Hello 2020

Heavy smoke haze over Lake Ginninderra, Canberra. Gary Lum.
My thoughts and stuff
My thoughts and stuff
Hello 2020
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I saw 2020 in from Brisbane this week. I flew in on Monday and flew out on Friday. It was a nice break from existing in Canberra.

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Canberra’s air quality

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you will have seen that Australia is experiencing severe bushfires across most states of the mainland and that the Australian Capital Territory (Canberra) had the distinction during the week of having the poorest air quality of any city in our world when compared with other well known polluted cities like New Delhi in India.

The Owl Statue on Saturday morning. Gary Lum.
The Owl Statue on Saturday morning
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Where it’s warm and moist

Where it’s warm and moist

I spent the weekend in Brisbane to visit my family. It was lovely to be somewhere where the weather was warm and moist. This week, on Thursday, Canberra experienced a maximum daytime temperature of 38 °C (100.4 °F). I don’t like hot weather. I like warm weather. It was also dry. I don’t like dry weather, I like moist, humid, sultry, muggy weather. I like to sweat while not doing anything. I like sitting down and have beads of sweat form on my forehead and other parts of my body and move with gravity to a pool of sweat somewhere on the floor. When I got home after work, I closed all the windows and doors and turned on a humidifier.

Flying from Canberra to Brisbane

My flight from Canberra (CBR) to Brisbane (BNE) was delayed at both ends. With all the bush fires, the east coast had been affected by thick smoke haze and Sydney was also being affected by storms. That meant Sydney airport (SYD) was closed for parts of Friday so flights had been diverted to CBR and BNE. The departure from CBR was only slightly delayed; about 20 minutes. The arrival into BNE was okay but because of all the diversions, no aerobridges were available for docking so the aircraft I was in sat on the tarmac in BNE for close to half an hour.

Cafe 63 Westfield Chermside

After arriving in Brisbane on Friday evening, I went out and enjoyed a light meal at Cafe 63 at Westfield Chermside. I had a plate of pulled lamb shank meat with some sweet potato chips, mushrooms, and gravy. It was a pretty good meal.

Lamb shank Sweet potato chips Mushrooms Gravy Cafe 63 Westfield Chermside

It was good to catch up with Mum and Dad and my daughters this weekend. It’s always good to see them and hear what is happening in their lives in a bit more depth. I mean, we tend to send each other text messages each day, we chat on the telephone each week, and I can video call my daughters too. It’s not as good as being in person and hearing what has been happening.

Ivy & Lark Westfield Chermside

On Saturday morning I ate breakfast at Ivy & Lark in Westfield Chermside. I had the “Ivy & Lark Breakfast Bowl” which was a whole heap of spinach leaves with lean thick cut bacon, two poached eggs, about a tablespoon of smashed avocado, and lots of halved cherry tomatoes. It also came with a couple of slices of sourdough bread which had been toasted. Everything tasted great but it was awkward cutting bacon in a bowl. The toasted sourdough bread was also tough. I really needed a serrated steak knife for the bread.

Ivy & Lark
Ivy & Lark Breakfast Bowl | Bacon, eggs, avocado, spinach, tomatoes, and sourdough toast

Cricket anyone?

After breakfast, I sat down with Dad and watched some of the test match (cricket for those not familiar with sport of the former British Empire) between Australia and Pakistan which was being played at The Gabba. I’ve lost interest in watching cricket, the players no longer hold any fascination for me. When Michael Clarke became captain and cricket became more about the dramas of his personal life rather than the sport I lost interest. I mean, Ricky Ponting was also a bit dramatic off field too but not as much as Clarke. The players of that era to the present day have been more about drama and less about cricket so my reason for sitting down with Dad was enjoying his enjoyment of watching cricket on TV.

Sandgate Fishmonger

Lunch was at the Sandgate Fishmonger and there were six of us so we got the family pack (four pieces of fish, four potato scallops, a serve of crumbed calamari, and a serve of chips) plus some extra battered fish, more potato scallops, and I got myself a pineapple fritter. The fish wasn’t as good as it usually is, and the chips could have been cooked a bit longer. That said, the potato scallops were nice and the pineapple fritter was delicious.

Check out the comments on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter

I posted photographs of what I ate on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter and got some great interaction from people mostly on Facebook and Twitter. There was lots of confirmation from Queenslanders on Twitter that the correct term is “potato scallop” and not “potato cake”. There were also questions about the pineapple fritter which is a pineapple ring covered in doughnut batter, deep fried, and covered in sugar. I mean, what could be better. It’s even vegetarian.

I spent Saturday afternoon chatting with Mum, Dad, and one of my daughters while we sat with the cricket on TV.

Dad’s pickled daikon radish

I also got to try some of Dad’s pickled daikon radish. There’s a story to this…

A few months ago, I’d mentioned to Mum and Dad I was enjoying daikon radish (Chinese white radish) in salads. Dad thought I might like pickled daikon so he made some for me. At about 9.30 am on Saturday without any warning he went to the refrigerator, pulled out a jar, went to the top drawer and got a fork and then headed them to me and said, “Here Gary, I made you some pickled daikon radish. Try it.”

I was taken aback. I’d just finished eating the Ivy & Lark Breakfast Bowl and I normally don’t eat pickles in the morning. I think I may have hurt Dad’s feelings. I made sure mid-afternoon I went to the refrigerator and got the jar of pickles and tried the pickled daikon. Dad could see what I was up to and before I opened the jar both he and Mum warned me that it has a pungent odour. Geez, they weren’t wrong. Not only did it smell like someone had farted in my mouth it was also really spicy. Dad had used a few Birdseye chillies to make the pickles. I also learnt on Sunday that Dad hadn’t pasteurised the bottle. If this is my last post, you’ll know why.

The pickled daikon did taste good. The after taste did linger though.

Mum gave me her recipe for pickling so I may give it a go over summer.

Little Singapore Westfield Chermside

On Saturday evening we went to Little Singapore in Westfield Chermside. It’s a relatively new restaurant in the newish food precinct in Westfield Chermside. It’s popular. We had a reservation for 6 pm and there was a queue to get a table when we arrived. I was pretty relieved to have a reservation as we were shown to a nice booth which had one side opened to the outside so we could people-watch the queuing crowd trying to get a table.

For an entrée we had chicken satay sticks, some prawn wontons, and some pot sticker dumplings. For a main meal, I had Marmite Pork Ribs. I think it would have worked with Vegemite too.

After dinner, we had a gelato. I had a chocolate mint brownie gelato in a small cup.

Choc Mint Brownie gelato

Saturday evening was spent watching The Lion King on TV.

Sleeping in Brisbane is always a double edged sword. The weather was really pleasant. I could just sleep uncovered in the ambient temperature. However, the lack of a CPAP mask meant there was snoring. That meant waking up with a sore throat and a feeling that sleep could have been better.

Farm House Kedron

Sunday morning was an early start at the Farm House, Kedron. I had a Farm House Breakfast which was sourdough toasted bread, some fatty bacon, poached eggs, Hollandaise sauce, and tomato relish.

Farm House Kedron Farm House Breakfast with bacon, poached eggs, Hollandaise sauce, relish, and sourdough bread

The rest of the morning, consisted of chatting and watching more cricket and actually enjoying the notion that Pakistan may be defeated by Australia. Australia seems to fair badly to teams from the Indian, Pakistan, and Sri Lankan region. I miss the glory days of Jeff Thompson and Denis Lillie bowling, Marsh keeping wicket, and Doug Walters being the larrikin we could all admire.

The flight back to Canberra was uneventful. The flight was packed. I’m guessing parliament is sitting this week. It’s usually the reason why my BNE to CBR flight on a Sunday is packed like a can of sardines.

What else happened this week?

Mezzalira Ristorante Canberra

I went to Mezzalira Ristorante in Canberra on Wednesday night. A friend from Darwin was in town so we went to dinner. I had the suckling pork.

Suckling Pig Mezzalira Restaurant

Why Darwin is better than Canberra

It was good to catch up with a friend from Darwin and get the latest news of what is happening. I really miss living in Darwin. There are lots of similarities between Darwin and Canberra. Both have really very friendly people. Both exist in territories and not states. Both are unicameral with only a single house of government and no house of review. Both are small with low population density. Both are reasonably cosmopolitan with a significantly diverse population. Both have a focus on Indigenous Australians. Both have no traffic. Both have a public hospital of the same Canadian design because the Whitlam government seemingly had no idea. The difference that makes all the difference to me is that Darwin is subequatorial and is positioned on the beach. The surf is only decent during a tropical cyclone, but at least it does have surf. Darwin’s position means it is humid even in the dry season. Whenever I visit Darwin, my heart is filled with joy. Darwin will always be special to me. Two of my daughters were born there. It really is heaven on earth. If I didn’t love my job, I’d happily move back.

Okay, so not the usual post this week. I’ll probably be back to normal programming next week.

Health and wellbeing update

Health and wellbeing metabolic syndrome Gary

Another health and wellbeing update from me today. A few months ago I recorded that I’d been to see my general practitioner (GP) and he referred me to pathologists for some pathology tests. The results reflected that I was a typical adult man in Australia. I’m overweight. My waist circumference is too large. My fasting insulin three months ago was a warning that I was following my father and paternal grandmother into diabetes mellitus. Just as worrying, my cholesterol and lipids plus my mild hypertension, all pointed to metabolic syndrome.

Health and wellbeing update

The Ekka 2019 Strawberry Sundae Health and wellbeing
Me and a strawberry sundae
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All my children are adults and able to vote

All my children are adults and able to vote

I’m in Brisbane this weekend to belatedly celebrate the eighteenth birthday of my youngest child. All three children are now adults and able to vote.

Me on Sunday in Brisbane in a new shirt from Ms18 and Ms21.
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Hello 2019 I hope you’re going to be better than 2018

Hello 2019

A new DICK® butcher’s knife to go with my DICK® boning knife. DICK® is a brand of German knives.

Hello 2019, oh my, how you started well. Of course, for me and my alter ego, viz., Yummy Lummy, ringing in 2019 was all focussed on two “F” words. Family and Food.

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Ending a week on a high note

Dead Duck Dilbert the travelling duck at Sandgate Beach #deadduckdilbert

Brown Marmorated Stink Bug
Brown Marmorated Stink Bug

Ending a week on a high note

It’s been a busy week. Lots to do and not enough time. There have also been highs and lows in terms of atmospheric temperature in Canberra. It got >30 °C one day and on Thursday morning it was <5 °C. I’ve worn shorts and a T-shirt some nights and a jumper on others. Such is life in Canberra. Tuesday saw the running of a horse race which usually marks the beginning of tomato growing season in Canberra because it’s said there will be no more frosts after the first Tuesday in November.

 

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The Ekka 2018

The iconic Prince Charles Hospital Ekka Strawberry Sundae. One of my favourite things about The Ekka.

The Ekka 2018

Let’s back up a bit

It’s been a pretty good week. Work has been steady and the weather has mostly been tolerable. Thursday morning was almost warm. By the time I got to work at 6.30 am, it was 9 °C/48 °F. However, Friday was a little different with a cold change and by the time I was ready to leave the flat for work, it was –4.3 °C/24.3 °F.
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