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Wednesday, August 13, 2008

My Japanese food heaven

Japan Centre's Morinaga "Hot Cake" mix. Fool proof and idiot proof!

Bye bye Fortnum and Masons, boo to Daylesford Organics and farewell to Whole Foods. None of them compare to my new favorite food shop, Japan Centre. I am currently so addicted to it I no longer want to eat out. And I get really cranky when my value sushi bento box (a steal at around GBP5 - bigger & better than at Itsu too!) is sold out by the time I get there from work.

But delicious take away sushi and other bento box meals (their "katsu curries" are 10,000 times better than Wagamama's) are not the only reasons I shop here so often...

It's also because:

1) They sell the best pancake mix in the world, which yields perfectly thick and fluffy pancakes every time (see above picture). I am never going back to soggy Bisquick.

2) You won't find just one type of ice tea in their chiller cabinet, you will find a million: light, strong, premium, no caff (Mugi cha or Soba cha), with milk, with fruit, with milk and fruit, with flowery flavour, with or without sweetener, etc. etc... In fact you can also find lots of exotic flavored waters, energy and fermented milk drinks - the other day I tasted one with bits of "nata de coco" (coconut flesh) and I swear it was just like summer in a bottle!

3) They have an awesome in store bakery stocked with the weirdest and most delicious buns, from chocolate brioche to green tea muffin, from curry "pans" (a type of pain au lait) to yakisoba sandwich (I dare anyone to try this!).

4) They stock yummy black sesame pudding and all kinds of "agar agar" fruit jellies which are packed with fiber and much healthier than our western desserts.

5) One can find fresh Asian veggies such as Yam and Lotus Root. And also fresh Oba (or Shiso) mint leaf which you can infuse in hot water to make Asian mint tea or simply add to your sushi.

And most important of all, because unlike the typical hard-to-decipher Asian food store, all of their products contain an English tag with a brief description and list of ingredients, so you are never left wondering what the heck you are buying!





Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Eddie Vedder solo tour at the NJPAC

Picture source: Boston Globe


It was an unforgettable gig and - thankfully, very thankfully indeed!! - mr. R and I were there to witness: Eddie Vedder adorning the NJPAC theatre with his golden voice and a generous 3 hour set list, including songs from his Golden Globe winning soundtrack “Into the Wild”, alongside various covers and even some Pearl Jam material (check out the complete setlist at Metro Distortion).

The first big moment in the evening came as soon as Eddie stepped onstage, with a tidal wave of applause flowing from an adoring crowd. As soon as he was able to thank us (after several attempts to break the standing ovation) Eddie said it was still too early and that he still needed to “earn all that applause”. He then asked us to brace ourselves for a long evening of music, following in the tradition of a certain Bruce Springsteen. Woo-hoos and deafening applause all over again...

Eddie kicked off with Daniel Johnson's Walking the Cow and the audience gawped at the theatre’s state of the art acoustics. Quite simply I had never heard anything like that. Loud and clear, there and then was the proof that Eddie Vedder really is one of the most powerful and versatile voices in modern music. He sang with such clarity and purity that the music flowed through our every pore.

This purity of sound was most evident in poignant tracks such as “Dead Man Walking” or “Man of the Hour” (from Big Fish), or in urgent songs like “I Am Mine” (which sounded reinvigorated in its unplugged version), “ Masters or War”, “Setting Forth” and “Rise” (this one had the audience literally rising up to the chorus). Even Eddie acknowledged how amazing the acoustics were and claimed that the NJPAC was going straight into his list of favourite places to play. Which made me think about how perfect this theatre would be for a Pearl Jam “unplugged” evening à la Benaroya...(Please?)

There was also the usual cool Eddie banter and extras sandwiched between songs: we had the opportunity to ask questions (which some concert goers wasted with song requests – for shame people!) and Eddie gave us some answers, including an earnest account of what's hidden behind that most mythical of PJ songs, Yellow Ledbetter. He also experimented with new sounds, debuting a fresh off the peg song ("Unthought Known") and layering vocals for a tribal-like effect in “Arc” (from Riot Act).

29 songs later and after a radiant set closer ("Hard Sun"), I came out of the theatre so uplifted I felt I was skimming over the sidewalk. This performance demands to be released as a live CD, for Eddie is not only one of “the great voices of our time” (as Time Out NY put it), he is also one of the greatest artists.




Saturday, July 26, 2008

China Picspam - Part 2 (Shanghai)

...continuing from my previous post:

Oriental Pearl TV Tower by night,
the ultimate postcard from futuristic Shanghai

The guy on the left just had to ruin my
picture perfect vision of Pudong with his ugly elbow... (sigh!)


Another "glimpse of the future" moment at
the Aqua Bar (Sun with Aqua, 6 on The Bund)


Yet more tea! Green tea & barley "bubble tea"
and iced coffee with "healthy" jelly at cafe R B T
(can you please open a London branch asap?)


Stacks of buildings

A walk through the street markets
in the "Old City"...

... leads us to the overly touristy &
wholly unoriginal Yu Gardens Bazaar...

... but at least the dumplings were pretty good!



Thursday, July 24, 2008

China Picspam - Part 1 (Beijing)

Long time no write!

I have just returned from a fantastic trip to Beijing and Shanghai with a suitcase full of exotic teas (see last picture below), memories and pictures! Here are just a few of them while I recover from the jet lag and gather my thoughts for a proper post:

The Lama Temple (Yongchegong)


Rooftop detail at the Lama Temple

A foggy and rainy day at the Forbidden City


The yummy Xiaolongbao (or Siew Long Bun) is a Shanghai
specialty but can also be found in Beijing (we tried it at Din Tai Fung restaurant)

Brown rice milk tea at Chamate, a Taiwanese tea house chain,
with loads of milk & bubble teas on the menu

Glutinous rice with sesame filling from the Yunnan region at South Silk Road
(a restaurant in the Hou Hai area of Beijing)

The beautiful and compact Ri Tan Park

I could have spent all day sipping tea and watching the world
go by at the peaceful Stone Boat Cafe (Ri Tan Park)

Killer hike at the Great Wall: 10km of ups and downs from Jingshanling
to Simatai, both unspoilt locations


Tea madness! Clockwise from left:

Tie Guan Yin (Fujian), "Red Robe" Oolong,
Roast Tie Guan Yin (Hong Kong), "Osmanthus" Oolong,
the "usual suspect" Jasmine flavored tea,
Pu'er (Yunnan) and Dragon Well (nutty green tea)




Friday, July 11, 2008

Thou Shall Have Lousy Seats

Pearl Jam tickets:
notoriously hard-to-get, even for The Simpsons

When I heard earlier this week that Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder, the ultimate baritone rock god was going to do a mini North America solo tour I knew I needed my share of it. I am a dedicated PJ/EV fan and this is his first solo tour EVER! Those who follow his side projects and are familiar with his Golden Globe winning soundtrack for the movie "Into the Wild" know this is a huge deal!

So off to the Internet to check my remaining BA miles availability, sort out accommodation in New York, etc. etc. All good. It was just the "small" matter of getting the tickets. I knew that part would not be easy, having previously gone through a via crucis to secure a pair of tickets for the 2003 Pearl Jam concert in MSG/New York and another for the club fan gig they did in London two years ago. Getting these tickets was ten times more stressful (but also ten times more rewarding) than my job - and I am a banking lawyer!

In case you don't know, New Yorkers and their neighbours are crazy about all things Pearl Jam (such good taste they have!). I suspect the Tri-State area has one of the biggest concentrations of hard core, old time Tenclubbers (ie. the fan club members). Out of the 3 gigs Eddie is scheduled to be playing I only needed tickets for the New Jersey one, for which I thought there would be less demand. But as soon as the tickets went on sale I realized my naivety: having initially secured excellent seats, the browser just keep crashing on me and off went my goodies basket. Each time I tried to log back in I felt like a surfer caught inside a big set of waves, having to dive down to avoid the whitewater scramble. The modest New Jersey Performing arts centre online systems just could not cope with the stampede. Phone lines were dead. How I missed the sturdiness of Ticketmaster...

In the end Mr. R and I had to contend with the bread crumbs as usual: the high-up-in-the-gods, bring-your-oxygen-masks type of tickets, but at least we did not leave empty handed! As I left the NJPAC site I went window shopping at the ticket brokers' and saw markups of 200% on good seats. Ouch!

No matter how limited ticket allowances are, the touts always seem to get good seats to resell, I wonder if there is any kind of poetic justice for cyberspace? Still, I am very much looking forward to hearing Eddie's velvety voice live once again...






Saturday, June 21, 2008

The End of the Affair




Remember that Sex and the City episode where writer Berger breaks up with Carrie via post-it note (it said: "I'm sorry, I can't, don't hate me")?

Well imagine if Carrie Bradshaw, in her emotional turmoil, had decided to contact various women of different backgrounds and professions: a lawyer, a dancer and several performing artists, a journalist, a literary critic, a mother and even a rifle shooter, asking each of them to give their personal interpretations of the end of the affair (and the peculiar mode of communication)?

That's exactly what real life conceptual artist Sophie Calle did when her boyfriend (like Berger, also a writer) sent her a break-up email. She compiled 107 responses she got from her female allies and set up a multimedia exhibition, which appeared in the 2007 Venice Biennale and more recently in the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris:





If you missed the exhibition's final round you may still want to try this nifty pink catalogue. Containing illustrations, bound-in booklets, bright green envelopes with DVDs and even Braille and Morse code versions of the dreaded email, it's a precious item for anyone who has ever obsessed about matters of the heart...

Thursday, June 19, 2008

One, Two, Three... Singing by numbers




Carry the Zero (Built to Spill)

Made first, never forget (Tahiti 80)

One (U2)

First It Giveth (Queens of the Stone Age)

First Wave Intact (Secret Machines)

Once (Pearl Jam)

Expresso 2222 (Gilberto Gil)

I am Two People (Morrissey)

12D3 (Gorillaz)

3's & 7's (Queens of the Stone Age)

Four Sticks (Led Zeppelin)

Four Walled World (Temple of the Dog)

Two Hundred More Miles (Cowboy Junkies)

Cinco Minutos (Marisa Monte)

Il est Cinq Heures, Paris S' Eveille (Jacques Dutronc)

Five Ten Fiftyfold (Cocteau Twins)

Six Shooter (Queens of the Stone Age)

Six Barrel Shotgun (Black Rebel Motorcycle Club)

Dead Road 7 (the Kills)

Seven Nation Army (The White Stripes)

Driver 8 (REM)

Eight Line Poem (David Bowie)

Cloud 9 (George Harrison)

Nine Million Rainy Days (Jesus and Mary Chain)

A Thousand Hours (The Cure)

AF607105 (Charlotte Gainsbourg)

Back to the 101 (Albert Hammond Jr.)

Before Three (the Cure)

Blister 2000 (Violent Femmes)

Lot 105 (Blur)

M62 Song (Doves)

Neighbourhood numbers 1/2/3/4 (Arcade Fire)

No 13 Baby (Pixies)

Obstacle 1 & Obstacle 2 (Interpol)

One Hundred Years (The Cure)

Pop Song '89 (REM)

Rebel Music - 3 o'clock (Gilberto Gil)

Revolution 80 (Tahiti 80)

Room a Thousand Years (Soundgarden)

Seventeen Seconds (The Cure)

Song 2 (Blur)

Song Seven (Interpol)

Ten Years Gone (Led Zeppelin)

The Big 3 Killed my Baby (The White Stripes)

Three Days (Jane's Addiction)

Twenty Four Hours (Joy Division)

Two-Timing Touch and Broken Bones (The Hives)

Um a Um (Tribalistas)

Veinte Anos (Buena Vista Social Club)

Voo 2364 (Nana Vasconcelos)

Walls n. 3 (Tom Petty)

With My Own Two Hands (Ben Harper)

You Only Live Once (The Strokes)

1/2 Full (Pearl Jam)

5:55 (Charlote Gainsbourg)

5:15 (The Who)

12:51 (The Strokes)

15 Minutes (the Strokes)

22 Grand Job (The Rakes)

25 Minutes to Go (Johnny Cash)

40 ft (Franz Ferdinand)

50 ft Queenie (PJ Harvey)

666 Conducer (Black Rebel Motorcycle Club)

300 M.P.H. Torrential Outpour Blues (The White Stripes)

1921 (The Who)

1992 (Blur)

Wrong Number (The Cure)