Culture & Food: What Foreigners Think About Foreign Food?

What is this?
Image from BuzzFeed

Last time round we looked at what Americans think about Japanese snacks, this time round, we have American, British and Australian goodies!

How do you think they would react?

bland -- (adj)  usually disapproving not having a strong taste or character or not showing any interest or energy
pop the cherry -- to lose one's virginity, used as a metaphor in the above video to mean, "trying certain food for the first time".
fuss -- (n) [S or U] a show of anger, worry, lack of satisfaction or excitement, usually one which is greater than the situation deserves

rancid -- (adj) (of butter, oil, etc.) tasting or smelling unpleasant because not fresh

cinnamony -- (adj) taste like cinnamon

ranch -- (n)[U] refers to ranch dressing -- A condiment made of buttermilk or sour cream, mayonnaise, minced green onion, garlic powder, and other seasonings mixed into a sauce.

Never thought their preferences can be so different right? Wanna have some of those now?


Resources:

Culture: What Do You Know About Japanese Culture? @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2014/05/culture-what-do-you-know-about-japanese.html

Americans Try McDonald's For The First Time @ YouTube
http://youtu.be/kbjxBNx1_Hg

Americans Try Coke For The First Time @ YouTube
http://youtu.be/Mfav2BCYwHs

British People Taste Test American Snacks @ YouTube
http://youtu.be/s4UEifGF8DU

Americans Taste Test Australian Food @ YouTube
http://youtu.be/ru6wri23Ljk

Vintage Foods You Won't Believe Actually Exist - Taste Test @ YouTube
http://youtu.be/p8hnLuiOi_Y

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english-chinese-traditional/bland?q=bland
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=popping%20the%20cherry
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english-chinese-traditional/rancid?q=rancid
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english-chinese-traditional/fuss_1?q=fuss
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cinnamony
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ranch_dressing

Auto: Tesla Model S Hong Kong Version Demo Car Test Drive @ Crown Cellar

Tesla Model S P85+
Image from Locky's English Playground

This is the first time Tesla Motors Hong Kong has organised test drive for the newly arrived right-hand drive (RHD) Model S. There were two periods offered with two test tracks, the earlier one was between 17th and 18th May at Disneyland Hotel, the latter was between 24th and 25th May at Crown Wine Cellar.

There was online reservation available but due to technical issues of the website, I had to email a staff to get the test drive arranged together with my sister and her boyfriend.

My sister drove me, my wife and baby Muse to 18 Deep Water Bay Drive and arrived before the appointment time at 5pm. After a quick fill of an online form, Trista the staff immediately gave us a tour of the car.

Image from Locky's English Playground

To be honest, her introduction of the car was really unnecessary for enthusiasts like us, but just to be polite we listened to her ultra-quick tour anyway. It was ultra-quick as the mosquitoes were embracing us, literally.

Image from Locky's English Playground

The first round I chose to be the passenger with my sister's boyfriend as my sister took us for the ride. Half way downhill,  Trista told her to switch driver and her boyfriend took over, and the real ride begins!

He stomped all the way down on the accelerator and that was the first time I have ever experienced the immense torque of the Model S! At the back seat, I could feel my whole body thrust backwards, the air pressing hard onto my face and the instant ear pressure pushing in against my eardrums! The car speeded uphill like it was on skis!!! Everything outside the windows disappeared so quickly that the car 50 metres ahead was right at the tip of the Model S in 1 second! This car is a rocket on wheels!!! Except that this is a silent rocket, and all I could hear was the "wheeeeee" sound during the acceleration.

An unbelievable experience I will never forget!!!

Image from Locky's English Playground

When it was my turn back at the wine cellar, I did it safe and slow because my wife was the passenger (and that is my character), testing the regenerative braking, rear camera, parking sensors, multiwindow reverse parking display and suspension.

21" Wheel
Image from Locky's English Playground

Overall, I am satisfied as I managed to test everything that I intended to except putting the pram into the boot to see how much space is left.

That being said,  I was / We were a little disappointed as all 3 of us registered for the test drive but were only allowed 2 rounds of test drive. Felt a bit cheated. But I guess the route was not really ideal for showing off all aspects of the Model S anyway. Supposed the Disneyland route is a much more flatter one, the Wine Cellar route is all uphill, downhill and corners. Not sure about the Festival Walk one. Maybe one needs to try out all 3 routes in order to experience all.

Don't think I will go to the Festival Walk test drive because I don't think I can get any new information from the staff. The only useful piece is that being the 378th order means I will be getting my car in September.

I do have one complaint about the test drive though, and that is the mosquitoes issue. Leave the wine cellar for 5 seconds and you will be surrounded by mosquitoes. It was almost impossible to take a good look at the car and take some decent videos. My plan to make a nice detail  test-drive video for my blog was ruined, only managed with the above.

Thus, I can only borrow another enthusiast DITB's test drive video taken at Disneyland:

For those of you who wants to go and take a look at the car or even try it out, here's the information:

Image from Tesla

Here are some photos at Festival Walk,

Photo by DITB

Photo by DITB

Photo by markwj

And here's someone test driving at Festival Walk:

Vocabulary:
enthusiast -- (n)[C] a person who is very interested in and involved with a particular subject or activity
stomp on sb /sth -- mainly US — phrasal verb to step down hard on someone or something
torque -- (n)[U] a force which causes something to rotate (= turn in a circle)
pram -- (n)[C] a vehicle for moving a baby around which consists of a small bed supported by a frame on four wheels


Resources:

Auto: Tesla Adds Titanium Underbody Shield and Aluminum Deflector Plates to Model S @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2014/04/auto-tesla-adds-titanium-underbody.html

Auto & Opinions: Concerns Of A Prospective Tesla Model S Owner @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2014/02/auto-opinions-concerns-of-prospective.html

Auto: Interviewed by The New York Times @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2014/02/auto-interviewed-by-new-york-times.html

Auto: BMW 520iA Review feat. Tesla Model S @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2014/01/auto-bmw-520ia-review.html

Listening & Video: LegCo's YouTube Page  @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2014/03/listening-video-legcos-youtube-page.html

Tesla Takes Taxi @ YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Jd_NVGCGHM

Tesla Pop Up at Festival Walk! | Events @ Tesla Motors
http://www.teslamotors.com/en_EU/event/tesla-pop-festival-walk

Festival Walk - What's Hot - Tesla Model S Pop-Up
http://www.festivalwalk.com.hk/en/whats-hot/event.php?id=322

Tesla Hong Kong RHD @ Crown Wine Cellar @ YouTube
http://youtu.be/ixS6QFvVvos

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english-chinese-traditional/enthusiast?q=enthusiast+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english-chinese-traditional/stomp-on-sb-sth
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english-chinese-traditional/torque?q=torque+

Vocabulary: Words Worth Noticing

Backpfeifengesicht????
Image from zcache

A busy week for me is a lazy week for me on the blog, meaning I won't be writing too much. That being said, there are still tonnes of goodness to learn here.

"Park the bus"
Image from Locky's English Playground & ESPN

Those of you who follow me on Facebook and Google+ should realise that I am increasingly interested in soccer these days. Who wouldn't anyway? That's exactly how I came across a forgotten term, "park the bus", which sort of originated from one of the best football manager in the world, Jose Mourinho. More on soccer terms when the World Cup draws even closer.

Now, 22 words you won't believe are brand names:

To be honest, I only know that Xerox, Jacuzzi, Laundromat, Post-Its and Zip Code are brand names, in addition to Scotch tape, Tipp-Ex, Band-Aid, Panadol, Viagra, ... but hey, if I start going into medicine names then everyone is a brand name.

Let's go to the next one, 16 Words We Don't Have In English,

I must say I really really like "gigil" from Tagalog (because the girls need it), "shitta" from Farsi (because it sounds like "shitter" meaning "more than disgusting" and it kind of fit), "bakku-shan" from Japanese (because there is a very similar term in Hong Kong) and "Backpfeifengesicht" from German (because they are everywhere), but the problem is, I probably won't remember how to pronounce the last one, which pronounces like /ˌbæbˈfaɪə.fʌŋ.ɡə.sɪhst/ (or "bacb-FIRE-fungus-seaHisst"). Last but not least, megagaltastic!

Let's practise!

Vocabulary:
park the bus -- expression used when all the players on a team play defensively, usually when the team is winning by a narrow margin.
gigil -- (Tagalog) when something is so cute you have to pinch it
shitta -- (Farsi) leftover dinner eaten for breakfast
bakku-shan (バックシャン ) -- (Japanese) seeing a woman who appears pretty from behind but not from the front
backpfeifengesicht -- (German) a face badly in need of a fist
megagaltastic -- (adj) characterized by an extensive vocabulary

Resources:
bakku-shan @ Wiktionary
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/バックシャン

16 Words We Don't Have In English @ YouTube
http://youtu.be/gykOF7lWpyM

22 Words You Won't Believe Are Brand Names @ YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qi1Ilv_x7kM

Bakku shan - Japan Season - BBC Four @ YouTube
http://youtu.be/JyQmVB-vVeI

Glossary of association football terms @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_association_football_terms#P

Scotch Tape @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotch_Tape

Tipp-Ex @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tipp-Ex

Band-Aid @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Band-Aid

Panadol @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panadol

Viagra @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viagra

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=megagaltastic

Sports & Opinions: Nagatomo Should Be Made Inter Milan's Captain!

Nagatomo should be the next Inter Milan captain
Image from ballball.com

Have been pretty busy these days and I wanted to spend a good deal of time writing an decent article to pay my tribute to the Inter Milan captain Javier Zanetti, so for now, I just want to write a quick one to spread a message in response to an article I have read from tribalfootball.com, titled Ranocchia considered for Inter Milan captaincy.

The bow to Javier Zanetti after every Nagatomo's goal
Image form tumblr

Here's what I wrote on the ESPN Inter Milan blog,

I think this match's result can be forgiven, since the scores doesn't matter to the overall ranking anyway. It is good to give the backup a chance. Mazzarri should have even gone further to test the youngsters, oh well. Wait till the pre-season friendlies maybe.

Other than who to sign/stay/sell, the next interesting question is who will be the next captain. I read an article from tribalfootball.com and heard that Ranocchia is a "strong candidate". I totally disagree, simply because he lacks the mentality and he gives up too easily. If you want a captain like Zanetti or Cambiasso, you need someone who doesn't get tired, doesn't give up his runs, doesn't lose his cool, have great respects on the rest of the team, has to be a true professional with sportsmanship... so there is only one choice in Inter, Nagatomo!!!

Yuto-kun ga Iku
Image from sport.virgilio.it

Those of you who knows the Japanese know what I am talking about. It's not because he has an animated film based on him, called Yuto-kun ga Iku at the Japanese Film Festival in Milan,

it's not because he is short yet can run tirelessly to cross, to assist and to score goals, not because he has played 105 matches for Inter and scored 9 goals, more than Ranocchia has played and scored during the same period,

A bow to his 先輩(sempai)
Image from English House

it's not because he is Asian, because Inter Milan already means, "brothers of the world",

"This wonderful night will give us the colours for our crest: black and blue against a backdrop of gold stars. It will be called Internazionale [International], because we are brothers of the world."

—9 March 1908, Milan

Javier Zanetti's endorsement of Nagatomo as the new captain
Image from KC wave @ YouTube

and not because he has already captained once in February 2014 and was endorsed by Javier Zanetti himself,

Nagatomo should be the next Inter Milan captain
Image from AFP

it's just because he has the Internazionale spirit -- Forza Inter! Never say die!


Resources:
Inter end season with whimper by David Wilson @ ESPN FC
http://www.espnfc.com/blog/_/name/intermilan/id/2031?cc=4716

Ranocchia considered for Inter Milan captaincy | Serie A News @ Tribal Football
http://www.tribalfootball.com/articles/ranocchia-considered-inter-milan-captaincy-4022277?utm_source=main_feed#.U3xTOtIW17o

Inter Milan fullback Yuto Nagatomo thrilled to be movie star | Serie A News @ Tribal Football
http://www.tribalfootball.com/articles/inter-milan-fullback-yuto-nagatomo-thrilled-be-movie-star-4021792#.U3xY09IW17o

Ranocchia @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranocchia

Yuto Nagatomo @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuto_Nagatomo

Inter Milan @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inter_Milan

Video: Yuto Nagatomo Honoured To Have Worn Inter Milan Armband @ BallBall

http://www.ballball.com/en-gb/article/19673-video-yuto-nagatomo-honoured-worn-inter-milan-armband/

長友佑都プレー集 2013-2014 Yuto Nagatomo Goals & Skills First half @ YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ohb43Rm0qds

長友佑都キャプテン、サネッティとお辞儀＆インタビューで突っ込まれる(笑) / ミラノダービー Captain Yuto Nagatomo  @ YouTube
http://youtu.be/krmRakaRu_A

Video: Yuto Nagatomo, Andrea Ranocchia, Or Samir Handanovic? Who Will Become Inter Milan Captain? @ BallBall
http://www.ballball.com/en-gb/article/29194-video-inter-milan-new-captain/

NAGATOMO: "HONOURED TO HAVE WORN THE CAPTAIN'S ARMBAND"@  F.C. Internazionale Milano Official Website
http://www.inter.it/en/news/44914

Culture: What Do You Know About Japanese Culture?

Son Goku from Dragonball Z looking like his son Gohan after the fries are placed in the holder
Image from Facebook

Few days ago, I saw an image above on Facebook,

LINE Rangers' Gacha machine

then because I play LINE Rangers, I learn the word "Gacha machine", also "Gashapon"  or "Gachapon" the capsule machine. According to Wikipedia, the name 

gashapon and gachapon are Japanese onomatopoeia, made up of two sounds: "gasha" or "gacha" for the turning of a crank on a toy vending machine, and "pon" for the sound of the toy capsule dropping into the receptacle.

Image from Locky's English Playground

Then one day, my wife drew my attention to a number of them which sell ass-some phone chains and underwear for iPhone.

Sexy iPhone
Image from Locky's English Playground

Why would anyone want one of that? I have no idea, but there are more than just Gacha that we the foreigners have no idea of.

How do foreigners, say Americans, think about Japanese snacks?

I happened to have bought this green tea KitKat the other day from 759 Store.

Attractive Green package
Image from Locky's English Playground

 The package is really attractive, it's grand, it's almost royal.

Green KitKat
Image from Locky's English Playground

 The look is just alright, reminds me of the Hulk, from Marvel, not the footballer.

A bite taken
Image from Locky's English Playground

Just like all Japanese snacks, it's a little too sweet for me, but just one packet is fine. You need to really chew to get the taste of the green tea, otherwise, it just tastes like artificial milk.

Do you feel like having some now?


Resources:
Gashapon
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gashapon

Hulk @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hulk_(footballer)

Americans Taste Test Japanese Snacks @ YouTube
http://youtu.be/vW7PKjH5LR8

Living & Vocabulary: Interesting IKEA & False Friends

My baby girl says, "Hej!"
Image from Locky's English Playground

A really quick article about my little "excursion" to IKEA in Causeway Bay (I called it an "excursion" because I don't even leave my desk these days).

"Lo Mo Sai" -- Lufsig on IKEA China on 11th Dec 2013
Image from IKEA China

I have always knew that there are lots of interesting stuff in IKEA, but do you know there are also many interesting words? Remember Lufsig?

Back in 2005 when I was studying for my Trinity CertTESOL, I had to learn a foreign language together with all my classmates, and the instructor chose Swedish because

1. she is a Swede,
2. that is the one language that none of the students knew,
3. the instructor was the only one who can speak Swedish. (There isn't a point 3, just summarizing point 1 and 2, ha!)

And what do you know, it isn't too hard to say "Hello" in Swedish because it is just "Hej"! (See photo above.)

Image from Google Translate

Anymore? Here are the funny ones I found!

Cloth hanger is boomerang? Make sense.
Image from Locky's English Playground

Image from Google Translate

Anyone thinks that cloth hangers is bumerang (= boomerang) makes sense? I do, I bet the Australians do too!

Here's my name! Kind of...
Image from Locky's English Playground

Image from Google Translate

Didn't know "lock" means "lid", "cover" or "cap" in Swedish, definitely a false friend here! So my name in Swedish means... "Liddy"? "Covery"? "Cappy?"

Istad a plastic bag?
Image from Locky's English Playground

On the Facebook page, I previously posted this photo and captioned it "Istad a plastic bag?" because "Istad" may sound like "Is that". I tried hard on this search but couldn't find anything Swedish for the word. Instead, everything came out Norwegian. Hm... I think I better consult my instructor on this.

Maria, tack? (Maria, please?)

What is Justina?
Image from Locky's English Playground

The same goes to the two girls I met that day, Justina...

Malinda
Image from Locky's English Playground

... and Malinda. They were both very soft and cuddly. (And I can say that without making my wife angry.)

Time for my Swedish revision!!

Forgot to mention, actually, the Swedish course that I learned lasted only a few lessons.


Vocabulary:
excursion -- (n)[C] a short journey usually made for pleasure, often by a group of people:


Resources:
Culture & Usage: "Lufsig", False Friends & Bad Words @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2013/12/culture-usage-lufsig-false-friends-bad.html

Learning Swedish (Lesson 1) "Basic Phrases" @ YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZ2xRNTeMb0

Basic Swedish phrases@ Speak Swedsih!
http://www.speakswedish.co.uk/phrases/basic_phrases

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/excursion?q=excursion