Fish Kitchen Nightmares

After all this talk of swimming with fish, it was only a matter of time before I had to cook one. And boy, did I ever get up close and personal.

Monday night, a friend called and asked me if I wanted a couple of fish that his friend had caught. Not being one to turn down free food, and always up for a cooking challenge, I accepted. Now there were two large fish staring at me when I opened the fridge. I couldn't tell you what they were. My friend said they were "Hein". But with his thick Bermudian accent, I'm still not sure if I have that right. I did a google search with all possible spellings, and nothing came up. But he said that they were his favourite, so I figured they must be good.

My instructions were to marinate the fish when I got up the next morning, and then just stick it in the oven in the evening. I was still quite unclear exactly what to do. Luckily, they'd been gutted and cleaned, so the dirty work had been taken care of. However, when I came to marinate my chosen fish, I ran into a little difficulty. We didn't have a pan big enough to hold the whole fish. I thought that if I removed the head and tail, it would fit. Cutting off the tail wasn't a problem. Cutting off the head was.

We have 2 big, sharp knives (or so I thought). Strategically holding the body, I began with one of these knives. What I didn't think of was the thick spine attaching the body to the head. It felt a little too macabre for my liking. I figured that I wouldn't end up being successful, so "cut" my losses (no pun intended), threw the butchered fish into a plastic bag with the marinade and left it in the fridge for the afternoon. For the rest of the day I tried to invite friends to come and help me eat this mammoth sea creature – OK, I exaggerate a little.

(In mid-sentence of typing this, there was a knock on our front door. I was handed... you guessed it... another fish from another friend. Our freezer over-floweth with fish. haha)

Anyways, back to yesterday's story.

I tried to research how best to cook this thing. From what I could tell, my best bet was to wrap the fish in tin foil and bake it. I guessed approximately at how long etc. One friend did come over, thank goodness. Although I had to put it back in the oven a few times, when it was finally done, it was quite tasty.

Shopping Observations

Tonight my roommate and another guy have organized a party at a restaurant in Flats village. I thought perhaps a new outfit was in order, so to Reid Street in Hamilton was where I headed.

Actually, first stop was a warehouse sale across from work where everything is $5 or $10. It was my second visit, but I thought I might see another gem now that the first picking-over has happened. I was correct!

Next stop was the main shopping strip. What I noticed was all the fall clothes in the stores. Yes, it is now October, but it is still 29 degrees here. I guess a tiny spec on the map like Bermuda is not going to effect what a clothing company sends out. So we'll have to overlook the fur lined boots and heavy sweaters until we can actually wear them.

By the way, I did find something to wear tonight.

Extracurricular Activities

Although there are lots of opportunities for a good party here in Bermuda, I've tried to get involved with activities that don't require the drinking of "beverages".

Last April I signed up for intermediate tennis lessons with the continuing education program. It was excellent value for 8 weeks, and I got to meet quite a few people. Once that ended, beach volleyball started right up. Spending an evening with friends on a beach while getting some exercise was a pretty fun. It was a league night where they set up nets all along Horseshoe Bay and you moved up or down nets depending on your results from the previous week. Above is a panorama of all the nets.

However, my extra-curricular activities have involved some culture too. I joined the BMDS (the Bermuda Musical and Dramatic Society) a few months ago. It was mostly for the social aspect, as they have a bar that feels like a club-house — in that it's very relaxed, and you don't feel you have to go with anyone. In August, I decided that it was time to get involved with one of the plays, and so showed up to a production meeting. I was appointed as Assistant Stage Manager, or "ASM" (I didn't know what that was either), and was later told that I'd also be head of props. Suddenly I realized that I had my work cut out for me.

The play itself was called "Present Laughter" by Noel Coward, and we had a professional director over from England called Jane McCulloch. For a synopsis, check out the link, but to describe it in a nutshell, it's a comedy about a stage actor in the 1930's. My description doesn't really do it justice.

I attended all the rehearsals for a couple of weeks leading up to the opening. This included every day as well as weekends. I had a lot of work to do getting my head around every prop coming on and off stage, and where they needed to be. Also, I had to understand what I'd need to keep in supply (they went through a lot of whiskey – or apple juice – and cigarettes), and I made lots of lists of things to do each night so that others could follow.

Once the dress rehearsals started, I was to sit backstage and also take on the ASM role with a headset on. There was a new list of things that I needed to learn for this. However, once things got going, most of the work was over, and we settled into a routine. Setting up the props, getting all the actors to take their places, following the script, helping out where needed, and then finally cleaning up and resetting all the props for the next show.

The play went for 2 weeks and we were all there for every night (except I had 3 nights off while my guest was here). I learned so much and got to learn from some great people. However, I think my next role will be something a little lighter on the work load. After all, I've got to save some time for the beach.