The Heart of Adelaide

I've been completely swept away into the sea of exams, papers, and homework assignments these last two weeks. But that doesn't mean I've forgotten about posting! In order to breathe some life back into this sad blog, I've included some more eye candy of Adelaide.

Victoria Square -- the center of the city:

More to come soon...

Emus and Wombats and 'Roos, Oh My!

After nearly a month of living here, I finally saw some Aussie wildlife. Not only did I see these animals with my very own eyes, I got to feed several kangaroos and pet a koala (a lovely one named Nola). Yesterday, a few of us took the day off from school work to explore Mount Lofty and Cleland Wildlife Park, about thirty minutes outside of the city. We didn't take much time at Mt Lofty; we spent ten minutes in the morning admiring the view and snapped a few photos before hopping back on the bus.

The rest of the day was spent at Cleland Wildlife Park roaming the park grounds and befriending the fauna. We encountered several emus, pelicans, koalas, wombats; numerous kangaroos, wallabies, birds, reptiles, bilbies and bettongs (rodents on steroids); and one Tasmanian devil and one dingo. Most of the aforementioned animals were allowed to roam free in their designated areas.

For $2 AUD you can buy a package of animal feed (small pellets that look like hamster food) to feed the kangaroos and wallabies. We tried to share our pellets with the emus as well but they didn't appreciate the gesture so much.

I was shocked by how tame the kangaroos were. Upon entering the park, a couple of them hopped over to us with expectant faces and even nuzzled at our hands. I had learned that kangaroos are capable of kicking the living shit out of you if threatened, so you could imagine the panic I felt when I saw that there were no barriers between the marsupials and us. My initial expectation of "feeding" was to throw the pellets over a fence and watch the pellet consumption from afar. I clearly had the wrong idea. Much to my surprise, the roos in the park were curious and friendly, and had no qualms about eating directly from your hand (see below).

(Above is my first encounter with a real live kangaroo. Notice my look of delight.)

(A hungry 'roo.)

(A 'roo close-up.)

For $12 AUD you can have your picture taken cuddling a fuzzy koala. You have to pay that amount to hold the koala even if you don't want your picture taken with one. I opted for the second best alternative, which was to stroke a koala's derriere (apparently, koalas don't like it if you touch them anywhere else on their body) and capture that precious moment with a self-supplied camera for free.

(That's Nola. You see my hand on her rump? That's the way she likes it.)

Koalas usually live up to 15 years and eat about 10 percent of their body weight in eculyptus leaves (between 1,000 and 1,500 leaves) a day.

I have a ton of photos from the park (videos too!). E-mail me if you'd like to see more.

Tasty Gnocchi Recipe

Last weekend, Indhu and I invited the other full-time students over to our place for a potluck. We spent the entire day cooking and cleaning and barely got everything ready before the guests arrived in the late afternoon. We made Vietnamese spring rolls and potato gnocchi from scratch. Both turned out really well.

Below is the gnocchi recipe we used from The Adelaide Review, May 19-June 1, 2006 issue.

Recipe for potato gnocchi with pumpkin, sage, pine nuts, and caramelized onions:

The gnocchi:

• 750g Bintje or Desiree (i.e. red) potatoes
• 150g plain flour, sifted
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 50g Parmesan, fresh and grated (plus additional to serve)
• Pinch of nutmeg (optional)

To serve:

• 500g butternut pumpkin diced and roasted
• 100g pine nuts, toasted
• Half a small bunch of sage leaves
• 2 brown onions, sliced
• A little parmesan
• Extra virgin olive oil

Method

1. To make the gnocchi, roast the potatoes in the oven set at 190C (375 Fahrenheit) for 50-60 minutes. [Alternative method -- microwave the potatoes to save time and energy]
2. Remove from oven, slice in half and scoop out the potato flesh and mash/grate them while they are still warm.
3. Add the flour, egg, parmesan, and seasoning, working together to form a smooth dough. Be careful not to overwork it or the gnocchi will be tough.
4. Place the dough onto a floured work bench and roll it into long ropes about 2.5 cm in diameter. Best to work with small chunks of dough.
5. Cut the gnocchi into pieces 2.5cm in length.
6. Cook the gnocchi in boiling lightly salted water until they float (approx. 5 minutes). The gnocchi should be cooked in the center and not gluey.
7. Cook them in batches, remove, and place in ice water to cool.
8. Drain thoroughly and toss lightly with some olive oil to prevent sticking.
9. Dice the pumpkin into 2-3cm square pieces, toss with olive oil and roast in 190C oven for 45-50 minutes. Make sure the pumpkin doesn't get too dark. Cover the pumpkin with aluminum foil if it starts to color.
10. Slice the onions and saute with olive oil until nicely caramelized.
11. Add the pumpkin, fresh sage, and black pepper. Then add the gnocchi.
12. Top off the whole thing with toasted pine nuts and grated parmesan.

Dish serves 4.

Bring out the beach chairs!

My current desktop wallpaper. Taken at Glenelg, about a 30-min tram ride from downtown Adelaide, the third day after my arrival:

I'm Upside Down!

The past year of my life has been a continuous flurry of activity. May, in particular, was a complete whirlwind. The minute I was handed my diploma for completing Coro FPPA on May 12, I ran out the door and high-tailed it to the airport to catch my flight to Boston for MillyFest. I played some Ultimate, caught up with some friends, admired the new Wang campus center, and then flew back to Pittsburgh to finish packing up for my move across oceans and continents.

Within two days I was back on the airplane, and after 22 hours of bad airplane food and sleeping sitting upright, I landed here. I was in Australia. A place where people drive on the left side of the road, the moon is upside down, and the water swishes counter-clockwise down the drain. I saw constellations in the sky that I had never seen before such as the Southern Cross. And the days are short now because it's winter - in May!

In the first few days, especially with the jet lag, I felt like I was living in the twilight zone, and that I was six years old again. Indhu and I would struggle to stay up past 8pm and we'd be awake at 5am. During those early morning hours, I'd lie in bed and wonder how the heck I got here. If a year ago today you had told me that I was going to move to Pittsburgh, I would have laughed in your face. And if six months ago you told me that I was going to move to Australia, I would have called you crazy. So now, anyone can tell me anything and I wouldn't know what to think except maybe, "Sure, why not?"

Anything can happen.

Why the Blog, Boo?

I thought I'd be the last person to start a blog. When blogs exploded on the internet, I didn't really see what the fuss was all about. I didn't want to put my opinions on public display (who knows who will read them?), and besides, I was pretty sure I wouldn't write anything interesting anyway. And reading other people's blogs? I scoffed at the idea. "I have better things to do with my time than to read about other people's lives!" I declared (to no one in particular).

Then a few friends started journaling online. And then I got cut off from FirstClass. Maybe I didn't realize how much I missed the FC resume, the precursor to the blog and admittedly, a fun procrastination activity, so I turned to blogs as a substitute. And some months ago, Lesley told me that the only way I could read the "private" entries in her online blog was by signing up for my own account. Intrigued, I created an account but didn't post any entries on my own page. I was in the middle of doing my fellowship at the time and I figured that even if I did post anything about my Coro experience, no one except the other Fellows would understand what I was talking about anyway.

Being in Coro was like living in a blackhole, and I easily fell out of touch. Every once in a while, however, I'd resurface from the depths of Pittsburgh and make a surprise appearance in people's e-mail boxes with a long, impersonal mass e-mail update on my whereabouts and doings. But you can only do that for so long before you start to feel guilty, and that's when I decided to blog. And really, it's just more convenient for me to post a tidbit every so often than to compose some lengthy, rambling letters with a beginning, middle, and end. And what better time to start than when I'm half way across the world?

I see a problem with this method of keeping people "in touch," however. Friends and family can know what I'm up to (assuming I post entries regularly), but how do I keep current with everyone else's lives if some don't blog? Additionally, blogging reduces actual communication between others and me, so I've decided that my blog won't include everything, especially the really juicy stuff. :) That means people would still need to get in touch for the whole "scoop" of my oh-so-exciting life. And for those who don't want to bother with my blog, I'll also continue to send e-mail updates every once in a while.

So I'm finally caught up with the 21st century (for now). I still think that no matter how much technology evolves, nothing can beat the feeling of being loved more than getting old fashioned snail mail and phone calls. However, given the fast pace of life these days, that might just be wishful thinking. So on that note, welcome to my blog!