Continuation.

Well, the Victorian bushfires are still burning in some places, but most of the problem areas have been extinguished. There were a few pictures I saw the other day that really caught my eye. It showed the humane side of humans even in chaos.

It's a picture of a fireman giving water to a koala bear, a usually grumpy animal which has suffered in the bush fires due to its tendency to climb up trees and its slow ground travelling speed. The fire man in the picture said that the koala's paws were badly burnt and was limping when he passed by it. The koala then just sat down with the helpless look in its eye. Thats when the fireman in the picture called for water. He just held the koala's hand and put the bottle to its mouth, much like feeding a baby. The koala has been named Sam.

These pictures show the Sam being treated at an animal treatment centre that has been set up. The veterinarian on duty has said that Sam will take up to 6 months for its paws to heal before it can be released back into the wild. On another note, Sam, a female has found a new friend in captivity, koala Bob which has been wrapping his arms around Sam. Happy Valentines koalas!

Anyway, there are also other animals there, such as possums and kangaroos and all. Heres a picture of a possum at the shelter.

And heres a picture of the fire as well. The one above is the satellite picture by NASA that shows the Aussie bush fires. The environmental impact of the smoke is apparently worse than that caused by the Sumateran fires. Yesterday, the sun literally turned red as it was blocked by all the smoke.

And in the last post I mentioned Marysville. Heres a picture of it now.

Thats all folks. Please donate if you can.

Victorian bush fires

Okay. This post is long overdue, but here goes. Recently, well, last Saturday actually, Melbourne had its hottest day every recorded, with some places hitting 47 degrees celcius. This, coupled with 90+ kmh hotwinds has triggered massive bush fires in parts of Victoria and New South Wales and exacerbated existing ones lit by firebugs.



This bushfire is the largest single catastrophe encountered by Australians with entire villages and communities destroyed by fires that travelled at 60mph. The official death toll stands at 181 dead with many more bodies of victims unrecovered. Hundreds more have been hospitalized with serious burns. 750 homes have been destroyed, leaving thousands across Victoria homeless.

Entire communities were wiped out in this fire, for example in a town called Strathewan, 30 people have been killed out of a total population of 450. These deaths affect the communities as a whole. This grief for loved ones is exacerbated by the fact that some of these fires were deliberately lit.

In the town of Yea in Victoria, thousands of families are living in tents, their lives, jobs and schooling put on hold due to these fires.

The scene of the fire is nothing short of horrific as workers and CFA firemen have been encountering charred bodies on the road. Many firemen also reported charred bodies sitting in vehicles in the middle of the road, their former owners unable to outrun the fire.

Most people living in the state of Victoria are touched by this tragedy. I remember going to a quaint little tourist town named Marysville which is about an hours drive from my home last June with my family. We stopped there during the skiing season to rent skis. The town was nice and homely looking, with historical artifacts and friendly people. However, I never expected that it would be the last time I would see the place. When footage of Marysville aired on TV, I couldn't recognize the place at all - all that remained were charred skeletons of houses.

This is just a short summary on the bush fires that is taking place in Victoria, for more reading, you can go to http://www.theage.com.au/national/blazes-across-victoria-as-bushfire-disaster-toll-rises-20090210-82ip.html .

I highly recommend you visit this site to see the extent of the suffering and destruction caused by the bush fires. You can also donate to the victims of the bush fire here. https://www.redcross.org.au/Donations/onlineDonations.asp

I know that most people won't have the means to donate. But I'm doing this as apart of community service and I hope readers can spread the news on the bush fires.

Lamb Steaks.

No this is not a random post okay. 2 days ago, I decided to try out my now rusty cooking skills thanks to my Malaysian holiday, where, like a bum, I ate out for every meal.



Anyways, since my mom had defrosted lamb chops, that is what I have to work with.

Behold! Lamb Chops!

Okay, so about 2 hours before cooking, I marinated the lamb pieces with these ingredients:

Some Kikkoman soy sauce, black pepper and sugar for the basics. Then I added some sesame seed oil for some flavour and smell along with a touch of Basil leaves for that added spice. Then some chopped garlic was added in to give it some fragrance, especially during the frying part.

Now, the "enjoyable" part is mixing up all these ingredients into the meat itself, which is fairly straightforward. Now, you can either use your hands (be careful to wash them first, or you might get more flavours than you bargained for xD) or a spoon or some other utensil, but personally i find that personally fingered food always tastes better =D

Okay, this is how it SHOULD look after marinating, with a bit of extra sauce around, unless of course you did something wrong. <<---(disclaimer) Okay. Especially in hot weather, you have to cover the meat in cling film and then stick it in the fridge for the next 2 hours or so for the sauce to settle into the meat. If you're in a rush, then the marinating period is unneccesary but it just wont taste as good. Anyway, when you cook, use a pan or a wok, preferably non-stick so that cleaning won't be that much of a hassle. Put some oil in the pan and thenlet it heat up before putting the lamb in, not too many at a time.

I usually don't actually time my cooking, but you will get an indication to when it is done. When in doubt, you can use a pair of scissors to snip a bit of the meat to see whether its reddish inside. For meats like lamb and beef, generally considered cleaner meats, it is okay to have it slightly reddish as it is juicier and more tender than having it cooked to well done.

Okay, after all that, it should look like this:

Well, lamb steaks are very versatile, so you can just serve it by itself or any manner of side dish you'd like to have, preferably with some carbs and veges for a balanced meal.

This is like a really simple meal to cook, so all students already overseas or going over soon should learn this easy recipe. And also, don't forget to line the floor with paper and wear gloves if you're not used to the oil flying out at your hand because it does happen...a lot.

Toodless.

Yew Fai, err, Matt has a new name!

Yes, I'm grinning at your stupidity.

Okay. The first order of business is... I'm not doing business. HEHEHHEHHAHAHAHHA <--- Syok Sendiri.

Okay, I've decided to start blogging again! WHEEEE!

No, there shall not be foul language and obscenities in this blog, and no, there shall not be any obscene pictures either, unless I get drunk =/

Anyway, as its a new year, new beginning, going to a new uni and all, I've decided that I need a fancy shmancy english name so that people will actually WANT to meet me.

I remember last year when I went to Mount Waverley, people couldn't even pronounce my name correctly, I was getting a lot of Yew Feis and such.

THIS INDIGNITY SHALL END.

From now on, all you losers (who want to of course) shall address me as... SIR JUSTIN CREDIBLE.

Yes, you heard right, just because im just incredible =D (massive case of syok sendiri still)

Okay, but im serious now. I want to be addressed as Matt this year.

THEREFORE I OFFICIALLY ANNOUNCE MY SOCIAL NAME CHANGE TO MATT. MATT.

Matt Chan ? O.o

Omg. A New Blog.

Yes, I've decided to start a new blog with a morbid name =/ Well we'll skip that part.