Ornette Coleman Eddie Lockjaw Davis Miles Mingus

Streaming Jazz (22-1): Miles, Mingus and Two Sax Greats
Letter from Shenzhen (22-3): Streaming Jazz

Background First, a little of my jazz “background”. Although I listen mainly to Classical, I do change genre once in a while. Even if you prefer Bordeaux, won’t you enjoy a Burgundy sometimes?

Less known to my readers is that I had long been a jazz listener. My first LP was a randomly bought Thelonious Monk Solo (Columbia). I didn’t buy that many but for the longest time my favorite was Coltrane’s My Favorite Thing (Atlantic). As I lived in the West Village, I also periodically visited the famous joints like Village Vanguard, but my favorite was little known Arthur’s Tavern, which offered lesser performers (even amateurs sometimes) - it was hit and miss but the place just had the right atmosphere - rowdy and no tourists (Japanese ones dominate the Blue Note).

Paradoxically it was my return to Hong Kong that saw exponential growth in my jazz knowledge and arsenal. Frequent meetings with audiophiles invariably made me acquainted with more jazz material (including Brubeck’s Take Five; which most audiophiles fail to replay well). Most of all though, it was the then thriving used CD market that had me buying frantically (very reasonable prices). By the time I left HK I had amassed a rather huge (and dare I say valuable) collection of Jazz CDs (between 1k and 2k in number I’d say). I sold all my LPs and CDs to a friend, but I actually miss the Jazz CDs more than the classical ones. But I rarely write about Jazz because Classical takes precedence, and there are just too much to write about. This musical offering is an exception.

It came about recently. After downloading the Chinese Kuwo player (one post down), I started playing jazz, and still haven’t stopped. This post will discuss a few favorites. I'll start with the one known to all audiophiles.

Miles Davis In HK I had built up a reasonable Miles library, including local audiophile favorites like the Gil Evans albums, particularly Sketches of Spain. But over the years during my trips back to NYC, I bought many “lesser” albums from J&R cheaply, up to the time they closed for good. There are numerous articles on the net regarding which of this prolific and great artist’s albums are the best, and I urge you to read them. For me, Spain and Kind of Blue always brought comfort and pleasure. Regarding the latter, a HK friend traded his 45 LP reissues with me and said he could not understand it at all. His experience reminds me of my early days in jazz - yes, it takes time to get into any genre, but the rewards are great. There is no Miles album that I don’t like, but, unlike many critics, I am enthralled by his later periods for their progressive stance and embrace of Electronica. As an example, one of my favorites is Tutu, and I like also Decoy and Siesta. Purists need not read further...Although almost everything by Miles is available on Kuwo, some require membership (reasonable payment) so I just stick to the free stuff (enough already). This round, I streamed, aside from those mentioned above, Seven Steps to Heaven, Tribute to Jack Johnson and Nefertiti, great albums!

Mingus Great as Miles is, his conceptions at all times have an over-riding order and control that may be more ethereal and sometimes a little too much. Moreover, he was not a big band leader and more often than not sought collaborations in his projects (like Gil Evans). My heart belongs even more to Mingus. For many years, one of my reference discs is Ah Um (Sony/Columbia). But even greater is the insanely good The Black Saint and The Sinner Lady (Impulse!), now one of my desert island discs. Mingus said in the original Liner Note "... I wrote the music for dancing and listening. It is true music with much and many of my meanings. It is my living epitaph from birth til the day I first heard of Bird and Diz. Now it is me again. This music is only one little wave of styles and waves of little ideas my mind has encompassed through living in a society that calls itself sane, as long as you're not behind iron bars where there at least one can't be half as crazy as in most of the ventures our leaders take upon themselves to do and think for us, even to the day we should be blown up to preserve their idea of how life should be. Crazy? They'd never get out of the observation ward at Bellevue...". I for one can only listen to this and not dance! When it comes to jazz I am not necessarily an advocate for the horns. But here Mingus coalesced them into an incredibly vocal consort that pumped out, above all, ecstasy and erotic cacophony. This round, I am approaching my 10th play of this album, and I am still awashed by the sound! If you ask me, after Ellington, Mingus is the greatest band leader. For a more lyrical vein, Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus (Impulse!) is good. I have more to stream.

Despite many albums with excellent sound (Impulse! certainly always delivers), Mingus is not at all an audiophile fav, but he was a really interesting man. Here is a solid discussion on The Black Saint and The Sinner Lady. While doing research I discovered this Open Letter to Miles Davis! This is a must read! We found out that Miles was dismissive of the way Thelonious Monk (another one of my heroes) played and there is a discussion on whether Brubeck swings (not for me, what about you?). :-)

Eddie Lockjaw Davis My first acquaintance of this exceptional saxophonist is from the many (Pablo) Montreux ‘77 albums, featuring prominently Oscar Peterson at his best. Incidentally, this entire Norman Granz sponsored series is just glorious, with few duds. Not only did I discover Jaws, I also fell in love with the piano playing of Tommy Flanagan. For vinyl fans, these are frequently seen in “dollar” bins. The typical French Tricolor cover is unmistakable. Bonus is, the sound of Pablo is almost always exceptional. Back to Jaws, I highly recommend the Cookbook series (Prestige). As an Amazon customer commented: “...Excellent, uncomplicated music from the man who candidly explained how he got into music: " I decided to become a musician when I was a kid, by watching musicians. I saw that they drank, they smoked, they got all the broads and they didn't have to get up in the morning. That attracted me." Admirable...” Note that "uncomplicated" as the music may be, Jaws made them invariably interesting by his rhythmic drive and savvy. I also dig the chordal Hammond organ playing of Shirley Scott, which to me is a perfect fit for Jaws’ outbursts. (I disagree with the sentiment expressed in this review and align much more with this review). Scott is under-rated and her playing is totally different from, say, the more popular Jimmy Smith, but she is more of a team player and less overt, and her contributions are pristine. Suffice to say, I regard Scott as someone who never got her due.

Ornette Coleman The more I listen to Jazz, the more I take to many progressives. I follow the pianists more than the hornists (late John Lewis is a favorite, and not just his MJQ period). But I don’t feel in sync with everyone. Much as I like Coltrane, some of his works feel more like intellectual pursuits and I’d like a more corporeal feeling. I came to Ornette Coleman early. Maybe 10-20 years ago I bought his iconic Free Jazz LP (used, a late pressing). I liked it but it is over the years that I’ve come to appreciate its greatness - to be exact, over 37 minutes of greatness. Grant you, this is not for a beginner, but those with modern music stamina can withstand it, provided they are in sympathy with the style (not often). This is a seminal album, indeed THE seminal album. The musicians involved read like a who's who (including another personal fav, Eric Dolphy). This excellent reiew gives you pics of the backcover etc. And here is another good one. Many Ornette Coleman albums, even earlier ones, are also very good; he’s never boring. I thoroughly enjoyed Change of the Century, At the Golden Circle (Live), Of Human Feelings, The Shape of Jazz to Come. That Coleman is not at all a crowd favorite is evident from Kuwo: almost all his albums can be streamed free, whereas almost all Billy Cobham albums require membership (I have a fondness for the latter's Power Play, an album I heard many years ago when it first came out. Light and melodic stuff - Mahavishnu it is not but very entertaining).

Audiophiles always play a few jazz cuts, but usually very safe stuff with little dissonance (say, Take Five), even bland stuff (say, Diana Krall). And Chinese audiophiles take to older sax greats like Coleman Hawkins, Sonny Stitt and Ben Webster. (Make no mistake, I love them too, but one cannot have too much caramel). That is because older (and more inventive) greats like Charlie Parker, Lester Young etc are only available in lesser sound. But there is much greatness to be explored! Stream more older Jazz, and you will be amazed by their inventiveness!

Kudos to the Jazz Greats!

Vanatoo Transparent Zeros Part II

Vanatoo Transparent Zeros Part II

By mrgoodsound 

In January of 2020 I wrote an article about my Vanatoo Transparent Zero desktop speakers. At the time, I had considered them to be my best audio investment to date. Over the past two years, a series of progressively sillier tweaks has elevated that opinion even further. This article will detail those tweaks for the readers entertainment. 

Step 1: clubwood mpingo feet (~$350)

It has honestly been so long I don't remember where I stumbled upon the clubwood products, a South Korean firm offering wood accessories for audiophiles and espresso machine enthusiasts. Most of their products are made out of mpingo, a species of African Blackwood (in)famous in audio circles thanks to Shun Mook. Clubwood is operated by Mr. Song, who is an extremely friendly individual, and has seemingly been in the audio tweaks business for many years. His wares are sold on eBay and the clubwood website. The prices are actually reasonable, when you consider the raw material costs of real mpingo wood and the difficulties associated with working with it.

In June of 2021 I placed a large order for mpingo discs, cone feet, volume knob and cable damper; intending to test the efficacy of these products across a variety of applications. When I received them, my first instinct was to stick the cone feet and discs under my Vanatoo speakers for fun, meaning to move them to more 'serious' components later. I put three cones and three discs under each speaker, and they have been there ever since.

To say the effect was 'transformative' would be simultaneously hyperbolic and an understatement. By this point I had been living with the Transparent Zeros for many years, listening to them daily, and becoming very familiar with their sound. Vanatoo includes a pair of foam pads to place under the speakers for isolation and I had been using them on my desk since the beginning. I knew that they caused a decrease in clarity but the alternative was the uncontrolled transmission of vibration to and from my desk, which was unacceptable. 

Replacing these foam pads with the mpingo cones and discs, every aspect of the sound improved for the better. Tone, timbre, intelligibility, separation, dynamics, extension, etcetera. The magnitude of the effect was actually dumbfounding, until it occurred to me that the Transparent Zeros are a self-contained system with an integral DAC and amplifier, and I had just witnessed the effect of the simple wooden feet on a single component as if it were an entire system. 

I meant to write a more detailed review of the other clubwood products including the volume knob and cable damper but there is no point. They pretty much all have the same effect described above, just in varying degrees depending on the application.

Step 2: Adding a subwoofer (after all, $0)

This was actually a misstep. Even with the foam pads, which muddied the low frequencies quite a bit, I had never felt the bass of the Transparent Zeros was lacking. I still wondered if I was leaving something on the table and purchased a small subwoofer to place under my desk. The Vanatoos have a single sub out in the form of an RCA jack on the rear of the master speaker, and the manual states they automatically set the crossover point between the speakers and the subs when this output is utilized.

Unfortunately, I could never get the subwoofer to blend properly with the Vanatoos and gave up. This wasn't a big loss though as the bass of the Transparent Zeros with the mpingo feet is actually hilariously satisfying, rattling loose objects on my desk when playing modern recording with deep bass. The volume and depth of the bass is actually unbelievable for a speaker this size.

Step 3: Disabling the volume limiter and shelved DSP ($0)

From the factory the Transparent Zeros have a digital volume limiter and 'shelved' DSP mode, intended for the most common use case of desk placement near boundaries. Many owners have reported an increase in clarity and dynamics by disabling these two features, and instructions on how to do so are provided in the user manual. For several years I was too lazy to do this until I was messing around trying to get the subwoofer to work right. Indeed the 'flat' DSP mode seems to give an additional octave of LF content, and disabling the volume limiter provides slightly better dynamics. This is a 5 minute change every owner should try to get the most out of their speakers.

Step 4: USB cable (~$160)

Art USB Cable

I use the Transparent Zeros with a desktop computer through the USB input. They sound best when used with their digital inputs as they are a fully active speaker, and USB is the most convenient option for computer connection. I was not a stranger to the sensitivity of the speakers to the USB cable used. Several years ago I purchased an Acoustic BBQ USB cable made using stranded Duelund wire and hooked it up to the Transparent Zeros to accelerate the break-in process. The cable sounded better than the generic black USB cable included with the speakers, but not so much so that I missed it when it was removed to be used in the 'big rig'. Ironically, swapping in a $20 Schiit PYST USB cable (OEM by Straightwire) resulted in a big decrease in sound quality over the generic stock USB cable. Side note: the PYST cable is one of the worst sounding USB cables I have encountered, for any price.

Recently I tried some other audiophile cables on the Vanatoos for fun. The first was the Supra Excalibur USB cable. It initially seemed like an improvement, improving clarity and dynamics substantially, but unfortunately has too much of a 'hi-fi' characteristic, lacking body and having an overly insistent sense of timing. After two weeks of usage, I returned to the generic stock cable and felt relief at how much more relaxed the sound became.

The most successful pairing thus far has been from Art Cables in Moscow. Their USB cable uses stranded Telefunken wire from the 1960s. It had all of the improvements of the Supra without the downsides, for about the same price. Highly recommended!

Step 5: Power supply (~$35)

I thought this would be the largest improvement to date but it turned out to be another misstep. The stock power supply for the Transparent Zeros comes in the form of a 24VDC @ 2.5A switch-mode brick. I decided to replace it with a cheap linear power supply as an experiment. I purchased a SOLA HD LPS off eBay for around $25. These are cheap linear supplies meant for powering lab equipment (I think), and some audiophiles have had success using them as replacements for stock SMPS of phono stages among other devices.

I carefully wired up the SOLA with a DC barrel plug and hooked it up to the Transparent Zeros (be careful, loss of power to the speaker seems to reset the volume to 100!). The results were a mixed bag. On one hand, there was more relaxed timing and ease of dynamics, rhythm. On the other hand, the sound clearly became veiled with gray overtones. In a linear supply, the voice of every capacitor, resistor and inductor is clearly heard. It turns out that the very inexpensive passive components on the SOLA PSU were not really up to snuff for audio applications. Going back to the stock SMPS took some getting used to as the sound now appeared to be lean and insistent, but the most important attributes of liveliness and color returned.

I considered modifying the SOLA PSU with some audio-grade parts, but decided it would ultimately be a waste of time and I would be better off building a new supply from scratch. Haven't gotten around to it yet.

Step 6: Schumann Resonator (~$200)

This isn't actually a modification of the Vanatoos, but I mention it here as it continues the theme of taking things too far and the funny effects of tweaks on modest desktop speakers. 

People have been talking about the effects of the so-called Schumann wave, or rather its suppression, on our auditory perception for a long time. I won't really get into it, a quick internet search will find a million such discussions. Several firms including the Japanese Acoustic Revive have been engaged in producing Schumann resonators as audiophile tweaks for many years. Out of sheer curiosity, I purchased such a resonator on eBay that seemed well built from a reputable seller for a reasonable cost. 

These devices promise a variety of effects ranging from a clearer audio message and less confused soundstage to improved mood stability and sleep. I can say that the device I purchased actually works, and all of these effects were noticed by me in the first few days of its operation. The problem is that the body seems to become accustomed to them, and through habituation the positive effects or at least the active perception of them seems to fade. Perhaps with more expensive devices this is less of an issue, but I cannot say I am curious enough to find out at this time.

Twenty minutes after installing the resonator in my room, I noticed the soundstage of the Vanatoos became wider, low frequencies seemed to extend a full octave lower, and the overall intelligibility of music increased significantly. The same effects were later confirmed on a different system using headphones.

Step 7: Replacing the grills with Shamwow towels ($10)

When I first got the Transparent Zeros, I tried them with and without their grills which are of very high quality and attached magnetically to the front panel of the speaker. The sound without the grills was clearer but also a bit rude and fatiguing at higher volumes. Conversely, the sound with the grills was more comfortable despite being more muffled. I left the grills on and didn't think anything further of it.

Recently I came across an old post by the Russian audio engineer Anatoly Likhnitsky who described the wonderful effect of placing orange cloth towels over his computer speakers. Realizing I had very similar cleaning towels in the closet, I took them out and draped them over the speakers in place of the grills. 

Likhnitsky computer speakers

I have long since learned to not doubt the influence of seemingly innocuous things on the sound of a system. I have especially learned to not doubt any ideas proposed by Likhnitsky, whom I consider to be something of a genius in the field of audio. I have to still admit I was skeptical of what I would hear by placing these silly orange towels over my speakers. Well, again, I was dumbfounded. If the sound without grills was too rude, and the sound with grills too comfortable, then the sound with the towels was the Goldilocks zone, that is to say just right. There was a sharp increase in the clarity and intonation of music, and yet no fatigue was experienced even at high volumes. I listened to the speakers that night for 6 hours straight with a stupid grin on my face.

If you are curious why such silly looking grills would serve such an improvement, it is because they act as an acoustic phase randomizer. In Likhnitsky's articles, he espouses that phase randomization is a necessary thing in any audio path, and especially in a short one, as an increase in sound clarity offered by a short audio path is also accompanied by an increase in what he calls musical 'garbage' or 'debris'. This 'garbage' or 'debris' are manifested non-linear distortions which are inseparable from (or glued to)  the musical signal. He claims this debris is generated mainly from the decline in sound recording equipment and techniques over the last century, and it is necessary to wash the system of this 'debris' by implementing phase randomization in the sound path. The implementation of phase randomizers can be acoustic, mechanical, electrical and even digital. Grills on a speaker act as an acoustic phase randomizer.

I would also like to draw attention to the notice of the British loudspeaker manufacturer Harbeth, who advises their speakers must be used with the grills in place for appropriate response. They point to frequency response graphs which show a +/- 1dB change in the presence region when grills are employed versus not. Of course, they are correct that their speakers sound better with the grills (I think almost anyone who has experience with Harbeth's can attest to this), but their reasoning for why is absolutely silly. Studies have long shown that listeners will barely perceive, or rather rapidly adapt to, a 1-3 dB change in the frequency response employed through another means, such as digital equalization, but the effects of acoustic phase randomization from the grills is undeniable and goes beyond such simple explanations.

Conclusion

I realize I have spent more than what the Transparent Zeros cost on miscellaneous tweaks, but I emphasize it is not really a matter of linear value. 

Shamwow grills in situ

Firstly, the enjoyment I get out of the tweaked system is massive. If I were to give away or sell all of my other audio equipment, I would be perfectly content listening to music solely through the tweaked Vanatoo system. 

Secondly, because the Vanatoos are a self-contained system consisting of speakers, amplifier and DAC, the effects of any tweak on them are amplified. They have become something of a test bed for experiments, and the amount of time I spend listening to them daily has made me extremely sensitive to any changes in their sound.

Lastly, it is unfortunate that the term 'tweak' has become a dirty word in the audiophile lexicon. I prefer to think of it as sound tuning. If I may be honest, the tuning of any system no matter how large or small is a difficult but important task for satisfaction. It may be true that 20% of the work (stringing together a set of speakers, an amplifier, a source) gives 80% of the result. In the field of audio however, we are often chasing the final 20%, and this is what requires 80% of our time and effort. It is simple for many to scoff at this and swear off 'tweaking' as a waste of time and money. 

I don't blame anyone for doing this, we all have to draw our individual lines in the sand. However if that same individual then spends the rest of their days swapping this amplifier or that DAC for many thousands of dollars in the search of audio nirvana without being cognizant of environmental factors which can have a very real and tangible effect on the final sound, then they are simply engaging in a different but in my opinion more depraved activity.

Kuwo 酷我

Click pics to enlarge. Top pic shows album view of Wilco, commendable for its cover arts Metadata.

Kuwo, 酷我
Letter from Shenzhen (22-2): Kuwo, Part I

This article is about a Chinese Music Provider (I am not sure if it’s only available in China as it requires registration and phone number). I debated on whether to write it in English or Chinese, but decided for the former as my angle, given this blog’s restriction in China, is likely of value only to those like me, mostly bilingual, HK or otherwise, and located in China at the present. Note, Kuwo operates only in Chinese.

Given the delivery of music is a hotly contested commercial activity everywhere in the world, why have I developed a fondness for this provider here in China? It’s simple: 1) unlike other giants like Tencent, it is strictly a music provider; 2) its interface is clean and simple, without bombardment by trivia or juvenilia; 3) its contents have considerable merits for those interested in Western music (very strong jazz and pop, and some classical); 4) Its Metadata and Configurability are superior (especially in comparison with exasperating rivals); 5) it has an Audiophile inclination; 6) it’s the closest thing to free Spotify, which is not available in China (unless u go VPN)(I don’t use Tidal, so cannot compare).

Actually this article is a Prep for my next article on the many jazz and pop musical gems (yes, I switch genre once in a while) I have recently streamed through this player. It has already immeasurably enriched my musical experience.

Kuwo.cn Download the Player. MUCH to its credit, unlike most Chinese softwares, this one does NOT come with garbage extras. Chinese app users know many apps (even if you carefully personalize the download) come with extras (like virus scans etc that are horrible and intrusive) and hard to get rid of. NOT this one. Mind you, I downloaded its app on my Windows 10 laptop. The vast majority of users probably just use cellphone/tablette Android or iOS (both supported). 

The Interface Unlike all other Chinese Music Providers, it is clean and purposeful. Perhaps not as uncluttered as Spotify (my reference, as I do not use Tidal) it is still pretty good. Search (in English) is efficient and creating personal folders and even podcasts are easy. I cannot stand the ridiculously juvenile interfaces of most Chinese sites. This makes Kuwo refreshing, like a music renderer equivalent of the cleaner aesthetics of Chinese 知乎. 

Housekeeping and Metadata After a search, say Miles Davis, tons of tracks show up, rather jumbled. But clicking album 专辑 sorts it into their respective albums. What is impressive is that cover art if pretty well covered. See top pic. This is of vital importance to us old folks who rely on album covers to collate. Now, the same album (say, In a Silent Way) often has different sources, some perhaps remastered and others from other compilations. So the user has to look at the contents and compare. It is far from perfect, but it is better than expected, given that this is China.

Freeload or Membership I am not a paid member (fee is actually very small), and on certain material can only sample, but the freeload material is large enough to keep one interested. The more mainstream, the more likely membership is required, but for people like me who like Ornette Coleman, it’s a free ride! Even Miles, largely free. And the same album frequently appear in different versions and, if you are lucky, while most require membership, you may manage to find one that is free. More on this later in Part II.

Audiophile Section This is a unique one. It has Chinese (and others) audiophile favorites but is curiously not available for streaming (lossless) but can be downloaded free. I have yet to try this. I am not in a hurry, as most hifi discs are pretty bad musically. Today, I am a Streamer and see little need for files. Like my friend icefox says, if you can stream it, why download?

Sound Output Choices When I first played it, although I connected my laptop via USB to my Meridian Explorer (then fed to my big system), I could not get anything except through the laptop's own speakers. Sound through the Kuwo analog out was rather muffled and bass heavy. After some fiddling, I found that one can select various output configurations in Settings. This is unusual, as the usual player will default to the USB output on a laptop. NOT this one, you have to configure it. This is probably par for the course in China, as the overwhelming majority only knows the cell phone and do not use a laptop.

Sound Quality Methinks Sound Quality is very good for a streaming service. I have yet to compare it with Spotify (through VPN) but I don’t feel the need, being happy enough. This site touts itself for its lossless content. Many tracks say lossless but I don’t think so. If you hover over the track source info, most say wma, aka MP3., while on the side it may say lossless. There is an Equalizer, which I don’t use. And then there is the unique HiFi Mode, which shuts off access to the player from any other source you are looking at (say you are listening and watching news and the pop up window will still play the video but there will be no sound). It also seems to up the gain a little but the result is good.

Source and Safety BTW, the track sources are all over the map (and it’s funny that the site shows them), but I trust the engine has screened out all viruses. I’d reckon it’s safe

Above, the HiFi Section in general. Aside from the Asian favorites, there are TAS picks etc.

Picks of Taiwan magazine Audio Art, the magazine that I despise the most. And the musical recommendations show their lack of sophistication.

Sound Settings allow various configurations.

Year of the Tiger

Letter from Guangzhou (22-1): Happy Year of the Tiger

This year, February 1st was the first day of the Chinese Lunar Calendar and the Year of the Tiger. Best wishes for all of you.

The day before was the last of the Year of the Ox. Unlike the West, where New Year's Eve is for Partying, it is traditional for Chinese families to gather on the Eve for a big dinner, much like Christmas or Thanksgiving dinners in the West.

It is a miracle that I am here in Guangzhou City celebrating the New Year with relatives. GZ is a little over an hour by train from Shenzhen (and only 30 minutes by Bullet train). Just 2-3 weeks ago, SZ had a few local covid cases, which triggered massive testing, more or less compulsory every other day. I may write about that in another article, but not here. Suffice to say SZ, a city of around 10 million people, mostly with migrant roots in other provinces, worked incredibly hard to stamp it out just in time for people to return to their laojia (old home) to celebrate the New Year. SZ government had the people on its mind, and the people appreciate the gargantuan efforts of the Heath Care professionals. Unlike elsewhere, it's a reciprocal relationship.

Instead of words, here are some food pics to greet you! Salut!

Night before Eve：Fish Fillet 炒生鱼片 and Whole Fish with Roes 红烧鲫鱼. Sausage. 

Front shows Chicken Feet, stuffed Lotus Roots 藕盒 and fried Pork Belly 腩肉片.

最特别是这瓶特供酒

Eve: Assorted Cured Meat, Prawns, Steamed Flounder 多宝鱼

and Lamb Hot Pot 羊肉火锅