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.