01 July 2017

Sesquicentennial of Canadian independence 1867 - 2017

Today walkaround in central Ottawa for the SESQUICENTENNIAL (150 years) of the "repatriation" of the Canadian constitution. Kind of a national day of independence, from the UK of course.
 

Everything is red and white, with many flags flying the distinctive maple 🍁 leaf. Bruce is proud of his flag because it is distinctive of its country, flags should be unique and immediately associated with the idea of the country they represent, a symbol. I agree, Italy's red white green is the same trio of colors used by many countries, kind of boring.

PM Justin Trudeau makes a bilingual speech.

My main takeaway is that Canada is not a melting pot like it big southern neighbor. Each culture of its constituent peoples remains distinct, each Canadian keep his or her identity which being part of the national society.

Yesterday we celebrated with our Ottawan friends, who organized a great garden party for the occasion. A whole pig on the spit, good wines and croquet for all in a lush garden. What a civilized way to celebrate!




27 June 2017

Visit to Stratus Vineyards, Ontario, Canada

Jf and Marco at Stratus






























Today I visited a most remarkable vineyard at Niagara-on-the-Lake, in Ontario, Canada. At Stratus I was greeted by Suzanne Janke and JF, the wine maker from the Loire valley who decided to move to Canada and try to make good wine. He sure did succeed. These are the best wines in the Niagara region IMHO.


2013 Stratus White, 13.8%abv
37% chard, 34% sauvignon, 26% sémillon, 3% viognier
Composition can change from year to year, increase chard if want more roundness, more Sauvignon if need more acidity
gold yellow, complex, vanilla. Ready
Score 92, CAD 38

2014 Stratus Chardonnay, 13.5%abv
246 days in French oak (63% new)
deep straw yellow, balanced
two thirds left on lees in bottle, can filter if needed before drinking
Score 90 CAD 48

2013 Stratus Red, 13.5%abv
30% Merlot, 27% cab sauv, 25% cab franc, 11 syrah, 3% sangiovese
deep ruby red, black fruits, leather, smoky
good acidity and tannins
needs 2-3 years at least
score 88 CAD44

2013 Stratus Cabernet Franc, 13.5%abv
552 days in French oak (23% new)
cab franc most planted red in Canada
deep ruby red, black cherries, , ready
score 93 CAD 38

2013 Stratus Sangiovese, 13.6%abv
the only sangiovese 100% in Niagara
garnet red, well balanced, moderate length
Score 88, CAD 42

2016 Stratus Riesling Icewine, 12.9%abv
54% viognier, 46% sémillon
light straw yellow, consistent
more aromatic than in Germany
need more alcohol to balance higher residual sugar
35 brix, 250 grams of sugar
Score 92 CAD 40 (200ml bottle)

2016 Stratus icewine red,
40% petit verdot, 40% cab sauv, 30% cab franc
light cherry color, rhubarb, cassis
pair with chocolate advised, they soak choc beans with lees of wine!
score 88, CAD 40 (200ml bottle)

06 June 2017

Boisdale Mayfair whisky and cheese

Funny meeting with acquaintances at the Boisdale whisky and cigar club. Tasting whisky and talking Brexit. They are mostly obsessed with sovereignty, national sovereignty that is. I try to make the point that there is such a thing as European sovereignty, as for example in terms of money. Printing money is a prime demonstration of sovereignty and the Euro is the second most used in the world after the US dollar. That kind of European sovereignty could be extended to other areas of government. 

No one really follows me on that one. One or two Londoners however do say that remaining would have been better as it would have allowed the UK to join the EU in facing big multinationals. Whatever.


1. Lancashire cheese, smooth soft, paired with Glenlivets Speyside founders reserve, fruity, added a few drops of water. American oak.

Illegal production in XVIII century, moved distillery to highlands away from taxman, got away with it for a while.

2. Speyside 15yrs old French oak reserve
darker sweet spicy
Devon cow and goat milk cheese smooth soft

3. Speyside cask strength 1822 1st time UK king visited Scotland George IV. liked women drink esp French wine. Wanted to try illegal whisky
first they denied then a local judge agreed because it was the king. George IV lowered taxes to encourage distillery to go legal.

Many distillery called themselves glenlivets until 1980 s

4. cheese pecorino, soft
oloroso sherry cask glenlivets whisky
very rich smooth dark amber color
800 USD for a cask, expensive
whisky companies pay coopers and bodegas in Spain to make sherry even if little demand for sherry. so sherry now so cheap because made to produce casks and to age whisky in

5. glenlivets madura cask strength, glenlivet does not peat barley since 1950s smoky out of fashion these days


These days average consumers drink fruity speyside 

Expert fanatics prefer Islay smoky peaty

Glenlivet company
Chivas régal 25 yo
first every luxury scotch whisky
created for America early Xx century
favorite of Frank sinatra made it famous
dark amber
Paired with Cornish cheese, sweet smooth soft

Recensione libro: Tramonto alle Maldive (1993) by Anne Weale, ***

Sinossi

Le Maldive: spiagge bianche profumate d'Oriente... Pur conoscendo per motivi professionali tutti i possibili inconvenienti tecnici di una crociera alle Maldive, l'accompagnatrice turistica Charlotte non può certo accettare di condividere la stessa cabina con un uomo, anche se l'affascinante Dean sarebbe un ottimo compagno di stanza per le sue vacanze. E infatti, qualche giorno dopo...


Recensione

Il romanzo è ambientato alle Maldive, ma potrebbe essere anche altrove. Mare tropicale, caldo, sensualità e un triangolo amoroso sono gli elementi principali della storia che si snoda piacevolmente tra spiagge, barche e noci di cocco. Il lettore che non sia mai stato alle Maldive viene portato per mano per le isole e può assaporare qualche assaggio dell'atmosfera locale. La storia in se stessa è un po' prevedibile, ed il finale quasi scontato, ma ciononostante mi ha fatto piacere leggerla. Alcuni dei personaggi sono dipinti a colori vividi e realistici.


25 May 2017

Book review: Living in Italy: The Real Deal - How to Survive the Good Life - an expat guide (2017) by Stef Smulders, ***

Synopsis

Stef is a Dutch expat who moved to Italy in 2008, accompanied by his husband and dog, to start their bed and breakfast Villa I Due Padroni in the Oltrepò Pavese wine region, just 50 km (30 miles) south of Milan. In 2014 Stef published his first book (in Dutch) about their life in Italy. This is the English translation that is available since November 2016.


Review

The author sent me the book asking to review it, and I am grateful for that. It is at times interesting reading, though so many foreigners have come to Italy to renovate a quaint property that one hardly finds anything new: bureaucratic complications, delays, Italians who have funny habits and don't know what they are doing but are so charming.

Though I do not doubt they sincerely love Italy I feel the authors do not really think highly of Italians. Once Barzini, the great journalist, said "Italians respect Germans but don't like them. Germans like Italians but don't respect them". I feel the Dutch couple in the oltrepò pavese feels the same.

Also I don't understand why the text is interspersed with Italian words. Yes, sometimes there is no obvious translation, but why write "architetta" instead of the English "architect"? It does not add much at all.

More broadly, the book's title is a bit misleading. It is not a book about life in Italy, but about the couple's renovation project, which takes virtually all of the book.

"How to survive the good life" kind of gives it away: it seems to suggest Italy has a lot to offer except they make so difficult for you... if only it could be run by Dutchmen...






10 April 2017

Film review: You and Me (2013) by Zhang Yimou, ****

Synopsis

Golden-globe winning Chinese film director Zhang Yimou has staged his first Peking opera at the NCPA, spectacularly fusing the traditional and modern together for his production of You and Me. This production is an overwhelming feast for the senses. Lavish and colorful costumes, unique music composed and conducted by Zhu Shaoyu, and a world class ensemble that features the greatest stars of the Peking opera, including Meng Guanglu, Shi Yihong, and Li Mingyan, turn You and Me into an unforgettable experience. You and Me is based on the age-old tale from the Zuo legend, Lord Zheng defeats Duan in Yan, which is a story about deceit and the power of filial love. Zhang Yimou recounts the story using the stylistic elements of the Peking opera, which in turn he makes accessible for an entirely new audience. This release also includes Tradition versus Modernity, a documentary about Peking opera and the making of You and Me.

It can be a bit difficult to follow for a Western audience, even with the help of subtitles. We are not used to Chinese music's tonalities and rhythm, but I would encourage the listener to try and be patient and they.

"You and Me" is based on the age-old tale from the Zuo legend “Lord Zheng defeats Duan in Yan” – a story about deceit and the power of filial love. Zhang Yimou recounts the story using the stylistic elements of the Peking Opera, which in turn he makes accessible for an entirely new audience.

The production of "You and Me" attaches great importance to tradition. It follows the aesthetic principle of paying tribute to the Peking opera tradition while adding a new approach to its traditional props of “one desk and two chairs”. Says Zhang Yimou: “My concern was to produce a unique Peking opera, not a unique genre, but a unique way of putting it across.” (from IMZ)


Buy your DVD here


16 February 2017

Leave Hong Kong to Bohol, Philippines

Sorry to leave our nice hotel. It's early in the morning we got to catch a 07:50 flight and the fabulous Airport Express is not running early enough. So we need a taxi and get a brand new electric Tesla. Beautiful, quiet, and of course not polluting the Hong Kong air, which is often on the brink of health limits. In part, this is because of factories on the Chinese side, but traffic, air-conditioning and so much more energy consumption in Hong Kong itself play a part.

As we drive past the Kowloon station I notice a lot of roadworks, and I ask our driver. He says they are building a new high-speed train station that will connect with the Shenzhen station just on the other side of the border and offer a seamless superfast connection with Beijing. One more way that Hong Kong is becoming more and more integrated with the mainland.

To fly to the Philippines you need to check-in at Terminal 2, but there are no gates there. After check-in, you can walk to Terminal 1, about ten minutes, or take a shuttle which takes virtually no time.

The Hong Kong airport is my favorite in the world. Bright, spacious, beautiful, full of great shopping and food, efficient. Of course, free and fast wifi everywhere.

After an uneventful flight to Manila, we have to wait a few hours for our connection to Bohol. Manila airport is a bit chaotic but we find a nice bench outside, it's a sunny day and wifi is free. Time goes by relatively fast before we are called in to board a Philippines Air flight. It's OK, nothing to write home about.

When we arrive in Bohol it's raining, not a good start. But it's warm and our driver has a comfy car with cool water and A/C, so the two-hour ride to our resort is bearable. Before setting off we stop at a large shopping mall near the airport to get some cash from an ATM, it would be our last chance here.

Seafood soup
By about 7:00pm we reach our resort, Amun Ini, in Anda, on the eastern side of Bohol. We are tired and hungry. After leaving our stuff in the room we head to the restaurant, a beautiful terrace overlooking the resort's garden and pool. Food is plentiful land varied, and it will be for the rest of our stay.

14 February 2017

San Valentino a hong Kong

Giornata pigra, in albergo. Ma stavolta ci siamo concessi il Ritz Carlton, quindi non ci siamo certo annoiati. Buffet stratosferici a tutte le ore del giorno, piscina al centodiciottesimo piano di uno dei grattacieli più alti di Hong Kong, sauna, massaggi, sala lettura con vista da (letteralmente) capogiro sul porto, quasi 500 metri di altezza sul livello del mare.

Ciliegina sulla torta: siccome è San Valentino, cena al Tin Lung Heen "Home of the Sky Dragon", 2 stelle Michelin in mezzo alle nuvole. prendiamo il menù degustazione che è prevedibilmente sublime, e la lista di vini per accompagnarlo che è altrettanto prevedibilmente troppo cara per quello che offre, ma fa parte del gioco...

Uno dei tanti motivi per cui Hong Kong è un gran bel posto da visitare, ed immagino sarebbe un vantaggio per chi ci vive, è che si mangia benissimo. Si spende quello che si vuole, dai 5 euro, magari qualcosa meno, per un "buco nel muro", un ristorantino bisunto sotto ad un cavalcavia, ai 500 euro a testa per un pasto multistellato Michelin che farebbe invidia ai migliori concorrenti francesi.

Uno dei motivi per questa eccellente scelta è che, oltre alla cucina locale, Hong Kong può beneficiare dell'afflusso di culture gastronomiche molto diverse. A cominciare dalla panoplia di cucine cinesi, ovviamente, ma anche dal resto dell'Asia. Con la colonizzazione inglese poi sono arrivati gli europei, e gli americani e quindi si mangia di tutto. 

L'unico altro posto al mondo che mi viene in mente si potrebbe paragonare è Singapore, che certamente è altrettanto cosmopolita dal punto di vista gastronomico, ma forse manca di radici proprie, mentre qui le radici cantonesi forniscono una struttura portante su cui si è sviluppato il resto.




12 February 2017

Massage and electric treatment

Today Ouyang takes us to his favorite Spa for a session of massage and hot tub bath. To get there, I ride on his motorbike while my wife rents a moto-taxi. None of us has any helmet, in keeping with local practice. I am not sure if I am more scared of hurting my head or making my cold worse. In the end everything goes smoothly.

It is a great couple of hours. He knows this town very well, he says he does not like to travel and spends some time every day taking care of his body at various salons. He is in his mid-forties and looks a good ten years younger. He has a membership card with many and the staff clearly know him very well as a regular.

Two minute Chinese ladies perform a powerful and very professional massage in a dimly lit room. Massage sessions alternate with dips in a very hot tub filled with water and herbs. A thin sheet of plastic is laid on the tub's surface before it is filled up with steaming water, ensuring proper hygiene. We get nice slippers and disposable undies, as well as soft towels. Quite a break compared to the chilly weather outside. At the end, we are served herbal tea in the waiting room, and Ouyang joins us for a chat with the owner, a lady she knows well for being a regular. Our two masseuses stand by. I can only speak to them with the help of translation, but I want to make sure they know I really enjoyed their treatment and look forward to coming back soon.

Electric practitioner diplomas and Chairman Mao

Traditional Chinese herbs
We then go to a practitioner who Ouyang says can treat my cold. Upon arrival I am offered a potion of tea and herbs to drink. He then performs a kind of electric treatment by gently rubbing my back with his hands while electricity flows through his body. He can adjust power with a pedal. It is a bit uncomfortable at first but then I get used to it.

My muscles contract when he revs up the current. All of this lasts about 45 minutes. More herbal tea is served at the end.



As we leave the practice, I feel a bit shaken up by the electricity, but overall I do feel better. My cold is still there, we'll see the results later.

Street vendor of fruits and veggies
Just outside a lady with balancing baskets on her shoulders approaches. We buy some from her, she is quite friendly and the prices are good, so says my wife. It is a pleasure to find these sellers in a day and age where supermarkets (which I think do have a role to play, so convenient!) seem about to take over even in smaller Chinese towns like this.