Euro 2016 qualifier: Fellaini double helps Belgium crush Cyprus

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• Euro 2016 qualifier: Fellaini double helps Belgium crush Cyprus
• Candle tribute in honour of Lee Kuan Yew
• Hodgson: Rooney needs honours to be ranked with Charlton
• Four cafés in Taipei that brew some of the best coffee in the world!
• My mother’s Oriental salmon seaweed rice bowl
• Love, life and Muay Thai (VIDEO)

Euro 2016 qualifier: Fellaini double helps Belgium crush Cyprus Posted: 28 Mar 2015 05:56 PM PDT Belgium's Marouane Fellaini jumps for the ball with Cyprus' Valentinos Sielis during their Euro 2016 qualifying match at the King Baudouin stadium in Brussels March 28, 2015. — Reuters picBRUSSELS, March 29 — Marouane Fellaini struck twice as Belgium moved within three points of Euro 2016 Group B qualifying leaders Wales with a 5-0 thumping of Cyprus yesterday. After a win and two draws from their first three matches, Belgium knew the pressure was on to produce a performance befitting a side ranked fourth in the world. "The players enjoyed themselves and knew what to do. Yes, I'm satisfied," Belgian coach Marc Wilmots told reporters. The hosts, who reached the quarter-finals of last year's World Cup, were 2-0 up at halftime although they could easily have been four or five ahead against a packed but often porous Cypriot defence. Manchester United midfielder Fellaini opened Belgium's account midway through the first half after the visitors failed to clear a corner. A cross by Eden Hazard then set up Christian Benteke to make it 2-0 in the 35th minute. Fellaini found the top corner with a perfectly placed long-range strike in the 66th minute but that effort was matched a minute later by Hazard. With two defenders in front of him, the Chelsea playmaker shifted cleverly to the right before curling the ball into the net off the inside of the far post. Debutant Michy Batshuayi completed the demolition in the 80th minute after the hard-working Radja Nainggolan dispossessed a defender. Cyprus, who beat Bosnia 2-1 in September, were without six injured players and barely mounted an attack with a single off-target header in the second half proving their only threat. "We lost to the better team. Belgium is one of the best in the world," said Cyprus coach Charalambos Christodoulou. "We have to forget this game. We knew from the start it would be difficult to get something away against Belgium. Belgium on Tuesday play Israel who were knocked off the top of the group after a 3-0 home defeat by Wales yesterday. Belgium have eight points from four games, Israel nine from four and Wales are on 11 points having played five matches. — Reuters

Candle tribute in honour of Lee Kuan Yew Posted: 28 Mar 2015 05:54 PM PDT Duration: 01:34, Published 29 Mar 2015 Residents at Singapore's Yishun light candles as they pay tribute to the late Lee Kuan Yew. In the background, a bagpipe performer plays a rendition of 'Auld Lang Syne'.

Hodgson: Rooney needs honours to be ranked with Charlton Posted: 28 Mar 2015 05:52 PM PDT (From right) Manchester United's Wayne Rooney, Michael Carrick and Marouane Fellaini look dejected after Arsenal's second goal. ― Reuters picLONDON, March 29 — Wayne Rooney might break Bobby Charlton's 35-year-old England scoring record of 49 goals this season but he must be successful at a major championship to be regarded as one of the country's greats said coach Roy Hodgson. Rooney, who will be 30 in October, has scored 47 goals in 102 appearances for England and could overtake Peter Shilton's all-time appearance record of 125 caps as well as Charlton's scoring tally before his international career is over. But Hodgson says his skipper must do more than break records to rival Charlton's legacy as one of England's all-time greats. "To do it, a player would have to be very successful at a European Championship or World Cup as Bobby Charlton was," Hodgson said after the 4-0 Euro 2016 qualifying victory over Lithuania at Wembley on Friday. Charlton, who scored his 49 goals in 106 games between 1958 and 1970, won the World Cup with England in 1966 but Rooney is yet to progress beyond the quarter-finals in five major finals. "People would argue Bobby was England's best ever player—and there wouldn't be many of my age who would have him outside the top three," said the 67-year-old national team manager. "If Wayne can break into that in the future before he stops playing, then that is fantastic for him. "Bobby Charlton, for me, is up there on a pedestal and it will take time for any of the modern-day players to get up to that level." Rooney could have equalled Charlton's scoring record in the win over Lithuania because as well as scoring in the sixth minute, he hit the post in the fourth and the bar after 19. As it is, his 47th goal means he is one behind Gary Lineker, who scored 48 in 80 games, and will get another chance to close in on their totals in Tuesday's friendly against Italy in Turin. Hodgson, though, certainly holds Rooney in the highest esteem, emphasising he is assured of his place in history. "He will be remembered," Hodgson said of the Manchester United striker.  "We don't have that many players who have played 100 games for England or captained England, so don't worry about Wayne Rooney not being remembered - he will be." — Reuters

Four cafés in Taipei that brew some of the best coffee in the world! Posted: 28 Mar 2015 05:50 PM PDT Your coffee arrives with the beans freshly ground only seconds before. – Pictures by CK LimTAIPEI, March 29 — I love Taipei, a greyish city with dreary, grey buildings but so full of life and colour in its people, food and streets! Whether it's a typical breakfast of youtiao (fried crullers) dipped in hot, frothy doujiang (soymilk) or getting lost in the maze of endless shelves at the 24-hour Eslite Bookstore, there is never a dull moment in the Taiwanese capital. No surprise then even the coffee experience here is one step above the rest. There are cafés everywhere — serving dainty desserts or for your pets to socialize  with other furry friends — but quite a number are specialty coffee bars with passionate baristas dedicated to their craft. A "rusty" brew worth sipping Rufous Coffee is one of the favourite coffee haunts for the city's café-hoppers. The café is typically packed with students given its proximity to the National Taiwan University but the wait is softened by a few chairs outside. Rufous Coffee is one of the favourite coffee haunts for the city's café-hoppersSome customers choose to have their espressos outside before dashing off to their next appointment. The locals here seem to be in a perpetual rush, which makes the opportunity to linger over one's coffee a luxury I'm grateful for. The café's name comes from the colour "rufous" which is reddish-brown or rust-like. According to the owner, Xiao Yang, this is the true colour of coffee. Once inside, many scramble for a bar seat in order to watch him brew their coffee. The café's name comes from the colour "rufous" which is reddish-brown or rust-like, supposedly the true colour of coffee (left). Rufous Coffee looks like a curio shop with odd paraphernalia, toys and postcards from all over the globe (center). The ice coffee tower at Rufous Coffee (right)You could also opt for more comfortable seats at a table. Space is limited but it adds to the cosy, eclectic atmosphere, not unlike a shop selling curios, what with the dark corners, odd paraphernalia, an assortment of toys and postcards from customers from all over the globe. A former chef in Italian cuisine, Xiao Yang is in charge of every step of the process from sourcing the beans to roasting and brewing. You're assured that your coffee, when it arrives, is made with much care and craft. Nothing's better than sipping a slow brew while the rain — another indispensable feature of Taipei — continues outside. A Taiwanese "monsoon" With four outlets spread around Taipei, Zhanlu Coffee could almost be considered a coffee shop chain if it weren't for their earnestness in roasting their own beans and conducting workshops for coffee geeks. Founded in 2003, it's considered a veteran in the specialty coffee scene here, with many a café disappearing every year with passing fads. The selection of beans at Zhanlu Coffee include the spicy, smooth and chocolaty Monsoon MalabarHead to their main café at Daan District, where even the desserts are made fresh every day. Try their signature crème caramel — smooth, custardy and not too sweet. The baristas may look like typical hipsters until they approach your table and take your order. That is when the difference between a Taiwanese café and others of its ilk around the world becomes clear: the quality of service. A barista at Zhanlu Coffee will take the time to describe the profiles of different beans that are available, and make recommendations according to your individual palate. Take your time to decide, for they will take the time to explain. Zhanlu Coffee is a veteran in the specialty coffee scene in Taipei (left). The barista will brew your drip coffee right before your eyes at Zhanlu Coffee (right)During my visit, I chose a Monsoon Malabar. Its name comes from the process whereby the harvested beans are left exposed to the monsoon rains for about 3-4 months. As a result, the beans become swollen and less acidic. A cup of Monsoon Malabar will taste smooth and chocolaty with spicy notes — very apt considering it originates from the Malabar Coast of India. A single sip tells me I've made the right choice in listening to my barista's recommendation. You should have similar luck here too. Comics meet coffee Just a stone's throw away from Liuzhangli Station on the Taipei Metro, PEG Coffee doesn't look like a specialty coffee bar at first glance. The profusion of manga-related paraphernalia, especially from the popular One Piece pirate series, makes this café a Japanese comic fan's dream come true. Posters, dolls, figurines; there's even a One Piece-decorated espresso machine! Behind the colourful façade is some serious coffee street cred though. Founded in 2008, PEG Coffee has won numerous coffee awards and is known as the place where the average Joe goes for specialty coffee thanks to their affordable prices. Luguo Café is housed at ArtYard, a cultural collective inside the historic A.S. Watson & Co buildingOwner Li Zi personally selects and roasts all the coffee (usually to a medium roast), having worked as a coffee roaster for over six years before opening PEG Coffee. Walk in and expect a sensory overload — from the kaleidoscopic décor to the stunning aroma of fresh beans being roasted or coffee being brewed. As with other Taipei cafés, Li Zi will be more than happy to explain the origins of the beans and their flavour profiles. There are the usual beans from Africa and South America, but look out for native Wujia coffee from mountainous Alishan. Sweet and bright, this Taiwanese coffee has surprising floral notes and an apple tartness that delight the palate. Zhanlu Coffee's signature crème caramel (left). Try the Taiwanese Wujia coffee from the mountainous Alishan region at PEG Coffee (right)Adding to the palette of contrasts, coffee arrives in custom-made porcelain mugs, each one as unique as the brew you've ordered. Look out for the Chopper Man figurines (again, from the One Piece manga); there's a different one on every table. It's an intimate space: not many seats, but that's not uncommon in Taiwanese cafés. What's less common is the opportunity to allow your inner comic geek to play with the caffeine addict in you — and very happily at that. Like a phoenix rising from the ashes Located in Dadaocheng, once a major trading port in Taiwan, is the historic A.S. Watson & Co building. Named after the first Watson's pharmacy on the island that it used to house, the old structure is all that remains of a bygone era. Yongle Market nearby is famous for fabric stalls while Dihua Street's busy shops offer Chinese medicinal herbs, incense and Taiwanese tea. From the outside, PEG Coffee looks more like a comic shop than a caféWhat the neighbourhood is not known for, however, is coffee. When this century-old colonial-era building was gutted by fire in 1998, it stood empty for almost a decade. Eventually the building was revived as ArtYard, a cultural collective that binds the old and new with small, local businesses including ceramics maker Hakka Blue, fabric designers inBloom, and the artisanal café Luguo. The origins and flavours of your coffee will be explained at Luguo Café (left). Sip your coffee slowly at Luguo Café and savour the experience (right)The café is discreetly located on the second floor, so customers may sip their coffee away from the bustle of the busy streets below. The ambience is neither cutesy (typical of the fashionable cafés young Taiwanese girls adore) nor hipster-ish (typical of the industrial chic young Taiwanese bohemians favour). Instead Luguo Café is more like a classy slice of the past served in the form of antique lamps, worn typewriters, vinyl records and comfortable rattan chairs. You can savour its very "vintage" atmosphere in the air and its serenity. Coffee is carefully brewed here; the origin and flavours of the beans explained with precision and pleasure. Other customers leave you alone to your own space; they are in a world of their own too. Taiwanese grandmothers and Japanese ladies who lunch and café-hoppers from other lands — everyone has found their own private sanctuary in Luguo Café. Luguo Café roasts and packs their own coffee beans for saleHere a fresh brew rises like a phoenix from the ashes of history. And what an excellent brew it is too. Rufous Coffee No. 339, Section 2, Fuxing South Road, Daan District, Taipei City, Taiwan Open Fri-Wed 1pm-11pm; Thu closed www.rufouscoffee.blogspot.com Zhanlu Coffee No. 2-1, Lane 161, Xinsheng South Road Section 1, Daan District, Taipei City, Taiwan Open daily 12pm-10pm www.zhanlu-coffee.com PEG Coffee No. 309, Jiaxing St, Xinyi District, Taipei City, Taiwan Open Mon-Sat 2pm-8pm; Sun 2pm-6pm www.facebook.com/PEGCoffee Luguo Café @ ArtYard 1, Ln 32, Dihua St Sec 1, Taipei City, Taiwan Open Tue-Sun 11am-7pm; Mon closed www.artyard.tw/29200377072165421857-luguo-cafe.html

My mother’s Oriental salmon seaweed rice bowl Posted: 28 Mar 2015 05:45 PM PDT Yummy, simple and fuss-free: this meal is perfect for family and friends. Pictures by Lydia KohPETALING JAYA, March 29 — We never know what to call this dish my mother makes. All we know is that family and friends would often ask her to make the dish and it would be finished even before the appetisers are served. People would heap their bowls with generous portions, taking seconds, thirds...until every grain of rice is finished. That is how good this dish is although it doesn't have an official name. Inspired by Japanese, Chinese and Korean cuisines, my mother just came up with this dish one day. She grew up experimenting different recipes in the kitchen, watching my late grandmother cook Peranakan dishes, kuih-muih and secret recipes known only to the homes in the fishing village. Whenever my mother watched Martin Yan of "Yan Can Cook", she could re-create the same dish without even bothering to record the TV show. At restaurants we dined, she could tell us what ingredients they put in every dish and she never needed to measure anything because her deft hands are her weighing scales. Use short grain rice for this recipe for a better texture and bite (left). Start cooking the rice over the stove or in a rice cooker (right)Defrost the salmon by leaving it out in room temperature (left). You can just use the natural oils of the salmon for this dish (right)So, this unnamed dish remained very popular but we called it different names, depending on our mood. 'Salmon rice' , 'Japanese rice', 'salmon seaweed rice' were names we used to call the dish but I think it is more Oriental than Japanese because sometimes Korean seaweed is used instead. Most of the ingredients are Japanese and salmon is a pretty universal ingredient. Remove rice from pot into another dish to cool it down (left). This is one of the Japanese ingredients for the rice (right)Add this ingredient as well or if you want, use an alternative (left). Seaweed is one of the key ingredients and this is Korean seaweed (right)Just last evening, my mother was thinking of what to cook for dinner. She bought some salmon recently so she decided to cook what I now call the Oriental salmon seaweed rice bowl. "It is an easy dish to make and suits people who are lazy to cook," said my mother. I have not tried making it by myself but I do enjoy eating it. So, this edition of Weekend Kitchen is my mother's recipe. "Will I get famous after I share my recipe?" my mother joked. I told her that it is a good thing that she is willing to share her recipe to people who might be interested in this dish. Once it is cooled, add in all the seasonings you wantSo, without further ado I present you the newly-dubbed Oriental salmon seaweed rice bowl from my mother. Ingredients 500 grams frozen salmon 2 1/2 cups of short grain rice 3 1/2 cups of water Japanese seasoning or furikake (any kind) Japanese or Korean seasoned seaweed, cut into small pieces Yield: 2-4 persons Method 1. Defrost the salmon. While defrosting the fish, measure the rice and place it in a large pot. Wash the rice until the water becomes clear. Drain and add clean water. Cook rice over low to medium heat on the stove. 2. Pan fry the salmon in a non-stick frying pan over a low to medium fire on the stove. The salmon has natural oil so you do not need to put any oil when cooking. Add the salmon flakes onto the rice and seasonings3. Stir the rice and make sure that it is cooked. Use a fork or chopsticks to ensure the rice does not stick to the bottom of the pan. Remove from the stove, once the rice is cooked. Keep an eye on the salmon and flip it over the to the other side. Make sure both sides are browned and cooked before removing from the stove. 4. Prepare a wooden container and place the cooked rice inside it. Leave to cool naturally. Once cooled, add your choice of Japanese seasoning and mix thoroughly. Sprinkle some seaweed on top of the salmon, rice and seasonings5. Remove the salmon from the stove and start deboning the fish. As you remove the bones, use a pair of chopsticks to flake the salmon. Once that is done, sprinkle the salmon on top of the rice. Stir everything together with chopsticks or any utensil6. Finally, put in the seaweed and stir everything together. It is now ready to be serve!

Love, life and Muay Thai (VIDEO) Posted: 28 Mar 2015 05:43 PM PDT NEW YORK, March 29 — Early in their relationship, Paul Heck, 47, patiently fit himself into Minna Kao's intensive Muay Thai competition training. Kao, 40, realized soon after that she had a cheerleader and a partner for life. — New York Times A tourist poses for a picture after the closing Thai boxing, or 'Muay Thai', fight night of the legendary Lumpinee stadium, in this February 11, 2014 file picture. — Reuters pic

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