A holiday begins

Friday the 13th and a full moon in Adelaide. A night for mad shenanigans as I await my flight to madrid via dubai.

I've always hankered to see more of this planet we call home.. and I just wonder what magic awaits me in Spain, Portugal and Morocco.

It's been a busy six months at work and the funny thing was that this holiday seemed like a lifetime away, something to look forward to. . And now it's here. This blog, is partly my desire to try capture each day, something that will make me thankful for the present moment, as well as a reminder to myself, to marvel at the sheer magic all around me!

Highlight for today:
An amazing bunch of friends.
An old YouTube clip of freddy mercury and montserrat caballe singing 'barcelona', that Julie found, just for me.
Good bye sniff and a cuddle from the very suave mister Tango, the resident woofer.
A crazy mad boy who drove two hours  just to get me to the airport.
And a sister from another  mother, Lav, as we embark on this holiday together, whose also bringing along a secret stash of 'kavum'- a delicious Sri Lankan concoction.

Hasta pronto Madrid. 

Adios! 

A lesson. A reminder.

An 8.7 scale earthquake in Indonesia yesterday triggered a country wide tsunami warning. It was about 7pm in Adelaide when the news broke. And in Sri Lanka, my homeland, people awaited its effects. The sense of horrible foreboding of worse things to come was inevitable. An eerie sense of deja- vu. And a slight glimmer of hope – that it wouldn’t be as bad.

Although I certainly did not witness the angry oceans uprise on boxing day in 2007, I did witness its aftermath. At the time, I was fortunate to work for an organisation that genuinely sought to bring relief and rehabilitation, in some small quantifiable measure. An estimated 30,000 people in Sri Lanka lost their lives that fateful day. Scores more were affected in ways that could not be imagined.

Hearing the sad stories that followed was heart wrenching. Entire families lost in a single moment, the death of children, watching neighbours and loved ones being taken away by the waves whilst you stood and watched helplessly.

The waters of 2007 were a reminder. A fact that I may have lost sight of.
Essentially a reminder to tell the people I care about how much they mean to me.

To my family and friends – you know who you are. Infinite love always . xo

Embracing all that’s Veg

My friend Olga has been somewhat of an inspiration to me in terms of food.

Her philosophy towards eating healthy and eating right was probably my first proper introduction to a whole new world of alternate eating lifestyles.
Yup – that’s what it is – a lifestyle.

Whether you are vegetarian, vegan, fruitarian or hardcore breatharian – its all about sustaining and nourishing your body (aka temple) with wholesome good energy.

Olga and I nipped away on our lunch break to our favorite haunt – Thea Tea Garden at Gawler Place in the city.

The tea garden could hardly be recognizable amidst a street packed to the brim with all sorts of shops, cafes and restaurants. It would be easy to mistake this for yet another Chinese restaurant. But inside you will find a group of hard core foodies who enjoy their veg fix. The restaurant serves Asian vegetarian inspired cuisine and has a serious following. It can be quite hard to find a seat during peak lunch hours.

To the uninitiated, the restaurant may seem daunting. It has meat dishes on the menu – it looks like meat, tastes like meat and even has the texture of meat – but it aint meat.

The hot and cold teas and delicious and unusual. I’m usually a sucker for chocolate but this time I decided to be adventure and try the Almond milk tea – served warm. It had a slight nutty taste to it and was quite delicious.

I ordered the Crispy Hainan style rice – dish. This was a serving of spicy rice served with black pepper sauce, mushrooms, corn and cabbage, along with deep friend soy that tasted like chicken. It was simple yet quite tasty. However having dined here before, I’d recommend the Vegetarian BBQ rice with pickle salad as a far tastier option.

Adelaide, which is fast beginning to feel like home, constantly reminds me of the wealth of variety in terms of food and culture that is on offer.  This City has fuelled my desire for food and  my quest to taste the wares of the world!!

Jaded

It never ceases to amaze me how jaded we have become.

Its not an accusation. I just find myself growing increasingly apathetic to all and sundry.

I wonder. Is indifference the ultimate form of self preservation?

Are the walls we put up to protect ourselves unwittingly the ones that prevent us from truly enjoying the joys, the sadness and the emotional turmoil of that which we call Life.

Are we too afraid to Live?

Are we too afraid to take a leap of faith, to throw caution to the wind and to mindlessly rush into all the things we doubt or consider dangerous turf?

This quote from a childhood favourite has always amused and inspired me.

"Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."
From Alice in Wonderland  by Lewis Caroll

A state of mind.

Shit happens. All the time. And especially when you least expect it.

I don’t want to sound like a corny Disney movie but the fact is that there is beauty and wonder in the world. And perspective. All it takes is a frame of mind to appreciate the good things. And put into perspective the bad.

This can be particularly difficult when you can’t see beyond the doom and gloom of that which is around you.

So here is my (somewhat myopic)  list to happiness.

Travel.  There is nothing like new places and people that will make you marvel at this planet we call home.

Breathe. Inhale to the count of 4. Hold it to the count of 4. Exhale to the count of 5. It helps. Theatre folk do it too as a relaxation technique.

Eat. The very reason comfort food was invented was to soothe our insides and give us that warm fuzzy content feeling.

Chocolate. Miracle food. Ally. Friend. Enough said.

Escape . The reason mindless entertainment works is because it transports us to another world - to sympathize/judge/laugh/cry/critique someone else’s life.

Music – think you can’t express your feelings or give vent to your emotions? Chances are someone else said it better – and in song!

Enjoy your weekend folks!

I am off to Sydney this weekend to take care of matters listed above :)

Travels in a Tuk Tuk

I swear I’m not trying to romanticize the east.

Migrant writers have often been accused of giving into the western hegemony of perceptions  and in presenting the East (and all that’s in it) as mystical, exciting and exotic.

But I need to pay homage to this humble mode of transport. The Tuk Tuk :the three wheeled monster that can take on any dirt road challenge.

Adrenalin junkies pay heed.

The humble tuk tuk, often draped in a bewildering array of plastic leaves, grapes and flowers adorn this three wheeled vehicle . Take a seat and you may feel that you are transported to a better world of sunshine and lollipops. Pictures of babies contently sucking on their toes frame the insides of the tuk tuk – and sometimes if you’re lucky, you might come across the occasional tuk tuk decorated with fairy lights, poetic verses praising one’s mother as the one true love and sometimes even incense sticks.

Don’t let the deco fool you. Step inside these mechanic marvels and prepare for the ride of your life.
As tuk tuk drivers whizz past, sometimes even climbing on the side foot path to reach the destination.

It’s really a choice between the devil and the deep blue sea. You have a choice of either whizzing past at break neck speed to flee from the traffic OR be stuck in it – valiantly inhaling the fumes of buses and foul diesel emitting vans. Good times.

I have had the good fortune of being wheeled around like a princess in Bangkok’s elegant tuk tuks, as well as being crammed like sardines in Sri Lanka’s miniscule mode of transport (when parking is a nightmare and all you want is a quick ride to your destination).In India, the tuk tuk driver removed his side mirrors – as he said drivers whizz past so close that they could damage the side mirror.

A joy ride indeed.

An afternoon of indulgence

It’s official. I am a foodie. And this folks is my first food review.

Nestled within the leafy Botanic Gardens off North Terrace, the Botanic Gardens Restaurant was a delight. It felt like stepping into Frances Hodgson Burnett’s Secret Garden, walking past winding paths, verdant lawns and spectacular plants and trees.

It helped that we lost our way as that just made the journey of discovery enticing. 

I suppose in real estate terms in was all about the Location – as the gardens set the scene, vetted our appetite and provided the setting for what was to be a splendid lunch on a warm autumn day in Adelaide.

The restaurant could pass off for a gazebo, with beautiful and delicate white detailing and an almost 360 degree view of the gardens and the pond.

My entrée read like a poem. Carpaccio of Truffle Infused Quail With confit of the leg, cashew nuts, mandarin, whitlof and Persian feta . It was beautiful presented and I only remembered to take a photo after I had greedily tucked into my first bite. It was light and burst in your mouth with a medley of flavours. The mandarins added a sweet element to the dish which was set off beautifully with the salty Persian feta. Yummy!

For the main, I ordered the Roast South Australian Snapper Fillet  with Globe artichoke ravioli, grapes, almonds and verjuice with citrus beurre blanc.
The fish was cooked to perfection and the presentation was beautiful. Again it was a smart balance of flavours as the grapes set against the snapper made a delightful combination.