橋歐有機義式廚房 - 叛教的懲罰

酒池肉林教的頭號敵人是金錢幫。

金錢幫權傾天下，財力雄厚。門下人才濟濟，高手如雲，隨便一個掃廁所的小弟都有役鬼通神之力，飛天遁地之能。坦白說，本教這群烏合之眾，實在不是對手。因此，每次他們來挖角，就會有教友被吸收過去。不過對這種事，教主是很看得開啦。若本教主是個生有異廩，少有大志的大時代好青年，說不定也要投其髦下，一展胸中抱負，幹下一番轟轟烈烈的大事業，方不枉生為男兒身。

ㄟ，可是，捫心自問，自己終究不是當大時代好青年的那塊料，所以教主還是繼續當教主吧。

不過，國有國法，教有教規，對於叛教潛逃的傢伙，終究還是要嚴加懲治。教中有明文規定，對叛教者，刑罰就是要餵其美食，灌其佳釀，讓此人的戰鬥力大打折扣，去敵營後好當個稱職的米蟲。這幾天，教眾紛紛來請示行刑的場地應該設於何處。教主靈光一閃，想起了「橋歐有機義式廚房」。

溫故而知新，可以為師矣

這幾天閒了點，於是開始猛Ｋ古龍的「邊城浪子」。在接近結尾的地方讀到了以下這麼一段對白

易大經道：“白天羽并不是個卑鄙小人，他的确是個英雄，他藝才絕艷，雄姿英發，武功之高，已絕不在昔年的上官金虹之下。”
 

傅紅雪的喘息更怪。
 
易大經道：“他做事卻不像上官那樣狠毒殘酷，若有人真正在苦難中，他一定會挺身而出，為了救助別人，他甚至會不惜犧牲一切。”
 
陌生人忽然長長歎息一聲，道：“若非如此，也許就不必等你們去殺他了。”
 
易大經歎道：“但他卻實在是個難相處的人，他決定的事，從來不容別人反對，只要他認為做得對就是對的。”
 
這种人并不多，但世上的确有這种人。
 
易大經道：“他獨斷獨行，只要開始做了一件事，就不計成敗，不計后果，這固然是他的長處，但也是他最大的短處，因為他從來也不肯替別人想一想。”
 
丁靈琳看了葉開一跟，忽然發現葉開的神情也很悲傷。
 
易大經道：“成大功，立大業的人，本該有這种果敢和決心，所以我雖然恨他，但也十分尊敬他。”
 
這种心理很矛盾，但不難了解。
 
易大經道：“我從沒有說他是惡人，他做的也絕不是坏事，當時的确有很多人得過他的好處，但真正能接近他的人，卻是痛苦的。”
 

他黯然歎息，接著道：“因為一個人，接近了他之后，就要完全被他指揮支配，就得完全服從他，這些人若想恢复自由，就非殺了他不可！”

讀完這段，不禁掩 iPad 長嘆。多年以來，我一直認為古龍的文字造詣遠不如金庸。讀過陸小鳳之鳳舞九天或劍神一笑的人都應該會同意，古龍有些作品根本是狗屁不通，情節不合理到了極點，到最後往往無法自圓其說。有的如白玉老虎，寫到一半說卡就卡，很草率的就來個腰斬，看完後會很想飆三字經。

北海岸牛排恩仇錄外傳之海角99

首先要聲明的是：不熟悉北海岸牛排恩仇錄一案的朋友請先參閱這裡。教主生性比懶羊羊還懶，所以不想把案情重新敘述一遍。

關於本案，本教主早已作出長角96勝出的判決。可是因為案情又有新的發展，所以教主只好秉著類似神農嘗百草的大無畏精神，再次微服出巡，去發掘新的線索與證據，好讓真相水落石出，使普羅列塔利亞大眾知道寶島台灣有啥可吃有啥好吃。

2011 Ta-Ku Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc

I like Cloudy Bay; I do. But not at $900NT a bottle. See, this is what inevitably happens when LVMH acquires a brand that once offered decent value. They jack up the price because they know the one percenters are more than happy to pick up the tab for their marketing expenses.

Enters 2011 Ta_Ku Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. At $330NT, this is probably the cheapest Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc around. And dare I say, one of the best.

The color is pale gold with a dash of lime green, which gives the false impression that it is some unsophisticated, watery stuff. But the bouquet packs quite a punch, dripping with floral accents that accompanies hints of apple and citrus. On the palate, it's nothing but lucious honey and kiwi fruit, then the whole thing ends with a well-balanced lemony finish. It's rare that such a light-bodied wine has this much oomph.

竹美山閣

很久很久以前，教主的衣食父母總會照著三節發放禮金。時間一到，價值一千大洋的 Sogo 禮券就會自動送到教主手上。資產階級人士如薄瓜瓜可能會很不屑。一千大洋在 Sogo 頂多買包舶來泡麵罷了，有何路用之有？可是對無產階級的打工仔來講，這一千元的禮券可是與現金等值。要知道，Sogo 與愛買同樣隸屬遠東集團，所以 Sogo 禮券拿到愛買血拼一樣有用。於是，通常教主一拿到禮券，就會立刻交給教主夫人去買民生用品。多年來，教主家裡所用的衛生紙有一大部分是用這筆禮金換來的。

啊，回想起來，那些日子是如此的單純與美好。

可是就像鄧麗君唱的：好花不常開，好景不常在。教主的新衣食父母發放的三節禮金不是 Sogo 禮券，也不是全國通用的小朋友，而是 Payeasy 的購物金。於是焉，問題出現了。Payeasy 是一個專攻女性市場的購物網站，其主打的產品為 Kevin 與牛爾的面膜保養品。教主對這兩位仁兄深痛惡絕，在電視上看到他們就好像看到貞子一樣，二話不說立刻轉台。所以，將近一年下來，甚麼東西都沒買。最近上網一看，帳號裡居然有三千大洋。這筆橫財老是留在那裡總不是辦法，終究還是得花掉，只好開始努力尋找有啥好買的東西。找著找著，居然看到一個有趣的事物 - 竹美山閤溫泉會館的住宿券。

美酒貴公子的 Calon Segur

今天中午跑了一趟內湖大潤發二店進貨，赫然發現架上居然擺著一箱 2004 年的 Calon Segur。大潤發賣的葡萄酒通常一瓶不會超過三百，想不到士別三日，刮目相看，現在居然賣起一瓶三千的貨色來了。



不過，價錢不是重點。我之所以對這款酒有印象，主要是因為一齣叫做美酒貴公子的日劇。劇中的主角是一個天才侍酒師；每一集，主角都會透過一瓶葡萄酒來闡述一些人生的大道理。看完一集，就好像回到了小學上了一課生活與倫理。

板著面孔說教的戲，一般來說都不會很好看。無論如何，男盜女娼終究是比仁義道德有趣太多了。不過，美酒貴公子算是一個例外，它利用葡萄酒所做出譬喻淺顯易懂，而且充滿著趣味性，令人上完一課後會很想趕快回教室上下一課。

花酒藏 Sake Bar

酒池肉林教的教規就只有兩條，一為「有福同享」，二為「誠實待人」。

好，翻譯一下：就是說若是您福祿臨門，那麼就要很誠實的招出來讓大家知道，好實現林肯總統所提倡的「民享」偉大理念。可是，世風日下，人心不古，終究是有不肖教友惦惦吃三碗公，升官發財都不讓大家知道。被爆出來後，教眾群情激憤，要求教主重重發落。教主本著「民之所欲，常在我心」的理念，順應教眾的要求，寡廉鮮恥的硬拗該教友請大伙兒吃喝一頓。該教友萬般無奈，只好率領大家去位於安和路的「花酒藏 Sake Bar」吃香喝辣。

花酒藏是個 dining bar，主推各式清酒，調酒與對應的下酒菜。

The District Is Alive with the Sound of Music

Talented street musicians can add a big splash of splendor to the cityscape. They are, in a way, the city's best demonstration of its soft power.

Years ago, I saw this guy performing on the steps of Basilique du Sacre Coeur. It was a beautiful afternoon, and the crowd was clearly enjoying the sun and the music. Without him, the day would still be gorgeous, but Paris would not have been as vivacious.

Panasonic DMC-GX1 Review

I have a dream.

I have a dream that one day, there would exist a digital compact camera that's as versatile as any entry-level DSLR. This compact camera should focus as quickly as a Canon EOS-1100D, while providing image quality comparable to the Nikon D3100. When equipped with a 28 ~ 112mm equivalent zoom, it should be about the size as an Olympus XZ-1. It should be quick and nimble, featuring minimal shutter lag and excellent shot-to-shot time. The control should cater to the advanced amateur, meaning it ought to have loads of dedicated buttons and dials to allow quick access to frequently-used functions, such as exposure compensation, white balance, and ISO. It should look good, like a Leica M8 or a Fujifilm X100.

Last but not the least, it should be cheap. Preferably under $500USD, tax included.

I thought the dream had become a reality in '09, when Panasonic rolled out the Girlfriend One. The GF1's body certainly was slim enough, but alas, with its 14 ~ 45mm (28 ~ 90mm) kit zoom attached, the camera simply ceased to be pocketable. During the course of the next two years, Panasonic continued to further shrink down the size of the body with the GF2 and GF3, but the lens didn't budge, making the miniaturization effort more or less moot.

In late 2011, Panasonic announced the Lumix X 14 ~ 42mm (28 ~ 84mm equivalent) pancake zoom. When I saw the press release, I thought I heard the choir of heaven sing. Then, a few weeks later, Panny announced the GX1, a camera designed specifically for the enthusiast market. At that moment, I finally understood what Beethoven (or Schiller, whatever) meant when he wrote: "Above the starry canopy, a loving father must dwell."

山中威尼斯

台北縣雙溪鄉，位於貢寮鄉隔壁，是一個因礦業沒落而逐漸被遺忘的小山城。坦白說，這並不是很稀罕的一檔事，因為沒落的小山城在北台灣有一狗票。不過近年來，九份與金瓜石因觀光業興起而鹹魚翻身。平溪與侯硐因有一些地方特色，所以也多少有一些觀光客湧入。可是雙溪算是個異數，多數的人根本不知道有這個鄉鎮的存在。當我說出「雙溪」兩個字時，大部分的人的反應是：內雙溪還是外雙溪？

呵呵，要知道，藺相如，司馬相如，名相如，實不相如。有時候，差一個字就差到十萬八千里去了。

幾年前，我在某雜誌上看到說雙溪鄉這個從來沒聽過的地方有一家特色民宿，叫山中威尼斯。它位於人煙罕至的深山內，沒有衛星導航就甭想找到。而且，若是使用陸製的雜牌衛導，一定會被導到墓仔坡或是夜總會旁繞圈圈。這家民宿主要的特色是曾有好幾個偶像劇都來這裡取景。微笑 Pasta，放羊的星星，還有東方茱麗葉等等都曾來過這裡拍片。

自從我試鏡流星花園男主角失敗後，就沒有在看偶像劇了 (靠，都是那個言承旭的錯)。不過當這麼多偶像劇不約而同的選擇到這裡取景，那一定是個風景優美，氣氛絕佳的風水寶地。所以我當下就把這個地方牢牢記了起來。多年後，終於逮到機會，率夫人暨兩位少爺前往。

有高民環的衛導指路，到這裡一點都不困難。道路雖然沒有很寬，但是會車也不會有問題。況且，路上一輛車也沒有，所以好開得很。不過，若是要自己找路，那真要佛祖保庇才有機會找到。這種鄉間小路岔路不少而且完全沒有告示牌，只要走錯一條就準備上演星際迷航記。

第一印象，環境還真是幽雅。這裡離雙溪火車站雖然才三四公里，可是已是人煙稀少，四面都是茂密的森林。白色的油桐花，正盛開著。

隨意鳥地方大直店

隨意鳥地方一直是我最喜歡的西餐廳。雖然他們做的菜不是甚麼正宗的歐式料理，可是就是很合我的胃口。價錢嘛，也還算實惠。不過，最重要的是：他們不收開瓶費，客人可以自己帶酒喝到爽。所以這幾年來，若是要揪團大杯喝酒大塊吃肉的話，我一定會選這裡。

在全盛時期，隨意鳥地方在台北市有四家分店。我最常去的是 101 四樓那家。不過後來因為大陸同胞太喜歡光顧 101 了，而且一來就狂買一拖拉庫的包包與手錶。相較之下，餐廳就好像沒那麼有賺頭。於是最美麗的董事長頒下了驅逐令，把四樓原來的餐廳通通掃地出門，然後整個樓層租給了數錢數到手抽筋的 LVMH 集團。從此，酒池肉林教主的 AVL 上少了一筆。

不過，就如同雪萊說的：冬天到了，春天還會遠嗎？隨意鳥地方從信義商圈撤退不久後，又在其他地方開了兩家分店：一家在大直美麗華旁，一家在仁愛路。近日教眾鼓譟說要吃肉喝酒，教主靈光一閃：大直離總壇不遠，而且新的分店也遵循免收開瓶費的優良傳統。所以傳下號令，率眾前往。

第一個印象是，餐廳比以前更大了，共兩層樓。這是二樓用餐區

By the River of Keelung

Just 20 years ago, Keelung River stunk to high heaven. It should, because the city was pumping raw sewage and industrial waste into it by the truckload. The water (if you can call it that) was jet black, and no marine life could survive in it. It was widely reported that a cockroach, perhaps the toughest land-based lifeform the planet has ever seen, died from cholera after taking a drink from the river. Its dying words were: "Dang! I am hardy enough to survive nuclear blasts, but not this."

Today, there are numerous parks along the levee, connected by bike paths. And the water ALMOST don't smell no more. So, it's now fashionable to live near the river. Oddly, though, the smelly portion is located right next to a very swank neighborhood. Maybe the one percenters' sense of smell have been dulled by constant exposure to the scent of freshly printed money.

Don't get me wrong, the Keelung River isn't a triumph of environmentalism. I still wouldn't touch the water with a ten foot pole, and the fish (yes, there are now fish) from these waters would probably glow in the dark. Still, it is an example of what's right with The System. Call me an optimist, but given time, the people (if they are an enlightened lot) and the government (if it is accountable to the people) will do the right thing, when all other options have been exhausted.

So, this is Keelung River. Once winding like snake, is now straight as an arrow. This project greatly reduced flooding in the city, but the poor folks living upstream (namely Sichih) got the shaft. It is only after the Yuansanjih Conduit was completed that flooding became a thing of the past.

2010 Evodia Old Vine Grenache

This wine appeared on Vol. 31 of Kami no Shizuku. If Gary Vaynerchuk were reviewing this wine, he'd probably say something like: "This wine has a BOATLOAD of thunder, and it's ROCKING my world while RIPPING my face off."

Right out of the bottle, it makes a powerful impression. When poured into a glass, I could smell it from 2 feet away. The bouquet is gorgeous, with lots of earth and mineral elements, On the palate, it is a medium/light bodied fruit bomb, loaded to the brim with raspberry and cherry, which balances out the chewy tannin at the backend.

A Californian Burgundy

Quick, what hap

神之雫美酒展

Costco 汐止店現在有個神之雫美酒展，到三月二十九止。福氣啦！


下載高解析原檔


下載高解析原檔

Attack of the Lumi-Tax

The Pentax-A 50mm f/2, my other manual focus lens from the film era. I bought it at Service Merchandise back in 1988; the price was $60. Oh, why do I remember these useless things?



Before digital came along, it was my weapon of choice. Actually, it was my only weapon. Unlike the Takumar, which saw little action, this lens had won enough victories through the years to earn itself a future spot in optical Sto'Vo'Kor. Don't know what that is? Better brush up on your Klingon.

First, a quick recap of its illustrious service record. Ottawa. Kodachrome 64 (Gosh! How I loved Kodachrome!)

I Love HsinYi

I love HsinYi District. Where else in the world can you find all these things in one spot on the same day?

The cherry flowers are in full bloom.

Return of the Takumar

The year was 1971. To celebrate my arrival and capture my adorable smiles, my father smashed the family piggy bank and bought a camera. Not just any camera, but the most advanced camera of its day, the Pentax Electro-Spotmatic. It was the first camera in human history to feature aperature-priority auto-exposure. While that doesn't sound like much now, it was a revelation back then. To give you an idea what a big deal it was, it took Canon another two years to launch a similar product. 

Kitchen Confidential

I am now halfway through reading Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain. Never heard of the guy? He is the host of No Reservations on The Travel Channel. Anyways, this book is the funniest thing I've read in awhile. The most important chapter is called From Our Kitchen to Your Table, which outlines the do's and don'ts of ordering in a restaurant.

As a service to humanity, I will summarize it into the following bullet points:

• Never buy cheap sushi. (For the record, though, nobody loves Sushi Express more than I do. Yet nothing bad has ever happened to me after chowing down 8 plates of that stuff in one sitting).
• Never order fish on Monday. Most likely, they are leftovers from the stock delivered on Friday morning.
• Never order mussels. A single bad little guy out of a hundred good ones will send you crawling to the bathroom and pray for God's mercy, even if you are an atheist.
• Never order any steak well done, because they will give you the crappiest piece of meat in the fridge.
• If you are a vegetarian, don't bother going to a restaurant, because the chef will be delighted to sell you a plate of zuchini salad for $14.
• If the restaurant doesn't look busy, don't order shrimp. High turnover is the key to freshness.
• Sunday brunch is for losers, because most likely the real chef is taking the day off, and it's the 2nd string cooks who are preparing the food.
• Never order anything with hollandaise sauce (I don't even know what this is), cuz it's a hotbed of bacterial growth.
• Don't eat in a restaurant that has a filthy bathroom. Bathrooms are easy to clean; kitchens are not. So the logic goes, if the they are doing a poor job with easy-to-clean stuff, imagine what it is like in the kitchen.
• Think twice about ordering swordfish. It attracts parasitic worms like you-know-what attracts flies.
• Pork is preferable over poultry, cuz chickens are usually loaded with salmonella (except those spendy free range birds).
• Tuesday through Saturday are good for fine dining. Tuesday is the best, cuz the food is fresh, and the chef is well rested.
• Be polite to your waiter, because he could save yourself life by stopping you from ordering food that is dangerous for you. 

Temporal Causality Loops

Beware! 7-Up can cause temporal causality loops.

Print Film's Last Stand

It has been widely reported that Kodak will file for chapter 11 soon. This is indeed the end of an era. Digital has at last delivered the coup-de-grâce to the film giant. Since I still have a few rolls of print film lying around, I decided to mark the occasion by shooting them up.

The "film vs. digital" debate has been raging forever. But, that debate has always centered around the context of "5D2 vs. Velvia 100". A less talked about aspect is "cheap digicam vs. print film". Well, I am going to go all out and declare digital the winner on that one. Yes, even the cheapest, crappiest digicam you pick up from Walmart will outperform print film, no matter which brand of film and which camera you load the film into.

That said, results from print film look VERY DIFFERENT from what you'd get with digital. And sometimes, when the stars align, this difference will deliver images that have a lot of zap.

So, sorry to see Kodak go, but I guess I will hold on to the old gear for just a tad longer. Well, at least until when Fujifilm stops making Fujicolor.