Musings of a barefoot traveller

One of the best ways to eat well on a budget is to plan out the meals for the week, so you buy only what you need at the grocery store, reduce food waste, and cut back on the daily stress of wondering what to prepare for dinner. If you are fine with it, cooking a bigger portion and eating leftovers for meals over 2-3 days save a lot of prep time (and stress, for me). Here are some general principles to help with meal-planning: 1. When cheap, buy in bulk  and store properly* . Look for what's on sale, or in season. During the Easter sales, I bought two turkeys and stored them in the freezer. Post-Thanksgiving is another good time to get cheap turkey. Rather surprisingly, I got a reasonably priced 3-lb bag of quinoa at London Drugs early this year, and am still cooking from it. Foods that last include: Dried goods, e.g. rice, flour, pasta/noodles, beans, lentils, quinoa Frozen foods, such as meats, seafood and vegetables. Frozen in meal portions, meats and seafood can last for ...

Whole turkeys were on sale before the Easter weekend, and with humane-certified birds available at Safeway for CA$1.47/lb, we hauled back two 5kg turkeys to store in the freezer while I pondered what to do with them. I'm no fan of high-density CAFOs  with their negative impacts on the environment and animal well-being, so if we do eat meat, we buy it from the farmers' market or those labeled as humane-certified. It does mean that meat is the most expensive protein in our grocery list, thus it is an occasional treat or supplement to our regular meals. In this case, I was pretty happy with the bargain price of $16 for a 5kg turkey. Cheap, but would it be edible? Turkey breast meat has a bad reputation after all. DH says that he sometimes needs to dip turkey breast slices in water in order to be able to chew and swallow them. I had good results with a roast spatchcocked chicken, so time to move on to a bigger bird! Steps with photos courtesy of Serious Eats . I used regular kitc...

We finally made it! We were officially saturated as of this morning, and are now full fledged aquanauts. Took a little while to get in yesterday, as the ARB crew were prepping the Habitat, so we hung out on the Research Diver and breathed in as much surface air as we could. Finally got the go-ahead at 12pm, and splashed in. This was my very 1st time inside the Habitat, so it was pretty cool stuff. Otter gave us the grand tour, ate our first packs of freeze-dried Mountain House gourmet entrees (I had the Chicken Polynesian), and set off for our first 5 hour dive to the Deep S4 site. With much efficiency (haha), we hammered in 80 bases, and cable tied on most of the cages, taking care to stay above 95ft. Came back with the fading twilight (no shiny vampires anywhere) to a hot shower and more MH goodness. If you're watching on the creepy mainlock cam, you'll think we are a bunch of pigs. We're always eating. Not much nightlife here, though the 'live TV' was pretty inte...

160 Vexar cages later.... Far from a relaxing pre-mission weekend. We had to cut and build 160 1x1x1ft cages out of 3 rolls of Vexar. Now with hotspots on hands and sore fingers. Not as bad as Steve though. He cut from 11am to 6pm, and might have strained a tendon in his hand. Also had to cut an additional 80 bases, and make 4 2x2x2ft cages. That's probably enough Vexar for the year. Tomorrow, we stage them all at the 2 sites we'll run the growth experiment, and drop other stuff off at the Habitat. On the plus side, there is (part of) a delicious chocolate cake in the fridge, and Chris made a delicious and authentic Italian dinner for us all.

Dives: 90ft 47min, 51ft 55min We're done with training, and on our way to moving from Candidate status to fully fledged Aquanauts (only when we step through the wetporch and start the mission). The last two days have actually been relatively light, compared to the beginning of the week. Yesterday we were briefed on the living and working space within the Habitat, and did an orientation swim to our work sites. Only one mask off exercise while sharing air with our buddies, and not too long! Probably less than 10min. Today the ARB crew carried out an emergency evacuation drill from the Habitat. We sat in the gazebo breathing 'oxygen' while the Habitat was on 'fire', and were all safely escorted to the surface and put on more 'oxygen'. Up next- more mundane stuff. We have 160 Vexar cages to make, laptops to prep, clothing and gear to pack. One more drill on Tuesday, and in we go!

Dive: 42ft 65min I've always considered myself a pretty calm diver. The one time I got entangled in rope underwater I managed to take off my BC, keep the regulator in my mouth, untangle myself and get on with diving. Which is why it was a strange feeling to find myself fighting the impulse to flail in the water all bug-eyed and bolt to the surface today. What happened? Let me explain. Part of saturation diving means we don't ever touch the surface as long as we are saturated. In fact, the shallowest we could go is 40ft. Which means, no matter what happens, or how uncomfortable we feel- lost buddy, overenthusiastic BC inflator, headache, mask kicked off by buddy, etc, we DO NOT surface to reorient and regroup before going down. A new concept. Today we find ourselves facing the one of the worst case scenarios that could happen underwater- my buddy and I have somehow lost both our masks, and also deviated from the excursion line and are lost on the reef. Argh. Instead of surfacing...

Dive: 40ft, 56min Was a humbling day today. The combination of 5-7ft seas, diesel fumes from the boat engine, surge underwater and the mild claustrophobia I get from strapping into the doubles rig caused me to hurl violently underwater just as our instructor signalled for me to begin the 'I'm out of air, time to buddy breathe drill'. Which is probably a good thing for my buddy! I figured better to let it out than try to keep it in and hurl through Steve's regulator. To avoid me choking on my own sick, we cut short the dive and ascended, where I promptly threw up some more, and laid down in the boat with my eyes closed until we got back. Not too fond of the feeling of uselessness but didn't want to hurl over anyone or their gear... Oh, and today we did line drills. How to use the reel without tangling and lost buddy procedures. Lots to catch up on, 2 dives tomorrow! And back on the Gatorade/strawberry diet. Booo.

We rolled in last night not sure what to expect, but humming with expectant energy. Briefing this morning, and then plunged headlong into aquanaut training. So this is what it feels like to be an awkward gangly student again. We got acquainted with our gear- 100's Al doubles, 50lb lift wings, and a steel backplate with Halcyon webbing, hip pouches that wrap around our upper thighs, 2 regulators. Definitely felt very strapped in during the fitting! The swim test made me realise that I really need my regular swim sessions again. Heard that UNCW is building a new rec center with a pool, and hoping for better hours there. The swim was fine, the treading water was passable, the holding breath and swimming the length of the pool made me want to pass out. Steeled myself to open my eyes underwater (hate doing that) after looking at the training schedule and seeing all the mask off drills we are doing, i.e. every day every dive. It wasn't too bad today, didn't sting as much as I tho...

There was a big box of pre-cut buttersquash at Harris Teeter going for $0.50, and I can't resist cheap veggies and fruit. After making squash stir-fry, and squash and black-bean chili, there was still ~3 pounds of the stuff left. Went out on a limb and decided to make dumplings out of them, seeing as how I had a pack of guotie skin in the fridge as well. And they were good! Ingredients: ~3 pounds of squash, cubed half an onion, finely sliced 1/4 head cabbage, finely sliced ~2 tbsp chili powder 1 tbsp spicy Szechuan sauce 1 tbsp Hainanese chili sauce 2 tsp soy sauce black pepper 1 pack dumpling/gyoza skin Heat ~tbsp vegetable oil in saute pan. At medium heat, saute onions till soft, add squash, stir for a couple of minutes. Add about 1/4c water, cook until squash partially soft, add cabbage, stir. Add all seasonings, more water if necessary and cook until everything is soft. Mash the squash in the pan (I used a potato masher). Remove from heat and let cool. Place ~1 1/2 tsp of filli...

I guess I got tired of the constant worrying about when it'll all give way, plus the transmission on the old Golf was wearing out. So I went and bought myself a new car!! Wahahahaha....

I never updated my blog about my Seattle trip did I? Hahaha!

So I find myself back in Seattle again, 10 1/2 years later. This time at least, I've decided that I can afford to take the bus now and then instead of walking all over bum-f***, and eat more than a loaf of sourdough and plain water (life as a sad and poor backpacking undergrad...unfortunately, not much has changed since then. Still staying in a hostel. So much for going back to school! Wails....). Happily though, I found a bakery in Pike's Place that sells day-old bread for $1, and the produce looks affordable, and tasty. I still like to walk though. I like to see the slow passage of the city as it passes under my feet, and hear the sounds of the hubbub as they pass. Took in some modern art at the Olympic Sculpture Park in the morning, and plunged into the heady mix that is Pike's Place Market. Even got to see some fish slinging. Took the streetcar (it's free) to the International District to check out the Japanese grocery/department store, which is very much like a Da...

All dried out after 2 days in the garage, constant air blowing through the a/c system and one really really hot afternoon in the sun (I think I scorched my bum for this one). Also found the answer to the problem on the internet! Ain't google something? Apparently, for those sun roof and moon roof owners, there are drainage channels from the slot corners. The front drains into the front doors, the rear drains behind the rear bumper. These channels get clogged on a periodic basis and need to be cleared. After some tweaking and getting goo-ey black stuff on my hands, water ran clear out the drains. Hooray! It poured this morning too and the car was dry. Am much pleased.

I knew the moonroof was leaky but lately it seemed to hold up fine under inclement weather and I thought it must have slotted back snugly into place. Well, I was wrong. Wilmington saw the first of the fierce storms of this year's summer last night, and when I opened the car door to drive to aikido class I saw a steady stream of water flowing down from the moonroof onto the driver's seat. 2 inches of water lay on the floor. Threw a cover over the roof with A and rescued the electronic items from the car. As I was now car-less, was contemplating my options viz. getting to aikido class. It seemed like the commuter was my best bet, and I threw on rain gear and lights and headed out. Only to find much of Wilmington flooded. Cars were stuck in ditches, a fire engine screamed down Racine Dr, thundered roared and lightning flashed overhead. All the while, I was marvelling at the bike's ability to navigate through ankle to shin-deep brown water, and roll over unseen kerbs and pothol...

From the Penang Nyonya A-Ma Secret Recipes cookbook: Assam Udang Ingredients: 600g prawns 1 tbsp oil 1 onion, shredded 1 red chili, shredded Seasoning: 1/2 tsp salt 3 tbsp sugar 2 tbsp plum sauce 1 tsp dark soya sauce 150g tamarind pulp, mixed with 200ml water, squeezed 1. Heat oil, saute onion and chili 2. Add prawns, stir well. Pour in seasoning, bring to boil, until sauce thickened. Telur Belanda 1. Fry eggs until yolk half cooked 2. Fry onion and chili, add eggs, pour in seasoning (sugar, tomato sauce, plum sauce, tamarind pulp water), bring to boil 3. Cook eggs until firm.

Recipe courtesy of mum :) Ingredients: -seasonal vegetables, can include cabbage (I think Napa would be sweet in this), cucumbers, carrots, mangkuang (jicama), longbeans, french beans, etc. -red chili peppers and shallots, finely minced -salt, sugar, vinegar -crushed peanuts Methods: -blanch veggies (except cucumber) in boiling water with salt and dash of vinegar -sprinkle salt on cucumber pieces -fry veggies with chili and shallots (pinch of tumeric optional), season with salt, add sugar to taste, more vinegar to taste -squeeze fresh limes if available -sprinkle with crushed peanuts TUCK IN!!

I realized I never posted a photo of my sweet Synapse! What an oversight! And I've already logged >2000km on it to boot. Here's what it looked like before it started its journey with me (of course I've swapped the pedals for *ahem* proper ones): Isn't she gorgeous...

The dark clouds of the reeling economy has reached the ivory towers of academia. Was looking forward to going home, and then informed that I would have to take unpaid leave if that was the case. Given the case that summer is when I get paid double, it's a multiplicative whammy- loss of my double income and an expensive air ticket home. Was agonising over the choice to be made, but mumsy put it in perspective- it boils down to one thing- which is more important to you- money or family? Well, I mean, can you seriously see me calling mum to tell her I'm not coming back this year even though I can afford the time because I might have a chance to earn more money? (She did email later on to say not to come because of the swine flu but that's another story.) So there I was, all self-pitying because I value family more than monetary gains. Turns out that the boss isn't getting paid in summer and all faculty are 'encouraged' to take 10 days unpaid leave too, plus a labma...

Kick off your summer with a mountain bike race! Pedaling for Peanuts takes place on May 31st, 2009, at the Blue Clay Bike Park, from 10am-4pm. Visit the website for a full list of race categories and fees. All proceeds benefit the Full Belly Project . Support from the local Wilmington community has been good, and we should be getting some rad prizes. There's also a Novice category for beginner mtb-ers who want to try racing. This modified 3.2mile course is not as technical as the BC main trails so theoretically, you could race it on a beach cruiser. Online registration should be open in a week or so, and check the race website for updates! It'll be fun!

And you think, just because it's happening somewhere else, in someone else's backyard, it doesn't really matter. It's just going to come back and bite you in the butt one day. Cambodia under the sandmen's spell Since Singapore was banned from mining sand in Indonesia, the city-state – which surface area covers less than 650 km2 – is struggling to find the sand it needs for its gigantic land reclamation and construction projects. As a result, it turned to a much less discriminating country, where the buying cost of sand remains quite inexpensive, Cambodia. For the last year, the provinces of Koh Kong and Kandal have seen a heavy traffic of boats, which sometimes arrive in dozens to dredge the seabed or dig along the coasts to collect as much sand as possible and export it to Singapore... Read the full article here .