Abandonment Issues

Hell YEAH! Another Bucket List item is now complete :) That being "Visit an Abandonment and take photos". Ever since I stumbled across Michael John Grist's blog about Urban Exploration in Japan I have been fascinated by the thought of wandering around in the dark with my heart in my throat. Sounds funny I know. I used to stare longingly out the train window as I went past some dark and scary abandoned factories near South Kensington Station - they looked perfect. I was working up the courage to visit these long coveted scum-holes when I noticed they started to clean them up for re-use. Shattered. I left it for a while and only started thinking about abandonments again 2 weeks ago. This is when Jim chose to mention the location of an abandonment he knew to me. The timing was perfect. Join Jim, Josh and I on an adventure to the darker side of life....

Our intention of course was simply to explore and leave everything un-disturbed- such is the code of the Urban Explorers. Jim said to watch out for homeless people here, so I crept close up behind Josh to use him as a skinny human shield in case we encountered any hobo-trouble. Soon after we entered the first section, we saw the signs of homelessness. It wasn't until I took a photo that the flash illuminated everything in the area and we could really ee what we were dealing with..

Jim lead the way with only a flashlight to guide us. He seemed confident, having been here before. Naturally, we headed for higher ground...

The views from the rooftop were just amazing. We stayed up there for a while chatting but eventually climbed back down to do some more exploring in the scary part... where we found an empty bag...

Nothing to loot here - it had already been looted. We then did a walk of the perimeter to check out some of the other buildings on site. Some of the graffiti out here was really cool....

I love this blue graffiti. I didn't realise how cool it was until later - I new wish i got a photo at a better angle! We made our way into another building - apparently the one with all the machinery. I kept thinking that someone with a really good camera could get some super amazing pictures here...

How cool is that? Jim then suggested we check out the "Crack Den" house in the corner of the property. We approached it very quietly and shone torches in through the bars to see if anyone was around. Not a soul. I don't know what I would do if there was someone.... run? Probably run. Anyway it was all clear so we went in...

It was a pretty dirty and depressing place, but somehow Jim was compelled to sit on the mattress...

It looked wet, but it was actually dry. It was clear that we were in a place of great magic here...

Not sure what all this was... it looked very interesting though! Maybe the "real world" was below this - like on the matrix with all of those pods for the people. These are some connections to the slumbering drones. Anyway, after wandering around for a while, we jumped the fence back into civilization and i somehow ended up with rocks in my shoes from the landing....

 

So, my verdict? Urban exploration is amazing. I think next time I won't drink before-hand, and I will wear better shoes/clothing for exploring. In the dark you can't see the uneven ground so all of the loose stones and rubbish create quite the treacherous path for a dizzy dame such as myself. I'll certainly be keeping my eyes open for more cool places to explore :) If you know of any, I'd love to hear about it!

Snow Fall in Saitama

Close your eyes....... Wait, actually keep them open. Otherwise you won't be able to read along! Pretend your eyes are closed. What do you think of first? I think of presents.

You know how as a kid, someone telling you to close your eyes and keep them closed is just the best (or worst) form of cruelty? It's nearly impossible to do simply because you know there is going to be something amazing in a few seconds and you fear your body might explooooddee with anticipation! Well, keep pretending your eyes are closed, and at the end of this sentence... open them:

Cool huh? You're in another world now, a snowy wonderland! My friend Shiho took this picture from her balcony in Japan! She lives in the Saitama region, about 1 hour bullet train ride inland from Tokyo City. We have been e-mailing eachother since her return home and often talk about our weather woes. For example, I tell her about the Cairns cyclone, Brisbane flooding, Perth fires, Victoria Flooding etc etc and she unfailingly types "chooo sammuuiiiii" Meaning it is SOOOOO COOOLLLDDDD!!!! I didn't quite realise HOW cold until she sent me this picture! She doesn't have her driver's licence yet so naturally she has to ride a bike or walk to school each day. In that. Poor Shiho :(

I felt inspired to write this because I think I am getting sick *dun dun DUNNNN* Josh has being doing placement at another Primary School and picked something up, which may have spread to me, nooo! I have felt very poopy these last few days and feel like I am on another level than usual. Kate at work asked me how I felt yesterday morning and I eventually managed to blurt out my half-hatched thoughts of how I actually feel. I told her "You know when you're sick... and you're like surprised?..... By life?" she just laughed and asked me to elaborate. It was so hard, I should have just said "Meh." I think I meant.. I felt as though I were in a dream state and possibly still half-asleep therefore surprised to feel that way and still be living your daily life. Maybe. I'm still a big congested in the ole' brain box up there! When I try to talk it comes out sounding like that scene from the movie "Tomorrow When the War Began" when they find Chris and he is baked and starts philosophising. Picture a guy who did character research for a stoner by watching an overacter play the role of a stoner. You know what I mean. You should watch it, it's painful!

Also, speaking of Japan and Subarashii... I watched AKIRA the other night - a classic Anime movie. I thought I knew what was going on for most of it, but then I got really confused really quickly. I watched it with my housemate Maki and we were just laughing and giving audience commentary by the end. It was visually amazing, and the first few songs blew my mind, but yes... no idea. I should look up an explanation for the reasons any of it was happening. Oh yeah, i forgot to explain my segway! "Subarashii" means Marvelous or Wonderful, and in the movie one character kept saying it and I got really excited! It was subarashii, much unlike my segways today. ACHOO!

~!!~How Utterly Camp~!!~

Hello my lovely readers, it appears we meet again! So, do you come here often? I think you might. Maybe not as much as you would like, maybe a little too much and it scares you. Whatever the case, I appreciate you reading this :) What you are about to read is a post I must say I am excited to present! For those of you who find my erratic post themes confusing, let me remind you of the thick and juicy vein snaking through subarashiiblog, connecting all the posts and supplying them with life-blood direct from my heart. The List.
Remember the list? The quaint old bucket list I made shortly after my 23rd Birthday to ensure I get more out of life and become more proactive and involve myself in new scenarios and potentially remove myself from my comfort zone. I am LOVING IT. Let me refresh your memory by showing you the list again, this time complete with pseudo highschool graffiti.....

I think i will add to the graffiti over time. I like it. If it's anything like the back of my school books it will just have in-jokes about Bio-Dome and the word "hey" written in fancy font EVERYWHERE. So, the list. I have make OK progress i think, I still need to cook a few more things, write a few more poems, and check out some new vego restaurants among other things. The garden looks better every day so I'll end that as late as i can! Anyway you may notice a few things ticked off that you don't remember me actually completing, and you may be thinking "Hey bitch, hold up, hold up!". Well don't get those knickers in a twist just yet, I'm here to tell you that I have SMASHED a few more things off the list in the last week alone. Grab your galoshes and brolly, and let me take you on a journey into my world dot dot dot dot dot dot dot

Some friends of mine started organising a camping trip a few weeks back, and I naturally jumped on board. I was eager to go proper camping with neither electricity or toilets, in order to see how I handle being out of my physical comfort zone. Now, I'm not exactly a princess. I come from Tom-Boy origins. Sometimes I wear the same clothes AND underwear (turned inside out of course) for two days in a row to work if i randomly stay at Josh's place. I wear 'house clothes' which are torn, food-stained and are invariably made up of tracksuit pants and a t-shirt. One weekend i didn't shower for 48 hours. I even continue eating my lunch if i drop it in the toilet bowl. Wring it out, it's alright! Nah that one's a joke. I swear. The point is, I wanted to see how primal I could really get without being ashamed. I should point out that the one time I went camping in the past (November 2004) was where I met Josh - at Schoolies in Lorne. We had electricity, toilets, showers, music, jaffle irons, even a hammock which i stupidly forgot to bring along this time. Everyone said "Pfft, that's not REAL camping!" to which I swore I would experience one day. But if I hadn't gone, I would never have met Josh and be as happy with him as I am today, over 6 years later! eeeee *heart swell*

Anyway, enough mush! Let's talk about bush...

So off we went on Friday morning. Not only were we all excited to be going camping, we were exponentially excited due to the fact that we were NOT going to work :) Double yayz! We drove up to a place called Cobram. A place where you can walk around with no shirt or shoes, where Ute's are more common than the flies buzzing around your unwashed hair, and where the very best Op-Shops can be found. It is situated 262 km North of Melbourne on the banks of the Murray River. What I somehow failed to realise the whole time I was there was that on the other side of the Murray was New South Wales.. but NOW I know. As do you! So, as I have never driven around these parts, I am deeming this item 16) Road Trip to a new location COMPLETE. You may say "Well obviously if you go camping on item 15, you've gotta road trip it - they are like the same thing!".. wrong. I could easily have set up a tent in my spacious backyard or at the park up the road and become 1 with my dog and cat and learned to live as they. That would be weird. Anyway, the weather forecast was not looking good. Rain and flooding were forecasted. I was worried that my camping trip dream was going to become un-hinged. Luckily we were all invested balls-deep in the plan so we still went for it. While the boys got super-wet and set up ramshackle shelter...

....we girls went foraging for mushrooms and more importantly... bug corpses:

It was like 'Naussica of the Valley of the Wind' up in there! You might say that our transcendence into camping bliss was quite similar to the birth of a bug. For example, we sat in the safe cacoon of the car watching while the elements outside were too fierce for us. When they calmed down and the time was right, we emerged from the car refreshed and full of energy to explore our surroundings and start to potentially .... bug.... the others. Haha ok, that pun was a stretch, but here's a picture I made of bugs having a tea party to distract you from my inadequacies as a comedic writer...

This bug collection was moved onto the back shelf of the car unbeknownst to the driver. When he found my morbid little collection later on, he came back to the camp fire saying how his car was a bit too "Silence of the Lambs" for his liking. Oops. That's all part of my charm. I was only collecting them so I could give some kid a cool present. "Hey little kid, come over here. Aunty Jade's got something for you....." hmmm. I actually forgot to take them home so I don't know what became of them. Back to reality (oops there goes gravity), Nat and I faffed around while the boys made a great shelter so we could start drying fire wood and eventually set up tents. Here's Nat playing with my new umbrella:

How cute! Some time and tummy grumbles passed and we worried that the second car of friends wouldn't make it through the muddy tracks, and it was getting late. Eventually they rocked up in a blaze of mud and spinning tyres and we commenced making dinner #1!

Note: this is not how a well managed kitchen should look. Cooking by lantern light was cho subarashii though ^_^! We didn't have much to work with so I made little tin-foil vegie parcels to go with the burgers, and man... they were awesome. I put some Dill in there, and blew some minds, let me tell you. Here's the boys cooking the boigers, just before the 3rd car turned up!

OMG! One camping fantasy I had went all the way back to childhood. See, I used to be obsessed with the 1993 movie "The Sandlot Kids" or as it is called in the US, simply "The Sandlot". You know the one, all those cute little boys playing baseball to a rad 50's soundrack and there's that monster dog and James Earl Jones features in it? Ah, I can see them all now: Smalls, Squints, Benny the Jet, Ham, Yeah Yeah, Timmy & Tommy, and of course Wendy Peffercorn. In one unforgettable scene (to me, they all are) Ham explains to the n00b Smalls what a S'more is. Here is an excerpt from the scene:

Ham Porter: Hey Smalls, you wanna S'more?
Smalls: Some more of what?
Ham Porter: No, do you wanna S'more?
Smalls: I haven't had anything yet, so how can I have some more of nothing?
Ham Porter: You're killing me Smalls! These are s'more's stuff! *motions to the confectionary surrounding him* Alright, now pay attention. First you take the graham, you stick the chocolate on the graham. Then you roast the 'mallow. When the 'mallows flaming... you stick it on the chocolate. Then cover it with the other end. Then you scarf. Kind of messy, but good!

Well, obviously I had to make s'mores! The best part was that while I was making them, Ruari, Stevenz and I had fun quoting the movie to each other. Actually, the best part was the taste :) I couldn't get hold of  "Graham Crackers" at such short notice so I got some Arnott's wholemeal cookies instead. The "Aussie equivalent" it seems. I wrapped them in foil and popped them in the embers to melt. Amazing.

Yum. This was not the end of my cooking adventures though, oh no! Stay tuned for more!

Let's jump to the morning after the first night. I was so hung over. I suppose part of this recollection is to outline the things that were uncomfortable about my trip. Going to the toilet was probably the worst for me. There wasn't much in the way of shrubs to hide behind so peeing in the daytime was annoying. You had to pick the perfect spot and keep your eye on camp. If anyone made eye contact while i was peeing.. that would have been just creepy. "Yes, I'm urinating. What of it?" The worst thing was that the further back you went, the more of camp you saw and assumed everyone could see you too! The boys just told me to come swimming and pee in the river. I didn't want to admit that it was the best idea I'd heard all day, but eventually I was 'talked into it'. We were all swimming around and they were like "have you peed yet?" every now and then. Mortified. But really, the current was so strong where we were on the first day I just had to make sure there was no-one downstream of me and it wasn't so bad :) But yes, as you can imagine... AGB's are not great in the bright morning light, having to squat with no cover or balance. I didn't make that mistake twice. After the AGB episode I came back to camp to find Jake and Corey making tea and snags for breakfast. Saints. Absolute saints! They kindly gave me some as my Muesli was looking as appealing as kitty litter at that point! After the heary breakfast we did the only rational thing possible: we drove to town and  went op-shopping. Obviously. I bought $11.50 worth of GOLD, but i forgot to take pictures - sorry :)

Back at camp, we decided to go fishing and swimming. Of course, first we needed worms for the rod, so I helped dig for worms, and then in no time it was all three girls elbows deep in mud yelling "I got a BIG ONE!". That's when we noticed this guy and had a bit of a 'girly moment':

After the screaming died down, we realised he was actually a bit cute! He was pretty scared so we put him back and set off to find a good fishing spot :) We found this amazing still lagoon which would later become the scene of yet another list item being SMASHED! If that's not a lure to keep reading, i don't know what is! While Jake fished, and Corey foraged, I rambled on incessantly to Jake - who i had only just met - and got my feet nice and muddy. It felt so good...

Ok, I'm jumping out of chronological order for a second to tell you what we did late that night at this very lagoon..... we went:

Oh yes! That's right! In this spot, we went night-time skinny dipping! Three girls, two boys, no clothes, and so dark that everyone just looked like a pale blur. I have taken the liberty of labelling the diagram for you.

Point A: This log is where we left our clothes (and a house key which is gone forever)
Point B: This is out toward the river's current and where we sat on a log doing tumbles into the water.
Point C: The Jumping Tree. This is where we did bomb dives. And this is also where I scraped my tummy and boobs clambering up into the tree looking like a dead rag doll slumped over it apprently.
Point D: Allllll the way back towards camp is where my friend placed my glasses for safe keepings when i did my bomb dive from the tree.

I asked my friend to hold them but she swam all the way back to shore and proceeded to walk for about 3 minutes fully naked until she found an ambiguous enough place to leave my glasses. Needless to say that we searched for ages afterwards shivering and clutching towels and clothes to ourselves. We actually gave up but on the way back to the camp, she said "Oh, a fence! I hung them on this fence!" and there they were. I still don't know why she swam and walked soooo far, it's pretty funny though.

So with the Skinny Dipping challenge complete, there was yet another item I knew i could complete. Fruit challenge! I bought another new fruit to eat. The final one of five. This time....

Amazing! It wasn't a good idea wearing white shorts while eating them, in fact it was a poor choice wearing them all together. I liked the pomegranate, but I got bored of eating it well before I was satisfied. It was like pulling little teeth out of some bitter white gums, but tasted nothing like teeth. I should know. Eew. Ok, so bringing it back around... before the skinny dipping we made out second dinner. Corey and Jake had some pasta ingredients and I had a few gourmet touches to add as well so we ended up with the most gourmet camp pasta ever!

In that rich looking dish was: Onion, Garlic, chilli, butter, oil, white wine, salt and pepper, basil, salami, some left over blue cheese and brie, and some philly cheese... I think that was it. It was so rich and amazing. After scarfing that I was commissioned to recreate some vegie parcels for those who missed out on the first night....

And then naturally we started playing drinking games, namely Kings. Below is a photo of boxhead/drinkbitch. As if it isn't humiliating enough being the slave who gets everyone's drinks, you have to wear a box on your head and almost trip into the fire while doing so...

That was really fun, especially when one of the rules became that we had to talk in European accents until the next Rule card is drawn. There were some interesting sounding British accents out there, that's for sure. I didn't realise Borat lived in London :) Ok so it was after this game that we were charged up enough to go skinny dipping, then danced and sang until around 3.30am when i fell into blissful sober yet exhausted sleep. I was awoken at about 6am when the others went to bed. Glad it wasn't me ;)

On the sad drive home, I had a peanut butter sandwich made with squashed white bread and spread on with the back of a plastic spoon. It was one of the nicest things ever. It was the last stop on my journey back to childhood.

It was also the last thing i made camping style. I am hereby saying that all the camping food i made counts as 1 dish on my list of 52 dishes. So, Dish 37: Camp food. Wee! JUST after I ate the sandwich, they suggested we stop and get a country bakery pie - one of my other favourite things ever. So naturally, i had a second lunch.....

Then I fell asleep on my pillow and snoozed for an hour or more, and woke up minutes from home. The fun memories and the acheivements unlocked are still fresh on my mind. Even for the first few hours of being home, or at least until my first shower, one little fly kept buzzing around my face. I think I unintentionally brought a little bit of Cobram back with me ;)

Late Night Shopping: Good/Evil? You be the Judge! A Comparative Essay...

Throughout the ages, certain contentious issues have seen neighbours, nations and religious groups divided. Today, we are faced with yet another pressing issue. That of whether or not Late Night Shopping can be considered a 'good thing'. First and foremost, let me just draw your attention to the title of this essay. It should be noted that you are supposed to pronounce the punctuation marks. Therefore, you should say: Late Night Shopping colon Good slash Evil question mark You be the Judge exclamation mark A Comparative Essay dot dot dot. I inadvertently took inspiration from 30 Rock Episode 2.07 when Tracy Jordan talks about the name of his book... "Betrayal. Semi-colon. What Really Happened With My Baseball Team. Comma. Disaster at Knuckle Beach. Question mark." Quite unlike the essay topic, the fact that this line is extremely humorous script writing cannot be disputed. So let's begin with an explanation of my involvement in the issue in question.

The other night, after a hearty dinner, my housemate Maki asked if I wanted to go with him and his girlfriend Mel to the 24 hour K-mart later to buy a printer. I was feeling full of verge and vigour, and knew there was nothing I actually needed to buy so I agreed. First we watched a movie, inconsequentially it was named "Easy A", and it was then that we set off on our late night adventure. Instead of showering I was comparing prices of shower gel. Instead of getting into my pyjamas I was to be browsing the sizes and styles in the sleepwear section. Instead of tripping over my shoes on my way to bed and once again not putting them away, i was setting out to buy even MORE shoes. You get the picture I'm sure. It wasn't until I saw a car outside K-Mart sporting a boot on the tyre that I realised just what this late night shopping was all about. Of course I made an obligatory wise crack about how the lady who owned the car was probably still wandering around the aisles of K-mart lost, dazed, emaciated and survivng only on stolen candy. We all had a good laugh about it, but behind my chuffed smirk was the faintest whiff of realisation that I could possibly be right - we could bump into a shop-aholic who had fallen off the grid entirely. The thought scared me a little. If it were some crazy M. Night Shyamalan script I was playing part in, I worried that perhaps I was in fact somehow the shop-aholic trapped inside and the car was MINE *dun dun dunnnn* But then I remembered that M Night Shyamalan hasn't had a loophole-free script in a while so I breathed a sigh of relief and kept walking.

Approaching the well-lit entrance I thought "I don't need anything really...just going for a look..." but part of me knew I would walk out with something. It was as though there were a greater power at play. The ghosts of all who have perished in a shopping frenzy at 4am were beckoning me forth. Once inside, I suppose the first thing I thought was "How Convenient that Mel can buy her printer after 10pm!". Indeed, it is very convenient. Sure you can jump online and order a printer at any time of the day or night too, but you'll be sitting there twiddling your thumbs for a few weeks until you actually get it. So for shift workers, insomniacs, part-timers, junkies, road-trippers, forgetful people... or even bored people, it is very convenient to be open so late. Perhaps it is not so good for shop-aholics though. It can lead to some unwise considerations.... 

Impulse buying at its scariest. While it can be said that these things are indeed a little bit wrong, it's not to say that they aren't hilarious! We laughed and laughed, oh how we laughed! The entertainment factor is alive and well in 24 hour K-mart. I think the entertainment level is contingent to the number of people you are with. If you are with a group of laughing wise guys then I think you can expect a good thorough browse and chuckle. If you are on your own, you may feel the eyes of every lost soul in the store on your basket wondering what you are buying late at night. They will do this regardless, but it's easier to handle when you've got a posse behind you, so you can be all "Whatchu lookin' at esse? huh? huh? Choo wanna start somethin? Didn't think so... yeah you BETTER run...". But yes on your own, late night shopping would be a bit more depressing. Maybe you aren't depressed yourself, but seeing the other people wandering around aimlessly might be a bit confronting. I haven't attempted a solo mission yet, but I know that I had so much fun in a group and would recommend it to anyone - it definately kills boredom!

One thing is for sure, without the distraction of people and noise, you really come to realise some of your slightly under the surface fetishes. There was no reason for me to be there but I still managed to buy all of this:

Well OK, some of this looks useful and neccessary right? This wasn't even half of it. I also got 6 couch cushions which maki was carrying haha! Goodbye 70's cartoon pillows. So yes, unrealised fetishes.

Fetish number 1: cheap flats
I bought 2 pairs @ $5 each. Pink... and silver. Silver. SILVER! I can't imagine when I am going to wear silver shoes... but at least now they are in the pile of cheap cool shoes I have picked up along the way and may wear one day. I do this A LOT. People ask "Oh cool, new shoes?" and I go "err.... sort of. I bought them a year ago and haven't worn them yet...." This also applies to jackets and clothes. It always seems like a good idea at the time.

Fetish number 2: Wrapping Paper
At $2 per roll, how could I say no? Exactly, I couldn't! So I bought some. I have to make sure I have a wrapping paper for every occasion, for both males and females, and it has to look cool. I always picture what it will look like with a ribbon around it, and if it passes the ribbon test I buy it. I have a large bag of wrapping accessories in my garage, and it is growing larger with every late night shopping spree.

Fetish Number 3: Bras
I always buy pretty bras and now have like 10 or so, but I always seem to wear the same 2 or 3. They are: my favourite (black/grey leopard print with hot pink interior), Josh's favourite (red push-up with white polka dots), and of course the boring T-shirt bra (does not even deserve an explanation). The others get a tad neglected but it's always a treat when I wear them and then Josh does the whole "Oooh, new bra?" thing where I guiltily look down at my 'new shoes' and go "er....yeah....whatever just rip it off!"

Fetish Number 4: Umbrellas
This is the scoop guys, this fetish is just blossoming. For the last... 6 months.... I have been fantasising about developing my umbrella collection. I had a rainbow one for, like, I dunno... close to 10 years; but it was tragically stolen from, or should I say WITH, my car. Perhaps I am trying to fill the void by slutting around with other umbrellas? Who knows. I bought a clear one in winter which broke after 1 use. Now I have this new frilly pink one I picked up in my late night k-mart frenzy. She is pretty good. Stay tuned for more news on my developing collection. I have my eye on about 4 more and am yet to buy :)

Ok, that's enough about fetishes.. let's talk about the difference in VIBE at late night shopping. It is different. Maybe it's got something to do with this guy....

Everyone is suspicious of one another, and as mentioned earlier they all stare at what you have bought. I swear I saw one staff member waiting for me to walk past so he could open a packet of lollies. He was stacking the shelves and was taking a while to hold one packet with both hands near the opening, fingers pinched on either side. I was walking toward him to get a basket for my growing collection of stuff and he eye-balled me the whole way until I turned around and I swear I heard him tear open the packet! So if the staff feel comfortable shoplifting, imagine the message that passes onto the customers: us. See Mel's basket of stuff?

....All stolen. Nah just kidding. But look at the lack of people and lack of staff involvement. If you wanted to shoplift, now would be the time. But seriously, here is us leaving with all our stuff....

I spent about $115 in this one trip. I got: 2 pairs of shoes, 1 work top, 1 umbrella, 1 bra, 1 bustier, 1 pair of nderwear, 1 roll of wrapping paper, 1 can deoderant, 1 shampoo, 3 lollipops, 3 skirt coat-hangers, and 6 couch cushions. I am pretty sure that's it. I did well, i think.

So, to conclude... I think shopping at this time of night is better as I dislike bogan crowds and noise and waiting in line for change rooms or registers. I also enjoy people watching, and it is funny at this hour of night. My relaxed attitude meant that I could have a better look around at everything, which ultimately meant I made more purchases, but if I keep this behaviour occasional I'll be fine :)

Side note: I also made this new dish! It's an adapted version of Jamie Oliver's 30 minute feasts. It is Piri Piri Chicken!! I thought it was great! I added sweet potato and potato to it to make it more stew-like...

Loved it! Well, I must be off! Maybe I will remember the recipe one day and update this post :)