, such as the New Acquisitions 2008 exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art down at Circular Quay. Admittedly, contemporary art often perplexes me but I relish the opportunity to interpret on my own and then sometimes share that interpretation with a fellow attendee I've dragged along, curatorial or artist notes, or simply the reaction of other museum-goers. It really is a fun couple of hours to me, and though this visit was slightly rushed I thoroughly enjoyed the exhibition.

Out into the sunshine of a Sunday afternoon at this end of town and there really is just one place to go: Opera Bar. It's becoming a bit of a Sunday ritual but such a lovely time that I don't mind it as part of a weekly routine. On any remotely nice day out, Opera Bar tends to be packed and especially so today with a couple of private functions.

I've always found the menu at Opera Bar very reasonable considering the location, and while the food isn't mind blowing, it will certainly do. Atmosphere makes up for a lot. We just manage to nab a seat on the extreme outer, I'd almost call it balcony-like area, right near the water with a couple of beers, an order of wedges and unsurpassed views. I blame the warming sunshine, live jazz, cold beer, conversation and abundance of beautiful people and things for my forgetting a picture beforehand, but then again it was only wedges.

Half eaten serve of baked potato wedges with

sour cream and sweet chilli sauce

But then again, they were the best wedges I've had in quite some time. I love potato wedges with the skin on, as that seems to add another dimension of texture in addition to the crunchy outer and fluffy inner. These ones were in a jumble of sizes - some like a quartered potato and others more resembling chips. They've definitely got crunch but were not at all greasy or oily. The other point of difference to your standard frozen packet wedges was the sprinkled coating of a red spice mix - presumably containing some paprika, enticing the licking of fingers but not too much of a spice kick.

A perfect accompaniment to a beer or four, we wiled away a pleasant afternoon in the company of live music and happy tourists and locals alike against a backdrop of to-ing and fro-ing ferries, bridge climbers in the distance and an overwhleming sense of contentment.