culture

In terms of creativity and boldness ,I prefer American genres of fiction and the unique individualism from Thoreau's Walden to science fiction but the hair raising cringeworthy genre would be those pretty boy vampires of Twilight ,oh give me a break ,what is there to fear and be horrified when girls are lining up to be given love bites on the neck by swoonworthy draculas .Give me an ugly,repulsive disgusting Dracula to get my money worth's of screams and blood curdling terror that keeps me sitting at the edge of the chair whilst closing my eyes to take a sneak peak at that gore.
   Of course that is unmatched with the K pop goodlooker in "The train to Busan" ,as our hero sacrifices himself to save the rest of humanity-but that's another story altogether.
    Now,China movies are all about martial arts,badass melodrama fantasy fiction of swordsmen and mired in historical creations of the past.,the Hong Kong ones are all about the underworld,secret society and police or sappy romance.Indian audiences gets their money's worth of 3 hour long epics with a dash of every genre thrown in from star crossed lovers, and breaking into a song and dance in all locations from city streets to panoramic landscape(where do they find so many back up dancers at such short notice).
  That's why my preference is still for alternative indie movies- a break from the stereotypical movies that are so predictable.The rock music I'm listening to now include that old rocker Cui Jian(wow his song Fake monk and dancing wildly in the snow is so mind blowing in lyrics and use of the gu zheng with guitars) ,Dou Wei from Black Panther is so edgy and experimental in singing style and Tang Dynasty with that fizzy long hair do reminds one of the Blues Gang of Malaysia.That's some badass hard rock,bro.

a new biological threat

How a new biological virus incubator in an escaped trial specimen escaped from a high security medical lab and infected millions -possible scenario with mass travel via MRT and planes.
Hatching my next thriller.

global appetite

With my late mother,she'll go out of her way to learn how to make mooncakes from snowskin to the shanghai crust to the traditional ones.
With Jun and me, we have a global appetite.Sometimes it's soba in miso soup,yesterday breakfast was gyoza with seaweed salad and dinner could be Italian alio olio with a chicken stewed in rosemary and basil.Sometimes it's Thai green curry ,nasi lemak and chicken rendang  and with globalisation ,the consumer's appetite has turned global.

Recipe for blue pea rice salad(ala malaysia nasi kerabu with a twist)

1.Boil  five grain rice with some dried blue butterfly pea flowers boiled with a slice of old ginger.
2. Sprinkle with sliced raw shallots,leaves of kesum,daun limau perut (kefir lime leaves),wild betelnut leaves,(daun sirih)(torch ginger flower ,sliced thinly) and leaves of cosmos flower
3.Mix in a pinch of sambal belacan and nam pla or fish sauce,kerisik (dried and pounded grated coconut) .
4.Mix in fish meat floss ( fried fish like kembung with meat torn out),too lazy to fry the fish,can use alternative like serunding ikan or even canned tuna in olive oil
5.serve with sweet chilli sauce in lime juice)


Today,I had heavenly nasi tumpang from kelate wrapped in a conical shaped banana leaf.Still trying to figure out the recipe and reconstruct it or what I call reverse engineering of the ingredients.

Not my cup of tea.

The lessons from making a good cup of chai masala.


When I first tasted my chai masala,the delicate mix of tea,milk and spices was sheer delight.

The dumbo I was bought a packet of garam masala and proceeded to master the intricacy of making this brew with a pinch of salt.The nausea inducing concoction was worst than drinking sea water with a pinch of iodine.

Then when I was dining at a restaurant in Nepal,the restaurant captain was happy when I complimented them on their piquant cup of chai masala.He gave me some tips;use green cardomom pods, some cinnamom powder,ginger,milk and sugar.

This morning I perfected the chai masala after my umpteenth experiment.A delicate balance is sought to get the whiff of spices with the hearty taste of tea to get a harmonious blend.

Recipe


3-4 green cardomom pods crushed (thump it with the back of a pestle)
cinnamom (old bark) grated to get some powder ( readily ground cinnamom has no Kick)Dry roasting it in a pan to intensify the aroma.
Knob of fresh young ginger crushed to release the juices(old ginger is too overpowering)
low fat fresh milk and not the evaporated milk wannabe
dried honeycombed sugar

Process
1Dry roast cinnamon and cardomom
2.Add in Glenloch Ceylon Sri lanka tea bag mixed with cardomom
3.Add ginger,water and honeycombed sugar
4.Boil until bubbling  hot
5.lower flame and boil until aroma arises
6.Turn off heat and add low fat milk.
A heartwarming cup of chai masala.

Education

What would be the purpose of education?

A grooming of youths to be "good"  or to be"good citizens of a nation" ?
The passing on of "knowledge" to young minds or " the preparation for a good career path"

In the face of the future,where more and more jobs will be replaced by automation,the part on career preparation is at risk, "the purpose on passing  of knowledge" replaced by accessibility to the wealth of information on the internet.
Decentralised modes of education will leave more options to the individual schools to draw up curriculum that suits the slow learner,the fast learner,the hands on experiential learner,and even those who have graduated from the school of hard knocks or experience as the best teacher and now will return to formal education to get a social recognition or aka his or her paper's worth.
Should education be less competitive,the level of stress would be less on students.Apart from the home,a major part of youth's lives are spent in schools,tuition centres,cram schools and so on.When the teacher "drones" ,eventually the brain switches off.The best spin off of education would be the value of loyalty, friendship,resilience and the shaping of character.