2011 iPhone holiday snaps.

The 'silly season' has come and gone in this sunbaked part of the world. Aradhna and I were originally supposed to be in Hobart, Tasmania for 6 days after Christmas but her mom had her gall bladder removed on Christmas Eve eve so we made a surprise visit to Sydney instead. I have yet to replace the camera that was stolen in Fiji so y'all have to settle for iPhone shots. (Damn that's pretentious.) The photo above was taken outside Gattica a week before Christmas. It will never feel right to write Christmas cards beneath warm sunlight at an outdoor cafe ... but I'll always enjoy the outstanding Melbourne coffee.

Our neighborhood is a central gathering place for what is by far Australia's largest Jewish population. Balaclava, and the surroudning suburbs of St Kilda and Caulfield, were havens for Holocaust survivors after WWII and have seen a continuous influx of orthodox Jews. One of the shops on Carlisle Street around the corner from our place had these 2 giant inflatable dradles in the window before Hannukah.

Aradhna and I christened a new Christmas cuisine: Turkey curry! Aradhna said she liked it and compared it favorably with my chicken curry. Before Aradhna's parents became vegans she was raised on her mom's variety of meat curries, so I never take her praise for granted.

Waiting for Aradhna's sister Upa to pick us up at Sydney airport on Christmas Day. It was especially satisfying to watch my wife cause at least a dozen cases of whiplash as she walked through Melbourne and Sydney airports.

Aradhna and I met friends Peter and Allison in Parramatta for lunch and made the mistake of choosing Parramatta Westfield to park in. Call me a curmudgeon but I couldn't imagine being in a place where more holiday spirit gets sucked down a drain than a massive mall 2 days after Christmas.

Parramatta holds many memories as it was the first place I ever got to know during my initial visit to Oz in February, 2005, so it was good to see the old Town Hall looking freshly painted and festively adorned.

Aradhna and I enjoyed refreshments as we awaited Peter and Allison to join us. Any hesitations on my part to deviate from healthy eating and drinking during the holidays were met with this plea: "But it's Chriiiisssssstmas!" Little wonder my wife's found success as a salesperson. Or I'm just a sap.

We met up with Radhika (shown here with Aradhna) and her husband Vipin and their lovely daughter Neha (shown below) at Ettamogah Pub in Kellyville Ridge. My in-laws built a house in the northwest Sydney suburb in 2005 and moved in early the following year. Radhika and Vipin moved there in 2010. Ettamogah, within walking distance to both homes, is an Aussie drinking barn with a children's playing area that's the size of a school's playground. Aradhna and Radhika have been friends since growing up in Nausori, Fiji together.

Neha spent the better part of 2 hours racing around the play area with Upa's son Jay, whom I neglected to photograph. Jay flirted like mad. Why wouldn't he? Neha's a stunner!

I flew home to Melbourne 2 days before Aradhna. While catsitters from Lonely Pets Club did their usual fine job looking after Theo and Oscar they're still cats and therefore dislike change. Theo, as shown here, nestled himself into my armpit whenever possible. Oscar shot looks that said, "Don't ever do that again. You bastard."

Clingy cats, defined: They'd be waiting for me in the bedroom as soon as I shut out the living room lights.