May
17
As someone who can appreciate a good adventure and wishes to have one or two himself one day, I really enjoy reading blogs about others’ adventures. Here are a couple I’ve been reading (or re-reading in the case of one) lately:
http://ameranth.wordpress.com/ - A girl and her dog trekking across the USA, coast to coast.
http://adventureivan.com/ - One Australian vs the world. An incredibly entertaining read.
Apr
22
This time exactly one year ago I was cruising northbound on a Jetstar flight. One year on, I find myself cruising northbound once again on a Jetstar flight, albeit a much shorter one on a much smaller (and fuller) aircraft.
Instead of an intercontinental flight to an intriguing foreign land I am headed to Mackay for family time. The past year has done nothing to dull the memories. I vowed to return this year, though circumstances dictate I may have to wait until early next year. That is a bitter pill to swallow – I have been anticipating this year’s trip for a while.
One thing I never dreamed I would be doing is earning as much Japanese I have over the past 8-10 months. I can now almost hold a conversation in Japanese without cheating and referring to my (somewhat flawed) dictionary app, not to mention いま は ひらがな お べんきょう してます。
For those of you not doing it, that means “(I’m) studying hiragana at the moment.” Next up is Katakana and then I’ll start seriously tackling Kanji. I must hate myself or something. :p
The new Japanese friends I have been making are really helpful, answering all of my questions and not laughing or screaming (too much!) when I come out with something wrong, scary or rude. The following conversation (in Japanese) actually took place on Easter Monday of this year, the day I came home from visiting family in Mackay.
Innocent Japanese Girl: What did you do today?
Me: Oh, just came home after a short trip to Mackay to see my parents.
Innocent Japanese Girl: Aaaiiiieeeee! Scary!!!
Me: Um… What? My parents live in Mackay.
Now-Terrified Japanese Girl: Your… Parents?
This is about where I figure out something has gone terribly wrong.
Me: Uhm, what does Mackay mean in Japanese?
Terrified Japanese Girl: Hell, the spirit world…
Oh… OH. Whoops.
Me: Oh. It’s a town too, I didn’t mean makai!!!
Confused Japanese Girl: Really?
I get out my iPad and show her. A second later she explains to her friends before collapsing in a heap and almost crying with laughter at the whole situation. It takes the whole group about 5 minutes to settle down and the slightest mention of Mackay/makai is enough to set them off for the rest of the night.
Japanese is fun.
It’s not exactly a jaunt across the ocean to Kyoto or Tokyo but my little weekly meetup and study group are booster shots that get me by, and I still have my memories. It’s hard seeing my Japanese friends posting their photos of hanami parties and this year’s spectacular sakura blooms. A photo of Matsumoto Castle wreathed in pink blossoms on a foggy morning was especially poignant and I have spent no small amount of time over the last week in reminiscence.
It still holds the same intense pull as it did last year and I am eternally grateful for the detailed blog posts I made. I’m looking forward to going back early next year!
Apr
14
A few weeks ago I went to the Natsumatsuri that was organised by the Japan Society of the Gold Coast. While there, I bought a Japanese cookbook – today I decided to dive in and try something new. A dish inspired by a Niku-Maki recipe with a few differences.
The first and most important step is to take all of your ingredients and arrange them in an aesthetically-appealing fashion along with a rustic cutting board and a professional-looking knife. This makes you look like a pro and people are more likely to think you know what you’re doing.
As you can see, the beef is conspicuous in its absence. That was a deliberate choice on my part and not at all to do with it not yet being defrosted. Not at all. Anyway, it’s not needed until later. Now, grab your knife and slice everything finely. Any bits that are too small to roll up in your thinly-sliced beef should be put to one side in a bowl. Those are the Surplus that will be going in our Surplus Fried Rice. Roughly chop any leftover veggies and add them to your Surplus Bowl too. Try and leave the stems on the baby broccoli, but trim them to fit neatly in your beef slices. Put a saucepan of water on the stove – when it’s boiling add your rice. Keep reading while you wait for it to boil.
Make another aesthetic arrangement and photograph it for more Professional Foodie Cred.
This is our Bowl’O'Surplus – put it by the stove, things are going to speed up later on.
Now that your meat has defrosted, you can start rolling. Lay your beef slices out flat and place the thinly-sliced veggies on it like so:
Leave plenty of beef on either side, it’s important to have plenty of overlap so that the beef roll can be sealed closed when cooked. There aren’t any pesky toothpicks or skewers holding this dish together!
Put a deep frypan on the stove and add a generous slurp of oil. Peanut or sesame would be best, but I had to substitute olive. Preheat your pan to a high heat. Ensure you have soy sauce, black pepper (preferably in a grinder) and any other seasonings you like standing by. You won’t have long to use them! By now your water should have boiled and your rice should have been cooking for a little while. If it’s not, put it on now.
Preparation’s over, time to cook! Carefully place your beef rolls in the frypan, making sure to put the overlapping bits of beef down first to seal the rolls closed. That way you can turn them and move them around with wild abandon later on!
Add your seasonings! Pour soy sauce over the top and add cracked black pepper. If you have any other favourite seasonings or secret ingredients, add them now. Don’t be too light on the soy sauce, any surplus will become part of our (aptly named) Surplus Fried Rice. Be quick with this step, they cook fast! If you take too long, the veggies will wilt. 
Mmm, delicious black pepper and soy! Once the sealing is done on the overlap, turn them quickly to cook the rest of the beef and remove from the heat, placing them on a pure white plate to ensure optimal aestheticism. Take a wanky photo of your delicious food and post it on Facebook.
Do not clean your frypan! By now your rice should be done – drain and wash it if you want to, I wanted sticky fried rice so I left mine starchy. 
Dump it straight into the frypan and mix it around, absorbing all of the delicious meat juices and surplus soy sauce. Add more soy or other seasonings to taste. Dump in your Bowl’O'Surplus (you did have it next to the stove, right?) and turn down the stove to a medium heat.
Cook until the veggies are al-dente, stirring regularly. Take care to fold the rice on the bottom of the saucepan to the top of the mix – it’s fried rice, not burnt rice!
Once everything is cooked, serve the fried rice and arrange the whole ensemble on the bench for one last glamour shot. You’ll notice one of my beef rolls has disappeared between the last photo and this one. One (or more) of yours probably has too. Don’t you judge me!
By now a few of your friends have probably commented enviously on your wanky Facebook post (what do you mean you didn’t follow that instruction?! It was part of the recipe!) which is the perfect opening for some comments on how nice it all tasted and how much it sucks that they’re missing out. Take advantage of this.
Eat.
Mar
23
Just over a week ago today (well, more like a week and a half, but I was busy, ok?!) I left Radio Systems Australia for the last time. I was more than a bit nervous and I had only the feeling that I was doing the right thing to rely on to know that yes, I was in fact doing the right thing.
The fact that I had a feeling about it at all should have been enough of a sign.
I couldn’t be happier.
That’s a lie of course. I COULD be sitting in a plush, cozy library in a faraway land with a crystal glass of scotch in one hand and a good book in the other, while a fire burns merrily in the fireplace and thick felt curtains ward my refuge from the elements outside, held back by a thin pane of perfectly clear glass… But that’s beside the point.
With the current resources and opportunities at my disposal, I couldn’t be happier.
I am working with intelligent people in a job that I enjoy. I am challenged every day and I am in a positive, upbeat environment with people who are confident in themselves, their work and their fellow employees. A genuine confidence too, not one with something to prove, or the overbearing, self-importan and obnoxious manner that is all too often mistaken for true confidence.
I am working with people who understand the magnitude of the work that goes into creating things. People who I can work with and who can work with me. People who want to teach and learn in equal measure.
Finally and most importantly, I have the tools and resources I need to do my job properly. The empowerment that brings is exhilarating.
Mar
10
Since buying my bike this morning I’ve learnt a few things:
I’ve also learnt a lot about people:
Finally… I kinda like this.
Feb
27
I aspire to achieve this, in book form:
Jan
29
I call this the “why oh why didn’t I go shopping on the weekend” salad. Somehow I managed to use beetroot on it while wearing a pure white shirt and I didn’t make a mess of said shirt. Never ask me to repeat that act.
Jan
29
My room smells like clean. I wonder how long I can keep it that way…
Jan
24
Anyone have a boat? These taken this morning at work:
Jan
21
I’m lying on Main Beach, phone held aloft over my head, tapping out this message against a backdrop of stars. The wind is blowing and the damp sand below gently draws the warmth from my back with the parasitic subtlety of a leech, only in this case I am the smaller party in the relationship.
As I lie here, gazing up into the semi-blackness of a somewhat light-polluted night sky, it occurs to me that the photons being focused by the perfect organic lenses in my eyes left their stars many years ago. These tiny, subatomic waves (or particles if you’re that way inclined) battled their way across the vastness of space before striking my retina and creating tiny electrical impulses that my brain will process and interpret as a beautiful field of tiny white specks.
Lying on my beach I have no way to tell whether those stars are still alive or whether the light I am witnessing is simply a passing memory of a star long since gone supernova.
These inner workings of the universe are pedestrian on the surface and common in everyday life, but to me they’re special.