According to my countdown app on my iPhone, I have 11 more days until I leave for my Big Trip to Antarctica and Buenos Aires, Argentina . Rather than waiting for my upcoming adventure to commence before I started writing, I thought now might be a good time to provide some insight into how I'm preparing for this trip. I hope you don't mind.
First of all, I've been trying to brainstorm a name for this excursion. A few ideas I've been kicking around: Antarctica & Buenos Aires (ABA), Argentina/Antarctica Adventure (AAA) Spencer's Adventure Down South (SADS), but I think the front runner is the "Big 5Six" trip (this will be my fifth and sixth continents). Of course, if you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them.
Like most big trips, much of my planning took place months ago. I secured my spot for the Antarctica tour back in January, made the flight reservations in March, and the hotels rooms in BA and Ushuaia have been booked. Also, since the Antarctic portion of this vacation is traveling with a touring company (Quark Expeditions), much of the logistics have already been taken care of.
All that has been left has been doing some research on Buenos Aires and Antarctica, and to figure out what to pack.
This trip is unique because I need to pack for both winter and summer locales. Obviously, Antarctica will be chilly, but BA will be in the low 80's. In that regard, it feels like I'm packing for two trips. Therefore, over the past month or so, I've been compiling a list of things to bring. Most of it is the regular stuff (clothing, toiletries, shoes for each climate) focused for each continent, but there are a couple things for Antarctica specifically that I've added to the list in researching this trip that I normally wouldn't bring. One, a dry bag. This will be used for the Zodiac rides we'll be taking to and from ship to land. It will line the inside of my backpack, and I consider it my $20 insurance policy for my camera gear. The other item is removable shoe insoles. Since we'll be trudging around Antarctica in Wellies (aka rubber boots), the insoles will help with comfort and warmth. It's things like this that I wouldn't have thought about had I not done some homework.
The last item that I need to bring for this trip has to do with my camera gear. However, it's something that can't be stored in my backpack or duffle bag. In doing my research for this trip, I've learned that I need to go armed with the knowledge of how to use all my camera gear and ideas of what type of photos I want to shoot. That may seem like common sense to you, but in all my travels, I've never done any prep on how to use certain features of my camera/gear, nor have I planned photo shots ahead of time. Hence, this lesson is particularily important for this trip since I have a new camera body. So I've spent a couple hours here and there familiarizing myself with the new functions of my D300s. After all, I would much rather fiddle with the settings of my Nikon while at my house than for the first time in the midst of a penguin colony. And as for photography ideas - I've been taking note of wildlife and scenic photographs that I like over the past couple months, and have a sense of what I want to do once I step foot on the ice/rock/penguin poo. I have even set up my tripod in various stances to determine different camera angles.
So overall, I feel like my prep is coming together. Sure, I still have 11 days before I leave, but I've already begun to pack in the past week. (You should see my bedroom. Half of the floor has been taken over by this Big 5Six trip.) Why so early? Partly because by nature I'm an early packer, and partly because I wanted to see if I could fit all my gear into a duffle bag and roll-on case. I think I will be able to, but I haven't actually tried yet. We'll see how it goes.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Garfield would have like it.
I know, I know. It's been forever since I lasted posted anything. Well, my excuse is that life has been busy, and I haven't spent much time thinking about what to write. So instead, I'm going to post a dated blog about baking. I wrote this almost a month ago, with the intention of posting it with pictures. But since I haven't gotten to editing the pics yet, for now you'll have to make due with only text. I guess that's why we have an imagination, right? Thanks for understanding. :-)
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I don't bake much. But last week I did it three times. Not sure why -- perhaps the comforting warmth of the oven is more inviting during the rainy days of fall. More likely though, it's that I was craving something homey, comfy and satisfying. So I decided to try to make a lasagna and a homemade chocolate cake. Today's post will be about the former and I'll save the dessert for next time.
Growing up in a Chinese family, the only baked lasagna we ever had was either from Costco or heading over to a friend's house for dinner. It's not that we didn't like lasagna -- rather, it was simply we are Chinese, and my parents primarily make Chinese food. So instead of spaghetti, we had chow mein. Instead of fondue, we had hotpot. Instead of meatloaf we had... well, whatever the Chinese equivalent might be (can't think of anything). So as you can see, Italian food was not a staple in the Chan kitchen.
I'm not sure what inspired me to try to make lasagna now, but it seemed like a good idea. After checking various cookbooks and online, I settled on yet another Tyler Florence recipe. (I think B thinks I might have a man-crush on him. Sadly, it might be true. But only in a cooking-type aspect.)
After gathering up the ingredients, I browned the beef and pork mixture with the softened onions and garlic.
Next, I added the spice blend.
After this was done, I got to start the assembly. First I started with the sauce, then noodles, followed by meat, and finally cheese. Repeat. A couple notes. One, the recipe called for traditional uncooked lasagna pasta. I cheated, and substituted it with the "no-cook" type. Also, upon Tyler's suggestion, I added pasta "brackets" to the ends of the baking pan. He says it adds structural stability.
Once the assembly was complete, I had a monsterous beast of a lasagna. My guess is it probably weighed 7-8 pounds. I put the beast into its heated cave (er, I mean oven), and set the timer for an hour. As the time passed by, the smells of baked goodness wafted over the kitchen, and into the living room. Definitely a homey, comfy and satisfying smell.
When the timer finally beeped, I checked the lasagna. The top layer of cheese wasn't browned yet, so I put it in for another 10 minutes. To my chagrin, 10 minutes later, what was a gooey topping because what I have come to refer as "cheese leather". The cheese had transformed into a brown and chewy cap. Now, many people actually enjoy this (B for one). I say good for them, but personally, it's not my favorite. The upside is that B was happy to eat whatever I didn't.
Other than the cheese leather though, the lasagna came out well. The no-cook pasta was soft and cooked through. And as for the brackets, I don't think it was needed.
So there you have it. A Chinese boy baked his first Italian lasagna. Would I do it again? Probably, but it won't be a regular occurence. For all the tastiness of the dish, I think I still prefer my homemade bolognaise over the lasagna. Just as satisfying, with a third of the work.
***************
I don't bake much. But last week I did it three times. Not sure why -- perhaps the comforting warmth of the oven is more inviting during the rainy days of fall. More likely though, it's that I was craving something homey, comfy and satisfying. So I decided to try to make a lasagna and a homemade chocolate cake. Today's post will be about the former and I'll save the dessert for next time.
Growing up in a Chinese family, the only baked lasagna we ever had was either from Costco or heading over to a friend's house for dinner. It's not that we didn't like lasagna -- rather, it was simply we are Chinese, and my parents primarily make Chinese food. So instead of spaghetti, we had chow mein. Instead of fondue, we had hotpot. Instead of meatloaf we had... well, whatever the Chinese equivalent might be (can't think of anything). So as you can see, Italian food was not a staple in the Chan kitchen.
I'm not sure what inspired me to try to make lasagna now, but it seemed like a good idea. After checking various cookbooks and online, I settled on yet another Tyler Florence recipe. (I think B thinks I might have a man-crush on him. Sadly, it might be true. But only in a cooking-type aspect.)
After gathering up the ingredients, I browned the beef and pork mixture with the softened onions and garlic.
Next, I added the spice blend.
After this was done, I got to start the assembly. First I started with the sauce, then noodles, followed by meat, and finally cheese. Repeat. A couple notes. One, the recipe called for traditional uncooked lasagna pasta. I cheated, and substituted it with the "no-cook" type. Also, upon Tyler's suggestion, I added pasta "brackets" to the ends of the baking pan. He says it adds structural stability.
Once the assembly was complete, I had a monsterous beast of a lasagna. My guess is it probably weighed 7-8 pounds. I put the beast into its heated cave (er, I mean oven), and set the timer for an hour. As the time passed by, the smells of baked goodness wafted over the kitchen, and into the living room. Definitely a homey, comfy and satisfying smell.
When the timer finally beeped, I checked the lasagna. The top layer of cheese wasn't browned yet, so I put it in for another 10 minutes. To my chagrin, 10 minutes later, what was a gooey topping because what I have come to refer as "cheese leather". The cheese had transformed into a brown and chewy cap. Now, many people actually enjoy this (B for one). I say good for them, but personally, it's not my favorite. The upside is that B was happy to eat whatever I didn't.
Other than the cheese leather though, the lasagna came out well. The no-cook pasta was soft and cooked through. And as for the brackets, I don't think it was needed.
So there you have it. A Chinese boy baked his first Italian lasagna. Would I do it again? Probably, but it won't be a regular occurence. For all the tastiness of the dish, I think I still prefer my homemade bolognaise over the lasagna. Just as satisfying, with a third of the work.
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