I love it when those little chance moments occur. It makes you feel like you’re paying attention to the right nuances. Not that I believe in any sort of master plan or that there’s a right or wrong path. It just feels like there’s an infinite number of paths with endless overlapping details. All you gotta do is be open to them. Aware of them. Eyes open. Conscious. And they reveal themselves to you.
Here’s a small example. I arrived into Sydney ahead of my entire crew to headline the 2007 Big Day Out. Easily 3 days early. I like to get over the jet lag, get settled in, and prepare for the hard work ahead. It also gives me a chance to take in the local flavors.
So I walk out of customs at the sydney airport and practically run right over some wine drinking associates of mine whom I haven’t seen for quite some time. Chris and Kahuna just happened to be out with Roger Waters and arrived on a different airline at exactly the same time. If I hadn’t flown in several days early, and if they hadn’t had a delayed flight, we wouldn’t have run into each other at all. When the “Holy Synchronicity, Batman! ” cries died down, the only obvious choice was to schedule dinner at Aria. It’s our way of acknowledging our playful universe. We grin, we nod, and we tip of a glass of fine wine.
Aria was exceptional as always. They must have read my mind and slipped the Double Cooked Kurobuta Sweet Pork Belly in between our entree and main course. Divine. As were the Pan Fried Scallops with a mango and cauliflower salad which we had with a Penfolds Reserve Bin 98A Chard. We ate there twice on this trip so I’m having a tough time recalling what we had on each occasion, but the Clarendon Hills, 1998 Astralis comes to mind. As does the 99 Torbreck Run Rig.