Gong Xi Fa Cai - Happy Chinese New Year 2011

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Have a prosperous and stomach filling new year!

House Special Chow Mein - Wong Wong Bakery, Manchester

At last I have managed to find a cheap compact mobile phone with a camera AND a battery that lasts up to 2 weeks between charging. Now I can take pictures anywhere I eat and do not have to plan ahead to take my camera with me.

One such occassion was when we were passing a branch of Wong Wong Bakery near Openshaw in Manchester. It was actually a little cafe attached to a Chinese warehouse and serve a limited amount of dishes to a mainly Chinese clientele. Hence their dishes are authentic and near restaurant quality but a bit cheaper.

This is the most expensive dish on their menu coming in at £7 for a large single portion. A stir fired mixture of fish balls, fish cake sliced pork, char siu, siew yook, roask duck, prawns, squid and straw mushroom over a bed of crispy noodles. Taste great and better than some more upmarket restaurtant in Chinatown.

Highly Recommended!

Sambal Seafood Medley

Happy new Year 2011!

Here's a posting to get me back on track with the theme of this blog, which is cooking.

Sambal tumis with seafood, especially squid is one of my favourite Malaysian dishes.

I managed to pick up some prepared seafood from a local supermarket and thought I'd make some fresh sambal (chilli ) sauce to cook this.

The ingredients for the sauce are red chillies, onions (preferable shallots which I did not have at the time), garlic, toasted belacan (fermented shrimp paste) and tamarind juice.

Its best to pound it manually in a pestle and mortar but I was lazy and used a blender. I added salt and sugar during the blending process.

Then heat plenty of oil in a pan, brown some sliced onions, then add sauce and fry till fragant.

Then add seafood and fry for 3 - 5 minutes. Not too long or it will turn tough and dry, especially if you are using octopus.

And finally here is the dish. Would have looked better with some coriander garnish, but I had none at the time.

Take That - Progress - An album review and more!

Its been 2 years since their last album The Circus was released and here is the long awaited new album to be released on Monday 15th November. This time, we have the return of the FULL line up, which includes Robbie Williams. I do not really have much time for pop music anymore these days but I will always have time for this lot, who I regard are the purest purveyors of pop music.  Read on to see what I thought of the aibum.

The Flood
The current single and opening track reminds me of the opening track from TT's first comeback album, Beautiful World, called Reach Out. I loved that song as I do this. Watch the embedded video below. Great video!



SOS
Mark leads with some from Robbie and Gary in a high energy dance tune. Sounds quite dated like something from the 90s, not unlike something from Pulp. Not exactly a bad thing for TT fans.

Wait
Sang by Robbie and would be at home in one of his solo albums. A mid tempo electronic dance tune with a catchy chorus, like No Regrets. Definitely one to please the Robbie fans.

Kidz
Mark on the lead again! Does Gary not sing anymore? Peculiar song, quite unlike anything they have ever done before. Its like a chant all through the song but not one that others would chant along. One of the weaker numbers and I doubt it will be a future single.

Pretty Things
More electronic shenanigans from TT. Robbie takes the helm again, or at least his voclas were the most prominent as they were harmonised right through the song. A fairly mellow song that reminded me of Joan of Arc by OMD in tune and

Happy Now
A fairly pedestrian song that reaches no highs nor lows. Still with the electronic theme, it has a subtle fat synth bass right through the song and just plods along like the album filler it is.

Underground Machine
Robbie on the leads again. Some guitar riffs perpetuate throughout this number which tells us that they are no longer a boyband. A mature sound which may not appeal to TT fans of the old .. or even those who latched onto the bandwagon since 2006.

What do you want from me
Another Mark lead. Starts of rather mellow but soon picks up pace with a fairly addictive dance beat. However the title and melody does not make this a completely upbeat and happy song.

Affirmation
Not sure if this is Jason or Howard singing here. Similar to the previous song in pace but lacks its catchiness.

Eight Letters
Finally a song with Gary in the lead! TT does not sound the same without him leading! Also the only real ballad in this album. Now this is the TT that fans have grown to love over the last 20 years! They have definitely left the best till last!

.... and dont forget the customary secret track at the end of the album!

My verdict...

Is this a Robbie Williams album? If you have been in outer space for the last 20 years, you might have thought that Robbie has always been the lead singer of this group. Also, I suspect that Gary did not write most of the tracks .. yes I know the group was credited with most of the songs for the last two albums but we clearly knew who was behind the composition of most of the songs in reality. So, despite my tepid reaction to this release, I must say that I did enjoy it and you do too they please go out and buy it to support the group.

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FC Barcelona - an UEFA Champions League Camp Nou experience

We had a short break in Barcelona last month and managed to get a lot of photos, so I will spread it out over a few postings. 

The highlight of our trip was a visit to the Nou Camp for a UEFA Champions League match against FC Copenhagen. I planned the whole trip by obtaining information from various forums on the net and hence, I have decided to start this posting with a pictorial guide on how to get to the Nou Camp. This appears to be one of the most asked questions about Barcelona and I took these pictures with this in mind. Hopefully, whoever manages to find this link will find it useful. Feel free to leave a short comment if it has helped you.

Here is the coveted ticket! Bought it from here.

 All I had to do was provide passport number and credit card number. Then I get a reference number to collect it from the FNAC store in the Triangle shopping mall at Plaza Catalunya up to 72hrs before the match.

Note: UEFA rules state that you cannot buy tickets from the home team if you are from the country of the visiting team.

Of course if you have a passport different from your country of residence, then it would not be an issue!   

A Pictorial Guide on directions to FC Barcelona's Camp Nou

First, you need to plot your journey to arrive at the Maria Cristina metro station. You can use other stations too, but the green line is the most popular one with visitors as it passes Plaza Catalunya, the "centre" of all the action in the city. It takes about 15 - 20 minutes from Plaza Catalunya.

When you are exiting Maria Cristina, follow the signs for the "Av Diagonal" (name of a street) exit. There are only 2 exits anyway, so it is hard to go wrong. Once outside, you will see this wide pedestrianised pavement in front of you, with a busy cycling lane to the right.

Turn to your left and you will see two dark buildings across the road. I think they have "La Caixa" on the top of both.

Walk for about 200m, keeping those buildings to your left across the road and you will soon see some shops on the left, same side as those buildings.

Keep walking for another 50m and you will coome to a set of lights. You can see across the road, a tall hotel called Princesa Sofia. This is where you need to cross the road. EVEN WHEN YOU SEE THE GREEN MAN, STILL LOOK L & R AS CARS AND BIKES WILL CARRY ON DRIVING IF THEY CANNOT SEE A PERSON CROSSING THE ROAD!

With the hotel now in front of you, walk past the front of it and turn left immediately.

You are now on the final 400m leading to the stadium and soon you will be able to see its bright lights, if you are arriving for an evening match.

At the end of that stretch, we are now in front of Gate B

Like any stadium in the world, lots of UNOFFICIAL stalls selling merchandise outside. Most are overpriced and are complete rip off. Fake FCB shirts with Nike logo were going for 50 euros. Can buy a real one in UK for £44! Unofficial scarves start from 10 euros. 

If you want official stuff, then you need to go inside the gates, where they cost even more! About 70 euros for a FCB shirt!

The FC Barcelona match experience

1 hour before the match and the stadium was stil sparse. There was no pre-match entertainment. 

We got the cheapest tickets and ended up behind the goal, to the left of the dugout, about 6 rows from the top. Despite the height, we had a very good and unobstructed view. The height actually helped as, any lower and the goal would have obscured part of our view.

15 minutes before kick off and the stewards troop onto the pitch. To wave the huge UCL logo.

10 minutes to kick off and the stadium was filling up.

Then the teams emerge from the dugout to massive applause and lots of flashes. 

Managed to capture this on video too!

Here we see Messi's teammates congratulating him for scoring the opening goal. However, it was actually quite a subdued affair on the whole. We may have been in the "home" section, but all around us were foreigners. Not a single Spanish (or Catalonian) sitting around us. The visiting team were containing Barca quite well and for most of the match, there was a total lack of atmosphere around our section.  Could not really say the same about the Danish fans who were singing, chanting and clapping throughout the match. They may have take up no more than 15% of the whole stadium physically, but they definitely made 80% of the noise!

In the end, Barca won 2-0 in a largely uninspiring match. However the overall experience was still rather exhilarating, in one of the largest football stadiums in the world.

And here is a picture of 80,000 leaving the stadium, heading  up the  road from the stadium towards Av Diagonal.

So, was it worth it?

Absolutely! I remember back in 1982, watching the opening match of the World Cup that was being held in a distant land (Spain!) and marvelling at the size of the Camp Nou on TV. It was one of those things you see as a kid and never expect to experience it in person. After all it seemed so unreal for someone who has only ever experienced a 30,000 capacity Merdeka Stadium. It was like watching the moon landing. You dont expect to experience it yourself. Yet, now 28 years later, there I was .. Messi, Puyol, Villa, Iniesta .. World Cup winners as well! A truly memorable experience! 

X-Factor 2010 Lookalike

Separated at birth?

Just watched tonight's x-factor and noticed a startling resemblance between that human skeleton, Cher Lloyd and Dead or Alive's Pete Burns during his prime in the 80s. Now we just need her to sing You Spin Me Round and we will have a perfect tribute act!

Pete

Cher

Roti Canai available all over UK

Feast your eyes on this picture. Looks like the real thing, doesn't it? It could have easily been taken from a cafe anywhere in Malaysia. I have never met any Malaysian born person who claim to dislike the Roti Canai. In fact, I would go as far as saying that this should be known as Malaysia's national dish, instead of the more popularly acclaimed nasi lemak. After all, it is uniquely Malaysian, despite it being seen as "Indian". You will not be able to get this dish in India, I am sure .. not this version anyway which, although is a variation of the "paratha" it has evolved quite significantly from its Indian roots.

However, the twist here is that I did not cook this dish! Not properly anyway. It was bought frozen from a large supermarket - and not a specialist Asian one - and simply lightly fried in a skillet, like a pancake. It will slowly rise and fluff up, just like the real thing.

It is available all over the UK and has been for a number of years. I have yet to see anything that resembles nasi lemak in our supermarkets here. As this is the most popular uniquely Malaysian dish widely available in the UK, I must conclude that to most non-Malaysians, this is the national dish.

The brand below is one of about 3 or 4 available. Only cost around £1 for a pack of 5.

Just to add.. a fresh handmade dish like this would be almost impossible to sell in the UK .. each piece is rather laborious to produce. I would estimate that it would cost about £3 per piece to make it cost effective. At this price, I doubt it would sell. Hence I cannot ever see it taking off in restaurants over here.