William Chong

General session 4: Jerry Wragg started Day 2 of Impact Bible Conference delving into the meaning behind Paul’s word to the Corinthian church (1:30-31). A lengthy sermon where he stressed continuously the sufficiency of Scripture as given: “We have no business changing evangelism from what it is in Scripture.” Also a thorough tracing of justification, sanctification and glorification plainly described in Scripture.

General session 5: ”Heaven is a comforting term,” said Rick Holland as he continued his exposition of 1 Peter, this time focusing on the ways God satisfies three aspirations of the human heart. In writing to persecuted Christians, Peter expounds on how God gives believers hope upon Christ’s grace, provides security in the imperishable certainty of heaven, and the assurance that “this life is the closest a believer will ever come to hell.”

General session 6: Jerry Wragg asks how far we should go regarding the phrase “all things to all men”, tackling the issue of contextualising the gospel. A few provocative statements, such as: “I don’t care how reformed your teaching is, if you’re repackaging the gospel, it’s not sanctified.” Wragg highlighted points from 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 to consider, including:

- preaching is not preeminence: not flaunting brilliance and turn of speech nor dressing the gospel at clarity’s expense
- preaching is not about personal charisma; Paul in particular came “in weakness, fear and much trembling”

Question for the day: Does the next generation of preachers act, dress and speak like Rick Holland, Jerry Wragg etc, and to what extent is this shaped by culture?

Twitter updates: http://twitter.com/wchong
Full write-ups: http://bit.ly/jonomac/

As I’m sitting here at the end of Day 1 of Impact 2009 Bible Conference, Hastings has chilled up like a popsicle and my seat is not heated. But a good 400+ folks have been warming their voices on powerful songs, and listening to powerful preaching through the day.

A brief run-down:

General session 1 - Rick opens the plenaries by outlining the life and character of the Apostle Peter. He’s shown in Scripture to be passionate yet flawed (definitely not infallible Pope material from what the Bible records). Peter was a regular, Christ-exalting, fallible, arrogant, passionate, broken, and eventually restored man.

General session 2 - Jerry Wragg opens his series by listing a multitude of ways evangelical Christians have been affected by the postmodern worldview. Wragg laments the perceived decline of absolutes, depreciation of propositional truth-claims, and the exaltation of human wisdom. He looks forward to delving through 1 Corinthians in addressing issues, including how far should contextualisation and the “all things to all men” principle go.

General session 3 - Rick Holland unpacked the opening two verses of 1 Peter by highlighting three points: the Father elects, the Spirit sanctifies, and the Son redeems. Holland skirted around the election/predestination debate, focusing more on the astute observation that Peter mentions these points to the persecuted church not for theological challenge and controversy, but for pastoral comfort and spiritual security. Definitely a good challenge in getting doctrine turned into practice.

As a side note, the Driscoll contextualisation controversy got a mention by Holland during the first seminar session, titled “what’s wrong with youth ministry today?” I’m picking interesting debates on that issue during the Q&A session on Sunday.

Twitter updates: http://twitter.com/wchong
Jono’s writeups: http://bit.ly/jonomac/

Rick Holland. Jerry Wragg. Martha Peace. Joe Fleener. Hugh Rorrison.

Beautiful weather in the Hawkes Bay, clear skies and over 500 folks from New Zealand, Australia and further afield for the Impact Bible Conference 2009.

Jono and I and about 30 others from Howick Baptist are down here too. Tonnes of good Bible teaching from many great teachers: Jono’s grand idea is that we’ll keep folks updated over the weekend on the talks as they happen.

Rick’s going through 1 Peter 1:1-12, and a seminar series on youth ministry. Martha Peace doing a whole series on Titus 2 teaching – great for the ladies. If you’re interested in keeping up with the talks and seminar sessions, we’ll put notes and main points up as they come:

Jono’s blog updates
William’s Impact blog updates
William’s Twitter updates

Have a great long weekend everyone!

I have a minor love affair with haloumi at the moment. (So does C, incidentally.)

It’s a Levantine cheese popular in many a Mediterranean restaurant (including that beautiful meal at Ima and Ibn). You can read more about its backstory at Wikipedia, but in my opinion the best thing about it is that you can fry it, like a steak.

We bought a block of it a couple of weeks back and thought it would be fun to try cooking it for ourselves. To ensure they fry properly and not melt, you need to cut them into reasonably-thick slices (about a 1-2 cm, or the thickness of your index finger), and use a high heat to get the beautiful seared look. Also, haloumi does not end well when microwaved (lunch leftovers the next day proved this).

For this dinner, we added radish slices, boiled potatoes, tomatoes, red onion (all from our trusty Foodbox) and served it with rice.

Yum!

——————————

As an aside, we dropped by Barracuda in Bucklands Beach for our most recent date night. We didn’t eat too much to warrant a proper review, but I felt compelled to say a few things anyways:

• They had the worst antipasto platter I’ve come across in a restaurant setting. To be fair, it’s not a popular order, but C and I were given a hodge-podge of stuff that had seemed to have come from sitting in the fridge for weeks – vinegared cauliflower, olives, cold bread, some feta and cold sausage. My stomach definitely disagreed.
• They did serve us some tasty green-lipped mussels, drenched in a rich tomato pasta-style sauce. Which was tasty.

I’m sure others will have had more pleasant dining experiences – anyone else been before?

Website: www.foodbox.co.nz; Ph: 09 265 1054; Email: orders@foodbox.co.nz; boxes from $32.

Most of you know I’m a pretty busy bloke. Between working, commuting, serving, tidying, writing, singing, dancing and sleeping, there’s usually very little time to do groceries on a regular basis. When I do it’s usually bleary-eyed after a long day, and I’m on autopilot through the supermarket aisles picking whatever looks colourful and edible. As many of you can testify, that doesn’t equate to fresh fruit and vegetables most of the time… (hint: soft drinks and chips are very colourful, and very edible!)

So when I got a flyer in my letterbox introducing foodbox.co.nz, I was intrigued. Basically the folk at this venture source whatever fruit and vegetables are in season around New Zealand, pack them into boxes, and deliver them to your door once a week. Little fuss, little use of airpoints to get your 5-plus a day (bananas are obviously the exception to the home-grown rule). They had an option for a once-off delivery, so I decided to try it out.

On Thursday we gather round and open our box. We’re pleasantly surprised – for $32 it’s bananas, kiwifruit, apples, pears, green beans, mushrooms, a head of lettuce, tomatoes, a leek, capsicum, onions, carrots, gourmet potatoes, and passionfruit. There’s an envelope with some quirky notes about the food we’ve just received. I like the trivia about where passionfruit comes from (answer: Spanish Jesuit missionaries in South America named the fruit as a symbol of the Passion of the Christ). They boast that we have got in our hands New Zealand-grown grapes, and include a recipe for a Moroccan cous-cous that can be cooked using the ingredients in our box.

It’s definitely not a replacement for all your shopping. You’ll still need to shop for meat, rice, milk, all your other balanced-diet necessities. And if you have Asian-cuisine inclinations, vegetables like bokchoy and Chinese cabbage may not be a regular feature. While you’re allowed to replace any fruit and veg you don’t like from your box, it’s still a lucky dip of produce that may not suit the guy that’s hell-bent on getting some papaya, or the gal who demands peaches come hell or high water.

But I give it two thumbs up because of one simple fact: I’m eating more fruit and veg. I won’t claim to now eat exclusively at home, but the guys at foodbox.co.nz give you this stuff in such a jovial, non-patronising way (take heed, Ministry of Economic Development TV ads) that you’re motivated to eat what you buy. And that equates to savings from the takeaways, the fast-food outlets, the pubs and restaurants. And the variety of fruit/veg we’re eating is definitely a plus. It’s a joy to try a passionfruit for the first time in my life, and to be given stalks of rhubarb and challenged to cook it in a meaningful way (I did a sugar-laden rhubarb crumble).�

Foodbox.co.nz can make something as mundane as your fruit and veg a present-opening, diet-altering delight.

Ph: 082 232 211 (hotel); Lot 3631, Lorong 2, Rock Road, Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia; drinks from RM1.00; food from RM2.50

Rating: None given

Sometimes you just have to smile at God’s humorous sense of timing. I previously expressed a yearning for some Malaysian food in my recent writeup of Kaya + Toast – and here I am in Kuching, Malaysia, only weeks later and fortunate enough to reacquaint myself with some of the unique tastes from my childhood. My dad and I stopped by Fullyin Café for a welcome taste of unadorned, Chinese canteen cuisine. Fullyin Café is on the ground floor of what’s primarily a budget hotel, and attracts mostly local customers and perhaps visitors to the nearby Timberland medical centre.

The place is homely, in a tattered and weathered way, when we step in. Last month’s Chinese New Year decorations are still up, and there’s mellow Mando-pop wafting amongst the smell of spring onion and fried shallots. White half-wiped tables and gaudy red chairs are tessellated amongst simple cooking stalls serving Kuching favourites such as kolo mee, won ton soups, tomato kueh tiaw, various congees (each stall is subleased to different chefs and cooks). A drinks station in the back corner of the café serves up an assortment of hot and cold beverages. This is the quintessential food court setup that is replicated, in varying styles, in cities and suburbs all across Malaysia.

I ordered a tomato kueh tiaw to start off with – it’s long flat noodle strips buried in a less Watties, more watery sauce. I got a couple of baby prawns, spinach and squid in mine – but overall was sorely disappointed with the underwhelming portion size.

To remedy my unappeased appetite, I moved on to a bowl of wontons (called “kiaw” in the local dialect). They’re petite and inviting in the bowl, yet without the shallots, spring onion and chilli there’s not much else in terms of flavour. I ate it all but somehow it wasn’t completely satisfying, as if I was eating something bootlegged.

All in all it was an acceptable meal – whether I’d willingly go back again however is a different story. With the low cost of eating out in Malaysia it’s easy to shrug off mediocre food as value for money. I’m sure, however, that there’s plenty of other food outlets that would serve it tastier, and for the same price.

Website: http://www.skycitymetro.com/detail.asp?id=144; Ph: 09 309 3388; SkyCity Metro Food Court, 291-297 Queen St, Auckland Central; Email: kontak78@hotmail.com; drinks $3-5; mains from $8.

Rating: A

Prior to catching a movie at the Queen St cinemas, we looked around the Skycity Metro Food Court for something to eat. It’s not often we trailblaze into the city, and so we wanted to try something new. Just as we were about to look elsewhere, I spotted the boldly lit sign of Kaya + Toast. I instantly recognised the name as a feature of Malaysian cuisine; we had to check it out.

Once down a short flight of stairs, we looked around. The place combined a modern decor of bold reds, blacks and whites with visual displays of cultural paraphenalia uniquely Malaysian culture. Black-and-white photos of quaint Peninsular storefronts, hanging on the red-tiled walls. Comic books drawn by Malaysian cartoonist Lat, neatly stacked on a white formica bar counter. Jet-black tables with DIY hardwood benches. This place reminded me of childhood pilgrimages to the local kopitiam (coffee house).

While empty when we arrived, the 4-5 tables at Kaya + Toast quickly filled up, filling the air with familiar accents and exuberant talk in Manglish. It’s clear that Kaya + Toast is a hub for these expatriates, like myself, to hang out and remind themselves of food from their childhood, delicacies from their motherland.

Kaya + Toast’s menu throws together all the favourites from the traditional Malaysian coffeehouse. Food options include thick-cut toast and kaya spreads, chicken laksa dishes, and home-made fish curries. The beverages range from the popular Malaysian coffees and iced lemon teas, to drinks with names such as ‘I am diet’ (a mix of malty Horlicks and Nestum, a cereal drink) and ‘Charm’ (coffee and tea in the same cup). There’s an eerie familiarity to the menu, and in my opinion the coffeehouse cuisine here is as natural to the Malaysian psyche as fish and chips are to the Kiwi experience.

For my meal I tried the ubiquitous ‘nasi lemak’, a pseudo-platter of fragrant rice, anchovies, cucumber slices, peanuts and a hard-boiled egg. In Malaysia it’s normally eaten for breakfast, and mine came with an extra chicken drumstick. C stuck to a more modest bread and curry, which was well-flavoured and generously spiced.

While the food tasted great, I was a bit disappointed with the small portions and not-small pricing. It’s a far cry from Malaysian roadside stalls that offer more generous portions, and perhaps underscored the cost of importing an authentic Malaysian taste to Central Auckland. Nevertheless, with neigbouring BurgerKing pricing their calorie-laden combos at recessionary prices, Kaya + Toast could similarly do with a slight market correction.

Owner Vincent Chan opened this cafe in late 2008 and seems to have crafted a midcity hangout for homesick Malaysian students, and others well-acquanted with the eclectic kopitiam cuisine. Time will tell whether this place will draw in the uninitiated mainstream crowd and become a permanent fixture at the Skycity Metro food court.

Website: http://www.jesters-pies.co.nz; Ph: 09 533 8160; 20 locations around New Zealand; pies from $3.70, combos from $5.

Rating: A

(A=return customer, AA=worth going weekly, AAA=so awesome so awesome so awesome)

We took a bit of a breather from formal sit-down occasions for this date night, and dropped into Jester’s Pies in Howick for a relaxed dinner. Yes, they sell pies, as well as the associated drinks, wedges, and other tidbits hungry people add to their meals.

The main point of difference that these guys have are would be… well… their pies. They’re baked using proprietary equipment (they’re called “Jaffle pies”), with thin and puffed pastry that don’t seem to retain oil like the standard bakery pies do.

My favourite pie was the ‘Spud Deluxe’, which had a mix of beef mince, bacon and a cheesy potato mash filling. The pastry is definitely light and beautifully sweet. C enjoyed her baked butter-chicken varietal: the ‘Maharaja’ almost works like a mega-samosa (shaped like a pie, of course). The ingredients taste fresh and pleasantly savoury sans the greasiness.

While it’s true that the pies carry the National Heart Foundation endorsements, on examining their nutritional makeup their health benefits seem to be a bit of a commercial gimmick – I suspect they’re given because Jester’s a healthier choice of pie, rather than a healthier food choice in general. But having Heart ticks across your food paper bag is definitely the more interesting way to celebrate Valentine’s Day.

All in all, it was a, well, rounded meal. I had to talk C out of buying takeaway packs for the freezer, but we may just have to next time our appetites warrant it!

Website: http://ima-ibn.co.nz; Email: info@ima-ibn.co.nz; Ph: 09 300 7252; 57 Fort St, Central Auckland; breakfast $5-18, lunch $12-22, dinner mains $24-32.

Rating: AA+

(A=return customer, AA=worth going weekly, AAA=so awesome so awesome so awesome)

We like trying out Mediterranean food. This is because, in general, it’s far removed from our own ethnic cuisine experiences (i.e. chips and chopsticks, pies and chow mein). So after our last exciting experience with Mediterranean cuisine, I discovered Ima and Ibn, a gem of a restaurant tucked within the increasingly gentrified Fort St, oddly juxtaposed between convenience stores, parking buildings and worldly attractions of the red-light district type.

Co-owned by Israeli Yael Shochat and Palestinian Khaled Masroujeh, we were intrigued by their story (“Ima and Ibn” translates to “Mother and son” in Hebrew and Arabic respectively), as well as their dishes listed on their online menu: traditional, apolitical, and epitomising what Shochat terms the “cuisine of the sun”. It sounded fascinating; we decided to drop by for dinner.

The first thing you notice in this place is the warm, coppery glow, which comes, you discover, from patterned light panels in the ceiling. A painting of ‘Ima’, surrounded by a bevy of foodstuffs sits prominently on a backdrop of sienna and red-ochre walls. Dozens of recipe and cookbooks perched on wooden shelves hint at a lifelong passion, and it feels as if you’ve entered a space oddly familiar, and as homely as your own mother’s kitchen.

Their dinner menu was geared towards quality over quantity, with five entreés and five mains to choose from – for those well-acquainted with Mediterranean cuisine it might not have been too much to choose from. For us, however, we mulled excitedly over a veritable Med-spread collection: from North African brik (almost like a poached egg within a tuna-filled wonton) to Jewish-style chicken liver paté, from lamb kubeh on hummus to market fish and Israeli couscous. Our waiter Robin was affable and knowledgeable about the finer details of each dish.

For mains, C went for the Mezze platter. It looks modest in the photo, but the antipasto-style plate was huge. We loved experiencing the variety of flavours and tastes on offer. C’s favourite were the feta and spinach pockets, while I was quite partial to the chickpea balls and the Turkish hummus.

For my main, I ordered a Middle Eastern plate: an assortment of salads, Lebanese-style rice (fragrantly spiced and moistened with olive oil), and haloumi cheese on top. I’m always fascinated by haloumi (it’s the only cheese you can fry or grill because of its high melting point), and order it whenever I can.

We stuffed ourselves with all of the above, which unfortunately meant not giving desserts a try this time. But on another day I’m sure it’d be great to give the Middle Eastern dessert platter, or the Knafeh (a Palestinian sweet pastry thing), or even some homemade ice-creams and sorbets that they had on offer a good go.

All in all, Ima and Ibn seemed to have a genuine sense of a warmth, and a professional touch to their traditional meals. I have to admit it wasn’t easy on the wallet, but for such authenticity, freshness and an amazing variety of Mediterranean cuisine, C and I both agreed it was worth every cent.

Ph: 5328161; 9 Cook St, Howick 2014; mains $15-27.

Rating: A

(A=return customer, AA=worth going weekly, AAA=so awesome so awesome so awesome)

During the middle of 2008, the owners of Café Hasan Baba in Howick had the bright idea of setting fire to their own restaurant. It’s not as if their food was bad, and they did feature a belly dancer on Friday nights (perhaps that’s why it was burnt down…). Fiery demise aside, the good news is that the phoenix rising from the ashes is undoubtedly Fig and Olive, Howick’s latest Mediterranean-style restaurant.

When we arrived at 6, we were offered an outside table by the helpful and attentive waitress. The restaurant was otherwise fully-booked – not bad for a normal Friday night. A couple of nice paintings, clear roadside signage and the warm sienna/tan-coloured interior must all play their part in pulling in the crowds.

We began with some garlic breads to whet our appetites and take in the view. Looking across the bustling road to the graveyard at All Saints’ Church brought a touch of evening tranquility to the occasion, as we reflected on how “life is but a breath“.

For our mains, C played it safe and ordered a mushroom fettucine, while I opted for the mussaka with rice and salad. The food arrived quick – definitely prepped beforehand, but the portions were very generous. Both our dishes were packed with flavour: a hint of aubergine among the seasoned mince and potato made it just right for me. The mussaka’s dressing – a mix of yoghurt and chili – was particularly nice, though the bottom was a bit burnt. A creamy tomato sauce gave an interesting twist to C’s fettuccine, while the mushrooms were cut in an array of interesting shapes (much to her delight). I have to say though that her carb-source turned out better than my rice, which was a bit dry and Uncle Ben’s-like.

We closed off the meal with a vanilla ice cream sundae with rose water flavouring. The turkish delight taste was great, and it’s probably a dessert flavour worth replicating at home in future. Their other dessert offerings included creme caramel and baklava, which would have tempted us on another day.

Service was appropriately attentive and not pushy, and the staff seemed to cover all the tables reasonably well that evening. Fig and Olive is definitely a keeper, and we’ll look forward to trying more on their menu.