...catch the Taiwanese movie, Monga (艋舺)?

Monga is a historical district in Taiwan, which is known as Wanhua district today. Wanhua district is Taipei city's oldest district - it houses the Longshan temple, Taipei's oldest temple; the Huaxi Street tourist night market; and it also used to be Taipei's former "red light district". There were also gangs galore, with each of them taking their own "corners".

Monga, the movie, was set in 1980s Monga. At first, I thought it was a Taiwanese version of the old Young and Dangerous (古惑仔) series. I must confess I only watched a couple of the 古惑仔 movies, so my interpretation might be wrong, but I thought Monga was rather different.

The movie starts with a new kid (Wenzi) who has just transferred to a school in the district. He is always alone, has no friends, and is often bullied. However, he catches the eye of the most powerful gangster in school and soon becomes the fifth member of this gang.

The five boys soon become sworn brothers, get into fights with rival gangs, attend boot camp to be trained in all kinds of weapons (but no guns please, cos that's for weaklings, according to their lao da), start getting involved in the disputes of the older generation and fights over the turf in Monga, and eventually go into a downward spiral of betrayal. All in the name of BROTHERHOOD.

Sounds very run-of-the-mill stuff? But I thought the movie was very well shot and as it explored why each of the boys joined the gang, you could kinda identify with the characters and see why they eventually took the path they did. It doesn't glamourise the triad life, as HK triad movies tend to do so.

There was a fighting scene that the director wanted to shoot in one take and required hundreds of extras. His "friends" from the gangs sent down busloads of real gangsters (700 of them!!!) to help him film this scene at no cost. Apparently, after he shouted "cut", these people from rival gangs were still fighting and the director and the actors had to step in to break up the fights!

The fact that the movie was based on the director's own experiences when he was younger shone through as you watched the movie. Because you could feel that whatever you were watching was not staged, and that things really happened that way. I liked this authenticity about the movie. I think about 50% of the dialogue was in Hokkien as well - so you need to know your Hokkien. Reading the subtitles just doesn't cut it!

... still think of Bangkok as the Land of Smiles

The recent Red Shirts situation and a series of other personal events have kept me from posting for a while. Since then, I have made an amazing trip to India (which I will post about as soon as I tidy up my archive of photos) and have been forced to move out of my apartment in Bangkok (as it is right in the middle of the conflict zone) .

It seems like I cannot let a day pass without numerous bbm and messages from my very worried dad. Or warm messages from friends who care. It is easy to watch CNN and have only images of violence and the clashes in Bangkok. But amidst all that chaos and heartache, there is a glimmer of hope and beauty in the Land of Smiles.

These photos were taken one recent weekend when I went to a nearby village at the fringe of Bangkok. It was a lovely Saturday and this is a makeshift school where these children were still playing and learning, despite the red shirts and soldiers just several kilometres from the village.

... celebrate Earth Day with a green purchase?

Today is (or rather, yesterday was, by the time I finish this post=P) the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, a day to celebrate and increase the awareness of the Earth's environment. The years I spent in the Bay Area has made me environmentally aware-- I bring my own reusable bags when I go grocery shopping; eat local and/or organic where possible; use biodegradable cleaning products; walk or take public transport; recycle etc. However, I didn't feel like I should be doing something special for the environment on Earth Day in particular since environmentalism has become somewhat of a way of life to me. But while I did not partake in any Earth Day specific events, I observed it in my own little way-- with a green purchase!

Just over a year ago, I started taking an interest in environmentally friendly/responsible fashion-- Matt & Nat's pleather bags made of recycled plastic bottles; Edun's organic line of clothing that seeks to build Africa into an area of viable fashion production; Stewart + Brown's silk and hemp clothing line, Envirosax's foldable and reusable grocery bags etc. These were my list of go-to green brands. Today, I discovered another-- Doucette Duvall, a Manhattan-based clothing line that uses repurposed fabrics in a creative and elegant manner and ships in recycled boxes only (more online merchants should seriously consider this). In every collection, one will find their signature "Little Green Dress", a reminder of their commitment to the environment. I absolutely adore one-shouldered dresses (and probably have way too many of them!), so how can I resist this lovely forest green dress know as The Little Green Dress?

think of decorating with vintage?

As some of you (yes you - out there!!) might have already known Dr O and myselves have finally committed to one property after 24 months of mindless weekends of home-viewing.

It initially starts off with much excitement - a little like the initial stages of the courtship but after 20+ months there lies much anger, cynicism and missed opportunities we were almost resigned to not ever finding anything.

No. 31 came as much of an afterthought. It was between an afternoon tea at the Wolseleys that I viewed the property much at the persuasion of the estate agent (who's now becoming a little bit of a nightmare. But hey! He hasn't met me yet! Until now....lol). It turned out to be a charm. More of disbelief that Mrs D could live with 3 young children (under the ages of 7), be a homemaker and keep the house in suchan immaculate condition after staying there for 7 years!!! How did she do it? It was more an aspirational moment as that's something I could most NOT definitely do.

After a second viewing 2 days later and 1 day before we were off to Japan we made the offer and it got accepted the morning we flew off for our holiday.

Much twists and turns later (lots of drama, scheming etc.), we've taken that one big leap and now solicitors are involved. The people at No. 31 have decided they will rent rather than buy (as this is their 4th failed attempt!) and we will hopefully move in end July.

I must say, house-buying is worse than getting married. It seems like there is so much more financial commitment at stake! lol....along with tears and trepidation and nightmares that come along with it. It is possibly also worse than giving birth. (though I have had no first hand experience, I've heard many accounts and some don't seem too bad at all)

Now comes thee better part of house-buying - home decorating.

Luckily for me, some of my quirky tastes have been (so far!) acceptable to Dr O and he actually quite likes some of the things I have picked out: notably a Chesterfield-type sofa, 50s vintage wallpaper, and mid-century Danish dining chairs.

As the former items will take much more measuring and did not provided instant gratification, my focus of much of last week was on mid-century Danish dining chairs.

The vintage Danish dining chair has always been my dream dining chairs. The slimline design, slightly curved back yet all made in solid teak wood along with the darkened patina that only comes with age appeals very much to me. The fact that it's also highly environmentally friendly to recycle, reuse something (rather than buy something out of a flatpack) and the fact that it's lasted 50+ years and still looks this good and feels so solid says much about its construction and durability.

I'm pairing my dining chairs with an Oval white acrylic table and the worries of a clash or a miss-match were completely unfounded. The oval table for all it's simplicity takes on any chair with a gust! - like nothing is too difficult to conquer and overcome.

The chairs meanwhile are, ... how shall I say, so so beautiful. I wake up every morning and after making my morning cuppa, sit into it and admire it's slimline design and solid construction.

These chairs that I have sourced from a dealer in Kent are not of any famous mid-century designer collectables (hence minus the expensive price tag) but are everyday items in Denmark in the 50s. They have been sympathetically reupholstered in a mid-weave herringbone that has tiny specks of orange yarn amongst the brown-beige fabric. Here's some pictures of this new darling of the house:

... learn about a new culture?

Beethoven, Wagner, Klinsmann, Bayern Munich, Steffi Graf, BMW, spatzle and bratwurst are just about all the German things I know of. So, when my friend asked me if I was interested in accompanying her to the grand opening of "Essen for the Ruhr: European Capital of Culture 2010", Manfred Vollmer's photo exhibition of the Ruhr metropolis, I immediately agreed. I had always associated the Ruhr Valley with World War II history and know nothing much more than its role in the war. As a result, I was pleansantly surprised to hear that this previously heavily industrialized area has been completely transformed into a center for culture, science and technology.

The Goethe-Institut, where the exhibit will run through May 14, is situated in a residential neighborhood in the Back Bay. The evening began with a series of speeches by representatives of the various co-sponsors of this event, introducing the Ruhr region, as well as networking opportunities for Germans living in the Greater Boston area. Dinner followed. I had currywurst (basically bratwurst with a ketcup + curry sauce) for the first time, together with a German potato salad, a green salad and various breads and cheeses. The currywurst was so good, we had to have seconds!

The photo exhibit itself was quite a bit smaller than I had imagined, with a mere 22 photographs. Nonetheless, there were a few photos that caught my eye, of which my favorite was a photo of a striking orange staircase at the Ruhr Museum, situated at the Zollverein World Heritage site in Essen.

from: http://www.germany.info/

...attend a Mayday (五月天) concert?

Lest you think that pop concerts are a thing of the past or only meant for the younger ones, let me remind you that Mayday released their first album in 1999, and so they are kinda from our generation too. :)



Yesterday, I attended my second Mayday concert in less than a year. I first went for their concert last August. I had heard a lot about their concerts, that the atmosphere was fantastic and that everyone would be standing throughout. The scene where everyone is standing throughout the concert is hardly seen in Chinese concerts, except for the Beyond concert I went for in 1997. So I thought, I had to experience a Mayday concert at least once.

I had a lot of fun at their concert last year, and yes, I stood throughout the concert. They write all their own songs and the atmosphere in the indoor stadium was just fantastic. I think part of it also has to do with their charismatic lead singer, Ah-Xin (there's always a guy involved, isn't it?). But Ah-Xin is not only boyish-cute, he's very talented. He writes almost all the songs in their albums and he's very good with the pen. I thought he wouldn't be able to sing live very well, but he did and he did so for close to 3.5 hours! At the end of their concert last year, I told myself I had to go for every Mayday concert!

Yesterday's concert was an open-air one at National Stadium. It was their first outdoor concert in Singapore, even though they have held many of such outdoor concerts in Taiwan. It was a little humid last night, but the concert was again fantastic! And because it was an outdoor concert, there was even fireworks! Very very pretty fireworks!

They even set up a 3-tonne transformer (Bumblebee) at the venue!

I had heard that the sound system might not be as good at outdoor concerts and you might not be able to hear the singer very well. But last night, Ah-Xin again showed his mettle! haha. If only they did not have any curfew to adhere to (I think the authorities would fine them if they over-stayed), I believe they would have gone on singing way past midnight. There were so many fans still at the stadium even though the lights at the stadium had come on and Ah-Xin had spoken from backstage to ask everyone to go home.

I felt a bit amiss cos they did not sing their hit Hokkien song, Zhiming and Chunjiao - oh well, till the next Mayday concert then! Maybe this time in Taiwan. :)

...try Omakase at Nogawa?

At my friend’s recommendation, I decided to try Omakase at Nogawa. I had a fresh tomato with salt to start off the meal, yes gals, H actually ate a fresh tomato. Although I’ve not exactly fallen in love with raw tomatoes, I did feel that it was refreshing and it whet the palate for more good things to come.

Next up was the sashimi platter, with the tuna belly melting in my mouth, it was over all too soon! If only I had some Ikura in the platter *drool*.

Baby eel in vinegared sauce (above). I slurped the smooth, cool eel down and it set the stage for the rest of the meal!

Kobe beef wrapping deep-fried garlic (I believe) was up next, and finally, something that S could take a bite out of too! ( since S doesn't take raw food!) It was delicious, though a just a little strong on the garlic.

Soup was Milt with Dancing Mushrooms ( I forget which fish the milt came from), the thought was a little disgusting but hey, what’s life without trying out some new stuff. The soup and mushrooms were delightful, but I think milt may be an acquired taste.

Braised seasonal squid in sweet sauce, with its eggs in the squid (above). This was well done, the squid with its eggs had a lovely texture as you chew on it.

For sushi, I had yellowtail, tuna pre-soaked in shoya, seared tuna belly, omelet, octopus and more tuna. The sushi was fresh and I loved the seared tuna belly!

Strawberries for me for dessert!

I do love having a good Japanese dinner because it always leaves me refreshingly ‘lightly’ full, if you get what I mean.

…learn the history of the world in 15 mins each day?

Some time ago, I wrote about my day spent at the Oxford Literary Festival, and the wonderful time I had at the lecture by the British Museum director Neil MacGregor. Since then, work has pushed me to the limit and I have spent every waking minute working in the ‘war-room’ in a business hotel, worrying about work and, generally being quite one-dimensional.

I found myself craving some intellectual stimulus, anything at all to mitigate the all-consuming drudgery. A bright spot came when I found MacGregor’s History of the World in 100 Objects lectures stored in the BBC online archive. First broadcast over January to March, these are bite-sized pieces of anthropology, and political, social and cultural history using select objects as the starting point.

There are fascinating snippets about the role of agriculture and why humans decided to grow crops like cereals which were so difficult to grow, harvest and make palatable.

A description of beautiful woven and embroidered textiles which were to the early Peruvians from Paracas what porcelain was to the Chinese – works of art which acted as symbols of power and status.

A fragment of a relief showing a siege scene from the time the Assyrians were conquering lands from Egypt to Iran.

A description of gold inlaid pottery from the Jomen people evoking the sophistication of the early tribes of Japan.

I could go on and on...

At fifteen minutes per lecture, these suited my all too short attention span. And while I crave curling up with a good book and delving into the details, these lectures and podcasts allow me at the very least, to learn something new while I am busy.

The programme is currently on a hiatus and will resume in May but you can find the previous episodes on the BBC website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld/

... jump out of the pan?

Okay, I was just kidding. This blog has absolutely nothing to do with “jumping out of the pan”, but has everything to do with the restaurant “Out of the Pan”.

One of my more significant encounters with The Crepe was in 2003. LK took me to this place (Imperial, Kensington?) which sold fabulous crepes. I must say, I never knew crepes could taste this good. And friends who have seen photos of me with The Crepe testify that I looked blissful – happy and satisfied!

So, Out of the Pan is really a good substitute whenever I have my crepe cravings, one of which was the Thursday that just passed.

My friend and I ordered some tortilla chips, two crepes (Seafood Juggle and Peking Duck) wrapped in sundried tomato and a Fresh Berry waffle (with chocolate ice-cream) to share. Between two gals, I think that is a lot of food. However, the strange thing was we both did not feel grotesquely full despite eating a lot – which in my opinion, is a key success factor to the food at Out of the Pan. Tasty but light to the stomach.

Out of the Pan is a good place for gatherings of various sizes. The atmosphere is open, vibrant or noisy, depending on how you look at it. The waiters are generally chirpy (more so than what I recall from memory). One of the drawbacks though is that they tuck people into corners which sometimes require 10 seconds of vigorous waving and gesturing before customers can catch the waiters’ attention. That said, it’s hard to be frustrated when the waiters are so apologetic when they realised what they have done.

At the end of our meal, we were also pleasantly surprised when we learnt that they are currently doing a 1-for-1 promotion for crepes for UOB cardholders. On the way out, one of the staff also thanked us and greeted us farewell, something that we have never experienced before.

I wish I have brought my camera and took some pictures, in particular the waffle (by far, one of those I enjoy the most).

But even without the pictures, I hope you believe that the food is really good and if you are in the mood for crepes, please do not deny yourself of the pleasure and satisfaction!

...learn to use a REAL camera?

As mentioned in my previous post, we bought a SLR in order to take better pictures of A in action. It’s been quite a learning experience, graduating from the convenience of a compact point & shoot to the complexity of having to take full control of the camera settings!

S has been reading all sorts of articles on exposure metering, white balance and depth of field, most of which unfortunately goes right over the top of my head! I’ll readily admit there are times when I wished getting a better camera would magically lead to nicer photos and all I had to do was press the shutter release. However as the saying goes, reality bites. So while we’re slowly exploring all the manual controls available on the camera, we still resort to the programmed modes like the Aperture-priority and sports modes for those occasions where time is of the essence. Below are some examples from our recent, not-so-disastrous efforts!

...travel to Hong Kong for the Rugby Sevens weekend?

Every year during the last weekend of March, Hong Kong plays host to the Rugby Sevens tournament. Supporters fly in from all over the world during this weekend.

In the spirit of doing something different this year, I made the trip to Hong Kong over the last weekend to take part in my first ever Sevens tournament and it was a really fun experience!

The party starts even before the first rugby ball is played. Local expats and tourists alike packed the bars in Lan Kwai Fong and Wan Chai every night even before the first match started. I was there with KC and we really enjoyed the joyous atmosphere - there was just a party buzz in the air that you seldom enjoy in Singapore.

Of course, there are also plainclothes policemen everywhere, but as I was exclaiming to KC, "they are nothing like the cool ones we see in HK dramas!"

The rugby games started on Friday afternoon all the way to Sunday evening. We skipped the Friday games, but went to watch the games on Saturday and Sunday. I had heard so much about the famous South Stand at the Hong Kong stadium, where all the spectators would be dressed up in costumes of various shapes and sizes and how everyone would be drunk and throwing jugs of beer and even piss, if you believe the horror stories. :)

KC and I went as cowgirls, which was a relatively easy outfit to put together. Thankfully or not, the queue to the South Stand was very long, and so we did not make it in and hence, did not get drenched in beer. As for the games, the Saturday games were kinda boring, as some teams were not evenly matched. But Sunday games were super exciting, and so much more fun to watch! I really salute these Sevens players, they have got to be super duper fit - there are only 7 of them running on the same field that a normal rugby team would play on with 15 players!

Rugby aside, we also had time to go for a private dining experience at Xi Yan. It was my first private dining experience in HK, the food was a bit of a hit-and-miss. Overall, I enjoyed the meal, but there was just too much food for the experience to be enjoyable after a while. There were 4 appetitisers, 7 main courses and 1 dessert! It was not a taster portion, every course came with a super huge bowl for our table, and we could even have 2-3 helpings of everything if we wanted to. Our dinner lasted from 8.30pm to nearly midnight, so really, by the 5-6th course, we were just wondering how much more to go to really enjoy the food. :)

Other than eating and partying, we managed to squeeze in some shopping, though I did not buy as much as I expected to, haha. Did the usual trip to H&M and Espirit outlets, but did not really buy much. I got introduced to a new place to shop during this trip - HK Industrial Centre at Lai Chi Kok. They sell these cut-label dresses for about $80 bucks, which is really cheap, considering that shops in Singapore sell them for about $150! Alas, they did not have the larger sizes of the dresses I picked out, so did not end up buying anything - though I think I will go back there again when I next go to HK. Apparently, we missed out an entire floor! haha.

Lest you think it was all play and no work, we went for a hike on Friday morning! Yes, you did not read wrongly, we went for a hike in HK! The hiking trail is known as Dragon's Back, and it starts at the Shek O Country Park. The guide said it would take us about 2.5 hours for the whole trail, but it only took us about 1.5 hours. :) It was the only clear day the whole time I was there in HK, so I was quite glad we managed to do it. The view from the top was amazing, you never would have thought you were in HK. I thought it looked a bit like Australia! :)

I really enjoyed this trip, can't wait to go back to HK again!

try to satisfy a craving?

I must admit, this food item I am about to describe is not strictly Singaporean food, but it's definitely Asian or more specifically Japanese.

Inspired from my trip to Japan, I suddenly craved for those little "croissant shaped" bread rolls from Petit Provence in Holland V.

Yes! They're called Wassants! You trust the Japanese to come up with an Anglicised name for a Japanese product. Trust me: I tried to rationalise this name and find it's origins (or rather an explanation) but to no avail. My conclusion: it's more like "Wah!(as an expression) combined with the "ssant" spelling part of "croissant" to come up with the name "Wassant"! (lol)

Of course, during my trip to Japan I popped into as many boulangeries as I could manage and there were many. The Japanese are obsessed with all the french bakeries and patisserie names and you can find everything from Dallayou, Laduree, Cordon Bleu, Lenotre, and everything else France had to offer! But in Japan!!

Anyway, my search was for a typical Japanese bakery and for that wassant, or anything that vaguely resembles the wassant. The search was entirely futile and the only thing that came close was a loaf of marbled chocolate bread that was completely over-priced (approx Y800 = 7-8 pounds) and taste-wise, was nothing to shout about.

Oh, some of you might ask what a wassant is. It's a bread roll, layered with a chocolate paste, like puff pastry (so you get many thin layers) between soft and milky bread. It's not my usual kind of bread but don't ask me why, I suddenly had a craving for it.

So back in grey and very cold London (I spotted snowflakes yesterday when I popped out), I have yet to satisfy my cravings for that small little breadroll!

I decide to make my own - what better way to satisfy a craving?

A trawl through the WWW returned many results and discussions for this wassant (many fans out there - Singaporeans are real foodies).

Combining a new technique called a 65degrees water roux starter, laminating technique learnt at LCB(for feullettine pastries), a google translate of a Japanese website for the chocolate filling, I embarked on this culinary quest to recreate the wassant in my own kitchen.

As they say, a picture paints a thousand words and here are the results of my experiment:

A taste test by my Korean friend MC and her husband along with Dr O confirmed that this recipe is a keeper. Personally, on my next attempt I would increase the chocolate paste content so that it's more chocolately.

And just a note: the bread remained soft and fluffy even on Day 4 - not that they should last till Day 4!!

What a way to satisfy a craving! More bread making in the pipeline....