Omakase - Something Different Every Time, all the Time

 
The term "Dining Experience" is usually thrown into any description of an F&B outlet. To me, an experience goes beyond just the transaction of having a meal to feed your body with nutrients and energy. There is more to it. And nothing encapsulates that "experience" part of it than an Omakase (Japanese, I leave it to you / chef's choice). It is the "surprise me" without having to say it. 

So then! Off we are to https://www.tenomakase.com/ to give it another go. And boy! This was truly something else. Each dish was a dance on the culinary stage. Freshness of ingredients, presentation and taste were all top-notch. With Japanese food, the hallmark is freshness and so it is not surprising that many of the dishes incorporate raw items. A sign of confidence and skills.

After six of the eight courses we added a dry-aged Wagyu sashimi, which jetted our experience into the stratosphere. Until that point, it was all seafood and although stunning, something different was needed to cut through that taste profile. 

Ten Omakase only sits 10 or 12 people. There is a Chef for every group of people that dines and one has a dedicated waitress to look after one's every need. One should think that two hours could be a drag, but with that kind of experience, it goes by in a heart-beat while leaving you longing for more. 

Would come back? 9.5 out of 10

#Omakase #TenOmakase #Subang #Eat #Drink #Sake #Food #Japan #DateNight

Luftpumpe

It struck me as odd that we used to have a "luftpumpe" attached to our bicycles at all times when we were kids. How often did we really have a flat? And when we did, then nobody seemed to have an inner tube or the tools to fix the punctured one anyway. So these Luftpumpen ended up as water cannons in the pool, being light-sabers and generally just deadweight.

Nowadays, cars oftentimes don't even carry spare wheels anymore. There is a kit that helps you inflate the tyre in case of a puncture. 

My point: ditch the Luftpumpe as they are only helpful in very rare cases. 

Friday Night is Steak Night

 

It is a bit of a (rigid) ritual: Friday night is steak night. We grab our meat sometimes a week in advance. When we find a nice piece in the butcher's shop we just grab it and think about how we are going to prepare it. 

Then we have a relaxed cook-off whereby we split between the sides and the steak. Sometimes we grill it on a Korean BBQ, other times it is pan-seared and oven finished. We play around with this. 

Photo above is a nice, thick piece we grabbed. The finishing touch here was to cook it in bacon oil, which I had from breakfast making a semi-full English. The roasted garlics go super-well with the meats. As Rosemary is not always available, we substitute with Sage. Weird-isch, but in a nice way.

#Steak #Cooking #Friday #Grill #BBQ #Meat #Beef #experiment 

Weekend Activity

Visiting relatives with a bit of land is always fun. A quick moped ride (my first since my accident in Sydney in 2000....) to the Durian orchard in the morning to harvest ingredients was a lot of fun. We went to harvest Birdseye chili. The red and green. I look a little pained cos there are about 197 ants crawling up my legs, biting me. Why? I don't mean them no harm, they are the aggressors. 

The result: totally worth is standing in an ant hill, fighting off all sorts of flying insects and the prospect of snakes on the bike (what's that movie about?). 

What Shape is YOUR Body?

 

Before we get into any debate about "Over or Under" for the toilet paper, let me ask this: 

Who puts the holder THERE? How would you even be able to reach that?

#Fail #Design #Construction #Autsch #Toilet #Designtoflush

Un-appetising Cooking Shows

 

Disclaimer 1: I do not know this person, I have no issues with him. This is not about a personality of any contender in any of the shows I am referring to. This image is purely to illustrate a point I am getting to and is in no way meant to evaluate the skills of this chef. I do not intent to insult the chef shown or question any of his life's choices. All not for me to comment on. 

Disclaimer 2: This is not my image. If you are the image owner and would like me to remove it, I will. 

NOW! To the point. I have been watching a few shows where contestants have to bake or cook. Desserts, 3-course meals, amateurs, Iron Chefs. All of that. I noticed that in many shows contestants wear singlets. I have yet to see a hair net. Rarely does one see a contestant use gloves when handling food items. 

I find that slightly revolting. I imagine that facial, arm pit or other hairs might end up on / in the food. Singlets??? Should it not be at least a T-Shirt? We ask kitchen helpers in food courts to wear hairnets. Why not in a cooking show where we have women with long hair not having to tie up their mane... Now a new ruling comes in force in my neck of the woods that anyone in the F&B industry has to wear a face mask at work. 

Is there a different standard for hygiene when it comes to cooking show to enhance the showmanship? 

#Cooking #thinking #Hair #Hygiene #Cleanliness #Food #Preparation #Contestants #Competition #TVShow 

Work from Home - THE New New Normal?

 

I have had a home office of sorts for over 20 years. Leaving Germany aged 24, I have communicated with my parents first via fax from Australia, later through Skype. Over the years I have learned how to best make use of the home office space and how to juggle between the official business location and being at home when pumping out work. The pros and cons of online meetings are old friends. 

When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, many people discovered that one could work from home, not having to follow a rigid schedule of office hours. Employers were sympathetic when it came to parents having to juggle kids, household and work in one space. Great! I appreciate that concessions were made. 

However, I never believed in the narrative that the era of the office is over and that the WFH paradigm will take over. Many articles proclaimed the downfall of office buildings as the place to perform ones task. Doomsday projections saw the construction industry suffering as there would be no demand. Funny memes about Zoom filter failures circulated. 

Well, go out now. Drive to town in the morning. EVERYONE is back to the office and traffic is as thick as it used to be, if not thicker. People now also discover that there is an upside or two to the daily commute. For instance, one doesn't have to start working the moment one wakes up. A podcast can educate me while I drive to the office; something I wouldn't do when working from home. 

I could say "Told you so". But it would not be credible as I don't have evidence of having said that the world will return to the office. Personally, I am happy to be back in my office a few days a week. When I am not in, I am usually travelling or working on something that requires quiet time. 

#office #WFH #Pandemic #Return #Normal #Back #Spaces #ExplorationofSpace #Work #Leisure