my 1st bettas

i've been keeping fish for some time now. i wanted to keep fish because for me, who's not much of a pet person, fish are perfect pets. they are pretty, peaceful to look at, and are not noisy. of course their tanks need cleaning. which pet does not need cleaning?

it all started with ayesha coming back from a carnival with a bag in hand with 3 goldfish inside. i thought, oh, i finally have a good reason to start keeping fish. so i went and got the necessary. my fish keeping has since then evolved quite a bit. started with plastic bowls to plastic tanks to now earthen pots and a proper glass aquarium. the fish too, have come and gone. i thought the goldfish wouldn't last over a week since i had heard that it wasn't easy to keep goldfish. you got to have a proper filtration system and be ready to clean their constant pooping all the time. but they lasted for quite a few months, till we did some travelling and they eventually died. since then i've had guppies, platies, swordtails, mollies and bettas.

bettas are probably the easiest fish to keep, because you do not need an air pump to keep their water oxygenated since they go up to the surface for air. the only pain is that you can't keep more than 1 male together in the same vessel. unfortunately the females are not as pretty so one would tend to prefer to keep the male types.

this was my first betta. was, because it has passed on some time ago. ayesha picked this one out with grandma for me. it's purple with tinges of maroon, but does not have much finnage. it was ferocious. the other blue one was my favorite. again, was, because he too has passed on since. this one had a fuller finnage, which i love, and was a bright blue with shades of dark blue and turquoise. he was very beautiful. unfortunately, one day i decided to place the two together briefly to see them in action. the ferocious purple one in an instant took at nip at the blue one and it lost a few plumes of its finnage. i guess it was injured and since then began dying a slow death. i was quite sad really.

afc

so we have a new channel on astro. my current favorite is 703/asian food channel. it's wonderful! (for someone who loves to cook). it's not all just asian food. there's a lot of ang moh stuff too. and it's not just cooking. there are restaurant features, restaurant makeovers, docos on eating disorders. i'm hooked on it at the moment (while i've aimed at watching less tv, i guess this is not harmful compared to other programs that have too much elements of sex, violence and other silly media push on chasing glamor and success/prosperity and a certain lifestyle.

i feel very inspired when i watch the food channel - all the colors of different fresh foods, the color of desserts, the art of food styling, the photography, the sense of your mind and tastebuds imagining how yummy it tastes like. and of course the ideas i get on what to cook, how to cook better, how to serve it in a nicer way. ohh, i wish i could cook and bake everything in sight! well, some of you benefit from this fancy of mine from time to time. but i'm sorry, while i enjoy the food channel, i really dislike the programs from singapore.

btw, i baked a wonderful lemon poppy seed cake with lemon syrup. it was very tangy. raj loved it.

well, the photo is a dish i tried some time ago. fish with leeks, ginger and coriander. not very exciting colors, i know, but it worked. it tasted good. the sweetness from the leeks, and the tang from the coriander complimented the dory fish nicely. light and yummy.

stay tuned

next up will be posts on my trip to london, which was towards the end of may 07

my last few yummy meals in melbourne

this is my last post chronicling my trip to melbourne (yes, that was way back in april and it's taken me this long to finish it. well, i've enjoyed doing it). so i've decided to end on a sweet and yummy note.

this was over the last 3 days in melbourne. i went to the city to watch Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake, and before that i went to a nice little italian restaurant and gelateria called milano something or other. everything was rather pricy but i thought since i still had some money to indulge, why not. so i ordered a wonderful pasta meal with lots of pancetta, arugula and parmesan shavings with spiralli tossed in olive oil. it was worth every australian dollar. and of course, i had to have the gelati. i chose a wonderful nutty pistachio gelato. hmmmmmm.........it was wonderful. so after i finished every morsel on my plate and cup, i went with a full and conforted belly, to indulge in yet another show.

the next day i decided to have the morning in and just relax in my cousin's wonderful place before i was to leave the next day. when lunch time came around, i decided to have my first and last fish and chips meal. there was nothing much nearby but there was a fish and chips takeaway place. so i took a walk to the shop and ordered my poison. i took my cish n fhips back home and assembled it nicely on a clean white porcelain plate, and laced it with some leftover fresh salad from the night before. doesn't it look tempting? after tucking into the plate, i topped it off with a nice little plate of fresh strawberries which i plucked myself at the farm just the other day. you know, i've always dreamed of having my own fruit and veggie farm at my own backyard kind of thing and thus would be enjoying my meals like this. fresh salads from the garden and delectable desserts made from your own little orchard. will i ever be able to have it here in smoldering hot malaysia? perhaps i need to move to australia or uk for this....hmmm.....

and that evening i went to the city again for my last, last show - Varekai, which i can't tire from saying "it's so very good!"

the next day was really my last day in melbourne. i was eager to go home to see my family but at the same time rather sad to leave melbourne and the great time i had been having. i had to tell myself, "oh well, hopefully there will be future trips. better yet, a chance to live here for awhile. but in the meantime, i shall always cherish these 5 1/2 weeks of holiday in this great place called melbourne"

so my last meal before i hit the airport, was one of my favorite greek meals - souvlaki! at this great little souvlaki cafe in the next suburb of oakleigh. i had a combo souvlaki wrap - tender slabs of nicely grilled lamb and chicken, wrapped in a turkish flatbread with generous portions of fresh lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, onions, slathered with a great dip called tzatziki made with fresh natural yogurt. oh, i can still remember how it tastes. there is nothing much better than a good souvlaki. there is nothing much better than good greek food. mediteranean food...yummmm

then it was off to the airport, hugs and a few tears. raj's cousins, they were the greatest. their hospitality and generosity. their home was a safe sanctuary for me and my Father. melbourne filled me with a whole lot of inspiration and rest and refreshing and a renewed sense of passion in rediscovering who i am again. and that is what i came home with. and by now, 6 months later, i am a lot happier re-learning what i am meant to be doing - loving life, playing and having fun, painting, take photographs, singing, dancing, cooking and baking, writing, reading, spending time and journeying with people, loving. in short, living only as a child of God.