Moment

Doesn't moment like this put a smile on your face ? Even the birds are enjoying the moment... this reminds me of a very spectacular performance by a six years old little girl from Britains Got Talent...

Salmon

Salmon... I have never liked salmon. Well... except for those thinly sliced and smoked. I have tried so many salmon dishes in restaurants but none had ever impressed me. All salmon dishes I have tried are always too dry and tasteless.

One fine day while I was doing my normal groceries shopping, I was scanning at all the fishes over the counter, trying to decide what to buy. I usually will go for Dory, Barramundi or any other fish but definately not salmon.

I don't know what came on to me that day, I actually decided to buy some salmon fillet. I guess I wanted to proof that salmon can be tasty, it is just a matter of how it was cooked (ha ha... I'm a big sucker for challenges).

So then began my quest. I did some research on salmon by looking up for salmon recipes, but most are more or less the same. So I decided to do it my own style after all. My ultimate aim is to overcome the two main reasons that made me dislike salmon - the dryness and the tastelessness.

Finally I came up with this idea - seasoned salmon with tomato salsa.

For the salmon:

First, seasoned/marinated the salmon fillet with a little bit of salt and some ground black pepper, some McCormick's Italian seasoning (contains garlic, onion and some herbs and spices) and finally some olive oil. I usually would prefer using fresh herbs but since I have none at home, I had to make do with whatever I have. Once done, cover the salmon with plastic wrap and let it set.

For the tomato salsa:

5 red juicy tomatoes, remove the inner parts (don't chuck it away, that's wasting food; eat it instead), cut the rest into cubes.

2 green pepper (jalapeno) - sliced, seed removed (I personally do not like the seeds, but if you don't mind the seeds and prefer it hotter, then don't remove them) and cut into small pieces.

1 big red onion - sliced and chopped into small pieces (I had a hard time doing this, my eyes were in tears, can hardly see).

A handful of Kalamata olives with seed removed and cut into small pieces. I am not a big fan of olives but I wanted something black/brown in my tomato salsa, just to add to the colour presentation :p but I must say, other than the colour, the olives actually added a little extra kick to the tomato salsa (olives are salty).

Now, put everything in a big bowl, add a pinch of salt and ground black pepper, juice of a lemon and a tablespoon full of extra virgin olive oil. Mix everything together and voilà - you have yourself a tasty, zetsy tomato salsa.

Set the tomato salsa aside. Heat up the frying pan in high, pour some oil in the pan and wait till the oil is hot. Once the oil is ready for frying, turn the heat to medium. Put in the salmon fillet, skin side down first and let it sizzle through about 2 minutes or so (depends on the thickness of the fillet). Flip it and fry the whole fillet until it is cooked but not over cooked.

It is very important to make sure not to over cook the salmon or it will end up dry and flaky. Lastly spread the tomato salsa on a plate, gently place the salmon on top and serve it with a lemon wedge.



Now enjoy the savoury taste of the salmon and a blend of the appetizing zetsy tomato salsa with a tinge of chili spicyness. This is the first time I actually enjoyed my salmon dish :>

Names

Last Tuesday, I went to the RTA (Road & Traffic Authority), which is similar to JPJ in Malaysia to sit for my driver's knowledge test (yes... I had to go through all the process again just to get the NSW driving licence) Anyway, I was unable to sit for the test that day. I was told that the my family name and given name was mixed up in my visa, hence they cannot allow me to proceed until I get my visa ammended.

Usually I would be so pissed off when things like this happen. But on that day, I was actually pretty cool about it. I couldn't stop laughing because I felt it was so funny - because things like this always happen to me. I have had so many experiences like this when I was doing my masters degree. All my fellow friends did their masters in the same uni and had no problem. But I ended up with hips of problems, one after another. I guess I am now immune to things not going smoothly for me... ha ha ha...

I still find it funny when I was walking towards the car park. So when I walked pass a news agent, I thought I'd buy myself a lottery ticket since I was so "lucky". The lottery ticket is still with me now, has not been drawn yet, so I'm keeping my finger crossed. Who knows... :p

Well...the story continues on Thursday. I went to the Immigration Office to get my visa ammended. When I first told the guy behind the desk (a cute one actually :p) about the problem, he said there's nothing he can do about it. He showed me the database on his computer. Apparently whoever that processed my visa was not sure which is my family name (you see, most chinese have their family name BEFORE their given name, but in our family, we are like the westerners, we have our family name AFTER our given name).

Due to that, they have keyed in my full name under "FAMILY NAME" and left "GIVEN NAME" blank. OMG... don't they read my application forms ?? It was cleary written in my application forms. Anyway, while looking at the database, I saw my previous record in there (the previous record is of a working visa I applied before applying for a PR visa), so I told the cute guy that the data in my previous record is correct and asked if he can do something about it. So he tried some trick and managed to reprint the visa with my name in the correct order (family name first then followed by given name).

phew... that's a relief... :>