Mo'orea Mo Mula

Should I buy this bungalow In Mo'orea ( French Polynesia )?

Où puis-je trouvé de l'argent? Il se coute $351,000 €. Where would I find the money? Let me ask Motley Fool. Ok I know that is idiotic to listen to a fool. However If someone says they are an expert then that must be true. 

Fool said nothing about NVDA gaining 150% this year. How can any Fool follower sell something they dont have? These guys are jack asses.

Only AFTER AMD has recovered from its bottom they are hyping it up... But that is just to get you to click. As always there is a section at the bottom of every article hyping some penny stock. I would laugh but small retail investors get burned by these scheisters.

How are you funding your dream home? Leave a comment at the bottom.

2022 - Food trucks and Yachts in Paapete

This is the north view of my apartment in Tahiti's capital city Pa'apete.

Its above the Bora Bora bar on the 3rd floor. It faces the marina where poor billionaires dock their yachts.

Last year I saw Mark Zuckerberg's mega yacht which can eat these 50 meter models for breakfast. 

The apartment interior is surprisingly modern.

 Its tiny and the furnishings are new.  Yesterday there was rain. But a few  food trucks were opened next to Sam Bankman Fried's yacht. I had riz cantonais avec crevettes oeufs. Shrimp and egg fried rice for $12 USD.

This year the exchange rate between USD and XPF is awesome. The French say CPF and it is based on the Euro since the formation of the EU.

Its beauty is only surpassed by the currency of the Common Wealth of Roratonga. The exchange rate is awesome. I use my Fidelity ATM card at the French Banks ( Socredo and BNP ). There are no fees. In 2021,  100 cpf cost $95 USD. In November 2022 the cost dropped to $87 USD.

In the past I used BofA at the American airports which cost me $115 USD.  What a rip off. Even in Papeete the French businesses exchange with parity. That is an easy way to  make 15%.

How do you exhange currency for your trips? Do you prefer eating as locals or in more posh restos? Comment below.

Disclosure: I am not employed by or represent Fidelity.

 

Paradajková polievka

Today's home meal is tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwich. I grew up in Czechoslovakia and then later Slovakia. After the fall of the Soviet Union home life did not change too much. The green house always had yummy tomatoes later in the spring.

SOUP

Always start with ripe tomatoes to get full flavor. Choose heirloom or similar variety. These awesome tomatoes are from Smith Family Farm in Brentwood, California, USA.

Cut each tomato into 8 wedges. Bake in oven for 60 minutes with olive oil. Back then we did not have EVOO from the west. Well geographically Italy is south of Slovakia. Table salt contains iodine and tastes like medicine. Kosher salt has no iodine, Pink Himalayan and sea salt only have trace amounts. Soup stock already has sodium so don't add too much during cooking. 

Sautée onion, garlic, carrot, celery, butter in a big pot. Add stock and tomatoes let simmer. Use a hand immersion mixer to thoroughly blend all the ingredients. Let pot reduce. Serve with cream and basil.

Ingredients serve 6.

8 pounds of tomatoes

1 onion

1 bunch of chopped celery

10 cloves of garlic

1 sliced carrot

48 oz of chicken stock

1/8 stick of butter (optional)

basil

sea salt

creme

SANDWICH

Did you know most grilled cheese sandwiches are fried not grilled?  Melt butter and sourdough bread. Add sliced cheddar and second bread slice. I prefer a cheese that melts easily but does not become too oily. Turn over. If you like to to dip bread in your soup then grill your sandwhiches crispyer.

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Leave a comment below for more information about Smith Family Farm or anything from this blog. 

Wait a cherry pickin' minute

I met Mr Peter Wolfe on my Sunday ride. His ranch is on the west end of Concord Ave in Btentwood, CA USA. Its a smaller ranch devoid of the huge out of towner crowds I sampled a few with my bike in hand. I drove back with a bucket. The trees are short and a small step stool works well to reach the taller branches.

These are Corals which ripen in early May. Other varieties in Brentwood are Reinier, Brooks, and Bing.

U Pick cherries costs $4/lb.

About a kilometer away I found this street: Yes the owner of the house is a vet who was a tank destroyer in the Gulf War.

Bing (get it?) a cherry destroyer myself even on a Reinier day. I can pick more than 10 pound per hour. trick is to jump and not climb the ladder often. May rains did not affect the yummy flavor.

Pre-pick cherries are $5/lb so I have found a new summer jo I am saving up a Tahitian bungalow.

Ovocná Bublanina - Mind blown: Coffee Cake has no coffee!

Mix 3 eggs + 1 cup of sugar + 1 Tbsp of vanilla extract, then add 1 cup of buttermilk (you can also substitute with 1 cup of milk + 1 Tbsp of white vinegar) + 1/4 cup of melted butter + 1/4 cup of vegetable oil 

In a separate bowl mix 2 cups of flour + 2 teaspoons of baking powder + 1 teaspoon of salt. 

Incorporate dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. The batter will look like a pancake batter. Pour it over parchment paper lined 9x13 inches baking pan. 

Set your oven to 400 Fahrenheit.

Evenly distribute any seasonal fruit on top of the batter and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Put in the oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes (until slightly golden and tooth pick inserted in the middle comes out clean). When cooled, dust with powder sugar to your liking.

Kokosové Rezy - Slovak Coconut Coffee Chocolate Bars

This pastry is made famous by the Pampered Panda  and Mocha Gorilla. The coconut reminds us of Tahiti and the coffee hints of the bars in Florence Italy.  In Italian bar means coffee shop not an alcoholic joint in English. Kokosové rezy has 3 layers of yummy for the tummy. Oddly enough I could not find coconut flakes in Tahiti. I guess if I was baking there then I would freshly grate the coco.

Gather these ingredients so they warm to room temperature.  

3 sticks of unsalted butter

9 large eggs

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 16x21x1 baking sheet with parchment paper.

[Layer 1 - Coconut Bottom]

9 egg whites

300g sugar

200g unsweetened finely grated coconut

6 Tbsp Flour

Seperate 9 eggs. Put egg whites into the bowl of a stand mixer. Put the egg yolks in a sauce pan. Set the yolks aside. 

Whip the egg whites with the whisk attachment for about a minute until slightly frothy. Then add sugar. Whip on high for at least 5 more minutes. 

Turn off the mixer. Add coconut and flour slowly. Mix at lowest speed for 30 seconds to a minute. Pour dough into sheet. Spread evenly.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until light gold color. Take out of oven and cool.

[Layer 2 - Coffee Cream]

9 yolks

130g sugar

 2 tbsp cocoa powder

 1 tbsp fresh finely ground coffee beans

100ml strong brewed coffee 

 

Mix all into the egg yolk sauce pan. Cook on low heat slowly for 15 minutes until thicken. Drawing a spoon across the bottom of the pan to check thickness.

Let cool for an hour. Whip 2 sticks of butter in a new bowl with hand mixer.  Pour the coffee cream mix into the whipped butter. Mix thoroughly. Then spread on top of the bottom layer. 

[Very top chocolate layer]

113g Chocolate (dark or milk)

1 stick of butter (113g)

In a microwave safe bowl add the butter and chocolate.  I prefer 70% dark chocolate to reduce sweetness. Melt in microwave for about a minute. Mix and spread on the very top of the sheet.

Kaveu - Loco Coconut cray cray

Im not sure if this snail is marine or terrestial. His name is Frederique.

A hermit crab lives inside this shell.  

Their appendages evolved to form a flat surface over the shelll opening. Maybe its to preserve water.

This little feller came out of his shell to say hi.

These guys will grow big enough to climb and eat coconuts if left undisturbed. On the smaller less inhabited  atolls they grow to a few kilograms. After a few years they became my lunch. At Chef Irène this 690 gram guy costs $65 USD. The meat tastes just like crab flavored coconut. I put the rice in the tail to soak in the innards which tastes a bit like uni and coco butter.

Leave any questions about coconutiers below. (pronounced Koko Nut tee aye in French)

Update: A day later his bigger cousin Rudy visits. I left a coconut out and he crawled in.

Update: In the PM even bigger cousin Rougeina came out of the ocean and on to the deck. The shelll now weighs 1/4 pound. This could be the last shell. She could be big enough to go shelless and start climbing trees for food.

Zuchini Toastie

We start with just 3 simple ingredients. Fry zuchini in olive oil. Lightly toast the thin baguette slices. Rub garlic on them.  Smear some cream cheese and add some black pepper. Yummy for the Pampered Panda's belly.

Leonardo

Leonardo was adopted from the Walnut ARF. He <3 his car rides. Being his chauffeur is the best job ever.

We found some riped blackberries at the marina.

All the riped figs got plucked by my felllow suburban foragers.

2019 Papeete

My blog on the famous Papeete market and the sushi joint will be up in a different blog. Here's the map of the 3 areas.

We walked towards the ocean to catch the sunset.

The main waterfront road is Boulevard de la Reine Pōmare IV. It's named after the queen.

November 29th 2019. Tonight is 1 week into the summer down in the southern hemisphere. But the French are Catholic and celebrate with some Christmas decorations just like the USA.

The French Navy is here.

At 6:30PM the waterfront area is full of families enjoying the food truck festival.

2019 Tahiti Wakame Sushi Restaurant

Great local joint

My wife and I were hungry and the resto was walking distance from our hotel. The surrounding area isnt that nice but we came here for sushi not tourist suouvenir shops. I spoke in French that we would like to pay by credit. Apparently the staff immediately knew I was American and referred me to Dominique the owner who lived near San Francisco for 6 months. He speaks excellent English. The plates on the conveyor belt have covers to keep away insects. We came in at 5:30PM. Around 30 minutes later it was almost filled with locals. That's my standard of a resto when locals frequent a place rather than one time tourists. We had 12 items from the conveyer belt. Salmon, tuna, and local fish nigiri and sashimi, and rolls. We did not order the specialty rolls which ranged $14-$20USD. We had 12 plates x 650xpf was the cost or $75 usd. The crew gave us a larger specialty and two spicy tuna hand rolls gratis (no charge). The crew made french fries for the families with kids. The sushi was good and we plan eat here again on our next trip.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g294352-d13570482-r730013858-Wakame_Sushi_Bar_Grill-Papeete_Tahiti_Society_Islands.html#

2019 PPT to SFO Returning Home

The journey was long. We left the hotel at 5AM and go to PPT in 10 minutes with almost no car traffic. The lines to check in was so looooooong. I was selected to have my backpack searched and my bWdody swabbed for explosive chemical traces. Well that was slightly unconfortable. 

There are so many beautiful islands under us. Some are for sale! I think I can squat on one of these for my retirement. This picture is the wing of our A350. These beauties are made from carbon fiber and the trailing edges resemble sanurai swords.

We "decollage" take off around 8AM after a 40 minute delay due to stringent security screenings. No doubt caused by the terrorist attack in London.

We "aterrer" landed in SFO at 6PM

I dont have a picture of the monitor showing the external camera during touchdown. But the wind from the ocean was so strong that the plane was not parallel with the runway. The nose was noticeably pointed towards the wind. The pilot skills and plane design were incredible.

Suburban Foraging - 20191021

Leo is training me for the Tour de Tahiti. He is conditioning me for the rigors of the south Pacific. We often drive to the park or a near by area for a new adventure. Dog is my co-pilot, yin to my yang, Maverick to my Goose, and calm to my storm.

We often find many plants and some edible. Today we find olives by Mom's gym.

We pickle the olives in salt and vinegar. Should be ready in a couple of months. I think we can package the brine and sell to wealthy cyclists as a cure for cramps.