the best of 2013

So 2013 was a pretty good year overall for us, apart from the last month or so. I thought I would take the opportunity to reflect on the year by doing a best of review of things!

Best thing we did in 2013

Definitely our trip to New Zealand would top this list - we spent a very memorable 3 weeks in New Zealand with the girls, and my sister-in-law and brother-in-law. We saw glaciers, waterfalls, fiords, thermal wonderlands, Hobbiton, snow-capped mountains, stunning scenery, vineyards, Maori Cultural Shows, rainforests, lakes, and more.

Most exciting thing we did in 2013

I think the family would agree that the most exciting thing we did this year was speeding down the canyons in New Zealand on the Shot Over Jet boat, at break-neck speeds.

Best Book Author for me in 2013

I found a new author this year - and have started reading two of his series, the Zombie Fallout Series and Indian Hill.

Indian Hill stars a young man called Michael Talbot who finds himself abducted and on-board an alien space vessel fighting in gladiator type games against other humans to the death - games designed to find out our strengths and weaknesses prior to invasion.

Zombie fallout starts out with people getting vaccinated against the swine flu, only to die and become reanimated. It is a day-by-day recount of the Armageddon that ensues.

The reason I like this author - great central characters, stories told with a sense of humour, twists and turns, his ability to build tension and keep you interested in the story. I also loved the narrator he used for the books - he used the same narrator for both series.




Best Books I read in 2013

It's really hard to pick a best book that I have read this year - so I thought a couple were worth mentioning in addition to the Indian Hill and Zombie Fallout books mentioned above. A really mixed bag here, and in no particular order.


This book was written in the 1950's, but for me it stood the test of time. This post apocalyptic novel is slower moving than the books of today, but it still kept me interested.

Essentially a science-fiction murder mystery. Well thought out, with Peter Hamilton's trade mark themes of space travel, long-life, and a gazillion characters. About 40 hours of reading - another EPIC effort.

Young Adult science fiction - a slightly different take on the alien invasion, with teenagers and children as the main characters.

A fascinating insight into the workings of The Company (aka CIA) during the cold war, really a series of stories covering multiple generations. Once I got past the first hour of reading it was totally engrossing.

I listened to this book in our min-van as we travelled around the South Island of New Zealand. Such a beautiful story told over many decades with intertwining stories of multiple characters. It starts with an inn-keeper in the 1960's on the Italian coastline, when he is starstruck by an American actress.

By the end of this book I thought I was reading a James Bond movie on steroids, with a fairy tale ending.  The book is centred around an on-line fantasy game called T'Rain - where fantasy spills out into reality. If I had to pick one favourite this year, this would probably be it - I gave it 4 and a half stars.

Best Series of Books I read in 2013

I have also continued reading books in series that I had started in 2012 or earlier - I think it's a testament to how much I have enjoyed those series. Here is my short-list:

I started this series this year, and thoroughly enjoyed it. A series of espionage books featuring a CIA super-agent called Mitch Rapp. An action packed and fast paced series.



The second book in the Lunar chronicles. The first book was Cinder (based on Cinderella), this one was loosely based on Little Red Riding Hood fairy tale. The difference is that these fairy tales are based in a world where cyborgs exist, and the monsters from the moon led by an evil queen have devious plans for the population of earth.

I have continued reading the Outlander series with the third and fourth instalments of this historical fiction series with a touch of time travel - fantastic reading.

I finished the WWW trilogy by Robert Sawyer - I really enjoy this series of books featuring a sixteen year old blind mathematical genius. This series was about the emerging consciousness of the world wide web - an entity known as Web-Mind.

I find it hard to put these books down - I have read about five of these this year - the Black Dagger Brotherhood. Very much erotic-romance mixed with vampires and the supernatural. Can't wait for her to write more of these - I've run out!

I read the rest of the Mortal Instruments Series, which of course has now been made into a movie series starting with the City of Bones. There is apparently a sixth book of this series coming out.

The Bloodlines series - a spin-off from the Vampire Academy books. I think I actually like this series better. Features the relationship between an alchemist and a vampire. They are releasing the first Vampire Academy movie in 2014 - but I must say it doesn't look anything like I imagined!

I finished reading Michael Grant's Gone Series - a series of six books. One day everyone over the age of 14 disappears and a dome appears over Perado Beach - this series is the story of the children and their fight for survival against starvation, lies, plagues and more. 

I am very much a Preston & Child fan - have read all but two of the Pendergast novels featuring Agent Pendergast of the FBI.

This book was the third installment in the Steampunk Chronicles. Set in 1897 steampunk version of London, and continuing the tales of a young duke and his entourage;s fight against the evil Machinist and his automatons.

Best Restaurants in 2013

My vote is definitely for Soju Girl in Civic. It's located on Northbourne Avenue and is what I like to call new vogue Asian cuisine featuring Asian tapas dishes. Very tasty and innovative. Dave and I enjoy coming here every school holidays when the girls are in Goulburn, and we have taken them here twice as well. Their desserts are also very special - and we normally order a few of them!

My personal favourite is the Smoked Trout in Betel Leaf with Coconut Chilli Dressing:

Dave loves this one, the Katsu of Chicken with Kimchee and Pineapple Caramel:

 And the girls always eat a whole bowl of edamame beans:

We have also enjoyed two really nice meals at the Thai restaurant - just outside of Belconnen Mall - Chong Co Thai. It's a fairly large restaurant - but the service is quick and the food is fantastic.

As far as Sydney restaurants go, it's pretty hard to go past Braza - the Brazillian BBQ restaurant, where you can eat as much BBQ meat and side dishes as you can fit in. There is a selection of 28 different meats. If you are there on Saturday night, you are also entertained with some very scantily clad dancers and drummers (both male and female). This picture is of a recent trip where we went to Braza with our friends Mark and Michelle, and their boys Liam and Shaun. We also went with Les and Julie of course! Jazz will try almost anything once - this time she tried the chicken heart (one of the 28 meats you can try!)

Best Casual Dining in 2013

Two casual dining places stand out for me this year - Grill'd, who do excellent burgers and are located at all the town centres. The girls also love to eat here, especially Jasmin, who enjoys a good burger.

The second place I would recommend is Guzman Y Gomez - a Mexican joint located in Civic (where they also do slushie Sangria and Margaritas), and now opened in Belconnen Mall. Very nice Mexican food! Once again Dave and I tend to eat here when the girls are in Goulburn, and now when we eat at the food court in Belconnen - we will definitely be eating here.

Best Songs for 2013

Looking back over my playlists for the year I've narrowed the best songs down to the following (this is based on how often both me and the girls listened to these songs in the car):

Hall of Fame - The Script
I Cry - Flo Rida
Skyfall - Adele
Beneath Your Beautiful - Labrinth
When I Was Your Man - Bruno Mars
Crazy Kids - Ke$ha
Feel This Moment - Pitbull
Walks Like Rihanna - The Wanted
Thank You - MKTO
Still Into You - Paramore
Acapella - Karmin
23 - Mike Will Made It
Burn - Ellie Goulding
Timber - Pitbull
Warrior - Havanna Brown
The Monster - Eminem
Hey Brother - Avicii

Best Movies for 2013

The best movie for this year for me was definitely Star Trek Into Darkness. I could watch this one over and over.

Other favourite movies released this year included:

Pacific Rim - LOL - what can I say, I just couldn't help liking this one! Probably made it onto a few worst film lists but I loved it.
Gravity - Yes, I know - what a surprise. Dave and I only went to watch this one as there was nothing else showing. Doesn't have huge rewatch value - but definitely a movie to see on the big screen.
Warm Bodies - Warm and Fuzzy Zombie movie, so cute!
The Wolverine - Got to love the Wolvie!
World War Z - edge of your seat scariness and action.
Now You See Me - I really wasn't overly enthused about watching this one, so it was a very pleasant surprise!
White House Down - my guilty pleasure. Not sure what it was about this one, I just liked it!
Iron Man 3 - loves me a good super hero movie
The Croods - this one made me laugh!







Best TV Shows for 2013

There is so much good TV at the moment, but if I had to narrow it down to a couple, my list would be:

1.  Game of Thrones
2.  Person of Interest
3.  The Blacklist
4.  Almost Human
5.  Arrow




Well I think that sums up my best of 2013 - thought I would leave it just as the best of, don't like to dwell on the worst of things myself.