Made in Hong Kong - Hong Kong-style milk tea

This sweet drink originated from Hong Kong and it's made of black tea with condensed milk and often consumed during lunch. A popular drink in Hong Kong but it was brought to the West together with the Hong Kong cuisine.

It has its roots in the British colonial rule over Hong Kong, where the British practised afternoon tea by drinking black tea with milk and sugar. When this type of drink became popular there, they adapted their own flavour by replacing the regular milk with condensed milk.

Deze zoete drank vindt zijn oorsprong in Hong Kong en is gemaakt van zwarte thee en condenseerde melk en wordt genuttigd tijdens de lunch. Het is een populaire drank in Hong Kong maar samen met de keuken naar het westen verhuisd.

Milk Tea is ontstaan tijdens de Britse koloniale bezetting van Hong Kong, waarbij de Britten zwarte thee dronken met melk en suiker tijdens hun afternoon tea. Toen dit drankje in populariteit groeide daar, maakten ze hun eigen versie met gecondenseerde melk. 

Hong Kong-style tea is often made with a mix of Pu Lei and Ceylon tea, evaporated milk and sugar. The last part often added by the customers themselves. By adding the condensed milk, giving it a much firmer texture and sweetness.

Hong Kong-style tea is vaak gemaakt van een mix van Pu Lei en Ceylon thee en gecondenseerde melk. Door het toevoegen van de gecondenseerde melk krijgt de tea een dikkere structuur en zoete smaak. 

My favourite style is cooling the milk tea with ice cubes, making a refreshing drink for the hot summer afternoons. But I can drink it all year round. :P

Ik drink milk tea het liefst gekoeld met ijs voor de warme zomermiddagen maar ik lust het wel het hele jaar door. :P

Made in the Netherlands - Bossche bollen.

I am proud about this bit of local goodness and it is found in my home town of  's-Hertogenbosch. Only the ones made by the baker Jan de Groot are allowed to be called Bossche bollen, all the others are called chocolade bollen.

Ik ben echt trots op deze lokale lekkernij en het is te vinden in mijn stad 's-Hertogenbosch. Alleen degene die gemaakt zijn door de bakker Jan de Groot mogen de naam dragen van Bossche bollen, anders heet het gewoon chocolade bollen.

Sadly I am unable to acquire this here in Belfast. I could make it myself but I haven't found the right type of chocolate yet to match the great flavour of the Bossche bollen. Basically it is a cream puff covered in a special mix of chocolate. The chocolate is soft and the whipped cream firm and it is available in three sizes: mini, regular and the big one.

Helaas kan ik dit niet krijgen in Belfast en het is me nog niet gelukt om de juiste mix voor het chocolade glazuur te vinden zodat ik zelf deze bollen kan maken. Het is een slagroom soes gedoopt in heerlijke chocolade. De glazuur is zacht en de slagroom lekker rijk en stevig en het is in drie formaten te krijgen: mini, normaal en de reuze Bossche bol.

It is common to see a line of people in front of the baker Jan de Groot every day. They're most famous product is the Bossche bol but they have other great pastries and other tasty treats.

Het is niet ongewoon om een lange rij te zien bij Bakkerij Jan de Groot. Ze zijn beroemd om de Bossche bollen, maar je kunt er ook ander heerlijk gebak en bonbons vinden.

Made in: the Netherlands - Stroopwafels

One of my favourite cookies would be a stroopwafel. It's not only popular in the Netherlands, I was even able to find this cookie in Japan. ;P The best way to have it, is freshly made from the stall at farmer's market.

Een van mijn favoriete koeken is dan wel de stroopwafel. Niet alleen in Nederland is deze koek populair, ik vond hem zelfs in Japan. ;P Ik vind hem eigenlijk het lekkerst als hij versgemaakt is bij de wafelboer op de markt. 

The stroopwafel was made for the first time in the the 19th century in Gouda en is made with flour, butter, brown sugar, yeast, milk and eggs. De little lumps of dough are pressed in a waffle-iron to a thin cookie and cut in two while it is still hot. Then the syrup filling is spread between the two layers and glued back together. 

De stroopwafel werd voor het eerste gemaakt in de 19e eeuw in Gouda en word gemaakt van bloem, boter, bruine suiker, gist, melk en eieren. De deegbolletjes worden in een wafelijzer tot een dunne koek gebakken en als het nog warm is wordt het in twee helften gesneden en daarna word de stroop vulling erop gesmeerd en de twee helften weer op elkaar geplakt. 

If you can't find any fresh baked stroopwafels, you can always put yours on top of your cup of coffee or tea and the syrup will melt a little because of the heat.

Als je geen verse stroopwafels hebt kun je altijd je stroopwafel op je kopje koffie of thee te leggen en dan smelt de stroop een beetje door de hitte. 

The best thing about stroopwafels is, it can almost go with anything! You have stroopwafel cakes, cupcakes, ice cream, dipped in chocolate and many more variations.

Het beste aan stroopwafels is dat het lekker is met bijna alles. Je hebt stroopwafel taarten, vlaaien, cupcakes, ijs, pudding, gedoopt in chocolade, etc. 

Made in: The Netherlands - Nijntje / Miffy

From the books of my childhood, I can remember this character. Miffy is much older than I am. Dick Bruna created her in the fifties after he came back with his son after a walk in the dunes at Egmond aan Zee. 

Ik kan me al jaren dit figuurtje herinneren,uit de boekjes van mijn jeugd. Maar nijntje is veel ouder dan ik ben. Dick Bruna creëerde dit konijntje in de jaren vijftig. Hij haalde waarschijnlijk zijn inspiratie uit een verhaal die hij aan zijn zoontje vertelde over een konijntje die ze gezien hadden eerder die dag in de duinen van Egmond aan Zee.  

The way miffy is drawn is quite simple, thick lines with primary colours and stories set in picture books. When you look at the earlier version of miffy she has floppy ears and looks more like a stuffed toy. 

Nijntje word op een simpele manier getekend met dikke lijnen en primaire kleuren en de verhalen worden uitgegeven in de vorm van een prentenboek. De vroegere versie van nijntje had meer weg van een pluche beest. 

The fun thing about miffy that it is translated to many languages and Dick Bruna oversaw each of these translations.

Het leuke aan nijntje is dat het in vele talen is vertaald. Dick Bruna controleerde deze vertaling streng.

In 1992 miffy made her first appearance on tv for the little ones. I had already outgrown her but I still enjoy sending postcards with her image on it. ;) And of course the plush toys are still the bomb. 

In 1992 verscheen nijntje voor het eerst op TV voor de allerkleinste. Ik was er toen te oud voor maar ik vind het nog steeds leuk om nijntje ansichtkaarten te versturen. ;) En de knuffels blijven ook nog steeds leuk. 

Review: Blade Runner - Final Cut

During my stay in the Netherlands it gave me the opportunity to see this marvelous Sci-Fi movie on the big screen. Normally I wouldn't go to the theater back home, because Belfast has spoiled me with cheap cinema tickets and perks which you do not get in the Netherlands. And the countless time they pissed me off by dubbing Disney movies and making me go to a different town to see the original version because people just don't understand English that well.

Sadly I haven't seen the original release of this timeless movie, because I was still in diapers back then. ;P But I must admit a bit of Dutch pride comes with this movie. Rutger Hauer is part of the cast and I always though he was an amazing actor who got discovered by Hollywood. I've seen a lot of Dutch films he starred in like Soldier of Orange, Turks fruit & Escape from Sobibor. And I have a bit of an old-man crush on him. He still has the most stunning blue eyes ever. ;)

Sadly trying to find people with a similar taste in movies has been a challenging part in my life. As someone once told me when I showed him the movie, that the special effects sucked and he didn't understand that for 1982 the special effects were acceptable. But then again he liked the Total Recall reboot better than the original, so what does he know. ;)

So off we went to the special viewing of the movie in the Verkadefabriek in 's-Hertogenbosch. The Verkadefabriek is a performing arts theater which occasionally shows art house movies who never get released in the normal cinemas. The room it was showed in had these large yellow couches that could have been a little more comfortable but it made due.

Blade Runner is a modified film adaption of the 1968 novel Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep by Phillip K. Dick (great book, try to read it once).

Plot (from Wikipedia):
The film depicts Los Angeles in November 2019, in which genetically engineered replicants, which are visually indistinguishable from adult humans, are manufactured by the powerful Tyrell Corporation as well as by other "mega-corporations" around the world. The use of replicants on Earth is banned and they are exclusively utilized for dangerous or menial work on off-world colonies. Replicants who defy the ban and return to Earth are hunted down and killed ("retired") by special police operatives known as "Blade Runners". The plot focuses on a desperate group of recently escaped replicants hiding in Los Angeles and the burnt-out expert Blade Runner, Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), who reluctantly agrees to take on one more assignment to hunt them down.

Roy & Pris

Blade Runner is an action movie but it has a lot of narrative levels weaved into it. Maybe that is why it original reception wasn't good. People weren't used to reading between the lines, but I think the screenwriters did a wonderful job and luckily the movie received the credit it deserved but just years later. 

The themes are about religion and moral implications of genetic engineering. And those are themes that really interest me. How far can you go with genetic engineering when you cross the ethical line?

The difference between the Final Cut and the Director's Cut aren't that large. In the Final Cut they tried to make the images and sound as good as possible and eliminate the smaller mistakes of the film. Lucky for us, spectacular new CGI was avoided. So serious changes of the movie aren't noticeable. That is how you do that George Lucas.

I really enjoyed my evening and the movie. And I managed to dig up the second hand copy of the album when I went to Nijmegen the next day. ;) Now I can listen to Vangelis when relaxing on the couch. 

Another Happy Mail Day. ;)

 Right before my holidays, the second part of my birthday presents arrived. Woohoo!

Fox Spirit Plush

Hatsune Miku Senbonzakura version

Cute! <3

Happy Mail Day!

It has been tradition for some years now that I give myself presents for my birthday. May sound weird to some of you but I just indulge my geekiness with an extra splurging of money. Last year I got myself a Middie Blythe but this year I decided wanted something else. 

Couple of months ago I saw these Fabrikations pop up on the AmiAmi website. When I left my prior contract the team had given me a Rocket Raccoon of the same make and I wanted Rocket to have his buddy. :)

 Groot & Baymax

 Unpacked and standing like a rock.

 Wished I could say the same for Baymax but his head is top heavy.

Best buds finally united!

This is only part 1 of my birthday loot of this year. I am afraid the other box might be stuck behind customs. :/ Hope it will arrive before I leave on Thursday or else it will be sent back to Japan and I have to pay for the shipping again. *le sigh*