I have had a fondness for Chinese food ever since wee Ronald took me for a slap up meal on my first ever date.  We were both convinced the waiter was a spy when he came out with exactly what we wanted without asking for our order first. After peering into the flower arrangement and candle on the table to check if we were being bugged, it dawned on us that we’d just been served from the afternoon set menu. Cue much throat-clearing and face fanning, ‘Whew, is it hot in here?’

A few years after that memorable meal I moved to Hong Kong and stayed there for 15 years. I loved going into the cavernous dim sum restaurants where scary old women pushed carts of dumplings around bellowing at the customers and chucking baskets of steamed goodies on the table. The customers bellowed at each other too and if you didn’t know better, you would’ve thought that full scale bloodshed was imminent at any moment.

At the other end of the scale there were beautiful colonial style restaurants, all teak wood and softly whirling fans. The waiters and waitresses were without fail, graceful, beautiful and softly spoken. They had a way of melting into the discrete wood panelling only to materialise at your elbow before you even knew you were ready to order. Food in this type of establishment was always beautifully presented whether it was simple dumplings or an elaborately presented festive suckling pig.

I’ve yet to find any restaurant outside of Asia that has successfully recreated the happy bedlam of an authentic dim sum restaurant but I have found a wonderful Chinese restaurant that fits into the ‘colonial’ style very nicely. I’ve been in Tenerife for nearly ten years now (where does the time go?) and I have had my share of mediocre styrofoam noodles and cheap and cheerful Chinese buffets here – not that as a mum of two kids there isn’t a place for cheap and cheerful buffets – but oh, what a relief when a friend took me out to the wonderful Overseas Oriental Kitchen.

It was like being transported back in time to my days in Hong Kong before the handover. Walking inside you might at first do a double take. What? No red flock, no gold dragons? The Overseas Oriental bears no resemblance whatsoever to your typical Tenerife touristy Chinese restaurant. But then your typical touristy Chinese restaurant bears little resemblance to any restaurant I actually ate in in Hong Kong.

On the other hand the cool elegance of the Oriental Overseas Kitchen reminded me very much of many a long leisurely meal enjoyed with friends in Hong Kong and pre-1997 China. The Chinese menu is enhanced with several Malaysian dishes inspired by owner Tommy’s Malaysian upbringing and all are cooked fresh in full view through the large glass window to the kitchen.

I don’t know about you, but I mentally gloss over advertisements that say anything is ,’…the best’. How does the writer know? If he was to say that any restaurant was the best in Los Cristianos how does he know? Has he eaten in every single one of them? Has he done an extensive poll? The best what anyway? Best food, best location, best toilets?

So all I can tell you is that as far as Chinese restaurants go, Overseas Oriental is the best I have visited in Tenerife – and quite possibly the best I have been in since leaving Hong Kong. I highly recommend it. If you want to pay a visit you can find a map and a €5 token on the Oversea Oriental Kitchen webpage on eTenerife.

Please feel free to comment back and thank me for the recommendation. I know you’ll have a lovely night.

You would think that as the government seems committed to doing absolutely nothing to stem the burgeoning number of abandoned, neglected, maltreated and unwanted dogs in the south of Tenerife that it would at least go out of its way to support local charities that have been set up to do so.

Unfortunately that is not the case and while dog sanctuaries in the south cry out for facilities and funding, the government  sees fit to remove 60 dogs from local dog home where they were receiving water, food, shelter and shade. They were not living in the lap of luxury that is true. But they were loved and cared for, off the streets and fed. Owner of Dingo Dogs, Phil Nelson also does not live in the lap of luxury because every last penny he earns goes to feed and shelter his beloved dogs.

The dogs were removed from Phil, in a scene that must have been traumatic for everyone involved, transported to a  goat pen with little shade and no food or water and left there in the baking heat. One dog was dead within an hour. Live Arico were called in to help and a temporary sanctuary has been found for the dogs. They will have to move within 21 days but for now, they are out of the sun and being fed and watered.

The full story can be found on Tenerife Dogs- the website for all the island’s abandoned dogs – and here below is a video showing Phil Nelson and Dingo’s Dogs before the government’s hack-handed interference:

You have to admit the Santa Cruz car thief who stole his neighbour’s Ford Fiesta, swapped the license plate and then parked it in full view of the neighbour’s house had some set of huevos. The thief in a feeble nod at the victim’s ability to recognise his own car did at least make some minor alterations like installing a tinted rear view mirror but not enough to foil P.C. Plod and Co. who identified the missing car via the chassis number.

As reported in Typically Spanish.

Among the many other wonders in store during the Tenerife Design Festival 19 to 22 October you can expect the magical flying grass carpet to make an appearance.

The flying grass carpet makes its way from city to city around the globe briefly touching down to let city dwellers play and stretch out on it as well as being a temporary base for a variety of public events.

What a lovely idea. The picture shown is from the carpet’s short trip to Budapest but you can find many more on the Flying Grass website.

Poor Tito. He hasn’t had the life of a dog since Mia, the evil attack cat arrived. It all started innocently enough with a bit of cat and mouse with Tito’s tail. At first he thought it was fun and would lay there like a big lummox flicking the end of his tail for the baby to chase:

But then unbeknownst to us, she started messing with his mind.

“You are feline very slllleeeeepy.”

Soon the evil attack cat was laying in wait for Tito all round the house. If he walked past a dining chair – pow.

If he wandered over to see if Mum was at the desk – Yaaargh!

The attacks were both vicious – Kruuuunch…

And wierd…

Inevitably, it all became a bit too much for poor Tito who started to lose his nerve. “Look out Tito, she’s behind you!”

Nooooooooooo!

Tito tried and tired to tell his people but hard as he shouted for help they could not understand.

Mia, the evil attack cat, curled up next to her human and was satisfied … for now.

My own two kids go to state school in Tenerife and have done since entering pre-school at the age of three. Overall, my impressions of their experiences have been good. The eldest, my daughter, had a difficult start as we had not been successful in getting her settled in a Spanish guarderia (nursery) for the months before she started pre-school. She had’nt been immersed in a totally Spanish environment up to that point and it took about three months for her to find her feet.

My son had been in a Spanish guarderia first and had watched me drop his sister off at the Infantil section of her school for the previous two years. He sailed through the doors on his first day without a backward glance at his snivelling mother.

Now both are fluent English and Spanish speakers and are happy at school with many friends and a real fondness for their teachers. My daughter at only eight is showing a proficiency in French which she is picking up from her myriad French relatives who descend upon us on a regular basis.

My situation is obviously different from those who move to Tenerife or elsewhere in Spain with older kids in tow. What with the stage of the education process that they are at and the squeaky onset of puberty the pre and early teens are tricky enough to negotiate without throwing unnecessary hurdles at your child after all. What is the best solution for getting your kids settled in the Spanish education system if they are entering after the primary years?

Graham Hunt of Houses for Sale in Spain and author Nick Snelling discuss the options and the choices they made for their children in an interesting audio interview which I’m sure will be very helpful to those facing this decision.

The Tenerife Design Festival (TDF) is dedicated to fusing the ‘current trends of design with the main features of the Canarian identity’ and focusses on the three key concepts of local identity, landscape contrast and tourism.

Expect the unexpected during that week as designers from around the world get together to turn Tenerife into a ’seething mass of creativity and design’.

Oooo er. I’m not so sure about the seething mass bit. Whoever wrote the English blurb on the TDF website has done so in that annoyingly arty-farty nonsensical wittering beloved of those who think design concepts have to be drowned in a bucket of words before the rest of us plebs can get the point (or lack thereof).

Here slighty toned down are the descriptions of the TDF sections taken from the Tenerife Design Festival website.

TDFSigno – designers, industry and craftsmen collaborating on new products and ways of development which involve both fresh  ideas and traditional Canarian concepts.

TDFAtmósfera – ominously threatening to ‘involve the public’, TDFAtmósfera promises to bathe Santa Cruz in a wash of exhibitions and urban interventions. If you venture into large spaces within the city during this week in October such as the TEA, La Recova or the port itself expect to be pounced on by a creative installation or two.

TDFLab – three-day workshops for professionals, students and general participants to experiment with different ways to  generate new objects, graphics and interventions in different spaces with a focus on the interaction between design and the Canarian environment.

TDFAward cunningly sponsored by Turismo de Tenerife proposes Tenerife Design Paradise, an international prize, which encourages designers to work on elements that will make up a dream beach of the future.  Based on the idea “Design Paradise” the aim is the creation of products that may be further developed later by the sponsor to enhance the tourism experience.

TDFSolution brings together different professional approaches to spread and support advances in culture, innovation and design. The Symposium will consist of the presentation of works by businesses, local, national and international designers, stirred into action by a critic or analyst. The point of departure will be TDF’s three central concepts: nature, local identity and tourism.

See the Tenerife Design Festival website for more information including a Programme of Events and a Registration page which showing fabulous international creativity is only available in Spanish. According to the translation it seems registrations will not be open till September:

Inscriptions

To participate in various workshops and activities of TDF, you can simply register by filling out a form. In September the program will be more detailed for you to decide which section is more suited to your interests …

But you should be aware: the seats are limited!