Day five: Going by bubble

Tuesday's clue was – 'Going by bubble' and the instructions from Carl was that I was to dress up. So, I did, well, I think Manolo completes any kind of dressy event. So, absolutely clueless as to what the evening held, and it was to be an early one.

We arrived at Daniel on Manhattan's East Upper Side. Still clueless. Sat down to Kir Royals – hmmm...were these the bubbles? And the waiters were on it - they knew I was to be surprised so kept it all to themselves and even joked about it.

Entrance to Daniel

We sipped on our bubbles, and I was told that I was to dine in style – Chef Daniel Boulud's creations. By the way, all the pictures here are from the website. I could not snap away in tourist fashion as I was simply too caught up with everything.

The bar - cocktails here are exquisite

And we dined...like royalty. The service was impeccable....and all the while, our waiter, Kevin, kept saying I needed to speed things up as my surprise waited for me and I should choose and enjoy.

The mini starter which was a sampler

This is not what I had but wanted you to get an idea of how intricate everything was.

Each course was accompanied by its wine and I cannot gush on enough. Before desert, we were whisked away, where I was to discover the real surprise of 'Going by bubble'.

We set off in a black car...check out my peacock (which Carl is now calling Horst - can take the boy out of Germany, but not Germany out of the boy!)

Funky advertising in the background

Carl had bought tickets to Wicked. If I was not already in love with him, I would fall in love all over again.

The one picture we managed to take...check out how Emerald City is all...emerald;)

The show was wicked and this rarely happens - I was dumbfounded - for the lack of a better word. I was speechless. I am still processing the musical - cannot find the words yet, so will get to it soon.

We set off back to Daniel for desert right after the show. Daniel prepares a very well thought out menu for pre-show dinners. You then go back for desert and cocktails. And that we did.

This is what I had - picture from their website, but my goodness...I am not a sweets person, but this was heaven.

We chilled out at the lounge longer and Kevin our waiter actually came out to check on us to see if we got back and had our desert and to have a bit of chat. Carl did good.  And all I can say, is thank you.

A peek into Chelsea Market

We were in a bit of a rush to get back in time for classes. But dashed into Chelsea Market, to grab a quick but exquisite bite.

This one is for Papa - he always called the school canteen - the tuck shop!

Weird art-water installment - which is also a well? Not sure - need to go back to check it all out!!!

Costly couture

A gorgeous dress in this shop window caught my eye, and I thought, hmmm...let's take a peek. Here the pictures show me dashing in and out. $5000 on the label. 

I like this one

Let's get out of here before they charge me for having touched it!

Seriously, they are going to charge for having photographed the dresses!

High on the Highline

Day four, my card showed a picture of a dunce's hat - I was to set off to school! But before that we still had the first part of the day to do some sauntering around. We high tailed it to Highline, an old overground metro line that has now been converted to a park of sorts.

The view - Hudson River

A birdhouse art piece - explanation below

This is a residential building - saw some beagles just standing and looking out.

Long walkways, almost as if you are walking through the city but at the tenth floor level

Just to get a perspective on the lines

The view that you get if you lay down on the floor!

The Statue of Liberty in the background

Day three: steam

Finally, the morning of day three I manage to sleep in a little after being given a resounding scolding for pottering around 3 in the morning. I listened to a mini lecture on the effects of light on one's psychological being but managed to doze off after scaring myself with a few chapters of Woman in Black.

Durians with a side of toilet paper

Anyway, I woke up to day three's coupon – steam. I walked around convinced it was to be a spa day. But it was to be more. We headed out, me in my newly acquired New York shopping excursion jeans and boots. We arrived into Chinatown in style.

Now, I have not seen a durian in ages. For those of of you not in the know, durians are known as the king of fruits in Malaysia.

The smell is something between a rotting carcass, a garbage truck, and the sewers. You get the point. I happen to dislike durians and unfortunately came from a family of durian lovers, and have recently discovered Carl is also a fan.

I began to suspect we were not headed to a spa.

We walked towards a restaurant with at least a hundred people milling around outside. We walked up to the reception and were given a number – 131 and told that we would be called in 40 minutes.

We explored Chinatown a little, walking around and I was simply excited to see things that I had seen in Malaysia back in the 90's. We managed to squeeze in some Asian grocery shopping.

I look like a crazy North Korean leader for some reason.

Eager to get back to one of my favourite foods ever – dim sum ( hence the 'steam' surprise.), we headed back to the restaurant with our growling tummies.
I had not had dim sum since our last sojourn in London and I crave for vegetarian dumplings, tofu, and chee cheong fun... I do...aaah.

We got in and were told to take head up on this very lengthy escalator.

Brimming in anticipation, we arrived into this crowd of no larger than 798 people. A very precise number.

Before we could take our jackets off we were asked by a lady pushing a cart if we wanted siu mai and Japanese tofu.

Before settling in to our seats, we grabbed an array of dishes and dug in.

So, we began our escapade into dim sum heaven.  And what really hit the spot? A finishing off with taufufa. I remember complaining just a few months ago, how it was a dessert that I could never find, could never cook on my own and would always miss.

Now, I am satiated.

Wondering when the next dim sum escapade will be....

The Elephant in the square

We walked through Union Square today and I have to trumpet about this. A giant bronze statue of an elephant holding itself up by the tip of its trunk.

Called the Gran Elefandret by Spanish artist Miguel Barcelo, the statue is apparently a traveling one. I have always loved elephants. And ever since I titled a book with the breath of an elephant, I tend to see elephant's everywhere, acknowledging the elephant in the room, so to speak.

Painting New York blue

Carl has been a generous host and as always on his quest to surprise the hell out of me. So, every day, I get a card (it is only day two today so we shall see;)

Yesterday, Friday, I had the clue – being on top. Before your randy minds run away with you, it was about heading to The Standard and drinking cocktails while viewing the city from on top.

Today, Saturday, my clue was – poncho.

The view from Carl's window with my clues.

I remained clueless up to the point we actually appeared almost in front of Astor Place in Lafayette. Truly surprised – a show by The Blue Man Group. And what a way to be surprised. First, Carl was randomly called to stand up while a digital audience prompter got the audience to tell him that they loved him in unison - what a laugh.

I think the biggest surprise of the show came when I was hauled away to join the blue men as part of their show!

Carl secretly took a picture from the audience - here I am on stage.

 I played in on their skit and had a great time - walked away with a little take-away box filled with squished bananas and a photo with one of them. The sketch with them saw us sitting to dinner to eat Twiggies and eventually we all squirted bananas out of our makeshift shirts.

I am not crying - just holding back mirth. And the ribbon is from the lunch box which I happily left behind.

It was a super show, a true surprise from Carl and as we are celebrating an anniversary of sorts - I would like to say blue is definitely not the state I am in.

But the night is still young, and Carl has further surprises planned. So we shall see - off to paint the town blue now. Blue is the new red.

New York New York

I love New York. I really do. Arriving into Newark with my bag carrying Deutsches Scwarzbrot, heart brimming with anticipation of seeing Carl again, I scooted into the immigration line. I always get a bit antsy with American immigration - I have never had any incidents myself, but have had a fair number of beers listening to hair raising tales.

So, there I was all bushy tailed and bright eyed, well as bushy and bright one can look after eight and hour half hours of being fed what could hardly pass of as food! I am Malaysian - we have exceptionally high food standards. Given half a chance, this blogpost can turn into a food account. But no.

There are five times the number of people learning English in China than the number of people in England. An advert by HSBC plastered on the walls as I walked. As it tends to happen - I missed the whole point and instead worried about the fact that I did not know the number of people in England! Ha!

Then, walked up the officer, who then proceeded to ask me where I bought my Northface jacket and if I could step back so he could take a better look. Now, when an immigration officer says step back, you simply do without questioning.



Carl with his wine and his belated Valentine's gift

But, all cleared in a jiffy, out to Carl who was waiting with sunflowers. A man capable of finding sunflowers in winter is a keeper. He came equipped with wine for the super shuttle ride into the city and we met some lovely people in the shuttle including a fantabulous Norwegian who works for their parliament.

This city is amazing! Cocktails at The Standard with a view of the city - very classy. Carl's meal was miniscule -  you needed a magnifying glass to see it. Was hilarious when the cab driver asked where specifically we wanted to head to and Carl answered with "It's a surprise, so I can't give it away!"  The taxi driver laughed and asked if we were European!!

Carl's sirloin steak - funny when the waitress asked him how he liked his meal - he responded with "small"

Gorgeous start to the vacation - I will need to vacate my mind from all sorts of stress, and go conquer the city!

Elephant's Breath for free

My book, Elephant's Breath will be available as a free download from now until Saturday. Download, enjoy, and let me know your thoughts.

I will be picking up print proofs tomorrow and the print versions will be available soon.

Thank you supporting writers and the written word.

Empanada: to wrap

One of the stories in Elephant's Breath, Empanada Lover, was inspired wholesomely by an empanada shop near the Sant Antoni metro in Barcelona. It was a windy, sunny, Saturday morning when Carl and I first walked into the shop, drawn simply by the smell of baking pastry wafting in the air.

We ordered just one. Having brunched like kings prior to that, we were not hungry, just greedy. We paid for one, but walked out with two. A gift from the owner. We walked out with much more. I glanced around the shop, enthralled by the paintings on the walls, books stacked everywhere, and the very artsy feel of what seemed like a functional food shop.

I returned months later, after the story had asked to be written and as I stood in line at the shop, I noticed a flyer all in Catalan with a picture of the owner and cook in the shop. Mario M. Perez Ruiz. Apparently he was a writer too.

Mario-M-Perez Ruis cooking up a storm

A day before the launch of the book, we returned to the shop to speak to Mario. We were the only ones in the shop, and Mario was happy to delight us with his books and tales. A poet, author, television and radio personality, journalist, he also, owns, runs, and cooks in his shop.

Now, that is an extensive portfolio. But we were wrapped up in his energy, his passion to feed, and his love for the arts.

The word empanada loosely means to wrap. And that is what an empanada does. The crispy dough wraps a juicy filling and it is wholesome goodness for a very affordable price. Empanadas exist in many forms in many different nations, each one claiming a specialty

Empanada

For me, empanadas will for now and forever wrap me up in memories of inspiration, that can come simply from standing at the doors of a shop.  If you are ever in Barcelona, look out for Mario's shop. He may remember me as the little Indian with the big German, and who spoke of elephants breathing.














Photo credits: http://bradspurgeon.com/tag/mario-m-perez-ruiz/
http://organizingdinner.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/empanada.jpg

Always begin with food: an ode to nasi lemak

I am at the heart of it all, very Malaysian.

I love talking about food, almost as much as I love imbibing food, often catch myself greeting people with 'Have you eaten?', and would happily slog or drive for hours in order to get the perfect meal.  Essentially, most Malaysians, and I generalize unforgivably here, live to eat. This whole idea though has been a little alien to my new country mates - the Germans.

Germans are blessed with very many sterling qualities, again a gross generalization, but among the pinnacles of their being is their practicality. Many a family have a simple meal of bread and cheese for dinner and you hardly get stuck in endless debates of where to get the best schweinshaxe  nor sauerkraut in town. Breakfasts which are the German main meal consist of various types of cold cuts, cheeses and breads and the warmest, well hardly, food on the table would be a boiled egg.

Now, what is a typical Malaysian breakfast, I hear you ask?

Nasi lemak.

Steamed fluffy rice cooked with coconut milk, served with a side of spicy chicken or beef rendang (which is a spicy sauce), anchovies, peanuts, sliced cucumbers, boiled egg and if you are lucky, wrapped in banana leaf for the added scent.

 It is in no way a low-calorie meal, but I have often heard it heralded as the de facto national dish of Malaysia.

It is a meal you prepare in parts : first the rice, then the sambal (sauce) and if your anchovies are not already fried, then the anchovies in spicy sauce, and the Pièce de résistance,  beef rendang. If you are vegetarian or a pescatarian, you can easily omit the beef and replace with tofu and the same with anchovies- can be replaced with deep friend tofu.


So, I begin with food. Which beginning? My beginning with blogging again. I introduce here the recipe for nasi lemak for two as I know it.

Step 1

The rice. Now, the world is divided into three categories of rice in my eyes - Indian basmati, all the South East Asian Jasmine rice varieties, and the East Asian sticky sushi rice. For nasi lemak, get yourself the most fragrant jasmine rice.  Wash one cup of  rice and drain. Boil with two cups of coconut milk. Add slices of ginger and shallots. If you manage to get your hands on screwpine leaves or pandan leaves as they are called in Malay - even better! Dash of salt! Bubble bubble boil boil and you are done.

Step 2
The sauce. While the rice is cooking away, get started on the sauce. Pound in your mortar and pestle (every household needs one!) 10 dried chillies, 10 shallots, a wee bit of dried shrimp paste (if you have it - I tend to omit this because of the smell that may raise the dead). In a separate bowl, mix a tablespoon of tamarind in half a cup of water. Now the action can begin. A dash of oil into the pan, fry some peanuts (about 100g) and your anchovies (100g). Remove everything and now throw in the paste, add the tamarind and half a cup of coconut milk. When everything comes to a lovely boil and the oil separates from the chili, add a tablespoon of sugar.

Step 3
Boil two eggs. Cut them in halves. Slice cucumbers. Arrange everything on plates including the anchovies and peanuts. Add rice and for the sauce, it has to be a personal decision on how much you would like to slap on.

There is a Step 4 to this, of course, the rendang, but that can wait. I need to be able to talk about food more in my next post.

Or perhaps, I would like to start talking about the state of politics in Malaysia and how the entire nation is held together with the fragile thread of food. Perhaps, that's what has made Malaysians food-obsessed. An obsession that has bound every race and religion into joyous and harmonious living.






Picture credit: Inserted without permission from  malaysiasite.com