MORSELS
Whilst Pesky has been ruminating on the memories of tasty morsels which have passed through his lips, Quirky and I have expended actual energy in keeping the club flag flying with our walks along the Yarra. We are not distracted by the recipes for double cooked pork belly. Give us a salad roll from Kenny’s any day.
Shark’s Fin and Sichuan Pepper!
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 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
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…
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”!
Man’s best friend
Jacques Tati Lives!
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……
Pavlov Strikes Again!
As I am sure most of you know, Pavlov was a scientist who discovered that he could trigger a predictable response in a dog by associating feeding it and ringing a bell. Pavlov was able to condition his dog so that it salivated every time he rang a particular bell (because he had rung the bell when he fed the dog). Yes you are correct. Just call me Pavlov – but please don’t refer to Quirky as a dog, even though he is very fond of them!!! Soon Dina and I will be joining Quirky in Sydney, where we hope to discover the true extent of his walking adventures. Hopefully we can show him how to use the spell checker as well! More to come….. arrrffff arrrffff
Predictable and droll
Well Pesky makes another entry. Its about time dear readers. If the truth be known I have been carrying the site waiting for him to make a constructive entry. Unquestionably I will be waiting for sometime if his most recent instalment is any indication ! Sloth and ennui. I must confess to a slight weariness reading the latest entry myself. Perhaps Quirky takes a look at his grand girth before he casts the first accusation and cheap shot at both Dina and myself. Accordingly those university professors enjoying and reading Quirky’s entry may care to return to their thesis’ on the re-assignment of nuclear physics. For those who actually enjoy this site I will continue!
No doubt Pesky has logged out at this stage! Far too mundane for him !
I am writing this in Sydney, having been here since Thursday last week. I have discovered a series of walking tracks not far from the central Sydney CBD. One along the Bay and another not far from the Sydney Fresh Fish Market. Both tracks involve bridge crosses proving a picturesque view of the city skyline including the Telstra tower and surrounding developments. The City of Sydney have recently allowed access to the wharf areas creating a full walking track of nine kilometres over the ANZAC Bridge.
On these recent walks in Sydney, I have rediscovered the pleasure of taking a dog. People are more likely to stop and chat. For those of you who are reluctant to take up the challenge and commence or re-commence walking, I thoroughly recommend having a dog and an Apple-Mac ipod on your travels. This is another way to enjoy exercise without it appearing as a chore.
I will provide further updates of my walks around Sydney and reveal some tantalizing surprises shortly.
Such that you are under absolutely no illusions Dina and I have been walking at lunchtimes, whenever we are able to spare the time. These are usually without Pesky, given his fictitious ailments and the apparent ennui displayed whenever he is invited to accompany us on the walk.
We are seriously craeting a new webiste to include Pesky as the only contributor to the “Even Fatter C Walking Club” ! Although on second thoughts Pavarotti may qualify for that site as well !
Sloth and ennui
Sadly, both Dina and Quirky must be suffering from these afflictions given their lack of updates. Dina has no excuse since she now has a computer and an internet connection, but is yet to make her first appearance despite numerous false starts. As for Quirky, it is a case of “all bum and no fluff”! At least I’ve got the excuse that I’ve been at death’s door with the mother of all flu (despite having the flu vaccine which is meant to prevent one getting it – yeah, right!).
Hopefully my gentle rebuke will stimulate the slack-arses into action – by action I mean keeping the blog updated & not abusing the bejesus out of me for daring to ventilate some home truths!!! I say this of course in sorrow not in anger…….
