Month: January 2019

23andMe & WeGene – I’m not 100% Chinese ~~~

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I failed my driving test today for the first time with 4 major faults. Ugh. I hate reverse parking!! And I hate driving, but… I rebooked my test. My nerves have gone, and so I think I best do it again in a few weeks time! 😓 I will do my best next time!

I have been wondering about my ancestry for a long time. Both my parents gave me a lack of information about my ancestors. They just basically didn’t know, apart from our current family and my grandparents. So what does one do when in doubt? Take a DNA test of course!

I was browsing through Amazon in December, and the 23andMe kits were on sale. Hoorah! Bought it, got it, spat in the tube and then sent it out.
My info was transmitted to the labs, and it’s taken almost 2 months for the results to get back to me. They had a high volume of participants (well obviously, since there was a sale).
So on Sunday 27th January 2019, I opened up my results… And… I’m not 100% Chinese. 😯 O. How can that be? Where that Taiwan part come from? Is that from my Hakka heritage? The Hakka people are really diverse.
My DNA shows I have some Vietnamese and Chinese Dai (Yunnan area in China, but more Vietnamese) in me, and I’m Broadly South East Asian. What does this mean?! I am so confused. One of my parents has Vietnamese in them. I’m sure it’s MummyGeek’s side because I know that DaddyChef’s side is Broadly Chinese from his Hakka heritage. 
I downloaded my raw data from 23andMe, and then created an account on WeGene. Uploaded my results. Within a few minutes, it shows that I’m more Chinese in some ways… But I also have small percentages of likely Indian and Korean in me. Woah. Shocker! Must be from DaddyGeek’s Hakka heritage, because I can’t explain it. But this might explain my obessession with curry and kimchi! (I actually wanted to have some Korean in me, hahahahah – I love K-Dramas and K-pop 😍). Kinh is from Northern Vietnam. And there’s “Others” – Huh?!

Anyway, whatever I am, I feel that I fit into the Chinese category – very broadly Chinese. Not sure of the accuracies and inaccuracies of this data. To me it just explains why I have more of a broad taste in foods. My tongue says it all.

Totally, totally unexpected results. I really thought I was 100% Chinese. I guess not. 😱😵

Websites: 
www.23andme.com
www.wegene.com/en/ – mainy for Chinese and Asian breakdown

Oriental Tasty Express 好好吃 – London, East Street Market

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My driving test is just around the corner. A bit nervous. Writing that I’m nervous might ease my nerves a bit. I hope it does… But in case I fail, I will try and try again before I give up! Just need to focus and plan ahead. Brexit is going to happen soon (whether we like it or not), so it might be best for me to finish up with this driving!!

 

I’ve been waiting patiently for Miss Pinky to suggest to go to this Chinese restaurant in East Street Market for a while now, but it’s been too long now, I went to try this place with MummyGeek (because I think she wanted to try it out as well).

This place is called Oriental Tasty Express 好好吃 (Canto: hou hou hek; Mando: hao hao chi). The Chinese meaning literally means “very tasty”. It’s a small restaurant

 

MummyGeek and I love eating beef brisket, so we ordered curry beef brisket with rice. This was an ok dish. I actually liked it!

 

I ordered the beef brisket noodle soup. The beef brisket was nice, but the soup hardly had any flavour to it. The soup was so plain. If you went to China Town, the flavours are much richer and suits well with the beef brisket.

 

 

 

Here’s a few takeaways… Special fried rice. I liked it. This didn’t have any soy sauce, which is what I like!! I think Mr Stingy thought it lacked a bit of flavour to it.

 

And these are the salt and pepper fried frog legs which I have been craving for! Yummy! They really taste like chicken.

 

Total here including the tea for two, plus adding the takeaway on top came to £40.70. I don’t think any service charge was added. That’s a first for a very long time!
I wouldn’t say it was all that tasty, but it feels like they do give it a try. It’s very much a northern style Chinese restaurant rather than a Cantonese based restaurant. The tastes are very vast.
MummyGeek actually bought some other types of takeaway from this restaurant a week or two later – I don’t recommend the duck and barbeque pork… I also bought some takeaway from the JustEat app for Miss Pinky and Mr Picky to taste. The sweet and sour food was ok, mussels were very spicy although Miss Pinky and her father said it wasn’t! Egg fried rice was ok.
My geeky rating: 4/5 (MummyGeek wouldn’t agree with this rating – probably a 2.5 for her Cantonese tastes).

Good points:
– Polite service
– Some foods are ok – especially the beef brisket
– No service charge added (!?)

Bad points:
– Slightly bland with their soup bases for the noodle soup
– Wouldn’t recommend the bbq or duck

Address: 54 East St, London SE17 2DN
Tel: 0203 609 4888

They have no website.

Coco Ichibanya – London, Newport Street

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すごいね！ロンドンで ＣｏＣｏ壱番屋は 開きました。
Translation: It’s amazing! Coco Ichibanya has opened in London.
I wonder if the Japanese know I love curry. ¬_¬” I must have mentioned it so many times. Who would have wondered that this Japanese chain company would have started one of their chains in London. I’m quite surprised. びっくりね。。。😮
So I found out via a news article that Coco was opening a branch near China Town. It’s actually taken over the site of Abeno Too (the okonomiyaki place). Not sure if that was a risk but it’s sure doing so well after two weeks from opening.
After viewing the Christmas lights in London Zoo during one Saturday, I decided to go to Coco Ichibanya. The streets was kind of quiet, but it wasn’t quiet in the Piccadily / Soho area. OMG! Thinking that everyone would ease off from shopping at the end of the year – looks like I was wrong. Unfortunately when I got to Coco Ichibanya, there was already a queue. SIGH. It’s one of those London epidemics when a new Japanese food chain opens. すごいね. 

 

 

Well, I queued for half an hour as luckily there was a one seater by the window that no-one had occupied yet. One of the employees asked if I wanted her to ask the people in the front if they wouldn’t mind me going in before them… they said it was ok! Thank you people in the front of the queue. I only had lunch and was already starving! ありがとうごさいました！
I already knew what I wanted, so I ordered fairly quickly.
Pork tonkatsu with omurice and curry sauce. Plus side orders of eggplant (aubergine) and a hamburger. I also had an ice coffee (I said kopi to the waitress – the Korean way, whoopsie! 😅). Forrgot to ask what rice portion I wanted, so I think ended up with the standard portion.

 

The taste of the curry was nothing that special compared to other Japanese curries. It wasn’t sweet. Had a bit of spiciness to it, even though I had forgotten to tell them what spice level I wanted. (I actually wanted a hotter level, maybe next time!).

 

 

 

I added the hamburger (which I think it contains beef and pork mixed) and eggplant in, so that the sauce could blend into the plate of curry. Yuuuuummmmmy!!

 

Look at that egg and rice (topped with cheese). I’m salivating at the moment. 😋

All of it was delicious, wish I had a bit more sauce added. All I could hear in the background was oishii 美味しい. Standard rice portion was the right amount for me.

 

Totally stuffed! But able to walk out the door!
Total cost came to £26.89. Quite expensive, considering that an Indian curry would cost even less. I can even make my own Japanese curry for less. 😹
My geeky rating: 4.5/5
Good points:
– Polite service
– Quite quick with the food
– Nice coffee!
– I love the food, especially the hamburger
Bad points:
– Expensive
– Queuing (unavoidable at this moment in time)
Address: 17-18 Great Newport St, London WC2H 7JE
Tel: 020 3904 5633
Website: https://ichibanya.uk/ (in construction)
The Japanese Website: https://www.ichibanya.co.jp/

Christmas Lights at ZSL London Zoo

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Are you fed up of Christmas now? Do you still want to see more Christmas stuff on this blog?
Correct Answer: yes, I’m fed up and I probably don’t want to see anymore, thanks.
This is my last post of anything Christmasy! As I usually have nothing much to do at the end of Christmas, since people want to spend loads of time with their families. I’m quite lucky, as I see my family all the time – apart from the very distant aunts, uncles and cousins who sometimes appear out of nowhere.
I decided to go to the Christmas Lights at London Zoo. Even as a member, I had to pay for a voucher to get in… I arrived on time, queued with everyone, and then walked swiftly through the trail… Here’s a few pics.

Looks like a PacMan was there…

The flamingos at night…

 

It was a bit like going to the Magic Lantern Festival. A bit scary as I couldn’t see the events people.
I think I walked too fast as it took me a good 45 minutes, including watching the motion video near the end of the trail.

Minamoto Kitchoan 源吉兆庵 – Japanese Confectionery Store

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Feel like I’m back to my old self. Shopping, eating out, and now kind of enjoying driving – not as stressed out as I was last year. Good riddance to 2018! 😎

Before Christmas, I went out with Miss Rock for our annual get-together. It’s actually been almost two years since we last met. This time, we kept it local and walked from Borough all the way to Tottenham Court Road via Strand, through part of Oxford Street, into Regents Street area, then Covent Garden, Waterloo and Elephant and Castle. I thought I was walking really slow, but Miss Rock said I was walking a little too fast. Really? That’s mega slow speed for me! LOL.
On our journey, we stopped by a Japanese confectionery store called Minamoto Kitchoan 源吉兆庵. It’s been opened for more than two years, and this is the first time I remembered to stop by.

We were looking at the prices for most of the products, and most are a tad expensive. Japanese imported things are expensive. It’s a shame, as I would have bought loads if they were at a reasonable price.

We took a while to decide what we wanted.

In the end I chose these. I like rice crackers and mochi, so I chose these.

If you know me, I like a good cheese flavoured rice cracker.

It has powdered cheese covering the whole of the cracker. It has a nice crunch to it, and it nicely softens into your mouth as you taste the last moments of the rice cracker as it disappears in your mouth. It makes you crave for more. There’s only 5 packets of 2 crackers, so save them to the last minute if you can!

I’ve not tasted tomato flavoured rice crackers before.

This actually tastes like red tomato pesto sauce with the herbs that they’ve added to give it an Italian-Japanese feel. It tastes like a pizza. ^_^ Yummy!!

This is a mamedaifuku – a large bean rice cake. Basically a large version of a bean-filled mochi.

I should have bit into it rather than try to pull it apart. Shame of me. Sweet red bean paste in the middle. I would say it’s not that special. It wasn’t too sweet, and I think I would just purchase normal small mochi next time.

I spent £13 in this store. Expensive right? Yes it is. (The Geek has expensive taste… I was born with it 😅).

Address: 448 Strand, London WC2R 0QU
Tel: 0203 490 4747

Website: https://www.kitchoan.co.uk/

The International Christmas Adverts 2018 – Part 3 (IKEA)

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The last of the International Christmas ads of 2018. Will try harder to find more in 2019.
IKEA always needs a separate post. In 2018, it seems a bit bleak but here’s four contrasting IKEA adverts that we should have a look at.
Spain – Anuncio IKEA Navidad 2018
4 Spanish families have a question and answer session. It seems everyone knows about social media stuff but not many details on their own family members! Keep those mobile phones away and start chatting to people. Make sure to watch this with the subtitles on.

Imagination:           ⭐⭐⭐⭐✩
Christmasy?:          ⭐⭐⭐⭐✩
My geeking rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐✩

USA – Maybes :30
There’s a lot of maybes in this ad. Maybe IKEA USA tried to hard. Maybe.

Imagination:           ⭐⭐✩✩
Christmasy?:          ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
My geeking rating: ⭐⭐✩✩✩

Germany – IKEA Werbung: TV-Spot “Neues Weihnachten”

LOL. It’s a like-father-like-son situation here. Quite cute that the son copies his father in nearly everything they do.


Imagination:           ⭐⭐⭐⭐✩
Christmasy?:          ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
My geeking rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐✩

Italy – Cambia il solito Natale con IKEA

This is my favourite IKEA ad! Two male shoppers end up getting stuck in a lift during Christmas Day. They decorate the lift, and I guess they end up spending the night there… Poor guys. At least they had their shopping with them, otherwise it would’ve been a boring Christmas in a lift. 😂

Imagination:           ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Christmasy?:          ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
My geeking rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

That’s it for the Christmas ads! May we see many more brilliant ideas for 2019. Just keep them under 2 minutes. 😵

The International Christmas Adverts 2018 – Part 2

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Happy 2019!!!

It’s been a bit difficult to find lots of Christmas ads from across the world, but here’s some I’ve been able to pick up via YouTube.

China – KFC肯德基2018圣诞季炸鸡配电脑女生周冬 (KFC 2018 Christmas fried chicken with computer girl)
So here’s a Chinese girl who I believe is in Shanghai is working her way through December. She loves KFC. She can’t even get away from work to go home to see her family. And so she ends up in KFC eating loads of fried chicken.

Imagination:           ⭐⭐⭐✩✩
Christmasy?:          ⭐⭐⭐⭐✩
My geeking rating: ⭐⭐⭐✩✩

Japan – LINE Xmas 2018, 何百通ぶん、好きです。(I like hundreds of sentences)
Uh. We have a school romance in Japan! Girl likes boy, but boy becomes friends or possibly in a relationship with another girl… Didn’t really get the ending).

Imagination:           ⭐⭐⭐✩✩
Christmasy?:          ⭐⭐⭐✩✩
My geeking rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐✩

Japan – 「なんだろう、このドキドキ 」2018 WINTER MOVIE: CASIO G-SHOCK (I wonder what this pounding is)
Another kind of love story from. This time it’s a girl waiting for a guy. Time checking using a Casio G-SHOCK watch. Keep looking at the time peeps!

Imagination:           ⭐⭐⭐✩✩
Christmasy?:          ⭐⭐⭐⭐✩
My geeking rating: ⭐⭐⭐✩✩

Berlin – Christmas. Never out of fashion, Zalando 2018
Here we have a choir of people wearing clothes from Zalando, a high street German retail store. I thought saw a Judi Dench look-a-like towards the end of the commercial.

Imagination:           ⭐⭐✩✩✩
Christmasy?:          ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
My geeking rating: ⭐⭐⭐✩✩

Spain – Así es el anuncio de la LOTERÍA DE NAVIDAD 2018 (This is the announcement of the Christmas Lottery 2018)
Yipee! My favourite Spanish Christmas ad! Here we have a man who goes through Groundhog Day until he gets it right when he and a cafe owner win the lottery. This man is a bit of a grumpy one.

Imagination:           ⭐⭐⭐✩✩
Christmasy?:          ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
My geeking rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐✩

France – Le Noël inoubliable de Bouygues Telecom (The unforgettable Christmas of Bouygues Telecom)
OMG! What’s with the father’s dancing?! LOL. But at least the father gets to have a new smartphone to at least video call. ^_^

Imagination:           ⭐⭐⭐⭐✩
Christmasy?:          ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
My geeking rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐✩

USA – Audi Presents: New Santa
And we end it here with a wanna get fit Santa. He wants an Audi. So he needs to get fit to get into one. Or look good in one, because I’m sure even a chubby person could drive the car.


Imagination:           ⭐⭐⭐✩✩
Christmasy?:          ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
My geeking rating: ⭐⭐⭐✩✩

I have one more international set of ads to go. See you back tomorrow!