Observation

My brother's band's called 'Lazy Sunday' - coincidence!

For a while it seemed as though we could have easily teleported to a rural Mediterranean country-side town. The weather was too good to be true; I no longer gaze out the window at blue cloudless skies, the English weather has found its niche once again and the grey clouds have returned with vengeance. It hasn't rained yet, but everything feels ominous, the air's heavy and the rain's waiting to fall. I want to almost press the flush button and watch it all pour down - the suspense requires too many layers of clothing. 


This morning we were up bright and early - I love that nature reveals different aspects of itself to you in different conditions. This morning, before the clouds stormed in, the early birds were singing and amazing blue and yellow butterflies were circling outside our window. I felt like I was in a children's fairy tale, I just needed to open the door for the rest of the woodland animals to join in the sing-along. An amazing smell drifted up the stairs as I got out of the shower. Dad was making his indulgent breakfast, porridge with molasses and clotted cream. The scene had suddenly switched to goldilocks and the three bears - well two bears. I stuck to the usual - Dad keeps saying if I eat too much muesli I'll get sick of it, or my body will revolt against it, but that hasn't happened so far so I may as well count my blessings, keep calm and carry on!

Buying muscles

We've seen a fair amount of wild life while we've been here, yesterday a beautiful badger was caught stunned in the middle of a country lane. The most perfect white stripe was situated across it's face, it's bright eyes reflecting the sun. It scrambled back into it's hole at record speed. There's definitely something to be said for the perfection that lies within nature. On my way up the hill I saw a lonesome poppy swaying with the summer breeze. It's delicate petals felt like silk and the sharp crimson stood out against it's black centre. Poppies have such a sexy daredevil-like quality to them. It was almost like a symbol for 'The heart of Darkness', a book we'd spent months analysing - to the point at which it had almost become ingrained into our psyche. 
The landscapes that surround us also continue to blow me away, my eyes open slightly wider when I think of those responsible for cultivating these works of art - local farmers, people that don't gain enough recognition around these parts. Now I'm not religious myself, but the idea that these stunning natural creations (flowers, animals, forests) all have such sophistication and perfection without being sculpted or altered by hand is so humbling - and it's understandable how people attribute this perfection to the concept of 'a god' in creating such beauty, because man-made art that also contains a high degree of perfection, is the only thing we have to compare it to - hence the fact that gods image is so similar to man, is conceivable. 

Vintage ad.

Moving on from religious matters (my book has me hooked), we went into town today to pick up a few bits and pieces, and I noticed something as I walked into shop after shop after shop. About a year ago I watched a documentary made by Morgan Spurlock (the same man that made 'Supersize me' a film I'm sure everyone's familiar with), it was called "The Greatest Movie Ever Sold" and while I don't particularly recommend it for entertainment's sake, it does have some thought provoking insights. The whole documentary is based on the idea of marketing and advertising, how products become successful based on the schemes surrounding them. It even got to the point of being psychological - movie trailers today are based on creating the biggest reaction possible to hook their audience - this can be measured via EEG machines that measure brainwaves and can detect when the frequencies are the most active reflecting various moods like excitement or fear. A bit of a scary idea that we're subconsciously being reeled in to watch movies without really knowing it, but I suppose we subject ourselves to them in the first place..

Vintage ad.

But one other big idea that I took away from the documentary was the advertisement ban that took place in São Paulo - to enable brands to succeed or fail based on their products quality and the preferences of the people, without any influence from advertisements. The satisfaction rates of the population increased dramatically following this ban. And this is exactly what went through my head as we walked into shops confronted by a million different products and prices. It's so much to take in I don't understand how one can filter through it all unless you have a completely clear objective of what you need without being subject to distraction along the way. My friends always joke around with me when we walk through malls saying I need horse-blinders to keep me focused. A few shops and a few-too-many headspins later I gave up; there are always going to be things that we want or can/ can't afford, that's the nature of consumerism and materialsm. And it's hard to end that process, of course I still haven't 'ended that process' living in the society we do today, but it was nice not needing to go home with handfulls of new clothes to add to my suitcase that's already spilling over. Living on a budget means I have to actually think before I buy now aswell, not that I didn't before - but knowing how long it takes to earn $6 as opposed to having it handed to you, does give you another layer of awareness to add to the basket. 

My Gran's arrived so we have more female energy in the house - balanced at last. Pasties and salad for lunch, as we sat wrapped up in shawls and jumpers with stronger gales still approaching. We'll get in a bit of nature later with a nice walk through nearby fields. French bread and fresh muscles for dinner - mm, who can resist a taste of France ;). 


 Recipe of the day: Steamed muscles in white wine served with grilled French bread
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/bobby-flay/steamed-mussels-with-white-wine-tarragon-shallots-butter-and-grilled-french-bread-recipe/index.html

Blood red munch

Amazing food art - watermelon

One reason why I chose a degree in Food science and Nutrition is because the manner in which food can be manipulated to affect certain changes in the body fascinates me. I remember living in India and constantly being hooked up to tubes and breathing devices after yet another asthma attack due to the thick Dheli pollution. That summer my mum decided to take my brother and I to a homeopathic dowser in London on reccomendation - and we spent the next few hours sitting in her apartment as we listed hundreds of foods and wrote down the 'response' of her crystal (when it swung backwards/forwards it was 'yes' side to side it was 'no' and circular motions were 'maybe') - now i know dowsing is highly controversial - critisized for being a pseudo-science, but this account helped convince me... our friends had gone to her recentley with a hand-drawn map of their entire house as they had a leak somewhere that would require thousands of pounds if they were to uplift all of the floorboards, unless they were able to determine its exact location. The dowser and her crystal were consulted and the crystal landed in one spot, on the second floor of their house in the far right corner. What do you know, a few floorboards in the spot were uplifted and the leak was found. Coincidence you may say, but it's comforting to believe in a bit of so-called-magic aswell (I've done science projects on the different properties and energies of crystals - the tools used in dowsing; there's lots of interesting info available supporting the practise aswell, worth a read). Anyway, we left the apartment with a list of foods to avoid - including wheat, dairy, citric acid, specific fruits/ veg/ grains and fats. Sticking to this diet for only 2 weeks resulted in such a drastic change.  No more snotty noses, coughs, wheezing or trips to the hospital. The diet had totally transformed our immune systems...

Cultured apple

Today I was wondering around an organic 'greenfoods' shop as dad was buying all the essentials. I ended up conversing with one of the shop owers about the right foods for your blood type. So here's a bit of human history related to food that i found fascinating (this information is a condensed version of info from various sources). Lets begin the breakdown, now before I start, blood types are said to be linked to specific personality traits and exercise patterns as the result of the presence of more or less hormones (including the stress hormone cortisol or the fight and flight hormone Adrenaline) but i'll be focusing on the food aspect. 

Egg pram

As you all know man started off in Africa, known as the 'Cro-magnum man' with blood type O being the most common (meat eaters). We then migrated down to Asia and Europe where meat was less available resulting in a more herbivorous diet of fruits, vegetables and carbs (Blood type A). Humans continued into the Himalayas, India, Nepal, Mongolia and Pakistan, into cooler climates (which is believed to be a reason for the 'mutation' of our blood type from A to B), we continued into Europe and began the domestication of Animals in cooperating more dairy and meat into our diet. 

The sea's salmon, spot the potatoes, mint and bread

I'm a blood type B, and apparently this means we're more adaptable to our environments and flexible due to our ancient geographical movements. But food wise, I just found out a few more things. I won't list it all because it's quite extensive, but the main foods we're supposed to avoid include: wheat, peanuts, tomatoes, chicken, shellfish, cinnamon, avocado's, corn, beans, sesame/ sunflower oil ...  The list of what we should eat excited me a lot more: Lamb, venison, turkey, deep sea fish, eggs, dairy, oats, figs, green veg. etc.. I saw 'oats, dried apricots and figs' and breathed a sigh of relief, muesli, you're here to stay (http://www.bewellbuzz.com/nutrition/eating-for-blood-type-b/ for more info).

Cracking nuts

My father and brother are blood type A's, and their weekly ritual after football is going down to 'Suzy's corner' and eating steak and chips. Ah the look on their faces when I told them the main thing they were meant to avoid was meat, as geographically type A's are meant to most efficiently digest carbohydrates. Type A's are said to have most sensitive immune systems and in terms of food, the list was the most extensive, sending my brother and dad's eyes rolling as they listened to me read on, and on, and on. Food to avoid: red meats, dairy products, eggs, wheat products, potato, peppers, banana, papaya, coconut, peanut oil, brazil nuts, beer, liquor... But the good news is broccoli, carrots, lettuce, artichokes, beets, olive oil, most fish and lots more all get the thumbs up!  (http://www.bewellbuzz.com/nutrition/eating-blood-type-a-a/ for more)

It's a toaster!

My brother responded with 'screw that i'm eating whatever I want'. And to some extent I totally agree, there are other theories (similar to the concept of the hygiene theory) that kids should eat anything and everything in order for their immune systems to build up their own defence instead of being so carefully cared for, causing negative reactions and allergies on exposure to unusual foods.

O's are the meat eaters of the world and the most common blood type out there, the 'givers' - they're advised to eat MEAT, walnuts, seaweed, berries, rice, quinoa, almonds, cheese etc. (lots of protein rich foods for vege's listed too) but advised against wheat, dairy, pork products, avo's, oranges, coffee, pickled veg ... (http://www.bewellbuzz.com/general/eating-blood-type-o/)

Lastly the rare ones, AB: Containing characteristics of both A and B they're said to have a hard time digesting meats, lots of shellfish and seafood, dairy products, oil, corn flower, soba, banana, avo, vinegar, black tea lalala... but you can eat loads: tuna, cod, lamb, turkey, rice, oat, spelt, berries, plums,   olives, lentils, garlic, red wine, coffee etc. (http://www.bewellbuzz.com/nutrition/eating-blood-type-ab-ab/)

Yes, there are exceptions and our environments also have a huge impact on our individual constitutions as does lifestyle choices, exercise, drinking, smoking, diet, or whatever we may alter. But if following this diet can improve your life, why not give it a go? 

Hot banana-loon?

We've got all our fresh fruit and veg from the farmers market and I'm making dinner tonight - mum's gone so we have an odd number but it's nice to have the boys around - sundowner time :). 

Side note.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8T_jwq9ph8k&feature=player_embedded is a TedTalks video I just found by Michael Shermer, though i'm not a skeptic myself, his points have a good degree of humour and wit - (from 9 minutes onwards it made me chuckle.. "Why people believe strange things")

Recipe of the day: Thai basil-chilli pork (Serve with jasmine rice and Asian greens)
http://www.food.com/recipe/minced-pork-with-thai-basil-bangkok-style-pat-krapao-moo-sap-142348

Cambodia: Day 4

Yum, crickets

The next morning we were up early, yummed down a quick fresh orange juice, ginger tea and water (which passed through me within half an hour, on the bumpy bus.. how unfortunate.), we ate fresh muesli and fruit with a warm baguette and homemade mango jam. Mum ate her banana porridge with soya milk and we set off on the bus to Phnom Pen. A 6 hour bus ride, sleeping until 5 and a half hours into the journey – but on the way i wrote a bit of this travel log, read my book, and sat back and listened to some funky tunes. Rickie Lee-Jones played, the scissor sisters, Diana Ross – all the great old tunes that you don’t really appreciate when you’re rushing around and not absorbing the lyrics and the true feel of the song.

On our stop-off people munched on fried crickets, cockroaches and tarantula’s while I morishly cracked open pistachio’s that were finished within... 2 minutes? I love pistachio's, but the excitement of getting to the actual nut after cracking open the individual little shells can take over just a bit and you go from a bowl of nuts to a bowl of empty shells.

Cockroaches anyone?

We finally arrived, staying at a sweet fresh hippy guest house, that was quite creepily situated opposite the S-21 prison. We quickly unpacked our stuff and sat down to a delicious red curry and rice, which we shared (the best thing about travelling with another person who shares your taste in food and portions is you can just share anything and save buckets). We then made our way to the highly recommended shop Ambre... I sifted through a few dresses, not too impressed by the selection of rather middle-aged, French coats and shorts. The floor however had two floors that were each divided into different rooms. Some rooms painted lilac with their selection of blue and purple clothes – dresses, skirts, shorts, jackets, trousers. The green room filled with a lush green display and the colours went on. I found one room in which my eyes lit up, so many choices i grabbed them all. And as if by magic, when trying them on they all fit perfectly – it made the decision of choosing two pieces (as they were all from $75 - $150 each!) slightly difficult. Mum was lucky with her choices as well as they fit her slim and trim figure like gloves – the orange silky French dress to the masai-style top to the flouncy beach dress. She chose 6 pieces by the end and i settled on a beautifully simple baby pink crochet dress that i’ll wear for years to come, and a stunning turquoise green bandage dress that’s hem comes just above the knees.

Some scrumptious pig tongues, snouts and the like

That evening we walked to a recommended Khmer restaurant, choosing a delicious sour beef and green vegetable curry soup served with jasmine rice, and grilled coconut wrapped in pork. Though our stomachs bulged we still squeezed in some caramelized banana in warm tapioca crepes and coconut ice cream! Mmm. 









Recipe of the day: Khmer chicken curry
http://www.turkeynose.com/TurkeynoseGoesGlobal/recipes/mains/khmercurry/khmercurry.html