travel anne

My baking is a preskise skience (and not remotely travel-related)

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 17:52:00 -0400

I’m comparing one country’s gluten freeness to another’s, that’s travel, yeah?

I’ve been less than impressed by England’s gluten free/wheat alternative flour. Over the last three months my cookies have almost always ended up puffy in the middle and soft like cake or on the few times I’ve tried to compensate for this they’ve ended up rock hard. More what I go for in a man than what I go for in a cookie… oh hoh. Pardon me.

I finally cracked it tonight.

Dove’s plain white gluten free flour is the closest to the flour I used in Australia. I’ve tried the buckwheat and the bread flour mostly because there were no other wheat free alternatives on offer at the time, but finally found the plain white flour mix at the Sainsbury’s in the orthodox Jewish area (Finsbury) of all places.

My cookies finally ended up flat and chewy, which is how I like em.

Two notes: use slightly more sugar than you normally would (I think that’s what made them chewy) and only add enough flour to make the dough just a little firmer than stickymess (otherwise the cookies end up way too dry). Other than that, the recipe is the same as normal cookie recipes. Observe:

1ish cup sugar
1ish cup butter
1ish egg
a bit less than two cups of flour
some chocolate bits or whatever

Cream butter and sugar infront of Mediawatch. Change hands regularly to challenge your dexterity and make sure you don’t end up lop-sided. I guess you could use a machine if you have one, wimp. Note: the dough is now at it’s most delicious.

Whisk an egg and add most of it, furrow brow then shrug and hope it was enough. Actually, probably put all of it in.

Smash bits to bits (nuts, chocolate, whatever) and add them before the flour so you at least get one smashed bit per cookie. Make a mental note to earn more money to buy more chocolate to smash up for the next batch of cookies. Wonder how many chocolate bits you could fit in to a single cookie. Reckon at least 70.

Measure out the flour and mix in most of it until the dough is just past sticking to fucking everything.

Collect it in to a ball and Glad - sorry - cling wrap it. Make it cold.

Preheat oven to just under 200C. Go back to the internet for a while.

When the dough is chilled, smash it down to thinish, cut in to circles with something, put the cookies on a baking paper lined tray. Any that don’t stay round in the transfer process can become squares with a little bit of squishing and people get really impressed that you made square cookies. Weirdos.

Put in the oven probably for about 12 minutes, but my last batch took like 20 for some reason. Best to obsessively check them.

Oh, also rememer to let them cool on the tray before transfering them to a rack. In my haste tonight, two cookies lost their guts and had to be sacrificed to the Anne Gods.

Om nom nom.

The Anne Gods are pleased.

London: take three

Tue, 08 Feb 2011 19:26:00 -0500

London was warm and sunny today, I got to wear my green coat, it gets a lot of attention.

Everything is cinematic here, especially in Camden. I had another very cinematic moment today on my way to a room viewing…

I was walking to view a room, singing along to my music. Two floppy haired British boys about my age, one on a skateboard, turned to look at me as I walked past. I noticed but I didn’t stop.

Turn and look all you like, boy on a skateboard; it was a day for Girl Becomes Woman scenes, not Boy Meets Girl scenes. Besides, it would have never worked out. Your tartan was red and mine is green.

When I showed up, the room had already been let, reality came flooding back. So I bought a halal street plum and walked slowly home to a different soundtrack.

"Thank you. Grazie. Xièxiè. Děkuji. Danke. Gracias."

Fri, 04 Feb 2011 20:53:00 -0500

“Thank you. Grazie. Xièxiè. Děkuji. Danke. Gracias.”

- I’m collecting thank yous.

Not really sure if the pins belong in my travel tumblr or my...

Wed, 02 Feb 2011 12:48:19 -0500

Not really sure if the pins belong in my travel tumblr or my visual process tumblr, so I’ve done both. Click the picture to go to the other post with all the photos.

Knicknacks from a bazaar shop I wandered in to yesterday. Lapel...

Wed, 02 Feb 2011 07:03:00 -0500

Knicknacks from a bazaar shop I wandered in to yesterday.

Lapel pins and sheet music…old habits die hard.

in:inbox DIAF!

Fri, 28 Jan 2011 08:13:00 -0500

I just had a minor melt down trying to filter my emails. I maintain that I should not have to be a computer programmer to be able to work out how to filter emails from multiple people at the same domain as well as other completely different addresses that are all providing a similar service, i.e. ‘Travel’.

I don’t sign up to a hundred million websites for every aspect of my life for two reasons:

1. It causes me extreme mental trauma to try to remember my password each time I try to log in to “howtocookgnocchi.com” or whatever. Each site has varying security rules which they tell you when you sign up, but not when you try to log in three months later. I’m paranoid enough not to want to keep a file called “MY IDENTITY” on my computer.

Solution? Maybe I should keep a file called something slightly less obvious than “MY IDENTITY” on my computer.

2. I can’t deal with the email traffic. I find myself yelling “I DON’T CARE” at each incoming email then having a panic attack if I need to respond or react in any way.

Solution? A thousand labels filtered to skip the inbox! I’ll check it when I’m feeling stable again! HOORAY!

And there goes my day, tumblring about doing stuff instead of actually doing stuff.

Edit: I’m told this is a classic problem. Therefore, I think someone should FIX IT NOW.

Some of the photos from my friends. A reference to the most...

Thu, 27 Jan 2011 11:58:00 -0500

Some of the photos from my friends.

A reference to the most horrendous letter to pronounce in the whole world (Ř), a reminder of the country, philosophical graffiti, and a shout out at a public event which I used to go to and shout at.

Take it from me; while you're away being all cosmopolitan and international and junk, there's nothing quite like putting on Iron and Wine and doing the washing up.

Thu, 27 Jan 2011 11:37:00 -0500

A care package from Australia arrived today, it included some things I’d asked my best friend Adam to send (webcam, headset, camera, chocolate) as well as a card full of pictures he’d taken of some of my closest friends.

I expected to cry and want to go home, but I didn’t. I feel loved and missed and supported.

Right now I’m choosing a crazy international life and career over the simple stuff at home. I imagine I’ll go back to wanting the simple stuff again eventually, maybe in Canberra, maybe somewhere in the UK. Maybe with a partner and a child, maybe with a dog and some bees.

…or a dog with bees in its mouth, so when it barks, it shoots bees at you. I’m a simple girl.

Painfully basic tips for a native English speaker living in a non-English speaking country who's trying to make friends with non-native English speakers.

Tue, 28 Dec 2010 21:28:00 -0500

Now I’ve typed this out, this seems like simple stuff, but no one explained it to me. It took me a couple of weeks of learning for myself and talking to non-native English speakers about how it works for them. I’m still getting there and people are (unfortunately) far too polite to tell me off when I’m acting like a jerk.

1. Slow the fuck down, shut the fuck up. Probably the most important tip. After about ten minutes of basic conversation you can start to gauge a person’s level of speaking English.

2. Most people understand more English than they speak, so don’t over simplify. I didn’t realise this until someone told me, I’m sure a few of the people I met in my first week here think I’m a jerk.

3. Simple language and simple concepts are not the same, don’t confuse them. Get better at expressing yourself concisely. It’s a good rule in writing too, but can be tough.

4. Much like with native English speakers from a different town, city, state or country, you can easily alienate people with constant idioms and obscure language. So don’t be a jerk.

5. Be yourself. Unless you are a jerk. Then don’t be a jerk.

As an aside: it’s worth being prepared to adjust your pronunciation of certain words that you use regularly for clarification. For instance, I often had to repeat and sometimes even spell ‘Canberra’ as I pronounce it “Cambrah”. I’ve started pronouncing it “Can belr lra” where the ‘lr’ is a sort of rolled or hard ‘r’ (can someone send me a proper phonetic symbol for this?), how it’s often pronounced in European languages. It saves a lot of time, repetition and air-writing.

The xmas markets in Nuremberg were beautiful. There wasn’t...

Sun, 12 Dec 2010 09:28:00 -0500

The xmas markets in Nuremberg were beautiful. There wasn’t a lot I could send back to Australia without mucking with customs, so I took this photo instead. They’re doctors made out of prunes. Get it? Me either.

I’m mixing it up a bit. Some days I’m a tourist,...

Fri, 10 Dec 2010 09:48:12 -0500

I’m mixing it up a bit. Some days I’m a tourist, some days I’m an artist, today I’m on holidays, cooking, listening to music. Tonight I will drink wine and watch classic movies with a new friend. Tomorrow I go to Germany.

espression of my love

Fri, 03 Dec 2010 10:30:00 -0500

Dear Coffee,

I realise what you said was true, Tea just wasn’t good enough for me. I shouldn’t have left and for that I am sorry. I hope you can understand that I am travelling and sometimes I lose touch of what is really important to me. Now I remember.

I need you in my life. The world is a dark and scary place without you. Without you, I can not tell what is real and what is not. Never ever leave me. I will do everything I can to keep you around… anything you want, just ask. Forgive my pleading, our reunion was emotional.

I have seen the errors of my ways and I am now yours forever, my love.

Yours,
Anne

Things to do with left over weird chicken korma thing you got from the expensive* Pakistan restaurant down the street

Fri, 03 Dec 2010 10:10:00 -0500

Things to do with left over weird chicken korma thing you got from the expensive Pakistan restaurant down the street #1:

Slice up the chicken pieces and add it to an omelette with cheese. Be satisfied with your attempts, but look forward to dinner.

Things to do with left over weird chicken korma thing you got from the expensive Pakistan restaurant down the street #2:

Heat up some of the sauce in a fry pan, add paprika and chilli and fry bacon in it, pour over fried eggs. Congratulate yourself for how mad your weird left over skills are. Do a little dance, start composing a korma song in your head.

* By ‘expensive’ I mean the meal of samosas, chicken ‘korma’ and rice cost me $13AUD. That’s about two to three times what a regular restaurant here costs.

day, the first in Praha

Wed, 01 Dec 2010 18:17:00 -0500

It was another uneventful landing. Had I been asleep I wouldn’t have noticed that the plane landed on ice, but the passengers clapping the pilot would have awoken me. It’s a bit of a disappointment, I enjoy the bumps.

I’m settling in to my new room. I’m learning to negotiate snow, maps, shops, food, locks and washing machines.

More unpaid but exciting projects have fallen in to my lap in the last 24 hours, I’m not sure that five weeks will be long enough but it will have to do for now. There was also casual talk of some substitute teaching work at an alternative school, which would help with the visa and sense of purpose, etc.

At about 6pm the club lights come on, the clubs are usually a little below street level so you don’t notice them during the day. Tonight on my walk to food, I discovered that there’s an art and music club called “final” about 8 doors down from where I’m staying. I’d walked past it four times, but didn’t see it until the sign was on. The wonders of the internet let me listen to the band scheduled to play on Saturday night. I may head down.

This place is nice.

A photo mostly for my mother’s benefit to show that I am...

Wed, 01 Dec 2010 07:28:34 -0500

A photo mostly for my mother’s benefit to show that I am in one piece and have new woolen clothes .

biding my time

Fri, 26 Nov 2010 10:51:53 -0500

My flight back to Prague is Nov 30. I have a room for sixish weeks from Dec 1 which takes care of xmas and new year, gives me time to rest, regroup and work on some projects. It’s a huge relief.

So I’m biding my time, trying not to spend too much money until I know that I can earn again. Having to move all the time is difficult, London is ridiculously expensive without an income and for some reason hostels are always booked out here. I wish I was flying out tonight.

Time to buy phone credit, a duffel bag and some reliable internet time.

Dear London, I know we only just met, but I’m leaving you for Prague. We will always have...

Sun, 21 Nov 2010 06:12:45 -0500

Dear London,

I know we only just met, but I’m leaving you for Prague. We will always have those two stressful but important weeks.

You’ll always have a place in my heart.

Your friend,

Anne

Today I explored a castle and made a wish

Thu, 18 Nov 2010 19:10:00 -0500

Prague is beautiful, but everyone already knows that.

What you may not know is that The Simpsons still makes a lot of sense in Czech, and a common dish here is crumbed and deep fried cheese.

I’m heading to a miniature museum, cubist gallery and heading back to the castle over the weekend, I’ll do the culture thing then.

the first five minutes in Prague

Wed, 17 Nov 2010 20:18:49 -0500

The trip from East Acton to Luton airport was long at over two hours as someone had gone under the train at Bond St Station and the central line was closed. I can’t believe how much of a non-event it was.

I panicked most of the trip about various things, but made it in plenty of time, even though the train went past the stop and I had to double back. The flight was much easier, about as fast as Canberra to Melbourne, and meeting my friend straight off the plane was great.

The plane arrived in the middle of the night, so I haven’t seen anything yet. He’s told me about the working and living conditions (for English speakers) and how much (little) travel costs. The English teaching course is 600euros, one month long and if you achieve over 60% you’re guaranteed a job, over 80% and they’ll employ you at the college. Experienced English speaking work in a profession like design or finance pays a lot better though both wages are very liveable.

I am also excited to have a room to myself with a double bed and a reliable internet connection in an apartment I could only dream about even on an EL1 wage in Canberra. I can’t imagine everyone in this country lives like this. The only downside is that it smells like tobacco.

Sleep time.

Currency

Wed, 17 Nov 2010 19:52:01 -0500

Talking with Shane today while wandering from the meridan line back to the train, the conversation turned to vermin.

He was disappointed in the lack of squirrels but noted the number of pigeons. We discussed the value of each common animal and came up with this approximate conversion:

10-12 pigeons to the squirrel 5 squirrels to the cat

In my little experience in residential areas in London, this system appears to hold true. The more common the area, the more pigeons there are. The quiet residential areas have mostly cats and mixed areas have all three, with some of the happiest squirrels I’ve seen. (And the occasional double squirrel which is worth slightly more than two individual squirrels.)

(I originally posted this to my art blog instead of the travel blog. I stupidly have two accounts instead of setting up two blogs under the one account. I’ll try to sort that out another night… )