Ramen

Yesterday afternoon I did a ramen making masterclass. Once again, I was the only student, although the class that was finishing up as I  arrived had three or four students.

I made the noodles and helped mix the soup bases. I crisped chicken pieces with a gas gun and then assembled three different flavours of ramen bowls

It was a lot of fun and I had a good time but I wish it had focused more on making their soup base. We used pork stock and chicken stock. We flavoured one bowl with pork stock and miso paste, one bowl with their base made with soy sauce, mirin, sake and other things and pork stock and the third with their base and chicken stock. I can make stock but I really wanted to know more about the flavour profiles of their base. It was a bit like the sushi course - I wanted to know more about the flavourings in the sushi rice, which had been pre-prepared.

The advantage to being the only student is that you get all the attention. The disadvantage is that it doesn't take the whole 90 minutes that have been timetabled because you are getting all the attention and nobody else is there to ask interesting questions. Also - there is no chance that I could ever eat three bowls of ramen even after only having had a light breakfast and no lunch. 

I think it is unlikely that I will make my own ramen noodles. I no longer have a pasta making machine, although I could probably borrow one. But you can buy perfectly good ramen noodles in the supermarkets. I might have a bash at making my own soup base though. I think I can probably wing it.

I walked to the class. It seemed silly to do battle with Shibuya station just to go one station. It was only 2 km so not far and relatively easy to get to. I walked back and wandered through the little side streets with cafes and restaurants and little shops. It was a good day. And the weather was delightful.

Tentative signs of approaching spring:

Sushi

Yesterday was a food-filled day.

Because I am a member with the hotel group, I was offered a discount on my breakfast vouchers. So I bought them. Breakfast is in a pizza and pasta restaurant, attached to the hotel, which you can enter directly in the morning. Later in the day you need to go outside and just round the corner. Your voucher gives you access to a breakfast buffet, plus a main course. There are both Japanese and Western options for the main course. I decided on the fish. I also had a small bowl of salad from the buffet. An excellent, relatively light breakfast

It turns out that it is quite quick and relatively easy to get to and from Shibuya station when you are not lugging a heavy, recalcitrant suitcase with you. It is also easier to navigate the station when you are using the metro and can follow the coloured circles. I was on my way to a sushi making class, due to begin at 10:00

I oh so, oh so nearly didn't go. The thought of navigating the Tokyo metro seemed quite daunting. Who needs to be able to make sushi anyway. You can buy it everywhere. But then I thought: you are just being a wuss. You can navigate metro systems. They're not hard. And you have clear instructions on how to get there.

So I went.

And I can navigate metro systems and I am not a wuss. And the instructions were clear and I had no trouble getting there. Apart from the stairs, when the escalators were broken. I took more stairs yesterday than I have in years!

It's just as well I went. I was the only student! I had a 1-2-1 sushi making session in Tokyo!!!!

My first attempt at a California roll was not good:

Very poor makizushi.
I squashed the seaweed wrapper and
they fell apart

My ebi nigiri was better

Making sushi in Tokyo

I made sushi with salmon, omelette, squid, prawn. Not tuna. I am not a fan of tuna sashimi. I also had another go at the makizushi, which was much better. The chef wasn't happy with my plating and made me re-do it. And the final result looked like this:

I got to eat my sushi for lunch. I couldn't eat all of it - it was a lot of sushi. The chef said he would eat the rest for his lunch. I hope he did. It would have been a shame to waste it

Evidence that I am actually in Tokyo

I made my way back to Shibuya, didn't get quite as lost trying to get out of the station and came back to Lyf for a rest. Then I went back to Donki for another look around and then a potter in Loft and a wander around.

I had pizza and a glass of wine for dinner, in the restaurant next door. I watched the sous-chef rolling the dough and the pizzas being made by the pizza chef.

I was expecting it to be rather expensive, assuming there would be a Shibuya mark up. But there wasn't.  I got this pizza and a good sized glass of wine for about $20

I looked into the possibility of buying a new suitcase and abandoning my existing one. I can do this but it will cost around $80 for the hotel to take care of the old case. I've had a look at the damaged wheel and think I might try to make a temporary fix and keep it with me for now. I would rather buy pizza, wine and onigiri with my $80. Plus, of course, I would also have to pay for a new suitcase. I will try and manage until I get home.

Shibuya

It was only after I had bought my train ticket from the airport to Tokyo Station that I realised that I could have gone directly to Shibuya, on the same train.

No worries, I thought. I can get the metro from Tokyo to Shibuya.

And you can. But not directly. You have to change once, which was more problematic than I had expected. Would have been much easier to have stayed on the train I was already on.

Oh - and my online Suica card isn't working and I have no idea why. It's not a major disaster. You can travel around using tickets and I have loaded the new tourist Suica app to see if that helps. But it is annoying.

I finally got to Shibuya station and tried to make my way to Hachiko's statue. I more or less knew how to get to Lyf Shibuya from there (I had looked it up!). This was complicated by building works and the creation of a new, huge shopping mall which I could get into but couldn't work out how to get out of. The Pink Suitcase was being grumpy. And it was Sunday lunchtime and Shibuya was packed.

I have been stuck in Shibuya station before and managed to get out - eventually - so I remained persistent. And eventually, patience and determination were rewarded and I found myself stood by Hachiko, in his very much reduced square, and finally managed to stagger my way  through crowds of people to Lyf.

Where I arrived well before the checkin time of 3pm. Perfectly fine. I am happy to offload The Suitcase and go for something to eat and a cup of tea.

A few days ago I had an email from the parent company of Lyf, inviting me to download their app and register so I could complete the pre-checkin form. So I did. This has meant that I am A Member. And Members get privileges, such as free early checkin, free snacks, a discount for breakfast and a late checkout. Just for downloading an app and registering.

So I accepted my early checkin, offloaded The Suitcase in my room instead of in the left luggage space, and went off to find a nearby Donki, a mega, 24 hour store. I didn't do it full justice. I went downstairs to the food and drink section and pottered around down there. I have found a Family Mart and a Lawson (Lawson is my preferred Japanese convenience store) I have also walked past a Loft but didn't go in. I will do, if there is time.

I have also rearranged my plans for while I'm in Tokyo. I am doing a sushi making class this morning. I was intending to go on a day trip tomorrow, along the coast to a dormant volcano. It looked like a good day but I needed to be somewhere on the other side of Tokyo by 06:45 and I was increasingly thinking that I really didn't want to do that. So I cancelled it and moved the ramen class I was intending to do on Wednesday morning to tomorrow afternoon. Much more relaxed and allows some pottering time, especially since I don't need to leave here until midday on Wednesday.

I might look into buying a new suitcase, but before that I need to find out if I can abandon my existing one. I know that hotels don't like it if people abandon their luggage when they leave but I will ask the reception people if there are options. Otherwise, the Pink Suitcase will have to struggle on to Gifu, where I will discuss options with Austin

Donpen

I didn't go in yesterday,
but we brought Wendy here
in 2019

Japan

 They let me in!

I have exactly no reason for supposing that the Japanese immigration people would prevent me from entering the country. I fill in the online immigration form, I have my QR code, I am polite and friendly, I can speak enough Japanese to say please and thank you and Good Evening to the staff at the airport. But I am never, ever excited about coming to Japan until I am landside, in my hotel,  with an onigiri in one hand, and wine in the other.

The flight was entirely uneventful. Left on time, arrived a bit early. It took much less time to get through immigration and customs than I had expected. I found the Lawsons I had expected to find near the food hall and bought my onigiri and a small container of milk for my morning cup of tea (no need to buy wine - I had brought some with me).

I was sat next to a delightful young couple on the plane, who were from a small country town in Victoria, on their honeymoon and also on their very first trip outside of Australia. Once they have had their three weeks in Japan and built up their confidence a bit, they thought they might try Singapore next. Personally, I would have done it the other way round. Almost everyone speaks English in Singapore! I hope they have the very best of times in Japan. They were sooooooo excited and so lovely.

I was less excited about getting to my hotel. I knew there was a shuttle bus - but where? The lady at the Information Desk said it would be just as quick to walk. About 15 minutes, to the right from the exit door. It would take about that long to walk to Terminal 2, where the shuttle left from. So I set off to walk, along a not very well lit path, which didn't seem to be going anywhere. It did occur to me that I could have taken the inter-terminal shuttle to Terminal 2, but by then I was half way to the hotel. I wasn't worried about safety (It is extremely unlikely in Japan that anyone would attack an older woman wandering around at night) but I was a bit worried about getting lost. However, I heeded the advice that I had given to the young couple on the plane: deploy Google maps and be confident that you will always end up where you are supposed to be, even if it takes longer to get there than you anticipated.

And here I am. In the Narita Airport Tokoyu hotel. It's the same chain that we stayed in in Ise. I have a small but more than adequate room. The wifi is strong and stable. And there was corn soup on offer at breakfast. I would move to Japan for its corn soup. It is one of my very favourite Japanese foods.

I wouldn't ordinarily have corn soup and curry rice for breakfast, but if it's on offer ...

There is a possibility that I might
have had two cups of corn soup

It is a bright and sunny day today. I am watching planes take off and land from my room. And shortly, I will make my way to Shibuya, where I am staying for three nights before making my way to Gifu, and Austin, Kaori and Tatsuki's place.

Cairns

I flew up to Cairns yesterday evening.

I farewelled Brandy and Whiskey, who seemed supremely uninterested in my departure, apart from noting that I had given them their dinner at lunchtime, and made my way to the SkyBus terminal at the station.

In the end I brought my large pink suitcase, rather than the bag and small suitcase I had intended to bring. It seemed more sensible, although it seems to be strangely unwieldy.  As I was approaching the bus stand, it was definitely pulling to the right. While I was battling to keep it on track a little old man, who really should have known better, pushed past me and dashed to the bus waiting at the departure stand. I wasn't particularly bothered. I was in absolutely no hurry whatsoever. However, the staff were bothered and told him in no uncertain terms that he shouldn't push in and he should queue nicely.

It seemed he was in a hurry, thought the bus was imminently about to leave and was worried that he was going to miss his flight. The staff were un-bothered by any of this, told him he would have to wait his turn and made him stand behind me.

As it happens, the bus wasn't leaving for another ten minutes. He had narrowly missed the one before. But it was just as well we were nice and early. The bus was very full.

He leapt off the bus with amazing agility when we pulled up at the airport and disappeared. I wonder if he made his flight.

I definitely made mine. I was at the airport early and the flight was delayed. I was a bit worried about getting to my hotel before reception closed, but sent them a message expressing my concern and they replied telling me how to get in after hours. No need for concern at all

Airside, Tullamarine

The flight was entirely uneventful. I was at the front of the plane, sitting alongside an older muslim couple who offered me some of their Iftar dates when they broke their fast. They seemed a bit surprised that I knew about Ramadan and Iftar. I didn't tell them that I am reading Nadiya Hussain's recent book Rooza, which is Islamic recipes from around the world for Iftar and Eid. I borrowed it from the library, liked it and bought the ebook so I could reread it on the plane.

I made it to the hotel just as reception was closing. My room, as I had requested, was on the ground floor, so no need to drag my heavy, grumpy suitcase up flights of stairs. I slept remarkably well. And now I am back at the airport, waiting for my lunchtime flight to Tokyo. 

There is still nothing to do at Cairns International Terminal. Very little in the way of food and drink options. Few shops. However, they have upgraded their device charging portals since I was last here. They are everywhere. And they work!

Much too early for wine.
This was a remarkably nice cappuccino.

I may need to replace my suitcase. It turns out that one of the wheels is damaged, which explains its wish to pull to the right and not to wheel smoothly. I am beginning to wish I had stuck to my original plan and brought the two smaller bags

I didn't make it to the Japanese Class yesterday

We had just a little bit of weather

 

I was very pleased I wasn't in that rowing boat, although I suppose we could have gone body surfing

It didn't last long but by the time it passed over I had already sent an apology to the sensei

Frittering Time

I went into work on Friday, confidently expecting it to be my last visit before heading to Japan at the end of this week, followed by a stint of long service leave. I knew that the Garden Club was gathering in the garden at 3:30 to plant seedlings but didn't feel that I could leave early on my last shift just to go and plant seedlings. I had a good day and left, telling everyone that I would see them when I got back from Japan and reminding them that I was taking leave for a few weeks.

I came home across the stadium concourse, which I don't normally do. But the trams were terminating at Spencer Street and it seemed the easiest option. I was not expecting anyone still to be in the garden at 5:45 but in fact several people were, so I dropped in to chat to them.

This is the tomato plant that I bought in Bunnings about a month ago. It has more than doubled in size and is obviously very happy in my "winter garden". It even has a couple of tomatoes on it. I am thinking that I might actually use the space as an indoor garden next spring and put a few cherry tomato plants there and see what happens. I might expand my herb collection too, although the vegetable garden on level 4 has a wide variety of herbs I can use

I have been watching with some interest the number of postings on my social media feeds which quietly berate retirees for wasting time, not cleaning and tidying their homes, not doing useful things, in fact, frittering their time away, sitting about, reading social media feeds and not accomplishing anything remotely useful. I don't investigate these things in any detail because I am certain that they will want me to download apps, give them lots of my money and encourage them to nag me for ever. In fact, it doesn't take long to sort my place out, it is usually reasonably tidy and anyway, if I want to fritter my time away on the internet or gazing out the window, or watching tv or reading library books or sitting about in the sun - then I will do

Large yacht heading out of the harbour

Teeny, tiny sailing boat, pottering about on the harbour

Morning sky, turning the world pink

Sometimes, when I am coming back from the La Trobe Street tram stop, if the weather is nice and if I have nothing pressing to do, I stop and sit here for a while and just watch the water.

Sometimes, there are things to do. Such as Sunday, when I met Simon at the Alphington market, and the travelling cat was there:

And Monday, which was a public holiday, when I met Wendy for lunch and we had fish and chips round on the Newquay Promenade and then I met Lindsey in the evening at the Quarterhouse for dinner

Lunchtime view

Evening drinks

Sometimes, things crop up unexpectedly that do need me to engage with the world and actually do things. Such as yesterday, when I went back into work for a few hours because there were things that unexpectedly needed to be done and there wasn't really anyone else available to do them.  

And sometimes, I choose not to do things that are in my calendar, such as the Probus meeting this morning. I have decided that Probus is not right for me at this time. I won't actively resign at this stage. I may change my mind. But I don't feel the need to go to meetings for now. It is very tempting not to go to my Japanese class this evening. I have already done a Japanese class today, an online one at 8:00. But I probably will go to this evening's class. It's the last one for this term and a revision session of the things we have done over the last seven weeks.

Talk about worrying about people who let entire mornings, afternoons or days vanish without noticing. I think I should worry that eight whole weeks have disappeared so quickly!

Freyja and Simon came around yesterday after work and we went to Dokutoku for dinner. They are helping to look after the cats while I am away. Wendy is also helping and everyone needed to be shown where things are. I am not doing very well on the whole "Becoming a Hermit" front!

Some creatures don't care about any of this.
They think snoozing through the day
is what is supposed to happen 😀

Just for a Change - a Food Filled Weekend

You may remember that, towards the end of last year, a group of people came to our community vegetable garden who had sourced a large number of native edible plants and helped us plant them.

The warrigal greens have been absolutely thriving. Likewise, some of the native herbs. The saltbushes are very happy. The pepper berry tree is establishing itself as is the lemon myrtle bush. The (not native) lemon tree, which was rescued from a pot in which it had been very unhappy, is positively thriving among its native companions.

However, the humans in the garden are not experienced in growing edible native plants, nor really in cooking and eating them. So the Grow people came back on Saturday morning and talked us through some of it. They also made saltbush crisp breads for us to taste, and both lemon myrtle and river mint teas. They harvested bunches of warrigal greens and sprigs of saltbush and a very few of the lemon myrtle leave sand encouraged us to take them away with us. I do pick some of the warrigal greens when I am in the garden. They're a sort of native spinach and I use them as spinach.

I brought a bunch of warrigal greens and a bit of saltbush back to the flat with me and used it in a pasta sauce I made for Saturday dinner with some cherry tomatoes I had been given, mince I had in the freezer, a red onion I had bought at the Alphington market the previous weekend and some fettuccine, likewise from the market. Oh - and some cream cheese, which needed using and which I stirred through just before I added the fettuccine. It was very delicious.

During the afternoon I wandered around to The District and visited Woolworths and the Asian supermarket. I *might* have had some ice cream before coming home again. Maybe :-D

The weather changed overnight and it was quite wet on Sunday. I went to the Dennis station in the morning and met Simon there with Ziggy. I oh-so-nearly forgot to get off at Dennis station. Usually on Sunday mornings I am going to Alphington, which is two stations beyond Dennis. Fortunately, my attention was re-focussed when the train announcement said: We will shortly be arriving in DENNIS!!!!

I borrowed Ziggy from Simon (who walked home through the park; it wasn't actually raining at that point) and made my way to Daylesford where the Sunday Lunchers were meeting at Gillie's place. We had a delicious lunch of a charcuterie plate, baked creamy chicken and leeks with potatoes and green beans, then poached pears to finish. It was a lovely afternoon and the fact that it was raining didn't impede our conversation at all. Then I drove back to Freyja and Simon's place and Simon generously drove me back to my place. It was still raining!

I am not expecting this week to be as interesting from a food point of view, although there will, of course, be food. I am planning roast chicken pieces for dinner tonight and tomorrow, which will certainly be delicious but which can hardly be described as interesting! I want to run the freezer down a bit so I can sort it out and see what's still in there, so I am mainly planning to "shop" from existing supplies this week and next. I do, however, need some more vegetables and milk, plus I need to go the library. I have a couple of books to return and one to pick up. I shall head out shortly.

A little while ago I bought some floor stickers to cover the stained and cracked kitchen tiles.  Replacing them with new tiles would be expensive, logistically difficult and would need authorisation from the Building Management people (who might have ideas about colour and style). Stickers seemed the way to go, so I went hunting for sticker tiles which were specifically designed for floors (so not the flimsier stickers I used on the splash back in Eilish Court). I have started sticking them. I will need help to slightly lift the dishwasher to slide a couple of stickers under its feet. And I will also need help to move the fridge to sticker under it. But I am quite pleased with progress:

I have done more since this photo was taken but I thought I would show you the contrast between the stickers and the original tiles.  I'll see how well these tiles cope in a high traffic area. If they last well, I'll get more for the bathroom and maybe even for the Sunset Strip/Winter Garden.

(Belated) Weekend Report

We made quite a rush on the airport at the end of last week. Emily, Andre and the children arrived from Canada on Thursday morning, not long after Lindsey had returned from Hobart. She collected them with her car and took them to their holiday dwelling. On Friday afternoon, Ant, Jess and their children arrived from Sydney. Ian collected them and took them to their weekend retreat. At a very similar time, Ruth and Andy, cousins who are usually to be found in England, arrived from Hobart, having first had a two week touring holiday in New Zealand. No one was available to collect them so they made their own way to East Melbourne and I met them at The Flat and let them in.

Lindsey, Ian and I escorted them to Kinyoubi in Smith Street for an early dinner. And then I went home. I needed an early night - the rest of the weekend was likely to be busy!

Saturday was a busy day. Fortunately it was also a nice day, weatherwise - for many, many people were meeting at the Collingwood Children's Farm to celebrate the twins' second birthday.

I had never been to the children's farm and was looking forward to visiting (although I am not usually particularly comfortable in the company of lots of very small children!). And it was lovely. We had a large marquee in a paddock for the party so were separate from other visitors, although we could go out and mingle and look at the animals at will. Getting there proved to be something of a challenge. Seemed simple enough. Tram to Johnston Street, bus along Johnston Street to the farm. Except that it was also the Johnston Street Festival that morning and the road was closed. I walked along until the road wasn't closed any more and was just reading a sign at the bus stop which said that it was out of commission when a bus turned up, and stopped. I got on it! It was much easier getting home. Freyja and Simon gave Wendy and me a lift to the station and we caught a train back into the city. Wendy went into the city and I went to the supermarket and then walked home. No street festivals to avoid.

Somehow, I seem not to have taken any photos at the party. I did take this one of a shop on Johnston Street, but it wasn't very relevant to the purpose of the journey

I had a quick turn around at home, tidying, preparing and getting organised before Ruth and Any arrived at my place to inspect it and to have dinner.  I have to confess to you all that I am never going to win medals, prizes or honours for sweeping. Or even for carpet sweeping. I have an uneasy feeling that the only way my flat is ever going to be free of cat fur is if I get rid of the cats. And I don't think they want to leave!

The weather was much less clement on Sunday, although it was only damp when I met Freyja and Simon at the Alphington market. We had lunch in a cafe called Poke the Bear, not far from their place. Personally, I feel that poking bears is a bad idea. It's likely to have the same outcome as poking crocodiles. However, should you be invited into this bear's den I would encourage you to accept the invitation. It is really cute. The food was delicious too (it has menus for omnivores, vegetarians and vegans so suited all three of us).

It was a good weekend.

Happy 20th Birthday to the Blog

Ten years ago I wished the blog a happy tenth birthday and then said:

I wonder if the blog will still be going in another ten years.  And if it is - I wonder what it will be telling us

And here it still is, trundling along. 

Ten years ago I knew we were heading back to Australia later in the year. I had absolutely no idea that ten years on I would be living in a flat in Docklands with a water view. Whenever I had come to visit Docklands I had thought it would be a lovely place to live (ignoring the scoffers who said it would be a dire place to live) but assumed that it would be well out of my reach, especially with a water view.  Turns out it wasn't out of reach and that I was right; it is a lovely place to live. 

I hadn't expected to be living on my own, although Jim and I knew that it was very likely that he would die before I did. We had had lots of discussions about it so when the time came there was a plan which could be put into action. I absolutely hadn't expected the dementia. Fortunately we had had the discussions before it became impossible to discuss serious things with him and, again, I more or less knew what he would have wanted had he been able to say.

So I think what the blog is telling us is that we should seize the day, have the discussions, get the paperwork in order, Be Prepared but be flexible as well. And above all - have fun.

Shall we aim for another 10 years? A celebration of Meanderings' 30th birthday in February 2036.