Why I'm never going to Hyatt The Rocks again.

There we were again, two weeks in a row at Hyatt The Rocks. Our experience dining there the last time was reasonable so we decided to give it another go last night.

My hopes were a bit low when we walked in. The huge “expansiveness” of the place lead me to feel that perhaps dining in a hotel wasn’t really the best place for the ultimate dining experience.

After being seated, it took 10 minutes for our waitress to take our orders. I was also annoyed at the fact that none of the waitresses offered to inform us on the specials they were having. 

The fact that we were seated at the back with a very narrow table setting didn’t help things either. Fine, I was still blessed with a perfect view of the Oprah House but it was really cramped.  On top of this, almost an hour passed between when were seated till our mains arrived. Even the simplest take of bread service was not performed. 

For entrees John had a lightly grilled tuna served with green beans, olives and crisp potato and I decided to try the toasted fregola cooked as a risotto with scallops, asparagus and pork floss. Honestly, I was really impressed with our entrée dishes. We didn’t wait too long for the entrees to arrive and it was surprisingly filled with beautiful flavours. They must have a different entrée chef with the main.

 

45 minutes after finishing our entrees, our main meals with our side dishes finally decided to appear on our table. For the sides we ordered, wood roasted potatoes with rosemary, pancetta and garlic and sautéed spinach. And for the mains, I ordered a murray cod fillet with fried sourdough crumbs, capers, golden enoki. John, being a typical red meat eater ordered his 'Rangers Valley' 300 day grain fed beef sirloin 250g. My murray cod fillet was fine, insignificant at best. John’s comment on his sirloin was that it was OK but would have preferred that it came with a big dollop of sauce.

The sides were a huge let down. I know it’s just a mere $9 a plate, but for an establishment like Hyatt I expected a lot more. The wood roasted potatoes were uncooked, raw and burnt. The spinach was mooshy and difficult to swallow. Not to mention that both side dishes had no flavours in them.

Desserts…the last time we were there, I had a Black Forest- 70% valrhona 'organic' chocolate, kirsch flavoured cream and John had The Hazzlenut - Dacquoise with chocolate ganache and milk gelato. And both the desserts tasted a lot better than the ones we had last night.

This time I decided to try the Mont Blanc with chestnut, dulce de leche cream, meringue and green tea gelato. The presentation was to die for, but the eating experience well..not so much. The chocolate ganache was too crunchy and hard for my liking and the green tea gelato was too bitter. John had the Gavotte withm andarin cream, crisp buckwheat crepes, gingerbread. Looks absolutely amazing, again taste was a let down.

The service was poor and unattentive. We had to wait for our table, long waits for dishes especially the mains and staff were more concern on cleaning up and setting up tables instead of taking care of the current dining customers.

Well I can honestly say that I won't be visiting Hyatt The Rocks for a long long time.

I am happy as long as Mikey is

Just two weeks ago I gave away my 15 months old German Shepherd, Mike. The whole thing seemed so sudden. One minute I was bringing him to the vet to have an x-tray and the next thing he’s gone. 

Mikey has been suffering from separation anxiety for a while now. When I told a friend that, she couold not believe it and said there couldn’t be such a thing. But there is. It is estimated that 10 – 15% of dogs suffer from varying degrees of separation anxiety just in Australia alone.

Our dog trainer, Yvonne once told me a story to give me an idea of what dog separation anxiety really is.

“A father heading to war tells his young son he is now the man of the house and to look after his mother and little sisters. The child is left with not only the trauma of possibly never seeing his father again but with the added pressure of being given a daunting task that is not equipped to handle”.

For Mike who is suffering from separation anxiety, every morning is just like we, the owners are going off to war. He does not understand that we will be home eventually, unharmed and smiling, nor does he understand that all that is required of him is to relax for the day.

According to aboutdogs.com, the ancestors of our domestic canines, wolves and wild dogs, live in a pack, hunt as a team and raise their young with assistance from others within the family. Rarely, if ever, is a wolf left completely alone for any more than a few minutes – even a mother left behind during the hunt will have her litter for company if not another female to help with the young. When a wolf is alone, they pace, whine, salivate, howl and make every effort to reunite with their pack even if they cause themselves harm in the process.

In our busy modern lives, it is not uncommon for our pets to be left on their own for 8 to 10 hours a day. Their ‘pack’ deserts them and just like the wolf, the worry of being left alone brings on the unique behaviours of separation anxiety.

And poor Mikey has all the symptoms for it.

• Whining, barking
• Inappropriate pooing
• Destructive behaviour – Mikey was the best at this. He digs, chews and more recently pulled our pavers
• Depression
• Overenthusiastic greetings when we return

With our long working hours and commitments, it was impossible to provide constant companionship to Mikey. After long and sleepless nights filled with debates and tears, we decided that it was the best for Mike if he moves in with Anne and Stuart (his new owners) who have more time, experience and resources to better care for him. 

I can honestly say it was the worst thing I’ve ever experienced. I had to do the right thing and had to give him away. He is an amazing pet, gentle, playful and my little shadow.

How do I get over this? Well I have not. I love Mikey with all my heart and not having him part of my daily routine anymore is heartbreaking. 

Mikey's new owners are too good to be true. Anne is a stay at home wife with years of experience taking care of big dogs like Mike. Their house is always filled with family and friends, kids running around and their daughter is a vet who also owns a golden retriever who is the same age as Mike.

Mikey is never alone now. He is blessed with people around him all the time, 24/7. 

Anne just sent us some recent pictures of Mike. Looking at the photos, it brought back this huge wave of emotions. 

 






Oh how the time has passed, I remember the day Mikey walked into our lives. I was extremely overwhelmed with such great emotion & joy. Watching him grow since that day, has been nothing but joyous! 

I will never forget Mike. 

Get busy living or get busy dying - what I learned from Shawshank Redemption

One writer on IMDB.com says, "Two imprisoned men bond over a number of years, finding solace and eventual redemption through acts of common decency” and made the comment that the best movies “touch the soul”.

If you have never seen Shawshank Redemption, then you are definitely missing out.  John and I just spent our afternoon watching this movie over lunch. It seems that I have watched it too many times but this award winning movie never fail to move me. 

Shawshank Redemption achieves greatness, indeed perfection. Not because of special effects, action or violence, it achieves greatness because it touches the soul with a straightforward “cinematic” experience filled with brilliant dialogue, excellent performances and a message of hope in the midst of darkness times. It’s a message that echoes deeply and grows more intense with each subsequent viewing of the film.

It is hard to fathom that a "prison" movie could be a source of tremendous hope, light and inspiration. Yet, to call Shawshank Redemption a prison movie is to minimize its greatness. It is a brilliant film, a study of humanity in all its wonder AND it happens to take place within the confines of a prison. 

The story is about a prominent young banker, Andy Dufresen (played by Tim Robbins), who is sentenced to life in prison for the murder of his beautiful wife and lover, which he says he did not commit. He is sent to Shawshank Prison. Shortly after his arrival, Andy asks Red (played by Morgan Freeman), a man with the uncanny ability to acquire things from the outside world, to obtain a rock hammer so that Andy can carry on his hobby of rock carving. Over time, Andy and Red develop a close friendship. When the rock hammer arrives, Red musess that Andy might use it to dig his way out of Shawshank Prison. 

Andy offers his financial knowledge of tax and financial law to others and wins the protection of the guards and eventually frees himself from “The Sisters” attempted rape abuse. Eventually even the sadist warden comes to trust after Andy. In exchange for a comprehensive prison library, he ends up running massive money laundering for the warden.

But all goes awry when Shawshanks newest prisoner, a young punk named Tommy comes forward with shocking information. Andy, who’s spent twenty years in Shawshank prison, might be innocent after all.

It’s also mesmerizingly like criminal Botox: over 20 years no-one seems to age, except Andy who wears glasses...

Moving, brilliant, inspirational, hopeful and empowering are all the words I can think to describe The Shawshank Redemption. It teaches, challenges, inspires and evokes a wide array of emotions and thoughts that serve to remind us that in the darkest moments of our lives, there is always a light that shines within.

I am going to share with you some of life's lessons I have learned from this movie. 

Shawshank Redemption Lesson #1: Hope Never Dies 
In an emotional climactic part of this movie, Red is feeling hopeless and thinking he may never get out of prison and thinking that if he ever does, he won't know how to live outside of the prison walls that he has lived in for many decades. Andy responds... "There are places in this world that aren't made out of stone... there's something inside... that they can't get to, that they can't touch. That’s yours…."
 

Shawshank Redemption Lesson #2: You can do anything with just a little persistence
I've actually heard this lot from other people before. But what they don't tell you is that, in many situations, a tiny rock hammer is also required. Persistence, a major theme in many Hollywood movies, shows up in Shawshank Redemption also. When Andy takes over as the prison librarian, he wants to expand the library. He goes to the warden and asks his permission to write to the state asking for funds. Although the warden says that they won't give him any money, he allows him to write anyway. Andy writes a letter a week for many years, and finally they sent him some money and some books. Not satisfied and feelings almost written off, he decides to write 2 letters a week and eventually has $500 a year donated to the prison library system (This was around the 1950s, so $500 went a lot further then). Everyone told him it couldn't be done be he didn't care. He was rejected well over 100 times, but he still persisted and that persistence paid off.

Shawshank Redemption Lesson #3: "Get Busy Living or Get Busy Dying" my favourite..
"You either get busy living or get busy dying." If you are not doing the things in your life that make you happy that allow you to truly live, then you are simply working on dying. “If you aren't living life then you are truly dying inside. Do what makes you happy. Spend time with family and friends. Enjoy what you have while you have it, because someday it may be gone.

There are probably many more of life's lessons that can be extracted from this movie, but I think that these are the top few. I hope that this will encourage you to watch the movie again, or if you did end up reading this without having seen it, to go and watch it and enjoy one of the best movies of all time.

Quality of life

What would/do you do to improve your quality of life? I really care about my quality of life and sometimes find it hard to live my fullest.

So often are we told to "dream the impossible" and it will come true. And in a way I understand this and believe in it, but I am not sure that as a rule, it is always applicable in circumstances where material resources are not available.

Dream what is possible and I guess what is immediately feasible and doable within the scope of given resources. Corrupting oneself to reach the impossible dream is not going to bring quality of life. But very sadly, corruption is very rampant with people living in well, lets say for example poverty… I don’t mean to say that the rich and highly educated people know the true meaning of dignity either. No matter how rich, or highly educate we become, there is absolutely no way we can achieve quality of life without knowing and living with dignity.

But there is within each one of us, an inborn wisdom that should guide us, whether we are poor, rich, educated, ignorant to feel that we humans need to live like humans created/evolved into highly intelligent beings.

The funny thing is – the more education you get, the more you realize you don’t know. You feel quite incompetent in this complex world, and you also start to wonder about the competence of other people and the systems of your own nation and the international society.

Who supports you?

Well there are many people who supported me at various stages of my life. The main driving force reserviour in my life are of course my parents.

I would like to know who is behind your camera? Who gives you strength and support to carry you? Because everybody in this world has someone behind the camera.

So share here who are the people that supports you in your path?

 

 

Spiced Creamy Tomato Chicken

John and I are pretty big on spicy things, well..at least I am. 

When I saw this recipe, I thought they would be easy enough to make and spicy for our tastes. And they were. 

Ingredients

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 medium onion

1 thumb size piece of ginger root, grated

2 teaspoons groun cumin

2 cloves garlic, crushed

3 teaspoon chilli powder or flakes (I also added x2 fresh chilli, sliced)

500g chicken breast, diced

400g chopped tomatoes

200ml double cream

Method

1) Heat the vegetable oil in medium heavy based saucepan over high heat. Add the onions and cook for 2 mins until soft and starting to brown. Then add the garlic, cumin and chilli flakes/powder and in my case sliced fresh sliced chilli. Cook for 1 min until the spices are really fragrant.

2) Add the chicken and brown on all sides then pour in tomatoes and cream and stir to combine.

3) Bring to boil, turn the heat down to low-medium and simmer for 20 mins, stirring occassionally until the sauce is thickened and the chicken is cooked all the way through. Serve with steamed rice.

Ham Cheese Parcels

Over the past two weeks, my cooking has taken a bit of a different turn. I have been feeling a little emotional after having to give my German Shepherd pup away. I have not been spending as much time in the kitchen like I used to and honestly have lost the desire to prepare anything fancy. I hope this will change in the coming weeks.

A few days ago I decided to try this recipe "Ham Cheese Parcels" which I found on the internet. This recipe is AMAZING. Not only was it real easy and quick to prepare, they're DELICIOUS! You'll love them.

Ingredients

250g proscuitto, sliced

200g wedge of parmesan (or your favourite hard cheese)

Small bag of baby spinach leaves

Tomato relish to serve

Method

1) Lay one slice of proscuitto flat on a plate

2) Arrange a slice of cheese and few spinach leaves on top. Dollop with a small spoonful of relish then roll up and place on a serving platter

3) Repeat with remaining ingredients and have more relish on the side for dipping

"When In Rome" review

“When In Rome” is freaking hilarious! I watched this movie last night with John while I was, well..a little tipsy (thanks for the great night Lyn! – I still can’t believe we drove around singing Bad Romance..too funny!! ). 

This movie has the smirky sense of someone at a party who’s had a bit too much to drink and who laughs too hard at his/her own jokes, killing even the ones that are clever. 

It doesn't make sense that Kristen Bel (Beth) should have trouble finding a date with a decent guy.. She, or any character she plays, should have eligible bachelors beating down her door. In this movie, creakily contrived romantic comedy, she does. All started with her trip to Rome for her sister Joan’s wedding.

Beth- drunk and unhappy – steals five coins from a Fountain of love and drags back to New York with her the spell-induced affections of the four annoying males who tossed those coins into the fountain in the first place. 

Those annoying males comes in the form of a street magician, a painter, a wanna-be model and a sausage entrepreneur.  None of these dudes is really smitten with Beth at all. Instead, all four are under some kind of magic spell resulting from the fact that Beth removed coins they threw into a fountain in Rome -- a wishing fountain said to bring love to those who toss a bit of change into it, but also said to curse anyone who steals a coin by making the coin's owner fall madly in love with the thief.

 

Of course at the same time, Beth is also pursued by Nick, a charming sportswriter she met at the wedding, and for whom she's also starting to develop a few warm, squishy feelings of her own. After she learns about the curse, she comes to believe that Nick, like the others, is merely bewitched and that he doesn't actually like her. 

Unfortunately, the movie doesn’t exactly care about Beth’s career ambitions—why she’s good at what she does or why she likes doing it. Suffice it to say, as she does more than once, that she’s looking for a man she can love more than her job. Until then, she’s married to it, and not only occasionally miserable about that life choice. 

Anyway, I thought it was a cute movie, even though I predicted that one of the coins(poker chip) wasn’t Nick’s. It was light-hearted and fun.

No more LOST

The final LOST was not as expected. I loved the warm, spiritual, emotional ending and was happy to see that the movements toward grace and redemption happened by way of forgiveness, courage, turst and gentleness. There are awesome fight scenes, hugs and smiles, jumping off cliffs and TEARS! 

“See you in another life, brotha.” Oh Desmond, how visionary you are! Indeed, what happened  happened. 

Our characters carried around their baggage, endured their trials, died too soon or after long lives, and then finally in this finale, let go. 

Emotionally, I feel fulfilled. The characters’ psychological arcs found resolution. The fact that this happened only after death isn’t as much my cup of tea, but I’m willing to accept it. Emotionally satisfying, yes.  Intellectually, perhaps not as much.

I guess didn’t get the ending I wanted, but you’d have to have a heart of stone not to be moved by what happened in "flash sideways land". These broken souls–chosen because they were like Jacob, flawed and spiritually lost–finally let go. Only together could they become the people they’d always wanted to be–perhaps that they were meant to be. 

I can't help but think though that the writers gave up on explaining the mysteries of the island and decided instead to finish up with a final season that focused on the importance of human relationships, love and kindness, redemption, etc as the key to moving into the light (heaven?). 

I think we are meant to believe that the island is real. It is governed by supernatural forces that we don't understand. The plane did crash. The mysteries of the island are all very real and exist in our world, assuming LOST world is real world. Some of the characters died on the island and some escaped the island on the plane, to continue their lives off the island. But as we were told, everyone eventually dies. The light is some source for good or truth that must be guarded so that the world doesn't fall under the domain of darkness or evil. 

What we don’t know are answers to so, so many of the questions that bothered us throughout the series: Why can Hurley and Miles talk to dead people?  For that matter, what the hell was Jacob’s cabin, if he actually lived in the bottom of the foot statue? Who built that statue, anyhow, and why? Why can’t women have children on the Island? How did the first person find the Island? Why is Jack in love with Kate (seriously??!!)

I could continue forever. Every question only begets another question.

Anyway, I love LOST. I am both devastated and relieved that it’s over. The finale was very entertaining for sure. I didn’t even notice it took two and a half hours, and I didn’t want it to end when it did.

So that’s it then, huh? No more LOST.

YOU TUBE - LOST: ITS THE BEGINNING OF THE END

The way of the tiger

A man was walking through a forest when he saw a crippled fox. He thought, "How in the world is that fox going to feed itself?" At that moment, a tiger approached carrying a prey in its mouth. The tiger then ate it and left what remained to the fox.

"If God helps the fox, he will help me too," the man thought. He went back home, shut himself up in his house and waited for the Heavens to bring him food.

Nothing happened. Just when he was becoming too weak to go out and work, an angel appeared. "Why did you decide to imitate the crippled fox?" asked the angel. "Get out of bed, pick up your tools and follow the way of the tiger!"

This story really touched me.

I believe in something called individual potential, that you were put on this earth to do what you could according to your potential. We aren’t given gifts so that they could be neglected, we must put them to use and reap the benefits, but not just for us, for the entire human race.

The crippled fox reminded me of a lot of people in society who are always waiting for other people (whether more fit or people with more resources) to help them. 

The way of the tiger is more exciting.

We would never grow, evolve, and become better if we would wait for others. Life has to be accepted with all advantages and disadvantages, with ups and downs.

It wouldn’t be complete without it.

Besides, when we conquer whatever comes up in our life, it’s like climbing a mountain, the satisfaction we feel at the top is…priceless. God helps those who help themselves, one must be on the hunt like the tiger, not sitting around wishful thinking. 

The way of the tiger is a profound thought. The only difference between seeing the landscape as beautiful and magical and mysterious, or seeing it as sad and dull, is simply your choice! 

Healing Wounds

When I am hurt, I try to concentrate in the present moment. I don’t want to see my problems; I want to see the situations that I have to solve. I have to start by telling myself it’s time to get real and honest with myself and realising that there is a process to making this perfect dish or fixing recipes gone wrong.

 
Personally I have had many emotional wounds, some that cannot be forgotten. If only life were like a computer keyboard. You can type what you want, when something goes wrong, we just have to press backspace or erase button or in extreme circumstances perform a format hard disk command.

 
I have not found full erase facility yet in my search.

 
We, as people, have different abilities and talents. I guess that being able to heal one’s wounds would be one of those abilities.

I am still learning. So, I can only think that the Universe is teaching me how to live without fear, to live in the moment and to see the horizon instead of looking always into the darkness. But even if you look into the darkness what is there really to fear there except fear itself?

 
A good friend once said – imagine a big empty box, put all your pain, fear and problems in it, close the box, lock the box and put the box away. When the time is right, open the box again and deal with whatever is inside.

 
Live the present. Live life.

Are we prisoners of the past?

Yesterday I stumbled upon a question from a friend that intrigued me: are we prisoners of the past?

We are a result of our past experiences, yes, amongst other things, but as a lot of people would say, we always have a choice as to how we use the past in our daily lives. i.e.do I allow my past to rule my life, or do I rule my past and consciously decide NEVER to let it take over my life, but only use what I have learned to lead an effective and fulfilling life, and not make the same mistakes that allowed my past to rule me in the first place.

I choose the latter.

Each and every action and thought has brought us to wherever it is we are right now. Tomorrow is a new day. What happened to us yesterday should only serve to guide us, not determine our exact path. 

Often our future is brighter than we think. It is so easy to concentrate on all the bad things in this world, and let it get us down. We focus too much on the bad things in our life, and the horrible situation we may be in. But we can solve our problems, overcome our situations and become wiser and stronger for them.

Throughout our life we encounter situations, those situations teach of lessons, challenge us to change and to grow. If we do not learn those lessons, if we do not grow, then we become stuck in the same place. Those same situations will continue to come back, trying harder and harder to teach us the same lesson, help us grow in the same way. 

Many people refuse to learn these lessons, many of the lessons are not fun to learn, or require us to grow or change in a way that at the time does not seem like something we want.

However, if we learn the lessons, if we grow as we need to, then we move on into our future and the past becomes the past forever.

Our past is part of who we are, but it is not who we are going to become.

What is the driving force in your life?

It’s amazing how one simple line can open a whole closet full of thoughts in one’s head!

Sometimes before I sleep, I think that I have found my purpose in life and would say that my driving force is to live my full potential. My biggest fear has always been to be on my death bed regretting never having the courage to create the life I always knew was possible. I can sometimes feel the power of excitement and expectation of life so strongly that it is euphoric.

But what about LOVE? Not the kind of love which expect something in return, but a nourishing one, which soothes, helps us grow and gives joy and enthusiasm in everything that we are and do. Eternal, abundant, bright and powerful!

Mikey, my little German Shepherd pup which I had to let go last week reminded me of “Love” daily.  His face brightens up whenever he sees me, he jumps and runs around in excitement when I come home, and there is nothing I can do to make him stop loving me and wanting to be with me. To be touched by Mikey’s love is one the most important force of all forces. It was amazing. So great, so miraculous and profound, yet so humble and innocent. Love is a wonderful gift from God! It flows forever and ever and what you have to do is surrender to its continuous flow, to allow it to flood your being. Simple, efficient and pure.

I realized now that LOVE is my driving force. Mikey taught me that love contains everything. It’s like a huge puzzle in which all of the other pieces play their part: Joy, Satisfaction, Courage, Integration, Bliss… The details and the big picture are one and the same, as they have the same essence. I am driven by Love. And that’s the way it should be.

Seeing the sun come up every day and realizing that there is love out there – is all the driving force I need.

 

I love you Mikey. And he loves me too.