Hitting the corner

Spent 7 hours on the bike last weekend. Was the most pain I've ever felt on a bike. The Tawonga gap hill, with elevation up to 10-15% over several kilometres, told me to stop multiple times. I almost did. Multiple times. The lactic acid was heavy in my already 100km weary legs, I was cramping, and I was fresh from spending the last 2 months overseas working in kitchens and eating. I suffered. But I didn't stop.

When I look back, the things that kept me going were
(a) try to get into a rhythm. 8-10 pedals standing, then pedaling 10-20 strokes seated (till my legs were too tired). 8-10 standing, 10-20 seated. Repeatedly
(b) Literally grunting out the pain like a weightlifter pushing out every single ounce of strength to lift the bar over their head. Except my grunts were painful, shorter and more frequent.
(c) Telling myself to pedal just to the next corner, and there is surely a downhill. Was probably the one thing that got me by.

I made it to the top, and collapsed. My mates told me they heard me coming from a mile away.
"Pain is short-lived, but victory is forever"
Its been on my mind now for the last week. Hitting the shortterm goals for the longer term gain. If I thought about the distance left on the hill, I would have just jumped off and wouldn't bother. But I kept trying to hit the corner. Corner after corner, pounding and cranking the pedals without looking up beyond an occasional safety peek.

With Christmas coming around the corner, I'm gearing up to achieve the last few things I can before it comes. Don't give up!

Dali

Went to visit Dali. Very inspirational.

The life of an artist intrigued me. After every milestone, good or bad, a painting is usually produced. So when you look back at the last five years, you can literally travel back and see your progression, in a series of still frame visual representation, captured, full of passion and emotion. How beautiful!

Highlights / Things that stuck in my head / My thoughts
- Lobster phone - Dali was intrigued that behind such a hard casing of a lobster shell was soft delicate flesh. Dali represented this as a lobster phone - a hard telephonic ear/mouth piece, capturing people's soft and delicate words.
- Galatea of the Spheres - beautiful painting of his wife, inspired by the nuclear physics of world world II
- The famous Persistence of time and The Disintegration of Persistence of Memory
- Dali compared Jackson Pollock's (million dollar) work to indigestion
- Dali sort to be one of the greats to move art into the next century. He even moved to Paris and befriended Picasso.
- Dali designed the original Chupa Chups logo in 1969
- Dali didn't care about what other people thought. In fact, you have to step out of the real-world or conscious realm to truely admire his work
- Para-phrased Voltaire quote - "To care what people think is to give them your power"
- Dali crafted his moustache based on the integral (calculus) symbol

Finding things

Last Friday I finally found him. The guy who I heard about, and subsequently looked for but could not find. I found him last Friday.

Mr Mushroom. One of the best mushroom retailers in Victoria. I felt like a kid in a candy store, and I don't even like mushrooms that much! It was a small little shop, but I was caught up in the magical land of mushrooms, fascinated at the different kinds. I ended up with 3 giant horse mushrooms, which I cooked up by saute-ing with oil, finishing off with butter, then adding to the oven with a splash of soy and parmesan shavings. I was in mushroom heaven. And again, I don't even like mushrooms that much! I was inspired by one of the best mushrooms I've ever tasted, when I ate at the Argo a couple of months ago. My brother is coming down next month, so I will be sure to add this to the menu!

On Saturday I explored the South Melbourne Market and was quietly impressed. Not quite as big as Queen Vic, but plently of produce and niche products that make me buzz with excitement.
Finally tasted the famous South Melbourne Dim Sims, which have been in existence since 1949, and is regarded as some of the world's best. Apparently Dim Sims were first made in Melbourne (not to be mistaken for the similar Dim Sum).

I bought 1 steamed and 1 fried. The fried one started fantastically, with a crunchy top that I still vividly remember right now as I type. The steamed Dimmy finished very well with a hint of pepper. For a Dim Sim, they were very good, with quality "stuffing" (whatever mystery ingredients are in there). They definately don't have that cheap taste which budget mass produced Dim Sims have. On a side note: Chef's Hat across the road is a kitchenware playground, and I'll be spending a lot more time there in future I'm sure!

All done - Hello again

Project has been closed out! Goodbye long hours, hello life. Its been the toughest 6 months of my career, and I'm glad its over. Looking forward to a holiday next month, and time to just relax after the gruelling battle I've had to fight.

My 60+ hour weeks has given me an appreciation of coffee. I've had up to 4 coffees (plus additional energy drinks) a day, and my list of favourite coffees around the office, in no particular order are:
- Grinders Coffee - myGoodness cafe on St Kilda road (comes with a free muffin)
- Capri Cafe on Wellington St, St Kilda
- Jasper's coffee in Prahran Market (also in Smith St, Fitzroy)
- Italcaffe coffee - Barista off chapel st (Carlton St)

Additionally, in the city, my 2 favourite places are:
- Cloud 19 (using Grinders coffee)
- Expresso Bagels (using Mokador coffee - currently only 1 in Melbourne)

Commuting vs Happiness

In a 2004 study of German commuters, psychologists found that the longer people spent getting to work, the lower their general life satisfaction tended to be. The malaise brought on by commuting was not being balanced by work satisfaction or higher income.

If commuting makes us so unhappy, why do North Americans keep buying houses in distant suburbs? Harvard University psychologist Daniel Gilbert suggests that it is because humans are just not very good at predicting what will make us happy.

“When we make predictions about happiness, we typically fail to consider adaptation – the process by which the brain gets used to things,” explains Prof. Gilbert, author of Stumbling on Happiness. “It is much easier to adapt to things that stay constant than to things that change.

“So we adapt quickly to the joy of a larger house in the suburbs because the house is exactly the same size every time we come in the front door. But we find it difficult to adapt to commuting by car because every day is a slightly new form of misery, with different people honking at us, different intersections jammed with accidents, different problems with weather, and so on.”

So the misery of the long commute will almost always trump the happiness of that spacious den, Prof. Gilbert says

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/article766908.ece

Quote of the week

Was on the fitness first message board and is now my phone wallpaper
"That burning sensation in your legs is called mediocrity"

food

I've noticed my credit card has taken the blow for my current frustrations with work and being trained in the school of hard knocks.

I've tried to keep it productive though. I have signed up to a bike race which I am so excited about! Plus I've got myself a new bike seat (I found out my old seat was making me ride like a turtle because it was too wide and padded), and some arm and leg warmers to fight the winter chill.
I've also had the fortune to tick a couple of places off my list of tastebud pleasers
1. Basque - chapel st - recommended by a mexican colleague - it has great tapas - it lives up to the hype. Had the cheesy puffs (good), patatas bravas (much better than expected) and the pork (fatty but yummy). Paella was ok, but I wouldn't order it again. To me, Paella is about the crispy crust at the bottom, and this place doesn't even cook it in the paella pan - they only transfer it into a paella pan for display purposes.
Beverage - The Quilmes here was great - one of the beers I order whenever I see it on the menu - it is becoming more and more prominent - yay!
2. The Argo - Prahran. The place was empty, it was fairly expensive, but is a place I would probably visit again. It doesn't say much, but the most memorable thing I had was part of the duck with parmesan risotto main - the dish had a big flat mushroom on the side. And it happened to be the tastiest mushroom I have ever tasted in my life. And mushrooms aren't even my favourite vegetable. The chocolate fondant wasn't spectacular, but the churros were pretty darn good - even when drenched with the bitter sweet warm chocolate, the slightly crispy yet doughy freshness still shone through - mmmmmmmm. Much better than the "authentic" spanish Churros I ate at Kanela a couple of weeks ago (they were still pretty good). Ranked slighty below the Churros that made me crave and fall in love with Churros - magical filled churros at the Johnston st Spanish festival last year.
Beverage - Chimay to start was spectacular (expected nothing less), and the mornington pinot added a nice touch to the duck
3. The Point - Albert Park. Thanks to Eric Ripert, I have an obsession with tasting how restaurants cook Barramundi. I forwent the eye fillet (I don't even believe I did this), for the Barra. It was a great choice. The crayfish curry like sauce, with the tomato crumbed crust went well with the fish. Didn't blow me off the planet, but was good enough for me to backward rationalise without having to convince myself that I should have gone the steak because "yesterday I had kangaroo for breakfast and for dinner". Dessert was great with a simple brownie with mousse. It was however, the quintessential brownie - crunchy on the outside, chewy on the inside, with the right balance of texture from the nuts. mmmm.
Beverage - Not a big fan of whites, but I was drinking the de bortoli Willowglen Semillon Sauvignon Blanc like it was free. Beautiful fruity tingle on the tongue.

Relapse

Ever since I've grown another year older, it seems I've relapsed into old habits. Being bent over and lubed up for the man. Back are the days of 9 till 9, returning home hungry, square eyes flickering and with no energy. How sad.

I don't know if its because of work, or because its coming into the worst times of the year (winter), I've eaten very very badly over the last 2-3 weeks. For the 2nd time this year, I ate KFC, and for the first time, I've eaten Maccas (visiting uni memory lane with the orea special choc mcflurry and frozen fanta) and Lord of the Fries. Food really is my weakness, and they tasted great (at the time), including the popcorn chicken wrap and the vegetarian nuggets at LOTF that actually taste and tear like chicken!! Disgusting after though, when the sickly oily feeling kicks in... yuck!! never again i say. Life is so much better with the milky fragrant smell of fresh butter, the sizzle of balsamic and scrambled eggs in creme fraiche, and moist crispy flavourful chicken that melts in your mouth. mmmmmm........

One thing I've learnt in my "relapse" is despite having a weakness of food and the desperate need to please the tastebuds, food doesn't fill the void, and it doesn't take away the obilerating harshness of the day. Not my favourite chocolate in the world right now (warm butterscotch G&B), not frozen pods, cookies and cream icecream, Wabi Sabi japanese, expensive coffee, reggiano or even glenfiddich. Only 2 things seem to work for me so far. I personally think you can't go past a shower and company to get you through the demands of life.

1. a shower - i heard on ABC radio something along the lines of a study where employees that had a 10 minute shower break during the day, increased productivity by 50% and creativity by a 1/3. The last part of the story though said the research was done by a shower manufacturer. Either way, a nice hot shower, especially in winter, washes the worries away.

2. chatting to anybody - venting, trading stories, talking rubbish. whatever. Although it doesn't beat cooking for the mates and having a scotch and a laugh over the kitchen table.

what a stupid post.....