South African Sago Pudding

 
I don't know what brought this on. But I was filled with huimwee (Did i spell that correctly?) So I turned to food and made some sago pudding. This is an eternal favorite with my sons. And this recipe works well:

South African Baked Sago Pudding Recipe

Ingredients

• 4 c milk .
• 1/2 c sugar (extra) .
• 5 tbsps butter .
• 5 tbsps apricot jam .
• 1/2 tsp salt .
• 4 eggs .
• 1/2 c sugar .
• 1 c sago .
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg or cinnamon .
• 1 tsp vanilla

Directions

• Step #1 Oven: 325F deg F/160 deg Celsius.
• Step #2 Grease a large pudding dish lightly.
• Step #3 Heat milk to nearly boiling, then add sago, salt, & nutmeg or cinnamon.
• Step #4 Simmer over very low heat until sago is transparent.
• Step #5 Add the 1/2 c sugar, butter & vanilla, & stir in the well.
• Step #6 Remove from heat.
• Step #7 Separate the eggs, & whisk the yolks.
• Step #8 Add yolks to the sago mixture, whisk or mix through well, & pour the mixture into the prepared oven dish.
• Step #9 Put blobs of the apricot jam all over the pudding mixture.
• Step #10 Whisk the egg whites until stiff, & add the extra 1/2 c sugar slowly, whisking until incorporated.
• Step #11 Spread this meringue over the sago pudding.
• Step #12 Bake in the preheated oven for about 40 - 45 mins, until set, & the meringue is light brown on top.
• Step #13 Serve hot, warm or cold.
• Enjoy the South African Baked Sago Pudding recipe

Okay..., I copied it from here.

I think I am going to arm myself with a single malt and watch District 9 one more time. Just to hear those guys swear.

My wife says the soldiers look more more intimidating than any American actors she's ever seen. I replied that it's our European heritage tied in with lots of brandy and coke...

 

District 9

 
Last night I watched District 9.

What's going on? Are we the flavor of the month? Or is this more permanent? We had DiCaprio playing a South African/ Rhodesian in Blood Diamond - which I really enjoyed.  Matt Damon as Francois Pienaar in Invictus and then this Sci-fi movie set in Joburg (of all places).Or maybe not. It's a crazy place. And it works. I don't see the prawns diving around between the vines in Stellenbosch.

Okay, I loved the movie.

Not because it had a great plot or special effects or acting. It was just so cool to hear a South African say "f%k" or "d**s" in a real SA accent. And under amusing circumstances. It made me miss home.

We are special people - no matter where we are.

The Price of Power

And so it's come to this. Years of poor or no planning and no apparent concern for maintaining or improving infrastructure (specifically the power grid) ... and now South Africans face a 24.8% increase in the price of electricity. From the BBC.

South African trade unions are threatening strikes after the country's government allowed state-owned power firm Eskom to raise prices by 24.8%.

Both consumers and businesses will struggle with significantly higher electricity bills, unions argue.

And it gets worse...

However Eskom has also been permitted to increase electricity prices by a further 25% next year and again in 2012.

Well, this is obviously not good for the economy. This is the point of the article. But what about the average consumer who suddenly has to pay an extra 1/4 on his electricity. And who faces a future of further  price hikes. When I was just starting out in Cape Town years ago, this would have killed me.

Who's running this show?

Khaya Dlanga at the Mail and Guardian says that SA "prisons have a propensity for creating greatness".  And he refers to Winston Churchill, Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela all of whom spent time in an SA prison or some form of captivity (Churchill) and then went on to be a great leader somewhere.

Okay, let's not forget current President Zuma was also in jail. And Julius Malema probably should be.

But what about that guy, Skollie? From Vyfster. I think he was great and the way things are going now he'd probably do as well as or better as SA president.That guy could organize! There would be electricity that everyone could afford. Not just Malema to light up his houses and Zuma to keep his platoon of children and grandchildren in functioning PlayStations.

 

POWER TO THE PEOPLE.... Yeah, right!

Running Man

 
After the Chinese New year break I started running again. This is an act born out of necessity. The Lunar New Year involves gluttony and egregious drinking to the point that I started hiding in my room by Day 5. After the descent to sanity it became clear that if I was ever again to wear my existing pants and shirts with any vestige of dignity, severe action was called for.

Ergo the running.

Now I am no stranger to running. I learned how to do it at school, the SADF injected it into my DNA and my wife reminds me about it every morning when I dress. In years before, I ran long and even completed a marathon in each of 2005 and 2006. Although I did not qualify for the Olympics, I also was not casevaced by the Bus of Shame that picked up the DNFers.

Yet, now I feel as though I'm starting from running kindergarten again. My legs ache before, during and after I run. It's no fun and I believe neither am I pretty sight.

Also I fear that this plan will either drive me to religious fanaticism or alcohol as I alternately hallucinate about beer and pray on my evening runs...

 

Peking

 
I have just finished reading Anthony Grey's Peking. This is an amazing book written by a man himself held in captivity by the Chinese government for 27 months. He was released in 1969.

If you are out in the East working or are even remotely interested in understanding how the PRC ended up where it is now - then this is a must-read.

 

 

Grammar Challenges

 
Okay, I know I'm in Taiwan and that sometimes even the best schools and universities produce weird grammar and spelling. But perhaps these can be forgiven - or even smiled at, on occasion. Anyway, I cannot take the moral high ground when my Mandarin pronunciation has my wife forbidding me to speak outside of the home and my reading only just allows me to identify the men's bathroom.

But look at this - also from the Language Log. It seems the Australians, or perhaps just the guys from Queensland, have lost contact with Grammar Base.

According to Justine Ferrari, "Grammar guide an 'education disaster'", The Australian 2/20/2010:

ONE of the world's most respected authorities on grammar has written to every school principal in Queensland, warning them of an error-strewn grammar guide distributed by the state's English Teachers Association.

University of Queensland emeritus professor Rodney Huddleston says he was forced to write to schools directly because the English Teachers Association of Queensland refused to acknowledge or correct the 65 errors he had identified in its teaching guide on grammar, printed as a series of eight articles in its magazine.

Some examples:

In The small boy won't eat his lunch,"won't" is an adverb.
In The small boy is capable of eating his lunch, "capable of" is an adverb.
In a set of bowls, "set of" is an adjective.
In Sam's folder, "Sam's" is a possessive pronoun.

Oh my goodness! Maybe they got some of my students - the younger ones - to write this stuff.

 

A Metaphorical Toyota

 
Back at work. It's not pleasant. But one day my children will thank me .....right?

First thing that I came across was an interesting post from Language Log, a linguistics site that I frequent on occasion. It would appear that Toyota - once most trusted of all motor vehicle brands (my father swears by them) - is now an effective metaphor for things that need to be repaired and apologized for. Look here:

“This book is a Toyota,” said Robert S. Norris, the author of “Racing for the Bomb” and an atomic historian. “The publisher should recall it, issue an apology and fix the parts that endanger the historical record."

The background to this quote:

 William J. Broad, "Doubts Raised on Book's Tale of Atom Bomb", NYT 2/20/2010, discusses a minor scandal of historical documentation: the descriptions of a claimed "secret accident with the [Hiroshima] atom bomb", revealed in a recent non-fiction best-seller, turn out to have been based on lies and fabrications.

Can this be right?

 
This has very recently come to my attention...
 
As a former South African national serviceman, I know that it is the duty of each soldier to support the government of the day. As I recall very few conscripts were jumping up and down from excitement at the prospect of joining the army. We went because we had no choice.

And then the next government comes along and basically says that it wants nothing to do with its own fallen soldiers..?

This is from the Voortrekker Monument website.

The Wall of Remembrance has been erected on the VTM Heritage Site to honour members of the SA Defence Force who died on duty. Members are honoured who died between 1961 (foundation of Republic) to 1994 (change to the SANDF). The Wall was erected without any state finance and the VTM raised all the funds through donations. The Wall will be inaugurated on 25 October 2009.







... without any state finance...?!?!?

Marine Sniper

 
Today, I would like to take a moment to talk about this man.

Mark has let me know that sniper in the photo above is in fact not Carlos Hathcock but Dalton B Gunderson. Thanks, Mark for bringing this to my attention. I was thinking about taking down the picture but in truth it's an amazing photo and - with Mark's permission, of course - I'd like to keep it up here.

Below is a photo of Carlos Hathcock.

Gunnery Sergeant Carlos Hathcock II , United States Marine Corps. Hathcock holds the record for the longest confirmed sniping kill of the 20th Century. Unlike modern military snipers in Iraq and Vietnam who use vastly superior weapons and technology when engaging the enemy, Hathcock relied on a 30 year-old rifle, the Winchester Model 70 and stalking skills.

This is from a USMC site:

After his training was completed Carlos began his new assignment. Operating from Hill 55, a position 35 miles South-West of Da Nang, Hathcock and his fellow Marine snipers renewed a Marine tactic which had been born in the islands of the Pacific in World War II. Within a short period of time the effects of the Marine snipers could be felt around Hill 55. Carlos rapidly ran up a toll on the enemy that would eventually lead to a bounty being placed on his head by the NVA.

As a result of his skill Sergeant Hathcock was twice recruited for covert assignments. One of the them was to kill a Frenchman who was working for the North Vietnamese as an interrogator. This individual was torturing American airmen who had been shot down and captured. One round from Carlos' modified Winchester Model 70 ended the Frenchman's career. On another occasion Sergeant Hathcock accepted an assignment for which he was plainly told that his odds for survival were slim. A North Vietnamese general was the target, and the man died when a bullet fired by Carlos struck him from a range of 800 yards. Hathcock returned to Hill 55 unscathed. In one incredible incident an enemy sniper was killed after a prolonged game of "cat and mouse" between Carlos, with his spotter, and the NVA sniper. The fatal round, fired at 500 yards by Hathcock, passed directly through the NVA sniper's rifle scope, striking him in the eye.

Hathcock would eventually be credited with 93 enemy confirmed killed, including one Viet Cong shot dead by a round fired from a scope-mounted Browning M-2 .50 caliber machine gun at the unbelievable range of 2500 yards. (I see Wikipedia puts the distance at 2347 yards or 2146 meters. The .50's cyclic rate was slow enough to adjust it to fire single rounds.)

     
The M2 .50 Caliber Browning






I have Hathcock's biography  Marine Sniper written by Charles Henderson. It's well worth the read!

Seafood

 
Here's a good reason to avoid buying fresh seafood in China..

This is why spelling is everything.
 

Love in China

 
This year, the most popular new Valentine's greeting in China is "I LAO3HU3 老虎 U," where LAO3HU3 (which means "tiger") allegedly sounds like "love" to Chinese speakers."I LAO3HU3 老虎 U" is a current favorite for texting or e-mailing friends, advertisements etc.

Pretty silly...
 

The "I Jong Dui" - Taiwan Aboriginal Soldiers

 
The Taiwan I Jong Dui ( 台灣高砂義勇隊  ) were a group of Aboriginal Taiwanese soldiers who fought in WWII alongside Japanese forces in the South Pacific. There are conflicting opinions on how willing these young men were to leave Taiwan and go and support their colonial masters.

Approximately 8000 men served in these units. At first they performed maintenance and support roles but as the war intensified in the South Pacific the Takasago Giyutai, as they were known to the Japanese, began fighting in the frontlines. Aboriginal soldiers fought and died in New Guinea, the Solomon Islands,  the Phillippines and other parts of the Pacific theater.

However, for three reasons little is known about this group of extraordinary warriors. First, as it became clear the war was ending the Japanese army began destroying a great deal of its military records for fear of prosecution during possible war trials. Second, the Aboriginal soldiers fought under Japanese names and it is very hard for historians to distinguish them from Japanese soldiers in documentation. And third, upon their return, many Aboriginal soldiers were persecuted by the KMT government that had taken control of Taiwan after WWII. Thus they chose to reveal little or no information about their actions in the war.

One thing is clear based on reports from their Japanese officers. These men were gifted warriors. They had superb hearing, moved silently through the jungle and were capable of amazing feats of physical endurance. More here.

Today this remains a highly contentious issue for many Aboriginal Taiwanese.

 


















An amazing ending to the war of one of these men can be found in this article from Time magazine (1975) Japan - The Last Last Soldier. Here is a short excerpt:

Private Teruo Nakamura was motivated to hold out both by fear of capture and fidelity to orders. After a final banzai charge against invading U.S. troops failed in January 1945, radio contact between Tokyo and Morotai was lost. Nakamura, who was separated from other members of his commando unit, managed to avoid capture and built a grass hut deep in the jungle. He survived by raising potatoes and picking bananas off the trees. "My commanding officer told me to fight it out," he explained. Last month he was spotted by a Morotai native, who alerted Indonesian authorities. Four airmen lured the naked Nakamura out of hiding by singing the Japanese national anthem and waving the risingsun flag. Then they pounced on him.

Primitive living seemed to agree with Nakamura, 55, as much as it did with the other two holdouts; doctors in Jakarta pronounced him "exceedingly fit," even though at week's end he was suffering from a mild case of malaria. A member of the Ami tribe from Taiwan—long reputed for their bravery, stamina and ability to absorb hardship—Nakamura would like to return home and join his wife. She has long since remarried, but says that she will still be happy to see him.

He was "captured" in December 1974...

Kavalan Whiskey

 
Having just returned form the East Coast I think this would be an appropriate time to mention this:

From the Taiwan News:

Taipei, Jan. 26 (CNA) A Taiwan-distilled whisky has shocked connoiseurs by beating a trio of top Scottish blends in a blind taste test arranged by an English newspaper. According to a report in London-based The Times, Taiwan's Kavalan brand came out on top in a recent test against three Scottish and one English whisky in a historic hostelry in Leith, Scotland, north of Edinburgh.
The Times organized the test itself, in what it called a "piece of mischief-making" in hopes of catching the experts by surprise with Scotland's traditional "Sassenach" English rivals, but to the newspaper staff's surprise, it was the Taiwanese whisky that took the honors.
"It's tropical fruits. Tropical fruit jam, " said author and whisky connoisseur Charles MacLean, who headed the jury panel, after Kavalan, which is not marketed in Britain, came out on top with 27.5 points out of a possible 40.
Langs, a three-year-old Scottish premium blend, scored 22 points, and was followed by another Scottish blend King Robert with 20 and the English three-year-old malt with 15.5.
Quadruple-distilled Scottish blend Bruichladdich X4+3 came in last with only 4.5 points.
"Asians are not only some of the world's most sophisticated consumers of Scotch, but have begun distilling malts that compete with the best Scottish distilleries," The Times wrote.
The blind taste test was also organized to mark Scotland's annual Burns Night festivities, named after 18th century poet Robert "Rabbie" Burns. The festival competes with St. Andrew's Day as a focus for traditional whisky-fueled celebrations in Scotland and by Scots around the world.

Kavalan is distilled on the East Coast of Taiwan in Yilan County, which is really just tall mountains and clear, clean mountain streams. It is named for a group of Aboriginal Taiwanese who lived in the mountains years before. The obvious whiskey enthusiast at Whisky for Everyone has more to say about the whiskey.

The link to the Kavalan website is here.

And here is the advert.

Computers

 
Settling in at home. And, of course, everyone runs for a computer. I like to think that I have priority access to the internet but that is - apparently - not the case. Both sons all over the PC. Wife on the notebook.

I think I need an Ipod.

 

 

South African Security

 
It would appear SA cyclists also have to prepare for crime...

 
Thank-you to Gerhardt for this.

Return to the Gulag

 
Driving back to the West Coast today - work looming...

 

Lamb on Fire

 
A friend sent a whole leg of lamb from Taipei. The actual lamb - with all four legs - originated in Australia. This put me in a spot. The in-laws have a oven that shouldn't even qualify for the word. It's about large enough to roast an anorexic hedgehog. Not much good for anything else.

So I employed the braai ... again.

(This photo after 3 hours)









Filled with slight trepidation, I inserted small bits of bacon and garlic at several strategic locations in the leg. Salt, pepper, a bit of olive oil. Then wrapped it in some foil. It was on the fire - not over the coals - for close to five hours.

And it was beautiful. People came down from the hills to try some as word spread. On the table there were also lots of clams fried with ginger, garlic and chilli, sashimi with wasabi, oysters in a black bean sauce, some red wine and - of course - plenty of ice-cold beer.

More on China ...

 
Please don't misunderstand me. I'm not saying the PRC is the perfect place. But anyone with any sense and any interest in the future has to keep their eye on China. Take a look at this...

"It was primarily a symbolic gesture. Way back in 1979, in the midst of an energy crisis, Jimmy Carter had solar panels installed on the roof of the White House. They were used to heat water for some White House staffers.


“A generation from now,” said Mr. Carter, “this solar heater can either be a curiosity, a museum piece, an example of a road not taken, or it can be a small part of one of the greatest and most exciting adventures ever undertaken by the American people, harnessing the power of the sun to enrich our lives as we move away from our crippling dependence on foreign oil.”


Ronald Reagan had the panels taken down.


We missed the boat then, and lord knows we’re missing it now. Two weeks ago, as I was getting ready to take off for Palo Alto, Calif., to cover a conference on the importance of energy and infrastructure for the next American economy, The Times’s Keith Bradsher was writing from Tianjin, China, about how the Chinese were sprinting past everybody else in the world, including the United States, in the race to develop clean energy.


That we are allowing this to happen is beyond stupid. China is a poor country with nothing comparable to the tremendous research, industrial and economic resources that the U.S. has been blessed with. Yet they’re blowing us away — at least for the moment — in the race to the future."

More here from the NYTimes again.

A case in point. Shanghai - a bit north of here - and the place to be if you're in Asia. This from Flickr.

Shanghai is the largest city in China in terms of population and one of the largest metropolitan areas in the world, with over 20 million people. Located on China's central eastern coast at the mouth of the Yangtze River, the city is administered as a municipality of the People's Republic of China with province-level status.

Originally a fishing and textiles town, Shanghai grew to importance in the 19th century due to its favourable port location and as one of the cities opened to foreign trade by the 1842 Treaty of Nanking. The city flourished as a center of commerce between east and west, and became a multinational hub of finance and business by the 1930s. However, Shanghai's prosperity was interrupted after the 1949 Communist takeover and the subsequent cessation of foreign investment. Economic reforms in 1990 resulted in intense development and financing in Shanghai, and in 2005 Shanghai became the world's largest cargo port.

The city is an emerging tourist destination renowned for its historical landmarks such as the Bund and Xintiandi, its modern and ever-expanding Pudong skyline including the Oriental Pearl Tower, and its new reputation as a cosmopolitan center of culture and design. Today, Shanghai is the largest center of commerce and finance in mainland China, and has been described as the "showpiece" of the world's fastest-growing economy.

Will Americans learn to speak Chinese?

 
From the The New York Times.

Imagine that your monthly mortgage bill arrives, unremarkable except that it’s suddenly written in Mandarin. Then, your bank sends over a Chinese translator to explain that you are falling deeper into debt. Mind-boggling? Well, this is America’s contemporary predicament as the Chinese finance a growing share of [its] national debt. Beijing holds $1.8 trillion in U.S. bonds and other instruments of borrowing. [The US] is fused at the hip with the Chinese, economically speaking.

So, we better get to know them. They certainly want to know us, sending over hundreds of teachers to spark our children’s interest in Mandarin and East Asian ways. 

We are pathetically slow in realizing that East Asia will soon dominate the global economy. We believe, as did the last living Romans, that the American empire will reign forever.

 
Well, on that note - Happy Chinese New Year! May the Year of the Tiger be a wonderful one for you!

The Mauser Model 95

 
Which (see below) got me to thinking about those Mausers...

 

A Model 1895 (Mexican Army)







In the Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902, Boer Commandos - armed with Model 1893/1895 Mausers - proved to be an exceedingly tough match for the Brits. One of the constant themes of the conflict was the accurate, long-range fire the Boers rained down on their adversaries. As the Boers would put it, "Vertroue in God en die Mauser" --"Faith in God and the Mauser."

This is interesting. "The Model 95 (7x57) was  adopted by Chile, Mexico, Uruguay, Persia, China, the Transvaal and the Orange Free State. In fact, some of the Chilean Model 95s carry the code "O.V.S.", standing for the "'Orange Free State." Reportedly, because of the success of the British blockades, these rifles never reached South African shores, were returned to the factory where the Chilean crest was applied to the receiver ring, and sold to Chile as part of the contract." (From Guns Magazine, August 2007)

And this article from Wikipedia  discusses the 7x57 ammunition. Here's an excerpt:

The qualities of the 7x57mm as a military round were shown in the Spanish-American War and the Second Boer War in South Africa. Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders took very heavy casualties attacking an inferior force armed with 7 mm Model 93 Mauser rifles. Likewise, British soldiers fighting in South Africa were obliged to re-evaluate rifle and ammunition design and tactics after facing Boer sharpshooters and snipers armed with Model 1895 Mauser rifles firing 7x57mm rounds with withering effectiveness, easily outranging the .303 British cartridge as regards accurate long-range fire. The .303 cartridge at that time was still using cordite propellant, in contrast to the Mauser's higher-performance ballistite type smokeless powder.

I found this photo of a slightly newer Mauser rechambered for a NATO 7.62mm. 





 
That's beautiful...