Stumbled upon this movie on Youtube during one of my usual forays of interesting stuff to watch, you know, beyond the usual Fail and Crash videos. I decided to just sit back and enjoy the thing.
The story to me in essence is about 2 people finding each other and then realising the value of how ones life can positively impact another. The delivery of this is done through a somewhat difficult to believe (forgive my logical head) dream sequence, where the protagonist, Temmuz, dreams of a young boy asking to find him. Temmuz, an artist who seems to be living a carefree and almost bohemian no-fucks-to-give lifestyle is stuck in an artistic rut, stemming from complicated relationship with his parents and significant other. Then on day, while with his agent/best friend, he sees the same exact boy in his dream, a disabled one at that, being wheeled around by an elderly woman. This shocks him into action and he shadows them to find a means to introduce himself. Thoroughly intrigued, Temmuz devises a way to segue himself into their lives as a social work volunteer, offering a regular book reading session to the boy to answer the burning questions in his mind. The story arc picks up when Temmuz finally commences their reading session when Ihsan, the boy, pointblank asks him what does he want from them. Cornered, Temmuz decides to come clean and explain about his haunting dream. Surprised as Ihsan was, he accepts Temmuz's offer, in return for a favour - to be killed, so that in death he can meet God to ask if God loved him at all to have created him that way. What ensues after is the beginning of a unique relationship between the two and all those closest to them. I wont be spoiling the movie more than I already have, but I must declare that the movie had such a powerful impact on me I dwelled on it for days. The actors playing Temmuz and Ihsan respectively were very effective in their roles. I particularly appreciated how Ihsan, the disabled boy was the one who appeared emotionally stronger and centred despite his apparent situation and Temmuz the rich spoiled artiste being shaped by his encounter with Ihsan. It is a wonderful hypothesis of how one person can deeply affect another. As their relationship progresses, the spectre of Ihsan's request looms closer as the dynamic of their shared passion and vigour grows. We are then confronted with the truth of Ihsan's desire contrasted against Temmuz unfocused approach to life. The tale culminates in a heart pounding crescendo that will forever change their lives. I ended the movie feeling out of sorts and questioning if any of us could ever be in either Temmuz's or Ihsan's figurative shoes, Of course, the film is not without its failings - the pacing, the supporting characters, and the general feeling of how convenient it all seemed, does affect the believability of the story. The sometimes cartoony CGI employed also detracted from the moment. The actors Deniz Celiloglu and Aras Bulut Iynemli to me, carried the entire emotional heft of the movie between themselves. Deniz keeping Temmuz's heart on the backburner and Aras displaying all using only his face and expressive eyes. Another bit I found to be worth of note is the Turkish language used in the film adds so much beauty, at moments sounding Arabic (or Abrahamaic in origin) and in others more aurally Hindi. It just rolls off their mouths with no jarring sounds and just flows into the balmy, sun-tinged videography. For the time being, the movie can be found on YouTube and watched for free on the YT panel above or this link - https://youtu.be/WWam8jRDiwc . Feel free to view it and tell me what you think. I definitely consider this one of my favourite movie.
We found ourselves with a bit of time to while away in Sunway Pyramid shopping mall. As is common on weekends, the mall was full of shoppers and the post lunch crowd. Mom did some bit of shopping and after a while we got into a peckish mood. We found a relatively vacant cafe called Cosans Coffee and plonked our rears into some seats (relief for bad achey backs).
I liked the decor, dark browns, woods and earthy tones matched with blacks. Felt masculine and more muted than say Starbucks or CBTL. The seeming toned down ambiance appealed much to my older sensibilities.
The menu was for the most part, typical of coffee cafes, drinks based on coffee and teas with a selection of foods that go well with both. I was for the most part quite unimpressed about the place, but the aroma of the coffee wafting from the coffee machine decided it for me. Waited in line and was quickly attended to by the boyish gaggle of Baristas there. They were fun, making good recommendations and actively courted for favourable response from the customers. I did notice that they spoke good Manglish (not Mangled English, but Malaysian English, interspersing BM words into their English) further making them feel open and friendly and peculiarly disarming.
We ordered a few drinks, and 3 slices of cake (peckish or plain kebulur?). I order my customary Americano On The Rocks (Espresso poured over ice) and Sis had a Coffee Frap. The cakes were Almond Cream Sponge , Mississippi Mud and Chocolate Hazelnut Slice. Quite different cakes but with a central note of chocolate and nuts carrying through.
The skies opened and Angels sang when I took my first sip of my American OTR. The now cool brown & black liquor was very deep, smooth and carried with it an extremely long finish of dark chocolate. The drink elicited a wonderful chewing response that somehow further amped the chocolaty undertones. Glorious it was. Sis' drink like wise too had this deep finish, that sat atop the thick and creamy mix of the blended drink. It had been a long while since I had such coffee with a Strong individual character such as this, being accustomed to Starbucks (Medium Roasted beans mostly) levels of Espresso based drinks.
We enquired as to what kind of beans they used and the Baristas stated that theirs were a blend of Arabica beans from the Indonesian continent. On the mouth feel and aromas, I imagine it would be a mix of Arabica and Robusta beans (get off your snooty Arabica high horse and try other beans Razee!). Such a good character of coffee to use as their house blend. In the end, I ordered another large American OTR before we left. It was that fucking good!
The total bill came up to almost RM 100, including the small tip we left for the Boys. Money well spent.
Glenn, our old time secondary school mate was back in Malaysia for a spell and wanted to hang around and do dinner. Avian, our very own Mr Glue quickly set up a get-together at Frisson Coffee Bar in Damansara Uptown.
The place had been in operation for several years already as it were yet none of us had tried the place. Thus yesterday evening we all met for din din (emphasis on making a Din, we were raucous!).
The conversation just flowed and it was amazing to be able to just immediately pick up where we left off, as if we didn't have the years of growing between any of us.
Avian, Glenn, Ali, Azlan, David and Me.
Glenn's Beef Striploin in Herby Pasta
David's Grilled Salmon w Vegetable Bolognaise
Azlan's Mac N Cheese, topped with Breaded Chicken & Salted Egg
Avian's Breaded Chicken on Pasta Alfredo (could be Carbonara)
Mine - Glazed Donut Beef Burger w Beef Bacon, Egg n Cheese and a Side Salad
Like a good book, one can always come back to it, familiar yet find something new every time.
Mom had the desire to buy some fabric for her latest curtain project for the Kajang house. So we drove down into the hell that is Jakel in Shah Alam where I later spent over an hour driving around looking for a parking lot. Tiresome hour later, Mom finally emerged from the hell mouth, victorious in subduing many meters of dangerous fabric.
Then we drove back to Sg Buloh to pick up a few things at home before driving back out for Lunch. I decided that it was to be Japanese food and selected Sushi Tei in Tropicana City Mall. And Yes, just that day alone I drove over 120kms!
Thank heavens by the time we reached the restaurant at 3.30pm, the Lunch service crowd had totally dissipated. This allowed us most expedient service, perfect for our already hangry selves.
I proceeded to order a bunch of items off the menu to start (usual suspects of cold marinated baby octopus, cold green seaweed and crispy baby crabs while we sipped on cool cups of iced green tea.
Then it was on to more serious stuff - Crisp Spider Maki, lightly torched Mentai Mayo & Crab Roll, Sweet Daikon Maki, Crisp Salmon Skin
Mom then also asked for her favourite 'Pregnant Fish' - Grilled Shishamo, to round off the order, a Sushi Tei Salad w Salmon Skin (hey, we need the greens to balance out all the ther stuff right?), while I ordered another specialty roll of theirs - Deep Fried Tuna Mayo in Seaweed Roll.
The last 3 items perfectly sated us for the day where we skipped dinner altogether. The lunch at Sushi Tei came up to just shy of RM 125, which is a bit more when compared against Sakae Sushi or Sushi King. However, it was a good lunch as the quality of the food and the speed of service certainly is above the latter.
Passed by several times in the past and finally felt compelled to try their Green Tea Bingsu after spotting someone inside having a bowl.
The cafe is packed with small square tables and red/black low-back chairs originally popularised by Japanese modern designers.
Brightly lit yet not glaringly so, the place seemed open and clean, thanks to its unfussy design and flat orderly table layout.
Hanbing Korean Dessert Cafe calls their bingsu Green Tea Snowy Ice and despite the relatively hefty price tag of RM24 for a bowl, it turned out to be an interesting delight. Their menu informs that their Snowy Ices takes 10-20minutes to prepare but mine arrived in less than that.
And what a sight to behold when the Powdery mossy-green Matcha galore arrives at my table.
The texture was amazing, cool and smooth with a slightest crystalline mouthfeel. To my surprise, the Matcha was not just dusted on. Instead it was a proper concoction that was then given the 'snowing' treatment.
Looking carefully at the ice, one could see the beautiful lattices and struts that gives it amazing mouthfeel.
The thick, rich redbean paste scoop on the ice added more earthy flavour while adding a gentle sweetness. Inside, I discovered gems of slivered roasted almonds (so crispy it remained so despite sitting in liquid) and squishy, chewy bites of glutinous rice cubes rolled in dry roasted soya powder.
Each flavour profile and texture worked in concert to create such a beguiling dessert. Matcha powder often leaves a green astringent and bitter aftertaste, but this one did not. I attribute this to the green tea powder being mixed in the water and milk base that makes up the basis of a Bingsu. I had originally planned to savour it slowly but in the end the bowl lasted about 15 minutes of my slow but sure scooping.
Update:
Hanbing now also serves a Musang King Snowy Ice. This said, my heart forever remains with the Green Tea/Matcha version.
I was mainly attracted to this restaurant by the chef in his windowbox rapt in attention making the noodles. His measured motions of kneading and pulling, slowly coaxing thw dough into thinner and finer strands.
As it were, the pulling and twisting cycles effectively activate and relaxes the wheat gluten in turns, resulting in noodles that have a characteristic firmness and bite.
Their menu is small and unfussy: Soupy Noodles or Fried Noodles, with a smattering of side dishes. Wanting the authentic experience, I was recommended the Mee Soup w Spicy Beef.
How it works here is that you take ur desired table, pick items from their menu (food and drinks), write it on their order slip and proceed to pay at the cashier. Then they send your goodies to you at your table.
My order took a little while get done, about 30 minutes! Apparently there was a mix-up with the order stubs and someone overlooked it. This however could have been prevented had one of the many Waitstaff actually took note of their guest order.
My server profusely apologised after I reprimanded them (she was on the verge of tears, lolz). And she brought my bowl less than a minute later.
An unassuming bowl it was. A tight bundle of ivory hued noodles in clear soup flecked with chilli oil and sliced spring onions.
Then upon tasting my first spoonful of broth, my righteous anger instantly deflated. It had the smoothest and cleaning tasting broth I have ever tasted (the chinese are masters of broth, hands down). Rich with chicken and bright ring of star anise and background of peppercorns. The chilli oil then worked to prolong the sensation while it unfolded the gradual heat of the chilli. Slurp it in hot and fast and you will quickly discover the wonderful harmony.
Then I bit into the noodles.
JOY!
Imagine thin noodles approximating Capellini pasta but with an impressive fight and bite. How could something so thin be so delectably chewy? Yup, the chef's repeated pulling and twisting gave birth to amazing noodle mouthfeel.
I must definitely bring Boss Mama and family to one of their many sister outlets in Malaysia and see how they react.
