Fat C Walking Club » pesky

Pink Weds on Hamilton Island!!!

pesky — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 05:11:09 +0000

The heading requires some explanation. Your intrepid FatC’er Pesky made a solo trip to Hamilton Island in Australia’s beautiful Whitsunday Islands in mid June 2009. I was fortunate to enjoy the hospitality of family and friends there for a week, thus escaping Melbourne’s rather chilly winter for a short while.

the beach

the tropical pool by the sea!

Almost upon arrival, I was assailed with various questions and comments about “Pink“. Being quite progressive, I had a vague appreciation that perhaps “pink” was the new “black” & guessed that the references to pink were about that. Wrong! Apparently there is a “performer” who goes by the name of “Pink”. OK. This “Pink” is a blonde trapeze artist who sings (I think). Apparently she was visiting Queensland, and broke a bra strap or a bungee rope or something similar. There were rumours she was visiting a tropical island off the Queensland coast to perform and then get married. Hamilton Island was rumoured to be the venue. Dear reader, if you are lost by now, you are not the only one. I had absolutely no idea what people were talking about! One of the lovely people I spoke to on Hamilton Island is Rohan Gull – a charming, intelligent and energetic young man who runs a business called “Hamilton Island Weddings”.

Hamilton Island Weddings

He explained to me that his company conducts around 500 weddings per year on the Island, but that so far, this “Pink” had not been one of them. Anyway, for those of you who follow this intermittent blog, you’d know that I’ve been battling plantar fasciitis. Having had some orthotics made I decided that Hamilton Island was the place to resume my walking. Whilst walking I took some pictures. I decided that Hamilton Island Weddings and the local church where many of the weddings they conduct are held would make topical photographs.

The church!

Perhaps I should have given them a Pink tinge? I’ve also included a couple of pics which give an idea of Hamilton Island’s tropical attractions. And for a BIG TIP, the period between May and September is the best time to visit the Island, as the weather is superb ( mid twenties during the day, high teens overnight & not humid) & not too many tourists. I don’t even get a commission for this! Despite my bewilderment about Pink, I had a great time and managed to get in some good walks, ( as well as lots of eating and drinking!). I met some wonderful people and had a ball.

Tasmania Tantalizes

pesky — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 14:58:51 +0000

The “Apple Isle” again lured the FatCWalking club to its attractions, with the intrepid trio staying once again at Bruny Island, and in Hobart. On Bruny we took an “Eco Tour” boat trip around the southern coast of the Island to “The Friars” – an outcrop of rocks south of Bruny on which live a large colony of large fur seals. At least one of the seals bore a startling resemblance to Quirky. However, given that seals don’t “walk”, I didn’t bother trying to recruit any of them even though in many other respects they appeared amply qualified for membership!
A real highlight of the trip was the arrival of a large pod of dolphins, who swam around our boat, many of them leaping out of the water, often across the bow. Such beautiful creatures, they were worth the entire trip.

Diva Dina’s Declaratory Claptrap

pesky — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 14:39:33 +0000

Well, I could have said “drivel” for alliterative completeness, but somehow “claptrap” seems better! Here is a pic of Dina and Pesky at the Observatory Hotel in Sydney last December with the two most famous Iron Chefs (Iron Chef Chinese Chen Kenichi and Iron Chef French Hiroyuki Sakai). Both are thorough gentlemen, complete “hams” and wonderful chefs!!

Chen Kenichi, Dina, Hiroyuki Sakai & Pesky

Dina is a wonderful human being, but she can be quite ferocious, as you, gentle reader, may well have gathered. My absence from this blog has been occasioned by a sustained bout of plantar fasciitis. Be warned – being many kilos overweight has consequences, including “pf”. I am currently on an aggressive weight loss program (ie I am getting very aggressive as I crave the missing calories!), have had my foot taped, and am considering orthopaedic support from my podiatrist. Who will save me from this turbulent fate?

Iron Chef French Hiroyuki Sakai & Iron Chef Chinese Chen Kenichi

pesky — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 14:55:31 +0000

For three special evenings these two icons of the cult hit “Iron Chef” Japanese TV series from the mid 1990’s were in Australia to dazzle their adoring fans with a spectacular display of their culinary skills. The Observatory Hotel in Kent Street Sydney was the venue for this gastronomic extravaganza, which almost has the potential to threaten Melbourne’s pre-eminence in matters food. Dina and Pesky were there to to capture the event and to report back to our loyal fellow bloggers.

The Sichuan Sage Iron Chef Chen with long time fan Pesky

First things first – the food was magnificent, and well matched with wines selected by the sommelier. Second, the Iron Chefs went out of their way to mix with the diners, and Chen Kenichi revealed himself to be a real “ham”!
In all there were 8 courses, including dessert and canapes. The dining room catered for 100 guests, and there were video screens strategically placed around the diners so that the frequent live “cross” to the kitchen could be seen by everyone.

In the above video is a short explanation by Iron Chef Sakai of his wonderful consomme of lamb & Chinese dumpling. If you look closely you will see Dina in the foreground watching the screen in front of her with obvious pleasure (as did we all!). This superb dish was accompanied by an equally superb 10 year old madeira from Henriques & Henriques of Portugal! More to come!

Quirky Forgets His Pills! – IRON CHEFS ARE COMING!!!

pesky — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 14:52:31 +0000

Well, its the only explanation I can come up with for his latest offering. I don’t know if everyone else was as mystified as me about Quirky’s babblings on mini lettuce leafs etc? In any case, I HAVE BIG NEWS! On behalf of the FCWC, Dina and I are visiting Sydney’s Observatory Hotel Galileo Restaurant to see the IRON CHEFS!!!!! French Iron Chef Hiroyuki Sakai and the Sichuan Sage Iron Chef Chen Kenichi will be there together with Masahiko Yomoda and Haru Inukai for what should be a marvellous culinary experience – more to come

Shark’s Fin and Sichuan Pepper!

pesky — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 06:23:50 +0000

I suppose one of the reasons we are fat “c’s”, dear fellow bloggers, is that we LOVE our food. As anyone with a basic grasp of maths and biology will tell you, the amount of energy being expended should be equivalent to the amount of calories being consumed. In the case of us fatc’ers, our energy expenditure needs to be greater than our calorific input if we are to reduce weight…..
Which brings me to a marvellous book by Fuchia Dunlop, who is a sort of modern day Elizabeth David, except that she focusses on Chinese cuisine rather than Mediterranean fare. Dunlop has lived in China on and off for years, learning the language, and more importantly the authentic ways of cooking of a number of Chinese regional cuisines.
Shark’s Fin and Sichuan Pepper: A Sweet-Sour Memoir of Eating in China
is about her time in Hunan Province, where she lived in order to research her book Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook: Recipes from Hunan Province

This is a wonderful collection of recipes from a marvellous cuisine little known outside of China. But I digress. “Shark’s Fin” is not a recipe book, although it does contain several recipes. Rather it is an insightful, warm roller-coaster of an account of her time in China, including some pretty bad times. This is a MUST READ book. You will want to go for a good walk afterwards!

Fat C Reviews HostGator Web Hosting

pesky — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 04:42:46 +0000

Pesky has had a lot of experience with web hosts, not just with shared hosting but also dedicated server hosting. Most recently Pesky was with IX Webhosts, before moving to HostGator. There is no question that HostGator is streets ahead of other web host providers. Their uptime, speed, and seamless signup processes make transferring domains a breeze. Their cPanel system is a pleasure to use – well laid out, logical and with clear instructions. Best of all, if you do have any problems their help desk is staffed by real people who respond quickly with intelligent and responsive advice. They will even help install programs or download data, as Pesky discovered whilst trying unsuccessfully to export data from an old sql database on IX to the new database at HostGator.

3 Fat C’s Hit Sydney Restaurant Scene

pesky — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 10:25:47 +0000

Sorry for the long time between updates. We decided during our recent trip to Sydney to visit Billy Kwong’s restaurant in Crown Street Surry Hills. As Melburnians, we are very dubious by nature about the claims made by Sydney restauranteurs. After all, everyone knows that Melbourne is Australia’s cultural capital, and is the true home of fine dining on the continent. We have to admit however that we were extremely impressed with Billy Kwong! It is quite unpretentious (were we really in Sydney?) and focusses on ‘environmentally friendly” fresh flavoursome food. We opted for the $90 per head banquet and were in due course transported to heaven. Every dish was in perfect balance as was the selection of dishes overall. Our favourite was the orange duck, a house specialty, but really every dish was exquisite – fish, oysters, scallops and perfectly cooked Chinese vegetables.

The 3 Fat C's at Billy Kwong's in Sydney

Kylie Kwong and her Mum were sitting behind us at the adjoining table. Whilst Kylie was off in the kitchen, Pesky took the opportunity to speak with Kylie’s Mum, offering her one of his secret steamed chicken recipes. I think she was somewhat underwhelmed!

Don’t forget the incontinent canine…

pesky — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 08:09:54 +0000

At last! Dina has debuted! She did omit one thing about this morning’s walk however. Despite my Mon Oncle references regarding yesterday’s walk, & the attentive Monsieur Hulots poncing about the place, today a trail of doggy do left me hopscotching my way along the foreshore as some incontinent canine and incompetent klutz conspired to ruin the “clean green” scene. Call me strange, but I don’t want to be associated with smelly dogs or their excrement…….

M.Hulot (aka Quirky) “dooing” the right thing by doggy & the rest of us!

OR Doggy looks askance as Quirky “assumes the position”!

Jacques Tati Lives!

pesky — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 12:26:12 +0000

Quirky, Dina and I ventured forth on a 7km circuit around Canadian Bay, Drummoyne, Sydney this morning. Quirky had his sister’s Golden Retriever “Tom” in tow. I was immediately struck by the beauty of the riverine environment – boats, blue water, Moreton Bay fig trees and stretches of mangroves. However as the walk progressed I noticed something rather peculiar happening – the walk was turning into a modern day antipodean adaptation of Mon Oncle with Quirky transmogrifying into Monsieur Hulot! The place was suddenly teeming dogs and their owners, with the owners, including M. Hulot (aka Quirky) dutifully following behind their dogs and scooping the steaming dog turds (pardon!)as they hit the ground! I suddenly visualized the whole scene anew, being transported to 1959 France in an instant!

Still, a terrific if somewhat surreal walk, which all of us, including the prolific Tom, enjoyed……