Goga, Shanghai

My business friend is very nice of bringing me to Goga, famous for its truffle oil cuisine as told.  The owner and chef is Brad Turley, cooking Cali-Asian food.  It is a cosy little place, opened for two seatings at night, 6.30 and 8.30 pm.  It's always full. Reservation is a must.  A waiter called us half hour prior to the show time, making sure we would turn up.  Each round can accommodate up to 20 people.  Service is super quick.  You get your dish soon after the order.

Appetizers came West Coast Lobster Roll and Sizzling Kampachi Sashimi.  The sashimi was excellent.  Fresh firm half cooked fish swimming in white soy and white truffle.  The fragrant mixture lingered in the mouth, trying to swallow it till the last second to enjoy the precious moments.  The lobster roll was good but still better if the roll was kind of Vietnamese rice roll which is neutral and not taking away the flavour and rich lobster.  It's my thought.

Duck Confit Salad came next. Crispy duck and a bit sweet salad.  Hmm, my best duck confit is from Bouchon Bistro Français, Hong Kong. We mixed the duck meat together with the salad.  So, we could not differentiate the duck from the fresh salad.

We picked pan fried snapper and braised ox cheeks. The latter's texture is like traditional Shanghaiese braised beef dish. One of the business friends was certainly not impressed. Honestly, I think the Chinese one is more delicious and a better value.

The best came the last: Chocolate mousse.  We three shared one.  Gorgeous!  At the bottom is mille feuille, the middle a rich layer of milk chocolate mousse, top with crunch and blueberry.  Yum yum!

Address:
1 Yueyang Lu,
near Dongping Lu

Reservations:
6431 9700

Hong Kong Wetland Park 香港濕地公園

2 Jan 2012

New year started with the nature, a tour at Hong Kong Wetland Park 香港濕地公園, observing birds spending their winter in warm Hong Kong.  It was arranged by a group under Shatin Baptist Church.  Wetland is a the place where the sea meets the land.  Typical characteristic is mangrove proliferation.  It is also a place as birds' paradise, an ecosystem that can be watched and extended.  Extension links to mankind's treatment to the nature.  Hope it will stay.

The trip started with happy birthday, to Nelson.  A nice yummy cake added us energy to be burnt during the trip.  Well, not all can be consumed, but accumulated as fat.....

A guardian of the park gave us a briefing and advised the itinerary of the day.  Barren houses are seen on the way.  Soon came tranquil and natural scenery.  Flowing river, flying birds, sitting birds, big and small.  All can be named, by the guardian.  We could see the birds through a telescope.  Sharp eyesight of birds, feathers in layer,  brown, white, grey. Single, a few or huge groups of birds could all be in view.

We were led on a floating bridge.  It has no hook nor nail but can float.  We passed through the border.  Wired fence is high up to prevent illegal immigrants.  Then we reached a birdview house.  Thousands of birds gathered at the wetland.  Some birds sitting alone high, remained elegant, seemed to show off.  One was a blue kingfisher.  Gorgeous!

Birds coming back to rest.  We slowly left the wetland, going back to the noisy world, resting for a night and living on another hectic day.  It goes round and round, never ending till one day.....

Spalt

24 July 2011

It's the next day that we arrived in Germany.  We first visited Grandma in the hospital.  She was happy to see me.  Her operation made her suffer much.  She was so tired to fall in sleep in about a half hour since we were there.

My friend's parents live in Nűrnberg, part of Franconian.  We passed by Schwabach and a few villages then came to the Gasthof 'zum Heidenberg', a little traditional Franconian restaurant.  It has been standing there since 1624. It is famous for its game and meat. It raises its own boar. Many families come here for casual lunch, reunion and celebration.   Even I am not a person for big meat, I will recommend it.  See my dish!  It's good and huge.  The meat was tender and full of flavour.  The chanterelle, spätzle, vegetable together... A wonderful meal.

The drive to the gasthof and further away is small streets on the country side.  Blue sky, white clouds and little traffic.  We were heading to Spalt, a very old town (1200 years old) in the district of Roth.  It is famous for the hop, grown for making beer.  It's said that people in Spalt grow very old.  Thank you to its beer!

Weather became gloomy.  We came to a tower.  A woman greeted  and invited us to visit the tower.  It costs €1 per person. Staff at the greeting hall was very friendly, trying to tell tourists everything about the history of the tower. 

Each floor has a themed display.  It's all about life in the old days.  The first is a barber shop.  Wash basin, permed hair model, perming hair machine, hair dressing chair and mirror.  The stuff is not so different as observed in the 70s.  Not sure how old they are. Next came a shoes shop.  Different tools, sewing machine and a specialised machine polishing the sole are show.  It looks so alike the modern machine.  Amazing!  When ascending to an upper floor, it shows a normal residence.  I was fascinated by the kitchen with an oven.  The sleeping room shows a typical family with a baby bed, double bed and a wardrobe.  Wow, it's a living museum!

Rothenburg ob der Tauber

27 July 2011

Youth Hostel

It was my second time visiting Rothenburg but this time on my birthday, with Family Heim.  It is a walled medieval old town, along the Romantic Road in Bavaria.  I remember that there was an Umzug the first time when I was there. People in medieval clothing were marching and performing. There was a great view out from the toilet window of the youth hostel, lush green, endless and romantic.


We had a cosy breakfast at home in Nürnberg.  Then we drove for an hour to start the lovely visit.  Sunshine blessed the day.  My birthday was filled with beautiful unspoiled medieval buildings, green surroundings, laughter and memory.

Many buildings have signs indicating the business that the shop is in.  Cute!  We passed through a gate, beautiful houses and then arrived at the Marktplatz where the Rathaus and major buildings are standing. 

To have a great panoramic view of the town, we ascended to the roof of the Rathaus.  It's a narrow rounded top allowing limited number of visitors.  Be sure to get there.  It's worth the efforts and money.

The town is old but it's also creative. A shop selling teddy bear shows bears as important musicians.  Great names of Beethoven, Bach, Schumann, etc. 

After lunch we walked to the surrounding of the old town, bathed in the greenery and under the sunshine.  Sights of isolated church, randomly scattered houses, nice private gardens, stone bridge.  All can be described as picturesque.

Slowly we walked back to the town via a gate.  Sorry, don't know the name.  There are many gates at different points of the wall.  Ascending from any point to look at the town and the surroundings.  Everywhere is shown with names of donators from all around the world.

One of the spots worths photography is Plonlein, that I learnt about it after the trip. Well, my photo is certainly not among the best, but an impression for a desire to visit next time you will be there.

St Jakobskirche (church) is a gigantic landmark of Rothenburg.  The Gothic church houses a famous masterpiece  by Würzburg sculptor Tilman Riemenschneider, the Holy Blood Altarpiece.  In the centre is the Last Supper carved in wood. The expressions of the figures are very real.  Superb technique!

 

Close to the end of the visit came we to the Burg Garten.  A man performed music with a special instrument, family and friends relaxed, tourists wandered around.  One can get fantastic views of the town and the surroundings. 

Time to go, goodbye charming and eternal Rothenburg.  This birthday is one of the happiest in the recent years.

Singapore Delicacies

I was lucky to sample a number of Singapore Delicacies during the recent business trip.   First to mention is the national dish - crab.  We went to a No Signboard Seafood that local families go.  Target: White Pepper Crab!

Let's start, hooray!  One Sri Lanka crab for two of us.  Spicy scallop, prawn roll and Samal Kangkong 馬來风光, morning glory fried with chilli paste.  The signature dish is White Pepper Crab.  It is cooked with spring onion and ginger, looks the way my mom cooks at home.  I like its sometimes dominant and sometimes subtle white pepper fragrance.  I could taste the natural sweetness of the crab.  Big piece of crab meat, double happiness.  Marvelous!

One can order scallops cooked in different ways.  We asked for XO sauce, turning out very spicy but pleasant.  Yum!  The prawn roll was relative so so standing next to the fantastic dishes. 

Two nights later, Jacky took us to a local but more touristic and pricey restaurant, Sin Hoi Sai at Tiong Bahru.  Prawn fried with oat is interesting and so as the coffee ribs.  But once the Black Pepper Crab was on show, they were compared down.  The crab was pungent, tasty and very nice.  But we were filled up with quick, with the other two dishes and drinks washing down the spiciness.

If you ask me which is more my favourite, I will say the white one as I could taste more the natural taste of the crab.  Certainly, I will eat them again in the future whenever I am in Singapore again.  But I will try local restaurants in public estate, if I can find one, more authentic and with more reasonable price.

Tauhu Telor

7 of us had lunch on the day I left Singapore.  The venue is Island Café at Tang's, a corner around my hotel.  The most impressive is Tauhu Telor deep fried tofu and eggs served with soy sauce, garlic and chilli.  It's simple, crispy and delicious.  The platter with satay and deep fried was good.  I tried a spring roll.  It's fabulous, from a person seldon eating deep fried food.  Imagine, how good it is.  Singaporean chefs do wonderful deep fried, not oily, crispy and not filling up easily.  Like!

A local salad with soy sauce dressing is also very welcome.  Different kinds of vege, slightly sweet dressing, fresh and mouth washing.

We also ordered Chicken rice, Lobster Laksa and Prawn Mee Soup.  Chicken is tender and juicy.  However, I preferred Hainan Chicken Rice, for its rice mingled with chicken fat.  Laksa and Prawn Mee Soup were intensive.  Sharing in group is not favourable as the noodle gets cold soon.  One does not have the enthusiasm of eating it when after the stage of piping hot has gone.  Too many choices on the table and everything is appealing.  When it's down to the signature noodle dishes, lobster is rough and noodle was no longer hot.  No desire to sip and eat the soup.  A pity but the whole meal was very enjoyable, together with 7 beauties.  Yeah!

There are many food courts and stalls around Singpapore.  You may spend a handful of money or very little to have good meal.  Good luck!  Stick to the locals to chase after good food!