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Tasty Treats Pt2: Birds Nest Beverage and Mochi

Well i had a big night last night and need to recover, so whats better than a nice Health drink made from Birds Nest (aka Bird Saliva...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird's_nest_soup ) and White Fungus....

Last episode i told you that i would ramp it up next time... this is right there in the deep end, but hey i'm hopeful that it might surprise me if not cure my hangover.

The drink pours like a jar of saliva would... syrupy slightly yellow and with floaty bits. The smell was along similar lines, little bit mushroomy but the taste is what really threw me. Whereas i thought it would be savory and salty and mushroomy it was closer to a light sugar syrupy taste, very reminiscent of the gelatin coating that is used on Fruit Tarts, really quite unpleasant but not totally disgusting. But as i sit here having only taken a few small sips i realize that to really review it i need to really take in the health benefits, i need to skull the rest...

*skulls it down in one go*

Hmmm what can i say at a time like this but.... yuck. It really feels heavy in my stomach like it is already purchasing its return ticket. The mix of the sweetness and gelatinous texture did not slide down well as the squiggly fungus matter in the bottom finished it off. This was like drinking Saliva, like a sloppy wet kiss. Only instead of it coming from the wonderful Zooey it was straight from a bird called the Swift.

As for my health, right now i am not feeling healthier... in fact my health has lost a few points... but we'll have to see what the future holds as most things that taste bad are actually good... hopefully.


The other item was a little easier to digest but no less odd.... Mochi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mochi )

These little glutinous rice balls seemed like a nice dessert, they did however let me down a little.

The sweetness was nice, it was not overpowering and quite mellow, it was once again the texture that really made this a challenge. They were soft, kinda like a mix between a marshmallow and well... play dough. I decided to try two varieties, green tea and sesame.

The sesame was not too bad, the marshmallow texture was a little odd but the contrast from the surrounding seeds worked in its favor and the center of black sesame was quite appetizing... the other odd thing was the fact that the sesame seemed to have a soy taste so the contrast between the salty and sweet came into play.

The green tea one was the opposite. Play doughy and sticky it was hard to swallow. Leaving an unsettling feeling in my stomach. the centre was this weird goo that tasted overly sweet. Like eating raw scone dough.

I can see how some of these would be a nice treat, but really you have to pick the right ones. It was an interesting experience.

Twilight Review... Two Years in the making.

Ok, those of you who know me personally will know my absolute Hatred towards the Twilight series... this hatred was purely by what i had heard about the film and really had no basis... this i will admit now. However i have just watched the film before writing this blog... i know it has taken a while but this was really hard for me to do knowing how much dislike i would have... even harder was the challenge i gave myself to be unbiased....

Lets just say after watching the film my respect for it has grown... unfortunately the naked eye could not pick the difference in level and so i can safely say that i dislike this film just as much as i did before, and heres why....

Twilight follows your typical Romanticism Storyline, Two lovers, separated from the world around them unable to fit into society must make the ultimate sacrifice to be eternal with each other... the same storyline can be found in Wagner's Tristan and Isolde and even David Bowie's Heroes... its a tried and true plot and most of the time it works.... unless you happen to pile on top of that bad acting, awful dialogue, unrealistic settings and a shitload of teen Angst... this is where we find Twilight.

Romanticism practically invented the Vampire, Dracula was your typical charachter of that era, alone against the world, misunderstood and mistreated, forced to live in solitude and become the monster within and so it would only be fitting to do a film of this sort....in theory.

Lets start with the script because i feel this was the worst part of the film, you know when someone tries to write poetry for the first time, they will think up long descriptive words, massive flowing sentances about nothing at all, trying to sound emotive but really just sounding like a thesaurus? This was the script to twilight, there weren't long drawn out sentances and overy descriptive words but it was like they were trying too hard to describe their feelings that they forgot to emote them. Everyone has heard the key lines..."your'e like a drug to me" "i'd Die for you" hearing these just leave you sick to the stomach. Nobody talks like this, not in history and probably not in the future...especially a 17 year old. Its like they had taken the dialogue from a soap opera, or something from the Romance section of Borders. The film is the script and it is on this level that the film fails no matter what images it puts over it... but even these were a let down. And don't even get me started on how this raped the vampire mythology!

First of all the make up.... would have worked on stage, but in a film we are meant to buy it as being real, putting a shitload of white stuff on your face a vampire it does make you not. It almost made them look like mimes and totally distracted from the film. The fact that Bella too looked just as pale confused the imagary even more, if anything she should have been more colourful to show the difference between them, hence the conflict.

Secondly the camera work and effects were well below par, it looked like it had been shot for TV, hand held shots randomly placed to express something that wasn't there, a camera should be strategically placed with reason, making it handheld randomly does nothing but confuse. And the Effects... now this was where i thought i would have something to like in this film, oh i was wrong... i will admit the car scene where Edward jumps in looked pretty cool... but the rest, the fast running etc. Looked like something i could do in After effects. 

Finally the Acting, which goes along with the angst... There was only one actor i liked in this film and he wasn't even a lead role. It was Billy Burke who played Bella's Father. The scene where she has to lie to him to stop danger from coming onto him actually made me feel bad for him, as he turns to her and tells her he can change was heart wrenching and for that one minute scene i actually felt something... then the movie carried on and i was back to nothing. The worst acting award definatley goes to Edward himself... i know he didnt have much of a script to go with but really he could have shown some emotion...any emotion... waving your head does not express suffering! oh... and there was lots of unwarrented Angst... enough said about that.

In the end though i Digress.... this was not the worst film ever made.... the soundtrack was pretty cool and i can see how this would appeal to 16 yr old girls who don't give a rats arse about story and just want to see angsty expressions...however to the older people who love the series although i can't make judgement about your taste i ask you one question.... "Why???"

I could go read the book to really get a grasp of this series but really it would do nothing to make me hate this any less. This a film i am glad i finally watched because now i can put it behind me and forget all about it... i have seen worse but bad is bad... and this is just that.

Tasty Treats Pt1: Dragon Beard Candy

Just a bit of an intro here, i have decided to make a note of all the new things i am attempting to try this year, basically anything i find on my travels overseas or to Asian Grocery stores.... 

I found these at the local Asia Mart and had to try them, they looked like almonds wrapped in insulation, the type of stuff you'd find in a roof. What it is however is (according to one website) Over 8000 strands of sugar woven by masters of confectionery....

The truth is that beyond looking suss, it actually is really just Chinese Cotton Candy, filled with sesame seeds and almond, really tasty. The texture is odd, you try to pull it out of its little patty cake tin and bits of sugar cotton break off floating onto and around you... my clothes are still dusted in some.

Overall this is not really that strange, but it is different and rewarding. The Candy coating is sweet but not over the top like the American counterpart and the centre is crunchy and sweet and nutty and really bring a nice palate to the snack. I now have an Empty Dragons beard box... lets hope the rest of my Tasty Treats are the same....

If it looks good... Eat it!

Well... its been a while since i posted here, and really i have no excuse so lets just both move past that and back into Blogland!

A while back i posted a blog about an upcoming trip to South America, unfortunatly due to a few circumstance changes i am now not taking that journey just yet. Instead i am going solo, to wonderful South East Asia! My plan is to do it in tours, this makes for easier solo travlling as i wont really be solo and will help me find some cool places to see. I will have time on my own in Hanoi and Bangkok but travelling between the two will be under the guidence of a guide... and my main motivation for this trip.... the food!

The way i see it, Taste is the only sense we have left that is still unexplored, not so much as a species but as individual. It is highly varied across different countries and the variations are extreeme to say the least... while we may see beautiful sights we can relate them back to something at home, touch is already mostly covered in day to day life.... and as for smell... well it usually comes alongside with taste. But Taste... how can you possibly describe to someone the taste of snail unless they try it themselves... the texture of grasshopper...sure its crunchy... but there is so much more to it... Food is culture, it is history and it is unique.

I have really gotten addicted to a show called "Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern" and i reccomend people watch it, basically its an american chef who travels round the world eating unique things, like the beating heart of a snake or worms fresh out of a branch... i know some people have cringed at this but what you need to understand is why these dishes have come about and open yourselves to looking past what you know of them and try them...

Most people do not take advantage of this to its full potential, the culture we have dictates against it. Things that are perfectly normal overseas are seen to us as being disgusting for no other reason than society has taught us to see them as such. We would not think twice about eating a bulls testical but in some countries it is seen as nothing more than a good source of protein. If we as westeners get over what we beleive to be wrong then we can expend ourselves so much more into the cultures around us.
When i travel i will set myself a mantra... unless it will kill/make you sick...TRY IT. If someone offers me sheep penis and rice i will try it, if someone offers me desiesed meat i wont... simple. Whether or not it will taste good is just part of the joy... if its bad at least i will know it is bad rather than leaving myself wondering.

South East asia is known for its markets and street food... these will be my main areas to be in, i am worried about getting Gastro and food poisoning but upon reading a whole lot of articles some saying that i should avoid almnost everything.... some saying that they read that same article but said fuck it.... i am going somewhere in the middle ground..
When i am on the tour and the guide offers me something... anything is fair go.... alone i will only eat things that are cooked in front of me and popular with others... if i get sick so be it... but i am playing it safe.
Some things i cant wait to try:
-Scorpion
- Coffee that has passed through the digestive system of a Monkey
-  Snake

Travel is all about adventure, it is about leaving your comfort zone, it has purpose in cultures and it will be interesting to see how and why these foods came about. And i will blog accordingly about them...

Of cource while i am over there i will enjoy the scenery and the history, i will drink and party it up... but the markets, the food will be my focus... i will not eat pad thai or anything i'd normally have at a thai resteraunt... i am going to eat whatever the locals eat... and it is going to be awesome!