Web cam at Waikiki

Dad rang yesterday - it was my day off, so we had some time to catch up on things.

Occasionally I'll go to the live web cam site on Waikiki, look at the palms swaying in the breeze, and think: what if Dad happened to walk by at that moment? After I told him about this website, he did go to the Duke Kahanamoku statue on the beach and looked for the camera that's trained on the beach. (Dad, with your back to the statue, look up and to your right.) It's fun to watch the tourists walk up to the statue and then take photos of themselves. There's a steady stream of them. Just now, at almost 1 a.m. Honolulu time, there were still tourists out and about.

Mom reaches a milestone

I wish I were there with my mom on her birthday, having a chat over afternoon tea.

We are separated by a 20 hour plane flight, but are still so close because of these memories of lovely times spent together.


I love you, Mom!

Took my boys to the zoo today

I have always liked going to the zoo, and fortunately Melbourne has a superb zoo that gives the animals plenty of room, recreating their habitats as much as possible. The Trail of the Elephants replicates the feel of an Indonesian village, and you follow a jungle-like track through thick bamboo and other rainforest flora to get to where the elephants have a huge swimming pool, a mud pool, an elephant barn and other facilities. The boys hadn't been to the zoo since a school excursion years ago, before the Trail of the Elephants was opened, and I really wanted them to see it. They enjoyed it very much, and it was good to see that they had their favorite types of animals: Toby liked the orangutangs and Ben liked the cats.

Food blogging??

So, just after I uploaded my last post about how important food has been to us over the years, I chanced on a whole group of blogs devoted to people talking about food. Some are professional writers, and their blogs are so interesting to read. I'm afraid of the time I'm inevitably going to spend reading them though. Some of the ones I like:

The accidental hedonist:
http://www.accidentalhedonist.com/
Chronicles of a curious cook:
http://www.cheapcooking.com/blog/
A girl's gotta eat:
http://www.aproposofnothing.net/food/
Kitsch'n'Zinc:
http://kitschnzinc.blogspot.com/
Cook sister!
http://cooksister.typepad.com/cook_sister/

And then of course there are the numerous cooking shows, but the one that we always watch is the bizarre but hugely entertaining Iron Chef, a Japanese cult show that treats cooking as a competition, complete with sports-like commentary and a time limit of one hour.
Here's a link to one of the many Iron Chef sites.
This one is about the Kitchen Stadium:
http://web.archive.org/web/20030605110826/www.ironchef.com/ironlocation.shtml

And from an Iron Chef fan site:
You’re an Iron Chef fan if…

* You can't cook dinner unless your spouse first shouts, "Allez Cuisine!"

* You can't cook a meal unless you have a challenger.

* When you taste something you like, you giggle and exclaim, "The flavors dance in my mouth!"

* You start every sentence by saying, "If memory serves me correctly..."

* You ask for an ice cream maker for Christmas so you can try out a good trout or scallop ice cream recipe.

* You learn to sew in order to dress like Kaga.

Time goes by...

Where did the first half of the year go? We are now mid-winter and past the winter solstice. At uni we're enjoying a relatively student-free campus as the mid-year exams are over and no classes are on. However, that means that our own two uni students are home, and as Mel usually works from home, the house is no longer "mine". So off I go to work, happily and in the knowledge that I will arrive home to a beautifully cooked meal - husband is a great cook, and the boys are developing good skills. Last night Ben prepared a lovely roast chicken and potatoes, with a salad and homemade dressing. No bottled stuff in this family! The boys may not turn out to be foodies but they do appreciate well cooked food. So sad to witness families not sitting down to meals together, instead heating up something in those dreadful microwaves at odd hours to suit the individual. They're even building houses these days with minimal kitchen facilities (can't call them kitchens) as people move more towards fast food, prepackaged food, eating out a few times a week, and so on.

Well, this post has taken an unexpected turn, but this does fit into the title "Time goes by..." Food: it has been the recurring theme of our courting and marriage, starting in 1969. How much we have shared our pleasure in preparing, serving and eating food, with each other, and with family and friends over the years. The enjoyment of food has been the cement in our relationship, we have great memories of past meals, although Mel's memory for specific dishes eaten years ago has always amazed me. But it's all part of our history, even the pots and pans we bought as students in Berkeley are some of the ingredients of our family history (ok, so the boys laugh at us when we reminisce about how long we've had this or that kitchen utensil - are we crazy, or what). But it's a shared history, and so much fun to look back on.

This was taken at our 10 acre block last year. We're having breakfast (see faithful coffee pot on the table, bought in Alice Springs in 1990 - yawn). We tend to spend as much time as possible outdoors, which is another recurring theme of ours. Look at that sky, can't see that sitting indoors. Ditto the stars and moon in the night sky. Glorious.
Click on picture to enlarge.