I was moved by the uni sushi of Jiro. The maestro of sushi knew that he must provide an interval. The more gentle flavour of Kaibashira sushi was next. Following, the master plotted for another roller coaster ride for my palette: ikura sushi. The salmon roe were well marinated – they were refreshing and firm. They “popped” in my mouth! This was a prelude to anago sushi, where Jiro Ono displayed once again his unparalleled sushi making skill. When served, the temperature of the anago was between warm and hot. A thin layer of soy sauce on the surface elevated the umami flavour. I had a mouth full – the warm anago instantaneously unified seamlessly into the shari and dissolved in just a few seconds! In that moment, my pal and I looked at each other, both exclaimed “delicious” repeatedly in excitement. When I shared with Chef @davidtlai about Jiro Ono’s sushi, he said if Robuchon described Jiro’s uni sushi as “uni ice cream”, then anago sushi has to be “warm ice cream”. Exactly, he was on point! Through the uni and anago sushi, Jiro Ono displayed his mastery in controlling speed and heat. You must know that every second counts. Any inaccuracy had an impact on the interaction and integration between shari and neta. If that had happened, the magic would vanish. In Chinese martial art, there is a saying “nothing is undefeatable but speed”. Such was the realm of the sushi maestro I was privileged to experience. #kaibashira #kaibashirasushi #ikurasushi #salmonroe #anago #anagosushi #warmicecream #jiroono #godofsushi #jirodreamsofsushi #instasushi #sushilovers #artofsushi #sushiart #foodcolumn #foodcriticschoice #agnescheeintokyo #yamamotomasahiro #tokyosushi #sukiyabashijiro #小野二郎 #次郎 #壽司之神 #壽司之神小野二郎 #數寄屋橋次郎

DAY FIFTY-EIGHT | RAMADAN 21 One day when I was a kid, my arwah Nenek showed up at our house with this huge marble globe on a very questionable gold-plated wooden stand. The different countries on the globe were all various types of stones. The globe had an inaccuracy to it and the countries were marked in English and Chinese characters. When plugged in, it could turn on its axis and would light up, sending hues of blue and green around the room. I thought it was the oddest thing. My mom thought it didn’t match her furniture. But Nenek bought it for us so we had to keep it. “So cucu boleh belajar where the countries are,” she said. To be fair, I never really referred to the inaccurate globe when I needed to check my geography, but instead just accepted it as part of my mother’s kitchen for many years. It stood in the corner, turning when it was plugged in, standing still through it all. When Nenek passed away, the globe stood as one of the many decorations and gifts from her which dotted our home - her presence has never diminished and is always felt. I haven’t thought much about the globe until recently. When Baö first started trying to walk, he would pull himself up (gently) on the globe’s stand and hoist himself up. He used it as a base to push off from and eventually learned how to cruise around his grandma’s kitchen. Now that he can walk around, I sometimes find him turning the globe, and looking at the colored stones. Today while we were visiting my mom, I just watched him spin the globe and laugh to himself. Arwah Nenek didnt only teach her cucu about where all the countries are, her globe is now teaching her cicits too - a bit geographically inaccurate, but the intention and love has never changed. Inshallah Nenek and Baö will unite one day. They will love each other.

假民調為何比事實更受歡迎？  《紅樓夢》第五回有句警語「假作真時真亦假」，意思是當我們把虛假的東西當作真實的時候，真實的東西反而成為了虛假。  民調到底有什麼用？假民調又有什麼好處？賓狗今天就用 5 個關鍵字，告訴你為什麼網路上會充滿以假亂真的數字。  【poll 民調】 民調的原理是統計學，除了最早的街頭訪問及市話調查之外，隨著科技的發展，現在也有單位會以手機電訪、新聞網站、粉絲專頁或社群媒體即時動態的投票結果作為民調的數字。  ➡️ Numbers don't lie, but people do. （數字不會說謊，但負責統計的人會。）  【inaccuracy 誤差】 除了刻意造假之外，民調可能會因為很多原因而出現誤差，例如有些人一聽到是民調就掛電話、有些人回答了民調卻懶得出門投票、被誘導式的提問混淆而回答錯、根本沒在關心選舉而亂回答等。  另外，像是只在新潮的社群媒體上舉辦的民調，就不容易取得高齡人士的意見，或是具有明顯政黨色彩的媒體所舉辦的民調，就不容易取得其他政黨支持者的意見。  ➡️ Some polls are accidentally fraught with inaccuracies, while some are purposely.（有些民調是意外充滿誤差，有些則是刻意製造誤差。）  【manipulate 操弄】 除了上述的原因之外，民調也可能在人為控制下，成為所謂的「假民調」。假民調的目的只有一個，就是操弄。一是操弄選民，二是操弄賭盤。  若Ａ候選人故意讓自己在民調中落後，就可以透過「搶救Ａ候選人」的口號督促選民去投票，也可以讓Ｂ候選人的支持者掉以輕心，覺得就算自己不去投票也會穩贏。  第二點比較少人知道，就是操弄賭盤。若Ａ候選人刻意讓自己在民調中落後，賠率就會上升，下注賭Ａ勝選的人就會增加，也會更努力讓Ａ選上。  ➡️ If a presidential candidate of a democratic country blatantly asks supporters to lie to pollsters, s/he is probably trying to manipulate illegal gambling markets.（若民主國家總統候選人公然要求選民在民調作假時，其實很可能有操弄地下賭盤之虞。）  【go down without a fight 不戰而降】 某些國家只能演戲，不能投票，每到選舉期間，只能眼睜睜看著民代演出「全體一致鼓掌通過」的戲碼，所以在台灣還能夠選舉的時候，要珍惜還可以投票的機會。  ➡️ If you're too lazy to vote, you go down without a fight. （懶得出門投票，就是拱手讓討厭的候選人當選。）  【vote 公民責任之一】 除非你想移民到中國、北韓等跟選舉無緣的國家，否則就出門去蓋個章吧！  ➡️ Polls mean nothing if you don't actually vote. （再多的民調都是假的，只有票投下去才是真的。）  民主就像鼻孔，塞住的時候才知道平常有多舒服。有些人喜歡鼻塞的感覺，所以想讓霧霾進駐台灣。想繼續呼吸清新空氣的人，不要被民調影響出門投票的決心。