In loving memory of Lina Chan

My aunty, the first of 8 children died last year. I would like a record of the eulogy my uncle gave so I have it here for all eternity!

Lina Chan
Lina Chan was born in China and raised in Hong Kong, in a loving environment. Father was a small businessman (a shoe maker). Mother dedicated to her family and was father's helper.

Lina had an excellent high school and college education. She graduated from Hong Kong University. She had confirmed her faith as a Christian and was involved in Christian Teachings during her college years. She was admired by her close friends as righteous and kind, with loving, generous and fun personalities.

She was the eldest of 8 siblings and her brothers and sisters will always remember her as being dedicated with a great heart (some say her heart is gold). She was always helpful and had a great sense of responsibility towards others. She had great passion for the truth, love and harmony.

She was taken home to join her father in Heaven on 2 September 2009. Her beloved mother, siblings and their families will always remember her and will miss her dearly.

She would have said these to you all: 'We believe that Jesus died and rose again so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in Him', 'Therefore encourage one another and building each other up, just as in fact you are doing'. Be joyful always.' (1 Thessalonians 4:14,5:11,5:16)

With our beloved mother, The Chans

Blackmores running festival half-marathon

I hadn't done a half-marathon for a year. Since my first half marathon two years ago, with this time being my 3rd time running this event, I now have another three friends join me. This is the best preparation I've had for a half-marathon with sufficient food and sleep the night before.

It officially started 6:20am at Milsons Point, but for me a little later because I was at the back. I started off very slowly, running the first kilometre in 7.5 minutes. For the first few kilometres, I was asking myself why I was running, and why would I do it again?

My pace was quite inconsistent. Though I'm impressed that I did get into the zone much earlier than I did in the city to surf. I am better off if I meditate and stop thinking about what's going on around me. I did manage to run the second half of the race at a good pace.

At kilometre 15 my legs started to feel the strain, and at kilometre 17 I started to get really hungry - no GU gels this year! I didn't think I'd push myself at the end but when I crossed the finish line I was gasping for air, and cried for a second because I was so happy to have finished.

I ended up finishing at a net time of 2:15:59, which is marginally quicker than last year when I finished at 2:16:56.

Statistics:
Finished better than 13.1% of all finishers
Finished better than 20.72% of all female finishers
Finished better than 19.75% of female finishers aged 25-29
Average pace: 06:26

I'm glad that I now have enough friends that run half marathons with me to join me in my post run ritual of eating food. This time we had a coffee and yum cha.

The meeting of the grandmas

Two old ladies met for the first time yesterday over yum cha. My boyfriend's A's grandma who's 97 and my grandma who's turning 94 this month met each other for the first time.

Both speak different dialects from the Guangdong province in China, my grandma speaking in Cantonese and A's grandma speaking Sze Yup. Both spoke in their own dialect and understood the other's dialect. I think my grandma made an attempt at

It was very sweet, they spoke like old friends and touched each other while they talked. What do a pair of 90 year olds talk about when they meet for the first time? I heard them complimenting each other on hair, skin, and teeth. A's grandma who's back spine is curved over, touched my Grandma's back in admiration of how straight it was. They spoke a bit about the past and how they got to Australia, and a bit about family.

At the end we took a couple of photos. My grandma poses as usual, tells us to laugh, and and tells A's grandma how photogenic she is.

China

 

Shancheng Hotpot King

This is a sichuan hot pot restaurant which was heaps of fun. We went soup which was medium spicy and medium sichuan pepper, which I found pretty hot. At hot pot restaurants you order what you like and cook it yourself. Just some of the things we ordered - pig liver, dumplings, fish balls, sliced lamb, sliced beef, enoki mushrooms, sweet potato noodles, chinese veggies, tripe... I went with my family which are cantos and can eat chilli, but our tolerance is low compared to Sichuan people and we were coughing a bit. It makes you feel alive!

This is not a bad place for a big group, but you'll hear people coughing all around you because of the chilli!

Shop 8a, 363 Sussex Street
Haymarket NSW 2000

House

This eatery does north-east Thai food, which is quite similar to Lao food. I was very keen to try this place and I was very happy with it. They made a variation on some of the dishes, but not too much. I just loved the sitting outdoors on a large table, and despite a queue at some time, they never did hurry us. This allowed me to talk about travelling to Laos, as my friends are going there, while eating Lao food.

* The pork rib soup was very delicious - highly recommended
* The eggplant dip was good too, the blanched side vegetables made the dish which I miss so much. I prefer the char-grilled eggplants of Laos though, and am not sure whether they steam it in Thailand.
* I loved the deep fried snapper, a variation of the salted, grilled river fish you can get on the side of the street in Laos.
* Papaya salad was great - my friends said it was the hottest thing they'd ever eaten, and it was hot, but it didn't make me cry =)
* The fried pork and beef was pretty good
* The chicken curry in a steamed parcel was interesting - it was quite good and I'd never had something exactly like it.

I think this is a meal I will remember. This together with sticky rice came to $20 per person. I'll definitely be back as there are heaps of things I want to try. Actually, I want to try everything on the menu! It did remind me of Laos and north-east Thailand.

202 Elizabeth St
Surry Hills, 2010

Mino

Mino is a Japanese restaurant with a kaiseki menu for $59. This means we had an aperitif, sushi, 5 small entrees, a main and a dessert plate. Very pretty surroundings. The service was average, and the food took a while to come, whether you came at 6:30pm or 7:30pm you finished your meal at the same time.

The small entrees were the highlight, as they were beautifully presented and delicious too. The sushi was perfect. It's not often I get to taste so many things in the one meal! There is a choice of two menus, and within that there's more choice. I had the goshu menu and had:

Aperitif and Amuse
Seasonal shot cocktail and small side dish (alcohol free available)

Appetizer
Steamed prawns and seaweed with plum dressing

Sashimi and sushi
Chef's selection of today' sashimi (3kinds), sushi (2pc) and a fresh oyster

Assorted entree (five small portions on one plate)
*Grilled kingfish and Shimeji mushroom with ginger and soy sauce-mayonnaise in foil
*Seared scallop salad with onion vinaigrette
*Asparagus and duck tempura with miso and blue cheese sauce
*Buckwheat soba noodle soup with duck mince ball
*Wagyu beef tataki (seared) salad with ginger sauce


Main (please select one of the following dishes)
1.Grilled chicken with teriyaki sauce
2.Grilled salmon with walnut teriyaki sauce
3.Crumbed kurobuta pork loin
4.Steamed barramundi with spicy soy sauce
5.Sukiyaki hotpot (wagyu beef)
6.Mixed hotpot light soy or spicy miso flavour soup
7.Assorted tempura
8.Eel kabayaki served on rice
9.Seared king fish, gently simmered in soy stock
10.Chicken nanban
11.Slow cooked wagyu beef and beef strips on rice

Main Specials
12.Wagu steak with miso or ponzu sauce
13.Grilled ocean perch with sweet miso sauce
14.Assorted sushi
15.Grilled duck breast with Japanese style tomato sauce
16.Grilled lamp rump with red wine miso sauce
17.Japanese style beef curry with crumbed kurobuta pork or chicken
18.Eel hot pot Yanagawa style

*Rice and miso soup if required with main course.
Dessert
Seasonal dessert, fruit, chocolate with soy bean powder and your choice of ice cream or sorbet


521 Military Rd
Mosman NSW 2088
www.minomino.com.au

Couchsurfing.org

Couchsurfing started as a way to travel cheaply, by staying somewhere for free. It has grown into a way to meet people when travelling for cultural exchange. There are a few ways to participate in Couchsurfing, and the good thing about is that you can participate in an exact way that it suits you. I think it is well managed. It has a well- thought out strategy, and has guidelines on important issues such as security, and performance measures in place. I'd like to document my experiences so far. I joined up to meet some new people. I had been overseas in Laos for a year. When in Laos and when travelling in general, I was able to meet some people with interesting stories. I joined so I could continue to challenge my perspectives, meet new people, and go to place in Sydney I'd liked to visit. Some people I have met:

* A Swiss girl who quit her stable job to study English in Australia
* An American guy who was working as an engineer contracted to the US Army in Abu Dhabi who was travelling as much as he could while he was away.
* A French-Canadian who worked for one of main agencies that tests the quality of airline food made around the world.
* A Singaporean guy who was a water engineer who was working in Australia for a few months in a large multi-national in Sydney's west
* A guy from Melbourne on a short trip to Sydney who coordinates quality for universities.
* A Singaporean girl who was here with her boyfriend who was looking for a job, who cooked dinner for me twice and helped me cook for a dinner party.
* A Lao-French guy who had a good job in France's music industry who quit his job to travel the world whom I took to Royal National Park.
* An Indian guy who ran a catering/ event business including organising huge Indian weddings

Pretty much all the people I have met have been professionals - not what I expected at all! I definitely gained some perspective from meeting all these people, and managed to choose places in Sydney to take them that I usually wouldn't go to. If I had more time, I'd join in more of their events. There are pages for different cities, and I'm a member of the Sydney group and can join in things people are organising.

Bye Grandma

My grandma died the morning of 10 July 2010 in Hong Kong. She was 93. My parents went to her funeral one week ago. This is sometimes after the death because it takes a while for book a cremation which is government-run in Hong Kong. My dad said her funeral was very traditional Chinese. It followed Buddhist traditions as grandma had wished, with Buddhist monks being part of the ceremony. He had to buy white clothes and white shoes for the occasion. The funeral to 6 hours from afternoon to night. Then the cremation took two hours the next day. The close family attended. Bureaucratic issues with visas and a delayed death certificate meant some other relatives from China couldn't attend.

Some things that I'll remember about Grandma - that she came to live with us for one year in 1988. I don't remember much, but that she was around. I think my Canto as a 6-year-old was ok enough to speak to her, and I remember teaching her a few English words and the only one I remember is 'cucumber'. Then when I visited Hong Kong for the first time in 1993, and then for years after that until 2000, she was really active and could walk around for hours with us, despite being around 80 years old. When I visited her 2006 she was in a nursing home. The last time I visited her in 2008 she couldn't remember who I was. But she did understand my Cantonese, not even adjusting for my slightly dodgy non-native speaker less-than-perfect Canto, which means I must have been doing ok. As a person who couldn't remember much, she was a very smiley and easy going old lady, luckily not scared as some people get. She had the tidiest bed of anyone, with all her clothes folded up neatly. And she loved sweets and cakes.

Bye grandma!

Sydney women's soccer - my soccer diary

I made a new year's resolution to join a women's soccer team, and a couple of months ago, I did, and it's turned out to be one the best things I've done in recent times.

After not playing soccer for over a decade since high school, I joined a team in Sydney's Eastern suburbs. I tried out for the team so I felt like I earned my place. After winning the first game, my team has been consistently losing. Many team members have become disheartened, and as of this week I'm going to take responsibility for motivating them, because we're good learners and can win!

I think we're playing a reasonable level of football, and appreciate how quickly our team learns from training to match play. For me this is the best thing about the team. Plus I'm amazed that we have volunteer coaches, guys, that give up their time to train us, well! It's taken my understanding of football to a higher level and love the game even more. I love being part of a team, it does have ups and downs, and for me that's part of the fun and the challenge.

I started my women's football personal campaign a about 16 months ago, and it wasn't that easy to find football activities at first. There's no centralised point for women's football if you just want to start playing. Also, if you're not in the know, and if you don't have the right search terms you won't find football to play! I was googling 'women's soccer', but I should have used the search terms 'football' and 'futsal'.

I have a new life goal to get as many people as I can into the game. Then I will always have a soccer team to play with! Hardly anyone would disagree that it gives you good team working skills, as well as keeping you coordinated and fit.

My soccer journey so far:
March 2009 I signed up to Soccerfit located around Sydney, which is a one-hour soccer skills and fitness session, for some basic soccer skills. It has proved to be a great base for my soccer playing ability. My whole body was sore for the first couple of lessons, but my soccer fitness has improved vastly since. I did this once a week, on and off for about 9 months.

June 2009 - I met a girl at a party, and joined up to her social soccer team. It's mixed team in a competition where media companies play against each other socially. I managed to score one goal in the season, and was awarded best girl midfielder in the comp.

September 2009 - my friends and I started a 6-a-side soccer team in Sydney's inner west suburb of Croydon. It was hard getting enough players, but finally we got enough to register. We finished second last in the bottom division, but we had fun and learnt lots.

February 2010 - we entered into another 6-a-side soccer competition. We made it to the semis, but lost.

May 2010 - I joined a full-side outdoor soccer team. I scored a goal in the first game, but I injured my knee too. For the next few weeks I played goalie about every second week. It was utterly nerve racking and scary at first, but I got used to it. It gave me a whole new perspective of the game, which helps with being a forward. I was very happy to go back to playing again, and have rotated around the field a lot, being in the front, wing, centre midfield, goalie and backs. The only other major position I haven't been is centre back. I continued on my 6-a-side team and I think I improved significantly, with the field seeming much smaller than the full field. I finished that comp yesterday when we lost our division 2 semi.

There is much more football to come, and maybe I'll help bring football to others and look out for some volunteer work.

Australian Centre for Photography

This is on the main shopping strip of Oxford Street Paddington. I loved the photos, it's free therefore I think it's worth a visit. I was happy to see a photo of Laos!

www.acp.org.au
257 Oxford St
Paddington NSW 2021

Mamak

This place is yum! It's a very popular Malaysian eatery in Chinatown, with the best roti's I've had in Sydney. I managed to have 3 rotis which were distinctly different in the one meal.

Roti Canai - $5 the plain roti, which was so puffy
Roti Kaya - $7.50 a dessert roti with coconut jam
Roti Bom - a thicker chewier dessert roti with honey, this one is really, really good at just $7.50

I did eat some non-roti items:
Kari Ayam $15 - one of the best malaysian chicken curries I've had
Murtabak with lamb $10.50 - spiced mince in a pastry
Chicken satay $8

It's a very busy place, and to avoid a wait we arrived before 6pm on a week night. Any later, or on the weekends people tend to wait over half an hour. Despite this place having a huge line out the front I never felt they hurried us, and found it a quite relaxed place despite a buzz.

I'm impressed they've kept prices very reasonable, and for around $20 per person for food and drinks, I ate very well. I'll be back!


15 Goulburn St
Haymarket NSW 2000
(02) 9211 1668

Sushi-E

I went back for another Merivale special - this time at Sushi-E. It's a Japanese restaurant, and for the special we were seated at Hemmesphere. We got to sit out couches in this bar. It's a bit trendier than what I'm used to, but I didn't feel out of place. The scallop salad was delicious - actually some of the best scallops I've had - I love them as sashimi. Then came the dynamite roll which was pretty good. The tempura was not so good - the tails of the prawns were cut off so they didn't resemble prawns at all. They didn't have dipping sauce either. My friend who ordered the steak probably got the best pick of the mains. Service was okay and I enjoyed my meal, but if you're going to pick a Merivale special - go to Sailor's Thai!


Entrees
Soba noodles with roast chicken salad
New style salmon sashimi with ponzu dressing
Spicy scallop sashimi salad with thai style dressing

Mains
Angus striploin with miso and sesame
Prawn tempura with a spicy citrus dressing
Grilled miso cod with baby ginger root

3rd course option
Hemmesphere roll (salmon, avocado, baby capers, mixed cress,
jalapeno mayo and Spanish onion)
Spider roll (dry fried soft shell crab, cucumber and jalapeno mayo,
rolled I/O with spicy tobiko and chives)
Dynamite roll (spicy tuna marinated in 7 peppers, chilli and sesame oil,
sweet onion and cucumber rolled I/O with spicy tobiko)

2 courses, including a glass of wine or beer for $39, $45 for 3 courses
sushi e, level 4, 252 George St, Sydney
$39 Lunch and Dinner Menus available Monday to Friday.
Bookings essential: 9240 3000

Sydney film festival

I saw two films at the State Theatre as part of the film festival, both good.

The Runaways - based on a true story of Joan Jett and her band the Runaways.

Cyrus - a comedy starring John C Riley and Jonah Hill about a guy that gets involved with a lady who has a closer than usual relationship with her son. Johah Hill made an appearance doing a Q&A session.

Sailor's Thai at the Ivy

Sailor's Thai at the Ivy is awesome! It's a big call but it's one of the best dining experiences I've ever had. Sailor's Thai at the Ivy is new, and is their canteen style menu which is same as the one at the Rocks, and I hear they have one at Pott's Point too. The surroundings are luxurious, with flowers, shiny surfaces with everything looking new. And the food was amazing - all true to the food in Thailand. Merivale is offering some specials, and the four of us shared the following:

Entrees
Betel leaves with Queensland spanner crab, roasted coconut,
chilli, lime, ginger and peanuts with caramel miang sauce
Deep fried prawn and chicken sausage wrapped in bean curd skin,
homemade plum sauce
Pork satay, peanut sauce and cucumber relish

Mains
Grilled Tasmanian salmon, chilli, lime and saw tooth coriander
Roasted duck breast and asian celery salad, red vinegar and
plum dressing
Green curry of beef with roti

Desserts
Black sticky rice and caramel custard
Tapioca and young coconut pudding
Banana fritters with vanilla ice cream

I loved the service - they encouraged the four of us to dine Asian style and share. They even gave us a few extra items such as one extra dessert and larger entrees so the four of us we could sample everything. They never tried to up-sell us on anything, so we could enjoy our $45 meal including a drink. That was very much appreciated. We were never hurried either. It was my first time at the Ivy and I can't wait to try some of the restaurants there - in fact I'll be there Friday to try Sushi-e

The special
2 courses, including a glass of wine or beer for $39, or 3 for
When: 12 - 2pm; 6 - 8pm
Where: Sailors Thai ivy, level 2, 330 George St, Sydney
www.merivale.com/whatson#0_20100615_0

Cockatoo Island and the Sydney Biennale

The Sydney Biennale's on and it's worth taking a free ferry to visit Cockatoo Island. This island has many contemporary artworks on display - some of the huge, and some interactive! Cockatoo island's one of Sydney's harbour islands which was once a shipyard. Just bring your own food because my sushi box attracted jealously from two people - they haven't got their catering organised.

http://www.bos17.com/biennale/venue/2

Hannibals

This is a huge Lebanese restaurant in Surry Hills. Quite impressively they were able to accommodate our large group of around 25 in a room. Most dishes were okay, some were quite ordinary. It would have been much better to serve the hommous, meats and bread at once and eat it together rather than sequentially.

This isn't too bad an option for a large group, at $32 for the banquet, but the food and drinks seemed to take time. I wouldn't really recommend the restaurant and particularly not the banquet for a smaller group.

557 Elizabeth St
Surry Hills NSW 2010
(02) 9698 8288

1945

This is an amazing little new place, doing lots of small tastes of Dutch East Indies cuisine, ie Indonesian. I really enjoyed my experience there. I think it's only been open six weeks, but both times I went they were full.

I went there once, I was so impressed I booked it for a function. They managed to give the big group a great night. I ordered a tasting platter, which they call a 'rice table' for 2. They have a whopping 17 items, portions are small, but the variety is noticed as you eat through everything, and I was full by the end. They have some usual Indonesian food I would usually have cheaply, but manage to present it better and I think it does taste better. There was beef rendang, satay, coconut rice, grilled eggplant ... and finished with a chendol. We had a great night with food coming out quickly, friendly service, and not charging me a booking fee. This was very good value, and I hope this place does well.

Asian food generally aims for the cheap and cheerful type of market, but more and more are polishing up for a better dining experience and more cash. The small dishes are from $2 - $6, and you need to spend about $30 per person to have a decent meal.

2/42 Harris St Pyrmont, NSW
(02) 9660 9699
www.1945.com.au

Jasmin

Some seriously yummy Lebanese food at great value. My friend and I ordered a mixed platter. I thought it was two servings but it was only one. Between us it was $13, and I'm a big eater and I was full.

A whole plate of pickles and veges - chilies, olives, tomato, fresh mint and an onion
A range of meats with baba ganoush, hommous and a whole lot of garlic sauce. All with a mountain of lebanese bread. I had the best felafel I had ever eaten, and maybe I won't be able to eat any other ones it has raised the standard so much.

They have a high rating on Eatability.com.au of over 8, which is a very good rating.

I bought some sweets nearby, which were great, and did some ethnic grocery shopping. Unbelievable how many supermarkets there are - more than 10 over the main strip of Lakemba, serving many ethnicities, and can get all your spices and nuts for way cheaper than at the supermarket.

Highly, highly recommended.

30B Haldon Street, Lakemba
Ph: 97403589

2008-09 highlights

I haven't touched this blog for a year and a half! Actually, I thought I'd only written a couple of posts but have way more than I remember. Discovering new things around Sydney has become a regular part of my life which is great. I'll try to go through some of the highlights from where I left off up until the end of 2009.

Jervis Bay
A bunch of friends rented a couple of houses in Hyam's Beach. It's a beautiful spot and on the Friday afternoon I arrived I was swimming with dolphins. Green Point is near by and a good place to get back to natures. It's a beach with wallabies with many camp sites. Having lunch in Berry Wood-Fired Sourdough Bakery on the way home was enjoyable.

Fitzroy Falls fire trail fun run
I camped at Bendeela in the southern highlands for a night, and went for a 10km fun run at Fitzroy Falls in the mist the next morning. It's a beautiful trail. I stopped at Bowral on the way home. There are bicycle tours from Bendeela, which looks like a lot of fun. Brunch at Bendeela was really nice, and inexpensive. Bendeela is the town famous for banning bottled water.

City 2 Surf
It was cold to begin with but now I'm experienced enough to know to wear some old clothes, well, my sister's old clothes, and strip them off. I really enjoyed this run, especially since I could start in a faster <100 minutes group this year. I finished and waited for pizza place Pompei's to open. After polishing off I pizza, I shared a rack of takeaway ribs from Hurricanes on the beach with the boyfriend.

Sydney Spring Cycle
This is a cycle from North Sydney to Homebush that's 40km. It was an extremely windy day which made it quite challenging. I'll admit it was very challenging - I was very tired by the end. Worth doing though as I would never have otherwise ridden my bike across the Sydney Harbour Bridge or the Glebe Island Bridge.

Trishave women's triathlon festival
I participated in another triathlon. It felt pretty hard going. I did the midi Distance - 350m Swim, 15km Cycle, 3.5km Run. The cycle was very hard, and I will not be doing a cycle with a bike on the mountain-bike end of the spectrum I think. It was also a very hot day. I had the chance to swim at the lake at the Regatta Centre used for the Olympics. The water was filthily warm - 28 degrees. Consistent with the other triathlon, the run was the best relatively, then the swim, then the bike. I'll need to work on the bike next time, because time-wise, it puts me much behind. Not a comfortable experience, but I'd do it again.

White water rafting at Penrith
I had a go on the white water rafting on the course for the Sydney Olympics and had a great time. It's not cheap,$89 for 90 minutes. It was fun to stick the raft against a bump and have water push it nearly vertically. They dubbed this 'surfing' and I fell out twice. You need a bit of guts to do this, because you are under the raft for a split second before surfacing. One guy in our raft fell out, lost his shoe at some point, and decided that he couldn't go on after about half an hour. I saw a group of Asian students having fun, and the army practicing water rescue. Surprisingly great coffee there - after a year I haven't forgotten.

Penrith Panthers is great by the way. Looks great, and the food was not too bad either. Singaporeans pay a lot to sit around in places that look like this. Here the pokie players pay for me.

Melbourne Comedy festival
What fun times! I had never seen comedy before, and there was a play in there, stand up and a bunch of comedians in the pub. There has been plenty of comedy since then.

Sydney Theatre Company
I had season tickets to the Sydney Theatre Company and saw the following plays:
The Removalists - a snapshot of the Police force in the 1970s
Travesties - not sure I understood this one
When the Rain Stops Falling
Elling - a couple of guys move out from a mental institution on their own
Poor Boy - Matt Newton in a play where a young boy is the reincarnation of his dead character
A Streetcar Named Desire - Cate Blanchett was amazing in this play, I will not forget her voice!

Tender
My sister's friend wrote this play, and we saw it at the Nimrod Theatre. A girl is living with with a shocking memory from the past.

The Importance of Being Earnest
Performed by NIDA students this is a great play! It was long though, around 4 hours in three sections. Liked the costumes.