State of Origin Game One 2019 Against all the odds
Against all the odds, Queensland defeated New South Wales in State of Origin Game one 2019 on Wednesday evening.
State of Origin Game One 2019 Against all the odds
Birthday treats from work mates
Birthday treats especially at work don’t have Calories! I wish this were true, but who cares. It happens once a year and when you have friends like the ones I have it’s amazing.
It started early when a dear friend brought me my favourite vanilla slice from the Gumnut Patisserie from Bowral. There’s just something amazing in the pastry the way they have a caramel flavour to the flaky pastry.
Just before lunch (I didn’t eat lunch) another dear friend visited me and gave me a Queensland nut caramel tart from Urban Bean Espresso Bar. I love Queensland nuts (GenusĀ Macadamia), especially on a delicious caramel tart. The best thing is the boys from Urban Bean are all NSW loving cockroach supporters and the friend who gave this to me is a Queenslander!
I attended an executive meeting in the afternoon and a couple of my work mates bought me a cake to share with other members of the meeting. It was a delicious cake with yummy cream. It had a couple of layers separated by cream and jam.
So I was on a sugar high all day. I wonder what my blood sugar level is.
For dinner, I needed something savoury so I put a piece of baked salmon in a puff pastry parcel along with some Coon cheese. I served it with a Hass avocado (thankfully Hass has replaced Shepard in the supermarkets) mixed with sour cream and chilli flakes.
In the last few weeks, I’ve alluded to the amazing generosity of my work mates here, here and here.
I love my jobs and I love the people I work with.
I hope your birthdays are as good as mine!
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An embarrassing story of racism
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This is an embarrassing story of racism that caused me to feel some shame.
- A distinguished scholar tells me a story of racism in Australia
- Iām embarrassed as an Australian
- I was embarrassed as a Queenslander
- You should read Mabel Kwongās blog
This week I had the privilege to be involved in a multi-day meeting of experts in a field I feel quite passionate about. These experts came from many different countries. We also had a very distinguished guest. A man from USA, a full professor from a prestigious university, a man who is quite brilliant with a special knack to take very complex cutting edge scientific concepts and translate them into strategic policy for global consideration. He has the ear of senior decision makers in USA and the confidence of scientific giants.
An awkward conversation
He approached me during a break and we had this conversation…
āGary, can I tell you a story?ā
āSure Fred*ā
āI was in Sydney on a train, seated next to a window. A couple, a man and a woman got on, the woman sat next to me and her partner sat in the seat in front. I donāt think she really noticed me when she sat down.ā
āBoarding behind them were a crowd of tourists from China. āThere are too many of them in our country!āā
Fred turned to the woman and politely said, āMaāam, would you prefer me to move so you can sit next to your partner?ā
The man turned around and said, āNo, itās okay.ā
The woman sneered at Fred, āYou donāt speak like them, but your accent is different.ā
āYes Maāam, Iām American.ā
āBut you look like them.ā
āYes, Maāam, Iām American born Chinese.ā
The woman huffed.
Fred told me that after a while he could chat with the womanās husband and found out they were from Brisbane. It turns out Fredās assistant is from Brisbane so fortunately, he didnāt feel this woman was a typical example of a person from Brisbane.
Fred asked me if this was common in Australia.
Embarrassment Plus!
I was so embarrassed. I was embarrassed as an Australian that Fred had to experience this. I was embarrassed as a Queenslander, that people from my hometown had insulted Fred. Fred is well spoken and while Iām not a linguist, I guess his accent is more northeast USA in origin. Fred is also about ten yearsā senior to me, so not old, but a mature man who has aged well.
We chatted for a while and we discovered our upbringing had similarities. At primary (or elementary) school, we both suffered at the hands of bullies. Usually, older boys who would pick on us. There were also high school experiences. Like when a history master told my class that the āJapsā didnāt fly at night because they couldnāt see that well. The inference being that slant eyed oriental fighter pilots were somehow disabled by their almond eyes.
Fred and I pondered the current state of affairs in terms of global politics. I make it a policy of my writing not to comment on politics, suffice to say, the attitudes of people to others who look different and speak a different language appear to be more pronounced of late.
Fredās a good bloke, I look forward to reading more of his published work.
Mabel Kwong
As I write this Iām reminded of a blogger friend from Melbourne. Mabel Kwong writes about her experiences as an Australian born Chinese. Like me, sheās an ABC. Fred also knows himself as an ABC although American born Chinese.
Mabelās blog posts are always well thought out, considered and heartfelt pieces. If you like good writing and want to learn what itās like for a young woman with a Chinese background growing up in Australia and Malaysia, please subscribe to Mabelās blog.
Do people still see me this way?
So, I took this selfie and want to know, when you see me is it the Chinese that stands out? I’d prefer it was the multiple chins, although that does pose that funny but still racist joke about being called Dr Chin š Given how much I eat, I’m surprised I don’t have more ‘chins’.
Iāve also recorded this so for those who havenāt heard my voice onĀ my Yummy Lummy YouTube videos#, you can hear my accent. The audio widget is at the top of this post or you can hear it on iTunes too.
*Not his real name. I wonāt reveal his name or the nature of the meeting because it is work related. I am conscious not to discuss the details of my work on social media.
#The associated blog posts can be found at my Food Blog, Yummy Lummy
Podcast: Footy season has started again
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Footy season makes Autumn and Winter bearable
Hip hip hooray. I always feel a bit sad when Summer ends, especially in Canberra, it means any possibility of warmth and even a little humidity is effectively gone. The start of the footy season proper is a good day to take my mind off the discomfort of dry air.
Now when I refer to football, Iām referring to rugby league. The greatest game of all. Sure, weāve had some preseason games, thereās been the big match between the Australian Indigenous team and the rest, thereās been the Nines and there has been the little series in the UK when our top teams from the last season get a little match fitness playing the English during the peak of their season.
Coffee with Urban Bean almond and white chocolate muffin.
Early season confusion
The National Rugby League (NRL) likes to begin a season with a few Thursday night games. Iām not exactly sure why. All I know is that when I wake up after watching a Thursday night game, I think itās Saturday until I realise itās Friday. The Thursday night games only occur for about the first month of the season.
Last night the Brisbane Broncos played the Cronulla Sharks. The Sharks were last yearās premier team. It was good to watch the Broncos defeat them in a reasonably exciting game that seemed to be officiated well too.
The teams I love and hate
So, if youāre not aware already, my favourite teams in the NRL are 1. the Brisbane Broncos, 2. the North Queensland Cowboys, 3. the Melbourne Storm, and 4. the Gold Coast Titans. The teams I dislike the most are 1. the South Sydney Rabbitohs, 2. the Sydney Roosters, and 3. the Canterbury Bulldogs. During the season, I may expand on why I dislike certain teams, suffice to say, you should be able to guess why I support my favourite teams.
Thank you, Telstra for free NRL on my iPad
One of the good things about modern technology is live streaming and being able to watch a game on a tablet in the comfort of being in bed. I donāt have a television in my bedroom and Iām usually in bed between 8.30 and 9Ā pm each night. I have an iPad with a Telstra sim card in it so I get free streaming because Telstra is a sponsor of the NRL. While watching the game I can also read footy articles from the NRL website off my iPhone.
Every year, I say to myself that I want to be a better supporter and fan by watching more games. I hope I can watch as many Brisbane Broncos games as possible this season.
Footy food
Footy season also means an opportunity to focus on footy food. For me, that means hot meat pies, sausage rolls, cheerios with tomato sauce, potato chips, corn chips with cheese and salsa, and chicken wings.
I may start doing a footy food series on Yummy Lummy this season.
State of origin
Of course, apart from the final series, the biggest games in football are the three state of origin games between the Queensland Maroons and the New South Wales Blues. The unofficial names for each team are Cane Toads and Cockroaches respectively.
After an upset in 2014, the Maroons bounced back in 2015 and hung on last year.
For readers, not familiar with State of Origin rugby league history. Queenslanders (MaroonsĀ pronounced ma rones) are known as the cane toads (Buffo marinus) and NSW (Blues) are cockroaches (pronounced cock roaches). These are affectionate terms of endearment. As they say, State of Origin is mate against mate, state against state. For those interested, it was Kangaroo greatĀ Barry (garbo) MuirĀ who coached theĀ QueenslandĀ side from 1974 to 1978 (two years prior to the adoption of Origin selection criteria) and during this time Muir coined the term ācockroachesā, the descriptor of theĀ New South Wales rugby league teamĀ still used by the Queenslanders.
Growing up in Brisbane I remember watching year after year footy players who regarded themselves Queenslanders playing in blue because they followed their dreams of playing in the biggest competition at the time,Ā viz., the NSW Rugby League. The late SenatorĀ Ron McAuliffeĀ was instrumental in getting the state of origin concept up and running. In 1980 I was in grade ten atĀ Brisbane Grammar SchoolĀ and I remember watching the firstĀ Queensland state of origin teamĀ train on our footy ovals. It was a little odd watching rugby league players on our rugby union pitch but for me and my mates it didnāt matter. These were legends. Big Arty Beetson and the youngĀ Wally LewisĀ who would go on to become The King, the Emperor of Lang Park.
Queensland is the greatest state in the federation. I loved growing up in Queensland. That should not detract in any way my love for the Northern Territory, the greatest territory in Australia š
Final words
If you have an NRL team I wish you all the best for the season. If you donāt care for NRL then I suggest on Twitter you mute the hash tags #nrl and #origin from now until the first week of October because from now until then itās going to be a great season. šš