London at Christmas: Kissing under the mistletoe

Well I hope that those of you who celebrate it have enjoyed your Christmas (had a big family argument, got bloated on festive feasting, and headed guiltily to the gym.) (Yes, these too are British traditions!)

Anyway, here’s a final seasonal weirdo for this year:

A brief kiss under the mistletoe is a secondary festive tradition. It is a sign of goodwill or, now, more a romantic thing for couples. There seem to be many theories on the origin of the custom. It could be linked to old Scandinavia, where ritual dictated that foes put down their weapons if they clashed under mistletoe.

Today, people can kiss under mistletoe at any time over the festive season, though I would say it is more common on Christmas Eve, or at New Year’s Eve parties (NB: beware the drunken lech!) Apparently in France the tradition is reserved solely for New Year’s.


In Europe and North America mistletoe has special significance over the festive season, and is often used as a decoration.

It's actually a semi-parasitic plant. It grows on the branches of other plants draining water and minerals from the host, though it also feeds itself using photosynthesis. Its seeds are spread by birds who eat the berries. I remember globes of European mistletoe on the apple trees at my Grandparents’ home in Wales, UK, though there are many varieties the world over.


Happy holidays, peeps!

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European mistletoe

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Close up. No copyright infringement intended.

メリ~クリスマス: and The Big Shutdown!

A friend of mine told me of clients from Tokyo, who visited London as tourists for just three days over Christmas. I wonder if they enjoyed it? I hope they did, but if you are planning similar, beware:

December 24th, Christmas Eve: incredible, crowded, nightmare shopping frenzy in town (as locals panic re: Christmas presents)
December 25th, Christmas Day: shops and all public transport shut down. The city is a ghost town!
December 26th, Boxing Day: incredible, crowded, nightmare shopping frenzy in town (for the sales). And this year, tubeworkers strike.

I guess if you have a good hotel, you would get a nice meal on 25th. But you won't get to experience London at its best on any of these days. I'd recommend earlier in December for a Christmas feel (see Festive Arcades entry) when other attractions are open, and queues still bearable. OK, perhaps compared to Tokyo, it's all still pretty sedate, but that is my advice!

Meanwhile: I had my regular Japanese language lesson yesterday (28th) and found that I was once again almost pushed under a tube train by overcrowding, AND had to use advanced combat skills to get a seat in our usual quiet cafe. *sigh*

London at Christmas: The Advent Calendar

I was talking to an Asian friend last night, and she hadn’t heard of these, so here goes…

Advent calendars are traditionally used in Europe and North America to count down the days until Christmas. In the UK they usually resemble a large Christmas card with small ‘doors’ cut into it. Behind each door is a surprise picture, small gift or chocolate.  Children open one door each day, starting on 1^st December, and culminating in something special on 24^th or 25^th.

Apparently, the idea originated in the early 1800s with the German Lutherans, who would count down the days of Advent using candles or marks on a board. ‘Advent’ is actually the Christian religious period encompassing the four Sundays before Christmas. Modern calendars have been modified to the month of December.

When I was little, we had pictures (often religious) as our advent calendar treats and I was quite surprised when the luxury ‘chocolate’ versions appeared later on. (This makes me sound like a geriatric, but actually the evolution has been fast!) Today every brand has its own commercial version. If you really want it, you can even get one of dramatic genius Robert Pattinson. I could start one of those pieces about fame being the modern religion here, but I won’t!

   

Kari Ayam - woohoo!

I am currently cooking up my bi-annual Kari Ayam (Malay chicken curry). Underrated in the West, and usually outshone by the famous, well-marketed Thai curries, the Malay one is excessively yum! (Though I admit restaurant versions vary hugely.)

It uses coconut milk but a different set of spices, and is less sweet than the Thai counterpart. I am lucky enough to have a very good recipe, straight from a Malay kitchen. I'll post it up soon, so you can give it a go!

In the meanwhile: grappling with beans.

Dodgy design update

Fuzzy, yellowy colours and text? Apparently it could be a browser (+Windows 7 compatability) issue. Oh the excitement. So, hopefully, you can see still this blog in clear, glorious technicolour. I can't. Need to experiment!

Nosh of the day: ZENZAI !!!

Yes it’s bloomin freezing in London; time to break into the zenzai gift! For those who don’t remember, zenzai is a sweet, red-bean soup from Japan. It can be served hot, and sometimes with mochi .*  I was kindly given two zenzai from Tokyo to try: cook-in-pan; and posh-with-mochi.

PAN

Add packet contents to 150ml water, 50g sugar and simmer for around 6 minutes.

Verdict: Yes, good old red-bean soup! Yum. It is very similar to the delicious Chinese one I used to eat. The flavour strongly reminds me of chestnut – sweet and nutty. Very nice! If you’re eating it ‘neat’ as I did, I would actually recommend using 25g of sugar, then adding small amounts to preferred taste.

 

POSH

Heat the soup packet in boiling water for 5 minutes. The raw mochi looks like a bar of hotel soap; you need to heat it until it fluffs up (I used the grill). I am told that if you overcook the mochi it can explode, and I think I over-cautiously under-cooked mine – extra chewy! ^^

Verdict:  超おいしい! (extremely yum). The soup is good anyway, but the gooey, neutral mochi adds very nice contrasting texture and flavour.

 *Mochi are Japanese rice cakes. Hard to describe in English, but the texture is a bit like uncooked dough of varying gooeyness. Often they’re shaped like little patties, with a filling (for example, sweet red-bean paste). There may be many variations I don’t know of! The mochi for this zenzai was the plain ‘dough’.

Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park

I wandered into Winter Wonderland with friends this week. Actually it was pretty impressive - a huge Christmas-Market-with-Funfair / Circus Attractions / Ice Rink etc etc with lots of noise, warm waffle smells, even fake snow. Entry is free but everything else was a bit pricey for our unprepared budgets sadly (and you need tokens we hadn't sorted out). But I might go back to do a couple of rides when more flushed! On until 3rd January.
 http://www.hydeparkwinterwonderland.com/

 

Dastardly design disaster

I am now viewing this blog on a different PC and find that the design and colours look terrible! (Yellowy, glaring, fuzzy- it should have rich contrast colours, and be very clear to read!)  Possibly it's just this machine, or it could be a more general techy design issue. I will investigate. But in the interim, apologies if you have the same view! :(

Koto concert

Last night as SOAS's Brunei Gallery: famous musician Kameyama Kono playing the traditional Japanese stringed instrument 'Koto'. She was accompanied by her daughter on Shamisen (or Sangen) which is a little bit like a three-stringed Western banjo, played using a large comb-shaped tool; and a gentleman on a type of flute called a Shakuhachi.

Koto resembles a long, flat, 13-stringed 'harp'. Strings are plucked and manipulated to make sound. Little bridges are used to tune the strings, and the whole instrument can be retuned to suit a different piece (or, it seems, during a piece to suit different parts!) Apparently, very similar instruments exist in China and Korea.

I admit I am no fan of classical Western music, but quite enjoyed the Japanese version. It was very light and quite calming, though to a lay-person did not have anything like the shape of the music we expect in Europe. (Experts might know better!)

The concert was free. And the trio will also be performing in Bath and Oxford later this week. Plus back at London's St Dunstan-in-the-West on Fleet Street this Friday lunchtime.


Pic courtesy SOAS



Nosh of the Day - Sukiyaki: first contact

I am lucky! Yesterday a Japanese friend kindly gave me some 'boil in the bag' Sukiyaki to try. She knew I had been searching for Sukiyaki in London restaurants, but with a price tag of £30 upwards per person, it is probably more likely I'll eat it in Japan. Anyway, the 'instant' Sukiyaki took five minutes to cook, and it was delicious!

It is a sort of slightly sweet casserole, with very finely sliced beef, different kinds of mushroom, tofu, onion and other Japanese ingredients. If the instant one is this good, perhaps the chef-prepared version really is worth £30?

 

London at Christmas: festive arcades

Check out London's pretty, old-fashioned arcades this Christmas. You can find quite a few off Piccadilly, and other parts of Mayfair. Precursors to today's covered malls, these upmarket little shopping rows look properly Dickensian during the festive season. One of the oldest is the Burlington Arcade (opened 1819), but there's also the Prince's Arcade, Piccadilly Arcade (both early 20th century I believe) and nearby Royal Arcade to visit. (The Royal Arcade - off Albemarle St - houses the fabulous Charbonnel et Walker chocolatier too!)

Burlington Arcade

Prince's Arcade

Piccadilly Arcade

Anime avo

Whoop whoop for Legend of the Millennium Dragon on Sunday, one of the last films in the Barbican Centre's Premiere Japan 2011 mini-season. The anime is clearly aimed at a family audience and probably won't challenge you plot-wise. But the artwork and animation was beautiful and there's plenty of action.

Sadly I missed My Back Page (starring the brilliant Matsuken) on Saturday night. I hope both films will either be released on DVD or screened elsewhere in London soon...

(Images ultimately courtesy Sony (Japan) Inc)

A Tale of Two Cities (‘ riveting transportation systems)

Today, as I skipped daintily across Oxford Circus tube platform with my taekwondo gear, I was almost hurled under a train by the throbbing throng of Christmas shoppers.  The platform was rammed beyond capacity. Fortunately my lightning ninja reflexes prevented tragedy, but it does make you seriously question the safety of the London Underground at peak times. (And, as most Londoners bemoan:  how will it ever cope with the Olympics?)

Conversely, some years ago I went to work in Singapore, entered their clean, air-conditioned MRT, and got totally lost. Where are the platforms? Only visible was a pristine corridor with a few people dotted around it. Then, doors opened and lo: a train had almost noiselessly sashayed in behind screens - this was the platform!

As I later discovered, Singapore trains do get rammed at rush hour. And they don’t all have screens. But there is aircon, cleanliness, no foody smells, no drunks, and in general, shorter distances.

Actually, I had gone to Singapore to work on a project for their transportation provider. And what did I find? Their entire management team was agog with wonder at the London Underground! I kept reiterating – have you ever tried travelling on the tube??? (With its expense, multiple signal failures, endless closures, troublesome stairs, sweat, dirt, puke, smells?)

In fact good old TFL (Transport for London) is revered globally for its tube network. Mainly because it is so extensive, plus it is the oldest underground network in the world but still (just about) keeps up in modern times.  Running trains is no easy feat technically or financially, it turns out. And after a couple of decades the problems begin. Singapore’s new system was just reaching its ‘problem point’; London reached its own 130 years ago!

Anyway, I still think the tube is massively overpriced, unsafe and inefficient. But I guess we have to cut them a little bit of slack. And keep those ninja reflexes honed.

Phew! It has been a busy week. Below are some highlights (don’t ever accuse me of an un-varied life):

1. Weekend - Sent to Coventry…

..to officiate at the British Masters Open Taekwondo Championships.  Including:  a hotel room without phone or hot water ‘because they don’t work on the 6^th floor’ (erm?) ; setting up with my team until late Saturday night, then taking it all down again late Sunday after 10hrs of refereeing; an excellent Nando’s; great fights! I couldn’t compete this time due to injury, but hopefully next time!

2. Friday - Cross-play and pension schemes

A full day of lectures on Japan thanks to the GB Sasakawa Foundation.  They covered culture, health, economics. Cross-play (as opposed to Cosplay) generally refers to men of all ages dressing up as (in particular) cute teenage girls. There is more social and cultural complexity to it than cross-dressing, it seems, such as competition with women. In the opinion of the speaker, at least. Plus a whole raft of ‘gyaru’ vocabulary I didn’t note.

I have yet to visit / live in Japan, and realise that a lot of what we hear in the West is sensationalised or related to tiny minorities (or simply fashion, without the sinister elements we attach to it). But I can’t help finding the apparent teen-girl obsessions rather alarming.  The economics was interesting though!

3. Thursday - Gesamkunstwerk private view @ Saatchi Gallery

New German Art. I have realised unashamedly that I don’t ‘understand’ most contemporary art. But I can still enjoy or be bored by it. This exhibition was a bit of both for me, but go and see what you think. No pix allowed in the galleries but you can get an idea of the show here:  

http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/artists/germany_art/

Overall a very pleasant evening meeting old friends and having a glass of wine. Exhibition runs until 30 April 2012.

 

The Zenzai Update

My lovely friend Chika has located instant Zenzai in Japan - and will be bringing it to London soon. Woohoo! Watch this space for the yummy verdict...

... and London Korean Film Fest

Oh and let's not forget this! On until 24th November. http://www.koreanfilm.co.uk/

Sadly I missed the Ryoo Seung-Wan season of kick-aaaasss martial arts action. But I did find this (staff-made?!) collage....

NyLon @the KCC

Popped into the fabulous Korean Cultural Centre in London, and saw their exhibition NyLon (on until 26 November). It includes some of Meekyoung Shin's vases made of soap, which I missed in her larger London exhibition this year.

I first discovered KCC while doing research for taekwondo and I love their modern, interesting take on promoting Korean culture. Most recently they've been boosting Korean pop (k-pop) in the UK with huge dance-flashmobs and live appearances from the cuddlesome Shinee! I wish Japan, China and others had spaces like this in town and did such unexpected things! They certainly have the richness of cultures to do so :)

Escape!

Zenzai

Yes, readers! The search is on for zenzai (or o-shiruko): Japanese hot, sweet red-bean soup with tiny mochi floating in it. But in London purchase hasn't proved as easy as hoped. I am reliably informed that there are many instant versions, but it seems the central Japanese foodstores don't sell them. Homemade might be the last resort. But in the interim: The Hunt Continues!


Actually I used to regularly eat the Chinese version (tang shui?) in my student days. Sadly the fabulous, cheap, Chinatown canteen that served it no longer exists. But it was definitely a winter highlight and I can't wait to try its Japanese counterpart.


ps Sorry, posts have been sparse due to a marathon bronchitis plus additional bug. Two-in-a-row. It is Autumn, season of mists and airborne viruses. (All the more reason for hot, comforting soup-puddings!)

Birthday present!

I got some clay men for my birthday this year. They were made by an artist called Lawrence Epps, as part of Stoke-on-Trent's British Ceramics Biennial (which is on until 13 November).


These little clay commuters popped up all over the town and also parts of London, apparently. But I have some for my mantlepiece! Thank you IT for a lovely and unusual prezzie!