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Thursday, November 30, 2017

FOR THE LOVE OF MAURITIAN CUISINE

Chef Selina Permalloo's Lakaz Maman Restaurant in Southhampton, UK
Editor’s note:  British Airways Club Magazine is kind to share its articles with responsible travel bloggers.  PillartoPost.org Daily Online Magazine appreciates sharing a few articles a year from what we consider the best inflight magazine in the world.

In its October, 2017 edition, Club Magazine featured Chef Selina Permalloo to learn what makes Mauritian cuisine so special.

Mauritian dishes are best described as true fusion, a blend of African, French, Chinese and Indian food culture due to the unique ethnic make-up of the island. 

My Mauritian heritage and the traditions of our cuisine are very important to my cooking, but as my food is modern, it’s important to learn about other styles of cooking to enhance my own. Right now, I’m particularly influenced by my love of Far Eastern and North African cuisine.

Street snacking.
Arguably the island’s most popular street food, dal puri is a thin pancake-like bread stuffed with ground yellow split peas and served with butterbean curry, and is the one thing us Mauritians miss most when away from the island. Another one-of-a-kind offering is the bol renverse (pictured below) – a dish that I’ve never been able to find a replica for in other countries, though it’s most similar to a chop suey. This dish is all about the presentation, served from an upside down bowl with a fried egg on top.
Another one-of-a-kind offering is the bol renverse-– a dish that I’ve never been able to find a replica for in other countries, though it’s most similar to a chop suey. This dish is all about the presentation, served from an upside down bowl with a fried egg on top.

Napolitaines
Bourgeois bites
Mauritians love their afternoon tea. A quintessentially British affair, although marked with a Mauritian twist, we have vanilla sweet tea and usually something sweet like napolitaine biscuits. These are incredibly short shortbreads, sandwiched with strawberry jam and topped with a garish pink icing – a fond childhood memory for me.

Mauritian cuisine is a fiery and delicious blend of African, French, Chinese and Indian foodie influences.
Mum’s the word
The idea behind my restaurant’s name (Lakaz Maman is the Creole word for ‘Mum’s House’) is to show that we’re all about serving home-style food but with a modern twist. It’s not about fine dining – our aim is to create a relaxing environment where people can enjoy what’s being served. That’s quite typical of the Mauritian style of dining.

MORE ON MAURITIUS
Top picks
Mauritius, an Indian Ocean island nation, is known for its beaches, lagoons and reefs. The mountainous interior includes Black River Gorges National Park, with rainforests, waterfalls, hiking trails and wildlife like the flying fox. Capital Port Louis has sites such as the Champs de Mars horse track, Eureka plantation house and 18th-century Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Botanical Gardens.

If you’re heading to Mauritius, there are a few absolute must-see sights, one being the Île aux Cerfs – a beautiful island off the east coast, home to the renowned Ile aux Cerfs Golf Club. But for a foodie fix, take a trip to Marche de Flacq fruit and vegetable market, or Mahébourg’s Monday market out on the waterfront for exquisite takeaway bites.

Marche de Flacq fruit and vegetable market not to be confused with Mahebourg's Monday Market
Arguably the island’s most popular street food, dal puri is a thin pancake-like bread stuffed with ground yellow split peas and served with butterbean curry, and is the one thing us Mauritians miss most when away from the island.
Dal Puri

Wednesday, November 29, 2017

FERRIS WHEEL SERIES #17 / THE REDHORSE OSAKA WHEEL



Opened in 2016, a year after the Orlando Eye made its debut, the Redhorse Osaka Wheel at 404-feet beats its Florida counterpart by four feet in height. It is located at Expocity in Osaka, Japan on the site of Expo '70, the first world's fair ever held in Asia. 


The country’s largest-ever Ferris wheel is set to open at Osaka’s Expo City on July 1 this year. Standing at a height of 403.5 feet, the Red Horse Osaka Wheel is impressive not only in stature but in modern-day aesthetics as well.


This Japanese giant is currently ranked the fifth tallest in the world.  [for list of biggies click here].

All 72 carriages feature transparent glass panels on the walls and floors, creating a see-through environment to give passengers the feeling of floating through the sky. The wide seats are designed to comfortably fit six people, with each carriage air-conditioned in summer and heated in winter so customers can enjoy the views year-round.


The cars are also equipped with tablets broadcasting the special in-house “EXPO TV”, which features information on apps and other related advice for visitors to the area. It kind of seems like a great way to ruin a nice ride, so hopefully, you can mute them!

Two carriages are designated VIP carriages, with space for four passengers on extra-luxurious sofa-style seating and special interior lighting provided by floor LEDs. These carriages are perfect for special celebrations.

The Ferris wheel is the first in the world to use a base-isolated system to absorb the shock of earthquakes, meaning if one were to occur, there would be very little shaking on the structure.

One round of the wheel takes 18 minutes to complete and tickets are priced at 1,000 yen (US $9.16) per passenger for regular carriages and 8,000 yen for the exclusive use of the four-seater VIP car.


Other Ferris Wheel postings on Pillartopost.org
July, 20, 2016—Staten Island, New York
August 17, 2016—Las Vegas
September 21, 2016—Tokyo, Japan
October 19, 2016—Nanchang, China
November 9, 2016—Dubai
December 14, 2016—Melbourne
January 11, 2017—London Eye
February 7, 2017—Chicago
March 15, 2017—Singapore
April 4, 2017--Vienna
May—Suzhou, Jiangsu, China
June 14, 2017—Helsinki, Finland
July 26, 2017—Orlando, Florida
August 23, 2017—Tianjin Eye, China
September 13, 2017—Paris, France
October 25, 2017—Dallas, Texas
November 29, 2017, Osaka, Japan



Tuesday, November 28, 2017

AMERICANA / MOTELS OF TUCUMCARI


Our intrepid PillartoPost.org travel writer, Leslie Cruse, has moved on from her gig as a hotel bigwig in Dubai to settle back in the U.S.  In the meantime, she has been spotted zipping along Route 66 heading west.  Being a hospitality exec she was attracted to the motels in the area.  The following are images she snapped while overnighting in Tucumcari, New Mexico.


MORE ON TUCUMCARI:
As the railroads moved west, Ragtown sprung up as a north eastern New Mexico staging area for rail workers in the early 1900s.  Name was changed to Tucumcari in 1908 when it became a city.  Tucumcari mountain can be seen in the distance.  Tucumcari is taken from the Comanche language meaning “ambush.”


Circa coffee/espresso/café along Route 66 next door to Historic Route 66 Motel.

TEXACO?  Now Kix 66 Diner on Route 66 through Tucumcari.




Tucumcari Mountain



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Monday, November 27, 2017

MEDIA MONDAY / YOUR HOME MORTGAGE IS RUINING YOUR PRIVACY


DJ Pangburn writing in FastCompany.com recaps how many phone apps are giving data hunters (not to mention hackers) location identification of individuals.  By knowing only four geographical data points from your personal traits your privacy is totally compromised.

Pangburn says in 2013, researchers at MIT and the Université Catholique de Louvain in Belgium published a paper reporting on 15 months of study of human mobility data for over 1.5 million individuals. What they found is that only four spatio-temporal points are required to “uniquely identify 95% of the individuals.” The researchers concluded that there was very little privacy even in raw location data. Four years later, their calls for policies rectifying concerns about location tracking have fallen largely on deaf ears.

How can this be?

Pangburn writes “When Edward Snowden blew the lid off of the NSA’s mass surveillance program, he also revealed the extent of the government’s smartphone location tracking records. As the Washington Post reported in 2013, the NSA is gathering 5 billion records a day on people’s cell-phone locations across the globe in order to track terrorists and identify their associates. While the U.S. must often take the data surreptitiously, however, advertisers are already getting many of our locations legally, through our smartphone apps; mining that and other data fuels the billion-dollar businesses of some of the world’s largest companies.”

And, the biggest clue data miners can always rely on in identifying a person is simply the fact home mortgage data is public.

That’s why Moe’s Curtain Rods Co. is the first to send you a pitch letter saying “welcome to your new home.  If you’re thinking about curtain rods keep us in mind.”

That simple message is a privacy compromise using our mortgage records and the U.S. Mail.  For how your mortgage is anti-privacy read DJ Pangburn’s complete article in Fast Company.  Click here.

And, that was data mining even before Edward Snowden.   So, see Eddie you weren’t so smart after all and with smartphones and location using apps it has taken data mining to new levels—legally.   Snowden is nothing more than a guy standing on the corner shouting “the guy driving that red car just ran the red light—somebody give him a ticket!”

Let’s go back to writer DJ Pangburn.  He’s important because he knows his stuff on tracking devices.  He is a writer and editor with bylines at Vice, Motherboard, Creators, Dazed & Confused and The Quietus.  He’s also a pataphysician, psychogeographer and filmmaker.

Here’s what Pangburn wrote in FastCompany.com on how to disable tracking location on your cell phone:

How to Disable Location Tracking

Android Users: To disable location tracking on an Android device, go to Settings. Scroll down and tap Location, then switch the slider to the off position. This, however, will turn off all location tracking so that apps like Google Maps or even Uber or Lyft won’t work. To control location tracking with more granularity, go into each app through the App Manager and turn off location tracking. Android Users can also delete their device’s location history.


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iOS Users: Navigate to Settings, then scroll down and tap on Privacy, then tap on Location Services. At this point users can disable location tracking wholesale by toggling the slider to off. Alternatively, this Location Services lists all apps that use location tracking, allowing users to control which apps have access to location and when. Users can either select “Never” or “While Using the App.”

Sunday, November 26, 2017

SUNDAY REVIEW/ THE TALE OF PETER RABBIT

Be good little bunnies       
'Now run along, and don't get into mischief. I am going out.'

Text and Illustrations by Beatrix Potter, 1902

Once upon a time there were four little Rabbits, and their names were—
Flopsy,
Mopsy,
Cottontail,
and Peter.

Rabbit family home           
They lived with their Mother in a sandbank, underneath the root of a very big fir-tree.

Mother gives a warning    
'Now my dears,' said Mrs. Rabbit one morning, 'you may go into the fields or down the lane, but don't go into Mr. McGregor's garden: your Father nearly had an accident there; he was almost put in a pie by Mrs. McGregor.'

Be good little bunnies       
'Now run along, and don't get into mischief. I am going out.'

Mrs. Rabbit goes shopping          
Then Mrs. Rabbit took a basket and her umbrella, and went through the wood to the baker's. She bought a loaf of brown bread and five currant buns.

Bunnies picking berries    
Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cottontail, who were good little bunnies, went down the lane to gather blackberries:

Bad boy Peter          
But Peter, who was very naughty, ran straight away to Mr. McGregor's garden, and squeezed under the gate!


Peter pigs out          
First he ate some lettuces and some French beans; and then he ate some radishes;

Peter ate too much 
And then, feeling rather sick, he went to look for some parsley.

Peter is discovered 
But round the end of a cucumber frame, whom should he meet but Mr. McGregor!

McGregor chases Peter     
Mr. McGregor was on his hands and knees planting out young cabbages, but he jumped up and ran after Peter, waving a rake and calling out, 'Stop thief!'

Peter loses his shoes          
Peter was most dreadfully frightened; he rushed all over the garden, for he had forgotten the way back to the gate.

He lost one of his shoes among the cabbages, and the other shoe amongst the potatoes.

Peter is caught in a net      
After losing them, he ran on four legs and went faster, so that I think he might have got away altogether if he had not unfortunately run into a gooseberry net, and got caught by the large buttons on his jacket. It was a blue jacket with brass buttons, quite new.


Sparrows offer advice        
Peter gave himself up for lost, and shed big tears; but his sobs were overheard by some friendly sparrows, who flew to him in great excitement, and implored him to exert himself.

Peter escapes McGregor   
Mr. McGregor came up with a sieve, which he intended to pop upon the top of Peter; but Peter wriggled out just in time, leaving his jacket behind him.

Peter chooses a wet place to hide
And rushed into the tool-shed, and jumped into a can. It would have been a beautiful thing to hide in, if it had not had so much water in it.

'Kertyschoo!'
Mr. McGregor was quite sure that Peter was somewhere in the toolshed, perhaps hidden underneath a flower-pot. He began to turn them over carefully, looking under each.

Presently Peter sneezed—'Kertyschoo!' Mr. McGregor was after him in no time.

Peter tips over pots
And tried to put his foot upon Peter, who jumped out of a window, upsetting three plants. The window was too small for Mr. McGregor, and he was tired of running after Peter. He went back to his work.

Peter looks around for the exit    
Peter sat down to rest; he was out of breath and trembling with fright, and he had not the least idea which way to go. Also he was very damp with sitting in that can.

After a time he began to wander about, going lippity—lippity—not very fast, and looking all round.

Peter asks the mouse          
He found a door in a wall; but it was locked, and there was no room for a fat little rabbit to squeeze underneath.

A mouse was running in and out over the stone doorstep, carrying peas and beans to her family in the wood. Peter asked her the way to the gate, but she had such a large pea in her mouth that she could not answer. She only shook her head at him. Peter began to cry.

Peter encounters a cat       
Then he tried to find his way straight across the garden, but he became more and more puzzled. Presently, he came to a pond where Mr. McGregor filled his water-cans. A white cat was staring at some goldfish, she sat very, very still, but now and then the tip of her tail twitched as if it were alive. Peter thought it best to go away without speaking to her; he had heard about cats from his cousin, little Benjamin Bunny.

Peter finds a vantage point           
He went back towards the toolshed, but suddenly, quite close to him, he heard the noise of a hoe—scr-r-ritch, scratch, scratch, scritch. Peter scuttered underneath the bushes. But presently, as nothing happened, he came out, and climbed upon a wheelbarrow and peeped over. The first thing he saw was Mr. McGregor hoeing onions. His back was turned towards Peter, and beyond him was the gate!

Peter dashes for the gate   
Peter got down very quietly off the wheelbarrow; and started running as fast as he could go, along a straight walk behind some black-currant bushes.

Mr. McGregor caught sight of him at the corner, but Peter did not care. He slipped underneath the gate, and was safe at last in the wood outside the garden.

Scare-crow of rabbit clothes        
Mr. McGregor hung up the little jacket and the shoes for a scarecrow to frighten the blackbirds.

Peter never stopped running or looked behind him till he got home to the big fir-tree.

Peter is back home 
He was so tired that he flopped down upon the nice soft sand on the floor of the rabbit-hole and shut his eyes. His mother was busy cooking; she wondered what he had done with his clothes. It was the second little jacket and pair of shoes that Peter had lost in a fortnight!


Petered out  
I am sorry to say that Peter was not very well during the evening.

His mother put him to bed, and made some camomile tea; and she gave a dose of it to Peter!

'One table-spoonful to be taken at bed-time.'

Eating the berries they picked     
But Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cotton-tail had bread and milk and blackberries for supper.

THE END

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Born Helen Beatrix Potter (1866-1943), in London, England, she became a highly beloved children's authors of all time. Potter first tasted success as an illustrator, selling some of her work to be used for greeting cards. In 1902, publisher Frederick Warne printed The Tale of Peter Rabbit, which launched her career as a children's author. More than 20 other books for young audiences soon followed. Potter's tales of Peter Rabbit, Jemima Puddle-Duck, Benjamin Bunny and others have become children's classics.

Source from the Public Domain:
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/14838/14838-h/14838-h.htm






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