Barcelona - La Rambla 2012

If Paris is beautiful like a mature woman with Class then Barcelona will be like a woman filled with curiosity and enjoying life. Barcelona is unique and special, compared with many European cities.

I have been living in Barcelona for quite some time now and I noticed this city is like a treasure waiting to be discovered, to me this is a city of Art if you open your eyes and look around . Barcelona is a city that belongs to Catalan people, they don’t agreed with the Spanish Government and want to be independent. I am not going into it because politic can be quite boring for some.

La Rambles is a famous street filled with different people from around the world . it’s also a heaven for pickpocket, often you will see women crying because their handbag has been picked ; perhaps men cries too ,only they can’t show it and at night you will see some “working girl” stand around the beautiful and classy Liceu theater or at one end of the rambles but lets not talk about that because it sounded a bit negative .

So, lets talk about the good things . I love this street because its full of energy and it have all the little kiosks that sells souvenirs . ice cream, flowers or even mini rabbits . Along the street are the highly entertaining street cafés , even though the price is a bit higher and the food is not so good – unless you enjoy frozen paella - but will be all worth it because watching people walking in front of you like fashion show is just plain fun. You will learn most people doesn’t have much fashion sense but every now and then you will see either a female or male walked passed with some kind of style or confident and that’s such a breath of fresh air.

You can also see the punk , the drunk ,the hipster the hippies , the rapper, the gays or lesbians, the fat and the slim. the suit . the young and the old , the tall and short , those guys trying to sell the annoying bird whistle, the guy wearing pink short , I mean everyone .. some look like models and some look like homeless and that girl just walked in front of me must be an American.

What a show... Street performers, Human Statues , Restaurants and Shops, you can stop by “Plaça Reial” and have a quick look at the lantern designed by Gaudi. If you love food, you can walk into “la Boqueria “get a juice and taste some Jamon,you are in one of the best market in the world might as well just grab some lunch “Taktika Berri "and "El Quim de la Boqueria” actually is pretty good if you don’t mind to wait..

Everyone can get what they want and They're are all on this one Street. This miles long street is busy from the morning ‘til late ,just like that song “ All day, All night ….” and a bit touristic but that’s just what is it, just like the strip in Las Vegas or Canton Road in Hong Kong.  

So ,have some fun , buy a beer and find somewhere to sit and watch the world go by. You might think it's just a street but I'm sure you will regret if you didn’t spend anytime here.

Don’t worry so much just enjoy your life and I know you are curious .

Welcome to Barcelona and I better put my sunglasses back on because someone is watching.

Restaurant that worth a go :

Attic Restaurante , La Rambla, 120 Barcelona

http://www.angrup.com/attic/restaurante-barcelona/index.php

Bar lobo ,Carrer Pintor Fortuny, 3  Barcelona
http://www.grupotragaluz.com/

Les Quinze Nits, Plaza Reial, 6 Barcelona,

http://www.grupandilana.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wlUPf9PZpY

The Impossible

The Impossible – a film captures the story of a family caught in Thailand during the devastating 2004 tsunami. This movie has the most edge of your seat and emotional disaster sequence in year, unlike many disaster movies such as 2012 or The Day After Tomorrow, this movie didn’t just depend on the special effects, the sequence looks and feels real and new 3D sound technology was truly gripping. The new wave of Spanish director Juan Antonio Bayona did a great job to recreat the event. 

This is a good movie and it makes us realize we are all human beings and we need each other. The disaster is just part of the mother nature. But the real disaster is when something happens to us and we are turning our back and ignore it. This film made me feel that I am very fortunate and reminded me to appreciate the people in my life and learn to give. A kind gesture seems so small but it can mean a lot to someone else. You can see in this film the husband and wife are both “good“ people, they are helpful to those least fortunate even if they are in trouble themselves. Maybe because of that, the impossible happened to them. When you do good for others you will be blessed. Maybe that’s the hidden message of this film, we are all saved by grace.

Naomi Watt and Tom Holland did a wonderful job to play the mother and son, but Ewan McGregor is outstanding. He is a powerful actor and a universal one.  From Trainspotting, Moulin Rouge to Big Fish and now in The Impossible, you can see the acting skill of Ewan has grown, he has disappeared into his role so believably that we no longer see him but an ordinary father, a father who doing his best to seek his family. This is a very challenging role as if he just a little over acts then the movie won’t work, especially the big part of the film is focusing on Naomi Watt and her son. He truly became one the greatest actors of our generation, like De Niro did.  

Comparing to many nonsense and waste of time movies of this year such as Total Recall, That’sr My Boy and Battleship, The Impossible brought tears to my eyes and one of the year’s best.

Deep fried Crispy fish fillet with creamy sweet corn sauce

 
Just a quick recipe , my friend asked me to share this one up because she loves it . Give it a try and tell me what you think .

Ingredients: 
400g fish fillet (fresh or frozen cod fish or catfish)

Oil for deep-frying – sunflower oil , never use olive oil to fry.

Marinades for fish- Salt and ground white pepper to marinades the fish , 1/3 tsp or to taste.

    To make the Sweet Corn Sauce

    2 small cans of sweet corn,

    1 small pack of cream- 300ml.

    cinnamon powder

    ½ cup chicken stock

    Sugar, white pepper and salt to taste or 1/3 tsp each.

    2 tsp corn starch and 3 tsp water to thicken the sauce

    Batter

    8 tsp plain flour

    1 tsp corn flour

    salt

    1/4 cup soda water or beer

    1 tsp Melted butter

Now to cook .

Doing the fish fillets

If you are using frozen fish . 1^st you need to Defrost fish fillet. Rinse it and squeeze extra water. Lay the flllets flat on a plate or in the sink , then Place the plate in basin, pour hot water toward the fillet , -hot water from tap or from the kettle - you shall see the meat contracted a bit, Drain any water in the plate (be careful of the hot water ) and do the same thing on the other side . Pat dry the fillet and cut into about 5 cm squares. Marinade them for roughly 10 to 15 minutes.

This hot water step is only to get away the frozen fish smell and to make the fillet firmer also it take away the salt if you are using salty cod fish . so if you are using fresh fish from market you can skip this step .

Playing with batter

Mix together all the flours for the batter, then stir in salt, water  add in butter and mix well. Heat oil in deep frier if you have one otherwise you can use a pot or even a frying pan or a wok,  over medium heat to frying the fillets

When oil is heated, dip the fish fillets into the batter, gently put them into the fryer – what ever you are using …cook the fish when it turns golden yellow,  usually take about a min or 2 ,depends on how thick you cut your fish , Dish up fillets piece by piece.

Now the sauce

Pour 2 cans of corn kernels together with chicken stock, add in salt, cinnamon powder ,sugar and white pepper, then cream , stir it gently .mix well and thicken with corn starch , you can also put frozen peas with it to make the color looks better with some green . once the sauce is ready . pour it over the fish then serve and you are smiling because it taste pretty good .   have fun and enjoy.

Tickets Tapas Bar Barcelona

“Great Experience”,  “Amazing “,  “The best “ you will hear all the comments about this Tapas Bar  - Tickets. Own by the world famous chef brothers Ferran and Albert Adria,  a new creation after they closed the best restaurant in the world El Bulli.

Tickets is in the centre of Barcelona near the Plaza Espana. Unlike El Bulli which was 3 hours away located in Rose, so now, it will be  much easier for people to make the booking and to get in. You will think, right? But unfortunately you can only make the booking via the internet on their website, I did made a booking 2 months in advance because that was the only time I could get and I was with great hope. But shocking disappointed after I‘ve been there and I felt a bit silly.

Not that I don’t find it fun. I think it was pretty interesting food bar, interesting deco and very bright and flashy lighting with TV with images of their food creation but only for the first 10 minutes. 
                                                  I  looked around and saw almost every table ordered the same food. I guess most people came here for the same reason is to experience Adria’s work, their famous liquid olive, cheese puffs…but one after another of those "exciting tapas", my hope disappeared because I really don’t find it great. Maybe because many food critics like those are from NY Times and Michelin food guide have rave about it but I was really underwhelm. 

The Liquid olive, which suppose to have explosion in your mouth because the taste is intensive they said, but I rather make the olives myself and it taste much better.

Confit tuna belly - taste like can food. 

Avocado cannelloni with crab meat – beautiful presentation but it is just like crab meat avocado suishi with out seaweed.  But the most shocking to me was the spicy tuna belly cone - I am a big fan of tuna belly and this is the worst I had. 

“Mollete” with double chin - a thin pork meat with a soft bun which to me nothing special just pork and bun and the pork were so thin you can hardly even taste it.

Confit potatos with pork rib juice with boil ham – if you really like potatoes and boil ham, my opinion is don’t order it here because a place call Ciutat Comtal does it better.

I am not trying to go into every plate I ordered but all of them are pretty disappointing and their desserts was a joke, maybe that’s what they are aming for? make people to have a laughing experience? but I am not laughing at all.

White chocolate with green tea and the liquid bailey’s chocolate, both sounds great but that’s about it . The white chocolate is ok but  it kind of taste like Aero and the texture is a bit like it too. I guess when you read on the menu and it said “Liquid Bailey’s” you would think that must be something special but No , it was  just Bailey’s mixed with chocolate. I am not sure what exactly they have done to it? But from what i tasted I guess anyone can do it at home if you know what Bailey’s is and mind you Bailey’s is in fact in” liquid” form.

I am not impressed and I just wonder what El Bulli was like? I am not a big fan of molecular cooking maybe that’s the reason? I also wonder who does the voting? Who are the critics? What kind of food culture they came from? Are they all Europeans? I respect Ferran I think he did created something different but I really don’t care for the taste if there’s any taste at all. After trying all the plates, I feel lucky that I don’t have to drive 3 hours to try the liquid olive and I can certainly do the liquid Bailey’s with what ever I like at home but then again, maybe I expected too much because even Ferran have once said and I quote: "the ideal customer doesn't come to El Bulli to eat but to have an experience." So asking for good taste maybe is a bit much.

The best tapas place I have tried so far is Ciutat Comtal in Barcelona and Fuego Nergo in San Sebsatian, I am sure you will be happy there if you want to eat , even they can’t give you the Adria’s experience.