Kindly Yours

Thursday, 4 September 2014

Cherry Blossom Time - Auburn Japanese Gardens NSW

Image Credit: Sooi Lin Tye

Tuesday, 2 September 2014

Wollongong NSW Cuisine - My Top Ten

If ever you and loved ones are down for an easy weekend in the greater Wollongong area, here are my recommendations in no particular order of preference, for consideration in terms of specific dishes, cuppas or snacks as you all enjoy the outdoors, scenic views and unique haunts that can be yours.

1. Marinated chicken wraps: Moon Sushi's, Woonona. Just one bite and you are hooked.
It is the mix of flavours, the texture of ingredients and the quality of the chicken. Restaurant along the Princes Highway. Packed even on week nights, also try the dinner bentos.
Cuisine - Korean. Recommendation - Entree

2. Grilled Barramundi: Bally Hotel, Balgownie. Luscious gravy sauce, fresh seafood aromas and perfectly grilled. Down with beer, chat and merry making with mates and family in renovated surroundings. Sited up a hill and views dominated by the escarpment. If you have time, stroll to Grazia's Butcher, Bill & James Cafe, Il Nido Italian and the best apple pie at the Vietnamese-French styled bakery.
Cuisine - Modern Australian. Recommendation - Main Course.

3. Roast Pork Roll: Sam's Crusty Bread, Corrimal. Cantonese styled roast pork with crackle is interspersed with traditional Vietnam styled fresh herbs and a tasty drizzle of sauces. Located near Luke's Place and along the Princes Highway strip. Open every day! Say hi to friendly Grandma.
Cuisine - Vietnamese. Recommendation - Bite on the go.

4. Spaghetti Vongole: Cucina Nostro, Wollongong CBD. Not an easy dish to create, especially in the handling of the shells, the washing away of the girt without throwing out the natural flavours. Not far from the Adina along Corrimal Street junction with Market Street. Just the right touch of light gravy and al dente pasta.
Cuisine - Italian. Recommendation - Night out with the Gals or Boys!

Treat your palate to this at Cucina Nostro.

5. Pork Bun: Dagwood, near corner of Market and Corrimal Streets, Wollongong CBD. With strong hints of menus from Ms. Chu's in greater Sydney. Not your traditional yum cha steamed bun, but an Aussie born cross over of cultures. Good with beer. A conversation starter, a light uplifter to your palate.
Cuisine - Fusion. Recommendation - Lazy Sunday arvo snack.

An idea from Dagwood - Balmain bugs with bacon and greens, with my fav pork buns
behind.

6. Fish and Chips: Levendi's, Wollongong Harbour. Casual, relaxed and with views. Feel the wind in your face as you bite into the fresh and yummy insides with a crusty batter outside. Queues in summer, views of Wollongong Harbour. At light house end of Cliff Road and watch the fishing boats come in or at anchor. After this, head for the grassy slopes with cannons and more.
Cuisine - Seafood. Recommendation - Lunch on the go.

7. Unforgettable Coffee: Hevan Espresso, Corrimal. Opposite the Corrimal Park Mall with Coles, absorb yourself in the inner wall mural whilst you struggle to decide between a Green Growler health shot or the freshly baked white choc raspberry muffin to take away. Chat with Evan, Renee or Henry!
Cuisine - New wave Australian inspired espresso. Recommendation - Quick stop.

Evolving, exciting, exhilarating - Hevan Espresso.

8. Black Pudding with Eggs on Sourdough: Flanagan's Dining Room, Flanagans Road, near Thirroul Beach Surf Club. Walk into a retro place with sea side memories, interesting menu and few tables. Get your bare feet in the sand, watch surfers and enjoy trendy creations.
Cuisine - Modern Australian. recommendation - Breakfast or Brunch.

Weekend mornings have delightfully changed for me at Flanagan's.

9. Curry Laksa: Nan Tien Temple Teahouse, Berkeley. On street level, after you go around the sizeable complex climbing stairs, reading sayings of the Chief Abode and mediating fresh in the two main prayer halls. After a meal, walk around the lotus garden pond, or venture uphill to a large bell.
The pull of this vegetarian laksa is the soup!
Cuisine - Chinese Malaysian, Taiwanese vegetarian. Recommendation - Lunch.

Gratifying and flavoursome - laksa amidst landscaped grounds at Nan Tien.

10. Dirty Dog Burger: His Boy Elroy, Wollongong CBD. Cool place, friendly staff, hidden away on a side lane off Crown Street Mall. A break between shopping or a night out in town! Dirty Dog comes with ransky, Tex Mex salsa, red cheesed, honey mustard mayo and pulled pork. Down the dog with a beer or cappuccino, sit on wooden settings of different types. The menu has salads, curries and other burgers.
Cuisine - Fusion American Australian. Recommendation - Anytime.

Dish availability is correct at the time of publication but may be subject to change.

The DBB from His Boy Elroy.

Tuesday, 26 August 2014

Unceasing Rain and a Daily Commitment

With the recent deluge of sky juice and presence of puddles, my mind began to wander inwards as I became less inclined to go out and I sank into a comfort zone of settling into watching moisture on leaves and water dribbling away on bricks, grass and tar. I began to be more open to previously unexplored ideas or things that I did not have an opportunity to even come across when apparently trapped in the demeanour and routine of daily musts, wants and space. Why have certain and specific parts of my house hardly changed, the items not even looked into - and in my previous contentment I reckoned that I must have been too busy to even go there. Then I faced the inevitable question of myself being too busy with what? The significant question then moved into the space of my inner self, of why I have not even given a hearing to certain parts of my heart and soul?

There are the constant things in life to attend to - the leaves blocking up on the roof gutter, the sky light getting dirty as a logical course, the cook top needing a sprightly new life and the proverbial post box requiring a clear off. Bulbs blow on the brake lights, interest accumulates on loans and inflation eats into our savings. They can quickly fill up the pace and tone of a typical day. They do put a structured order into things that can mean much as well. Underlying all this busy-ness, the calendar drives each of us at another level - birthdays, due dates, renewals, etc to help us celebrate and appreciate the march of time. Commerce diverts us with new products and services, boredom makes us thrive in trying to fulfil ideas, aspirations and experiences. All's good, all's well and soon it is Christmas or Lunar New Year again. But are each of us realising and achieving the truly important things?

There are critical matters that cannot be reversed - speech, how you treat others, how others treat you, decisions made, family and time. Time increasingly shows the spectre of opportunity cost as it is progressively consumed. Related to this is a recognition of timeliness. Some things have just to be done and well set by a required time. The child expecting bonding time cannot have it delayed till the sheep come home. A well placed phone call or appearance can make the difference between a memorable time and a bad one. As they say, when the fruit is ripe, you have to pluck it - or else watch the fruit drop, gravy train go by or miss the bus! A fluid factor in contrast is our personal expectations, and these can help us adapt, change or manage scenarios, issues and problems when we change our own expectations - or how we respond or react to them.

In a contemporary comfortable society that can afford, travel is an option that increasingly many individuals take upon as soon as they can. Why does travel to new lands and experiences captivate so many? Is it just to have a change? The reward of travel embeds in the inner soul and does not need souvenirs to show its deep satisfaction. The mind recalls, the heart gladdens. There is an open book about venturing to different parts of the globe and meeting up with various people - excitement, expectations, learning, letting go and reaffirming. Whilst a constant regime of daily life can be reassuring, travel feeds the soul in other ways. Travel primarily liberates us in allowing us to better let go. The nature of travel is such that we do not cling to physical things or even a passing hello, because we realistically know we want to go on. So Gen Y expresses this by not having an owner occupied mortgage, to say the least. Baby boomers are spending more of their savings now on travel than ever vefore.

So the sheer experience of travel emphasises an illustration of something that cannot be reversed. Most likely a tourist is unlikely to drop by that village again. One thus does not waste time then when one is actually visiting this particular village. If this village is personified by what I refer to as my very special and unique life, would I suddenly have a renewed urgency and energy to do the really important things? So when we wake up each new day, and if we understand that this day is irreversible, we no longer would waste the time provided in trivial and less important matters. Would we utilise this precious available gem in doing things we do not or no longer believe in? Would we become more aware and conscious of limited resources, limited capability and limited availability? Will it then change our perspectives in value, perspective and rationality? Would the most important matters to you become a definite daily commitment, instead of worrying about the commuting, past chances, people who were never going to treat you well, or you using your time to help achieve somebody else's dreams?

The unceasing rains come and go, the flooding water subsides. The plants take a drenching but they liven up more, especially in the post rain sunshine. Once the clutter in our mindset and outlook gets washed away, we suddenly find more room in ourselves for the clarity in our own possibilities, potential and opportunities.