Fremantle 19th Nov

Due to 2 days of bad weather – rain & gale, we were bound home & the planned camping trip to Margaret River was postponed twice. Weather forecast is good for tomorrow, so we are scheduled to leave early morning.

Spent a short afternoon seeing Fremantle with Mel. Unfortunately the market is only opned Fri-Sun. We drove around the place – fairly big areas & had lunch of Fish & Chips at the “famous” WA best Fish & Chips store Cirello.

Despite the sun, the wind was strong & really really chilly. There were some died-hard Ozi surfing in the the sea, & we even saw a bloke sin-bathing!

Had pizza for dinner at home & I vlounteered to fry rice for the camping trip. Quite stress cos there are 2 big chefs there!!!

Culinary Class – Part 2: Tempura

Next on is the Tempura dish.

INGREDIENTS
sweet potato
raw shrimp
squid
fillet
fresh shitake mushroom
begetable il for frying
flour
juice from 1 lemon

BATTER
2 egg yolks
1 2/3 cups (400ml) ice water
1 2/3 cups (200g) sifted tempura flour (or 1/2 portion plain flour + 1/2 portion self-raising flour)

CONDIMENTS
1 cup grated daikoh radish or white radish
2 tsps finely grated fresh ginger

DIPPING SAUCE
1 1/4 (300ml) bonito stock (dashi)
5 Tbsps dark soy sauce
5 Tbsps mirin
1/4 cup loose bonito flakes (1/6oz / 5g)

TO PREPARE
Ready the ingredients for deep frying:
Potatoes – peel, sliced, soak in water for 10min, drain and pat dry
Shrimp – remove head, devein, shell leaving tail intact. Make several cuts on the underside to flatten
Squid – clean and score each side in a shallow diamond pattern and cut into squares
Fish – remove bones if any and cut into bite size
Scallops – Remove membrane, cut and score
Winter squash – seed, peel away most of the skin in strips, leaving some as decoration. Cut into bite size
Mushroom – cut in half in slight angle
Mint – remove the tough stems

TO MAKE
Preheat the oil to a mdeium-low deep-frying temperature (330-340 deg F or 165-170 Deg C).

Dipping Sauce:
Combine the bonito stock, soy sauce and mirin in a saucepan and bring to boil over high heat.
Add the bonito flakes, immediately remove fron heat, and drain to clarify.

Batter:
Combine the egg yolks and ice water in a bowl and mix gently.
Add the flour all at once and stir briefly.
Batter should be rough and only half mixed, not well mixed and sticky.

Beginning with the vegetables, including the mint leaves, dredge the ingredients one after another in flour, dip in batter to coat loosely, and deep dry.
Fill no more than 1/3 the surface in order to maintain a constant oil temperature.
Skim the extra batter and debri from the surface of the oil frequently.
Raise the temperature slightly 910-20 deg f or 5-10 deg C) and fry the seafood in the same way.

Line serving plates with absorbent paper and serve the fried pieces as soon as possible. Dip the tempura in sauce seasoned with radish and ginger, or in lemon juice salted to taste

Culinary Class – Part 1: Chawanmushi

Mel has graciously granted my request for a Jap meal. So we were going to have Jap food for dinner.

Menu:
Chawanmushi
Ebi Tempura
Mushroom Tempura
Taylor Sashimi (which was later left out)
Rice

The secret to making a great chawanmushi is to use as much stock as possible in proportion to the eggs: the custard shold set, but just barely, giving a gentle, almost liquid, sensation when eaten. Served piping hot or chilled in hot weather.

Recipe:
Serves 4
3oz (90g) spinach
4oz (120g) boned chicken thigh
4 slices of carrot, cut in a flower
1 tsp sake
1 tsp light soy sauce
4 raw shrimp, 1 oz (25g) each, shelled & deveined
4 fresh shitake mushroom, washed & stems removed, or 4 fresh brown mushroom, washed & trimmed
4 tsps fresh ginger juice

CUSTARD
2 1/2 cups (600ml) bonito stock (dashi)
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tsp mirin
1/2 tsp salt
3 eggs

TO PREPARE
Parboil spinach in lightly salted water, drain, and refresh in cold water for 10min. Drain again & wring out any excess water. Cut spinach into 1-inch (3cm) lengths.

Cut the chicken into 1/2-inch (1cm) squares and sprinkle with the sake & soy sauce.

Drop the shrimp in boiling water for a few seconds until they change colour. Refresh in cold water, drain, pat dry, and quarter cross-wise.

Quarter the mushrooms caps.

TO MAKE CUSTARD
Heat the bonito stock, then season with the soy sauce, mirin, and salt.
Bring to boil over high heat, remove from heat, and let cool to room temperature.
Beat the eggs lightly, add the seasoned stock, and strain mixture through gauze.

Preheat a steamer over high heat.

Divide the chicken, shrimp, mushroom, carrot, and spinach among 4 chawanmushi cups with lids.
Pour in egg custard and cover with lid to keep condensed moisture from dripping onto custard.

Placed the covered cups in the preheated steamer over high heat. When the surface turns white (abt 3-5 min), reduce heat to medium-low and steam for 15 min.

Test the custard by inserting a bamboo skewer or toothpick well into the center of one cup. The custard is done when the liquid flowing from the puncture runs clear. The surface of the finished custard should be moist and slick (not cracked and parched). Uncover, spoon 1tsp of ginger juice into each cup, place on a saucer, and serve hot or chilled in the cup.

The food turned out lovely. Chawanmushi was just right & smooth. I had 2 cups!

Rest & Relax

After the fishing camp, it was back to R&R time in the house. Mel & Claud seemed to be always on the computer for thier work, so that also left me time to organize my photos, check emails & all, else it will be pile-load when I am back.

16th Nov Mon
Stayed in & rest. Physically all were tired from the camp. Had a late lunch at 3pm of Cheesy Nachos with Minced Beef Sauce by Chef Claudine. This was what I meant by the rubber meal times. Guess its very ozi way of eating a meal. By night we were having sumptious BBQ in the backyard. I need to go do some running!

17th Nov Tue
Mel & Claud brought me out today for a city tour of Perth, & King’s Park & Botanic Garden. The city center is not big & like our Raffles Place. But King’s Park, at the outskirt of the city, is nice. It is facing the 2 rivers of Swan River & Canning River, overlooking the city skyline. At mid-day, you see a lot of young people jogging during lunch time. Amazing! Then there were the retired people sitting around passing time, & tourists like myself. The river facing apartments are said to be worth tens of millions!

There was something interesting I discovered.. about how sound travelled! At the war memorial site, there was this long arch-shapeed plaque, & if one sits on one end & whispered against the wall, another at the other far end can actually hear loud & clear! Amazing discovery for me! Ok, I failed my science lah… Mel & I tried & our voices were actually magnified! Interesting..

I also discovered Dome & Gelare actually originated from Perth.

I think I was suffering from lack of sleep & did not feel too good somehow.

As we were going to have beef ribs for dinner, I decided no matter how I needed to go for a run, which i did in the neighbourhood for 30min eventually. This Willeton neighbourhood are all bungalow houses, mostly single storey, & some double storey. Big houses with 2-4 cars per household, depending how big the household is. You can’t get anywhere without cars. Even XH & XM each has a car. This is located south of the Swan River, & where most Asians settled, where the north are more local Aussies. Most of the houses in this neighbourhood has no walls or fences. An interesting observation. There are also so many flora & fauna that it is so interesting & beautiful. Even back then on the way & in Cervantes, you can see so many varieties of flora & fauna in the same vicinity. Flowers are blooming everywhere this late Spring.

There is one thing, however, that I am not pleased with.. The harsh Aussie weather. Back in uni days in Brisbane, I had suffered sever rash, especially during the hot summer & cold winter. Now this late Perth spring, the dryness & cold wind has caused rashes on all my 4 limbs since last Sat, & still feeling super itching! It is so dry here that my cuts are not healing & the tips of my lips also scarred from the dryness!

Chef Jono really loves cooking. Must have been influenced by Mel. There are shelves of cookbooks here & they actually referred to them during each cooking session, from the beef kuay teow soup to grilled beef ribs. Each is done to perfection. And they did especially serve more food than usual because of me, as in they do not eat ribs & all so very often.

The only challenge is both their sons are very quiet, & hardly talked. It was difficult to get any response from them. The parents have the same problem with them. The price of concentrating too much time at work when they first came to Perth.

18th Nov Wed – [Kim's 40th Birthday!!]
Storm in Perth today so it is stayed in & the Margaret River trip is postponed to tomorrow. Hopefully weather will be good.

We had Kidney Mee-Sua & Baked Sausage Roll by Chef Mel for lunch.

Dinner will be a time of Japanese Culinary class! Yippee… It is said that Mel makes the best chawanmushi. We are going to have that, Taylor sashimi & Ebi Tempura.

Pinnacles Desert Discovery

15th Nov Sunday

After the fishing competition was officially dispersed, Mel, or rather Jono, since he was the driver, took us to the quiet little town of Cervantes (some 250+km north from Perth city) for a quick look. Really quiet.

Then we took off to the Pinnacles, the “only” tourist spot in the area.

The Pinnacles Desert Discovery is a unique and spectacular experience within the Nambung National Park. Rising mysteriously from the dune sands are thousands of limestone pillars, a landscape in eerie contrast to the surrounding heath. Nambung National Park is one of the many protected areas in this world-renowned biodiversity hotspot, where an extraordinary range of wildlife and habitats lie within easy reach of each other.

Done Fishing (Part 3)

15th Nov Sunday

Mel went for a final morning fish, while I hang around in bed as the previous night was very cold. Richard snored so loudly that I think Jono could not sleep. I did not sleep a wink too as I can tell all the movement that happened in the night such as Mel coming in at 2am, going off at 6am, & Jono going off at 5am, …

Had breakfast of instant Myojo Singapore Laksa & Ham & Egg sandwich. Then it was time to pack up.

Taking a few more final shots before I leave the camp site. I was actually standing on top of the sand dune that separates the camp site and the beach, where our fishing spot was. So we walked up & down through this sand dune from camp site to fishing spot.

Time to gather with rest of club members at 11am for the weigh-in.

Fishing Day! (Part 2)

14th Nov Sat

The sun rises before 6 here. i had wanted to catch it, but too lazy to get out of bed in the cold ;p Only managed to rise by 8:30 cos the sun was shining so hard that it was like an oven in the tent! Briefly washed up & make breakfast.

Chef: Sharon
Menu: Bacon + Sausage + Eggs with Bread & Coffee

It seemed like I am the one that went most to pee.. with the previous night steak dinner & the morning American brekky, there is no way I could hold out till when we returned on Sun! Fortunately, we were a day earlier than the rest of the fishing club members, & there were no one in sight.. So off I went to find a scenic spot to settle my business

Went to do a bit of morning fishing before going off to the meeting point where the club members will kick off for the fishing competition & to meet with Mel’s sis, Pat & bro-in-law, Richard. Our fishing spot was just in front of our camp site separate by the sand dune. So need to climb across to the beach. In fact with the sand dune blocking most of the wind, our camp site was not so cold during the night.

No luck still after fishing for an hour or so, & its time to drive to meeting point.

After picking up Richard & Pat to camp site, we decided to set up a shelter as the sun was blazing. Then is was the takeway lunch of chicken & rice brought over by Pat & siesta time.

By 2pm, we were off for another round of fishing. Then coffee break & a nappy at 3pm, & back to fishing at 4:30pm again!

Mel was busy all the time, hooking on the bait for both Pat & I, and casting the line. He can cast so far away. It was tough for us because the wind & current threw our line back. We were not in much luck for the fishing & I reckon the spot was also the factor, There were so much seaweed in the shoreline that each time you thought there is a bite, it turned out to be chunks of seaweed. They were heavy & took up much time in hauling them out. My mouse had came out as a result of using so much strength!

Besides the mice that came out, I also kena a few cuts, nail chiped & developed a rash. The rash could well be due to the dryness. Fortunately also weather is dry & we did not perspire, else how to stand not taking shower? The clothes I brought I don’t even have a chance to change. I was basically in the same set of clothes from Fri till Sun!

Right after sunset at 630-ish, Pat caught a taylor! she was very excited & I found out later that was the first time she caught a big fish! Mel & i returned empty handed.

After dinner of the takeaway sambal chicken rice + eggs & wine, we were off for thr night fishing. Check out our gear:

We fished, or rather tried to fish but in vain. There was simply no bite, & we were still fishing weeds! I was holding on to my rod & dozing off in the cold wind by mid-night & decided to call it a night. Richard, Pat & I went back while Mel continued. In fact he continued till 2am before he returned & off again at 6am BUT there was NO fish for him!

Off to Camping! (Part 1)

13th – 15th Nov Fri-Sun

Part 1

Got up 6 in the morning to get ready to load in the finally frozen stuffs & load water into the trailer, buy bread & all.

Packing List:
1. 40+20L Diesel
2. 12V Generator + Fuel
3. Freezer
4. Chiller x 2 with ice packs
5. Microwave Oven
6. Cooking Utensils: frying pan, pot, kettle
7. Dining ware: plates, cutlery, cups
8. Table x 2
9. Chairs x 3
10. Water tank
11. Spade (Can you make a guess what is this used for already?)
12. Sleeping bag x 3
13. Safari bed x 2
14. Pillows x 3
15. Extra tent for shelter
16. Food: bread, eggs, sausages, bacon, instant laksa, steak, biscuits
17: Beverage: drinking water, beer, wine

Finally left at 8-ish to meet with fishing friends, John, who had Stephen & Adam with him. So we had 3 vehicles in a convoy.

Jono was going to clock in the hours for driving as he is on L plate (there is such requirement in AU to clock learning hours before a P plate is issued), & this is the first time he was driving the Nissan Pathfinder, & on top of that a camper trailer..

Cervantes is a good 250km+ from Perth city, & we were expected to be on the road for 3 hours or so. Most of AU’s roads are straight & VERY long. It was indeed a long ride with vast plainfields on either side.

When we finally reached our destination, John & Co decided to take a left turn of the fishing site whereas Mel wanted the right. So we splitted up.

I had originally thought that is is a proper fishing site & we are going to be maybe fishing from the deck or something. Turned out that is a shore of beach – white beach – facing the Indian Ocean. The in-road to our camp site is all sand & bushes. In fact, there are known as Sand Dunes because many parts are white sand piled up like a dune. There were many news things for me on this trip. Like before we enter driving into the dunes, we actually have to let out some air from all the wheels so that the wheels are broader (you will have to pump out before you hit the road again).

My crocs boat shoes has no use here since we were doing surf fishing (ie beach fishing). I was better off in my Haivainas or bare-footed! and without a 4×4, there is no way you can get through these dunes.. even then, as I found out, the adventure began..

.. when at 1:15pm we are stuck in the sand dune! The sand was so soft that there is insufficient traction for the wheels even when on 4W lo. While trying to reverse, the tralier got stuck. Then we could not move forward to backward. Mel & Jono tried to get the vehicle.. We use the spade to remove sand from the body & wheels (very tough work, & not much I could help). Each time we tried to drive, it get trapped deeper, & we had to dig again & again. We even jet-up the vehicle, even then we were not successful. I tried to make myself useful by walking off to find things that can be stuck below the wheels like wood blocks. It was definitely tough cos Aussies don’t usually litter!

One other main job I had was to take photos! Hahaha….

At 3pm we were so exhaused, or rather they were so exhausted that we had to stop, & make a quick lunch of copala (cured pork) sandwich. And I discovered how the word “sandwich” came about – literally sand! Yes, there were sand all over, including in our lunch! Menace: summer flies!

We had earllier tried to radio-ed John, but they must have gone beyond 15km cos we could not get a response from them. And yes, no mobile phone cos there is NO reception in this vast area at all.

Thank God at 3:30pm, an oncoming vehicle came! We were blocking the way, & the 2 Aussie men has “no” choice but to help us! Actually they were very friendly & helpful, & we found out they have been fishing there for 40 years! Mike & Sam (PB007).

After assessing the situation, we took out a belt & connect to the vehicles, not before disloding the trailer first. And their vehicle basically pull our vehicle out of the pit. We then filled up the pit, & pulled the trailer & then engaged with our vehicle again. By 4pm we were ready to go!

The camp site Mel wanted was only less than 50m away! We had overshot & wanted to reverse before we got stuck. Then it is another hour of setting up the camp. And voila! We were done by 5:15pm. Had a break before having a hand at fishing at 6pm.

Boy! The Indian Ocean wind was sure C-O-L-D. We had definitely underestimate the Summer wind.. Grrrr…..

By 8pm, Mel managed to catch a Taylor fish! Yippie….. There are strict laws in AU with regard to fishing, & this self-govern rules everyone keep, quite unlike back home where we are well-known as a fine city. You cannot keep fish that is shorter than 30cm (it means they are not fully grown), & for Tailor, you can fish more than 8 per day per person, among many other rules. The fishermen all keep to the rules & are honest enough to throw back the fishes into the ocean. Its amazing..

Chef Jono was still sleeping by the time we returned & we had to wake him up to cook for us.

Menu:
Tenderloin Steak with Seared Garlic Potatoes
Red Wine (eh.. cant remember what!)

By the time we ate it was already 9:30pm! Meal times with the Wees are very rubber ! Did I mentioned we actually have metal cutlery for our steak? Are we camping or what?

Had our wine & chatted under the stars. There are 2 particular things I missed about AU – the clear blue sky & the starry night.

That night the stars were plentiful & filled up the entire sky. So beautiful. Love it!

By 10:30pm we decided against night fishing as we were really tired, & went to sleep.

By 2am I had to get out in the dark & cold for a pee under the stars!

Day 1 Perth

12 Nov Thu

Went to do some grocery for tmr’s camping after a a late 11am brekky & decied we will hv beef kuay tiao for lunch. It was not until 4:30pm that I hv my lunch because we were waiting for the beef tripes to be tender.

Xin Hong came to pick me up at 4:30 & I am glad to meet her after along while.This has been their 3rd year in Perth since coming back fo their PR fulfillment. It appears that Perth life is good for them..

Went to their house 7km from the city, a house they have bought & moved in since March, to wait for Xin Min to return from work.

Brought me to Burnsworth Park for a walk before heading for an Italian pizza/pasta dinner.

Came back for more pasta dinner cooked by Jono, & another one bottle of sparkling wine & red wine before retiring at 2am. I am feelling a little wobbly even as I typed from the effect of the wine. Need to be up by 6 as we are leaving at 7 for Cervantes.

The camper trailer has been 90% packed. Its truly Aussie style & you willbe impressed with what goes in there: extra diesel, a sink, water tank, power generator, cooking utensils, tent, safari beds, ice boxes,… and I have been told there will be NO shower facilities & no toilet! If I need to do B-I-G biz, I need to use a spade to dig a hole literally!!!!!!!!!!

How will I survive???????

finally in Perth

When I reached the airport yesterday at 3:30pm, saw the flight was re-timed from 5:50 to 6:50. so it will be a long wait. but then the plane actually drove in only at 7pm, & by the time we boarded and all, the plane took off only at 8pm. It was a long start for me!

Touched down at 00:20am & I sent an SMS to M. It turned out I took another 2 hours to clear immigration & customs at 2am! M & C waited so long that they thought I was being held up by the immigration to check since I am travelling alone – suspicious of being a prostitute? I reckon i am in backpack so not possible, then they said drugs traffickers are in backpacks!!

When we reached their place, we had some snacks of Bengawan Solo kueh which I bought (& regretted – need to clear quatantine), had a glass of milk & yet another bottle of red wine & retired at 4am.

Woke up at 9+ & we did some grocery shopping for tomorrow’s camping trip & had coffee & toast.

The neighbourhood is nice & quiet & each household has at least 3 vehicles. M’s house is a little messy in that there are a lot of stuffs accumulated over 10 years! Maybe I’ll try a little driving, & man! the vehicles here hor are like 3,000cc & above one lor..

M apparently went on a fishing trip yesterday morning at 4am & came back with loads. His son were making fish stock when we arrived. Later we are going to have sashimi for lunch. And then start to pack for the camp. Looks like there is loads to pack. update later!