Zumba fitness.

Recently, I decided to try a new form of exercise to awaken the hidden muscles inside my body.

Zumba has been around for quite a while but recently it was offered in a dance studio only 10 munutes drive from home so I thought I'd give it a go. Read a bit about it before attending and also saw it on commercials. It's exercising using latin music and latin moves in intervals which in aerobic lingo means varying the intensity to get a good cardio workout and hopefully burn some fat which I so needed to do after the Christmas break.

It was boiling hot and the air-conditioner in the studio was not coping. The windows were open but only hot air drifted into the room. I prayed that there was no B.O. in the room as my sensitve nose will not be able to cope. There was a steady stream of people and slowly the room was filled in fact ,crammed. The instructor informed us of another class opening on the wednesday as well to cope with the unexpected size of the group.

The steps were not hard to follow but having been away from my exercise routine for about 10 days, I was a puffing alot and trying to deal with the 38 degree heat as well. We did some basic Salsa moves,a bit of Merengue,Cumbia,Calypso and Samba moves to the music.

By the end of the lesson my T-shirt was soaked from the heat and movement of muscles, bones and fats that I have left idle in December. It would have been better if the instructor was on a platform. There were giggles of embarrassment as we had to wriggle, shimmy and gyrate our hips.

There were lots of sweaty people at the end of the session but fortunately no pungent ponk driving up my nose which I sometimes experience at supermarket isles and at previous dance classes.

On the whole a great class. I am still working on the move I call the electrocuted letter "C". They do that alot in Reggaeton where you arch your back and raise your arms and thrust the arms forward. Well, er ....mine didn't look anything like that. I think I might buy the DVD and workout from home when the 4 sessions come to an end.

I recommend it to anyone who hates going to the gym but wants a good workout.

A Taste of Tassie

A Taste Of Tassie

It's been quite a while since I wrote. My problem is having too many interests and so little time.

Last December I headed to Tassie for the Taste festival which went on for a week. I wanted to take that opportunity to practise my new found interest in food photography and to eat of course.

The first day hubby and I were there, we ended up in a restaurant on Elisabeth street with a very ordinary sandwich and costs us $40. It was a depressing start to the holidays.

However, after two hours of walking around we spotted some street acts and followed the crowd. As we weaved through the crowd, I could see Marcelo's face lighted with anticipation and you see the face of a kid in a lolly shop when we stepped into a huge sheltered building that looked like a warehouse with huge boards of what was instore for our bellies.

Some of the offerings at the Festival

The summer pudding tasted as good as it looked. It was light with a jelly texture and a strong berry flavour.

Marcelo had the pork ribs which he found a bit sweet but it didn't stop him from wiping the plate clean. Off he went in a jiff as soon as I photographed his empty plate.

While I was reserving a seat for Marcelo when he went hunting for food, a couple came to join our table. It was a wonderful atmosphere- to be able to eat and also talk to strangers, Tasmanians we met were so friendly. Hubby came back with a pork sausage roll and justified his indulgence with the lack of meat in the ribs.
I tried the hormone free beef that was served in a wrap. The beef itself was tasty but I didn't like the cauliflower sauce that went with it. It was too oily and runny and did not do justice to the meat. It would have tasted better with a hint of chutney to bring out the flavour of the meat.


He then had a steak salmon which also had his thumbs up and Oh Yes! a fourth serve of food - beef burger and then it was time to call it a day. I ran out of batteries as well!

The following day Marcelo tried this cheese platter which had three different types of cheeses and cherries in wine. I had the yummy cherries and he devoured the cheese. I had a samosa and some Turkish food which were also very tasty.

Having limitations in his stomach space, he had to try this panacotta on New Year's eve which he had been eyeing since day one. I think the pic speaks for itself. He thought it was worth every calorie!

There were so many food highlights but one of the main highlights was a trip to Pasha's restaurant. This was a tip from the locals and we walked close to an hour to check it out ourselves. It was on the opposite end of the waterfront on Elisabeth street.
Pasha, the chef, is from Eastern Turkey and according to the waitress, the restaurant is very popular and booking is a must on weekends.

We could see why...
We ordered the finger food banquet. The dips was a definite indicator of the quality of the food. The Turkish bread was freshly baked, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.

One of the dips had some walnuts to give a little crunch but all of them were sooo delicious.

As we finished the bread, Pasha came out smiling offering us more bread. We should have said," No!" as there were other dishes to come but we are so weak..

When the waitress came she smiled to see that the dish was wiped clean with the bread.The salad was so fresh and the hint of dried chiliies on the yoghurt gave the dish a real punch. By

then we were laughing from all that we have consumed but also wish we had cows' stomachs.
When the kofte of chicken and lamb came, we were wondering where we were going to put them. But then again, as you can see, someone couldn't wait till I photograph...
The kofte was the best I have tasted and I have been to Turkey! It melts in the mouth and not salty like many I have tried before.
It was value for money and very well worth the walk and visit.

The cheese platter above was wonderful according to Marcelo and very moreish from Grandewe. It was a cheese making spot on the tourist trek south of Hobart and the view of the bay from the restaurant was absolutely stunning.
After all that, we tried to detox at the Salamanca markets on Saturday where we came across this organic fruit stall. The apricots looked very fresh but we were not too crazy about apricots. One bite of the cherries won us over. We had nearly 3 kilos of cherries inspite of the $15/kg price tag.
The Ranier cherries was Marcelo's favourite but I so love the Sunburst variety which I have not seen in Canberra. As you bite into them, the juice just gushes in the mouth and spreads through the palate...Aaahhhhhh.

We'll be back!

Never mind the fancy clothes!

I can't stand people who judge me by the way I dress. If I have to choose between an intelligent person in track dags to someone who dresses very well but bores me to death with their run down of the next designer outfit they own, I would rather spend my time with the one who is going to stimulate my mind.

Last December hubby and I were in a shopping centre in Brazil and I was looking for a pair of cuff links for my nephew and when my husband asked the sale girl if she had any with .. He didn't get to finish his sentence and she said,"No!" most abruptly.

Of course that p^%&%& him off and spoiled his mood and mine that afternoon.

When we got home and related the incident to my mother-in-law she said, "That's for wearing your pyjamas to the shop!" We were dressed casual but we were neat and clean.

Last weekend when we were in Sydney I had to laugh....

As we were strolling along George street near Chinatown and this tall,slim woman who had black lacy stockings on and a very smart dress walked towards us and naturally my hubby was impressed and had a second look at her. Then suddenly you hear, "Heeerrgg Heerrrg pooi"
In went the spit into the dustbin skilfully dispensed. Satisfied that she has dislodged all she wanted from her throat, she strutted off in her black heels.

Both of us cracked up laughing. As the saying goes, " You can take the village girl out of the village but you can't take the village out of her."

Stuck on yoggie

Stuck on Yoggie!!

My 5th wedding anniversary was in June but I wanted to write about this so that I can look back and have a laugh. I decided to bake hubby a cake for our wedding anniversary and instead of a Brazilian chocolate cake which I am pretty good at baking I went for a recipe from the net.

It was a lemon cake with syrup and sounded Oh so yummy. Yes ! This is the one, almonds and lemon and syrup Mmmm. Images of flowers with overflowing berries in the middle conjured in my mind and so I got very excited of how this cake will eventuate.

A day before the anniversary I made some roses from shortcrust pastry using food dyes to colour the flowers and leaves and was rather please with the results.

On the Friday of my anniversary, I rushed back from work to bake the cake and everything went smoothly until it was time to get the cake out.

When I tipped the cake "OMG! Sh@#&*#! Sh@#&^!!!" Censored! Censored!

Parts of the cake would have to be eaten with a spoon. It was as if I had picked the cake and dropped the whole cake on the floor.

Now what?THINK! ThiiiinnK! So I opened the fridge to seek some inspiration as to how I could salvage my cake. Then the yoghurt tub stared back at me. Using spoonfuls of yoghurt I used it as a gluing agent for the cake to stick the bits together.

Fortunately the middle bit was intact and I filled it with frozen berries and put my pastry flowers around with yoghurt oozing from all sides. It looked like a mess but if you had seen the before then you would appreciate the after alot more.

Ha! Ha!

Happy 5th anniversary Darling!

2009

Come see my bathroom

Come see my bathroom.

"When you come to lunch you must see her bathroom!" This is what my friend Karmala said to her friend Sally when they were here a fortnight ago. The bathroom renovations were done quite a few years ago but still a talking point when I invite people over for dinner.

I think I will introduce the rooms according to the stages they were renovated.
The toilet was the first one I renovated so that if this did not come out right, it will not cause me too much or be too hard to fix.

After a week of blood sweat and tears, literally, I managed to get the 70s tiles out of the toilet. The tiler was my plumber's friend, a Slovenian guy who was rough on the edge but a decent bloke.

The toilet wall is a two tone bright yellow which is also featured along the long corridor of my unit. I needed some warm colours. I think the whole of Canberra need their houses painted in warm colours seeing that we only experience real warm weather like four months in the year! I was inpired by how places looked so cozy in Spain by just how the walls were painted.

I also glazed the tiles that were used in the toilet.

The postcards stuck on the wall provided quick flashes of my past trips when I am in there. Even the tattered pink curtain made from recycled saree fabric is a piece of India.

The guest bathroom was next and I wanted an unconventional bathroom with no storage space. I joked with the blacksmith that I didn't want the guests to feel too comfortable as they might decide to build their nests at my place.

Our sketches went backwards and forwards and I was getting frustrated as I could see that his mind was locked into having a box. No! Not a box, whether its a mesh or with different materials its still a box. "How about a bra?" I said to him. He looked up and laughed.
When I finished sketching he got really excited. "Ya, I can do that."

But he needed a mould of sort. It was unfortunate that my bosoms did not match the size of the wash basin so it came out the way it did. On hindsight I should have asked someone more well endowed than myself to give him a mould.

Initially I asked for a lacy bra but he said it will cost alot more so I went for a simpler design. As always, beer budget with champagne taste. I sketched the face for the mirror for someone who designs mirrors in the market to make one for me and it turned out good and twisted some glass bits to make the earrings.

The most difficult task was finding the two glass beads for the taps of that colour , shape and size to fit the top. Funnily I found them
at a most unlikely stall - a fairy stall.

I used the remaining bits of the saree from the toilet to dress my belly dancer. I also made a pair of ceramic feet complete with red nail polish but unfortunately my brother-in-law stepped on it and the toes broke so sadly I had to remove them. I hope to replace them one day. Hmm.. when I find the time...

My hubby and I actually used this bathroom instead of the one in our ensuite. I wished the partitions in the bra were closer so that the toothpaste did not slide. But apart from that I am really pleased with the outcome. It is so easy to clean as the saree is held by clothes pegs and when it gets dirty, in it goes into the washing machine and ironed and it's as good as new. My belly dancer could do with a few extra sarees but I have yet to find some that I like.

Moorish bathroom

The second bathroom had another story to it. The tiles were direct from Turkey. All ten kilos of that. I went on a round the world trip just after September 11 and when I brought the tiles home, the people at Sydney customs were wary to see a dark box when they scanned it at the airport. I sheepishly said that they were tiles. The officer present radioed someone to have a look and slowly unzipped the bag and looked at me in disbelief.

Fortunately only one tile broke and my tiler who became a friend renovated the bathroom for me. Initially I wanted to renovate this bathroom for myself as I have always loved Moorish designs. I went to the bathroom places to look for a basin to match the tiles and as I was looking at the basins, the assistant asked if I needed help. I asked if they come in other colours apart from the white that was on display, she said,"Yup....We have cream."

I know these days the choices are endless but in some way I was glad that I did not have those choices because I decided to design one myself. Ya. Here comes the bull charging again. Ha ha.I have glazed quite a few tiles before but never a wash basin. But one of the potterers I knew gave me a contact where someone could make me a basin to glaze, so off I went and paid $400 for it and if I stuffed it up but of course at that time I was so excited of the prospect that it never occured to me that I may.

I picked up bits of the patterns from the tiles (see above) to put on the basin. I had a round paper which I cut using a plate as a template.. Oh yes that's how professionally it was done. The I folded the paper to make sure the pattern was well distributed and spent a whole day glazing that.

Ta da.

The taps also took on some of the designs of the tiles and I also designed some fittings to match the overall look-the toilet roll holder and the towel rack.

As for the mirror I picked it up from a shop in Bondi and my hubby who was then my friend helped drive it back to Canberra. It costs a fair bit and I am such a tight ass but for this one I had to say yes and the mirror just completed the whole look in the bathroom for me.

The basin had to be semi circular in shape or we weren't be able to get to the toilet and my hubby was very proud of his contribution to the problem solving task we had with Hanns of how the stand should be shaped.

Hanns had some offers for my wash basin and stand when he sat it in the market before he came over to install it so I was rather pleased with myself.

The whole experience was exhilarating. I have moved on to working on putting tiles as feature walls of a garden using motifs of Torajan designs and may explore other aspects of using tiles in designs in the future if I can find an empty house !!!