family

Beef casserole

/ myzania / Leave a comment
  • picture of a recipe in a book. title of recipe reads: "simplest beef stew"
  • picture of simplest beef stew in recipe book, with beef in a sauce in a bg pot with carrots and other veg
  • a plate full of Clare's version of the simplest beef stew - beef, tomato & wine sauce, halved little potatoes, carrots and corn. a spon and fork are either side of the plate and a full water glass is at the top right corner of the plate.

I was given some corningware dishes at the start of the year, and we made a beef casserole in the biggest one a month ago. I’m thinking I should make a chicken casserole next! We used a recipe from The Great Australian Cookbook.

Ingredients:

  • Baby potatoes
  • Chuck steak or other chunked beef
  • Plain flour
  • Paprika
  • Canned tomatoes
  • Wine
  • Beef stock
  • Garlic
  • Onion
  • Carrot
  • Other veg

Method:

  1. Preheat oven to 180*C
  2. Roll the beef in flour mixed with a spice like paprika – do this in a ziplock bag or something similar
  3. Put beef into a deep casserole dish
  4. Add tomatoes and then other ingredients – the meat should almost be covered by liquid.
  5. Cover with a lid and cook for two hours then taste and season with salt and pepper if necessary.
  6. Cook for another 20 minutes if necessary to ensure the meat is tender enough.
  7. Eat!

Curried sausages

/ myzania / Leave a comment
  • Curry #1 plated up for eating on a white plate with green rim, a fork and knife on the edges of the plate ready to be used.
  • An image of curry #1 cooking on the stove in a black frying pan, full of green veg and carrot and chopped sausages in sauce
  • An image of curry #1 in the black frying pan ready to serve - this curry has less sauce and different veg (corn, capsicum and carrot in this pic)
  • On a white plate with green rim are chopped sausages, vegetables and rice in a curry sauce. The plate rests on a fruit-patterned table mat

My grandma (Dad’s mum) makes great curried sausages. I asked her for the recipe, then tested it.

Grandma’s recipe

Ingredients:

  • sausages, gravox, curry powder, cornflour, margarine, veggies

Method:

  1. Boil sausages then cool and chop
  2. Sauce of gravox, tsp curry powder, cornflour, margarine
  3. Keep stirring so it doesn’t burn 
  4. Combine sausages with sauce and veg plus grated apple

My Adaption

I prefer to chop and fry the sausages, then make the sauce around them then add the veg. It tastes so good!

Time flies

/ myzania / Leave a comment

Well, I haven’t posted in a couple of weeks. But maybe I’ll get back into a rhythm now.

I had a nice Easter weekend which was a blend of old and new traditions. Including family, food, drink, and nature. Oh and some solid driving practice.

Placement finished last Friday. I’m truly thankful for the experience.

Now I have no uni for two weeks, to refresh and reflect.

Here are some of the things I’ve been getting up to lately:

A chestnut horse (brown body, black mane and tail) leans its head over a wire fence. It is surrounded by yellow grass and green tree foliage. A bright teal-aqua fern contrasted against brown leaf litter

Description board telling readers about the Domino TrailAn old rail bridge in the woods, with a fallen log in the foregroundThe same rail bridge but with sunlight shining through from aboveDucks on the bank of a lake. The lake, with shadowed water and greenery surroundingFood on a plate: chicken drumsticks, boiled potato with skin on, and steamed veg like carrots, kale, bok choi. Flowering shrubs with lorikeets in them. Tuna and veggies in a sauce, with bread around the outside of the plate. A cafe menu booklet. It’s red with black circles and writing reads “Abbey Road”Beach foreshore with pale yellow sand and blue waves with white foam. A jetty is off to the left. View of Melbourne CBD from a bridge on a major road. The skyscrapers are distant, the rails of the bridge are sturdy iron. The sky is blue. Colourful salad of couscous, carrot, capsicum, cooked kale sits in a white bowl. Beside it to the left is a big knife, beside it to the right is a silver fork.A large crimson rosella sits in teal-silver ferns and nibbles.Shot of construction work over a road, laying rail tracks, a bridge, and concrete structures for a station. A crane is in the image.Trees and grass in a nature preserve.A bird rests on the window and is silhouetted by the sun. Another bird is swooping at it.

Chicken schnitzel, noodles and veggies like capsicum, kale, zucchini and carrot.

Captioning these images doesn’t appear to be working on my mobile, so here are some descriptions:

A horse and ferns spotted on a bushwalk; the board describing of the trail we used; a disused rail bridge with and without a makeshift light filter (person’s hand sufficed). The over-bright shot made me think of the idea of a “voice from the heavens”.

Next are ducks and their lake; then a dinner – chicken drumsticks, boiled potato and veggies; followed by a shot of birds (lorikeets I think) in the flowering shrubs.

A menu from the Abbey Road café in St Kilda; a shot of the water there; and a view of Melbourne city as we went back over a bridge on Punt Road.

A salad I made for a lunch get together yesterday (cherry tomatoes, carrot, capsicum, cooked kale, with couscous); two crimson rosellas in ferns munching; a shot of some level crossing removal works happening near me; followed by indigenous flora in a nature preserve.

Finally, two birds having an argument on my window; before chicken schnitzel, noodles and steamed veggies for dinner.

Have a pleasant evening, all.

Japan Days: White Christmas, Freezing Boxing Day, then Mt Fuji

/ myzania / 1 Comment

Hi all. The first of my scheduled posts. I hope to schedule quite a number so I can have at least a couple every week during placement.

Here’s the next Japan Trip post. Only one more after this one. Starting on Day 8 of our trip, which happened to be Christmas Day.

For Christmas, we decided we’d go to Nagano via the shinkansen to see the Japanese macaques, or “snow monkeys” as they’re known. You’ll have seen them if you’ve seen this image.

The snow monkeys were adorable and I had so much fun. It was also my first proper “white Christmas” so that was exciting.

Black water in an oblong pool surrounded by rocks and snow
the sulphuric hot springs the macaques soak in.
A brown macaque sitting in a bare brown shrub. There is snow on the ground and greenery behind
One macaque enjoying the view.
Brown tall tree trunks with small green pine leaves on branches and white-but-muddy snow
A view of the trees lining the path up to the monkeys.
Three macaques running along a concrete path, with a sturdy metal rail beside that pat. A person stands watching the macaques to the left.
Macaques running to get a feed
white snow with brown leaves on the ground, amidst rows of tall thin pine tree trunks
Snowfall on the ground between tall tree trunks.
Two macaques sitting on the edge of a path overlooking a waterfall and pool. On the other side is snow-covered rocky ground.
Grooming each other.
Macaques sitting on snowy flat rocks. There is a fence area beyond them at the bakc of the pic.
Macaques on the move
Person with bucket in hand, rugged up against the cold, stands on snowy rock platform with macaques at ther feet.
A ranger feeding the macaques
Three macaques running up a concrete path that is suspended over a water/ snow area.
Macaques running to get a feed
The leg of a person, covered by purple jeans and a black boot, standing on a brown path that is visibly icy.
My foot on the icy path..
A landscape with snowy, rocky ground and some greenery. A macaque is in the bottom front part of the pic.
One macaque camouflaged by rocks and bushes in the snow.
A tiny brown fluffy macaque walks along icy slush with rocky ground next to them.
baby macaque!
Flecks of white snow sit on a black fleecy jacket someone is wearing. We're looking at the person's back and right shoulder and there is something orange
Snow falling on a black woolly jacket.

We then went back to Toyko and had dinner at a sushi bar.

A robot wearing a uniform and sign, shut down for the night.
Pepper the store robot.
A stack of small plates on a white bench
Finished empty plates from our meal (six of us shared from these).
Three nigiri sushi bundles of rice with sashimi fish on top on a gold plate
Nigiri sushi
Perspective shot of a robot wearing a uniform and sign, shut down for the night.
Full
a black touch-sensitive tech screen with menu options on it
Ordering food
a black touch-sensitive tech screen with menu options on it, writing says "touch menu to order" and lists options "seasonal menu" "nigiri" "side menu" etc.
Pink sashimi and white rice with green nori (seaweed) paper on a plate. A hand holding chopsticks
Tuna (I think!) and rice with nori ready to be rolled

Day 9: A Trip to Lake Freezing

Day 9 we decided to go off and see Nikko, that was supposed to have a waterfall and nice lake. It also was really, really cold.

First, we visited the waterfall, which was quite cold enough.

Water tumbling down rocks, with green and brown shrubbery nearby
A close-up of water tumbling down and splashing off rocks, with green and brown shrubbery nearby
A selfie - Clare has her Hufflepuff scarf over mouth and nose, with glasses perched just above. She's wearing a puffy black coat with faux-fur-rimmed hood, and a headband covering her ears. In the background is the waterfall gushing down the rocks.

So we warmed up with some fish cooked over coals at a stall nearby.

A heap of white coals sit atop a grate on a trolley. In the centre of the coals there is an orange colour from the heat. To the right side of and behind the pile of coals are rows of small whole fish, skewered through by sticks. A the back of the stall there are fridges visible and a flimsy roof supported b wooden beams is also seen.

Then we headed off again, towards the lake. Not perhaps our wisest choice, but still fun in the end. You see, we didn’t know it at the time, but we found out later that the temperature at Lake Chuzenji was -5*C while we were there, not counting wind chill which probably made it a few degrees colder.

To get to the lake itself, we walked into an icy wind and watched as it literally blew snow sideways across the road. An experience I won’t forget and rather fun in a ridiculous way, once I’d got my scarf arranged so that my coat hood wouldn’t fall down. 😛

No real pics here, too busy experiencing it. That and my phone battery decided to quit because it was too cold. It did that at Nagano too.

I did take a handful later though, once my phone and I had thawed a bit. In order (or mouse over for captions): defrosting selfie after the lake, mizuyokan (sweet red bean) sweets and award-winning ramen from a ramen place in Tokyo.

A blurred selfie of Clare, faux-fur hood pulled up and scarf around her neck. Her glasses are a bit fogged up.
Triumphant weary selfie – I walked to the lake and back. Yay!
Mizu-yokan sweets box: a white parcel with red and black Japanese characters on it.
I managed to find Nikko’s famed mizuyokan (sweet red bean) sweets, just before we had to leave on the train back. Yummy. 
Two white bowls side-by-side. The left-hand, smaller bowl has rare roast beef with rice, while the larger bowl has ramen noodles and soup with a slice of meat plus sprouts. A pair of black chopsticks sit in the big bowl, their ends pointing to the right.
The award-winning dish at a well-known Ramen restaurant. It’s won the top gong three years running!

The experience of having ramen in a ramen bar was interesting. You don’t talk in there aside from ordering your food. You’re there to enjoy the food, not to chat. The place we went to with the three-years-running award-winning dish pictured here is, I believe, Michi. Highly recommended, though it has a bit of a wait time as the place is quite small.

Day 10: Mt Fuji

We were off again from Tokyo the next morning to see Mount Fuji. We went to a town nearby with a beach that has pretty impressive views. The beach itself is made of stones and pebbles. Below are photos from the day.

Mt Fuji in the background with a container boat on the water before it
Mt Fuji framed by two posts on the harbour
Close-up view from train - Mt Fuji's green slopes and snowy smoking peak in the background rising above industrial suburbia
Womble the teddy bear is being held from behind as he faces the camera. He is in the bottom left corner of the image, with the pebbly beach around him and snow-capped Mt Fuji behind him
Clare is squinting into the sun with the ocean behind her. Past the ocean in the background to her left is a hilly outcrop and the foreshore; past the ocean to her right is Mt Fuji in the distance.
Powerlines, a wall, railway tracks and passing houses viewed from the train - mountains in the distance
View from the train - industrial suburbs with smoking Mt Fuji behind it
Mt Fuji framed by the dark silhouette of bushy shrubs in front and to the left of it
Prawns and crab legs for sale in a deli marketplace in the pebble-beach town
View from train - Mt Fuji's green slopes and snowy smoking peak in the background, a ploughed field in the foreground
Clare's elongated shadow against the pebbly sand. My silhouette lengthens my legs, showing the backpack on my back and an elbow out to the right side
Womble the teddy bear extends his left arm towards Mt Fuji, behind him. He is facing the camera and the pebbly beach is around him. A human hand holds him in place.
Seafood curry mixed with rice at a Japanese curry place. The curry is brown in a white bowl with traces of unmixed sauce at the edges. Black chopsticks and a silver spoon are in the bowl, handles turned to the right.
fried foods in a deli marketplace in the pebble-beach town
View from train stopped at station - Mt Fuji's snowy smoking peak visible from behind suburbia
Mt Fuji in the background stretching down to other hilly peaks, with the water before it
Bento boxes in a marketplace in the pebble-beach town

 

At the end of the day, we finished with another well-deserved hot meal and new Japanese experience – Japanese curry. (Second-last row, first column – these pics are randomly arranged.)

A very enjoyable day, with more to come before our trip ended.

 

Japan Days Part 2

/ myzania / Leave a comment

My Japan trip was really really fun. We experienced a lot of Japan, its food, its people, its culture. I was quite busy so didn’t end up publishing any more trip posts. But here’s one and the other one or two will be up soon, once I’ve had a chance to do some work for MIV. I’ll update you on that front tomorrow…

 

Day 4 consisted of exploring various places in Kyoto. A few stand-outs included Nijojo Castle, the Nishi Market, a couple of shrines and Kinkakuji – the Golden Temple.

A woman (Clare) stands in front of a stone entranceway to a castle. The entranceway is white with grey stones at the bottom and a black roof and gold highlights. The woman (Clare) is facing the camera and wears purple jeans and jumper under a black coat, with sunglasses. She has a backpack on and is being passed by other people in the left side of the picture.A gateway into Nijo-jo Castle - the arch is decorated by gold overlay with red and black wood and has a particular curved design.Womble sits in the foreground in front of a lake at a Japanese Castle. Behind the lake there are trees and part of the castle area.A shot looking up at some Japanese text naming the Nishi market which is on a coloured background. Below it are drawings on a canvas screenA copper drum is roasting chestnuts in a shop windowHeadshot of Clare wearing a purple jumper and black coat with a hand holding an open chestnut towards the cameraSkewers of meat, probably seafood of some kind, cooking and waiting to be cooked at the marketA shrine offering box which is bright orange with green and white overlay. The box has a roof like a house and sits on an orange post.Part of a shrine. The building has a black and red roof that is shaped like a rectangular pyramid. The body of the building is rectangular and white with red accents. It has a balcony of sorts. The sky is blue and people are moving around the building at the bottom of shot.Another building at the shrine complex - a very tall pagoda which has several stories, each with a red and black decorative roof. The body of the building is red.A shot of the golden temple across the water so a reflection is mirrored there. Trees surround the edges of the shot.Golden Temple from a different angle. The top two floors are gold and shining in the setting sun. Their roofs are black as is the entranceway. The temple is still reflected in the water and a tree is obscuring a part of it on the left side with more trees behind it.A woman (Clare) stands in front of the lake before the Golden Temple. She is wearing a black coat and purple jeans, leaning against a railing.

 

Day 5 was the start of our Japan Rail Pass. We used the Shinkansen (bullet train) to get from Kyoto to Hiroshima and Miyajima.

A shinkansen train pulling into a station. The front with its sub-nose is visible and it is pulling up behind a barrier.View of a station from a shinkansen window.Womble sitting in a shinkansen seat next to the window. The seat is blue with a white headrest. Womble is brown with yellow pants and a patterned top.

Hiroshima was sobering and a little eerie. We heard many stories of how the atomic bombing affected the lives of the people.

A shot of Hiroshima from the river.The shell of a destroyed building near the epicentre of the bomb strikeThe peace memorial to the dead. It has a large stone archway with a platform running out underneath towards the water. There are flowers in front of it with a descriptive plaque to the side.A stopped clock showing the exact time when the bomb hit, as well as the date of the attack in Western and Japanese styleImage of an exhibit showing what Hiroshima looked like from the air after the bomb hit. The children's peace memorial which has a plaque, several towers and flowers.Another shot of the original peace memorial to lives lost, showing the Japanese flag and the full archway. The foreground has brown grass.

Miyajima was quite beautiful. We visited another shrine and went exploring and looked through gift- and food shops. We finished the day with okonomiyaki from a place next to Hiroshima station.

Miyajima Gates lit up at night. The tide is coming in so soon they will look like they are floating in water.

Okonomiyaki on a plate with a second one at right-angles to it. It's a dish with noodles, egg pancake, veggies and sauce. The sauce is very visible as are the noodles. It fills the whole plate, which rests on a wooden table. A glass of water

Day 6 was a travel day. After exploring the last thing on our list in Kyoto, the Place of 1,000 Steps (or Gates), we boarded a train headed towards the snow country. We changed trains at Toyama for a wide-view train, then travelled on to Takayama. The scenery was pretty good – enough deep snow to make me a little excited. But Takayama, while pretty with old buildings, had no snow. After another train trip, we arrived at our stop for the night, Kanazawa.

Snow blankets the ground outside the train window. There is a fence line with deciduous trees along it and non-deciduous trees back further behind it.
The edges of large step-like features of landscape are blankets with snow, in front of a fence and pine trees
Snow covers the ground and behind it stand masses of pines with a building in the distance leading up to a mountain

Day 7 was another travel day, from Kanazawa to Tokyo. We explored Kanazawa a bit before leaving, seeing another market and some gardens (and more snow! 😀 ).

Vegetables piled high in kanazawa market - many different sorts laid out on stands with different colours like white, pink, green, orange...
Fish and crustaceans in kanazawa market - crab and octopus and shrimp being the main offerings, with red and pink and grey colours.
Fruit in Kanazawa market - strawberries, mangoes, grapes, mandarins and others, all set out in polystyrene boxes.
A shot of the sign naming Kanazawa market. Its on the roof overhang above the market at an entrance.
Snow! A hand holds icy snow while below it more snow rests on the ground.
Snow on a road next to brown grass
Edge of a rise, with a walking track and benches to rest while looking out at green bushes and pines.
Bamboo netting or sticks holding Japanese pines in a particular shape so they don't droop.
A woman (Clare) wearing glasses stands in front of a "wide-view" train. She is wearing a black coat over a pink top, with a colourful flowers-on-black-background skirt. Her hands are by her sides and she is smiling. The train is white with wide windows and a red stripe across its middle.
A woman (Clare) wearing glasses has taken a selfie smiling and the landscape shot shows the snow and lake with trees and mountain outside her window

We arrived in Tokyo late in the evening. It was Christmas Eve so after finally locating our apartment, we dumped our stuff and ended up going to a Vigil Mass at 22:00. Midnight in Australia. I mentioned it briefly in my Christmas post, but it was a moving experience.

A view of the nativity scene, in a stone carved area.
People, viewed from behind, are standing in a packed cathedral. The cathedral walls slowly slope up to a point at the top and a light shines above a cross.
Close-up view of the nativity scene, showing the characters.
Close-up of the cross, with people before it. The arms of the cross lie within a circle which has been cut off by the top of the image.

 

That’s all from me for now, I’ve got a busy day ahead. Next up will be my White Christmas and related exploits before a final post after that to tie things up. Both of those will be out next week – tomorrow is MIV-related. It’s ONE WEEK OUT TODAY!

Merry Christmas to You

/ myzania / Leave a comment

I haven’t yet had a chance to put together a complete version of days 4-7 of the Japan trip. Hopefully that’ll occur soon. Before a “days 8-11” post anyway.

Instead I’ve opened this draft about Christmas. It was originally going to be mainly a collection of Christmas songs, as I did last year, but then I got thinking.

Christmas and other Year’s End celebrations are a collection of rituals. There are the obvious thematic ones – religious and secular. Then there are the family/ cultural ones which are interconnected but distinct.

For example, I celebrate Christmas as a religious commemoration with Mass. While the way I believe has changed as I’ve grown up, being unable to continue the tradition of going to Mass at Christmas (and during the year tbh) would feel strange. So I’m glad we’re able to do it while travelling still.

Then there’s the secular side of things. Santa Claus promoting gift-giving and receiving with the “season of goodwill” – or season of consumerism! 😛 I follow the guide of “something to wear, something to read, something they want, something they need” when picking presents to give.

And the family traditions… each is different – and subject to change as circumstances change. Though this is where one feels a change the most.

When I was growing up, we’d open presents once everyone woke up on Christmas morning. We weren’t allowed to get up before 07:00 though. We might go to Mass at 09:00 or have gone the night before.

We’d have Christmas lunch at home and probably try out a few presents. The big event was in the evening. We’d head off to Grandma’s to see all the aunts, uncles and cousins on that side of the family. There’d be backyard cricket and games, plenty of talking and catching up, a large spread of dinner and dessert, then the family Kris Kringle.

If we weren’t at Grandma’s we’d have headed up north to see my other grandparents.

In recent years things have changed a little. I’ve moved away from the family home and I have a second family in my partner’s now too. I don’t know what the future holds, but last year had the feel of a new tradition being built. Not to replace the old entirely but to enhance it anew.

Then of course, there will always be years where circumstances are just different, full stop.

Like this year, where my Christmas might even be a white one.

Christmas carols

There are more carols than the following but here goes. Favourites

LaTUCS 2017:

Songs I learnt as four-part harmonies and sang with my choir this year.

  • Away in a Manger
  • Ding-Dong Merrily On High
  • God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
  • Good King Wenceslas
  • Hark the Herald Angels Sing
  • It Came Upon the Midnight Clear
  • O Come, All Ye Faithful
  • O Little Town of Bethlehem
  • Carol of the Bells

Others:

  • Silent Night
  • O, Holy Night
  • Sleep, Little Baby, Sleep
  • The First Nowell
  • The Shepherd’s Farewell
  • Fantasia on Christmas Carols (Vaughn Williams, a beautiful one I sang last year)
  • A Merry Christmas To You (/ Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)
  • O Come O Come Emmanuel

Japanese Christmas:

Went to 22:00 mass and everything was in Japanese. But the parts of the Mass were familiar, and some songs sung were carols. If I had had the phonetic writing of words instead of just the Japanese characters in front of me, I could’ve sung them as I knew the tunes.

  • Come All Ye Faithful
  • Angels from the Realms of Glory
  • O Little Town of Bethlehem
  • O Holy Night
  • Joy to the World

Japan Holiday Day 1-3

/ myzania / 1 Comment

Hello all from Japan!

I flew out of Australia on Monday. We started the first leg at a very early hour, then had a lunchtime layover before starting our second leg.

Plane trip photos:

Remember Womble Bear? He’ll be in some of these photos – after all he is my travel bear now.

Our first night was spent in a lovely guest house only a short train ride from Kansai Airport. The managers were very welcoming and we slept on futon mattresses on tutami matting. A true Japanese experience.

We’re now staying in a tiny apartment in Kyoto.

Catching the train everywhere has been good so far (excepting yesterday morning), though it was easier once we didn’t have to carry our big luggage around. Also, maps and even the supposedly very good app can’t account for everything. So we’ve been very grateful to the friendly locals who’ve helped us out.

Yesterday was a full-on day. We started the day by exploring the edge of Osaka, near to where we were staying and the airport. We were going to walk it when the lovely guest house offered bikes!

It was the first time I’d been on a bike in a while and I was a bit wobbly at times. But it was so. much. fun. 😀 We cycled around down the main street of the area towards the beach. There were bike paths around there and we made good use of them. I’m quite pleased with myself, tbh. Especially since I even managed to go up hills a few times. The starting was the main annoyance because I was always a little wobbly at first, the bike weaving about a bit as I tried to push off effectively.

Some context: I learnt to bike ride late, because I have mild coordination and processing problems. It was difficult to balance and stay on the bike without wobbling too much to continue, and I hated hills because they were too difficult – a problem given that the area I grew up in was full of them.

My best biking experience came when we went overseas to Holland, which is super flat. At a bike path there, I could ride quite well. That was a while ago though and I haven’t really been motivated to practice bike riding.

This year, I’ve wanted to bring my bike from my hometown to Melbourne but haven’t yet. After yesterday, I’m re-motivated.

The other activity of yesterday was to go to Nara and see the Giant Buddha and the deer. The Giant Buddha is indeed impressive. Imposing and magnificent.

The deer were cute but also pushy. They know how to get food from humans. Did you know that an impatient or upset fawn sounds like a squeaky door?

I didn’t get many photos of the afternoon at Nara because my phone died on me. I’ll grab some from others later.

I got lucky on day 3 though – my phone lasted pretty much all of the day. After some mucking around with transport details (let’s just say trains can be confusing if you’re not a local, until you get used to them), we got the right train and settled in for a journey to Himeji Castle.

The Castle itself was pretty cool. Once inside the main keep we had to take off our shoes and replace them with provided slippers. Climbing steep stairs through the six floors to the top is tricky in slippers! The views were pretty good though.

The castle was refurbished only two years ago so we could see it in all it’s glory. It’s a magnificent structure.

We finished the day with a look at the harbour of Kobe on our way home.

Today we’re exploring Kyoto to see places like Nijo Castle, Nishiki Market, and Kinkaku-Ji (Golden) and Ginkaku-Ji (Silver) Temples, among others.

Holiday gatherings and fun

/ myzania / Leave a comment

Writing this quickly before I head off to my last choir night of the year.

I’ll write a review of the concert I attended on Saturday (MonUCS’ “ORGANic Christmas”) tomorrow. I want to do it justice and time slipped by me today. In part because less sleep last night from a choir holiday party combined with the afternoon sun on a 37*C day is not conducive to productivity, I think. XD

Choir parties are the best – always great food and conversation with lovely welcoming people. Last night’s one had Karaoke even!

Carolling with MIV – and at LaTUCS’ own gig – has been really lovely this year. My favourite carols are a lot more complex now than the favourites I had when younger and it’s really nice to perform them with friends.

There are still a few chances to see the MIV carollers in the lead-up to Christmas, but I won’t be among them.

As of next Monday, I’m off to Japan on a family holiday until the New Year. I will try to keep you more-or-less abreast of our journey with the help of Womble again  I make no promises as to when any updates will occur though.

Must dash to LaTUCS now….

Remember to buy concert tickets to see the MIV choir with soloists and orchestra perform on January 20th (less than ONE MONTH to go!!): Facebook event here and tickets here. Monday was spent getting decorations for MIV with other committee friends…. I’m getting excited now.

 

 

Central Australia trip report #7 & 8

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Wow. I didn’t realise I’d forgotten to upload the last two days of these.

 

Day 7

The next morning we were up and going early. We soon arrived in Alice Springs.

View out the front of a car windscreen from the passenger side, showing two red stones with "Welcome to ALICE SPRINGS" written on them. Sky is blue and everything else outside is red.

We saw the sights and had a drive around. Including Charles Darwin University:

Foreground has red dirt and yellowing grass. Then the black sign with white words stands in front of some buildings with blue sky behind.

And a place called “Anzac Hill”, a memorial to those who’d died and served in war.

View of the Hill - scrub and yellowing grasswith a road cutting through them to the top. A collection of rusted figures representing the people killed in war stand at the bottom of the road and hill.
Flags on flagpoles stand next to a white stone obelisk reaching into the sky, with a plaque attached in memory of lives lost in war.
A descriptive board telling the story of Anzac Hill - overlooking a view of the town from the hill.

At the top, I realised that I’d been up Anzac Hill before – when I went to Central Australia with school, some seven (!) years ago now.

Then:

I'm standing in front of a steel fence two bars across. Behind me is Alice Springs town. It's a close-up photo and I'm wearing a black t-shirt with "Hong Kong" and a gold dragon on it, with tan/grey shorts. My hair is out and long and I'm wearing my "jillaroo" wide-brimmed hat.

…and now:

I'm standing in front of a steel fence - two bars across. Behind me is Alice Springs town. I'm wearing a blue collared t-shirt and jeans with my "jillaroo" wide-brimmed hat. I'm standing next to a green shrub and the sky is clear blue behind me.

We drove on through and around the town and found other things to see. Like the monument to four people who died during the “Inaugural Cannonball Run” in 1994. You can find out more information about the race and monument here. (It’s located to the south of Alice Springs on the Stuart Highway.)

Red rock and mortar creating a fence with a raised corner which has a dark stone triangle on it. On the stone triangle is a plaque dedicated to those who lost their lives during the "Inaugural Cannonball Run"

We also took a squiz at the Cultural Centre and town square. We’d had the luck to visit during NAIDOC week, so there were events going on. Unfortunately, I don’t have photos of those.

Eventually, we had to travel on, aiming for Uluru.

Sunset over scrubland, creating a layered effect of blue, pink and orange-yellow stripes on the sky's horizon. The half-moon is bright and small high in the darkening sky above.

Day 8

The next morning, we awoke early. We’d spent another night “free-camping” just outside the national park (Uluru campsite itself – Yulara – was full), to take the total to three. We had set our alarms to wake us before dawn. I remembered seeing the sunset at Uluru last time and wanted to experience a sunrise with family.

So off we went.

We found a good spot in the designated viewing area (they have different ones for sunrise and sunset), then set up to take photos.

From the car window - a blurred dark shape of Uluru in the pre-dawn sky
At the viewing area - deep blue-grey sky and dark red Uluru with shrubs and trees in the foreground
Sky is tinged pink now, a closer shot with zoom, Uluru is a mix of mostly dark shadows with lighter red spots
A shot of Uluru showing the blue pink yellow stripes of colour in the early-morning sky. A tree stands to the left of Uluru and the yellow grass is long.
Dawn and sunrise has occurred. Uluru is mostly red with some shadow, sky is grey and bright with some remnants of pink
A close-up of Uluru, with grey sky behind and yellow grass, green shrubs in front
Dawn and sunrise has occurred. Uluru is mostly red with few shadows, sky is grey and bright with some remnants of pink
Dawn and sunrise has occurred. Uluru is mostly red with little shadow, sky is grey and bright, very little pink.
The sun has fully risen, the sly is blue, Uluru is red and shadowed, with a tree to the left and long yellow-white grass and green shrubs around.

Hello, Uluru.

Photo of me in puffy black coat (with fake-fur-rimmed hood), standing in the foreground with Uluru, a bit of grasslands and trees/ shrubs behind me. The sky is blue.

I’m so glad the climbing ban’s been placed… There are plenty of different ways to experience the place with respect.

We took photos of the distant Olgas too.

Distant Olgas - red shadows bathed in pink light of rising sun. Lots of green shrubs etc in the foreground.
Olgas - light is now hazy yellow-pink, a closer shot with brighter red colours. Green shrubs look gold in early sun.
Olgas - light is now hazy blue with a touch of yellow-pink, a closer shot with brighter red colours. Green shrubs look gold in early sun.
Olgas sun has fully risen, the sky is blue and foreground a vibrant dark green from the shrubs etc.

It would’ve been nice to do a ranger-guided walk around all of Uluru, as I’d done with school, but time was against us. The tour started too late and went too “long” for our purposes, due to a scheduled flight. Before I left on that plane though we went close to the Rock at Mutitjulu waterhole and did a little walk, exploring the story told there.

Close-up of the black colours streaking through the red rock of Uluru.
A little valley or gully in the surface of Uluru creates shadows with bright and dark orange-red colours. Also green shrubs and trees are seen.
A view of one of the trees in the gully at the side of Uluru.
Another view of the Face on the rock, with the sun shining on it. Also has black rock and green shrubs.
Another view of the curve of Uluru at Mutitjuiu Waterhole. Red rock, with some shadow, and green trees and grass.
The sacred waterhole, home to many animals and plants. At the back of the pic is the red rock and at the front there's green grass visible.
Face of the side of Uluru here - and the indents in the stone make it look like a face with eyes, nose and mouth. Red and black on the rock with green shrubs and white grass.
A view of the side of Uluru. Plenty of trees in this curve.
A view of the side of Uluru. Red rock with a few small green shrubs.

We visited the Uluru cultural centre and saw the displays. Including hearing a talk by a ranger and Indigenous people about various tools the Indigenous people of the area use/d. Hint: boomerang is not universal. The Pitjantjatjara people call it a kali. (For more words, see this link: Pitjantjatjara words – Tools.)

A sign at the entrance to the cultural centre, first in Anangu then English: Yunkumytjatjara and Pitjantjatjara Traditional owners say, 'Welcome to our place'. Listen to the insects and birds, look at and feel the land as you walk down the paths to the Cultural Centre. Enter through the display. Exit near the cafe."

And then we were off on the road again, for the last time on the trip together…. (For context, I had made the decision to fly back to Melbourne while others continued back down the highway, because it got me back in time for placement with a couple of days to regroup.)

Before long, we arrived at the airport…and it was soon time for boarding.

Red runway from the plane's window, also showing the wing and red dirt.

Then lift-off.

Womble Bear watches the plane take off from his window seat. The red dirt beside the runway blurs and the wings have changing position.
Up in the air! Gaining altitude over the red rocky country near Uluru.

As we were told at the start of the flight by the pilot, the flight took us south of Coober Pedy, near Leigh Creek (? At least, I think that was the name of it), over Lake Eyre North, south of the Flinders Ranges, above Mildura to Bendigo then over the outer suburbs to land in Melbourne. In other words, I reflected, it used a similar route to our trip. I liked the symmetry of that.

Here’s Lake Eyre North:

White salt pans and red ground viewed from high above.
A close-up view of the salt pan and red ground around it.

The flight was pretty good. Before long though – quicker than I’d expected – we were flying over the outskirts of Melbourne…

Farms, fields, cleared land and houses out the plane window.
Starting to descend over houses and major road that cuts across the view from the plane window.
Womble Bear watches the green areas and houses get closer as the plane descends

Ready for landing.

But my journey back wasn’t yet complete. I went out and had to choose between the SkyBus then train, or a PTV bus and ended up choosing the latter (cheaper and not much longer). After another hour and a half, I was back home.

 

A black, grey & orange Smartbus is driving on a road. Its destination is Melbourne Airport 901

An image sourced from Google as illustration – obviously going the opposite direction than me!

 

Book Review: Letters of Love

/ myzania / Leave a comment

My weekend was busy in some aspects – travel here, do this, travel there (with an early start), do that. But it meant I got to see family (yay!) and then, at the end of it all, I spent a lazy late Sunday afternoon reading and chatting with housemates.

The book I read was a non-fiction one. It was a series of letters written by Prominent Australians, to people and things they love. Including their older and younger selves, their children (currently born or yet-to-be), football (Aussie Rules), childhood, love, parents, partner, friends, grandparents, Australia, and more.

This book is a beautiful treasure, a tribute to life in many forms and often thought-provoking. It left me feeling calm and reinvigorated, as well as making me reflect on what things I would say to different people in my life if given the chance. It makes me want to create that chance and write letters to them.

I highly recommend the book.

Front cover of book. Red, with shadow imprint of a heart behind white words, "letters of love". At the top of the cover is written, "Alannah and Madeline Foundation presents". Below the title are the words "words from the heart penned by prominent Australians".