Tag Archives: Twitter

Wanton Wonton Wonderfulness

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The last week and a bit has been huge. On Thursday and Friday 25 and 26 October I was at Mt Macedon at a Disaster Intelligence Master Class run by the Australian Emergency Management Institute (AEMI). This was an excellent two days meeting new colleagues and networking.

On Sunday 28 October I flew back to Melbourne for another three nights stay. For the last few months I’ve been involved in the preparation for a week of meetings with international colleagues covering a week of meetings in Melbourne and Canberra. On Thursday I hosted a full day meeting with international visitors. I am so grateful to a small cadre of work mates who behind the scenes got all the logistics sorted out in quick time.

So my week has been full on and my eating has been atrocious. The only day when it approached okay was Thursday when I had some control over the food at the breaks and lunch. We served fruit platters and sandwiches with “healthful” fillings. On the other days when other agencies were in charge we enjoyed cream filled biscuits, cream filled pastries, doughnuts, cakes and slices. The lunches were also very filling.

To top off a very full and mentally stressful week I had arranged to visit my kids in Brisbane this weekend. That has meant a lot of fun and really very little time for rest and sleep. The other benefit has been a rebalance of my twitter statistics. Last week saw very little social media activity so I’ve made up for it over the weekend, especially on Twitter and Instagram.

Anyway, so here I am in Brisbane this weekend. What I had not realised was that my two younger brothers would also be in town. They were sorting some things out for my parents. To give you some context. I’m the eldest of three sons. Brother 2 is two years younger than me and Brother 3 is six years younger than me. Brother 2 is a medical practitioner based in Cairns and Brother 3 is in Brisbane’s building and construction industry.

At lunch Brother 2 sent me an iMessage asking if I wanted wonton for dinner. Earlier in the day we had discussed having dinner at Eatons Hill Hotel where Miss17 was doing work experience. They didn’t have a table so we elected to go to our tried and true Kedron-Wavell RSL. My guess is that Brother 2 and Brother 3 had a chat between themselves and cooked up a scheme, a scheme that would suit me just fine.

Brother 3 has become a master of wonton making. He has friends who ask him to make wonton for them. Brother 3 essentially follows Mum’s recipe. Brother 2 however, prefers a variation on Mum’s recipe. Brother 2 like me enjoys adding texture to our food. We’re also fans of coriander (cilantro) while Mum isn’t. Brother 2 tends to add raw finely sliced ginger and bamboo shoots to augment the crunch of the water chestnuts.

In the end we stayed with Mum’s recipe given we were eating with Mum and Dad.

While we were out Miss 17 needed to my a birthday card. I saw one that caught my eye.

Card shopping with Miss17

(Instagram)

We also enjoyed a high carbohydrate lunch from a local Japanese Bakery.

Japanese bacon wrap

Lunch. Japanese bacon wrap.

(Instagram)

Custard platypus

Custard platypus

(Instagram)

After lunch we were in need of Ice Cream so we went to Cold Rock Ice Creamery at Chermside.

Queensland nut (macadamia) and mint Freddo frog

(Instagram)

I asked Miss15 to capture an image of me buying ice cream.

Buying ice cream with the kids

When we arrived back at my parent’s place you could smell the food preparation from the corridor.

As we entered we were confronted with a tower of wonton wrapper.

I wondered if they had bought enough. Eight packets of fifty wrappers.

I wonder if my brothers bought enough wonton wrappers? Eight packets of fifty.

(Instagram)

Brother 2 had bought some pork mince but it was too lean so he got some pork belly and hand minced it in the traditional family way. With two meat cleavers. This is the BEST way to mince meat. It also builds muscles and annoys neighbours and tests the sturdiness of kitchen tables.

Meat cleavers used to mince the pork belly.

The final filling. Go to my Mum’s recipe for the details.

As the team were getting into making the wonton Miss11 and Miss15 wanted to have a go.

Then the experts showed them how.

We had tray upon tray and made about 400 wonton

We have tray upon tray upon tray of wonton

(Instagram)

The masters at work

The masters at work. #wonton

(Instagram)

Before I drove Miss17 to work experienced she and I were given a tasting bowl at about 1500 AEST.

Miss17 is having another lunch before work experience.

(Instagram)

When I got back dinner was ready and this is my first serving. So much better than restaurant portions.

Amazing wonton soup.

(Instagram)

I also needed a second serve at about 1900 AEST.

Seconds. Yes please.

(Instagram)

Did I mention the pork bones? They were fall off the bone tasty.

There were some wonton left over and my brothers and daughters have a liking for cold freshly made and cooked wonton from the refrigerator. Whenever I do it I get visions of Nigella Lawson going back to her refrigerator late at night.

Needless to say we slept well and still feel full. Mum and Dad though thought I needed a big breakfast.

Mum had been planning this for a little while. She grinned as she brought food from the refrigerator and was pretty happy when she saw my smile. She’d been to the butcher and got some lamb’s fry. As many readers know I like my offal and nice lamb’s fry is hard to come by. Mum has seasoned some flour with salt and pepper and coated the liver and then kept it in the refrigerator overnight. This morning she gently pan fried it and served it with bacon, sausages, scrambled eggs and a grilled tomato. It was delicious.

Awesome lambs fry breakfast. @DrOffal was in his element. 😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃

(Instagram)

Needless to say my daughters are not great fans of offal. I pondered whether Dr Offal should post this on his blog, but figured it was better suited to this post.

A note about this post. I’ve used a new WordPress.com feature. WordPress.com users can now embed Instagram images into their blog posts. This seems to work well. If you want to comment on an image in Instagram click on the image and if it’s been inserted through instagram you’ll soon see :-)

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Five years living in Canberra

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Today marks five years I’ve been living in Canberra. In 2007 I moved here from Darwin after living there since February 1996.

If you follow me on Twitter or you’re a Facebook friend you’ll know my natural habitat is any place that is warm and moist. I like living in warm humid small friendly cities. Having grown up in Brisbane (not that Brisbane is small, it’s larger than all the capitals in Australia in terms of geography), I reckon if you can survive a February and March you can live in any humid city.

Canberra is not warm and moist. Canberra is friendly but it is mostly cold and dry. I’ve lived with very dry skin all my life as well as allergic rhinitis. A dry climate is not a natural habitat for me without pain and discomfort, and medication and bucket loads of moisturiser.

Aside from the weather, Canberra is a good place to live. It’s small, it’s almost rural, it’s designed and best of all the people are friendly. Not Darwin friendly mind you, but pretty friendly. I like that as the national capital we have Eastern Grey kangaroos living all around us as well as foxes, wombats and echidnas. Having had the opportunity to visit cities like Washington DC, London and Ottawa, Canberra is not an architecturally grand or even beautiful city. It doesn’t have the capital feel that Washington DC and London have. None of that matters though, it’s our capital. More people should visit Canberra to see what goes on and then go and visit Darwin and Brisbane and far north Queensland to warm up and see really beautiful parts of the best country in the world.

So how much longer can I live here? I like my job, I like my friends here, but I don’t like the weather.

I like that one twitter follower once called me Canberra’s eating machine. That will do me :-)

Reed avocado. My verdict.

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In yesterday’s post I wrote about buying a Reed avocado for the first time. After a day of ripening with a banana I tried my first Reed avocado. When I picked it up it was still firm to hard. As I sliced through to the seed it didn’t feel green and felt like a just ripe avocado should. On cracking it open though the flesh is very light and creamy. There was also a milky substance which oozed between the skin and flesh. I had been warned of this by Instagram and Twitter friends.

The avocado accompanied a piece of skinless chicken thigh which had been in a moderate oven for forty minutes, a cob of sweet corn which had been oven cooked with the chicken too. The chicken sat on a bed of mashed potato which I had prepared through a ricer and had a little light cream and olive oil spread added.

Chicken with Reed avocado | I like my potato ‘mashed’ with a ricer, that said, I like it having a slightly rustic and rough look.

Chicken with Reed avocado | The avocado looks like it isn’t ripe, yet it is soft and creamy. I was so happy it wasn’t stringy which is what I really feared.

 

 

The flesh was soft and creamy, it didn’t have a strong flavour of avocado so this may suit some people who don’t like a strong flavour. It wasn’t stringy which was a big plus for me. The flesh itself tasted nice with the corn and potato.

I have another Reed avocado which I will use tomorrow night. We’ll see how that goes. At the moment, the Hass avocado remains the variety of choice for me.

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Daydream Island

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I’m on holidays. I’m with Miss11 and Miss15 on Daydream Island for two days. It was a great day getting here today. We flew JetStar from Brisbane to Proserpine, took a bus to Abel Point Marina and then a ferry to Daydream Island. I’ve been capturing lots of images and posting them to instagram and cross posting to Twitter and Facebook. When I get a decent wifi connection I’ll blog with photographs.

It’s bed time. Tomorrow I hope we can go to Knuckle Reef. Today’s tour was cancelled because of poor weather and rough seas. Tomorrow will be rough again but hopefully sunny.

Good night.

Gaz

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Footy food and the Decider #origin #QUEENSLANDER Queensland defeats NSW 21:20

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Tonight it was the decider. Last year Queensland won its sixth State of Origin series. This year Queensland won the first game and NSW won the second game. I’ve previously written that I really hope for a good close game and truth be told, as much as I wanted Queensland to win, NSW winning would mean that Rugby League is the winner. We need to have two strong origin sides not a lopsided competition. We need to have a game that kids can remain excited about, after all, rugby league is the greatest winter sport of all. Much more enjoyable than soccer and Aussie rules and for a spectator superior than Rugby Union. I write these things not wanting to upset readers. I just find so much satisfaction in watching a good game of rugby league.

In the end the result was right and the game was one of the most exciting nail biting games of rugby league we’ve seen. Queensland defeated NSW 21 to 20 in a very tight match.

For dinner tonight I was partially inspired by recent MasterChefAU episodes featuring dude food. I knew I needed some vegetation so there is some avocado. Otherwise it was all chicken. Chicken wings coated in oil, honey and spike.

Eight chicken wings in my fry pan. Ready for roasting. (Nikon D90)

So I put the wings into a fry pan and then put them into a hot oven (200 °C) for 30 minutes.

Nicely cooked chicken wings. (Nikon D90)

I could have just eaten the chicken but my conscious got the better of me so I added some avocado as an after thought. It’s also green :-)

Spiked chicken and avocado. (Nikon D90)

During the game it was great watching my Twitter timeline. It was fantastic seeing Lisa Curry tweeting for Queensland. I recall watching her swim when she was a school girl and I was swimming at school. She is a fantastic Queenslander.

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Tabitha’s tablet (or the Tab tab)

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Today we had a very special lunch for a very special person. Tabitha lives in Canberra and is the daughter of @sonia_with_an_i and VB Man. Amongst Canberra tweeps and many tweeps in our circle of friends around Australia we all love Sonia and Gerry. Tabitha has Hurler syndrome and is doing very well. She is due for some orthopædic procedures in the near future and will be immobilised for a long period of time.  About a year ago @t_a_n_y_a suggested we try to raise some money to get Tabitha a tablet to use while in hospital and unable to move around. We ended up agreeing on an iPad. If you know Tanya, you’ll know this was a significant decision for Captain Android. Tanya developed a website and opened a bank account for the fund. It didn’t take long for us to have the money and we just needed an opportunity to share the gift with Tabitha. Some time ago a few of us had dinner together and plotted the plan to have lunch today. I won’t name everyone who contributed, they know who they are. We had a lunch today and a good proportion of those who contributed were present to enjoy the look on Tab’s face when she opened the gift and saw what she’d been given. Her first reaction was to poke her tongue out at her older sister Rebecca which was priceless.

We had lunch at the Turkish Pide House at Jamison. The food was good and the service friendly. They were kind enough to call me this morning to confirm the reservation and the numbers. I would recommend the Turkish Pide House at Jamison for lunch and dinner.

Tanya created a card that looks like an iPad and had images of us all with our Twitter user names. (iPhone)

Sonia, Tabitha and Gerry (VB Man) (Panasonic DMC-TZ10)

Tabitha and her New iPad (iPhone)

We all hope Tabitha enjoys her new gift and enjoys the extra goodies that Tanya also provided.

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Shout out for @kecozaphoto

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I have a friend at work. Her name is Nat. She’s new to twitter (@kecozaphoto) and instagram (kecozanat). I recommend her for following. She has a great website and Facebook page. Check out her photography and lens bling at http://www.kecozaphotography.com.au/ and https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kecoza-Photography-Capture-Life/118674384815323

My thoughts on Washington DC

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A couple of Twitter friends from here in Canberra asked me for my thoughts on Washington DC. To be honest, I only spent a few days there and most of that time was in a building for meetings. Whenever I got an opportunity though I walked around. A number of friends warned me about walking around the place given there is a high crime rate in certain parts of the city. I avoided anywhere I thought looked dangerous.

I was staying in a hotel on 16th Street NW in a safe part of town and my walking was mainly around there. Check out a couple of runkeeper.com recordings.
http://runkeeper.com/user/garydlum/activity/69668430
http://runkeeper.com/user/garydlum/activity/69691924
http://runkeeper.com/user/garydlum/activity/69882793
http://runkeeper.com/user/garydlum/activity/70087336

The last record was the most extensive.

I walked past many beautiful buildings and well known institutions like the Smithsonian institutions, the Capitol Building and the White House. The Washington Monument cannot be missed on the skyline.

I was really impressed at how well planned and developed the city is. The buildings are amazing and it really feels like you’re in the capital city of a great nation. Like all major cities there is a homelessness problem and I came across many homeless men in bus shelters and there also a significant occupy movement presence, especially in the Freedom Plaza. One thing I did notice was the smell of the streets. It wasn’t just the waste product of homeless men, it was coming out of the storm water drains I think. It wasn’t foul, but it wasn’t pleasant.

The weather is similar to Canberra, although I expect in most years it would get considerably colder. Snow is a problem and while I was there there was the threat of snow, so much so, the snow ploughs were out spreading salt on the roads. On the last walk I did it was around 0 °C and I really felt it. I’ve walked around Lake Ginninderra on mornings when it was –5 °C and didn’t feel as cold as what I felt the other morning in Washington DC.

I interacted with lots of people and aside from the language problem, everyone was friendly and helpful. I spoke with a colleague who is posted in Washington and he’s really enjoying his posting and living in Washington. I noticed a Starbucks on nearly every corner, virtually no McDonalds outlets and a seemingly small number of cigarette smokers.

I think from a professional perspective I’d happily take a posting there, although that will never happen. Personally I’d like to return on a holiday and see everything properly and spend some proper time enjoying the museums, institutes and monuments. I’d really like more time to explore the place.

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Flying with United Airways

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Last year I flew with Vaustralia (now known as Virgin Australia) for a work meeting. I flew SYD to LAX and return with them. After the trip I blogged about the LAX to SYD dinner on Vaustralia.

For this recent trip I flew United. It was my first time. A Twitter friend, viz., @TinyTheCabbie asked me to write about my experience. I had never flown with United before. Friends who have told me to expect a below par experience. I went aboard after looking at the website and hoped I was boarding one of the refurbished jumbo jets. Indeed I did and I wasn’t disappointed. The business class cabin was modern and reasonably appointed. The entertainment facilities were as good as any other I’ve seen and the movie and television selection was very reasonable. The seats themselves were comfortable. The didn’t feel as spacious as Qantas seats but like most fleets now, they were flat bed seats so a decent sleep was possible. The headphones were noise cancelling and the jacks also accepted standard plugs. The power outputs accepted US, UK and AUS plugs too. There was a lack of in seat storage compartments. There was nowhere convenient to place my passport wallet and mobile telephones like Qantas and Virgin Australia seats.

In terms of service, the United attendants were more like Qantas attendants. Pretty friendly, helpful, courteous and matter of fact. They were all very mature and experienced. Well seasoned. When they weren’t doing a meal run, they kept to themselves in the galley areas. This can be contrasted with flight attendants from Virgin Australia who were all young, vivacious, and friendly; they smiled and without being ‘in your face’ were always around just when you wanted something. They also seemed to maintain the lavatories more regularly too.

For me the other difference was the food quality. I was pleasantly surprised by both experiences. The Virgin flight because it was exceptionally good and the United because I was led to expect a lot worse.

Smoked salmon entrée on the way to Los Angeles

The salad with a Caesar dressing on the way to Los Angeles

The steak on the way to Los Angeles. It was tough and dry.

The cheese "selection" on the way to Los Angeles

Poached eggs breakfast descending into Los Angeles. The yolks were firm to hard and dry.

A noodle roll and dipping sauce out of Los Angeles to Sydney

Garlic laden Caesar dressing with a little salad on the flight to Sydney.

Steak and potato cake flying back to Sydney. The meat was very tender.

Chocolate shell around pink ice cream. This was pretty nice. Not as good as the sundae on the domestic routes though. Before I fell asleep on the way back to Sydney.

Cheddar cheese omelet with corn fritter and sausage patty. Breakfast as we descend into Sydney.

I suggest you compare these meals to my description from my Vaustralia flight LAX to SYD.

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