Melbourne: meeting Leehom Wang + the 'Music Man II' concert

Leehom 'Music-Man II' 王力宏 《火力全開》concert tour
The Plenary, Melbourne Convention Centre  09/04/13

I touched down in Brisbane on Friday afternoon, after spending most of the week in Melbourne, and I had the Guy Sebastian 'Get Along' concert to attend the same night I got back, so it's been, oxymoronically, a busy week of leisure! I never get to sleep early or well when I'm away from home, and somehow my skin always gets into a horrible, dry, unsightly state, especially when I'm in Melbourne, regardless of the use of my regular skin care products. Must be the bipolar weather. Fortunately, Melbourne's strong redeeming feature is its brilliant food culture, which, in my humble opinion, is second to none in Australia. This is why I travel to Melbourne at least once a year just to satisfy my gastronomic cravings. Of course, there are the musical productions that choose to snob Brisbane, too.

The main event I flew down for this time was the concert of my favourite Taiwanese singer, Leehom Wang - his first concert tour ever in Australia. I've been listening to his music since I was in high school (which now seems like a lifetime ago!), so it was, in a way, like I was finally fulfilling a longstanding teenage dream. The occasion was made all the more exciting by the fact that I was also 1 of 100 ticket holders to win a ticket to attend his autograph session the night before the concert. The experience was truly special and something I won't forget in a long time. For a multi-award-winning, extremely talented, handsome, famous singer, he is super nice and laid-back. I still can't believe that he offered to have the professional photographer on stage take photos of him with each and every fan at the autograph session. What a very kind gesture! He deserves all the love and respect he gets from his fans.

Shaking hands with Leehom Wang at the Autograph party (Mid-City Arcade, Bourke St, Melbourne)
(Photo credit: China Town Cinemas, Melbourne) 

With my autographed concert poster!

The organisers of the event laid down strict rules at the outset about not attempting to take our own photos with the artist and not asking to have anything else signed besides the official concert promotional poster (which we had to purchase from them for $5, at the time of ticket collection), citing security reasons. I wasn't told this until the afternoon of the autograph session, when I went to pick up my ticket. I had been spending some time preparing something to have signed back home, so I thought I'd try my luck anyway. This item is a new Moleskine music manuscript notebook that I had purchased last year, with the intention of working on compositions, but I have been putting it off, mainly due to lack of time (and laziness). When I was thinking about what sole item I should ask him to sign (I guesstimated each person would get about 3-4 seconds max. to 'interact' with him), I figured, what better to inspire me to write songs than to have one of my favourite musicians autograph my music book?

I proceeded to make this book, which was to become the most special music book I'd ever own, that little bit more special by cross-stitching a cute Margaret Sherry design to incorporate into a fabric book cover I was going to make for it. I changed the design a bit by stitching the tennis ball into a quaver instead, to make it more music-relevant; to suggest a pun: When in doubt, hit some notes/play music/etc ;) However, as you can see from the pictures below, I ended up sans book cover. I had spent a long time at Lincraft selecting which fabrics, patterns and colours to use, and had it all sitting in its shopping bag at home, ready at my disposal. Sadly, I just didn't have the time, and I realised I would have to sew a thin, rectangular opening on the back fabric cover to accommodate the elastic closure, which I had totally forgotten about. I literally finished doing all the backstitch the night before my flight, and had to wake up extra early the next morning to iron on the interfacing, cut the aida cloth to size and directly glue the cross-stitch design onto the front cover of the book. Thankfully, the finished product still looks good (to me at least). And yes, Leehom did agree to autograph it for me :)

For those of you who are not familiar with him, and might not know what I am harping on about, you can get an idea of what a brilliant singer he is from the following YouTube clip of his duet with the multilingual Canadian songstress, Lara Fabian. It is sung in English and titled, Light of my Life: (the music video is from 13 years or so ago, so the quality is, sadly, not that great.)

   

....Well, what do you think? Silenced by both the singers' great vocals? I expected nothing less :)

The concert itself was phenomenal and lived up every bit to my expectations. Leehom is a fantastic vocalist and a ridiculously talented musician in his own right. He performed brilliantly on the piano, the violin, the electric guitar (which was shaped like a dragon!), and the erhu, which is a traditional Chinese stringed instrument. Like the violin-playing member of Zac Brown Band, he has inspired me to pick up the violin and to start practising the piano again. I'll never be as good as him though - my fingers are too short and clumsy; my technique is weak; and, let's face it, you need some degree of innate talent (which I obviously lack) to be really skilled at an instrument. Perhaps I should focus more on the Chinese zither (gu zheng), which is an instrument I think I might stand a chance at being as good as him at, if I practise harder.

At the concert!

As faultless as the concert was, I do, however, believe my experience would have been more enjoyable if it wasn't for certain factors pertaining to the venue and the fans, which are totally out of the control of the artist, of course:

a) my seat and the one next to it had visible big blotches of dried blood stains on their fabric covers - gross!;
b) one of the security personnel kept physically pushing me back even when I was just standing there at some distance from the stage, not causing any problems (are they even allowed to touch me? I don't think so.); and
c) I wish the other fans were more respectful and mindful of other people around them - I had an avalanche of screaming girls crush against my head, shoulders, and back, such that my glasses were knocked off my face, when Leehom made a manoeuvre to shake my hand. This is how people get injured at concerts. Seriously, do other people really cease to exist when you're in the presence of your idol?! I certainly would not do that to anyone. Safety first. And where were the security guards then, I wonder?

But anyway, on to foodie matters, I took full advantage of the time I was in Melbourne to eat to my heart's content. My sister and I managed to make table reservations in advance at Shannon Bennet's Vue de Monde and at Attica this time round, to try out their degustation menus. It was all very exciting, so I think I might just write reviews up for them before I do the Sydney ones. Expect a whole heap of food reviews to come!  

'The Fault in Our Stars': a book review

My friend gave strong recommendations for a John Green novel, 'The Fault in our Stars', so I had been reading it during my recent flights to and from Sydney, and in my spare time since returning. I literally just finished reading it moments before starting to type this post.

An easy read with a total of 313 pages, you will find it in the 'teenage fiction' category of the bookshop (or online, like I did, from the Book Depository), although, I think the themes are relatable to people across all age groups, from all walks of life. In a nutshell, it's about a 16 yo girl with terminal metastasising thyroid cancer, whose life has been largely consumed by her illness, until she meets the boy of her dreams, who happens to be a one-legged osteosarcoma 'survivor'. It's one of those books where you know how it's going to inevitably end, and it basically just takes you on a journey through the last chapters of her life. The background theme is sad, heart-wrenchingly sad, but it is also spiked with humour throughout, mainly because the narrator, the main character of the book, gives witty and often humourous insights and observations. (A word of warning: reading this book in public places will make you look like you have bipolar disorder.)

Being written in first person from a teenager's point-of-view, the reader can expect the language of speech to be very informal and contain many phrases (too many for my liking) ending with "- or whatever", in typical teenage colloquial style. However, the author's good storytelling skills shine through in the structure of the text, from the well-paced unfolding of the plot, to the clever way in which he gradually and effectively paints out the physical and emotional sides of the characters in the reader's mind. He makes his characters seem more real and three-dimensional by revealing flaws in them, instead of creating cookie-cutter perfect heroes and heroines.

It is a bit unusual to see a work of fiction that tells of life as seen from a cancer patient's perspective, probably because it's difficult to come up with a satisfying ending, but this one is both interesting and thought-provoking, vaguely like a junior version of Mitch Albom's books. I am undecided about whether or not I like the ending to the story, but I feel that it succeeds anyhow in conveying the author's key messages. I am not sure if real-life cancer patients will derive much comfort from reading this book, but it will probably be appreciated by many others, by allowing them to have a glimpse into the (possible) complex world of those affected by cancer, or any chronic medical condition for that matter.

My rating: 7/10

Jason Mraz in concert!

I got back yesterday from my 5-day Sydney getaway, which was planned around the Jason Mraz concert at the Sydney Entertainment Centre, on Tuesday night. Yes, it was fantastic, as expected. He is a fantastic live performer, and I do believe that I love his music even more now; in fact, I am playing his CDs now, as I type this post. Maybe it's because watching the artist perform the songs live helps to bring them to life even more, and forms some sort of connection between singer and listener. I loved how instead of the bells and whistles that you typically get with a lot of other singers' concerts, Jason Mraz's concert was all about the music, and a variety of instruments were showcased in his music, from the trombone to the accordion.

My favourite moments were of course when he sang the songs that first got me to buy his albums - 'I'm yours' and 'Lucky' (the latter also introduced me to the music of Colbie Caillat, who has since also become a favourite singer of mine). Even though I was sitting in the audience, as far as I'm concerned, I have finally sang the duet, 'Lucky', with the man himself. (I do apologise to the people sitting in close proximity, who had to put up with my singing. And awkward on-the-seat bopping throughout the whole concert.)

I have discovered a new favourite music group in Zac Brown Band, the supporting act, too. The violin-playing member, who can also play it like a guitar, actually made me feel like digging out my violin (which I haven't touched since finishing highschool) to play again. They performed for 1-1.5 hours, so it was almost like attending 2 concerts in 1. During the interval, I promptly went to purchase their latest CD at the merchandise counter; that's how much I enjoyed their music. You should definitely check them out!

I stayed outside of the Sydney CBD this time round, so I had more opportunities to visit eateries and shopping districts in the suburbs. I tried to fit in as much foodie activity as I could, but it is hard when travelling by public transport, and eating out by yourself can be a bit boring, besides. I aimed to squeeze in several café visits on my last day in Sydney, but my schedule was pushed back a few hours, and effectively disrupted, by kitchenware shopping at Peters of Kensington. Gets me every time! So anyway, keep your eyes peeled for more upcoming restaurant reviews!  

I will leave you with an inspirational little quote by Marc Levy, who I just found out about today. I had emailed my French teacher to ask for a recommendation for some good French novels that are not too difficult to read, with which to practise my language skills (intermediate level); and he replied that he thinks I would like those written by Marc Levy. I was very pleasantly surprised to discover, upon Wiki-ing him, that he wrote the book upon which the movie, Just Like Heaven, starring Reese Witherspoon and Mark Ruffalo, was based. I'm looking forward to reading this book, because Just Like Heaven is one of my favourite Hollywood movies of all time. I am even more eager to read it, now that I know he has also written a sequel to it! Meanwhile, I am trying to ignore the fact that my teacher sees me as someone who likes reading romance novels. Possibly because I often profess my love for all things Jane Austen.....

But look at me going off on a tangent again! Back to the quote, which is advice the author had reportedly given his son: -

“La plus grande erreur que tu pourrais faire dans ta vie serait d'avoir évité toute erreur en n'ayant rien fait.”

which translates in English to,

“The biggest mistake you can make in your life is to avoid any mistake by not doing anything.” (source: http://french-word-a-day.typepad.com)

Happy St Patrick's Day!

 

Okay, so I'm not Irish; but any excuse to whip up something delicious, right? I'm also not a beer drinker at all, but Guinness is the first thing that springs to mind when I think of Irish-related foodstuff. There are many recipes on the www for baked goods using Guinness, but I like the wonderful recipe for Chocolate Guinness Cake that Nigella published in my favourite cookbook of hers, 'Feast'. I've made this before a few years ago, but I have quite forgotten what it tasted like, so I decided that for this year's St Patty's Day, I would opt for this recipe again.  

 

I normally follow her recipes to a T, but for cakes, I like to use my own mixing method, that is the say, the traditional long way of incorporating the ingredients. Nigella assures readers that certain shortcuts, like throwing everything in a food processor, produces the same result for a damp cake, but I'm just old-fashioned like that. I think I followed her written instructions last time though, which might account for the differences this time round.

 

 

 

The cake was lovely and dense, dark and lusciously moist, like a mud cake. Looking at the high butter content though, you'd expect something similarly rich. (Yes, it's a very naughty cake, but every once in a while, you have to treat yourself!). I think I recall the last attempt being just as dark in colour, but drier in crumb. Perhaps it's because I overbeat it last time? I was a bit disappointed that the centre of the cake sunk a bit upon cooling, but I remedied that by slightly leveling out the top. The taste and texture were thankfully not compromised. Instead of making the suggested cream cheese frosting (for me, cream cheese belongs in the cheesecake realm), I made a chocolate ganache to frost the cake. I had intended to serve it with vanilla bean chantilly cream, but decided it would be too heavy. I ended up serving it with a scoop of the Connoisseur Cafe Grande icecream that I just so happened to have in the freezer - okay, so maybe it's just as heavy - if not more so - than whipped cream, but the coffee and Grand Marnier flavour, plus the crunch of almonds, complemented the rich chocolate cake very well.

 

You can definitely smell the presence of the Guinness in there, and you can somewhat detect it tastewise too, although it's not at all strong. It adds a nice dimension to the flavour of the cake. Nigella suggests allowing 12 servings per cake; however, it could probably feed a lot more. I would recommend eating it in thin slices, because it's very (deliciously) rich! 

 

Happy St Patrick's Day, everyone! :)

 

 



FWP

It seems to me that these days, perhaps because of the fast pace of technological and medical advances in our developed countries, people are becoming more and more demanding of society, and a lot of conveniences that they have at their disposal are taken for granted, such that when their every whim has not been met, the world seems to collapse around them. Just like how this has led to the medicalisation of almost every single 'symptom' that could possibly be encountered in a lifetime (e.g. tossing and turning around at night? Restless legs. Problems sleeping? Chronic insomnia. Your child can't concentrate in class? Must be ADHD.), a name has been coined for this particular condition that these people have: First World Problems a.k.a. FWP.  

 

I particularly like Ryan Higa's take on this issue (and the treatments he prescribes!), and although grossly exaggerated for entertainment purposes, I think most of us, though shamefully, can identify with it in some way or another. Here's his YouTube video on it, so that you, too, can enjoy it :) -

 

 

This is obviously not aimed at people diagnosed with clinical depression, but I do believe that sometimes if we stop looking at our problems through a microscope and take a step back to look at the bigger picture, against which they will most likely pale in comparison, we will be able to take on a new, happier perspective of things.

I think of this video now, whenever I am feeling sorry for myself, and, you know what? It makes me feel a whole lot better.

Eat alfresco with Al'FreshCo

I love eating and cooking with local, seasonal produce; I am all for supporting our local growers; and I am a bit of a fan of the funny and cheeky Alastair McLeod (chef/TV personality; you may recall his name from one of my previous posts). So when I read about his new business venture, Al'FreshCo, that focuses on promoting exactly these things, I knew I had to check it out.

 

The Al'FreshCo market stall at the Jan Powers Farmers Market in the Brisbane CBD
 http://alfreshco.com.au/

As its banner suggests, this company offers a private catering service; sells pantry staples created using local produce; and has market stalls which offer various lunchtime goodies, again made with fresh ingredients sourced from local producers. At the moment, its market stalls are only at the Jan Powers Farmers Markets in New Farm (the fortnightly Saturday Powerhouse markets) and on Queen Street, in the Brisbane CBD (markets are there every Wednesday, but Al'FreshCo will only be there every fortnight). I went to the City markets two weeks ago to see what was on offer that day, and ended up spending almost $30 at that one stall!

The day's menu
 

After much deliberation, I ended up choosing the Sausage Turnover and the Croque 'Madman'. Just for the record, I'm not a greedy glut; I bought the food to share with my sister :P

 

The sausage turnover was made with free-range Leyburn pork, flavoured with fennel, and served with a little salad side of rocket, pickles and zucchini, along with some lovely (presumably) homemade BBQ-esque sauce. I think it's fair to say that it's the best sausage roll I've ever tasted: the pastry was nice and flaky, the meat actually looked and tasted like real minced pork (unlike the heavily processed meat we typically see in commercially available sausage rolls), and it was, on the the whole, quite flavoursome. Fennel and pork go so well together; I wonder why I've never tried this combo before? I love incorporating various herbs and spices into dishes, so I think I'll pinch this flavour idea of Alastair's :) 

 

I wasn't sure if the sauce was for drizzling over the salad or to dip the sausage turnover in, so I ended up doing a bit of both. The sauce didn't taste, or look, like store-bought BBQ sauce - indeed, it was by far superior - and it had a bit of zing to it. I wonder if it's one of the bottled home-made sauces that he sells at his market stall? If not, I'd love to have his recipe for it!

 



 

The Croque 'Madman' was a made-to-order item, and was composed of shaved ham, gruyère cheese, dijon mustard and an organic egg (you can choose runny or cooked) sandwiched between two slices of sourdough, the whole of which is then lightly toasted between a sandwich press. Just so that you're aware, while its title suggests it would be somewhat similar to a croque monsieur or madame, it's actually more like just a nice toasted ham, cheese and egg sandwich, since the egg is inside as opposed to on top of the sandwich, and it is in want of that cheesey béchamel sauce, which is characteristic of the French classic.

 

 

The last thing I bought from the stall was a jar of their Green Manzanillo Olivada, which is essentially like an olive tapenade. It is made with a combination of chopped green manzanillo olives, garlic, capers, currants, the ever-so-popular verjuice, lemon juice, and olive oil. I'm not overly crazy about olives, but I love chutneys, pickles, and relishes, and an olivada sounded like it would fit in nicely. Alastair offered me a taster of it, and it was indeed sufficiently tasty to encourage its subsequent purchase. The man himself suggested adjectives of "delicious" and "amazeballs". Readers, why not visit the stall and try it out for yourself to see if you agree with this description? ;)

 

I love it simply spread on toast - yum! Just remember to sit the fridge-cold olivada out at room temperature for a few minutes before using, so that the olive oil reverts back to its liquid form. According to Alastair, the olivada can keep for more than a year in the fridge after opening, since the contents are submerged in oil; but hopefully it won't sit undisturbed for too long that I'll have to think about its longevity past a few months!

 



Oh, and just make sure you go early to beat the busy lunch hour crowd!

It was great to see Alastair McLeod helping out there at his stall too. His presence in itself serves as effective advertisement for his market stall. He kindly agreed to pose for a photo for this food blog of mine (sorry, Alastair; I decided to cut myself out of the picture afterall!).

I'm so excited that Alastair has taken on this direction and that Al'FreshCo will be here to stay in the farmers markets. The food is a bit different to the usual ready-to-eat fare that is available in the markets, and more importantly, it is a business with an aim of supporting local producers, which is something that should be in our collective interest as a community. Afterall, local produce + less distance travelled + less storage time between farm and markets = fresher food for consumers, right? I, for one, am certainly looking forward to the changing menu every fortnight.

The next market appearance of Al'FreshCo is this Wednesday in the city, so come along and check it out!

Dandelion and Driftwood: A review

Dandelion and Driftwood
 Tea and coffee crafters
Shop 1, 45 Gerler Rd, Hendra Qld 4011
(07) 3868 4559

I went to Dandelion and Driftwood last December for a weekend morning tea with a few friends. I've been meaning to try it out for a while, but the travel distance from the CBD was always a deterrent. This little place is located on a quiet street in a northern Brisbane suburb, where there are only 1 or 2 adjacent shops. It was quite busy when we got there, which is always a good sign. We were shown to the bench along the front shop window. I would find out later that there is also an outdoor dining space behind the shop.

The interior decor is modern with a rustic feel, incorporating elements of nature to, I suppose, reflect the natural connotations of the shop name. The first thing I noticed was the huge dandelion ceiling feature - how funky is that? - and panning my eyes across the room, I saw the countertop with a full spread of various coffee apparatus. Uh huh, this is definitely a cafe serious about its coffee. The waitstaff wore cute bow-ties and a smile, which is always nice to see. 

≈

The drinks menu offers the usual coffee suspects, as well as a list of brew bar options, which utilises the various drips on the counter. We were told that the coffee brewed via these methods are to be consumed black, which makes sense, in order to better taste the difference that the unique brewing methods produce. However, being relatively new to coffee and preferring my coffee with milk, I opted simply for a cappuccino.    

The coffee used was the 'Dandelion Blend'. The information card that was presented with the cups describes the coffee blend thus:

'First up on the dry fragrance you'll experience some toasty caramels and dark cocoa. On the wet aroma, this cup is very clean with sugar browning sweetness. In tasting, the cup displays [the] delicate stone fruit flavour of mariposa plums and cherries that mellow and temper, with a residual sweetness. It showcases a medium body base and has refined yet nippy acidity. It is beautifully balanced and memorable.'

I'm not sure about the stone fruit flavour, but from a consumer point-of-view, I would describe it as being a medium-bodied concoction with an interesting, complex flavour that dances on the palate. I don't normally add sugar to my coffee, but I had to add one cube of sugar to this one to sweeten it, as it was quite strong, but not unpleasantly so. It was definitely a memorable cup and by far one of the most unique blends I've tried thus far. I was also impressed by the coffee art, featuring a swan. What a creative barista!

The various coffee drip apparatus

The food menu was not as exciting or extensive as their coffee counterpart, but the vegetarian frittata that I chose was still lovely. Nothing spectacular, but still nice to eat.

If you're still feeling a bit peckish after your menu order, or if you prefer something sweet, you will find some delectable-looking sweet delights, like cupcakes, slices and cookies, sitting enticingly on cake tiers, behind the glass cabinet at the counter. A word of warning, though: they are not cheap, and you'll be looking at paying around $6 for a cupcake and $4 for a single macaron. There are also little jars of condiments on the shelves below this, which you can purchase to take home with you. Regrettably, I forgot to ask if they sell their blend of coffee beans, but I daresay they probably do. 

I have a new obsession with lemon curd, because a work colleague had introduced me to his take on a French lemon curd recipe last year, which actually produces a result that I like. So, naturally, I decided to try the lemon curd tartlet at the cafe for comparison's sake. It was quite nice; better than those I've had elsewhere, though no tastier than my colleague's. The colour has gotten me quite intrigued though, for the lemon curd that I make is a pale yellow colour that is nowhere near as pigmented as the one I had on my plate. More egg yolks, perhaps? 

It's probably worth mentioning that there is also a coffee cart at the front of the cafe for takeaway coffees, which is a great idea for locals who want to grab a coffee on the go. 

Overall, I think it's a lovely little coffee house, perfect for times when we want to please the coffee connoisseur inside us, or simply for catching up with a friend over coffee and cake. Because of its out-of-the-way location, I can't see myself frequenting this place, but I will definitely return whenever I have the whim to treat my taste-buds to a delicious cup of interesting coffee; and maybe, when I do, and if I'm feeling adventurous, I'll order something from their lab-worthy brew bar.