Cambodian BBQ

This is Cambodian BBQ... it is one of my favourite meals ever.

You get served up a plate of raw vegies, some raw meat of your choice, some dipping sauce, and a selection of noodles. You also get a gas cooker, a pan for cooking it in, and some stock.

The first time, when all this stuff got put in front of us, I had no idea what we were supposed to do. But now I'm a pro :)

The pan is shaped similar to a manual citrus juicer. On the lumpy bit in the middle you put the sliced meat. In the dish around the perimeter you put some stock. In the stock you cook the vegies and noodles.

 

YUM!

My Bicycle

 

This is my bicycle. I love it. It's funny that I love it, I didn't learn how to ride a bike until I was nine, and I only did it then because I realised I was the only kid I knew who couldn't ride a bike and I was embarrassed. Once I finally learned how I dodn't particularly like it much, I was worried about falling of, thought I looked like a dork with a helmet on.
I discovered my new love for bikes while in Cambodia where everyone rides a bike. I was too terrified of the traffic to actually go anywhere by bike but I spent many evenings on a quiet street having a go on a friend's bike and finding it to be fantastic!

This is me having a go on a particularly cool bike on the backstreets of Siem Reap.

 This is Gayl's bike. It's pretty cool too. We got our bikes from CERES Bike Shed in Brunswick. It's this really cool operation where they collect heaps of old bikes through donations and you can go and fix yourself up a bike for a very reasonable price (Gayl and I paid $35 each for our bikes) and for $5 you can become a member and go and use their tools for free.

http://www.thebikeshed.org.au/ 

 

They're so cute together! :)

Anyway, I was inspired to write about my wonderful bike today because she is unwell, one of the pedals has come loose, which essentially means I can only pedal with one foot. I am a little concerned about getting one mega-muscly bike leg.

I think it is fixable, the only problem is finding time to get down to the bike shed to suss out a new part and get some help fixing it, the Shed is only open Fri, Sat, Sun, and at the moment I keep on working on those days.

Well, wish me luck with getting her fixed, and I'll update with the progress ( even though I'm pretty sure no-one is actually interested :-P)

That weird feeling on the roof of your mouth...

Banana is my least favourite food in the whole world. I'm quite unhappy about that, I really WANT to like banana, it's such a convenient fruit, naturally packaged, filling, healthy, versatile...

But I think it tastes awful. And feels disgusting in your mouth. (food texture is very important)

Apparently you can train yourself to like foods. I keep meaning to try out the theory, but I just can't bring myself to spend money on yucky old bananas.

Anyway, if there is one thing worse than eating a banana (the traditional way), it's eating green banana with the skin still on. The skin just sucks all the moisture out of your mouth which is a very bizarre feeling.

Happy Pizza

This is happy pizza. But the green stuff you can see on top is spinach. Yuck, wayyy too much spinach.
It was dinnertime, we got pizza, I was hungry, I ate lots, and then I was high to the point of being unable to move or speak. It was an experience that I guess I'm glad I had, but I don't plan on repeating!
(this particular pizza place actually made really nice drug-free pizzas which I did eat several times)

Presentation is Key

This is my dinner IN A COCONUT! It's amok, a traditional Khmer dish with an awesome name.
(it didn't actually taste very exciting, but gets a lot of points for presentation!)