Improving
I haven’t written anything lately since our little garden was in a pretty bad shape and I was just on the verge of giving-up. I went from checking nearly every single leaf every morning and evening to just giving the pots a quick look and watering them. Partly I had my mind on other thing, but mostly I was sick and tired of not seeing the army of pests being reduced. One night I went out and nearly emptied a small container of pepper after Michelle had read that we can water the plants and then sprinkle pepper on them (the water makes’em stick).
The next morning, I repeated the process.
And in the short term, I saw no real gain and I attributed this to the fact that the pepper bits were stuck on top of the leaves while the little buggers were eating from the bottom.
The past few days, however, I must admit I had not seen as much lil’buggers as I used to. I still see a few but not nearly as much as when I started checking leaf by leaf. So maybe the pepper treatment did work.
Here they are:
More room for everyone
As you can see, we’ve also bought a new pot and took out five lettuces and placed them in their own pot. I can’t imagine how crowded things would’ve gotten had we simply used the two original pots. I have to thank my girlfriend for moving them in her usual “kick the front door and shoot everyone” approach and getting them done in record time. Granted, seeing her carefully grab’n yank each plant before plunking them into the new pot nearly broke my heart, but at the same time, if I had done it then I’d have been out on the balcony for a good hour or so. A day or two after the move they looked pretty dead but I’m happy to say that nearly a week later they look good.
Here they are in close-up:
Lettuce
I think this is cos lettuce (romaine)? Maybe they’re a bit on the small side, but aside from that one scarred leaf, I’m tempted to eat it now. But given that we can only pick 1/3 of the leaves at a time, this won’t really give us much. Maybe for a small sandwhich?
and more lettuce
And here we have another one of the healthier plant … not quite sure what kind of lettuce this is though. But whatever it is, it looks good to me as well.
Parsley
And here’s a peek at the parsley. Looking healthy except for a few of the yellowing leaves. Supposedly parsley and mint shouldn’t be around each other, much less side by side. We’ll see I suppose. We’ve already taken advantage of the parsley by using it in one of my dishes. Though given its small size I really can’t wait to be able to eat some of the lettuce leaves so that I can actually say I’m eating (and substantially chewing) stuff we’ve grown ourselves!
Mint
The one stalk in the back looks a bit bare because I’ve pulled off quite a number of leaves as they were being attacked by the little green worms. Starting this morning though I tried to just take out the offending creature and squashing it on my balcony instead of plucking every leaf (then again, what leaves I’ve plucked were pretty sad looking).
And no, I have not forgotten about the tomato and basil plants. Just that they aren’t looking so great and I’m really trying hard to care about them at the moment. They don’t seem to be under attack anymore but the basil is starting to show signs of injuries again.
The unforgotten tomato and basil and stuff
Unwelcome visitors
I’ve developed a new after-work routine this week. Leave work and head home and check on the plants regardless of the time and available daylight. The past few days I’ve noticed new holes in leaves, new brown spots, etc. and last night it paid off as I discovered one spider looking creature on one of the lettuce leaves. After killing it I did a few google searches and determined we’ve got maybe aphids, spider mites, and who knows what else. I was pretty happy with killing that one creature and hoped all was solved.
I woke-up this morning to discover that there were more holes on the leaves and it became obvious to me that I was not facing an army one. Following one of the pages I read the previous night I began to look at the underside of the leaves on almost every plant and discovered a few more here and there. I killed them off and yanked out leaves with black dots on them–I wasn’t sure if they were droppings or eggs. I went to work hoping I had finished them off.
To my dismay, I got home tonight to discover yet more damaged leaves. Armed with a flash light, I again began to examine the underside of the leaves.
I began with the tomato plant and discovering nothing moved onto the basil plant and zeroed in on a leaf with a nice round hole on it. I examined it with a flashlight, lifted it up and peeked underneath and discovered Exhibit 1:
Basil leaf and worm thingy
I inspected as much as possible all the other leaves and discovered a few more. Unlike the first one whom I granted a brief career in modeling the rest went straight between the mini gardening shovel and the balcony floor.
Next to be examined were the the mint leaves. Again, I looked under the damaged leaves (hmm … I should start looking under the un-damaged leaves as well) and after one or two (or maybe even the first) I discovered a similar worm looking creature. Here I present Exhibit 2:
Mint leaf and another worm thingy
As you can see, this is one fucking hungry little bugger. It too briefly tasted the modeling life before tasting crushed mint. (I have to admit I really enjoyed crushing the little shits on the basil and mint leaves as the leaves produced nice aromas.) I found a few more and they too enjoyed crushed mint fairly quickly after discovery.
Then I moved onto the lettuce pot and after a few leaves discovered an aphid looking thing:
Possibly aphid on lettuce
Lettuce, unfortunately, does not produce any aromas when crushed. Too bad. One or two more and then I discovered another one of the spider looking thing I saw the previous night:
Possibly spider-mite on lettuce
I discovered only one or two more of these and further inspections of the other leaves and plants yielded nothing and I called it a night.
I decided to water the lettuce and herbs pots but left the basil/tomato pot alone as it has a water well at the bottom and I found out that both basil and tomato plants only needed to be watered 2-3 times a week, not to mention that basil “hates” having water on its leaves.
Here’s hoping no more damaged leaves tomorrow morning! Else we’d really have to start looking into creating home-made fertilizer (organic of course).
Oh, and if you wanted a close-up look of the bugs, here they are:
Tonight's cast of characters
A week later
As I mentioned in my previous post, our little herb garden isn’t doing so hot a week later.
For one, it seems that we were supposed to put the fertilizer fairly soon after potting them. So when some leaves turned yellow we thought it was just a case of malnutrition and we poured some liquid fertilizer late last week.
And as of this morning, the herbs and veggies are doing okay though two of the lettuces seem rather dodgy:
Herbs and veggies galore
And here’s a close-up of the dodgy lettuce:
Dodgy lookin' lettuce
However, if that looked bad, what I saw on the free tomato plant we got surprised me even more:
Time to go ...
While this surprised me, I didn’t do anything about it except water it. I figured the dead leaves will wither, fall, and turn into compost. Michelle, however, checked it online earlier this evening and decided it had a case of either a fungal or viral infection. Either way, it was time for the freebie to go. So shortly afterward I yanked the plant out, put it into a plastic bag and tied it up, hoping the other plants will be okay. We saw some of the other leaves and we think they’ll be okay.
Herb garden
My girlfriend (and I) decided to start a herb garden. As usual, this remained just a “decision” until last week when we got a chance to see a herb garden at her godparents’ place. After remarking how we’ve been meaning to start one of our own they took us to town into a gardening store and we got ourselves a few pots, potting mix, and some starter herbs and veggies. Here they are in the first morning after we re-potted them:
Lettuces
Above are several types of lettuces … four types in fact. But hell if I can remember them all. I’m not quite sure why some of the leaves are broken. Throughout the week last week I noticed as I watered them that there were quite a few broken leaves. Maybe the wind? We did have some windy days last week.
Herbs
And here we have eggplant and capsicum (aka. green bell-peppers) along with parsley and mint. The eggplant and capsicum will be moved out this coming weekend, time permitting.
Tomatoes and basil
We got a free tomato plant from a good food event at Hyde Park last week and we had also picked-up a cherry tomato plant at the garden shop, and one of the other kit actually came with another tomato plant so we’ve got three tomato plants growing here along with basil as we’re told that ought to keep flies away.
I’ve got visions of the Hanging Garden of Kings Cross (you can think of Kings Cross as a modern day Babylon …) but as I’ll detail in a follow-up post, we’ve ran into issues just this past week and I’d be happy if at least one lettuce survives long enough for me to pick-up some leaves for a sandwhich or salad!
Sydney restaurants on the downhill
For the past few months I’ve noticed that restaurants are increasing their prices across the board–from the holes-in-the-wall joints to the high-end ones while at the same time portions are getting smaller.
On top of that, many restaurants also seem to be on the downhill when it comes to the quality of their food.
Not a good trend.
Be good to your friends
Three years ago today I lost one of my best friends in a mountain climbing accident, and three days later, sometimes about 9-10pm I came across an email from a close friend of ours telling me to call him at any time. Stupid me thought it was good news. And it was only when I had to re-read the email to get the second phone number (he had listed three different numbers) that I realized the instruction to call him “at any time of the day” was not an indication of good news.
Patrick Wang was my first friend when I moved to the US. His house was about a 10-15 min. walk from my apartment, though later on getting to his house became a matter of crossing the backyard of my apartment, someone else’s backyard, that same person’s front yard, and then across the street and a few houses down the left.
I still remember the first time I had to call-in sick and miss school for a day. Pat was the person I called to ask about homework (all I remember is the awkward English I used, specifically, “… from what number to what number?”). I remember being so nervous as I was speaking a foreign language, despite the 2-3 years of classes I had already received by then.
But that was all in the distant past.
A few years later we developed a close friendship (especially after the infamous “Doc Project” for our Advanced World History class in 10th grade) and he was also the first person I called and got in touch with after moving to Alabama in the summer between my 10th and 11th grade. He was “quite honored” I recall him saying over the phone. And since then our friendship was nearly exclusively phone/email based as we were always quite a distance apart, though we were geographically nearby when I attended university in Connecticut and him in our hometown State College, PA. However, where I ended-up in Boston after graduating, he ended-up at first in California and then Oregon. And so our phone/email friendship continued.
Actually, now that we were on our own and could afford our own phone bills the “phone” portion became a bit more noticeable though it was still mostly all emails. And to this day this is where I really feel that I dropped the ball.
When I still lived in the US he called me up once a month (almost religioiusly) but sometimes I avoided his call. And now, now I can only wonder what he would have thought of Sydney as he was set to visit around mid-2005.
So today, on this day, I promise and hope to be a better friend to all my friends, many of whom I know I’ve neglected. Just as Pat called me up once a month, then maybe it’s up to me to keep in touch with some of you.
He was a friend, a rock star, a nerd, an Intel engineer, an adventurer, a traveller, a photographer …
… a dear friend whom I sorely miss still.
Recently …
Well, the return of my interest in politics was decidedly short, and probably for the better for most people. After all, who’d want a sane person actually running the country. Ron Paul may not have been the most charismatic talker or most uplifting, but the man is a damn genius, of sound mind, and … well, just too good for the American public. My good friend Mr. Pengo provides a far better discourse on this topic over various entries at his blog. Check it out if you’re interested.
That aside, I finally got Guitar Hero 3 for the Wii last week. Not sure about elsewhere, but here in Australia Activision recently released a “limited edition” double-guitar set for the Wii and with a 15% pre-Easter sale I got the whole thing for AUD 170 (it was 169.something). Not a bad purchase especially as it already had a chance to liven-up a party.
Also of recent interest was my work trip to Tokyo. Not much to say as I was pretty much working every day but I did get a free day on my day of arrival (Sunday) and an old friend from Wesleyan, Janice, was kind enough to take me around Ginza, which happened to be just next door to where I was staying, Marunouchi. My last night there, a Friday night, was mostly a blur with much drinking and laughing capped by a 4.30am trip to Tsukiji Fish Market for some fresh sushi breakfast. Unfortunately for me I was rather ill after staying up the whole night and just managed to wolf down my food. But yes, it was fresh.
On this trip I discovered that Banana Republic now has a store at Paragon in Singapore and also at multiple locations in Tokyo (one of which was practically across the street from my hotel)! Now if only their American website will ship internationally.
I attended the Easter Mass this past Sunday but was mostly bored and falling asleep as I stayed-up rather late the night before watching The Prestige and it was standing room only at St. Mary’s Cathedral. Thankfully I had a pillar to lean on. I have to admit I still have mixed feelings about attending a Novus Ordo mass, even if this was a “Solemn” Mass (is there any other kind?) which apparently meant that much of it was sung (in English). I can only imagine a Latin High Mass being celebrated inside St. Mary’s–it’s actually quite a decent cathedral.
The SonyEricsson W910i phone is a pretty damn sexy phone, especially the red colored one. I got one for my girlfriend as her old Nokia guaranteed a one-sided conversation for anyone whom she called (or called her on) from it and now I can’t help but drool over it every time I see it. Between the crappy 5MP camera on my new K850i (the old K800i produced far better images than this) and the stupid firmware issues SE has with this phone I wish I could exchange it. The biggest reason though is the little “H” icon at the top of her display that I see all the time. I switched to Telstra as I was getting fed-up with Optus (for a variety of reasons) and also because I wanted to get on their NextG network (their branding for HSDPA). Telstra, however used the 850 frequency–unlike all the other local provider or most of the world for that matter–so I had to make sure my phone would be able to use the 850 frequency. However, ever since I brought this phone back from Singapore all I see is “3G” and “H” only very rarely. Her phone (which is only capable of using UMTS 2100), on the other hand, is always showing “H” on Optus’ network. -sigh-
Back to politics again
About a year and two weeks ago I was flying out of Shanghai on my way to Singapore before heading home when I asked one of the wonderful flight attendants for their writing kit. All I wanted was just a few pieces of paper to write on but I got the “kit”: a slim heavy paper container with a few sheafs of paper (about A5 size), a few postcards, envelopes, and a pen.
I was rather inspired that morning (not to mention lacking a book to pass away the time and I had already seen all the movies I wanted to see on the way over). On the walk from the lounge to the terminal I passed by another terminal where a Garuda plane had parked itself, setting off in motion one thought after another in my head. The question I eventually wrestled with that morning on flight SQ815 was what made for a good American ex-pat behavior, especially one who is a conservative. This is a particularly interesting question because the Republican party, the party of Conservatives, had been hijacked by two opposing factions, neither of which are something to be proud of: the neo-cons and their pursuit of global hegemony or the so-called traditional conservatives which actually were just your traditional isolationists. Either way, not a good example of an American, especially for one who was living abroad and traveled every now and then for work.
Then there were the other American ex-pats or travelers to consider as well: the liberals who are so ashamed of our country that they would waste no time in trashing America, highlighting only our failures, and the more stereotypical loud-mouthed American tourist. As much as I hate to admit it, this stereotype, like many others, exist because it is true (not that other countries are not without their loud-mouthed tourists: soccer thugs, British stag-party goers in Prague, etc.).
Out of this I realized that traditional conservatives, those of us who love our country and yet are also open to the beauty and strengths of other nations, other cultures, are the perfect ambassadors for America. We love our country yet we are not blind to her faults, nor would we overlook the achievement of others. We are the carriers of that “American Dream”, of the values of America: of freedom, self-discipline, self-reliance, and generosity.
I looked-up quickly at the flight monitor and noted that it was just around 11:44 local airspace time and that we had just flown past Ho Chi Minh City but still (presumably) inside Vietnamese airspace. Vietnam: at that moment the baggage the name brings to someone who went through the American education system came up and yet, at the same time, from up here it was just another South-East Asian country. (One I now wanted to visit in fact.) And it was here that I finished my rough draft with the following conclusion:
After all, if the French and Italian can try to out-boast each other as to who’s better (as my two colleagues around me at the time would do on a daily basis), if the Singaporeans and Malaysians can trade friendly barbs, why can’t we Americans be proud of our homeland? Why must we always be apologizing for everything?
And yet, all this time this rough-draft sat inside the little box the papers had originally come in, sitting on my shelf untouched and mostly out of sight. Sometimes, I thought to myself, I really didn’t care anymore. In fact, I have been generally pretty apathetic toward anything political. And as much as I cherished my American citizenship, I was not thinking of returning anytime soon. I didn’t know of a place in the country where people cherished the same values I held, the ones I thought of as uniquely American.
“Where would you raise your kids?” People would ask. Ideally this would be the US, I thought to myself, but where? On the other hand, if I could pick any place in the world, what would I pick? I had no answer.
Lately, however, I feel my optimism returning and I’m even following the lead-up to the Primaries in the US. What changed?
RON PAUL
For the longest time I had become disenchanted, disillusioned, and all but given up on the democratic system. Democracy, I would argue, is just a people-approved tyranny with the numbers to legitimize it. But this guy is just about the most honest politician I’ve ever known. I can’t say I agree with all his stances, but I have to admit that with his honesty, I’d vote for him even if he was running as a Democrat. On top of his refreshing honesty he’s also a strict Constitutionalist, has a 100% consistent voting record, and, for the love of God, the man ANSWERS your questions. Watch his interviews and if his plain-speaking style doesn’t immediately grab you, then I hope his answers would because he actually answers the questions! (Unlike all other politicians who are always brushing off questions and saying whatever they felt like.)
For instance, see the following videos:
1. Ron Paul opening a can of whoop-ass on an “upset” Giuliani (I particularly liked this one)
2. Ron Paul on CBS’ Face the Nation (Part 1)
3. Ron Paul on CBS’ Face the Nation (Part 2)
There you go. If you want more, visit his official homepage, and if you like what you see then be sure you donate however much you can on the Tea Party money-bomb on December 16th:
Nothing but disappointments at Tetsuya’s
I started this blog (well, this version at least) by writing about the worm on my oyster shell at Tetsuya’s. Well, a year and a few weeks later I was able to make the second visit I mentioned in the earlier entry and do a proper call on the restaurant: Is it worth the hype? Does it truly belong to be the #5 restaurant in the world?
No and no.
I’m not sure just what the hell got up the reviewers’ asses that they would make this Sydney’s #1 fine-dining scene or who in their right mind would make this restaurant the fifth best in the world.
I visited Tetsuya’s with my girlfriend last Friday night after making the booking some four months ago (”I’d like to book a table for two either on a Friday or Saturday night please.” “I have a table at the end of September, sir.” “…” — well, okay, I guess this is what you get when restaurants don’t implement a “No booking earlier than 1 month” rule) and after dressing-up and making ourselves look good we caught a taxi and off we went.
Upon arrival we experienced the vaunted service and attention that high-end restaurants were expected to provide. And in fact I do have to say that service was impeccable throughout our meal. Not once did we call on the waiter for anything–well, except for the bill–and everything simply ran smoothly.
But that alone did not make for a five star experience. While service was great, ambiance was extremely lacking. Enjoying the dinner with three friends as I did last year I didn’t mind. But for a night-out with the girlfriend I was hoping for something more subdued and, oh, I don’t know, romantic? I can’t help but feel like I was at a Chinese restaurant somewhere on Anzac Parade. Granted one with great service. Decor? Oh yes, minimalist.
Again, just like many of the hole-in-the-wall student joints on Anzac Pde.
But okay, none of this has to do with the food so far. How was the food?
1. Pea soup with bitter chocolate sorbet
The pea soup by itself was quite an interesting flavor, but the dark chocolate completely over-powered it. And this dark chocolate lover also want to say that the chocolate was just a tad too dark even for him. But I suppose that’s why it’s called “bitter chocolate” instead of “dark chocolate”. And when mixed together this combination actually tasted like vomit.
*. After the above we were then served a plate of oyster with … some tart sauce. I thought these would be served fresh but I should’ve listened closer to our waiter when he offered the oyster plate. Oh well. Quite good actually.
2. Smoked ocean trout and avruga caviar
Tasted like the smoked salmon in my fridge with some second-rate crap caviar on top of it. Sorry, was I supposed to be impressed just because this has caviar?
3. Leek and crab custard
Fancy name for what is essentially a chawan-mushi with crab and reduction or sauce of some sort. This was actually a dish that we both thought highly of. Subtle flavor upon first taste but a much stronger flavor then coats the inside of our mouths.
4. Scallop carpaccio with red wine vinaigrette
They had only a 100 scallops for the day and had to serve a 1000 people, thus the need to slice thinly what they had. Not impressed.
5. Ocean trout with a generous sprinkling of ajinomoto (signature dish)
Officially this is the Confit of Petuna Tasmanian Ocean Trout with Konbu, Daikon & Fennel with Seasonal Green Salad and I was very impressed with this dish when I first tasted it last year. My friend then commented that it was like “an explosion of flavor inside your mouth”. Eating it again, however, I couldn’t help but think that I was eating ocean trout with a generous sprinkling of ajinomoto.
6. Ravioli of Queensland spanner crab with tomato & basil vinaigrette
Tasted like a bad shiu-mai.
7. Baby abalone and ox-tail
The abalone were sliced just a bit too thick and a tad chewy. The ox-tail was decent but tasted a tad bland. How such a great chef can put together two great items and fuck it up beyond belief is, well, beyond belief.
8. Twice cooked de-boned spatchcock with olive & caper jus
I don’t like hainanese chicken rice because the chicken is served at room temperature (or somewhat cooler) and is steamed/boiled/whatever. We surprised the waiters when I barely touched this dish and my girlfriend ate only a portion of it. While I wasn’t too crazy about it because I don’t generally like boiled/steamed meat/fish, my girlfriend simply just didn’t care much for this dish. The waiter apologized when I told him the reason I barely touched it and said that they could’ve offered an alternative dish–fair enough, and I guess I should’ve asked him what a spatchcock was when he first described the night’s offering. Oh well. Either way, not impressed.
9. Grilled wagyu beef with lime & wasabi
Cold. Slimy. Blah
Girlfriend also says: don’t bother with the wagyu beef if you’re going to slice it up so thinly!
10. Comte with lentils
Mmmmm. Tastes like red-bean.
11. Beetroot & blood orange sorbet, strawberry shortcake
Not a fan of beetroot I really didn’t care much for the sorbet though I did finish it because I didn’t want to “send back” yet another dish. The strawberry shortcake however is an absolute delight and one of my favorites and I was glad to see it still on the menu. It is hardly a shortcake in the traditional sense but a strawberry puree of sorts combined with liquefied/dissolved cream/cake.
12. (Double-cream?) Vanila bean ice cream with white beans & dates
Well, at least he still knows how to serve a good vanilla bean ice cream. I could’ve sworn this was double-cream which made it really smooth but I could be mistaken.
13. Chocolate terrine with mascarpone & cognac anglaise
The chocolate terrine is orgasmic (”Please don’t pull a Meg Ryan on me” said the girlfriend) though the cognac anglaise wasn’t worth writing home about.
Petit Fours
Toooo sweet even with my cappuccino.
Would I come back here again? Doubtful. Would I take visitors to it? If they’re paying.
Tetsuya’s
529 Kent Street
Sydney NSW 2000
Tel: +61 2 9267 2900
Website: http://www.tetsuyas.com/
Looking for a dining experience in all the wrong places
I really should sleep but I’ve got to just put this up real quick. I haven’t had a nice night-out with my better half for some times now and when we got the chance I booked a table for two at Times on the Park, a restaurant at the Sheraton Hotel by Hyde Park. The reviews on Eatability were stratospheric and as a plus, it’s considered a romantic spot. So off I go.
My girlfriend chose the goose foie gras entree while I opted for their soup of the day–sorry, soup du jour–lobster bisque. We also split an order of seared scallops. Well, the goose foie gras was nothing special, and while I actually liked the bread that it came with she thought it could have been thinner. As for my lobster bisque, not only was it rather watered down (I miss the lobster bisque as The Palm restaurant in Boston), it was also missing a certain … oh, I don’t know, maybe LOBSTER?! I saw two small pieces of red bell-pepper (capsicum to you Aussie readers) floating in the sea of lobster bisque-flavored heated water and some other green garnishes and that was it!
The seared scallop was also average at best.
So after all these we still haven’t ordered our mains as my companion had felt queasy at the start and wanted to see how things progressed. Seeing how things had turned out it was probably for the best that we left, but we didn’t. In fact, I ordered a Time Fillet (what the hell is that?) along a side of chips (fries to you American readers).
Good lord. The steak I made for dinner tonight was juicier and tastier than what they served. A bit dry, chewy, and … well, again, average at best. I’d rather eat the $5 steak my girlfriend and I would get at this one pub she found. The chips were also just so-so.
Not convinced at just how average this restaurant we each proceeded to order desserts and also a cafe latte for myself. The coffee was decent, the ice cream uninspiring, and my lady had some white chocolate delice that was too sweet.
All in all, barely average food in a quite romantic surrounding. Most definitely not coming back.
Times on the Park
Sheraton on the Park Hotel
Level 1, 161 Elizabeth Street
Sydney NSW 2000
Tel: +61 2 9267 4022
Homepage: http://www.timesrestaurant.com/
