It was a good day for food and shopping today.

When I woke up today, I was in a bit of a stupor. Not really wanting to go to the gym, not feeling superb. I stumble to turn the light and fan on, walk back around the bed - and nothing.

It's happening. (The bulk of) this baby ain't going to waste #icecream #poweroutage #Darwin #Connoisseur by @katiinkaa01

For those who don't know, I have moved to Darwin.

I've had a couple of self-awakenings this week.

First, I feel really disgusting if I sleep for a 10-hour period (which I never used to be able to do, and will not let myself undertake again).

Second, I really do eat too much sugar.

Photo: art.ngfiles.com

Now, while I don't go obsessive for the round things like Homer Simpson, there are certain sweets I cannot ignore.

Chocolate is the main culprit. I've written before about my excitement for Asian confectionery and baking chocolate cakes, and it's something I believe hereditary from my paternal side.

I drink chai lattes and hot chocolates as an alternative to coffee when out with friends or in need of a hot drink. I put Milo on my Weet-Bix (NOT weird, it actually does taste amazing. Don't knock it until you try it.).

***

A couple of weeks ago I thought about all of this, and then combined that with friends' views/experiences on a no-sugar diet.

While I could never go totally without sugar, I decided to look at what I was doing wrong.

First was the Milo. It's been off my cereal for nearly two weeks and it's staying off. I usually try and have fruit with my Weet-Bix when I can, and because blueberries are cheap right now they're great to chuck in - and a bit of fun too...

Is it weird that I have @DisneyAnimation's Hercules in my mind right now? #film #planetsaligned #toogood pic.twitter.com/ky4sbik7co
— Katina V (@Katiinkaa) October 2, 2013

Next is not consuming chocolate all day. Now, with this I often have high ebbs and flows in that I binge for a while and then go off completely for a bit. I've had too many film nights with friends lately to give myself that chance though, so I'm really pacing myself.

I didn't have any sugary/junk food from Sunday to Tuesday, even passing up chocolate mud cake at work (my FAVOURITE). On Wednesday, my day off, I succumbed to an iced chocolate. And you know what? It didn't taste as wonderful as I expected. Still good, but not entirely satisfying.

Then I went and won some chocolates while wearing a crazy hat that night at dinner, ahead of today's Hat Day (great initiative by the way, look it up). But I didn't eat them. They're being saved for a rainy day.

***

The point of all this is really to say that I'm thinking a little bit more about the sugars I'm consuming and how it relates to my general energy levels and wellbeing. I believe if I do eat less chocolate and don't feel tempted to eat as many cakes at birthday parties then I'm on a winning run. And I think I've taken off OK.

Sugar will never leave me, but at least I can control the level of the high.

***
You are whole. You are complete. You are total in every moment that you're alive.

I was lucky enough to receive some Chinese confectionery from my friend Carina a few weeks ago, who had gone over there to discover a bit more about her family and where she comes from.

It's a lovely assortment of chocolates and jelly shots, all of which I'd never tried before.

As Asian junk food in general is not known to me, I have been intrigued and pleased with what I've had so far.

Until this.


Midway through my conquest of the lolly bag, I am attempting to eat a CORN flavoured jelly shot. The picture shows little corn cobs in a cream sea, see?

It won't open for me though... almost as if to say to me, "No, eat your dinner first, then me," or, "I'm too weird to eat, weeeird."

You will find out how it went tomorrow.

***
On another note, I will publish my movie review in a separate post shortly. It will not be neglected!

A prisoner's last meal.


Courtesy mymodernmet.com, photo Henry Hargreaves

It's a topic that has come up for many in general conversation, a hypothetical way of trying to determine what you would crave at your life's end.

I came across this article a month or so ago and wanted to share it because of the photo essay it features.

New Zealand artist Henry Hargreaves' collection is an insight into what those who have committed the worst of crimes enjoy eating most - it's both slightly sordid and engrossingly interesting.

It didn't help in trying to think of my own preferences though. Still stuck on it.

What would you have as your final meal?

***
The children whom you admire so much for their ability to enjoy life aren't foreign creatures to you. You have one of those children inside you.

FOR PARENTS: One of the really good exercises for releasing attachments is to go through your garage and your closets and take all the things that your children don't use anymore and give them away. Have your kids participate in this.

How GOOD was last night's game?!

Courtesy brisbanetimes.com.au





Courtesy The Age


It was a great display by the boys, and honestly the biggest relief. Just to know we're that much closer to gaining World Cup qualification.

I've planned for some time to attempt a trip to Brazil during the 2014 World Cup. Though the last week has raised questions as to whether I would go regardless of the result. It would be heartbreaking to not have my home country there, but the spectacle of Brazil can not be underestimated/ignored.

Either way, Tuesday night in Sydney is going to be the big one.

And I'll be there.

I've said I'll be the loudest at Stadium Australia should we qualify with a result like last night's, and I intend to keep my word. After all, I have five hours in the car and a day in the city to psych myself up for chants and training my vocals to deal with a bit of strain.

***


3.30am(ish) Macca's fix in Berlin. Super.


In other news, I've decided to launch a spin-off blog of my mega McDonald's post.

For those who don't know, I began a quest to try the McDonald's of different cultures on overseas travels in 2010, which will continue indefinitely.

You will be able to revisit past experiences and be invited to new ones as I continue this lifelong quest to try as many different McDonald's menu items as possible.

Have a look at McDonald's: an odyssey as I'm rolling out old posts - reminisce, have your say, share and subscribe!

***
How do you get world peace? You get world peace through inner peace. If you've got a world full of people who have inner peace, then you have a peaceful world.

I sub-edited a story on what makes a great chicken parma last Friday, and I was annoyed because I call it a chicken parmI. Because parmIgiana is spelt as such so therefore it makes more sense... I've since been told it could be a South Australian thing, but I remain highly discouraged by the country's abbreviation skills.

This story was merely an outsourced opinion piece discussing the elements of the dish, but in my horror at her use of 'parma' I had to try and Google it. What I found was Parma.com.au (yes, there's a fan site). But what redeemed the whole situation for me was their article about everybody's favourite side.

Crimes against chips

A few random bits of fun from the weekend for you all tonight.

1. This letter:

Mum again keeping me updated

OK, maybe a bit harsh. Really though, as much as I'm sure he means what he writes in thanking the club, players and fans (you're welcome, I guess), this to me screams covering the arse. It seems incredibly convenient that he now has family in Sydney, and that he's born there. The whole thing is really starting to tire me out. What's worse is that Sydney reports are pretty much saying his move to the Swans is a done deal. Uh, just you wait until tomorrow.

2. This risotto:


What's wrong with this picture? Think about it, a prawn risotto... OK, reveal: it's on a PLATE. I'm out with workmates on Friday night (we wanted to try Dubbo's first Italian restaurant in over a decade so went for dinner), and I'm looking for prawns. I'm told to keep digging, but I'm clanging the fork saying "I can't, it's on a plate!" For the record, there were only three prawns. Bizarre.

3. My freezer door:

While on the subject on food, wanted to share a couple of snaps from the last few days.


Slow-cooked strawberries with ice-cream followed the risotto, and somewhat ended that experience on an OK note. Although, I don't know how much I should've expected from a place part of a small franchise whose other two restaurants are Indian.


Eggs florentine with a side of hash browns for a Saturday breakfast... totally amazing. I'll leave you with that.

Tonight I just wanted to quickly reflect on the awesome week I had away last week where I was one of 22 cadet journalists at the latest Fairfax Regional cadet induction - aka cadet camp (they have them twice a year).

I prepared myself for what to expect last week, and it was just that. A rehash of the uni degree with LOTS of shorthand (which I've since neglected with getting back and then preparing to go away again - another story). There was karaoke, a night out, but more than anything else there was FOOD.




Wow. Words cannot describe how amazingly fed we were by the end of that week. Morning teas, afternoon teas, 2-course dinners... We all likely gained a few kilos and all definitely went back with expectations of tea and cake at 10.30am. Some of us ended up improvising. Cake at work is king.

***

What I really got from it was meeting people my age from all over the place, and more importantly knowing they were all there for the same reason I was. It helps to know there are others finding their way. Five days together in our own journalistic bubble was never going to be enough. Good times.

After all this though I still had three days in Sydney as I'd originally planned, to go to a concert and see friends. Even this felt like a real holiday - I saw everyone I'd hoped to and more. I made a new friend, and although I already missed the Fairfax gang the idea of meeting people and hearing their stories continued.

Needless to say Tuesday morning didn't go down so well.

A year ago today I was at Thessaloniki, Greece, discovering marinara.

My goodness, this meal was divine. Paired with red wine from Nemea, home of relatives on my dad's side, it was one of the best meals I had all trip and since inspired me to eat more seafood. It was so big though, I couldn't finish it. But it wasn't a clear standout within the time I spent in Thessaloniki, Greece's second-biggest city... they're Greece's Melbourne, with good food everywhere. Barely put a foot wrong.

I really liked the place, and was grateful to walk around by myself for most of this particular day to see a lot of the major historical sites. A cool area nearby served well for late-night drinks, and I think it'd be a cool place to live. It's a real university city I think, so lots of young people.

We spent four full days here, including a daytrip out to Ouranoupoli and Agios Oros on the Chalkidiki Peninsula (which I'll explain separately so look out for it). Here's a snapshot or 10.

Ataturk Museum - under heavy guard in the Turkish Embassy which was slightly scary!

The White Tower behind me

A real skull. 200,000 years old. Creepy.

Ending it how it started; another example of the delicious food

A year ago today I was in Aswan, Egypt, sailing on a felucca along the River Nile.

From my post at the time I didn't delve much into Egypt.

Egypt was loads of fun. Extremely hot even for early May, got to 52 degrees one day! Nuts. Sights were more and more impressive, two days on a felucca (boat) were incredibly relaxing besides the mozzie (and we think spider) bites I suffered. Only downside was the constant hassling from local men. I was glad to leave after the 9 days.

I didn't read that well enough before publishing it, seems contradictory to say it was loads of fun but glad to leave after nine days. But that's really how it was. I saw so many amazing temples but everything was so intense.

Visiting what is essentially a tourist-friendly Third World country I was struck by the extreme differences. Namely that I had to watch what I ate the whole time. I was scared at the first sight of our felucca food but quickly realised these guys knew what we could handle. It was some of the best traditional food I've ever had anywhere.

The felucca was amazing. Eight of us tourists, tour guide George and the three locals steering us along - we all became a very happy family. We relaxed, I caved and risked putting my body in the Nile (but not my head, didn't want my mouth touching the water), stuffed ourselves stupid with EVERY meal because we could, and on shore played soccer with locals before singing around a bonfire.

I also swallowed what pride I had and peed in darkness on the riverbank, and got eaten alive by what we could only assume was a spider. I still have a darkish circle on the front of my left foot. But what some saw as a risk to choose over a cruise liner paid off and I wouldn't change it for the world.

***
Egypt was also interesting because I visited three months after the January 25 revolution. The people were happy but so unsure of where their new government would come from, and how long it would take for stability. On completing a long bus trip we discover Osama Bin Laden was killed. But the men were the hardest thing to deal with as a woman. Modest dress makes no difference. That was the final straw and I was somewhat relieved to get on the outgoing plane.

Soon after the felucca I would be going to the Valley of the Kings which was very impressive. I don't have photos of any tombs here but these are other photos that sum up my Topdeck nine-day trip.

First in a series of six which I deem to be the funniest photo series EVER

This photo is entered in the Qatar Reflections competition. Vote for me!*

What a mouthful. It reflects that I've had a bunch of things running through my head this past week - not that I don't normally, but these things have just been pretty prominent.

I think my perceptions on people and the world have changed dramatically over the last two years since finishing university. A lot of the time it's not obvious, and more often than not I notice it in seemingly insignificant things. This change of taste realisation mainly came about during the Australian Open last week, as I've already detailed in my lowdown. But on a totally different note, I've also realised this week I care a lot more for seafood than I ever have before. A few years ago I couldn't stand the thought of my aunty and cousin absolutely devouring prawns, and now I find myself drawn to seafood pastas. Heck, I'm cooking myself a creamy scallop variety later this week - and I can't wait!

It's interesting how breaking barriers and trying different foods, perhaps years after a first experience, can open your eyes and tastebuds enormously. Travel helps with that, and I think it's helped moving out of home and having to feed myself...

Which brings me to my next point. Moving long distance has gone better than I anticipated in that I don't really get homesick and said cooking has turned into an adventure, but there are days when it gets hard.

Yesterday was one of them. A photo sent to my phone from two of my school friends saying they missed me made me want to laugh and cry at the same time. And then I found out they and one more had applied and been accepted into university.

Whaaaat?

I'm SO proud and happy for them. But it made me realise there's a damn lot I'm missing out on at home, and no-one's telling me about it. And that can be depressing sometimes.

Thankfully I'm not at the stage where I could get to this point. But I worry that someday I could be. I was on the BBC site to read about the Eurozone crisis and then I get a link to this about expats finding readjustment at home hard. How ironic.

I'm not even going to go into where I feel replaced. It's not worth it because dwelling on these things for too long is never healthy and they're insignificant when you look at the big picture. I should continue to remind myself that my time away from everyone is an adventure, where I'm expanding my worldly horizons. And I hope that everyone in life has a similar attitude, even those back home.

Yes, I know, I have a slight obsession with the stuff. I love eating it, smelling it, and heck, just looking at it. But anyone who listened to me on Fresh before leaving Adelaide will know I was petrified about the fact I had to learn how to cook. Ab-so-lute-ly petrified. Not cleaning (although using a washing machine is surprisingly still an art to be crafted), not living by myself - or living so far away from everyone I know for that matter, but cooking.

But since the move I've really found an appreciation for it.

Living by myself I couldn't rely on anyone else, and I couldn't stand the thought of having Subway or sandwiches every night. So armed with plenty of cookbooks that were great presents, I started browsing to suss what I could be capable of. And it wasn't much. But a lot of recipes really aren't difficult once you have a go of the style of cooking once (like baking, although my tuna bake failed a bit).

Having some time on my hands on Saturday and not really in the mood to do my handwashing, I decided to go look at some shops in Dubbo's south I hadn't got to before. And because I was near the highway heading out (one of them, there's three plus other roads...), I just thought I'd drive that way.

I did have a destination in mind. Skipping the first village off the highway, I beelined for a small stop named Geurie. I knew they had a good pub and it was lunchtime so thought I'd make the effort for a decent pub meal. The sun was shining after some rainy days, and driving past the (perhaps not) surprisingly green pastures was simply beautiful. With a blue sky and fluffy clouds, singing to songs like Cee Lo Green's 'Fuck You' was always going to be that much more spirited. I heart Triple J (sidenote: how sad is it that Rosie's stepping down from Super Request... haha I'll always remember her as the cool chick who introduced the eps of Degrassi: TNG on ABC).

28 kilometres later I got to Geurie. There was the pub, a petrol station and a general store open on the main street. Pulled over, realised there wasn't even any historical sights here via mobile internet. Hm. Nice building for the post office though, and a cool train station. Halfway between The Outback and Sydney apparently.

Went to the pub as intended, only to be told by the shady guy behind the bar they weren't serving food. Apparently a group of five travelling through didn't know that either.
So having no choice, I decided to make the drive back and stop in Wongarbon, that village in between. I knew they had a pub. At least they have a gallery there (although arriving at the closing time was bad timing). Walked into their pub a bit more confident - but the man said their meals were only for dinnertime (on Saturday anyway). He did offer that I could eat a pie from the general store in their beer garden, but I passed.

Ten minutes later and I was back in Dubbo. I went to the ultimate fail-safe and ended up buying a massive half-wrap from the Short Street Store and ate it in Victoria Park. Learnt an interesting lesson: the enticing roads can lead you anywhere but not anywhere has food.

Have you travelled a while only to find you couldn't get what you wanted? Food or otherwise?

Backstory: in 2010 my bff Penny came up with the idea of eating McDonald's in every country across Europe (because she had a fleeting thought the food o/s wouldn't be up to standard) - but we got there and she changed her mind. No-one else in our group was game so I carried it through. For most of these samplings I was on a Topdeck tour.

I first felt like Morgan Spurlock in Super Size Me because I was eating it so regularly - at least every second day while on the tour - and hoped it wouldn't affect my health too much. Actually... that was a slight lie. I wasn't too concerned.

I should add, I went on this odyssey only to discover the specialties - the 'limited time only' specials, or something unique to the country. No Big Macs for me. So now to the photos.

After being in Athens for five days I manage to come around full circle and try something which I thought was completely crazy at their airport. The picture above shows a burger. This particular burger contained a prawn pattie. Yes, a prawn pattie. It didn't have an overpowering fishy taste but with the regular fillings and sauces eating it still had a strange feel. Was neither here or there. 5/10.

***

I ended up having Maccas brekky back in Melbourne Airport on the final stopover with one of their wraps (new for the time, seems the local menu shook things up too). Lament the missed op of trying a pork, a breakfast and a UK option. And I should probably go a Big Mac too on my next run. But the quest in 2010 was a lot of fun. I can only imagine the possibilities of what I'd do next.

2011




Walking down Orchard Road for the first time, even at night the humidity was getting to me. There's a LOT of McDonalds stops along the shopping mecca, and I was rather intrigued by one of their dessert cafes just off the main strip. I've still never seen anything like it! First treat of the trip (and definitely not the last) was a Supreme Milo McFlurry. An explosion of chocolate goodness, Milo and ice-cream have always gone together. Perfect mix, and the last time I would see Milo for a fair while. 9/10.



In one of the busiest shopping malls I've ever seen (the Carrefour was mental... think Boxing Day times a million and you're not even close), I grabbed a chicken McArabia on the basis that it looked similar to the beef McTurco. There was more thickness with the bread but similar in idea. The chicken was a grilled fillet, tender and a little bit juicy. Best thing about this was the meal still stands as the cheapest overall. No more than $AUD4 for (what I think was) a large meal. Chips still exactly the same in taste. 9/10.