I love to eat MEAT. My best friend said I was a "meatarian".
One of the favorite is Korean's Barbecued Beef (or pork) Ribs.
There is nothing about the ribs. You just get the meat of your
choice ... ribs, strips, cubes, whatever. Just remember to cut
it into small pieces (knife is not allowed on the table,
besides, smaller pieces allow marinade to penetrate better).
The secret is in the typical Korean's marinade.
Mix some soy sauce, sesami oil, honey, toasted sesami seeds,
finely chopped spring onion, ground black pepper, finely
graded fresh ginger, and crushed garlic well together and
pour over the meat. Leave it for 4-5 hours. Turn frequently.
Don't ask me how much for each ingredient... that's up to
your taste. Put more soy sauce and less sesami oil (4:1).
More secret is to use "Kikkoman" soy sauce. Every country
in Asia seems to develop its own soy sauce. The taste is
different. Japanese Kikkoman goes best with this recipe.
How to cook? That's not important. You can grill it on
charcoal, put it in the oven, or fry it in oil (don't use
butter). Just make it look like a barbecue... browned and
crisp.
Don't forget some steamed rice to go with :-)
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Korean Spare Ribs
Friday, May 29, 2009
The Art of Origami
(First published in Small World Ezine on 10 June 2002)
When the first atomic bomb was dropped in Hiroshima on the
sixth of August in 1945, Sadako Sasaki was 2 years old. The
little girl was 1.5 kilometers from the explosion. She
survived it without an injury while most of her neighbours
died. People said it was a miracle. Miracle was not forever.
Nine years later Sadako was diagnosed leukemia.
There was an old Japanese legend saying anyone who folded a
thousand paper cranes would be granted a wish. So, Sadako
started folding the cranes and made a wish to get well
again. When she died on the 25th of October 1955, at the
age of 12, she had finished only 644 cranes. Her classmates
finished the 1,000 cranes for her, and started their
campaign against war in her honour. Sadako and her cranes
have become the symbols of World Peace. And children all
over the world fold paper cranes and send it to put beneath
Sakado's statue every year on August 6 (anniversary of the
first nuclear bombing) or World Peace Day (September 15).
I'd like to urge you, if there is a child in the house, to
tell him/her about Sadako, and if he/she is interested,
he/she could start folding 1,000 cranes for Sadako. (In
Japan, they make cranes very small and make like bead
curtains or necklaces out of them, so the 1,000 cranes are
not too much to handle). It's a nice way to tell our kids
about the tragic of war.
We are not sure who invented origami. It's probably Chinese,
who had invented paper earlier. But there were evidences
that, it was the Japanese who had sophisticated origami forms
as early as 1200 years ago. The tale of 1,000 cranes was also
as old.
In the old time, it was not for fun because paper was rare.
Important documents such as a diploma or a certificate
accompanying a value gift item would be folded in a certain
way to make sure it's the original copy. Then, it has become
a tradition to fold important documents or gift wrappers
ceremonially. Though it has already become more like a
recreational activity, people had invented different ways to
fold their paper until it has become an art today. It is
that Akira Yoshizawa, in the 1930s. had developed as many
as 50,000 of models.
In the west, The Spanish "school" of origami, the 'Unamuno',
was founded by Miguel Unamuno, 1864-1936. It is still in
existence in Spain and South America. And since Robert
Harbin published his book "Paper Magic" in 1956, tens of
thousands of designs have appeared from many artists in
many books.
There is more to origami than just the art of folding paper.
There is a philosophy which surrounds origami. When most
people will just cut a piece of paper to the shape they feel
like, some will take the time to find the way to fold it to
the desired shape. That is meditated, patient, creative, and
artistic.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Copenhagen -- The Little Mermaid's Hometown
(First published in Small World Ezine -- Lost the date)
New York has its Statue of Liberty, Paris has its Eiffel Tower, and Copenhagen has the Little Mermaid.
The Danish poet, Hans Christian Andersen (1805-75) wrote "Far out at sea the water´s as blue as the petals of the loveliest cornflower, and as clear as the purest glass; but it´s very deep, deeper than any anchor can reach. Many church steeples would have to be piled up one above the other to reach from the bottom of the sea to the surface. Right down there live the sea people."
At the age of 15, the little Mermaid for the first time swims to the surface of the sea, where she fell in love with the Prince she saved from drowning. To be with the Price she she sold traded her voice to the evil sea witch for the "most beautiful legs any girl could ever have". Unlike its Disney's version, the poor mermaid did not win the Prince's heart and was transformed into deadly cold sea foam forever.
Carlsberg's Carl Jacobsen, enthused by the the ballet "The Little Mermaid" he had seen on Det Kongelige Teater (the Royal Theatre) in 1913, asked sculptor Edvard Eriksen to created a sculpture with the mermaid captured before the transformation and with the fish tail intact. And The Little Mermaid was put up at Copenhagen's Langelinie quay on August 23'rd of 1913 as his present to the city.
Being the icon of Copenhagen, the largest and liveliest city of Scandinavia, the Little Mermaid is pretty small for the job. She is only 4 ft. tall. And that's probably why she was vandalized for too many times.
Neither Big Ben of London, The Eiffel Tower of Paris, the Statue of Liberty of New York or Manneken-Pis of Brussels can match the number of attacks the Little Mermaid has suffered. Since 1961, the Mermaid has been drenched with red paint, put on a bra, arm-amputated, and twice beheaded!
The city and people of Copenhagen had done their best to rescue her back to the original shape.
More:
I said earlier this was the best time to go to Copenhagen because the famous century-old Tivoli theme park will be open only in summer. Opposite the northern corner of Tivoli is Rådhuspladsen, the city's central square and main bus transit point. You can take the airport bus to/from here.
Getting around in Copenhagen, you can ride on a bike, or take a bus. Taxis here receive credit cards... Does that imply a higher cost? If you plan to drive a rental car, be aware that safety and traffic regulations in all Scandinavian countries are more strict and a bit different from Europe's and the rest of us. Big car rental companies will provide you with manuals. Please read it carefully.
The parking space is also expensive and hard to find. If you are not planning to go out of town, I'll say bus or bike is more convenient.
And do not forget to walk on Strøget, the world's longest and probably oldest pedestrian mall, which runs through the city centre between Rådhuspladsen and Kongens Nytorv, the square at the head of the colourful Nyhavn canal area.
The Royal Palace (Amalienborg Palace) is located at the North of the canal. You can watch the colourful changing of the guard when the queen is in. Copenhagen is also famous of its museums. You can find just almost every kind of collections here. Start with the National Museum.
Oh and the Little Mermaid... it's like 10 minutes up North from the Palace.
Classic churches to check out are Vor Frue Kirke, the city cathedral with its famed statues of Christ and the disciples by Bertel Thorvaldsen, and Christianshavn's Vor Frelsers Kirke, which has an elaborate Baroque altar and an equally elaborate carved pipe organ (It's huge!). And for a magnificent city view, make the dizzying 400-step ascent up the church's 95-metre spiral tower - the last 160 steps run along the outside rim of the tower, narrowing to the point where they literally disappear at the top.
Read about Mermaids of the World
How to get there:
Among all airports, I spent most times in Copenhagen's (not counting Bangkok Airport). It's one of the most convenient airports in the world. Almost all overseas flights to Denmark arrive here. If you are there, stop by at the supermarket, and buy the smoked herrings and mackerel home.
Best I've ever had ;-)
There are daily bus and rail services between Denmark and Germany too. And there is the Øresundsforbindelsen (Øresund Fixed Link), a road-rail system stretching nearly 16km (13 m.) of bridges and tunnels between Malmo in southern Sweden and Copenhagen, which links the island of Danish capital with mainland Scandinavia. And of course, before there were bridges and tunnels, there were ferries to/from all major ports of Scandinavia, Benelux, and Germany.
Try to schedule your trip, esp. if you plan to arrive after September. the day will be shorter, and so do the opening times of shops, restaurants, and hotel front. If you haven't made reservation for the hotel (why hadn't you?), there are a Youth Hostel and a YMCA Hostel. Hotels (budget to luxurious) are located nearby the Central station. I remember there
With good planning, you need to spend only one or two days in Copenhagen. Then move up to Sweden, or out to the countryside of Denmark.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
The Tai Group
(This article was first published in Small World Ezine on 14 October 2002)
Today is another day in Thailand's sad history. What
happened was something similar to the tragedy at Tien An
Menh Square of China. I'd better not talk about it anymore
because we are trying to forgive those politicians and
ignorant military commanders. It happened in 1973, during
the Communist attack. And this Comminist-phoebia (anybody's
created a word for it yet) was a big epidemic. Big powers
were afraid to lose their position (and wealth). Whoever
brave enough to turn against them were instantly accused of
being Communists and traitors. Okay, I said I was not
going to talk about it.
Let's talk about something not too sad, something that
makes me proud to be a Thai. How about... "The origin of
the Thai people."
I am always asked why aren't people from Thailand called
"Thailander", the same way we call "New Zealander".
My first reaction was "Who know...". But then I think I
know why. Because there were Thai people long before there
was Thailand! So when we established this country, we
called it "Thailand" -- "The land of Thais".
And who are the Thais? Actually?
"Tai" is an ethnic group as well as Chinese or Indian. Of
how the Tai came from, or where they lived was still
unknown. Academics said we were from the Altai mountain
range of Mongolia. There is also a new theory about
the Tais from Yunnan (South of China). And the most recent
research said we were not from anywhere. We were here since
the beginning.
Nowadays, you can find the people from Tai ethnic group in
Yunnan (Tai Juang -- they were there at least 2,000 years),
Shan State (North of Myanmar -- this group is called Tai
Yai or "Big Tai". It's the closest to the Thais in Thailand
today), North of Vietnam (Tai Dum -- the most conservative
and spiritual group), Loas (Tai Lur), and India's Assam
State (Tai Ahom -- This group practices Hindu).
And the largest group is the "Tai Noi" or "Tai Siam", who
live in today's Thailand.
While "Tai Dum" or the Black Tai got their name because of
their black clothing, "Tai Siam" or "Dark Tai" got their
name because of their darker skin. In the early time, the
country was called Siam. But there was a time the
government needed to grow the sense of nationalism in the
Thai people, so they changed the name of the country to
"Thailand", after the name of the ethnic group. (The word
"Tai" pronounced in a softer tone as the way Siamese
pronounced it.)
The other thing was the meaning of "tai" was "freedom".
The government at the time needed to remind the people
that we were never colonised, and we had to fight... never
run! I guess it was the time we were trying to ask France
to return some of our provinces they forcefully took from
us decades earlier.
If you want to know, we DID win this war but the result of
the WWII (few years after that) led to the re-mapping, etc.
and Thailand lost the case. Well... whatever.
Back to the Tai ethnic groups. These people speak similar
languages with the same structure. They still share some
beliefs though each group had received the influences of
different religions, i.e. Tai Ahom become Hindu, Tai Yai
and Tai Siam are Theravada Buddhists, some Tais in China
are Mahayana Buddhists, and Tai Dum and the rest people
still keep the old spiritual beliefs.
Back in about 1300s A.D., when there was neither Thailand
nor Siam in the world map, the Khmer (who built Ankor Wat
in Cambodia... now believed to be extinct) were the big
power in the region. Three Tai leaders (of three Tai
groups) made an allied agreement and led their people to
fought the Khmer leaders out of the lands they lived. When
the Khmer left, the leaders separated to rule their lands.
Two of the three leaders went back to their lands (now
northern provinces of Thailand). And the third had become
the first King of Thailand. He founded a city called
Sukhothai, which is the first official capital city of the
land of the free Tais.
Here's the picture of a ruin of a temple. You'll see
the Buddha smile! We think the people of Sukhothai must
have been very happy.
The Ruin of a temple of Sukhothai, The first official Capital City of the Siamese People (Genesis Stock Photo)From then, there comes Ayudhaya, Thonburi, and Bangkok (Krungthep Mahanagara). With lives and blood, and brains of our ancestors, we'd managed to remain free until today. Okay, I am not going to talk about globalisation and the cultural colonisation. It hurts ;-)
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Mermaids Around the World
(First published in Small World Ezine on 28 August 2002)
After writing about Copenhagen's mermaid in this article, I keep on thinking of the mermaid in one of our Thai tales, and wondering if there are mermaids in other countries too.
This is what I've found having searched the Net...
The Danish poet, Hans Christian Andersen (1805-75) wrote "Far out at sea the water´s as blue as the petals of the loveliest cornflower, and as clear as the purest glass; but it´s very deep, deeper than any anchor can reach. Many church steeples would have to be piled up one above the other to reach from the bottom of the sea to the surface. Right down there live the sea people."
At the age of 15, the little Mermaid for the first time swims to the surface of the sea, where she fell in love with the Prince she saved from drowning. To be with the Price she she sold traded her voice to the evil sea witch for the "most beautiful legs any girl could ever have". Unlike its Disney's version, the poor mermaid did not win the Prince's heart and was transformed into deadly cold sea foam forever.
In French legend, Mélusine (or Melusina) is a fairy who was punished for imprisoning her father in a mountain by being changed into a serpent from the waist down every Saturday. When her husband, Count Raymond of Lusignan, broke his promise not to see her on Saturdays, she vanished but her cries were heard at Lusignan castle shortly before the death of each of her descendants.
Other European countires also have their own version of 'Melusina'.
Luxemburg's Melusina was the wife of the founder of Luxemburg! Her husband, as well, broke the promise of not seeing her once a month and saw Melusina bathing with a fishtail hanging over the rim of the bath tub. Embarrassed, Melusina jumped out the window to the river Alzette.
Unlike others, German Melusina lives in a forest called Stollenwald. This Melusina is also betrayed by her loved one. But she's not just run away. She took a revenge and killed everyone in the man's wedding. During the windstrom, people say "Melusina is looking for her children". And they usually leave leftover Christmas food for her in the bushes.
However, German mermaid came with the name "Wasserjungfrau" (the Water Maid). She lives in the Harz, which is the forested mountainous region in north central Germany. She also married to a guy who broke the promise and saw her with her fishtail. So she ran away, left husband die with broken heart.
In Great Britain, Ireland and Scotland always have stories about water spirits in the wells. This is probably the way adults scar kids away from dangerous places.
However, we cannot omit the "Silkie Wife" from this report. In Ireland, there is a tale of seals who often remove the skin and become human in the land. Some men managed to hide away the skin and took the beautiful female Silkie as wives. But, same as other stories, this never lasted long. The wives always found their skins and put it back and returned to the sea, to their Silkie husbands.
In Poland, there is this Water Nix and his wife (Nixe). Who come up to town and do some shopping once in a while. They say if the Nix buys grain above market price, the grain will become scarce. His wife also do the same bargain with butter.
Russia also have a story of a girl who married a water snake who could transform into a man when they were under the water.
More of European's Water Spirits are Slavic's "Wodny", Scandinavian's "Odin", and etc. at this site (Mermaid Terminolgy)
More:
Not only the Europeans have mermaids, but other nations also seem to have the mermaids of their own.
Brazil's Amazonian dolphins and their legends have appeared in several films, including Hollywood's "Where The River Runs Black" (1986, MGM-UA).
Guam's mermaid is called Sirena (This is probably the closest link to Greek's Siren -- I guess it's brought here by the Spaniards) and she lived by a freshwater spring. She was an ordinary girl cursed by her own mother because she loved to swim so much she forgot to work, and became
halved fish since.
Sirena swam out into the Pacific. Since her disappearance, seafarers have reported seeing her in different parts of the world. According to legend, she can only be caught with a net of human hair.
In Asian myths, all animals seem to be able to transform to human. Thailand has a tale of which the leading character had a mermaid (half woman, half fish) wife. In India's Ramayana, the Monkey God -- Hanuman -- had a mermaid wife and they had a son -- Majchanu -- who looked exactly like his father, except for the fishtail.
In China, the girls from the ocean seem to be the daughters of the King Dragon, or some sea creatures who had meditated and collected enough good deeds to be rewarded (to have
the power to transform to human).
It seems that all the mermaids who'd fallen in love with human would end up with sorrow. Most of the time, it's the men who betrayed their trusts and loves. Sad creatures...
Books:
