Showing posts with label 只是无聊. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 只是无聊. Show all posts

Thursday 21 October 2021

科幻和哲学

最近迷上“老高与小茉”和“脱口秀大会”。(关于脱口秀大会,我改天写一篇再说说。)

这“老高与小茉”的YouTube Channel是薇介绍给我的,她说:“老高常说一些我很小的时候你给我说的事儿,那些我小时候没听懂的故事……”。薇开始时发了Spotify的link来,但我因为忙,没有机会好好认真的听。后来她又发了个YouTube video的link来,我正好有点空余时间,看了,就爱上了。

当年,爸爸因工作从槟城搬到怡保,我们从住在热闹的大家庭搬到个近乎举目无亲的环境。那首几年,感觉特别孤单(妹妹要等我差不多读完一年级了才出世),书籍也因而成了我最好的朋友。我们虽是小康之家,但妈妈在于买书订杂志给孩子这事儿上非常慷慨。(我们小时候资讯有限,别说没有互联网,即使是电视台、电台也就那么几个台 -- 也因此我可是非常热衷于用sw收听外国电台的。不看书的话,也实在没有太多其他选择)。开始时是以故事书为主,可是小孩子的故事,来来去去那几种变化,我很快就厌了,开始收集非小说故事类的书籍,就是自那时候开始看了很多如The Bermuda Triangle、Atlantis等的传说,学了一堆什么第四度空间、Schrödinger's Cat等词汇,又迷上了天文地理历史等。有阵子妈妈订阅读者文摘,偶尔也会看上了读者文摘的广告而买了一些精美的画册书籍。什么《十万个为什么》、《中国神话故事精选》、《历史悬案》等。在认识“卫斯理”之前,我已经是非常天马行空,脑洞大开的人了。

接着,我又疯狂的迷上科幻小说和电影。好的科幻,必定会丢一堆好的哲学问题。我就是在成长路上受到这些科幻小说丢出的问题影响,自问自答,和自己辩论,然后成了无宗教信仰但相信有“神”的这么一个人。

年纪再大一些,我绝对崇拜物理学家。总觉得他们都是最接近真理的人类。Einstein、Hawking、Feynman等无不是天真烂漫调皮有趣的灵魂。你想想,所有的物理理论,全始于科学幻想,爱因斯坦不就是靠想象写了相对论吗?而所有的物理理论,再深究下去,必定要碰及哲学思考。

而老高这频道,题材五花八门,人文社会、自然科学、未解之谜、世界趣闻轶事、悬案、都市传说、阴谋论等各种故事与传说。他每星期上载一个十多二十分钟的影片,天马行空,非常精彩。在过去的两个星期内,我一口气看了他过去几年的影片,喜欢得很。以后再忙,也可以每星期看一段十多二十分钟的影片,然后好好思考。

好多人说老高好多内容都不对,但我觉得,在天桥底听说书的讲故事,首先说书的必须把故事说得有条有序,再来故事必须精彩绝伦,听完故事的人意犹未尽,回味无穷,引发了无穷的想象与思考,回家再去查查看他所说的,再开阔视野(连看书都得“尽信书不如无书”,更何况是天桥底听故事)。而小茉更是扮演了天桥下听书者的角色,时而打岔,时而发问,时而调侃,有趣得很。 

据说老高以前每晚必须给小茉讲睡前故事,为了每晚的故事,每天都要收集各种有趣的奇闻异事,久而久之收集许多资料,最后干脆将收集的资料做成谈话型视频频道。大家有空可以到他们的channel去看看。

这儿先分享一个绝对会让你以豁达的心情面对生老病死的影片:

Thursday 16 September 2021

郑愁予的《错误》

那些年,在为赋新词强说愁的年代,我写的那些诗,我都忘了,但我记得很清楚,我曾经把“我不是归人,是个过客”,改成“我是归人,不是过客”,放进我的惆怅里……


《错误》- 郑愁予

我打江南走过
那等在季节里的容颜如莲花的开落
东风不来,三月的柳絮不飞
你底心如小小寂寞的城
恰若青石的街道向晚
蛰音不响,三月的春帷不揭
你底心是小小的窗扉紧掩
我达达的马蹄是美丽的错误
我不是归人,是个过客……

Thursday 29 July 2021

2021马甲线challenge - 一晃五个月

一不小心,五个月就过去了。理论上是应该来报告一下。

有一阵子很忙,纪律还是松散了:早上的运动不是天天做,大号时间不是天天准,傍晚七时后不进食并不能天天跟,晚饭后散步只能尽力而为。

唯一真的很明显的改变是:从我天天喝冰水吃零食,改为尽量少冰、少零食。

肌肉没进展(研究过了,除了一开始运动效果比较明显,过后一直处于停滞状态。目前最重要的先决条件是:甩油),但体重从一开始到今天倒是下了6公斤。

继续努力吧。

Wednesday 28 July 2021

午后

公园里那老黄狗
急促而有节奏
搔着耳后

搔不掉的
寂寞

写一个午后感概

Tuesday 8 June 2021

Flammekuechen


Flammekuchen (German), or tarte flambée (French), is a speciality of the region of Alsace. It is composed of bread dough rolled out very thinly in the shape of a rectangle or oval, which is covered with fromage blanc or crème fraîche, thin-sliced onions and lardons.

I love this dish. I love this ever since the first time I tried it in Germany. There's one flammekuchen specialty shop in Mainz that I really love and always make an effort to go if I were in Mainz.

Since I missed Germany, I asked my friend to give me an authentic flammekuchen recipe. Here's the one that he sent, I made, and my family love these!


Tarte Flambee Alsace (For 4 persons)  

Preparation:   
Overall time        2 hrs 
Working time      20 min 
Rest period          1 hr 
Cooking time      40 min  

Ingredients for 4 persons:  
Wheat flour           400 gram 
Dry yeast               20 gram 
Lukewarm water   250 ml 
Olive oil                3 tablespoon 
Bacon                    125 gram 
Onions                   500 gram 
Sour cream            200 ml
Whipping cream   200 ml

Steps:
1. For the dough, mix the dry yeast with a little bit of the lukewarm water and let it rest for 10 minutes. 
2. Sift the flour into a bowl, add the yeast mixture, the rest of the lukewarm water, the olive oil and a little bit of salt. 
3. Knead everything to a smooth dough and cover and let rise in a warm place for around 30 minutes. 
4. In the meantime, cut the bacon into fine strips. Peel the onion, cut in half and finely slice it. 
5. Whisk the sour and whipping cream with salt and pepper.  
6. Quarter the risen dough. It is best to roll out each piece of dough on a large piece of baking paper into a wafer-thin rectangular sheet. 
7. Spread 1/4 of the cream mixture on each and sprinkle with onions and strips of bacon. (of course, I have to make a few different variations based on what I have at home)
8. Bake the tarte flambee individually in a convection oven at 220 degrees for 10-15 minutes until golden brown. (I use 200 degree C for 15 minutes)

Sine I have a few bottles of self made funghi sott’olio and pomodori secchi sott’olio, I have made totally 4 different variations of flammekuechen this round. All of them have onions and bacons as base, but the other toppings are slightly different.

preserved mushroom in olive oil and broccoli 

sweet peppers and broccoli

sun-dried tomatoes and mushrooms preserved in olive oil,
sweet peppers and cheddar cheese

mushrooms preserved in olive oil, broccoli and greek cheese


Just like pizza, you can make any flavoured flammekuechen you like. I'm glad that I will have tons of experiments to try later.

Be creative, and have fun!

Monday 7 June 2021

Pomodori Secchi Sott’olio (Sun-drier Tomatoes Preserved in Olive Oil)

I am obsessed with making my own fermented and preserved food recently. 
A few months back, I started to make my own Chinese style fermented vegetables
After I had some really good Melanzane All'olio from WTF Studio, I'm crazy with verdure sott olio ever since. I have made Melanzane All'olio, and a few batches of funghi sott’olio (because I want to try the texture of different types of mushrooms). 

Here's how I have my first trial of sun-dried tomatoes preserved in olive oil:

1. Clean the tomatoes (of course)

2. Cut them in half, and clear out the seeds.

3. Sprinkle salt on the tomatoes and dry them under hot sun. (well, we have plenty. haha)

For my case, I dried them over the period of 7 days as the last few days were a bit cloudy and rainy.

4. After the tomatoes are dried, cook them in a pot for 5 minutes (I use 1:4 ratio of vinegar and water)

5. After 5 minutes, take out the tomatoes and pat dry them. Leave them under the fan for about 2 hours to dry them again.

6. Put the dried tomatoes in a jar. Add sliced garlic, peppers and dried oregano in between layers.

7. Finally, pour in the extra virgin olive oil to cover the tomatoes.

Make sure the tomatoes are fully submerged in the olive oil

8. Close the lid properly and put it in refrigerator. Now let time do the magic. (Refrigerate at least 2 days to let flavours develop.) 


2 days after I bottled the sun-dried tomatoes, I used them for my flammekueche and I love this!

Thursday 27 May 2021

折叠浴桶

宅在家里都一年多了,玩了各种各样的projects,连房间的minor makeover也弄了不少:


前几天在survey着bathroom makeover project ideas时看上了小型的金属浴缸,觉得我那小小浴室应该装得下这种小型的,于是突然之间很想拥有个浴缸,这就到shopee上瞧瞧。

就这样子,让我发觉了这世界上竟然还有人卖成人的折叠式浴缸(产品称为折叠浴桶,应该是因为这真的不是“缸”,呵呵)。我犹豫了几个小时,就很冲动的下单了。碰巧遇上Raya Holiday的隔天,出货稍微延迟了一点,但我还是在一个星期内就收到我的新玩具了。

以“浴缸”来说,这很迷你

“浴缸”和它的配件

折叠着,收藏处的选择不少(不过这不是最终储藏处)

看,我可以很舒服的躺在里头

朋友问我排水怎么办啊?别怕,人家都替你想好了


当天晚上,把以前在酒店拿的那些泡泡浴用上,点了一些蜡烛,泡了茶,拿了我的Kindle,就这样子享受了一个晚上。如果你注意看下图,它是有盖的。这折叠浴桶一共配上三个部分的包围式保温盖,温度可以锁得更久,甚至可以玩汗蒸。我当晚只用了一部分的保温盖试试。



同时,我也在网上买了个竹架子,简简单单的设计,不用时挂在墙上当架子,放着我的一棵绿植,没有丝毫违和感。


没有工作的日子,把“浴缸”设好,开了水喉让它慢慢注满水。与此同时,拿了妈妈烘的muffin,泡了一壶茶,开了音乐,拿了kindle,摆好阵。水满后在浴缸里丢下一粒bath bomb,撒上一些花园里刚采下的花瓣,这样子就可以在家里享受spa的感觉,悠游地泡上一个午后。

Wednesday 26 May 2021

Funghi sott’olio 意大利式腌蘑菇

几个星期前做了Melanzane All'olio,上瘾了,决定再试试腌制别的蔬菜。
另一个想要尝试的,就是蘑菇。我又是上网看了几个不同的食谱,依据自己的喜好以及现有的材料稍作更改。

以下几个都是我的参考:
Cuoredicioccolato - MUSHROOMS in OLIVE OIL Italian recipe - 这YouTube channel的食谱看起来都不错,改天还有很多玩意儿可以试试。


我的步骤:

1. 把蘑菇清洗干净,沥干备用。

2. 在锅里倒入1:1的清水和白醋,加上两汤匙的盐,把这煮沸,然后加入清洗后的蘑菇煮约十分钟。

3. 十分钟后熄火,把蘑菇捞上,沥干。

4. 我把沥干后的蘑菇放在干净的布上,再放到风扇底下吹一吹,给它们再干一些。

5. 在此同时,准备香料:把三瓣蒜头切片,用手撕几把dill和oregano,切一条小辣椒,拿一小把黑胡椒粒。

6. 放干后的蘑菇开始排入玻璃罐里,一层蘑菇,一层的香料。

7. 最后,倒入extra virgin olive oil即可。挺简单的。



入罐后必须等上一个星期方可食用

第二批的试验品

Sunday 9 May 2021

Melanzane All'olio 意大利式腌茄子

最近迷上时光酝酿的味道。改天开家餐厅,专卖以腌制的食材烹饪的美食。

自制的Melanzane All'olio


前阵子买了两个泡菜坛,没事儿就泡几坛。上个星期在WTF Studio吃了Melanzane All'olio,惊为天人,这就买了一大条茄子试一试。

我在网上看了几个不同的食谱,自己依据自己现成有的材料稍作更改。以下几个都是我的参考:

我的步骤:

1. 茄子洗净、去皮,再把茄子切条状。
2. 加入盐和醋,搅拌至均匀,然后放入个滤盆里。
3. 找个碟子,放在茄子上,然后用个比较重的东西把它给压住。我盖上布,放隔夜。


4. 隔天,许多水份已经被挤压出来了。

5. 找个锅,放1:1的白醋和开水。煮沸后把茄子挤干放入锅里煮2分钟。

6. 过后,晾凉,然后再次把水份给挤干。


7. 切两瓣的蒜头、擂一些辣椒干、准备一把oregano。

8. 把挤干水份的茄子一层层地放入玻璃瓶里,每一层都加上蒜头、辣椒干和oregano。最后倒上橄榄油(我用extra virgin olive oil)即可。



腌制一天后,就可以吃下午茶啦~ 我觉得稍微酸了一点,改天要么稍微减少醋,要么尝试一下white wine vinegar。

Sunday 25 April 2021

2021马甲线challenge - 两个月过去了(慎入,照片刺眼)

这个月很忙。纪律有点儿松散。小失败。

上个月决定除了早上的运动,我还要:
  • 早上五点至七点上大号(卯时大肠蠕,排毒渣滓出;这是大肠经运行的时候,喝一杯暖水后轻松如厕) 
  • 傍晚七时后不进食,晚饭后散步至少三十分钟 
  • 睡前泡脚
  • 晚上十点半之前睡觉(亥时三焦经旺。子时胆经旺。丑时肝经旺。人如果在亥时睡眠,百脉可得到最好的休养生息。肝、胆能完成代谢,胆经会引导人体阳气下降,是身体进入休养及修复的开端。肝在丑时起到解毒,过滤血液毒素的作用。)
  • 饮食习惯则更加简单,纯粹少冰、少吃零食。
回顾:
  • 好几天真的工作太累回到家太迟了,隔天早上没有如愿早醒。
  • 由于有几个farewell dinner,倒并不是天天都七点后不进食。
  • 有几天放工来不及七点前到家,就以fibre-rich晚餐代替。
  • 并没成功每天晚上十点半前睡觉。
  • 睡前泡脚这事我完全给忘了。昨晚看“向往的生活”,看他们排排坐泡脚,才想起自己泡脚的事。真的……
这个月,感觉上肌肉没有什么进步。但体重倒是下了3公斤。继续努力吧。


以下是来不及七点前吃晚餐时的食谱。我以蒸蔬菜为主,偶尔加一条香肠也不介意。




这星期周五晚上,真的觉得这个月过得太压力了,决定给自己一个晚上的cheat night。弟弟网上订了酸奶,我还开了零食。嘻嘻。人生,实在没必要对自己太苛刻。


这个月,继续fine tune……

Friday 26 March 2021

How to Gain Weight Fast and Safely - Bangkok 2019

YuMei suddenly asked me about the blog of our 2019 Bangkok trip. "I missed Bangkok food" she said. 

Aren't we all?

Anyway, so, here's our simple 2D3N food hunting itinerary (Sorry. Another blog post with too many photos)

Accommodation: We booked a 4 bedrooms townhouse at ChinaTown, (at Soi Phantha Chit 2). This house can accommodate up to 9 guests. (RM1,460.14 for 3 nights)
(I forgot exactly what happened back in April 2019, maybe that has something to do with the coronation for King Vajiralongkorn. During our visit, Bangkok Chinatown was relatively quiet, and many shops were closed earlier than normal)


Arrival Evening 
We chose to stay in China Town because we wanted to have easy access to good food 24 hours. However, there were not much to choose from as most shops closed earlier than normal during that period (we were there about 2 weeks before the King coronation).

Our first meal in Bangkok was at the famous T&K Seafood. I have to say, very disappointed. Well, to be fair, I will not call it bad, but definitely not good for Bangkok standard.



Because of the disappointment, we decided that we have to continue to walk around for Chinatown and look for something else. We ended up in the famous Nay Lek Uan. By the time we ordered and had our few dishes, they were about to close. We were their last customers. We had the famous kuay jab nam sai, some crispy pork at side, and 2 other dishes from the other nearby store.

There are two main types of kuay jab in Bangkok, kuay jab nam sai (ก๋วยจั๊บน้ำใส) and kuay jab nam khon (ก๋วยจั๊บน้ำข้น).
  • Kuay jab nam sai (ก๋วยจั๊บน้ำใส) is the version of soup that is very common in Yaowarat (Chinatown). In Thai it means clear soup, and it’s made from pork bones, so it has a strong pork flavor with lots of pepper.
  • Kuay jab nam khon (ก๋วยจั๊บน้ำข้น) is a dark brown, almost black, colored soup broth. The soup has a mild Chinese spice braised flavor to it – including spices like cinnamon and star anise.
There are big fans of each type of kuay jab, but the popular version to eat in Yaowarat is kuay jab nam sai (ก๋วยจั๊บน้ำใส).




Day 1 (Maeklong Railway Market + Icon Siam)

Maeklong Railway Market
Upon special request, I had to bring everyone to Maeklong Railway Market. And of course, I brought everyone to my favorite Punjung Cafe. It's a good place to wait for the train, and serve very good food.



Finally, we could hear the train horn.....So every stall owners started clearing their shades and stalls for the train to pass by, and every tourists started to get their cameras and phones ready.




Yes, we were this close to the moving train

So, after the "train show", we left Punjung Cafe, walked along the track to go back to our hired van. Halfway, we stopped again, for this hearty kuay jab nam khon. (sorry. I don't think I can give you a clear direction of this kuay jab stall. Not even sure if they had a name. If you go into the Maeklong Railway Market from the entrance at Phet Samut Road, it's about halfway to Punjung Cafe, on your left. You will definitely smell it)



We also had some very nice Moo Satay near the entrance at Phet Samut Road.



Of course, we had to take some tourist photos. How could you not take some photos on the train track at  Maeklong Railway Market?




Lunch at Tom Yum Goong Banglamphu
After Maeklong Railway Market, our next stop was Tom Yum Goong Banglamphu. This is my favorite food stall that serve pretty average, typical Thai food(煮炒档口). The uncle that obviously the chef here, and the aunties that worked here, all were "not very young". Hence. every time I visit this stall, I always feel lucky that I could still have a hearty and perfect meal here. Really have to appreciate this before it's gone. The uncle and aunty cook every dishes to perfection. No joke! 

The dishes that I love most are of course the tom yum goong and the omelet. The broth of the tom yum goong was extremely rich and buttery, very aromatic, and the freshwater shrimp were unbelievably juicy and springy. And their omelet, how do you make something so simple so incredible tasty? Even all their other dishes were great. It's all because of the "wok hei" and their excellence control of the "fire" (火候)



I also love the fruit juice stall just opposite of Tom Yum Goong Banglamphu. They only have drinks for takeaway, and they have a huge variety of fruits to choose from. These juice go extremely well with the food at Tom Yum Goong Banglamphu.




Icon Siam
After lunch, we took a boat to travel along Chao Praya to get to Icon Siam. ICONSIAM has one of the largest shopping malls in Asia, which opened to the public on November 2018. This was a new spot that none of us visited before so we were quite excited.





It's a very nicely decorated shopping mall. Very vibrant and I just love the indoor "floating market". Of course, the food and the ambience may not be as authentic, but in the horrible Bangkok heat, this version was so much comfortable :)





I couldn't resist, so we ordered some food here too


This mall was very cool. There were areas selling local crafts, and there were also areas that were absolutely luxurious. 

Very luxury-looking cinema


Toyota Alive Cafe and showrooms



You can even play some driving games here

Of course they have collectibles hobby shops


Isn't this cool? (I forgot what shop is this)


All the luxurious cars in the mall.  




And the very cool Apple Iconsiam.

Apple Iconsiam - the first Apple Store in Thailand


Right outside of Apple Iconsiam is the beautifully decorated ICONSIAM Park, with the panoramic view of the great city by the river.




The other big highlight of ICONSIAM Park is the magnificent "Light of Siam”, created by Sittivut Yavichai. 


Do also plan your time properly to catch the The ICONIC Multimedia Water Features Show. Every day 6:30pm and 8:00pm, you can watch this full-fledged water dance show that features remarkable colors, sound and multimedia.




Dinner at Pee Aor Tom Yum Goong
After Iconsiam, we went to Pee Aor Tom Yum Goong for dinner. Of course we had their famous Tom Yum Goong noodle, and we ordered also a few other dishes on their menu. Lovely.


Day 2 (Khlong Lat Mayom Floating Market + Train Night Market Ratchada)

La Locanda

The next morning, while waiting for others to get ready for our adventure to Khlong Lat Mayom Floating Market, I went to the cafe next door (La Locanda) for a simple breakfast (Too hungry, and Khlong Lat Mayom is not very near).


Khlong Lat Mayom Floating Market 
Khlong Lat Mayom Floating Market is my favorite floating market in Bangkok. It is big but not touristy, and there were so many varieties of food to sample. Walking from the entrance to the food court seating are, there were so many things to see, there were a mixture of flavours and fragrance, so vibrant and colourful.....













I couldn't even recall how much food we ate. I love the fact that you can have all these good food at this one stop. If you are not afraid of the heat, you can basically spend a full day here.

My favorite goong ob woon sen

Som Tum


Pla pao

This aunty sells very tasty thin sliced BBQ pork


Khlong Lat Mayom Floating Market has a relatively small "floating part", but it is as charming as other floating market.








Som Tam Jay So (ร้านส้มตำเจ๊โส)
I always love som tam. This green papaya salad is a spicy salad made from shredded unripe papaya. It is sweet, spicy, salty and sour. Extremely appetizing. Each region has a different version of the savoury dish, and hence som tum is always full of surprises.

Som Tam Jay So is a very famous stall in Bangkok, located down a quiet side street in Bangkok's Silom business district. It is said to serve the best Issan food in Bangkok. I couldn't judge if the food they served were really authentic, but I loved most of the dishes here.

Besides their famous som tum, I also love their laab neua. It wasn’t very spicy, but yet very flavourful. 
Their grilled chicken wings (pik gai yang) was cooked perfectly. And they have very good grilled pork neck (kaw moo yang) too.





Happy Espresso
Because of the horrible heat, we were not in the mood to visit tourist attractions. Instead, we spent hours in a cafe near where we stayed.




Rot Fai Market Ratchada
Until the heat was bearable again, we went to Rot Fai Market Ratchada. 
I think we were greeted with heavy rain (did we? Or I mixed up with another trip?) Anyway, I remembered that we were not fond of Rot Fai Market Ratchada. There were too many people. We couldn't find proper seats for meal. When we finally found one table, the stall food quality was unfortunately not very good. 


Due to the dinner at night market was not satisfying, we went back to Chinatown and look for some street food vendors. Must have some good food before calling it a day. 




Teens of Thailand
Since we were staying in Chinatown, of course, we have to visit Soi Nana. We went to Teens of Thailand as it was in the Asia's 50 Best Bars list. 

This bar was like something Wong Kar Wai might conjure up. Much of the shop-house's original architecture remains, with vintage Thai furniture scattered around the place.




They served some very unusual gin tonic, including "local thai tea" or "chrysanthemum" and of couse we have to try them. 



Going Home
On our last day, I had a very simple breakfast at the street we stayed before we went to airport.



So, this was how I gained weight fast (just 2 days 3 nights!) in Bangkok.



Other itineraries:
2017 - Germany: Upper Middle Rhine Valley One Day Tour (Stay tune)