Show Me What’s Packin’…If You Know What I Mean

Guest post by Fadzrul Jamaluddin

Do you like travelling but always dread having to figure out what to bring along with you on your travels? Well, I do!

Growing up my mom never bothered to tell me what to put in my bags whenever I pack to either travel or go back to boarding school. She felt like I wouldn’t have listened to her anyway and we’d end up arguing over something as silly as packing a luggage. So, I had to learn on my own on how to pack a luggage…and I suck at it.

I always had something I’d forget to bring along with me, which resulted in my parents having to drop by the boarding school on a weekend to ‘deliver’ me those things. I became spoiled. I packed haphazardly thinking “ah well… there’s always the weekend if I ever forget anything”. 

Such bad habit continued on. When I was packing to go to Seattle for the first time I thought, “Well, I have shit-tons of scholarship money. I‘ll just buy in Seattle the things I need that I forget to bring along with me from Malaysia”. This habit is still here.

For our vacation to Cabo last year, I packed some toiletries and some beachwear. This girl can’t go anywhere sunny without a full supply of toner and moisturizer and a nice pair of cargo shorts. The rest of the luggage was pretty much packed by a magical elf – my fiancé. It’s so wrong, I know. But really, I hate packing. I will tell Josh “don’t fold, roll the shirts to avoid creases”, “make sure we have enough underwear” and “bring dress shoes in case we decide to go somewhere fancy” but somehow I won’t just do them myself. Lazy? Maybe. 

When travelling abroad, the most important things to have with you are:-

Medium of payment i.e. cash, credit cards, traveller’s checks.

Travelling documents

Smartphone

Mini travel kit that includes a Band-aid, a Swiss knife, lip balm, lotion, a pack of Kleenex and a pen. (Believe me on this)

Women usually stuff all of these in their handbags. Well what if you’re not a woman or not travelling with one? Well, seriously…get a man bag. It’ll save your life. Not kidding. Too insecure with your image and sexuality? Get a manly looking man-bag or if you eat tempeh-burger and shop at the local co-op, you can use your biodegradable-made-from-used-tampons-oh-save-the-poor-earth reusable shopping bag.

No matter where you travel as long as that plane is landing in an airport and not on some open unattended land I strongly suggest for you to wear shorts or sweatpants. It never really gets THAT cold in the plane. A flight from Kuala Lumpur to Seattle usually has about 18 hours of flying time. That means 18 hours in one seat where if you were lucky you’d have serenity instead of rude inconsiderate passengers around you. You really should be comfy no matter how short the flight is, so wear something comfy which I guess for me is a pair of shorts, a V-neck and my super comfy ergonomically designed sandals. This also helps you go through security faster. No belt, no socks, no jacket, all your gadgets and important stuff should be in your magic bag – super quick security check. 

Once you land, you can always change into more appropriate clothes at the airport. If it’s a long layover and you don’t have access to your clothes then you’re dumb, because you really should have put some clothes in your carry-on instead of putting them all in the check-in luggage. I personally would rather not lug around a carry-on around airports. So I would just buy new clothes if lets say I have a 24-hour layover in Seoul when it’s snowing outside. 

Ultimately, it’s not 1935. If you need something and you don’t have it with you, go buy it. Don’t fuss too much when packing for travelling, especially over small stuff like peanuts and condoms. Happy travelling!

[Photo courtesy of Shoot First, Eat Later]

Status Update – 9.15.13

With summer coming to a close I thought it would be a good opportunity to use this entry to reflect on the past few months. A mixture of sunshine, personal events, and professional developments helped make this summer one of the best. Below is a list highlighting some of this summer’s big moments.

Back to the regular scheduled programing next week. Thanks for reading!

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Professional

• Secured three new clients –  Marx Foods, Tripcierge, and Seattle Goodwill
• Reconnected with my two mentors – Anne Tillery and J Paul Blake
• Ran “Let It Go” – a social media campaign for Seattle Goodwill
• Helped launch Tripcierge’s new travel app

Personal

• Little sister got married
• My fiancé came to visit
• Rediscovered my will power to go to the gym
• Said Goodbye to one of my good friends (he moved to Portland with his girlfriend)
• Watched a rendition of Hairspray
• Participated in my first Startup Weekend
• Discovered the joys of Colman Pool at Lincoln Park
• Alki beach party 

Boudin Blanc History and Recipe

As a Northwestern with roots extending to the American South and Midwest, I've come to understand my family better through food. Last weekend I tackled making one of the Holland/Guillory Families’ more complex dishes, Boudin – a rice-pork sausage. The dish comes in a few varieties. The two most well-known are Boudin Noir (includes pig blood) and Boudin Blanc – the version popular with my family.

Boudin gained popularity in rural Louisiana as a method to preserve meat products. Traditionally the dish was made at a celebration called “Quedema –“a creole word roughly translating to fall harvest celebration. At the event 2 – 7 families would gather from around the area to help with the meat preservation. Starting as early as 4 AM, families would begin the process of butchering, cleaning, and cooking the livestock. Prior to the invention of refrigeration techniques all meat had to be salted following the butchering process to ensure it didn’t spoil.

After sitting down with my Granny to make the dish, I quickly learned how much labor Boudin requires. Minus the actual butchering of the animals and creating the base for the dish, it took my friend and me 3.5 hours to produce a handful of links. During the creation of the dish I was particularly astonished by the fact my Granny hadn't made Boudin her entire life. She only actively started making the dish when she migrated to Seattle in the 80s, encouraging words for amateur Boudin makers like myself.

If you’re interested in trying to make Boudin Blanc, I've provided a recipe below with instructions. Good luck; let me know how it turns out! 

[Recipe, backstory, and lessons provided courtesy of Mary Guillory, aka Granny – Matriarch of the Holland Family, Seattle Branch]

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Boudin Blanc Recipe

Ingredients
Pork roast (7 lbs)
Pork fat (4 lbs)
1 red bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
2 cloves of garlic
1 onion
Rice (1 - 2 pots)
Cayenne pepper (add according taste)
Salt (add according taste)
Pepper (add according taste)
Sausage casings
Thread
***Optional***
Pork liver
Additional ingredients can be added to the mixture to enhance flavor (add according to taste)

Cooking Instructions
Approximate Time Required: Six Hours; preparation recommended in phases
1. Boil roast and fat until cooked (add liver if applicable)
2. Grind together

Roast
Pork fat
Bell peppers
Garlic
Onion
(Add additional ingredients if applicable)

3. Cook rice
4. If frozen, defrost sausage casings
5. Put all ingredients - expect rice, into one pot
6. Add enough water into the pot to cook
7. Simmer on stove for 2 ½ hours
8. Add salt and cayenne pepper to pot (add according taste)
9. Combine rice with grinded ingredients in one bowl. Mix until blended
10. Add mixture to the sausage stuffer machine (electric option optimal)
11. Attach casing to the spout of the machine
12. Fill sausage casing until full
13. Tie both ends of the sausage with thread and set aside on separate plate
14. Repeat steps 10 – 13 until you exhaust available ingredients
15. Boil a full pot of water
16. Submerse sausages into water for approximately 2 minutes
17. Serve sausages

Storage Notes
Eat within a week of making
Store in fridge
Freeze leftovers