The Most Authentic Hakka’s Cuisines, Part ( II )

Well, like what I said from the previous post, now let’s me introducing you more about the Hakka’s Cuisines that I’ve tried in Mei Zhou…

After introducing Wan Qiu Lou from the previous entry, now let’s try some authentic Hakka’s cuisines elsewhere…

And this is the most exotic Hakka’s Cuisine I met in Mei Zhou…

But 1^st, I would like to ask you 1 question, do you ever tried dog meat before in your life? Or you wish to try it at least once in your life? Then I think you must come to Mei Zhou,it’s the dog meat ‘ heaven’  here! Hehe… You can have it at any corner in Mei Zhou, like what I show you here in this menu, mentioned that dog meat is available, how they cook it or how it taste? Well, it’s kind of hard for me to tell you because I never dare to try it. According to them, they cooked like sort of steamboat and serve with clay pot, some sort of Bak Kut Teh in Malaysia!

Prague, here I come again!!!

They say, once you touch this statue,St Jan Nepomucky, you’ll most probably return to Prague again! How do you think about it? Well, I’m doubted it when I first heard about it, but still, I did what everyone else did, I touched it!

And believe it or not, I’m going back there again! Prague, for my second time…

In 2006, during the winter holidays, me and my friends travelled to Hungary, Czech Republic and Austria for 12 days. After that trip, Prague is the only place that always lingers on my mind! Wondering when I will travel back there again!

It feels like I’ve left something very important behind and I will have to get back this time! Yes, I left the most memorable memory there, embedded together with the Charles’s Bridge!

Once you fall in love with Prague, you will never stop recalling you best moment in Prague in you life again! It is a very unique city, the whole city’s just like a lively-castle or fortress, so peaceful and tranquil, bringing you back to the castle-age!

Soon you stepped in the heart of Prague, you will feel as if you’re turned into one of the princes or princesses, lingering around in the city! You will wonder how on earth there’s such a magical city when you see the astronomical clock! Taking picture on the Charles’s Bridge with the Castle on top of the hill as your background will make it one of the most precious memories in your life. You won’t be bored while walking along the streets, seeing those buildings in different kinds of architectures!

I miss Prague so much! Feels like I’m going to meet my old-time friend again!

Prague, the city that you will fall in love no matter how many times you go there!

 I just bought my air ticket yesterday thru Airberlin because of the special promotion! 98euro for 2 ways le, from Moscow to Berlin…For this coming winter holiday, I’m going back to Prague again. For those who wish to travel to middle Europe, I think Berlin or Vienna would be you best stopover  before you continue your journey to other countries as there’re cheap airline hubs in both capitals, Airberlin and Niki Airways, and the distance for intercity travelling to other cities are so convenient and short! Like me, I will travel from Berlin to Prague which will only take a few hours if travelling by buses or trains.

The most authentic Hakka’s Cuisines!  最正宗的客家菜…

When it comes to food, I think most of us will sure wonder about the origins, from where and since when it became the local delicacies, and most of us will sure go for the ‘ most authentic ‘ ones…

Now, here I am introducing you the most original Hakka’s delicacies…

If you think that I’m bluffing in this blog, then you tell me where else you can get the more original Hakka food than these lo… I was trying all of the Hakka food in Mei Zhou梅州 of China where it is also known as the Capital of Hakka in the World!

Oh yea, for those who might be thinking of going to Mei Zhou, China… The restaurant that I wanted to introduce you is this one, Wan Qiu Lou 万秋楼! Where you can try all kinds of Hakka’s delicacies…

Add:梅州市梅县新城办事处富贵居委扶外村98号

Wan Qiu Lou 万秋楼, previously known as a semi-rounded building围垄屋, (for your information, the Chinese authority is on their way applying these semi-rounded building under list of UNESCO World Heritage site.)It, consists of 72 rooms, once built by a Malaysian and is now owned by a Taiwanese, has become the must- visit tourist spot for everyone who visits Mei Zhou.

While waiting for the food, you can have a short tour around the restaurant, there are antiques, old-time cooking utensils and pictures displayed. And it is worth going to as this restaurant is designed with fully Hakka’s style…

Soup Barrel, this is how they made the soup!

So, let me introduce you the ORIGINAL Hakka food!

But 1^st, let me show you this…

This is one of the most famous Hakka delicacies which we used to have in Malaysia, Lei Cha 擂茶… And compare this Lei Cha with what I had in Mei Zhou…

It is totally different kind of Lei Cha, it is like rice plus mixed vegetables with hot vege soup in Malaysia, but what you can see in Mei Zhou is, it is made by whole grains, and it tastes like muesli or oath, and according to the locals, they used to have this for breakfast like what we have our cereal meals. Honestly, I prefer the one I tried in Malaysia, it tastes better and I like the vege soup very much!

The 2^nd dish which I would like to introduce to you is this, Salt Baked Chicken 盐焗鸡

I don’t know how they make in Malaysia, but in China, they soaked the chicken in the salt water 1-2 hours before they bake with salt, I was told that the reason why they do this is to make the meat taste better. 

 Hakka’s Mixed Vegetables

This cuisine is quite special if compared with other mixed vegetables. See, it is mixed with big red beans which is rare to be found in Malaysia.

Yam soup!

This is the 1^st time I tried the soup made of yam, and seriously it is very delicious. The yam was shaped like fish-ball and it is boiled until the yam turned soft and with well-preserved original taste of the yam.

Yeong Taufu 酿豆腐

Well, I think this is quite common in Malaysia, as this is also one of the locals’ favorites which attract every food dwellers.

It is made by stuffing the minced meat into the middle part of the taufu and then steaming it.

Fried pumpkin

It tastes sweet, with minced pumpkin stuffed and fried.

And this is what locals call ‘vege biscuit’, but I don’t really know how to call it, hehe!

Well, this is what I want to share with you, these are what I met in Wan Qiu Lou, which is one of the most famous restaurants for it’s Hakka Cuisines… And in the next blog I will share with you more local delicacies which I tried! Ciao…

Chicken Chop ala-Malay-Chinese…

I was planning to dine out with Xiangyun in conjunction with the Day of People’s Unity celebration yesterday. Because I was too lazy to cook! Hehe… We even planned which nice restaurant we would go to already…

 But, guess what?

The @#$%^&*ATM Card wouldn’t allow me to withdraw money again!!! Hiaz… so sad that you cannot use your money freely while you are having them in the ATM machine…

So, what to do? We cooked the dinner ourselves lo…

Since it was a public holiday, so I planned to cook something special!!! And the idea to cook chicken chop ala-Malay Chinese style popped out on my mind…

So, see, this is what we’ve cooked…

A heart-shaped chicken chop, although it was covered by sambal, salad, fried egg with a smiley-face rice (it would taste better if we put Nasi Goreng Kampung instead of plain rice) and mushroom soup!

You want the recipe? Sure, no problem…

1 chicken breast meat for 2 persons, Chinese cabbage, plain rice or fried rice, eggs and a packet of mushroom soup packet!

1^st divide the chicken breast into 2 and cut properly into heart-shape. Then dipped the chicken in egg-white, pour the fried chicken flour onto it and just fry…

For sambal, prepare 3-4 onions and garlic, add some ginger and chili if you want it to taste better, blend all the ingredients together with some sugar and salt. Pour all of them on to the heated pan with some oil added. Cook until the sambal change color into dark-red.

Simply stir fry the Chinese cabbage, fry eggs and cut some of the canned mushroom for the mushroom soup, and it’s done! Your chicken-chop ala Malay-Chinese is ready to be served!

Minin and Pozharsky

Well, this is maybe another way to introduce Nizhny Novgorod, the place currently where I am to pursuing my final year of my medical degree to all of you. For your acknowledgement, Nizhny Novgorod is currently the fourth largest city in Russia.

I think Red Square in Moscow is the most inevitable tourist spot for every one of you when travelling to Russia, especially Kremlin and St.Basil’s Cathedral. And now what I need is ask you to pay extra attention to the monument that is situated before the entrance of the St.Basil’s Cathedral. Can you notice it?  Good!

What I going to tell you is about the story of them, Minin and Pozharsky…

And why it is related to Nizhny Novgorod!

17^th Century, Moscow was invaded by the Polish, Kuzma Minin, the merchant from Nizhny Novgorod together with Prince Dimitry Pozharsky became the national hero for his role in defending the country against the Polish invasion.

A native of Balakhna, Minin was a prosperous butcher (meat trader) in the city of Nizhny Novgorod. When the popular patriotic movement to organize volunteer corps in his native city was formed, the city merchants chose Minin, a trusted and respected member of the guild, to oversee the handling of the public funds donated by them to raise and equip the Second Volunteer Army (Второе народное ополчение).

The army led by Prince Dmitry Pozharsky was credited for clearing the Moscow Kremlin from Polish-Lithuanian forces on November 1, 1612. Minin distinguished himself as a skilled commander and was made a nobleman and member of the Boyar Duma under the newly elected Tsar Michael Romanov. He died in 1616 and was interred in the Archangel Cathedral of Nizhny Novgorod. A central square of that city is named after him and Prince Pozharsky.

Originally, the statue stood in the centre of the square, with Pozharsky waving his hand towards Moscow Kremlin. The Communist authorities, for whom the monument was obstructing military parades, discussed plans for its demolition or moving it to some indoor museum. In 1936, the statue was moved closer to the cathedral where it remains up to the present.

On the first celebration of the Day of People’s Unity (November 4, 2005) a near exact copy of this monument by Zurab Tsereteli was erected in Nizhny Novgorod. The copy is only 5 cm shorter than the Moscow original.

And there will be another celebration of Day of People’s Unity this Wednesday (4.11.09), you know why I like this celebration? Because it’s public for all of us! hehe…..

Another Crisis…

Well, as you know, life as overseas student can never be as easy as back in our motherland… This is because in order to study, we need to solve every challenge in our life in order to survive, from our daily routines to facing the external threats like hooligans, skinheads and etc… (Don’t think that we are so happy enjoying our life here ya)

A little story to share…

And this is what happened to us recently, our ATM cards, especially BSN, failed to withdraw money from the ATM machine. For the beginning we thought it was normal because it happened sometimes within a month due to some technical problems according to them from Malaysia, and this phenomenon happened for quite some months….

Until these two weeks, during the end of the month, the time we became broke, and the time we essentially need the money!!! We can’t withdraw money from the ATM machine, at 1^st we thought it was normal like what we experienced before, but after trying for 2 weeks, we decided to ask our parents to call up the bank and ask for the reasons why we can’t withdraw the money!

Guess what is the reply from the bank?

Due to the high fraud cases  recently, the bank decided to stop all the international transactions from now!!!For those who wish to activate the international transactions are required to reactivate the card from the bank!

Yea! Thanks for that great news. How can we who study overseas go back to Malaysia just to reactivate the card? Why didn’t they implement this while we were in Malaysia 2 months ago during summer holidays?

So, how to solve this issue? Yea, the bank asked us to fill in the form from the official website, and then resend back to them. How? I also don’t know, I’m still trying, anyone who already succeeded, please let me know ya.

I don’t know about condition for other bank, but I’m sure for those BSN ATM Card holders, you must fulfill the requirement above before you can withdraw the money…

For BSN users, you may try on this website: www.bsn.com.my, you can see there is a ‘Borang-borang Column’ on the main menu on the left side, click on it and you will see the form.

…The Power of Will…求学的意志…

I found this picture accidentally in my photo album from my trip to China, and ‘she’ reminds me of that day…

It was a hot summer afternoon, about 40°C… We met this pity girl while doing shopping on the walking street somewhere in China. She was on her knees, showing some of the photos and a cardboard full of words, begging the pedestrians who passed by for donations.

She mentioned on the cardboard that her father lost every assets in her family because he gambled a lot, her mother gave up and decided to leave them… She was left to stay with her granny who was diagnosed with lymphoma…

She couldn’t continue her secondary education due to shortness of financial support, and she is begging for donations so that she can continue her secondary school educations…

So, what’s that on your mind after seeing her conditions? Don’t you feel that how lucky you are to have free education? We should be grateful for what we have and appreciate it…

翻阅了我在夏天的中国之旅的相片, 偶然中看到了 ‘她’, 令我想起了那时的情景… 那天是摄氏40度, 一个非常炎热夏天的下午, 我和妈妈在某条街上购物时碰见了 ‘她’… 跪在人群中, 在地上放了几张相片和一张密密麻麻写满了字的卡片. 在好奇之下, 我们便靠近看个究竟…

卡片上写着…

中学生的苦恼…

“尊敬的各位父老, 叔伯和兄弟姐妹们…

您们好, 请抬起你们一双眉开眼笑的目光来看我悲伤的一员吧! 让我把苦涩人生问诸位好心人倾诉一下… 本来我也有温暖和舒适的家庭, 不幸的是父亲不知去哪学来了狂赌, 一下把家里的财产和我身上所穿戴的全赌光, 妈妈多次劝他不听就带着弟弟远离家乡, 又加上奶奶患了淋巴瘤, 就这样经济来源断绝, 为难我只好休学前往贵地求资入学, 敬请各位好心捐分献文使我返回学园让我完成自己的学业…”

看完了, 心都寒了, 没想到, 就在这么先进的社会里, 还有人会为了求学问题而苦恼… 反观在我的国家就没有这种事了, 只有那些不想上课, 只想逃学的朋友… 看了这位朋友的苦诉后, 有没有激起你的那股发愤图强的决心! 要么, 干脆就把你的学位让给她好了… 她, 比任何人都需要那份你们也许就不觉得重要的知识…

能够求学, 是你的福气,我说啊! 在即求学的我们, 不知要感到多么的庆幸! 千万不要生在福中不知福哦!

当然, 我不晓得这是否是场骗局… 但是我们还是奉上我们那真诚的支持…

…秋天的童话… “奇迹篇!”

这, 是接上一篇… 秋天的童话的续篇…

Autumn, 09… Nizhny Novgorod

After continuous rainy days which last for 4 days, finally there comes sunny day… And we managed to make a long awaited Autumn Photo Session… And these are some pictures I would like to share with my readers…

就在写了上一篇部落格后的第二天, 奇迹! 真的发生了!

也许我期望感动了老天爷吧! 哈哈!感谢您, 赐给了我这么美好的一天…  让我完成我那梦寐以求的 ‘童话!’

虽说如此, 第二天的早上还是乌云盖顶, 一直到了中午一时, 正当在回程中, 一道微细的阳光慢慢地剥开那厚厚一层层的云层, 把在巴士上昏昏欲睡的我给叫醒! 哈! 我知道这是一个难能可贵的机会了, 所以就约了几个知己, 拿了相机就往附近的公园奔去啦! 牺牲了我那唯一的讲堂, 呼呼… 但是没有悔意啦!

终于, 我为我的秋天的童话写下了完美的结局…

感谢老天的卷顾, 秋天的奇迹…

志

…秋天的童话…

俄罗斯的最后一个秋天

我说啊! 老天, 你真的很会和我们这些凡人开玩笑哦! 天气说变就变, 根本就没有预知一下嘛!

上个星期原本计划和组员一起去拍一册 “秋天的童话” 的毕业照嘛! 星期五已经计划好了星期六一早就出发, 誓必要把秋天的景色一一地照下来, 以便可以作为纪念嘛…

万事具备, 只欠东风, 所谓的 ‘风’ 就是你咯! 我的天啊!

星期五风和日丽, 凉风习习, 想必明天 ‘星期六’ 必定是个好日子吧! 因为在这之前, 天气就一直没有好过, 不是刮风下雨, 就是乌云盖顶, 难得星期五看到了那唯一的曙光! 还以为老天会给我梦想成真… 唉!

星期五晚上真叫人彻夜难眠啊! 一直盼望着星期六的那么这一天!

期望越高, 失望越大嘛! 就在那呼呼入睡的那刻! 窗外传来了 “滴滴, 搭搭” 的声音, 我的天啊! 心情顿时掉进谷里, 那种失望的心情, 真是叫人难以墨笔来形容! 就写部落格啦! 哈哈… 没想到, 我在俄罗斯的最后一个秋天就是每天和雨天为伍.

失望, 因为没有真正为这个秋天留下那点美丽的回忆. 再等? 看来没有几个星期可以再等了, 寒风已经吹起来了, 意味着冬天即将到来. 只希望这几天会有 ‘奇迹’ 的出现咯!

从那天起, 雨, 就一直没有停过…

唉! 我那可爱的秋天, 我的 “童话”…

这是我在这之前拍的一些点滴…

Zhi’s Travel Guide on How to Plan your Trip…

Well, a memorable trip require a proper preparation, no matter how much or how far the destination you go,  pre-travel planning is a very important step to determine the success of your trip!

This is about sharing my experience with my readers, for those who do not agree with it, you can ignore this blog.

A pre-travel planning is important because you have to make sure you:

1)      Made the right decision on the destination you chose.

 2)      Achieve what you want to get for example experiences from your trip.  In short it is to achieve your aim for this trip.

 3)      Smart travel, which means travel and enjoy yourself as much as possible at the lowest cost.

 4)       Understand the condition of the destination you head to, the weather during the time you travel, their customs , their taboos so that you are ready for what you will be facing.

A well planned travel will makes you feel memorable and you will feel like want to travel again… 

All these above seem like a simulation for you before your trip and also, it is the most important key to determine whether your trip will be successful or not.

So, how to plan your trip? These are some points which I think it might be useful for you before you start your journey.

1)      Budget

Budjet or money! The most important factor!

To me, budget is the most important factor, it determines  most of my travel. In other words, travel according to your affordability. Don’t go somewhere where you can only afford some parts of the journey, it will only destroy your expectation on the trip. For example, if you can barely afford for the basic requirement for the trip like stay and meal, it would be difficult to have some spare money on other things such as entrance tickets for something which you think is worth to pay a visit!

This is what gonna be happen if we out of budjet, taking the photo just standing outside the entrance!

 2)      Travelers Guide/Books

 Travelling is about learning… exploring the different history, culture and religion… It will give you the opportunity to mix with the locals and experience to be one of them.

 The most important point why you must get a travel guide before your trip is to access and comprehend the condition of the destination where you are heading. And the most important part is to get to know the roots, background and progressive development of the destination.

 Doesn’t it make your travel more interesting, by understanding what you are visiting or watching compared to those who doesn’t know what and why they are looking at?

Look thru every single detail which available in the travel guides so that you can get something we can’t get else where.

 Blind visiting makes your trip dull and monotonous, and you will end up learning nothing but just wasting your time and money.

 And another benefit of having a travel guide is it will enable you to familiarize the destination.

 These are some travel guide which I recommend … (Which I think are the most informative)

 DK Eyewitness Travel Guides- The reason why I love this travel guide is because it is well illustrated with lots of beautiful pictures, it won’t make you feel dull or monotonous while reading it. And, I’m kind of lazy at reading , so it is very suitable for me.

 Lonely Planet- A guide which contain lots of complete description on every destination and all the geographical features. They have a compilation of every single detail which other guides don’t provide.

 Wikitravel- Straight forward and easy to understand

 3)      Choosing your destinations

 After you have decided to go to travel, you next step is to choose a destination which suites you the most. What I mean is choose the destination based your will and the activities available. Which are the places you like to travel the most and why? 

 If you are not familiar with the destination you are going, please refer to your travel guide to find out whether it is suitable for you or not.

Choose wisely between shopping trip? or Sight-seeing or both? or other else, in order to make your travel interesting!

 Choosing the destination is a very important aspect because some of them blindly choose their destination without knowing whether it is suitable for them or not. Some of them who wish to have a sight-seeing end-up with a shopping trip or those who wish to have a shopping trip ended up finding themselves admist the artifacts and monuments?

Err……Shopping in the middle of the mountain? Of course, this kind of travel just suitable for those nature’s lovers!

 An example from my previous travel experience, my friends who followed me on my trip regretted following me on travel. This is because there wasn’t much shopping according to my initial plan compared with sight-seeing, and they wished to shop instead of sight-seeing.

 4)      Not to mention that if you go travelling with your friend, make sure that you stick with those of whom having the same interest.

My trip with Kok King in Eygpt was full of fun! We enjoyed it so much!

 5)      Book everything before departure…

 How? Of course…  the internet!!!

Travelling nowadays is so convenient compared with the old times… This is because we can do everything thru internet prior to departure. This is a very important step because it will ensure that everything is well planned so that you do not need to worry upon your arrival on the destination!

And these are some useful website that I think is good to share…

Looking for cheap air tickets? (The lists below are the airlines which I know from my previous travel experiences)

For Asia Pacific Region…

AirAsia (Highly Recommended because thru my previous travel experience, it offers cheap air ticket and high quality services, and the route coverage by this airline is very wide in Asia Pacific region)

TigerAir

For Europe…

AirBerlin

Ryanair

EasyJet

Looking for your accommodation?

HosteWorld ( The most reliable online booking for hotel and hostel according to my opinion)

Hostel Desert Safari which we booked thru HostelWorld offered us the best accoodation ever in Eygpt!

CouchSurfing

Well, after you’ve managed all these steps above, I think you are ready for your trip! Enjoy your trip then, and remember!

Leave nothing but footprints, take nothing but photos and…… entrance tickets, receipt etc as your souvenirs! Be an eco-traveler!

These are what I got from my previous travels!