Sushi Story

I discovered sushi last year! And before you fall about laughing at this statement I need to explain that I am allergic to soy and its products and for a long time have not eaten any food that contain soy. I used to love Chinese food and had to cut it out of my diet. Now I am not sure if you are aware as to how many products in the oriental recipes have soy as soy sauce, miso, tofu, edamame beans, Tamari, Tempeh as well as being used as meat substitute and emulsifier. In fact, now days it is hard to pick up a product in any supermarket without any form of soy in it. It is used to enhance protein content cheaply and also as milk supplement, cheap oil and emulsifier.

But I digress and so back to finding sushi. I had not come across it as such when I lived in UK and never had an opportunity to try it. Also I was concerned about soy that could be in it. While in Australia there are so many sushi bars and I managed to look at the menus and think, ‘oh yes there is some veggie ones here that I could have’. A year on here and my husband started work in a place where there are some food places for lunch in the building. Yes, you guessed it he started having sushi for lunch and telling me how nice it was. I wanted to try some but was hesitant and wanted to be able to talk to someone who was making it before I ate it.

Then, one day at my supermarket there sprouted a sushi kiosk! Right there in the middle between the fruit and veg and the bread areas. There are couple of staff making fresh sushi and the counters display all the beautifully made sushi. Of course there were vegetarian sushi as well as all kinds of fish and meat ones. In the first week or so they had a try-me table with tuna, salmon, chicken and veggies sushi. Staff promoting the sale was helpful and explained the ingredients and whether any soy was in the recipe. They assured me that there was no soy sauce used in the making and was generally provided separately. So I was able to try the veggies one and was hooked.

The sushi can have separately or in combination carrots, cucumber, avocado, tomato, peppers, lettuce (another thing I have to avoid), asparagus ……things I have got so far. It can come as wrapped in nori and rice or with rice outside, white, brown or red rice or even soft rice paper, indeed now I also get quinoa instead of rice. There white or black sesame seeds sprinkled over it. The strangest is small bit of fried onions sprinkled on it. Well why I consider it strange I have no idea but I guess have not heard that one before. Must say it does have a nice crunch to it. So I bought the first round of veggie sushi with pink pickled ginger and wasabi sauce. Best meal ever …………. the sharpness of ginger with the heat of wasabi was all perfectly balanced.

And rest as they say is history. I was telling my niece about it and she was not very enthusiastic. Then one day at the airport on her way to visit me she tried some in the restaurant there. While she is not a fan of fish she was taken with the veggie, chicken and beef ones, and so started her love of sushi too.

During her time here, we went to one of these sushi bars where the small train goes round the table and one picks the plate of what they want. Since there was no rush (we started one by going in there) the chef was able to explain what the dishes were and assured there would be no soy in the veggie dishes. In addition to the sushi there usually is a seaweed salad and boiled edamame beans which my niece and husband had. The seaweed is generally shredded and sprinkled in sesame seeds. So nice to pick a dish….. have a few morsels… then pick the next one… something of the tapas effect I should think. Finally it was topped off with black sesame ice cream. Oh My! Again something that was so delicate not very sweet and yet delicious.

The only other variation I have had is a sweet one and you could say it would do nicely as dessert for it had fruits in it. The flavours were clean and that pickled ginger just gave it a nice touch. 

What can I say about wasabi? It is one of my favourite heat producing root right there with chillies but a little different. When I first got the taste of wasabi it was from wasabi peas that I bought as a snack when I came to Australia on holiday. You can also get wasabi roasted beans and macadamia nuts. So when I saw a sauce bottle of wasabi in the super market I thought, ‘oh yes that will do me fine!’ Oh boy was it terrible - very much a mayonnaise like sauce with barely any heat of wasabi. Needless to say that whole bottle was trashed. Then I found the authentic sushi wasabi which is good and now a permanent resident in my fridge. I found that some sushi places have even hotter wasabi sauces. The heat just explodes at the top of the mouth and flashes through the nose and into the sinuses. Even though it is strong enough to clear your sinuses and bring water to your eyes it is momentary and does not stop you from taking that next bite.

So that is the story of my love with sushi. Many people do not like the idea of cold rice but eating it on a hot summer afternoon or evening it is just right. It is filling but not heavy. There are a variety of fillings for all to choose from. My niece has already invested in paraphernalia for making sushi and is urging me to do the same. I am seriously considering this and will share with you the outcomes and recipes – if and when. If you have never tried sushi for whatever reasons, do not hesitate at the next time you come across this dish. Take the chance and tuck in and let me know if you enjoyed the experience. 

Flitting Ideas

The mind is buzzing with thoughts

Zinging around like little bots

Making connections to memories and meetings

Even to some random greetings

Spoke to my old tutor who influenced my life

Her strictness taught strong values only appreciated later in life

While another chance meeting with a supervisor

Gave me an idea of penning lines on a toxic tutor

There are seasons of flowers in my garden

From jasmine to wisteria to roses and some yellows ones that grow with abandon

Even the weeds are pretty

So could they be part of the ditty?

And what of the birds that twitter and grace the green?

From the common crows and pigeons to exotic kookaburra and parakeet with a wonderful sheen

Should I write about the places I have been?

The beaches and parks with East Coast Water Dragons that I have seen!

What about feelings asks my mind?

Should we be left behind?

The last year has been a mix of joy and sadness, meetings and partings

Memories made with old and new friends should go into the recordings?

Not to dwell on chronic illness much

Except to help others along the right path with a nudge

A friend appreciated my writing and asked for more

Wait for it as I write some more

A few Words

The writing bug is back

So many thoughts that it’s hard to keep track

Should I write poetry or prose?

Do my thoughts make any sense? Who knows?

My mind flits from one topic to another

Should I write about this? That? Or the other?

Spring had sprung and flowers a-blooming

I might be going over old writings I am assuming

Surely there is a lot I have not touched upon

After all words just go on and on

Now the dam of inertia has broken

Muse seems to have at long last woken

Watch out world here I come

To share the my rhymes – some fine, some dumb

Ships that pass - Jaya and I

Jaya and I

It had been nearly a year since I wrote anything. Strange that I just could not think about what to write or make an effort to just put down even random thoughts. I cannot say I have been busy even though I had family over for Christmas and later around Easter. It was such a pleasure to see all of them after such a long time. The outings should have been blogged along with the photo diary but at first I was busy enjoying the people and then recovering from the fun time. The moment to record just passed by……..

But I digress as I thought I would break the writing fast by talking about a friend. Just over 2 years ago I got a friend request on my Facebook. The accompanying message said I like your sense of humour and I know you from the ‘X’ group. I thought, ’why not?’ and added her in. We got chatting and asking about where on earth were we, to find this is a small world indeed. She actually lived about 5 minutes away, 2 lanes down from my house!

So we exchanged addresses and phone numbers and left it at, she would drop in to see me when she came this way for a walk. That was the start of a short but sweet friendship. Right from the start we hit it off and chatted away as if we had been friends forever and finding out about each other’s lives. We were good for each other. She took me to the Parramatta Park for the first time for a walk. I was not sure I would be able to do the whole round and so she said if I could not it was ok. She would go and fetch the car while I waited if I could not complete the round. However, since we did not do it on the trot it was ok. I talked since I am a chatterbox while she said very little. I know she kept telling me she is more of a listener and does not talk much.

I said to my husband we should go to this park, its wonderful for a walk. So next week we went and that’s when I realised I was so busy bonding with my new friend during the walk that I had missed the park totally……….. walking around with my husband I saw the varied flora and the birds. Not sure how I did not see a whole bat colony as along the river in one section there is a sanctuary for them. I had missed seeing the whole river flowing by! Not to forget the sulphur crested cockatoos and the parakeets and lorikeets and so many more. There are plaques telling the visitors about the history of this, the second settlement in Australia, after Sydney. Of course I had missed those as well.

So next time she took me out to the park again, I introduced her to the park that was there and not just a track to be walked while chatting or listening to music. I think I made her stop and smell the roses, to look at nature and find joy and peace in it. From then on every time we went we noted the changes to the park in each season. There are flowers in the park all year round, always different birds and even dragon lizards. She was always saying to me, ‘you seem to know each tree and the flowers and the birds and the time of year to see them’. There is a bench right by the river where we sit each time at a half way mark, to rest a bit but also to just soak in the peace and quiet, watch the aeroplanes high in the sky, fluffs of cotton wool clouds floating by or even the late afternoon summer clouds bubbling up to rise high and maybe to rain later, birds twittering, an odd laugh by the kookaburra, the clear reflection of the trees in the gently flowing waters of the river, ducks, coots and moorhens as well as wading birds fearlessly pecking near out feet for crumbs. This quiet time to de-stress and reflect the peace into your self was something she said she learnt from me. So I gained a place to physical exercise and she gained a changed perception of her surroundings.

We talked of all subjects whether while walking or visiting or on the net. She was seeking to understand and assimilate all that was had happened to her in the recent times. She was seeking peace and spirituality. While I do not profess to be knowledgeable, we certainly had discussion where we reflected on our thoughts and perceptions and bounced ideas off each other. I hope that I made some contribution to her journey of self-discovery.

She loved good food too just like I do and we often talked of recipes that we were accomplished in. I really like the South Indian dishes she made as I was not very good with those. Indeed, I still think it is a hassle to make dosa for just 2 people and idli, frankly, is much easier to buy and eat. She liked Gujarati food she said. I do not generally cook typical Gujarati food but there are one or two things that I am good at like dal dhokli and thepla particularly methi thepla. When I told her I was hankering for dal dhokli and that I would expect her of dinner on Saturday since I was making it, she was quick to accept the invitation. Indeed, I made methi thepla twice and both times she was dining with us. Once I made the Punjabi chole for her too.

She cooked different dishes like dosas and various rice dishes, sambhar and also rasam. Oh yea, I will not forget that she passed on a reciepe of making kulfi. We were talking about ice cream and one of the best was kulfi. I was telling her that every time I found it in the stores and got used to buying it regularly the store stopped stocking it. This, I found most annoying. So she said she had a recipe and sent it to me. I have not looked back since and many family and friends have had the pleasure of making and eating that kulfi. So now there are automatically these dishes that remind me of her.

We used to meet or chat regularly. She was helpful when I had to make calls to UK and she had free calls. We used to go to the park and always take her when she was free or even to the new local restaurant. She had set her heart on going to pilgrimage to Kailash and all the walking was towards getting fit for that trek. She used to go with her friends on these long treks around Sydney and then tell me about the nature she saw and sometimes remembered to take a photo on her phone. She said she now notices her surroundings and nature more.

Then, at the start of this year she got ill. It started with vision problem where she was seeing things in stereo instead of single image. After various investigations they diagnosed it as maybe TB in the brain. She hated the medication and it was a lot and big pills were hard to swallow. Things went downhill still and so she was taken into hospital for more investigations. She sent me a message that she was in hospital and that they were keeping her in. In a couple of days she got news that there were tumours and it was cancer. She was shocked to say the least and trying to take in all the information about the treatment and prognosis. To say the next few months were hard would be an understatement. To avoid unnecessary exposure to bugs I stayed away from the hospital but we daily conversed via emails as per usual, making sense of the health issues, having chemotherapy and its side effects, venting feelings, trying to find ways of coping and passing on jokes. She was sent home for a few days between treatments and I managed to see her every day. Did some fruit and veg shopping for her. Even took her out for that last time to the park to sit in the sun on our bench by the river.

Then she was back in the hospital and going for the last couple of rounds of chemo. There were investigations again to see what the prognosis was and the news was good. Everyone was happy that now with just radiation rounds to get done and life could restart. As no matter what you say and how well you are coping…. Life remains on hold while you have the treatment. She started planning for when she would come out of hospital and take it easy. In fact she was thinking of going to Mumbai at the end of the year and sorting family home and resting and pampering herself.

We mainly wrote to each other as she was not able to talk with the blisters in her mouth and throat. Even if it was just once in the day when she was tired, I heard from her. Then, I heard nothing for a couple of days. When I messaged to check she said she was very tired and could not make the effort to type. A few days later again I heard nothing from her. I sent messages and mails, even left voice messages to ask what was happening. I checked with one of her friends (she had introduced me to a few of her friends) to see if she knew what was up. Then I got the news that the cancer was back and that only palliative care was prescribed. What a blow!

All one can do at this point is pray for a quick clean and painless end. It is hard to do that but also a selfless thing to do, something I would wish if I was in that position. I did not go to her funeral. I remember her the way she was, with a ready smile and happy to spend time with me, talking about everything and anything. She wanted me to make friends with her friends and strangely now that she has gone I have started what I hope will be long friendships with some of her friends. I always say people meet for a reason. She used to say that I was sent to her by God as she needed it. All I can say is I am grateful for the opportunity to be there for another person and what could be better than the bonus of having a loving friend. We were like the ships that pass but leave a mark on each other’s soul. May God rest her soul in peace and she lives on in our memory through the daily activities that we shared.

Cross Bones by Kathy Reichs

Temperance Brennan is really nothing like “Bones’ except for the name and the profession. I do like the Temperance in the books better. This one starts out in Montreal with a death of an antique dealer and she is called to assist as the face has been damaged by cats. The dealer is a Jew and so there is a conflict about performing an autopsy. A man approaches Tempe in the corridor outside the mortuary and gives her a photo of a skeleton that looks like it is from an archaeological dig.

Does this have something to do with the death of the dealer as after careful observation it is decided that this is a murder and not a suicide. Her usual partner from the Montreal detective squad is Ryan. She has been having an off again on again relationship with him for a while now. Both of them try to find information about this skeleton photo and about the circumstance that have led to the dealer’s death. She contacts an archaeologist friend to discuss the authenticity of the photo with the skeleton. He is very mysterious and secretive about the information he has discovered.

Meanwhile, Tempe manages to recover the skeleton from an old friend of the dealer and is asked to transport the remains, which have been identified as belonging to Israel and have to be repatriated to the ministry of antiquities.  Ryan has been looking for the man who had given Tempe the photo and discovers that he is involved in smuggling of antiques and was known to the dead dealer and his widow. But the man has flown to Israel and Ryan has to go there to question him about the murder. So both Tempe and Ryan are off to Israel.

The story is interesting with its usual twists of religious intrigue, archaeological finds and conspiracy theories. Tempe and her archaeologist friend are threatened and injured by a group of people who do not like the disturbance of old graves and tombs. The skeleton Tempe has brought gets stolen and the official at the antiquities is not pleased. The plot thickens when the man they had come to question tells them he was hired to kill the dealer. So who hired him? Who is interested in trading that skeleton?

So what is the real story of the skeleton in the photo? There is another skeleton with a shroud found in the caves where the archaeologist had taken Tempe. Do this cave and its inhabitants have any link to the skeleton that was lost? How will they decide what is the truth and who is behind the murder and threats?

Interesting plot and a complicated conspiracy theory. However, I am not a fan of this book as the end seems a little flat and dare I say even a letdown after all the build up?