Aug

21

Chinese Eatery

Filed Under Business & Finance, Consumer Concerns, Family & Friends, Food & Drinks | 19 Comments


China Fast Food Amitie, the new Chinese take-away eatery downtown, is definitely a place I’d like to go back to in the near future.

My husband and I discovered China Fast Food Amitie by chance one evening, some two weeks ago, after I slaved away at the Monatsmarkt (monthly market) the whole day, selling Philippine-made bags, wallets, pencil cases and other small stuff made of recycled juice foils amid a heavy downpour (that’s another story).

I was so knackered to the bone after a whole day’s work as a market stand seller “waiting for Godot” that my husband thought we should eat out that night despite a poor sales turnout (not even break even). My courageous act to brave it out in the rain and set up the stall at the market place downtown in such uncooperative weather conditions was something that should be rewarded, he said.

And so, after my long market duty and after loading our products into our car, we walked towards the path leading to our usual Chinese take-away place where the food is very cheap by Swiss standards but tastes “recycled” at times (it’s a hit-and-miss thing in that place; we’re actually being masochistic by eating there every time we crave for something Asian and I’m just too tired or too lazy to whip up something nice in our own kitchen). On our way to this “hit-and-miss Chinese place,” I spotted the China Fast Food Amitie eatery’s big sign. I told my husband we could try this new Chinese eatery for a change. I then asked, “Would you like to have a serving of chicken or shrimps fried in recycled cooking oil in our old Chinese take-away place again?” The rhetorical question was enough to convince him that it was a good idea to try something new.

And so we entered the China Fast Food Amitie eatery where we saw two Swiss men waiting for their orders at the dining area. As soon as the French-speaking Chinese guy was done with their orders, he asked for ours. He said we had a choice: to order ready-made combo meals (those lined up at the glass food counter) for take out which was cheaper, or to order a la carte which was more expensive than the first option but still budget-friendly. My husband, who loves all things fresh (a Swiss thing, really), naturally opted to dine in and to order something from the a la carte menu.

I ordered beef with vegetables, while my husband asked for sweet and sour shrimps, plus drinks. The Chinese cook, who was very pleasant to talk to (he had trouble understanding my invented languages — that is, “Gerench” or German-French and “Gerglish” or German-English — since he speaks only French and Chinese), moved with the agility of a gazelle. In 15 minutes or so, our meals were served on hot plates.

Boy, my dinner tasted so good! It took away the disappointment of not having enough customers at our rented market stall earlier in the day and the pain of being mocked in French and Swiss German by some cliquish Swiss old-timers at the Monatsmarkt (they were all seasoned market stand sellers who already knew each other from previous market events).

Fortunately, my husband’s sweet and sour shrimp dinner was also quite a food treat. “It’s sooo good,” he told me in between generous bites. When he gave me a spoonful to sample, I agreed that it was indeed tasty — a far cry from the oily Chinese food served to the penny-pinching masses at the other Chinese take-away place.

China Fast Food Amitie’s young cook, who happens to be the cashier and waiter at the same time — it was truly an impressive one-man show (he’s most probably the owner) — was very courteous and served us like we were Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip of England, despite the visual fact that I already looked like an Oriental female version of Quasimodo after a back-breaking day at the outdoor market (all that carrying!). For this, we deemed it right to give him a handsome tip. He deserved it. (In one “chummy chummy” moment, I learned that he lived in Paris before coming to Switzerland some 10 years ago; that explains his impeccable French. He thought I was Chinese, and was surprised to learn that I’m actually Pinoy.)

We’d like to dine at China Fast Food Amitie again because the food there is first-rate, the customer service is top-notch, and the price is right.

*****

FIVE THINGS TO BE HAPPY ABOUT:

1.) Opportunities to eat out
2.) Excellent customer service
3.) Chinese food
4.) Discovering a nice restaurant or take-away eatery
5.) Quality food at an affordable price

Aug

19

‘300′ Spoof

Filed Under Blogs & Blogging, Humor, YouTube | 3 Comments

Saw this first on BW’s blog. It really cracked me up, even though I can’t understand Ilonggo fully (I do have cousins from Bacolod, though).

NOTE: Tagalog sub-titles can be found on this video on YouTube (June 22, 2008).

SEPT. 1, 2007 UPDATE: Funny, I saw the preview of the making of the film 300 being shown at the Migros electronics shop near our home this afternoon. When my hushand saw it, he couldn’t help but laugh. As for me, I couldn’t help but think that the default language for this movie should have been Ilonggo and not English, which was dubbed in German for Swiss purposes (I haven’t seen the film yet)!

Aug

16

DVD Treats

Filed Under Business & Finance, Consumer Concerns, Films, Life & Leisure | 22 Comments


I’m back to collecting videos, after telling myself in 2003 (the year I got ’stranded’ in Switzerland) that my membership in our town’s public library would be enough to meet my film-watching cravings for only CHF40.00 (USD33.00) a year. After all, borrowing VHS tapes at the library seemed — well, it really is — more financially practical than building your own DVD collection at home.

My previous break from collecting videos was not only a budget issue, though (I initially found DVDs here to be rather pricey). It was also an issue of space. We just have no extra space to accommodate a growing collection of videos (and books) in our shoebox of an apartment.

However, after recently seeing DVDs being sold at half its original price at Interdiscount (a Swiss electronics and appliance store) and at the French hypermart Carrefour (well, the photo was actually taken at the Coop City Center where DVDs were also on sale), my passion to collect videos has been renewed. But more than the attractive “Hot Price” or “Aktion” labels plastered on brand-new DVDs, it was the bilingual and even trilingual features of the DVDs that thrilled me no end.

Let me illustrate my point: I’ve found out that I can actually watch Das Haus am See (The Lake House), one of my first DVD purchases in Switzerland, in English! You just have to choose your preferred language (in my case, English) on the menu. Glorious! Why haven’t I discovered this before?! Why haven’t I tried borrowing DVDs, presented with German and French titles and film descriptions, at the library? (Okay, I admit: I was initially put off by the non-English packaging and didn’t explore further.).

I was thinking: this is a great way to improve my German and/or French vocabulary and listening/speaking skills. By replaying my recently acquired DVDs and choosing the Deutsch (German) or francais (French) options in the audio setup, I will be able to hear dialogues in the target language of my choice. Of course, one can also do this kind of ‘trick’ on TV. (Swiss channels do broadcast popular Hollywood films and TV programs dubbed in German, French and Italian. But if you don’t have a TV set with more high-tech features, I think it wouldn’t be possible for you to switch to English mode using the setup menu of the remote control.)

And so, since my discovery in late June this year, I’ve been on the lookout for DVD copies of nice films which are shelf-worthy.

I also went to the public library last week with the intention of renewing my membership (which I forgot to do in May) and borrowing some DVDs (which I never tried before for reasons already mentioned). But the library personnel were on leave, and the Bibliothek will open only in September. Well, that can wait. Anyway, I have my new DVDs and, yes, I still have my old video tapes — all in English — which I asked my brother and friend to buy for me in the US way back in the ’90s. Surprisingly, they’re still in good condition. The same goes for my VCDs which, by the way, are not commonly sold in Switzerland.

I’m feeling giddy about this DVD thing. However, spacially speaking, we’ve got a problem. A real one.

The new Ikea product catalog has arrived. Maybe we can buy a new shelf and say good-bye to my already rickety working table.

*****

FIVE THINGS TO BE HAPPY ABOUT:

1.) DVDs with multilingual options
2.) Having both a VHS player and a DVD player
3.) Summer sale
4.) Public library membership
5.) Watching a well-made film

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