Translation of Matsuyama Kenichi's first book "Haisha" - Part 1 (March 11 Earthquake & Tsunami Crisis)

This is the first part of a series of translations of Matsuyama Kenichi's first book "Haisha". Of course, it will be impossible for me to translate the whole book due to time constraints so I'll be sharing selected pieces of his essays which I find interesting. To begin with, this is how Matsuyama described what he was doing on the day when the March 11 earthquake and tsunami crisis struck two years ago. He also made a brief reference to his wife Koyuki and where she was at that time. Note that all his essays were written from his viewpoint so "I" refers to him.

Please do not reproduce this translation without my permission but you may share the link to this post on your own blog or other social media avenues. Thank you very much for your cooperation in this. 

Hope that you enjoy reading this! :-)

11 March 2011 Friday
At that time, I was watching a movie at home. The movie was titled "Seppuku" (*This is a 1962 movie starring Nakadai Tatsuya.)

The lead character had a son-in-law who was a poor samurai who had to go to the extent of selling his sword which was regarded as very important to samurais, in order to get money to buy medicine for his sickly wife. However, there came a day when the medicine ran out. The samurai then heard a rumour from someone that there was this feudal lord who gave out money to samurais who asked to commit suicide at his garden because he didn't want them to dirty his place. Viewing this as a means to get money for his wife's medicine, the samurai then headed to the feudal lord's mansion.

However, the feudal lord's minister saw through the samurai's intention of obtaining money through the scam even though he had no intention of killing himself. As such, the minister agreed to this request. This made the samurai flustered as he tried to get out of this fix by asking for the money first before returning to commit suicide. The minister refused the request and demanded that the samurai must honour his request. Due to the fact that the samurai had already sold his real sword, he had no choice but to use the bamboo sword he was carrying to cut his stomach. However, there was no way he would have been able to kill himself with that. In the end, the samurai's request for a beheading by the minister was rejected and he resorted to biting his tongue to end his life. (*samurais could ask for someone to behead them from the back in order to reduce their suffering during a suicide.)

This was the first time I saw scenes as painful as these which made me look away from the screen. Due to the fact that the medicine didn't get to his wife, the lead character lost two family members at the same time i.e. his daughter and son-in-law. As a result, he headed to the feudal lord's mansion alone to take revenge.

Just then, I felt some shaking which I had never felt before.
It was an earthquake.
It was huge.

I opened my window and went out to the balcony. The electrical post was shaking and the electricity lines were dancing in waves. As it was still shaking, I was worried that my house will collapse any minute and had the instant thought of jumping downstairs from my balcony but I didn't do that. Instead, I calmed down a little and ran out of my apartment building. Due to the tremors and subsequent giddiness I felt, I was unable to move for a while.

After recovering from the giddiness, I went back to my apartment and found that my cabinet had fallen to the floor and my drawers were all open. While trying to tidy things up, I found the wooden sword which I had not been able to find earlier. In order to find out more about the earthquake which just opened, I turned on the TV where there was an earthquake notification that a 5.0 earthquake had hit Tokyo even though this earthquake felt much stronger than any of those which I had experienced so far. I had not eaten anything since waking up that morning and started to feel hungry. People still feel hunger no matter what situation they are in.

I was afraid to stay at home alone and decided to go out towards the train station. At the same time, people around me were doing the same since there were still aftershocks and that probably made us worried about staying inside a building. I went to a nearby supermarket and bought 5 croquettes. I tried to use my handphone but couldn't get through. My girlfriend at that time who would later become my wife (referring to Koyuki) was in Hokkaido for the filming of her movie. When I reached home, I heated up the frozen rice and ate it with the croquettes. It was a delicious meal.

After turning on the TV again, I saw that the tsunami warning was issued. Actually, the tsunami had already hit the shores by then and was engulfing everything in its path, be it buildings, cars, electrical posts and trees. I was rooted to the ground while watching these scenes and couldn't think about anything. My eyes were fixed on the scene of people trying to drive away from the approaching tsunami which was hot on their heels.

Amazingly good and cheap dim sum @ Tim Ho Wan (IFC Mall, Hong Kong)

Amid all the hype over Tim Ho Wan opening its first overseas outlet in Singapore, I thought I should post my thoughts on the original version in Hong Kong before making a comparison with its branch here. I first heard of Tim Ho Wan when I was doing research for my Hong Kong trip during the end of 2012 and beginning of 2013. It had been listed as a must-visit place for cheap and good dim sum especially since it was given a Michelin star despite its no-frills appearance. Since there was so much praise heaped onto it, there was no reason for me to skip this place.

At the time of my visit, there was the Mongkok main outlet which was said to be the one given the Michelin star (meaning the other outlets didn't get the accreditation?) but that branch has since been closed due to high rents. Anyway, we decided on the IFC Mall branch which was really more accessible since we were staying at a hotel on Hong Kong Island so it really made no sense for us to cross over to the other side since we were going to Lantau Island straight after breakfast. It was also easier for us to queue there since it was indoors as compared to the Mongkok outlet where you have to be subjected to the weather elements. It was rather chilly at that time so it was another reason for us to go to the IFC Mall outlet instead.

Just look at the people outside the store! And mind you, this was before 10am on a weekday. From the way it seems, some people came to grab a bite of Tim Ho Wan before boarding their flights out of HK and some were probably here right after alighting from their flights. Anyway, you are not required to stand in line like what we do for the SG branch. Just take a number from the captain at the entrance where she will jot down the number of people for your table and call out the number depending on the availability of seats. If you are in a small group, chances are you'll probably get your table faster. Sometimes you may have to share tables with other people though so be prepared to be sitting with strangers by your side. It didn't really bother us too much to be sharing tables since we do that quite a lot at hawker centres here.

First up are these four items in clockwise order, left to right: har kau (prawn dumplings), siew mai (pork and prawn dumplings), fried carrot cake and steamed pork ribs in black bean sauce. These are the usual items I will order whenever I go for dim sum and whether I feel if the restaurant can serve up a decent spread usually hinges on how I find these dishes. First up, the har kau got things off to a good start with its translucent skin which was thin enough to allow a peek into its contents and yet thick enough to hold it together but not to the point of being too much to chew. The prawns in the filling had the perfect texture where I could taste each prawn distinctly and it didn't feel mushy nor overcooked. The siew mai was a bit different from the version we can get in most dim sum places in Singapore because the HK version's taste was more on the meaty side with prawns playing a secondary role to the meat filling. As for the carrot cake, it was pan-fried in such a way that brought out the aroma but I would have wanted it to be a bit more crispy at the edges and surface. Last but not least, the steamed spare ribs in black bean sauce was flavourful and succulent which is a great deviation from the local version which tends to have more fats rather than meat in the spare ribs used for this dish.

Although I did not eat this dish, it is still worth introducing this based on the feedback from those who ate it. Even though I have no prior experience of eating chicken feet, the appearance of the dish did tempt me for a brief second if I should try this for the first time. The braised chicken feet served in Singapore tend to be a bit on the scrawny side but the HK version looks as if the chicken feet were given some boosters to make them look so plump and juicy. And true to how it looked like, the chicken feet were packed with the flavour of the sauce and was very tender. If you are looking for a source of collagen which tastes good or a fan of chicken feet served in dim sum restaurants, this should probably be the right thing for you.

Next up is the chee cheong fun which can come in a variety of fillings including pig liver, prawns or char siew. I can't really remember if Tim Ho Wan had the char siew version or not but the pig liver version is considered one of their best items (nicknamed the Four Heavenly Kings). Since none of us eat pig liver and we usually eat the prawn version at dim sum places, we decided to select the prawn chee cheong fun. I would say that this has a similar texture and taste with the har kau (since the ingredients are pretty much the same) except that this is served with the light soy sauce which helps to elevate the freshness of the ingredients. However, I wouldn't say that it's absolutely mind-blowing although it's definitely above average. If we had chosen another filling such as pork liver, our feelings about this dish might have been vastly different.

Last but not least, here is the most unique item among Tim Ho Wan's offerings i.e. the baked char siew bun which is crispy on the outside and moist inside. Traditionally, the char siew buns are steamed so this was the very first time which I saw it being done in a different way. The crust felt like a softer version of a biscuit and when eaten together with the filling, seemed to be able to soak in the flavours instead of tasting dry and tasteless. The filling was also of the right amount and the sauce and the char siew matched each other well to bring out a memorable sauce. No wonder this is the signature item of Tim Ho Wan!

In conclusion, I think that Tim Ho Wan offers great value dim sum which could have left a dent in your pocket if you order the same amount of dishes in Singapore. Frankly speaking, when you see the number of people in its restaurant and the speed at which dishes are being churned out from the kitchen, it does make you worry if the items are going to be of top notch quality or risk being lacklustre due to the rush. However, when I went back there for a second visit just before leaving HK, I am glad to say that the taste didn't differ too much. Consistency is the key to make people come back again for the food. Having said that, if you are the type who doesn't like to queue or prefer to dine in a place where there's a lot of personal space, Tim Ho Wan might not be the right one for you. If you can bear with the queuing (which is bearable as long as you are not exposed to the elements) and want to have a value-for-money dim sum meal with a certain level of quality, do give this place a try!

Beer consumption ranking 2013 - Which Japanese prefectures consume the most beer?

Came across this interesting article which ranks the prefectures in Japan according to the beer consumption volume per person and attempts to explain why the results are as such. Here are the top 5 and "worst" 5 (figures in brackets represent the amount in litres consumed per person in that prefecture)

Top 5
1) Tokyo (45.2)
2) Osaka (32.4)
3) Kyoto (30.0)
4) Kochi (29.6)
5) Niigata (29.3)

Worst 5
47) Nara (17.8)
46) Kagoshima (18.2)
45) Saitama (18.8)
44) Tochigi (19.1)
43) Shiga (19.3)

According to the article, Tokyo and Osaka hogging the top spots are not surprising since they are big cities. Conversely, Nara, Kagoshima and Saitama all have their reasons for their lack in enthusiasm for beer. Nara is said to be a place where its residents tend to follow the latest trends thus they have more interest in "fashionable" drinks like fruit cocktails or super cooling wine rather than the old-fashioned beer. Kagoshima boasts of the title of No.1 consumption of shochu in Japan so apparently beer is not as popular as shochu there. As for Saitama, they actually have one of the lowest ratios of restaurants per person (No.45 among the 47 prefectures) so even if someone wants to have a drink at a restaurant, chances are they may not be able to find out easily. Moreover, the people in Saitama have the reputation of spending the most on education, learning new things and No.2 in terms of travelling expenses and people actively involved in sports thus they may prefer to spend their money on things other than beer.

No doubt it's still Japan we are looking at, each prefecture has its own unique lifestyle and preferences so such rankings provide a good sneak peak into the characteristics of each area.

Source: Straight Press

Review of "Blind Detective" 盲探 (Hong Kong movie)

I haven't been to the cinema to see Chinese movies for quite some time although I see quite a fair bit of English, Japanese and Korean ones. The last one I saw should be "Overheard 2" (竊聽風雲 2) which is about 2 years ago so you can see how "often" I watched Chinese movies in recent years. It will be a long post if I have to delve into the reason so let's just skip this for now.

Anyway, this movie wasn't really on my to-watch list but after being persuaded to check out the trailer which is in Cantonese and lured by the golden couple Andy Lau and Sammi Cheng, I decided to give this movie a chance although I have to be frank that I wasn't expecting a lot in the first place.

The premise of the story is pretty simple. Andy Lau plays a former police inspector Johnston Chong See Tun who had to quit after losing his eyesight four years ago and makes a living now by solving cold cases for police rewards. While chasing a suspect who is supposedly in charge of acid attacks in Mongkok, he meets Ho Ka Tung (Sammi Cheng) who admires his ability to solve cases and seeks Johnston's help in finding a friend who went missing during her secondary school days. Along the way, Ka Tung finds that Johnston seems more interested in investigating the cases which will bring him monetary benefits and gets frustrated at him but has no choice to go along with him in order to find her missing friend.

Like what I said earlier, I didn't expect a lot from this movie so I think this mentality did help me in enjoying the movie better. Frankly speaking, the way Johnston solves his cases tend to border on the side of guesswork rather than logical deduction because he puts himself into the shoes and imagines what the victims or perpetrators would do in order to find clues to solving the cases. It did make sense at times but there were some parts when the argument did not really make sense and felt like wild guesses. However, I tried to overlook the discrepancies so if you are able to do so as well, I think you should be able to enjoy the story better. The sole saving grace was that the resolution to Ka Tung's friend disappearance was a bit out of the ordinary so it helped to save some points for the movie.

The highlight of the movie is truly the chemistry between Andy and Sammi. Having worked together so many times, they have developed a strong relationship with each other that it shows in their acting as well. It appears as if they didn't need to put in too much effort and could slip into the shoes of Johnston and Ka Tung so easily. The bickering between their characters felt natural and how they developed a relationship where they could trust each other was very believable. Honestly speaking, with the story being less watertight than it should have been, the leading couple's presence helped the movie to stay afloat and without them, there might have been more brickbats for the movie. The movie's theme song which is a tango tune also seemed to be a representation of the chemistry of the leads because their movements in the movie/song feel as if they are naturally in tandem with each other i.e. when one moves forward, the other moves backward and they didn't need to tell each other explicitly what they were going to do. That kind of chemistry is not easy to build and takes a lot of time to establish which I'm glad to say that Andy and Sammi do have it.

In summary, I think you might be disappointed if you are looking for an intense detective thriller because this is essentially a light-hearted entertaining film. If you are prepared to ignore the loopholes in the story and/or love the leads, this is probably the movie for you. On a final note, I think I might have enjoyed this a bit better if it was in Cantonese. Some lines just don't feel the same in Chinese but that's something I have to live with unless I go to Hong Kong to watch this movie.

Review of Buta God - Ramen Champion (Bugis+)

Ramen Champion welcomed three new contenders on 1 July namely Muso, Menban Yamagishi Kazuo and Buta God after bidding farewell to Aoyama, Menya Iroha and Taishoken which unfortunately, I've not tried before. Anyway, knowing that there are new choices on offer, I decided to go to Ramen Champion at Bugis+ to check them out. After walking to and fro between the stalls of these new contenders, I finally decided on Buta God because of these reasons:

1) Their cha shu was rather different from most ramen restaurants' in the sense that it's thinly-sliced just like what you usually get for sukiyaki. I happen to like this type of pork so I wanted to see how it tastes with ramen. Coupled with the fact that it looks well-seasoned, the cha shu should offer a very different type of taste from the cha shu I've tasted so far in various versions of ramen.

2) Sukiyaki & tonkotsu mixed together sounds like a lethal combination although I had reservations over whether it would be too high in the sodium department.

And so, this is what I ordered - the Nikumashi Ramen and the deep-fried gyoza. According to the guy at the stall, the only difference between Nikumashi and the other versions is the volume of meat so if you are craving for meat or a meat lover, this should suit you just fine. Nonetheless, I still think that I underestimated the amount of meat this version had to offer so I was rather surprised to see that the meat actually concealed the ramen and menma underneath or rather "outnumbered" the lead (ramen) in a way where I had to literally "search" for my ramen. At the first sip of the broth, it can be a bit too salty for people who prefer to have lighter ramen bases. However, as you go along, your tongue sort of gets used to the taste so it didn't feel so out of place with the meat and ramen. As for the ramen, it's of the thin variety and I think it absorbed the soup to such an extent that the ramen and soup were in harmony. Last but not least, the meat was tender and flavourful which is sometimes not the case if you are dealing with huge and thick pieces of cha shu. There was a brief moment after I finished the ramen and was eating the remaining meat slices when I had the impression I was eating sukiyaki. I guess this was due to the fact that either the meat was cooked in sukiyaki sauce or the soup contained the sauce. On a side note, regarding the onsen tamago which was placed at the centre, I didn't eat that since it was a tad too raw for me. Perhaps you may wish to tell them not to add the egg if you prefer your eggs more cooked.

With each ramen restaurant visit, I would usually want to eat gyoza along with my ramen. I can't really place my finger on why I have to do this but it's become somewhat like a habit since most ramen restaurants will have gyoza and somehow, ramen and gyoza go well together. So far, the only place which I've been to which doesn't have gyoza on its menu is Keisuke (the outlets at 100AM and Orchid Hotel). Maybe its other outlets have gyoza? Anyway, coming to Buta God's gyoza, I wasn't paying attention to the menu and thought it was pan-fried but it turned out to be deep-fried. I actually prefer the former because I like the slightly-burnt side of the gyoza with the tender side of the skin and the flavourful filling within. Deep-fried versions usually do not go down well with me. Buta God's version is OK because the filling is still moist and doesn't have a strong meaty smell. The skin did seem a bit oily at first glance because it left its trace on the dish but when you eat it, the taste doesn't seem to indicate that it's too oily.

In conclusion, I'm quite satisfied with what I got from Buta God but I guess the fact that they are only open for a week or so means that there's a lot of initial problems to iron out. There were only two employees in their stall when I visited on a late Saturday afternoon (not that many people around) and it seemed like they were having problems sorting out the orders. They got someone else's order wrong and called me to collect my ramen even though mine was way from being done. Other than these teething problems which I think they should be able to resolve soon, Buta God is still worth a try if you like your cha shu in a different manner, like thick-bodied soups or are a meat lover.