Tag Archives: Washington DC

2012 The year of ups and downs

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It’s the end of 2012 and I’m on the Gold Coast with my daughters.

If any regular WordPress.com users know how to export site statistics so they can be published and uploaded to a blog I’d appreciate knowing. I’ve resorted to screen shots here. I’ve selected visits for the year, country of origin and most popular posts. The one post I’m most happy with is the post I wrote for the tenth anniversary of the Bali Bombings in October. The URL is http://garydavidlum.com/2012/10/12/the-2002-bali-bombings-my-experience-and-my-memories/
That post as well as the one titled A weekend in Darwin http://garydavidlum.com/2012/10/07/a-weekend-in-darwin/ were the most emotional pieces of writing I’ve done. I shed many tears around the time as well as belly laughs with friends who were around Darwin and Canberra in October 2002.

Visits this year Countries since February Best posts

I can’t really nominate a highlight for a food based post. Almost all of the entries in this blog are about food (I’m happy for people to tell me their favourite post). More lately there has been a certain monotony and in some ways that comes from the new “style” I’m using based on images uploaded to Instagram (IG). I find this a convenient method but it seems a little programmatic. For readers who use IG, if you’re happy with the quality of your image on IG, this is the quickest way to post on the blog. You also get the benefit that by clicking on the image all the likes and comments on the IG site become available to everyone. It used to take me ages to upload a series of images. I’m also using Notepad for Mac to write my text out in advance. It’s a simple txt based app with nothing fancy so it’s quick and reliable.

I know that I want to upgrade soon to an iPhone 5 for the improved camera and low light capability it has. Many posts have images captured with my iPad and those images are superior to the iPhone images. A good number of images from my apartment are captured with my Nikon D90 DSLR. Even the Instagram images are often from the Nikon D90. There is many a time when in a nice restaurant I have been heard to say, I don’t like the lighting because it won’t let me capture a good image. For me the dining experience has expanded beyond the enjoyment of the food and the company at the time to the technical aspects of capturing an image and then writing a review albeit in fairly loose terms on this blog. I’ve considered from time to time the notion of taking a more structured format to reviewing restaurants and eating houses, but that just isn’t me. I have no intention of monetising this blog and I never see myself as a writer so the need to take a more structured approach seems pointless. That said, if I received sufficient feedback to suggest a better way of writing, I’m always happy to receive criticism.

This year my work has been mostly interesting. While I can’t really say much about what I do, I have written about a recent change in position http://garydavidlum.com/2012/12/01/change-in-jobs/ and this year I have described some of my travel. This year I’ve travelled to Washington DC, Fort Detrick, Ottawa and Leesburg. Each time I’ve flown with United Airlines and I’ve blogged about the food and exciting experiences.

In June I also took a short holiday with two of my daughters to Daydream Island http://garydavidlum.com/2012/07/11/the-long-awaited-daydream-island-blog-post/ This was a reasonably popular post. I had so much fun snorkelling with my kids.

The site statistics also reveal that some topics are very popular like congee (jook) and wonton as well as belly pork.
http://garydavidlum.com/2011/07/03/comfort-food%E2%80%94jook-congee/
http://garydavidlum.com/2010/10/24/my-mums-wonton-recipe/
http://garydavidlum.com/2012/02/04/succulent-slow-roasted-pork-belly-with-crispy-crackling/

I’m hoping to dedicate more of 2013 to reviews of television programs and movies plus other places I may visit. While I may not travel as much as this year, I hope wherever I go, especially domestically in Australia to be able to describe something of my travel, especially the food enjoyed (or not as the case may be).

This year also saw me find and lose a GP. I’ve also had some investigations into my health with a range of diagnostic imagery and combined nuclear medicine scans and clinical examination. The outcome has been a greater concern on my part for my sleep, exercise and nutrition. I’m still evaluating how I feel about CPAP. I’m spending more time exercising and I hope everyone has noticed lately a greater emphasis on salads.

This has been another cold dry year in Canberra and my dry skin has suffered significantly. I will always say, I love the people of Canberra, I love the way Canberra is set out and its smallness and the fact it is a country-capital. I love every day I see kangaroos and some days I can see echidnas and wombats. There is never really bad traffic. The people are friendly and there are plenty of things to do, places to see and restaurants to eat in. The thing that I dislike about Canberra and the thing that will eventually see me leave is the weather. I can handle the cold, what I cannot stand is the dryness. Everyday I’m in pain from dry cracked skin. Whenever I get a chance to visit Brisbane or Darwin I feel better. As soon as the doors open on an aeroplane in Darwin I feel like a new man. I have a very good job, I have very good and understanding bosses, I work with really good people, many of whom I count as friends and my job gives me contacts with like minded colleagues around Australia and internationally. I’ll stay until I can’t stand the weather anymore.

There are a few elephants in the room that regular readers may ask about. They’re elephants and they’re in a room. They don’t like being talked about and they won’t be talked about.

I hope everyone who reads this post and this blog has had a good 2012. I hope that everyone has a bigger and better 2013. I hope to get more balance in my life to read more blogs and write more in my blog. I want to take some cooking lessons. I’m thinking of taking some photography lessons. I know I need to better balance my work and life. I need to better handle my interests in social media, especially twitter. My aim is to reduce my addiction to twitter, foursquare, getglue and Facebook.

Finally a shout out to some WordPress blogging friends who make my blogging experience so worthwhile.

Barb the salmon fishing queen Life in the Foothills http://salmonfishingqueen.wordpress.com/
Judy the amazing from petit4chocolatier http://petit4chocolatier.wordpress.com/
Mouse who I think is a distant relative judging by the food from live2eateat2eatblog http://l2ee2l.wordpress.com/
Stan or whatever his name is, he’s a Pom (said affectionately) from Happiness Stan Lives Here who I think was meant to be my brother http://happinessstanlives.com/

Catch you in 2013.

Gaz

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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 :-)

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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Coming back from a week away overseas

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I got back into Canberra this morning at about 0930 AEDT. I’m very grateful to Bron for coming and picking me up and dropping me off at my place. I had an invitation to share calamari with her this evening but this afternoon I started coming down with rhinorrhoea and pharyngitis. The plan tonight is early to bed and hopefully I’ll have a reasonable sleep.

On Wednesday night in Washington I did not sleep at all. Not a wink. I ended up watching American television in all its glory. I think I watched alligator catchers, barehanded catfish catchers (noodling), a guy in Colorado who has more guns and flame throwers than anyone else in the world, a show comparing the AK-47 against other assault rifles and loads of cooking programs.

On Thursday morning, I had a free session so I walked >12 km around all the museums and monuments in Washington DC. So on the flight home my thighs were really aching. It all meant though I slept on the flight between LAX and SYD. A little over six hours straight. That is remarkable for me. There was also a screaming baby next to me as well. That said, when I woke up, there were no smiles. I figure my snoring kept everyone else awake. No one was brave enough to nudge me, or if they did I was so out of it I didn’t stir at all.

Today all I’ve done is wash clothes and towels and put stuff away. I wasn’t sure what to prepare for dinner. Before I go away I usually clean out my refrigerator and throw old stuff away. When I was a kid we come home to a failed freezer and I’ve never forgotten the rancid putrefying odours. I had a small piece of pork in the freezer and a sweet potato in the pantry. I went and did a little grocery shopping and bought a small tub of sour cream, some chives and some extra vegetables.

I really could not be bothered slow roasting the pork. I was too tired and not in the mood. I pulled out my pressure cooker and put the pork in that. I added some celery, carrot and potato along with onion and baby leeks. I had the pressure cooker go for about 45 minutes. As I was releasing the pressure I cooked some sweet potato in boiling water and then pureed it with my Bamix™ after adding a little butter and sour cream. I also cooked some baby broccoli too.

Mashed sweet potato made with sour cream, butter and chives

This was nice and rustic with good texture. 

Boiled pork with mash and broccoli

I plated this in a large white bowl. 

Okay, it’s time to wash the dishes and get ready for bed or maybe a soak in the bath tub.

 

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Interesting things I’ve noticed in Washington DC

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I have not seen a McDonalds fast food restaurant in Washington. I know they must exist but I’ve been overwhelmed by the number of Starbucks outlets.

I have not seen many smokers. I can only recall one.

Does this mean residents of Washington DC are more health conscious?

 

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Washington DC is a beautiful city

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Okay for regular readers this is not a food blog post. I’m here in the capital of the USA for a work meeting. It’s one of the important aspects of the job in terms of developing and maintaining relationships with international colleagues.

On Monday morning I had a few hours spare before my first meeting so I went for a long walk which took in the Smithsonian Institute’s Air and Space Museum. I have always wanted to visit this particular museum. I remember as a child reading encyclopædias about flight and space travel and dreaming of seeing some of the historic artefacts in a Smithsonian museum. While walking there I could see The White House and Washington Monument while walking down 16th Street NW. Along the way I passed the Freedom Plaza and noted the Occupy Freedom Plaza and Occupy Washington protestors. It looks like the sanitation workers of Washington are very busy. On the way to the museum I passed the Capitol Building and many other major government buildings. Washington has beautiful architecture. It befits the capital of a country in terms of grandeur and presence. I really would like to come back to Washington and spend more time to look around. Maybe one day when I win lotto I’ll enjoy a holiday and visit the US, Canada and the UK and do a super tour.

I suppose I should say something about the food I’ve eaten. It’s basically been plain diner food. Last night I did go to a meeting and had a hotel dinner. It was a steak and then cheesecake. It was okay, but I could get exactly the same food in Australia. I know that various parts of the US have their own cuisine, I don’t get the impression that Washington DC is known for its food culture. I’d love to visit New Orleans and try their food. I’ve visited New Mexico and enjoyed their take on Mexican cuisine. Last year I visited Mexico City and enjoyed a few Mexican dishes.

From 16th Street NW

The Capitol Building

Smithsonian Institute's Air and Space Museum

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Succulent Slow-Roasted Pork Belly with Crispy Crackling

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Tonight Bron prepared Succulent Slow-Roasted Pork Belly with Crispy Crackling from www.allrecipes.com.au I think she has been thinking about this meal for some time and started telling me about it yesterday. Today while I was packing to go to Washington DC all I could think about was tonight’s dinner. I love pork and pork belly is close to the best part. It’s true I love the trotters, hock, bacon, ham, chops, roast shoulder, roast leg, pork sausages, pigs ears and just about all the other parts of a pig; the belly pork is always so tasty and the meat just falls apart and melts in your mouth.

Rested and getting to room temperature. The apples and the orange are important for the sauce.

I like how dedicated Bron was with the score lines.

Pork resting on apples and onions

Ready for the oven and four hours of slow roasting

Still not completely cooked, this is just an inspection

Cooked, resting and ready for carving or more accurately bluntly dissecting

The crackling was very crispy. The meat was easily pulled apart and a carving knife was hardly necessary.

Okay on the cutting board, now it's ready to cut

The crackling was so nicely done it just fell away from the flesh.

Plated up with the sauce, broccoli and sweet potatoes

The finished product looked and tasted magnificent. The sauce was sweet but too sweet.

For dessert Bron wanted to use a few pears that were getting a little too ripe. She chose a Jamie Oliver recipe, viz., baked pears with wine and a scrumptious walnut cream. It was delicious.

baked pears with wine walnut cream

Overall a culinary triumph in my humble opinion.

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