Too Cynical for Rom-Com?

This was supposed to be a review of Crazy, Stupid, Love, except that the more I thought about it, the more disturbed I got. People had been telling me what an entertaining film it was, and I'll admit it, when I saw the trailer, I wanted to see it too! 

But you know what? Instead of feeling humoured, warm and gooey, I felt like the movie was giving across a bad message.


The key aspect of point of Crazy, Stupid, Love is the belief in soulmates. Steve Carell and Julianne Moore are soulmates but he let himself and ultimately their relationship go. In comes Ryan Gosling, a player type reformed by meeting his own soulmate, Emma Stone. And Robbie, 13 year old son of Steve and Julianne, believes that his 17 year old babysitter Jessica is his soulmate. Now belief in soulmates in itself is not necessarily a bad thing. What I disliked about this movie is that it uses it to override all other problems in relationships. 


As Julianne says in the trailer, she slept with someone else and Steve moves out of the house without a complaint. He is later berated for *giving up* on his soulmate. But you know what? I'm more concerned that the fact that Julianne already felt the relationship was in such a bad state that she went to someone else was no addressed. So he gave up on their relationship? What about the breach of trust caused by cheating?! 


Robbie actively does things that embarrass Jessica, like turning up at her school to declare his love, telling her that he only thinks of her when he has a meeting with Rosie Palm and her 5 sisters, and basically not taking no for an answer (until right at the end when she says she'll wait for him to grow up). To me, this is not cute and romantic, this is the first step to becoming a stalker. In addition, your feelings at 13 are different from your feelings at 23, 33, and so forth. In fact, I'd say that was one of the problems between Steve and Julianne - they may have been soulmates at 16 but they clearly were no longer by the late 40s. 


Okay, a player being reformed by meeting The One, okay, I'm not so fussed about that but I did wonder how all those women fell for his lines. I am kinda curious why a guy who seems to love women couldn't seem to form a lasting relationship with anyone until his late 20s/early 30s and instead made do with lots of one night stands though. 


Now for people who think I'm bashing romcoms, this is NOT TRUE! I love the genre, I love the improbability of the storylines and how a good one makes you feel all gooey inside. And I don't take them seriously. I mean, come on, I love Pretty Woman but I don't think hookers are good partners for businessmen (or are they....) and I love Enchanted but I know a secret cartoon world doesn't exist through a portal in Times Square (or does it....!). But basically, when Crazy, Stupid, Love ended, I did not feel that warm gooey feeling that a good romcom is meant to give you. I really thought that none of the relationships we saw would end well. Okay, maybe the Ryan/Emma one will be okay if she can get over his past and he can stop with those stupid lines to random women. Maybe they chose to use conflicts that were too realistic (end of love) or too unrealistic (being in love at 13). And if this is what's considered a good romcom nowadays, I'm really worried. You shouldn't walk away from romcoms wondering about the characters' future mental health! Anyway, that's my two cents...I'm gonna watch Amelie again. 

Huzzah!!!

Okay, this is an enhanced photograph but...Oh, ja!!!!

A Very Bavarian Christmas Part 2

Here are some more traditional Christmassy things that I didn't know about until I came to Chermany...

Advent candles, one for each week of Christmas. They start off different heights, and by the last week, they're the same!

Cherry blossom branches. If the blossoms form at Christmas, it means good luck for the new year! YES!!! *pumps fist*

A couple of weeks before Christmas, Jul asked me if there was anything I didn't eat. HAHAHAHAHAHA *wipes away tear*. And so, Jul's ma decided to roast a goose for Christmas lunch.

Mmmmm...

NOM NOM NOM!!!

Following lunch, it was time to open the presents

Christbaum mit viele geschenken!

Jul's nephew was the one to dole out the presents

And then we all rolled around on the floor enjoying our gifts!

This pattern of eating and then sitting around and then eating more was continued for a few more days. I actually had to request a walk through the village to rest between meals! Otherwise a good first traditional Christmas!

A Very Bavarian Christmas Part 1

When I told people that I didn't celebrate Christmas and my family home doesn't put up a tree, I was met with a degree of horror - remember, Munich is in a region that has public holidays based on religious dates - Himmelfahrt, anyone?! Anyway, Jul invited me home to her Bavarian village to give me the whole Bavarian Christmas Experience and, with the exception of the lack of snow, I sure got it!


The first step on my way in the Experience, we went to her village's Christkindlmarkt and had some gluhwein and the local sausage - Knackwurst in semmel!

A pork sausage in a bread roll served with sweet mustard, gherkins and horseradish. Miam!

After this, I helped them decorate the (real) tree. It smelled just as purdy as it looks!

As a side story, after dressing the tree, we had to hide it because the next day, Jul's nephew was coming over and the local story is that the Baby Jesus dresses the tree - when he's done, his angels ring a little bell!

Anyway, I also agreed to go to a Catholic Christmas service. Originally we were going to go to Midnight Mass (which oddly takes place at 10pm) but it was decided that at 2.5 years, Jul's nephew is still too young to handle sitting still in a church for that long at that time. Instead, we went to an evening mass where we got to watch the village kids perform the Nativity play...auf Bairish which made it even less comprehensible to me than normal!

The church. Cute.

The view from the church over the village.

After church we went home and had a three course meal. The first two courses were cheese, pear and walnut salad followed by a meat main of veal stuffed with scallops. I was too busy eating them to photograph but I got the dessert!

Ice cream with chocolate sauce and raspberry coulis

Miam.

And then the finish the day, I helped Jul's dad drink some kirschwasser (cherry flavoured liqueur)...it burned!!!

Coming soon - more Christmas happenings!

Posted this on fb but I'll post it again here because it's so true!

Es schneit

Hate is probably too strong a word, but I'm not particularly enamoured by snow in an urban environment. Okay, it's really pretty when it's freshly fallen and people haven't trod over it yet, the air feels nice and dry and it's ultimately better than rain but....still...so many negatives. It takes so long to get dressed in the morning (gotta put a full set of thermals under the actual clothes and make sure appropriate socks, hats, gloves, coat...), and then walking to the closest u-bahn can be pretty hazardous with the partially melted snow, or worse - ice. And then the buses are packs and people suddenly forget how to drive...*sigh*


Anyway, here's a vid of the sudden blizzard that hit.

Amazingly about a minute after I stopped the video, the clouds cleared, the sun was shining in the blue sky and a bunch of kids came out to make snowballs!

Movie review - Puss in Boots.

Looking for some light entertainment with fun characters that's doesn't require wrestling with your brain that only goes for 90 minutes? Look no further, Puss in Boots is for you!


PiB tells the story of Puss (Antonio Banderas) before the events that introduced him to us in Shrek 2. A wanted criminal, Puss is going to steal some magic beans from outlaws Jack and Jill (Billy Bob Thornton & Amy Sedaris) when he is interrupted by Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek) who is after those beans herself. Giving chase after the robbery goes wrong, he discovers that she's working for a blast from the past - Humpty Dumpty (Zach Galifianakis), Puss' childhood best friend from their time in the San Ricardo Orphanage...


What can I say? This is an enjoyable film albeit unchallenging. I don't use that word to be derogatory - it's more that unlike Up! or Wall-E, there was not a great deal of emotional-string pulling. It's a straightforward tale of adventure with flashbacks to show how Puss became the mercenary who ultimately has a heart of gold. Unlike the Shrek films, it's not overburdened by pop culture references although there are lots of little gags about they way cats are - chasing lights, playing a bit too roughly with the hamster, the hypnotic big eyes jokes...all amusing but again, nothing spectacular. 


The visual style is a departure from Shrek as it is set in a dry and dusty Mexican/Western environment and quite interesting to look at. I saw this movie in 2D but as with all CG animated movies these days, it was clearly also made for 3D and featuring a lot of action sequences - various chases, an amazing sequence when the magic beans are planted. The highlight however is definitely the dance fight sequence between Puss and Kitty that pretty much came out of nowhere, and the likes of which have definitely not featured in any other CGI movie to date! 


Does this review sound not positive enough? If so, don't take it to mean it's not good. It is good, it's just not the best animated film ever, possibly not even the best of this year (I haven't seen Kung Fu Panda 2 yet but I'm told it's better!). It's fun without being groundbreaking. That makes it a solid...
6.5-7/10

Christmas Market photos

Regensburg looking all pretty and dolled up for their Xmas markets

Nice full Xmas tree!

I really like this photo because of how awkward Ruben y Eva look.

The gluhwein tower at the Residenz market

Big Dog!

Big Dog acting big doggish

The Residenz market also has this at the rear with little huts that each have a little story.  

This is a kinda creepy retelling of Red Riding Hood.

I thought there was supposed to be only one Santa?!

Es schneit....nicht!

Unlike last year when I arrived in the midst of a snowpocalypse, it's been barely snowing at all this year! It has snowed a little bit, but if it hasn't melted by the morning, it's usually gone by lunchtime. 

It was pretty and it looked thick on the cars, but it was gone by morning :D

While people around me are bemoaning the lack of snow, it isn't bothering me in the slightest! The only reason I would want snow is so that it would stop raining. Otherwise, I'm quite comfortable *thumbs up*

Encore Paris - Jour 4

Alas, all things must pass and after Amandine departed back to British shores, Christine and Philipp headed off for some last minute tourist action while Jul and I dealt with the check out of the apartment (most cursory look over ever!), and then enjoyed the clear blue sky and sunshine as we slowly made our way back to Chatelet and CDG. *sigh*

A dieu, Paris, et je t'aime! Je t'aime toujours!

The First Annual Macaron Challenge

Laduree vs. Pierre Herme - the question of who makes the best macarons in Paris was an issue that needed to be decided. And I used the past tense because NOW it has been determined in a highly scientific manner! I will say that one of the explicit aims of our Paris trip was to determine who was the one we would recommend to others when they headed to Paris. And now, we can say for sure.

Firstly, we had to determine how we were going to test them. We decided the the most important thing in about macarons comes down to 3 aspects - they way they looked (admit it - this is a lot of their appeal), their texture, and their tasted. It was decided that we would try to do this by comparing the classical flavours - chocolate, rose, raspberry, lemon, and pistachio. PH threw a spanner into this when the boutique we visited didn't stock all of those flavours so we eventually picked ones that we hoped would be comparable. In the end it was:

Rose vs. Rose

Citron (lemon) vs. Pamplemousse (grapefruit)

Framboise (raspberry) vs. Cassis (blackcurrant)

Pistachio vs. Creme Brulee

Chocolat vs. Chocolat

It was simple. We had two macarons per flavour, which were carefully dissected into thirds. After eating, we would discuss and debate its merits and determine who received the point for each criterion.  

We got some cremant to wash away the flavour in between testing rounds. 

The lawyers said the scientists had to be the dissectors!

Sharing the segments

The rose looking mighty pretty. Tasted pretty too.

Gosh, look at the perfect appearance and solid texture of the cassis

Who's having a good time testing?!

The results of the Challenge were compelling. Firstly in terms of looks, PH was the runaway winner. While the Laduree shells had the nicer *feet* and bright colours, PH macarons had a lovely glossy and even apparance, and some flavours (notably the chocolate and creme brulee shells had decorative effects. For each individual flavour,

• Rose Battle - Laduree took the points for taste and texture, being a rich flavour bomb. PH's flavouring was more subtle and unfortunately blown away.
• Citrus Battle - The lemon had great tang but the grapefruit actually really tasted like a grapefruit, right down to the sour kick at the end. We were all actually amazed that they somehow managed to replicate that. Taste and texture to PH. 
• Berry Battle - Wow. Readers, if you can get your hands on the cassis, GET YOUR HANDS ON THE CASSIS! The raspberry was actually quite disappointing. One comment was that the ganache seemed like it was actually jam. 
• Nut/Cake Battle - The pistachio was solid, if somewhat unexciting. But upon being sliced into, the creme brulee let out such an amazing aroma and a great replication of the vanilla/custard-y flavour of an actual creme brulee!
• Chocolate Battle - Laduree was the clear winner here with a strong dark chocolate flavour that won us over PH's lighter one. 

And so PH basically blew away Laduree to win the competition but it was no so clear cut! The strength of PH's work is clearly their less orthodox flavours and the  ability to replicate those flavours. Laduree was the clear winner in the more traditional rose and chocolate, but I would say that it is possible that their lemon would have beaten a *lesser* PH flavour except that the grapefruit was so unexpected in actually being a grapefruit. Future visitors might want to take this into consideration when deciding where they should purchase their macarons in the future.

And so after a hard day's science, we sat back and congratulated the winners by eating a *bonus round* and finished the cremant...

...ending on a classy note. 

Encore Paris - Jour 3

Following the previous day's meal, I was really glad that we'd organised to have lunch with mon Cousin Alix and Bron at the relatively late time of 2pm. Our location? Chinatown. I've been whining a lot about the lack of Chinatown to my friends in Munich. In fact, it's probably been getting on their nerves a lot. But I really needed to show them what it's like when Asians congregate and REALLY compete with each other on how to provide the best of whatever they can get with each other. 

So the best way to start that was to go to where Pooey declared she'd had the best pho - Le Bambou!

We caught up with Bron who moved to France a month after I hied off to Munich! She said she hadn't had pho in who knows how long!

Mandy pours the tea...

As does Christine.

Oh man, I missed a good bowl of pho dac biet with all those organ meats. I was kinda disappointed with the tendons though. Where were they?!?!

Mandy also had the pho dac biet and she agreed - it was one of the best phos she'd ever had!

Christine bucked the noodle soup trend and got herself thit kho. It was soy/caramelly goodness.

An overview of all our dishes.

After lunch, we went walking around Chinatown where I tried to show the various bizarre things that I missed and people who were not familiar with Chinatown got to smell that distinct Chinatown aroma - the sweetness of various roasted meats overlaid on the base notes of rotting vegetables and stagnant water. Mmmmm, fragrant!

Like various meats hanging in a window!

Christine was pretty impressed by those delicious looking quails!

An asian bakery with lurid coloured cakes. These cakes are actually macarons! This bakery didn't sell poison pork rolls but they did sell egg tarts (Jul bought one to try) and I got a banh bao (steamed pork bun)

And an Asian stationer with lots of random weird Asian...things...

Around 4 Alix had to go meet some more friends for le goûter, which then left us ready to start shopping for the next part of our trip - The Great Macaron Test!

Restaurant L'AOC

Our Saturday night dinner was at L'AOC, and for those cognisant of French food, those letters do refer to Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée - a French body that makes sure if something is labelled as particular product, it really comes from there e.g. Champagne must come from the Champagne region. This implies that the restaurant sources top produce.  I'm not sure if this is absolutely the case (it was a BARGAIN meal - €29 for the 3 course menu, or approx €55/head including wine) but it was definitely amazing. 

Our aperitif - it was like Kir Cassis

Prost! 

Some of the homey decor.

The entire menu is in French which meant that when we got it, there was a bit of trying to translate the words into German or English and then being baffled when we'd get something saying the word didn't exist. Well, with the power of the full internet behind me, I can now say that Rognons de veau are veal kidneys! Alas, none of us ordered that. Here's what we did order!

Escargots! Miam!

Camembert clafoutis. When it was cut open, the cheese ooooozed out in a most beautiful manner :D

Terrine de foie gras. HOLY MOLY!!! BIGGEST SLAB OF FOIE GRAS I'VE EVER SEEN! Not to mention eaten!

A more sedate slab of Terrine L'AOC

Philipp ordered the Terrine de Campagne but instead of serving him a piece, they just gave the entire thing to him and he was supposed to cut himself a tranche. That's so trusting - it was delicious!

Bottle of water, bottle of wine, and the cornichons and caramelised onions that went with the terrine. I also need to make a note about the onions - I need to figure out how they did them cos I could have eaten them on their own!

The entrees were pretty damn good and somewhat worrying - they were huge serves! What was going to happen when we got to the mains?! They were also huge! :O

Confit de canard - I believe the duck was finished but the delicious potatoes slathered in duck fat were not. Mmmm skin so crispy...

I can't remember what kind of sausage this was but it was also huge. Finished!

Beef tongue. So delicate, so tender. Also finished!

Philipp and his giant Entrecote. Finished with a bit of pain!

250g of beef tartare. When this came out, we were all astounded by the sheer size of it. What's not photographed is that it also came with a side salad AND pommes frites. :O Understandably, it was not finished but I was given kudos for getting about 200g of it into my belly. 

This (huge) mastiff could have helped us out!

About now, we were in a bit of a protein coma. But those who ordered the 3 course menu still had dessert to come. The rest of us decided to share a tarte tartin.

Mmmm, caramel, apples and pastry.

Fruit crumble and tarte aux chocolat 

After this, we chose to walk back again during which Christine said I was the quietest she had ever found me to be! The next morning, everyone said they were so full they found it difficult to sleep. Not me though. I conked out like a python that had swallowed a snake.