Well it's been an eventful number of months since my last post.
I finally got my ass in gear and went and visited a couple of other towns in the area, Weymouth and Portsmouth. Both of which are very nice.
Weymouth is a beach side resort town. In terms of atmosphere, it's very reminiscent of Bondi. Lots of cafes and pubs and people hanging out. The only difference is that the beach is much narrower but a lot longer. There's also no surfie culture mainly because there's no surf.
Portsmouth, the home of the Royal Navy, hasn't got a whole lot to offer besides the dockyards and Gunwharf Quay. This place is one huge shopping area full of discount brand name stores. Excellent for picking up slightly out of season gear at a bargain price.
However despite all that, I've had to take a temporary respite from my sojourn in the UK. As a result of the crappy economic climate over there, the government in its infinite wisdom has rejected my company's request for a work permit to be issued for me. As a result I've had to return home for a couple of months to acquire a 3 year highly skilled worker's visa. That went in last week and now I have that interminable wait to get that approved.
At least it hasn't been boring. Lots of catching up with the uni boys and girls, old workmates, extended family etc.
I think leaving this time will be harder than last time, then again who knows?
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
And so Korea became a longer than expected vacation
Time to fill in those who actually read this and don't know what's been going on.
The original vacation was meant to be only from January 21 till February 1. It was supposed to be a 3 day snow board trip including the Lunar New Year and then a week hanging out with my brother.
Lo and behold what ended up happening I crashed while snowboarding and opened a wound in my left butt cheek almost 25cm long and 7cm deep, I lost almost a litre of blood, which was quite a spectacular sight when its sprayed all over the snow. The muscle in there was pretty much severed. Despite that, it was one of those freakish lucky wounds. An inch more to one side and I would have cut in to my neurovascular system and even if I didn't bleed to death I probably would have lost the ability to control my leg. Thats according to my doctor, who is one of the senior surgeons in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery. That ended up costing me a 2 week stay in hospital. Now that I'm out, I have another 2 and a half months before the muscle is fully knitted up.
This little adventure into the Korean health system has left me in a great deal of debt to a lot of pepole. Big Uncle Gerry for one whose contacts with the doctors over here enabled me to be put in the care of the senior most surgeon of the department. Bev's friend Cho Hee Jin who I owe so much that I doubt I can repay her in this lifetime. Without her to help translate and arrange stuff I'd be hella lost. And of course Bevvy boy who's put up with all the tiresome chores of taking care of his dopey-ass brother.
The original vacation was meant to be only from January 21 till February 1. It was supposed to be a 3 day snow board trip including the Lunar New Year and then a week hanging out with my brother.
Lo and behold what ended up happening I crashed while snowboarding and opened a wound in my left butt cheek almost 25cm long and 7cm deep, I lost almost a litre of blood, which was quite a spectacular sight when its sprayed all over the snow. The muscle in there was pretty much severed. Despite that, it was one of those freakish lucky wounds. An inch more to one side and I would have cut in to my neurovascular system and even if I didn't bleed to death I probably would have lost the ability to control my leg. Thats according to my doctor, who is one of the senior surgeons in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery. That ended up costing me a 2 week stay in hospital. Now that I'm out, I have another 2 and a half months before the muscle is fully knitted up.
This little adventure into the Korean health system has left me in a great deal of debt to a lot of pepole. Big Uncle Gerry for one whose contacts with the doctors over here enabled me to be put in the care of the senior most surgeon of the department. Bev's friend Cho Hee Jin who I owe so much that I doubt I can repay her in this lifetime. Without her to help translate and arrange stuff I'd be hella lost. And of course Bevvy boy who's put up with all the tiresome chores of taking care of his dopey-ass brother.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Just a quickie
So, my travels continue. Right now I am sitting at Chek Lap Kok Airport in Hong Kong tapping furiously a quick update. My flight to Seoul Incheon Airport should be boarding imminently. The first leg of the journey was a 12 hour flight lengthwise across Europe and into Russia before swinging south through the Xinjiang and Xizang autonomous regions in China.
Being winter time, the sun sets quite early that far north. The night scape across mainland Europe was a sight to behold. Large stretches of darkness extend in all directions broken by patches of golden and white light where the towns and cities lay far below. Of all the times I've flown, and there are a lot of them, this time I saw one of the most amazng sights. A city below, possibly in Ukraine lay beneath us. A small patch of cloud covered the city and the lights from the city illuminated the clouds in a golden halo. Too bad there wasn't enough light for me to get any images of it, but the ethereal beauty of it pretty much ingrained itself into my brain.
The second sight that was breathtaking was the sight of the moon from 33000 feet. From that high up, the air is so still and the clarity of the ghostly moonlight was something to see. It was the first time I had ever seen the moon from that high up. And not to forget the starlight. Although I couldn't see a whole lot of them.
Anyway time to board the plane!!
Being winter time, the sun sets quite early that far north. The night scape across mainland Europe was a sight to behold. Large stretches of darkness extend in all directions broken by patches of golden and white light where the towns and cities lay far below. Of all the times I've flown, and there are a lot of them, this time I saw one of the most amazng sights. A city below, possibly in Ukraine lay beneath us. A small patch of cloud covered the city and the lights from the city illuminated the clouds in a golden halo. Too bad there wasn't enough light for me to get any images of it, but the ethereal beauty of it pretty much ingrained itself into my brain.
The second sight that was breathtaking was the sight of the moon from 33000 feet. From that high up, the air is so still and the clarity of the ghostly moonlight was something to see. It was the first time I had ever seen the moon from that high up. And not to forget the starlight. Although I couldn't see a whole lot of them.
Anyway time to board the plane!!
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Updaaaaate
Okaaay, I've been lax in my writing duties. I put this down to moving house.
Just before xmas I managed to rent a lovely little 1 bedroom apartment. Course it's costing me a bit of a bomb every month not to mention bills bills bills and more effing bills, but at least I don't have to put up with one little indian girl with a big arse (if I said "with a big ass" it would sound like she owned a donkey or something) stomping up stairs louder than a chimney collapsing, nor a fat couple who had a habit of blocking the hallways whenever they left their room. That's how fat they were. Nor a chubby indian girl (another one) who lisped and had a tendency to repeat her sentences. "Oh yah Australia is so sunny with all that sun" and rubbish like that, despite that she was ok to chat to.
Now I live in a nice quiet street with little traffic (the old place was next to a train yard and on a direct approach line for all the planes landing at Southampton Airport) and the only neighbours are a family of three who are fairly quiet, or that might just be the insulation. I won't post pics yet cos it's still barely furnished.
It took me about 2 weeks to get internet connected mainly because British Telecom or BT decided that everything was ok at their end but didn't check the exchange just up the road, idiots, so they had to get someone to work on boxing day, poor bastard. Still at least I am now reconnected to the information superhighway.
These days I feel more settled in. I guess it's having a place to call home, well sort of since home is really 15000km away on the other side of the planet. Having my own stuff, my own space. Funny how material possessions can give you the impression of a home. It's not entirely home yet since it is still not properly furnished. I only bought a bed, a futon mattress, this thing is awesome, doubles as a couch and lounging...thing. I haven't got anything else besides this. The bedroom is still empty since I do everything in the living room which is directly connected to the kitchen it's more convenient, especially as all the doors autoshut. It helps manage the central heating better so you're wasting heat, heating other parts of the apartment when noone's around. The bathroom is kickarse, I have a bathtub long enough to stretch out in so it's a bit of an indulgence to lounge around in one every now and then, especially as coming from a drought ridden state baths were too costly to really bother with.
Workwise, I feel more part of the team now. Helen, and her fiance Andy who has since left, being my mentors, which feels odd sometimes since they're the same age as me, helped me a lot. It's odd looking at the two of them, she towers over even me and I'm not short, and Andy is shorter than me. Sometimes reminds me of Rob Schneider and the "omg it's Bigfoot!" lady from Deuce Bigolo. Not to forget the other Andy who returned to the company having left a year or so ago to go home to Singapore. Since I work with them closely we hang out together as often as not and being the same age helps too.
The highlights that are coming up are an impending visit to that odd little asian nation, Korea, to go snowboarding with my lil bro, damn I miss that boy and in a few months a return home!!
Just before xmas I managed to rent a lovely little 1 bedroom apartment. Course it's costing me a bit of a bomb every month not to mention bills bills bills and more effing bills, but at least I don't have to put up with one little indian girl with a big arse (if I said "with a big ass" it would sound like she owned a donkey or something) stomping up stairs louder than a chimney collapsing, nor a fat couple who had a habit of blocking the hallways whenever they left their room. That's how fat they were. Nor a chubby indian girl (another one) who lisped and had a tendency to repeat her sentences. "Oh yah Australia is so sunny with all that sun" and rubbish like that, despite that she was ok to chat to.
Now I live in a nice quiet street with little traffic (the old place was next to a train yard and on a direct approach line for all the planes landing at Southampton Airport) and the only neighbours are a family of three who are fairly quiet, or that might just be the insulation. I won't post pics yet cos it's still barely furnished.
It took me about 2 weeks to get internet connected mainly because British Telecom or BT decided that everything was ok at their end but didn't check the exchange just up the road, idiots, so they had to get someone to work on boxing day, poor bastard. Still at least I am now reconnected to the information superhighway.
These days I feel more settled in. I guess it's having a place to call home, well sort of since home is really 15000km away on the other side of the planet. Having my own stuff, my own space. Funny how material possessions can give you the impression of a home. It's not entirely home yet since it is still not properly furnished. I only bought a bed, a futon mattress, this thing is awesome, doubles as a couch and lounging...thing. I haven't got anything else besides this. The bedroom is still empty since I do everything in the living room which is directly connected to the kitchen it's more convenient, especially as all the doors autoshut. It helps manage the central heating better so you're wasting heat, heating other parts of the apartment when noone's around. The bathroom is kickarse, I have a bathtub long enough to stretch out in so it's a bit of an indulgence to lounge around in one every now and then, especially as coming from a drought ridden state baths were too costly to really bother with.
Workwise, I feel more part of the team now. Helen, and her fiance Andy who has since left, being my mentors, which feels odd sometimes since they're the same age as me, helped me a lot. It's odd looking at the two of them, she towers over even me and I'm not short, and Andy is shorter than me. Sometimes reminds me of Rob Schneider and the "omg it's Bigfoot!" lady from Deuce Bigolo. Not to forget the other Andy who returned to the company having left a year or so ago to go home to Singapore. Since I work with them closely we hang out together as often as not and being the same age helps too.
The highlights that are coming up are an impending visit to that odd little asian nation, Korea, to go snowboarding with my lil bro, damn I miss that boy and in a few months a return home!!
Thursday, November 27, 2008
London Philharmonic Orchestra
One thing that London is particularly famous for is its orchestras, both the Symphony and the Philharmonic Orchestra. Last night I went to see the Philharmonic with my cousin Lilian. To be in touch with out classier side, we'd booked box seats with a wonderful view of the stage.
The orchestra played 3 pieces
Debussy's Le Martyre de Saint Sebastien
Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor
Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6 (Pathetique)
Debussy's piece was haunting and depressing in some parts but overall it was a fairly placid piece.
Rachmaninov's concerto is probably one of my favourite pieces of all the classical music that I know. The concerto is a piano solo backed by the orchestra. The soloist that night was a french lady Helene Grimaud. It's a 3 movement piece that has a powerful opening movement with strong piano playing required and though I'd listened to it quite a lot, the difficulty of this piece was staggering. The speed that her hands needed to move and the precision was awe inspiring. The 2nd movement is more thoughtful, and flowing and in general a very relaxing piece. The 3rd movement was a brisk lively piece, joyous and bouncy.
Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto no. 2 in C Minor 1st movement Moderato
This is a recording of Rachmaninoff himself playing his concerto with the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra in 1929
Tchaikovsky's Symphony no. 6 was first performed 9 days before he died. It's a fairly subdued piece punctuated with bursts of incredible vigour before sinking again. It was quite a difficult piece to follow sometimes, but nonetheless still a pleasure to listen to.
It was certainly a fine experience and I'll certainly be going again
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Holy meal time batman!
Hokai, it's time for another round of whats in my bowl/plate/chopsticks. For the most part I won't have quantities because unless I am baking a cake, which I haven't done yet, cooking is more about mood. Some days I'm into stronger tasting stuff other days I'm not. Quantity wise if I make too much then I have left overs for lunch the next day. Sweet!
So here goes
First of all is my variant Thai Redd Curry Chicken vermicelli.
What's involved
150-250g piece of skinless chicken breast, diced or sliced
Red Curry paste
Coconut milk
Bamboo shoots, sliced
1 medium sized onion sliced
spring onions or shallots sliced
chilli, chopped fine
vermicelli
How to make it
This is a stupidly simple dish to make. Heat up a pan and fry the curry paste for a bit then toss in the cocount milk. If you're brave, like me, then at the time the curry paste is frying toss in the chilli and fry that for a bit to really get the heat up. Bring the whole concoction to a boil, then add the chicken, if the chilli wasn't added during the fry up add them now. Let the mix come back to a boil then add the onions and bamboo shoots. At this stage prepare the vermicelli by boiling some water and soaking the noodles in them until soft, drain well.
Once the curry is reduced a bit, or the chicken is cooked and tender, it's pretty much ready to serve. Just pile all the stuff into a bowl and voila! Snow peas are a good addition to this dish
Next up, Spaghetti Puttanesca
Whats involved
Tomato mix, either peeled tomatoes or premixed tomatos
Olives, sliced or whole doesn't matter, about a half dozen if you want to slice them, a few more if you want to keep them whole
Capers, rinsed and drained, probably about 1-2 tablespoons full. Too many and the dish becomes too sour
Anchovies, chopped roughly
garlic, for one person probably about 2 cloves, finely chopped
Spaghetti
chilli
How to make it
This is another simple dish to make. Over medium heat, gently fry the garlic and anchovies for a minute or two then add the tomato paste/canned tomatoes/fresh chopped tomatoes. Bring the mix to a boil. I used whole canned peeled tomatoes once, so I had to chop them up as they were cooking. Once bubbling away nicely, add the chilli, olives and capers. Do the usual seasoning. You made need to add some sugar if it tastes too sour.
Prepare some spaghetti in the usual way. Because the sauce cooks fairly quickly, you can start on the spaghetti at about the same time as you start cooking the sauce.
Unlike bolognese where the sauce has huge chunks of meat, this one is more liquid so it's possible to cook the spaghetti to just short of al dente and then drain it out then add it to the sauce and finish cooking it the rest of the way like that.
Variation
For a more carnivorous version, I added in chunks of diced chicken. The chicken should be added before the sauce has reduced otherwise the chicken becomes tough.
Stir fried Chicken Egg Noodle (although the stuff I used looks like Ramen)
Whats involved
Diced chicken breast
Onion
spring onion
Chinese cooking wine and fish sauce.
corn flour
chicken stock
finely sliced ginger
Making it
Before cooking, soak the chicken in the cooking wine and fish sauce. I only did it for 20min or so while I was chopping the veges, but obviously you can do it for longer. There's no major skill involved in cooking this meal. Soften the onions with the ginger and throw in the chicken, stir fry until chicken is cooked on the outside. Add in a cup or so of chicken stock and boil for a bit to reduce it and intensify the flavour. Add in the corn flour mixed with water to thicken. Not too much else it will look like glue.
Boil some water and soak the egg noodles in it till they're soft, then drain. Now if you want to, you can toss the noodles in a hot well oiled pan with some salt for a few minutes to make them toasty or just throw it straight on a plate and pour the chicken sauce on top. I recommend the first option. It tastes better.
Until next meal time, gochizousama!
So here goes
First of all is my variant Thai Redd Curry Chicken vermicelli.
What's involved
150-250g piece of skinless chicken breast, diced or sliced
Red Curry paste
Coconut milk
Bamboo shoots, sliced
1 medium sized onion sliced
spring onions or shallots sliced
chilli, chopped fine
vermicelli
How to make it
This is a stupidly simple dish to make. Heat up a pan and fry the curry paste for a bit then toss in the cocount milk. If you're brave, like me, then at the time the curry paste is frying toss in the chilli and fry that for a bit to really get the heat up. Bring the whole concoction to a boil, then add the chicken, if the chilli wasn't added during the fry up add them now. Let the mix come back to a boil then add the onions and bamboo shoots. At this stage prepare the vermicelli by boiling some water and soaking the noodles in them until soft, drain well.
Once the curry is reduced a bit, or the chicken is cooked and tender, it's pretty much ready to serve. Just pile all the stuff into a bowl and voila! Snow peas are a good addition to this dish
Next up, Spaghetti Puttanesca
Whats involved
Tomato mix, either peeled tomatoes or premixed tomatos
Olives, sliced or whole doesn't matter, about a half dozen if you want to slice them, a few more if you want to keep them whole
Capers, rinsed and drained, probably about 1-2 tablespoons full. Too many and the dish becomes too sour
Anchovies, chopped roughly
garlic, for one person probably about 2 cloves, finely chopped
Spaghetti
chilli
How to make it
This is another simple dish to make. Over medium heat, gently fry the garlic and anchovies for a minute or two then add the tomato paste/canned tomatoes/fresh chopped tomatoes. Bring the mix to a boil. I used whole canned peeled tomatoes once, so I had to chop them up as they were cooking. Once bubbling away nicely, add the chilli, olives and capers. Do the usual seasoning. You made need to add some sugar if it tastes too sour.
Prepare some spaghetti in the usual way. Because the sauce cooks fairly quickly, you can start on the spaghetti at about the same time as you start cooking the sauce.
Unlike bolognese where the sauce has huge chunks of meat, this one is more liquid so it's possible to cook the spaghetti to just short of al dente and then drain it out then add it to the sauce and finish cooking it the rest of the way like that.
Variation
For a more carnivorous version, I added in chunks of diced chicken. The chicken should be added before the sauce has reduced otherwise the chicken becomes tough.
Stir fried Chicken Egg Noodle (although the stuff I used looks like Ramen)
Whats involved
Diced chicken breast
Onion
spring onion
Chinese cooking wine and fish sauce.
corn flour
chicken stock
finely sliced ginger
Making it
Before cooking, soak the chicken in the cooking wine and fish sauce. I only did it for 20min or so while I was chopping the veges, but obviously you can do it for longer. There's no major skill involved in cooking this meal. Soften the onions with the ginger and throw in the chicken, stir fry until chicken is cooked on the outside. Add in a cup or so of chicken stock and boil for a bit to reduce it and intensify the flavour. Add in the corn flour mixed with water to thicken. Not too much else it will look like glue.
Boil some water and soak the egg noodles in it till they're soft, then drain. Now if you want to, you can toss the noodles in a hot well oiled pan with some salt for a few minutes to make them toasty or just throw it straight on a plate and pour the chicken sauce on top. I recommend the first option. It tastes better.
Until next meal time, gochizousama!
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