He's a Japanese Boy...
Articulated Aneka, a one hit wonder from 1981. Hailing from bonnie Scotland, this wee lassie became synonymous with her faux Japanese appearances on Top of The Pops. Parasols and fans oscillating aplenty she and her dancers misportayed the ancient and venerable customs of the Far East to the obvious delight of the UK record buying public who purchased this in droves propelling it to the Number One spot in August 1981.
Now just an observation, on the record sleeve and in all her performances she is seen as being Japanese, but refers to her misplaced Nipponic boyfriend as her Japanese Boy. Now if she was genuinely Japanese she would have no need for a nationalistic adjective, Boy would surely suffice? Of course she herself could be turning Japanese as described by the Vapours also the early 80's.
So today we are in an oriental mindset and rightly so for yesterday we went to the Lantern Festival in Auckland to mark the end of the Chinese New Year. Chinese New Year? Why then the reference to Japan? and not say David Bowie and his China Girl?
The Lantern festival was a multi cultural melting pot of Asian influences which was reflected in the multitude of food stalls, from Malay, Thai and Indonesia, through to Japan, Korea, Vietnam and China. Why, there was even a spot of French creperie, presumably from the colonial influence in Vietnam.
With all these stall selling hot (and not so hot!) treats it was a feast fit for an Emperor. We were mindful however, of the perils of salmonella, listeria and E-Coli present in ill prepared and undercooked food, and the inherent danger to transplant patients because of the reduced immunity we have against infections.
Like Marco Polo we set sail in search of the edible treasures of the Orient.......
Crossing the vast expanses of Albert Park and encountering the thronged masses, we were instantly transported to the backstreets of Hong Kong, or Shanghai, where different tongues and smells assailed our senses
Seeking comfort at the Sausage king (a fairly innocuous sounding purveyor of heated meat products, I despute the use of "Sausage" and King, unless it was based on Yuan-ping Prince He of Changyi, the 27 Day Emperor. Deposed in 74BC because of his excessive spending, debauchery and general Un-kinglyness) Much like the late departed royal, the sausages looked eminently suspect, and were soon cast off my quest for calorific gold.
Past a variety of noodles, rice, pearl tees, sliced fowls of every genus speared on sticks and sauced to within an inch of their lives.
As the crowd swelled we were soon peeking (Beijing?) over shoulders and being forced to duck as illuminated lanterns came swirling past, dragged by an assortment of suitably orientified children wearing coolie hats, like film extras:
My companions feasted upon strange looking skewered beasts, fried noodles and doughy pork balls, and I tried several piping hot deep fried yam dumplings. (rich in carbs!)
We continued our march in search of enlightenment, pushing on to discover new treasures that were previously only found in the forbidden city, or buried deep as the terracotta warriors of the Qing Dynasty.
And then suddenly we discovered our Shangri La:
Toffee Strawberries!
Heavily laced in toffee, these oriental confections were beguiling in their loveliness, crunchy on the outside, soft in the middle, sweet and delectable to taste, and as addictive as opium!
Our voyage of discovery through the various trade routes had resulted in a treasure as wondrous to a newly unrestricted former diabetic as would the finding of a long lost Ming vase on Antiques Roadshow...
All of which brings us back to a different Anneka, for at the end of every Treasure Hunt we heard Anneka Rice, when she found the treasure, shriek out the immortal phrase...
Stop the Clock!!!!
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