So, it has been just over 3 years since my last blog post! Very very poor show on my part!!
It seems working life has gotten in the way of my blogging. I have, however, been incredibly lucky to have taken up a social media role as a career. So, although I’ve been quiet here, I’ve made a lot of noise elsewhere 😉
I intend to make up for my absence and crack back on with my life list, and fill you in on a couple of items I have managed to cross off the list while I’ve been AWOL!
There is a slight “artists impression” thing going on with the cookies I baked today! But I feel they resemble reindeers enough for me to be able to cross them off my Christmas Bucket List!
What do you think?
I actually made some with brown noses too, but they just look like evil bears (see top right of photo below)!!!
After a six month gap in blogging, I am getting back on track with a Christmas related “Bucket List”.
I have put together a list of 10 activities to get Ollie and I into the festive spirit, without drinking too many spirits!!
What is on your Christmas Bucket List?
In order to complete number 14 on my Life List (Cook every recipe from one cookbook), I need suggestions on which cookbook I should use!
So, any ideas??
If learning to love fish means eating anchovies, me and this life list are gonna fall out!!
Whilst I am very much enjoying the food here in South East Asia, every now and again you crave western food, or at least something that does not contain rice or noodles!
Such an occasion arose in Ho Chi Minh and I desperately craved a salad for lunch, and so ordered a Caesar Salad (described as being salad with chicken and croutons).
What arrived was a plate with 4 iceberg lettuce leaves laid out in the centre, atop of them was a pile of fried chicken pieces, sprinkled with cubes of bread, all of it swimming in a centimetre deep of oily dressing, and then the whole lot was covered in . . . . ANCHOVIES!!
The salty, fishy taste was disgusting, and was on everything!
Yep, learning to love fish is not going to go particularly well, if it has anything to do with anchovies!
So this was one of the must do’s that Ollie and I said that we had to achieve whilst on our round-the-world trip! And even though a year has passed since doing it, I still can’t tell you if I enjoyed it or not!!
Much like the skydive, I had no real nerves building up to the jump, until I got on that platform!! Actually, thinking back, I did have to go for a last minute wee before walking out onto the platform, but other than that, none of it seemed like it was actually happening to me, and I think that maybe I was just on a major adrenalin high!!
Anyway, once out on a wooden platform, 47 metres above a river in Taupo, New Zealand and it all becomes a bit of a blur!! I remember a very nice man checking my harness (thank goodness for that!!) and attaching the rope to my ankles! Oh, and on that point, wow that rope is heavy!! As soon as it is attached and you start shuffling to the edge, it just feels as though it is going pull you off the edge itself!!
Once on the edge, it all happens very quickly in that you are told to look up, with your hands above you, in a diving position, then you slowly lean forward and . . . . . . .
Aaaaaaghhhhhhhhhhh
I screamed so much I think the whole of Taupo came to a standstill!!!
And what was it like? I unfortunately can’t give you much of a description as I had my eyes closed for the whole thing!!! Only opening them when I heard someone say they were coming for me!! I briefly opening my eyes to see an inflatable boat below getting into position, closed my eyes again and waited to be lowered into it!!
Reliving it by writing it here, I’d have to say, never again!! But, I would also say it’s definitely something you should put on your Life List/Bucket List!!
In Chiang Mai, Thailand was were Ollie and I got to experience a day with the most AMAZING animals!! For a whole day we rode and bathed elephants belonging to a hillside Mahout tribe!! After much research, we found a trip that did not involve sitting on a seat on the elephant (which we had read, to train them to allow people to do so, the elephant’s “spirit is broken”), did not involve the elephants performing tricks for us, and did not involve the trainers beating the elephants to make them perform.
Our trip was a very relaxed day, which involved a pick up from our hostel, meeting our fellow companions (3 Aussies), and an hours drive north to the mountains. Upon arriving, three elephants were making their way down to meet us, and upon closer inspection we soon realised that it was actually four! One of the elephants had given birth 7 months ago, and had baby in tow!!
Before arriving we had stopped off at a market to buy some bananas, and these were supposed to last the whole day!! However, these clever animals had seen these tourists arrival many times and realised exactly where the bananas were kept, resulting in a couple of them trying to devour the lot, even while they were still in their bags!! After much wrestling however, the trainers were able to rescue at least some of the bananas to be able to use as a treat later, as well of course as the bags!!!
With little time to become acustomed to the huge beasts, we where instucted to climb aboard our elephant and were walkd up to the tribes home, where we were then given a brief background to the tribe, and then thrown back into climbing aboard and learning the Mahout instructions used to direct the elephants. We then set off on a little trek around the bush, leading back to the tribes base where lunch was waiting for us.
After a lazy lunch, and a bit of a play with a couple of the elephants, it was time to trek up to the waterfall for a bit of bath time!! This was hilarious as one of the elephants we were with was still fairly young, and so when getting to any stream would suck up some water and throw it over his Australian passenger, and of course always wanted to be first and so upon finding the waterfall and pool, plunged himself and Emma the rider straight into the water! Our elephant, thankfully, was far more graceful, and allowed us to disembark before submerging!!
Cleaning the elephants was amazing, well in fact the whole day was amazing! Just being able to stand, looking into the eyes of these magnificent animals was out of this world, and something we will remember forever!!
So I have had a little play with Pinterest, and I LOVE it!! It is so fun, and maybe a little too addictive, but I have created a board displaying my Life List in pictures!! Please take a look: – http://pinterest.com/sashalwatson/life-list/
I have also created a few other boards (all of which are works in progress, and a means of seeing exactly what Pinterest can do), so please feel free to have a look at those too: – http://pinterest.com/sashalwatson/
I’m off for High Tea today with my mum and sister, but we are in Sydney and not London, so I guess I will just have to class this as a warm up to crossing off something on my list!! :0)
So just over a week ago I took my first (big) step in attempting to “6 – Learn to LOVE eating fish“!
I ate some without throwing up!!!!
Anyone who knows me knows that I don’t eat fish or nuts! Nuts, I am allergic to, and fish makes me want to throw up, just from the smell! But I have so wanted to like, even love, eating fish! Not only because of the health benefits, but because when eating out there are often meals on the menu that look as though they would be delicious, but then they end up having some of those nasties in them! Yep, seafood!
A trip to Port Macquarie to catch up with friends resulted in a trip to the harbour and a fish and chip meal. Knowing that I was not yet ready to venture into eating a whole fillet of fish I opted for the battered savaloy, with everyone else ordering crumbed fish to accompany their chips!
Arriving freshly cooked and wrapped in paper came the time for me to take the plunge! I tore a small lump of the white flesh away and popped it into my mouth before I could think too much about it, and well, it wasn’t at all bad!! It was actually ok!! And so I tore another lump and ate that too!! Just how amazing am !????
Well that was enough for me anyways, I don’t want to be running before I can walk, and so tucked into my saveloy and chips proud in the realisation that I am on the road to loving to eat fish!! Next step is to eat more fish, but I think I may need to try something that has a sauce on it to help me!!
Sasha's Life List 