Domestic Bliss

Flowering kumquat plant growing on side yard

Kallipillay berries with leaves used to flavour South Indian curries


Weekend easy brunch of prawn curry garnished with okra, tomato slices and egg enhanced with Pete's chili garnish from the Shoalhaven and King Dairy Island vanilla bean yoghurt. Finished up with muscat grapes in season.


Wall climbing plant with aromatic leaves utilised in Straits Chinese cuisine

As Time Moves On

It was heartening to see the mates who gathered around at the Collegians that evening. Karl was on the cusp of commencing training at the Goulburn Academy. I
recognised impressive Jake and was introduced to a smiling Michael. I chatted with Evie and Samantha asked me if I recalled her working in a nearby department a year ago at the office. I talked with both Daniels when we had our mains. The first Daniel works in a coal mine in Appin, and he looks fit for a twenty year old adjusting into a culture that is more middle aged in current demographics. The second Daniel studied in university, with dreams and plans to get into the financial and corporate world. Later Mick joined us fro drinks and dessert.

Oh yes, the march of time, the changing of the seasons and the progress of a career all stride out, irregardless of momentary obstacles, comfort zones and the schedules of mankind. There was an old tune called Seasons In The Sun with lyrics that made an impact on an impressionable me. When opportunity strikes , one grabs it. We are expected to rise up to the occasion in different stage of the life cycle. The ritual repeats itself for different generations, year after year. In such practices, society takes comfort in continuity and growth. In such marking of life's passages, the self takes cognizance in fulfilling destiny and ambitions. The boy who leaves home returns as a man. The girl who chooses love - whether for career or husband - returns as a role model for others to follow.

Going across the passage is as exciting as savouring the sojourn into the unknown. Tales are weaved of such times. Whatever we call it, parents and siblings feel the flutter of change and letting go on such occasions. Then all savour the brief reunions, the transformation into some thing we both anticipate and yet cannot imagine. Call it adventure, college, starting a new job or business, the crossing over the threshold is as joyous and mixed with other emotions as the bridegroom traditionally carrying the bride into a newly set-up home. I salute you, Karl, in your new path and thank you for being a friend.

Sunday Evening

They say, never go shopping whilst you are hungry and about to have your next meal shortly. In the logistics of modern life, when you are travelling or commuting over long distances, sometimes you cannot avoid this. I found myself in this potential quandary. I promised myself that I will only get a carton of free range eggs, some fruits of the season and some Spanish onions. I diverted into the Rhodes shopping centre on the way to a home dinner hosted buy cousin Susan and her hubby, Boo Ann.

After an hour there in Rhodes, I had collected the latest catalogue from Ikea and also placed four shopping bags at the back of the car. Inside, there were macadamia flavoured soft nougat; a tray of fresh okra; herb focacia buns; a blueberry flavoured cake; a small packet of ready-to-eat popcorn; a bunch of purple-coloured muscat grapes; some fresh tomatoes; a bunch of seedless green grapes that heralded autumn; banana bread; and spice bags of cumin and galangal. Yes, I did get what I had planned, but got more.

The home cooking spread in Carlingford had the theme of spicy hot. Even the salad mix had a twist of Thai and Malaysian sour and chili hot flavours with the cherry tomatoes and greens. I especially felt the tastiness of the marinated pork chops. This was before I allowed the three different types of curry to kick in - prawn (reminiscent of Goa, fish ( whiffs of Bangkok) and chicken with potato ( normally associated with curry puffs). Dessert consisted of nashi pear cuts, banana fritters, baked char siew (barbecue pork) pastries and two types of grapes.

The day had commenced with heavy passing showers about a hundred kilometres away. The evening ended in a crisp clear night, with food in the stomach and in tow for the home kitchen.

Once In A While

Once in a while, I love the opportunity to turn over long unmoved corners of the house, and discover an unexpected delight that had been waiting for me all along.

I relish in being able to indulge in small talk, about apparently trivial matters, which at the end of the proverbial day, are truly more important to the soul than matters we go through whilst earning a living.

I enjoy the unexpected ocean breeze that brings to my senses the tail end of a myriad of stories, seen and unseen, above and below the water surface.

I am thrilled riding on the wave of having to keep persistently at a whole series of seemingly small tasks, but when I look back at it all, and having completed most of it,does give me an innate feeling of accomplishment.

I bask in the calmness of running water, whether in a fish tank or in a pond, but especially when rain continues to pour down in gentle showers over green grass and stones of character.

I get my adrenalin going exploring through hidden valleys, mysterious novels and diverse magazines, where the outcome at the end of the trail can be anything - and everything dear to the heart.

I am happy watching the full moon hover my moving car, as if both of us are gliding through a star-filled universe.

I feel the sense of forgotten freedom when I step out of an airplane ride, looking forward to reunions, food of childhood past and the liberation of both not doing anything and yet to be able to do something longed for.

I am refreshed by the cool crisp evening air of autumn and a silence of the night when I can hear a leaf move or an insect take off in flight.

Balmy in a Bungalow

After dinner, it seemed the perfect time to write. The blokes have gone for a walk in the unexpectedly deserted beach, beer stubbies swaggering on hand. The evening air was balmy but not that nippy for this time of the year. The ocean let out a low key murmur and splash, and then went on repeatedly. There were no coconut trees overhead, for this was too far south the eastern seaboard of Australia, but the abandonment of care and the utter lack of sense of time was most rewarding and enveloped the young night.

And what a dinner it was. We started with a rather thick piece of individually served fresh salmon, doused lightly with a refreshing hint of garnish that brought out the inherent sense of the seas rather than overwhelm it. I saw on a side table the cupcakes and the strawberry gourmet ice cream dollops waiting for us. The main course caught me by surprise, a possibly fusion creation that combined soy sauced chicken cuts cooked lovingly in a curry that brought out sensations of cumin, cinnamon sticks and pomelo seeds. Its spiciness was not diluted but rose sufficiently above the savoury texture of double cooked chicken. It reminded me of a dish in the household of a marriage between a southern Chinese and a Brahmin Indian. And the common binding element was the fluffy well steamed rice.

The ice cream amazingly came with fresh mangosteen - the succulent white folds had a firm tastiness that offered a contrasting relief from the curry heat. This was much better than biting into cheese and biscuits at this juncture, and continued the tropical theme for the sit down meal. I thought of white planters from a few generations ago perhaps taking in all these in the middle of the plantation they were stationed in. They wore white - much more stark white than the white haziness of the insides of each purple-coloured mangosteen. Did they get salmon as the entree? Most probably not, in those times - it would have been just bread rolls and butter.

Yes, I was on holiday, and at that moment, nothing topped up a satisfying meal than a cupcake. I chose the apple flavoured version. A latte was the finale, a post script to the dry Carlton that accompanied the curry very well.

A Touch of Thai

Stupa shaped Bushes

Jana at the satay barbie


Paratha Pancakes on the Grill


Glutinious Rice Pack Delicacies


Grilled Skewed Eggs


Family Stall


Savoury Sweet Dessert


Honey Bees from Kentlyn


Making of Paw Paw Salad



Paratha Pancake Guys


Songkran Sanuk
Sanuk: the feeling of utter inner joy with abandon, as in sheok (colloquial in Malaysia or Singapore) or hoi sum (Cantonese).
Songkran: Thai celebration of the New Year, usually in April and involving random fun acts of throwing water in public on each other.
Leumeah: Sydney venue of Campbelltown Shire's Thai temple, on grounds that represent and evoke a living forest.