Baby Shower and Carrot Cake

 My very good friend, Debbie, is going to be a grandmother and pretty soon - she's due on 27 December. But it can be any day now, really, depending on how soon or how late Baby Maude decides to see the world.

Last Saturday we had a Baby Shower get together at her place. About 20 of us, girls of different age and two little boys; Debbie's friends (who know Charlotte pretty well), Charlotte's friends, Charlotte's friend's mom and Charlotte's friends' kids (2 boys, 1 girl). I know Charlotte since she was a school girl - then she went on to be a journalist. TV presenter and travelled the world over. Now she comes home to stay and raise the kid. Wow...I feel ancient:) 

We had a lot of yummy finger food and drinks and that Sangria. Lovely, lovely Sangria!Someone made this beautiful carrot cake - decorated with a few stems of lavender and it looked and smelled gorgeous. Late on Debbie just add these tiny ducklings on the cake - perfect for the occasion. However, these ducklingss were not edible and many of us has to spit it out on to our serviettes! We had a laugh and the hostess just had to collect her ducklings and hand wash them.

Crushed Avocado

Just a simple idea yet very delicious and nutritious - I don't know why people are up in arms about Nigella's Avocado on toast . She just throw several ideas together for breakfast dish and I don't see anything wrong with it. Some people you cannot please - I'd say. Long time ago when she introduced a dish from leftover - and that leftover was peking duck - some people complained that it was too posh. Now it's too simple with avocado!

I am not Nigella Lawson's avid fan but I have time for her. I still make my Rocky Road  using her recipe. My favourite food at my favourite local cafe is Crushed Avocado on Toast> Simplicity yet effective - I can't see anything wrong with it. If you don't like avocado, try tomato salsa instead, If you also don't like tomatoes - well, maybe you shouldn't read food blogs after all:)

Note: Sorry for blogging sporadically - it's getting silly around here.

Jenji Kohan's Weeds

I have heard about Weeds for such a long time but because its half an hour per episode format, I just brushed it off as another sitcom/soapy TV series. We went on to see Breaking Bad and learned that Vince Gilligan sort of mentioned that if he had known about Weeds he would not have gone ahead with Breaking Bad (I'm glad he had not known about it, otherwise we would have missed one of the most brilliant TV series - on par with The Wire and Mad Men, with different flavour, of course).

Back to Weeds - we were sort of interested a bit in Weeds when Vince Gilligan referred to it but not enough to watch it. However, everything changed after we finished watching the 3 seasons of Jenji's Orange is the New Black. Jenji has a very wicked humour and is a brilliant writer. We love OTNB and thought anything created by the same creator could not go wrong so we sat and watched 8 seasons of Weeds, 2 episodes at a time over the past months.

Half an hour format is difficult to cram everything in for an Episode but Jenji carried it out swimmingly. A lot of people might have known what it's all about by the series' name. Yes, it's all about marijuana and Nancy, a widow in an affluent neighbourhood who had to sell it in order to support her family after her husband died unexpectedly at young age. Marijuana trades took her and her young family on a ride of roller coasters of life throughout  8 seasons. Her sons also engaged in criminal activities along the ride from childhood to manhood. We could not expect what would happen next. Jenji also introduced us to two hapless men, one Nancy's pot headed accountant and another her brother in law. One was so unlovable character through and through while another grew on you and you just couldn't help love him too in the end. Several famous guest stars appeared in the series as well, for example Snoop Dogg, Mary-Kate Olsen, Carrie Fisher and Alanis Morissette. I am not Miss Morissette's fan as a musician but I applauded her acting in Season 4 & 5.

Some call it a dark comedy but it's not that dark really, just a bit grey. It's quite hilarious and colourful at times. Season 6 was slow to start with but it picked up towards the end of the season. Breaking Bad is much darker and more violent. A lot of people compare Weeds to Breaking Bad - true, they both are all about so called 'drug' and middle class so called 'criminals' but at the same time they are different. Their screening overlapped at some point  (Weeds 2005-2012 and Breaking Bad 2008-2013) and the creators paid homage to each other. Weeds is much lighter but nonetheless fun - it will not disappoint. Just imagine Jenji Kohan's and Vince Gilligan's collaboration - will be very interesting.

Note: The picture above is from Amazon.com

Patricia Barber

Patricia Barber  is one of my favourite artists. Her voice is beautiful and powerful. Our audio system seems to produce a good live music- like environment so when we play her tracks, we could hear her singing as if in the same room – just like spending a Monday night with her at the Green Mill. Not that we have been at the Green Mill but it is a wishful thinking:)

I love her rendition of Autumn Leaves and Norwegian Wood. I hope that one day she will have a gig downunder so we can see her live (without having to travel to America). She might not be as well known and world famous as Diana Krall but her jazz style is second to none. When I bought her CDs for my brother as his Birthday present, I was a bit surprised that he actually knew of her as her CDs were used as part of test tracks for one audio equipment dealer in a prominent audio show in Bangkok. And I can understand why.

She has a unique voice but you need a reasonable good system to enjoy some of her tracks as they can produce too many sibilants. Luckily, our line of work has something to do with audio equipment and our system needs to be reasonable at times to try it out. Her CDs and downloads are available from Amazon and http://www.patriciabarber.com/ 


  

Samoa - Finale (For Now)

Now that the All Blacks have been in Samoa for the test match with Manu Samoa - it might be an inspiration for many people to visit this small island country. When we were there in May, Samoans were all excited about this match. Although they lost the game, I do not think they care much. They would be happy enough that the All Blacks were there. They might not win the battle but they'll win the hearts of many, many visitors.

One of the best charms of Samoa is its people. The first day that we explored Apia, we were neutral about the place. We could not help compare it to Denarau in Fiji but it is not a fair comparison. Denarua is manufactured and equipped with 4 star plus resorts and facilities. It is almost a gated tourist community, safe, plush, and convenient.

Although many things are not that neat and might be a bit broken here and there in Samoa: roads are not all paved, small garages run out of petrol or only the door on the passenger side on rental cars can be open, the whole place still cruises along with a smile. And Samoa has definitely grown on us. When we dined in Samoa, quite often there would be locals seated at several tables around us - no tension and most seemed to be happy. Locals are willing to help if you need help or get lost, sometimes with machete in their hands but it means they just stop working to come to see you to offer assistant.

Every village seems to have at least one church. Some are more opulent than others. These villages seem to give the villagers a sense of community and togetherness, a place where they belong and have activities together. Kids play volleyball and rugby in the same field most afternoons.They go to church together on Sundays in their best whites. They feast together in the communal hall. The guy at AquaSamoa  where we frequented and took the Hobie cat out a few times while staying at the Sheraton told us that Samoans are happy people and we couldn't agree more.

Samoa Part 1

We planned to go to Vanuatu for our island holiday this year but with cyclone Pam, we had to reroute to (Western) Samoa. We were in Samoa for a week at the end of May-beginning of June. Samoa is an hour ahead of New Zealand so if you take an afternoon flight you will arrive in Samoa quite late in the evening. However, the upside of the afternoon flight from Auckland is that you don't have to beat the morning traffic to the airport, you still have time in the morning to pack your last minute necessities, enough time to send those last emails and put your pets in the kennels.

Main Samoan island is Upolu (not in term of size but you know what I mean) which houses Apia, its capital and its international airport, Faleolo International Airport on the west coast about 50 minutes away from Apia.

We landed in Samoa around 8.30 at night and took a small coach transfer to Apia where we stayed for a couple of nights. We chose to stay in Apia for a bit so that we could pick up our rental car and explore the east coast as it would be a much shorter drive.

The ride into Apia was uneventful and we could not see much because it was dark and no street lights but we got a glimpse of the sea and small villages. We hit the hotel by 10.00 - the check-in was smooth but..but...but they did not have hot water after 10.00. Shocking horror, for the price of over 200 bucks a night this was not acceptable. We didn't have a choice as we booked this holiday through Our Pacific and they don't have any other hotel in their book because Sheraton Aggie Grey's in Apia is still a long way to be completed (we initially dealt with Our Pacific with Amy, a wonderful consultant that was on the ball every minute but she left the company mid-April for the better job, I guess. and we ended up with quite a useless replacement). We read less positive reviews of this hotel on TripAdvisor and remembered there were a couple of reviewers mentioning about this hot water (or lack of, to be exact) and we just thought that it might be some technical or electrical glitches but now we can confirm that it's a norm for the hotel as it also happened on the second night. 

This little problem, however did not mar the beauty of Samoa and its people. Luckily we didn't stay there for long. Our holiday was much more fun at the Sheraton Aggie Grey's Resort on the west coast. In fact, as we got to know Samoa a little bit better than when we first arrived, this small island nation and its people have grown on us. The people are happy and friendly. Hotel staff were trying to be helpful and didn't hang around for tips.

There are things to be noted for the trip to Samoa:

1. Shop around with Travelling Agents for special deals if you don't want to book everything yourselves. Our Pacific is not the only Pacific Islands specialist in New Zealand.

2. Don't stay at Tanoa Tusitala if you plan to have shower after 10.00 o'clock. You might as well stay at The Amanaki Hotel next door (they are often fully booked - so reserve your room early). They have wonderful food at a very good price and a cute terrace restaurant cat to entertain you.

3. Do eat at Paddles and The Amanaki Hotel in Apia. If you travel south west - do stop for lunch at Return to Paradise Resort. Sinalai and Le Vasa have beautiful setting and views, especially the latter but the views are better than the food in both cases. 

4. Do hire a car - 4WD is recommended. Our one was the old beat up Rav4 with so many things that didn't work and it was not clean but it was cheap and it functioned well enough. With a car you do not need to stay in Apia for more than 2 nights as you can drive around no matter where you stay in Upolu. GPS is not required, you only need 4-5 copies of Jason's map (they disintegrated after a while). You will be mobile and have freedom to go places. Speed limits are 56/57 k/hr between villages and 30 k/hr through Apia and villages. The people are laid back so driving here is easy. Do stop for people and animals - and let other vehicles pass if you'd rather enjoy the beautiful scenery. 

5. So many good and beautiful things are for free like Baha'i Temple and Papapapaitai Water Falls.

6. If you have to pay entry fee for anything, Robert Louis Stevenson museum is worth it. Not quite so for Falefa Waterfalls.

7. Fia Fia night at the Sheraton Aggie Grey's Resort was fun and the food (Samoan style buffet) was scrumptious. For a-la-carte, Karaage Chicken at the Pacific Restaurant was also wonderful - should have eaten more!

8. Samoans are friendly and collectively moral - don't afraid you'll get lost. People are willing to help with directions. 

More to come.....

ANZAC Day 2015

We will remember them.

School Reunion

Our girls' school back in Thailand has been a very good school and quite famous academically. It's a state school not private so students then were from all walks of life and backgrounds.I don't know much about our school in the present days - as things change and evolve all the time but I imagine rules will have changed with time. It used to be quite restricted with all the rules for the girls. We could wear our hair long, no perms, no ornaments apart from black and black only hair clips. The hems of our skirts had to be below knees. We could not scream and shout. When one the teachers walked past we had to stand to the side. We sat in mathematics and science classes as well as cooking and home economics. When we were in the toilette we had to pass water as gently and quietly as possible (so unhealthy!) - you've got the idea.

A couple of our friends are sitting in our school board and one told me that they have relaxed pretty much about the girls' rules and now the girls can wear long hair and wrist watches and bangles. Of course, what else do you expect? Time has changed and the past is another country like they said. I have watched 'Mad Men' and been reminded of 'another country' as I could see changes demonstrated from season to season.

Our head girl (whom we selected through student votes - very democratic back then) and several friends organised class reunion for the three of us when I was in Thailand in February. Three of us includes me from downunder, Sasha from the US and Pom from the UK. We were all back home at the same time so it was real nice we could catch up. There were about 60 of us - very noisy but definitely one of the most fun days of my time in Thailand. Thanks to technology that we can communicate with friends through Facebook and Line (communication app) - and we timed our visit to be around the same time.

We have doctors, pharmacists, judge, lawyers, IT experts, artists, lecturers, nurses, Air Force and Army officers and etc. but we left all those behind outside the function room and turned back time to be school girls of 16 (at heart) all over again. We also so had a guest - this was funny as we had the signage on the ground floor of the venue to direct our friends to the right room - it was one of our school seniors but she was 8 years ahead so we did not see or know her at our school. But she saw the signage and came to visit which was nice. School ties are pretty strong. I'd say.

We had sore throats from talking, shouting and singing. We had sore legs from jumping and dancing. We were still a bit hungry because no one was interested that much in eating at the function. All of these were gone the next few hours or the next day. What left are very good, warm memories and lasting friendships.

Chiang Mai Pt 2 : Making Merit at the Country Temple

One of the reason I flew up to Chiang Mai was to celebrate my friend's birthday.We were in the same all girls school ages ago.This friend of mine, Pattirat is a business women in restaurant trade and she is very well known in the local industry. Pat planned for us 10 girls to stay in Chiang Mai for a couple of nights and then travel to the neighbouring Chiang Rai. We would also go to one country Buddhist Temple 40 minutes from the city to erect the ornamental part of the gable for the shrine hall hall at the temple.This ornamental part is call 'Cho-fah', paid for by Pat and her husband. More about Thai Temple architecture is here. 

To be able to dress up for the occasion, my friends took me to do dress shopping at Lao Jow Lane - quite famous among shoppers, both locals and visitors for fabric, clothing and craft shopping. I spent about 30 minutes and got a very nice entire Northern Thai outfit. This outfit consists of a long narrow skirt and a crop top - very fitting for this event.

At the temple the next day, we were greeted warmly by the locals on arrival. We sat in the main ordination hall for an hour or so while the monks were chanting. We chipped in some money for the temple before proceeding to the shrine hall for the Cho-fah ceremony. Building halls is believed to be one of the great merits you can do for the Buddhist temples. And to  finish off the halls, Cho-fahs need to be erected and connected to the gables. A lot of Chinese crackers and flowers were dispensed during the 15 minute ceremony.People here were so friendly and warm - we had been generously fed and profusely thanked (for the Cho-fah). Pat has done something meaningful for this small Buddhist community far from the city where money does not come by that easily. Nicely done, my friend.

Yes, I have Voted

It’s the General Election Day in New Zealand last Saturday. This year people could vote early at special polling stations all over the country but a lot of us people who took the traditional approach to election came out in droves to cast their votes on the Election Day despite bad weather of gusty wind and rain.

This year I volunteered as a scrutineer at one of the smaller local polling stations. During my morning shift of a little bit over 3 hours, I saw more than 500 people turning up, many with umbrellas, coats, and hat. Some even turned up in gumboots and all. Many brought along their children, toddlers and babies with them. The older kids seemed so excited as they were allowed to drop the voting papers into the boxes.

More than six hundred thousand people casted their votes early this election but over 2 million turned up to vote on Saturday all over the country.  All in all, it’s nice to see people enthusiastically exercise their fundamental democratic right. The result might please some and disappoint many but whatever the outcome is, it’s a democratic process. Well done, New Zealand!

Note: Apologies to friends and acquaintances for not greeting you at the polling place. Hey, I was not a snob but as a scrutineer, I was not allowed to greet or talk to the voters

Made with Love - Partie Deux

 

I posted about my old school friend Sasha a couple of months ago – her and all the good work she has done all these years for the hill tribe children in Thailand. Those ones with less opportunity than city or town kids as their villages are in remote parts of Mae Hong Son. She travels to these remote areas to visit the villages and help out with their projects every year..

To express my appreciation for her hard work, I have made her this dyed howlite and agate necklace. Sasha will travel to Thailand and Nepal this month with her American husband and their daughter. I hope she will take this necklace with her and wear it from time to time so the token of my affection for her is with her throughout the trip. Have fun and enjoy every minute of it, my friend.

Fiji Us Part 6: Lautoka and Rugby Seven Star

From First Landing we drove on to Lautoka, the second largest city in Fiji. It is busy and bustling with people going on about their business. We walked down the market – loads of food and sweets smiling back at us invitingly.

I don’t think this is much of a tourist place but locals seemed to be friendly – which is a very nice thing about Fiji. We also visited one of the biggest supermarkets while we were there to buy some bottled water. Kata pointed to the chocolate fridge with padlock on it – chocolate is quite expensive here a bar of the purple kind (nothing special) cost FJD8! So we made note to ourselves that we should give Kata’s kids a bag of Whitaker’s we brought with us from home but did not manage to eat. They would be delighted.

 

While we were snooping around, Kata called out and told us that a big guy walking in front of us was someone having something to do with Fiji Rugby Seven. As ignorant as I was I asked Kata if I could have a picture taken with this guy. Very polite and smiley, he obliged. We learned later that he’s one of rugby seven stars, Pio Tuwai.   I am not short at 164 cms but this guy makes me look so petite. What's amazing is that he's so smiley, but his wife died only a week or two before from breast cancer. I guess that if you’re a public figure, especially in manly sports like rugby, you would have to be like that – put on a smile for fans & public.

Fiji Us Part 5: First Landing Village

Kata took us to Viseisei Village, the chiefly village and the first settlement of the first Melanesian group arriving on canoes at the nearby First Landing site thousands of years ago (some locals now believe that the actual First Landing is further away but there is no concrete evidence so far). The bure above received Prince of Wales once years ago.

You will have to pay FJD 5 per person for admission fee – which is fair enough as they have to maintain the buildings and the ground. If any lady visitor is wearing short shorts above the knees, sarong is available on loan at the entrance.

On the same ground of this village, there is also a Methodist Church (Jones Wesley) which is very well kept. The village ladies also sell their wares here and there. Every lady we met was very well spoken and any one of them could guide you through the village with good knowledge. We were told these ladies have formed into cooperative and saved enough money to build a small health centre nearby.

Viseisei is not very far from Garden of the Sleeping Giant so you can do both on the same day.

Fiji Us Part 4: Kokoda at Nadina

I have seen this dish on the menus of many Pacific Fusion restaurants here in Auckland so when we were in Fiji – I had to try ‘the original’.

Nadina is located at Port Denarau. The food here was wonderful but it was not the only reason why we were at this lovely eatery twice on our holiday – it’s the people. Staff at Nadina was wonderful. They were warm and welcoming.

Kokoda is pronounced ko-kon-da –the same way Nadi is nan-dee and Nadina is nan-di-na. I have been told it should be served with deep fried chilli but at Nadina this dish did not come with any chilli at all. However, chopped fresh chilli was available on request (and the girls seemed to be delighted when I requested it).

It is basically fresh fish marinated in lime juice with finely chopped vegetables (tomatoes, capsicum, red onion and chilli) and coconut cream, simple yet very delicious. It tasted a bit like Thai Tom Kha soup so I could connect with it instantly after the first bite. I haven’t tried cooking it yet but I sure will if I am in the mood (warmer weather) and can get good fresh snapper at a reasonable price. (It's way too expensive at the mo - quite dissappointing for a country surrounded by seas).


Note: Apologies for skipping Wednesday post - I was a slave at work!

Fiji Us – Part 2: Kata, Garden of the Sleeping Giant & the Market

Before we went to Fiji, we were planning to go out on the boat trip to visit other outer islands but we thought we should shop around when we were there. We spent our first afternoon at Port Denarau to check out the eateries and tour kiosks.

When we walked past one bright kiosk with the sign offering super discount boat trip – we could not help but stop to read. One of the guys in blue uniform spotted us (a couple of hapless tourists) and managed to chat us up. It turned out that he was trying to get us to be at the sales presentation of some sort of timeshare apartments the next day. We agreed – we had to put $20 towards the boat trip and this would be returned when we showed up at the presentation. We were quite intrigued and checked it out a bit on the Internet that night but didn’t go too deep as there was no danger that we would buy any timeshares in a million years. Apart from the fact that we have never liked the format of timeshares, we don’t have that kind of money to waste (or invest – in some people’s term!) Most of all, we wanted to know more about their marketing technique and tactics. Kata, the guy at the kiosk rang to remind us the next morning (yes, that’s how we came to know him). He also offered to take us to Garden of the Sleeping Giant in the afternoon for a small fee after the presentation (we expressed our interest the day before).

We turned up at the presentation –the product is a spin-off of timeshares with even more abstract than substance but nevertheless the marketing operation is very sleek. In other places, I could imagine that it would be a high pressured selling pitch but in Fiji – it’s more relaxing. I ended up hugging the sales consultant before parting with 2 free tickets for boat trip to South Sea Island (as recommended by Kata).

During the ride to the Garden, we got to know more about Kata – he used to work for the bank but he didn’t see his family as much as he liked. He wanted to move to Australia for the better education of his 2 boys so he decided to call it quits at the bank and moved to his present job which has some tie with Australia (part of the marketing operation in Asia Pacific region with HQ in Australia). Last we heard that they wanted him as one of their sales consultant because of his selling skill. He is a Pentecostal Christian and believes strongly in Fiji tourism.

 

Garden of the Sleeping Giant is located north of Nadi, about 45 minutes drive from Denarau – the late Raymond Burr  leased the land to house his collection of orchids. We saw variety of orchids as well as other tropical plants and flowers. If you take a group tour from the resorts, it will cost around NZD65 per person. This is one of tourist attractions in Fiji and it’s a must if you’re interested in orchids and tropical plants or a keen photographer.

 

We stopped at the fruit & vegetable market on the way back from the garden to buy pineapple – peeled and quartered for FJD3. The mandarins were abundant when we were there. Twenty mandarins cost FJD1 from roadside stalls or 10-12 mandarins at the same price from the market but they were still cheap. This market is heaven for fruit lovers.

A Fijian Dog and His Little Master

Minis is super cute and friendly. We arrived at his home in Lautoka with his master, Kata (and maybe that’s why he was very friendly with us). Kata is our new friend. He drove us around for a few days while we were in Fiji. How we got to know Kata is a long story but an interesting one that I will share in the next week or so. 

Kata has a young family with two boys age 7 and 2. That day we met Nathaniel, his youngest son. Nathaniel is very smart beyond his age. He always has a small remote control in his hand to mimic grownups with their cell phones! When I took pictures of Minis with my phone, Nathaniel also took picture of the dog with his ‘cell phone’. I think this little guy is an old soul.

Small World Festival

My old school friend who is now living in the US with her American husband co-founded this charitable organisation called “Toys for Thailand” back in 2005. Toys for Thailand’s main aim is to improve quality of lives of Thailand’s hill tribe children through health and educational promotions.

My friend, Sasha, started this by collecting her own kid’s and friends’ and neighbours’ unwanted toys and gave them away to the children in need in Thailand whenever she went home to visit. Her initiative has now snowballed into the organisation (sorry, Sasha – still British English spelling here:) that provides supports to more than 20 schools in remote parts of Thailand’s northern province of Maehongson.

Over the years, it has attracted volunteers from around the world and funded a number of projects such as Pig Breeding, Barber Stations, Solar Panels, Water Filtration Systems and  Playgrounds – just to name a few (there are loads more!)

Small World Festival is an annual event that T4T co-sponsors every year on Christmas Eve in Maehongson City Centre where hill tribe school children and their teachers showcase their wares and cultural traditions.

So if you happen to be in Thailand around Christmas, you might like to take an excursion to join the festival in Maehongson. Wherever you are planning to be, spare a moment to think of these children and give a little through T4T’s website.