Corn Soup
My heart broke a little the other night as I pulled a heavy wool coat from my closet. After fifteen summers in San Francisco, I know with absolute certainty I'll be cold at some point during Fourth of July fireworks. This year was as good as it gets though - warm daytime weather all weekend, and clear skies for the festivities. I only complained about being cold once all night. Holiday weekend highlights? This bowl of corn soup topped with harissa yogurt, and a walk around North Beach with my camera before watching the fireworks from underneath Coit Tower. Pics below.
People were out in full force in the parks - picnic blankets, dogs zipping here and there, Frisbees, bikes, and boom boxes. The eventual sunset was stunning enough that I mentioned to Wayne that fireworks would just be a bonus. And after sunset, people clustered on the north-facing hillsides all across the city to watch the sky light up. It was a good night out, and made me happy to be bundled up in San Francisco.
A couple more words about the corn soup. The harissa-yogurt swirl is one way I like to enjoy this soup. But there is typically a progression when I make a pot of corn soup like this. I enjoy the first small bowl straight, properly seasoned, and finished with little dabs of butter and a touch of homemade celery salt. This way, it's all about the corn. Then I'll move onto more adventurous toppings like this one, the harissa yogurt, for seconds and leftovers. It's a soup that's also great topped with feta and dill, or any number of compound butters. Make a pot, and play around a bit. If you can imagine it goes well with cor! n, work it into a topping, and see how it goes.
Korea Trip 2011- Zipwire @ Gapyeong Wharf & How to get to Nami Island.
Annyeong Haseyo!
Goodness me, there really should be a speed ticket for time. Travelling to fast 
So Zipwire is a faster way to get to Nami Island from Gapyeong Wharf. (Gapyeong Wharf is something like a small jetty right next to the river, and is about 1km away from Nami Island. Nami Island is atiny half-moon shaped island located inChuncheon,South Korea, formed as it was inundated by the rising water of the NorthHan Riveras the result of the construction of Cheongpyeong Dam in1944. The island is 430,000 square meters in area and approximately 4 km in diameter. And we all shall know that Nami Island has been made even more famous by the Korean drama, Winter Sonatathat was ! broadcas ted in 2002.
There are a few ways to get to Nami Island. I will explain it from the meeting point for the Nami Island Shuttle Bus
Option 1 (the one we took) Make your way to Tapgol Park which is located straight ahead from Jongno-3 Metro Station Exit 1. After the park, turn right and walk straight till you see 7-11 on your left. That area is actually Insadong, another shopping heaven (which I will updated more of later) There will be a Shuttle bus straight to Nami Island.But you have to be there early (bus leaves at 9.30am but we arrived at 8.50ish am) and managed to score the last 6 tickets. Im not sure how you can make reservations but maybe you can ask your hotel reception.
Shuttle Bus ticket: 6500 won for 1 way, 13000 won for 2 way. Dont be silly like us, get the 2 way tickets because its quite tricky to make your way back from Nami Island to Seoul.
The bus takes you straight to Gapyeong Wharf. From there you can either take the ferry or Zipwire your way to Nami Island
Option 2 (we came back from Nami Island to our hotel this way because we didnt buy the 2 way ticket for the shuttle bus) From wherever you are, take the Metro Subway to Sangbong Station (Line 7) At the station youd have to transfer line to the Gyeongchun Line (which is different from the other Metro lines, its under KORAIL) From there, you take a train to Gapyeong Station. After you reach, youd need to take a 10 mins taxi and go to Gapyeong Wharf, which then you can take the ferry or Zipwrie from there. Confusing? ABSOLUTELY!
In short, you > Sangbong Stn (Line 7) >transfer to Gyeongchun Line > train to Gapyeong Station > taxi to Gapyeong Wharf. This could cost about close to 6000 won. Not anyhow cheaper anyways If there are tickets, use the shuttle bus.
#1 Tapgol Park Entrance
#2 The bus.
#3 Waiting for the bus to depart.. Such breezy weather. But rained in Nami Island tho.. 
#4 You cant miss this. It is 80m high and thats probably the tallest tower you can find there in the wharf. Friend A asked : How come I dont see any lift one ?? Friend B: HAR? Dont tell me we have to take the stairs!! ALL OF US : WWHHHAAATTTT FML !! Sure got lift wan la..!!
#5 Zipwire to Nami Island : 39,000 won or was it 38,000 won. Includes zipwire ride to Nami Island, entrance ticket to the island and the ticket back via ferry and a priceless adrenaline rush. 
#6 You will then be taken up (via lift) 80m above floor level. Wo hooo!!! It was drizzling on that day, we were lucky it wasnt a huge downpour. OTherwise we would have missed all the fun!
#7 Lets emm have a look around shall we?
#8 Its a side by side cable, so you wont be flying down alone, unless you went there alone la! They first tie you up in this harness-seat and they will explain to you what you should do when the door infront of you opens. Basically the metal gate is the only thing seperating you from zipping down to Nami Island.
#9 AAAAAnnnndddd thats what I meant.
#10 My turn up next! wheeee
#11 Im all set.!
#12
#13 Look ma, Im flying.
#14 Oh hai 
#15 Oh no, were arriving ? Hello human in front.. Watch out!
#16 Orite, long but quick ride. Dont quite make sense but its Awesome.
Now were at Nami Island. What can we do here ??
Check out the next post then.
Here are the previous posts.
3.How to get from Incheon Airport to Seoul downtown
4.First taste of local food (in a 24 hrs restaurant)
5.Paris Baguette
6. Everland (Pt 1, how to get there)
7. Everland (Pt 2)
Zing Restaurant, Grand Millennium Kuala Lumpur
Having read so many reviews of Zing, I have been most curious to sample the non-halal cuisine here, especially so for the dim sum. While I missed out on the dim sum this round, I was given a treat of a set lunch specially prepared by Group Master Chef Chan Kwok, featuring Roasted Suckling Piglet with Prawn Paste and Crispy Fresh Crab Meat Spring Roll combination, Double Boiled Baby Superior Sharks Fin with Ling Zhi and Chicken, Grilled Crystal Prawn with Yunnan Ham, Stewed Lamb Shank with Chinese Parsley, Minced Pork Fried Rice and Preserved Radish and Mango puree with sago served with pomelo.
Group Master Chef Chan Kwok had just recently been awarded Chef of The Year and Asian Cuisine Chef of The Year at the prestigious Asian Gastronomic Awards of Excellence 2011.
Based in Singapores renowned Hua Ting Restaurant of Orchard Hotel, Master Chef Chanwill be the guest chef at Zing Cantonese restaurant from the 27 June to 2 July,sharing his signature award-winning cuisines with Cantonese food lovers.
The Tea pairing set menu is priced at RM248++ per person, while special a la carte menu starts from RM18++.
Appetiser: A combination of roasted suckling piglet with prawn paste and crispy fresh crabmeat spring roll (paired with Eight Treasures Chinese Tea).
I didnt care much for the spring roll, of which I thought was ordinary plus I didnt taste much crab meat b! ut I lik ed the creative prawn paste with the crispy suckling pig skin. I personally thought it was an innovative pairing of both meat & seafood.
Soup: Double boiled baby superior sharks fin with ling zhi and chicken (paired with Chinese Oolong Tea).
Mine that afternoon was substituted withBraised fresh crab meat with winter melon. And I didnt mind at all, since I prefer not to consume sharkfin.
This clear soup was lovely, boiled with scallops, prawns, crabmeat & tasted very reassuringly nourishing.
The original set comes with Grilled crystal prawn with Yunnan ham (paired with Chinese Jasmine Tea) but again, I was very happy with the substitute of Braised homemade emerald beancurd with seasonal greens top with pan fried fresh scallop.
The spinach tofu was amazingly sublime; smooth & creamy. It has a very clean, neutral taste & that was a good thing since I find the scallop on top a tad salty so the beancurd was actually a good match.
Stewed lamb shank with Chinese parsley.
This was undisputedly the best dish of the set! While the name lamb shank is widely accepted as a westernised dish, Chef Chan has successfully cantonised it (OMG, did I just made up a new word there??
Fork-tender & delicately falling off the bone, the meat was lightly infused with the flavourful broth it came served in. A hearty portion that could easily feed 2, I was reminded again of the fact that this is part of a set that cost only RM248++. And each dish featured in the set is matched with a different type of tea. Unfortunately I wasnt able to go into details of the taste of each dish paired with the different set of tea, since I wasnt served any.
Minced pork fried rice with crispy rice and preserved radish. Now this is another dish worthy of note. Perfectly fluffy grains of rice fried with sufficient wok-fire, the added rice crisp provided a wonderful contrast to each spoonful. 2 thumbs up for this!
Chilled mango puree with sago topped with vanilla ice cream.No complains for this one, though I thought it could do minus the vanilla ice cream.
Zing Cantonese Restaurant (non-halal)
Level 1,Grand Millennium Kuala Lumpur.(opposite Fahrenheit 88)
12.00pm to 2.30pm lunch
6.30pm 10.30pm dinner
For reservations, please call +60 3 2117 4180/4181 or email zing@grandmillenniumkl.com.
NOTE:
Group Master Chef Chan Kwok is presenting his Set Menu with Tea Pairing (as below) from 27 June to 2 July, followed by Guest Master Chef Chung Lap Fai from 2 July to 24 July. Do contact+60 3 2117 4180/4181 or email zing@grandmillenniumkl.com for further details of the promotion from today onwards.
Set menu with Chinese Tea pairing:
A combination of roasted suckling piglet with prawn paste and crispy fresh crabmeat spring roll (paired with Eight Treasures Chinese Tea)
Double boiled baby superior sharks fin with ling zhi and chicken (paired with Chinese Oolong Tea)
Grilled crystal prawn with Yunnan ham (paired with Chinese Jasmine Tea)
Stewed lamb shank with Chinese parsley (paired with Chinese Pu Er Tea)
Minced pork fried rice with crispy rice and preserved radish (paired with Chinese Pu Er Tea)
Chilled mango puree with sago topped with vanilla ice cream
All pics are:
Namaste Hindustan (Indian Restaurant)
We visited on a Sunday night and there was only another client that evening, an Indian. The manager is Indian also, and he greeted us when we entered. The waiters were very warm and knew about the food they were serving. This proved very useful since I'm still new to Indian food and asked many questions.
We ordered the Paneer Makhani (also known as Paneer Butter Masala) and the Dum Biryani Hydrabadi Mutton. I didn't keep the bill unfortunately, but from what I remember, both dishes cost around Rp80,000. It is rather expensive for Jakarta, but affordable compared to Europe. Some pictures here:
Dum Biryani Hyderabadi Mutton
Paneer MakhaniOverall: Namaste Hindustan lacks a really beautiful setting to be perfect, but in spite of that, I enjoyed it and I will come back. The food was excellent (even for my still unexperienced tongue), comparable with another Indian restaurant tried a few weeks earlier, Queen's Tandoor.
Operating Hours:
Open daily from 11am to 3pm and to 6pm to 11pm
Namaste Hindustan Indian Restaurant
Graha MIK Ground floor Taman Perkantoran Kuningan
Jl. Setiabudi Selatan Kav.16-17 Jakarta Selatan
Phone: +62-21 579 41791
Fax: +61-21 579 41814
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