Browsing Junkgirl™ blog archives for August, 2010.
It helps to be prepared and informed when travelling to a foreign country, especially if it is the initial visit.
Points to note:
- Use Seine River as a guide to divide Paris into the left bank and the right bank
- RER is pronounced as FEF in France
- Use roller to navigate the ticket machine
- Doors on the train doesn’t open automatically. Use the handle or sometimes, buttons.
- Sortie means exit
While doing homework for markets to visit in Paris, i came across two new culinary terms. I knew boulangerie relates to bakery and patisserie relates to pastry. Charcuterie relates prepared meat products such as bacon, ham, sausage, terrines, galantines, pâtés, and confit. Charcutier is the French word for a person who prepares charcuterie, literally pork butcher. And Fromagerie relates to cheese
in Box Hill
Claypot ginger duck yee mee
For some reason, my orders seem to always be the last one served, which can be a little frustrating. Fried dried shrimp and minced meat mung bean noodles. It tasted just like the ones served at the dai-chau or kopitiam back home.
The most important thing is to feel satisfied with your meal and I’m satisfied with the mung bean noodles. It would be even better if the wait wasn’t as long.
Haven’t been to Crown for years. Casinos never interest me. I grew up waiting at the entrance/exit of a casino, almost. I don’t see what the excitement is about.
I have no respect for gamblers. No matter what they think, the fact is they, like smokers and drug addicts, just have no self-control.
Dinner at the foodcourt
Maze by Gordon Ramsay near the car park
Nobody cares if you want to get yourself killed as long as you don’t injure anybody else or take somebody with you.
on Market Lane in Melbourne CBD.
There are 3 levels and we were seated on the top level.
Utilizing my bag holder. I don’t like to have my bags sitting on the floor outside.
I quite like the oriental ambience.
Chilli wonton
Dandan mian (Dandan noodles). I can still remember my first encounter with Dandan mian. It was at the foodcourt in Parkson Beijing in 1996.
Xiao long bao (steamed pork dumplings)
Guo tie or jien jiao (fried dumplings)
Tues Dec 26 2006
View Day 5 in a larger map
It hasn’t stopped raining from Disneyland last night. We bought one of those clear umbrellas which are very common in Japan, from a convenience store and a raincoat too, which wasn’t very useful. Itinerary for today was supposed to be Ueno koen and Sensoji in Asakusa. However, due to the weather, we decided to still head to Ueno but to the Ameyoko market instead of the Ueno park. Ameyoko, which is short for Ameya Yokocho (candy store alley -as candies were traditionally sold there), was the site of a black market after WW2. Today it is a local market selling all sorts from clothes to bags to dried food. It was too wet to pull out my camera for shooting.
After Ameyoko, we proceeded to Shibuya. Pouring still. Somehow the Shibuya Crossing felt less grand and not as huge in real life compared to reel life. Anyhow, we are really here, at the famous Shibuya Crossing. This scramble crossing area was featured in the movie Lost in Translation and The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift.
We had planned to see the Adidas Rooftop Football Park and managed to find it on top of Shibuya 109 after some initial confusion. No photos are allowed so…
Drenched, a bit of shopping and ramen for dinner later, we found ourselves 2 seats in the Starbucks, the one at the Shibuya Crossing. There are only limited seatings available but we managed. We sat at a round table, a bit further from the window seats and then we got lucky. Two guys finished and left their window seats so we hurried, with our bags and stuffs, over to the vacant window seats. WOW! It was lucky enough to get seats at this Starbucks outlet and now we are sitting at the window seats, overlooking the Shibuya Crossing and its activities. This is the highlight of the day. The view…
I’m impressed with the level of service in Japan. As soon as it started to rain, umbrella holders are brought out to the store entrance and most stores even make the effort to wrap a ‘rain-cover’ on shopping bags to protect their customers’ purchases. How thoughtful. Can’t find that sort of service in Australia or Malaysia. Not sure about the other countries.
We took the train back to Shinjuku and went into Bic Camera to find sushi magnets. There was only a couple left and those weren’t in the shapes that i wanted. Hmmm…maybe there is no longer demand for these.
The annual massacre is starting soon, all because you and your family watch dolphin shows at theme parks. This is how the dolphins for the shows are obtained. As for the ones that don’t get selected…
I thought about this many, many years ago. Something doesn’t feel right about dolphin shows or any sort of animal shows. Quote Ric O’Barry “You have to see dolphins in the wild to understand why captivity doesn’t work”. Dolphins are mammals that swim the ocean, but are captured, confined within a tiny space and made to perform tricks to amuse lame people like you and your children. People who have nothing better to do on their holidays and have to resort to watching dolphins jump up from and back down into the water. Watching these shows means you are actually playing a part in the mistreatment of these animals. Not knowing how to swim, I will never be able to realize a wish to have physical contact with a dolphin but I refuse to attend a dolphin show just to be near a dolphin.
There may be accusations and controversy surrounding the parties involved. But does that matter? The fact is the dolphins’ blood is spilling. That is all that matters. That is all I care about.
Second attempt. Using pork fillet this time. Add the meat, salted fish, ginger, garlic, some ground white pepper and sesame oil, and stir. Then steam until meat is cooked.
The first attempt
I am no Iron Chef but I think i do pretty well in the domestic kitchen department. I don’t appreciate being told how I should do things or how things should be, just because that is how people think it should be or that is how they know it. For example, the meat used in this dish should be minced meat. Just because it is commonly prepared with minced meat doesn’t mean I have to do the same. Bolognaise doesn’t necessarily have to go with spaghetti. I can use fettucine or gnocchi if I choose to. Just because a person has spent more time in the kitchen than me doesn’t necessarily mean that the food they prepare rank better than mine. And to think I actually got told how to cook rice. How insulting is that.
I only work alone in the kitchen. It’s annoying when people stand there watching over me perform my tasks and giving me instructions. It messes up my procedures. And then when the dishes don’t turn out the way it should be if i had been left alone to prepare it, there are more ‘words of advice’ that i do not appreciate at all. I don’t go telling others what to do and I expect the same. If I am interested to know, I will ask.
Cooked
The first attempt
in Box Hill. Food was served within a short time with no fuss.
Sien dou jiang (literally salty soybean)
Fan juen (literally rice rolls)
Taiwanese beef noodle
Xiao long bao or xiao long for short, which is how it is commonly referred in China. The Taiwanese serve it with red vinegar and ginger strips. In China, it is served with black vinegar and no ginger, which is the way I prefer to have it. Red vinegar is a little too mild.
Sour tamarillo
Durians are a common sight
Capsicum in three colors
At the first sight, i thought these were ginger
for lunch. It was packed. And my rice took ages. It is disappointing when you have to ask for the status of your order. I lost my appetite.
Pho (pronounced fuh)
Prawn & pork spring rolls
Broken rice with fried chicken
